One down, Four More to Go!

No, I am not referring to chocolate bars. Or to kids in bed. Or to exams. Or to push-ups. I am speaking of camping!!!! That's right!! We have enjoyed our first camping trip of the year! And you read that right.....we still have 4 more to look forward to! We are making up for last summer, that's for sure!

We left last week Thursday for a 6 day stay at MacGregor Provincial Park. If you ask Keziah where we stayed, she'll say "Mr. MacGregor's!!" (yup, a little too much of Peter Rabbit lately :o). We picked this time of year because we knew the park would be fairly empty due to the fact that most public schools are still going. And I think we will do this every year. What a great time to camp!

Off we go! We are ready...sunglasses on and fingers in mouth. All set!

With Lincoln a bit of a wanderer, having our play yard stretched out across the front of our campsite was a safe way to keep him contained. And actually, at one point it was open, which made him quite upset about it. It had to be closed!

That didn't mean he didn't try to open it himself though.

Who needs toys when you have neighbours to watch?!

I think we were set up for all of 20 minutes before this happened:

The first few days were a bit tough for Lincoln as that is when his molars decided to work their way through his gums. He didn't complain much but was pretty feverish and didn't eat a thing. He would also walk around with his mouth clenched tight like this:

It was a very quiet few days with his mouth so sore and clenched! He spent lots of time just sitting with daddy.

But he was still able to enjoy our camping activities. Going to the beach was a whole lot more fun this time around than last year. Last year he was crawling and thought every sand grain, stick and stone was to be put into his mouth. Not this year. So we enjoyed lots of beach days!!

My men are so alike.....they can sleep anywhere!! They both had a nice long one hour nap at the beach.

One time we were there, we could watch the grader for the sand, much to Lincoln's delight!

But for the most part, all Lincoln thought that was to be done at the beach was eat (once his mouth felt better). He would go into my beach bag looking for food every 2 minutes. And if I wouldn't give him any, he wasn't too shy to go to anybody who he saw was scrounching around in their beach bag!

Back at the campsite, a lot of books were read:

We even had the pleasure of friends visiting us! And as if that wasn't fun enough, that is when the s'mores came out!! Mmmmm!

And not only did friends visit, but we visited some friends as well. Friends that had kittens!!!! That is a very big deal if you are 3!

Ah, yes, a lot of memories made in those 6 days. We are thankful for the opportunity to go and spend time together as a family - a family of four. That still gets me every time. While we reminisced fondly about our times camping when we were a family of two, having two little ones has definitely brought a whole new dimension to holidays. Gone are the days of sleeping in past 7 in the morning, but here are the days that are filled with little things that are taken in by wonder. And that innocent wonder of all things 'new', be it big or small, can't help but capture you and take you in, so that you also may sit back and notice the tiny caterpillar or the cloud that looks like a dinosaur, things you may not have seen before.

We praise God for blessing us when we were a family of two, to relish our time together as best friends. And we now praise Him for blessing us with two little ones, allowing us to see and marvel at life through the eyes of a three and one year old.

Flowers

A few weeks ago, I was visiting a friend. While lounging in the backyard (rough life, eh?!), I noticed that she had some beautiful flowers in bloom, and so I clicked away. Although I grew up in a landscaping business, names of plants elude me. My friend did tell me the names of the following plants, but I am not sure if I got it right: the purple ones are azeleas (I LOVE purple flowers!) and the orange one is a poppy. I can't remember what the blossoms were. I also can't help acknowledge our Creator when I walk or drive around, noticing all the beauty around me through the colourful gardens.
"For you are great and do marvellous deeds; you alone are God." Ps. 86:10 

And then, while walking around her backyard, I came across two species that I couldn't quite figure out. They grow like weeds but must be flowers as they are stunningly gorgeous. Maybe you could help me out? Here's a picture of them:

Humour

...or is it Humor?? I guess that depends where you live. Being Canadian, we like to add an "u" to our words, like neighbour, colour, labour etc. That's just how we do things here. Eh.

Back to humour. If you know me, you will know that I appreciate humour. I love it! Especially the dry kind of humour. Hearing something funny can leave me in a stitch or two, with tears filling up my eyes. I enjoy adding to the humour, making others laugh as well. It feels great to laugh out loud. It's also a great way to save time at the gym, considering you've already worked out your abs.

If you have children in your life, you will know that having a sense of humour is a must. I am not talking of the humour mentioned above, the kind that leaves you on the floor rolling in laughter (I don't find it humourous to lie on the floor, rolling over toys, sand from the sandbox and something sticky that fell from snack time 3 days ago.). I am talking of the kind of humour that keeps you from going insane.

There are times in my day that if I don't see a particular situation as "funny", I will pull my hair out. I will yell. I will cry. I will want to give up. Times like this:

This was before 7:30 in the morning. Do you see this little stinkerbutt below?

Yes, him. That mess above was caused by my innocent blue-eyed monkey. Apparently he can reach stuff from the counter, including a full jug of homo milk. Oh, let me tell you, it was hard to find the humour in this. We are talking about a full jug of homo (the expensive kind) milk before 7:30 a.m.  That's right. Hardy har har.

It was very hard not to yell, or cry or throw my hands up in the air. So what else is there to do? I couldn't laugh. Not quite yet. I could not find the humour in it. So I went and grabbed my camera. It was either that or crawl back into bed. But crawling back into bed meant not cleaning it up. And I knew I couldn't do that, seeing as he walked through it twice  even before I had a chance to grab a cloth. So, quick, a picture taken and then there I was, cleaning the floors, the cupboards, under my fridge, the walls, you name it, it got wiped down. Who knew how far milk could splatter?!?!

I guess the positive is that I probably had the cleanest floor before 8 that morning in my neighbourhood (I can say this because my sisters-in-law don't live in our neighbourhood :o)!

But it is true. You need a sense of humour sometimes to get through your day; to see the lighter side of things; to recognize that while he spilled the milk all over the place, it's not like he thought to himself "Hmmmm, I know what I'll do first thing in the morning. I'll tick mommy off by grabbing the milk so I can watch her clean it all up."

Yeah, despite what I can think sometimes, kids don't really work that way. Not at one years of age anyway.

And that is why I take pictures. I take pictures to "cool" me down, to keep me from yelling. It's a good thing, or else I wouldn't have remembered the following (that makes me smile now), like the 15th time he asked for cookies that day, finding them in the cupboards to bring them to me:

Or, I would have focussed too much on the fact that in order for her to make a bed for her and her baby, that meant dumping all the toys that were in this box onto the floor; instead, I took a picture to focus on her creative imagination, which left me smiling:

If I didn't have a sense of humour, I would not have laughed when I opened up my fridge to find this waiting. I have no idea how he got it in there, but it was unexpected and funny!

We also went through a time where we "adopted" Minnie Mouse, according to Keziah. It was all fine, until Kez insisted that Minnie ate at the table with us. Being at the end of the day, patience is not at the forefront, and all I could see was more work in getting the booster seat for Minnie, as well as setting an extra place setting with food. But if I allowed my lack of patience win out, I would not have seen this beautiful, caring side of Keziah, who felt Minnie was in need of adoption "because she didn't have enough food and she needs lots of hugs."

And this can be hard to smile at, due to the fact that if it's not food he is asking for, it is a book to be read to him. All.day.long. Yes, definitely hard to remain patient when trying to get work done. But after I took the picture (instead of chucking the book in the garbage), I saw how cute he looked, so earnest and with pleading eyes. Yeah, that made me smile.

So I encourage you (and me) to laugh a little, to smile lots and to grab your camera. You will then remember these incidents with a smile on your face.

Children can suck a lot, if not all, the energy out of us with all their demands, messes and needs. But they can also cause a lot of inside grins, heart melts and chuckles. By taking pictures of it, then maybe one day the humour in raising kids will completely drown out the guilt for the times when we threw that lego car out of the fridge, or for yelling sharply "No, I do NOT have time to play 'mommy' to an adopted Minnie!!".

Pray and ask the Lord for our eyes to be opened up, to see the humour in particular situations that may be good at making our frustration levels rise quickly. That does not mean to give in to them, but for me anyway, the time it takes to find my camera and take a picture of it is enough time for me to reply back in a more gentler way than I would have without taking that time, even if it is still a "No". Find your go-to, figure out what works for you. For me it's the camera, for you it may be going into the bathroom for the 32nd time that day.

Does this mean I don't get frustrated anymore and can always see the humour in everything? Ha! The amount of pictures on my camera will tell you otherwise.

I am thankful for my camera as an outlet, but most of all, I am thankful for new mercies every morning. Grace, grace, grace. Thank you, God, for your grace. I pray that I will then show grace to the children that He has "loaned" out to me, His lambs.

How Could She?

With Mother's Day a few weeks ago and with Father's Day coming up, we can't help but think of our children's birthparents a little more than usual.

It was through God using them that we received two little blessings. A fact that we will always be grateful for.

When people find out we've adopted, one of the first questions that come out of their mouths is "I don't get it. How could a mother give up her baby?"

I will admit that this question can rub me the wrong way at times. Maybe you've asked this question to me and noticed I got a bit defensive. Don't take it personal. Just know that it is because I am defending some very special people. I also know you may not mean it, but it can come across as a judgemental question.

But when you ask that question, please realize that we also don't have an answer. You know why? Because we have never walked in her shoes.

See, that is the key: the reason why we don't understand is because we haven't been there. We haven't had to walk down this road. We haven't been faced with this life-changing decision. We haven't had to swallow our pride by admitting that we are in no position to raise a child.

And yes, one can question whether it is selfish to give the baby up, or selfish to keep the baby, but that is not for us to judge. Judging does not help this matter at all. Society judges those who place their babies up for adoption AND society judges those teen moms who are trying their best to raise a baby but is obvious that it is not going so well. It's like they could never win either way! That is sad.

The reason why I can get somewhat defensive over this question, is because you also have not walked in our shoes. You were not with us when we witnessed the heartache, the tears, the grieving from the birthparents that happened when these little ones were placed in our arms. We were there to see it and having seen it, it is something we will never, ever forget.

For our children's birthparents, we don't see it as "giving up their baby". We actually like to look at it in a different light: they recognized that they were not equipped! For those who have grown up in the church with the blessing of the communion of saints, or raised in a stable home, never take this for granted. You have no idea how blessed you are until you see what others are missing.

The birthparents were also mature enough to see past the idea of showing off a baby which looks always so cute and innocent. They knew this baby will grow up dependent on them - that past the cute and cuddly stage comes a stage where discipline, guidance and direction is needed, a stage that they themselves were still in!

But the reason I may get defensive most of all is because of this fact: while it is a choice, it was a choice they did not take: abortion. They recognized they were carrying life! In today's society when abortion seems to be the simple answer (oh, it sure isn't, but it can be seen as this), these birthparents knew they could not go down that road. And so, they carried their little ones for 9 months.

And that is why we have much respect for our children's birthparents. They cared for our children for 9 very important months; they took their vitamins, went to the doctor's for regular check-ups, ate properly, got their ultrasounds done etc. And on top of all that, they took the time to care for their children by choosing a family that will carry on this love and commitment for their child.

I realize that this may not be the case for all birthparents, but I am speaking only from our experience.

No matter how often you ask or try to figure out the answer to "how could she", you will never come up with the answer, unless you are wearing those shoes.

But you know what? Our children's birthparents weren't the only ones that "gave up" their children. Our heavenly Father gave up His Son as well. Why?? For you and for me. Because He loves us.

And when you believe that fact, that God gave His Son for us, that we may have eternal life through Christ's death and ressurection, then it looks like our children aren't the only ones adopted. So are you!!!

So instead of judging others (not only with this but in all things we don't understand), change it to praying for others. We aren't called to understand the reasons for everything, why others do things that they do. But we are called to love one another.

And let's change this question of "How could she?" to a statement of marvel and praise to God for allowing our children's birthparents to recognize the life He created.

Tough Mudder May 2013

Bright and early, on a chilly Saturday morning, a group of us made the drive up to Mt. St. Louis to compete in the Tough Mudder competition. What a great way to spend a Saturday, I tell ya! Jumping in mud, running up and down the mountains, swimming through murky water, getting electrocuted. All doing this in 13 degree weather. I can't think of a better way to spend a Saturday, can you?!

It's easy for me to say I enjoyed it so much because I didn't actually do it. Oh, don't get me wrong. I did climb up and down those mountains 6 times. But that's about it. You see, someone had to be the photographer, so I kindly signed up for that. I thought that was quite generous of me. Especially because I didn't just take pictures, I could cheer on our team through every obstacle. I know, I know. Such a team player am I.

Our team, Horse Marine (? ask Jay about that one), consisted of 9 friends and family members It was a great group and the team did very well together!

We had to be there 2 hours before our start time, which was 8:40 in the morning. I never knew how many crazy people were out there until I saw the number of buses lined up to take the masses of insane people to the mountain. We counted about 75 buses altogether:

After a 20 minute delay, off the team went. One of the first things they had to do was climb the mountain. I thankfully could take the chairlift. What?? Don't scoff at me!!I needed to get to the top first in order to take pictures for my team, you see! What good is it to say I'll take pictures and then not be at the top waiting for the team??

That was the first obstacle. Doesn't look too hard, but what the picture doesn't quite capture is that those walls are leaning back. From the amount of grunts and groans I heard as I was perched high above in the chairlift definitely indicated that it was somewhat difficult. But the team did it with ease!

After running back down the mountain, the next obstacle was definitely mind over matter: jumping into a tank full of ice water. Did I mention the high for the day was going to be 13 degrees? It was only about 8 degrees when we got there. I would think jumping into ice water on a hot day would be harder on your body than at 8 degrees. I mean, really, not much temperature difference, would it be? You'd have to ask one of the team members......

Once completed, up the mountain everyone went again to complete the monkey bars, crawl under barbed wire as well as crawl through water with electric wires hanging down:

I then missed about 3 or 4 obstacles as I found a tent to warm up in. I needed my finger that snapped the pictures to thaw out. I know the team didn't mind. I think they were too numb to notice I wasn't there. (Before you think I am callous....I better clarify. The real reason I missed those obstacles was because there wasn't any room for spectators. We had to wait until they were done that loop).

Off to jump from a platform into muddy water and then climb over muddy hills:

And then back down the mountain. The part that was still covered in snow!!

And then back up! 6 times by the time it was all said and done! This was quite the challenge.

Most of the obstacles required a lot of teamwork. Hoisting each other up, lifting, dragging, pulling, whatever it took to get all your members up and over:

This one was "fun", a vertical slide that at the last moment went horizantal, which left you landing in a pool of muddy water:

This following one was, I think, the hardest one for mind over matter. You had to lay on your back and swim backwards under this grate, with most of your head submerged, for about 100 feet. I had a hard time watching this one:

More mud!! More tunnels!!

The second last obstacle: the halfpipe, where you had to run and leap for the edge to pull yourself up. It's where you really hope your team members are strong to get you over!



After just over 4 hours, 18 kilometers and 22 grueling, mud-filled, water-drenched, mind battling obstacles, the team was done! And it couldn't have come at a better time....I was getting pretty hoarse from cheering and my finger was cramping from clicking.

In all seriousness though, what a feat for all those who competed. It definitely is quite rewarding to be able to say you've conquered Tough Mudder. 

Cheers to Horse Marine!!!!