I don't need....

5 children in town with me to cause a scene.

Apparently I can do a good job of it all on my own. :}

I don't go into town intending to be invisible. I go intending to get whatever I need done and usually done quickly. That said, I don't go into town intending to be ultra visible either.

Yet, when shopping alone I often sprint from parking stall to store door. Somehow I've gotten this idea that those 11.5 seconds I save in not walking are vital to getting everything done I want to get done. Now that it's written down for me to read it does seem quite foolish.

Anyway, this afternoon I was doing said sprint when I found myself tripping over my own clumsy feet. And there I went, two palms met pavement, then a little bounce, and then palms and knees slid some more until I came to a halt.

And there I lay, an ungainly hypotenuse across a corner parking stall. Seriously, I was sprawled diagonally across the parking stall with my hands on one sidewalk and my feet on the next one.

There were probably a few cars driving past that couldn't help but notice but thankfully no one stopped. The most funny part of the story is the fact that when I peeled myself off the pavement and stealthfully glanced around to see who may have witnessed my gracefulness I realized I had bailed right beside an old lady waiting in the passenger side of the vehicle whose tires may or may not bear my teeth marks. And she didn't even notice. Not once did she look up.

I'm kind of thankful. It would have been a bit embarassing to have met her eyes and confirmed that I had indeed just performed that stunt.

The grossest part of the story. I started to bleed. I was dabbing it on my jeans but the dear lady at the till still couldn't help but notice. And so, despite the fact I wasn't aware of anyone having noticed my fall, I still had to explain it to the nice lady who, I'm sure, wondered if there was a reason I was so tippy. I think I caught her exchanging glances with the next 5 customers in line.

Maybe I should get someone to just push me in a stroller.

Doesn't everyone use a stool?!

It was there and it was much less work to use it than move it :) Are you sure about this guy, Holly?! :)

We're not sure we're all the way ready to lose him to the wilds of the eastern-er province.... who'll do the dishes on Wednesdays? Me, of course! (big sigh)

Christmas

Wishing you all a very blessed Christmas.

And if you're not celebrating Christmas but a gift riddled holiday time instead, I pray that someway, somehow, you will come to know Christ as your own.

Allow me to give you something truly special to read.


Luke 2

1 And it came to pass in those days that a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. 2 This census first took place while Quirinius was governing Syria. 3 So all went to be registered, everyone to his own city.
4 Joseph also went up from Galilee, out of the city of Nazareth, into Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, 5 to be registered with Mary, his betrothed wife, who was with child. 6 So it was, that while they were there, the days were completed for her to be delivered. 7 And she brought forth her firstborn Son, and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.

8 Now there were in the same country shepherds living out in the fields, keeping watch over their flock by night. 9 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were greatly afraid. 10 Then the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid, for behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy which will be to all people. 11 For there is born to you this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be the sign to you: You will find a Babe wrapped in swaddling cloths, lying in a manger.”
13 And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying:
14 “ Glory to God in the highest,
And on earth peace, goodwill toward men!”

15 So it was, when the angels had gone away from them into heaven, that the shepherds said to one another, “Let us now go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has come to pass, which the Lord has made known to us.” 16 And they came with haste and found Mary and Joseph, and the Babe lying in a manger. 17 Now when they had seen Him, they made widely known the saying which was told them concerning this Child. 18 And all those who heard it marveled at those things which were told them by the shepherds. 19 But Mary kept all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 Then the shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things that they had heard and seen, as it was told them.



Ps. I don't have anything against the sharing of gifts at Christmas time. My problem lies in the celebrating of a gift riddled, belly gorging holiday and trying to call it Christmas. Christmas is about Christ.

A favored activity

Can be done together... (notice in front of whose paper the box of crayons lies...)

Requires great amount of attention...
for careful detail...

for both.

The favored medium is acutally felts as can be seen here on Cody's cheek. And actually somehow her hood is also full of marks.

It is not done without spats. See note on crayon bucket placement. And she's generally that cheeky about everything, including ruling over the crayons.

But to watch them carefully color and then have them run their papers over to me, "dats for you, Mum!", is a very precious part of their growing up, indeed.

And growing up is where it's at. There's less and less baby every day. I refuse to think about it anymore tonight.

For someone who often feels solar powered this was a lovely shortest day of the year.


Starting tomorrow the days will be getting longer once again. Bit by bit. I'm very thankful.


I hope you had a wonderful day.

At our house... Leah had her second night as part of a horse vaulting club and she went from last week starting out scared and learning a whole new world, to this week kneeling upright with her hands straight out at the shoulders! And practicing a flag - up on one knee other leg straight out behind, and even a bridge - sitting backwards on the horse, putting her feet on his rump and lifting her bum up in the air.

And on the way home she said she's gonna stand up next week. It's easy to say on the way home but she looks pretty high up there on that horse, just sitting down. We'll see how brave she gets.

Hurray for Leah! If we thought she was enamored with horses before it's nothing compared to the petting and brushing and vaulting she's doing now! I do believe it's fair to say she's head over tea kettles.

I wish I could share a few pictures with you but the lighting in the arena is pathetic and I haven't asked about using a flash. Wouldn't want to startle anyone.

And today, I went to Canadian Tire with 5 kids. It started out fine but ended in a bit of disaster. Once again we gave a bit of a show for half of the town.

And Steve? "Canadian Tire with 5 kids and no stroller or buggy? You're crazy! Six months ago, fine. But Christmas time? Everything's on display and you went in with 2 2 year olds, a 3 year old, a 5 year old and a 7 year old...."

And he was right. Just inside the door they had a nice display with all mounds of fluffy snow that at least 4 of the 5 were compelled to grab a handful of. There was all kinds of decor and candies and toys to be exclaimed over and touched and asked for. And then there was the experience of trying to get them from store to van where 2 2 year olds decided they would prefer to make a mad dash for it than be forced to hold the hands of older siblings. Let's just say they brought traffic to a standstill.

Yup, it was crazy of me. But thankfully we survived.

There may be a cowboy or two out there who would cringe at the misshapen form of this former cowboy hat.

But he sure had a lot of fun before I rescued it for next year's hat day.

I was just reading through some old computer files in which I had stored some stories about Leah and Sam when they were younger.

Leah was about 3 1/2 years old when we moved into a home close to the slough. One day while exploring the long grass at the slough's edge I told her to watch out for snakes. The idea didn't bother her one bit and she cheerfully continued her exploring.

Once she'd had enough she came trotting back to me and reported, "I didn't see any devils."

If I recall correctly we were doing the Genesis 3 story about that time. :)

(this was her back then!)

Some of the day's best moments are when the kids let their thoughts spill out of their mouths.

Today while driving Sam asked me,

"Mom, who has the kids before you get married, the mom or the dad?" Awesome.

All along the lines of ... when did I start, where do I come from, where was I before I wasn't ....

What a conversation starter!

so much fun!

He's at that delightful stage of hilarious vocabulary and delightful imagination. Yesterday he came with my belt, "it fits me, see". And it went from there to what you see here.

He really is so much fun!

A fun morning

This was the last bit of our beautiful weather and I'm very thankful we got out to enjoy it. Cam wanted to take some pictures and this was the one that included more than my ankle socks... nice hey, L & H?? ;)
Cara & Cody have fun on this stump but it always cracks me up that they freak out if they're both on there at once, each one pushing the other to feel safest in the middle. I'm sure the neighbors all peek over their fences and mutter, "just take one of them off already!"

This is my dear little daughter. The one who when I put her winter coat on for the first time said with the most sparkling-est eyes, "I a lion, RRRROOOARRRR!"

One of my other darlings...he's growing up too quickly!

They're getting big. They can enjoy the tire swing together now.

Now you believe the lion story, don't you!

This was the whole point, of course. Not that Cam wanted to be caught doing it.

Cam!

Cam?

Lucky for her Cody gives her much less grief.

Where'd he go?

I can't help but feel God was very gracious to give me the sunshine before all this rain started!

Another "last week" post

This just can't be skipped over lightly. Last week's highlight was meeting Jeff's "jo". (Do you play scrabble? Do you win? ;) )

Holly is the sweetest girl ever and she was here at least one week short of a good stay. Not because we need her to babysit... I mean, who uses their brother's girlfriend here for a short visit for emergency babysitter? Must be the desperate one. Huge thanks, Holly!
Her visit was too short because she missed all the gorgeous weather and we didn't see her enough and now I'm playing zoofari with Cam again and doing his bulldozer puzzle with him and Leah had to do her "when I get big I'm going to be a horse riding instructor" presentation at school without getting to show Holly all the stuff Nana Lynn lent her for it and really because I'm selfish and would have loved to spend a bit more time with her.

Jeff, do I get comission if I talk her/ guilt her into coming back? :) Anytime, Holly. Door's open anytime.

With or without the comission.

It's THAT time of year again

At this time of year...

-The view from our living room is breathtaking. The crisp, clean white mountain tops against a gorgeous blue sky (on a not-rainy day - yes we do get those!) are indescribably beautiful.

This is a picture from last year. I didn't see the sunset colors on the mountains today but the white tops/blue sky combo was amazing.

They remind me of a video/song about God's creation. Here's a link, stunning photography with oh so true lyrics.

-I sing Christmas carols and while singing "Angels we Have Heard on High" today while driving in the van...


Angels we have heard on high
Sweetly singing o'er the plains,
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains.

Gloria, in excelsis Deo!
Gloria, in excelsis Deo!

Cam interrupted me with "hey, my friend Chelsie's in that song!!!!"

- The stores are overloaded (in my opinion) with the Christmas decor. And while walking through Superstore yesterday Sam and Cam were having fun pointing out all the "cardboard presents". Sam threw me for a delightful loop though when he pretended to grab one and open it up. "Look Mom, video games!" he exclaimed proudly. I laughed out loud right there in the middle of the aisle. Talk about hopeful thinking :)

the emergency

Emergency appears to be a losely used term in our house.

For example, the other day Cam called desperately for me to come downstairs. It was "a 'mergency! " I went storming downstairs only to find the doll high chair he had been playing with had come apart and he needed me to put the cloth backing back up to make it usable. Yep, an emergency.

Well, the other day Sam and Cam came flying up the stairs, nearly in hysterics, crying about an emergency. Apparently Sam's bed (top bunk) was about to come crashing down.

They handed me this half a staple. (Penny is for size comparison)

You see, the bunks have a slat system for the mattress to rest on and I think they had pulled on a staple from the spacing tie. These poor lads were convinced the loss of that half staple was a foolish mistake on their part. And I didn't inform them otherwise. What happens if they start on the 999 remaining ones???

And one more picture from last week. Leah invited the girls in her class to come for a birthday party. Take 15 girls and add a garbage bag of dress up clothes and you get a lot of fun.

We needed a new cake since the other one was already gone and Steve was sweet enough to ask me the night before the party if there was anything he could do to help me. It didn't take me 3 seconds before I offered him the cake decorating chore. Or at least it's a chore if your initials are LCO. (I just realized how close that is to loco... it explains a few things.... but I digress)

So, my dear husband, cake decorater extraordinaire, decorated a cake for our Leah that she was so proud of that as her guests arrived to her party one of the first things she did was haul them into the kitchen to see "the cake my daddy made me!"

Perfect? Depends who you ask, the professional cake decorator or 7 year old daughter. I can tell you right now whose opinion matters to me!

Today is a day for smiles

And these smiles from last week's visit are worth sharing.

In my opinion.

Pretty Sky

If that's not your shop the tree is resting on.

Last week had so much packed into it and there are still a few things worth sharing. On Monday night we had an incredible wind storm. Shortly before Leah went to bed there was a great big crash and I went to go look if the back door had smashed a window in. Nope but there were a few lawn chairs blowing about so I assumed they were the cause of the noise.

Later on, Steve discovered there were some florescent lights down in the shop. It didn't really make sense as it was obviously not windy in the shop. But then he spotted what the bright outside light was disguising.

This tree had come down on the shop roof. Now my photo doesn't really give a good overall picture but it was a little shocking to see this hanging over the sandbox.

Thankfully... it was a skinny tree. Thankfully the branches tended to shoot upwards so there wasn't really any branches attempting to go through the roof. It just sort of dropped down for a rest... in a bit of a rough sort of way.

But watching the leaning tower of pisa here did give us a few moments of concern. If we would have been paying close attention to the direction of the wind we would have been more worried for the neighbors but since we already had one tree on our roof, these VERY tall trees were making us a bit nervous. Especially cause it looked like the one was really ready to go. (You notice it goes from the bottom right corner up to the the top left)

All in all the next day's cold but sunny weather made for beautiful sky and I thought it smart to capture it the best I could. We are so thankful we were kept safe (the babies' room is at the corner of the house and I will admit I moved them out of their room for the first 1/2 of the night... until they woke up and realized they were on the couch...) and that even our property was kept from major damage.

It was something to be reminded that God controls the powerful winds!

Tie Tieing 101

Big Bro gives how to demonstration for Lil Sis.

Too cute. She'll be the classiest manager at Micky D's.

Ps. Don't you think Steve would look great in a pink and maroon damask tie on Sunday? ;)

Our Leah

Seven swift and healthy years.
God is good.

First Snow!

What a wonderful thing to observe a child's first snowfall. Be it the first snowfall of the season or the first noticed snowfall of a lifetime, the excitement is huge.

First, of course, comes the getting dressed. Fifteen minutes later the first one was already coming back inside, the last one was still trying to get all the pieces assembled in the correct order and one of the middle ones had made a huge mess.

It was partly my fault. I knew his boots were full of mud from visiting Daddy on the work site the day before and I should have known he would not just go out the door and stay out.

I should have locked the door behind him.

But I didn't so he came in to see if he could exchange his mittens for a different pair.

The footsteps came up the stairs....


and down the hallway onto the carpet.

The winter box had puked it's contents all about this room as 5 dear children madly dug for the items they thought they needed.

Then they went outside and played. Happily. For a very long time.

All except the first one who I mentioned earlier was in before the last went out. That was Cara. She came back in wimpering a bit and so I removed her boots and coat and told her to keep me company awhile.

'Cept when I wasn't looking she snuck back out the door in her socks and no coat. Figures!

These three had fun throwing snowballs at the living room window until Daddy came home and pulled them around the lawn on the infamous garbage can lid. I think they're finally won over. Ever since we moved they have periodically told us they like the old house better because Daddy could pull them around the back yard. Now that we got snow Steve finally proved to them that this house/yard is just as good!

This poor guy had to walk with his head permanently tipped back because his toque kept slipping over his eyes. I'm glad I got such a nice picture of his chin though because after this afternoon it will never be quite as seamless again.

I'm very thankful to tell you that by laying beside him on the doctor's "table" and clamping him down with the reminder that if he wiggled he would have to go to the hospital for stitches, we successfully glued his chin together and we were in and out of the clinic in 10 minutes. He didn't make a peep and was VERY cheerful company to run through Walmart with afterwards.

I say "we" because the sweet doctor said kind things to me about my effective "cuddling".

And when the top 2 still hadn't run out of steam the bottom 3 laughed and giggled while the snowballs hit the living room window. I had a much better picture of all the splats but it showed how abominably streaked the windows were so I opted for this poorer quality picture instead.

Not because I was worried what you would think of my windows but because I want to be able to look at this post without feeling like I should be doing something about the streaks.

I wish I had gotten a video of the kids first standing out there with their hands out stretched and getting snow in there hair. That's a pretty special joy, isn't it?

A Big Thank You

Dear Secret Friend,

I hope you can get a sense of the excitement my dear boy felt in getting to poke holes in the cake, aka multilating the dessert.


There's even cake on the end!

It was scrumptious, it was quick and easy, it was a do-it-again-sometime. Thanks ever so much!

For those of you interested.

1) bake a chocolate cake

2) let the one most interested poke it all over with a wooden spoon handle

3) pour sweetened condensed milk all over the cake and fill up those holes

4) pour some caramel sauce over the s.c.milk

5) cool in fridge a while

6) spread cool whip over existing deliciousness

7) drizzle with more caramel sauce

8) sprinkle with skor bar bits.

Now that you're drooling go work on your grocery list.

You're so welcome. I'm just nice like that. :)

And Holly...?! Jeff might not be long, black haired by the time you get here but he might be roundish. He liked that cake.

And I really like sharing cake with Jeff, you know why? He does my dishes on Wednesday nights. And sweeps the floor. And finishes off with a neatly folded cloth beside the sink. I would post a picture but while Jeff does all he can for my dishes, he can't get rid of all the piles of this and that on the counter. And you'll see them soon enough!

Did you know that about Jeff, Holly? Next time he visits make sure your Mom knows that Jeff's really good at doing dishes. ;)

A Motherhood Post

Because I need to pretend that you care enough to wonder what I did all day :)

Here it is in all its frustrating laundry-ness. My babies - they tell me as soon as they wet or dirty their diaper. It goes something like this.

"Dirdy diaper, Mama, change it" "come, Mama, come right now!" And I figure if they're that desperate to have it changed they can figure out a better way.

My babies - they enjoy going on the toilet and do so often. I figure there's no use waiting until they're nearly 3 and then fighting them because they've suddenly gotten scared of the idea.

But, going on the toilet when Mom thinks about it when you're still wearing a diaper and going on the toilet when Mom thinks about it and you're wearing an underwear are two entirely different things. Worlds apart, really. Or, mountains apart. Mountains of laundry apart.

Never mind the wet puddles and stinky floors.

I do set the timer, I really do. But they can never go when the bell starts to ring. Always about 15 minutes later.

So, if you're not of the motherhood realm and I still haven't grossed you out yet, here's the tally.

Cody - 7 pairs of underwear
- 2 pairs of pants

Cara - 3 pairs of underwear
- 1 pair of pants.

The only reason there were so few pairs of pants is because I got a bit wiser after the 3rd pair and turned up the heat as opposed to wearing clothes to ward off the chill.

And the Cara to Cody difference? He pees about 32 times more per hour than she does.


And while there were victories along the way let me still add that much to my dismay those underwear are not all just wet.

Tomorrow, here we come!

a youtube video

Reaquainted myself with this one this morning.

It's a daddy's version of Pachebel's cannon in D and there are parts that still make me laugh out loud no matter how many times I watch it.

But the ending's the kicker. Those crazy moments are really moments, not the sum total.

She Watched, She Begged...

And I agreed.

And tried not to do too much of this. Like interfere. Or cringe. Or correct.And tried to remind myself she's not going to care if her first seam was straight. It's only gonna matter that she sewed it. Herself.

And this afternoon when one of my darlin's had trailed about 150 meters of elastic all about the kitchen it went kind of like this. "Darlin' (insert name of little sparkle eyed girl here) you are NOT allowed to touch anything off Mama's sewing table. That's Mama's stuff, okay?!" Then Leah added her two bits, "and it's my stuff too 'cause I also work there now, right Mom?"

So in about 3 years when Leah finishes her second seam and we get around to completing the jammies we'll show 'em off here and you'll see her smile of accomplishment yourself. And you'll see I'm a few hairs grayer.

Ps. Did anyone else's Mom make them pin the whole long seam before starting sewing? Next project we'll get a pattern so all the seams line up and it's a little less frustrating!

Thought for the Day

I read this on a fellow busy mom's blog and it struck me. Like between the eyes.

She was referring to a conversation with a precious friend about the different situations that come up in life.


"There are a lot of factors at play..."
Indeed there always are. And usually we don't know the half. When in doubt, apply grace.


That can apply to anything/everything. It can be the looking into the eyes of a naughty child while trying to get to the bottom of a screaming sibling. It can be listening to the struggle of a friend when we don't know all the details. It can be the glance at the person holding the "hungry, no work, please help" sign on the street corner. It can be much, much more.

I tend to be too harsh.

When in doubt, apply grace.

I hope I remember next time. Even if I'm trying to get supper done and my nerves are tingling.

Introducing...

Did you know Jeff wears a wig? Or wait is that a coonskin cap?

A what? A wig! Are you sure? Maybe that's natural.

Hey, Jeff, you have some hair in your face.

Holly are you sure you dare come out this way?!

I personally prefer the black version, go for it, Jeff!

An Update... on a few things

We did find the boys a bunk bed and these three have spent hours downstairs playing school, moms and dads, friends (an actual game here, you hear in the morning, "com'on, let's go play friends") and who knows what all else. I haven't decided on the how's and where's of the furniture down there yet but it'll come... sooner or later.



Yup, I'm one of those mom's who fills the dressup box with 75% off post Halloween costumes.

My two pretty princesses. Can you believe it?!! Leah's not wearing blue!

And I couldn't resist a couple of $1.24 wigs... way too much fun.

This is actually a long wig that I braided to somewhat preserve it. I do have a really great picture of Cam with the braid over his shoulder... :)

And here I just finished telling Sam to smile because I was going to print these up to give to his friends at school. I got this picture and then he wouldn't put another wig on.

Today was the kind of beautiful day that could only come into exsistence by way of a Divine Designer. It was incredible. Part of it's beauty was because yesterday was a very blustery fall day. The kind that has cold, driving rain and LOTS of it.

Yesterday we were in BFM and Cam spotted some umbrellas. He insisted we needed them so I caved and we got them. They wanted to play outside but I insisted it was TOO cold and rainy.

Today we went for a walk, we couldn't help BUT go for a walk. The boys insisted on taking the umbrellas. It was GREAT! The umbrellies already have given back their $1 value each on just this walk and we didn't even get wet or cold trying them out!

Cody's first thing to do is look out for helicopters and throw them up and watch them come swirling down. Wonderful, simple pleasures.

And then we made some leaf piles. If you notice the hill is kind of green. Well, if you had been walking YOUR dog in the park this afternoon you would have seen this crazy lady shovelling all the leaves on the hillside down to the bottom so the kids would have a great big pile... or two. I did it doggy fashion, faced uphill and sent leaves flying backwards through my legs. The kids' giggles were well worth the LOOKS.

Much of this running downhill and tumbling into the leaf piles was done with the umbrellas in hand. It's a good thing we didn't invest too much in them. This type of activity does little to retain the original shape.

This was a millisecond before Cam accidently munched Cara into the mud beneath the hill's surface.

God is so good! Not only do we have the blessing of gorgeous weather but also the blessings of health to run around, safety - no wars, peaceful neighborhood, cameras for recording, ability to be a stay-at-home mom and a bed to crash in when the day is done.

It's where I'm headed right now. Night all. May you also have the blessing of such a gorgeous day come tomorrow.