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.  

Christmas Baking

One of my most favourite things about the Christmas season is home baked things!  I have many memories of my mom baking lots of cookies and squares.  Today I started my baking with one of my favourite cookies, whipped shortbread.  Hoping that my kids will one day look back and have the same sort of memories as I do.

Birthday Celebrations

Celebrating 2 most dearly loved children today.  Their birthdays aren't until next weekend, but due to the busyness of the season, and schedules, we celebrated them today.  We love them to bits!  And my adorable photo-bomb girl off to the side!

Christmas in Concert

This is the 3rd year we've attended Christmas in Concert at the church my friend Jay attends!  They do such an amazing job, and this year was just as wonderful as the last.  It's a huge production, with orchestra, band, choir and singers.  So much talent!  We had a great experience, bumping into new friends from our church and chatting with them in the lobby while waiting to be seated, to having front row seats.  Only downfall is I didn't get to see Jay :(  I did catch her hubby before the show.  They had so many neat songs this year, one of my favourites is posted below, take a listen, it's a really catchy tune!

Nights, when all is settled and tucked in

I've been walking with a couple of friends from the neighbourhood, we head out the door any time after 8:30pm and we go around Alma two times, which is about 5kms. By the time I get home, everyone, including Dave is in bed.  So I've been missing out on just relaxing in front of the tv or playing a round of ping pong with my hubby.  I'm very thankful for the exercise and connections made with these lovely ladies, but I'm also so thankful for a night where I can just snuggle up to Dave and watch a movie by the fireplace.  We're getting old, so we only got half way through the movie before heading to bed (The Million Dollar Arm-it's really good!) but just loved every moment!

The Feeling of Proud

This little guy for the first time, picked up his backpack and stood in his line at school and marched right in.  He did this 2 days in a row!  So proud.  A big change from me having to toss his bag into the school and shove him into the arms of the teachers and hurry away!

Snuggles

The time to break out the snuggly, fuzzy warm Christmas Jammie's!

Filling up our Home.

I love having our table full and listening to the stories, the jokes, the experiences and most of all the laughter that fills this house after school.

Love Came Down

December is here, and yes, I've failed to be a good "blogger" this year.  Only 2 entries since today.  Hoping to post daily in December.  Things I'm most thankful, the big and the small each day.  To remember what truly happened to have us all celebrate Christmas.  It's when Love Came Down to earth.

Life Got in the Way

Wow, I have not had a night where I could sit in front of a computer and just browse, since....well, according to my last post January!  Life is crazy!

So thankful for the warmer sunnier days to be here.  Love the long days, the large amounts of fresh air and outdoor activities, and deeper sleeps at night!  Since the weather is here, also means our schedule is really full!  Monday's baseball, Tuesday Track and Field and baseball, Wednesday t-balls, Thursday soccer and Friday brings the weekend which by looking at the calendar has something written on it every weekend!  Between tournaments, races, gatherings, functions and soon camping, we are on the go!

It's nights like this that I long for simpler days.  But I'm so content, and continually learning to be thankful and happy for the things we have and just living intentionally in the moments that come, fully engaged and present.

Just thankful!

New Year, New Beginnings

We are officially half way done the first month of 2014.  This has been the first week of real normal routine around our home.  Last week started out with buses cancelled, school closed, buses cancelled and power outages, Thursday was the kids first official day back to school.  Joel was lost with them gone.  So was I!  But when Monday rolled around, I started to feel that control came back, and routine began.  Although it's Thursday night, and the kids are excited because it's already the weekend here due to the pd day that is tomorrow.

Our Christmas was great, low key, and we really just had time to enjoy.  Sure we didn't decorate to the nines, cook huge meals, and spoil the kids, but I think we pulled off a happy time, a great family time.

When January rolls around, do you find yourself starting new things, starting over things you never seem to make a habit?  I do.  One thing I've started is a memory jar for the family.  We write things down that happen in a day that we want to remember.  I'm sure people do this daily, but I've been doing it with random things on random days, like the day Amberly lost her tooth, or when we had company, funny things that were said, things like that.  Then on Dec. 31, 2014, we open the jar and go through it all.

Other than that I have the typical things I want to work on.  Of course one is to get fit again.  Last year I let it all slide, I didn't care what I put in my mouth, and never opted for the healthy options, I just let it all go, and boy is my body showing the evidence of that!  So I've started to think about what I eat, and really listen to my body, most of the time I'm not hungry!  And I've been exercising 5 days a week.  I've been getting up at the dark time of 5:20am and I drag myself down to the basement where I ride the exercise bike for 30mins.  After that I spend time in God's word.  I've just started doing a new study with the girls from Alma called Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed.  It's so far great!  And lastly, I've been apart of an online group called Hello Mornings, where we're encouraged to rise early, spend time with God, plan for our day and exercise.  I've been doing 2 of those 3 things, but I've not been a planner.  So this week has been a simple challenge to just pinpoint 3 things you want to accomplish by the end of the day.  Easy!  I've been tired, trying to adjust to my new early start times, but I already find that I get the best sleep at night, and I just feel better.

2014 makes me nervous as it moves our family into a different stage in life, leaving behind a stage I'm not sure I want to leave quite yet.  This past week, I completed the form to register Joel into JK.  I'm not sure he's ready to go, and I know I'm definitely not ready!  It means that I don't have any babies at home, and that makes me sad.  But the thought of having another baby doesn't sit well with me either, there are times, yes, where I would love to do it all again, but I've come to appreciate the little bit of independence that has re-entered my life.  But with Joel's return to school also makes the question of returning to work come to mind.  Yes this was the original idea, I would return to work when Joel starts school.  As easy as that sounds, it's not.  We still have summers, school holidays, pd days to contend with, as well as the unexpected illness that requires a day off school.  And it's the rushing around, the schedules and the list goes on.  I've gotten used to this life of being home full-time, and I feel that I've been doing it well.  But I just don't know!

Lots of things to think about early in the mornings!  What's in store for your 2014?

November?

Whoa, where did October go?  I can't believe we have been shoved into November already.  The chill is in the air, and all the Christmas things are looming in the stores.  My 3 year old happen to see the box of Christmas lights in storage and has been begging me at random times to hang them.  Today would have been a perfect day to do that, but it didn't happen. 

The time change didn't go as smoothly as it has in the past.  Joel has been miserable all day!  And he refused to nap because Gramma and Grandpa and Benj was here.  So we've hit the 7pm mark and squeezing every ounce of patience left out of me to get him to bed for the night!

I have found that October was a month where my boys have tested me.  It seems at the same time, Caleb hit an attitude where nothing I do is good enough and the slightest thing frustrates him and makes him upset.  And I hear countless "I'm Bored" coming from his lips.  He has developed an attitude that when he's tired, he thinks that all disrespectful talk is fine.  It hit the fan this week when he spoke to me in an unacceptable way at school in front of many mothers.  I even got glares which make me so angry, why do women think it's fine to judge you, as if motherhood gives you an entitlement to pass judgement on other mothers.  I am not the type to raise my voice in front of an audience, nor do I want to discipline with a crowd of judgmental mothers.  I asked him to wait in the van.  And I still didn't have it in me to talk to him because I was done.  I emailed Dave and asked him to talk to Caleb about how to speak to his mother, because I was beyond on the point of reason, I don't think he would care about anything I would say to him.  So Dave spoke with him that night, just him and Caleb, and for the past few days, I've noticed he's been really trying to watch what he says.  All at the same time Joel has discovered temper tantrums. I honestly don't remember my other two going thru this, but surely they must have and I've just chosen to forget.  But patience is running thin in this mother at the moment.  Who would have thought that my spirited 5 year old daughter is truly an angel!!!!  It's usually her that I have issue with!

Amberly has been dealing with anxiety at school.  She apparently doesn't like change so much.  Finding this out had surprised me, out of my 3, she's been the most outgoing.  But this has now changed, and she's very shy and holds tight to me.  We have put her through a big change with church.  We are attending a church that has 4 times the amount of children she's used to!  Her class has about 10-15 (just 5 year olds, that's a lot!)  I don't know if this change has reflected the change in school, but she's become the teacher's shadow and stays close by her side.  Hoping with time, she'll get over this and return to her outgoing self.  She's loving being a spark, so up her alley the crafts and girls!

With the year quickly coming to an end, I'm really beginning to realize how really we are like vapors in the wind, shadow in time.  Trying to hold tight to the time I have and really make use of my day.  But some days I do just want to stay in bed all day, in the comfort of warm covers and silence.....

In Jesus Name

Sang this song yesterday, love it!

Autumn is Here

As I sat down at the computer, I looked at the calendar yet again, and really realized that summer is behind me, and winter is before me. I am sad summer is over. We had a great summer, filled with many happy times! The kids all got along well, and we were enjoying each other and our days will filled with non-routine things.
September arrived with schedules and routines that needed to be set back in motion. School started. This year Amberly attends school every day. The first week went well. Us parents then found out that lots of changes were going to happen because the numbers in the classes were exceeding the boards requirements. Our school is small, and my kids didn't have the anxieties of who would be in their class, or even who their teacher would be because it was a one class per grade situation. However since the change has happened, the classes look like this now, K, 1, 1/2, 2/3, 3/4, 4/5, 6. I was worried about Caleb having to go to a new class with a new teacher, but he stayed where he is and is now in the 1/2 class, (they only moved 4 gr. 1's into his class). Then we found out last Thursday that Amberly's teacher was leaving and being placed somewhere else. Sigh. But all is good, they already replaced her with a teacher who they've seen before from last year who helped out here and there.

Alternating Mondays, Dave and I have groups at our church we attend, Tuesdays the kids all have swimming lessons at the same time which is great. Joel's lessons however require me to be in the pool with him, hoping that with time and confidence, he will be able to go in without me there. Wednesdays Caleb plays ball hockey and Amberly is a spark with the Brownies. Thursdays out are just relaxed home times. So life is busy here.

Joel is going to be 3 in one week! Again, time flies. We have now been attending the Wee Talk program for the past 3 weeks, it's a music program, he seems to enjoy it. His speech is coming, his vocabulary has definitely been expanded, but he still is dropping the initial consonants and isn't forming many sentences without using "ah ah ah...." But I'm confident he will get there. We have also sent him back to Christa on Mondays, to help socialize him. He is loving this which makes me feel good. (except all my kids love Christa naturally, so I'm not sure if going to her puts him out of his comfort zone, but he gets to interact with kids his age, which is more then he gets at home with me!) So between nursery on Sundays, to Christa's, to story time at the library, I'm hoping his entry to school next year won't be a major devastation for him.

I'm so excited about church. Dave and I have made the full commitment to attend a new church. It was a hard decision for Dave, leaving the church he attended all his life, but it has been the best decision we made. I love our new church, it's so exciting, and I'm just excited to go each Sunday. The worship time is like a concert, and I love seeing my kids enjoy the music. And the pastor is so loving, welcoming and genuinely kind. He's also funny and makes me laugh! It's a really big church which we're not used to. The kids are a little overwhelmed, as the Sunday school program is large and they don't have familiar faces to see, but with time that will change. Although I'm so happy with our decision, I also feel like I am mourning the loss of our other church, I see it in our kids when they ask to go and be with their friends, and I feel such a separation, and distance from our close Friends. I know that a disconnect is bound to happen, but I guess the "cut off" feeling is what I have. But I rest in the peace God has given me, and the knowledge that this is where He wants us to be. And that is such a wonderful experience.

Anyway, it's my free day and I already feel a little guilty spending this much time on the computer, I better go and do something productive!