Sunday Photo Phun-A weekend away

Great friends, a pool, 

a few interesting places to visit, 

really really bad restaurant service everywhere we ate, 

a boat ride

All in all a roaring success

after all, it's about the friends

(but we will go somewhere else next time).

Time moves so swiftly

minutes, hours, days, months

then suddenly years 

night falls for us

sun rises for them

Ben's family

two sides of the same world

two parts of the same boy

we often talk about the little Manh's 

Vietnam mama and papa

often wishing wishes out loud for them

especially now

as we begin celebrating 

the beginning 

of his special little life

funny little manh

energetic whirlwind

imagination machine

kind and thoughtful soul

beautiful boy

My family...

That's what the wee guy said as he snuggled up with his auntie Janice and the cousins...
So, so sweet.

The cousins, they came,
they mucked about
on Nana and Grampa's farm,

got really really dirty

got along for the most part

even had a bath with the ducklings
at the neighbour's place.

What a wonderful weekend.

Now back to the reality of getting reports done,
townhouses ready for sale,
and toddlers back into a routine
while simultaneously going away
or celebrating dude's birthday
nearly every weekend
til mid june...

Ben's Birthday came early...

up at Nana and Grampa's farm.
A brand new wheelbarrow from mama.
He is in love.

Can hardly wait to help Matt muck out the horse stalls.
And rain?  Who cares about rain when you have a new wheelbarrow.

Today though?  Only glorious sunshine...
and the photos to prove it.

Farm life suits my boy
as long as he doesn't have to get too close to the full grown chickens.

A perfect weekend so far
that would be even more perfect
if the report card program was not experiencing
"performance problems"

Oh well...I've adapted my plan to include
blogging and mindless books...

Photo Phun Sunday Edition

My view from here...

Yes it is lovely.

And silent of the town noises that had begun to wear on my nerves.

Sirens and untended terriers and screaming and blaring music.

Seemingly all the time.

Instead it is 

wind in trees

neighing horses

bugs and frogs 

ducks and chickadees.

Daytime tractors

to thrill the boy.

I'm slowly moving us out of town

with the help of very helpful friends

and that makes me very happy.

Don't get me wrong,

there was much joy in town,

We've simply outgrown it.

Or not so simply...

decisions like this are complex

especially when you are no longer one...

but two.

He will adjust...

because town is familiar

but country brings great joy!

Photo Phun Sunday Edition

What a blessed Mother's Day.

Gorgeous flowers from my sweet son

a brunch of cinnamon cream cheese stuffed french toast
with a side salad, fresh fruit and bacon
a beautifully washed car, both inside and out,

a joyous job apparently (and very, very wet)
it strategically took place after mucking out a horse stall for Auntie Carol
pure brilliance on Matt's part

several hours to get started on my report cards
(11 learning skills comments is a really big deal)
a son who napped for nearly 2 hours,
time in the sandbox,
laying in the grass looking at the sky
playing in the farmyard jungle fort
and a dinner of
pan seared duck breast with rhubarb compote
sides of apple, walnut and arugula salad and Camembert toast
followed by a hot blackberry walnut fruit buckle with ice-cream
(Uncle Matt rocks my culinary world)
and a lovely evening of cuddles and fun

and sun
all weekend
I needed that sun almost as much as I need the air I breathe

oh wait...
forgot the itty bitty teeny tiny
enormous never ending dramatic
academy award winning fit
of a lifetime
that dude took just at the moment of the duck...
15 minutes of shrieking
"mama don't leave me"
as he stood 10 feet away (or kneeled)
with his arm outstretched
felt like hours quite frankly
Uncle Bill has promised to tell Ben
for years to come
about that special mother's day gift.

anyway...
perfect
except for 15 minutes or so

And yesterday Auntie Kristen came for a farm visit

adding another blessing to our wonderful farm weekend.

I'm spending a lot of time counting my blessings these days...
and I have not run out of numbers yet.
Happy mother's day to all the mama's out there
most especially to the mama that gave me the blessing of Benjaminh.
May she sleep well tonight
knowing he is loved deeply.

Photo Phun

A few forgotten "worker-man" shots from Easter

a little Easter Egg hunt at the cottage

and a few of our farm fun from last night
little man rode a long, long way to see the donkey's and goats
(this is about 1/2 way back and Auntie Carol's farm is just past the little pines on the left)

The donkeys live in the barn on the top of the hill
just to the left of my head...

As you can see,
the drama filled day wasn't
all drama...
it was also lovely and warm and spring-like.