Have You Ever Loved Your Trees?

We are heading up to 3 years in Alma.  It's a different life really.  We don't have all the conveniences 2 minutes away.  Even if we did, we couldn't use them all the time, we are living on one income, which means we have learned to go without.  We have learned how to truly enjoy and appreciate the things we do have, all our needs are met, we are provided for, and our children know what a treat really is.  But there are days when I struggle, I see what others have and I start to dream.  When this happens I walk around the yard and see where God has put us, and I see Him here in His creation!

 I LOVE our trees.  Growing up on a farm, trees were everywhere.  We had forts in one, a swing in another.  We had secret gardens in the back bush where all the trilliums grow.  Then I move to a town, where I have no trees.  Or I have one on the boulevard, a sliver stuck in the ground.  And for about 8 years I live without the trees.  Finally we get to here, and I have never been more thankful for trees!  Have you ever loved trees?  One of my favourite things I praise God for.  Yes, it may be silly, and simple, I may not have the newest car, the perfect front porch or the hottest new pair of shoes, but friend-I've got TREES!!

Always Learning

Before I became that mom, that "stay-at-home" mom, I wondered what those mom's do all day when their kids are away at school.  I would be teased by other co-workers as I headed off to a mat leave with statements like "have fun eating bon bons all day while watching all the soaps" and I thought, really is that what people think?  Is that what I thought?  It's been 2.5 years now since I've been out of the work force in my home.  This is the first year that all 3 of my kids are in school  Yes, we originally thought I would return to work when this time came, but as it approached, reality hit, what about summers?  pd days?  Sick days?  Winter and March breaks?  We just weren't ready yet.  But I had to do something, I had to find a way to bring in a little bit of an income to help buy groceries every week.  And God provided almost immediately, having a neighbour call me in August asking if I could watch her kids before and after school.  It's not something I wanted to do, but it was something I could do, and fit into my routine mornings and afternoons. So I took in 2 extra kids, which then became 3, and now it's 5 extra kids before and after school.

I'm learning lots.  I'm learning that boys have no volume control, when sitting side by side they need to shout at one another about the hockey game results.  Yes I know they are trying to top one another with the facts they know, but for some reason they feel they need to do that very loudly.  When I ask them to stop shouting they say "sorry" and continue on chatting to one another as if a mile is in between them.

I've learned that little boys can destroy a room in less than 10 minutes.

I've learned that little girls can destroy a room in less than 15 minutes.

I've learned that boys can carry on a conversation about Minecraft for 5 days in a row.

I've learned that little girls stop what ever they are doing if the words "let's colour a page" ever gets mentioned.

Someone once casually told me, "you can only clean the house so much in a day".  Well I've learned that I CAN NOT clean the house ENOUGH in a day!  With 8 children in and out the front door morning and afternoon, 2 cats and a dog--No, I can't clean the house enough.  I clean the main floor almost daily and I will enjoy the clean floors and tidy tables for maybe 2-3 hours.  But then the crayons explode, the stones from the playground find homes on my rugs, dog hair clumps on the carpet, books hop of their shelves, game controllers are left on the couches, marbles are hiding from one end of the basement to the other, lego becomes dangerous walking hazards and crumbs, oh the crumbs,  they never seem to really disappear.  I can not clean the house enough.

I've learned that it's best to set their clothes out the night before, and fight those battles then rather then in the mornings.

I've learned that the only way to keep a clean toilet is to force the boys to sit down to pee.  And the only way to keep the sink and counter clean is to put the toothpaste on their tooth brushes for them.

I've learned that even though the many frustrations I experience in that one hour leading up to the start of the school day, doesn't take away the fact that I miss them when they are gone, and I look forward to collecting them at the end of the day when the bell rings.

I've learned that it's never about me.  This isn't something new I've learned really, I found this out when Caleb was born.  Kids are so fascinating, they have so many neat stories, their imaginations are cool, and they are smart.  That when I'm with them, it's always about them, and when they are gone, what I do is because of them.

I've learned that not all kids like rice krispee squares, marshmallows or popcorn.

I've watched relationships grow among my group that couldn't be better.  I could have wound up with rotten kids, with kids who are disrespectful, or rude, bad influences or tempers.  But I don't.  I have THE best bunch of kids, who all get along and truly like each other!  

There is probably so much more I could add here, but my mind is now thinking about how my dinner is probably ready for me to tend to!  There are days where I feel unimportant as a "stay at home" mom.  Sometimes I feel as though I have to defend myself as to why I am at home.  But the rewards I'm experiencing with my children take those feelings away and replace them with feelings of joy, love and privilege.  Sure maybe one day I'll enter back into the workforce, but for now, the sacrifices we have made in order for me to stay home, has been the best career path I've taken.

Where the Spirit of the Lord is

Another new favourite I keep replaying.

New Words for a New Year

2014 I spent a lot of time in a morning group studying the Word with different ladies from around North America.  I remember that when 2014 rolled up, one lady asked us to think of just one word we wanted to describe our year to be, what we wanted to work on, strive for, become.  The word I came up with was "intentional" .  I wanted to make my days full of intention.  Even in the mundane things, be intentional.  Finding purpose in what I did.  I wanted to be intentional with my kids, put in my time, invest in them personally and emotionally.  As the year has since past, I look back and think that I did an ok job about being intentional.  So with 2015 here, I've been thinking lately what is my word this year?  Can I come up with one that I can conquer?  Oh yes, living intentionally will definitely continue, I need to be purposed and continue working on making each day count and matter.  But what other word can I work on this year?  I've come up with the word "peace".  As a mom, with 3 busy kids, peace is hard to come by.  Plus adding anywhere from 2-6 extra kids before and after school, peace hides in the closet.  But it's not just in the craziness of our house full of kids that I hope to find peace, I hope to find it in everything else, in my decisions.  We make thousands of decisions a day, from what colour of socks to put on to what to have for lunch, to where to go for vacation.  So many things to decide about, and often we make the decision without thinking twice, but then often times we struggle finding the right decision.  I would love to just have peace through all of those decisions.  So this year I hope to "intentionally" seek "peace" and pursue it (Psalm 34:14).

The Last Day of 2014

We have reached the last day of 2014.  Was the year all I had hoped it to be?  Did my expectations get met?  Did my hopes come to be?  To be honest, I don't think so much about all that stuff.  My mind is in the "One Day at a Time" mode, and for me to reminisce about the year, or critique myself or even just analyze things, I just don't do that.  Or I'm not in the mood to do that today.  What I do know, is God has truly blessed me, with my family, provisions and health.  Here's a quick look back of the year in pictures:)

After the ice storm, we had weeks of ice to skate on in our yard!

Caleb runs his first 5km race!

 Amberly loses her 2nd tooth, and doesn't swallow it!

Amberly agrees to chop off all her hair, we send it to charity.

A visit to the Toronto Zoo, Joel loves mascotts!

Caleb plays soccer for the sunmmer

Joel plays T-ball for the summer

Amberly broke her collarbone falling from a tree

Lots of campfires with friends.

Just because....

Last day of Sk and Grade 2.

Canada Day

Camping, often in the rain!

Inverhuron

Inverhuron

The Pinery

First day of Grade 3 and Grade 1

First day ever of school!  JK

The plum dies, and we replace it with Black Beauty.

Joel turns 4.

Caleb and Amberly represent their school for Cross Country running.

Love .

Walking to school

Princess Ball

Last night of Track and Field Club.

First snow fall of the season

First snow storm!

My totally adorable Canadian daughter!

I have thousands of pictures to tell the tale of 2014!  So I only looked in my iphone file for these!  (saving time and sparing picture overload!)

Friends, Old and New All in One Day!

Loving our free time over holidays.  Today we were able to spend the morning with old friends, catching up over hot chocolates, colouring and video games.  In the afternoon, we took the bus to the pool for public swimming.   It's a great set up, the local optimists hire a bus for our little town to take us families to the Fergus pool for their public swimming all at the whopping price of $1/person!  The best part is, when you show up to meet the bus, you also meet up with school friends and neighbours!  I was pretty lucky, Caleb's close buddy and his family came, so the boys happily entertained each other, leaving me with just Amberly and Joel to play with.  After we got home, we were all tired.  But happy with how our day played out.

Hanging with my Little Peeps!

Dave was back to work today, so I had the kids all to myself.  We met some friends at the local arena and did some skating.  During the afternoon, I took the kids to Walmart.  2 of them had money saved up to spend and another one had to return a duplicate Christmas gift and pick something else out.  This became a very stressful visit.  After a lot of indecision, and back and forth in different isles, minds were made up and we made it to the check out.  All 3 were happy with their choices and were preoccupied once we returned home.  Overall, we had a very fun day together!

Wonderful Church Family

We are so blessed to be apart of a great church family.  It's taken awhile to feel at home there, but now each Sunday we look forward to and love attending there, to see what God has in store for us.  This morning we witnessed 4 people being baptized.  We also learned a new fun song!  Take a listen!

More Family Time

Hosted some of my family for dinner today.  It was nice having them over, to see our new things, our decorations and lights.  Kids loved having more people to play with.  Definitely love the holidays for all the family time we get in!

A day of Utter Nothing-ness

Today I did nothing.  Well outside of the regular referee jobs and tidy up.  But I stayed in my pjs until past noon, and watched netflix for a good long part of my day!  Played new games with the kids.  But that sums up the day really!

Thankful for a cozy home.

Christmas Day

The best part of my day and my most cherished gifts....

A part of me wishes that I too was still a kid, Christmas was my most favourite times of year.  I do catch glimpses of those magical moments, you know, the ones where you get all warm and fuzzy inside, with a little bit of giddy.  I'm just so thankful that I can still feel that way and experience it now through these 3 precious darlings!

Merry Christmas!

The Children are Nestled, All Snug in their Bed

It's been a wonderful day with my family!  I love being with them!  That's was my favourite part of the day, and this....seeing my 3 precious babes, sound asleep, on Christmas Eve.  (Couldn't get one of Caleb, too afraid of waking him up)

Final Preparations!

As we draw down to the last day before the Christmas celebrations begin, I begin to over think and worry that I didn't get everything done that I wanted to.  Does anyone else have pictures in their mind what Christmas should look like? High expectations?  I sure do, and every year, after it's all over and done with, I wonder to myself, why did I pack it so full?  Why did we need this or that?  I also put a lot of pressure on myself for wanting to create perfect memories for my kids.  My heart knows that what is important is being with the ones you love, not with what the house looks like, how much food is prepared, what kind of cookies are made, but who I'm with and how our time TOGETHER is spent.  So today, I lay aside the clean floors, the organized kitchen, and I let the kids help bake and decorate cookies.  Memories made!

Unexpected Plans

The kids asked what we were going to do today, I told them we'd have a lazy day at home.  But that is not what happened at all!  We ended up having a day with the neighbourhood!  We met up with some at the arena and did almost 2 hours of skating!  Then we were invited back to a friend's house for lunch.  After that we headed back outdoors for a game of road hockey!  We left home at 9:50am and didn't come home until 4:30pm!!!  So much for the lazy day---it was the complete opposite, which was super!!

Christmas in our Community

Today was the Alma Parade.  We haven't been around previous years to see it, so this was our first experience.  We had family and friends over to share it with, and we had a great time.  It was a great little parade! Definitely added to that Christmas feeling!

A Yearly Tradition, on a Different Day

Year after year, my mom's family gathers together for Christmas on Christmas Eve.    This year, due to schedules, and availability, we moved it to today in hopes it will suit for most.  It was a great turn out and I love catching up with my cousins and their kids.  Everything was the same, the food, the games, the company, it was odd going home realizing that tomorrow is not Christmas.  But at the same time it stretches Christmas out for a little longer, which I think is great!

These would be all the great grandchildren of my Grandma and Papa.  (Missing a few, including Joel and Amberly who flat out refused to get in the picture)

Friday Night Wind Down

I love Friday nights!  A night where we can all unwind from our week and just relax and have fun!  I especially love seeing my husband kick back and have fun!  He's a big kid at heart!

Little Glimpses of Magic

A friend sent me a picture of Amberly and Joel meeting Santa at school.  She captured a precious expression on Amberly's face-which just brought a little of the magic into my heart!

Theme Days

This week, the school has had theme days leading up to Christmas holidays.  Monday was Red and Green day, Tuesday was Santa Hat day, today was Elf day, tomorrow is Christmas sweater day and Friday is a pajama day!  All the kids had matching elf hats to wear courtesy of my neighbour whose children I watch:)  They were all just so cute!  When I snapped this picture, they were all singing at the top of their lungs Christmas carols!

School Christmas Concerts

Our little school does an amazing job at pulling off a wonderful Christmas concert.  This was Joel's very first concert, and admittedly, I wasn't expecting much from him.  But to my complete surprise, he was quite the little performer.  He was loud, expressive and knew all the actions!  I was so proud of him!  He's the little one in red off to the right!  Pretty adorable!



Our other 2 did an awesome job as well.  We're so proud of them, and so grateful for all the work the teachers put into this to make it a very special show.

Normal Routines

After a busy weekend with late nights and excitement, returning to normal routines brings peace and happiness to our home!  Here we are winding down from our Monday, cozy with eachother passing the time until our heads hit the pillows.

Christmas Foiliage

Today I received an early Christmas gift from my mother-in-law.  It's a beautiful arrangement, given today so that I have time to enjoy it.  Love little surprises like this!

The Early Christmas Gift

On this day, 8 years ago, this little bundle of joy came into our lives, changing our lives forever.  I still can remember the experience very clear, and I find it hard to believe that it's been 8 years already.  But yes, he's become a handsome little gentleman.  He runs off to school without a hug goodbye anymore, he becomes shy if I volunteer in his class, but I do get my special moments I'll forever cherish at home, with snuggles on the couch, books being read to me, stories of his day told, kisses multiplied at bedtime.  Oh how I love him entirely.

Friends

Thankful for a couple of great friends who were eager to help us celebrate Caleb's 8th birthday party!  Also thankful to realize that a huge party is not always necessary to make it a special time!

Twinkling Little Lights

One of my favourite things about Christmas is being outside at night and seeing all the glitter and colour the twinkling lights bring.  But even better than this is the amazing sunset that happened.  I wish I had got it on my camera...

More Reminders of the True Meaning of Christmas.

Blessings

We have wonderful neighbours.  Yesterday they brought over a bag of clothes their daughter outgrew for Amberly.  And this was her most favourite thing, had to wear it today to school.