Halloween

Drew and I have agonized over halloween.  We have read about the background of halloween, and its pretty scary stuff.  We have also read other parents views, of the harm of it and of the joy of it.  We have waddled back and forth, between turning our lights off or turning them on.  We have wondered if halloween can really just be about dressing up and going door to door.  Despite the darkness of the night.  

We know people who are against it and people who are for it.  Both groups are filled with parents we respect and love.  We've watched our neighbors get to know each other and they are excited for this evening.  And we have decided that we are going to turn our lights on.  To welcome our neighbors.  As parents we will focus on the fun of it and teach them not to be greedy about it.  As they get older we'll explain the darkness.  I don't want us to fear as Christians either, for in the darkness there is redemption.    

So this weekend we carved pumpkins.  Drew did actually while I puttered in the kitchen.  Listening to them laughing and giggling.  Watching as Maddie came along and quickly chomped on the side of the pumpkin.  See the tear, that was from denying her the seeds. She apparently loves pumpkin, she would lick her fingers and run them along the inside and lick some more.

It was a fun weekend.  And while we put our pumpkins out the neighbors were doing the same.  We were laughing and there was a togetherness that was felt. Maybe it CAN just be about dressing up.  We live in an uncertain world, where not everything is black and white and this is difficult for us.  We LIKE black and white, its easy.  But there is a whole lot of grey and that is hard.

Perhaps as the kids get older and ask more questions we will change our minds.

But for now, we will dress the kids up and walk around our neighborhood.  We're not going far and the kids will just have little bags.

And they are excited.  Carving the pumpkin was fun.  And the pumpkin seeds roasted in the oven were tasty.

Happy Monday to whatever you are doing tonight, whether it is going out or having a family night!

Adventures of a 10 month Old

I'm baby number 3.  I don't stop moving and am completely capable of keeping up with my older siblings.  Where they go I will go, what they eat I want to eat.  When they cry I cry and when they dance I dance.  And when the camera comes out it is game time!

A game of sitting perfectly still, and then when Mommy goes to snap the pictures I twist and make a run for it.

Then I look down and search for forgotten cheerios.

sticking out a tongue makes a great picture

Finally!  and the once clean face is now full of snot.....  and Mommy will give up and put the camera away.  

How DO you take pictures of a 10 month old?!

Fun Stuff

Thanks to pinterest (which I completely love and don't know how to say...) I found this activity for kids.  Baking soda on a plate, an eye dropper and a wee bit of vinegar.  Using food colouring we coloured the vinegar (the cups in the picture are our painting cups, cut down for a less likely spill).  The kids had a riot, and I could get a good bit of dinner cooked.   The best thing...all of it I had in the house!

 And I didn't have to sit with them, although I did for awhile, it was so cool that I waited in anticipation  for my turn.  I'm not sure we ever grow up......  

And when they started asking questions about why these mini volcanoes happen, and it became apparent that I slept my way through grade 10 chemistry, I just grabbed extra food colouring and distracted them by "what happens if I add yellow to the blue."  You can do that too, or you can just google it first.....I should have done THAT.

Try it, if your kids are younger then 4 you might need to sit with them, and not cook dinner, Jacob was fine cause he had his big sister in charge, but if it was just Jacob......well I would have had to be there for every second of the eruptions.

The kids liked it so much in fact, that when Daddy came home they did it again after dinner.  And it was easy to clean-up, and kept them busy for awhile....

Here's to fun activities for kids that are not to messy and don't require an extra shopping trip!

Nap time

Nap time is a bit sacred in this house.  The walls bounce with noise all day and then for a brief time in the afternoon it is silent.  Kaylin plays quietly during this time, or we do an activity together, writing and drawing, but even these noises are soft.  Easy to listen to. 

And slowly I seem to be losing these quiet moments, or at least they are changing.  It is no longer a time when all the kids are napping, their needs are different.  Maddie sleeps in the morning and late afternoon, and once she's onto one nap Jacob will most likely be growing out of his.  So nap time has become quiet time.  Maddie crawls around, or plays in her playpen, the beds are stacked with books and games that can be quietly played with.  In this house quiet time is important.  For them, for me.  I have a bit of time to regroup and prepare myself for the noise that will come later.  We are a loud family.  And so quiet is not common around here.  And lately I find myself longing for something that is relatively unknown to me.  Quiet.  When I walk I no longer listen to my ipod, I find that I start with the earbuds in my ears and then somewhere along the way I pull them out.  To walk by oneself and enjoy the sounds of evening, its beautiful.  And funny to me how times have changed for this to be so important.

There has been many tea parties in our house.  And so imagine the surprise and joy of a little girl when a friend drops off a tiny set perfect for this little girl who has suddenly fallen in love with princesses.

This little girl, she has started to dance.  When the music is playing I find her plopped down by the radio and she lifts her little arms in the air and starts bouncing.  Her ear infection has lifted and her happy smiles are being enjoyed once again.

And Jacob.  He gets stuck everywhere.  In boxes, in exersauces, under cribs, in chairs.  The little boy who was potty trained for just over 2 weeks and then decided that he wanted nothing to do with it.  And after many tears and awful days we have decided to stop and go back to diapers and try again later.  That would be attempt number 4.  How different kids are, Kaylin was trained a year older than he is now.  At that time I thought I had parenting down pat, potty training figured out.  It only took the second child to make me realize that kids are so different and parenting has to adapt accordingly.

At dinner last night we read Noah and the Ark, and when Jacob was asked what animal Noah used to see if earth was appearing, he replied "Onoah sent a PEACOCK.....".

And when Kaylin informed me that they made up their own game, about a baby who got lost in the woods and wanted me to guess what they named this new game.  She leaned forward, dramatically raising her eyebrows and answered for me....its called.................

the baby who got lost in the woods!!! 

Happy nap time to you all!

Great Thanksgivings

And the entire weekend was a success.  Drew and I managed to cook an entire turkey dinner on Saturday.  Actually, I did most of the cooking but he kept the kids out of my kitchen which was equally important and equally tiring:)

My intent was to do a how to cook a turkey segment on here.  I started with lots of pictures of an uncooked turkey...but somewhere between the turkey being basted for the 100th time and the potatoes being mashed and the gravy being mixed and the applesauce heated and the stuffing checked, the camera was left forgotten on the piano.  But the food turned out great and we had a wonderful day with Drew's family! 

Playing and reading with cousin Liam!  I love love LOVE when the kids get time with their cousins.

Monday we spent the day with my family, a huge breakfast was served and then we went for a hike.  It was a perfect day, the end to a seriously wonderful weekend.  And for now I'm just posting pictures of Drew and the kids:)  And this is all I got right now 'cause sorting through all the pictures seems exhausting.  And Maddie's not sleeping well at night (terrible) and Jacob is a bear.  Better days tomorrow hopefully!

Watching in amazement as Drew shows them my Moms new i-pad.  Drew They were hooked:)

Awkward.....

Gobble Gobble

I get asked sometimes if I wish I had gotten a degree, if I wish I had pushed back marriage a couple of years.

I love my life.  As simply as it may be, I have been blessed, so blessed with a happy marriage.  I married young, my husband is 7.5 years older than me, that has a way of changing plans.  Before we met I had dreams of degrees and of traveling.  The Lord had different plans and I met Drew and quickly realized that my life was going to take a different turn.  And its been a GOOD path.  A path full of bumps, tears, exhaustion, laughs and memories.  A path that has made me grow, that has taught me contentment and what it means to be thankful.

Nothing sweeter than sisters and bed-head!

I'm 26, I have three little ones, a husband who loves me deeply, a strong relationship with both our families.  A church family who I love, friendships that I cherish.  A turkey sitting in my fridge that I am itching to cook tomorrow.  A thanksgiving menu that has had my attention this past week.  A simple life.  One that may not be glamourous, seems old-fashioned and even boring to some.

I'd disagree though.  I'm 26.  With a family around me, children whom the LORD has blessed us with.  A family that needs me.  A thanksgiving dinner that needs to be cooked and served.  A home, a HAPPY home.  Even in the tempers of a little boy who disagreed with me that oatmeal was a good choice for breakfast:)  I have been blessed.  Deeply blessed.  This is my life.  And you know what?  It IS a good life!

I'd say I have a LOT to be thankful for!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO YOU ALL!!!

Time well Spent

I've been quiet over here.  It started with a conversation with a friend, who encouraged me to try doing a 10 things before 10 o'clock challenge (from a book I think?).  I'm a stay at home Mom.  I love it.  But I don't want to be just at home I want to be GOOD at being at home.  Use my time wisely.  Monitor my onscreen time and use the time to teach and train these little ones, show them what it means to glorify God in all that we do.  Accountability for time wasted is important.  I have been saddened lately at how often i go out with the kids, to the park or a library story time and see Moms so busy texting, missing these moments with their kids that are gone so quickly.

And I judge and then I realize that I do the same, not when i'm out with the kids but when i'm at home.  When I ignore them because i'm online looking for ideas for their bedrooms or I have my nose in a book and get disgruntled when I have to get up and parent.  I fear that it is easy to be at home in body.  Much harder to be home and parent.  And so by doing 10 things before 10 o'clock means that my house is tidy, the kids are feed and changed, beds are made and the floors are mopped (or whatever is on your list of 10). And then we have the whole day.  We paint or do a craft and then we have a snack.  We go for a walk, we read stories.  They have their own time to play and I have a bit of time to read or browse on the computer.  I am trying to be careful with my time and to use it wisely.  And my days have been busy.  Full.  

We have painted and I have used the nap times to work with Kaylin.  Together we are working on letters and numbers and I found some computer games online (Scholastic.com has some good educational ones for 4 year olds).  She thrives on the time that is spent together.  They all do.

And the nap time is quickly used up.  Jacob has developed a love of painting, he is a quantity over quality type of painter.  The more paper he fills the better.  Its hard to keep up with him.  The more I do with the kids the more I realize how much more I can be doing.

And just as the days started getting better, a good pattern to our day established, a routine doctors check-up for Maddie confirmed my suspicions of an ear infection.  And sleep has been sporadic.  And Jacob has decided to un-potty train himself.  And i have cleaned-up up 6 pairs of underwear full of something that no mom wants to clean-up in one day.  And this is day three of doing that.  And Maddie has decided that despite the sleepless nights the days are meant for destruction and she moves fast.

And I've learned that you just have to go with it.  And it is a blessing to be home and a blessing to have friends who encourage you to re-evaluate the time you spend.

And slowly we'll start to get back into the schedule that works so well for us.  

Now does anyone know how I can get this almost 3 year old to re-potty train himself???.......