Thursday, June 28, 2012

A Photo Update

We've had some wild weather this week.  Here are Nolan and Sean checking out the hail on the weekend:


and the clouds after the storm on Tuesday night:
 

Some new stuff around here - these flowers (that third one's open now, too):


And we now have individual rollout bins...
 

...instead of the big dumpsters in the back alley.


Nolan is sitting on his own really well:


And rolling and moving around lots.



Madeline finished grade 7 yesterday and is home on her first day of summer holidays today.


I have a project that may be done by this weekend after all!  Here's a sneak peek:


Have a great long weekend!

Friday, June 22, 2012

Crafty McCrafterpants

I got an email a couple of weeks ago from a lady living in a smallish town not too far from here.  She had seen my ad for magic bags on Kijiji and wanted to know if I'd be interested in having a table at their trade show / craft sale.  It was to be this Saturday, we had nothing going on, and Madeline was interested in coming to help, so I said sure.

I sewed up a big stash of magic bags, I made a bunch of sets of magnets, I was planning on making bags of poppycock to sell, and I was experimenting with some necklaces... then they cancelled.  Too many people backed out.  It's no big deal, because I sure don't mind staying home, and I can always use the magic bags.  I wanted to have my picnic blanket quilt done for next weekend, and this took time away from sewing that, but I still might get it together.  The ironic part is that since we were going to be gone all day, Sean agreed to be in a golf tournament.  So now he's going to be gone all day and we're not.

So - I have a bunch of magnet sets that I've added to my shop.  Check them out - your fridge will thank you.


Craving & Passionately Clinging

*This is what I posted over on my prayer blog this morning... Wanted to share it here, too.*

As I've mentioned before, I pray through the Prayer Calendar for Mothers from Inspired to Action.  It has 30 items, and can be used for each of the days of the month, but as I don't have the same weekend and weekday routines, I just go one by one, disregarding the dates.  That's why this week, I was praying #12 on the list, 'A Passion for God.'  I've prayed through this list 3 full times and am on the fourth go-round, but this struck me deeper this time; the words stuck in my head and heart.

"Lord, please instill in my children a soul with a craving for You, a heart that clings passionately to You.  Ps. 63:8"

A soul that craves You.

A heart that clings passionately to You.

Craving.  Clinging passionately.

This is my prayer today, and everyday!  When praying that my children will be generous, courageous, kind and responsible, it all stems from wanting them to have this passion for God.  I pray that all those other good things are the results of true salvation, a love for the Lord, and the desire to live their faith.

Craving & clinging passionately to Jesus.

Amen.

Thursday, June 21, 2012

Father's Day & Football

Happy Father's Day!
You'll notice M sporting a Portugal football (soccer) jersey in that photo - it was a gift to me years ago from our Portuguese relatives but I finally passed it on to her since while I still like it and wear it some, I thought she'd get way more use out of it.  Rued that decision a little as the next day we watched Portugal in the UEFA Euro2012, and she got to wear it to cheer...  :) We've been watching as many games as we can - nice family bonding time around the big screen.

Shoot, I just realized that Portugal plays the Czech Republic today, but I'm out at book club tonight... I guess I'll see if I can catch it earlier in real time.  Sean is golfing tonight, so M may have to cheer solo.

A favorite spot before and after school when it's warm.

You can see the love...

Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Nolan News

The little man is five months old today.  I took him for some vaccinations this afternoon - he did pretty good & only cried for a short time.  He's weighing in at 18 1/2 pounds, which is a little closer to average; not quite topping the charts like when he was born.

Teeth - Still just two, but he's been working on some more.  We are attributing some crankiness and pain and drooling and snotty nose to teething, anyway.

Food - We started 'solids' a few weeks ago.  Rice cereal and oat cereal have both been fine, cantaloupe was a little bit tougher on him, so we left that one till later, carrot was okay, as was banana; they both made his digestive system work a little harder, though.  We were feeding him a bit morning and night, but have backed off a bit - with the teething and being tired at supper time, his interest has waned a little, and I wanted to give his belly a break, too.  He's still nursing fine.

He's starting to sit - he balances quite well and has been sitting longer every day.  He's at the very beginning stages of crawling - he can push himself up with his arms and get his knees up, then he flops back on his belly and gets frustrated.  He's moving around lots; I never know where he's be in his crib when I go to get him.  He's pretty good at keeping his blanket on him, even with the moving!

His favorite game is peek-a-boo, sort of; he loves to pull his blankets or toys up on his face.

I'll get some photos up here for you tomorrow if I can find a few minutes.  I won't take the time tonight because Nolan went down for the night at 6, and I'm not sure if that will mean we're up in the middle of the night, or just very early in the morning.  Either way, it's time for bed for me! 

I've been spending my spare time sewing magic bags and making a few other things for a craft sale this weekend, but I just got word tonight that too many people have cancelled their tables, so they're not holding it after all.  So tonight I'm blogging instead.  And tomorrow (after I post pictures!) I'll go back to working on my quilt... I'm hoping to get it done by the end of the month.

Monday, June 11, 2012

At the Moment...

i was … up too many times last night!
i am … going for a nap as soon as I'm done here.
i think … that this will be a good week; I have visits with friends planned.
i wonder … what color Nolan's eyes will end up being.  They are turning a bit greenish in the middles, like Madeline's.
i wish … that he wouldn't grow up too fast, and that M would grow up faster.  Strange.
i save … all these things and treasure them in my heart.
i always … have a hard time making inconsequential decisions.
i believe … that Jesus Christ makes it all worthwhile, and is the giver of all good gifts.
i promise … to read all the book club books (Yay, Lisa!)
i love … second chances.

(This is from Becky Higgins.)

Saturday, June 09, 2012

New Friends!

At one point, we knew most of the neighbors close to us; a few of people moved, and despite my best intentions of taking cookies as welcome to the neighbourhood gifts, I didn't meet everyone who moved in.

This spring, Eleanor, our next door neighbor asked if we'd met Ty yet... apparently the neighbors 3 doors down had a baby boy this winter.  Well, Melinda and I finally met last week, and her Ty is 5 or 6 weeks older than Nolan.  We've had a couple of good visits this week, and it'll be great to see these two grow up together - nice to have friends your own age on your block.




Friday, June 08, 2012

Caragana Shoots

When we moved into this house, there was a nice row of Caragana bushes in between us and the neighbor.  They were nice enough, but every time I thought to prune them, the thought went right on through and out the other side.  So over the last decade, they grew nice and tall with all the foliage mostly at the top, leaving the main body pretty sparse. We are thinking of taking them out to put in a proper fence at this point, but the fence is still a 'someday', so last summer I got out my saw and took them down to about 18 inches.  I figured a nice short row of hedges would be better than the bad divider it is now.  And if I ended up killing them, well, no big loss.

I was thrilled about a month ago, to see this:




So excited to see them sprout new buds.  So glad that God does his work in renewing and restoring and redeeming his creation.  Gives me hope for our world, to see what God does in silent chopped down sticks.  This is what it looks like now:


It's getting quite a bit fuller & makes me smile every time I walk by.  Grow, green things, grow!

I have some tulips that came up in the back, too - so nice to see color in the spring.  The irises and lilies are growing taller, and I am looking forward to seeing their color, too.  Next step is to pick up some bedding plants for our pots.


Monday, June 04, 2012

A Wonderful Weekend in the Back Yard

It has been so nice to enjoy great weather this past week. The rain that cancelled Monday's soccer game was no big deal since she was away at camp with her class and missed it anyway, and everything is so green and lush now.

This was at our soccer game on Wednesday - Nolan had fun letting the grass tickle his hands.


This was Friday night while M was at youth group - we took a walk around a neighborhood lake and stopped to watch the ducks (and change a diaper...)



These were from Saturday, when we spent lots of our time out in the back yard.  Sean set up his golf net and did some practicing, and I pulled out some juggling clubs...




Sunday, after a church picnic and a trip for Slush Shakes, was more of the same.  Playing outdoors, loving the weather and time spent with family.

Wishing the same for you all!