Lighting issues...

Due to lighting issues I really don't have any good pics to post from the wedding. The church was kind of dark and keeping the kids occupied while waiting meant that I didn't really have time to mess with the camera settings. Here are a couple from our weekend away and a couple from today:

Delicious Chewy Butterscotch Pecan Bars

When did he get so big???

Waiting for the food...

Wedding Favors

"Go Walk?"

I just noticed how long his legs are!

Cute baby feet:)

Operation Simplification Complete

This is AFTER I took away 4 big boxes!

Strutting her fashion choices:)

Too cute!


I tried posting this on Tuesday, but the picture uploader wasn't working, so I'll write about Wednesday and Thursday before posting. Wednesday went quite well. A man from church called and asked if he could come over and help with some work at our place. We weren't about to say no:). He brought his tractor and a riding lawnmower over. Scott has been keeping up with the main yard okay, but the back field was getting quite tall. He took care of that in less than 2 hours! He left the riding lawnmower for us to use this summer, which will be a huge blessing. I've done the push mower, but it'll certainly be easier for me to help using the riding lawnmower:). We sent him home with some of the yummy pecan bars, which removed the temptation for me to eat more of them:).
Today has been quite nice. Scott took Elyssia to Alberta to attend his Granny's funeral. The younger 3 have gotten along quite well and even kept the house pretty clean, which is great because the in-laws are coming to visit tomorrow. A friend from church came over for tea this afternoon and the boys provided plenty of entertainment. At lunch time we were discussing salvation and other things in the Bible. Caleb told me that he isn't saved, but he wants to be. I still don't think he understands a lot of it though, so we didn't go any further, but Garrison was very helpful in telling him everything he needed to do in order to be saved. When my friend came over a couple hours later he said, I'm saved! Are you? I'm thankful that she was, cause that would have been a bit awkward:) A little soulwinner in the making. It was amazing how much he remembered and that he wanted to share it with others. This evening we played Lego. The boys are getting really good at coming up with their own creations. An hour passes by and it only seems like about 10 minutes. So, now it's time to wind down and get ready for bed. Scott and Elyssia will get home right around bedtime, so I'd better post this and keep the others occupied until then.

Catching up...

I guess that means I have to start with last Thursday. It was full of packing and cleaning out the van. Making sure we had what we needed for 3 days away. Scott was hoping to finish his work early, but that didn't happen and we headed out of town around 5. The kids did quite well on the drive to Alberta. They were excited to see Nana and Grandad and that usually makes the trip go faster. We made on stop at a gas station and Caleb did very well on his first car trip since getting potty trained. There weren't any accidents, which was really awesome! I had packed extra and ended up coming home with only one load of laundry. It's a nice feeling to put most of the clothes back into the drawers and be done with it.
Friday, Scott went to visit his Grandpa. He's pretty close to passing away, but is holding on. That afternoon they brought great grandma over to have tea and visit with the kids. I think everyone enjoyed the visit and it was good to see her again. It's been almost a year since the last time we saw them. We had planned to get together at Christmas time, but the flu kept us apart.
Saturday was pretty quiet in the morning,but the afternoon was quite long. The wedding was at 1 and went pretty fast, but then the supper wasn't til 5. We got to the hall around 4 to visit with the family, but most of them didn't arrive til 5, so it was a good thing we'd brought a bag of small toys and things to color. Things are done a bit differently up here, as far as how people go through the line for food etc... It's up to the MC? I'm not sure what they call them, but they usually have people answer questions about the bride and groom. Whoever answers first gets to take the people at their table to go through the line. This time they wanted people to text the answer. It was hard enough to know the answers, seeing as how we had never even met the groom before, but to add texting:). Scott is the only one of us that has texted and has a hard time because the buttons are so small. We ended up being one of the last tables, but it was okay because I think they brought out fresh food shortly before it was our turn. I think that Garrison ate the most and it was quite surprising because he'd eaten 3 bagels, plus eggs and other things during the day. I'm quite sure that he's going through a growth spurt because shortly after we started the drive home he said, "I'm hungry!" We were like, "What? How can you be hungry? You just finished a plate of food and a plate of dessert!" Anyway, they fell asleep for part of the drive home, but woke up about halfway through and were getting pretty cranky by the time we arrived home. About 20 minutes of so of the drive it was just pouring down rain. I can see why there's so much flooding in the province after driving through it. It reminds me of the heavy rain in the south. The problem is that we don't have the absorbent soil that they do. It forms rivers, lakes and ponds in the fields. The ditches in Alberta are all quite full from what we see, so it wouldn't take too many more rains like that before there would be some overflow. The nice thing about it though is the color of the grass in the field. It reminds me of pictures of Ireland. All the different shades of green.
Sunday was really not a good day for the kids. I had to keep them all downstairs because they were Cranky! That also meant they weren't listening well. They would have been a lot better off if they took long naps, but only Caleb got a proper one. That meant the evening was long as well. Thankfully they went right to bed when we got home and Monday was much better.
Yesterday was SO BUSY! We had a message on the answering machine when we got back saying that the date for the old fridge and freezer pick up had changed again and they were coming between 12 and 5. I spent the morning getting things cleaned up and out of the way so that they could get the freezer up from the basement. They arrived at 1 and tried to get it out, but ended up leaving it. Scott spent the rest of the afternoon hacking it up and hauling it out himself. It made a terrible mess, but it's out now. He'd scheduled an oil change for the van at 2, so I took it in, with plans to get a couple groceries afterwards. An HOUR AND A HALF after my scheduled appt they actually took it in. We also had them check the key fobs that weren't working properly. I'm sure that most of you have experienced the total shock at the price of such little things, but I have to say that it's bordering on the ridiculous. They said a battery would cost $6.95, but after labor and tax we'd be paying about $120 to get them fixed. If we replaced just one of them it would cost $114! They changed the oil and ended up telling us that the break pads would need to be replaced in the next month or so, as well. So, we said never mind about fixing the fobs, we'll just use our key for now. I thought that after being there for 3 hours I should hand them a bill for my wasted time, seeing as how I came in for an "appointment":). I didn't end up doing it though. Just thought about it...
I did get groceries after, but it was 5:30 when I got home. Thankfully the kids were tired because they hadn't taken a nap and bedtime came early. It was nice to wake up to a "mostly clean" house this morning. To just fix breakfast and deal with the dishes. There is laundry, but there might even be time for a bit of baking today:).
On a different note, we found out that Scott's granny passed away on Sunday. She's been holding on for the past 8 years or more. When I first met her when we were courting I really didn't think that I'd see her again, here on earth. She surprised us all by how long she lived and how quickly she passed away. We were expecting Scott's grandpa to pass away quickly, but here she ended up going first. So, Scott is taking another trip to Alberta for the funeral. Thank the Lord for each day that He gives. We're not promised tomorrow...



Wedding Humor:
Garrison asked what the bride and groom were going to do at the wedding. I told him that they would say their vows, exchange rings, and then kiss. That would signal the end. He said, "on the mouth!" I said, "yes." He said, "yuck!" Funny guy. At some point during the wedding he said, "yeehaw". Not sure what he was thinking about at that point, but there were a lot of cowboys at the wedding:).

Caleb was not happy with the flower girl. He told Scott as she walked past dropping flower petals that she was making a big mess and that was bad:).

At the reception one of the boys remarked that the material used to hold the candy looked like the bride's "tail". That's what they heard instead of "veil". So, their hearing might not be the best, but it sure does provide for some good laughs:).

Kiersten was so eager to eat the chocolate on the table that she ate a piece with the wrapper on when we weren't looking. It came through in her diaper the next day. Thankfully it wasn't one of the little glass marbles that were used as centerpiece decorations for the table! The kids kept asking if they were candy. When I brought in the groceries Kiersten pulled two bags all by herself. She found a candy bar and was saying, "chockyate! chockyate" She's a girl for sure. VERY sad when I didn't give her any... Caleb says it, "shlocklate". Kind of a hard word to say for those two, but they sure know what it is:).

I think that's it for now. The laundry awaits!

Going to tea...

but not with the queen:). Elyssia and I are invited to have tea with a friend this afternoon. Scott figured that he would get done early and that I could get out for a couple hours since he has his second meeting of the week tonight. For those of you who don't know, we have our Prayer Meeting on Wed afternoons now, so, no he won't be skipping Prayer Meeting.
The weather has been really nice the past couple days. Last night it looked like we were going to get a thunderstorm, but didn't turn into much. Hopefully the weather will stay nice for the weekend. We have a wedding to attend, but they have an inside location reserved, just in case it's not nice enough for outside. From what we've heard it's going to be a non-dressy type of wedding. A prairie/cowboy type wedding, so it's jeans and western shirts for the men and I figure the girls can wear sundresses. Not sure what I'll wear yet.
The appointment went well on Monday. I have to say that they're not quite as nice to you when you show up 3 min late, as opposed to the 15-20 minutes early that we usually are. In the past we've had to wait an extra 20-30 minutes, but now it's a tight ship they're running. They only have one Dr. in the office and they're keeping him running. It really only took 10 minutes for the whole appt, but the baby's heartbeat was good and all my vitals were normal. We have the second ultrasound scheduled for July 25th. I think I felt some fluttering over the past week, but it's still light, since we're only in the 18th week. The Dr. actually said that baby was measuring almost a week ahead of schedule. I was kinda surprised, but wonder if somehow our babies do develop a bit faster. I've never heard of it, but the last 3 were born about 3 weeks early, but they were considered full term and looked great. So, we'll see what happens. I was a bit farther ahead than I thought when they did the first ultrasound too, but being completely sure of the time the baby was conceived makes it hard to understand how that could be possible.
Anyway, here are a couple cute pics from the last couple days. The first one is of the finished wall painting. I tried to put captions underneath, but ended up deleting them, because the new blog pic uploader messes with the order of the pics. There is a pic of Caleb listening to his belly?:) with the stethoscope all funny:. There's also a pic of Scott's first time using the skewers. It was quite good! I actually got a couple pics during devotions the other day too. They were doing the story where the 4 friends brought the man to Jesus and lowered him through the roof. We don't have a "man doll" and the kids weren't strong enough to hold Caleb in a blanket, so please excuse us using Nellie(doll) in his place. Our table worked perfectly because it comes apart to put in extra leaves. We made an exception to our "no standing on the table rule" and Kiersten used to to her advantage. The little stinker!

We had another incident yesterday. Child (remaining unnamed) was sent down on Monday to put some things in the freezer. Child ? didn't fit it into the freezer properly and the door didn't seal. Child ? didn't tell the parents. Mother of child ? discovered the problem last night before supper. Unfortunately some meat was lost. Fortunately there wasn't much meat left in the freezer. Apparently it's Sam's lucky day, cause he got some meat. Lesson learned: Check freezer once or twice a day to make sure it's closed.

This morning we had a bit of a panic. We were ready to sit down for breakfast and couldn't find Garrison. Scott does chores before breakfast and sometimes the boys go out to help him if they wake up early. We looked around the house and called for him, but no response. I went out to the road and walked towards the field calling for him. Wondering if he'd wandered out as Scott was coming in and they just missed each other. I found NOTHING. I prayed on the way home and Scott was on the porch when I got back. He's here... Apparently he was hiding behind a chair in the living room and didn't want us to know... I was thankful that he was okay, but not so happy that he hadn't answered. Scott shared a story about him and his cousin hiding and not answering when they were younger and how much they scared their families. I shared one about getting left on a field trip because I'd gone to use the washroom and hadn't told the teacher. We tried to emphasize how important it is to let people know where you are, unless everyone knows that you're playing hide and seek and that if your parents tell you to answer, that you better do it fast or face some consequences. Only time will tell whether the lesson sank in or not...
So, it's off to see what the rest of the day holds. The kids are having fun being free for the summer, although Elyssia did ask the other day if she could do some Math:) We told her, "no, we need a break for a bit". I think it's a good sign that she desires to do it though. Have a great day and don't get too many mosquito bites!

Father's Day...

Scott would probably have to write this post in order for you to have his opinion of Father's Day, but I think it went pretty well. He didn't have to do any cooking;). Here is a pic of him with his gifts and of the card that Elyssia picked out for him:).

The two younger ones fell asleep during the main service, which meant that I got to enjoy hearing the sermon, but also meant that getting an afternoon nap was going to be a challenge. We've really been working with the kids on their behavior at church and this week was a definite improvement. We've found that having them repeat what is expected of them on the way to church and before we go in has helped tremendously! There's still the desire to be silly, but we're catching it right away and removing them from the situation. Prayerfully we'll continue to get better and better and not go the other way again. Elyssia enjoyed handing out chocolate bars to the Fathers and the sun was out when church ended. We started off drizzly, but it turned out to be pretty nice.
The afternoon was kind of long, but other than Kiersten getting into Elyssia's paints, there wasn't too much to find fault with. We went to Pinecrest's website to hear Pastor Mack's sermon before evening church and found a nice surprise. Nathan's quartet was doing the special music. They sang 5 or 6 songs and we had just enough time to hear the sermon before heading to our evening service. One of the benefits of being in a different time zone than Georgia:).
Our evening service was pretty low key, but we had Caleb Village hymn sing afterwards. Caleb was very excited that he got to go this time. I haven't taken the younger two to the last couple, due to the nausea. All 4 did the best they've ever done. Kiersten sat on my lap and sang a bit. I also put her socks on her hands and she did sock puppets, which amused her for over half the time we sang. The others played quietly with the toys and books while we sang, then shook hands and helped put song books away. We didn't stay too long afterwards because the boys were starting to act up a bit. 4 services in one day does make for a lot of sitting time, so overall, I have to say they did extremely well. Bedtime came early, Praise the Lord:), but that meant that morning came early too:(. Oh well, we're up and moving. The kids have been fed, made their beds, did their inside chores and have since moved outside to do the outside ones. Mostly helping weed the gardens and then they can ride their bikes. It looks like it's going to be a really nice day. Maybe I'll get to enjoy a bit of it after I finish the 8th load of laundry! I'm on the 4th and 5th right now. It certainly is the neverending chore. I'm sure the kids will have at least one more full load for me by the end of today:). Thinking back to when we didn't have children and my chores were done by 9, I really wouldn't trade it to go back to life without them. Yes, they're loud, messy and lots of work, but they also give a lot of laughter, love and joy.

Enjoy the last day of Spring!!!

How do you...

determine what a good Birthday is as an adult? When you're a child it's all about the presents and the cake. I'm finding that the presents are less important and a cake, even less so. As a child, getting one year closer to 13 or 21 was the excitement. Now, it's kinda like, "How old am I?":). It's become more about the time just spent with family, making memories and appreciating another day of life. So many don't have that opportunity. Lives are ended so quickly these days and there's not the chance to spend just one more birthday with that loved one. So, here are some pictures from the day. Please excuse the appearance in the breakfast pic. Elyssia insisted that I stay in bed til breakfast was ready. Not the nicest time to get your pic taken.

The new picture uploader puts up a lot of computer lingo instead of the picture with the option of adding descriptions underneath. There are pics of the banana muffins with pecans that Elyssia wanted to make for me. Pics of Caleb sporting his mosquito net hat. Pics of a blackberry cobbler that I made. A pic of the clean living room, that I just can seem to keep up for very long and the new location of the computer. Pics of flowers from Scott and the entry after the first coat of paint that Scott did for me. It looks much better, but now I'm like, "Don't run your hands on the walls!" It didn't matter when they were grungy off white:).

The day started off with pouring down rain, Whidbey Island style. I had to stay in bed, but the kids were up before 6! Not really sleeping in, if you ask me:). The muffins were delicious. Elyssia had colored me a pic and painted one too. She helped Kiersten color one too, so I have plenty of new artwork for the fridge. Canada Post is on strike, so any other cards will probably arrive in a couple weeks. Scott brought me flowers the night before and those are the ones in the striped vase. Elyssia claimed the horse sketching book right off and I look forward to sharing the cards and painting the canvases. I've been wanting to paint another picture for awhile now, but by the time the kids are all in bed I'm too tired to stay up much longer.
We drove into town to renew my license, something, that's been a yearly necessity til now. This year we got a letter in the mail telling us that they're going to make the license good for 5 years, instead of only 1. What a novel idea:). From there we picked up lemon tarts for dessert and ordered pizza for lunch. I needed to pick up Scott's Father's Day card and present, so we picked that up and had Caleb's new passport picture taken since he was 2 weeks old in his last pic. Oh, before we left I also gave myself a birthday haircut. The second pic of me is after the haircut. I missed my last hair appt. since I was sick and too out of things to feel like going. Getting a hair appt. is a lot like getting a Dr. Appt. right now, so I figured I should do something before we go to the wedding next weekend. I think it turned out okay and will be long again by the end of summer.
We had planned to take a nap when we got home, but the 3 younger ones had a power nap in the car and only Garrison ended up sleeping a bit more at home. So, I guess that means an early end to the day with an early bedtime. The afternoon has been pretty normal. Kids playing, rain stopping and starting, a load of laundry, a sink of dishes cleaned. I have much to be thankful for and the day isn't done:). Looking forward to what the Lord has for us in the year ahead.

The countdown starts...

tomorrow! Tomorrow I turn 29 and the countdown to 30 begins. I suppose I should think about goals for the year ahead. One of my desires after getting married was to have 4 children before I turned 30. Thanks to this little one, it will be 5 before 30. I don't know that it's true, but I think it's definitely easier on the body to have them before 30. Most days I still don't feel over 20, but judging from the fact that I usually need a nap every day, I think I must be past the "young 20" stage. That saying" you're only as old as you think you are" is partly true. However, I do realize that I don't have half the energy that my little ones do. So, I'll have to think about what would be nice to accomplish in the year ahead... If the Lord comes to interrupt those goals, I'm good with that:). Looking forward to His return more and more every day!

Where did all the passive ones go?

I'd been told that hockey was the one area that Canadians were not passive about. The Olympics gave me a little glimpse, but they won, so apparently it was all good. Last night gave the other end of the spectrum. I wasn't sure whether I should even comment on it, but I still can't believe how out of control they were. My husband said that the Canucks always blow it when they get to the big game, only this time they got a little farther than before. He was not cheering for them, so I didn't either:). The thing is, from what I'm told, there are just as many Canadians playing for the Boston team, that it really shouldn't have mattered. They could have cheered because most of the team that won had roots in Canada. Apparently, that wasn't enough. The thing that boggles my mind is-Why take it out on the city, cars, police, etc...? They weren't responsible for the loss. The ones that let the fans down were the players. The ones that get millions of dollars a year to play a game. I don't advocate the violence at all. I just think, "what a waste". They destroyed banks, looted stores, burned vehicles and all for what?

http://watch.ctv.ca/news/clip485623#clip485623 (paste the link to watch)

This may be a totally pointless post. Not sure. Just some rambling right now. Just imagine if all that destructive energy was redirected. Say those people got saved and then used all their energy to spread the Gospel, non violently, of course. There's truly too much wasted time and energy in this world today. I'm not talking in the "green energy" sense either. People are just wasting their lives. Not fulfilling the purpose for which they were created. Not really fulfilling much of anything. There's such an emptyness and people live for these sports seasons. I'll end with this verse:Ephesians 5:16 "Redeeming the time, because the days are evil." This was relevant all those years ago and it's still relevant today.

Good times...

Last night was our last Ladies Bible study til the Fall. There was so much going on beforehand, but the Lord provided the time to prepare and I really enjoyed getting into things. When I'm in the middle of it I wonder, why didn't I study this topic sooner? One of the Ladies said that we're probably not ready to understand it fully, but that the Lord brings it to mind when we, and others, need it. I think that's partly true. Sometimes we just don't want to give up the time it takes to do the study either. There's a lot to think about over the summer. Our challenge is to truly ask the Lord what our talents are and whether we're using them for His glory and to be a blessing to others. To not be hiding them or just using them for ourselves. To give God not just 10% of our finances, but at least that much of our time and the talents that He has blessed us with. The challenge is just as great for me. I know that I could certainly be using the hours in my day better. The hardest thing is sticking to that, even when tired.
I was reading Abby's post about decluttering and reorganizing. I always seem to be in that mode. Maybe that's why I'm so tired:). Scott moved our computer station yesterday. I would post pics, but there's a lot of cleaning to do before we're ready to do that. It should give him less distraction and more room to study. Yes, there are a lot of helpful study tools associated with the computer, but also a lot of easy distractions. We were also supposed to be relieved of a fridge from the shed and the freezer from downstairs that quit working. The people were scheduled to pick it up last week, but Scott called to confirm and they said their schedule said Sunday was the pickup. Who schedules a pick up for Sunday? He told them that we would have it ready and be home from 1-4. They said okay and never showed up. So, the downstairs is all a disaster from him moving everything to get the freezer ready, but who knows when they'll show up now. Someday, when things are back to a somewhat normal state I'll post pics. It's nice to have a window to look out of while typing. It's easier on the eyes. The kids are also excited because we can listen to Odyssey online in the living room instead of having to crowd into the office to hear the speakers:).
Other news learned last night is that there's going to be another baby in our church next year:). You already know about mine, but our ratio of kids vs. adults is increasing faster than the adults! This will make 13 kids 7 yrs old and under.
The weather here has been beautiful lately. Yesterday it was 29 degrees celsius, 83 F for all my American friends and family:). Without the breeze it was a scorcher. So thankful for the coolness inside the house:). The farmers now need a good rain for the crops. Last year they needed less rain and more sun. It really makes you feel for those whose livelihood depends on the weather and crops. I have to say that I'm thankful we're not full time farmers.
I had a bit of a panic last night. I was checking the date of my next Dr. Appt. It said Mon, the 20th. For some reason all that processed was the Monday part and I thought that I'd missed it yesterday. I was like, "great, now I have to go back to the hospital to try to get a prescription". I went to bed and shortly after that realized that the 20th wasn't today because I hadn't had my birthday yet:). God was probably getting a good chuckle out of my confusion:). I'm thankful that I didn't miss the appt. It's too hard to get one scheduled in the first place around here.
I think that about wraps things up for all our activity. Scott asked me what I wanted for my Birthday this year and I requested that he paint the entry. Hopefully I can post pics of that sometime in the next couple weeks. I think it will do a lot to freshen up that area, but will probably make the rest of the walls look pathetic:). Isn't that the way. Part of the reason we've just left it alone for so long. So, it's off to try to make a dent in the cleaning for the day. Planning what to have for supper and all that good stuff...

Little Miss Sunshine

Sam was coming towards her on the porch:)))



Something to brighten up the day!

False alarm...

Okay, so I didn't lose all my friends in blogland. Must have just been a blogspot glitch or something. I was reminded about adding the text when editing the photo, so should try that sometime later on.

One question:

What happens when you install a new toilet, but leave the old one on the porch?
ANSWER: Your kids figure that they now have a outhouse and proceed to use the one on the porch instead of coming inside. ---Can anybody say gross!---

I asked the boys another question this afternoon. Why did you paint the greenhouse white? It didn't stump them. They said, "It's called a greenhouse because you put plants in it and they're green." We've been reading the Amelia Bedelia books and the boys laugh, but are quick to point out that you can't plant light bulbs, etc... They're getting too smart to get much past them these days.

Tonight Kiersten met the gravel. I was cleaning her up. She said, "owie", "band-aid" I asked her if she needed a band-aid for her knee. She said, "band-aid, knee". She was also saying "Pastha pease!" Tonight. She wanted more pasta. Not sure if she'll have a bit of a lisp, but it's cute hearing her learn to say so much. She really wasn't interested until about a month ago, but now she's trying to say everything:).

Caleb is moving onto trick riding with his tricycle. He was telling me today. I can stand up on the seat! Guess it's time to get him a helmet:). He and Garrison were trying to help Scott paint the greenhouse today. Caleb mostly had to stay out of the way, but Garrison had a garbage back paint covering and managed to do pretty good, even if he did end up with a fair amount on his face and arms:).

Scott's time at the trade show went pretty good. He talked to the guy about a new part for our steam mop that Caleb had snapped the handle on. The guy gave him the replacement part for FREE! That was an unexpected blessing:) He also brought home some caramel popcorn. I don't think it's going to last long around here.

One last note: Elyssia can ride up and down the lane without assistance now. She's quite pleased and it's definitely one of those confidence boosters(although she does remind me a bit of "Goose on the Loose" when she gets going) If you haven't read that Usborne reader, it's worth borrowing from the library. Something to remember, learning to ride without training wheels. Scott ended up putting some training wheels on Garrison's, til he gets the concept of balance. I'm thinking that he will be ready to take them off by the end of summer.

Til next time...

Figuring out technology...

The more I try to figure out, the more I find out how little I know. Are you following me? Well, apparently I somehow lost all my followers while trying to update the look of my blog. It still has the section, but there aren't any pictures underneath. Has anyone else had this happen? I don't know how to get it back on either, since I don't know how I lost it in the first place. I also wanted to add the title of the blog somewhere, other than through the middle of Scott's face. No success with that either. I'm calling it a day, but will check back to see if anyone has any suggestions for me in the next couple days. For now, my friends that followed the blog are lost on the internet. Hope you're found soon:)

Surprise!

Yesterday we decided to surprise the older two with "new to them" bikes.  They've all been "trying" to share the little trike, but it hasn't always gone well. We were having the older two work to earn it and at first had planned to get completely new bikes.  We didn't want the summer to be over before that happened, so we found an alternative plan that would still be showing them the value of hard work and earning something.  Elyssia earned hers for all the extra work that she did while I was sick.  She was a life-saver when it came to entertaining Kiersten and keeping her out of trouble.  I didn't have her fixing meals, but did teach her how to do a couple lunches by herself.  Garrison was the garbage man and was good at hauling the clean laundry up the stairs.  I didn't get a photo capturing their first excitement when they saw the bikes, but here are some pretty good ones after:

She was very excited to discover that it had a bell!

"I love it"

Garrison said that it was the best surprise ever:).

I need a push!

Sam the pest blocking Caleb

Sam has proved to be the great annoyance while they're trying to ride.  He has this infatuation with wheels and is constantly trying to bite the tires while they're riding.  Scott puts him on the porch and he destroys it by trying to bite through the railing and the gate.  I'm thinking a big chain attached to the side of the shed is going to be needed if we're going to have any peaceful riding.  The older two did pretty good without training wheels.  It'll take lots of practice, but they've got all summer to learn.  Caleb is quite the showman on his trike. He rides it forward, backward, in circles, etc...  I have to keep reminding him to keep it on the porch and not into the house.  It's small and I've found him in the back hallway a couple times. The little stinker.
  Today is another gorgeous day. Scott is mowing and painting his green house, then heading in to help with a table at the Trade Fair.  We're praying that it stays nice for the weekend.  The men have a work day planned for tomorrow.  They're replacing shingles at the church and the forecast just changed to predict thunder showers in the afternoon.  Maybe they can get it done in the morning...  Besides, the weather people are wrong quite a bit of the time:).
  Well, other than that, it's been pretty quiet the second half of the week.  Elyssia hasn't been feeling very energetic and has gone back to bed this morning.  I don't know if it's the after effects of the flu hanging on or if she's having a growth spurt.  Either way, she's tired and it's kinda like Caleb and Garrison's behavior the past couple days.  We'll just take it easy and get things done when we can. Enjoy the weekend everyone!

"I woke up this morning...

feelin' fine, I woke up with Heaven on my mind."  Who remembers that song.?  I really am starting to feel better.  The past two days I had a bad headache, but other than that the nausea really does seem less.  I needed to send pics to one lady and thought that maybe I should do some 16 week pregnancy pics, or just a recent pic, since I really haven't posted one since our Georgia trip.  So, although there's only a little baby bump, here are the pics:

16 weeks

Pretending to have good posture:)

Pic for Deb.  These sweatshirts are for a fundraiser to support their adoption process. I Love mine:)

So, the day is off to a great start. Scott made butterscotch buns for breakfast.  The kids seem to all be in good spirits and it's beautiful outside.  We are all rested, due to the fact that none of the kids threw up last night. Praise the Lord!  We're also very thankful that Cameryn and Caleigh's surgeries went well.  So, hopefully the rest of the day...I knew I spoke too soon. Caleb was just caught coloring on the wall.  Well, something else to be thankful for---The magic eraser:))).

Updates

I don't know much more than those who have Christina as a friend on facebook, but for those who don't...  Thank you for praying for my neices.  Caleigh went first and Christina said she did great!  She has a sparkly green cast, which I'm looking forward to seeing.  Cameryn's was also successful and she chose a sparkly pink cast:).  The Lord has brought these girls through so much in their short lives.  These new rods are supposed to extend as they grow, so hopefully they won't have to have this surgery every two years.  I was thinking about them as I thought about how we think headaches and the flu are something to moan about.  Really, even in the midst of these, we still have so much to thank the Lord for.  I'm very thankful that things went well and know they would appreciate prayers for the girls quick recovery.  Generally the recovery time is 6 weeks if all stays on track.  Mom and Christina's parents will be helping for some of the time, but it's still going to seem long to little girls wanting to enjoy summer and freedom from school.
  Last night brought another surprise.  We thought the flu had left, but apparently it was just in hiding.  Garrison had been fine since Sunday morning, but he threw up over and over last night.  He's resting now.  Hope this is the end of it for him.  Hard to watch the little guy heaving so much.
  Here are pics from before:

Opening the "tomb" to see the resurrection cookies.

They taste like pavlova, but they have pecans in them.

I'm getting pretty used to seeing "ginormous" potatoes.  It only takes two to make a potato salad.

My yummy fruit salad. There are grapes, bananas, apples and strawberries underneath.

Good going down.  Not sure how it felt later.

We love fruit!

A pic of the kids sandbox for a friend to see.  You push the two sides open. We'll add handles later, but it's good because the kids need help to open. That way the cats won't be in it because it was left open.

  Last night was full of unusual sounds.  I'm glad I went to bed early.  I was awoken by No No and Scratch A Mouse fighting on the porch.  No No has kinda gone wild and is horribly mean to Scratch A Mouse.  He's wounded him on the head and Scott said that he comes back and gets him in the same place every time to keep it from healing.  I think Taffy prefers Scratch A Mouse, but No No comes around to bother her as well.  Not sure what we'll do.  It doesn't seem right to keep No No around when he's such a bully.   Then there was what sounded like a mouse under the bed.  I thumped the side and the sound stopped.  Then I heard it again, only it was louder.  I was thinking, "that is a huge mouse!".  It stopped, but the next time I heard it, it seemed like it was near Scott's side.  I looked over and found that Caleb was sleeping on the floor.  There were some papers that he was shuffling when he moved in his sleep.  I'm so thankful it was him and not a mouse:).
  I also forgot to mention in the very busy two day post that we also had the toilet overflow.  Guess it was time to clean the bathroom floor again...  Scott has a new toilet, but doesn't have time to install it yet.  He was thinking that he would have a day at home this week, due to rain, to work on some projects, but the weather has been quite nice, which means he has plenty to keep him busy in town. 
  So, today we're staying pretty low key.  Some outside time, some chores, some naps, etc... Praying that doesn't include more sickness.

Can you...

fit a week's worth of activity into 2 days?  It sure feels like that's what happened.  There are a couple pics from the weekend, so I'll post pics, then write about all the extra activity, not captured.

Warning:Don't enlarge pic if you think mice are cute.  They are not welcome in our house and this is a warning for those outside mice thinking that our house might be a good place to live...

Grandad reading to 3 out of 4.  Kiersten was up a down a couple times too:).

Giving a good pouty face.  Still cute:).

So kissable...

Picture of the finished creation.

This is the way the kids "help" Daddy mow the lawn.

We have two hanging tomato plants now.

One of our grapfruit trees enjoying a bigger space to grow.

Part of devotions tonight was from Elyssia's history course.  Click on pic to enlarge directions for making Resurrection Cookies.  It's not Easter, but that's not the only time to teach the kids about what Jesus went through for us when He died on the cross.  This seems to make it even more realistic for them.

Elyssia's part.

Baby getting in on the taste testing.

The cookies before going in the oven.

Sealing the "tomb" for the night.  We will open it in the morning and see the finished cookies.

Kiersten wanted these on her head.  She was twirling and made herself dizzy before falling down:)

Before Haircut...

After.  Much better!  Now why would we pay someone $15 to cut his hair when I can do it in about 5-10 minutes for free?

So, backtracking a bit.  Yesterday was spent at home with the sick little ones.  Elyssia was allowed to accompany Scott to church because she hadn't been sick since the middle of the week and she can be trusted to behave when neither of us can sit with her:).  So, she enjoyed her "outing" and having Daddy all to herself.  Later in the day we learned that Jessie and 3 of the kids were in an accident on the Autobahn in Germany.  Thank the Lord they weren't seriously hurt. I'm sure that they're going to be sore, but the Lord was definitely protecting them.  They hit water on the road, which spun the vehicle and shot it across 3 lanes of opposing traffic.  The autobahn has a reputation for very fast driving.  They weren't hit by any of the cars and were stopped when they hit one of the medians(not sure what they call them over there).  Anyway, the police said that a one car accident is rare. It's usually a major pile up and I seriously doubt they would have been alive without the Lord's protection.  A man in our church also hit a deer with his truck on the way to church last night.  Damage to the vehicle, but not to him.  Another praise, although he's not too happy about the damaged truck:(.
  Today started off busy.  A pancake breakfast, which Caleb hardly touched. Kiersten ate her pancake and his too.  He went and laid on the couch and went back to sleep.  I headed into town to get groceries.  It's a lot easier to get it done when Scott has the day off. He had the kids help him with transplanting and yard work.  The mosquitoes were thick and swarming with the wet weather.  Heading down the road I saw a mother duck and her babies crossing the road.  She ran in front of the car to distract me.  She did this and then started flying, following me almost all the way to the highway!  I was thinking, "They have an amazing sense of duty, protecting their little ones, but don't they know that while they're distracting me, their babies could be attacked by something else.  You'd think that they learn that a vehicle heading away from the babies was okay, but it's still amazing to see how they're willing to give their lives to protect their little ones.  Groceries were picked up, without feeling super nausea.  I saw a man from our church, also taking advantage of sale day.  We chatted for awhile, then it was off to get the mail and deposit checks.  Canada Post is on a partial strike, so I don't know when the rotation will hit ours.  I'm thankful that the whole system isn't striking at the same time.  I got home before lunch and the kids were swarming the car:).  What did you get???  The fruit and yogurt seemed to satisfy:)  I'm loving fresh fruit season.  We're already on our 4th watermelon.  I did manage to get a nap with Caleb and 4 of us were sleeping, which gave Scott a chance to work with Elyssia.  Scott and Elyssia got another portion of the yard mowed while the sun was out.  It was beautiful for half the day and a bit overcast or drippy for the other half.  We enjoyed ALL of it. 
  When Caleb woke up, Scott took him to town.  He takes turns taking them one at a time and Kiersten gets to go next time.  Wonder where they'll go.  The other kids were giving suggestions:)  Kiersten just sat there smiling and listening to them talk.  I decided that I would fix a bunch of hard boiled eggs and when those were done I took them off and turned off the burner.  Unfortunately, Kiersten decided to use a chair and investigate while I was putting together some chicken enchiladas.  I'd already taken her down and asked Elyssia to take away the chair. Unfortunately, the chair was not removed and Kiersten climbed up and toughed the burner while I wasn't looking.  I spent the next half hour trying to console her and cool off her 3 little red fingers.  The burn doesn't seem to be too bad, but she definitely learned the meaning of "hot" today.  She kept saying it every time she looked at her fingers.  She's also started saying "diaper" and running to get one when she needs a new one:). One step closer to starting potty training. She still wakes up wet and things though, so we won't be starting til she has several dry mornings.  She loves to sit on the potty any time that Elyssia or I go in, so she's getting the idea.  Hopefully it will be quick.
  We all enjoyed supper when Scott came home.  The two older ones wanted to light a candle, so we put that in the middle of the table.  Caleb still didn't have much of an appetite, but at least he sat and visited with us at the table.  The candle was extinguished shortly after the meal.  Garrison didn't want it to melt too fast.  We told him that it was almost 8 years old and would probably last at least another two years.  It was one of the ones used at our wedding and we usually just light it on anniversaries, birthdays and special occasions.  I guess they figured today was a special occasion.
  After the dishes were done I gave Scott and much needed haircut.  It doesn't take very long these days. It may be the fact that he has less hair, but also the fact that I've been cutting it for almost 8 years now. He also bought me some new clippers, which make it even easier.  I think perhaps this is the best it's turned out in quite some time:) 
 Before bed, Scott made the Resurrection cookies with the kids, while I took pictures.  The evening passed really quickly and after folding a couple loads of laundry it was already time to put the kids to bed.  Someone once told me that when raising kids "the days are long, but the years are short".  I think that sometimes the days are short too.  I'll post pics of the finished cookies when we unseal the "tomb" in the morning.  Hopefully I'll remember.  The kids were sad that they didn't get to eat them tonight, but Scott reminded them that the disciples were sad when they put Jesus' body in the tomb and it was 3 days before they went back and discovered that He'd risen from the dead.  Like I said, it was a good idea for giving the kids a way to remember the events that happened so long ago.  If you enlarge the pic I took it explains how each of the ingredients relates to Jesus' experiences.  There is also a Scripture to read connecting each example.
  Overall, one of the best couple days in a long time.  Please don't forget to pray for Cameryn and Caleigh's surgery tomorrow.  Kiersten's little burn and the pain it brought her was so small in comparison to what these girls face with each broken bone and surgery.  We praise the Lord that He brought them into our lives, but pray that He gives them extra help to get through the pain in the days and weeks ahead as they heal.  For the parents too, as they will need extra strength to get through the days and nights. 
  Til next time...