Meaningful Connections

Ahhhhh…Monday afternoon in the sun ☀️ We lounged in hammocks and swings with the horses, did 2 fun summer projects, and took a walk down a trail (with our Slurpees), as with listened to croaking marsh frogs and identified shrubs using an app (these guys are teaching me stuff).

Link in bio to learn more about our Monday afternoon day program for young adults with varied intellectual abilities. Use your respite or community support hours with PDD privately with Marianne as your support worker.

Finàlly, the weather was nice enough for us to try the labyrinth at the Silver Spring Gardens! We spent most of the day outside! it would’ve been not to 😉

Our three boys were missing this week, but the three girls were there and we had a lovely afternoon now that spring is finally here! We focussed on learning different photography techniques with our phones and had some amazing results with all the quirky things around my property! And of course, horses make great models! We are also working on some wood projects that we are painting to make them our own. We finished up with a simple but nourishing, pasta, salad, packed with veggies!

Despite the snow, we had a lovely afternoon! One of our participants is a master at making fires, we had a lovely walk on the acreage, and the horses followed us back to the yard during our fire. Made a super simple Easter craft, but turned out really nice! Also spent some time in our little studio learning some very easy stress relief techniques using common exercise/yoga props!

Regardless, we can’t wait for spring 🌷

These past two Mondays have been moments for me as a facilitator to see the true nature of the fine young adults that attend my Meaningful Connection Mondays. My very first horse, Justin, who was rescued from the meat market 15 years ago, had to be put down due to a degenerative terminal condition. We made him a cake and gave him as much love as we could on the day before his passing. The young adult adults showed such compassion and care into making it a beautiful experience.

We also had a bit of a crazy Monday this week! Things didn’t go as planned, but the young adults took it all in stride and managed to make it a positive experience. We ventured out to the University of Calgary, enjoyed some diamond art, an entertaining game of bingo, and checked on the horses who are going through a bit of a grieving process. They were able to apply some desensitization techniques involving a rubber ducky. A giant one I might add. 🐥😛

Definitely never a dull moment!

If you have a young adult requiring minor supports, who is looking to fill their Monday afternoons, please check out the link in bio for more information about the program.

The March calendar is out! Our theme is Out and About! It’s no secret that I am desperately anticipating spring to begin 😉 so let’s step out for some community outings and get excited about the upcoming change in season! Check out all our activities! Please let me know if you would like to sign up your young adult by sending me a private message! Come on spring! Start already! Didn’t the groundhog not see his shadow? ☀️🌺🌹

Vosit the website page or the link in bio to find out more about the program:
https://mariannedisipio.com/whatiseas/

This month, our theme is well-being! Today’s focus was on mindfulness and different ways we can calm our thoughts. Well, everybody here is an animal lover, so animal therapy is a given 😉 But… we did also practice guided visualization with slow breathing in our little studio, and mindful mind mapping art! Everyone was so chill ❤️

It took everything out of us to follow the rules, and not try to kiss the wolf dogs at the Yamnuska Wolfdog Sanctuary in Cochrane. Instead, we kissed the Maremma sheepdogs! 😉🐺Soooo fun. Glad these beautiful rescues have such a wonderful sanctuary to call home!

With the weather being so mild, it was lovely to spend most of our time outside on Monday! Our young adults got a kick out of learning how to use the John Deere and were inspired to do farm work on their own. It wasn’t in the plan lol I even got one young adult offered to help me out on the weekends as a part-time job 😉 yes please! We went for a beautiful walk on the back trail and collected dried branches and grasses to create a beautiful art project. We finished with some comfort food! A lovely winter soup, fortified with lots of healthy ingredients! Even my fussiest eaters had a taste and request requested to take a bowl home 🤤🍲❤️

Despite being an overcast day, we started 2026 with intention! Created mood boards, made some serious comfort food (veggie packed chili), and in the spirit of our outdoor theme this month, went for a snowshoe with the horses and had a lovely campfire outside!