What Matters the Most

I have to admit that I mindfully try and live my life always trying to remember the things that matter the most.  I try and cherish every moment with Sydney and Paul, knowing that in the blink of an eye our worlds could be so different.  I am grateful on an almost daily basis for the simple pleasures of life.

And yet sometimes I need reminders just to keep me in check and bring me back to the heart of what really matters.  The past few days have been that for me.

I spent most of my day on Friday at the Emergency department with Paul as he was experiencing some pretty serious symptoms that had us all thinking he was experiencing a major health incident.  It was scary, I was worried and oh so relieved when the doctors sent us home with a clean bill of health.  Nothing like a life or death health scare to bring things back into perspective.

No sooner had I arrived home than I got news that my parents were on evacuation alert in their town where there was a massive wild fire burning mere kilometers from where they were.  I called my Mom and Dad to find that they were packed and ready to go at a moment's notice if given orders to evacuate.  The weather and conditions were looking ominous and it was entirely possible that they would be asked to leave in the middle of the night.

What a fitful night's rest I had last night lying awake in bed worrying both about Paul's health and the safety of my parents, both things which were completely out of my control.

The wildfire is contained for now, Paul is resting comfortably after a pretty normal day.  Life is perfect.  All not so gentle reminders of what really matters the most in our lives.

So appreciative of the sweet, simple pleasures today:

Wee Friendships

Sydney had her dear friend Julia over to play this past week.  These girls are such good friends and I love that they will be going to school together in the fall!

We pulled together a last minute tea party after baking cookies together, the girls were thrilled!

Garden Time

Wednesday brought rain like we haven't seen in weeks but Sydney and I braved the weather and joined a few other families in the York House garden on Wednesday morning.

We came home with a huge bounty, carrots, apples, kale and salad mix along with a cucumber!  What a lovely treat!

Plum Cobbler

Paul's sister gave us some beautiful yellow plums from her plum tree the other day and I made the most delicious plum cobbler with them.

You can taste summer in every bite!

Playground Time

Sydney and I took some time to head to one of her favourite parks this afternoon for a little play time.  We ran into our friends Laura, Faith and Felix there and had a lovely visit with them in the park.

Sunflowers

Last December when I was away in Suncadia with my Mommy friends, I bought a bottle of wine from Trader Joes, not so much for it's drinkability, but for the amazingly cool tall blue bottle that it came in.  I had a vision of using it as a vase for a single, giant stemmed sunflower come summer time.

Today that vision became reality as Syd and I sourced out both a gorgeous yellow and orange sunflower for the beautiful vase.

I absolutely love how it looks and it has found a new home in the bay window of our family room.

Garden Surprise

While Sydney and I were out for a bit this afternoon Paul was at home creating his own little surprise for Sydney.  He made her very own tree for her filled with all her treasures out of the stump of a tree we were meant to remove.  He attached her favourite pinwheel to it and tucked the rocks we painted into the branches along with her butterfly and ornaments.

Sydney was thrilled, it's her very own space in the garden made special by Daddy.  What a gift!

Savouring the small, precious things today.