Appetizer Party

Tonight we were invited to our friends 30th birthday party. It was a really neat idea, you were asked to bring a appetizer and then there would be a contest. I decided to make pigs in a blanket as I have always wanted to try them! They were a hit... we ended up winning the contest! It was amazing, we won a dinner date night out for $50.00!

It was an excellent night out, we had so much fun, as did the kids and the food was excellent! It was such a fun idea for a party! And we were very blessed!!!

The Past Week

Steve found this giant garter snake... Adessa really wanted to hold it, but it kept trying to bite Steve.

One afternoon after school we painted pumpkins, and then we let the rain wash it off and we carved them!

On Friday Danika's class got to go to the Fire Station in Crofton, they got some pretty nice shirts! This is where Danika likes to do her 'homework'

This afternoon we carved Pumpkins, here is my gutter...

The girls got to sort the pumpkin seeds out of the 'guts,' Adessa thought it was pretty ewwwie!

So did she...

Meeko, my good puppy, just waiting to lick up all the spilled seeds

The final products.... I think I found my calling!!!

(And that is the puppy's tongue... not a cigarette, as I just noticed it looks like!)

Pictures from Amelia and Nathan's Wedding this summer!

At the beginning of summer Steve was in a wedding for some good friends of ours. They sent us these pictures the other day and thought I would share them! I LOVE the one of the girls dancing... they danced late into the night and stole the show! It was pretty cute!

My house was a disaster, my kids were arguing, I had a million things to do and was not a happy mommy. At one point I locked myself in the bathroom for a little quiet time and read this paragraph, it was exactly what my soul needed to hear... and this momma came out of the bathroom with a smile on her face and sat on the couch with my girls and read them a book. I love when God gives me moments like this! The only thing that would have made it that much better would have been a cleaning fairy ;)

'For mortals it is impossible, but for God all things are possible. Matthew 19:26

"So often we wallow in our children's problems rather than exult in their strengths and possibilities. So often we dwell on the things that seem impossible rather than on the things that are possible. So often we are depressed by what remains to be done and forget to be thankful for all that has been done. Forgive us God."

-Marian Wright Edelman, Guide My Feet

Corn Maze!

This week Danika got to go to McNabs Corn Maze twice! At the beginning of the week she went with her class for her first field trip without her mommy! She had so much fun! Then after school on Thursday we went with the Nagtegaal family as I bought a groupon for it. It was a perfect Fall afternoon and we had so much fun exploring the corn maze, picking out a pumpkin and petting the animals in the petting farm.

Best Friends

Family Picture

The Nagtegaals... we love this family a lot!!!

We made it to the lookout tower... the reward... SUCKERS!!!

The mommy's

My amazing, wonderful hubby and I

My little peanut

She stood like this for awhile... thought it was the perfect picture opportunity

Realizing we fell behind, and running to catch up!

Caught in another daze

We took a hay ride to the pumpkin patch.. the girls all found a 'baby' one

Best Friends sharing secrets

The loves of my life!

Working on becoming best friends!

Halloween Candle Craft

I saw this fun little craft on the front of a magazine while standing in line at the grocery store and thought we would give it a whirl. So armed with 2 empty salsa containers, some yellow tissue paper, (we didn't have any orange, oops!) black construction paper, and 2 little girls with paint brushes and glue we tried it out! The had lots of fun painting on the glue and sticking everything on... not as professional looking as the ones on the magazine, but pretty cute!! I think Steve helped them put on the faces....

I LOVE that Adessa is starting to sit for longer stretches of time doing crafts!

Princess Birthday Party

Saturday the girls were invited to a 3 year old princess party. They had lots of fun! I had to leave early because I was helping a friend cater for the evening (which was lots of fun!) so left the girls with daddy for the afternoon. Apparently at one point in the party Steve went outside to help move something and Adessa ate most of the candy in her treat bag. The poor girl was complaining to steve of a sore tummy and mouth all evening! Hopefully next time she will link the two and show some self control!!!

BFF

Our sneaky candy eater

Dance Class Fridays

The weeks have been going by so fast, and I don't even know what fills our days! But with Danika in school, our days just seem to fly by.

Friday after school Danika is in a Celtic dance school, and she loves it. She looks forward to it all week, especially since her two best buddies from her old school go as well. Adessa also has her own dance shoes and joins in for the warm-up.

Friday morning Adessa and I were browsing in a thrift store, and Adessa found this unopened container of playdough.. we have had extreme fun with this little kit all weekend! We also ran into our friend Sharon in the store, as she heard Adessa whining from the other side! It was a lovely pay-off for Adessas whining!

Danika's dance pose

She really wanted a photo with the bunny she is taking care of for her best friend.

Classic concentration pose of Danika, she always has that little tongue out!

My beautiful girl

A Little Fun Prior To Turkey Dinner #2

These are pictures from the gym at Camp Imadene... we had lots of fun!

Steve showing me how fast he can go...

He could go pretty fast, I guess

Here's some better competition... I think he beat me too!

Danika LOVED these little rides. They are so neat, they move by turning the steering wheel

Steve climbing this like spiderman... he was pretty quick!

Adessa really REALLY wanted to climb as well, but settled for helping belay

Sharon... my beautiful friend and cooking partner, we made a mean turkey dinner tonight!

Me... going very slowly up this netting

Adessa really missed me... Oh I love this little girl, and apparently in a year I will miss this... right Sharon?!?

Thankful

"Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances." 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

We are so blessed. This Thanksgiving I have been contemplating life a bit, and where God has us at the moment and I can truly say I am so thankful for it all. It is so easy to complain (which I do my fair share of!) and whine over wanting more stuff, or a bigger house, or to be closer to family. But when I really think of all that we have, and where we are located geographically in the world, I have nothing to complain about.

God has richly blessed me with a wonderful husband, healthy children, very good friendships, Christian parents and in-laws, a warm, beautiful home, lots of food and many extras. All of which are amazing gifts that I never need to take for granted, but in which I often do. But this Thanksgiving I just feel blessed. Even though on holidays we especially miss our family I am thankful to be a part of Gods family and to have wonderful friendships with my 'christian' family,

Sunday after church we were invited over to the Burdge's parents home... and actually surprised our friends Chris and Sharon, who did not know we were coming. It was a wonderful surprise and we enjoyed a great evening together. Chris' parents live 10 minutes from the ocean so we took a nice walk down with the 7 children. We then came back to the house and did a 'harvest hunt.' Which consisted of arming the children with baskets and setting them loose around the house to find healthy snacks for school lunch boxes. It was a great idea and so much fun seeing Adessa running around after the big kids, joining right in!

Then this morning we woke up and stayed in our jammies until noon, then got ready and went out to Chris and Sharon's for turkey dinner #2! For teen camp at Imadene Chris set up a bunch of courses, like the race car track, the climbing wall, and giant swing...so we played in the gym for a while. It was such a great day!

We are so thankful for the weekend and the wonderful friendships God has placed in our lives!

The kids with their baskets, ready to go!

My beautiful girl with her basket full of goodies!

"Praise the Lord I tell myself, and never forget the good things he does for me." Psalm 103:2

My Battle Within...

I wanted to put down what I struggle with most these days... actually what I have been struggling with ever since I became a mom. Trying to figure out a healthy balance in my day to day.

These days with Danika in full-time school and Adessa still napping I am given a couple hours off in the afternoon and I am trying to spend those hours wisely. I was having a discussion with a group of ladies the other day and majority of them said during their kids naps they also take a nap. I do not remember the last time I just sat down and rested during their nap time... let alone took a nap myself. I think a part of me feels guilty because I know Steve is working all day... so I don't feel like I can sit and rest. Now I don't technically 'work' but running this household feels like a full time job! But during Adessa's nap I am usually dusting, sweeping, cleaning bathrooms or cooking dinner... which seem endless! Ideally I would love to spend the time of kids naps cooking and cleaning so that when they are awake I can spend that time with them. But I don't feel like I am doing that properly! Anyways I read this in my devotional this morning, and it rings true to how I am feeling, that as much as I hate doing some of the 'chores' I just love having a clean home and I usually can't rest until it is that way!

She looks well to the ways of her household, and does not eat the bread of idleness. Proverbs 31:27

"I confess Lord, I hate housework! Doing the same task over and over does not thrill me. But I love seeing my family in clean clothes, and I love to inhale the fragrance of clean sheets and towels, so I gladly do the laundry.

I hate housework, but I love guarding my family from germs that cause illness, so I willingly wash dishes, scrub floors and bathrooms, dust and vacuum.

I hate housework, but I love having my family live in an uncluttered environment, so I happily pick up the days accumulation of "things" and trot them back to the places they belong.

I may hate housework, Lord, but I love my family, so I do it anyway. Thank you, Father, for giving me a house to clean and a family to care for.

"Home is the place where the humblest of actions are done willingly, out of love."

Cooking Day!

Sunday after both Steve and I led children's Sunday school, we came home for a cooking afternoon. We didn't mean for it to be that way, but it turned into one! For lunch we made home-made pizza and then for dinner we cooked up the Chanterelle mushrooms the boys found the day before. I found a delicious recipe for Cream of Chanterelle mushroom soup. It was a bit too oniony, so next time I will know how to make it perfect! Then Steve bbq-ed the rest of them... they are the best tasting mushrooms I have ever tried!!!

Saturday Fun with the Burdge's

Saturday we hit up the BC Forest Discovery Museum in Duncan with one of our favorite families! It is a neat little place with the highlight being the train ride to the park. After that we headed out to the Burdge house where the men took off on the quads to go mushroom picking. And Sharon and I were stuck trying to occupy children (mainly Adessa) and cook dinner! But at least we had each other and we made it fun!

Dessa and Daddy on the train

Sharon and Isaac being crazy!

Danika was pretty excited because the conductor gave us free popcorn!

The train going out over the water

The whole crew in one corner... frying up the Chanterelle mushrooms the boys found... they were delicious!

Adessa being mischievous... as always!

Hehe... pretty self-explanatory!