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Category Archives: Family

Mommy Musing Monday – Fruzzins

Posted on Posted in 2013, Baby, Family, Miranda, Musing Monday, Ontario, Parenting, Tourette Syndrome, TSFC .

Last week Matt and I attended the Tourette Syndrome Foundation of Canada’s national conference on TS+. We had a great time and gained lots of knowledge, bought some helpful books, and made some knew friends.

While we were there, Missy Moo stayed with her grandparents who are in Barrie. Nana M and Grandpa were thrilled to have her for a three-day sleepover. Three whole days with her on their own without Mommy and Daddy around. They were pretty excited about it and it gave us a chance to really dive into the conference and even get a couple nights of uninterrupted sleep!

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#ThrowbackThursday – Family Matters

Posted on Posted in 2013, Family, Nostalgic, Throwback Thursday .

On Sunday, my cousin Megan is getting married. We’re all pretty excited because on my mom’s side of the family, there are only six “kids/grandchildren” amongst my mom and her two sisters. My grandparents are very proud of all of us and seeing a granddaughter get married is definitely on the list of proud moments for a grandparent.

I didn’t realize it until today, but the last time we were all at a wedding was mine six years ago! I also realize that I don’t have a photo with my cousins from my wedding, but I am happy to say that we started taking a group photo with my grandparents the following year at Christmas (and I’ll share that some other day perhaps).

I think we're celebrating Nanny's birthday. L-R: Me, Nanny, Laura, Adam, Steven, Megan. Standing in the back: Keith.

I think we’re celebrating Nanny’s birthday in 1989.
L-R: Me, Nanny, Laura, Adam, Steven, and Megan. Standing in the back: Keith.

Growing up, the six of us were primarily in the St. John’s surrounding area and therefore saw each other on a regular basis (and very frequently in the spring when we have a lot of birthdays in the span of about three weeks… I’m not one to get tired of birthday cake but you probably would have if you were hanging out with us back then since everyone usually had their own cake!

Yes, we’re all growing up and because I’m the second eldest of the cousins (my brother being the most senior), I’m really feeling that my years are starting to stack up. My little cousins aren’t so little anymore. It’s really quite shocking at times. But I’m really proud of them all.

 

Unfortunately not all of us will be here for the wedding on Sunday, but it doesn’t mean we won’t all be together in spirit.

That’s how our family rolls – no matter where you are or how far away it may seem, you’re still with us during the important times and we’re always thinking of you. :)

Mommy Musing Monday – Family Selfies

Posted on Posted in 2013, Baby, Family, Holidays, Miranda, Musing Monday, Parenting, Photography .

I mentioned in a recent #ThrowbackThursday and I want to make sure we have lots of family photos for Missy Moo to see when she’s older. I can easily admit that it’s not always easy to accomplish quickly!

On Wednesday we attended the Royal St. John’s Regatta, the oldest continuous sporting event in North America. It’s a holiday that is weather dependent and will shut down businesses in St. John’s based on the judgement call of the Regatta’s organizing committee (which consists of volunteers no less).

It’s definitely a unique situation to say the least. You can wake up on Regatta Day and even if there isn’t a cloud in the sky, if it’s very windy, that’s not going to work for the rowing races, so the committee will have to delay it until the next day (again weather permitting). You could also wake up to a morning with lots of overcast and light rain, but if the winds are good and the rest of the day’s forecast seems ideal, then the city will likely shut down for the day.

Anyway, since this was the first Regatta for little miss, we wanted to make sure a few photos were taken. I attempted to take some selfies of Matt, Missy Moo and I and there were mixed results. I imagine that little miss had some interesting thoughts going on in her head as we tried to have her cooperate.

Here’s what happened…

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#Throwback Thursday – Family Photos

Posted on Posted in 2013, Family, Nostalgic, Parenting, Photography, Throwback Thursday .

Family photos. They’re something I’ve always enjoyed looking at. My parents have some old albums and I’m able to see lots of great things from before I was born, to events I remember when I was little.

MM's family

Matt with his parents and sister

 

It’s funny because both Matt and I have seen lots of childhood photos from our families (especially when we were tracking down photos for our wedding slideshow). But one thing we both found is that there aren’t a lot of photos where all four of our immediate family members are in the same photo.

I feel like things have gotten worse now with the advances of technology. Often times, both parents will now have a smartphone and it’s easy for one to say, “Hey, take a photo” or they take the initiative and snap a photo of their child/children which may also include a mom or dad in the photo. Continue reading →

#ThrowbackThursday – Swimming swimming in my giant pool

Posted on Posted in 2013, Bull Pond, Family, NL, Nostalgic, Throwback Thursday .

OK, so maybe the title of this post isn’t completely accurate. Technically I’m not referring to an actual swimming pool.

Yes, I did have one of those kiddie pools that had the bendy sides and it was so much fun!!!! But the pool I’m writing about today is actually a pond and for you mainlanders, you can go ahead and call it a lake.

Virginia & Muffiin

Mom and I with my dog Muffin. Not sure of the year, but given our closes, the 90’s more than likely!

One of my favourite places on the planet is our summer home at Bull Pond and I’ve written about it before. With this summer already getting fairly hot, I’ve been able to enjoy some nice swims and look forward to lots more.

Our dog, Muffin wasn’t an amazing swimmer, but she would often get in the water. It was mainly to bark at anyone swimming because she was worried that we were in danger. And every now and then when barking her face of while on the wharf, she would accidentally get bumped and fall into the water. Luckily it was fairly shallow and her natural instinct to swim would then kick in. It was pretty funny to see and you’d year “Bark, bark, bark” then a splash and someone saying, “Oh geez, Muffin just fell in!”

Growing up I didn’t always want to spend my weekend at Bull Pond, but once there I was usually happy. Even on weekends when it rained and rained and rained, I enjoyed playing cards with my mom and Nanny Sturge; I even went fishing on our wharf in the pouring rain a few times with Grandma Radford or out in the boat with Poppy Sturge. These are all memories that I cherish and am grateful to have.

I’m really looking forward to helping Miranda to make some great memories up there as well. In fact, she’s already been swimming… well not really, but she was in water while at Bull Pond, so that sort of counts, right? More about that on Monday!