WPC – Dinnertime

Posted on April 17, 2016 by Mama Cormier

….our granddaughter’s first BBQ dinner at our place

Today was a glorious sunny warm day. When our daughter said she was dropping off the dog for a few hours and then would be back around suppertime we decided to have dinner together. We spent the afternoon pulling out the garden furniture and cleaning it up. I went shopping for food and my husband prepared the charcoal fire and the food to go on it. I set the table and prepared the salad. By the time dinner was ready the temperature dropped a bit so we put on our sweaters and enjoyed our first outdoor meal this spring.

For more dinnertime photos check out WPC site.

Seven Day Nature Challenge – Day 5

Posted on April 17, 2016 by Mama Cormier

….the lovely Becca Givens from On Dragonfly Wings With Buttercup Tea invited me to join the Seven Day Nature Challenge

On day 5 I’m inviting anyone who likes to take nature photos to join the challenge. Today’s photo was taken late yesterday afternoon when the sun was low in the sky, bathing everything in it’s beautiful golden light. Also high in the sky the moon was making an early appearance.

Sunday Trees – 231

Posted on April 17, 2016 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Becca Givens for hosting Sunday Trees

I love how the late afternoon sun casts a perfect shadow onto the building.

Grade 3s Embrace Britto’s Bold Colours

Posted on April 16, 2016 by Mama Cormier

….Romero Britto is a Brazilian born artist based in Florida

Romero Britto is a well known pop artist whose work appears in posters, t-shirts, mugs and ceramic ware. I first came across his work last year when Second Cup commissioned him to create a line of coffee mugs and other dishes for their coffee shops. He uses very vibrant colours and bold lines. Today I would like to share some of the work that my grade three class did that was inspired by Britto’s style. After finishing this piece I photographed and printed their work and mounted the photos on blank cards that the class could send to their pen pals.

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The following photos are courtesy of http://www.britto.com/images/homepage/OpeningBackground.jpg

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Seven Day Nature Challenge – Day 4

Posted on April 16, 2016 by Mama Cormier

Becca Given over at On Dragonfly Wings With Buttercup Tea has invited me to join her in the Seven Day Nature Challenge. For seven days you are requested to post a photograph taken in nature and invite another blogger to join the challenge. Getting people to accept the challenge has been a challenge in itself so I’m putting it out there to anyone who wants to participate. I know that a lot of you take amazing nature photographs but I also appreciate that many of you are already involved in other challenges and are just plain busy in your everyday lives. Any takers? If you’re interested just go for it and let me know.

Seven Day Nature Challenge – Day 3

Posted on April 14, 2016 by Mama Cormier

Becca Givens from On Butterfly Wings with Buttercup Tea has invited me to join the Seven Day Nature Challenge. Here is my Day 3 entry. If anyone would like to join the challenge let me know and I will include you in the challenge. Today I would like to invite Derrick J. Knight to join the fun. I’ve only recently started following Derrick but he seems to be an avid gardener and he’s been blogging almost as long as I have.

Seven Day Nature Challenge – Day 2

Posted on April 13, 2016 by Mama Cormier

The lovely Becca Givens from On Dragonfly Wings With Buttercup Tea has invited me to join the Seven Day Nature Challenge. Every day I will post a photo taken from nature and invite a new person to participate in the challenge.

On day 2 I’m asking Joanne over at My Life Lived Full to join the Seven Day Nature Challenge. She’s travelled far and taken some wonderful photos. I’m hoping she’ll share some of her nature photos in this challenge.

Seven Day Nature Challenge – Day 1

Posted on April 12, 2016 by Mama Cormier

….thank you Becca for inviting me to this challenge

Becca Givens from On Dragonfly Wings With Buttercup Tea has invited me to join the Seven Day Nature Challenge. I was first drawn to Becca’s blog when I saw her beautiful Sunday Trees and I’ve posted pictures of trees every Sunday since that day. For the next seven days I will post a photo taken from nature and ask a different person each day to join the challenge.

I’m hoping that Jodi from Life in Between will accept the challenge. She a lady of many talents, including art, cooking, poetry and photography.

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Four Years and Still Going Strong

Posted on April 10, 2016 by Mama Cormier

….yesterday was my 4th anniversary with WordPress

If I didn’t check my notifications side bar today I would have missed it.

4 Year Anniversary Achievement
Happy Anniversary with WordPress.com!
You registered on WordPress.com 4 years ago.
Thanks for flying with us. Keep up the good blogging.

It’s hard to believe that four years ago I started this blog to help me lose weight and get healthy. Four years later I’m still trying to lose weight but I’m healthier than I was then. I’m thankful that I didn’t gain back all the weight that I had lost (32 pounds) but it was getting painfully close when I finally started back on my weight loss journey. So far it’s been easier because my husband is doing it with me. I’m down 10 pounds and my husband is down 11.

My blog quickly morphed into a eclectic mix of photography, art, memories, recipes, teaching moments and my life experiences with my friends and family. I’ve met more than 1000 people who now follow me. I’m sure some have fallen by the wayside but many have stuck with me and comment regularly. For that I am truly grateful.

In the last four years you’ve seen me and my family change, grow and experience the ups and downs of life. I ran my first 5k, lost 32 pounds, turned the big 60, stood by my husband as he battled one illness after another requiring 4 separate surgeries and then I shared my son’s accident with you just last December when he needed surgery. I also shared with you my aunt’s prolonged stay in the hospital before she passed and how my 89 year old father fell, not once but twice, but lived to talk about it. I’ve spent way too much time in the hospital.

Not all hospital visits were for sick people. Last October I became a grandmother for the first time. That was the best hospital visit ever. IMG_2885-2

When I started this blog only my youngest daughter was married. Since then our oldest daughter got married a couple of months ago and our son is getting married this summer. Needless to say it’s been and continues to be a busy year.

Taken two year Christmases ago when they first got engaged.

I’m still teaching. I thought this blog might help me prepare for retirement but I loved my work and my colleagues too much to even consider it. Now, I can say for certain that retirement is just around the corner and I look forward to my last year of teaching starting next September.

I’ve really enjoyed sharing my students’ art work on this blog and they love knowing that people really like what they’ve done and that they make comments about their work. I can always tell when my viewing numbers are really high that my students have found their way to my site.

One of the things that I’ve grown passionate about is photography since I’ve started this blog. I participate in a number of photography challenges and I take my camera everywhere I go. I’ve enjoyed sharing photos of our cottage and the beautiful parks in our neighbourhood and photos I’ve taken on our vacations.

Before I close I’d like to thank all of you who follow me and all those who pop by once in awhile for giving me a purpose to write. Knowing that people read my words and look at my photography gives me incentive to continue with this blog. Here’s to the next four years!

Cheers!