Field Trip

J Man and I have been having a great time together this week as the girls are in school. We have gotten the basement ready to paint, went to "school" yesterday morning (strong start play group) and even have plans to start skating next week. Today though we went on a field trip, can you guess where?

Back to School

Well, it is back to school and all the kids were sooooo excited to go, even J Man. Poor J Man, we dropped the girl's off, watched them get into their classes and Jude cried and cried because he couldn't stay and go to school. He insisted that he wear his backpack, I think he really thought he was going. 3 more years buddy.

Gracie is thrilled to be in a class with ALL her friends, she is excited to be in the grade 3 classroom with the 'smartboard' and is happy to be at the top of the heap at her school.

Beaner is really excited too. Her teacher is the same one that Cici had last year so it is good not to have to make up ground and get to know her. B doesn't really know anyone in her class real well, she is in a 1-2 split. She is sitting beside a girl who just moved here from Korea and is kind of shy so I hope that they can hook up a bit and become friends.

The girl's made their own lunches tonight and are geared up for a full day of school tomorrow. I am going to play with Jude, go get my hair done and enjoy a day free of commitments!

The smell of warm homemade raisin bread is filling the room, bread and MacGyver are calling me.

Saving the Stuffies

We had Gracie's friend party today and would love to share the video with you, but for privacy reasons I am restricting who can see it. So, if you want to see the movie of her adventure today, please leave a comment with an email address and I will give you the link to see it! I will only have it up for a day or two so act fast if you want to see it!

Help

I can't decide how my blog should look. If there is anyone who cares and has seen the changes these past days, let me know what you like!

Oh, and stay tuned to see how my oldest daughter's birthday party goes tomorrow. It is all under wraps right now, but soon you will be let in on the details of this huge event! Stay tuned, you don't want to miss it!

More Feet and J Man, but not his feet

I did another Photo Shoot today for my friend Deb for her website. She not only wants to market to women but wants to include kids! So, to that end, we took our 4 girls, painted them up and took them for a shoot in my backyard. Take a look.

Keep checking her website to see what pictures she chose to put up!

There were no boys allowed, but yesterday on our birthday walk I snapped some super cute pictures of my little boy. If you aren't into girly feet, you might like this cutie!

My baby is 8!

I can't believe it but my first born is 8 today, wow, am I really old enough to have an 8 yr old! She has blessed our lives from the moment her first cry met our ears. She is full of enthusiasm, joy, energy, humour and love for animals, art, moving quickly and still cuddling with mama!

Today started out with a shopping trip to spend some money she received, then home for lunch then she got her very first pedicure from my friend Deb. Deb is her prayer "sister" and wanted to get her something special for her birthday. Gracie thought is was great and enjoyed every minute of it.

I just realized that my pictures are still watermarked, oops.

Anyway.... After a dinner of hotdogs and probably the best chocolate cake in the world, we headed out for our nightly walk with our friends the Stefaneks. Gracie brought her new doll which was a gift from Grandma and Grandpa whom she named Carli.

There were other presents too, some cool water soluble pencil crayons for her to art with, some chocolate and...

perhaps her most treasured gift.. a pair of working "cell phones" that can text too. They aren't real but I think they work like a CB does, anyway, this was her real reaction that I sort of managed to catch on film...

Then this is her fake reaction for my camera so I could have a better picture...

All in all a great day!

I'm Gonna Miss This

I have been reminded several times these last few weeks of how a simple attitude of "I'm gonna miss this" can transform how you do your day to day with your kids. You seem to have more patience, see the long term, and invest in their lives for the long haul.

Last night I had an awful dream about Bethy. She fell from a really high place on a playground and I watched her fall and hit her head. I woke up right away in a panic, I started to pray for her and then I heard little footsteps on the stairs. In walks B, crying, she had had a bad dream. I gave her a big hug, prayed for her and then sent her off to bed as per usual. That is when I heard her walk into our door in the dark. She came running back in the dark for comfort. I pulled her into bed and held her as she cried, within minutes she was breathing calmly and had fallen asleep in my arms. I had the choice to wake her and ask her to return to her bed, or, just enjoy the moment and cuddle with my almost 6 yr old. I cuddled her in my arms all night as she slept beside me. I am learning more and more to treasure these moments, they don't last long. I am so grateful that God has blessed us with children, 3 children, and as I have seen many people go through loss of a child I thank God everyday that I still have experienced this gift. Experiencing loss ourselves has opened our eyes so much greater then I could have ever imagined. I am learning to make the most of each moment. To parent consistently and with appropriate discipline is crucial but if these moments tenderness and connectedness, where we show selfless love, if that is missing, we have missed the point of parenting.

All this said, I am trying to be an unconditional selfless lover as Christ is to me. I am excited about the next moment that I can learn this truth more deeply.