Wonderfully Quiet

What a deliciously slow morning I'm having. After a busy week Kaylin slept in, I finished my book. Still in jogging pants. Totally and wonderfully oblivious to the loads of laundry needing to be done. And even more oblivious to the breakfest dishes sitting on the counter, completely ignoring the floors which are screaming out to be scrubbed. Sometimes its good to be oblivious. Not lazy, but taking a morning and enjoying it as it comes. They are becoming few and rare. My days start early, 6:30ish. Usually by the time the kids are finishing up their toast and fruit I've succeeded in making beds and putting in a load of laundry. Not today. Once Jacob wakes up I will slowly get them ready to go grocery shopping. Today is a day meant to be enjoyed and savoured. That is what I am going to do.

This is to show a glimpse of who Jacob and Kaylin are. They are siblings, sometimes so similiar, yet so different. They run around the house chasing eachother with these strollers.



In the strollers they carry their treasured possessions. One carries a ball and a cup, the other a favorite stuffed animal. The things that they deem most important to them. Yet one is not less important than another. Kaylin has carred "Bobo" around since she was able. Loving him, punishing him, changing him. Jacob cares only about balls. All day he looks for balls he has hidden in different places. Drops onto his stomach looking under furniture and beds to see if he lost one. Bobo shows a motherly instinct in Kaylin, I'm still trying to figure out what it means to have a son so drawn to throwing and kicking round things.

Perfect Parenting

When I think back to the ideas Drew and I had when pregnant with our first child, I laugh. We were never going to raise our voices, now we shut the windows before we raise that same voice. Our children were going to sit perfectly still in church, the first time. Now we're going on week 8...and she still has a wiggle bum (Kaylin's words). In public we were going to pull them aside when they needed punishment. We've both gotten good at slapping a little hand away from tables while drinking our coffees and holding a conversation. Tempers in stores? not even thinkable. Now sometimes when Jacob throws one I just want to laugh at how ridiculous he looks. All these ideas, and yet some of parenting I could never have imagined. I think you need to come up with ideas and when you become a parent you need to have room for change. And acceptance. Acceptance that you will make mistakes, but that in those mistakes your children need to see your love for them. To be able to sit back and say, "I was wrong". Its okay to change your mind about things while you grow. Its apart of it.



Then there's moments when you realize all the imagining in the world can't prepare you for some moments. Saturday was one. I was looking for Kaylin and Drew, found them sitting in the work van, Drew drinking a beer while Kaylin "drove" him to the dentist, then to zoo and I believe Fortinos. It was a moment when I realized how blessed I was. And I love how both Drew and I are getting better at just stopping for a little while and just being with the kids. Now Kaylin tells everyone she meets she drove Daddy to the dentist :)

Adventures

Its been rather hectic around here. Most of our time is spent outside. The front garden is cleaned up a bit and now its time to tackle the back. On nice days I wonder what I did during the winter months when we were stuck inside. Those months are hard for stay-at-home moms. Being able to open that back door and chase the kids outside is wonderful. The tv is on less, the kids are happy and I have some space. The kids also sleep better at night! Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to live somewhere where the weather was always this nice. On the other hand, I love Canada for the diverse seasons. A cold winter sure makes you appreciate spring!



The wonderful things about spring is the making plans for summer vacation. Last year we went cottaging with my entire family, the year before we went camping with Drew's family. This year is our first year with the kids that we are on our own! And so we're camping, at McGregor Point. We were going to stay closer to home but decided that three hours away is perfect. We'll get away from everything around us for one entire week. We've rented a trailor from another couple in our church and we're going on an adventure. Camping is a lot of work with small children, but we do it for the family. For the family to get away every year with just us. To spend time hiking and swimming, reading and playing. I know this trip will be a lot of work for me. I've heard Moms say that you almost need a holiday from camping when your done. Yet there's something important about taking time off with your family. Its important to Drew and I that we get used to doing something with just the four of us. To not always have a need to go on holidays with others. A time for Drew and I to sit at a campfire and chat when the kids are in bed. And so we booked our campsite last night. We poured over the maps of the campground trying to find the site that was relatively close to a comfort station, but not to close. It was fun and I can't wait!

Living Above Worry and Stress

Sometimes I think about what to write for a couple of days. The ideas swirl around my head, they never come out like I thought they would. Other days I just start to write. Which is today. I was going to write about the kids but have this desire to write about stress. My dearest girlfriends and I meet once a month to go through this book. Its rather easy reading, nothing super heavy. About the speed we all want late at night when the kids are in bed. But sometimes the easier reads are exactly the reminders that God wants us to have. The reminder to step back from our busy lives and put our focus on where its most important. On God, our families and our church lives.

Being at home can cause you to be too busy with small obsessions, the state of your house, the clothes that you buy your children, your garden, your tv even your books. These things are okay on their own but when your focus is on them all the time its not. We talked about stress in your life, how to deal with this and how to put your focus on God and your family. I came home feeling motivated to change some of the things I do. To cut back on some things to make room for the more imporant ones. Like focusing on my family and on my personal relationship with God. I will admit, my house at the moment is not as clean as it usually is. But its okay. We've been to the park, we've played outside and we've worked in the garden. The dog has been walked more this week than in the last month, Drew and I have sat outside in the back before dinner. And tonight we're having a date night. A night out for dinner and some shopping, to spend a gift certificate at Chapters. With a coffee in one hand and our other to hold books and just be together. To have friends challenge you to look at your life, and to set your priorities is a blessing.



My gardens coming to life! The first spring in this house is exciting for me. As I have planted nothing in the garden I get the wonderful surprises of what someone else has planted. We seemed to have similar taste, I'm loving everything. These flowers (above) are scattered throughout the front. When I step onto my porch I smell them before I see them. They are my favorite at the moment! This week I was reminded to enjoy these small things as well. To stop and smell the roses is an expression we often say but to actually stop. Its a beautiful thing!

Shutting Down

8:14a.m. both kids are bathed and tucked back in bed. Yep....I said it...they are back in bed. Now it doesn't mean that they will be there long, just that for the moment I can tell myself that these tired children who need more sleep will sleep. They woke up crying, rubbing their eyes. After an hour and half I had enough. I may regret this decision by this afternoon, but sometimes thats what parenting is all about. Making the best choice at that moment and going with it. A morning nap may be just what the doctor ordered. This picture may be fuzzy but you get an idea of the face that greeted me this morning!



On to the weekend. We had a wonderful weekend! Saturday we had a bbq with my family. Always good times, good discussions, good debates. I wish I took pictures but I forgot. I always do. And Sunday was nice. We have a rule, Sunday during the day is busy but at night its our night. The house is usually cleaned the day before just so that I can relax at some point, I sometimes even make dinner the night before to make life a bit easier. We either have people over for coffee in the morning or go somewhere for coffee after the morning church service. After that the house can start collecting the afternoon dust. And on Monday's I tackle it. Its amazing how quickly a house can change a look just by having two adults and two kids running around. Drew and I have decided to do something else on Sundays, power-off. Not because we think its wrong, but simply to give us a break, we choose Sunday because its the only day that we for sure have together with the kids. To have one day a week where we are not checking our e-mails, reviewing minutes or in a panic because we forgot to do something. To keep this day away from the business of life and just enjoy us.



See those delicious looking buns?? Yep...I made them, well not those ones I stole that pictures from the internet. The ones I made got eaten so fast I didn't even take a picture. But I accomplished the task of baking bread from scratch, and spent an afternoon kneading and letting it rise...and it was well worth the effort!

Appreciation for Parents

This morning I laid in bed trying to block out the noises of morning, alarm clocks are no problem to me anymore, but a little girl standing by my bed saying "I need to snuggle with you and tell you all about swimming lessons", is a bit harder. And she did, and I understood for the first time of what I may have been like as a child. Non-stop chatting, excited about everything from the moment she wakes to the moment she sleeps, not waiting for answers, not noticing that our eyes are beginning to close again, it continues, I do love it. Althought I could do with it starting a bit later in the day, perhaps after a coffee? To my parents I say thank-you and understand what they meant when they said to me "just wait...until you have a child and you know what we went through". I do Mom and Dad, I really really do!

Spring Rain

Normally I detest rain, at the same time as trying to be thankful for rain. Spring rain is a bit different for me. You can practically see the grass turning greener by each blink. So I'm deteremined to stay cheerful for the sake of having green grass.....which hopefully will result in no more bald patches in our yard, which will hopefully mean Jacob's pants will stay clean a bit longer. perhaps. That being said it is challenging finding activities for the kids! So this morning we headed off to the library for story time. The kids love it, I love it and we come home happy and in time for naps. Or at least what I thought was going to be naptime. I'm perplexed. Today Kaylin is sleeping and Jacob is not. I scratch my head and try to figure it out, only to realize there's no point. They'll switch it up tomorrow. Somedays I'm convinced they plot against me. To remind me that life is not in what we plan, but in how we cope when the plans don't work. Very difficult for me. But I try. And take pictures of what the little-boy-who-should-be-sleeping is doing instead.

On the brighter side at least he comes and gets me when he's spilled something, and points and jabbers.

Kaylin started swimming last week and LOVED it! Our entire little family went. I waited by the pool until it was her turn. Not sure of what I would be dealing with. Tears? Hesitation? nope. The swimming instructor held out her hand and Kaylin was off, not looking back once. And when she was done and I went in to pick her up she looked at me beaming and said "I did it Mommy, I put my face in the water and EVERYTHING!". For the past days before her lessons she was worried about this, she would mention it when I tucked her in, or at the breakfast table. I told her that if she was scared to tell her to instructor. She over-came her fear and she was so happy. I know this will not always be the case, that at times she'll need more encouragement and it will become bigger fears that she will need to face. But for now, putting her face in the water was a big deal, and I was proud of her! And when I went into her room this morning she had her swimsuit in her little backpack all ready to go. You can learn a lot from these little people!

Easter Weekend

What a wonderful, glorious weekend! The celebration of God sending His Son so that we might live, remembering His suffering on the cross and the discovery of the empty grave. We struggle with how to share this with our children. They are young, a couple of easter eggs won't hurt them. But as parents we are beginning our traditions with our little family and it is these beginnings that will shape how we as parents put God first in everything. The world so easily takes over and the Easter bunny can so easily become of the focus for these little children. At our VBS program a couple of weeks ago we used Resurrection Eggs.



Inside each egg is a symbol, the first one is the donkey, another one is the crown of thorns that Jesus was made to wear. With each symbol you tell the story of God sending down HIS Son to us. It went over well. (Kaylin was a bit more concerned with what was in the pink egg) but every year we will do this. And it will become apart of our tradition. And in a couple of years we will hid these eggs among the chocolate ones and we will get the nieces and nephews and our own to take turns telling us the story. After the story we sent the kids out for an Easter egg hunt.



Emma and Jacob thought there were more important things than chocolate eggs.




When Oma tried giving Jacob his easter goodies he may have grabbed them and threw them aside. In favor for a motorbike. We may have our hands full with this one!



And do you know what Kaylin said to me last night, "God died for us didn't He Mommy". And I realized that what we do is not in vain. And each year we will teach them a little bit more. And we will continue the fight that our parents fought, and our grandparents fought, and the fight that we know our children will fight. The fight to put God first in a world that a has no use for Him.

"For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life". John 3:16

Adventures in a Grocery Cart

If grocery carts could talk...the things they would tell us! Once a week I pack the kids up to do groceries. Some weeks I take a break and wait until their in bed, and go with a coffee in one hand. I loved going with the kids, until Jacob turned 1..since that big day its been a series of eggs thrown out of carts, apples dumped out, squished bread. Kaylin asking "Mommy, are you going to hurt me when I get home". What do you say? I give her my sternest Mother face and say "sit on your bum!" and ignore the questions she asks. I take them not because its easy but because its a part of teaching them. Teaching them to sit quietly, to listen, to not get what they want. And they are improving. Kaylin has become a terrific little helper. She counts out the apples for me, and has even graduated from sitting in the buggy to sometimes walking alongside.

Jacob, well he is a handful but I discovered something that makes him sit still and smile. I simply say "Jacob, wheres the ball?". The tears dry, the frown becomes a smile and I hear "ball", said with a bit of a French accent. "Ball" he repeated every two seconds and he spent the next 40 minutes looking for one. I felt a bit guilty, but once got to the van pulled out the trusty favorite toy from the floor and gave it to him. I wonder how long this will last?

I gather the courage to face the stores with them, but when we get home I need to do the task that is my LEAST favorite. I detest it, but it needs to be done. The unloading, the cleaning of the fridge and the putting away of the food. This is what happens when the kids help. Its rather self-explanatory.