Right now, I am enjoying the music of Downhere - especially this song -

It's funny how life goes - the two main guys, Jason Germaine and Marc Martel were at Briercrest the same time as M and I, though they were a few years behind us, so we didn't really know them. Jason's now wife Heather was on my hall though and a cuter young woman you couldn't have met. She was so adorable and sweet, I just loved her.
Enjoy the video and go to YouTube.com and listen to some of their other stuff. On a side note, Marc Martel is touring with the Queen tribute band as Freddy Mercury this year.

525,600 minutes or in the case of this year...527,040

I started my photo a day blog. It is private, so if I know you and you would like to be invited, leave a comment and I will send you an email invite. Cheers!

Looney Bean, Mazatlan, Sinaloa, Mexico

My DH and the boy just got home from visiting M's parents for a week. Lucky men, the in-laws live in Matazlan, Sinaloa, Mexico for the winter months. They have a two bedroom apartment condo and figured that 7 people plus their dog would be a little much for that space so the boys went this year and the girls and I will go next.
They had a wonderful time. I think a little more down time than M was expecting at the outset, as he is one who wants to be doing things and exploring, but a certain little boy loved the pool and the beach so they spent hours there every day. My little man came home looking a little exhausted from all the sun and fun he got. I am very happy that he enjoyed himself so much.

DH brought home presents - of course! :) - and along with the gorgeous Australian opal and silver bracelet, necklace and earrings I got, he brought me a pound of coffee from a coffee shop they would go to.

After reading the back, I had to look up the website. I have only had an opportunity to read just a little bit about it - going to read more later, but wow! These people are doing an amazing thing. I would love to do something like that. Wish there was something like this when I was younger and single. Because I would never wish I was younger and single because that would be wishing my family away and I love them far too much to wish them away. I am at a different place in my journey, but know of a few young people I would love to send this information to. I will definitely be going to that coffee shop when we girls go next year.
...Just read through the website and it doesn't look like it has been updated in a year. Not sure if they still run either of these missions opportunities anymore. I sent them an email to see, because I am curious. Who knows, maybe we will become friends and next year it'll be like going to visit friends. :)
And in case you were wondering... the coffee is oh, so yummy!

Facebook and Blogging

I gave up Facebook for Lent. And it is funny - I am one of quite a few people I know who has. There may be more people, but alas, I have not been on Facebook to see who has. :)

I thought it was important for me to do so because the time I have been wasting on that site is too much. I used to blog once upon a time :), but haven't really since Facebook became a part of my life. So much easier to read other people's updates and see what they are doing and not connect in any way myself. I don't update my status a lot, unless I would like someone to give me recommendations since we moved, or when life is a little rough so I can have someone commiserate with me. I used to love blogging, I felt more real and heartfelt on here than I ever felt on Facebook.

So, yesterday I actually read some people's blogs. And looked at some photo blogs. I love photo blogs - all those creative people out there with interesting ways and ideas for capturing others lives and memories. One blog I spent a lot of time on was my friend's photo-a-day blog. She captures and captions a photo each day of her family. Then when the year is over, she has it printed into a book. What a great way to keep focussed on the little moments. And to pay attention to what is interesting your children, to remember the little things that they are into, because those things seem to change week by week.
I have decided to do this myself. I don't know if I will blog the photos, or share them if I do, but I am going to take a picture daily of my family. I am so thankful for them and want to be more expressive about that. Hopefully I will so grow and stretch as a photographer in the process. I seem to have forgotten everything I learnt so long ago and rely on my settings far too often.

I always think I should have some sort of pithy thing to say at the end of a post. Much like how I feel like a status update I put on Facebook should be witty or significant. But I don't find myself pithy or witty, which is probably why I don't post that often. Hopefully it doesn't stop my blogging again too.

Worth

I saw this yesterday on a blog I haven't read in a very long time.

God is good

"God is good, all the time,
He put a song of praise in this heart of mine,
God is good, all the time,
He put a song of praise in this heart of mine,
God is good, God is good, all the time!"
This was a song I learned in my childhood - not sure if it was a praise chorus or a gospel song that someone like the Gaithers sang, but this morning it is running through my head again and again and I am overwhelmed. I am overwhelmed because for one of the very first times in my life, this simple phrase "God is good" is so real, so impacting to me that I cannot help but praise Him. Again and again and again for everything He is doing in my life. And it is not an emotional I-feel-like-this-is-what-I-should-be-feeling kind of thing, or fake in any way, it is a focus on all the ways that He is blessing me, is blessing my family. It is a awareness of the ways His hand is working in our lives - in the small things and the big things. He is working, He is moving, He is blessing. So much, in fact, that I cannot help but "shout it from the rooftops" - or in this case, blog it. :) I have not had the desire in over a year to write on this blog, but this morning I could not help but write. My children are getting themselves out of bed and starting to move around as I type, so I most likely will not be writing much longer, but I definitely needed to write this this morning. Get it out there and share. Maybe someone else needs it, I don't know, but if it is you reading this who needs to hear, God is good, all the time. He works situations and circumstances so that you can know Him better. He wants to bless you, He wants to hear from you, He loved you before the world began, before man fell, before He did everything He could to save us, before Jesus came to the earth as a baby that we will be celebrating this next month - it's always been my favorite time of year, but I think I am getting to the point that Easter, Easter is going to be my favorite, because before He died on that cross, He thought of me. My name was on His lips when He asked God to forgive them. YOUR name was on His lips. He loves you and He wants to hear from you! Isn't that cool? The God of the universe, the Creator of all things, wants to hear, from ME! He wants to hear from YOU. He loves me, He loves YOU. Now, before this starts sounding like a kid's book or Dr. Suess, just know that His love for us is incredible. And what this awesome Person wants most of all is to be in a relationship with me and with you. Amazing!
In my journal this morning all I could write about was thank you. Thank you, God, for all the things you have given me. And there are so many that I just scratched the surface. It was like He opened my eyes to all the many things, from little tiny things to deeper ways that He was working in my life and my family's life.
Thank you, God! You ARE good, all the time!

GlobalFest

I was a guest blogger on Family Fun Calgary this week! So excited about that. Melissa, one of the co-founders, and I met because our sons went to school together. We were lucky enough to go to GlobalFest with the kids. Here is my post.

We went to GlobalFest for the second night which was the Philippines night to host. It was our first time to the festival and I had looked all over the GlobalFest site trying to figure out what exactly the evening would entail and what I should expect. I found that the site was not laid out all that well for someone who is just getting introduced to the festival. I just read Leslie's blog pot about their trip to GlobalFest and wish that I had read it before we went so we would have known better what to plan for a bring.
We started off the day rather early - my kids bedtimes are normally between 7 and 8 p.m, so we knew that it was going to be a long evening - I was hoping for luck to be on our side and them to not have any major meltdowns and we made it through most of the evening without them. We got to the Subway Soccer Centre early and were on one of the first shuttle buses to Elliston Park. We actually were there before the gates opened at 6 p.m. so began the evening right away. We meandered our way over to the South side of the lake and reserved our spot on the hill with the girls' Chariot. While we were there we caught the first performance from the Venezuelan group "Pasos de Venezuela". The women did such a wonderful job and their costumes were beautiful. My children all enjoy music and dancing, so they all clapped and cheered after each song.
At this point we were getting hungry so we went to the OneWorld Cafe and International Bar. There was many choices there for ethnic foods - my husband and I loved the meals we got and our daughters enjoyed tastes of different foods they had not eaten often. For those of you with picky children - bring food along. My son, who is a picky eater at the best of times, did not eat a lot.
After supper we went and explored the OneWorld Village. We were given a "passport" for the children to ask questions at the different pavilions and get to know information about that culture or the language that is spoken in that country. I was the one who asked most of the questions and learned a lot, so it was a good for me as well. They also had activities at some of the pavilions for the children to participate in and the people who were hosting the booths were great at interacting with the children, which I loved. I think one of my children's favorites was the booth where they got to drum with the gentleman from Nigeria.

R playing one of the instruments at a pavilion

The kids lounging at the Egypt booth

Nigeria pavilion - the drums were a favourite. Couldn't get a good pic of A - she was moving so fast.

At this point it was getting late and we had not even gotten to the Kiddie Corral yet. It was on the opposite side to where we came in and I never really thought about it and then when it crossed my mind it was too late. My children do not like face painting, so this was OK for us, but if your children need play time or love the face painting and other activities in the Kiddie Corral, you may want to go there first. We managed to get the last round in one of the bouncy castles before they closed up shop, so it was OK for us.
We headed back to our "seats" in the south seating bowl and lucky for us there was a wonderful couple who had an extra jacket to put down on the ground to sit on. We are in the middle of a move right now, so my normally organized brain that remembers everything was not on the ball. (Ha ha! My husband is laughing hard right now :) It was hot on Sunday and I had not thought ahead to how cool it would be after the sun went down. Good thing the girls had some extra clothing in their backpack, but my son and husband and I had none. We all cuddled though on the jacket and once the fireworks started everything about the evening was worth it.
They were amazing! Amazing! I have seen pyro-musical performances before, but this one was incredible. Afterward the couple who lent us the jacket had said that they have gone for every night of GlobalFest for the past 3 years and that night was the best one they had seen yet. My favorite song part was to "My Prayer" by Celine Dion and Andrea Bocelli - there was a continuous waterfall of fireworks for over a minute that was reflected in the lake that was incredible.

If you want to check it out for yourself, Trico put up a video on YouTube here.

It ended a little late and by the time we were able to get out of there, get on the bus and get back to our vehicle it was 10:45. As Leslie said the busing was a little disorganized, so it took awhile. My son was having a meltdown about how tired he was and I was exhausted as well after the long day.
Helpful hints to add to Leslie's -
- take a look at the map when you arrive and plan out your evening. We never did this, so missed out on some of the event.
- don't bring a stroller - too many people around, it just adds to the confusion and slows the speed at which you can move. If we hadn't been moving and had them packed I would have brought our hiking backpacks for the girls to make it easier.
- bring LOTS of water - it was a hot day and my husband and I felt a little dehydrated and water was expensive. I had brought water bottles for the kids, but forgotten ours.
All in all we loved GlobalFest, but I would say the next time we go to GlobalFest as a family will probably when my children are a few years older and able to cope with the late evening. I may be able to convince my husband to make it a date night though next year. :)

Worry, worry, worry

I was reading a blog this morning - going back over some old posts she had written, and came across one that the title was simply "Worry". The blog author had been given a devotional on worry and this was the part she had included.

One day I was reading my Bible and noticed how Martha’s worries were making her weary, and making her wonder if Jesus cared that her sister left her in the kitchen to do all that work, all by herself.

And listen to how He responded: “‘Martha, Martha,’ the Lord answered, ‘you are worried and upset about many things, but only one thing is needed. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.’” (NIV)

So, how do we choose what is better? How do we let go of our worries and take hold of confident peace that assures us God notices and God cares?

First Peter 5:7 tells us: “Give all your worries and cares to God, for he cares about you.” (NLT)

The apostle Paul tells us the same and he tells us how: “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7, NLT)

It sounds so doable, but why is it so hard? I think it’s because Satan whispers the opposite. He tells us, “Don’t be calm about anything; instead worry about everything. Tell God what He should do. Then take control if He doesn’t listen. And concerns that consume you will become like acid in your heart, eroding your confidence with worry and doubt!”

Instead of giving into the whispers of worry, spoken by the enemy, let’s listen to God’s promise for peace. When we feel overwhelmed by life this week, let’s commit to …

• Stop worrying — Press the pause button on our consuming concerns.

• Start praying — Talk to God about all we’re doing. Ask if there’s anything we need to cut back so we can seek Him as much as we serve Him, and others.

• Keep thanking God — Thank God for what He’s done in the past and will do in the future. This helps us remember how good He is at being God.

I am twisted in knots of worry over the fact that our house has not sold yet and we are getting possession of the new house on FRIDAY! I was doing so much better about not being a worrier, not taking the control back from God, not telling God what He should do, but of course as soon as we said yes to God, yes to following His leading back into ministry, yes to trusting, that is when I was attacked. And the funny part is that during the decision making process, Satan was attacking our children - keeping them up at night, crying out and disturbing Mommy and Daddy's sleep as well as their own off and on for hours. Them being grouchy and crying in the morning - off and on all morning having meltdown after meltdown, trading off so their parents were ready to send them all back. So we have been bathing them in prayers - prayers of protection as well as ones that they will be filled with joy, love and that they will be free from the arrows Satan was flinging at them. And it has been good. Our focus has been on God and His ability to keep our children safe and to do SO MUCH MORE than we can imagine.
But, I have not been praying for ME, for MY protection, for MY trust and ability to REST in God's promises. That He will NEVER fail me, He is good at being in the driver's seat,
"HE is ABLE, He will NEVER fail, He is Almighty God, Greater than all we seek, Greater than all we ASK, He has done great things" (from Hillsong's new song "God is Able").
I need to stop worrying, and need to start praying for myself and the attacks that I am experiencing as well as resting in God and TRUSTING Him that He can do so much more than I can imagine and start thanking Him for all that He has done.

Catching up...

Goodness it has been awhile since I posted on this blog. So much has happened since the last time! BIG stuff too, really big stuff. Life changing stuff.
First, we are moving. Well, I guess that wasn't the first thing that happened or the catalyst even for all of the change. What was the start of it all was a holy discontent that my husband has never been able to shake to be a part of the leadership in the local church which we honestly believe IS the hope of the world, God's hope for the world. So we have been praying and searching, applying, interviewing and waiting. Then candidating and praying and talking and praying some more. And God IS faithful, and He will never leave us. He made a way for us. (Sorry the cliches, Hillsong's "God is Able" is running through my head) My DH will be a pastor once again. We are going to be ministering at a church in a large town/small city in the greater area of the city in which we currently live. The awesome part - well, besides the destination of the journey that God has brought us on and the church we will be in itself - is that it is only 25 minutes from my family. Woo woo!
So my DH will be the Community Life pastor at this church - it is a bigger church that is trying to do multi-site. Sound familiar to anyone? When we moved here M came to be the Community Life pastor at the church. And the church ours moved with is multi-site. Seems like God is bringing some things together, hey?
Our summer has been INSANE. I think the longest all of us have been at home together in a given stretch wince the May Long weekend is 4 days. Between camping, a trip to MB for the wedding of a very special lady to the love of her life, a trip to the coast to see M's family and a work convention in Minneapolis for me, it has been a little INSANE! And we bought a house while we were at M's parents place.
So now we are getting close to the move date - we get possession on FRIDAY!! And the move is scheduled for the 27th. So much to do between now and then. It's crazy how nuts our life is right now.
THe only fly in the ointment is our current house has not sold yet. And I am stressed about it. I have a post that I wrote this morning that will go "live" right after this which was an "ah-ha" moment for me this morning. And as M just reminded me - God hasn't brought us this far to leave us hanging. To not help us figure everything out. I need to trust. And be thankful.
So now you are caught up....

Wordless Wednesday

2010

2011

Wordless Wednesday

This was from camping this weekend in the mountains.

Breaking the silence

It's been forever since I posted here and even longer since I wrote anything. Kind of ironic that on a Wednesday - "Wordless Wednesday" - I choose to break the "silence" with a post, with words. :)
I was writing a friend last night and got going and when I was finally done, I looked at what I wrote and thought, "hey, that would be a good blog post!" So here it is... I added in a bit to make it flow better.
Life has been a little insane and crazy at our house. We are good here, life is a little up in the air and that makes it stressful at times, but all in all we are good. Kids are growing too fast, but you know all about that. R is becoming a little man and has been a little challenging lately with some talking back - we are trying to nip that in the bud. K also has an independent streak a mile wide with a mind of her own. :) And little Miss A can be stubborn as well. But no one said parenting wouldn't be a challenge. They are also the ones who bring me the most joy and happiness from just looking at me and grinning, or taking my hand, or wrapping their arms around my neck and squeezing til I can't breath. And they are the ones that cause my heart to skip a beat when they come running after I have been away, even for 10 minutes yelling "Mommy, Mommy!" They are also the ones who I see in the morning and just missed them all night. And the ones who I laugh at when they say cute things or do silly little antics. Yeah, I love being their mom.
I have slipped into a couple of weeks of depression after the May Long, seems like nothing I did was worth anything or getting me anywhere, showing any progress or "fruit" for my efforts whatsoever. But Monday I got out for a coffee and spent some time just journaling - in a book :) - haven't done that in awhile! Well, got a few things figured out and chose to be less self focused and think more about others and my family in particular. The words I wrote last night encouraged me, because I was feeling everything but loving being a mom. I have started reading 3-2-1 Magic - a parenting book that two different friends have recommended to me. I am in sore need of something and am looking forward to an even better relationship with my kids.
Probably doesn't hurt as well that I have gotten back into exercising in the past week and the endorphins are doing good things to my brain. :)
Well, the household stuff is calling. We'll see when I post again. :)

Wordless Wednesday - Bapa and Bama (according to A)

Wordless Wednesday - Love him SOOO much!

Wordless Wednesday - The whole Fam-damily

It was my parents 40th anniversary this year - we decided it was about time for family pictures.

Wordless Wednesday - Love, Life, Laughter

First taste

Celebrating R-A-Roo

My boy is five today. I cannot believe it, time has flown by SO fast. He is such a little man now- all grown up and helpful, caring and loving on his sisters. He is a sensitive boy - asking about others feelings and wanting to know when things are not OK.
He has a HUGE imagination, comes by that honestly. :) Both his father and I have great imaginations. His daddy tells him an ongoing story every night, "reads him a pretend story" as R calls it. R has now started "reading" his sisters "pretend stories" at night too. They are always about animals (or Veggies) who are looking for more friends, who have sleepovers and play together and he acts them out, moving around the room, "sleeping" under the crib as he tells that part. His sisters adore him, copying his movements, jabbering away as if they too are telling the story. I catch looks of adoration on A & K's faces when they look at him and it is so adorable. He is a great big brother. He has different relationships with his two sisters. With K, he watches TV and wrestles. With A, he reads stories and plays imaginary things. It is fun because it affords Mommy and Daddy time with the other girl as he does these things one-on-one with that sister usually. He loves hugging them - sometimes more than they want him to - and helping them along.
His imagination has also provided him with many "pets". We have Chippy the Squirrel, Candy the mouse, Heidi the cat, and the most famous, Dorothy the fish with her parents, grandparents, sisters and her brother Khaki. His whole class at school and anyone he plays with know about Dorothy the fish. She has a great many adventures, with and without Rhys. She comes with us most places, including holidays - sometimes including the rest of her family, sometimes not. Khaki was "pretend fish-sat" by our neighbor M (who sits the kids regularly and has been "introduced" to all his imaginary friends) and she had may stories to tell his about his adventures when we returned. Rover is his other best friend and he is still very attached to him. in fat, Rover has come on more outings lately than he ever did in the past. At school, they get to have a special day about once a month where they bring a show and tell item and R talked about bringing Rover for the entire month. He must've been talking to everyone at school as well, because when the day came yesterday, and his show and tell item was in a box and the kids were to guess, the first question one little boy had was "Is it your brown stuffed dog, Rover?" LOL He is so sweet and enthusiastic, so I guess we named him well. (That is the meaning of his first name.)
He loves his swimming lessons and music class and very much enjoys going to the "church with the ants" on Thursdays with Mommy and the girls (no they do not have an ant problem, but toy ants that are as big as my hand that he was scared with by another small boy last year :) and the "church by Calaway Park" where we go on Sundays. He has started talking about God and singing the songs he is learning and it is amazing all he remembers.
He is a son that I am very proud to call mine. I love him (and his sisters) more than I ever thought possible and cannot imagine life without him. Thank you God, for my R!

First Day of PreKindergarten

R on his first day - boy was he excited! He did so well too, and the anticipation was worse than the actual for this mommy.

Freakin' Hilarious - as the DH would say

Just click on the link - you won't regret it!
Mommy Dearest