A question I could not answer.

So this evening I was sitting at the computer crying and reading an article about the terrible tragedy that occurred in Connecticut today. My 10 year old asks me if I am alright. She sits down beside me and I tell her about what happened. She breaths deep. Her first question is "Was this in the United States?" I tell her that it was. Her next question is "Why do these sort of things happen so much in the United States?". All I can say is, "I just don't know." We talk a bit more about it and then she just sits there beside me as I read more of the article. I know she is thinking, I can feel it. She breaks the silence with another question "Mom, what would make a person so mad to do something so awful? I mean, to your own mom? I couldn't imagine being that mad to shoot somebody, especially you, you are the best person in the world." By now she is crying and so am I. I just shake my head and say " I don't know sweetheart, I can't imagine it either." It's her next question that has kept me thinking long after the conversation has ended and she is off in bed sleeping peacefully(I hope). "Mom, if stuff like this happens in real life, why do they make shows about it?" What a good question! I tell her so and then add that I guess some people find watching crime shows entertaining. "But, why would somebody read this and say how awful it is and then go downstairs, or to a movie and watch it in a show for entertainment? That just doesn't make sense!" She's right of course, it doesn't make sense. I tell her that I have no good answers, I wish that I did, but I just don't. At this point, James comes in the room with a terrible stench, and I need to do something about it before we all pass out. And so that is the end of our conversation, but not the end of my thinking.

I used to watch crime shows often, I loved them. I've read my fair share of crime books too. Why? Why did I find them entertaining. The suspense? The terror? What was it about them that kept bringing me back to them? It's been a number of months since the last time I watched any type of crime show, I stopped watching them sometime around the time I wrote this post. I've completely lost my appetite for them. I honestly can't think of any good reason for why I ever felt the need to watch them. Not that I think you are bad if you enjoy that sort of thing, but what is it about them that makes them appealing and entertaining? Seriously, I am asking. What do you think it is? Why do we as a society become appalled and saddened when such things happen in real life, but seem to be unfazed by it when we watch or read it for "entertainment"?

Ick!

Yesterday, my husband was sick. He called in sick to work, for which he still gets paid.  Today I wake up sick. But who do I call in sick too? nobody. I must still get up and feed the kids breakfast, send two of them off to school and then some how entertain the two younger ones. Oh yes, and lets not forget that I am 7 months pregnant and today every kick is one of discomfort, every baby movement causes or increases the nausea.  This afternoon is the town's Christmas craft fair that the kids have been looking forward to and I have promised to take them to it. That should be fun. Oh the life of a mom.

My SIL shared this with me, all moms should go read this post. It made me laugh on this sick icky day.

Take Time to Remember

Today we braved the crazy snow and traveled the two blocks up to the school for the Remembrance day ceremony. In order to get the van out I had to first brush off two feet of snow from the front end, then shovel all of that snow plus the snow that had drifted in around the van just so we could get into the van. But it was all worth it.

As we stood to sing the national anthem, the actions of a soldier caught my eye. It wasn't anything new, I've seen it done before, by this exact soldier in fact. He is one of Milk River's own, a young man in his early 20's who serves in the RCA. Today he was the only one of his kind, and we only had one veteran, the weather wasn't cooperating I guess. Anyways, as we stood to sing, this soldier stood briskly, pivoted to face the flag then stood at attention and saluted the flag. I could see every muscle in his body was taut as he stood frozen in time. Today, this struck a cord and I was too emotional to even attempt to sing. What a gift, to have such young men serving our country today.

Kathryn was asked to recite the famous poem "In Flanders Fields". She came home so excited. We sat down and read through it discussing what each line meant and how she could say it with the feeling. She wrote notes on her copy. I expressed to her that this was a great responsibility that she had been given, that this poem was very important to a lot of people. I encouraged her to try to memorize it. In a matter of a day or two she had it memorized and was practicing trying to say it not too fast and with just the right emotion. I think she did amazing.

Italian Wedding Soup Revisited

So with the cool weather, I decided that soup was in order for dinner tonight. So I looked up the recipe that I had posted a while back on my Sew Me More Blog. Since then however I have seen other recipes floating around, so I took a look at those too and decided that mine needed a little revamping. So I thought I'd share with you the changes I made.


Mandy's Italian wedding soup revised

This picture is from the original recipe, it still looks like this.

8 cups chicken broth
1 onion, finely chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
2 cups finely shredded spinach
1 cup chopped carrots
2 cloves garlic minced or pressed
1 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2tsp ground sage
1 tbsp olive oil
1 cup small noodles (like alphabets or orzo)
10 breakfast sausages(because they are faster than making your own, but one day I'll make my own)
Fresh grated Parmesan cheese

Heat olive oil in stock pot. Add onions, thyme and sage and saute until onions are tender, add the carrots, celery and garlic. Let cook for 3-4 minutes. Remove from pan. Remove casing form sausages, break each sausage into about 5 or 6 pieces and shape into meatballs. Fry in stock pot, when almost cooked all the way through, remove from pan and drain on paper towel. Bring chicken broth, vegetables and sausages to a boil. Add spinach and noodles. Return to a boil and boil for about 10 minutes or until noodles are at desired doneness. Dish into bowls and top with fresh Parmesan cheese. Enjoy the yumminess!

Keep in mind that they only thing that I actually measured here was the chicken broth, which I started out with 6 cups, but then added about another two after I had added everything else.

I really enjoyed this new version. If you want a simpler soup, you could always go with my original version found here.

The hearts of the children will turn to their fathers

This summer we attended the Grant and Ellen Paxman family reunion out at my grand parents farm. Grandpa died in 1996 after a long and painful battle with skin cancer. He was 72yrs old. Too young in my opinion to be taken from us. My children have never know their great grandfather, not in this life at least. I've told them stories before, especially when we visit the farm. But this summer I really wanted them to get to know the man of my childhood. The Grandpa as I remember him. So I searched my mom and dad's photos to find pictures that would help me tell the story, to give them a face to go with my memories. Before heading to the farm, we stopped at the cemetery in Glenwood, Alberta; where grandpa is buried. We pulled out a blanket and sat in the hot sun and told them my stories, hoping that they could learn to know him and love him like I did.

Today, Kathryn came home with this stuck to her shirt. It made me tear up, in fact every time I look at it I begin to cry again. She never met him, never knew him here on the earth, and yet she runs for him. I may have succeeded in my task.

There is life.

I'm sitting here grinning and afraid to move. I've noticed the past couple of days that I can feel the baby moving. Right now, baby is doing a bit of a dance. I've always loved that feeling. What a joy to feel that precious life I carry inside. Now it is starting to feel like this is really happening and making the long hard summer of ickiness and headaches all worth it. I think I'll just sit here and enjoy the feeling of movement until it stops, the wedding dress I'm supposed to be working on will just have to wait.

A perfect day for a party

For her birthday this year, Kathryn requested that we do a family picnic at Writing On Stone. So we invited all the aunts and uncles and cousins to join us for a party in the park on Saturday. We couldn't have asked for a more perfect day! It was +28C and not a breath of wind! Hello folks, this is southern Alberta we are talking about...not even a breath of wind? Unheard of. And seriously folks, it's the 22 of SEPTEMBER.

The Birthday Girl. What? She's 10?

The Birthday Cake

I had to steal this from my dad's FB because my camera was acting up.

 There wasn't a thing to complain about. It did get a little hot hopping around in the Hoodoos but that didn't stop the kids.

 To combat the heat, we headed down to the river and played at the beach, who needs swimsuits? Not us.

I stole this from my sil's blog, because I was lame and didn't get a pic of the cousins altogether.

 We played and played until the sun started to go down.

 It was indeed the perfect day.