Happy birthday, Jesse!

 Happy 40th birthday to my son, Jesse! Stacie, our DIL, has her birthday May 19th, as well. AND they were married on May 19th. They live in Vancouver. 

Jesse - Over the Years from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Caitlin is on her way to visit from Ottawa for the weekend. She has a stopover in Calgary, then on to YVR!

Catching up with the kids!

😷We've booked our flu shots, and that will be great to get. Some locals are antivax, anti-lockdown, conspiracy theorists, but not us! My birth mother had polio, and had a limp that affected her all her life. I only met her the once. It was a good message for me. 

We continue to work on preventing the rezoning for this possible gun club. The phone calls and the emails have slowed down as our township council finish off with school board trustee elections. It has been three weeks on a steep learning curve! Soon we should know the dates of the next steps. 

This is what we have figured out so far. I did this in the new Inspiration 10 app. I love new tools, although I used Inspiration 9 until I upgraded my OS and it wasn't compatible. This is a new one. 

 We talked to Jesse on Saturday. He's been incredibly busy out in Vancouver. They had a great cross country run, Jess worked from home that morning, and watched as Cluny came 30th in 135 gr. 2 kids in the afternoon. She and Josephine, her cousin, had a chat, since Jos (gr. 10) is doing cross country running, as well. All 4 cousins bonded in July during their visit. These are our four granddaughters. All fair-haired and blue-eyed!  

Vancouver and B.C., are great places for culture. Our DIL is doing something I'd never heard of. She is working with Vocal Eye. A trained actor, she has been taking training to watch a live play, and create a monologue and script, to interpret the action on stage for visually impaired people in real time. She wears a special headset and microphone, so as not to disturb people around her, and helps paint a picture of the scene. 

It's been an eventful week here. I asked Caitlin to come over for some daughter ➣ mother mothering! It's great being in the bosom of your family. I really needed it.

We had a very busy day. My SIL helped me install a new system for critter watching. It took awhile, but it is plugged into a socket, no batteries! I'm still fooling around with the app settings, but my M.Ed. is in Curriculum and Technology so I ought to be able to do it now JL installed it.

We vented and ranted and they listened.  It was wonderful. We had ham, roast veggies, and a pie Caitlin had made. Isn't it amazing?

JL helped me with a second project and finished off using the pressure washer on the middle deck for me. I borrowed it from them and I didn't quite do the job. We had so much rain, I wanted to get the algae off the cement. I've had to rake it twice, to get the leaves off, but that is another story! 

The cupboard was my parents, and it has seen better days, but it stores some pots, gardening, and bird feeder supplies nicely.

Isabelle did some homework. Josephine worked on Wordle, Flagle (flags) and the map one, and however many other puzzles her quick mind solves. She went down and fetched the trailcam memory cards for me. (Video of me mulching below!) Isabelle listened to music in the pine tree. Just like the old days. She said she felt so good just getting into the forest. 

Caitlin and I play Scrabble online. It's been a hoot. She's had two BINGOs, and it was 180 / 382. For her! I looked over at her on the couch, and joked about the score. She sheepishly had to tell me she'd just played! I can't find the concede button! What a hoot it all is. We play all the time, and it is a nice connection during busy work weeks.

They went out on the back deck last night to watch and photograph Jupiter. It's all very exciting. 

I konked out first. It's great they can blow up the bed, and make it on their own. I went downstairs to say good night. I was too tired to even read! We were all pretty tired. 

mulching leaves from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

The birthday party to end all birthday parties!

After a whirlwind visit Saturday, we drove the kids back to our daughter and SIL's house in Ottawa, where we had a family birthday party for Josee, who turned 8 last week! Jess, Stacie and Cluny go back home to B.C. (where my brother lives!), on Monday.

The girls were given a cute playhouse by their caregiver. Isabelle wanted her photo taken in the window! Such hams!

Selfie with Josephine!


Josee knows the drill: look at the camera, Cluny! Then she ran beside me, to draw Cluny's attention.


I had made books for the girls, including a selection of their photos from my computer archives. They were thrilled! Much better than a photo album, these they can look at for bedtime, and all. It was a wonderful project to keep me occupied during my forced rest. Isabelle was intent on finding Jesse in the book, and showing him, before she would permit him to look at the whole book! She is wearing the dress I made for her! What fun!


I included a photo of Uncle Jesse in the book, from his famous Jesse in Lake  YouTube video. They watched this video over and over again when they were young! They loved his yelp as he jumped into the frozen lake.

 1:52

Jesse in Lake

by Jennifer A. Jilks

• 6 years ago 
• 819 views

Jesse decided that he wanted to do a Polar (Bear) Bunny swim. It was a might cold. You can hear the morning skiff of ice- still on the water surface- tinkling in the  background. The ice hadn't gone... 

Grampa had taken Josee shopping last week. She had eyed this necklace, too expensive for a 'Close Eyes' trip, but he went back to buy it for her birthday! Aunt Stacie put it on for her!


Grampa ordered a carrot cake for the party. (He's been a busy man while I languished!) I think he is fighting my cold, which sounds like Croup! Isabelle has it, too.


When did this baby get to be 8 years old?!



 We were just leaving when adult child #3 arrived with his girlfriend. So typical. We hadn't seen them since the wedding in Vancouver in 2014, despite the fact that they live in Ottawa. They don't have a car anymore and it is a long trip out to see us. However, by this point my voice was going, I was coughing again, and JB wanted to drive home before dark.
I am Typhoid Mary, standing in the middle. They didn't want to touch me!
 I can imagine they had a wonderful time, the three siblings, their SO's, and our 3 children together!

That was the best birthday ever!

I cannot remember when
my 3 children and I were in one place at the same time!
I remember when I was taller, too!

My eldest son, and his fiancé, share a
birthday in May. Quite unusual, methinks!  Both are actors, and they moved from Toronto, to Vancouver, nearer to Stacie's family and to explore the acting market. I'm sure many of you can understand how far away that is for us!

When we lived in Muskoka, it was much easier for Jesse and Stacie to visit, being located in Toronto at the time. We would drive to where the kids were performing, as well, and we visited Jess at the Shaw Festival several times.

A first happened this past year, as Caitlin and I had never been on a mother/daughter trip like this: Caitlin and I visited Jesse and Stacie in Chemainus, in June 2010, where they were both performing in Singin' in the Rain!

Another coincidence, my birthday and Stacie's mom's birthday are on the same day, Boxing Day, Dec. 26th. What is up with that? Caitlin hosted her father and step-mother, as well as her brothers, on Christmas Day. They came to visit us on December 26th. We celebrated Christmas that day. My birthday, the next day.

Josephine is a darling!
We share December -as a birthday month.

It makes it tough for the kids to visit, between family Christmases and birthdays, but it seems it was our turn this year!

Undaunted, one of the best tools we have is Skype. We have Skyped with our grandkids since they were babies, 2008. We made a video of it, too! Grampa learned the Mickey Mouse song, and sang it for them via Skype! (Grandparenting from afar).

What a difference to hold a baby up to the videocam and see how they move, talk, and directly interact. Eventually, you can talk and sing songs together! The first visits were brief, but as their attention spans increased, our conversations deepened. I often have chatted with Jesse on Skype after he moved out west.

It's been awhile since I've Skyped,
now that the grandkids are closer!

It was time to upgrade my Skype application, though. I hadn't realized how spoiled I have been, living only an hour's drive away from grandkids. We swam every Monday in July, having long picnics at the beach. That was a blast for this gramma.

I have spent many lonely Christmases, when the kids were at their dad's house, and I was a single parent. It builds character. There are many who have never lived alone, others who are always alone. You just have to come to terms with your situation. One of hubby's clients lost his wife after 70 years of marriage. He has never lived alone. That is a tough one. He hasn't adjusted.

We spent 10 days without power during Ice Storm '98. This, too, builds character. But building relationships is much more fun when family can get together. They are only dates on a calendar. The important thing is to make time for family, to love them and embrace them in person, or as best you can.

Everyone crowds in!

Stacie's mom and granddaughter talk to our girls.

Stacie showing her mom in Vancouver
 our backyard deer

How many families can get together like this?
Stacie's mom asked Isabelle a numerical question!
Izzy show the answer on her fingers!

What does the elf say?

Bambi and the fox.
I bought the book What Does the Fox Say?,
and the stuffed toy,
for the girls. It's a fun book.

Stacie and Isabelle drew a picture.

Skypeing Jofee & Isabelle meet Stacie's
niece and nephew!

Isabelle loved our cake (carrot cake!)
What a laugh she has!

birthday wishes

This weekend is a busy one in cottage country. On some we may have 1,000,000 travellers on our highway #400 north to cottage country. We, like many retirees, entertained guests. Their first full day was cold but the boys had to bravely say they went for a swim.

My son, Jesse, brought his girlfriend and another couple up for the long w/e. They went swimming on a very cold day. Not as cold as this one, though: Polar Bunny Easter swim (on YouTube)! It doesn't beat this foot racing crowd in San Fran, however, or this shot of a man and his thong in Fort Erie. But we had a good time!

Coincidentally, Jesse and Stacie both have a birthday on Tuesday. What is peculiar is that Stacie's mom's birthday is also Dec. 26th, just like mine!

We planned a communal dinner, the kids happily entertained themselves in our semi-detached cottage. But this day we broke bread, and cracked the odd (3?!) bottle of wine, together.

To that end, I wrote poems for each of the kids, and just for fun we made loot bags for the other two. Another coincidence, both J & S will be doing Shakespeare this summer, both are 'starving' actors. Both received a cheque for fun!

JESSE

Jesse -deeply precious offspring
Our Oberon true trickster king
Celebrating your birthday sweet
Without you life is incomplete
Jesse deeply precious offspring
Your humanity makes me sing
My bliss a blessed ringside seat
Celebrate well a life replete

STACIE

Stacie, our joyful newest friend
A Happy Birthday poem I penned.
A spritely golden marguerite
We welcome you to our retreat.
Our deepest wishes we extend
You should this trifle not misspend
On boring things, I recommend.



Before they left for home, the kids went for a canoe, and then we took the traditional picture rock photo, a long standing tradition.