Teddy Bear Picnic

At noon last Thursday, I was mending Beth's teddy bear in preparation for the Teddy Bear Picnic.  It was the last day of her library program and the finale was as none other than an afternoon Teddy Bear Picnic.  I've attended my share of Teddy Bear Picnics' over the years, but this one seemed particulary significant for me as it was my last.  In September, Beth is in school for full days and that means no more weekly Story Hour programs for her.   I soaked up every moment of that afternoon.  

Happy.

Happier.

Parachute time.

Let the picnic begin:)

"My Mom's realizing that this is the last Library program I will be a part of.  I'm growing up."

Delightful.

"Okay, Mom - stop -  that's enough photos!"

Spring

We spent our March Break in Virginia.  The 8 hour drive was so worth it when we woke up the following morning to mountains and warm weather.  I can't decide if I love being near mountains or being near water more.  Both humble me and make me feel small in a really good way.  Both bring me to a place of awe and wonder.  Both are really good for my soul.  And for that week in March, I loved being in the mountains.  

Over our March Break we were spoiled with sights of daffodils, bright blue skies, trees beginning to bloom, robins singing, butterflies (Beth counted 11 that she alone saw), sun on the skin (is there a better feeling?) and warm air.  We soaked it all up.  Ahhh.

 If that wasn't enough of a gift, we came home to spring weather:  windows open, snowsuits away, Easter decorations out, it's time to wash the car.  It almost made me want to start some spring cleaning.  Almost.  Now if this week could just warm up a bit...:)

Nicknames

My family is all about nicknames.  Let me clarify, I am all about nicknames.  Always have been.

To me, it's a term of endearment.

It began with my siblings.  Increased with time.  I gave my youngest brother the most.

I continued this tradition with my girls.

Grace quickly became "my little muffin", "muffy", "Gracie","Gracey-dee","Gracer"," GJ".

For Eva, it was "my little cupcake", "cuppy", "Evie", "Ever the beaver", "Beebs".

And last but not least, Beth became "Bethie" and then, "Beps" after she began referring to herself as "Beppy".

These names don't even include the ones Steve has made up over the years.

My girls have even nicknamed their younger cousins.

Term of love and affection, right?

How do you feel about nicknames?  Do you give them to the people that you love?

Family Day Weekend

For all kinds of really great reasons, the weekends leading up to Family Day weekend were really busy.

As we looked at our calendar for the Family Day long weekend, we realized that we didn't have many plans and as the weekend got closer, we made the radical (for us) choice to keep it that way.  Other than an overnight Grace had planned, a long awaited breakfast date that I had on Saturday morning with girlfriends, Church on Sunday and skating on Monday afternoon, our weekend was pretty open.

This weekend turned out to be fantastic.  Can you believe I told Steve that I think I enjoyed it more than Christmas holidays?  Friends spontaneously dropped by on Friday night for a couple of hours.  Steve had time to work on the construction of our new mudroom.  We rented movies.  Planned spontaneous friend sleepovers for the girls.  Tried 2 new dinner recipes that were BIG hits (and that is saying a lot!).  Napped.  Skated.  Walked.  Hung out and rested.  The fact that the sun was shining was pure bonus.  I feel like my soul was enlarged this weekend and I actually feel refreshed.  Tonight my cup feels full.

Going into this weekend, I was praying for God's peace to rule in our family.  Peace that would permeate and settle in deeply - in our home, in our hearts and minds, in our conversations and so on.  My hope and dream for the weekend was that we would "ruthlessly eliminate hurry from our lives".  It was a quote I had heard from a study our Mom's group had done a few years back ( I believe the credit goes to John Ortberg).  That was my prayer for the weekend.  And God delivered big time.

More and more, I'm seeing the value in taking time to slow down, rest, create margin and leave room for the unexpected and spontaneous.  One of my goals for 2012 is to do more of it:)

Happy Family Day!

p.s.  the recipes I mentioned can be found here and here.

And the winners are...

And the winners of the Jesus Storybook Bible are:

Kristal and Krista.  Congratulations!  I'll be in touch to get those to you asap:)

Kristal -This Bible looks great! We were planning on buying Maja a Bible for Christmas, but haven't gotten it yet! And of course, Callie would enjoy hearing stories with her big sister :)

Krista - This book looks beautiful! I was just at the Christian book store the other night looking for a bible for Lauren as a Christmas gift. This one looks perfect. Thanks for mentioning it :)

I used www.random.org to choose the winners, which was just as well, because after I read all of the comments, I wanted to give all of you a bible:)

If you didn't win and would still love to own a copy or purchase one as a gift, you can do so here.  It would make a great Christmas gift :)

And don't worry!  If you didn't win this time, I've got another giveaway planned for the New Year - from Dr. Ellis Jones at Better World Shopper.  Fun!

"Hammy"

So, my 10 year old daughter just bought her first pet.  It was her 10th birthday and all she wanted to do was buy a hamster.  Using the birthday money she received from her Nana, she bought her hamster and all of the hampster necessities (which ironically btw cost more than triple what the hamster cost!).  She named this little creature, "Pebbles Chrysanthemum".  However for some reason, I can't stop calling the little girl critter, "Hammy".  So as far as I am concerned, "Hammy" it is.  What is it about me, I can't seem to call anyone by their actual name?  I insist on making up names for people - my siblings, my kids, my neices and so on.

Anyways, this was a huge deal for Eva.  We don't have any pets and she has been longing for a pet pretty much since she could talk.

In the summer, she "hamster-sat" her friend Kira's hamster for 2 weeks.  Talking about it recently, she told me, "Mom, those 2 weeks were the best 2 weeks of my life."  She was dead serious.

On Eva's birthday last week, here is a conversation that we had first thing in the morning.   I couldn't resist sharing it.  Sometimes I wish I could get on video some of the things that come out of this girls's mouth.  Priceless.  It went like this:


Me :  how's hammy this morning?

Birthday Girl:  dead as a doorknob.

Me:  pardon?

BG:  dead as a doorknob.

Me:  pardon?

BG:  Mom, it's just an expression.  Means she is fast asleep.

Me:  makes sense.  She had a big ordeal last night.  I'm sure moving her from the pet store to our house was pretty tramatic and even stressful for her.

BG:  Mom.  Are you kidding?  Yesterday was the greatest day of Pebbles life.  The day every hamster dreams of.

Me:  Speechless.

Advent Tags

Last year, my friend Lori made these amazing advent tags for her family.  What a great way to prepare their hearts for Christmas.  I totally want to make these for my family this Christmas (I need to get started asap!).   I love this idea and asked for her permission to share it with you.  So, here you go - thank you Lori!

Here's what Lori wrote in a facebook note last December about her Advent Tags:

"To save anyone else the hassle of writing the Christmas story in 24 bite size chunks, I've copied it below for you. I used the NIV version (because it's the closest to the way I memorized it growing up, although it is missing the word "swaddling," which I desperately wanted to add!). I only took liberties with the Wise Men part so I could squeeze it all in. To that end, King Herod got kicked out of the story. I tried to keep each day short enough so that I could hold Sebastien's attention (age 6). I'm expecting to lose Xavier (age 4) this year. Molly Irwin (inspiration website from earlier post) uses verses from all over the Bible to include prophesy. I just wanted to keep it to the narrative.

In an ideal world, there would be a small, thin Christmas tree in my front foyer on which every day we would add a tag. I'm sure it would be beautiful by Christmas day.  We'll be taking them from their wooden bowl and placing them either on the mantel greenery or on the big tree. Maybe next year I can get that small tree."

Here's the story:


1
In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin’s name was Mary.


2
The angel went to her and said, “Greetings, you who are highly favoured! The Lord is with you.”


3
Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favour with God.


4
You will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus.


5
He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, his kingdom will never end.”`


6
This is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about: His mother Mary was pledged to be married to Joseph, but before they came together, she was found to be with child through the Holy Spirit.


7
Because Joseph her husband was a righteous man and did not want to expose her to public disgrace, he had in mind to divorce her quietly.


8
But after he had considered this, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary home as you wife, because what is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit.


9
She will give birth to a son, and you are to give him the name Jesus, because he will save his people from their sins.”


10
When Joseph woke up, he did what the angel of the Lord had commanded him and took Mary home as his wife.


11
In those days, Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman World. And everyone went to his own town to register.


12
So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of Daivd.


13
He went there to register with Mary, who was pledged to be married to him and was expecting a child.


14
While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son.


15
She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.


16
And there were shepherds living out in the field nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night.


17
 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.


18
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.


19
Today in the town of David, a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.


20
Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”


21
When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”


22
So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph and the baby, who was lying in a manger.


23
After Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, Magi from the followed the star they had seen in the east until it stopped over the place where the child was.


24
On coming to the house, they saw the child with his mother Mary, and they bowed down and worshiped him. Then they opened their treasures and presented him with gifts of gold and of frankincense and myrrh.


Do you have any traditions in your home to prepare for Christmas?  I'd love to hear them : )

I love a great homecoming!

Steve and I arrived home at 1 a.m. this past Friday morning from our week long vacation in Mexico!  After travelling for 15 hours, we were dying to see our girls.

What a welcome we received.  If this doesn't make you feel loved, I don't know what does.

My sister also happened to fill our urns for us while we were gone.  Yay!  As I've mentioned before, my family gives homemade gifts for Christmas (you can read about that here) and filling our urns was our early Christmas gift from her.

Here's what I came home to:

So fun.  The best part is that my sister, Lauren is coming back in a few weeks to take out the fall pieces and to insert some Christmas pieces.  Needless to say, I am esctatic.  My urns needed some attention and as far as I am concerned, she can make this an annual tradition:)

Nurturing my Creative Side

A while back, Beth knocked over and accidently broke the large mirror that we had leaning up against our bedroom wall.  Fortunately, she was not hurt.  But it seriously was a close call!

Once I recovered from the near accident (which took me a while - you know how hard Mom's can be on themselves), I decided to use what was left of the mirror somewhat creatively....

I broke up the mirror and with my creative friend, Sue's help made a mirror/mosaic backsplash in my kitchen.

Next, I had to decide what to do with this....

Voila!

I taped around the inside of the frame and painted with 2 coats of  chalkboard paint.

Here is the finished product hanging in my kitchen.  I can't even begin to tell you how much I love it!  It makes a great 'communication board' and the girls think it's awesome.

 Here's one more photo, just for fun :)

Camping 101

Last week Steve and I went camping with our three girls.  We were camping for 10 days and it was fantastic.  If you know anything about my husband, you'll know that he LOVES to camp.  He lives for it.  He was born for it and he is the best possible version of himself when he is camping.  On the drive home from our camping trip, I took the liberty of interviewing Steve.  He humoured me and what a great sport he was :)

How long have you been camping?  "35 plus years"

What are your favourite things about camping?  "the outdoors, pace of life, campfires"

Any advice for first time  campers?  "go for it.  It's a great and inexpensive way to spend time with family and friends"

Any favourite camping items?  Things you can’t live without?  "pie-irons, beach toys, griddle for making breakfast, axe"

Favourite camping meals/snacks?  "breakfast, apple and mars bar pie irons, pringles, purple fanta"

Best camping investment?  "my broil king portable barbeque"

Favourite campground?  "MacGregor Point Provincial Park"

How do you keep the bugs away when camping?  "don’t shower" jk

How do you cope with rain when camping?  "my tarp - rainy day camping is better than a day elsewhere"

Do you own patio lanterns?  "nope - just Christmas Lights"

On average, how much do you spend a week at the camp store on candy?  "75 dollars"

Camping nick names?  "Sugar", "Luke" (from Gilmore Girls)

Readers, what do you love about camping?  Any questions you would want me to ask my resident, expert camper?

getting caught up in the world of blogging..

Okay, so this is long overdue.  Here is a glimpse into our Disney/Florida family vacation from this past April (2011).

This trip was a huge deal for our family.  It was the first time that Grace and Eva had ever been on a airplane and it was the first time that the 5 of us had ever been to Disney.  Yep, that's right.  Even Steve and I.  This trip was our gift to the girls from this past Christmas and grandparents gave the girls money for Christmas toward their trip and so on. All this to say that this trip was a huge deal.  We loved it and soaked it up!  We're already dreaming of the day that we can go back : )

heading to Downtown Disney on the Wednesday night of our trip - Grace took this photo : )

arriving at Magic Kingdom

"Dumbo"

"a dream come true" for Beth

pure magic

it was the hottest day and I'll never forget how that ice cream hit the spot!

each of the girls picked a souvenir and to our dismay, Eva picked a Disney spray bottle/fan.   Although, Steve and I had to admit that it came in super handy and kept us cool!  She was delighted and that's what counts : )

such a fun day - we were sad to leave - great memories were made!  can't wait to go back!

My baby Girl is 4!

Yesterday we celebrated Beth's 4th Birthday.  Can you believe it?  These days we are celebrating a girl who has a larger than life personality, talks 24/7, lives to be around people, has her sisters wrapped around her finger and who has changed our family and our lives forever.  We can't imagine life without you Beth and our family is a million times better because of you!
We love you, girl!