My Thoughts on Week Three...

To put it mildly this fall has brought a few changes.  On purely an emotional note I feel like I have jumped out of one of Mary Poppins chalk paintings into the real world.
I have been so lucky to have spent the last 5 yrs at home with my two kids but this year was the big leap back into 'real life'.  


Eliana has started full time kindergarten and has been on a permanent adrenaline high.  Her mission has been to makes as many friends and learn as many things as she can. Her teacher assured me that she is adjusting well and is very confidant.  I am still trying to decipher if that means - "your daughter is taking over the class". lol


Gabriel is so lucky to have one of his favourite people as his 'Nanny'.  He gets to stay home with 'Mimi' who has been doing a great job of planning little adventures and doing things that make him feel just as special staying home.  He still is adjusting Eliana being gone and they are so adorable when they hug goodbye in the morning.  


Tomorrow will be day five of my new job and I am totally enjoying the process of becoming an adult again! lol Its great to be working in such a great place and with such nice people.  I am still working on how to carry on life while working...I'll let you know how that goes.  Chances are though if I haven't blogged in a while, its because I am buried under a pile of laundry and need to be rescued.


Ed as always is my tangible sticking place.  I thank Jesus so much for bringing us together and giving me someone who knows just how seriously to take me. 


SO I have to say - so far so good.  There are pros and cons in this new life that we have but I know that God's grace is sufficient and I am confident that we are right where He wants us to be - learning and growing in the ways we need to learn and grow right now.

I Heart Faces - Back to School!

My oldest just finished her first week of Kindergarten...big week in our family.  So this challenge was mostly a challenge of which picture to go with!! I chose this one because the scope of the photo makes her look even tinier and I think every momma thinks their 'baby' is still to tiny to be going to school on the first day of kindergarten!

Apple Sauce Crotch

Last week was Eliana's first week of Kindergarten and the first week of a new kind of life for this family.  Getting up before 7:30 is new for the kids and I but I have no doubt we will adjust quickly.


The funniest thing Eliana came home saying this past week was 'apple sauce crotch'.  Knowing that I was loosing something in translation I asked for the context and learned that every time they sat down at group time they would say 'apple sauce crotch, put your hands in your lap'.  I couldn't decoded it until I conferred with some other moms - sure enough it made a lot more sense as
"Criss Cross Apple Sauce - Put your hands in your lap"
This helps the kids sit cross legged for group time.


I love that I can look forward to all sorts of new adventures and 'lost in translation' moments in the coming year.

Our Family Vacation

We left this past week for our first organized family vacation. We have done lots of other trips as a family but the focus of this one was to just relax and be a family together and I have to say it was the best yet.  We made the short trip to the coast and spent the first afternoon greeting the ocean.  Eliana was afraid of salt water for some reason but after much coaxing and a little squealing she got her feet wet and realized she could live through the encounter.  We rounded out the afternoon watching some crab fishing from the dock and beach combing for shells.

The next day we bravely ventured into the big city to the aquarium which turned out to be a highlight for the kids.  They were mesmerized by the sea life and in the end Eliana's favourite exhibits were the beluga whales and the jellyfish while Gabriel's favourite was the crocodile.  I loved it all but was particularly thrilled to get to touch a bunch of different star fish (which feel like rough rocks) and a sea urchin (which is really poky). The only one I didn't like touching was a star fish that looks kinda like a sunflower (lots of points) because it was slimy and squishy.

The next day was exciting for Ed and I  - the airshow. It is our third year in a row going and it is so awe inspiring that it just isn't getting old.  The kids loved it too and it was fun to watch them getting into the displays and getting excited for the loud planes (CF-18's!!) and bombs (pyrotechnics :)

Actually after the first set of pyrotechnics was set off Eliana was very distressed and asked Ed, "Why are they bombing Canada??" lol she was ok once we explained it was just part of the show.  Gabriel on the other hand...I don't know if he even noticed the jets sometimes - he just wanted to see more 'bombs' lol I guess that is a boy for you.  There were so many great planes and pilots at the airshow I would be sure to bore you with the details so I will summarize: A-10 is amazing in its capabilities, Bud Granley and his son defy everything you assume about flight, and the Snowbirds put on one of the best shows I have ever seen them do. 

The entire trip we were able to stay with some dear friends which made our evenings just as memorable as our days.  The kids loved playing with 'little sammy' and martina and are still talking about them non stop.  On Saturday morning Leanne and I went blueberry picking and it was such a great way to spend a morning.  While we were out the boys made waffles and bacon so we were treated to a nice breakfast when we got back.  Ed's blood pressure was through the roof but he made some great waffles :)

That evening when we returned home we went to the drive in to wrap our whole trip up. It was a perfect end to a great trip.  I love my hubby and kids and it was a great way to take the time to just enjoy who we are to each other.

Of Chickens

If I had thought about what this summer would hold for us this  year, you can be sure that I thought that there would be more sunny days and fewer chickens.


I wanted to share a few photos of our grown up chicks and proclaim that I would not make a very good farmer. Despite my efforts to remain emotionally aloof to our little feathered charges I got sucked in by how friendly they are!
If they hear me coming they start to peep and all line up at the fence for their feed.  Eliana is packing them around the yard at this very moment like they were well mannered cats.   They rest in her arms or at her feet while Gabe collects flowers for them to nibble on.


Ah the life of a chicken.

Of Order and Randomness

Every once and a while as a parent - your child does something that reflects the essence of who they are, encompassed in moment.

Eliana had such a moment this evening. Both our kids have chores that they are asked to take care of. This evening I asked Eliana to line up the shoes on the back porch. She came in a few minutes later and stated that cleaning up shoes is fun. I didn't think to much of it at the time. She is normally a happy little thing and I had no doubt she completed her chore but this evening I found out why she had fun doing it.

The best way to describe it is that she did it her way. When I saw it I saw a part if herself in her little mini self expression. Each pair if shoes were lined up neatly with one another but not one pair was next to the other. She had some under the deck chairs. Others on the steps and the rest randomly paired all over the deck. This would have been how Gabriel would have paired them if they were scattered in the first place - the part that makes me smile even thinking about it now is that all the shoes were piled by the door. It makes me smile because my daughter is so delightfully and seemly arbitrarily random. I know though that each pair was deliberate - a part of her plan and she had fun doing it. She found joy in the little moments. I hope as a mother I can help raise her to be who she was created to be and not just someone that fits into a mold.
Lord help me.

Welcome to the Farm??

So I am going to choose to share this story with you through the lens that God created me as an empathetic creature.  I am hoping in doing this I will look less crazy and more just like someone who needs to hone her gifting.


Ok, so this is how it started. 
I was born and I loved animals.  Did you know that I once cared for a dead robin for a whole day? Yup I did such a good job that the next morning when I went to check on him he was gone.  My mom told me he had flown home...(good one mom).
Flash forward 25 years.
I am now a photographer and I had a great opportunity to use some baby chickens as a part of a photo session for a family that owns a chicken farm.  It was so fun. (watch for them on my Twisted Lily Blog in the next few days...sooo cute!!)

Anyway at the end of the session these little chick models were homeless.  They couldn't go back into the  barns and risk cross contaminating the barns with whatever 'wee beasties' they picked up in the real world. In other words they were gonna die. Approximately 6 weeks ahead of schedule.

I shouldn't have let it get to me but I just felt for the little homeless chicks.  One short conversation later I was the proud? mom of 6 baby chicks.As I drove home with them sliding around in the cardboard box next to me - I tried to make a plan.

Actually I am still working on it. Mostly its a day by day thing.


Here are somethings I have learned in my 4 days as a chicken owner.


*Puppies laying next to chicks are NOT trying to be cute - they are waiting for the opportune moment to eat them. 
*Respectively if you act fast enough you can grab a chick out of a dogs mouth with no apparent damage other than a mad chick and disappointed dog.
*Neighbours will follow your lead and 'rescue' small baby birds and leave them in your care (Short version of how we acquired Quacker Jack our duck)
*If you live in a small enough town you can literally walk into a convenience store and walk out with a huge bag of chicken feed - and a slurpee.
*Chickens take over your life when you are so afraid of something happening to them you let them sleep in your en suite bathroom every night.


After reading that last one I realized I might just be crazy and need some help. Ah well.