Happy August

A new month ~ There is something I love about turning my calendars to a new page (I have three of them for some reason). My four year old is so excited about this right now also because each time I turn a page it gets closer to her birthday month (October). Each year my mom gets me a calendar for Christmas and at the beginning of the year I go through and write people's birthdays and anniversaries. When I turn over a new page I look over each day and anticipate each person's special moment. I also love how the calendar is not full of writing yet. There isn't usually much planned at first and there is so much potential for many happy and crazy moments.
                        The first day of each month means a fresh start for me. I love fresh starts.
Usually I dont do anything special to celebrate other than just turning over the calender and feeling a secret feeling of glee. Today however we did something special as a family. We went to Duft and Co. http://www.duftandco.com/   which is a bakery/coffee shop in Abbotsford. They are located in the beautiful old part of Abbotsford so every store you walk by has something beautiful to fill your eyes with for a moment. I didn't really actually get to see inside of it except to quickly figure out what I wanted to taste because my four year old was having a melt down.She is apparently super sensitive to all smells. When she is in stores she is literally walking around holding her nose. My sister came with us so she took her outside while I figured out what I wanted then we switched places. The rest of the family chose some treats and we ate them outside on a beautiful hand carved bench. We forgot our stroller in the bakery for about ten minutes but that is how we roll. The treats were amazing. We sampled gooey cinnamon buns, fresh savory scones, an incredibly delicous savory croissant, a sort of bread pudding deliciousness and a peanut butter cookie sandwich; all of it was amazing. They make everything from scratch and use locally sourced ingredients. So every bite felt like the best treat ever.
We then went into a little clothing store full of glittering beauty to dazzle all the youngerlings eyes and I bought a purple skirt. Since none of my pants fit right now and it is so hot anyway I am wanting to add to my skirt collection. This also makes my husband happy as he was raised in a Dutch Reform setting and me wearing skirts are just good for his soul. I had told the kids I was going to pretend it was my birthday today so I felt like I was spending up a storm. But hey it was the first day of a new month. I couldn't help myself.  We then  carried on to enjoy the Farmer's market that was right beside the store I found the skirt in. I bought some kitchen towels that I can button onto the handle of my stove. Bless this kind woman for being so ingenious. I go through at least five kitchen towels a day and it is because whenever a child uses one they throw it on the ground after pulling it off the stove handle.I have no clue who has stepped on it or what exactly has happened to it so in the laundry it goes. It's those little things that make me feel like my sanity is slipping away. So taking tiny steps to keep my sanity closer at hand feels like a must these days. I was so happy buying those tea towels. I am sure the lady felt a little overwhelmed at my extreme thankfulness and happiness.
By this time everyone was starting to feel too hot and drained and everyone wanted to get home so we headed back to the van.
Last summer I was heavily pregnant at this time. I couldn't sleep at nights because I was so huge, I was exhausted, my feet and ankles were so swollen and I didn't leave my house much at all. To go out today with not just my handsome husband, and children, but my lovely sister (who is just back from some world traveling) was super special.
Happy August first to me and Happy August first to you xo

This was me last year at this time. I had about eighteen pounds hanging off the front of me in baby and amniotic fluid and placenta :) Needless to say this summer it feels nice to have the baby on the outside running around :)