Snow Day!!!!!

This winter has had its fair share of snow, which has resulted in a few snow days. Although I have not been teaching for 4 years, a snow day still gets me all excited!! I eagerly anticipate them, checking the weather the night before and checking the news the morning of, to see if the schools in the area have a snow day. And when school is cancelled, my heart beats a little faster as I am excited for a day off! That is, until I hear "Mom, can I come out of bed??".

Snow days weren't always exciting. Way back when I was a kid, a snow day was actually not very fun at all. It would be a day filled with tension, walking around in hushed tones, tiptoeing so as not to wake my dad or some of the employees that were crashed at our house to catch up on some much needed sleep before they had to go snow clear again. My dad owned a landscaping company, which included snow clearing in the winter. That business was in the basement of our house, with a two-way radio and business phone in our kitchen. And let me tell you, that two-way radio and phone were ringing off the hook all day and night, whenever there was a storm. So yeah, I can't believe I am saying this, but I think as kids we preferred to be at school.

Today, that business is now run by my hubby. But there are many changes: the office is now across the driveway and two-way radios have been replaced with blackberries and cell phones. There is also no business line in the house anymore, which I am so thankful for!!! And although I don't get a snow day per se, the day is very different as the day is filled with cooking and baking for the hard-working guys.

This week we saw another storm. We missed the last big one as we were down in Mexico. This storm was a hard one to predict as the temperatures were wavering around 0. All we knew was a lot of precipitation was heading our way; we just didn't know if it'd be snow or rain. Well, we got the snow! and we got dumped on good!!! Thankfully not all the areas were dumped on this much! We not only got a tonne of snow in height, but also in weight. And it got heavier by the hour as it continued to fall.

And while it looked so pretty......

....the snow became just too heavy. It took down a large evergreen tree on our property, uplifting even the roots:

It snowed Tuesday night, all day Wednesday and was still snowing this morning. This morning we woke up and noticed the damage the snow did to our pool cover, a pool cover that is supposed to be able to hold an elephant or two:

The snow has stopped now, leaving us with a very wet foot or so of it. Despite the damage, the snow still looks so beautiful as it covers everything.

Seeing how white everything looks, I can't help but think of the comfort we have through the work of our Saviour:

"Come now, let us reason together," says the LORD. "Though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red as crimson, they shall be like wool. (Isaiah 1: 18 NIV)

and one of my favourite Psalms, this one being written by David after realizing his sin (after the prophet, Nathan showed him his error) with Bathsheba:

"Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow." (Ps. 51: 7)

It's the assurance of the forgiveness of sins that I think of when I look outside. Whiter than snow??! Do you see how white that snow is? Whiter yet??! Wow, what a loving and gracious and merciful God we have!

Something to Always Remember....

Lincoln would like to share a song he has learned. Well, the actions anyway :o)

"My God is so GREAT, so STRONG and so MIGHTY....

....there's nothing my God cannot DO!"

"My God is so GREAT, so STRONG and so MIGHTY....

...there's nothing my God cannot DO!"

"The mountains are His, the rivers are His, the stars are His handiwork, too!"

"My God is so GREAT, so STRONG and so MIGHTY.....

....there's nothing my God cannot DO.....

For YOU!!!!!!!



He IS great. He IS strong. He IS mighty. And through His love, which He has shown through His Son, we may call this great, strong and mighty God, our Father. And what a comfort to know that the whole universe is under His domain; not only the vast things like the mountains, rivers and stars, but the little things like you and me. Praise be to Him for His tender mercies and faithfulness!!

C-c-c-c-cold!!!

It sure has been cold lately! But thankfully with the cold weather, the sun is shining! I love the sun shining on the white snow. It lifts my spirits and gets rid of the winter blahs. But the sun doesn't shine every day, which means I need to look for some other ways for myself and the kids to enjoy this season of Winter. Here are a few ideas, ideas that are doable if you are so inclined :o)

Window-wash with Snow is an idea! And not only do your windows get cleaned......it provides entertainment for others!

"Hey!! Where are you going??"

This fun activity I did every year (that there was snow) with my students. They LOVED it and so I figured Keziah would too. And she did!! This activity needs squirt bottles, water, dish soap and paint. This time I used food colouring, which I don't really recommend. Keziah has a dark snow suit, so I didn't mind. But normally I prefer paint. Either way, she had a great time painting the snow! (I usually stay away from using yellow.....Even the red gives off an odd look as it may look like blood.)



We've had a few days where the wind was just too cold to go outside. So instead of making a snowman outside, we made one inside,  using construction paper, glue and mini marshmellows.

There you have it, some fun and simple winter activities to do to get you through the next 28 days of winter :o)

Mexico - Pictures

Things are settling in nicely back into routine here at home. It helped that my sister-in-law also likes routine and structure and so the kids were kept on the same schedule as if at home. This sure made things go fairly smooth once back home. Thanks, Laura!! :o)  Even though I was expecting reality to be rough, I still ended up in tears by the time Thursday was over. But thankfully since then it's all been going well. I expected the transition back home to take a little longer which is why I didn't make any silly resolutions down in Mexico, like "I will be more patient with my kids." and "I will always treat them the way God wants me to treat them, and be the mother that I am supposed to be." It's so easy to make those kind of statements when they aren't around you! However, being away from your kids sure makes you appreciate them more!! I love these two little blessings so much it is hard to describe! Now before I get all blubbery on you I better start posting some pictures of what we enjoyed so much.

This was the first time in Mexico for us together (I was there with my family when I was 13). We flew into Cancun, and drove 20 minutes to our resort, the Valentin Imperial Maya. Beautiful. Just beautiful. The rooms were nice, the food was good, the resort was nicely maintained, the beach was white, the ocean was turquoise. And although we have no control over it, we had 8 straight sun-filled days of 27, 28 and 29 degree temperature!! No complaints here!

Let's start with the grounds/buildings and our rooom. It is a large resort, but walkable:

Our room was very nice. Our bathroom was HUGE!! When I was showing Keziah the pictures, she thought the bathroom was our kitchen :o)

This was one thing I didn't want to see on my trip to an all-inclusive resort, like eat and drink as much as you want!!:

I guess that's one way in how the resort makes money. It tempts their patrons to step on the scale to keep their eating in check, which in the end, saves the resort money on food. HA! Didn't work for us!!!!

Throughout the resort, you will bump into many of these:

There were 7 or 8 restuarants at this resort: Indonisian, Italian, French, Japenese, Mexican, Steak and Seafood. Our favourites were definitely the Indonesian and Japenese. But overall, the food was a.maz.ing. The first picture is where we always ate breakfast, with someone always playing the saxophone. It was such a nice atmosphere!

The pool and beach were very nice!! We spent most of the time at the pool, where we played lots of pool volleyball, read our books, as well as chatted it up with others who were vacationing.

Below, those were reserved for those who had upgraded. There were actually name plaques on them!

And the beach was oh so nice as well!

These beds were also all lined up at the beach.....for those in that elite upgraded group. Pffft to them :o)

Good thing these hammocks were for anybody and everybody! What a way to relax (if you like them. Not me....I get motion sickness)

On our last day, the waves were pretty good. So my 3rd child went out and frolicked before having to pack up and head out to the airport to go back home.

And that is it!! We had such a good time! We are very thankful that we were able to go and enjoy some time together. After 14.5 years of marriage, it is such a blessing to say that spending 8 straight days with my best friend is one of my favourite things to do in the world!