Quotable Sunday

If you as parents cut corners, your children will too. If you lie, they will too. If you spend all your money on yourselves and tithe no portion of it for charities, colleges, churches, synagogues, and civic causes, your children won't either. And if parents snicker at racial and gender jokes, another generation will pass on the poison adults still have not had the courage to snuff out.

~ Marian Wright Edelman

Busy, busy, busy

Its raining. Actually, pouring would probably be a better way to describe it. I'm hoping it clears up soon for our annual fall fair. C has been looking forward to the midway, rides, pony rides and all the wonderful animals who are here in town this weekend. The sun is trying to peak out at the moment so I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Things have been nuts around here. We have some family visiting over the next couple of days and the motel is full for the entire weekend. I also had my first s'more yesterday out at the campfire and what a flavor that was! Graham crackers, chocolate and marshmallows are a match made in heaven. Delish!

A couple of new writing opportunities have come up and I am really excited about one in particular as there are many perks attached :).

"School" starts next week so I'm starting to get C's lesson plans in order. We have been doing a little bit throughout the summer and she is really enjoying the work so far. Still have to finish off some canning and hoping for a busy September here at the motel.

My name is Nadia. I am a workaholic and I love it.

Necklace & not so Wordless Wednesday

The amber necklace "A" is wearing is courtesy of a fabulous Etsy shop. I am currently holding a giveaway on A Good Clean Life from the Etsy store Time Designs if any of you are interested. It is available in a baby or toddler sizes and is fabulous for teething babies!

People

In our business we have met incredibly kind, intelligent, interesting, strange, odd, weird and down right shocking characters. Today for example, a man came in and asked for a room. I gave him the price and he handed me his credit card. He said that he didn't want to fill in the registration card until he made sure his credit card went through. While we were waiting to receive authorization, he proceeded to tell me that he was from the next town over which is about a 15 minute drive. His card was declined and he walked out the door without another word.

Another man came in this evening and started up a conversation as he was filling out the registration. Out of the blue he said,"The USA has turned into a communist country thanks to that new Muslim Communist we have as President." I had no words. Dumbfounded would be more or less the correct way to describe how I felt at that moment. He said a few other things I won't dare to repeat. As soon as my husband walked in (to save me, dear man that he is) with A, the man's train of thought was redirected to our baby and so he started talking about how cute she was. Then he began to tell me about his new dance partner with whom he dances the Venetian Waltz with. When C, shouted out to A in the hallway, he said that she was sure to become an Opera singer. 

After this he asked where my husband came from originally. I told him that his family originated in France and there are some Eastern influences far back. His answer, "That is wonderful. And where are you from?" I took a deep breath, knowing exactly where this was bound to lead and said, "Well my mother's family is from Britain and my father's side is from Italy." 

"Oh." He said. "That is quite the mix. At least the British side helps balance things out, being Italian and all. It must make for quite an interesting marriage between you and your husband." (Funny how people are isn't it. And the killer is Italy and France are neighboring countries BOTH of which are in Europe). Its like someone in Alberta being prejudice of the people in British Columbia, both of which are in Canada. How odd.

Then he went on about how I had a Russian name and how unusual it was for someone from my "race" to have a Russian name. I said, "Is it though? Nadia Commenici made the name quite popular back in the late 70's and she was Italian." 

"Good Point." He said. And then when he left he asked me to pray for him. Hmm....

There is a couple who's been coming year after year since we came here 5 years ago. They met us before I was pregnant with C, while I was pregnant, the day after we brought her home and then after we had A. They are incredible people with the biggest hearts. She told me today that they wouldn't consider staying anywhere else as we are one of the kindest couples they have come across in their travels. Such sweet people!

People biking across Ontario for charity, raising funds or just to see the country is common. The most incredible has to be a man who was 74 and had biked from Alaska! He was indeed 74 as I saw ID when he checked in. Remarkable!

My favorite is a lady who comes every year for a certain event here in town. She says that she is a psychic and can read palms. Very nice lady and her daughter is aces. Anyhow, she predicted that C would be a boy and that A would be a boy. The year after C was born, she came back and said to me, "See, I told you it would be a girl!"

As my husband would say, "Fun, wow!"

Quotable Sunday

"Never bend your head. Hold it high. 

Look the world straight in the eye." ~ Helen Keller

Canning

I made relish the other day. Canning season has commenced :).

Hopefully the tomatoes are better this year then they were last. The season wasn't so great and so I wasn't able to preserve tomatoes.

2 years ago, I attempted to can for the first time ever and we were all quite happy with the results. As you can see from the pictures, I went right to town!

Relish, salsa, bread & butter pickles, sliced pickles, regular pickles, pears, peaches, lots of canned tomatoes, green beans, yellow beans, chickpeas, kidney beans (red and white), corn, apple butter, applesauce and pickled beets. This doesn't include all of the freezer jams, frozen strawberries or other goodies I had in deep freeze!

Everything tasted so much fresher than store bought. The only thing I won't repeat is canning fruit. Not a fan!

So far this year all I've managed to get done are various beans, peas, freezer jam and this relish. Now I'm just praying that it will be a good season for tomatoes, so I can buy a couple of bushels from the grocer and get started!

Still

I'm sitting here with a baby at my chest. Her teeth have cut through and napping is difficult without Mama. As soon as I put her into the sling, she rested her head against my chest and was out in 2 minutes. Her sister is refreshing her mind and body with a nap and my husband is cutting the lawn. The breeze blows sounds crickets, cars and transports throughout the house. There are dishes to be done, toys to pick up and calls to be made but I finally have a moment of silence. A moment to breath and just be.

Summer is almost at its end and I still can't believe it. I feel as though I'm standing still and life is the one dipping and swirling around me. It throws challenges and hurls surprises, good and bad. You never know whats to come. But I no longer resist. I can only pray and hope for the best. Que sera, sera, whatever will be, will be.

Wordless Wednesday

Quotable Sunday

While out at the vegetable farm the other day, I saw these sunflowers and was so very thankful I had my camera with me.


Flowers are the sweetest things God ever made, and forgot to put a soul into. ~Henry Beecher, Life Thoughts, 1858

Curls

How I love these curls! They form as if by magic. Wash, brush and they curl up before your very eyes.

Earrings

My eyes are so very heavy at the moment and my head is banging away. It feels as though there is a brick on each of my eyelids. I'm exhausted.

Not enough sleep and babies waking up at 7 am, 4 nights in a row which isn't so great when you have to stay up until 1 am. So. Very. Tired.

We had to rush off to the city again today to finish off the errands which were left from last week. Too much to do in so little time when you have a business or just a family in general! Always rushing to and from. Its nice to split things up in two separate trips.

So we finished up our list of things to do, one of which included getting A's ears pierced! Ray waited in the truck with C because he couldn't handle seeing C cry the first time we had it done.

We took C when she was 3 months old, it was Boxing day 2006. We went to the Barrie mall with my sisters which for the record is NOT a good thing to do on a boxing day as it was packed! Ray decided right from the beginning that he would wait outside because he wasn't able to watch.
The lady marked her ears and after they pierced the first one, C gave off the shrillest scream, bawling her little eyes out. I had to hold her still for the second one, all the while feeling as if I was the worst mother in the world. I started crying and Ray was outside the store, tears streaming down his face. I felt as though my heart broke into a million pieces.

Needless to say this time around Daddy waited in the truck until it was over :). "A" cried and screamed at the top of her lungs for about 1 minute after the piercing, but was giggling again soon after. I think it was better this time as they pierced both ears at once.

Our little girl now has pretty little golden studs in her ears.

Wordless Wednesday

Quotable Sunday

“Courageous risks are life-giving, they help you grow, make you brave, and better than you think you are.” ~ Author Unknown

Airline Pilot

This clip is from the Dean Martin Variety show. The first time my husband and I watched it we were in stitches. Enjoy!

Clothing

I'm always having trouble purchasing clothes as malls and generic stores always seem to be lacking. The selections, quality and styles don't appeal to me very much. Once in awhile I'll find something which I truly love, however most of the time I end up finding things online (Etsy being one of my new favorite places to buy clothing).

Here are some of the cute things I found recently.

Starting from the top left hand corner, #1 is from ellainaboutique , #2 is from ellembee #3, #4 & # 7 are by Ureshii #5 & #8 are from Ezylife and the belt (#6) is by MeanttoBe

Wordless Wednesday

I was looking through some old photos yesterday and came across these adorable shots. C was 10 months old here. Rolls upon rolls she had :). Our little doll.

Family Tree

I've been working on our Family tree now for quite awhile. Talking to family members about various details, inquiring about names etc.

I have reached as far as my husband's great grandparents as well as my own although my great Aunt has records tracing back to the 1700's on my mother's paternal side! I am in the middle of retrieving those as we speak. The children, their children, etc have all been accounted for. Right now I'm just filling in the blanks with dates.

Hopefully in time, I will be able to trace them further. Apparently my husband has Eastern influences far back into his past and there is a Baron dating way back in mine from Italian ancestors. My goal is trace it back as far as possible. It is something I've always wanted for our girls. A history of their ancestors on both sides of our family.

There is a mystery though when I look at those papers. A death certificate with my Uncle's name on it. An Uncle who would throw me up into the air as a little girl, tickling me until I couldn't breath. His life is now recorded on a piece of paper.

My father in law's father's record of marriage. Signatures and records from the past. All these dates and signatures which record our history in time. But then there are still the stories of their lives. Some mighty painful, some not so lovely and some happy times. Do you record them while being honest and true to the person, or do you leave those stories in the past? I don't know.

For now I think I will just stick to the dates...

Quotable Sunday

A sister is a gift to the heart, a friend to the spirit, a golden thread to the meaning of life. ~Isadora James

Him

His perfectionism drives other people nuts, however I understand it perfectly.

His ideas are brilliant. My additions compliment them oh so nicely.

Some of the things I come up with surprise him and he laughs. He laughs because we are so much alike.

He will begin a sentence which I will finish. A conversation can be interrupted and continued hours later at the exact point we left off.

I know every last detail of his past and he knows mine.

My hopes, my dreams, my deepest thoughts, he knows them all as I know his.

My goals mirror his own.

His ideals mirror mine.

I wouldn't say we were made from the same mold however I will say we were sewn from the same cloth.

Our differences add a zest to the everyday.

How did I get so lucky?