A to Z Guide to Happiness

Two cute dogs, Bella the Westie and Ollie the Papillon, show you how to be happy and bring happiness wherever you are, by following their paw steps with their friends and family.
You will see them having fun, relaxing, following their dreams and giving all their love. They will give you tips on finding and spreading happiness and inspirational quotations.

Read Pascal Inard's full bibliography here with list of all published and forthcoming work.

Monday, February 28, 2011

Happy Birthday Mom !

Today is a very special day, it's our lovely Mum's birthday, so we want to look our best.
Luckily, Mum helped us and made a very beautiful hat for us.


Look, she bought a hat base, covered it in tulle and added some feathers and rosettes :


Yes and it fits me too, it goes very well with my bow tie, don't you think ?


I'm not sure which dress it goes best with though...


And I'm not sure which hat fits me best...


All these are important questions, but we must not forget one thing :


And what's that dear Bella ?


There's going to be a some yummy food !


Happy birthday Mum, I love you !


And me too !


For her birthday she got some beautiful gifts for her craft, a lovely ring, some decoration for our lovely home and a book called 'Tucked in : for everyone having a doona day', which shows you how to use your time in bed to explore your creativity and heal your soul - sounds good to us !


But the best thing about her birthday celebration is that she buys presents for everyone in the family to say how much she loves us, isn't that sweet ?


Our lovely Mum Isabella would like to share the special story of her birthday with you :

When Isabella’s Mum was expecting her, she was abandoned by Isabella’s Dad but also but her own family who urged her to abandon the baby. She tried everything she could do to be able to keep Isabella; when she left her at the orphanage, she told her she would come back, but despite all her efforts she had to formally abandon her at six weeks, hoping that she would have a good life.

Our Mum knows this about her story because it was recorded at the social department and given to her when she sought to find where she came from. She also knows her mother was Spanish and her dad of “mixed origin”, but because of the law in France guarantees the mother’s anonymity, she was not given her name even though it was in the file. Unfortunately when Isabella asked the social department if they could contact her to find out if she would agree for Isabella to see her or contact her, they lost her trace, probably because she went back to Spain.

Isabella spent 18 months at the orphanage before she was adopted. Her adoptive parents did not give here all the love she deserved; instead, they abused her emotionally, making her live a life of feeling guilty and unworthy.

But because our Mum is resilient, courageous and loving, she is not at all bitter about her story; instead, she lives a life of loving, caring, faith and gratitude, bringing joy happiness and sunshine everywhere she goes – even when it’s difficult for her. In fact she has never taken “the easy way” : when life in France was getting unbearable because of the violence where the family was living, she took the opportunity to come to Australia and faced all the challenges that it entailed, learning a new language, bearing all the insults that her adoptive parents threw at her. Now the family is happy here and we are part of this happy family ! What is wonderful here is to be close to Dad's parents, his sister Flo and aunty Mimi (her birthday was last week, Happy Birthday sweet Mimi !) and a lovely friend Linda.

Isabella always sees the best in people and the positive side of every moment of her life. She is very creative and loves all sorts of craft - this is something that heals her and it makes us very happy to see her creations and to see all her happiness shine through.

The only problem is that she is so selfless, she does not think about herself enough ! So we are always there (along with Dad, Amelie, Anais, Amelie and Matthew) to look after her and tell her how much she means to us and how much we love her.

If this story touches you or if you want to share your own story, please contact us, Mum would love to have a pen pal !

What a lovely story...



True love doesn't consist of holding hands, it consists of holding hearts

A house is made of walls and beams
A home is built with love and dreams




Take care my friends and have a great week !

35 comments:

The Daily Pip said...

Happy Birthday Bella' Mom!

Your pal, Pip

Rocky Creek Scotties and Rocky Creek Ramblings said...

Bella, your Mum sounds delightful - we hope she has a wonderful birthday.

XOXO
Lilly, Piper, Carrleigh and Ruairi

Katie, Julep and Derby's Mom said...

Happy Birthday to you ... Happy birthday to you ... I know you had a great day celebrating with Bella, Ollie and family. All the best to you!

Katie, Wilson and westies Julep and Derby-lious!

Unknown said...

Happy Birthday to your mom, Bella!
Your mom is a wonderful woman who is full of love and courage!
We're so glad to know a bit more about her :)

jen said...

Happy Birthday to your Mum! She sounds like a very special person:)

Elaine Pritchard said...

Hope your mum has a wonderful day. Sounds like she deserves it.

Diana Chiew said...

Happy birthday to your Mum! She is really a wonderful person. Today happens to be our Mummy's birthday too!

Sage said...

What a great sounding birthday! And that was a lovely story.

Gail Wilson said...

Bertie, your moms story really moved M.O.M.. We heard her make a sad sound when she ws reading us your post. We are all glad she is so happy and having such a wonderful life with all of you.
And all of your hats are so pretty! You are two very lucky pups!
Hugs and wags, Mistaya and Maggie

Piappies World said...

Happy Happy Birthday, Bella's Mom! We think you are one of best Moms any pup can have. More smiles and happy years ahead!

Love,
Piappies Fudgie, Princess, Frappie, Mocha, Sugar, Wai-Pai, Wai-Max & Forgie

George The Lad said...

Happy Birthday Mom.
A touching story of your life.
Love and Hugs george and Jan xxx

♥I am Holly♥ said...

Happy Birthday to Bella's Mom!!! We hope the day is wonderful! Lots of love, Holy and mom

GRAÇA said...

Hello friends!
I'm back and wide awake and feed me only good things
I have been personally thank all your affection and care, but the scare is gone!

I have a 2 stamps for you on my blog
Many of your affectionate friend ronrons
Kika

Oskar said...

What an amazing woman your mom turned out to be. She could have ended up bitter and miserable, but she chooses joy!

I hope she has the bestest birthday ever!

Nubbin wiggles,
Oskar

Terrorzinhos said...

Happy Bday Mom!
We wish you all the best!

Two French Bulldogs said...

Happee Birthday momma
Benny & Lily

Jans Funny Farm said...

Happy Birthday to your mom! She does sound like a very nice person.

Molly the Airedale said...

You have a very special mom! We hope she has a wonderful birthday!

Love ya lots
Maggie and Mitch

Cat and DOG Chat With Caren said...

Happy Birthday to your Mum and thanks for sharing such a beautiful story!!
It is also our Sheltie's birthday today! His name is Dakota! Happy Birthday!

ocmist said...

Happy Birthday to your Mom, from Corgi Country, too! It was really nice to learn more about your Mom's life story. Grammy says that it sounds a lot like her Mom's story, and Nana, too, chose to live a life of love and selfless giving, which Grammy says taught her so much about how to treat others. Hard times don't have to turn people bad like some people use as an excuse for rudeness, etc. It can turn people into wonderful, loving, giving people, like your Mom. Happy Birthday again, and God Bless your Mom on her day! Grammy and the CCC

Unknown said...

Thank you for sharing your story with us. A wonderful story of making lemonade from lemons. Thanks for the inspiration. BTW, love that hat!

Unknown said...

You two are so adorable and your Mum is very lucky to have you - but of course, I am sure she know that! Happy birthday all year long!

bichonpawz said...

Best Happy Birthday Wishes for your Mum!!! You all look wonderful!!! xoxo Chloe and LadyBug

Genista Gold Milaika said...

I hope your Mom had a very Happy Birthday! Thank you for sharing her story, she sounds wonderful.
Princess Kisses
Megan
X

Trixie, Lily, and Sammy-Joe said...

We are a little late, but tell your Mom happy birthday from us, and thanks for sharing her story! She should write her memoir someday... it would be an inspirational one!

Brandon - The dog with a blog said...

Happy Birthday to your mom!!
And we love those hats :)

Rudy

FANCY the Red Standard Poodle said...

Hi Y'all,

I wanted to share my stylish blog award with y'all. Please come by when y'all have a chance and pick it up.

If ever a blog deserved the Stylish Blogger Award it is y'alls!

Hawk aka BrownDog

the booker man said...

miss bella 'n ollie!

happy happy belated birthday to your mama! i know you had a super awesome time celebratin' with your pack, especially with those pretty pawty hats of yours! :)
thankies for sharin' your mama's story! i didn't know that she had such a challengin' childhood. i'm sorry she didn't get to meet her mama, and i'm sorry her adoptive parents weren't very nice. :( but i'm super glad that your mama is such a strong lady and put all that negative stuff behind her and is such a caring 'n kinda lady! :)

*woof*
the booker man

George The Lad said...

Just popping back to say thanks for your visit.
See Yea George xxx

Peggy y Mhathy said...

Happy belated birthday to Bella's Mom. Peggy

Anonymous said...

Oh Happy belated Barkday to you Mom!

woo woos, Tessa

Covnitkepr1 said...

I’ve been following and enjoying your blog for a while now and would like to invite you to visit and perhaps follow me back. Sorry I took so long for the invitation.

Peggy y Mhathy said...

Hi friends, we are so happy that you have received our presents, we were worried thinking that it was lost on the way. The city now is diferent than when your father came and passed one day here, now there are many skyscrapers, beautiful buildings and many beaches hotels and resorts. Chikisses Peggy

Unknown said...

WHat a beautiful, poignant and touching story, Bella.
We are sorry your Mummy couldn't meet her mummy n had to go through a lot of hardships as a child. But guess these are the things that make her who she is - strong, loving and giving. She understands what love n belonging is, something that isn't to be taken for granted and that is what is a true gift:)
We hope she had a beautiful day and will go on and have a very happy and fruitful year ahead.
We think u both looked absolutely marvellous in your outfits and your Mummy sure looked very happy in those pictures:)
Wags, gin, Bud n Shadow

Toyin O. said...

These are such cute pictures, thanks for sharing.

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