what we do.....

Isn't it true that what our children see and hear especially in our homes is what they are most likely to mimic. The way we speak. The way we treat those around us. The things we do.

This simple act of cuteness was a reminder that my kids are always watching and learning. Even from each other.

{Jasmin walking around the day after my birthday calling out ' brekky mummy' and trying to get me to go back to bed!}

Creative Pursuits

"The desire to create is one of the deepest yearnings of the human soul. No matter our talents, education, backgrounds, or abilities, we each have an inherent wish to create something that did not exist before"

I don't know if this is really true for everyone. But it's definitely something that is true for me.

I just finished reading "The Remarkable Soul Of A Woman" (by Dieter F. Uchtdorf" - I know he's awesome isn't he :) and there were lots of little literary gems I was left thinking about.

"It appears that our splendid sisters sometimes undervalue their abilities - they focus on what is lacking or imperfect rather than what has been accomplished and who they really are"

Simple words I know. But they spoke to me because sometimes I procrastinate 'creative challenges' I set for myself because I'm afraid unsure of what the outcome will be. (even though i'm constantly telling my kids, If you want to be good at something. Really good. You have to "work it").

"Creation brings deep satisfaction and fulfillment. We develop ourselves and others when we take unorganized matter into our hands and mold it into something of beauty"

I love photography. Really love it. And although it may not be taking 'unorganised matter' into my hands, It is a creative outlet that brings me that feeling of 'deep satisfaction and fulfillment'. 

So after reading this book and in order to push myself a little (maybe even a lot :),  I've decided to do some sort of photographic challenge every month! Something I can learn from and maybe even something that will make me feel uncomfortable :)

So here's a little glimpse at my 'challenge' for April (Ok - this wasn't actually trying something 'technically' new or challenging......but it's been a while since I've photographed anyone other than my own kids so I'm still counting it :)

WARNING: there are a few pictures - so beware of carpal tunnel ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So here's to new creative pursuits and pushing myself out of my comfort zone :)

What's something you love doing??

And the Winner is........

drum roll..........

YAY!!! So glad you stopped by Abby (Tammy's sister Abby, not my sister)! Send us an email (castonism@hotmail.com) with your address or comment below and we'll send your book out to you!!

 

ps) Thanks to everyone that 'entered' and for all the book recommendations! We've already had one little 'book party' with our cousins and read some of the new suggestions! We LOVED them! Can't wait to check out the other ones!! 

pss) Rylan was so funny during this giveaway.....everyday he was checking the comments and making a list of all the new books suggested! cute huh! This is one of the many funny conversations we had in relation to it.......

Rylan - how does someone win the giveaway mum

Mum - well you're going to pick someone's name out of a 'hat'

Rylan - YES! then i'll definitely win.....I entered you know

Mum - (laughing) I saw that you did, but it's random so you can't see who you're picking...

Rylan - oh but i want to win (said with cheeky grin)

Mum - what would you do with a book on Motherhood anyway......

Rylan - give it to Miriam for later on....(said so matter-of-factly)...

At this point I cracked up because Miriam is his 'betrothed' and it was so funny that he didn't even miss a beat when he said it. It was like, 'isn't it obvious I would give it to my future wife'....hahahahahahaha!!

A little bit of inspiration......

Today this made me smile.......

Especially when I heard Rylan say to Zahn while it played, "that's what mum is saying to us".

Love it!


PS:  If you are the creative type, over on Power of Moms they are having a little video competition......you can check it out here

I admit I play favourites......

favourite gifts that is......

And this was DEFINITELY the thing I loved MOST that was gifted me on my birthday!! I was even lucky enough to get some similar on 'birthday eve'.

Love it! and love the thoughtfulness that is this boy!!!

Realising life

The other day I was preparing something and I came across this fantastic little 'object lesson'......

Play along with me for a second..........

Look around the room where you are and in about 30 seconds or so count as many blue things as you can SEE.

Once you've done that, close your eyes and say how many yellow things you saw in the room. (unless you have some sort of photographic memory or you are a multi-tasking genius, it would be unlikely to know the answer to that :)

Ok so the point of this little exercise......

Sometimes it is easy to focus on the things in life that are hard. Things we can't control. Things that are a little crazy. Things we are hurt by. Maybe even things we can't let go (the blue things). When this happens. When we focus only on the 'blue', it is easy to not see the beauty (the yellow things) that completely surround us.

I was recently reading an article on POWER OF MOMS (you should totally check out this site if you haven't already seen it :) and there was an essay submitted called 'Realising Life". In it the author spoke of a play called Our Town, by Thornton Wilder. 

One of the quotes she shared from it was this.....

“Oh, earth, you’re too wonderful for anybody to realize you! Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it - ever, every minute?”

As soon as I read this quote I felt impacted by it. And I vowed to myself right then in that moment that I would make sure I was realising my life, every minute. Appreciating the things I am blessed with. Noticing little things, that if I didn't look for, I might easily miss. Like how Rylan 'beams' when he accomplishes something by himself, and how much I adore the dimple that appears next to Zahn's mouth when he tries to whistle. Or when Jasmin closes her eyes when she cuddles me and rubs my back (melt my little heart :)  

As I read this article written from a woman who knows about 'life's crazyness" (she has 5 kids under 4, including 2 sets of twins - aarrrrgggghh :) I thought about how this 'realisation' of life is a choice. We can choose which 'colour' we focus on, even though both 'colours' are most likely present in our lives.

Something we often say in this house of ours is Gratitude = happiness. I really do believe this wholeheartedly. And maybe that's a big part, maybe even the key to 'realising life'. Being grateful for, and recognising all the little things. (As if I don't need a little reminder like this.....especially when if i'm a tired cranky mumma :)

So if you notice an increase in 'little things' that make me happy over the next few posts, you'll understand why. Little things that my kids will one day grow out of. Little things that will one day be gone (such a sad thought) All those things that if I don't 'realise' in the moment could be missed and forgotten forever.

Little things just like that double chin smile you see here on Jazzy's gorgeous little face!!!

Childhood

One of the things I love about school holidays is that it gives the boys (particularly Rylan) so much free time to play and just be kids.

No morning hustle and bustle. No homework. No piano lessons. Minimal piano practice (ssshhh don't tell his teacher:) and minimal 'educational tasks' set by me.......

Here is a glimpse of my biggest boy in 'some' of his school holiday glory. Having fun and doing exactly what he should be doing. Being a kid. Dirt under his fingernails from playing outside. Paint strewn across his arm and bubble blowing in the yard.

Only 1 more day until school starts and we are back in the 'full swing' of things around here!!

I must admit, it has been so nice not having to be somewhere by 9am everyday :)

Book GIVEAWAY!!

So sticking with the theme of  books we love (from the last post), I also love a GOOD parenting book. For my birthday last year I gifted myself with this one (Chad was away, so what's a girl to do. .miss out. I think not :)

This is definitely one of my FAVOURITE parenting books. I love it because it's so enjoyable and EASY to read. It's real, inspirational and offers practical and achievable ways to "Making Motherhood Magnificent" and finding joy in the little things. Even when the journey is sometimes crazy and hard! And don't we all know that Motherhood is at times both of those things :)

The truth is I want to give this book to everyone I know. That's how much I enjoyed reading it (and I am a BIG 'fan' of the Eyres and love Shawni's blog). Recently I 'acquired' a few more copies and thought it would be fun to give ONE away on this here little blog! After all this is my birth week as Chad calls it, so why not share the love (and the gifts :) right??

This will likely be my one and only 'giveaway' (which by the way Chad thinks is quite 'funny' that i'm doing, but it's my birthday so i'll CRY give one away if I want to :)  and since this post and the last one are really all about good books, why not???

  

So TO ENTER, leave a comment telling us either your favourite children's book or one of your personal favourites (for the record, Twilight doesn't count - even though we know we all love it, even if we don't admit it :)!!

Next Friday (which happens to be Chad's birthday) we'll randomly pick someone to RECEIVE the book :)

POST SCRIPT:  Just for the record (OK this is really to answer Chad's questions relating to the 'giveaway' :) the book is NEW, not my used copy, It is FREE and postage is NOT $25 as Chad suggested. there is NO postage cost.....It is a giveaway! If you (Chad) or anyone else have any other questions feel free to ask :)

Can't wait to hear your favourite books!!

Books we LOVE

We are serious book LOVERS in our house. We read everyday. Multiple times a day. I especially LOVE children's stories that have some kind of moral to them. Stories that we can talk about and learn a little something from.

Some of our current favourites (which do change regularly and are not all 'morally' based are.....

Green Eggs and Ham (read at least 4 times a week during our bedtime 'reading ritual' and great for helping Zahn try new foods that he assumes he won't like :)

Miko makes me laugh - it's a about a little mouse that wakes up early and wants to play with his mum but she wants to sleep a little bit longer (ahhh so appropriate for my current state in life :)

and then there's this one......

A cute story about appreciating that 'treasure' is not always what we think it will be!

and there's Gakky Two-Feet......

when we first got this one I thought it was going to go down the 'evolution' path but it didn't :) It's just a funny story about a monkey that's different and how he learns to accept his differences.

We call this one Stripes! Another funny book about being yourself  and not worrying about what others think (aaahhhhh to instill this message in my children :)

Then there's the Feelings books by Trace Moroney (ugh sorry about the quality of the pic - but you get the idea)

We often read the 'Angry' one when Zahn is 'about' to go into timeout or when he's just finished :)

And this one is one of my MOST favourites. EVER.....

We pretty much LOVE all of Max Lucado children's books and have been reading this one since Rylan was about 3.

If you don't have it, you should seriously go and get it. like right now. I promise it will become one of your favourites too!!

This little list of ours could probably go on forever so we'll leave it at that for now and say Happy Reading!!

PS) Rylan wanted me to add that all Pokemon, Zac Powers and Diary of a Whimpy Kid books are also on our favourites list :)!

Home

Happiness on Friday night (after 10 days of being away and being stranded in Dubai for a day or so) looked something like this.....

SO happy to be together again!!

conversations of 2 brothers......

While the boys sat together on Friday morning doing puzzles, this was the little conversation I overheard......

 

Zahn:  I can’t believe we went to the drive ins last night.....

Rylan:  Yeah they were SO AWESOME (extreme emphasis)

Zahn:  How to train a dragon was MAD (zahn’s current favourite word).

The conversation then moved on to puzzle related chit chat. 

But they were right. Our little outing was both of those things. (not the words I would use. but the same meanings none the less :)

Sitting there. Snuggled up with my 2 boys (and the ligits in the car next to us) watching the movie and munching on our snacks. 

And that's when it hit me. That feeling. One of those moments where I simply looked at my little ones and for no real reason at all I felt overwhelmed with love for them. Watching their faces dance in the light from the movie. Watching them look up at me and smile and laugh.

These are the little moments I hope I remember forever.

 

Painting Eggs.....

One of the things we love doing at Easter. Painting eggs. We attempted this last year with some friends, and although we had lots of fun.....the result wasn't exactly what I had pictured. So this year we abandoned the idea of using 'real' eggs and went for the foam type. 

It was a good decision.

serious concentration......

and after the concentration, admiring his handy work.....

Zahn making his 'trademark' rainbow egg....

Jasmin's glee when she woke up and found the table still covered in eggs and paint. This is her 'official' paint chant. It went something along the lines of "paint yay. paint yay. me paint" repeated several times as she jumped up and down on the chair (dangerous I know. but there was such excitement how could I deny her? :)

wasting no time positioning herself with her eggs and paint

and this one cracks me up - she obviously thinks that to paint, tilting your head to the side is essential.....most of the photos with her in them have her little head tipped right down to the side.....(love it)

oh the excitement of all the colours mixing together.....

and just when i think she's OK with the paint, I turn my back for about 5 seconds and then realise that maybe she's not quite ready to paint by herself :)

and finally, this is her little masterpiece. It was my favourite egg of the day (it has now been painted over a few times and the boys call it the avocado egg. Which is exactly what it looks like.

Much more successful than our attempts last year :) whoever 'invented' foam eggs for decorating. Thank you. There was no blowing. boiling or dying. just good old acrylic paint and foam. 

The eggs are now adorning our house in different spots as Jasmin carries them around strategically placing them wherever she fancies.