Sacrosanct By Grace

Exercise

2010-04-03T16:17:00.001-07:00

I hate it. Really it is that simple. Give me a game to play (yes even the dreaded basketball) and I can enjoy feeling like I'm going to die. But exercising purely for the sake of exercising?
Forget it. When I was on the swim team in highschool there was at least a goal for the exercise. I was pushing, chasing the people ahead of me, working to shave a few seconds (or 10th's of a second) off my time. The training was worth it.

Now, I'm getting older. I want to play soccer again this summer. But since I am now turning (gasp!) 34, I feel like I've passed some kind of invisible marker. I can't just pick up and start playing again with first trying to undo some of the damage done by sitting around all winter. I know unless I start to get into shape now I'm going to injure myself badly when we start playing. It felt wrong for the first time ever when I started running the other day! So I talked to Trill. She is great. She has a neat on-line training program that will work with me to form some kind of manageable routine. Strength 3 days a week, Cardio four. (the only problem right now is I can't do close to the number of sets she wants me to do.) I ran today for the second time. At least this time felt a little better than last time. And I ran close to twice as far. (now don't get too excited, it really wasn't that far at all,but baby steps...) And we shall see. I have accountability in Trill, which I need. I'm too proud to admit defeat, so having someone checking on me is going to force me to keep moving. But I have to tell you.. I hate every minute of it.

The weather is unseasonably warm. I love spring . It is easily my favorite time of year. Last year we really didn't have spring at all, so maybe this year will make-up for it. I ripped apart part of our garden today. Extended it out and around. Lifting large rocks and digging up our lawn counts for some sort of exercise doesn't it?

I'll keep people posted on the exercise front. If I don't pass out and embarrass myself that is. If that happens you won't be hearing about it.

Nick's Birthday

2010-03-05T14:17:00.000-08:00

Nicky turned 10 a couple of days ago. Where on earth has the time gone? I clearly remember the moment he was born, after a very long and difficult delivery, the mid-wife placed him on my chest. He raised his head and looked straight at me. I remember two things. One, thinking. "hey, he shouldn't be able to do that should he?" and two... "That just came out of ME????" The mid-wives were laughing and I remember the one saying "look at her face!" I was incredulous. And it showed.

Now, that tiny little baby is almost up to my chin in height. It is amazing. I miss the baby, but I love having a older boy too. So very thankful for the years God has given him to us. Praying for his continued spiritual growth and development. Happy Birthday Nick!

Nick and Liam

2009-10-21T11:22:00.001-07:00

The Roth's have come to town this week, and initiated, much to Tim's and my shame, a get together between the Mcgibbon, Roth and Challies clans. It was amazing to look around Kim and Jay's house knowing that when we met them, there was a total of 2 kids among us, Nick and Liam. Since then we have all added to our families, and Tues. night there was a total of 11 kids running around. It was so cool.

What also amazed me was how easily we all fit in together. For the most part, it was like old times. It had been six years since we had all been together, and while there were some changes (both the Roth's and the Mcgibbons are homeschooling!!!) everyone fit right back together.

I was wondering how Liam and Nick would do together. It had been about 3 years since we had last seen them, maybe four, and Liam had gone through quite the ordeal. I wasn't sure how the boys would do. They played so well together when they were younger, and were best friends, but both are fast entering a different stage in life and had matured and changed. I walked in the door, and the first thing I noticed was that Liam was huge. Not too much taller than Nick, but still mentally I wasn't expecting that! Nick and him eyed each other, and disappeared downstairs. They emerged to eat, and then vanished again.

On the way home I asked Nick if he was glad to see Liam again. His answer "totally." What did you talk about? "Stuff". Very teenage answers really, and Tim found it pretty funny. But I have to tell you. I headed downstairs at one point in the evening, and found Liam and Nick, both dressed up in some kind of fencing/ninja/sword man costumes, play fighting with foam swords.
It was such a throw back to the days when they were three, playing at small group. So sweet. They had no problems, and according to Kim, Liam asked this morning when he could see Nick again. I pray those two will be friends for life.

Pray for Liam. He has had what Kim terms a setback with his recovery from the tumor he had last year. His right ventricle is enlarged and he is having to see a specialist Monday to help determine what they need to do about it. He is having some tic's from the swelling, and continues to have migraines, although they seem to believe that is a result of an irregularity in his optic nerve in his right eye.

Kim asked us if we were doing the Christmas tree thing this year, and hopefully, Lord willing we wil head out again. All of us love the tradition, and old friendships that never die.

Opps.

2009-10-14T06:28:00.000-07:00

Tim is leaving on Thursday for an elders retreat. I was actually looking forward to some downtime between Tim's parents leaving and then them coming back on the return trip back down to Atlanta. However... God had other plans.

We have some friends who, about 6 years ago moved out to Saskatoon. They emailed a couple of months ago telling us that they were going to be in the area and Tim told them they could stay with us if they needed to. They said sure, and either Tim lost the email, or they forgot to tell us the dates they were coming, because we got an email last night at 9:00 telling us they would be here Thursday. They have four kids.

I started to panic as I looked around my messy, unclean house (which was going to be dealt with Friday before Tim's parents come back) and realize I have no food to feed 11 people, no beds to put them in, and likely not enough sheets or pillows!!!!

I am so glad they are coming to stay with us, it will be so wonderful to see them again. I love being hospitable, but realize that while I have grown a ton in this area, I like it on my own terms. When I have warning to prepare. So, God is stretching me again today, as I run around doing my best to make sure everything is ready for them (sheets, pillows, beds towels and food!) so that they feel welcome.

We are heading out to Kim and Jason's on Tuesday night for a good old Sanctuary home church reunion, which will be a blast. Nick is over the moon he gets to see Liam again. How cool is that?

On a side note, it is cold enough to snow here already. I think we are going to have 6 months of winter this year, which is miserable. I had to dig out the winter coats a couple of days ago, and the kids are walking to school with hats and mitts already.

This and That

2009-10-12T15:30:00.000-07:00

We have had a busy weekend. Tim and his dad took out our old ratty path, and put in a beautiful new path complete with a new patio. I love the way it looks, and spent the day today finishing off the garden in the front. It looks good. In the spring we will buy (or if we can find one on sale now) a little rod iron pair of chairs and a little table. I've finished redecorating the kitchen, I just need to finish the caulking around the sink. And after that, I'll have to turn my attention to more mundane things! I'm so pleased with the way the house is looking. And so much more organized!

We spent Sunday night at my mom's for thanksgiving, and had a fairly quiet day today. All in all it was a good weekend.

We have no news on the dog front. I still want one, we are just waiting till we are comfortable with getting one. Tim wants to wait until the new year at this point. Makes sense as we have a big trip planned later in the year, and would have to figure something out for the dog.

I'm looking forward to the start of mens and ladies this week. I am going to try and read the chapter ahead, as I don't do very well thinking on the fly, and prefer to go in prepared so I can at least pretend to sound intelligent. I'm not sure how I'm going to find reading the chapter out loud, I generally dislike that format, but I'm sure that the discussion will be interesting.

Tim got confirmation from the publisher he wants to work with. They made most of the concessions on the contract he wanted. So, he still has to sign the paper, but it looks like we have a book contract. Exciting, and daunting.

Tim is reading Lord of the Rings to the kids, and the nighttime, school routine is moving along. I'm looking forward to being back into our routine , the kids function so much better under it. Night all.

Week

2009-10-05T18:30:00.000-07:00

In a very bizarre turn of events my husband, much sooner than I thought possible, is now on the brink of scaling back drastically in his web design work.

I hate change. Always have. The thought of him changing jobs gives me hives. A few months ago Tim's restless spirit reared it's head, and I was once more forced to think about the possibility. Tim was in contact with a book editor looking to expand. Things were moving slowly on both sides and eventually got placed on the back burner. Insert sigh of relief.

Tim's agent contacted him about a week ago to let him know there were several offers on his two book proposals. Good offers, which meant Tim could take some time off from design to write. Not too scary for me, but change never-the-less.

The big one hit a few days later, when he got a offer from an organization, which amounted to part-time employment. A good salary, and one which, with the part-time part, would still allow him to blog, do conferences, and write. Tim told me if he were to think of his ideal job and write it down, a lot of it would be in the job description listed in this new job. Insert panic attack.

So where is my comfort? Oddly enough I get a great deal of security from Tim's self employment. During these difficult economic times, Tim has always found work, and I find that I like the fact he is not tied to one company. The freedom offered with his current line of work is so very secure. Weird huh? The very thing that freaked me out 7 years ago when he started the company is now my security.

The offer in most ways is simply too good, how can it not be God's will? But I still find my self panicking the same way I did when Tim walked home with the pink slip years ago. Oh how I wanted to have grown beyond that! I cannot put my value and my security in material possessions, but how much easier it is to trust in some ways when you have little and have to wait for God to provide, then when you have much.

Listen to me. Tim will likely succeed as he always has, but I assume that we are going to be back to where we were 7 years ago when Tim started. And even if we do... God works all things for good.

Hey... I made it pretty!!

2009-10-02T18:21:00.000-07:00

I visited my friend Kim's site and found a change... It was no longer the boring blogger template... so knowing her has I do.. knowing that it was unlikely that she was going to pay for a site, I followed the link on her site, www.thecutestblogontheblock.com, and found this free template! So easy to install too! (You would think when I have a web designer for a husband I wouldn't need to resort to such measures.. but trying to get him to design one for me was like pulling teeth! So I'll be happy with this... it is no longer boring!)

Thank-you all for your prayers, Abby and Nick are still installed in the same classes with all the same kids. There was no changes in either of their classes! They had no additions or kids leaving. Praise God!

I spent today, after grocery shopping, painting the kitchen. It is now a very odd shade of green, think mustard and pea soup. But looks really good, and am going to accent it with the same burnt orange in the living room, along with some mustard yellows, it will now flow quite nicely with the living room I think.

I will leave you with some Michaelaisms and Abbyisms tonight. Last weekend we went to the Ancaster Fair. While on the Elephant ride with Chaela, I was concerned she would be scared. So as the Elephant went up and down, I was saying, in a happy voice.." And, uuuppp we go, and .....dddoooowwwnn we go!!!!" Disgusted, Michalea finally turns to me and says..."Oh Mother, stop it!!!" Great.... a teenager at three.

Abby, terrified on the Ferris Wheel, suspicious of the questionable mid-way worker turns to me and asks, "Mom, are you sure he knows how to work this thing?" .

Nicky came home from school with a set of rather politically incorrect jokes two days ago. Turns out the teacher was telling the kids! I knew it was a sub. teacher, and knew he was male, but made the assumption that it was a young guy. Should have know better really, turns out he was "old" according to Nick because he had "white" hair. When I think about it, makes more sense. No young guy is going to risk his career telling grade fours a joke that starts off with "there was a guy from Toronto and a guy from Newfoundland....."

Prayer Request

2009-09-28T11:26:00.000-07:00

One thing I really hate about the Ontario school system, is the restructuring that takes place on and around September 30th each year. It seems, thanks to a government mandate, that they can and often do change our kids class rooms so that there is no more than 20 kids per class. What that means for Abby and Nick's school this year is that they are creating, a 1/2 2/3 and 3/4 split.
I'm really worried about Abby. There is only 3 grade 2 classes right now, and I love her teacher, she is in with her neighbour hood friends. I am really praying that I don't get a phone call in the next 48 hours telling me that they are moving her. But they are creating two new classes and everyone will be effected. Same with Nick. Although he has less of a chance of moving, but he is in with a really good friend of his, and he likes his teachers. I like them as well.

I have never been able to figure out why they can't fix this before school starts. Abby had to change last year, and while I liked her new teachers better, it took her a good month to settle back into her new classroom.

So I am asking that everyone pray. Pray that my kids won't have to move, that their teachers will remain the same, and that their friends stay in the classes with them. Thanks.

Prayer

2009-09-24T17:02:00.001-07:00

I'm trying a new system for my prayer requests. With our Grace Kids, we break into our small groups at the end of the session, do lemon's and cherries (left over from the Sanctuary) and then prayer requests. I wrote all the requests (in general terms) down on a giant yellow sticky note, that then gets placed over my kitchen sink. The only problem I'm finding is that I now have three rows of those sticky notes, and still have a couple more to add!

Michaela's bee phobia is getting worse. She now will not play outside anywhere near our house. For now, she will play at the park and stuff, but we still have not been able to rid our front yard completely of the bees. Any suggestions on how to deal with a three year old's bee phobia would be appreciated.

I got an email about a dog in need. A three year old yellow lab that needs a home. We are considering it. Have to go tuck the kids into bed.

Away

2009-09-21T16:25:00.000-07:00

It has been a long three weeks. Tim has been traveling a fair bit lately. And tonight, (he left this morning for the third trip in two weeks.) I'm feeling the burden of being a single parent. The kids aren't responding well to discipline, and I'm just plain tired. Not only am I doing double duty, but I've realized I find it very stressful when he is away. New revelation.

I started off this morning by falling off the bed, as I flipped over to turn off the alarm. It hurt. I somehow got mixed-up and didn't realize that I was on Tim's side of the bed.... and boom- landed on the floor.

I have another half and hour and I can put my trouble makers to bed. Thank-goodness!!!!

Grace and bees

2009-09-17T10:39:00.000-07:00

So much for sneaking in quietly. I had forgotten about the RSS feed. Although I have to say I assumed everyone would have unsubscribed after six months of nothing.

Last night was the second class of Grace Kids for this year. Tim was away and I was left on my own to teach. I had taught by myself last year, but the experience this year was vastly different.

The kids this year are so much younger. It is amazing in someways to see the difference from grade six to grade eight. At grade six they are still children, by grade eight they are young adults. The same is proving true for developmental aspects as well.

Last year, it was like pulling teeth to get the kids to talk, this year, you have to work to get them to stop. And most of what is said is just repetition of what their neighbor said. I came away last night feeling totally ineffective, frustrated and somewhat dismayed. The lesson didn't go as I had hoped, and I felt that they had missed the entire point of what we were talking about. Everyone has simple pat answers for the questions, yet none of them really understand the concept.

It was humbling. I felt so inadequate.

I pray that we can reach out to these kids this year. The task seems so very daunting compared to last year.

On another note: Michaela has developed a terror of bee's. Understandable given her last stinging incident, but one that is annoying as she refuses to go outside. I have no idea what to do about it, and given that she seems to attract bees, I'm not sure that she shouldn't be very cautious. (I mean the child has been stung three times this year... I've only been stung once in my life!!!!)

Six Months

2009-09-16T13:44:00.000-07:00

Six Months. That's how long it has been since I've last posted. Reading back over my posts, I realize how much I want to keep up with blogging. I love how much the posts are a journal into our lives, a record of sorts.

So, we will see. I'm going to try to pick this up again. Should be interesting to see how long it takes people to realize that I'm posting again. Not going to tell anyone... just in case I can't commit!

Michaela hides her face

2009-03-12T17:38:00.000-07:00

Anytime I walk into a room and find my youngest daughter with her hands over her eyes, I know she is touching something she should not. It is actually the cutest thing, she figures if she can't see me, I can't see here. Tim captured it on video this afternoon, and here is the result.

From Canning to Power Tools

2009-03-01T11:47:00.000-08:00

I've been stretching my horizons this year. It started off in the fall with canning various jams and preserves. I've even started making bread. Yesterday, I moved into power tools. We started the floor in the basement yesterday. Dad agreed to come over and guide Tim and myself through the basics of home improvement. Thank-goodness! So yesterday I spent part of the afternoon on my hands and knees installing sub flooring and laminate. Tim decided it would be humorous to take a picture of me using the skill saw. If the picture is reasonable I'll post it as proof I did do more than watch.

It went well. No fingers and no limbs missing. I had an uncomfortable moment at Home Depot however. I was sent to pick-up some more supplies early in the afternoon. After making my purchases, I headed out to the parking lot only to find I had misplaced my car. And, of course, I had to run into someone I knew in the parking lot while standing there looking befuddled. It was embarrassing.

I'm looking forward to having a functioning basement again. Thanks again Dad for helping us! Today we have a members meeting later, so have to head into church earlier than usual. Nick has a friend over to play and they are busy upstairs playing lego.

It has been a busy weekend, Nick's birthday is next week, and I am once again remembering the day we brought him home from the hospital. It was March 6th and was warm enough out we could be outside in short sleeves. As I look to the weather on Monday, it is set to be -15 with a windchill of -27, (that is 5 and -16 for you Americans) I am so tired of winter. Looking forward to my soon to be 9 year olds birthday. He wants to have a friend over after school on Thursday and his grandparents will be coming for a visit later that evening as well. Hopefully he will have a good day!

Midweek

2009-02-18T05:34:00.001-08:00

Tim started off his spring conference season last weekend. I have been dreading this time. The hardest thing about him being away is the lack of adult conversation in the house. Since everyone was healthy this time, it wasn't too difficult.

Like usual something always breaks when Tim is gone, and this time was no different. Our basement flooded. The outside walls are the condo's responsibility, which was as pain, but they sent the guy quickly and he found a hairline crack in our foundation. I'm excited at the possibility of redoing part of our basement. We've decided to put a floating floor in, wood laminate. I'm thrilled with the possibility, but a little scared as we are going to try and do this ourselves. I think it will improve our basement. Tim is considering moving his office to the basement, but I'm not sure we want to do that. I like having that space downstairs. Of course, this all hinges on us finding the time to do it, and when that would be is beyond me right now. Tim started ripping up the carpet last night, was it ever wet! My dad pointed us to a product called Dricore. It is specifically for basements and allows the floors to breathe underneath. I'm hoping that we can make the space a more usable adult room rather than just a play room.

It has taken me a good solid two weeks to get back on my feet after being sick. I can't believe how tired I was still feeling! I'm enjoying feeling like I can do stuff again!

On a very happy note, Vicky's baby Charlotte came home from the hospital yesterday. She still only weighs 3 pounds 5 oz but is eating well. I'll take over a meal for Vicky later today.

Tim tried to haul me out of bed this morning to do my devotions. That simply wasn't happening. Michaela talks A LOT in her sleep and last night we dealt with her running away, and a huge fight with Abby over some clothes she wanted to wear. It is so odd, it wouldn't be so bad if she just talked, but she needs me to respond too. Once I tell her it is o.k. she will then lie down and sleep, but until then she just keeps squawking. She isn't really awake, but still needs the comfort. Most nights are o.k., but last night she was up and down. I have no idea how to deal with it!

Anyway, Dora is on and I have a few minutes that I really should be tidying and doing some chores. Have a good day!

So much for writing more.

2009-02-11T14:09:00.000-08:00

I wanted to write on this blog more. Really. But I just either can't think of what I want to say, or simply can't find the time.

Our neighborhood has welcomed a new baby. My friend Jen's sister Vicky (who also lives next door to Jen, directly across from us had a little girl. It is by God's grace that this little one made it. Part of the placenta was dead apparently, and the baby wasn't growing. There was also NO amniotic fluid when they did an ultra sound. The baby was taken, four weeks early by C-section. She is only 3 pounds, and they are keeping the baby in the hospital until she is about 4 pounds. Upsetting time for the new mommy.

Yesterday I had a funny glimpse into the differences between men and women. We were at the bus stop yesterday. The snow was melting and much to the ladies' concern the melting snow had turned up a concrete parking block that had been turned over by a plow. This block was upside down with a metal spike sticking out of it. The mom's were busy herding the kids away from this hazard. It was at the bottom of a snow pile and the kids were sliding down. We were busy, all clucking that someone was going to get badly hurt. Jen's husband Martin showed up with his girls and I was quick to point out the hazard to him. He takes one look, walks over and with a quick tug pulls the offending metal peg out of the hole, walks over and disposes of it in the garbage can. All us ladies are standing there with a slightly stunned expression on our faces and with a "oh......" we look at each other. The ever practical man sees the problem and fixes it.

The spring conference season starts for us this week. Tim is heading away for four days. I'm not looking forward to this season, last one was so very trying for me. Hope everyone is well.

Opps

2009-01-06T18:10:00.001-08:00

As I was cleaning the bedroom this morning, I was talking with Michaela about how it was soon going to be her turn to move to the bottom bunk of the bunk bed in Abby's room. Around the age of 2, Abby moved into bottom bunk and Nick switched to the top. Recently, (well ever since Dominican really) Nick has been sleeping in Abby's room on the top bunk. Tim and I have been wanting to move Michaela for awhile now, but she hasn't been sleeping that well and we haven't wanted to mess with Abby's sleep patterns. Michaela has been sleeping better of late, and she was quite excited at the thought of sleeping in "Abby's room".

We've explained many times to both girls how the room would one day be both of theirs. That Abby would move to the top bunk, as her brother before her and they would share. Our children (as evidence from Nick) take a great deal of comfort from each other, and both girls seemed pleased that there would still be someone in the room with them.

Much to my surprise at bedtime tonight, Michaela remembered our conversation this morning, and was very excited about sleeping in Abby's room. As I talked to her about it, clarifying that Abby would indeed be sleeping in her room, on the top bunk, I heard a "WHAT??" from one very distraught Abigail. That this was going to be an issue for her, never occurred to us. We had discussed this many times with her. Tim talked to her and we began moving bedding around.

Everything exploded. Abby melted down, and sat on the top bunk wailing. I gave in at that point and told Abby to move back, then Michaela sat on the bottom bunk and started wailing. I couldn't win. At this point my goal was to get them to sleep as quickly as possible. I moved Abby into our room telling her that I would move Michaela out as soon as she was asleep. At this point Abby was so upset, she was hyperventilating from crying so hard. I got Michaela to sleep and moved into our room, to try and calm Abby down. The only was to appease her was to promise she could sleep in our room tonight, along with Michaela. So we went from no kids to two kids in our bedroom. Finally things were calming down. I got up with Abby moved into the hall way with a "come on let's get your stuff..." When I hear a "WHAT??" Guess who?

Nick was upset now... he was scared to sleep alone. (how have I damaged my children???) All three are asleep upstairs now- Nick wanted to be in our room too... but Abby in tears stated she loved Nick and didn't want him to be scared so she agreed to move back into her own room.

Obviously, where I went wrong, was not discussing will all three of the moving Michaela. It simply never occured to me.

An hour and a half later it is peaceful in the Challies household. Until tomorrow when Michaela wakes up and realizes she is no longer in Abby's room.... let's hope she doesn't figure it out in the middle of the night.

10 minutes

2009-01-05T11:44:00.000-08:00

Tim is, at the moment, downstairs with Michaela and the repair guy, fixing, I hope, our washing machine. It has been out of commission for over a week now. The clothing situation is getting ridiculous. I managed to clothe everyone for church yesterday, but school today was a challange. Michalea has changed in the last couple of weeks. She is becoming much less clingy, far more outgoing, much to my relief.

I spent the morning putting the house in order, minus the upstairs which will have to wait until I can start washing clothes again... Do I hear the water running from downstairs? Oh please..... I hate washing clothes by hand.

This week is shaping up to be a busy start to the new year. The first week of the new year is a week our church dedicates to prayer. It makes for a busy time as either Tim or myself will be making the trip into Etobicoke every day this week.

Dinner is about ready, I had 10 minutes to sit down and type. I love that our routine is coming together again, the kids function so much better with it.

2009

2009-01-01T15:41:00.000-08:00

I sit here on the couch this evening completely exhausted. It was a very long (but very happy) Christmas season. We finished up with a New Years party at a couple of dear friends houses last night, minus the children (thanks mom and dad!) and consequently didn't get to bed until 3 in the morning. I honestly can't remember the last time I did that, but am guessing it was sometime around the flu outbreak last year!

Generally I dislike making New Year's resolutions. It seems that I simply never manage to keep them and after years of trying self improvement that way, I gave up. But, this blog has been sadly neglected over the past few months, as life came speeding at me like a freight train. Among other resolutions, (like finishing the church directory finally) has been a renewed resolve to post more regularly again. So we shall see. Blessings and hope for a prosperous new year everyone.

Nick's Blog

2008-10-19T12:20:00.000-07:00

Nicky started his blog for the D.R. today. It can be found at www.challiesjr.com .
Be sure to comment for him!

Thankgoodness for Swiss Chalet

2008-10-14T07:22:00.000-07:00

We had quite the day yesterday. Nick had an eye infection, the turkey was rotten, and we got a call from the bank to tell us someone had copied my bankcard, photographed my pin and stolen 500 dollars from our bank account. So today, I have already taken Nick to the doctor, and later will be returning a turkey and visiting the bank to get a new bank card. What a day!

I was wrestling the turkey in the sink when Tim came downstairs and asked me what the stench was. I was in denial. I didn't want to admit that it was bad- we were going to be having 10 people for dinner!!! We decided rather than running all over town to find a turkey, we would simply order chicken from Swiss Chalet. They delivered and dinner still worked, even if it wasn't quite the same without Rick's famous gravy. At any rate, I'm learning to role with the punches. Mom made a wonderful pumpkin pie, I was so mad to find Tim's dad eating the last piece for breakfast this morning! He thought it was pretty good too!

I really need to start dinner.

2008-10-01T12:30:00.000-07:00

And I do. But today is one of those days where dinner just seems simply uninspired. Maybe because I spent 3 hours dragging a two year old around the mall today while I tried on clothes. It has been ages since I got some new things. I had a gift certificate from Jacob from my birthday, which was finally used today. But, by the end I had one grumpy toddler. I headed into "one more store" to try and find some shirts, when Michaela, who had abandoned the stroller, wailed NO!!!! and headed at a fast clip down the hall. At that point I figured enough was enough and trailed her out to the car. I used to like shopping for clothes, but no more!

I found, (or rather Tim found) a great little site (here) that has some great printable planners. I'm currently using the freezer planner, and am looking at trying the menu planner as well. I'm a check list person so this type of thing works very well for me. I currently have a chore list on the fridge, of daily, weekly and bi-weekly chores. This way I can check them off as I get them done, and (it is a weird quirk I know) it seems to motivate me. I know, I know. Now I just have to get Tim to stop looking at me like I've grown two heads. He just starts laughing and says, "well... it's taken ten years!" Thanks dear.

Now really, I'm going to start dinner. maybe....

Soccer

2008-09-29T19:03:00.000-07:00

I just got back from yet another soccer game. We are now finally in the playoffs. Summer soccer is not supposed to last 5 months, but thanks to the rain, it has. We won, which I guess is good. But, frankly everyone is ready to be done. The only reason we won really was that we were up two players on them. We had 10... they were playing with 8. As the weather gets colder, I start suffering from leg cramps, since we were going to play two games this week, I was taking it easy tonight. Last game on Thursday, we won't win that one, thank-goodness. I don't think I've ever played soccer in October before.

Loving Real Canadian

2008-09-25T11:43:00.000-07:00

In what I believe is an attempt to compete with Walmart, the Real Canadian Superstore, is now doing a 50% off clearance on their meats, veg and baked goods. The meat is usually expires within the next two days, but I always drop the meat into the freezer if I'm not going to use it that day anyway. On Thursdays, I head in after dropping the kids off at school and hit the stores at 8:15 or so. By then the bright pink stickers litter the meat section.

Today I picked up- 5 packages of Ground Pork, 1 package of Ground Beef- 1 Oven Roast, and Two Club packs of Chicken thighs, for just over 29.00. I think I can get 10 meals out of it all. It works out to be 2.99 a meal. Awesome!

Canning Crazinesss

2008-09-22T09:39:00.000-07:00

First, I'm sorry to all of you who read through RSS. For some reason I managed to post this before I was done writing it, so as such you will have already read the unedited, work in progress version. Lovely. Well, it keeps one humble. I haven't posted much as of late, as I have been very busy canning various fruits and veg. Like mad. A week and a bit ago I got together with two friends and spent two days canning about 120 jars of salsa. We peeled about 150 pounds of tomatoes. I've also put down, peach jam, strawberry jam, peaches, pear butter and plum ketchup. Tim made me promise that if he bought me a deep freeze, I would put down some apple pies (frozen that is) after our annual apple picking, and then.... I'm DONE. I've really enjoyed the whole canning experience, and am just hoping I've processed the jars well enough that I don't kill anyone! It has been a new experience and one that I've jumped into with both feet. I have to do it again next year, otherwise I won't be able to justify the expense of all the jars I've bought.

I've been thinking hard today about my chosen vocation. When we were in school, we were given grades and eventually chose to take courses based on our skill at different disciplines in school. I tended toward the arts, english, history even geography, and stayed as far away as I could from subjects such as math, science etc. (although the one exception to that was biology, for some reason I loved it, even though my grades were not stellar. I think that was more to do with the teacher than anything else!)

When going off to University, it only makes sense that we go into subjects that we excel at, and usually what we excel at is what we enjoy. Can you imagine what a farce it would have been to have me try and become a chemist? I would have failed miserably! And I would have hated every moment of it.

So I began thinking about my chosen vocation of homemaking. I would not say that this is something that I particularly excel at. It is often a hard slog for me to keep up with housework, plan the week well, and generally keep busy. I don't particularly enjoy it. There are aspects that I like, but for the most part I don't know that this is something I love to do. it has been a sobering realization, and one I'm fully aware that I need to change. When Tim and I decided to have children there was no question that I would stay home with them. It was far too important to us. We wanted our kids to have a parent around when and as they needed us. But I didn't realize how hard it would be at times.

So much of motherhood and wifehood (I know no such word but bare with me) is servanthood, and I know much of my discontent comes from a bad attitude, (and a wrong heart) toward the service. But after numerous conversations of late with mom's who are struggling to find joy in what they do, I've come to the conclusion that a lot of what they are struggling with also stems from a feeling that they are not doing a particular area well. For example, For me, it is very hard to find joy and to be content with general up keep of our house. I think it would be easier to be joyful in doing it if it was something I naturally excelled at. For my sister-in-law, she doesn't have this issue. She loves cleaning her house, and it is always in immaculate condition. I suppose it wouldn't matter as much if I didn't care if my house was a mess all the time, but it does bother me, so it is a constant source of frustration, and I constantly feel inadequate in this area.

So, how do we solve this Biblically? God requires us to be joyful in all we do, so how do we find joy in something we don't feel we do well? To be honest, I'm not sure I have an answer beyond looking to the Lord for help. Starting each day praying for contentment and asking that He turns our frustration into joy. Trusting that He has given us the skills necessary to complete the jobs given to us for His glory and above all serving our family, thus serving Him each day, and in knowing this, this should be our joy.

Children Do What They Are Taught

2008-09-10T15:08:00.000-07:00

For some time now, I've had a growing concern about a couple of the girls in the neighborhood. These two girls are the same age as my kids, but their parents have a very different mindset. Their dad is determined to protect his two girls, a trait that is admirable, but in our opinion he is going about it the wrong way. He is determined to change his two daughters into weapons, ones that can be unleashed at any injustice, although according to him, limited to physical injustice against them. They are enrolled in martial arts, and are told to fight back if anyone lays a hand on them.

It has concerned me in the past, as the eldest daughter and Nick had a run in when Nick was bugging her. He didn't touch her, but drove her nuts, and the girl flipped and ended up hurting him enough that he was rolling on the ground. In a sense it served him right, but the lack of control was disturbing. This girl is being taught how to really hurt someone, and I can't help but believe that kids this young do not have the self-control to handle the ability to hurt someone.

Today, when talking to the mom, she mentioned that she had a call from the school yesterday. Apparently the two sisters were being bugged by two older boys. The elder girl got flicked (think two fingers) in the head by these boys, and the younger girl (abby's age) flew into protect mode. When it was done, one of the boys had a scratch down his face and the other a lump on his head from being shoved into a wall.

The father of these two girls determined because his daughter started it, she should not have to apologize. The mother did not seem terribly concerned that 5 days into school her 5 year old got into a fight with two boys.

It struck me that this child is only responding as she has been taught. She is being trained and told to fight back physically when confronted. She is only 5 and has no self-control to solve things in a civilized manner. So, is the child really to blame? It must be a terribly confusing time for her. She was hauled into the principals office and talked to, and told this was unacceptable behavior. The parents are (or at least dad is) telling her she did right.

My reaction when told was very much- "what else did you expect her to do?" But it did drive home to me very clearly how very careful we have to be when placing ideas in our kids heads.

I feel sorry for the two grade three boys. Can you imagine how much teasing they are getting? After all they were trounced by a grade one girl........

My Devotions

2008-09-09T08:36:00.000-07:00

For months now I have been struggling with my conscience. Finally listening to what I know I have to do, I told my husband to wake me up at 6:30 so I could start reading and praying in the mornings. For so long I have been using the excuse that I would do devotions when Michaela was napping, or in the evenings. But, to be honest that almost never happened. And now, with our new schedule, Michaela isn't napping, and come the evening I'm just too tired, I gave in and have done what I should have done months ago. It helps that I've asked a friend to hold me accountable and keep asking if I am reading, between her and Tim I've GOT to!

I think Tim takes some sick pleasure in waking me up at that hour. I am not my best in the mornings. I stumble downstairs in a fog, and he laughs!

I have known for some time that I am not getting into God's word as I should. It has been the most frustrating experience, battling your own flesh. Part of the membership covenant at our church is that we promise to do private devotions. Each time a new member joins we all stand and say the pledge together, and each time that statements stands out to me and gives much shame. I read with almost a sense of relief Janis' blog this morning. She echos my heart almost exactly! One thing that particularly stuck me was this statement.. "One of the biggest things God was showing me was that far too often when I read early is to read the Bible as a story. With taking notes I am trying to focus on what God is revealing about himself and then looking to see how I need to be responding in accordance to the revealed truth." I need to think on this. Tim has been trying to encourage me to ask two simple questions when reading 1) What is God saying about himself, 2) How do I apply that to my life.

So onward I go... bleary eyed but for the moment determined to stick to this. The only problem being Michaela is getting up at 6:50, and I wanted a full 1/2 hour- so do I get up another 10 minutes earlier?

Their First Day

2008-09-02T06:27:00.000-07:00

Up bright and early this morning. The kids bus comes at 7:53, so we had an early start. Tim prayed with them took some pictures, then off out the door! It is now 9:20 seems a little long to catch the bus doesn't it? Well, the bus didn't show this morning. All us parents waited an hour for the bus to turn up this morning, only to find out they hadn't dispatched one. So we ended up driving our kids to school, 45 minutes late. What a way for them to start the first day of a new school!

The upside, I got to stick my head into the classes and meet (briefly) the teachers. The good news being I found out Abby has one little girl in her class that was in her K. class, and she knew a couple of others. Thank-goodness! Nick seemed surrounded by boys he knew as well, which was good too. So, while it was a hassle and stressed the kids out far more than necessary, at least Mommy has a visual of where they are.

It is so quiet here now! Michaela is playing quietly and other than the tapping of the keys there is no noise. I miss them already!

Entering a new era.

2008-08-26T15:01:00.001-07:00

It has been quite the week us. Tim has been very sick for about a week. Friday, Saturday and Sunday he ended up flat on his back. Then on Sunday, Abby came down with a fever, followed hours later by Michaela with the same symptoms. Michaela woke up at 2:30 vomiting, and I only got 4 hours of sleep that night.

I decided, in my sleep deprived delirium, that it would be a good time to ween her. I never EVER intended to nurse my kids this long. Abby and Nick were both weened at 6 months. Michaela has been the difficult one. Refusing the bottle, refusing to eat, she has been much later in all things. Walking, talking, eating... everything has been delayed. Well within normal, but never-the-less simply not as quick as my first two, and not as easy. It has been a humbling experience really, as I did always slightly scorn those who nursed as long as I have. It was one of those wonderful phrases "Well if it works for HER, but I will NEVER do that." Funny really how much meaning (and how much pride) are in those words. But I certainly learned! I figured if I told Michaela- "you can't you'll barf" it would work and so far she has at least tolerated this. Cold turkey is not recommended, but what else was I going to do? With Michaela it is kind of like a smoker, cutting back wasn't going to work! The downside is that she is not napping. I figured that this would happen, but will now have to adjust my work time.

She is doing well with the toilet training. So with the end of the nursing, we have firmly moved out of the baby stage. Neat really, as in six days Abby will be in school full time and we will be on our own. In the morning we are heading out to pick up Abby's dance uniform, she is so excited!

Sportsmanlike

2008-08-14T05:32:00.000-07:00

Nick's last baseball game was last night. (rejoice, rejoice!!!!) I have to say, their games have been getting more enjoyable to watch as the season has progressed.

Nick has struggled this year. Defensively he has become quite good. He made three outs last night, and should have had a fourth, but the first baseman dropped the ball. He always plays hard in the field. Offensively it has been a different story. Nick cannot hit the ball. We believe in part, it is not simply an inability, (if he had no hand eye coordination he wouldn't be able to catch or throw as well as he does) but it is due to the fact he is terrified of the ball at the plate. Last night, he was swinging a little better, making contact three times, (all foul) but still struck out four times. The last time at bat, just before he went up, one kid made a comment, and while he was at bat another called him chicken little ( or something like that). (oddly enough it was that child that was bawling after getting hit with a ball while playing catcher not three innings earlier and had to be hauled off... ) Nick came off his last at bat so upset, my heart was breaking. It is so difficult watching your child struggling with a skill. Every at bat, I'm standing there just praying, "Please Lord, let him just hit it once!"

For the most part, the kids on the team have been pretty good, last night was an exception. I hated the fact that his last game, and last at bat was going to be a negative experience for him. He wouldn't remember the four great plays he made, instead he would remember the at bat,and what the kids said, true to human nature I suppose.

The end of the game the coach gathered the kids around, and told them it was time for the team rewards. He was going to give out three rewards, one for MVP, one for Most Improved, and one for Most Sportsmanlike. He told the kids that these rewards really meant something, as it wasn't the coaches who choose the kids, but rather he asked everyone on the team to vote. Coaches didn't vote, didn't choose, didn't give any stipulations.

My Nick was voted most Sportsmanlike by his teammates. He was so proud. (and he got in his estimation a very cool trophy with his name on it,) Tim told me later , he was standing beside some other parents when he was coaching the first baseline, they were talking amongst themselves about Nick who had just played first base. They said that he was so nice, that every time one of their players got on base, Nick would walk up to them and tell them "Nice hit." Not something Tim or I had instructed him to do.

As we were walking off the field last night, Tim and I told him how proud we were of him, that we would rather him never hit the ball and be an encouraging, nice person, then hit the ball all over the field and be, well, a jerk. (now hitting the ball all over the field and being a nice person is also an option, but maybe next year! :) )

So the season ended on a very good note. Frankly, it was a tough one. He loves the game, he loves to play, but sooner or later his performance at bat is going to make it so he doesn't want to play anymore. As a parent, you want to shield and protect your kids from hurt and disappointment. But, you can't. That isn't life, and they need to learn how to cope with it early if they are going to thrive.

I guess though, that Nick is learning a skill, and that is being encouraging teammate with a good attitude. And really, that will get him further in life than hitting a baseball out of the park.

10 years

2008-08-08T11:07:00.000-07:00

10 years ago today, I married the love of my life. Simple as that. It is hard to believe that we have been married for 10 years, which I think is a good thing. The wedding was beautiful, full of memories. My mom did almost everything, from the decorations, to growing the flowers and making the bouquets, to making and decorating the cake, and of course making my dress. You should have seen our house the day before the wedding! (and my poor mom's flower beds for the rest of August!) I love the fact that everything was done with such love! The day was hot, way too hot. Hot enough that by the end I'm pretty sure I had heat stroke. Not the best beginning to a marriage (me being sick as a dog), but one we can now laugh about. The funniest memory I have of our honeymoon was being chased across a field by a group of friendly, but overly large cows. We stayed at a friends cottage, and they rented out the field nearby to a farmer. We decided to go for a walk and ran into a herd of cows. They were curious, I was less than impressed. Having never been around a group of cows before, but knowing horses, I was convinced we were going to get trampled. We flew across the field and hopped the fence just in time, but they stopped and simply looked. Yeah, we were and are city kids at heart!

10 years, three kids, 4 moves. I could not ask for a better mate in life. Tim puts up with me, completes me and continues to love and support me. God has blessed me so.

Marineland

2008-07-30T14:44:00.001-07:00

We had a guest this past weekend- one who will now forever be referred to as Australia Nick.
Having two people in the same house with the same name was interesting! About 4 months ago (maybe longer) Tim got an email from a young guy from Australia. He apparently was coming to Canada and wanted to meet Tim and was looking for somewhere to stay for a few days. I was nervous. After all, who was to say the guy wasn't going to murder us in our sleep?

Well, he didn't kill us, obviously, and we had a great time getting to know Nick. People who generally win my heart are ones who seem to enjoy my kids, and Nick was very much a big brother to my two oldest for four days, playing games and putting up with their silliness.

We ended up taking the whole gang to Marineland on Monday. We had a good time, even though I didn't get to feed the whale as I was hoping. We watched the killer whale demonstration, and ended up getting soaked! Michaela was fine through the first two splashes, but we got caught off guard on the third and both of us ended up getting a face full. One unhappy baby. She hates being wet and thankfully I brought a change of clothes. As the wails of toddlers went up around us, I wondered if the trainers kept track of how many children they made cry!

The final ride of the day (and the only ride for me) was a trip up the sky screamer (137.2 m or 450 feet in the air at 96 km an hour or about 60 miles an hour) Australia Nick apparently likes crazy ride. (He also talked my husband into going on the rollercoster. ) Why I did it I'm not sure. I wasn't afraid of dying on the ride, my body just hated the sensation of hurtling 60 miles an hour in the air. The ride let go and as we shot upward a scream ripped from my throat. about 3/4 of the way up I realized that the man sitting next to me was shushing me as one would shush a distraught child. Me, very indignatly "What do you mean Shush!!!!!!" Him, with a French accent "It's better for your brain....." Me. "Better for my brain????" Him "Yes, yes, you know more oxygen, better for your brain to breathe...." huh.... funny I wasn't so worried about my brain as my heart leaping out of my chest... At this point I was so indignant and distracted I had just about forgot about how terrified I was, then they winched us up for the final drop. I told the man I was going to scream again.... and well .... yeah.... both Nick and him assured me at that point the worst was over and it was. I'm not scared of heights- but speed. So my memory of Aussie Nick will forever be etched as that crazy guy who actually enjoyed the Sky Screamer, and I will always remember the Frenchman who made me laugh. I was shaking so hard when I got off the ride I could barely get my shoes on.

We loved having Nick stay with us, and hope if he is ever this way again we can again extend hospitality to him. Have a great trip Nick!

Faith and Trust.

2008-07-29T11:42:00.000-07:00

The story of Job has always been something of of a problem for me. On one hand one has to admire (and ought to strive for) the faith Job has in the face of such extreme trial. On the other hand, the thought of God standing and watching as your entire life is ripped apart is somewhat unsettling. Would I have enough faith to trust God, that all things work for good?

It has been quite a week. Tim and I have been bombarded by hurting people. In seven days no less than four situations have come up in which people are in difficult situations. Each one uniquely different, yet each one causing such pain in the lives of the people in them. None of the people I'm speaking of read this site, and I will not mention specifics, however, when one has so many situations coming at them at once, one can't help but compare the way people are dealing with the situations.

In three of the situations, the people either do not believe in God, or have turned away from Him due to the situation they are in. It has been so hard to watch the bitterness and hardness in these people. I come away from these encounters rattled. On one hand I understand to some extent why they feel as they do. But, it took a comment from a friend to put this in perspective. She said to me, (and this is somewhat paraphrased) "But it is during these times (as a christian) we must shine...." We have to trust. That is the difference I am seeing.

Compared to the other case, where the hurt is still there, but the people are glorifying in God for what He is accomplishing even in their fear and sorrow. Do they still panic? Absolutely. Do they still fear? Yes. But that is in moments of weakness, in the moments of being human, but underlying it all is a sense of peace and trust. They are still able to see God working, and still are content, and still glory in what He is doing.

The comparison is black and white, and has made for some sobering moments for Tim and myself this week. When we are in times of trials, and they will surely come, will we have the faith of Job?

Quiet

2008-07-19T13:21:00.000-07:00

Tim has taken the three kids out. The house is silent except for the hum of the air conditioner. It is raining outside, in sheets. I'm watching the ever growing puddle outside my front door. I'm sitting (obviously) for the first time today it seems. It has been a busy day, full of house and food preparations for guest tomorrow, and birthday parties for kids requiring parental attendance. I'm relishing the quiet.

I feel slightly off kilter, and have been pondering why. It has been quite a week. It feels in some ways like we have been reeling from one set of news only to be hit with another. Tim seems able to just keep moving, but I need to stop and absorb for longer than he. God is in control, nothing surprises Him. He is sovereign over all things.

Michaela has not napped today... again. This worries me. What will I do without any down time during the day? She slept for 11 hours last night, after not napping yesterday as well. Oh how I hope this isn't the end!

Nick was at a birthday party last weekend. A pool party. I went to that one too, as I was less than comfortable with the whole thing... good thing too. My son, who really is a very weak swimmer- close to non-swimmer really, decided that he was quite able to swim in the deep end, thank-you very much. I didn't want to embarrass him, so I let it go, figuring he could manage, put stayed by the edge of the pool. He was holding onto a inflatable raft, which looked like it was going to flip on him. I took off my shoes. Sure enough the thing flips and he pops to the surface with the biggest eyes you have ever seen. He was just out of arms reach really from the side, so I sit down and try to talk him over. I knew it would be better for him to get there himself. I was transported years back to my Life Saving classes when the instructors were telling us what a non-swimmer looked like- clawing a the service and sinking under- The third time he went down, I accepted the inevitable and went in fully clothed and hauled him out. The silly kid hopped out and got right back in the shallow end- thank-goodness I supposed. I was more shaken by the panic I saw, as all he needed to do was flip on his back and float. So much for all the money spent on swimming lessons!!!! So I sat for the next 2 hours in soaking clothes, resolved to get him into a pool and teach him some water survival myself!! Good grief.

I need to go and finish the potato salad and take the chicken out of the oven. Tim will be back soon and the house will once again be filled with little voices. As good as it is to have the peace, I do miss them even when they are gone for only 1 hour.

Blessings.

Liam and Prayer

2008-07-16T10:55:00.000-07:00

I haven't had much time to post lately, summer is so busy! I wanted to take a moment today to point you to my friend Kimberly's blog. Kimberly is Liam's mom and she has their prayer request for Liam posted here . They are pasting all of the responses to their prayer requests for Liam into a book he can take to appointments, so if he gets scared he can look at them and remember all the people who are praying for him. If you feel so inclined take a moment to write to them letting them know who you are and where you are from and that you are praying for them. It has been such a wonderful lesson for Liam about the body of Christ, and I'm sure it is ministering to his parents as well.

On a much happier note- My sister-in-law has some beautiful pictures of my newest little niece on her site . Isn't she adorable? And of course her big brother looks so pleased too. Welcome Ellie!

Blessings!

Prayer Request

2008-07-09T18:35:00.000-07:00

We had a good day today. We headed out to the Buffalo zoo, and then over to Niagara falls. The kids had a good day, and I had a good time too, despite only having about 4 hours of sleep the night before. God was very gracious, and granted us a strife free day. It even rained, yet despite it all we had a wonderful time.

The zoo was a little different. After visiting the Toronto zoo recently, it was interesting to compare the two experiences. We were one of the first ones in the zoo this morning, and really had the place to ourselves for a good portion of the day. The Toronto zoo tends to try and mimic the animals habitat and give them tons of space. Consequently you feel like you are viewing the animals from afar. At the Buffalo zoo, the animals are so very close to you. The kids got to see first hand some very cool sea lions. The only thing separating us from these animals was a very small waist high wooden fence. Neat, but a little scary too!

The gorillas were a little testy too. We were standing off to the side watching them when the big male decided he didn't like being looked at. He rushed the glass, and slammed his fist into the window to let people know. Thank-goodness I hadn't been standing there, I would have screamed for sure! As it was we were all a little rattled, you could see that he was upset, and he obviously felt like he was being challenged for some reason.

We came home tired but happy. But, we came home to a rather sobering email. Many of you will remember Nick's buddy Liam. Jay (Liam's dad) wrote an email asking for prayer for Liam. The gist of it is as follows. They have asked us to pass along this prayer request to anyone we know who will pray, as such I am asking here. Liam has been suffering from migraine headaches for a while now. He had such a bad one a few weeks ago that Kim and Jay, took him off to the ER where they did a CAT scan as a precaution. They found a mass in the right lateral ventricle of his brain. Now, there is good news. It is not cancerous, and it is not right now putting any pressure on the brain or blood flow to the brain, so there is no threat right now. Liam will be having an MRI to determine a course of treatment, and Kim and Jason are asking that we pray for Liam and for the treatment.

Jason writes this"We would ask that if you are the praying type, you would consider joining us in praying over these next few weeks or months as we seek to determine the next steps. We would also ask that you pray for whatever opportunities God has in mind as we go through these next weeks. We have really been challenged to not dwell on the “why” questions but rather focus on the “what” and “how” questions. Reflecting on Romans 8:28 which reminds us that “in all things God works for the good of those who love him” we are asking that God would open our eyes and hearts to how He is going to use this for good and what He might do in and through this situation and in and through us."

So please pray for their family. We told Nick about Liam, and he asked how he was doing. We explained how Liam has named the mass, "Tubby the tumor" and Nick just cracked up. "That's so Liam!!' says my son and well really, that sums it up. It's amazing how faithful 8 year olds can be. I was worrying he would be so worried, and his attitude was very much, "well, let's pray... God is in control!"

A side note- Michaela is now eating apples and carrots. A fruit and a veg. but we are getting there. We have also cut out her bed time nursing. Three nights now. I feel like I'm the most evil mother around, she gets so sad. But we are working on it!

The Fruit of my Labour

2008-07-03T05:28:00.001-07:00

All right, so that is really cheesy, but I just had to use it! I got into trouble last night, when I told my two friends I made Strawberry Jam a couple of days ago. We were supposed to do it together, but I hadn't heard from them. The one girl said she still had jam left over, and well.... I hate to bug people, so I simply got it into my head to do it myself. Lesson learned!

The jam seems to have turned out well. The kids and Tim seem to like it at any rate! I have pictures, but we still haven't found a good way to get them off the camera onto my computer. The kids insisted that we spend some time actually picking the strawberries. I had no intention of taking three kids into a strawberry patch, but they were so excited! When I saw that it was actually about 1/2 the cost to pick it yourself, my cheap side came roaring out! I remember how much the farmer people hovered when I was a kid, and didn't feel like risking the wrath of an irate farmer. However this experience was good. I did end up talking to the farmers wife, who told me that we had such a drought last year that even with the amount of rain we had, it wasn't until the last rainfall that they saw puddles forming on the ground! The ground has just been soaking the water up!

I promised the girls that I would behave and wait for them to do the salsa, and peaches. Tim is even willing to take a day off work for me to do each.... See.. I just have to bribe his tummy to get him to take some time off!

I'm reading MacArthur's Twelve Extraordinary Women right now. Not that far in yet, just a couple of chapters, but am enjoying it.

Grocery shopping today. And laundry. My two least favorite tasks, but two that are vital to the running of this household. Tim is already hard at work, and Michaela has yet to wake up!

Run Ragged

2008-06-28T10:27:00.000-07:00

For the most part, I've gotten used to Tim being away. The total number of times he has been gone in the last 6 months adds up to 7 times I believe. Some times are easier than others..(think back to the dreadful flu and shudder).

This time has been a little different. I've been run off my feet. Not sure what is going on, but for a happy homebody we have been crazy busy. Thursday was CW, then Friday we shopped and drove out to Brampton, now in the next half hour I'm supposed to be taking the kids over to the park for a game of neighborhood pick-up soccer, then later they are going to a movie and dinner with our old renter. Frankly, I don't want to. I just got Michaela down for nap- and she will not be pleased after only 30 minutes. And.... I need a break.

Anyone got any easy idea's for feeding 5 hungry guys? One is a vegetarian to top it all off. Tim has his Sunday night meeting tomorrow, and we decided it would be easier for everyone to come here and have me feed them... normally not a big deal, until they added the vegetarian. (Sorry Josh, but it is a pain!) I HATE tofu!

Tim will be back late, and be a write off in the morning- but it will be good to have a break!

Canada's Wonderland

2008-06-26T18:58:00.000-07:00

It was a day full of sunshine and laughter. Tim let this morning for B.C. on a rather unexpected business trip. I took the kids (all three of them) with Jen and her two to Canada's wonderland. Thank-goodness soccer was canceled!

Michaela loved the water park. She loved the pool, the splash pads and came away with a sun-kissed face and a big smile.

What a good way to start the summer!

The Eastern Cougar

2008-06-25T07:48:00.000-07:00

Nicky finished school yesterday... my little boy now in grade three!!! I was reading through his report card when he came to me with a booklet clutched in his hand. "Mom, you have to read this..." It was titled the Eastern Cougar and I thought it was his project on the animal he had done in class... I was a little off, it was a work of fiction, titled "Diary of an Eastern Cougar" I'm going to copy it below- without picture unfortunately, as they do add something... but enjoy!

May 2nd- Today was the 1st day of school, my teacher was Mr Deer He got sick so my dad ate him and we had to go home. My dad made the kill so he got to eat it all. I'm hungry.

May 22nd. We found a new teacher We had to pay 300 deer horns because dad ate the last teacher and almost this one too. I stopped him.

May 30th- Today in gym class we played wrestling. It was fun. I won! My teacher said were going baby deer hunting. I can't wait.

June 2nd- Today we went baby deer hunting and it was fun. I caught the biggest deer. It was a grown-up. Only ten. I ate it for Lunch.

June 17th - Today we had a real people drill. They caught me, but I bit his nose. He said ouch so I did it again. It was so fun that I did it again and again and again then he ran away. I'm sad, I hope he comes again.

June 20th- My class picture turned out terrible. My fur was sticking up straight and my claws weren't sharpened. Just horrible.

June 30th- Mom says there are 3 things I should always remember. 1. Try to avoid humans. 2. Never disturb dad when he is eating. 3. When being chased run fast. I tried and it hurt. Mom says not that fast.

July 1st- Today it was dad's birthday. I have him a deer leg, but I got grounded because I ate it. I'm really really hungry.

Nick Challies is 8 years old. He lives with his mom and dad and two sisters. Nick's favorite subjects include gym, art, science and writing. In his spare time he enjoys playing or watching baseball.

Tim and I were doubled over laughing with this piece of work. I'm hoping others find it funny as well and it isn't just a parental thing....Gracie, come on, I know you are laughing!!!

Stretching

2008-06-23T13:54:00.000-07:00

I had an interesting conversation with one of my sister-in-laws yesterday. I've been feeling so challenged of late. I've been looking forward to the summer, but have been amazed in watching it come how booked up my fall is looking.

We've agreed to take on more responsibility's with our church, (teaching Grace kids being one) as well as deciding that small groups are a must. Here is what our week will look like next year. Sunday- two services- the evening we will be having around 4 guys back to our house for an accountability meeting with Tim (and one wife to hang with me) all of which will need to be fed. Thankfully this is only twice a month. Tuesday we will have TAG, and Wed teaching Grace Kids. Abby's dance will fall somewhere in there as well. Overwhelming and this is before the fall conferences are added. As well, I am on the condo. board for our townhouses. When I think on how little we did just a few months ago......

I love being busy, but there is such a thing as too busy!

My living room is still awaiting paint, but the lazy days of summer are fast approaching. Nick's last day of school is Tues. Then Abby's grad. on Wed.

Tim and I have decided that my time can be better served outside of Ebay for now, and I'm going to work for him. Shades of College Pro! I'm going to be managing the Ad campaigns on his site, and trying to expand that business to other sites as well. Looking forward to the challenge of learning new things, but a little scared as well.

Better finish dinner. Blessings all.

Slowly returning to normal... kind of.

2008-06-17T10:56:00.000-07:00

I think I will miss the buzz of the past 5 days. It has been fun having everyone around- only wish Justin and Grace could have stayed for longer. It was fun getting to know my newest brother-in-law a bit better. I have been so richly blessed by all my extended family! It is amazing to me thinking that I have been a part of the Challies clan for close to 13 years now. My sister-in-laws feel much more like real sisters to me, and I whole heartily approve of their choices in husbands. These men have stepped up and shown their true character and Godly leadership in our family. Even though everyone is far away from each other, and we don't talk or see each other as often as we like, we have a bond that is unbreakable. I thank God for each one of you!

We have another busy week coming up, and it won't be long (only 7 days left of school.)

2008-06-12T10:30:00.000-07:00

I'm looking around my house shuddering wondering how on earth I'm going to have 9 people in this weekend.

I have been buzzing around praying that God will grant me the grace not to snap at my children as I feel I am on the verge of doing. There is no way, at this point we will have the ceiling painted, and me in my foolishness, did not realize that the new ceiling was going to require a complete paint job of the living room as well!

Nevermind. As long as the living room is cleared out, I can deal with what is coming. I think.

We just received the church budget for next year, and it is well... interesting. We know and trust that the leaders have put a lot of thought and prayer into this, but it is never-the-less a daunting budget. I am somewhat concerned about the practical reality compared to what has been presented, (a little too much like our former churches budget for my comfort!) and will find it interesting to see what others think.

Life has been so fast paced of late, it seems like school will be out before we know it.

Living in the Basement

2008-06-10T17:53:00.000-07:00

Today was interesting. Bob, our drywall guy, pulled out the entire ceiling, threw back up the drywall and go the first coat of mud on the ceiling today. I'm very excited. We have a massive fan on now to try and dry the stuff so he can put another coat on in the morning. Thank-goodness! We may be done in time yet!

I spent the day trying to keep two kids busy in the basement. Which was tough. We ended up over at Jen's for quite awhile. She bought a new wii game, maybe called guitar hero? She is a little addicted. But it was fun to try. Abby is likely to be up with nightmares tonight as her friend Kevin informed her that his dad's car was stolen from their house while they were sleeping. She is a little freaked out. Thanks!

Not sure what I'm going to do in the morning. Can see how tough renovations would be. At least we get to go out!

Blessings.

Well.... shall we say.... uh oh?

2008-06-09T13:34:00.000-07:00

It is going to be one of those weeks. A little while ago we had a leak in the bathroom upstairs. We now need to patch the ceiling in the living room, and have decided, since we HATE the popcorn ceiling, that we want to simply replace the whole thing. So, after contacting a neighbor who's business is drywalling, we waited...and waited and waited. Finally on Sunday he contacted me and said he had an opening.... this WEEK.

This Friday we are having a family over for dinner. Friday night as well, we are having a friend come and stay with us for 4 or 5 days. Sat., we are going to my mom's for lunch, for fathers day and then Grace and Justin arrive for the night.

Basically, we have no furniture in the living room, and will be living in the basement for three days. This project HAS to be done by Thursday night, leaving me enough time to clean up, move the furniture back in time to have 7 people for dinner (not including my family) and get the basement turned into a bedroom for Kathrine coming. Can you say uh oh???????

I knew I was being challenged to be more hospitable, but man! Throw me a curve ball!!!!

Control... I want control!

Hospitality

2008-05-29T10:26:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a lot about hospitality lately. I'm going to be called, (or am being called) to do a lot of it in the near future, and I want to do it well.

It seems to me there are two schools of thought regarding having people in your home, and I'm not sure how I feel about either. What we have always done in the past, is simply to open up our home. Basically to include the person staying in our family. Generally this method doesn't require a whole lot of extra effort on our part. The person staying with us doesn't feel like they are putting us out, and for the most part seems to work quite well.

I'm thinking of changing this. Making the person feel more important, more special. Making more of an effort in the small things. Fresh flowers by the bed, don't think I'll go as far as mints on the pillows, but you get the idea. I'm just not sure.

I love that people feel a part of our family when they come to visit and I don't want to change that, but have been challenged to become more of a servant and to serve people better.

In light of this, Tim and I have taken to sending out "encouragement boxes" to people. It is simply a small box with a few items inside- a chocolate bar, some soap, a candle, coffee and of course a book. Put in a pretty box, with a homemade card simply letting people know we are praying for them. We take one person every two weeks and send it out. It has been so much fun! It has been so good for Tim and I as well, as we talk over who we feel we should send the box to, and that person's name goes up on our chalk board in the kitchen. A constant reminder to pray. We have been trusting God will bring someone to mind who is in need of a little encouragement.

Tim gets home tonight, we are having a bunch of people in for LOST. I've been busy cleaning and getting snacks ready for tonight. I always go overboard with the food for these things! Don't you wish you were coming?

100

2008-05-28T08:34:00.000-07:00

This is my 100th post. Sort of exciting. Now I just have to talk Tim into making the site more 'pretty' . Seems to me with a web designer for a husband, this should be a fairly easy task. But since I have been asking for more than a year... and something has yet to materialize.....

We are going to Grace Kids tonight. The first time I have ventured out on my own. I'm a little nervous. Rexdale is not the best neighborhood. But it is a straight line from the highway to the school.... now if I can just remember how to get home.......

I've been running around doing house repairs today. Tim is not handy... so it often falls on me to get these things done. I wait and wait for him to do it and finally throw up my hands and do it my-self. Beside the bathtub we've had some water damage, so I cleaned out the rather large hole, repaired it, and am just waiting for it to dry to caulk and paint. The downstairs window was replaced, but the trim needed to be repaired as well. A little wood filler, and once that dried it needs to be primed and painted as well!

I've been trying to find a Wii fit. It is supposed to be good exercise and fun as well. They are no-where to be found, but if I wasn't so lazy I could have had one yesterday. Jen found one, but I waited too long to go and get it!

At Last

2008-05-27T14:38:00.000-07:00

Tim is away at his last conference for the Spring season. It as def. been a time of growth for me. how stressful it has been! As I look outside at the beautiful GREEN, I thought, just a short month ago that this time would never happen. (around the time Abby was throwing up in the bathroom) yet here we are. How much easier it is when kids are healthy to look after them as a single parent!

WE are going to have a busy couple of weeks- or month really. Grace and Justin will be stopping by twice in the next couple of weeks. Kathrine will be coming to stay for a fews days as well. There there is some kid from Australia who is doing a world tour and visiting all the people who have influenced him. So he is coming to visit Tim. A little odd, but should be interesting! All in all Tim is delighted as he loves having a revolving door!

I'm still hoping to head down south at some point in June... but when is still a mystery.

My garden is looking....well... interesting. The plants need to grow up... and it looks...well... colorful. I'll post pictures sometime when I figure out how.

The kids are scrambling to go outside for a bit..... so I'm going to do that... have a good night!

Idenitity

2008-05-26T10:15:00.000-07:00

I don't think, as a child I ever suffered from an identity crisis. For the most part, aside from the occasional very typical teenage times, I was very comfortable with who I was. I remember being fairly self assured.

From time to time, since becoming a mom, my sense of self has become somewhat eroded. Tim mentioned to me this morning that it seems I have been a little depressed lately. He noticed as he has been the one making dinner the last few nights, and the house is hanging upside down. Now, to be fair some of that is circumstance, but it is true never-the-less.

I'm never sure which comes first. In the summer, it is always tougher to keep on top of the house. Outside calls me, the kids want to be out, and trek enormous amounts of dirt inside. But, I'm not sure if the situation has changed, or if my ability to cope has. The chores just don't get done. I can't get them done, no matter how good my intentions. So is that that change in routine or something else?

I've never handled change well, and perhaps this is my own inability to cope with change (my routine has changed now that everyone wants to be outside) that is causing this. As a child my mom often threatened to send me home when we went on family vacations because I was such a little terror. Change in routine destroyed me for a few days and I was almost impossible to live with. I've been on such a short fuse the last few weeks!

Frankly, I'm thinking there must be something like that going on.... nothing else really makes sense. Mental battles are so difficult!

I've got to get the laundry done, Tim is leaving in the morning for yet another conference... but it is the last one!!!!!

Spring

2008-05-25T18:24:00.000-07:00

It has been a long time since I've posted. It seems that spring time, as much as I love it, is always the busiest time of year for us. The kids have been living outdoors as much as possible. So much is happening, I'm not sure where to begin! Michaela has been taking swimming lessons, and as much as I hate getting in the water, she LOVES being in the pool .... kick, kick she says as she happily frog kicks around. Nick is happily engaged in baseball, and Abby decided to forgo soccer so she can start her beloved ballet in the fall.

It seems the kids will be moving schools in the fall, but we still have yet to hear the official word.

Tim has one final conference this week and then he will be done for the spring. Tim is hoping to take all of July off work, concentrating on writing and is hoping to start another book.

Me, I'm just holding it together. This time of year balancing the housework, and outdoor time is always a challenge.

My husbands quote for today.. "I like sad stories about dogs...they make me cry at the end too....." ahhhh the great Tim Challies.....

Soccer

2008-04-29T18:07:00.000-07:00

We just had our first soccer practice of the season. I decided to play again, even though it was a little tough as I def. felt my age! This year I have talked my sister into playing for our team. We were very short good forwards last year, we weren't able to score enough, even though we had the best defense in the league. Em is going to be a welcome addition. I had actually forgotten how good she is! We seem to work well together, if one practice is any indication. We scored 4 goals in our scrimmage. She is very quick and our coach was pretty excited! Cool. I came how very encouraged and excited about the up-coming soccer season. Fun!

Now- if only I can walk in the morning!

Back on our feet.....

2008-04-23T10:22:00.000-07:00

As most of you know the last two weeks have been some of the most difficult days in the 10 years Tim and I have been married. Michaela was hospitalized for three days with a severe stomach bug, and as I walked in the door from the hospital that third day- Abby was throwing up all over the bathroom floor. She ended up as sick as Michaela and Tim left a day later for a four day conference. It was rough... very rough. My father was a gem- driving in Monday night to calm me down, as without Tim, I was having 10 fits about Abby- who couldn't keep any liquid down for three days. After the fiasco with Michaela I was convinced Abby was going to need to be in the hospital with an I.V. as well. Michaela sat in the ER on Thursday, was poked twice for blood, had a urine collection bag strapped to her- had a q-tip shoved up her nose and down her throat to test for influenza. This all before getting an needle shoved in her hand and then splinted for an I.V. Her fever was 104 at one point. I cried. A lot.

I simply have never seen my kids that sick- and hope never to again. The backend of the virus was a cold- that robbed me of my voice for two days.

We are slowly getting back to normal- I am catching up with the house- work, and (yea!!!) the garden.

We found out on the weekend that a good neighbor of ours is selling their house. Their mortgage company is refusing to renew their mortgage. I am sad to see them go- but once again am praying for an 8 year old boy-with like interests for Nick to play with!

Please continue to pray we are done with bugs for awhile. I really need a break!

Sickness hits again......

2008-03-30T16:55:00.001-07:00

Frankly, it is getting a little unbelievable. But Abby and I are sick again. Really sick- with what the doctor is calling raging tonsillitis. Not Step- which is good- but we are sick enough that he placed us both on antibiotics. I'm so tired of all of this, so please pray for us. I believe Nick and Micheala, have both had it already- Tim can't afford to get it,he has too much work to do- I need to sleep! Pray that we get and stay healthy for awhile!

Good news Bad news

2008-03-27T17:54:00.000-07:00

It has been an interesting day. We took Nicky off to his orthodontic appointment today. His first of what will prove to be many. He had an extreme overbite, and well, we were told today that it is only correctable by surgery. I sat today in the office, Nick in the waiting room as the doctor didn't want to scare him, listening with a measure of disbelief. I asked about other options, and was told that there was none, if we were to use that office. He was not willing, in Nick's case to try any of the other methods as he felt the results would not be satisfactory, and we would end up in surgery anyway. We are welcome to get a second opinion.... which we will get, but he seemed so certain. This won't be happening until Nick is 15, thankfully as I asked about cost and almost fell out of my chair when I found out between braces and the surgery we are looking at $15,000. That's right fifteen thousand dollars. So, we are going to be saving our pennies, as we have no insurance, the biggest downside to being self-employed! I was fighting tears all the way home, Nicky blissfully unaware of what was going on. I'm scared for him, scared for the surgery, scared that the work won't be done in time to avoid major teasing.

That was the bad news. The good news today, Tim's book has gone to a second printing! The publisher sold out of the first run, 5,500 books and has gone to make more! We are so pleased and excited by this news. So, Tim has to hop to it and write another book to pay for Nick's teeth!!! So , even though the day started with bad news, it ended with good news, which is always nice!

The Purge

2008-03-19T10:14:00.002-07:00

Tim and I have decided we are done with babies. It has not been a easy decision in some ways. The thought of never carrying another little one inside of me upsets me to no end. We are done with a very precious stage in our lives, and that thought is tearful and sobering. I do not want to go through the first two years of babyhood again. In some ways I am mourning the loss of a stage of life we will never get back, rather than mourning not having another child. And that, my friends is a pretty good indicator we are done. Life moves on, and if the only reason that I want another baby is so that we can continue on in this stage of parenthood, that isn't a good reason at all for another baby!

So, the purge began today. It was less painful than I thought it would be. Cribs, high chairs, and all manner of baby stuff, placed off to one side to be recycled. Baby clothes set aside to be sorted. All done with efficacy and a desire to clean up. I am a firm believer that you have to be ready to do this sort of thing. Even if you are sure you are done actually bearing the children, you have to be ready to part with the baby things. I am ready.

But...... I have to say, I was fine until I sat down to write this post. Now, tears are pouring down my face and while I'm still sure we are done with kids... I'm no longer so sure I'm ready to part with the my babies things.....................

Logs vs Specks

2008-03-18T10:52:00.000-07:00

It is funny how stress sneaks up on you. You think you are coping just fine with everything that has been tossed at you, only to find some small matter is your undoing.

I've noticed this time, before the undoing has happened, that stress has been building in our lives. Tim is so very busy with work right now, clients are starting to get mad, but each week he finds he is called to run errands, meet people for lunch and small things that seem to eat away at his productive time. Then there are the conferences, that require a day to get there 3 days in between and a day to get home. Tim is stressed, and as a wife I am desperate to step in and help. Can I answer emails? I need to do something- and yet there is little practical I can do to help him.

I am stressed too. Business is starting to slow down as it often does in the spring, and I need to find a way to keep things moving, made all the more difficult by and unreachable manager and a slowing economic trend. I am stressed about the kids school situation next year. I am stressed about being left at home for what will amount to a week a month without a husband around. I've become very inwardly focused, trying to cope with my own life.

When you are very stressed out, you tend to focus so much on yourself and you forget what is happening in everyones lives. You seem to forget that everyone has things at any time they are struggling to work through. Getting your head stuck in the sand and bemoaning your fate seems natural, normal and necessary. No one can have it as hard as you.

Our associate pastor preached a sermon about dealing with the log in your own eye before the speck in your neighbours. You know when you hear the beginning of a sermon and all the air whooshes out of you, and you get that feeling in the pit of your stomach, like uh oh? I had that, but the funny thing is I didn't know why. I knew I needed to hear this now, but didn't know how it was applicable right at that moment.

I think I may have figured it out. I haven't been dealing with the stress in my own life very well right now. It took one very hurtful event to show me this. And so, while it is tempting to criticize the stress that caused this hurt, I need to check the log in my own eye first, and see how I have been blinded by what is happening around me right now.

It has been a hard lesson, and I am still licking my wounds, but God is sovereign , gracious and works all things for good. That is my comfort. I know, if I let Him, He will use this to His glory, and that, really, is all that matters.

Reluctant

2008-03-06T08:09:00.000-08:00

I have been reluctant to post about the chos of the last week. Tim tells me I always post about the bad things and never focus on the good. I've taken this comment to heart and will try to do better- but i just HAVE to post about the past week.

Friday- We have a rough morning getting the kids out the door. I get to the bus stop slightly rumpled to find Jen standing there with Mosey's backpack. WHAT!! Abby doesn't have school does she????? Well, Tammi turns up to confirm that yes the girls have school today. Well, now I have to go home, pack a lunch and a bag for Abby and take it back to the school... Just then Nick comes running up " Mom, Mom, I forgot my LUNCH!" Wonderful, now I have to go to Sunningdale as well.

I run those errands, then head to the grocery store- where Michaela throws the biggest tantrum in the line she ever has- I die ten deaths of embarrassment as she screams for 20 min, while I'm waiting to pay for the groceries. All the experts tell you to leave the store- with no groceries, but really I spent an hour and half gathering those and it isn't feasible to leave them!!!!

I make it home even more rumpled.

Friday Night- 10.00 - I start feeling sick. by 10:30 I'm throwing up- I crawl into bed to be woken up at 11:30 by Michaela throwing -up. Everywhere- babies have no sense of a bowl.
We spend the night on the couch, both of us throwing up every 20 minutes or so. In the next 36 hours every vertical service in my house is covered in vomit.

By Monday- we are starting to feel better- but now I'm bleaching the entire house in the hope that this will be contained to the two of us.

Fast forward to Wed. I'm feeling good- It has been 5 days or so- no one else has come down with it.
-Dinner time- Tim heads out and get's Nicky's request of McDonalds for dinner- he comes home and announces that the driver side window fell into the door. We have no window and it is still below freezing. Just then Abby announces she is feeling sick.

Abby spends Wed. night downstairs with Tim, throwing-up.

Now- God has been gracious, as Abby doesn't appear to be as sick as Michaela and I- she is keeping down fluids now and complaining she is starving. And she makes the bowl!!

I am worried this is a different bug... if Michaela get's sick again.......

Fun huh? And we are getting yet another snow storm.

Eight Years Ago.....

2008-03-05T05:49:00.000-08:00

Eight years ago today at about this time (it is 9:00ish) I was busy pushing a little one into this world. It is hard to believe watching my tall son bounce around this house this morning that it has already been 8 years! I could have never imagined so long ago what a blessing it would be to have this child in my life, but he has been a constant source of joy and laughter for us.

This morning- we woke up to yet another snow storm. Much to Nick's delight, school was canceled! What a birthday present! He headed out into the snow to help Tim shovel the neighbours driveway before settling down to play with his presents.

It's hard to believe looking outside at the winter wonderland that it was 20 degrees out when we brought him home from the hospital on the 6th. We are going to have more snow on the weekend too!

At any rate- Happy Birthday Nick!

Nicky gets a job

2008-02-27T10:15:00.000-08:00

My oldest little one is growing up. Tim called the local paper last week, at Nick's request, to see if there was any openings for a delivery boy. The local paper, called the Oakville Beaver, comes three times a week. We haven't been getting it lately, now we know why. Nick is now been hired on as a paper boy. He will be delivering around 100 papers (our townhouse complex) three times a week, and is getting paid 50.00 a month for doing so. He is so excited! Tim and I had to laugh as he already has figured out what he want to buy, several times over. I was a little startled to find out this would be three times a week, and 100 papers at that, we have to insert the flyers and everything, but, it will be good for him, and Tim always worked from the age of 8 or so, first with paper routes, then at restaurants peeling potatoes and finally the gas station. He firmly believes in the responsibility little jobs like this create, and since he turned out so well, who am I to argue?

Nick and Abby also have had their Sat. chores increased, since I discovered that they are old enough to do some real cleaning. They have to clean their rooms Sat morning and now, Abby cleans the bathroom sink, Nick the bathtub. They did a really good job of it too! I just need to remember to put them in old clothes. I decked them out in gloves, but Abby still manged to destroy a favorite shirt (bleach cleaners and a five year old.... even with gloves up to her armpits she still got it on her sleeves!) At any rate, they are now really helping and boy how excited am I!

Anne

2008-02-24T15:44:00.001-08:00

Anne of Green Gables. I remember really liking the movie when I was a kid. Tim recently got it for our kids on DVD and we have been watching it in bits and pieces. Abby loves it..... I mean LOVES it. I would have never dreamed a little five year old girl would been so into the dreamy silliness of Anne. She loves the balls, the weddings, the dresses and most of all Anne's imagination. We just passed the part where Anne turns down Gilbert's proposal and she was ever so upset. Just further proof that she is a girly girl at heart. Nick is so funny. He hates (much like me) watching anyone get into trouble, so... every time Anne gets into one of her scrapes he runs. Literally. You hear "uh oh"... and see his back vanishing rapidly into the kitchen! He must like it too though, as he is upstairs on Tim's laptop composing a story called , 'Amy of the blue lake or something"... we will have to teach him about plagiarism! It has been a busy weekend. I have ever so much ebay work to do... Shirley is going to kill me, as I have about 17 orders now in my inbox. I have no idea what is happening, but am looking forward to March when due to tax season, it usually slows down. We find out next week what is going to happen with the kids schools next year. I have a little girl who has not had a nap today, so it is going to be an interesting night!

What I want to say......

2008-02-19T16:42:00.000-08:00

There is so much I want to write about, but I have had so little time!!! I honestly don't even know where to begin. I only have a couple of minutes before we start the bedtime routine, so this won't be long.... Tim is reading Narnia to the kids, Michaela bouncing from lap to lap sometimes listening.
If you haven't had a chance to check out Johanna's wisps of whimsy you need to take a look today. She has done these hand painted letters that are just adorable!

O.k. it is bedtime- so many thoughts so little time!

For the First one

2008-02-10T15:56:00.001-08:00

The next conference had better be easier. It has been the longest four days that I've had in awhile.

Let me see he left on Thursday-

1) Thursday 1 hour before he leaves the toilet explodes and water comes pouring out of the base- the toilet backs up into the bathtub. I am left without a toilet upstairs and the possibility of no bathing for the kids.

2) Thursday night- Abby starts coughing and proceeds to cough for the next 48 hours straight- really- she pulls all the muscles in her stomach and is so sore she starts crying when she coughs. We both only get 2 hours of sleep that night.

3) I take Abby to the walk-in and find out it is viral (good I guess) but that means there is nothing they can do for her

4) Michaela starts coughing Friday night. And coughing, and coughing. Throws-up in bed twice due to the coughing. Abby continues to hack

4) I’m so tired I can barely see straight- Now Tim missed his connection and is due home 4 hours later. Doesn’t sound like much- but he was supposed to be home by 7 and that would have meant he could have bathed the kids and put them to bed. Just means my break isn’t going to happen tonight. And Michaela is starting to sound like Abby- she couldn’t nap she was coughing so much, so I’m worried about tonight.

Sound like fun? There are times when you know God is testing you, and this has been one of those times. I dropped Nick off at my Pastors house yesterday for a kids event, and he gave me a hug and asked how I was doing- "Good, it's been good" was my perky reply. I lied.

Now like all things in my life, I tend to over react, and I know I am in this case as well. Truly, in the grand scheme of things people are going through much worse. But life is so hard when you are worried about your kids and functioning on four hours of sleep, and have no help with the day to day stuff of the house. Lying awake listening to Abby at 12:30 in the morning after a scant hour of sleep I had one of my conversations with God.

"You aren't listening to me are you? She is still coughing and she sounds worse- What do you want from me???"

See right there is my problem- I am always content with God's will when it lines up with what I want, but as soon as there is a bump in the road I'm miserable and assume that He is working against me. Of course, this is particularly true when I'm tired.. Did I mention I've had four cokes today so I can function?

At any rate- it has been a long four days.....

Tired

2008-02-08T08:11:00.000-08:00

I was up most of the night last night with Abby, who is really quite sick. The poor girlie just couldn't stop coughing despite my anti-coughing measures- (the poor child was slick with the vicks rub, had the humidifier on and cough med's but this cough just laughed and kept on tormenting!)

I took her off to the walk in this morning, as her poor little body was hurting from the constant onslaught of the last two days. There is nothing they could do as it is just a viral infection. She is better now- much better in that she is coughing way less- but Michaela seems to be getting it now- oh, no rest for the weary! I hate this time of year- but we only are a few weeks away from March and then on to April and warmer weather and less germs!

I'm functioning on auto-pilot today. Poor Nick got sent to the bus stop and I asked Tammi to watch him get on the bus as I needed to get Abby to the clinic before it opened so we wouldn't be there for two hours. (as it turned out I was fifteen minutes early and it still took over an hour to be seen- there was already five people inline waiting before me and other 6 showed up before the doors opened!) Nick, of course, had a fit. He NEEDS for me to see him get on the bus, it wasn't enough that I was dropping him off only 5 minutes early. He wanted me to come and see him at school after the doctors, when I said no, he was even more upset. In tears he asked me to write a note to put in his lunch. He felt a little better after that, but was still whimpering when I dropped him off!

I'm off to do a craft with with Abby! I end these things so abruptly, but that is when the kids call!

Snow Day

2008-02-06T06:44:00.000-08:00

I can't remember the last time we had two snow days in one week. And then they are forecasting more snow for Sat. Tim's conference season is getting off to an interesting start. He leaves tomorrow for the first one. We are praying he is able to get out, since they are forecasting a further 10 cm of snow tonight (on top of the 10 cm we got today with a nice layer of freezing rain). Then we are praying he can get back on Sunday, since apparently there is another storm brewing . But that is days away yet, and goodness knows they are terrible at predicting these things!

We have one conference a month until May, when there is two that month. I'm not dreading the conference season as much (although Abby seems to have come down with yet another cold and is coughing non-stop today...) This may have something to do with the fact that Tim is not going to the Shepards conference this year. That was always the hard one as he was gone for 6 days and was on a different time zone so phone calls were difficult. It is always hard when he is away, as I seem to count time from phone call to phone call (once in the morning and once at night is what i demand..... that way I know he is o.k....) But when he does call most often he really isn't there. It takes a lot of energy and concentration to blog these things, and I find he is a little 'out of it' whenever I talk to him. That is hard. At any rate, I stocked up today on paper plates and plastic glasses! I really find that is the key to survival for me!

I'm a little nervous this time around about night. I miss Tiazzi the most when Tim is away. I slept better knowing she was around. Early warning system! Jen's car was broken into last week, and Barb (our next door neighbor) has had bikes stolen out of her backyard a couple of times now.... which I think is lending to my nerves. We live in a good neighborhood, but it is surprising what still lurks around! I may 'borrow' Josie (Jen's dog) for a couple of nights.. just to help me sleep- although.. if there is a thunderstorm I'll be in trouble as she has to be drugged (sedated) every time there is a hint of a storm!

Well, I'm off to make dinner...one of of those nights where I don't feel like cooking!

Long Morning

2008-02-05T09:29:00.001-08:00

But a good one. I set out this morning to cook. I had spent the better part of yesterday cleaning the house after the weekend. It seems no matter what I do, the house is hanging upside down come Monday. Small house, five people I guess it makes sense. At any rate, I was feeling quite a sense of accomplishment yesterday, and decided that today would be a good day to get some meals done. I was asked to provide a meal for a girl in our church who just had a baby, and was told about a neighbour who had a nasty accident, (more on that in a sec) and so thought I would combine resources and make a couple of meals up to give away. On the way to school this morning, I mentioned to Jen that I was thinking of getting Abby's hair cut. Next thing I know, I had company for the hair cut, (Jen got her little one's hair cut too) and then we stopped by the grocery store for a few supplies. It was close to 11:00 before we got home and I had to hurry to get the cooking done!

The neighbor is an interesting story, he used to be our landlord, recently divorced and moved into our old rental house which he owns. He is our age. On the weekend, a bunch of the neighbor hood guys were out at a house party of sorts, and well, they all were very inebriated. Very. Which is quite typical for this group. Apparently somehow, this guy fell on some glass, (he may have fallen on his beer bottle..) and managed to cut his arm from his wrist to elbow to the bone. Thankfully, there was one sober guy there who called 911 and they rushed him off to the hospital where he was told he was lucky as he almost lost his arm. Needless to say he is in a fair amount of pain etc. On one hand it is hard to feel too sorry for the ding dong. I mean really, but he is ,for the most part, (when he is sober!) a nice enough guy who has gone through some tough stuff lately. Since I'm making the meals up anyway, it isn't too much hardship to send one his way.

Paul did an excellent sermon on work on the weekend. It was a good reminder that we are made to work, and our discontent with work only started with the fall. I have been feeling the winter blah's lately and it was good to be reminded that the job I have been called to is caring for my family, and in serving them, I am also serving God.

On days that I am really busy I seem to get a ton done, on days where I have little planned, I never seem to accomplish anything? Hmmmm... is there a lesson here? Ebay exploded on me yesterday again (is there something with Feb 4th?) and I sold 9 units yesterday alone. I have a lot of work to do, so I'll sign off, make lunch and put Michaela down for a nap. Take care everyone- may God grant you a blessed day!

Looks like we may have a fight on our hands...

2008-01-25T10:43:00.001-08:00

I am headed out tonight to a meeting regrading the fate of our children's schooling next year. It seems that the current school (the one Nick attends and the one Abby will attend next year) is overcrowded and they want to move the entire Ward 6 (us) out to a "new" old abandoned school- this means our kids have to begin again. I'm not totally opposed to the idea, but want to make sure there is going to be good funding for the start up of a totally new school. Should be interesting.

Had a fight with Michaela today as I decided she needed to eat some apple sauce as she still refuses to eat any fruit or veg. All I did was give her some and we ended up with the entire dinner she just consumed on the floor. What am I going to do... I'm worried she is going to end up with scurvy or something! This happens anytime I try to give her something that isn't meat or carbs.......

Sunday

2008-01-20T08:30:00.000-08:00

I'm at home today, Abby actually is doing fine, and Nick really is too, but yesterday Abby popped a fever again about 4.00 and since we were supposed to go to a friends for lunch (we have a church members meeting again) we had to make the call. Now, looking at my three kids roaring around, they could have gone. Sigh.... I really wanted to go to that meeting too, as there are several issues that have come up that I would have liked to hear what everyone has to say.

So today, instead of fellowship, will be spent painting Abby's room and laundry. I finally have got around to fulfilling my promise to Abby and am redecorating her room. When Nick moved out, part of the deal with Abby, who was none too pleased about being by herself, was that we would redecorate the room from the neutral boy/girl theme it is now, to a pink/fluffy girl room. Well, the color she choose is not exactly to my taste (can you say bubble gum pink???) She is thrilled.

We had a Mommy/Abby morning yesterday and went off to pick the paint and some accessories. I didn't want the typical Disney comforter for the beds, so we found one that both of us are reasonably happy with. On a funny side note: Abby had me so overwhelmed with details (she wanted the matching throw pillows and the matching shams and the matching sheets and of course x2 as it is a bunk bed and one very fluffy pink rug) that when I got to the cash I had a heart attack as I had somehow grossly miscalculated how much it was all going to come to! We got out to the car, me still in a stunned state, when I came to my senses and told Abby we had to go and return some of this as Daddy would kill me. So there we were in -15 degree wind, negotiating which pillows etc I would return. She was pretty good, and I returned about 100.00's worth of stuff, and Abby was happy as she got to keep two pillows. (we also kept the rug and the comforters....) What a girl...

Hope everyone is having a very blessed Sunday!

By the way, Michaela has stopped referring to herself as Layla, and instead has taken to calling herself ... YOU. It is pretty funny as you point at her and ask "who's that" and she very proudly announces "you!!"

Wonder

2008-01-11T09:52:00.000-08:00

Oh how I long for the spring! No more bundling little ones up in coats, boots, hats and mitts just to walk 5 minutes to school! I want to putter around in my garden coaxing the plants to life again!

Canadian winters seem so barren- dull, grey and bitter!

And yet....

The weather this year really has not been terrible. God has granted us a winter with breaks in the weather- that has allowed us to quit hibrating from time to time and be outside again.

For awhile now I've been reading a site about a pair of missionary doctors in Uganda. Their story is quite amazing. Their site is here. They live with their three children in Bundibugyo, Uganda. The region of Bundibugyo has suffered an Ebola outbreak and it has been so interesting following their journey. Interesting and heartbreaking.

It is so fascinating with the advent of the blog how in touch we can keep with people from different countries. How much more specific and deliberate we can be when we pray! And, how quickly we can respond to specific prayer requests. I suppose before the internet, (and airplanes!) it would have taken months for updates and prayer requests to reach people. Obviously it would not have affected the outcome as God is sovern and knows and controls all, but what a difference it has made for the laypeople! We now see in a much more direct and quick answer to our prayers from all over the world. I'm sure this has changed the way we pray significantly.

At any rate, check out the site when you get a chance, they are on vacation in Austria right now-for a much needed break but will be back in a couple of days.

So much for Normal

2008-01-10T14:43:00.000-08:00

Michaela came down sick Sunday night.... really sick. I think she had the flu and finally took her off to the doctor yesterday as she was simply not getting any better. She then was diagnosed with strep.

In the grand scheme of things I guess she really wasn't that sick. But, she wasn't that well either!

Today, after being on the antibiotics she has finally turned the corner I think. I've kept her on Tylonal in an attempt to have a normal day and will hopefully see no fever. It has been a long four days of little sleep and cranky baby.

I am weary.

I remember when the other two kids hit three how much easier it got when they were sick. It still isn't nice, but there isn't the same level of care required.

Off to finish the laundry- I spent the day trying to catch up on housework, as my husband had the audacity to suggest I've been on vacation for the last four days!

Tim's Book

2008-01-04T11:47:00.000-08:00

Came out last week. It was so much fun to see it in person. How cool! I've always wanted to be published, so it has been fun living vicariously through my husband.

One rather nasty side that has come from all this has been an attack on Tim. Justin Taylor of Between Two Worlds posted a article about Tim's book, simply stating that it was out. What resulted was a shock.

People were making fairly damaging statements about Tim's character. I was furious. Tim's response is here. My husband is far more gracious than I!

I am constantly amazed by the lack of grace on the internet. It seems that even normal people lose their senses when confronted with the ability to comment without being held accountable for their thoughts. Tim has said time and time again that bloggers have to have thick skin. People love to make sweeping judgments, and clothe them in self-righteousness! "Don't be too hard on Tim..... I wish him the best, after all, this book is his attempt to make a mark and gain his fifteen minutes of fame, Tim is young, theologically immature, and untested in handling God’s Word, he knows little about discernment, and he is insecure and lacks credibility! But really I wish him all the best!" (this is a paraphrase and not the actual text) And some people had enough nerve to claim that wasn't a personal attack! Grace people grace!!!!!

As Tim has stated to me, he has no problem with legitimate questions about his credentials, but to attack him personally, and not even bother to judge the work on it's own merits is a little hard to take.

At any rate it has been a little unsettling. I'm looking forward to going back to church on Sunday. I managed to get to one service while we were away, but since Tim was preaching, and since it was a really small church with no nursery, I didn't get to hear much. Tim did really well, and surprisingly I wasn't at all nervous for him!

We get back to the school run on Monday, and hopefully I will get back to a more structured Bible study. This blog started off well, and then quickly ended up being more of a couple of times a week update for everyone! I enjoyed the structure of posting things that required more thought and will have to do so again!

Blessings everyone, and Happy New Year!

What a way to start

2007-12-19T19:38:00.000-08:00

We had the Christmas program at church tonight.... Felt we should go even though we are heading out in the morning. I think we ended up staying too long as I had three kids crying in a space of 5 minutes. Abby first, as Nick hurt her in the inevitable cops and robbers.. (even though I told them to keep their hands to themselves GRRRRRR) and then Nick, as a older girl told him off for hurting Abby, and well, we all know how well he handles being reprimanded by others.. it was an accident and it was none of this girls business, but anyway. Then as I was dealing with Nick, Michaela tumbles off a bench and starts crying. Now I watched her fall and it didn't look too bad, but when I reached her she was covered in red. I flipped slightly, as I had visions of the ER for stitches AGAIN, and I couldn't figure out where she was bleeding from. So, I scooped her up and carried her to where I could get to water. A paramedic in the church came in to check on me, as he said he saw the look on my face, but by that point I was calming down as I was beginning to realize it was just icing from a pretzel. (choc. with red stuff on it that really REALLY looked liked blood, the only thing that saved face for me was the fact that the paramedic thought it looked like blood too.) So, no stitches for Michaela and just one very foolish looking mommy.

My kids are wailers..... which means when they cry they are REALLY loud... which is embarrassing.

The car ride better be better.

p.s. i got a very large gift basket complete with a bottle of champagne from a dog tonight.... this holiday keeps getting weirder and weirder.......

shoes

2007-12-17T13:28:00.000-08:00

For those of you who have been asking, I went with the sensible shoes. I knew I would!

I will try to get those snow pictures up for you later, it has been a busy, stressful time trying to get ready. As usual, plans change at the last minute making things all the more busy and stressful .

Pray no one gets sick, as there are so many germs running around this time of year!

Winter Storm

2007-12-15T07:58:00.000-08:00

Well, here it comes again. This is our third winter storm watch of this season. We went out this morning to run some errands and everyone is talking about the weather. The forecasters say that a low pressure zone, orginating in Texas and being fed by the warm moist gulf air is barreling towards us and set to dump 20-30 cm of snow in 24 hours. Most of the snow will be falling mid-morning on Sunday. We woke up this morning to some lake effect snow- a couple of cm so far and still falling. I don't think I've ever seen a weather warning stating we were getting a near crippling snow storm- but the nice red weather warnings on the T.V. have that exact wording!

It has been an interesting winter, and is going to be a long one. Normally we are lucky to have snow for Christmas, this year- well, there may be a foot of it!

I took before pictures this morning- I'll post those later with photos of our new snow fall.

Christmas is drawing ever closer- and the kids are getting more and more worked up. I went out last night with Jen and Tammi and bought loot bags for the car. Tim thought I went a little nuts and thinks they are getting a stocking before Christmas, (and in a way I guess they are!) but they will love it!

Cheers!

Christmas Tree

2007-12-08T09:16:00.000-08:00

I committed a cardinal sin in the Duncan family Christmas tree tradition this year and went out and bought a tree from a grocery store. This year has been so very cold, and i just did not feel up to trekking through the sub-zero temperatures, to find a sub-standard Christmas tree!

So, last night, with Abby chattering in the background- (Mommy, did you make this? Did Nana? What about this... Is this glass, can I hang it Mommy?) I settled down to decorate the Christmas tree. (a side note, Nick went upstairs to watch Tim play a computer game- deciding that was far more interesting than hanging stuff on a tree)

I've long since admired the designer trees found in magazines. They are so beautiful. But, this year for the first time I began to realize what a treasure my own tree is. Shortly after we got married, my mom downsized her tree and gave me my share of the family ornaments. Hanging these on my tree is like a walk back into my childhood. Ornaments my mom made when she was newly married, ornaments that I had made through the years. Some stand out more than others. The ball of dried flowers my mom gave me the first Christmas after I was married, it contains parts of my wedding bouquet dried. The patchwork stocking that I made that same Christmas, taken from old shirts of both Tim and myself and made into stocking ornaments for everyone as we had no money! The horrid (and yes Grace would agree) Christmas ball she gave me the first Christmas Tim and I were dating. Grace was about 9 I think, and giving Christmas presents to everyone was a must. I love the ball, as it reminds me of a generous little girl and her acceptance and love for her big brothers girlfriend. The Christmas balls my grandmother gave me ,some as old as I, and of course all the ornaments, bows and balls my mom has made over the years, and best of all, the angel she made that adorns the top of our tree each year.

This year, for the first time, possibly because my little girl is getting bigger, I noticed more ornaments my kids have made taking center stage on the Christmas tree. An ornament spray painted gold made from Popsicle sticks and pasta, a snow man made from foam balls and pipe cleaners now are proudly displayed on the tree.

I laugh as I remember how I made Emily hide all the homemade ornaments (which she insisted putting on the tree) at the back! Now, I am happy to have these displayed proudly, I'm helping Abby build memories.

So, in retrospect, I wouldn't change a thing on our tree. It may not be as pretty as the ones you see in a magazine, but it means something, each piece holding a memory for me, and building a memory for my children.

By the way, I decided I should do the popcorn strings this year as well, and Abby ended up doing almost half of them. I was amazed! What a huge help!!! And she only needed one band aid!

Abby

2007-12-06T11:19:00.000-08:00

I'm watching my little girl swaying and singing along to her Daddy's Ipod while happily killing her daily allotment of trees. She loves to draw and uses daily at least 10 if not 20 pieces of paper with her creations. She comes into the living room folding up her "present" for me, lovingly placing it on the coffee table for me to view later. She passes by the T.V. and pauses, coming back for a better look as a jewelry commercial is on, and there is a diamond necklace on. Once it is done she continues on her way, back upstairs to raid the paper supply again.

This morning my plans for the day were drastically changed as Abby asked, on the way home from dropping Nick at bus stop ,if Mosey could come over to play. With a sigh, as I know it will mean more work, I said yes. Jen wanted to go out, so all of a sudden I had an extra kid and two dogs to look after. It was busy!

Finished off some Christmas presents and baked a batch of cookies. Tim is only 10 book sales away from 500. Oh how I hope he hits that number! It is something of a mental barrier. With the total sales of his book over 1000 now it is getting exciting!

Going to get our tree this weekend, I love when the house smells of stale popcorn (popcorn strings!) and pine!

Girlie vs Sensible

2007-12-04T10:52:00.000-08:00

Boots. A true must in this Canadian weather. I need new ones. The style right now are these wonderful knee high fur lined not very warm boots that I love. I went boot shopping today, and my girlie side was waring with my sensible side. I really want those boots. They are so cute, but reality is a) they cost about 150.00, and b)I walk the kids to school and really they aren't warm enough, and c) with walking the kids to school they will get destroyed. d) they will be out of style next year anyway.

So as you can see I have 4 very good reasons why I should not buy those boots, but darn it, I like them! So I left, without any boots. I can't buy sensible ones right now, while my heart is still attached to the knee high ones.

Today however, as I trudged through the ice and snow walking the kids to school in my running shoes, (and just about killing my self several times on the ice) I began to come around to the sensible option. We will see... my feet were crying today because it was so cold (this weather is nutty for December!)

Really footware is my weakness... I love shoes clothes for the most part I'm not too picky, but i love shoes! So we shall see which wins out!

Canadian Winter

2007-12-01T09:25:00.001-08:00

I wouldn't be a true Canadian if I didn't dedicate at least one post to our winters. This year is proving to be a doozy. After a very very mild fall (we were running around in t-shirts in November!) that had everyone screaming global warming, the last two weeks have yielded a cold snap that has even us hardy Northerner's complaining. Today it is COLD, - 20 with the wind chill (that is -4 F for you southerners) and my hair froze a little on the way out to the car this morning. We have already had a snow day, and two winter storms blow through, and now we are waiting for a good 10-15 cm of snow to hit tonight, before it warms up then we get rain, freezing rain before it changes back to snow the wee hours of Monday morning. Maybe another snow day? This is very early for this weather for us, normally we would expect these temps late January. We haven't had time to adjust and is so it has been such a shock to our systems! Now, if I could just get Michaela to wear mittens.....

It amazes me how inaccurate the weather forecast is. Just last month they were proclaiming that we were going to have a mild winter with a fair amount of snow. Now, they claim we are in for a record breaking cold December! Wonderful. So much for science!

I like the snow, I don't think I would like to move to a place that didn't have the extreme season changes that Canada boasts. I'm o.k when it hits -10, much lower than that and it is no longer fun. As a child I loved having snow for Christmas. Not this year as we will be in sunny and warm Georgia!

I have an Abbyism for everyone. She had a pj day at school and a notice came home from the eco-club. In order to wear the PJ's at school everyone had to bring a dollar to help the polar bears. No dollar, no Pj's . I'll leave that one alone as you can imagine what I was thinking... but Abby in her sensible 5 year old mind asked.... Who's going to go up and give the bears a dollar and how is that going to help them? What's a polar bear going to do with a dollar?

Christmas Shopping

2007-11-26T15:27:00.000-08:00

I have been panicking lately, as it is getting ever closer to Christmas and I have barely begun my Christmas shopping. Tim's birthday falls in early December and it is always hard finding gifts so close together. Combine that with going away and Christmas, leaves me with a feeling that Christmas is really much further away than it is! I have, for years preferred to have my Christmas shopping done by December 1st so that I can enjoy the season!

I decided- since Tim's birthday is less than a week away now, that I would brave the crowds today and head to the mall. I had no idea what I was going to get for him, but thought Michaela and I would brave the crowds. On the way to the mall the radio announced that it was cyber-monday. Apparently today was the biggest cyber shopping day of the year. I hoped this meant that there wouldn't be many people at the mall!

My first stop as always was Old Navy, I love that store for it's clearance racks and today was no different as it gave up a variety of goods (Including pants for 10.00 and shirts for 2.99!!!!) All in all, as Tim will be reading this I can't tell you what I got, but I will say I manged to walk away with 7 articles of clothing for 100.00.

Next stop, the Gap. I''ve never found the deals that Maryanne and gang find in the States, but today, I did o.k. coming away with a pair of pants for a little girl for 3.97 and a couple of shirts!

By this time Michaela was out of the stroller and toddling through the mall. I needed to hit zellers for a birthday gift, but she got side tracked by the massive water fountain in the middle of the mall. The girlie loves water and this was way to much to miss! I was trying to pull her around the thing intent on my mission, when I realized that this was an opportunity. How often am I going to have the chance to sit and watch my little one in awe of something so simple? So we sat and chatted about the water, until she was distracted by the up escalator and we talked about that too, a little later, we continued on our way, me thankful I had stopped for a few minutes just to watch her curiosity!

All in all, I did o.k. today. and feel a little more on top of this Christmas thing. Abby and Tim are almost done, stockings are 99% complete. Nick is 50% done and well... I haven't even thought about Michaela, but we are getting there! Christmas is just around the corner!

Oh the Frustration

2007-11-19T14:06:00.000-08:00

I have a love hate relationship with my ebaying. Love it for reasons mentioned before. The ability to make a little money while working from home. Hate it as it frustrates me to no end. Yesterday did approx. 1500 dollars in sales. Today, had 700 of that taken away due to bad information sent to me by people who should know better, but are too disorganized to filter me the proper information. So instead I have to issue refunds to three people who ordered units as far away as 10 days ago. Sigh. I don't get upset when mistakes happen, but I do when it is preventable. The only thing stopping me from doing this on my own is a little piece of paper I signed.

It is 5:10, the kids are hungry, dinner hasn't even been thought of, and Tim's phone just rang with yet another client who doesn't understand the 9-5 policy, or can't calculate time change.

It is going to be a long night.

2007-11-15T12:35:00.000-08:00

I've been so bad lately about writing. This is the busy season for Ebay, and I've finally asked for some help. Grace will be handling the tracking numbers for me in a hope that it will improve the communication with my customers. I did fifty sales last month, a grand total of 11,000 dollars worth. Finally- now if they'll just pay me! I've frustrated with my boss right now, we always end up needing a make-up session after the busy season. They drive me CRAZY sometimes, but I have to remember to be grateful for what they did give me.

I'm reading John Owen right now with the challies.com gang. Wow, is it hard to get through. Thankfully I have a husband who will translate for me, as there is no way I'll do it on my own. I'll try and write some better content this weekend. Blessings!

A little glimpse of Heaven

2007-10-28T13:36:00.000-07:00

We were part of a church for five years that used home churches. We had just moved to a new town and didn't have many friends in the area. We were leary of a small group that prided it's self on intimacy. Determined to give the new church a fair try we set off to one of the home churches closest to our house. Run by the worship pastor and attended by a couple of members in the worship band we hoped we would fit in. This home church rapidly became a huge part of our lives. The people in it were ordinary people from different walks of life, and yet we bonded together in a way that didn't seem to happen in the other home churches.

Tim and I were talking about it on the way about town yesterday. I have struggled a little since that part of our life ended, it was so wonderful having a deep connection with a group of people. We helped each other through some tough things and had some great times fellowshipping together. Tim said something that struck deep within me. He said it seems that God gives us these moments in life as a little glimpse of heaven. He shows us on a small scale what it will be like having a deep fellowship with other believers in heaven. God gives us this for a time it seems and then it passes and we all move on. We try to recreate that but it never seems quite the same.

I got thinking about another time in my life when we had a similar experience. Tim and I were in a youth group for three years while attending university. The middle year of the group we just connected. It was a great year where the group met and bonded in way that we hadn't before. It was a year full of laughter and a deep spiritual connection, we had good discussions. The group broke for the summer, and the next year it wasn't quite the same. A few people left and there were a few new faces, but reality was that God seem to have removed the extra blessing he had placed over us.

It would seem, that God gives us these moments to remind us in such a small way what is waiting for us in heaven, and takes them away to remind us how much better it will be!

I've loved these moments in my life, but hadn't been able to make sense of the abandonment I've felt with them ending until Tim mentioned to me that the glimpse of heaven had been taken away.

I'm so thankful God has given us these little glimpses. Think of what is waiting for us!

Starting a new Halloween Tradition

2007-10-12T09:48:00.000-07:00

One of the best things about living in the suburbs is the sense of community that we have in our neighborhood. I love bringing the neighbours together with a little creativity, and was looking forward to our second annual gingerbread house making party this year.

Tim had an idea. He really isn't big on the neighborhood get togethers, they are a little out of his comfort zone, but he had a thought about something we could do this Halloween. So, if I manage to get the invites done (Tim called me a girl, but I love making pretty invitations for people!) I will be sending out today invites for people to attend our first before Trick 'r' Treating BBQ for Adults and Kids alike. We figure we'll throw a couple of BBQ's out in the common area, provide hotdogs and hambugers, ask people to bring drinks or a salad and chairs and hopefully everyone will get dinner before we send our hyper kids out to knock on doors. It will be a way for everyone to get dinner, and hang out. FUN!

I'm excited. I love planning these things. I'll add a picture of the invitations later I hope!

Feeling Fall Festive

2007-10-10T09:56:00.000-07:00

When I went grocery shopping today, I happened upon a whole row of wonderful vases and candles that were just screaming at me to buy them. In muted brown, yellows and greens they were beautiful. I've been feeling like I need to decorate for fall lately. It has been odd for me since I normally limit my decorating to Christmas, but the house seems to need some color. I picked up a wonderful brown squat vase and gently placed it in my cart after much humming and hawing. At 6.99 it seemed like a good price. The floral section yielded some beautiful corkscrew grasses and some long grass in a muted green. All in all very pretty. It would have looked great on the mantel.

I say would because my sense of reason soon took over. We are still trying to behave financially and I simply couldn't justify spending a total of about 15.00 on the pieces right now. Sigh. So I walked out empty handed, and my mantel sits bare, and I rest in the knowledge that I saved my husband some money on something that was completely unnecessary!

We have had a birthday party issue in our neighborhood. Harley, who lives next doorish to us is turning three. Her favorite friends are the 4 kids in our circle, Nick, Abby, Paige and Mosey. The problem is that her birthday is October 31st. Abby's is the 30th. I had decided to do a Halloween themed party this year, tentatively set for October 27th. Lone behold, I got a note from Harley's mom that Harley's party would be on the 27th and all four kids were invited. I wrote back and explained that I was hoping to hold Abby's party that day and that it had to be that weekend as I was looking at carving pumpkins with the kids and that wouldn't really work after Halloween. She agreed it wouldn't work, be wouldn't consider moving the party.

So, what do I do? All the kids are so much older than Harley, but it seems so mean (as I know Paige and Mosey would come to Abby's party not Harley's!) to hold it on the same day. In talking to the other Mom's they told me I need to do what is right for my kid. But it just didn't feel right. Last night, Harley came running out of her house, and lovingly handed out invitations to her party. That was it. There is no way I'm going to do that to her. I will move Abby's party, change the theme and send out reserve this date cards two months early next year!

Nickyisms

2007-10-03T16:15:00.000-07:00

Nick has a way of reducing me to tears of laughter from time to time. As my eldest he is over responsible and has a quirky way of looking at life.

He recently completed his first ever sleep over somewhere other than my mom's. He stayed with Tim's Aunt Liz over night as he was tempted by his beloved Conner. Desperate to spend more time with him, he agreed without thinking. He did it, but when he arrived back with me, he jumped into my arms tears in his eyes and CLUNG! Then off to Tim. Tim was startled and asked him why he was crying.... "These are happy tears Daddy" says my sensitive son.

Today he asked me how long he had to go to collage for. When I told him four years - he wailed- I can't be apart from you that long! I told him he could live at home and he settled down, then he informed me he would like to go for a week, because then he could see what being an orphan felt like. HUH? Apparently they were talking about Thanksgiving at school and they were being thankful they weren't orphans.

Oh that they would remain this innocent and silly for awhile.

Too much happening

2007-10-02T18:32:00.001-07:00

It has been such a busy week. We loved having Tim's parents with us, but as usual the time was too short.

God has been working on my heart lately. I've been increasing frustrated with some aspects of my personality, but have been unsure how to go about dealing with them. It seems that God has placed me in a bit of a valley of late. It is funny how often you are coming to the end of the valley before you realize that you are in it.

Frankly, it is hard at time knowing how to be a good wife to my husband. Tim often seems to be somewhat of a spiritual giant to me (he is laughing right now I promise) and I so often feel completely inadequate beside him. I often wonder why God has placed me here instead of someone more his equal. How can I support someone I feel so inferior to? It is an odd feeling. Before you think I'm feeling sorry for myself, can I assure you I'm not. I don't think I go around beating myself up over this. Speaking to someone on the phone today about this it was interesting because they informed me that if Tim and I were both the same, we would become awfully arrogant, and right now we balance each other out. Food for thought.

I've started a new blog. We've been talking (Maryanne and I) about starting a "Christian's who Public School " blog, since we were down for Grace's wedding. I've been feeling a little isolated lately with our decision since so many people are home schooling, so this blog was born. I got tired of waiting for Maryanne to start it. (smile) I'm still hoping she'll guest post though (hint hint) . I don't want it to be a place to debate the merits of home schooling vs public schooling but rather a place where the issues of Christian kids in the public system can be discussed. I'm excited!

All in all it has been a blessed time. We ran into an old friend at the wedding, one we hadn't seen in 7 years. It was neat catching up and seeing how far we have come in such a short time. God is good!

2007-09-23T12:18:00.001-07:00

Ebay explosion

2007-09-20T10:35:00.001-07:00

I simply have not had time lately to post anything. It has been so busy with school starting up and with work , blogging has been the last thing on my mind. Ebay has exploded in activity over the past two weeks, (7000 dollars in sales!) and every nap time has been taken up with processing order, tracking numbers and putting up an new auction (the most adorable bedroom set I've seen!!!) Isn't it cute! And only retails for 899.99 including shipping! Abby wants it, but alas we have two girls in one small bedroom. I think it will sell well, but we will see! I love the storage bed, and want one for Nick's room when we move him. I've enjoyed working lately, we finally have tracking numbers working well and I seem to be having an easier time with my "bosses".

I've been busy getting the house ready for Tim's mom and dad coming. Clean, clean and more cleaning! We seem to be on the cusp of some very big changes in our lives. Tim is considering some options work wise (hint: change in careers, but I won't say more for now) Pray for us, as any change for me seems a lot harder than other people. I resist so much, and anything finical is scary! It always is for women, I think, as we have no control over it! I've got to find a better way to end these posts... but for now I simply have nothing left to say!

New

2007-09-09T10:49:00.000-07:00

We have a new washer and dryer, or at least we will be getting one. It is exciting. What I am going to do between now and Wed for drying clothes is a puzzle, it is raining today, so we can't hang them, and our condo rules forbid clotheslines. I already broke that rule once and don't really want to incur the wrath of the nutty neighbours! As you recall we already got a phone call about the Great river of China being dug in the common area, they wouldn't hesitate! It is a front loading washer- which will be cool. We didn't get one of the matching sets- those were too expensive- so we got the bottom line dryer- but it does have one of those moisture sensors in it. Everybody and every site we went to said to just buy the cheapest dryer you can- splurge a little more on the washer- so we did. Things never break at a convinent time- money wise this is not a good time- but we have to be able to wash our clothes, and it made more sense to buy both as the washing machine has to be talked into spinning the clothes- it won't spin them until you go back down and thump the machine- then it will spin them. Anyway thing of the past. We spent yesterday cleaning the basement in preparation for the new machines coming!

Today our pastor launched into a new series on the book of John. It will be interesting. It is still refreshing after so long to hear that they are going to be study through the Bible.

Abby starts school tomorrow. She is excited. We just go some clothes from Susan,and Maryanne there is an outfit in there that you would love! It is this cute pleated denim skirt, white blouse and a sweater vest from the Gap, it is adorable and I know what Abby is wearing for picture day!

Nick's first week of school seems to have gone well- Not so crazy about his teacher as she seems a little disorganized. He has to do 20 min. of homework three times a week, which isn't bad except she didn't give it to us until Friday, and since we won't let him do homework on Sunday that gave us Friday night and Sat. to do 60 minutes of homework, it didn't go down well- but we got it done- He is a little frustrated as they have them reading picture books right now, not chapter books, so he is bored. The other funny thing that happened is that Jen gave us some choose your own adventure books- and Nick understood how you are to read them- but didn't want to read them that way, instead he sat down and read the silly thing from cover to cover. Made me wonder if he really was understanding what he was reading!

Michaela's mouth seems to be healing well- and her hair goes up in pig tails now! She has mastered HI (although it still mostly the HHH noise) and says to to people walking by complete with a wave and giggle as she thinks she is MOST clever.

Signing off on a rainy Sunday- have a blessed day.

Michaela did it again.

2007-09-05T10:39:00.000-07:00

Tim and I carefully laid out a morning school routine for the kids. Since Tim gets up at 6:00 to do devotions, he would wake me and the kids up at 7:30, at that time they will climb into bed with me for morning devotions, after which they head downstairs for breakfast and I hop into the shower. Lunches have been made the night before, clothes laid out. No chaos, simple. It went so well the first day of school. Last night the kids headed outside for some playtime after supper. I made lunches and started tiding up. I stuck my head out the door, just in time to see Michaela fall- forward, her head hitting the pavement. Not again!! She stood up blood pouring from her mouth, screaming all the while. We were concerned initially as she cut the inside of her lip badly with her teeth, but she settled down. It wasn't until 20 minutes later we noticed she had split the skin below her bottom lip badly. Off to the hospital we go. The nurse at triage thinks we need stitches. Again. It is funny sometimes how God works. We initially went to the walk in clinic, praying all the way that they would be able to stitch her again like they did last time. This time they wouldn't even look at her. We tried another walk in clinic praying again, and they weren't open. So, off to the hospital we go praying that it wouldn't be busy. The waiting room was packed. I think there were only three chairs left when we walked in. However we were in and out of there in an hour and half- Michaela didn't need stitches and Tim and I were so thankful. Now, hopefully the cut will heal well. It is hard because it is constantly wet from drool etc. We are praying it doesn't get infected. It was interesting in retrospect to see how God choose exactly when to answer prayer last night. We met some interesting people, and one very flamboyant male nurse (his jewerly matched his cherry red scrubs)We got home at 9:40, and hustled the kids who had been at our neighbors off to bed. I didn't think there was a chance we would manage with our morning routine. I was ready to take Tim's head off at 7:30 when he woke me up (Michaela was up a lot in the night, in pain I'd imagine) but, we did it. So the routine wasn't broken. I'm glad it is over and done with and thankful it wasn't worse.

School

2007-09-03T18:08:00.001-07:00

School starts again in the morning. We had tears tonight from Nick as he claims he will miss me too much. He hates new things and is a little nervous about starting. His bag is packed with his new pencil case, new indoor shoes and gym bag complete with gym clothes. His lunch is made waiting in the fridge. He is bathed and his school clothes are waiting for him all laid out. My boy is going into grade two. It was startling to me to realize that when all of them will be in school full time- meaning Michaela will be in grade one- my oldest will be in grade SEVEN!!!!! How short time is. I almost weep as really that isn't very far off. I have been doing devotions with the kids in the morning- trying to read a lesson from Nancy Ganz's Genesis commentary. I want to send them off to school each morning with God's word on their hearts. They don't always listen that well, but hopefully some is entering their brains! We've been doing them for two weeks now- and I'm thankful we started the routine before school began- hopefully it will be easy to continue it!

We have a new 7 year old boy in the neighborhood! Jake seems like a nice kid- and we had the odd experience yesterday of having two boys show up on the door step looking for Nick. Which was a good thing, I love the fact that Nick has BOYS coming to see him- there are 7 girls in the complex and before now there was only Nick. They wanted him to go to Jake's house at the other end of the townhouse complex to play. Tim looked at me and said that was fine- but inwardly I was panicked! Normally he just goes out to the front to play- suddenly he was going to another house - and walking there by himself (with two other boys)
With a "good- well I'll see you whenever.." I don't think so.... I'm frantically making up rules as I go along..."Do you know our phone number- give it to me. Good- when you need to come home call and we will come and get you- don't leave on your own. Stay there no where else...." And off he goes..... "Tim follow behind and make sure he gets there... I don't care if there is three of them- I'll worry all afternoon if I don't know he got there o.k......."

Nick was fine, and Mommy after a little reasoning settled down too- now to work on me for next time. I had a very distraught Abby on my hands who was so used to doing everything with her brother and for the first time in her life was not invited or welcome. She was so upset. Poor thing, but this is life and this is going to happen as they get older. They really are best friends right now- and Nick will always look his little sis. Abby had the girls next door over and that alleviated the distress.

It was a good end to the summer. I don't want winter- really I don't.

That Time Again

2007-08-30T07:26:00.000-07:00

Cold and flu season has hit..... already. It is only August and yet Michaela is working on her second cold for the month. Nick had it first, as managed to pass it along. This is crazy and has me worried about what kind of season it is going to be. We normally manage to make it almost through September before this starts. I hate it when my kids are sick, and am stressing about a few days of broken nap times and bad night sleeps. Poor Michaela has sneezed about 50 times so far today! We are, in a few minutes heading off to Abby's ice cream social for her class. Kind of a meet and greet. Mostly to get the kids out of the house. They are seriously driving me nuts as they are so bored they are constantly fighting. CONSTANTLY! Abby bugs Michaela, who is at the need to vocalize but can't talk so I'll scream stage. I'm trying to remain patient, but I can feel my defenses slowly crumbling. O.k. I really better go, I haven't brushed my hair yet today. Remember when I said that everything was under control, and that it is always short lived...... yeah, this time really short lived!

Times

2007-08-25T10:24:00.000-07:00

There are times when my house feels like everything is under control. I have entered one of those time, where I seem to be on top of everything. It never lasts long, but, it is so nice when it happens! The house is clean, the kids clothes sorted, shopping done. Thanks to a major shortage in funds at the moment, I've been having to be a little more creative with cooking, and school supplies. We were doing so well financially for such a long time, we kinda forgot that we need to still watch what we spend, embarrassing, but we have learned, and also realized in the mean time how much less we need to live on. We are o.k. (lest people worry) but just, and things are a little stressful at the moment. But, God is good, and we have been in this place before. We have a week left of summer vacation, and it is going to be hard next week as milk forms and stuff come home , I'm not sure right now we can do all that and Abby especially will be upset. (I swear we end up putting out $300.00 each time school starts with all the lunch, milk and other money stuff that comes home) The kids are ready to go back, Nick is so bored, but has taken to reading like a duck to water. Two days ago he blazed through three books in one day. These are novels with grade three reading level. We have a reader, thankfully!!!

Nicky-ism for today. Holding up a package of Ground Cumin. "I'm never eating anything with this in it!!" Puzzled I ask, Why?, "Because it is sand!!!!' Ummm, no....." Yes it is look it says so right on it ..... look.. GROUND."

Michaela

2007-07-30T11:10:00.000-07:00

Yesterday it was quite hot. Our church saw it fit to place a water cooler at the back of the church so people didn't expire during the service. After church I was talking with a friend and observed my littlest one, (who had asked to be put down) watching people intently at this water cooler. She then proceeded to push her way up to the table and grabbed a glass on the edge- toddled under the cooler and held her glass under the spout. She stood there waiting until someone pushed the button for her and filled her cup. Then she happily toddled away and drank her water, only to repeat the whole process when her cup was empty. We were all laughing watching this baby push her way through a sea of legs, arms outstretched patiently waiting for someone to fill her cup yet again. It was funny to watch the adults start as they realized what she wanted. This is Michaela. She is so very observant, and understands people very well. When asked she will get me a diaper, throw out objects into the garbage and put away toys. Yet, she hardly talks. Ta, (for please and thank-you) KA (for yuck) Mumma (for mom of course, and Ow for you guessed it. There are a few others too, but not much! Her understanding far exceeds her vocab. She has no fear- which is scary for a mom watching her 14 month old try to drown herself in a lake because lying down and having water flow over your face is fun. She figured out how to climb the bunk-bed ladder and I walked into the room to find her smiling at me sitting on the top bunk looking rather pleased with her self. I am busy. It has been fun watching her personality emerge, but I know this one is going to give me gray hair!

(Nicky ism for today- "I'm going to convince all the girls to live with me with the amount of money I have.... I don't want to live under a tree!)

Forgive me

2007-07-19T10:55:00.000-07:00

I'm so sorry for all of you who have delicate sensibilities, this post is going to offend you, but it is one I have been threatening to write for some time now.

Tim loves baseball. LOVES baseball. Our summer evening lately have been quite predictable. Tim sits down turns on the game, Aileen starts moaning and groaning and fussing.

I've come to the conclusion that I could stand the baseball, if it wasn't on 6 nights a week, and if crotch batter wasn't playing.

Crotch batter- or as the rest of the world knows him Reed Johnson. He has the most bizarre ritual in the game of baseball I think and frankly it disgusts me so much I almost shudder every time the man comes to bat. Between each and every pitch the man steps out of the box, wedges the bat in between his legs resting on his you know what and proceeds to adjust his batting gloves. Picks up the bat again, and steps back into the box. Why this bothers me so much I find it hard to say, but I think it has something to do with the fact that I don't want to be watching this man balance a bat against his cup every night! I've heard he is a nice guy, but he needs to loose this habit for all the women watching!

On another note- I finally found a dress for Grace's wedding. Good old Winners- my husbands idea. The dress is exactly what I was looking for and everyone's husbands eye's will be safe from cleavage shots! (I still feel really bad Maryanne- but Pat can take all the pictures he wants at this wedding with no fear!)

I've been thinking a lot lately again about gossiping tongues- after another nursery session. I'm trying to find a book on the subject- Tim is looking too- so we shall see!

We are going away for a week and I am looking forward to it- Really for mom's vacation is doing the same thing in a different setting- but we will have a beach and no internet! Tim is going to get a lot of reading done!

Blessings

Shopping for Time

2007-07-13T10:47:00.000-07:00

I have been reading Shopping for Time, by Carolyn Mahaney and daughters. I will write more extensively on it later, but wanted to mention one thing today. One part of the book, they talk about something they do in order to meet with God each day. They all get up at 5 am. They talk about the importance of rising early, to meet with God before each day begins, and so before I really even got into the third chapter of this book, my heart began to fall. I can't do that. Truly I can't. I'm up still each night about 3 to 4 times with Michaela, I simply cannot get up at 5 am.

Then there was a little paragraph half way through the chapter. "...rising early may not be realistic for moms with young children who still get up at night. You are already part of The midnight club and the 3 am club aren't you? No mother of an infant should be condemned by this chapter. Rather, we hope that you know the Lord's pleasure in your sacrificial care for your little one."

My eye's filled with tears as I read that one simple sentence. "...the Lord's pleasure in your sacrificial care for your little one."

Like it or not- we as mom sacrifice a lot to care for babies. But, for some bizarre reason, I never considered that God would understand and even take pleasure in the sacrifices I am making to care for my kids. It never occurred to me that I am still helping my relationship with God and serving Him through caring for my kids. He understands that I can't right now do an hour's worth of devotions everyday. I still need to do what I can, devotion wise that is- but I tend to throw up my hands and give up because I feel like I'm not doing enough (time and attention wise)

So for now, I will be doing my devotions in the evening, after my kids are in bed, because for now that is the best time for me. I look forward to the time when I can start my day arming myself with His word, but I trust for now, He will bless the time I have, and pray he will continue to take pleasure in my care of my children.

Playing Soccer , Dress Shopping and Getting Old

2007-07-12T09:40:00.000-07:00

I signed up to play womens soccer this summer. Soccer a long time passion of mine filled my youthful summers. I loved to play, and in some ways still do. This season however has been hard on me. The team I'm playing with is filled with girls who for the most part are a good 10 years younger than me. It has been seven or so years since I've played. I'm simply not as good as I once was. This has been a very very hard pill for me to swallow. I'm competitive by nature, especially with sports- and I once was pretty good at soccer. Not outstanding, but a good solid player. Now, I'm a little (or a lot!) out of shape, and my timing just isn't there anymore. It has been one of the most frustrating experiences I've had. I had hoped as I played it would get better, and it has, a little, but I'm afraid the reality of it is simply that I'm getting old. I know someone who recently told me that she simply would not play summer soccer anymore, because she was not as good as she once was and it was to frustrating for her. I can truly understand. I'll finish this season, but am not too sure I'll be playing again next year.

I also went dress shopping today for Grace's wedding. For the first time since Nick was a newborn, I'm a size 8. Right now, I weigh about 128 pounds. I can say this because it won't last! The minute I stop nursing the weight will come back with a vengeance! I was excited, because I'm now thin, so finding a dress should be easy right? The biggest problem has been finding one where my chest isn't hanging out. I'm stuck in that almost middle age category, where the dresses are either too young (not made for people who have had three babies sucking on them!!) or too old. I just want a simple sun dress!!!! Basically I'm feeling pretty crummy about myself right now, which is a little unusual for me, normally stuff like this doesn't bother me too much.

I did get Michaela a cute dress for the wedding, and found Nick a tie, so all is not lost. It has been a very busy couple of weeks!

My dramatic son.

2007-06-28T09:40:00.000-07:00

My darling little boy is finishing grade one today. They grow up far too fast! It's hard to believe that this year has flown by! He loves his teacher, and was sad to be leaving her, but was comforted by the fact that he would still see her around the school next year. Then the dreadful news came, she was leaving to teach at a different school.

My son came down this morning in tears, upset of course, that he would not see his beloved Ms. Aston again. He said " When it comes time to say good-bye she is going to have to say 'have a nice LIFE, 'cause we'll never see her again!!'" (insert heartbroken sobs) My poor boy. Tonight might be rough, but he will have a baseball game to help him heal! He is so dramatic!

I'm proud of him. His teachers said he was a pleasure to have in the class this year, and he did very well in his first year of 'real' school. Welcome to a new era, grade two!!

I love you Nick.

Starting Work Again

2007-06-25T17:57:00.000-07:00

Most women take maternity leave. Me being me, I was determined that I could handle having a new baby and continuing to work my part time ebay job. I did, for about 10 months. Then I burned out. I actually stopped listing altogether for the last two months, things had slowed down as they do in the tax season, and frankly I needed the break. I was no longer able to juggle three kids, the house and working. Just three days ago I was gently nudged by my boss and I am now firmly back in the swing of things. I relisted only three days ago and have already sold 4 items. I was debating quitting altogether, but realize that the money is a huge help and frankly I do enjoy it. It is so good for me to spend a couple of hours a day when the baby is napping on this!

I am so thankful that God has given me this job, and needed the break to help me realize again how thankful I should be. After all, how many people can simply walk away from their work for two months and then simply step back in like nothing has happened?

Tim and I are both sitting on opposite couches typing frantically on our computers. Oh the life of a family with two laptops! It has been so hot here today, but I have been running around to the gardens out front trying to clean-up the common gardens that have been neglected for years. I have discovered a passion for gardening, which has come as a huge surprise, but a welcome one, it is fun having a new hobby!

The kids are done school in three days, and I have decided that I want Abby reading before she starts school in the fall. She is already able to read the simple short vowel books, and is working on inventive spelling. She is ready and will be reading before September if I can manage to help her practice. Nick is reading at about a mid-grade two level already- so I'm not too worried about him, but since Tim and I had such trouble with Math, I'm going to get the home schooling books and start into grade two math with him. My plan is to have them help me tidy the house in the mornings then spend an hour on school stuff. Once a week we will do the splash pad, library and my mom's house. That combines with sports and church in the evening should be enough for a busy week! We have plans for the neighborhood kids and mom's to go to Canada's Wonderland one day, (which will be interesting!) and there is always someone to play with out in the common area!

And summer approaches! Pray please for Nick's teacher next year. I know Abby's teacher and am very happy with her, but have no clue who Nicky is going to have. Pray that they (french and english) will be good ones!

Helping an Underachiver

2007-06-19T09:35:00.000-07:00

I've been having long discussions with a neighbour of mine about her daughter. The public school system really did a number on her daughter in SK, and she didn't learn to read properly. Since then, now in grade two she is behind and is refusing to do homework, hates to read and generally gets stressed out about school. The mom is stressed and worried and has tried everything to motivate the child but has thus far been unsuccessful. Promises of treats, taking away of privileges, desserts have all failed miserably. I'm sympathetic to the level of frustration and have little to offer in the way of helpful advice. How do you make the kid do the work when they flatly refuse to do it? She seems to think that the child is able to do the work, she just doesn't like to and therefore refuses to do it.

Even as I'm writing this I am beginning to wonder if there isn't a learning disability there, but how do you approach a parent with that concern? The system loves to label kids with that stigma and once labeled it is hard to remove that. For the most part she seems like an intelligent little girl, abet a quiet one. I'm at a loss, and am thankful I'm not having to deal with this myself!

Church

2007-06-18T08:56:00.001-07:00

Our evening services at our church are considerably less formal than the morning services, and recently the leadership decided to allow people they felt qualified (in other words people they hand-picked and asked) to teach or preach during the evening service. They asked (I believe it was 7) different men to teach on the doctrines of grace.

With the exception of one, these were youngish men (30 and younger) who stepped up to the challenge and spoke on these Sundays. I get goosebumps when I see how many capable and willing men there are in this church. I think it speaks so highly of the leadership and the health of the church that there are this many men willing and able. And it isn't limited to the Sunday teaching aspect. I can think of a dozen other men in this church who are teaching or leading in some other capacity. It is so exciting to see!

Women in so many churches take over, because men will not and cannot step up and take leadership and responsibility. There is even a man heading up the Nursery ministry. His wife handles the day to day running of the program, but any conflict and issues are handled by him. I deeply respect this, as (especially when children are involved) women can get so protective, for some reason it is easier to take coming from a man!

It is nice to see the church functioning in a way that God wants! Hope everyone has a good week.