Near and Far in Mission

It appears that I have been very busy over the last year. I am the proud momma of 3 beautiful children and the happy wife of my lovely American. It has been almost a year to the day since we have moved into our first home. As I have watched the seasons change and our family grow. I am amazed at how us humans can adapt to new lifestyles and change. As the last flowers bloom their last bloom in our garden I am chasing around a beautiful 5 month old baby boy and loving it.
We have started our second year of Homeschool this year. I ordered the Curriculum in a box for Aidan from the Heritage /Cornerstone Learning Center. For Mary, I am using an array of materials.
Our backyard is a Cornocopia of Fruits and Harvest Vegetables filled with Corn , potatoes and crisp apples. Today we went down to the garden and had a lovely time crouching in front of the potato plants that we have grown from old potatoes with eyes:)
As I insisted on gently digging around the potato plants the children leaned in falling over each other to get a chance to lift out the plant and see the tiny nuggets hanging by their roots. Mary brought in one tiny potaoe that had extricated itself from the bunch and tenderly washed it leaving it on the counter for me to figure out what to do with it.
This month alone we have journeyed along the Fraser Canyon watching the rushing rapids as they rush along to their destinations. We were fascinated by the many tunnels that were blasted many years ago through sheer mountain faces. We watched as the train snaked its way along the other side of the river most of the time. It's rails gripping the mountain side as it chugged ahead. On our trip we tasted bear that a friend had hunted with his sons days before.
On our way home we discussed the Gold Trail and stopped at a couple interesting spots.
In CLinton we discovered the City Hall and the Local Museum packed full of years of history. It seemed that their being pretty trusty folk in a small town that we were allowed to get up real close to all sorts contraptions of the last couple 100 years. Aidan enjoyed the old sled that used to pull people from one town to another and was particularly interested in the giant sliding magnifying glass that slid across the top of the display case out front. Enlarging arrowheads, axeheads and what I thought might be unmarked gold still enclosed in stone. Mary loved the old sewing machine and pointed out the picture of the the baby Papoose all wrapped up in its leather wrappings. We noticed a local Native American art Gallery and stopped for lunch. We need to take more trips as a family and plan to do so in the future.
Even though I have the work load of 2 people and have barely time to rest from night till dawn. I am filled with a sense of satisfaction, joy and peace as I learn to give away more of the old me and to embrace being a mother and accepting the life I now lead.

Every trip out with my kids has created another learning opportunity. As we travelled back from the park a few days ago we discusssed why the sewer covers had "Fish Habitat" "Do not Pollute" and a fish stamped on the steel.
Today I was delighted to discover that under about 12 years f gunge that my gutters were a sparkling white color. Even though the eaves leave much to be desired I am able to have a faint hope that this property and home will one day feel like home and that I will feel comfortable in it . After moving 13 or more times in my lifetime I am content anywhere to just put down roots and start making history.
TOmmorw on top of our Come SIt by Me Curr and English we are going to take out our lovingly packed BC Grown apple box and label our apples. I have purchased Made In Canada stickers from the dollar store . The idea is to give a sense of a product that we have grown ,packed and are going to TRY to store over the next few months. The children have derived a sense of self-esteem and responsibility as they have packed each apple in its nest .

Saving some for another day - E