Why I Like Singing in the Choir

A number of years ago I wrote a post about why I go to church and I'm updating that today as I joined the choir a couple of years ago. 

The music at our church is one of the draws for people and I love being about to contribute to that. 

And that goes for me too. I am not someone who reads the Bible all the time, although I am familiar with much of it and even took a class in university called "The Making of the English Bible", but it is mostly the hymns that I connect with. The music contributes to the message and can be very moving.

I love that we are singing songs that people have sung for years.  Sometimes we have new hymns and anthems, or old hymns with new words, but occasionally we will do one of the old ones and I feel connected to choirs and congregations of years past that gathered to sing those same words. 

And in particular, my own family would have sung those words. My grandfather and mother both sang in church choirs and would have sung their parts to those hymns. When I hear the lower parts of the song it's like my Papa Doug is there with me. 

I like being able to read music and hit the right notes. Many of our anthems are new to me and take some practice, but it is satisfying to perform it and get it right (or most of it right anyway!).

It's nice to have my own hobby, not that skiing and golf (and watching baseball) aren't great ways to spend my time, but going to choir is something I for myself and that's a good thing. 

Friday Favourites

 

Happy Friday! 

We had a rainy week, April showers bring May flowers, right? Our May is set to be blooming then!

I met a friend for Happy Hour drinks at The Frederick. I really should do this more often. 

E likes to take photos of me while I'm unaware, but at least he's in the photo too, so I'll take it :)

I do not typically meal prep anything, but I had bought a large package of ground beef so I made it all into meatballs. I used some for our dinner one night but still have a good size bag in in the freezer. 

The Blue Jays have been hard to watch lately with many players on the Injury List and just not being able to put many wins together.  I'm glad it's the beginning of the season so people have time to get healthy and come back strong in the next few weeks. But we love this team no matter what. 

But speaking of Toronto teams (not talking to you Maple Leafs), our beloved Raptors are in the playoffs this year starting Saturday. We didn't get to go to any games this year but we will be watching them take on Cleveland. Good group of guys on this team and will be exciting to watch. 

Hope you have a good weekend!

Linking up with Andrea and Erika.

Weekend Recap

Q had biked to school on Friday so he brought some friends home with him and they played around in the backyard (and then inevitably came inside to play on the PS5), but then he biked his friends home when it was time to go so lots of outdoor time was still achieved. 

(You can see where we have cleaned half of the back steps with the new power washer. We will do the rest but wanted to see the difference first.)

I walked up the street at the end of the day to get a few things for dinner - roast beef sandwiches on ciabatta buns with some new mustard, some produce, wine, and new library books.  Meanwhile we were also watching the Masters.

On Saturday morning we drove downtown to meet Dave’s aunt for lunch. We passed the Art Gallery of Ontario, this statue is made out of leather couches apparently. 

Found a cool playground.

And this steeple.

We went to Fox On John. 

Nice to see Aunt Isabel. 

In the afternoon I decided to empty out Q’s closet and bookshelf and sort through everything.  It took longer than I wanted, but I was successful. I kept a bunch of good picture books even though we aren’t reading those often anymore, and then put the books that Q reads on his own on the shelves, instead of where they were, stacked up in big piles on the top. 

I went to church that morning and then we went downtown for the Blue Jays game with Q’s rep team from last year. It was fun to hang out with the kids and parents (because the game wasn’t great for the Jays). 

I chose this beer because I love marketing. 

E and V have been playing together for 3 years, but will be on different house league teams this year. Hoping to get on the rep team so we get to keep hanging out at the ball field. 

It was Jr. Jays Sunday so we stayed for the kids to run the bases. The cut off is 14 years so this was probably E’s last time. 

We got home to watch Rory’s second nine at the Masters (recorded) and loved seeing him win. 

Sharing Our Lives - Cleaning Products

 

Happy Monday! I am linking up with the Sharing Our Lives crew for April's topic - favourite cleaning supplies.

Lysol Wipes - when I don’t have the time or energy for a deep clean, a Lysol wipe comes in handy for a quick wipe down of a bathroom sink, frequently touched surfaces like doors and light switches, toilets (and the floor around them #boymom), and countertops. They also work to clean up a dirty shoe in a pinch.

Scrubbing Bubbles Toilet Wand - I have never liked a permanent toilet brush because I don’t want to store it anywhere and it always seems to just be there hosting germs. The scrubbing bubbles toilet wand works well because you can flush the cleaning pads when you’re done and the wand itself is easily rinsed off and small to store with the other cleaning supplies. I sometimes have issues finding them in our local grocery store so I’ve turned to Amazon (I’m late to the Amazon party, wait…they have everything?!). 

Dyson Stick Vacuum - I have extolled the virtues of a Dyson vacuum for years and believe it is the superior product, then we bought their stick vacuum version and love it even more. It's cordless, easy to change attachments, and has different settings. I would recommend this to anyone looking for a new vacuum. 

Scrub Daddy Sponge - Not only is this sponge tough for pots and pans but I also love that it doesn't soak up too much soap. I know that's a strange requirement for a sponge, but I was using a different one this week and I didn't like it. 

Powdered Tide - You should follow @GoCleanCo on Instagram if you aren't already.  Sarah is from Calgary and owns a cleaning company and it really took off during the pandemic. She got me into using powdered Tide for my laundry, but also for cleaning shoes, walls, and other surfaces with it. 

Linking up with  Adrienne, Dara, Jen, and Joanne.  

Friday Favourites

It is sort of like a short week since the kids didn't have school on Monday. I posted about our Easter weekend here.

At the end of the day on Tuesday I laid on the couch for a few minutes and enjoyed the sunlight. 

I accomplished a few things this week, and although were not captured by photos, deserve mention:

- Cut Q's hair - I'm not a barber but at least he can see now :)

- Submitted our taxes - Also not an accountant, but our taxes are pretty simple, now just need to wait for our refund. 

- Got Q started on his online reading program - one day at a time, getting his reading minutes in.

It's Masters weekend! We enjoy watching golf but there is something extra sentimental about the Masters. Good to see Rory on top after the first round. 

Good to see the Blue Jays win a game and stop their losing streak. It's been a tough start for them with so many injuries. We are going to the game on Sunday so I hope it's a good one.

Linking up with Andrea and Erika.

Let's Look - Hardest Things We Have Done

 

Linking up with Shay and Erika for Let's Look.  Today we are talking about hardest things we have ever done. 

The first thing that came to mind was our hike on the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu.  The hike itself wasn't that bad, and our group moved at a good pace. I think this is the day that I found to be the most challenging. It was foggy, damp, and we were at our highest altitude that day. I remember feeling very tired and cold when we got to camp but eventually got comfortable by changing all of my clothes and joining the group in the dining tent for popcorn and tea. 

I ran two half marathons before our kids were born, but it was two 10K races that I found more difficult because at the time I had very low iron (and didn't realize it) and I remember really struggling to finish. 

I have had two children via c-section and although those were difficult, and required some good time to recover, it was another abdominal surgery that was worse. I had fibroids for many years (refer to low iron above) and I had a myomectomy to remove them, I think in 2013 or 2014, and I had lost a lot of blood and it felt like it took me longer to recover from that than my c-sections. 

Learning to breastfeed. Moms who did that, you know what I'm talking about. Feeding every two hours, feeding E with a little cup because he wouldn't latch, pumping, cleaning everything, and starting all over again. He got jaundice and we had to go back to the hospital for a night and I remember feeling like a failure, but we didn't give up and eventually he was eating very well and was a healthy baby. I remember the Jamaican nurse at the breastfeeding clinic who reassured me that I was doing just fine. And all that work paid off because when Q was born we had no problems getting him fed. 

Working from home during COVID with two kids in online school. Again, if you were a parent with small kids at this time, you remember. There was just so much to balance day to day, and it went on for so long. Americans may not have had the same experience, but here in Ontario we were in and out of lockdown for about two years. We had so many rule changes in terms of being in person with people, school attendance, masks, vaccine "passports", travel, testing, and quarantine periods. As I'm thinking back, I still cannot believe all of the things, but yes, it fits into the category of hard things I've done. 

Weekend Recap

Hope you had a good weekend, we did. I love Easter and although we were busy we were able to find some time to relax.

I know spring is here although I would like temperatures a bit warmer!  These little mice are a new addition that I picked up at Simons. 

I went to Good Friday service, which was very meaningful and our choir anthems were a success. When I got back the boys had been doing some yard work and then the boys had some friends stop by to go for a bike ride.  They looked for a geocache and then picked up some lunch.

Meanwhile I made a cherry pie.  It looks good but I didn't think it was my best. 

That afternoon we went to see Project Hail Mary, which was very good, and we picked up some fish and chips from the golf club for our Good Friday dinner. 

It was chilly on Saturday but Q and I ventured out for the neighbourhood Easter scavenger hunt, while Dave and E went to Home Depot for lawn supplies. 

We visited the local businesses for a egg and to fill out the scavenger hunt answers.

It started pouring at one point but the errands at Meaty Eats, Bulk Barn, and Booster Juice corresponded with most of the rain so we stayed pretty dry.  Then when we were ready to move on the rain had stopped.

After we got back the boys went to the golf club to hit balls at the simulator and I made a coconut cream pie.

We had people coming over for dinner.

Instead of an actual Easter tree I just added a few eggs to our fake tree in the corner, and that worked out well for us this year.

Our Easter dinner table :)

We had ribs and salad, the ribs were delicious. 

The Easter Bunny found us on Sunday morning. 

Hunting for eggs.

And enjoying them.

My breakfast - hot cross bun, fruit, and a (few) chocolate egg.

We all went to church and then we went to the golf club for brunch. 

Since we were stuffed from brunch (and dinner the night before if I'm being honest), we chilled out for the afternoon.

The boys didn't have school on Monday but I was working. I sat with Q for a little bit of time while he painted some plastic eggs. 

And we played Mobi, the math version of Bananagrams. 

E was at the food bank volunteering with a couple of friends.