Special times with Daddy include lessons on etiquette at a Tea Party! Always be prepared in case the Queen stops by:).
It's the little moments in life that add up to some wonderful memories as we grow older. We're reminded of that each time we tell the kids a story about their grandparents or ourselves when we were growing up. Reminding the kids of how many stories they already have to share with others because of the places that we've been, the people that we've met and the things that we've been blessed with the opportunity to do. The travels, the tent meetings, the missionaries, the family visits, the vacations. It's truly amazing to think how much has happened in the past 9 and a half years of our marriage!
Lately we hear the pitter patter of little feet in the middle of the night, quick whispers of "I like you Mommy and Daddy" and a warm little body snuggling in between us. That would be Kiersten:). Our mischievous, opinionated, extremely affectionate 2nd little girl. If the butter dish or sugar bowl are missing she's #1 on the list of people to interrogate. Her inability to look us in the eye gives her away every time:).
The other end of the spectrum is our oldest-Elyssia. She is 8, going on 21! Tonight she was invited by a friend to attend her first sewing exhibition. She was VERY excited! She's quite independent and yet, lately, she's been asking for extra snuggles. I remember well the age where I realized that I wasn't so little anymore. I still wanted to be snuggled though, so I'd act just a bit younger:). She's currently working her way through the 2nd half of the American Girl Series and has picked up The Mandie Shaw Series. Thankfully our library has a huge selection to order from and we have a lot of books at home for her too.
Next comes our builder-Garrison. He's starting to pick up the 2nd grade readers now and really enjoys being able to read just about anything he can find in the bookshelf. He's building Lego each morning before school and heads back to it as soon as his school work is finished for the day. He's making some incredible creations and I really should start posting more pictures. He loves building, taking apart, then rebuilding with improvements to the design. Scott usually helps him with the original and he's picking it up really fast.
Caleb is eager to learn each new letter and it's hard for him to wait patiently for his turn, when I'm helping the others with their work. He's been voluntarily shoveling snow when we go to people's houses and it's surprising how much he can accomplish for such a little guy. We're thinking he's about due for a big growth spurt this year and he's wondering when he can lose his first tooth. Less than 2 months until he turns 5!
Adelaide continues to entertain us all. Today I asked her if she could help me push the laundry hamper over to the basement door. She grinned and started pushing. She's a smart little cookie, even if she does refuse to say many words. The other day Scott tried to get her to do the sign language for "please". She proceeded to do it on him, but wouldn't try it on herself:). She's the first one to get into food or a cup that is left behind by a sibling. I discovered that the times that she seems to be biting me when nursing, she's generally put something in her cheek and is trying to let me know to get it out. It took me a couple times to catch on, but now her mouth is going to be checked before we ever start. She currently has 4 swollen parts on her gums, due to 4 molars all wanting to come through, but taking a long time to do so. She's been a happy little girl for the most part though, and we really enjoy watching her little personality develop.
The weather here has been extremely cold the past couple days. Today it dropped down to -37 C, depending on where you were at in Saskatchewan. I didn't go outside, but Scott went out for a job and then to the meeting tonight. It's amazing how our bodies do adjust pretty well to the temperatures, but it's also nice when we don't feel the need to go anywhere:). We've heard that it's supposed to be up to -5 this weekend. It'll be like a trip to Hawaii;).
Yesterday I ended up losing 6 points on my good driving record... That's the penalty for having a blind spot on a crowded street. I was backing up a bit before pulling out and the front end of the van was out just enough to graze a truck that was coming down the street. Thankfully I had time when I did catch a glimpse of him to move the van a bit farther back before we made contact, otherwise the damage would have been a lot worse. As it was, the truck got a little smudge where it rubbed the front end, not even a dent or scratch that I could see, but they decided to make a claim anyway, because they might end up wanting to do a touch up on the paint. The only damage to the van was where the trucks step on the side caught the part over the wheel of the front of the van. It separated it a bit and we're going to have it checked on Monday. It didn't do any crunching or breaking of the front headlight, which is good. Thanking the Lord for His protection. It definitely could have been a lot worse and I was especially thankful that I didn't have any of the kids with me. Scott was very understanding ,even though I got upset with myself for not seeing the truck in the first place. I'm also thankful that I had a +9 driving record before yesterday. That means that our insurance won't go up at all. You get a point for each year that you're driving in Canada and you only lose them if there are insurance claims or other traffic violations against you.
In other news, there has been a trip added to our plans for next month. Not a vacation, but an unexpected trip, nonetheless. It really came together over the past couple weeks after praying about our friend's situation. "T" has a big custody hearing next month and we're 2 of the 3 people that ended up being witnesses to a lot of the things that happened last year. Originally we were thinking that I would just take Addie, but then it became clear that Scott was needed, for more reasons than one. The Lord has been so good in providing the plane tickets and we're VERY thankful for those that are making this possible. There will be one day for visiting a bit and seeing Nova Scotia, so hopefully the weather is milder than it is here. Scott has some family that live near Halifax and we're looking forward to getting to know them a bit better. Praying for the 4 older ones as they've already expressed sadness that we have to be gone for awhile. We know that they will be in good hands though and we'll be praying for them every day that we're gone.
