Chaos with Cousins...

I have my sister here visiting for the week. They arrived late Wednesday night, and it's been chaos every since...in a good way! Unfortunately, her husband wasn't able to come, but Trenna brought her 5 kids, plus the Korean student that they have living with them. The kids have been having a fantastic time (I think) playing and hanging out. Her older boys, Alex and Braden have been enjoying the 'farm work' here (I know that we don't live on a farm, but they seem to think that we do....city kids!). After a hard day of work helping Art with many of his projects, he took them to Lammles to buy them each a cowboy hat. I don't think that I've seen them without the hats since then!

We also introduced them to pizza pies over the fire - big hit! We had pizza pies for dinner and apple pies for dessert - yummy! We took them to the mall one day as well. Jane, their Korean student, was fairly overwhelmed at the mall! We've had water fights (numerous times!), weeded in the garden, sat outside in the sun...sweating our butts off! Tomorrow I think we'll lay low again (since it's supposed to be a cool 32 degrees!), and then Tuesday is the big Canada Day party!

It's been I think about 5 yrs. since they've been out here, so we've sure enjoyed having them come out to visit! The bigger kids have been such a huge help with my little girls...playing with them lots, so I've loved that, and I'm sure my girls have too. I'm surprised at the noise level in the house, but I guess that's what happens with 10 kids here. Us adults are vastly outnumbered!

Favorite Things

These are a few of my favorite things:

1. Raindrops on...daylillies, and my other new perennials. That means that I don't have to water them!
2. Wiskers on....our new kittens, which are STILL alive! It's been over a month, people. I am hoping that means that they will make it, and we won't be feeding any more coyotes.
3. Sitting on my deck, under my new canopy, eating dinner on a summer afternoon
4. WATERFIGHTS! This is our new favorite thing to do as a family....sort of. Molly wants no part of it, and Ellie Mae just holds a little watergun, but Hannah, Abby, Art and I go crazy! We bought a bunch of new waterguns last week at Canadian Tire (60% off!), and they are excellent. We come inside soaking wet, laughing, and tired. It's a good time. However, last night we did have an injury....Art caught his finger in the garage door (I told him not to play with the door!), and half of his finger nail ripped off. It was a bloody mess!
5. Baseball. Last week, our team finally won their first game, and it was a good time. Winning makes things so fun!
6. Naps. This is common knowledge. It doesn't get much better than taking a little siesta on a hot afternoon
7. Freezies and Slurpees. Yummy, cold goodness

Well, that's it. That's all I have for you off the top of my head. What's your favorite thing?

Yard Work

It's a beautiful, sunny day today. And guess what I am doing? Yard work! I used to hate working outside, sweating my butt off, but now I actually enjoy it. I was thinking today, as I raked out dirt to plant grass seed in, that I think I've finally become an adult. Sometimes, we think about things that our parents did, and we totally didn't understand it...like working out in the hot, hot sun, sweating their butts off. And now, I do the same thing! (Although I think I do more yard work than my parents did....actually, I know I do!). I love driving down our driveway, looking at our property. I get such a sense of pride of ownership. Yup, this is what God gave us, and I am doing my best to make it look beautiful.

I was also thinking, as I raked, that this is the first year that I have been able to do this in about 8 yrs. Every other year I've been pregnant or nursing, so I've had a baby to take care of, or had a terrific excuse to sit on my butt and watch Art work. No longer! I actually get to share in the work, and I love it! And our girls love it. They get right in there, working alongside, and helping us. Although they don't realize it, we are training them for their lives in this as well. Sometimes, I think as a mother, I get so caught up in the details of keeping our house running that I forget about the little things, like working outside with the girls. Enjoying their laughing and crazy antics. And Ellie Mae - she is a mad woman! The other girl (especially Molly) didn't love the grass at this age, and didn't love getting too dirty. Not her! Art found her playing in the dirt pile yesterday...covered!! She was have a great time!

Anyhow, enough ramblings for the day. Enjoy your weekend, friends!

Finally!

Finally! We have a win! We were supposed to have baseball last night but we got rained out. We thought that we may get rained out today, but alas, we played. And won. Finally! Last week, it was an embarrasing 19-9, but this week, the Demon Slayers prevailed. We won 19-15. Hooray! It was a good boost to the confidence levels of all the players. We did have a casualty this week (hope you feel better, Shawna), and it was also Dan's birthday. So, we can say it was the team's present to him, to win tonight. Hip, hip, hooray!

So you think....

I've talked to a number of people lately who have had unplanned pregnancies. Not in a bad way, really, just in a "What? I'm what? But we're done!" way.... Let me tell you, friends, it's freaking me out a little bit. Not even a little bit...a lot! I was just talking to a friend today who I grew up with, and another friend of hers (aquaintence of ours) is pregnant, after getting her tubes tied. Her tubes were tied!!! So you think you are 'safe', but really, you're not. And really, if God wants you to have another child, He'll figure it out. Regardless of the precautions you may take. And one more thing....I am NOT pregnant. We are done having babies....unless God has other plans! And that's all I have to say.

Nothing

I've got nothing for you, people. Nothing. I feel a sense of obligation to write, yet, nothing to write about.... I could tell you that I weeded my garden today. It now looks a heck of a lot better than before. And I bought a couple more perennials for my new garden(s). This whole adding perennials may turn out to be a bit of an obsession... And I went for a couple of hours to pray today, during our 24 hr. prayer meeting. People say meeting, but it's not really a meeting... And now I will sit and relax with 'Auntie Frieda', and watch a move (P.S. I love you). That's it....nothing much....however, it is my life and I love it.

Baseball

Last night we went and watched Art's team play baseball again. It was much for for the kids and I to sit and visit with friends. The game, however, a bit of another story....They lost 19-9. Ouch! Better luck next time, friends!

Landscaping

We were wanting to do some landscaping at our place. Well, not some, but a lot! We knew that all the prep work would take FOREVER! As we walked around our place, and I dreamt about what I would like to do, my friend Natalie and I talked it over (she's the landscaping guru) and decided on a plan. A big plan. Art was totally overwhelmed at what all needed to happen in order to plant some perrineals. The next morning, Natalie called me with some amazing news. The college and career group from their old church (they now attend our church) like to do service projects, and after Natalie told them about us, they decided they wanted to come and help do our stuff here. So, today was the day. Some of the group came last night to camp out here (in our basement, since it was raining). We woke up to overcast skies, and got to work around 9 am. There was about 15 people in all working like dogs. To help us, total strangers. What a blessing it was! We had a wish list of things to get done, and everything plus more is all done. Everything. Can you believe it? Here are the before pictures:





I will post some after pictures in the next few days. All t he grunt work is done (Thanks, guys!), and now the really fun work begins of actually planting all our shrubs and flowers.

As I was pondering the day, in my special 'pondering place', where it is quiet and I have a little bit of privacy, sometimes, (the shower), God showed me a little something. Landscaping our home is a lot like what God is doing in our lives right now....landscaping. He's cutting out the old and overgrown to replace it with new life. As Natalie was trying to convince me to cut down and prune the majority of an old, large tree which I love (and yes, I finally gave in!), I didn't realize how terrible it looked until it was gone. Now, it is bright, and you can see the true beauty of the tree, instead of all the overgrown stuff. What is in our lives right now that God want to take out? Something of beauty, most of which we cannot see because we have let it become overgrown and almost out of control.... And what does he totally want to remove, roots and all, to replace it with fresh new life?

And who is He using for this landscaping in our lives? Some friends, definately, but also complete strangers! People who don't know me, but who desire to be a tool that the Lord uses in the lives of others. Crazy, isn't it?

The cult

We've had this running mockery going on in our house for a little while now, about a little thing that I enjoy called Facebook. Art's been mocking me for months about it, telling me it's a waste of time and just plain dumb. Well, sucker, he's finally been reeled in! Last night, he joined. And man, is he hooked! He was up until 2:15 am messing around with it. I showed him the ropes, and he was off! Yup, it's true....he has now finally joined the Facebook cult. So, if you are on Facebook, 'poke' him (which you can't do anymore, he just kept saying he wanted to 'poke' everyone). I told him he'd love it....

Eavesdropping

Tonight, Art and I were chatting in our room while Molly went to the bathroom. She called me to tell me she was done, and I, not realizing that she needed some 'ass'istance, kept on talking to Art. After a good couple of minutes, we realized that Molly was talking, talking, talking, talking to herself. Continuously. So, we crept a little closer to listen to what this little chatter box was talking about. And this is what we hear, over and over, mixed in with other things, "And......cue music!"

Now let me explain. We have been watching the So You Think You Can Dance auditions on TV, religiously, with the girls. Obviously, they are picking up some vocabulary from it! Now, when she is ready to dance, she'll know what to say!

Weekend Stuff

On Sunday, we hosted a surprise birthday party for our friend Jeff. Here's a funny story. Saturday morning, Jeff's wife, Natalie, called me from the washroom at Home Depot (the only place where she truly had privacy, since they are living in their garage until their house is built). She had completely forgotten about Jeff's birthday, so she asked for our help in pulling off a last minute surprise for him. It worked out perfectly! They came over to our house Saturday afternoon to just hang out, and a common friend of ours stopped by - not too abnormal. Then, some friends of his came, and he was pretty confused for a minute, until he figured out what was going on. I must say, though, that he was pretty clueless. We had stuff all over the place to prepare, and he didn't give any of it a thought....He helped Art get a bunch of ice out of the freezer, to prepare, even, and say his ice cream cake. He just said, "Wow! You guys have ice and an ice cream cake?" It was quite funny. All in all, I think that he was very surprised, and had a great time. Here's a picture of the birthday boy with the cake that Art so thoughtfully picked out especially for him. The cakes says, "Happy Birthday, Princess!"

This weekend was also Farmer Day's in Stony Plain. We always go to the parade with friends, and this year was no exception. Between our 3 families, there are 11 kids. Yup, you read it right....ELEVEN! They are lined up and ready to run into the street at a moment's notice for the sake of a sucker, or piece of hubba bubba. Here's a couple of pic's:

The bagpipes, always a favorite
Molly, enjoying the bagpipe band!

So, there you have it...the makings of a great weekend!