Boxing Week Coming To An End...

So, although other countries have started to have boxing day sales, it has been a tradition up this way for many, many years.  I don't know the whole history of it, but the idea was that after Christmas people boxed up things to give away, due to being blessed with so much more for Christmas.  We all know that the money makers like to capitalize on these kinds of things, so it was turned into more sales, meaning that people go out to acquire more things, rather than sharing with others.  We try to go through our things ahead of Christmas and ask the kids to choose things that they don't play with or would like to give to other children.  It's nicer to have things cleaned up ahead of time. We really haven't gone out shopping during boxing week, but have found this year that it might be a good time to pick up the vacuum and GPS.  Our Vac sounds like a helicopter and we've been waiting for a good price.  The GPS is something that we've been looking to get for our trip to Georgia.  So, we'll see if Scott wants to brave the cold, while I hold down the fort at home.  I'm thankful that I'm starting to feel well enough to help others now.    I'll save my 100th post and make it my first post of the NEW YEAR!  It definitely won't be 100 New Year's Resolutions:).

Making up for lost time...

While I was away I went on the computer 1 time. The connection at the in-laws is about as fast as a snail.  I'm trying to make up for the lack of posts.  It would be more interesting with pictures, but since we were sick I'll have to wait until we get the cd from Kirk to post them.  Even though we didn't get to see the great grandparents or cousins, we were still able to do a couple fun things before we all got sick.  There was awesome food, which we won't feel like eating again for awhile.  Grandad bought a huge tub of Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream and won an award for Grandad of the year:).  Caleb declared that he was the boss of the sausage, but we knew he was sick when he didn't eat any:(.  Kirk and Nana made some fabulous crepes and we'll just have to look forward to trying out the other new recipes that got put on the back burner due to lack of appetites. Preston had gingerbread cookies to decorate(and they did fit it in the morning we were packing to leave).  They managed to take the kids outside for about 30 minutes to play on the old swing set and they LOVED it!  We didn't get around to singing, but I think we did quite a bit this year.  I especially enjoyed singing with the people at Caleb Village. All the memories that must go through their minds of Christmas over the years.  We also watched Toy Story 3 together.  Lots of laughs.  I think the kids noticed more on Grandad's very LARGE screen:).  Preston also put tea lights in paper bags outside.  It was really pretty and we were amazed at how long they burned, especially with the cold temps and the wind.  I think the longest one was over 2 hours.  All in all, we can be thankful that it wasn't any worse.  There could have been hospital trips, or everyone sick at the beginning, with no one else left to help take care of anyone.  Although we have our fair share of laundry, we ended up with far less than the Grandparents house.  Will have to think of something to send as a Thank you gift:).

Thankful!!!

I have to say this publicly:) I'm thankful for my husband!  He drove us home yesterday, took care of me and the kids for the rest of the day, did laundry, fixed supper and breakfast, did the dishes, burned the trash, and kept the kids quiet so I could rest.  The Lord has blessed me and I want to remember this as the New Year starts.  When things get busy and he can't be home as much.  To dwell on all the blessings instead of the disappointments.  Thank you Lord for my wonderful Husband!

Dominoes

So, this week turned out to be a lot different than planned.  Elyssia had not bounced back like we thought.  She threw up on the drive there and slept most of the week.  On Monday night Preston threw up, then Tuesday it hit Caleb.  Wednesday we all started to fall like Dominoes.  6pm Kiersten, 6:30 Me, 8-Garrison, 9-Scott, 1-Mother-in-law and last night my father in law.  The only one that hasn't gotten it yet is Kirk.  He doesn't have much hope, but I'm praying that he won't get sick.  I have to say it's probably the worst flu I've ever had. Throwing up 40 times may be the quickest way to lose weight, but I don't recommend it. The drive home yesterday was okay.  It was -23 and only Kiersten threw up.  After laying down and resting for close to 24 hours I'm starting to feel halfway normal again.  When I went into the boys room this morning I discovered that Caleb threw up again last night too! Kiersten is still lethargic and throwing up sometimes.  It's hard to watch her go through it, especially since I was struggling to get through it myself.  I won't go into any more detail about it, but I'm praying this is the end.  I'm thankful for the improvement and look forward to the New Year!

A Late Night and a Late Start...

It was an up and down night for a couple of us.  Kiersten was extra hungry and Elyssia was throwing up.  We thought we might have to wait til tomorrow to go, but she seems to have recovered.  There was also a leaky pipe discovered last night, so a trip to town was needed.  Scott got the part and he and his dad fixed it up.  Really hoping this trip goes quickly and without any puking.  So, the packing is now complete. We're off on the great adventure!

Christmas pics...

Caution: Picture overload! Hope you enjoy them:).

The stockings...

The Pez dispensers were a success!

Garrison wearing his new robe while holding Toy Story 3.

Crazy girl in her new robe with her new flashlight. 

Caleb's snow leopard robe.

from Uncle Kirk

Starting to look pretty messy.

Kiersten eating one of Nana's gifts:)

From uncle Kirk

Kiersten was pickpocketing:)

Army costumes from Uncle Kirk look a little scary:)

Scott built Caleb a toolbox this year.

Surrounded by gifts and taking a break to eat...

Awww...

The expert turkey guy:)

Kiersten pulled these over her face and wanted to walk around.

Singing Christmas songs.

Love this guy!

The girls sharing before Church.

Elyssia working on her scrapbook.

Nana's girl.

Ready for church.

Love this grin!

Reading...

Puzzles

Hymn sing at Caleb Village(we found Caleb's water bottle that got left the month before).

I'm on the countdown to my 100th post.  Maybe I'll get there by New Years.  It will be a challenge, since I probably won't be posting til Thurs.  That should give me a lot to write about though.  Car trip, cousins, craft and cuisine(great food).  I had to find another "C" word:). Planning to enjoy what's left of this year.  Looking forward to what the Lord has planned for us in the new year.  Keep looking up! It could be any day now:).

Merry Christmas!!!

It's here!  The day has finally here.  So thankful for the baby Jesus, who was born many years ago, and grew up to become my Saviour!  The morning started early, as expected.  We had the kids get dressed, make their beds and eat something for breakfast, trying to stall them until the rest of the family woke up.  The stockings were overflowing and each gift was greeted with squeals of delight and many thanks.  Kiersten was grinning from ear to ear over her little stuffies and Calico Corners Critters, Caleb loved his animals, Elyssia loved her doll clothes, etc and Garrison was especially excited to find Toy Story 3 in his stocking.  One of the ladies in the church gave them gift certificates and I think they'll save them until they can get Woody, Jessie, Buzz and Bullseye.  They're out of stock now, but I'm thinking they'll restock sometime after Christmas.  There were lots of art supplies, books, clothes and a few toys.  I think the most precious gifts were pictures and memory books.  Some tears of joy were shed and some funny moments were shared.  The day has really just begun.  I'll post pics once Kirk uploads his onto our computer.  Looking forward to the meal(turkey given by a man Scott works for) and the games and singing this afternoon.  Planning to treasure every moment of today.  The other highlight of today was talking to my mom on Skype.  All 4 of us were able to chat and see mom's surprise over our present, which was totally amazing.  Being able to see  and hear all 4 of our families when we're in Georgia, Washington, Germany and Canada is awesome!  Thanking the Lord for that blessing.  Will probably post at the close of the day too.  More to say and pictures to post, but it's time to eat...

Christmas Eve Service

I should have written this last night, but we didn't get home until a bit after 10.  We still had some things to take care of and I chose sleep over blogging, Imagine that!  Anyway, we had a really nice service last night.  There were 40 that came out, with 1 first time visitor.  Pretty good, considering several were away for the holidays. Most people stayed for the fellowship afterwards and we had an abundance of Christmas goodies.  I made a Jesus birthday cake and a couple other things.  The ladies provided the rest.  The church looked beautiful, thanks to some of the ladies in the church.  I'll try to remember to take pictures tomorrow:).  I'll move on to Christmas Day in my next post...

They're Here!

 So, this afternoon the first guests arrived.  Scott's parents got to the house before I got back from town.  I was visiting a friend that just had a baby.  He(Baby B) is soooo adorable. She had a midwife assisted birth in Saskatoon and it was interesting to hear the story from 1st contraction to present day:)  Not sure if I'd ever choose to do it, especially since Saskatoon is the nearest place to use a midwife.  That's 2 and a half hours for us and if the Lord blesses us with another baby I'm really not sure that I'd make it to Saskatoon.
  Yesterday was quite fun.  We went out to the Hutterite colony to watch the school kids Christmas program.  I try not to brag very often, but all four of the kids were REALLY well behaved for the whole concert.  Kiersten had her arms around my neck and was hugging me through quite a bit of it.  She's gotten even more snugglie lately and I LOVE it!  I can't get enough of her sweetness:).  She did attempt to throw a tantrum on Tuesday, but we nipped it in the bud;)  I think she got the message.  At least we're praying she did.  She's normally very sweet, but is very observant of her older siblings.
  Caleb was hilarious tonight.  He was saying in his deep growly voice, "I'm the boss of my sausage, yummm yummm yumm."  He was also singing a version of Elyssia's new song, Nobody likes me, Guess I'll just eat cake.  The giggle at the end is the clincher.  Elyssia was singing the version with worms, substituting bugs, etc and I put it into her head that she should sing cake.  It's now a favorite around here.
  Garrison and Elyssia stayed with Nana and we took the two younger ones to prayer meeting.  It went well and Kiersten was transferred from van to house, out of snowsuit and into her crib without waking up. I LOVE this stage:)  Caleb was asleep, but woke up for a snack, 3 books and extra snuggles.
  Elyssia is so excited about Christmas and everything that goes on that she's literally bouncing everywhere.  She thinks of a new craft to make for a gift almost every day.  I hope the Uncles don't mind getting so many gifts;).  I have to admit it's fun to be infected with her contagious giggle.  Looking forward to the Christmas Eve Service at church tomorrow night and the arrival of the Uncles. I have a bit of baking to do for that tomorrow, so I'd better not stay up too late.  Til next time...

Why am I awake?

Hmmm... Just put the baby to bed and thought it was a good time to do computer stuff, that way I can spend the time during the day with the kids:)  Good plan now, bad plan later if I'm tired...  The weekend was another whirlwind.  On Friday Elyssia informed me that she was going to start praying for me to have twins.  She said she'll wait until march though.  WOW! Thanks for the warning;).  Not sure what to say about that one.  I'm thinking that one at a time is good, but maybe wait a bit longer.  We'll see. 
  Scott was helping with a funeral on Saturday, so we managed to keep busy through the morning and early afternoon.  The girls and I headed out about 3:30 to do Elyssia's Christmas shopping.  I just have to say that Elyssia's desire to give is bigger than her pocketbook.  Good thing she's going to start saving up at the beginning of the year this time:)  We did pretty good, considering that she had about 1.50 to spend on each person.  I also have to say that she only bought one present at the dollar store.  She finished wrapping them herself last night and did pretty good for her first time. I totally would have gone with the gift bag option. She has a couple of those two, but tends to head towards the paper and tape option.
  Sunday morning was a bit busier than normal.  Scott decided that he wanted to make cinnamon rolls in the morning and I just want to say that I'll gladly accept half the credit for them since I got to do the enormous amount of dishes that he left behind him.  They were pretty amazing:)  At least one person told him to quite carpentry and start baking:).  He's been told that before.  I know it's not because his carpentry isn't good either.  He just makes some really awesome food!  We both agreed that it would probably be better to make them on Saturday next time.  Glad we could agree on that:).  All 4 stayed in for both services, with only one quick trip out for the boys.  Amazing how busy I was last year trying to keep them sitting still and quiet.  Now, the Lord is even helping Kiersten to stay quiet for the most part.  In the morning she was mostly looking at pictures in her books.  She started growling a bit when she saw the animals.  Good thing it wasn't really loud.  In the afternoon she slept for a little bit and ate some of the little cookies that were given to us for Christmas.  Thankful for the little things...  We had a REALLY relaxing evening.  Amazing how restful it is to have an afternoon service and not take the second trip into town.  I'll enjoy it this week because next week we're scheduled at Caleb Village and we'll have all our services, come home for a couple hours and then head back in.  The next day we'll be heading to Scott's folks, so I'll probably be looking back on this weekend and trying to draw on the extra energy:)  We sang some Christmas song and Scott did the little devotion that goes with the Adorenament. Garrison, lacking an afternoon nap, fell asleep at the beginning.  I laid down around 7:30, just waiting for Scott to get Caleb to sleep.  I didn't wake up again until I got Kiersten and when I looked at the clock it was 2:30.  Guess it's time to go back to bed now, eh?  It's 3:15 and if I can get my mind settled down again I have another couple hours to sleep:).  Oh, another praise is that a friend of mine had a baby boy on the 16th.  I didn't find out til yesterday, since she had a midwife in Saskatoon.  Looking forward to hearing all the details and the name:).  Looks like this busy week has started early...

What a day!

I have to admit that although I was quite busy today, I was blessed once again. Scott offered to take Garrison to work and I only had 3 to look after.  Poor Kiersten's nose is so dry it started bleeding a bit.  Caleb's cold is sounding a bit better, but he's saying his tummy hurts.  I've heard that the latest cold is associated with the flu, but I'm hoping it's not.  He fell asleep at 6 tonight and Scott took Elyssia with him to prayer meeting.  Kiersten just fell asleep and it's rather quiet around here tonight.  Just Garrison and myself.  We'll probably do a lot of reading, but I thought I'd write a bit before we settle in for the night.  When Garrison goes to work with Scott he usually falls asleep quite early and I'm thinking it wouldn't hurt to get some extra sleep too:). 
  Today we had dishes, school, phone calls, 3 rooms to clean, etc...  Although I sometimes feel like I want to complain about the amount of cleaning I have, I'm thankful that I have something to do and people to take care of.  It makes the days go by so quickly and before we know it Scott is home from work.  I remember watching the clock in the early days of our marriage. The house was clean and there weren't any children to mess it up.  I have to say that I like our current situation a whole lot better!  Here are some pics from our day.
 

Kiersten "helping" with clean up:)

Little Mommy(Elyssia took this one and got my leg while I was sweeping and cleaning the office).

Looks like he's ready to go skiing, but those are his construction safety goggles.

  The rest of his clothes are required when going outside these days.  His little coat was a great Thrift store find.  I'd been looking at new ones, but couldn't bring myself to pay $30!  I got this one for $4 and it's lined with wool, but not the scratchy kind.  Please excuse the miniature milk jug. I put them away, but the kids are constantly dragging them out.  Time for a recycle run! 

Nate Saint's Son! Truly amazing!!!

http://www.eaavideo.org/video.aspx?bcpid=90015277001&bckey=AQ~~,AAAAACVfYk8~,joSdWnzSW53SWMSXWb0FjhSSjUZumgFr&bctid=635469588001

Great words in this song!

Late nights, early mornings...

Hmmm... I'm thankful that I went to bed early last night.  I fell asleep while Scott was doing school with Elyssia and woke up when Caleb made his way into our bed and found Scott putting Kiersten next to me:). Scott proceeded to put Caleb to bed, but ended up putting him on the end of our bed, where he'd just taken Garrison from.  Caleb then proceeded to scoot himself up next to us again:)))).  I finished feeding Kiersten, put her back to bed and checked the clock.  Yikes, Scott will have to get up in another half hour!  He gets up at 4 and I usually try to sleep til 7.  Energized by the sleep I'd had I thought I'd check for a message I'm waiting for.  Of course, facebook had way too many updates, but two exciting ones, which kinda makes it worth it.  One friend got married unexpectedly and another is pregnant:).  Soooo excited for them! Now I'm feeling a bit cold, so I'm going to head back to bed and see which child(ren) I have to snuggle with... I'm actually not complaining about this.  Some nights I get frustrated if I don't sleep too well, but I'm enjoying getting all the snuggles while they're little.  I foresee a time in the future when they'll be too big.  Although, I could be wrong about that.  In that case, I'm going to have to move to a secret location to sleep and hope their radars can't detect me.  Who knew kids have these detection radars when they're sleeping.  Our kids go to sleep in their own beds just about every night.  There's just this middle of the night thing where they're inexplicably drawn like a magnet to our bed. Maybe it's the electric blanket?  Nah, just kidding.  Elyssia and Garrison have stopped coming in as much as they used to. I'm thinking it's too much trouble for them to climb down from their top bunks:).  It's back to bed for me.  Morning or wake up time will be here before I know it and I really should do some baking.  I need lots of energy and some Christmas music for that. Good excuse not to do it right now...

Great Galloping Gumdrops!

That is Garrison's newest phrase:) He has a thing for rhymes and loves to make up his own.  I added "Gasps Garrison" and he thought it was hilarious.  So now the game is afoot.  Garrison's latest accomplishment is finishing up the ABC's Learning to Read Program.  He loves the stories, so we might read some of them again, but our main goal will be working on his handwriting and increasing his reading skills.  Amazing how fast we zoomed through it.  It really helps when all the children love the stories.  Elyssia is at the halfway point or close to the end in most of her subjects.  Caleb is improving his coloring skills, so maybe we'll try some of the preschool stuff with him next year.  Work on him coloring inside of the lines, etc...  Thankfully Kiersten is learning to be content in her little corner of the room with her box of toys and books.  It makes my job a bit easier.
  Today has been one of those stay inside kind of days.  The weather has warmed up a bit, but there is a large amount of snow outside.  We might venture out tomorrow if I can get a good night's sleep tonight.  I can hardly believe that Scott's parents will be here in a week!  I really should finalize the meal plans and bake a bit more. Thankfully the younger two are almost done with their colds and the rest of us don't seem to be coming down with it yet. If only I had the kids energy...

Decorating cookies

I've had a lot more to blog about lately, perhaps a little too much:).  There are so many activities around Christmas time that it's not hard to find things to write about or pictures to post.  This morning we started our homeschooling with a mix of art work and home economics:)  A lady from church actually gave us this pack of cookies with all the stuff to decorate them included.  The kids did make bannock with Scott though, so that counts for a kitchen credit in school.  Here are the results of the decorating:

no real explanation needed, eh?

Garrison's snowman

Caleb had some help:)  He also took a bit off the end before I could take the pic!

Elyssia's

Superman wasn't feeling too excited.  He got a paper cut under his eye, so he looks extra tough:)

Who's been sampling the icing?

Happy grin!

Compliments of Elyssia

With the string. (We're going to hang the uneaten ones on the tree).

My second cookie.  I ate part of this one.  He looked a little scary with the yellow eyes. There weren't any white balls.

 

  

 

     Well, it's back to work we go.  More homeschooling excitement to finish before the day is done.  Garrison might finish up the letter "Z" today.  Very excited about that!  We still have half the year left for review and reading progress...

Noah

David and Goliath

Winter Fun...

Garrison playing with Scott's G.I. Joe base.(The G.I. Joes are G's.)

Elyssia made cookies with the homemade playdough I made for the kids.

Kiersten's ready for church and wearing her birthday mittens from Great Grandma Neilson.

Sisters

Caleb just keeps adding layers instead of changing out of his pajamas:))).

Sour cream cutouts for the Ladies meeting cookie exchange.

Caleb with different pjs, winter boots and ketchup from the lunch he just finished:).

Awesome Lemon dessert that Scott made!

It was all gone before bedtime!

Elyssia wrapped like a mummy for her history lesson. Kiersten thought it was great!

Tonight was also the Ladies Bible Study.  We had a supper at the church before the meeting and had lots of fun.  Two of the Ladies came in earlier and re-arranged the kitchen, decorated the main area and table, put out food and made apple cider!  It was amazing to arrive and not have to do anything. I usually go at least an hour early to get things set up.  I try to prepare a snack and have a bit of extra study time, but I'll admit it was nice to come and have it already done for me.  We ate, enjoyed laughing as two of the ladies told how Elyssia and Garrison were on Sunday when I wasn't there.  Apparently they got into jelly beans downstairs and were acting quite silly.  They were okay during church, but provided a bit of amusement.  One incident that I found funny was that when Scott told Garrison to sit up after one of the songs he replied, "but Dad Mrs. Brenda brought Christmas presents for us!"  Apparently she'd told them about the presents before church and they were super excited.  Less than two weeks to keep them from opening them:).  We went through a study on Mary and it provided quite a bit of discussion.  There were several aspects of her life that I hadn't really thought about before doing this Study.  I'm really thankful that we're going through these.  It helps to develop a deeper relationship than just the everyday discussions.  We played one game, since we kinda ran out of time.  We probably could have stayed an extra hour, but the fog was pretty bad and we wanted to get home before it got too late.  I just barely made it into the driveway.  The snowdrifts are pretty high and the Vibe doesn't think it wants to go over them.  We all went home with a good variety of cookies and good memories.  One of the ladies made me a Christmas apron.  I'll have to get someone to take a picture of me sometime.  I should have taken a picture of the quilt that was used for a decorating divider.  It was awesome!  One of the ladies made it for her daughter and is going to give it to her as a wedding present.  I'm thankful that she brought it for us to see though.  I'm a quilt lover and would collect quilts if I had a lot of money:)  I love to snuggle in them in the winter time and enjoy just looking at them when they're not in use.  I think there are at least 6 ladies in the church that do quite a bit of quilting now.  Maybe we'll have a quilting bee someday.
  Anyway, overall it was a great way to start the week.  Looking forward to the family coming next week.  Until then there's plenty to do with cleaning, homeschooling, baking, etc...