Thursday, January 31, 2013

Treasuring the Little Things...

Requests for books to be read, a drink of water, a snuggle, some tickles, another snack. The list goes on, but it truly won't be this way forever. As the temperatures have been extremely cold, I'm reminded to treasure these times, these days, these fleeting moments.




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.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Making memories in 2013

Here are some of the first pictures from 2013.


Garrison go an idea and built this teepee by himself.


Elyssia designed and built her own homemade well. It's an ice cream pail that she covered with paper that she'd colored to look like bricks. The bucket is from her pet shop accessories.


Addie and her ginormous fork:).


Still amazed by how quickly Scott designed and built this shelving unit for the girls!


Garrison's wolverine guarding the toy box he made with Daddy!


Kiersten is hoping that Daddy will buy her a little FARMGIRL mug like Mommy's. A surprise gift from Scott one day to match the FARMBOY mug that I gave him for his birthday:).

There's still lots to be done whenever we look around, but with the Lord's help we're getting a lot accomplished, while still taking the time to treasure the time that we have with the kids. Making the most of these little years. Staying warm in the -37 temps on Sunday and rejoicing when it got up to -17. Standing in awe as we see the Lord providing over and above all that we ask and think. Thanking Him for ALWAYS being with us!

Please pray for our friend, Marie. She's in the hospital with pneumonia and just recently got over a sinus infection so bad that it went into her eye. Winter's can be very hard around here, but please pray that we can be an encouragement to those who struggle during the winter months. An early spring would be wonderful, but whatever the Lord has planned for us, we want to be thankful anyway.

In other news, we've had 2 more friends deliver their little "girls" safely recently. They're both adorable and receiving lots of love:).

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Vacation

For those who were wondering where my blog went last week. Well, I took a little vacation from the blogging world. Our life was very busy and there was a lot to be planned out and taken care of. The blog needs a bit of a change too, so it might change a couple times before I settle on "the look" for this year:). I'll be "exercising the blog" as my father in law would say when he sees that I've been moving the furniture:).

This week was full of changes. We got a lot accomplished in a very short of time, for which we're very thankful. It was good to just sit down and talk through the logistics of getting animals and starting the barn building process. Deciding on our monthly budget, which unlike some people, I actually really enjoy. I like to see just what we have to work with, as the Lord provides, and staying within that budget is also a challenge that I enjoy. Call me strange, but saving and working together towards a goal that strengthens us as a family is far more rewarding than the feeling I get after I've made an impulsive purchase.

Anyway, on to other more interesting happenings. I'm behind on taking pictures of the projects that Scott built this week. The first was a large shelving unit in the girl's room. It's SO nice to have the designated areas to put each girl's things. It's nice to have them cleared off the floor or from the space under the bed. Elyssia is thankful that she now has a place to safely store her LEGO girls-Sparing them from Addie-Godzilla Baby! Addie loves to go in the room, climb up on the bed, find a LEGO friend girl and take her hair. She then proceeds to pop it in her mouth with a gleeful giggle. After that she usually comes to me and spits it out in my hand. She give such wonderful gifts:).

I was supposed to head to Saskatoon with a friend at the beginning of the week, but weather kept us home. I tried to make the most of the day, rather than focusing on being disappointed. We shovelled snow, built a snowman, baked cookies and just enjoyed being together. Lots of memories to treasure for the future.

Our friend, "T" could also use a lot of prayer right now. The main custody hearing is set for next month and it looks like Scott and I will be headed to Nova Scotia to testify on her behalf. We pray that "T" gets full custody after this and want to give God ALL the glory for seeing us through one step at a time. I'll admit that I'm having a hard time when I think about being away from some of our kids for a couple days, but we know that this is the right thing to do and that they'll be in good hands while we're away.

We were blessed to attend a Birthday Supper for a good friend tonight. We had an awesome time and the fellowship was amazing. When we leave things like this we always wonder why we don't do it more often. Why we let ourselves get so busy and let so much time go by. Well, we will definitely remember this get together for a long time and the kids will too. They had a great time and made some new friends. There were 17 kids that were 9 and under in attendance and other than a couple issues, they played together really well and found it hard to leave at the end of the night. Thank you Lord for special times with friends! May you watch over each of us in the days, weeks and month ahead. May we ever draw closer to Thee and do what you have for us to do. Knowing that with YOU, nothing is impossible.

Looking forward to a wonderful day in the Lord's House tomorrow:).

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Silence Ended...

It's really not that I haven't had anything to write about lately. I've had an incredible amount of things, but not the time and energy to dedicate to it. We started back to school the Monday after Christmas.

We were met with the news of devestation for a friend of ours. A Christmas Eve abduction of the kids by her spouse and it just keeps going. So much heartache there and we're truly praying for the Lord's will to be done in this situation. We have a powerful God and know that He can move the hearts of people who would normally be moved in the wrong direction. Praying for peace, comfort and safety for the 3 children.

We reached our savings goal just after Christmas with the money needed for the foundation of the barn! We're very excited about that:).

We have a scheduled family skating night on Thursdays now. I'm not sure who enjoys it more-kids or parents. I think it's a close tie;).

Got the van stuck in the snow in the driveway on errand day. Tried to dig underneath and all around. It still wouldn't go forward. My "Knight In Shining Armour" came to rescue me:).

I had 2 ladies Bible studies and the major grocery day to be at yesterday. The Lord was good and helped me greatly throughout the day, especially when I thought I was too tired to do it all.

It seems that each day brings the news of ill health for someone or a vehicle accident. Focusing on the Lord and his ability to heal and comfort through all that is happening.

Today has been a "catch up day". I'm very thankful to have had a nap this afternoon and I'm feeling somewhat refreshed.


Praising our Amazing Saviour!