Saturday, September 5, 2009

If I could turn back time

Forward Progress Challenge

It feels sooooo good to be back and finally have some me-time again. After being MIA for almost a month, I've finally been able to sit down again and just scrap ... I wouldn't have thought I would miss it that much. I've had some wonderful times with my family, just being together, enjoying each other's company and relaxing, but I've come to enjoy my own special time as well. I'll be visiting all of your blogs as soon as possible, how I've missed reading my favorite blogs in the morning, slowly sipping my first cup of coffee....

First things first now, the new challenge over at Forward Progress is all about forgiveness. How can we move forward in life if we have not forgiven (someone, something, ourselves, ...) for something in the past?

Here's my take on the challenge:


Journaling:
"I would give a lot to see you just one more time. I would tell you how much I love you, and how much I miss you.
You never asked for much, but I was too occupied with myself to even give you the little you asked.
You've always been there for me, and I'm so sorry I wasn't always there for you."

This LO is about me and my grandmother. She passed away 7 years ago. During the last years of her life, I was too preoccupied with my own life, my own new little family, to give her the attention she needed and more than that deserved. She died very sudden when my youngest daughter was just 3 weeks old. I had just had 3 children over a period of 2,5 years, and I used this as an excuse not to visit all that much. I didn't call her up all that often either, because she was getting deaf, and a lot of our telephone conversations ended up with her hanging up in tears, frustrated because she couldn't understand what I was saying. So I didn't call her that often, telling myself this would only upset her ...

I now wish I had made more of an effort to go and visit her once in a while. My grandfather had passed away just the year before, and it had left her without a purpose in life. First she brought up my mom, when I was born she took care of me when my parents had to go to work, and at the end, she took care of my grandfather, who had had a stroke a few years before he passed away, and he wasn't able to walk nor talk anymore. I should have realised how alone and useless she felt at the end, but I didn't. I was to caught up in my own life to even notice I think.

Why is it we don't see things clearly until it's too late? Why is it we don't know just what we have until it is gone? I wish I had done things differently, but I didn't, and I've been living with this guilt ever since she died.
Although I had thought this LO would turn out a very "dark" one, I changed my mind while looking for pics of her and me. I remembered how much fun she was, and how much she loved me. I wanted to ask for forgiveness, but I think in her eyes I don't need to be forgiven. I think she was hurt by my lack of attention, but I don't think she was angry about it, I think she understood and accepted it as part of life. That's the sort of person she was, and that's how I wanted her to look on my LO, fun and loving, just like she was.

I do hope you will find the time to play with us. You still have time until the 14th to submit your work. Our Forward Progress blog has a new look, a new DT and starting this month, we have sponsors. This month's sponsor is Scrapadilly Products. I would love to see some of my friends come join us!

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Glad to be back!

Around the middle of August we took a short vacation here in Belgium in Centerparcs, a bungalow park ... the kids participated in lots of activities and of course the main thing we did was visit the waterpark. Here are some of my favorite pics.


My hubby ... oh yes, he's bad LOL





Just some random pics of my beautiful girls


Me and my hubby (acting silly again)


Playing games with the whole family ...
ah, such cosy times!



Chloë getting ready to climb the "high ropes"


The "high ropes". I still can't believe she did this ... twice!


"Catch me if you can!"



My son's favorite place to hang out.


Still finding joy in the little things.
I love the look on their faces here...



Our boy turned 10 on August 24th, that's right, we now officially have a teenager in our house! I can't believe it, where has my baby boy gone, it seems like only yesterday when I first brought that tiny bundle of joy home *sigh*.

Here he is, enjoying his "breakfast in bed", a tradition we started a few years back, and one they insist on having every year since then. I know, I know, not the healthiest breakfast ever, but it's not like he eats like this every day...

Yannis is very interested in everything that has to do with the world wars, so as a surprise his dad took him to visit the trenches and musea. He loved it!




The first day of school. I was in the bathroom, brushing my teeth, while my kids were finishing their breakfast. All of a sudden they shouted: "take your time momma, we'll do the dishes!!". Ah, they can be such little angels sometimes... oh and yes, that is my ironing board you can see on the left ... Typical me, a whole summer vacation to get things in order, and still I have to iron their favorite clothes in the morning right before school starts ... will I ever learn??????


And then it was time to leave for their first day of school. They were so excited, they didn't even want to take the time to pose for our annual pic :-( Ah well, this will do ...


And of course as school starts, mom's got to do some homework as well ... take a look at mine:


For the girls I bought some paper to cover their schoolbooks, but for Yannis I thought it would be a great idea to use the sport's section of the paper, and of course I plastified it as well ... it turned out pretty cool, don't you think?

Feewwww, that was a long post! I'll try to update my blog more regularly in the future.
I'll drop by your blogs and leave you some love as soon as possible!

xxx Peggy

21 comments:

  1. Dag Peggy!

    Ja, de schoolroutine is er weer! Jullie hebben blijkbaar een supervakantie gehad! Hier ook hoor!!

    Ik vind je lay-out héél mooi en zo persoonlijk. Grootmoeders... wat heb ik daar ook mooie herinneringen aan! Je weet gewoonweg dat ze van je houden... ook al ben je er niet altijd voor hen... Ze weten het gewoon!! :)

    Lieve groetjes,
    Saskia :)

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  2. Hi sweetie!! :)

    First of all, I loooove your layout. I can totally relate to the feelings you have about your grandmother so it really touched home for me. Just wonderful...

    Second, I love seeing all the pics of your family!! It definitely looks like you all have had an awesome summer. I can't wait to see some of these scrapped... ;)

    Love you girl!
    - April

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  3. Oh Peggy I so enjoyed your post and catching up!!!! I adore you LO for Forward Progress and the title was just perfect!!!! I know that I felt the same with my Nana....I was so busy trying to raise a family I just could never cut out enough time and then when she passed...I so missed her!!!!! I too wish I would have just made a little extra effort for visiting!!! The pics of the family are SUPER!!!! You have such a beautiful family!!!! I love the one of you and Hubby!!! You are so beautiful!!!!! Thanks for sharing a piece of your life with us....it was joy to read your Blog today!!!!! Made me smile :)

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  4. Welcome back Peggy! I LOVE your wonderful lo! It has such heartfelt journling! I think we can all relate to how you feel! take your time catching up, often it is impossible... you just have to move forward! So happy to see you back! take care!

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  5. leuke layouts op je blog!! fantastische inspiratie.

    Evelien:-)

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  6. Loveeeeeeeeeeeeeee that LO....so touching!!! Glad to see U back....and LOVEEEEEEEEEEEEEE the photos! :):):):):):):):):):):):):):)

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  7. Leuk je hier weer terug te zien. Wat een mooie tekst over je grootmoeder. Ik zou eigenlijk ook wat meer m'n grootmoeder moeten bezoeken.

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  8. Hi Peggy...I hope you are feeling alot happier... life really can just get in the way sometimes and we forget about the close's ones around us....I think it's a beautiful LO about you and your gran mother and I am glad you recorded the happier times that's the memories that live on!!! LOL at your naughty DH I think we all own one of those's (naughty DH's) lol...love all the holiday pics.. have a great weekend.....

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  9. Ik deed er mijn hele mok koffie over om jouw post te lezen (jawel, ik doe ook zo'n "koffie-blog-ochtend-ronde! en meestal bezoek ik met één mok wel zo'n 5 of 6 blogs!) Geweldige LO over je grootmoeder en ja, ze wist het wel en ze hield toch van je. Zo zijn ze! De foto's van de vakantie zijn heerlijk! Ik kaftte ook de boeken van m'n zoon - hij is 17 en wil "gewoon grijs en zwart" - tja.... en de foto van het ontbijt - hmmmmmm - Ik ben na alle koffie ook wel aan zoiets toe! Heb een goede zondag!

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  10. WOW, That was a stunning lo, and a reminder to all of us that life is short ...You did the best you could at the time. When you have your own family, you are preoccupied for some time, its only natural. I am certain that your grandmother knew that and loved you just the same:) But I understand your feelings...My grandmother are turning 92 years old soon and I want to spend more time with her, but its not that easy..Thank you so much for reminding me!!

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  11. oh mama!!! we've talked about this before so you KNoW i feel your pain!!! so sorry you are going through this!!!

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  12. wrapping with newspaper is so cool! i ought to try that soon :D love your layout about your gran.. but please, don't be so hard on yourself. she loves you.. .

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  13. Peggy, thank you so much for sharing this layout - it really touched me. I'm going through something similar with my own grandmother right now, who is sick, in terms of not giving her as much of my time as I know she deserves. Thank you for the heartfelt reminder. Wonderful page!! I love seeing your photos - it looks like you've been having a great time!

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  14. Love your family pics Peggy,

    Some lovely treasured memories in that lot :)

    Cheers
    Shazza
    [From ARtastic and From Screen 2 Scrap}

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  15. Great to see you back , Peggy ! the holiday pics are so fun filled !

    Wonderful page about your Grandmother - i can so relate to not giving mine the best of my time either when she was sick !

    hugs, Pearl

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  16. Same here! I regret my grandmother never getting to meet my son. Sad times. She quickly took a turn for the worse and I never imagined it would take her out and I put it off and put it off bc I had a newborn and the plane trip would have been a couple of hous.

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  17. Hi Girlfriend!!! I've certainly missed you! Wow! Your LO for FP is amazing...as I knew it would be. It really hit home with me. I was so close to my great-grandmother when I was younger. But as I got a little older...around 11 or 12, I began to not really listen when I would visit. She would talk for hours about her life as a young girl. I would just nod as if I had heard but I was more interested in other things. She passed away when I was 12 and even at that young age, I felt major regret. I realized how much I had taken her for granted. But just like your grandmother, I know she understood.

    Well, your vacation looks like a blast!!! I love all the wonderful pics. It's nice have a peak into your world with images and words.

    Thanks for stopping by and saying hello. I've been unable to visit my friends for a while...limited computer time due to an injured neck. But I'm starting to make my way around again. Looking forward to seeing more of you! xoxo L

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  18. Oh Peggy that layout of your Grama really hit with me!! I too had a Grama that passed away and I was a teenager, totally concerned with only myself, and didn't even go visit her in the hospital or go to the funeral. She was always so good to my sister and I and we loved going to her house when we were younger. I've thought about it alot and wish I would have done things differently. You have a wonderful way with words and I'm sure that they know we loved them but you know, life really has a knack of getting in the way, especially when you have work and young families. I love that you keep your layouts reall, this is very touching and honest. Hugs!!

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  19. Wonderful layout and so touching, Peggy!

    Glad to see you back - looks like you had a great time! :)

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  20. Bedankt voor je hartverwarmende commentaartje op mijn blog vandaag! Dat deed me heel goed! Heb een fijn weekend! Liefs, Marit

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  21. Bedankt voor je berichtje op mijn blog!
    Emotioneel verhaal over je oma.
    Mooi verwoord in een layout.

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