Kelle

 

What a full and fun Monday Sydney and I had together today!  We went to her gymnastics class this morning which is always so much fun.  I love seeing how much more capable Syd gets every week at all of the different skills.  This week she was so much better about following along with the circuit instead of just running off and playing on her favourite pieces of equipment!

After gymnastics, we went to have lunch with some new friends that we met at art class, Mara and Alexa.  Mara and her husband just bought a new house just a few blocks from ours about six months ago and did a major renovation.  It was so fun to go over and see the beautiful new space!  They have the most beautiful backyard with a huge swimming pool in it!  Sydney was quite taken with it! 

Mara made the coolest thing for lunch for the girls called Monkey Puddles.  Basically you take a flour tortilla, spread it with peanut butter and Nutella or honey and then lay a whole banana in the middle.  Then you roll the tortilla round the banana like a burrito and then cut them into bit sized pieces like you would with a sushi roll.  It was an awesome idea and the kids thought it was so fun to participate in making them!

We had such a nice visit getting to know them better.  I love getting to know more of our neighbors, makes me feel more and more at home in our neighborhood all the time!  We will definitely be getting together with them again so that the girls can play more and Mara and I can have more time to chat!

Mara had planted a bunch of vegetable seeds and put them in her kitchen window to grow, they were doing amazingly well!  I gushed so much about them that she sent me home with the extra seeds!  I'm going to have to round up some dirt and containers and plant some with Sydney.  I'm especially excited about the pumpkin seeds, wouldn't it be great to have a pumpkin of our own by Halloween?

Today's photo of the day is meant to be 'someone who inspires me'.  I spent some time thinking about this, there are many people in my life who inspire me in one way or another.  But when I really got to thinking about it, I realized that the person that I draw the most inspiration from on a daily basis these days, is Kelle Hampton.  I've written about Kelle a couple of times before.  She and I have never met.  She is a Mommy blogger, just like me.  Her blog, Enjoying the Small Things, is my favourite one to read, hands down.

Kelle has two daughters.  Her second daughter, who is just a few months younger than Syd, was born with Down Syndrome.  Kelle has honestly and graciously shared her experience in the shock of dealing with Nella's birth on her blog and in her recently published book, Bloom.  Kelle has taken what could have been a devastating experience for most people and turned it into one of the best things that has ever happened to her in her life.  She is, in a word, amazing.

Kelle inspires me on a daily basis in finding joy around every corner even when she's having a rough day with her kids or feeling overwhelmed by life.  There have been many, many, days where I have been sitting like a limp rag at the computer at the end of my day, exhausted and drained, and have felt my spirits lifted when I've read Kelle's blog.  She inspires me to find joy everyday, really enjoy the small things in life, and to take better and more pictures of my girl!

So thank you Kelle!  Even though we have never met, you have had an incredibly positive impact on my life and who I am as a mother.  You truly are an inspiration!

**All photos of Kelle and her girls were borrowed from Google Images