Megan's Birthday Blessing

Every time a bell rings, an angel gets its wings. (It's a Wonderful Life)

While that is a lovely sentiment, I can't say that there's any truth to it. What I do know for sure, though, is that there is a Heavenly celebration every time someone comes to the Kingdom. (see Luke 15:10) Each time a person prays for salvation, God and His angels have a big ol' party. And I believe that when those people take the next step in their walk of faith - baptism - the party just continues.

There was a rockin' out party in Heaven yesterday for my girl Megan! And my mother heart nearly burst with joy. Because in spite of our struggles as a family, and in spite of the fact that I often feel I'm not doing enough to teach them the ways of the Lord, God has been revealing a beautiful treasure. He's given us the treasure of a Godly heritage.

This is the verse of blessing I shared with Megan, not only for her baptism but also for her upcoming birthday...

Megan, may you grow in the grace and knowledge of your Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

May your life, Megan, give Him glory both now and forever.

Amen.

~ 2 Peter 3:18 (NIV)

The Numbers Game

Important numbers in my life these days...

0. The number of Christmas gifts I have yet to buy.

1. The number of children still asleep at 8:15am.

2. The number of hours I spent at the clinic last night with Megan (7), awaiting an official diagnosis of what we already knew - another ear infection.

3. The number of loads of laundry I need to do today.

4. The number of performances (including dress rehearsal) we did of the Christmas story at church this weekend. Megan was an angel, Shea (5) played the handbells, and I was one of the many hands on deck.

5. The number of sleeps until Christmas morning.
.....

10. The number of times the children have asked about going out and having fun. Some of their favourite requests are: Chuck E. Cheese, Kidz Quarterz (indoor climbing centre), the movie theatre, and swimming.

12. The number of people who will be in our home overnight for Christmas Eve and here for turkey dinner.

14. The number of hours Braeden (12) hopes to spend playing video games today.

16. The number of times Kai (3) has asked if Santa has brought him a monster truck yet.

18. The number of books Abbey (8) intends to read over Christmas vacation.

20. The estimated number of gifts I have yet to wrap.

Thanks for the idea, Bobbie! :)

All Dressed Up

Only a month later, I figured it was time to post a few pictures of the kids in costume for Halloween.

Who wouldn't give these kids candy?!

Shea, aka Sharpay (High School Musical)

Meg, aka Rock Star Girl

Abbey, aka Angel



Kai, aka Bumblebee (Transformers)

Braeden - "I'm too old to trick or treat!" and "Don't take my picture!" (Thankfully, he did let us get him in his Air Cadet uniform.)



This will make you feel better about yourself, I promise

First, if you're wondering where the next post in the Good Fruit series is, join the club! God has been showing me so much about love that I can't form a coherent thought on it yet. I'm praying that He and I can get it all worked out for tomorrow. Or maybe Monday...

Do you ever do something that makes you feel like the worst _______ (fill in the blank - mom, wife, friend, employee, ministry leader) in the world? If so, my Tuesday motherhood experience likely happened for the sole purpose of  helping you feel better about yourself.

Tuesday was a special day for the girls - their first dance class of the season! The after-school plan was quite elaborate, but I was pretty impressed with my ability to sort out the scheduling details.

I began the day by informing Abbey (8) that she could not join the choir because Tuesday choir practice would overlap with dance classes. And there was no way I could be at Shea's (5) dance class AND be picking Abbey up from the school at the exact same time. The reason I had to deliver this news at 7am on Tuesday - because I had already told her she could join choir and signed the permission slip!

I felt well-prepared for the after-school insanity. We left the house at 3pm (Shea, Kai  (3) and I). Leaving half an hour early turned out to be a very good move! Power was out in most of the town, traffic lights were not working, and it was the after-school hour. Needless to say, what should be a 10-minute drive took 22. But I arrived just in time to meet Abbey and Megan (7) at the local high school, where they transfer buses.

I was cheerful and smiling inside. After all, the sun was shining (finally!) and I had done it! I got them to dance class on time! Yes! (insert fist pump)

We sent Shea into her class and the rest of us hung out in the lobby. I mentally patted myself on the back for having the foresight to pack snacks, drinks, coloring supplies, and cars. My feet propped comfortably on a chair, I cracked the binding of a new book, thrilled at the prospect of whiling away the next 45 minutes in relative peace.

I don't exactly recall how it came up, but we were talking about Braeden (12) when it hit me - I forgot to leave a note at home to let him know where we were! First, I called home. Of course he won't answer, the power is out! Duh! Cordless phones don't work in power outages. Oh wait...He wouldn't be able to answer the phone regardless, because he can't get in the house - every single door is locked up tight!

(In the past, I had been leaving one door unlocked for those rare instances when Braeden's bus arrives and I'm not yet home. Yes, this decision was based in experience, thankyouverymuch. But last week, it seems I accidentally left the truck unlocked one night, and our GPS, portable DVD player, and B's PSP were all stolen. Since then, I have felt it wise to lock up all the time.)

I looked at my watch, 4:10pm. Shea's dance was scheduled to end in 20 min and then Abbey and Meg's class would begin. Braeden was scheduled to be dropped off at 3:45pm! I moved into not-quite-yet-frantic auto pilot.

"Girls," I looked at A & M, "Stay here. Be good. When Shea is done, bring her into your class with you. I'll be back." I looked to the small source of big noise, Mister Kai, and called to him, "Hurry up! Come with Mommy! We need to drive home quickly to get Braeden!" The drive home took 18 minutes, because they finally had police at the intersections directing traffic.

I whipped into the driveway and burst into the house calling Braeden's name! Of course he's not answering; he's not Caspar the Ghost and can't float through walls! Sheesh!

Kai stayed firmly trapped in his car seat screaming loud and proud his desire to be set free.

Our (brand new, just moved in last week) next door neighbor had not seen him, but she was kind enough to offer her home as a place of refuge for my son in the event of future negligence on my part. The sitter who lives down the street (and, incidentally, her mother - who is also Megan's teacher) also had not seen him.

Kai screamed on. At least I know where he is!

Breathe, Tyler, breathe. Think, think, think! I called the bus driver's home. No answer. I called the busing office - she'd get back to me. Two agonizing minutes later, as I paced the driveway around the truck and periodically said, "That's enough, Malakai. You have to stay in your seat." she called. The driver had taken B back on the bus when they discovered the locked door and couldn't reach me on the phone. She had one more child to drop off and would return with my son. Oh thank-you, Jesus!

As relief washed over me and the adrenaline slowed, it occurred to me that I had just left three little girls to their own devices at dance lessons. Another phone call as I confessed my complete incompetence to yet another person. Yes, they were safely in the studio.

After dropping B off, his bus driver very politely asked for my cell phone number (who can blame her?!), and I filled her in on the next door neighbor contingency plan. I did remember to let B know where we were going before Kai and I headed back to dance.

We arrived and retrieved Shea from the class, returning to our abandoned snack and coloring table. At 5:20, an influx of parents came through the door and headed down the hallway to wait for their dancing darlings. I opted to keep "loud and proud" out in the lobby for the sanity of every parental unit in the building. Ten minutes later two girls came running out.

Finally, we can just go home. What a day!

But wait, why do the girls look so unimpressed? They informed me, loudly and in front of numerous departing families, that parents were supposed to come in and watch at the end. Where was I???? I made humble apology and begged everyone to just get in the truck. The drive home took 6 minutes. Thank-you Lord that the power is back on. Oh darn, my dinner was in the oven on a timer. What am I going to serve now? Well, at least the TV would be working; that will keep everyone busy for a few minutes. I wonder what B did at home with no power? He was probably bored out of his mind, and couldn't even phone me to tell me! Nice job, Tyler. Mother of the year. Oh yes you are!

Please feel free to store this little gem in your memory banks and withdraw it at those precious moments when you feel the flames of humiliation climbing the back of your neck due to some incident of incompetence. Remember that while you are having a bad moment, at least you're not having a bad day in front of a dozen eye witnesses. Then you can smile and feel better about yourself at my expense. Yes, I am at your service.

Oh, did I mention that, as it turns out, dance lessons actually started last week?!

Spa Day

Every now and then, a nice, relaxing day at the spa

(aka Mom's room with spa music piped in and the lights dimmed)

is in order.

Eleven

In our first year of marriage, I was quite insistent that Pat and I exchange the traditional anniversary gifts. I had a calendar made with pictures from our wedding for him to hang at work. (I don't think he ever did take it to work, though, because he was mostly on the road.) I can't remember what he got me, but it was definitely paper.

Once we were coming up on the year of cotton, we decided that buying one another clothes was dumb. Instead, we bought stuff that we wanted. Kinda like a birthday. I'm sure we did gifts for a few years, but after a while that became more headache and expense than we wanted.

The past few years, we've chosen time together for our anniversary. Last year, our tenth, we spent the weekend at the same place we spent our honeymoon. I got a tattoo. (Not really related, but hey!)

Most of the time (not just anniversaries) our dates involve doing what I like to do.This year, our anniversary was spent doing what Pat has always wanted to do - camping as a family. To say I enjoyed it would be an understatement. It was great! (No one is more surprised by this than I.) Here are a few snapshots of our anniversary weekend.

Along the way you'll notice a few peeps that don't belong to us. We had 3 extra young folk on the trip, as well as a friend and co-worker of Pat's with his wife and little boy. Many of these photos were taken by said friend/co-worker.

Somebody learned to ride on just two-wheels! Yay, Megan! You go girl!

Abbey demonstrating her gymnastics skills for Shea and G.

Pat had to get in on the two-wheel riding action. This picture was posted on the wall at work first thing Monday morning.

Braeden and J were the only ones brave enough to get in that cold lake and stay in!

Wheee! Malakai put on hundreds of miles over the weekend.

Sweet smiling G. Her face had this expression on it for the whole time.

Daisy dog got in on the action. Camping plumb wore her out.

I believe they were building a city of volcanoes.

Pat and Abbey, sitting still and quiet in hopes of catching a squirrel in their net.

Kai's new buddy, Little C (or "baby," as Kai fondly referred to him) stuck close to the shiny red tricycle at all times.

This may have been the shot that caught Braeden right in the face. I think J overestimated the amount of power required to kick a mini soccer ball!

Braeden getting in on the soccer action. (Obviously, this was prior to the hit in the face. After that incident he decided to "retire." LOL!)

Here's Big C. See that gap? He yanked those two front teeth out the day we left for camping. The tooth fairy even comes to visit in travel trailers, didya know?

I'm pretty sure this was the, "Mama, carry me up!" look.

There must have been a Pat-monster chasing these kids...

No family outing is complete without a friendly match of Kung-Fu fighting.

Toothless Wonders

Megan - age 7 yrs, 1 mo; teeth lost = 7

Abbey - age 8 yrs, 4 mo; teeth lost = 5 (Finally!)

Our new favourite family pastime is to make them say words with lots of "s"es and giggle.

Family Funnies

Our family had a fantastic long weekend in the mountains! We drove, we hiked, we toured a town of days gone by, we hot tubbed, we rode a train, we visited the world's largest cuckoo clock, we toured a mine, we swam, we ate too much and slept too little. (At this juncture, I would like to post some pictures of our family fun. Unfortunately, my computer's card reader is not in the mood to read my camera's memory card and the USB cord for my camera is playing hide-n-seek. You'll have to settle for a cute little story instead.)

Shea: Dad! Look at that mountain! It's so big! The trees are higher than the sky!

Abbey: Sometimes, when the trees are waving in the wind, it kinda looks like they are worshipping God.

Mom: I bet they are! It says in the Bible that even the rocks cry out to worship the Lord.

Megan: Mom, what about the rocks that aren't Christians?

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Malakai, at age 2 1/2, is really becoming a talker! Here are our two favourite sayings of his:

Shake a booty! (said in a sing-songy way while bopping his head up and down)

I nu no. (I don't know. His standard reply to any question beginning in "Where is....")

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This post is linked up to Tiny Talk Tuesday.

Another Landmark

Megan, today you are seven. Some days, I am amazed that either you or I have made it this far! You are so like me, with your fiery personality and your tendency to react before fully processing things. Girl, you and I are experts at pushing one another's buttons!

In honour of your 7th birthday (and your great love of Miley's "7 Things" song), I want to tell you 7 things I love about you:

1. You are so expressive! There is never any question as to what you are feeling. You get your face, your voice, and your whole body into it. Once you get over your stage fright, you are going to be one fantastic actress!

2. When given a special job to do, you are not satisfied with anything less than your best! You are so cheerful when helping, and often you are my most willing helper.

3. I love listening to you talk with the adorable little lisp that comes from missing your two front teeth.

4. When you smile, your eyes smile. They turn into glittering half-moons that clearly show everyone you are happy.

5. You are fiercely loyal. No one better mess with your baby brother, your sisters, or even your older brother - or they will experience your fury! I just love how strongly you stick with your family.

6. You hold a special name for a special friend, and I often see glimpses of her in you, Megan Christine.

7. One example of #6: I love the way you make your bed - blankets perfectly lined up and smooth, each teddy bear stacked and aligned according to size, pillow in just the right spot... It surely wasn't me who inspired that in you!

You are my sunshine girl. I thank God for placing you smack dab in the middle of our family, because that spot could never be filled by anyone else. Happy birthday, Sunshine!

* I discovered a big mistake today while scrolling through recent birthday posts - somehow I missed a post commemorating Shea's birthday from earlier this month! You will find it posted in just a couple hours.

Parenting is Tough

Have you ever heard the saying, "You can deal with it now, or you can deal with it when she's 16?"

We had one of those "its" to deal with this weekend.

Megan (almost 7) is a leader. You know how I know this? Because she will not allow anyone to boss her! Nope, not a soul. Not even her parents. When she's older, and if she's received proper training and encouragement, she will be an amazing leader. Her charismatic personality draws friends like flies. Once she develops the skills to tamp down her short fuse and her tendency to be oppositional, there is no telling what the girl will do for the Kingdom!

As parents, we (meaning Pat and I - hopefully you are better at this than us!) tend to operate in a cyclical manner. For a while we are strict and firm, offering clear guidelines and distinct consequences. As we see troublesome behaviours easing up, our strictness eases up in kind. We float along effortlessly for a time. Then the behaviour of concern creeps up again. We then take a deep breath and tighten up our parenting belts once again.

You think we'd learn to just always be consistent! But consistency is hard work and requires superhuman effort (on rough days), so the allure of taking a break is difficult to resist. I think it's fair to say that we have been on a little consistency break these days. Sigh.

Back to the "it..." While I don't think it's fair for me to give out specifics of Megan's struggles, I will tell you this much - they were plentiful, and they involved more people than just the parents. There have been issues - while small in and of themselves - that, once stacked up, amount to a very big pile of disrespect. Very Big.

To us, disrespect is a heart issue. One that must be dealt with swiftly and with unflinching firmness. And while it broke our hearts to make this decision, we informed our almost-birthday-girl that the big sleepover/movie-going party she had planned to celebrate her upcoming special day would not take place.*

Seeing Megan's tears nearly undid me. After all, who wants to break their own child's heart? But through all our discussion and prayer on how to deal with a situation that appeared to be getting out of control, Pat and I had two verses resonating in our minds...

Proverbs 22:6 Train a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

Proverbs 13:24 He who spares the rod hates his child, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him.

I do acknowledge our own responsibility in this big "it." If we consistently adhered to the first passage, it is unlikely that we'd have run into a pile up of disrespect. If we consistently trained our children, without taking little breaks, I am certain that heart issues would be dealt with before they ballooned this way. I pray that God gives us the strength, wisdom, and patience required to truly train our children.

But, I also recognize that, regardless of where the trail of responsibility tracks back to, failing to discipline at this point is as much as telling our child that we hate her. Harsh words, I know. Our love for her is so great, though, that we cannot risk allowing this character issue to take root. Which is exactly what would happen if we were to allow our compassion to overrule our discipline.

Man alive, this parenting thing is tough with a capital "T!"

* Before I get all sorts of flak for being a "mean mom" (ahem, Grandma) I would like to clarify that the birthday party will still take place, but has been revamped to no longer include going to a movie or friends sleeping over. The revised party will be the basic hot dogs, cake, presents, home kinda party. We felt that this compromise of sorts would send a clear message about our expectations, while still showing love and compassion.

Of course, I welcome your thoughts on the matter and/or stories of how you've dealt with parenting issues. Just don't beat me up and call me mean! :)

True Confessions

The Tooth Fairy in this house is likely the most negligent TF you've ever heard of.

Megan has now lost 4 teeth.

The first one was easy to remember, because TF put a post-it note on the fridge to help remind her to exchange tooth for money. The second was special because the doctor pulled it out under anaesthetic just before removing her tonsils and adenoids. (TF has a special place in her heart for these kinds of situations and pays double for those teeth.)

Tooth #3, which was lost at school on Monday, was a little trickier. Now, before we get too down on TF, she did have the foresight to stop at the store and get a loonie (that's a Canadian $1 coin, for my US friends) that day. But that loonie was left, forgotten in TF's wallet until 3am, at which time a groggy Megan woke up and came to inform said TF her Mother that TF had not yet come to do the exchange. The issue was dealt with the moment Meg fell back asleep.

Wednesday, while at school, Meg yanked out tooth #4. TF, once again, wisely ensured that she had a loonie on hand.

This post was written on Thursday morning at 6:55am. It was inspired by two big, brown, tear-filled eyes and a forlorn little girl's early-morning voice squeaking out, "The Tooth Fairy didn't come. She forgot about me!"

But before you feel too bad for her (or too judgemental about TF's slacking off around this house), you can know that she was reassured by these words, "Oh dear! You know, this isn't the first time that the Tooth Fairy has fallen asleep on the job. Just ask Braeden - I think the Tooth Fairy fell asleep and forgot about his lost teeth two or three times! But you know what she did? When she woke up in the morning and realized her terrible mistake, the Tooth Fairy always came while Braeden was at school. And with his money she would leave him a not of apology. So go make sure your tooth is still where it should be, because when that Tooth Fairy wakes up - is she ever going to feel foolish!"

Meg smiled, giggled a bit, and asked her mother to make sure that NO ONE enters her room while she's at school today.

Phew. Another bullet dodged. This double-identity stuff can get pretty hard core!

In Which I Almost Burst into Tears in a Room full of Men

Megan is what some might refer to as a "spirited" child. She is oodles of fun, has the best giggle and the brightest smile, she loves to help, she rocks out to all varieties of music, she taught herself to dance hip-hop style. The thing is, every little bit of that must be on her own terms. If someone else attempts to dictate their terms (even, or should I say - especially - her parents), her heels dig in so hard they leave little dents in my hardwood floors. When I ship her off to her tenth time-out in an hour, I say this little mantra in my head, "Having a strong will is good. No one will talk her into doing anything she doesn't want to do. She is a leader." And I know in my heart all these things are true.

We have run into a couple unfortunate incidents, though, where Meg's little size 11 heels have dug into someone else's floor - specifically, her teacher's. You see, there were certain activities that she did not want to participate in. So she didn't, doesn't, wouldn't, won't. Because of her spirited nature, our instinct as parents was to break her will (along the lines of breaking a horse in order to tame it). Unfortunately, Megan's response to our tactics was more akin to that of a mule than a horse.

So we began praying. (Yes, we probably should have done that much earlier on.) God, as He is faithful to do, answered. He had me in the right place at the right time in order to witness Megan's withdrawal and refusal to participate. And when I saw it, I knew that we had overlooked something much more insidious than a strong will. I saw shyness, discomfort, lack of self-confidence, fear, and anxiety.

So, we decided to try karate. Megan took to the training right away. That girl can punch!

In the class, because it's a parent-kid class, we also play games. The games, well, let's just say she didn't really take to those the same way. Thankfully, the Sensei didn't push and was fine with Meg standing back and watching us do chicken fights (not the kind you're thinking of!), play tag, bear crawl, and so on. She was also not particularly fond of doing the keyai (I've no idea how to spell Japanese words, but that is the word used to describe the shout that accompanies a punch/kick/block).

Last night, I had the incredible opportunity to witness God answering another prayer.

Halfway through the class, we took a little "fun break" and did some bear crawls and crab walks. By we I mean the whole class - including Meg. Later on, as we were practicing our kata (routine) I heard her keyai beside me. The Sensei wrapped the class up with a good ol' round of chicken fighting. Two boys went, then two men, then he called up Megan and another little girl. I held my breath, clenched my teeth, and used every ounce of will power I have to resist turning and looking at her. My Megan, she jumped up onto the mat, bowed to her opponent, and promptly kicked her butt! Well, technically she just knocked her off balance. She got paired with a boy later on, and I noticed only a millisecond of hesitation before she stood.

As I sat beside that blue gym mat watching my six-year-old daughter chest bumping an eight-year-old boy, it was all I could do to hold back the tears of joy.

I am certain that our Sensei, his helper, and the four dads in the class are all very appreciative of my restraint.

I now notice that my left punch is totally NOT about to hit my opponent in the solar plexus. Clearly, I have a bit of work to do on my form.

Just look at her! Is that not the face of a confident girl?!

Tiny Talk Tuesday

Megan is an eighty-year-old woman in a six-year-old's body. I know this, because only old women talk like she does.

Last night, as we drove home, she opened her window. It was +12C - unseasonably warm for January in Alberta. Enjoying the warm breeze on her face, Megan leaned her head back and sighed.

"Mom," she said, "This warm weather is so fabulous! Tomorrow, after school, we should all go for a nice walk. Wouldn't that be lovely?"

Sure, Grandma, that would be just lovely. ;)

Posers

Everybody was Kung-Fu Fighting...

My muscles are beginning to hurt. You know that distant uncomfortable feeling - the one that provides fair warning that in approximately 24 hours you won't be able to walk down your stairs or sit on the toilet without crying out in pain? But it's good!

Megan and I had our first parent/child karate class last night. I had no idea...

Over the course of an hour, the sensei somehow managed to trick us into working up a good sweat, doing about 50 push ups (in my case, not with the prettiest form), doing a good 100 crunches, and more.

I forgot how good it feels to hurt like that.

The best part, though, was watching my Muffin-girl. She was so intent, so focused, and totally awesome! She loved every minute of it and participated for the entire hour. At the end of the class the sensei handed out forms to order a uniform (it's called a Gii - no idea on the correct spelling of Japanese words). Meg looked at me with a light in her eyes that I haven't seen in a while and proclaimed, "I want one!"

Who am I to discourage her commitment to the sport? And, since she was fairly insistent that I must also be in uniform, I ordered 2. Next week we'll be punching and shouting in style. Oh, and push-upping and crunching...

An Email from Me to You

I have been trying to find a way to word an update on life around here...a way that wraps up God's truths in good writing. But every post I began resulted in an unfinished draft sitting on my dashboard. I decided that the best I can do is to copy and paste an email I sent to a friend about life in our new home. After all, we're all friends in this place.

The house is so fantastic! I LOVE it, LOVE it, LOVE it! It is big and beautiful. Now we need some furniture to fill it up a bit better. :) Last night I joked to Pat that I sure hated all the hardwood and vaulted ceilings b/c they made the kids’ noise echo. LOL.

The neighbourhood is lovely. We’ve met one neighbour (Abbey’s teacher) – she gave us her daughter’s name and number b/c her daughter does respite for families with kids with special needs. I can’t get over how super good God is to me! I’m going to call her this afternoon to set up an “interview.” We saw a little girl across the street who Abbey wants me to take her to see, and there’s a boy in Meg’s class across the street who also has an older brother (just a bit younger than Braeden). So looks like a buddy for all the big kids. We have yet to go meet all these people and set up play dates… All in good time.

We visited a new church on Sunday. I found it a bit stoic (contemporary music, but very reserved in their expression of worship – Pat told me I was the only one who raised my hands during the singing, lol). We are not totally sure about it, but we’ll keep visiting for a couple months to give it a fair shot. It’s the largest church in town, closest to the size and number of programs of CrossRoads, so we figured that it might feel the most comfortable.

Yesterday I went to the women’s coffee group there. It was okay. I enjoyed visiting with other women. But overall wasn’t totally sure if I connected with anyone. Mostly just surface. One woman at our table was preparing to be a surrogate for a friend, and I had a difficult time processing that information, so it may have distracted me from making good connections.

Today I went again, but this group is the Bible study group. I cannot even describe how great it was! These women want to go deep, and they were open about their struggles even though I was new in the small group. They were very welcoming and inviting. One of them also has a girl in preschool with Shea!

There’s a women’s Christmas event this weekend – either Th night, Fri night, or Sat AM. I couldn’t decide which night to buy for when I was at church Sun, so I asked which night they needed to sell more tickets for. Ended up with a lonely ticket for Th night. Turns out that five women from the group today are also going Th night! And they’ve invited me to sit with them. Seriously, God just knocks my socks off! I feel so special to Him, that He would take seriously my prayers for a fast friendship.

I am likely going to WW (Weight Watchers) tomorrow. Gained back a bunch since my fast. Needing some discipline and structure. I prob won’t stay for the meeting, as Kai is a trouble-maker, but paying for the weigh-in is often fairly good motivation and accountability for me.

(An addendum for my bloggy readers.)

Lest you think life is all sunshine and roses, I should mention that everyone seems to be struggling a bit to settle in. Though school is going well for the kiddos, behaviours at home are most definitely in the category of "acting up." Emotions are running high...bickering is frequent...tears come easily...defiance is the only rule. Oh, and the dog finally broke her hunger strike just today!

But I know that this is all part of the transition. I still believe that God has called us here for a purpose, and I know that when He calls us it is not always easy. Through His strength, we will all work through the tough weeks and come out the other side closer to Him and one another, ready to step into our calling (whatever that is, lol).

Photos from Wed. Night

See why I love them so dang much?!

P.S. Today I have Megan at the children's hospital to have her tonsils removed, in hopes that this will resolve her sleep apnea. We'll be spending the night. Prayers and email/comment love appreciated. :) (Thanks to Grandma taking the day off, I am free to be here with her and can rest assured that the other 4 - while possibly making her crazy - are safe and sound.)

The 'To Do' List is Now a Little Bit Shorter

Yesterday I went to SP to visit two potential schools for the girls. (If you're wondering, "Why just for the girls?" that's because Braeden is in special education and once all of his ed-psych assessments are done he will be placed in the appropriate program for his developmental level.) This is why I completely forgot to blog yesterday!

SP has a program called "Logos" (Greek for "The Word") within their public school system. Schools that host the Logos program have classrooms at each grade level that are taught by Christian teachers with a Christian worldview and a focus on the Bible. The schools have the Logos classrooms intermingled with the "regular" classrooms (so there is no special area of the school for either). Throughout the schools, posters and artwork with the Word of God decorate the hallways.

There are two elementary schools with the Logos program, so I needed to visit them both and choose the one I liked best. This has been one of the many decisions keeping me up at night, so I really wanted to get it taken care of!

I thank the Lord that He helps in all things, and that He made this decision so clear and easy!

School 1:
- very unfriendly school secretary
- school principal either ignored children or yelled at them to behave as we toured the school
- in spite of exchanging numerous emails over the past couple of weeks, the principal had no recollection of me or our situation, making me have to explain all over again who I was and why I was there
- nearly 500 students
- loud chaos throughout the school, before and during lunch
- an extreme shortage of lunchtime supervision, both indoors and out
- students sneaking into the wooded area on the playground and not being caught by the supervisors
- bus drop-off and pick up on the far, far sidewalk
- did I mention the chaos and misbehaving children around every.single.corner?

School 2:
- super friendly secretaries who introduced themselves using first names (a plus in my books...my kids should call teachers etc. by "Mr" and "Mrs," but I am a grown up and don't appreciate them asking me to call them anything different than what I expect them to call me)
- super friendly principal and vice principal
- about 300+ students
- principal stopped and talked to students all along the way on our tour, repeatedly praising them and encouraging good behaviour, telling their teachers when she noticed anything exemplary that she wanted them to be acknowledged for
- both during lunch and after, children were seated and doing what they should be (though lunch time was louder, there was no sense of chaos or disorder)
- a slightly lesser shortage of lunchtime supervision
- bus drop-off and pick-up right at the front doors, always supervised by the principal or vice principal
- met the grade 2 Logos teacher, who was also friendly and outgoing
- discovered that the grade 2 Logos teacher lives on our street (as do 3 other families from this school, that she could think of), and she offered up her 16 and 20 year-old daughters to babysit!

Needless to say, Abbey and Megan are now registered in this school, and Shea's name is on the list for Kindergarten next year.

One more thing to cross of the list. Thank-you, Jesus!

And thanks to Christine for coming along and keeping me company, asking good questions, and being another set of eyes (since the GPS seemed particularly cantankerous). Thanks to mom for getting off work early to tend to five little monkeys. :)

Quote of the Year

We were visiting the hospital to get Meg's permanent cast put on, and she was getting pretty worked up about the fact that another x-ray was needed. (Did I mention that the x-ray technician on our first visit got kicked after she manipulated and contorted the broken limb into several positions?)

Pat, wanting to calm Megan down (and in hopes that there would be no further violence against medical professionals) told her, "Meg, x-rays don't hurt, honey."

She looked him point-blank in the eyes, tilted her head in that way that indicates she's about to say something very important, and with her most matter-of-fact voice stated, "It does if you have a broken arm!"

Well, duh.

Never a Dull Moment

There was a strange man at the door, and our fierce protector, Daisy, was growling viciously. I asked Meg to put Daisy in her crate so I could open the door and inform the strange man that, no, we don't wish to try his amazing new method of carpet shampooing.

On her way to her bed, Daisy made an abrupt change of plans, choosing instead to head for the kitchen where my BFFs teenage son was standing (after all, he likes to wrestle with her). As her clumsy dog body swung around, she bumped up - hard - behind Meg's backside, sweeping the featherweight six-year-old right off her feet! She came down hard on her side, and, apparently, on her left arm.

When the crying continued past the ten-minute mark, Christine (the previously mentioned BFF) and I knew that my tough little cookie must really be hurt. We got her loaded into the vehicle amidst screams of, "You're killing me! I'm going to die!" Not sure if I've ever mentioned this before, but my dear, sweet best friend is a little on the dramatic side; Meg's middle name is in honor of her. Yup - aptly named!

With the exception of a couple small outbursts when medical professionals attempted to speak to her, look at her, or heaven forbid - touch her, Meg handled the whole thing like a real trooper.

(On a side note, why do so many nurses seem to think that talking VERY LOUDLY to an uncooperative child will cause that child to be more cooperative? I mean really - we want to draw even more attention?! I say just keep on working away and ignore the protesting child's shrieks of, "No! Don't touch me! I hate you! MOOOOOOMMMMYYYYY!!!!!" But maybe that's just me.)

And now, she's milking it for all it's worth! And her sisters are happy to comply with every little request for a sweater, a drink, a snack, carrying things...

Through it all, her cheerful disposition remains. ;) As is evidenced by the most cooperative photos...