P.H.F.T.R.L.

Guess what?! It is FEBRUARY!!! Yahoo!

On that note, here is the pretty, happy, funny, thankful, real, and loving things about our past week.

Pretty:
I bought this gingerbread house from off the clearance section after Christmas. It was a hit and Keziah loved decorating it this past week. She thought it was so pretty!!

Happy:
The kids were happy to have their little friend over a couple times this past week.

Funny:
Keziah thought it was more comfortable to sleep and stay warm this way, flipped around on her bed with her legs tucked into her pillowcase. We found her like this, sound asleep, as we went to tuck her in before we headed off to bed.

Speaking of funny ways of sleeping, we found Lincoln in this position. I love how he still sleeps with his butt in the air. This time though, it looked not only funny but alos quite uncomfortable as he had his butt up in the air and his arms stretched out above his head. I dare you to try it. When you do, you can tell me if it's comfortable or not!

Real:
This stuffie, Cookie Monster, has become very real to Lincoln. The last few days he has wanted to include Cookie Monster in all of his activities.

(in the above picture, he is sharing his dessert with Cookie Monster, giving him a little piece of his chocolate :o)

 

Thankful:

Keziah is very thankful for a strong, strapping young daddy, who is willing to rescue her, her bike and the shovel from the snowdrifts. So am I. :o)

 

Love:

I love how ties make little boys look like little men. Here is Lincoln, all ready for church.

 

We are in for another snowstorm today, so I am busy making chili for the guys - 4 batches done so far! I hope you all have a safe weekend, wherever you are!

Motivated Lately?

I don't know about you, but lately, like as in ever since the first snowfall, I've been struggling with motivation. The fact that we haven't seen grass in 2.5 months, or that there are 3-4 foot drifts outside, or that your snot freezes in your nose in 3.4 seconds due to it being -25 may have something to do with this.

Yup, it is Winter. And while we live in Canada and all of the above is kind of what we expect to have, it doesn't make each and every day easy with two little kids at home. The days can be very long, especially when stuck indoors due to bone-chilling gusty winds. And as the winds blow around outside, it manages to blow not only the snow everywhere, but it takes my motivation and whips it across the lands, to a far, far place.

I do the basics: get dressed (phew, eh?! ;), dress my kids, feed my family, clean the house. I read to the kids, spend time with them, but the Winter Blahs are hanging around while I live my days as wife and mother. I yearn for Spring.

But a fact is a fact: it is only January. Spring is a looooong ways off. And while I am busy dreaming of green grass, flowers sprouting, sending the kids outside, going for walks etc., my Today is slipping by without fully enjoying it. And this is not the way to live, if I am to live as a Christian. This does not reflect thankful living, content in all circumstances; instead it creates a restlessness and impatience that taints the atmosphere.

Well, seeing as we have a good month to two months yet of Winter to go yet, it is time to shake those Winter Blahs and bury them under the snow and time to dust the snow off my Motivation. One of the things to help me with this (devotions and exercise is already being implemented), is good ol' Pinterest. Please tell me you know about Pinterest. If not, check it out - but know that once you are on, to get back out can be a very, very, very, hard thing to do. :o)

Pinterest can be a complete waste of time or it can be a really neat way to find/do/create/ things. I go in spurts with Pinterest, going for weeks without touching it, then checking it out, pin a few things and then leave it. And that's the problem. I leave it. Meaning, I don't do anything with the things I pin. It's easy to pin as I am sure you are well aware of, but to actually do a pin is another story. Right now, I have a number of boards:

Fitness - 5 pins.
Recipes - 55 pins.
Kids Games/Ideas - 24 pins.
Home Décor - 17 pins.
Crafts - 11 pins
Basement Renos - 6 pins.
Cleaning Tips - 5 pins. (ha! Completely forgot about this board...oops)
Keziah's Bedroom - 2 pins.
Kids' Books - 1 pin
Quotes - 12 pins.
Hair and Beauty - 10 pins.
Parenting Tips - 4 pins (time to find some more for this one....)
Bathroom Ideas - 7 pins
Kids' Bathroom Ideas - 2 pins.
Photography Ideas - 4 pins.

That would be 165 pins altogether (if my Math is correct..). And you know how many I've done since I've started Pinterest? I think maybe, 3? That leaves 162 pins to go yet.

And that brings us back to Motivation. While looking through Pinterest, I am all 'motivated', but not really. Sure, I am motivated to pin, but that's it! I need to step it up a notch. Motivation needs to get married to Commitment. And so that is what I hope to do for the next few months.

I am motivated to commit to ONE pin a week.

Of course, that means I won't be doing 162 pins before Spring arrives (especially if I keep adding Pins to my Boards), however, it's a start.

To keep me motivated and committed, I hope to document the pin - the process, the befores and afters, all with pictures and then share it with you here every week. Now that's accountability, isn't it?! Yikes.

I managed to find a wee bit of Motivation this week already, brushing off a corner of it. What did I do? I got outside and played with Keziah. That's a BIG deal for me - did I mention it's -28 out there with the wind chill?! But I own snow gear, so really, there is no excuse. While out there, we painted the snow. We did this last year, and I didn't get this idea from Pinterest, however I believe it still counts. It is something that I have thought of doing with her since the first snowflake landed. Yes, that was 2 months ago. And guess what?! It was good for me! That fresh air was good for the mind and spirit. And so was watching my daughter have fun, not noticing or caring how cold it was, only concentrating on her designs in the snow:

For next week, I would like to do this with Keziah:
http://www.pinterest.com/pin/251709066647746685/

And if you have a whacks of pins on Pinterest that have just been sitting there, I invite you to join me in actually doing them. And I'd love to know what you do, whether it works or not. So if you'd like to, share in the comments.

 Let's DO this!!! Let's kick those Winter Blahs outside for good, and let that wind carry them away so we don't see them again this season. :o)

P.H.T.F.L.R.

This person is pretty special to us.

 We are always very happy to visit her.

She is so much fun and makes us laugh.

While she may be  real short in stature, she is never short for words, both wise and funny.

 We are very thankful for her, and the time we get to spend with her.

 

 We love her dearly.

We pray that God will continue to bless her (and all our great-omas) with continued health and strength as we deal with this blustery and cold winter, and we pray that we may continue to have many more enjoyable times together, learning from the older and wiser.

 

 

*at this time, we also pray for the many families in Quebec who have lost a loved one in that terrible and devastating fire in a nursing home. We pray that each lost one may be found amongst the debris and that the ones left behind are given much comfort in this great loss

It's about Time!

The home we live in is the home I grew up in. It was built well in 1985. I was 7 years old when we moved in. In fact, we moved in the March Break, and I was the first one to have a birthday in this house! But my youngest brother takes all honour as he was the only one born here after we moved in.

Just a little history:

My family, the 7 of us, lived on the main floor while my dad ran the landscaping company from the basement. Well, he ran it from the kitchen as well with the business phone and two-way radio there.

When we as a family moved in, the business was smallish, but under God's blessings, grew and grew, to the point that there were 7 offices, a meeting room and one bathroom. It was time to build another office. And so that was done and the offices and all the paraphernalia, as well as all the guys/gals moved out.

Fast forward to 2007. In 2007, we kicked moved my parents out of the house so that we could move in, now that Nathan was running the business.

When we moved in, there was no talk of kids. We in fact had put that to rest many years ago, thinking a) it would never happen and b) we weren't interested in adoption. That left us with a 11 bedroom, 4 bathroom home for TWO people.

It didn't take long though to have the walls ripped out, all the way to the studs, due to major leaking. That left us with a demo job - getting rid of everything from the wires, to the lights, to the drywall to the insulation and flooring. That left us with a very bare naked basement. For the past 6 years, the only reason we went down there was to check on the sump pump and empty our dehumidifiers.

That has left us with a very large space to work with. But first things first, we had to fix the leaks, which was done using this black stuff down the walls into the floor where pipes were put in that lead to the sump pump (I *think* that is how it works. Either way, it works!!)

This is just half of the basement. Yup, big project! The sump pump is behind that door off to the left. You can see the black "bubble wrap" down the walls.

 

Johnny, anyone?! What's left of our 4th bathroom. I am sure I will need to check this toilet for "residue" once Mr. Lincoln is trained :o) I also do believe this is the cleanest this bathroom has ever been! What - you can imagine what it would look like after 30+ guys were using it. Oh, the poor female secretary.....

And ta-da, no more leaks!! That's pretty good considering we live in a region which is known as a swamp (no, it's not glamorous like the Florida swamps. No alligators swimming about here. Polar bears, maybe...:o).

Fast forward to 2014. My, how things have changed. We are no longer just the TWO of us, but 2 rugrats have joined our family, a blessing that is beyond measure. But with kids comes kids' stuff. My, oh my.  And all that stuff was upstairs! Toys, toys and more toys (I know, first world problems). All in the front hall, which was their playroom. And of course, the toys never stayed in the playroom, but would be strewn throughout the house as the day went on, which you can imagine I just loved.

Well, enough was enough. The breaking point was one Saturday when we were to host my family. That would be 10 kids (2 weren't able to come). So that got us busy! We spent the morning cleaning, sweeping, picking up junk, coughing out dust, sweeping some more, raiding the Walmart shelves of foam mats, coughing out some more dust, and lugging most of the above stuff pictured downstairs.

And we couldn't be more happier!! And neither are the kids! Not only did it work really well for that Saturday afternoon with my nieces and nephews, it has worked out well with my two munchkins. They don't mind being down there and will play well.

 We sectioned off just a bit of the basement for the playroom, leaving the rest all open. We realize this isn't really what is meant when we talk of a "finished" basement, but this will have to do for now. We do hope to finish off the whole basement one day, but a friend suggested to leave this space open for the kids when they are older, that way they can roller blade, play hockey, etc.

And our front hallway looks a whole lot neater as well!  (while that is our front door, it is very rarely used. So rare in fact, that one time last year, we looked out the side window and there were boxes stacked up! A UPS had dropped the boxes off a *week ago* and it should have gone to the office)

And me?! Well, I am left with the question:

why didn't we invite my whole family over 2 years ago?!

P.H.R.T.F.L.

Ah, a much better ending of the week than last week, that's for sure! Moods are lighter, smiles are brighter and the atmosphere is calm, peaceful and pleasant. It truly is amazing how much my mood(s) affects my home. Something to always be mindful and prayerful of.

I don't know if I captured all 6 categories this week, but I will start with the one that stands out the most.

Thankful
I am SO thankful for the Women's Bible Study I attend. We meet every other Tuesday night to study His Word. While we usually study a book from the Bible, this year we are studying one of our confessions, The Belgic Confession. It is a summary of what is in the Bible, clearly laid out in 37 Articles. And what a blessing this confession is!!! But going every other Tuesday night is a twofold blessing, with the one being that I am learning (again) why we believe what we do, and the second blessing is to be able to do this with other sisters in the church. Not only do I leave with more knowledge about this awesome God that calls me His child, I am also built up by the women I study with. I am very thankful for not only our confessions, but also for the communion of saints. And as you know from my previous post, being encouraged in the Word with my sisters in the Lord is exactly what I needed.

Fun
Enjoying a daddy-daughter date! Keziah was sooo excited that she got to go out with her daddy: I can talk to daddy all I want!!

Pretty
I don't usually like to emphasize to her how pretty she is, but rather point out to her her inward beauty, but a fact is a fact: this girl is gorgeous!!

Maybe I will need to add a new category seeing as this young man will never fall under the 'pretty' category. Possibly labelled Handsome? Oh yes!! Innocent?! I think not :o)

Happy
Having a partner in the kitchen with me makes me very happy. And so is she, as she has found out that eating a few chocolate chips while we clean up is par for the course :o) (I have always done that - cleans out the mouth nicely :o)

Real
After half-heartedly trying, reality is this child is not ready to be toilet trained. I knew that, but he was so excited about the potty. I do believe Keziah was just as excited as he was. It was just me that wasn't.

Love
I love it that no matter how busy of a day this man has, he always ends it with spending time with his children. That's how kids spell love, eh? T-I-M-E.

I also love it that although we've been together for more than 18 years, having a date with my man still makes my heart flutter.

Well, look at that. I DID manage to hit all categories, just in a different order. I hope you had a great week! Next week we are in for some more snow and another Arctic Cold streak. How many more weeks until Spring?!

Hypocrite

I knew it. I just knew it. I should have known I spoke too soon.

Remember my last post - about being thankful (and proud) for being sane at the end of the week? Well, it's

I pushed "Publish" too soon. About two hours later, late in the afternoon, it all fell apart. It's amazing how you can have such a great week, but then lose all of that in just 10 minutes or less. And that is exactly what happened.

I am sure you can imagine what it looked like, and so I will spare you all the details. This meltdown resulted in tears and apologies that needed to be said - mostly by the biggest kid. Me.

Those not-so-proud-mom moments seem to stick with me much longer than all the other enjoyable moments of the week, even working at erasing them. They keep me awake at night, as I wrestle with my failings as a mom.

If you aren't sure how you are fairing as a parent, just listen to your children for a bit,  how they interact with each other, how they handle stress, their reactions to a "no", their tone etc. They are such good "mirrors" - imaging what they see as examples. Us. After awhile, you will notice that they sound very much like us.

 Earlier in the week, I was chuckling as I overheard Keziah say to Lincoln:
"Lincoln, I told you to leave the door alone. You need to listen the first time."

Where do you think she heard that before?! It made me laugh to hear her!! It was somewhat gratifying, making me feel kind of proud, that she was parroting me.

But then, after the big meltdown Friday afternoon, just as Nathan walked in the door (of course!), I needed a time out, and so I sent myself to my room. Seriously.

And that is when I heard how else she sounded like me. And this time I was NOT chuckling. I was not proud. I did not feel honoured that she was a little me in those moments where things were out of her control.

Instead, I laid there, listening with shameful tears making wet trails down my cheeks. It was such a true and humble moment. I could not help but face the fact that she sounded like she did because she has learned from 'the best'.

And that left me this weekend with the question:

Why do I expect certain behaviours from my children when I don't even exhibit them myself?!

It is so true.  I expect my children to interact with each other respectfully and kindly. And if one is doing something that bothers the other, then words need to be used in a firm voice - definitely not by yelling at them. How am I doing with this? Just ask my children.

I expect my children to be able to handle that not everything goes their way. And if it doesn't, I expect them to handle it gracefully. Me? Fail.

I have often said to my children in stressful moments: you need to learn to handle it or toughen up. Ha. Ask my husband to see how I am faring with this (on second thought, please don't ask him).

See why I titled this post: Hypocrite?

So where does that leave us? To stew and label everything as failure? To give up? To throw my hands up in the air and say "I am not cut out for this, I don't know what I was thinking?" To wave the surrender flag and hide out under my covers?

No. None of that solves it, as we all know. Instead of focussing on the negative things we are teaching our children, or sit there smugly about the "positive" things they are learning from our influence, we can show to them that we also need help; that we cannot do this parenting thing on our own; that we need forgiveness, not just from them, but most especially from God.

I pray that the Lord will use these difficult moments on this journey of parenting, to teach my children that I am no better than them and that I need God just as much as I "preach" it to them that they need God.  I want them to know that I am not perfect. That doesn't mean putting myself down in front of them (that's one quick way to lose respect from my children!), but what I mean is, I want them to know that I cannot be the mother that I am called to be without the help of God. And that I am so totally dependent on Him. If I don't show them that I need God in my life, how are they going to learn that they need Him day by day?

Prayer is a powerful tool, one that we use numerous times throughout the day. And usually once things have calmed down after a big meltdown, we sit and chat together, speaking about what happened and what we can do with it. This conversation often leads to what we will pray for: forgiveness, help, wisdom and thankfulness for each other. And then we move on, resting in the comfort of the grace He has given us. That He has compassion on us by forgiving our shortcomings as parents. And when we realize the grace and mercy we've been given by our Father, we will be encouraged by the Holy Spirit to extend grace and mercy to our children as well.

Does that mean that is the end of meltdowns? That I have learned to be the perfect parent? That we always speak to each other calmly, and with a friendly tone, even when the other is frustrating us? That we all are now able to handle any bump in the road with the most graceful attitude?

Do I even need to answer these questions? If you want an answer, just be a fly on my wall for one day (and you thought I shared a lot on this blog - ha, believe or not, there's a lot that isn't mentioned :o), and you'll find out quick enough that God is continually teaching me to lean on Him, a lesson that needs to be repeated. Often.

But I wake up and start my day with these words, words I cling to:
"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
His mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness."
Lamentations 3: 22, 23