the SiMPLE LiFE!

"It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all."
Laura Ingalls Wilder


"It is always the simple that produces the marvelous."
-Amelia E. Barr

This picture is SIMPLY adorable!
Here is Mariah gathering sand for yet another castle...
and Beau is headed toward the water pulling the happy face beach ball on a string.
CHILDREN are real reminders of the  true SIMPLE things that make life SPECIAL!

Brian and Mariah looking for
SPECIAL STICKS, STONES and SEA SHELLS
along the Waskesiu beach!
SIMPLE...and SPECIAL!

SIMPLY SWEET as CAN BE! 

Here Mariah is pretending to snap a photo of her little stuffed pets with a flash light!
She played with this little light all weekend, and she would take a pic and then pretend to show the photo to her subjects after snapping...
SIMPLY PICTURE PERFECT! 

There is SIMPLICITY in a baby wearing footed sleepers holding a baby bottle!
Here is BEAU at the cabin in Waskesiu last weekend looking SIMPLY like a SWEET PEA! 

AHHHH... the SiMPLE LiFE!
Here are Mariah and Beau hanging out together as
 SIS and BRO in the loft of the cabin where they slept! 

Mariah having a teeter totter ride on the beach
SIMPLY having fun going up and down! 

Here are Mariah and her little buddies on the beach SIMPLY playing and having FUN! 

Coloring is a SIMPLE way to pass the time while waiting for the food to come in the restaurant!
Here is Mariah and her daddy coloring together . 

Sometimes just the SIMPLEST things bring HAPPINESS! 

OK I cannot take credit for this photo!
I only snapped a "pic of a pic" off of FACEBOOK.
Jana had an adorable photo shoot done by a photographer here in the city
named CHELSEA KLETTE.
These are not on her website yet... but possibly soon will be at
www.chelseaklettephotography.com
Her photos have a very unique artsy flair...
and well one can SIMPLY not go wrong with such cute kids as
BEAU and MARIAH as subjects!

Out for a great lunch and visit with a dance teacher friend of mine
BARB JACKMAN from Moose Jaw.
Our visit was far from SiMPLE...
we managed to talk away 3 and a half hours in the restaurant!!!
I love catching up with friends I haven't seen in a long time.
It was SIMPLY DEVINE!

"Enjoy the little things, for one day you may look back and realize they were the big things."
-Robert Brault

I have certainly had many reminders in my life lately as to why I am enjoying the
SIMPLEST THINGS.

I was once very busy at this time of year heading toward a new and busy season of school and or teaching dancing. Having lunch with a good dance teacher friend of mine the other day reminded me of how hectic but exciting this time of year is.

I am glad I "TAPPED" out of the dance teaching when I did. I truly love my simple life!
I do however CHERISH all the memories I made in my earlier chapters!

When I watch Jana and how busy she is with her kiddies it brings back so many memories of when I juggled my life for the balance between family and work. I can't believe how busy I must have been... but I wouldn't trade 
those years for anything.

I now can sit back and enjoy the SIMPLE things as I watch my two grandkids,
MARIAH and BEAU
and absorb how the SIMPLE THINGS
in life are really what life is all about!

I babysat BEAU for his first year of his life, and now he is old enough to attend daycare with his sister. I loved every minute of my bonding with BEAU over this past year. Although I may miss the days of looking after him, I will fondly cherish the many I did share with him.

Now I am ready to SIMPLIFY once again.
Give me the SIMPLE LIFE!

I have had a week of reflections on many things from complex to simple. With the loss of my dear AUNTIE FRANKIE
this past week, I have had many memories of my life growing up in and around her and other family members as well.

Yesterday I met my cousin GWEN at STARBUCKS for a latte and visit. 
We seem to be on the same page of our lives and  were comparing notes on just what thoughts and things we seemed to be going through .

Because we were born in the same year, we are definitely in the same stage of life. We were discussing lots about how it is now time to go SIMPLER!

We were sharing how we enjoyed our careers and are ready for a new chapter to begin. We are not ready to grind to a hault... but we are wanting our lives to just be a bit more about SIMPLICITY.

One of these days I do truly plan to downsize and now that my babysitting duties are nearly done with Beau on a regular basis... I think downsizing will be my next focus!

There is a saying that
"LESS IS MORE"
and I think there is something to that thought!

Tomorrow I am excited to attend the show "WICKED" with Jana. I am looking forward to the show and spending some quality one on one time with my daughter, too... because that is something I SIMPLY cherish always!

"We do not remember days,
we remember moments."
-Cesare Pavese



"The happiest people don't necessarily have the best of everything;
they just make the best of everything they have."
Author Unknown

...and here is my poem for today...

SIMPLEST THINGS!
When I stop to think what's
most important in life,
Besides being a grammie, a mom and a wife...
It really has come to the simplest things,
That makes my heart smile
with the joy that it brings.
It is time I spend with family and friends,
And the list could go on...
it just never ends.
It's filling a pail to the brim with sand...
To begin to build castles, the best in the land!
It's finding the sticks and stones on the beach,
The kind, in the city, that are far out of reach.
It's sipping my coffee from a polka dot mug,
It's knowing  I'm loved, and getting a hug.
It's often the things that are simple and pure,
Like thinking of memories,
and how things once were.
My happiness comes from inside my heart,
And from following where it goes from the start.
Less can be more... that really is true,
And as we get older, it's much truer, too.
I'm reminded that the things in my life
big and small...
When kept very SIMPLE,
are the BEST ones of all!