Turns out we might not be pow wow people

Today we packed ourselves up and headed off to a pow wow.  For those of you who have never been to one before pow wows are L.O.U.D when the singers and drummers are going at it.

You might say to yourself "why would that crazy woman take her brood, a number of whom are sound sensitive, to an environment that is surely going to lead to nothing good?"  My response to that is every where we go it is a crap shoot as to who is going to be able to keep themselves together and have a good time and who is going to totally loose their mind.  The pow wow was no different.  Some of my sound sensitive kids did great.  One performed as was expected (let's just say it was lucky it was loud so the majority could not hear her wails and words....).  The others either had a fantastic time or were noncommittal in their responses.

It ended up with us only staying for the main entry where all the dancers enter in sequence.  It is an awesome sight that fills all the senses.  For the time we were there, I will speak for myself here, was well worth the effort.

I'll let you all decide what camp the child was in...pro pow wow or against

tries to have a good time no matter where she is

faking a smile for the camera

Can you tell he loves it?

Littlest girl still not wanting to have anything to do with it

Loved loved LOVED it

the teen....maybe notsomuch a fan after a late sleepover

Everybody loves a baby!

Every baby

 Every baby should be welcomed into the world with as much grand hoopla as the new Baby King.  Every baby should be so wanted and so celebrated.

You can bet your big bippy that should I ever be so lucky as to adopt a new baby again there will indeed be a sixty one gun salute to hail the child's arrival.  It will be the grandest salute that 61 cap guns can give to be sure.  There will be bells a ringing for hours on end as well.  They might not originate from the church rooftop but these kids of mine can play some mean jingle bells.  They surely can.

Sigh....  If only....

EVAH

To my most dearest daughter.  I love you.

  I love you beyond compare.  

My love for you comes from the deepest part of my soul.  

You are everything and more.

I am honoured to be your mother.

There is not a day that I am not grateful I was chosen to be your mother.

I need you to hear those words and feel all that they mean.

I need you to because I am now going to tell you that I would be more than happy to never, ever EVAH take you shopping again. 

EVAH.

All my love always.

Mommy

Cold and gloomy day

It is a cold and gloomy day.  Feels more like Autumn than the middle of summer.

Cold and gloomy days encourage emotions of sadness, anger, bitterness.  Everything grief is supposed to be comes out in full force.  Truth be told no matter how many months and now over two years that have gone by those feelings are always just below the surface waiting for just the right trigger to rear their ugly heads.

It doesn't matter during these times the gratitude that resides within me that I was able to experience all that she was and all she brought to our lives.  It doesn't matter that I always knew her time would be short and she had far more years than any predicted.

I have gratitude...logically.  I feel the blessings....logically.

Today and many days I am not logical.

Muuuum!

My mother was over the other night.

She stated the house felt cool.

I complained that I thought the air conditioning was broken.

She said maybe I am having hot flashes.

Senile old bat!

(for the record it was the a/c, I fixed it myself and now I'm as cool as a cucumber.  Hot flashes my a#$!)

"What's wrong with him?"

 "What's WRONG with him?" says the pretty little girl at the park in reference to my boy.
I put on my public education hat and say to the about five or six year old "Nothing is wrong with him.  He is just a bit different than you".
The child and her friend look skeptical and dare I say the one asking the questions had an offensive tone about her as she asked what are usually innocent questions.
"His legs are not able to walk" I continue.
"Well he looks weird.  He keeps making that noise".  She was referring to the vocalizing my boy does when new folks are around and he wants to engage.  It involves a bit of tongue thrusting. a small sort of growling and humming sound.
"He saw that you were here and he is happy about that and he wants you to know that".


There was no talking to this kid.  Her mind was made up.  My boy was different and weird and that was the end of it.  She grabbed her friends hand, barked "let's go" and they did.

I have to say I was a bit taken aback with this kid and her words.  I have answered many a question in my day about my kids and enjoy the opportunity to teach the younger ones and hopefully instill some acceptance and encourage a sense of inclusion.  I don't mind the queries if they are made with an open mind and heart.   I welcome them in fact. This kid however had mean girl written all over her.  I have never in raising thirteen kids with unique qualities met a little person so full of disdain and an unwillingness to accept difference.  How sad for her and how sad for those she will eventually come into contact with as she grows.  Here's hoping she develops a more softened heart.

In the meantime however I drop kicked the made for cheerleader uniform little darling across the water park.  In my head of course.

Helpers

As I had mentioned before our city has been in a State of Emergency due to flooding.  There were areas in particular that were hit really hard as in water up to the main floor.  Our downtown core was under water.  It has been a surreal time with all the images being posted.  

Luckily we were completely unaffected and in fact you can see in these pictures which was two days after we are dry.

Help was needed by so many.  There has been great destruction but luckily for the major event that it was the loss of life was very low in number.  This fact however is not a comfort to those that did lose lost ones and we will remember them whenever thinking of these times.

I am a firm believer in the 'village' whether it is in raising children or in taking care of each other as a whole.  When our neighbours are in trouble was are all in trouble and if we can help we should.  Not only is this a lesson I want to instill in my children that I will eventually turn out into the world but it is also an opportunity for those of my children who many consider to be a burden to contribute to the best of their abilities.  It allows them the dignity of being considered worthy of a responsibility and the positive reinforcement that comes with that.  It also is an illustration to the general community that everyone has worth and want to be included as part of a solution.  It matters little to me that some of my kids have what we think is zero knowledge of the history making time they just lived through or that they might not know why they are moving things from one place to another etc.  Everyone can be a helper.  There is reward in that whether it be the gratitude of those on the receiving end or the accolades of your mother.

I make a lousy labourer for clean up with eleven happy or notso happy followers as the case may be but we can collect and distribute resources.  While the kids were off school and day programs due to road closures etc this is what we did.  Now that everyone is back to their regular routines it is four of my kids that are home with me each day until their summer programs begin.

notice dog is helping too...

loaded and ready to go

This giving young lady the first week was going out to one of our surrounding First Nation communities and was working 12 hour days in the evacuation centre helping to feed the masses.

Perspective

You might call this one of her many steps towards independence.

I might call it a step towards someone in this house willing to help in the kitchen.

It's all about perspective.

Happy Canada Day!

HAPPY CANADA DAY!  We won't light 146 candles but we will be thinking about them.

So very grateful for the country in which we live that offers us an immeasurable quality of life where the government in many ways takes care of its people.  We have our complaints.  We have our shortcomings but there is no where else in the world I would rather live and raise a family.

With all that has gone on in our city with the unprecedented flooding and the destruction that resulted I have never been more proud of who we are as a people.  Uncountable people, young, old it didn't matter in an undaunting spirit of we are in this together. Whether we were directly affected by the waters or not we were there to help clean up the mess, feed those needing feeding and clothing those that needed clothing.  An amazing time for us as Canadians.

I knew we were great I just don't think I knew how great.

Not as outdoorsey as his ancestry would indicate he should be

After all the messages heard from our mayor about we could not do....go to the last days of school, go out for a planned celebration dinner as we needed to keep roadways free for emergency vehicles, have water outside...the child was very happy that outdoor water restrictions were lifted midnight Sunday morning.  Don't worry Mayor we are still being water wise.  The child yells at me for washing my hands "don't forget water restrictions!"  Trust me....all of you want me washing my hands...