Wednesday, July 30, 2008

Daily Diva...

I've been forced, as of late, to pull my camera out almost daily as a result of Karys and her... je ne c'est quoi. She is such a character and we find ourselves marvelling at her many different characteristics...the joys of having a girl!! When she has an idea, she gets it done! And when she needs help putting it all together, you had better understand what she's asking...the first time!! I like a girl who knows what she wants! Anyhow, just thought I'd devote this post for our little diva...

One day, she came walking into the kitchen...like this!! Sequined skirt, pearls, high heels and all! She was quite proud of herself!


And showed me she could do this!! It's tippy-toes, for those of you who can't tell!


Stylish...


Something must have been funny...


Then, the other day, everything had to be matching! In her mind, that means all the same colour! So, that day it was white! And she specifically wanted her hair in 2 buns to be able to use both bawaweema elastics that Gram sent her!

Then she truly felt like a bawaweema! More tippy-toes!

But maybe a bit like Cinderella too!:)


She does look quite punished in these pictures, but it's just because the camera was out! She was actually the one who went into to closet and got out the broom to help Mummy! Just so that you don't all think I'm some slave-driver!

And inspite of how much she loves being dolled-up, she also greatly enjoys getting messy...

and having fun finding and playing with gross things...like frogs:O)


And would never let anything like a little bit of rain stop her from having fun!!

She came up to me and said "Me wear my red heart bathing suit and go out in the rain!" And so...she did!

~ Aww Karys...we love ya! ~

Friday, July 25, 2008

Friday Love List

Whew...is it me or did this week seem to fly by?! Feels like I just did one of these (hee hee)!! Here's this week's list....






.:1:. http://www.picnik.com/ ...absolutely LOVE this web-page!! Here's an example of time well-wasted!


.:2:. Cute kids who love playing with my cute kid!



.:3:. Little gifts! While at the lake, Jim's mom surprised Karys with a really cute pair of Levi's and me with a set of 3 brightly coloured, extremely comfy tank tops! Oh how I love getting things:)
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.:4:. Playing with the girls in the Lake - minus the part where I heartlessly threw a leech onto the shore it the hopes of it's ultimate demise!
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.:5:. Morning runs at the Lake! Such fresh air when there's endless acres of forest!! Although, 14 kms anywhere still sounds a tad daunting (KJ!!)
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.:6:. My smarty-pants...



.:7:. A good night's sleep - having just spent time at the lake where our room is Karys' room is Avery's room, my bed in my room with wall separating my from them is a very welcoming and anticipated thought!!


.:8:. The ease at which I can please my family when my heart (forgive me) isn't into making dinner! Seriously - and, no, it wasn't KD! That stuff only held a space on our shelves when I was pregnant:o)


.:9:. Unexpected blessings that are definite proof that God cares - always, but particularly in our time of need!


.:10:. And...finally...my overly vocal #2! I thought Karys was loud:)




~ Hope your weekend goes swimmingly...

Tuesday, July 22, 2008

Friday Love List - a few days late:)

Well, as is pretty obvious, our weekend visit to the coast had us so busy that there was no time to blog...not even for my love list! So, although it's late, there are still things that make the cut! Here they are!!>>>

.:1:. visiting the Sunshine Coast and having 100% sun, 100% of the time!!
.:2:. celebrating the life of an incredible woman, with her incredible family, while my incredible hubby watched our incredible children!
.:3:. safe travels to and from the coast for all of us - long and windy roads with 1287497 people trying to get somewhere NOW doesn't make for the safest driving conditions, but God kept us safe!
.:4:. being able to get in a good visit with my favorite brother and girls' favorite uncle!! Sorry it's such a bad shot - that IS me and my bro (playing with Avery in her bitty pool), who I just never seem to be able to capture on camera!!


.:5:. enjoying dinner sitting on a deck over the ocean with Jim, knowing our girls were having fun with Gram!
.:6:. Avery cutting her first 2 teeth!! And Karys being so excited when I told her, saying "Now Avery can have supper!!" Thank the Lord for another silent teether!!
.:7:. having the whole family at the supper table! Avery's in her Bumbo!


.:8:. seeing the excitment in Karys, and the final results, when she gets to choose her entire outfit for the day! What you can't see it that her hair-clips are red and so are her - ahem - panties! Yes, everything must match, and to this 2 1/2 yr old, "matching" means everything is the same colour!! And this pose is a display of her being a "ba-wa-weema!"

.:9:. a happy eater! If you need a pick-me-up...this girl will laugh at anything!
sorry it's blurry


.:10:. and...my top thing for this past week's love list...






Yup - she's 7 months and crawling! Quick...baby-proof the house!!!!

Tuesday, July 15, 2008

Hand-Made Treasures

It is true, stuff made by hand just seems to be that much more special! And today I was fortunate enough to receive some very special hand-made items!

After happening upon a neat little website, featuring hand-made products, I found a really nifty shop - shmellowyellow - that makes silkscreen t-shirts, among other things! Wanting to pay tribute to my commitment to run the half marathon in October, I requested a unique tee from shmellowyellow and was pleasantly surprised with what I received!

Not only did I get my running shirt, but I couldn't help myself from getting another shirt in shmellowyellow's collection!

This is the running shirt - affectionately displaying what Karys says to me every time I leave for my runs...
This is the back of the shirt - displaying a bit of encouragement, should any poor soul find herself behind me!

And this is the tree shirt from her collection....


I love the tree! Love the shirts....thanks M!

So...that was my surprise for the day! Very nice to receive some hand-made treasures! Go ahead and check out her site - and check back there soon, as I am sure she'll be adding items that you may enjoy!!

For I know the plans...

...and I know God knows the plans He has for us and life, but sometimes I wish that He knew that I'd like to know!! This is where trust plays a huge role and where you find out if you've got what it takes! I mean I usually consider myself a pretty trusting person, but then again, my life is pretty usual. Like, the things that happen are the things that we assume will happen in life - I get up, I mother our girls, Jim goes to work, I make dinner, Jim get home, we relax on the sofa, we go to bed. Now I know that's the mundane version, but usually when life is pretty ordinary, you begin to believe you've got this "trust" thing down pat!

And then...poof...life takes a turn! Not my life, per say, but the lives and happenings of friends of ours has an affect on us too.

This past week we received the news that a good friend of ours had passed away from her 8 year battle with ovarian cancer. Now where does my trust-gauge land?? Empty? Full? Half a tank? She was an incredible woman, an adoring mother of two beautiful boys, a loving sister and a hilarious friend! And now her family is left to trust, and I am left to stand off in the distance and trust! Trust that God does know the plans He has for us - Jeremiah 29:11 - plans to give her boys and extended family a hope and a future!

So I trust! I know He blessed her with the boys for a reason! I know her placed her in the family he did for a reason! And I know she touched the lives of others for a reason! And although we may never know the reason to testing life situations such as these - this side of heaven - we can trust that God knows! And, we can look forward to the day that we get to meet our believing loved ones again! Praise God that Sheri is now pain free and dancing at the feet of Jesus!

So with your final heartbeat,
Kiss the world goodbye.
Go in peace and laugh on Glory's side.
Fly to Jesus, Fly to Jesus,
Fly to Jesus, and Live!

Hoping that the trying situations life has you in at the moment result in a close examination of where your trust lies...truly!

Friday, July 11, 2008

Friday Love List

So...another week has passed me by, and although I have no clue how it's already Friday, I do have some things to add to a list. Here it goes for this week....

.:1:. Having successfully completed my longest run yet, 12kms and some change...no where close to the mileage I need to be able to endure come October, but still something to feel good about!
.:2:. New contacts... I don't dare let you know how old my last pair was! Suffice it to say, I lost the remaining pairs I had in our move!
.:3:. Nap time (for the girls)/ Tanning time (for Mommy)
.:4:. Oh...this one should have been #1 - sugar-free Del Monte fruit bars! The best way to jazz up any summer day...sunny or not:)
.:5:. The idea of new beginnings ;)
.:6:. Fresh fruit, primarily strawberries, nectarines, and melons - nature's sweet indulgence
.:7:. Having a BBQ dinner outside on the deck
.:8:. Getting the girls' up from their naps - so sleepy sweet!
.:9:. Sunny days that make it seem alright to have appetizers for dinner! Tonight we having dips...lots of them! mmmmm
.:10:. Having a Mom who tries to be a cool Gram - but fears are fears!

.:So...there ya have it! And now I'm off to get my babies out of bed and make some yummy dips! Have a great weekend! And remember to be thankful for all you have!:.

~C

Saturday, July 5, 2008

Holy Cow...literally!

Or, should I say "holy beef"!! Not that the beef is actually holy, but it sure is a blessing to have farmers as family members!! As much as I would love to buy organic and believe in the idea of putting less junk in our bodies by buying things with less junk in them, I can rarely justify forking out the fortune it would cost to stock my cupboards,fridge, and freezer!

So, the other week when Jim's Oma called us to let us know they were slaughtering "Brown Cow" (not really his name, but I figure I owe him that much!), we jumped at the opportunity! Knowing full well that we are only 2 adults and a toddler eating meat at the moment, it worked out perfectly that she was only looking for us to purchase 1/4 of Brownie!

Now, in case you're unsure of what buying a quarter of a cow yields, welcome to the club!! I was sitting on the phone trying to figure out which "quarter" to choose, not knowing that you get 1/4 of every type of meat yielded! Duh...isn't that an ingenious thought! Everybody gets a bit of everything...how fair!!

So, today our meat arrived - along with his innards that no one else wanted, which we promptly sent away with Jim's parents!! Who knew you could get 4-1lb packages of liver, 2-1lb packages of kidney and a huge bag with the word tongue written across it?! Good bye...not in this house...hope you don't take offense Brownie!! The rest of the 3 ice boxes contained every type and cut of beef you could imagine! Of course there was a majority of ground beef, but the other cuts ranged in variety from 7 roasts - 2-5 lbs each, 3 packages of short ribs, 7-9 packages of steaks of all types, 4 huge packages of stewing meat, 4 full bags of soup bones and 4 packages of minute steaks! We will not need to buy red meat in this house for what seems like an eternity! And the even larger blessing...all 210lbs of Brownie that we got was purchased for a whopping $1 a pound!! I don't even think you can get full fat ground beef for that price!

Get a load of what a quarter of a cow looks like....

It's hard to capture it from the awkward angle, but this freezer is layered with beef, in some semblance of order, but really, how can you keep 210lbs divided?!

A closer up view.....This is...I think...somewhere around the 5th or 6th layer of meat!

And one last picture, just because there's so much meat!

So...thank you Oma and Opa, thank you Brownie, you've made our freezer full and didn't break the bank! And we'll be able to have BBQ's for the rest of the summer!! YUM!!! Anyone wanna join us?!


~~::~~::~~::~~ R.I.P. Brownie! ~~::~~::~~::~~

SIDENOTE: ONLY THOSE OF YOU WHO KNEW ME 5 YEARS AGO WILL TRULY APPRECIATE THE IRONY AND HUMOR OF ME BEING SO PLEASED WITH A FREEZER FULL OF MEAT!

Friday, July 4, 2008

.:Friday Love List:.

Here's this weeks list - with supporting pictures/video clips where applicable!

.:1:. Canada Day - I LOVE Canada Day and all the festivities that go along with it! This year was a little different living in such a small town, but we had fun nonetheless!



.:2:. Watching our girls spend time with Daddy!



.:3:. Being a part of Karys' "firsts" - she loves animals of all kinds!

.:4:. Sleeping Babies




.:5:. The safe arrival of babies - congratulations Voth's!!

.:6:. A good laugh - must check out this site!! And there's endless clips on YouTube!

.:7:. The ABC's sung by my two year old! We think she's pretty smart!



.:8:. Gorgeous sunny days by the lake!



.:9:. Getting back from a good run - note the wording! I still have yet to enjoy the getting ready, leaving, and actual running, but the getting back part sure feels nice!!

.:10:. Karys' version of Itsy Bitsy Spider - or as she likes to say "Ipsy Bipsy Pider!" This video is a short demonstration of the humor this little girl adds to our lives!!



.:11:. And for an extra one this week...watching Avery learn to do new things! She's getting so big! And I have a feeling she's gonna keep me on my toes!!!

Thursday, July 3, 2008

June In Review

Well, as much as I have so much to say about all that's been going on around here, I also know that pictures can say it all! So here's a post full of pictures and a few of my ramblings, for what's a picture without some explanation!?

To start things off, my baby is (as mentioned several times before) growing up too fast! Here's some proof...

Learning to be vertical!
Looking stylish in some awesome hand-me-downs! (thanks K!)

First little bites of solids....don't know what to think!?
Yup...she likes it!

And, here she is in a christening gown that is over 100 years old! Made from my great-grandmother's wedding dress!

Now, onto Father's Day! The girls were looking pretty cute on that day to go to our church picnic that I decided to get some shots of them before we left!

Karys being.....
Karys!

Big girl sitting pretty!
Sisters!
Daddy and his girls...

Us!

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While on the coast we had the chance to get to the Aquarium and I would have a hard time trying to decide who had a better time...me or Karys!


And Daddy loves to go shopping for his girls! This time he came home with a little something for Avery!!

Daddy-cuddles...nothing else like 'em!

Who can spend time on the Coast without going to the Beach?? We sure had a great time there and Avery thoroughly enjoyed her first Ocean experience!!

Karys being her 'daring' self...


Showing little sister how to play in the water...

Getting the hang of things...


So... I think that's about it for now! We have been busy enjoying this summer and all it brings - as I am sure all of you have been doing as well! What looking back on these picture truly helps us realize is how blessed we are to be able to have these places to visit/live! What glorious beauty...what a wonderful Creator! B.C. most definitely is the best place on earth!