Drifting over salt water, as deep and blue as my daughter’s eyes, we spend a lazy summer afternoon on the water. The basin where we currently are set is past the North Port Harbour in western P.E.I., and we find ourselves tracing the shores of the sand hills, all while traveling alongside the protected shoreline …
The moon is high over head, and the picnic table is illuminated by a citronella candle in lieu of the campfire we are without. Forest fires have been spreading across other parts of the country, and the intense outside temperatures heating the air are such tonight that even a flicker of flame caught on a …
The things we do for love. This past week, I have been more aware of how we who are parents change while we are on vacation- we become even better people than hopefully we already are. Not a real coincidence that all this happens while parents are on vacation from the real world. But, it …
A dear ‘stay-at-home mama’ friend of mine wrote her Facebook status today on ‘being present’. She briefly addressed the fact that she is with her children daily, but she is not always present with them. In this update, she vowed to be more present and ‘in the moment’ than she had failed to be in …
It has been said a thousand times over. To have the best life, to live out a life of excellence superior to the mediocre to which we so easily ascribe in the daily grind of the here and now, one must practice gratitude. Gratitude. Giving thanks for who I am, where I am, with what …
Bedtime rituals bring out my inner grizzly bear. There are always impulsive exceptions to the rule introduced by the Fearless Foursome. Exceptions that just about tilt my boat enough to sink it entirely. Nothing ever goes exactly as per routine. I roar for the majority of this most miserable of nightly moments, and then I …
I do not believe in fairy tales, and neither do I believe in happy endings. Life, as I see it, is a series of imperfections, unfortunate experiences, and hard times that follow one after the other. People talk about life being beautiful, precious and wildly exciting, but I don’t see it. I really don’t. Life …
As I pen words, it is a dreary, soaking-wet, rain-drenched evening outside my sitting room window. We are all drying ourselves out after a torrential down-pour just moments ago, occurring just as we made a run for it from the van to the front steps. This onslaught also occurring after we all had walked through …
My Jumping Jellybean settled in for the evening inside her bedroom, I lie down on the double bed that serves as center piece, for evening stories and prayers. Tonight’s Bible verse is this: “…always try to be kind to each other and to everyone else (I Thess. 5:18b).” That pretty much sums it up. At …
Happy Hour at the Gard residence is officially beginning. It is that time of the night when mama bear can let her hair down, exhale a whole lot of hot air and cut loose on the computer while the little cubs hibernate in their little dens. There are no thankfully no audible sounds coming from …
It is about a million degrees in the house right now, this summer solstice evening. I have just come downstairs for the umpteenth time, floating on heat waves as I ride the banister. The last trip was to tuck my youngest daughter in bed with throw pillows and blankets all in place along with every …
How Not to Have the Vacay of your Dreams… I have had this recurring dreaming for the past couple of weeks . The dream goes mostly like this: I am finished work and school is out for the summer. In the shade a brightly colored beach umbrella, I am relaxing poolside with my favorite book …