It Was a Small Glimpse

Christmas. You spend weeks preparing for the big day. Shopping, baking, wrapping, cleaning, making lists, organizing, planning, visiting, and when the day arrives, you blink and it's over.
This year seemed different. This year seemed like we did it right. The end of each day, when the kids were safe and fast asleep, Dave and I could relax and relive the events of the day. We had the chance to enjoy each other. Maybe it was because we were prepared. (Another pro for being home all the time, allows me the time to prepare.) Or maybe it was because we cut things out and eliminated some events from our list so we weren't so busy all the time. But the main reason we got it right was we had the opportunity to find quiet and peace and JOY. I felt a blanket of Love surrounding us this year. Christmas we celebrate Christ's birth, the day that God sent LOVE down to earth to save us. And Love is what I felt.

Opening up the first gifts of Christmas

Sporting new pj's from Gramma

Snuggles with baby Mason, newest addition to the family

Santa doesn't forget the kitties!

We celebrated Christmas on the 23rd with my family. This year, instead of us adults exchanging gifts we all went out for lunch at the Mandarin. After stuffing ourselves, we came back to our place and let the kids open up their gifts and just hung out. The 24th, as we do every year, we all gathered at my parents place and had a potluck meal and gift games with my aunts, uncles and cousins. I love this get together, it is so much fun to see all of my cousins again, and meet new little ones.
Christmas Day was spent at home, the kids actually slept in? We opened up stockings and presents and had a quiet morning. Dave's mom came around 10:30 (his Dad stayed home sick) and we ate all day long. My parents and Buddy and Benji later joined us and it is the very first year that Dave and I prepared a turkey! I felt quite accomplished after pulling that off successfully. But I'm truly blessed to have a husband who likes to be in the kitchen. I wouldn't be able to pull it off without him! Yesterday we went out to Walmart. We got a couple of things on sale and spent the rest of the day home. Dave took the left over turkey and made a soup for our supper and had his parents come and help eat that. (His dad was feeling better). And today I don't know what is on the agenda. Caleb has been getting the odd fever here and there, but we may venture out to my parents, as Dave is back to work today. But first I think we'll all bundle up and shovel the drive way!

A new Donkey Hat!

Sitting down for our turkey dinner

This is how I eat pie
Hope you all had a very Merry Christmas!

"A Hallelujah Christmas"

A friend posted this on facebook and I immediately LOVED it.  So Beautiful.

Most Precious Earthly Possessions

It is tragic, when something as horrific as a school shooting that takes 6 and 7 year old lives to put things into perspective. I admittedly have days where I want to hide in my bathroom and hope for a moments peace. Days where my voice is raised more often then not. Days where my frustration leads me to ask the question why did we have kids? But these 3 beautiful children are my most prized possession. I live a life of sacrifice for them every day. I wouldn't know where I would be if I didn't have them, or if someone were to chose to take them away from me. And yet, as much as the world and everyone in it would call them my own, they are not. God is Father over all, and these children have been given to me from my heavenly Father to tend to, raise, protect, and cherish. They are His gift to us, and we are to live each day in every moment as if it were our last. That is so often hard to do. Even this weekend I failed to do this. But this morning, when buckling them up in our van and driving to school, I looked at them in the rear view mirror, took in every little feature they have. At the school I held Caleb a little extra longer and gave him an even bigger kiss, I held Amberly's hand up to the last moment of the bell and watched has she entered into the school, hoping for her to turn around for just one more glimpse. As I tell myself that something so horrible couldn't happen to our community, our little family, I'm reminded that 20 sets of parents in a small community probably always thought the same thing too.

My heart is broken for those who mourn.
I cling to my most precious gifts, and hope to never take them for granted.

I Love Her

One of my dearest friends saw this, and forwarded it to me in dedication.  I love my friend, some things just never change.  Back at you babe!

Tomorrow is December 1st

Do you do something special to count down the days? Advent? We haven't really done anything special before, outside of the cheap advent chocolate calendars you get at the store. I saw a nice home made advent banner with pockets I thought would be nice. It had a star dangle from the top and you just move the star from one day to the next to approach the 25th. But moved too late on that purchase. Maybe next year. Do you do Santa? I do. I sometimes wrestle with the fact that I'm lying to my children and totally making up falsehood to make them believe. To make matters worse, I went and got The Elf on the Shelf. It's a book and elf that is sent to you by Santa before Christmas, so the elf can observe the children and report back to Santa. The elf gets into some mischief over night, but he goes home with Santa on Christmas eve. At first I thought this was such a fun idea, the kids will love it, but then I feel guilty for yet again tricking my kids.

I never thought it would do any harm, I mean, I once believed in Santa and I don't remember the world fell apart when I found out he wasn't real. Caleb already questions Santa which boggles me, he asks if Santa lives with Jesus in heaven. He also wonders if he's apart of Jesus's family. These questions get me. I don't know what to say! I tell him he lives in the North Pole. Caleb then states that the north pole is in heaven....right? ahhhhh. I don't know what to do. While chatting with some other moms at church, I'm left feeling guilty yet again, because they don't do the whole Santa thing. They don't "lie" to their children and they make Christmas what it's supposed to really be about, Christ's birth.

Well I make it about Christ's birth. The kids know that it's Jesus's birthday. They know that Christmas happens because we celebrate that God sent His one and only son to earth. This is only our second Christmas where each child will only get 3 wrapped gifts under the tree, just like Jesus got 3 gifts, one gift is from Mom and Dad, one gift is from their siblings and the other gift is from well....Santa!

It's hard to stick to only 3 gifts. The tree does look a little bare Christmas morning, especially when you compare what you see on tv and the movies, presents everywhere! But our kids have TOO much STUFF. We love to give to them, it's our nature to love on them with delighting them with new things. But, it can be too much.

You've all probably seen those pictures, Define Necessity. Well, I need to look at that everyday to remind me, that my kids have so much, when one precious child(along with millions) can't even find a piece of food.

So tomorrow, a little elf is going to move into our house. I'm hoping not only will it bring fun, but perhaps good behaviour too! December is here. Parties, food, presents, happiness, stress, birthdays, company, travels, joy, laughter, vacation time, snow, cold, beauty, music. I love this time of year!

What is your favourite part of Christmas?

Finding Routine

I'm in my fourth week of being home, and I've made things too busy for myself. It could be the time of year, but I've squeezed in events that occur everyday. I don't mind this really, as it still is a slower pace to what I was used to. I've reserved Mondays to be a day of rest. Both Caleb and Amberly are in school that day, so it's just Joel and I, and I get a chance to recover the house from the weekend. But still manage to find something to throw on the calendar, like last night I had a few girlfriends over for dinner and a movie. Tuesdays I've joined a women's Bible study which runs the whole morning, Amberly and Joel have a program at the same time, it's more than provided childcare, but it's an actual program which I'm glad for. Tuesday evenings Caleb and Amberly are in the Canskate Learn to skate program. Wednesdays my church and the church in town have perfect alternating weeks of play groups, and that night Caleb and Amberly go off to their Awana clubs. Thursdays I take Joel and Amberly to the library for their children's story time. Friday thru to Sunday we don't have a routine but seem to always be busy.

This past weekend, we had the opportunity to decorate the house for Christmas. It was fun looking around our new house figuring out where we can put different things. I'm happy with the outcome, there are still a few final touches I would like to place, I don't know if some things will make their annual appearance. But that's o.k. The kids were eager to help decorate and as you can see, they were happy with the final product!

I didn't get involved in any Christmas happenings at church this year, hoping that I will be able to sit back and just be an audience member for once, and I'm really looking forward to attending different events here and there! Might have to even check out Jay's church :)

What Have You Been Listening To?

I love music, and right now, I can't get enough of Mumford & Sons.....




What's hot on your player???

Life at Home

I have had one full week at home. It wasn't any normal week, and I'm sure it will take several weeks before anything feels normal, but it was a good week. Every day I thought about work, and my co-workers and it felt as though I took the week off as vacation.

I thought about the word "Intentional". I want to be intentional in everything I do at home. I don't want to lay my head on my pillow at night and wonder what my purpose is. And even though the tasks as a stay-at-home mom can seem mundane, boring and even sometimes ridiculous, I want to know the purpose in each chore. I look at my kids and how I want to serve them and be the best mom I can be for them. I think of my husband and consider the tasks it takes to better serve him, and overall, I want our home to be a happy one, full of joy, full of love. If sweeping the floors, scrubbing the toilets or even washing down the mirrors aid in this desire, then so be it.

As I type this now, the weather is cold, wet and rainy, and I am eager to see the rain turn into snow. I have memories of being home with my mom, because it was a no-bus day and feeling cozy and warm, looking out at the snow flying down. This is one memory that I want to be able to re-live today with my family. I'm looking forward to having a white blanket of snow over everything, and sitting by the fire warm inside looking out. Either watching the kids play in it, or hear them happily playing warm inside.

I am looking forward to Christmas, and having a little bit of extra time to do things in preparation for it. I want to make a list of all the goodies I like to bake. I look around our new house and start to envision where all the Christmas decor will go. These things excite me.

The month of November I have decided to look for the things that bring joy and capture it on camera to share on facebook. So far I don't ever have to look too hard to find the joy. It's usually right in front of me. Doing this as also brought to light the many many things I have to be thankful for. God has truly blessed me and I hope to remember everyday to thank him for these moments, big and little, they are all a blessing.

Everything Keeps Changing

Ever since we moved to Alma, the idea of me quitting my job has been floating around. Moving here made this idea an option in some ways. The pros and cons were beginning to be weighed. The middle of September I had to switch my hours and instead of working 3 days a week, I had to work 5 days a week between school hours so I could be home before and after school for Caleb and Amberly. The thought of it sounded great, but when I began this schedule, reality hit, and it is hard. I'm constantly on the go, rushing through things, doing things, preparing things, and leaving no time for me to enjoy the kids, the moments. I wake up at 6am, to get myself ready, not long after that, someone with little hands and feet are up and needing me. I get all three dressed, fed breakfast, pack school bags/diaper bags, feed the dog, let him in and out, prep supper, brush hair and teeth, change another diaper, get on shoes/boots/coats/umbrellas/ and we fly out the door at 8:40am to make it to the school where the bell rings at 8:45am. Then after walking Amberly/Caleb to their respective lines, I march Joel (and Amberly on her off days) load them back in the van and scurry off to Elmira where I meet Christa at our old School for 9am so she can take my kids. Then I make it to work. I work, some days I'm on the phone all morning (getting beat up thru the phone sometimes) and then maybe get to my work load, which seems to grow more than dwindle. I leave at 3:00 to swing by and pick up Joel (and Amberly) and rush back to Alma to get Caleb/Amberly at the bell for 3:30pm. Once I am home, I unpack bags, looks at notes, throw away lunch garbage, give kids a snack, let the dog out, put coats and boots away. Prepare for the evening events (Tues-skating lessons, Wed-Awana)work more on supper, either starting it from scratch or getting the final touches together. Try to get home reading done. Referee fights, watch all 4 kids (yes I said 4 because the next door neighbour girl has become a part of the Snyder household almost every day after school and on weekends) set table, pour drinks, set out food, get all kids at the table. Daddy walks in the door at 5:35ish. Supper may be done at 6, then clean up starts again. Dishes, table, floor swept. Play with the kids a little if lucky, otherwise we start baths, then jammies, then a little tv time, books, prayers, bedtime. Kids in bed, I make the lunches for the next day. When all is done, it is usually 8:30-9pm, and I'm ready for bed myself. Only to start the same routine tomorrow.

Not having any fun. Not having any time.

So after a couple of weeks of this, and some other serious conversations, I was encouraged to make the jump and resign my position as administrator at rwam. Although some may think this was an easy decision. It wasn't. I love the people I work for and with. They have helped me find my identity as a married woman in a town that I called home. My friends are there, I see them every day. They are supportive, loving and hilarious. When I told my boss, I was weeping the whole time. She has been so good to me, has always helped me when I needed it, and allowed me to have flexibility in hours. Even now, she is supporting me, after I let her down and told her I was leaving, she told me to consider it a leave of absence, and that I would always have a place there if I choose to come back. How generous is that? Even the president of the company signed her email to me, "Looking forward to your return". November 2 is the day I say so long. I will enter into the world of "stay at home Mom".

I will need to find a new identity.

Woah, Welcome October

I can't believe it's October. This coming weekend is Thanksgiving. It's one of my favourite times of the year. The beauty of the fall colours surrounds us every where we go now. I love it.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Unfortunate Events, I guess that is how I'll describe what I am going through these days. There hasn't been the perfect day. You know where nothing goes wrong, everything is peachy. Haven't seen one of those days in months. I don't have any explanation as to why I'm living through a valley a lot lately, not sure where this journey is going to lead me, but one thing I do know, God is in control of it.

Currently the situation is our van is almost dead. It's only 4 years old, only 60,000kms on it and the transmission is broken. We've left it in the hands of our trusty mechanic, and praying that most of it will be covered under warranty. Stupid thing! I mean, we move to a place that requires commuting, and with in the first month, I blow a tire on the side of a country road, and now this. We now have to rely on the little civic for the rest of the week, my 12 year old thing that has proven to be one of the best things I've ever invested in.

With today being the first day of school and having to deal with the vehicle situation, Dave and I did our best to make things happen in orderly fashion. And as much as I believe we did that, I'm on the verge of tears, with the "woe is me" attitude. Plus my motherly hormones are getting the best of me, and I want so much as to go into Caleb's class and make friends for him. But that isn't going to get him anywhere. I know that these things take time, and I know that boys are different than girls, but it just breaks my heart to hear that my little guy didn't make any friends today.

And to add one final blow, after being off work since last Thursday, I arrived later, to find a mountain of emails and phone calls to return, a stack of mail to go through, and I didn't even make a dent in it today. I want to just leave that all behind me, but I just know that I'm going to go to bed tonight and lay there thinking about what I need to be doing.

Tomorrow is my day off. I will have no vehicle, I can walk Caleb to school and make the most of my day with Amberly and Joel. Perhaps tomorrow things will look like rainbows and butterflies?

Feeling Settled

It's been a couple of crazy weeks. But after returning to work and a somewhat familiar routine, I'm feeling more comfortable in the new place, and happy. We still have many boxes laying around, and bare walls, but we have the majority of necessity out and in use. The kids are loving the new place, love the backyard and their new rooms. As I am typing this the little girl from next door is over getting a tour from Amberly and it's so adorable to listen to! Yes, the neighbour girl is starting to make herself at home here too! This is only her second visit, but she does walk right in when I answer the door. She's in the middle of Caleb and Amberly age wise. She will be in Amberly's class which is kind of nice.

This little community is pleasant. We've already attended an ice cream social to meet the neighbours, there's free tee-ball every Wednesday for the kids, and for a $1 you can catch a bus to Fergus and go swimming! Next week when the school opens I have to go and get them registered and then that's pretty much it. Our summer in a nutshell was life changing! ha ha ha.

We did enjoy a few days away from the chaos and enjoyed Port Elgin. My friend let us stay in her cottage which was just a blessing, and gave a great little get away. Days at the beach and even seeing Deb and Shaun for a day was so much fun! So much fun, we need to make a point to do it more often I think :)

Baseball is almost all finished, I'm done and Dave finishes this week. Then we pull out the activity book to see what we can enrol our kids in. We think we'll try the Learn to Skate program. I may even put Amberly into Zumba for Kids! I love zumba!

Anyway, I better round up the kids and get them into bed. I want to catch up on some tv!

All it Takes is Support

I am so thankful for all the support we have. This past weekend could have been insane, crazy and heartbreaking, but because the support of family and friends, it was enjoyable and dare I even say relaxing? Thursday night Dave's parents picked Caleb up and took him to their trailer. Friday morning after running to the bank and lawyers office, I took Joel to my parents house and Amberly to Steve and Sally's place for the weekend. They were all separated, but I think that made their weekend extra special because they each got treated in special individual ways. When I got back from dropping the kids off, I met Dave in Alma at our new place. Then after doing a little bit there, I then ran back into Elmira where I made a purchase of a vacuum and a few odds and ends to take along to the new place. Then back to Alma I went where Dave and I primed the boys room. My brother Benji then showed up with the sandbox stuff in his truck. He helped with some painting and then we headed home to Elmira for a nights sleep. 8am in the morning Benji came back to Elmira and along with the help of Dave's friend Steve, the guys took down the swing set while I did a quick tidy and clean of the place (the purchasers were doing their final walk through later that day) We then spent the rest of the day in Alma, setting up the swing set, and sand box (priorities eh!) and painting the boys room and toy room in the basement.

Christa (Steve's wife) swung by for a tour and to drop off some needed cookies to snack on! Then once the rooms were completly painted we all called it a day and headed home. When Dave and I got home, Dave mowed our lawn and then we got cleaned up and actually went to the movies to watch The Dark Knight Rises which was so great! I love those batman movies! Sunday we packed up the van again, made a trip into Home Depot and headed back out to Alma where we did some unpacking and odds and ends before my family arrived with our kidlets. The kids had a blast running around the empty house and playing in the big back yard!

Today we did some shopping in Walmart and Canadian Tire and then Dave headed to Alma with Caleb while I stayed with Amberly and Joel until Joel's nap was over. Once we arrived in Alma, my parents were back there with Benji. Dad and Benji moved the receptacle for our dryer up in the wall so we could stack our appliances. Fern and Mert also stopped in to see the place. It was a beautiful day out, so all the windows were open and we were airing out the place.

The next two days will probably be stressful, but by Wednesday night we will be fully into our new home.

I can't thank my family and friends enough for all the help and support and encouragement they have all been.....

In My Place

This is a great video from the concert I went to with my sister.  It was a really good show.  Glad for things like youtube where I can experience it again!

In the Midst of Chaos

The move is on. Things are still not finalized as to when we get our new place, but the packing is well on it's way and the chaos of all that goes along with that has taken control. Every single day or night we are packing boxes. Who knew that over 8 years and 3 children we could accumulate so much stuff. We are tirelessly packing because we don't have much time. Our weekends were pre-booked before we even considered a move. We've been camping, we've been at bbq's and reunions, we've got another weekend of camping coming up and perhaps that leaves us with only one weekend before we move. It's crazy I tell ya. Last week I think I shed a tear almost every day, feeling like I'm being buried under all this commotion. I've lost all quiet moments that I could collect for myself and have replaced it with constant work. I'm not used to this.
But peeking out of all this mess are moments of joy, reminders of why and little bursts of laughter. Just tonight I burst out laughing over Caleb and Joel. Caleb was just laying on the floor watching tv while Joel marches up to him and starts kicking him. Yes, this was funny to me, because I don't know where Joel learns these types of behaviours and he's so small. Caleb luckily just laughed over it too which made it even better. They are so cute together to watch, I hope they will always have fun with each other like this.
Amberly turned 4 years old. We celebrated a couple of times, once with my family and once with Dave's. With my family, it was a combined birthday party celebrating Brooke, Buddy and Amberly. We even turned it into a pool party, which everyone had a blast!

Our first camping trip of the year was at Earl Rowe in Alliston with all of our friends. We had 17 children and 2 puppies in total! It was a little insane at times but overall a wonderful experience!

Our summer of 2012 will be one we won't ever forget I'm sure. Between all the plans that were prepared for and then throwing in a major move in the mix, it will certainly leave a lasting memory in my mind.

Moments in the Camera

Thought I would post some pictures of the kiddo's.





The long awaited sleepover party! Not much sleep was had!

First smores of the season!


Cousins are the best. Here is the smallest cousin they have ever known...Elijah!



Joel was so thrilled to get the chance to hold Elijah himself!



So in all the chaos, there is always moments to treasure.

Winning and Moving On

Last week was the final week of the Biggest Winner challenge at the local gym. We all weighed in feeling a great accomplishment of what we lost over the past 6 weeks. With a lot of sweat and sitting on the sidelines of yummy food, I lost a grand total of 26.2 pounds. That was over 12%! Last night was the award ceremony where our team Mission Slimpossible 3 took the home the grand prize of $1500, that is $300 each! Woohoo! Now to pick a day to go shopping!

In other news...


We are hoping to move. Dave and I periodically check out mls to see if anything of interest comes up. I always check the Alma area because we both like it and thought that it would be a nice little place to live. Also, a larger yard is something to be desired! Well last week a listing came up that looked intriguing. Dave actually mentioned it to the real estate agent and she booked a time for us to go and look. Well we loved it. It was beautiful and had everything we hoped for. Here is the listing out of interest sake...http://www.realtor.ca/propertyDetails.aspx?propertyId=11984940&PidKey=-216742493



So we made an offer that was accepted, it's a conditional offer obviously on the sale of our home. So we worked really hard to prepare our house to be listed. It was a lot of work and still is as having 3 little kids in the house that are walking tornadoes does not help with keeping the house in perfect shape!

It's crazy. Really. But we're leaving it all in God's hands and see what will happen. I love our home here, and if it doesn't work out, it's not the end of the world, but admittedly I will be sad. We'll ride this wave out.

One of my new Fav's

Breaking Down, But Being Successful

This past weekend was great, but tough. It was Dave's annual golf weekend away. I knew it was coming, and emotionally prepared for it. Why? Because it is a lot of work, keeping house, watching 3 active children, and working with a pup who needs to learn right from wrong. But I was fine, Saturday morning I met with the other abandoned wives and we took the kids to St. Jacob's for a walk along the Old Mill Trail. Then we had a picnic lunch at a park. We got home all hot and sweaty and I got Joel to bed for his nap while the other two played outside and had a freezie. Once Joel awoke, we walked over to our friend's place where Christa cut Caleb and Joel's hair. Then home again for supper and a play in the sprinkler. It was a quiet night, the kids all went to bed well after a good cleaning bath. Sunday morning we headed to church and spent the morning there. Then in the afternoon after naptime, we did our grocery shopping and Daddy returned home by 5:15pm. So he wasn't gone long. But long enough! We finished the day with a campfire at a friend's place. Monday we spent doing yard work, getting our garden planted and just hanging out. But when Tuesday rolled around, I felt like I was losing a little bit of control. I just hadn't found my alone time that I require to just keep me level. Amberly's soccer started that night and then Wednesday I had so much to get done around the house, the kids weren't themselves and yuck, I laid my head on my pillow that night and cried. Thursday started to look up. I'm mid way through my two challenges with weight loss. At work I lost 12.2lbs and 6 inches in my waist! Out of 70 odd people I scored the highest points, and was 20 points ahead of second place! This gave me a proud moment. Then this morning after my morning butt kicking at the gym I weighed in there, and I'm officially down 17lbs from when I started that! This is the best mid way result I've had ever. I don't know if I can pull off another 10lbs in 3 weeks, but I'll certainly keep it up. I find that it's been easy this time around. I don't know why it feels that way, but it just does. I hope our team can pull off a win because the money would be great to go shopping with. But if not, I still win. Andy....

Joel before his hair cut.....

It was long and he loved playing with it in the bath.....

Out on the trail. It was a hot day.

I Don't Know What I'm Doing....

Partly the reason that has taken me so long to post something is apparently my browser doesn't support Blogger anymore, and therefore I had to try firefox and that didn't work so now I've run this chrome thing and yes, I don't know what I did, but it's working anyway! The other reason why I haven't posted and the biggest reason is I just have no time! Life has become crazy busy for me. There is something on every night of the week and I'm either running out the door or Dave is and it's just become a big balancing act. I've joined the contest again at the gym, why? I don't know, but that takes up at least 4 hours of my week where I have to make it to classes. It's great, I love the challenge and I love the girls I've joined with, but none the less, it's busy. Baseball started 2 weeks ago, and that takes up my Thursday evenings, Dave plays Monday nights. Next week soccer begins, so Amberly plays Tuesday nights and Caleb Thursday nights. Over the past month we've had Mother's Day, Anniversaries, a weekend get away with Norm and Dave and I got a weekend away as well. Norma and I attended a ladies retreat up north for a weekend. It was a blast, lots of laughs. She found this weekend online and thought it would be great. We were the last to arrive and when we walked in, we quickly realized that we were the youngest of the bunch. (Except maybe 3 other ladies that would be close to our age). That alone was hilarious! Dave took me to Toronto to see Needtobreathe in concert at the Phoenix. Again, a wonderful time was had and I've quickly become a super fan of theirs. They are awesome! And to top it all off, Joel had his 18mth checkup back at the beginning of March and there we discovered he had ear infections. This resulted in 4 weekly visits, 3 rounds of new antibiotics and now on Wednesday we go back again where I believe we will get a referral. He's still tugging and pulling on his ears and this morning a nice green snot began to flow yet again. My poor baby. As if the above wasn't enough, I decided that it would be a wonderful idea to add a new family member into the mix. Meet Andy....

He is a beautiful golden retriever (with a little bit of boxer in him) who is named after Andy Bernard from The Office. I found him on Kijiji. He was the only pup the mom had and when I went to meet him he was 6 weeks old and just knew he was going to be the one. His parents were so quiet and reserved and he was too. Although he's coming out of his shell now and much more active, we're still get a full nights sleep, he loves his crate and we haven't had too many accidents in the house. He travels well and the kids love him. After the first 3 days I do admit, I had a bit of a meltdown, wondering what have I done, but he's just so adorable that I love him to bits. Dave has never had a dog before, and he adores Andy too. It's really great. All in all, life is super nuts in the Snyder house. I'm on week 2 of the contest, I'm not sure how I'll do this time around, but I'm working hard at it and I hope we can bring home the moula! I'm not sure how and when I'll post next. But I will try!

One will Come

It's been a very long time. It's too late now, past my bedtime to post something, but I will post something soon.... Stay tuned :)

New, Cute Song

Ben Rector opened for Needtobreathe on Saturday.  I didn't know any of his stuff.  But fell in love with this song.  It would have been a perfect wedding song :)  Listen, it's quite catchy!

What Has Been Going On...

There hasn't been much desire to get on the computer lately. We have been starting to shut the computer off more to save on energy, and I just never really reboot it unless I'm bored, which doesn't happen so often!

Happy Easter. The day where we celebrate Christ's victory over death. I love this time of year, this celebration. It stirs my heart so much and brings a renewing to my relationship with Christ. How did we "celebrate", well on Friday as we have done year after year, we headed to Orangeville and attended the service at the Baptist church with my brother's family and then spent the rest of the day at my parents. We had a fun lunch together and did a big egg hunt outside. We have managed to do this outside for the last few years, the weather has always been good to us! On Saturday we had Dave's family over for the afternoon and had dinner together. In the evening Dave's parents stayed with the kids while we attended a musical at a local church. It was wonderful. Today we spent the morning at church and then the rest of the day having a blessed quiet day.

Thankfulness. Yes, I'm thankful for April's arrival. March was a terrible month. Since my last update, we experienced another death in the family and a few more episodes of sickness (all in the last week!) I received an email from one of my dearests inviting me to go with her to a ladies retreat in April. It couldn't have come at a more perfect time. I need to get away, surround myself with old comfort and happy laughter, leave behind brokenness and remember what life really has to offer outside of pain and strife. So in two weeks I venture up north with her. Next week, Davey and I are headed to Toronto to see Needtobreathe. I'm so looking forward to this. We haven't yet decided if we'll spend the night there or not, but it's gonna be a late night, the concert doesn't start until 9pm, I don't know what 10pm looks like anymore! HA. I'm listening to them now, and ohhh how I love anticipation :)

Last week at work we had our bonus day, we got to leave early for our long weekend. So yes, with Easter weekend, and the next two with happy plans set, April is definitely a good turn around!

Caleb is doing great with his reading. We have a new home reading book each school day and I'm filled with pride when he reads to me. He's my guy, I love him to bits. Amberly makes me laugh everyday. She's my little diva I say. My princess with attitude! Joel is the cutest thing ever. I do believe this is my favourite stage, he's full of chatter, not really forming too many words yet. Although oddly we do get the random "elephant", "banana" and "apple juice" from him. Pretty big words for his firsts!

Happy April, I'm so happy you've come!

Happy Easter

What a celebration today.  He is Risen!  All we can do is Thank you.

The Small yet Big Accomplishments of a 3 Year old and her Mommy!

My daughter is obsessed with her hair, she's a huge princess fan, so every morning I'm asked to give her princess hair. To her princess hair means french braids which her baby sitter can do so easily and very well. Amberly has given me permission to practise doing these braids in her hair and lately I've become pretty good at it. She's very proud of my accomplishments!
This 3 year old has also thrown in the pull up towel. She's been potty trained for a very long time, but still wore a pull up to bed. A month ago an issued her a challenge which was if she were to go 7 nights without peeing in her pullup, I would take her to Walmart so she could pick a new pair of pajama's. She was eager with this challenge. But unfortunately for the first little while she would go one, even two nights without wetting one, but then by the third or fourth would pee. Finally this past week she was successful and went 7 nights without wetting in one. We went to Walmart where she selected a set of Barbie pj's. She's gone now 4 nights with no pull ups on and has been dry ever since! Woohoo Amberly, I'm so proud of you!

My New Favourite...

Been in the Valley

Well, it's been a long while since I've posted. Life has been a little unfair these past few weeks. (can I even say that really?) The past week has been so consuming that I don't even really remember what happened prior to that. It all started with Joel waking up one morning with a rash all over his torso. He had a fever also, and when I called telehealth, they told me to go to emerg. So I took him and the doctor there didn't really look at him, just touched his rash and listened to his heart and then found a book, flipped through the pictures and decided that Joel had Fifths disease. So I went home and looked that up, and from what I read, I was not convinced this is what he had. So the next morning I called our doctor's office and spoke to the n.p. and she said that she would just have to go on what the doctor said and she told me more about the disease and what to look for. By day 4, Joel still was running a fairly high temperature, so on day 5, I called the doctor again and took him in. (It was on this day also where Amberly woke with a fever and sore tummy) As soon as the doctor saw Joel, she said it was not fifths disease but scarlet fever. Along with that, he had 2 ear infections and a throat infection. She prescribed amoxicillan. I left there feeling much better, finally having answers and knowing he'll be better. Well the next day we noticed that Joel seemed to be having a reaction to the meds. He would get blotchy and sunburned looking shortly after a dose. But I left that for a day. On this day also, Amberly seemed to be suffering still with a fever, and in the tub that night she said her ear hurt. Early the next morning I called the doctor's office again and told them what Joel was looking like and they said unfortunately I was going to have to come back. So I also made an appt. for Amberly at the same time. We got new medication for Joel and turns out Amberly was suffering with a pretty bad ear infection herself. So we got meds for her too. Again after leaving I felt better, knowing that a corner was soon to be turned. The next day things were looking up, but by afternoon I was sick. I developed a fever and a tight chest cough. That night I was so sick. The next morning Caleb woke up and was fevered. I cried. Dave stayed home to look after us that day. Tuesday Caleb stayed home from school and I from work, finally by Wednesday, we all turned a corner and were feeling better. We're still working on feeling 100%, but I think we're almost there, and I'm done complaining about it. Joel still has his rash from the fever, may have that for awhile, Amberly, Caleb and I still don't have our appetites back, but like I said. We are done complaining.
I will blame this crazy weather though.
I have also been going through a lot of things emotionally in relationships with friends. I wish I could eloborate on this, but the situation has left me with some kind of fear. My heart is broken for people and I feel alone when it comes to standing up for what I believe in. I feel God's leading, and His tugging on my heart, but then wonder why am I the only one to feel this way? I wonder if I've missed something, or completely misunderstand something? But I know this, grace has not been shown, it may be preached, but words mean nothing. Grace is something to be given with no limits, if Christ put a limit on grace, then he would have stepped down from the cross when he felt enough was enough. He didn't. Christ is all about grace, and forgiveness, 7 times 70. Shame on those who are replacing grace with self preservation. Christians should not expect higher standards from one another and when one doesn't reach our expectations, cut them down. Even though we have a relationship with Christ, doesn't make us perfect. If one can't find acceptance from a church for whoever they are or whatever they have done, then where do you expect them to find acceptance? Satan will make sure they find their acceptance, I'm certain of that.
Wow, just getting that out here makes me emotional.

Family Day Fun

For an experience, Dave and I took the Friday before the long weekend off to take the kids to the zoo. We booked a hotel package as well so we could spend the night after the day at the zoo. It was a great idea. We had a blast!


These jellyfish I think were my favourite!

Caleb's favourite were the cheetahs.


This aquarium is always a hit!

At the hotel....


The pool there had this small little frog slide, it also had a big one, but our kids were too small to use it. But good to keep in mind for a future destination!



It was a neat couple of days. It's nice to get out and do something completely different for a change with the kids!

Lost: Motivation, have you seen it?

Since the beginning of 2012 I have not been able to find that motivation I once had. Motivation to eat right, exercise and continue on the path of a healthier lifestyle. It's gone. Every morning I wake up feeling the presence inside, and then by lunch it's gone completely missing. When evening hits, I tell myself tomorrow is a new day. But it seems to be a cycle now.

Joining the gym is good for me, I haven't gone back on my commitment on that, I've been to 2 classes every week (that was my goal) and then back to just use the equipment here and there. It's really hard to find the time to make it to the gym 5-6 times a week, I'm proud for making it there twice a week.

Joining the contest at work hasn't helped any. In fact my last weigh in I was up a pound, which I was o.k. with because I feared I would be up like 5lbs! So I'll take 1. This month's challenge is to walk 10000 steps a day, and so I'm up for that. I didn't find out about the challenge until noon yesterday and I managed to pull off 8505 by bed time. But I'm really hoping to be down this month. Do I set a goal? I'm afraid to, but I think I could manage 5lbs. We'll see. Now that I've put it out there, maybe that will kick motivation into gear!

Ultimately I know what is wrong, and it's my eating habits, I love carbs too much. Bagels, bread, cereal, muffins, cookies and the ultimate destruction to any day is chocolate. Once I start, I can't stop! On the flip side, I don't love vegetables....I don't love eggs.....I don't love fish or steak. So finding the balance is difficult. Perhaps I'll learn to enjoy them, but they are definitely something that I currently have to force myself to eat.

In the end, it's not the number on the scale that matters, it's how you physically feel. I know when I've done bad by the way my body moves. If I can't feel good during a workout, and if I feel like I'm dragging my butt just to make it to the end, I know I've done bad with what I put in my mouth that day. So to know that and consider that before eating something, I think I've done good. And even though the number on the scale shouldn't matter, for this year, and this contest, I guess to me, it matters a little, because this is how I can win things!

So lets see how February pans out, how my challenge for 10000 steps goes and see if I'm 5 lbs lighter?

The Cinnamon Challenge ...

This is the best laugh ever!! For those who know me, you can probably hear me laughing....