Wedding Bliss

Nine years ago I met a wonderful woman who later became my sister-in-law. I have gotten to know her through the years and have been blessed to call her my sister. Tara is an amazing woman and real woman of God. We have been praying for the man that she would share her life with.

This last weekend we were blessed to spend the weekend with Tara and Ben as they were married.

Flower girl.

Ring bearer.

Love them!

We were there too.

We all had a wonderful time at the wedding. Both David and Jaclyn loved being involved with their aunt and (new) uncles wedding. 

Congratulations Tara and Ben we love you both and look forward to watching your love continue to grow over the years to come.

Wedding Bliss

Cupcake Creations

This last week David asked me if we could make cupcakes. We didn't have a lot on our schedule and I was having a "good" health day, so the children and I gathered all the supplies we needed and then had fun making a mess in our kitchen. 

This is what happens when mom gets a call as we are setting up.

 "Look mom, they are all separated!"

 Tasting chocolate chips....yummy

 The best part of making cupcakes

 is licking the batter

 yummy!!

 Me and my little chefs

 They even managed to pull dad away from his office for a snack

Final cupcake creation. David called it our "cupcake family".

Cupcake Creations

Craft Time

My kids love doing crafts. They get so excited every time there is another craft that I bring out. This time it was painting their own Dinosaur banks. David had gotten one for his birthday and we found another for Jaclyn to have one too.

 Both of them have their own plans for how they go about doing crafts, and they each had very specific idea's for how they wanted their banks to look.

 David was going for some sort of superhero/dinosaur mix. His dinosaur ended up wearing a superhero costume.

 Jaclyn's was a bit more free form "let's get as many colours together as possible" approach, but they all had to be in the "right" places. She was not impressed about suggestions to put some colours in spots that she did not want them.

This was the results of their creativity, as well as lots of fun. It was a fun morning project.

Craft Time

Do you like to Doodle?

I wanted to share some pictures I took this last week of my kids and their drawings. We have these little magna-doodles that we picked up last summer. Both of them love to draw over and over again and this is a wonderful way for them to draw and erase as needed. 

Jaclyn and her picture of a "funny man face"

David and his picture of Superman.

It has been amazing to see them really get into it and they have even surprised us with their skills.

Do you like to Doodle?

Friends

Here are two picture I took this afternoon of David and Jaclyn with some of their best friends Cole and Riley. The four kids were laying on my bed as they watched "Mater Tales".

This afternoon after the movie Jaclyn took my camera to take some pictures of her own. 

These are the clearest pictures I found on my camera. 

Her boys playing Lego.

 Jaclyn sitting with her boys.(David took this one)

Friends

Weekend at a Cabin

A couple of weeks ago the kids and I escaped for three days with a friend and her daughter to her family cabin. It was a wonderful little getaway! Both David and Jaclyn had a great time. 

The first thing David said while we were there was "Wow, this is wonderful, we will have so much fun here, its perfect".

Before we arrived at the cabin we decided to go to the beach. As we were starting to get ourselves organized at the beach I asked the kids if they wanted to stay for a long time and play in the sand or just a few minutes? David looked up at me and said "Maybe just a few minutes, we want to get to the cabin". Naomi and I laughed, so we stayed for only a few minutes. However I was able to get enough pictures of us there so at least it seem like we were there for longer then 10 minutes. 

Before we got to the cabin, when we talked about the trip, Jaclyn and David weren't sure as to what exactly a cabin was (having never been to one) but they sure were excited to go. 

As you can imagine, having now experienced the fun of a cabin, they have already asked me more than a few times when we can go back up.

Weekend at a Cabin

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Weekly Draw for an iPad 2: Everyone who votes gets the chance to win an iPad2. (you don't have to have a business to vote)

It's really simple to enter. All you have to do is enter you business information and what you offer and then have your friends and family vote for you!

Remember the contest Ends July 31, 2011.

Do you have a small business?? Do you need advertisement or Money??

I have a 5 year old!!

Five years ago yesterday I gave birth to our son David.

On that hot day five years ago our lives forever were changed, with the birth of David.

Now both Chris and I new that our lives were about to change after all I was pregnant for 42 weeks. 

 Even though we thought we were ready to become parents, while as ready as we could be for new parents. Nothing could have prepared us for such an amazing adventure like being David's parents.

Some of the things that I have noticed about David over the last five years are that he is curious about everything, he cares about other peoples feeling, he wants to be the best big brother to Jaclyn. He is also loving, sensitive, funny and creative. He loves to use his imagination and often becomes Batman, Buzz Lightyear, Spiderman, Green lantern or any other superhero at anytime. He still likes to cuddle!

He also doesn't like surprises, he would much rather know what the surprise is and act surprised then actually be surprised. 

9 days old

5 years old

Happy Birthday David!! 

I am happy that God chose me to be your mom, I am blessed everyday by you and I look forward to many more birthdays with you and watching you learn more about the world around you and discovering life!

I have a 5 year old!!

Best Friends!

Best Friends!

Book Review: Principal of the path

Guest Post by my husband Chris

The Principal of the Path By Andy Stanley
Why is it that smart people with admirable life goals often end up far from where they intended to be? Why is it that so many people start out with a clear mental picture of where they want to be relationally, financially, and professionally and yet years later find themselves far from theyr desired destination? Why do our expectations about our own future often go unmet?

It is these questions that Andy Stanley focuses on in his book Principles of the Path that we received to review from Thomas Nelson Publishing.

I have appreciated other books from Andy Stanley in the past and was quite excited to have a chance to review this book. Overall, this book was good in premise, but not quite there in fallow through. The thought that began this book, to illustrate and explain how the results that we get in life are most often a product of a series of discisions and ways of doing things that make a path to those results. This is certainly a very important realization, and as a pastor I have met and had discusions with many people that need to better understand that fact. As simple as it is, it is amazing how all of us can decieve ourselves in seperating the many smaller choices and paths we put ourselves on from the results we get ourselves into, and often that leads to a lot of complaining, both to others and to God.

The problem arrises in that instead of developing this idea into a fully rounded book and working it all through, it was kept at the basic level of development and surrounded by personal stories and other re-iterations of the same idea.

Now, this by no means should be taken as a reason to not read the book, or to have one on your shelf for when you find that person who trully needs to hear that basic truths of this book, it just means that you need to keep your expectations in check, and to be ready to do a lot of the work yourself in bringing it to a fully developed point, which might be twice as good in the long run.

So pick up a copy, and start thinking about the paths we are on, and where it might go.

I give this book a 3.5 out of 5

 

------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Thomas Nelson Publishers has provided me with a complimentary copy of this book for review. 

I am not required to give a positive opinion but I am required to give my honest opinion.

Book Review: Principal of the path

Where is Bambi's Mom

As I wrote in my last post I have a broken ankle and have been spending a LOT of time on my couch with my children. We have played, read books and watched a lot more movies then usual.

I should start by telling you that David is at the age where he wants to understand what happens to people in general and to movie characters and why things are going on in the show? 

So as I sit, I find that I am constantly explaining what is happening in the cartoon and a lot of the back story and motivations until he feels that he has had enough of an understanding. (Perhaps he will become an actor some day, asking the director: What is my motivation?) 

I love that he is so curious and wants to understand what is happening in the world around him. When I answer his or Jaclyn's questions I try and answer it as honest and truthfully as I can. I believe in being honest with them.

When we watch movies now, even if he has seen the movie before, he wants to know why the characters are acting a certain way. We have talked about the movie Cars and why Chick Hicks isn't nice to the other cars, we have talked about the prince from Beauty and the Beast and how he wasn't kind and was turned into the Beast. 

I could go on in what we have covered in the past few months but right now I want to tell you about yesterday's conversation.

We were watching the beloved Disney classic Bambi.

Anyone who has seen this movie remember the scene when Bambi's mother dies. Well shortly after that scene David and I had a conversation that went like this:

David: Mom where is Bambi's mom?

Me: She's dead.

David: Who killed her?

Me: The hunter's that we talked about earlier in the movie.

David: Oh..

Silence as he process this discovery.

David: Where is Bambi's mom's body?

Me: The hunters probably took it.

Silence again

David: I think I know what they are doing with the body!

Me: Oh...and what is that?

David: They are going to cut up Bambi's mom's body and make deer soup with it!

Me: (trying not to laugh) Why do you think that?

David: I don't know, it just makes sense.

Me: (trying not to laugh again)

I find it fascinating at how my sons brain works and it's conversations like this that I am able to get a glimpse of how he process and thinks about different life matters. Even if its a conversation about the death of a beloved Disney character like Bambi's mom.

Where is Bambi's Mom

Broken

I love walks and about a week and a half ago my friend and I were planning on going for an evening walk, it was so beautiful out and I had just put my kids to bed and we were planning to meet somewhere in the middle of our houses.

Sounds like a great idea right??

Well it was a wonderful idea. Unfortunately, as I was leaving my house, I fell. I rolled my ankle and heard a loud cracking sound. I tried to move and get up but I couldn't use my ankle and was in a lot of pain. Not having many options, I then called for Chris to come out and help me, and thankfully I was not far from my front door.

After Chris helped me into the house, he then found my friend and told her that I was not going to be meeting her that night and then found someone to sit at our house with the children while he took me to the ER. 

Once I finally saw the doctor there he told me it was just a bad sprain but I should stay off it for a week or so. I wasn't able to put any weight on it for the first 6 days and then I was able to put a little bit of weight on it but it still hurt more then I think it should have for a sprain. 

So last Tuesday (7days after my fall) I went to a sports clinic and had them look at it. I was told that I had cracked the top of my ankle and torn some ligaments or tendons in it as well. They casted my leg and sent me home with instructions not to put ANY wight on it for about two weeks when I am able to go back in and see how I am healing. 

So here I sit with my leg in a cast all because I had a strange fall that cracked my ankle.

My husband is awesome and I am very blessed to have him! As much as he has in his week to get done with work he has been able to keep up with all of his normal schedule as well as do most of what I do during the week. He has been cooking, cleaning, laundry and so much more. 

I have had different issues in the past with walking when I was younger (I have had 4 knee operations) but I have been very lucky that I have been able to walk normally almost everyday since I had children. 

Its amazing how we can take for granted being able to move on our own and doing things for ourselves and those around us. I am accustom to making my own tea, cleaning my house, cooking and caring for the daily needs of my family. As I have been sitting around these past few weeks I have been learning again at how important it is to thank God that I am able to walk on a daily basis and how there are many around our country and world who have to rely on others to care for them everyday.

I will be able to walk without crutches in a few weeks and my life will go back to "my normal" fairly soon. As I think about it, my prayer and hope is that I remember those around me, those in my country and around the world who are still dependent on others and when I have the opportunity, to help and support them. I also pray that God gives them continued patience in their circumstances and the help that they need.

It is amazing what God can teach when you see things from a new point of view.

Broken

Laptops and Tea

About a month ago now, my husbands computer died a sad death which left him without a computer for work. I being the wonderful wife that I am gave him my laptop to use for the meantime while we save for a new computer. Unfortunately this means that I have limited access to a computer. I still have me iPod touch, which allows me to access email/facebook. However it does mean that it is harder for me to blog. I am planning on sitting down somewhat regularly (most likely weekly) to blog about what has been happening around here. 

As some of you know I have a love for tea! My favorite place to get tea is at Starbucks....yummy!

I find that the day goes better with a cup of tea. My love for tea is somewhat rubbing off on my children. Both of my children on a weekly or at least by-weekly basis ask if they can have tea with me. So we drink tea together, actually I drink tea they drink "milk tea". 

Here are my two little "tea" drinkers enjoying morning tea with me.

Over the last few months whenever we go to town to do some shopping Jaclyn will say to us "guys, I need my Starbucks". 

The funny thing about that line is that I rarely go to Starbucks these days. I do however have Starbucks mugs at home that she sees regularly and when she see the Starbucks sign she wants it too. Funny kid!

Laptops and Tea