Spring Break In 48 Photos

My darling granddaughter Josephine.

It was a busy and highly enjoyable Spring Break.  

Our eldest daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter arrived from Boston as soon as school let out for the holidays and spent the first week with us.

My sisters and I hosted a memorial service for our mom.

And Joe and I whisked ourselves away to Puerto Vallarta to spend the second week in the sun.

It was lovely having a baby in the house.  Josephine is an easy-going baby full of smiles and cuddles. She does not make strange at all; she happily goes to anyone who wants to hold her.  And of course everyone wanted to hold her!

Here are a few photos from our time together.

 The first order of business was to introduce Josephine to the 'greats'.  Here she meets her 102 year old great-great-grandmother.

It was very special to witness Molly with her baby and great-grandmother.

Five generations spanning over a century.  Joe is looking like a pretty proud Papa!

Falling asleep on Grandma.

 Hanging out with great-grandpa for the first time.

Watching the birdies.

 This baby's feet barely touched the floor the entire time she was here.  Auntie Paige and I were in direct competition for Josephine's attention.

 Our son-in-law is a pizza lover so of course Joe fired up his outdoor oven to mark the occasion of their visit.

 A happy pizzaiolo.

Proud parents.

Happy baby.

Not only does he bake pizza in his wood-fired oven, Joe also bakes bread!

As happy as Josephine is, she is definitely not an outdoorsy gal.  She never smiled once on our walks.

Never.  Once.

We sent Jordan and Molly out for dinner to celebrate their first anniversary just so we could babysit!

Getting ready to go out for another walk.  So many smiles!

As soon as her face hit the great outdoors, her smile turned upside down.  And nothing we did made her happy.

Strolling through the moss-laden trees.

"Oh, Grandma!  How I love to bite your chinny-chin-chin."

"Oh, Grandma!  I also love to lick your face!"

Contentment.  

A walk in the rain to the duck pond.  Again, Josephine's face.  The saddest baby on the planet.

"Yay!  I'm happy now!  We're back inside."

Uncle Will getting ready to feed his niece.

Kisses for Grandma.

Our cat Daisy staking out her territory just so everyone is clear as to who is the boss.

Early morning horsie rides with Dad.

Happiness is...

Every evening, once the baby was down for the night, we'd play board games.  It felt like we were staying in a cabin or on a camping trip.

Do not get between this baby and her prunes!

So happy after sleeping for 12 hours every night!

Auntie Paige doing her part to raise a reader.

A moment with Papa.

Strapping Josephine into my vintage highchair from 1958.

Like I said, baby loves her prunes.

Meeting the resident cat for the first time.

Molly and one of her oldest and best friends had baby girls 5 days apart.

Reading aloud.  It's one of my strengths.

It's been a long time since Papa read a Dr. Suess book to anyone.

"This is how I like to read books.  With my mouth."

This is what we did all week.  Just sat around and stared at this adorable baby.

We left Josephine at home with Papa and I took the new parents up to Fergie's for brunch one morning.

The most thrilling news of the week is that Josephine learned to roll over!  She got lots of coaching on the finer techniques of the move.

At the end of the week, my sisters and I hosted 130 people for an afternoon to mark our mom's passing.  Through laughter and tears, we remembered Marg's kindness, sense of humour and love of red wine.

Great-aunt Chrissy and her birthday buddy.

Great-aunt Mary and Baby J.

Packing for Mexico!

The second week of Spring Break was spent lounging at this resort in Puerto Vallarta.  For seven glorious days we ate, we drank, we napped, we swam, and we read.

Thank you Molly, Jordan and Josephine for spending a week with us.  We know how exhausting it is travelling with a baby.  We really appreciated it.  

Thank you to everyone who attended my mom's memorial service.  It was wonderful to see so many people, especially those we hadn't seen in many years.

Thank you Joe for having the brilliant idea to fly to Mexico for a last minute vacation.  It was a perfect way to end the final Spring Break of my career.

Be An Encourager

Me and my encourager Shem.  (Photo credit: Kevin Wilson)

"Be an encourager.  The world has enough critics."

Every school year, many of my Grade One students read the daily morning announcements over the P.A. system in the office.  Afterwards, the children return to our classroom amidst cheers and claps and whoops and shouts of "Way to go!" from the rest of us.  I am always so incredibly proud of these pint-sized risk-takers.

Last year in May, as my Grade One students were clamouring for a coveted spot on the morning announcement roster, I told my students they were much braver than me.  And I let them in on a little secret.  I told them that I had never ever spoken on the P.A. system.  Not even once since becoming a teacher 37 years ago.

"Not even once?" they asked.  "Why not?"

I told them I was too scared.  That the thought of it made me nervous.  

My students looked at me with puzzled expressions on their faces.  They couldn't figure me out.  Who wouldn't want to do something that was so much fun?

I am always yammering on to my students about the benefits of having a growth mindset.  So I put my money where my mouth was.  And I made a pledge to my students.  I promised them that I would read the morning announcements before I retired in June 2017.  My plan was to wait until the end of this school year and then surprise everyone with my voice over the airwaves.  But I was even unsure if I would have the guts to do it.

A former student of mine had his own idea.

Early on Wednesday morning I was in my classroom preparing for the day's lessons when my phone rang. It was our school secretary telling me she had Shem in the office and he'd like me to read the morning announcements with him.  After some stammering and spluttering and more stammering I said, "Tell Shem I'll be right there."  I mean, seriously, how could I turn down his request?

I was so nervous.  My heart was thumping in my chest.  My hand shook as I held the paper.  I was worried I'd mispronounce words.  Thankfully I only had to read two sentences and Shem deftly handled the rest of it.

When we were done, I gave Shem the biggest hug and thanked him for encouraging me to do something I was afraid to do.  "You, a 7 year old boy, helped a 58 year old woman overcome her fear! Your encouragement means so much to me.  You gave me the push I needed.  And you didn't let me do it alone."

I will never forget what this child did for me.

His act of encouragement is a lesson for us all.

No matter what, encourage others.

The world needs you.

The morning announcements in action.  (Photo credit: Kevin Wilson)

Thanks again, Shem.

Lots of love,

Mrs. Sotham

2016 - My Year In Pictures

I am naming 2016 'The Year Of The Rollercoaster'.

It was a year of incredible highs and devastating lows for me.  It seemed to go from one extreme to the other. And back again.

It was a year of hard losses and a year of happy gains.  Thankfully the good outweighed the bad.

January - Paige suffered a debilitating injury in Vietnam, shattering her ankle and lower leg in a canyoning accident.  She flew home to multiple surgeries and a very long and painful recovery period.

March - Our eldest daughter Molly married Jordan, the man of her dreams.  They eloped in New Hampshire, USA on Saint Patrick's Day.

April - Joe and I celebrated 30 years of wedded bliss.

July - We exchanged homes with a wonderful family from Stockholm.  Sweden is a beautiful country filled with incredibly friendly people, gorgeous countryside and stunning coastlines.

August - At the end of our exchange, we spent some time in Krakow, Poland before flying back to Canada.  Krakow is home to beautiful people, delicious food, captivating history and gorgeous architecture.

August - Along with family and friends, the Akselrads and Sothams gathered together in our backyard to celebrate Molly and Jordan's spring wedding. 

August - After spending the summer in hospital, my mother passed away.  This final photo was taken with her twin brother the day before she died.  Right to the end, Margaret had a smile on her face and a twinkle in her eye.  My sisters, my daughter Paige and I felt very privileged to be with her on the day she left this earth. 

September - I decided that the 2016/2017 school year will be the final one of my career.  I will retire from the teaching profession this coming June.

September - After a long year of being built, Joe's wood-fired pizza oven was finally finished!

September - We had a wonderful and special family reunion with my mom's twin brother and all my maternal cousins.  We don't see each other very often, but the years melt away when we are in each other's company.

October - The sweetest little girl graced the world with her presence.  My grand-daughter Josephine was born.

November - Our entire family flew to Toronto to celebrate an early Christmas and Hanukkah.  It was a fun-filled week of extreme mirth and merriment.

December - Any loss is keenly felt during the holidays.  I sure missed my mom this Christmas.

December - Molly, Jordan and Josephine moved to their permanent home in Boston, Massachusetts.  This happy event was tinged with sadness for me.  Having my daughter, son-in-law and granddaughter live 5,000 kilometres away is going to be an adjustment for this grandma.  Thank goodness for Skype and Facetime!

  

Happy New Year!  I am looking forward to many things in 2017.  Being surrounded by the fine folks in this photo, Paige's ongoing return to health, visits with the Akselrads both here and in Boston, retirement and more travels with Joe.  I wish each and every one of you good health and happiness in the year ahead.