Still Up...

Can't believe it's so late again but I can't sleep yet! maybe it's the sound of the men laying next to me who never slept a minute at his men's retreat :) I kid you not I hear him through the vents and I'm downstairs, maybe I'll just leave him the whole bed tonight :) I'm also feeling extremely grateful tonight and just happy. I feel thankful for my almost teenage daughter's friend who is here for a sleepover who just called and ask if she could come to church with us :) I mean does life get any better than this. Thankful for a busy crazy week-end at work but the opportunity to be with people and see how God can use me. Thankful for my two boys snuggled in bed together and the blessing that God provided Jake with HIS brother!
Thankful for a warm home, full of good food, warm fireplace, the incredible amount of material things that we have. Thankful for friends who drop off " 7" pairs of brand name shoes for my little ones and " brand new"

I'm so grateful to be looking forward to an other wonderful Christmas with my family and that I love them so much, A lot of people can't even stand Christmas music just because of all the bad memories it brings, I Chatted with a girl at work who seems so lonely and is just honest with the fact that she has nobody.

My heart is FULL and I am guilty of often forgetting the daily blessings but some days there are so many to count that I feel like it's Christmas morning and I've just opened too many wonderful gift from God.

I'm getting ready to go see my little sister Monday and needless to say that also has me very happy.

Where has October gone?

Life is good, busy and full of blessings. My family just came over for 4 great days and I always feel like I don't get to see enough of them, probably because I don't :( I see them 3 times a year if I'm lucky. We're back in the routine of school, piano, hockey, youth group and even eating more together since it's getting darker. We've been really bad at sitting down together in the past year, using our counter as family space but it's getting old and I was ready for a change. Last week I was shopping in the classified adds for dining room sets and found this older guy 15 min from here selling his mom's old Teak set large table "6" chairs so it's been a huge source of excitement here at our home. It still has the yellowish-greenish fabric on the chair that I love but we'll need to clean it up. So we'll be enjoying the rest of October and trying to spend more time eating together, and taking in the rest of the fall before it's time to make a Christmas list.

Joy

I took this picture on a really hot day this summer when I was inside cleaning dwelling on all the wrong things like my very small or the lack of a backyard, the fact that all I had that day for the kids was Joe's baby pool to splash in and all those things that were making me a very sad mommy and then I took a look at Emma outside :) so much to be thankful for.

A Long Day!

After a long day at day camp my baby was very tired and dirty :) I had lots of plans to make the most out of these 3 wonderful days but I decided to change my plans and enjoy a bit of that time instead of the intense heavy duty fall cleaning I had planned. Hubby was really busy and had a lot on his mind so we are putting off the painting until later on this fall. So I've done a little bit of this a little bit of that enjoyed some coffee with the girls, lunch with hubby, a bit of shopping, trying to organize the fall a bit. It has been really nice to have a break from the busyness. We are the neighborhood party house and although it's wonderful to have so many friends and action, the break was equally nice. We're enjoying these last couple of days of sunshine and trying to get ready for school! And hopefully an other day or 2 at the beach.

Taking it in...

We're alive and well. Enjoying summer to the max. We spent a week at a cottage that was givin to us for free, incredible blessing and we're getting ready to go spend a week with my wonderful little sister and her boys and then a week with Mamie and Papie in Québec. We've been going to bed really late and enjoying our lazy mornings. I love summer. The fall is approaching soon enough with too much to think about so we're just focusing on now and having lots of good times together and with family and friends

One on One

If I don't blog about the clouds it's about my kids, I promise I might put a recipe in there sometime :) Today Jakob had a dentist appointment so I picked him up from school he was really scared It's funny even at 10 how much he wanted to smooch on the dentist chair, he was crying a bit and really scared so it felt like he was just my baby still, the dentist kicked me out " OK MOM" he said he's a big boy !!! but I just wanted to keep kissing my jake and say "you will be OK" I think I needed him to need me. He so big and independent. We had a great chat on the way back where in a nutshell I found out he wanted to be 1. A pastor 2. A singer and 3. a cartoonist he changes his mind a lot so it's always fun to see where he's at. So I guess the $Dollar store owner goals have been changed :) I had such great hopes...

He also will marry a darkish-blondish girl (that covers all of them) he might have 1 or 2 or 3 kids :) he will drive a 4by4 "OR" a minivan. He also will live a town away but probably more like a street, actually even couple houses down and will visit at least 10 times a week :)( I've tough the boy well). He wasn't sure about want kind of activities he would like to do with his wife because "MOM" the stores might change by then. And he'll marry a MEDIUM size women :) So his life is looking good.

More funnies...

Tonight Joe was so tired by 5:00 he was ready for bed after a nice day, biking, playing with his friend and at the park so he was dirty, tired and EMOTIONAL. Because we have no fence yet we are all "very" close to each other with not much privacy, so Joe saw the little girl next door, playing and started to almost hyper ventilate "MOM" "MOM" my girl is outside, my girl is there I need to go play with her, but soon realized he was going to bed not outside so then proceeded to cry and cry deep wounded tears as he kept saying my girl is outside she wants to play. Of course the kids thought it was too funny and kept asking is that "YOUR" girl Joe? Just to have him answer in more tears my girl, see, my girl waiting for me :) I will miss these moments.

I'm looking forward to a quiet Saturday doing stuff around the house. I might even hit a yard sale or two. Hope you all have a great time with your families.

My funny girl.

So it's 2:30 am and I'm hearing all this noise in the bathroom so I got out of bed and waited in the hall to let whoever was in there know that they were way to loud and we were trying to sleep. After a few minutes Emma comes out and she's a GREAT sleeper so it kind of surprised me that she had to go to the washroom, but oh well. I said Emma next time don't move things around so much. She goes " Mommy why am I wearing a sun dress over my nightgown ? Who put it on for me? and why? " So I burst out laughing realizing she had taken her sleepwalking to an other level. We've seen her do many things from siting in closets, halls, standing at the end of our bed, but this time she got dressed, even buttoned up the 4 tiny buttons that she usually needs help with and went back to bed. When I got back in bed and told Bartley he said when he had come up to bed she was sleeping with her lights on.

Finishing the week-end

I love my hubby and love to hear him play. The kids all had their doors open tonight when they went to bed as we enjoyed song after song. A peaceful way to end our week-end. I came in the office to sit and took this picture with his Mac Photo booth:) ( pretty sneaky) I just love to see him at that piano makes me think of our dating years. We've had busy long week-end. Finally painting some of the hall-entry way. Maggy had a 3 day camping trip with youth group( her first ) and it seems like she biked for hundreds of km ( coming from a tired and dramatic 12 year old) . The kids each had a sleep-over on Saturday and got to go to a movie (narnia) with daddy this afternoon as I had to stay back and pick up Maggy. they had lots of fun even though it was wet and cold.

Gros bisoux xoxoox

Taking a minute to wish my mommy a happy mother's day and wishing we weren't so far apart. Hope you feel much better soon. Je t'aime

Last one I promise

OK so I'm an extremely boring blogger who only puts pictures of the sky but how could I not show this one :) We are back from our 10 days away with each other no kids and it was really good. I looooooove flying and can get really frustrated when there is a possibility I won't get a window seat and how can you blame me. I took picture after picture of the sunset just to realize they were all pretty much the same but it just felt like the right thing to do. Almost disrespectful not to. Half an hour of that sunset, it was out of this world. How powerful and amazing to see how God blesses us so much with his beauty and nature This summer our car broke down ( again) and we ended up getting it fixed about an hour away from home so the nice mechanic said we could take one of the cars he had for the day and come back the next day to get ours. All that to say there was a little sticker of Jesus on the passengers side and it struck me funny I guess it was a reminder of God, and I took a picture just because :) I'm so glad my God is bigger to me than a little sticker on my dashboard.

So now back to life and reality of the day to day but I feel good and very refreshed. And ready to take on this boy some more. He was doing a great job cleaning the windows for me.

Sunny days!

An other week is on it's way. We have had beautiful days here, lots of playing at the park which is really nice just to catch up with all the neighbors. The kids are riding there bikes, playing hockey, soccer in the field and enjoying all these sunny days. Joe and I even made it to the Zoo last week with some friends, he's still talking about the BIG BIG black gorilla. We are looking at 19 degrees on Wednesday :) good day to do windows.

It's an other busy week, we are having our ladies retreat this week-end which I am only attending this year :) kind of fun to be on the other side of things. And Sunday I leave with hubby for 10 days in Florida, he'll be really busy with conference and his board meetings at the beginning but we are looking to spend 4 days or so together :) on la playa after. I am excited to spend time alone, reading, breathing and feeling guilty for my amazing friend and family keeping the Sawatsky bunch. So no big news just the everyday. Life is in one of those too busy phase and we are looking to cut back some things to get a bit of our old family life back, and just to be a bit bored together, but for now I'm looking forward to being bored by myself a bit.

Peace...

Lately my boy hasn't had really regular naps and I rarely just sit while he's napping but wow the roaring of my fridge sounds nice and the keyboard but that's about it for noise :) I'm so thankful for this sunshine today and for the hope of all the things that summer brings, It's been a long Winter, my perennials are looking greener by the day. I can see the day approaching to get all the bikes tuned up and the lawn cleaned up and I can't wait. You can sense it in the kids (and mommy) how much they just need those long summer days when they play outside until it gets dark. My baby boy is definitely wanting out. I feel very grateful for an other season. Off to walk and enjoy!

As close as it gets.

never been good at writing down milestones in the kids life but this morning my baby was too cute he says look mommy weally weally big, a big man, little boy in the morning now big, big, big Josef then he puts his hands on his hips totally satisfied with the realization that he can now turn the lights on and off. I love the way he expresses himself and the words he uses to describe situation and I'm really happy to be " HIS PRECIOUS BOY"( that's what he calls me)

There is hope!

Today felt so great, the sun, the wind (cold, but amazing) We even saw a robin when we went for a walk after school, and the sidewalks were almost clear. Time to run Angie :). I think we'll be getting some more snow but I saw a bit of hope today just a small taste of Spring. It even smelled like mud. We had a really nice time with my family coming to visit for Easter, lots of cousin time for all the kids, lots of taking pictures and many many pots of coffee :) . I always feel so bless with the time we spend together even thought all 17 of us can get a small house feeling pretty full it's always very sad to see everyone go.

Come out, come out wherever you are!

Feeling kind of down from all these cloudy days since we've been back and the rain and the snow, all too gloomy for me. I can't wait to see the green leaves again, and open my windows, clean the garage plant some flowers, go on bike rides boys do I feel like complaining :( I'm avoiding my cleaning on top of that too much to do. Maggy is home for the third day, but feeling much better today. She took her brother to the dollar store this morning she couldn't stay inside any longer, she also picked her mommy up some coffee and cream you have to love this age :) Well I should snap out of my funk and go back to folding and ironing clothes. Hoping for a sunny week-end with my wonderful family.

Cousin Cuddles.

I should have knowned to wait before I told Joe his cousin was coming, I think he has said it, or sang it or chanted it over 60 times this afternoon " Isaac coming to our home now :)" He just won't stop I wish I could tape him ( not with duck tape thought that would be fun too ) 2 nights will seem really long here.

Highs & Lows

We are back from an other Sawatsky road trip and even though we might need a vacation from our vacation, if nothing else we created memories :) So here is a short way of summarizing our trip.
1. We had a week of great beach days, not super hot but great sun.
2. Nobody got sick until the last day.
3. Had lots of bonding time, playing bocce, looking for shells, shopping at the flea market, eating LOTS of Wendy's value meals, listening to good music, building sand castles
4. Had time away from home, work, school, SNOW :)
5. Enjoyed 50 hours of intense family time



And now the lows
1. Got an other speeding tickets, after 18 hours of driving the first day we were a bit eager to get to our first destination and 45 minutes short of getting there we got stopped.
2. On our way back our van got broken in and hubby's laptop, Maggy's camera and all of Jakobs's savings were stolen.
3. My Emma got really sick with a fever on the way home and has passed it on to all of us.
3. We have now had a taste of summer and will be very anxious to see this snow melt. I already miss the sun, the sand, the birds, the breeze.
4. I lost most of my pictures from our trip because they were already downloaded on Bartley's computer
5. I have LOTS of laundry

So by now we have learned that things happen and it's part of life and we have still feel extremely blessed to have had a chance to get away. God is good.

5 minutes

That's how much time I'm giving myself to post before we leave in 4 hours or so :) We're going to see my in-laws in Florida and very excited about it. We'll be there for 10 days including our 50 hour drives there and back. I'm feeling a bit nervous, not quit packed, but hoping to enjoy lots of time as a family. See you soon.

Don't Tell!!!

You know it's time to cook when you find this empty in the fridge :)

I think Maggy likes sugar :) There was only 1/4 of it left but still...

Recipe for " Happpy Toddler"

A new batch of blue KOOL-AID play-doh.
Some cold leftover pizza.
Lots of Ray Charles.
And there you have it 2 solid hours of fun with Joe.

February Loves xoxo

Well everyone's updating so got to follow the crowd :) it's been two months since I last blogged. We've had 3 b-days, Christmas holiday, and lots happening. It's been a good winter so far and lots to be thankful for. So I'm going to play along with Angie :) She's my friend...:) What are some of your new/rediscovered loves/likes? So here it goes


we are finally seeing little fingers and big ones too :) playing music in our home. After 14 years and many many trips to look at pianos we have finally bought a piano. Daddy and the kids are thrilled, I just listen end enjoy :) The kids are finally taking lessons for a REALLY good price and taking initiative to practice, even Joe tries composing his own tunes... " happy birthday to myself " is his favorite :)

I'm also loving browsing on all the wonderful artistic people that make things on the Etsy shops and have just found some amazing talents . Just found a fun piece and can't wait to see it in the mail.

Digging through some of my old CD's ( B.B.king) and discovering new one.

Shower gel from the body shop It just has that amazing, edible scent. The grapefruit one is also incredibly delicious smelling. I'm very protective of it as I have 2 other girls constantly digging through my stuff :) and using half a cup each time.

I'm rediscovering my days alone with just my boy, as I finished babysitting I have much more time with him. We've been swimming a couple of times together ( with his girl " Rory" of course). It's been nice and much more quiet around the house which means still very loud. He's been using his imagination a lot more. building fires almost every day, which consists of dumping any small objects in a big pile like 1000 piece puzzle, monopoly money and there you go you have it, his project, just now he walked in grabbed a music book and nail clippers and said it's for my fire :) I might want to redirect his interest before I have a pyromaniac on my hands. He loves putting his hands on his hips when he shows me. Makes him look much more serious :) He's also enjoyed things like drawing circles all over his body, or anything that requires lots of clean up but how can I resist him when he says " you my best friend mom" OK so he's number 4 and I'm just a big wimp!!!!

So this is my first attempt at blogging again.