Jul. 8, 2008 House Building Update #4 :)
Here is our foundation.....
So for our house update, work is being done so that the basement floor can be poured on Thursday. Next week the framers are booked to come. Then we will really be able to see the house go up. 
All is going well!
"Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." Psalm 127:1
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Jul. 8, 2008 A Lovely Time
My dear husband and I went away for a night and two days. We just had baby with us, the older four had a pleasant time staying with my parents. It felt like we went back to the time when we had only one child. Since our eleventh wedding anniversary was just over a week ago, we decided that it would be nice to go back to the area where we had spent our honeymoon. So that is what we did, we even were able to stay at the same bed and breakfast! We brought our bikes with us and biked 40 km total, that was fun and baby traveled really well. She enjoyed riding in her little bike seat or on my back in the ergo. She even slept! She is such an easy baby girl!
Daddy and his little girl
Mommy and her little girl
We had to have a picture by the Falls, ok, now you all know where we went. It was really misty, or should I say it was "raining" by the Falls, so we couldn't really get to close to the Canadian Falls without getting soaked.
Mommy and baby
Daddy up ahead
Mommy and her sleeping little one
So content and happy
We arrived home yesterday evening and I was glad to be together with all of our children. They were happy to see us too.
Anyway, I am so thankful to have such a wonderful husband, we have been so blessed! Blessed with a happy marriage, five beautiful children and so much more. God is good!! |
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Jul. 3, 2008 House Building Update #3 :)
 As of early this evening, our new house has a foundation. Today the men finished putting the forms together and then the cement trucks came and filled them up. It has been busy, but it is exciting to see progress being made.
Here is a pic of the forms, these were taken yesterday, so they are empty.
Here is one when they just started to pour the cement.
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Jun. 30, 2008 Making Your Home a Haven Monday - Refresher Series
Making Your Home a Haven - Refresher Series - Tackling the Bathrooms!
Our list for today
1. clean livingroom - includes under couches etc..
2. tidy kitchen
3. wash floors
4. couple loads of laundry - one done and mostly folded, the other in the washer
5. fold remaing clean laundry from last week
6. quick clean up of upstairs bathroom
So far today, the girls are I did get the livingroom done. We dusted, pulled out the items from under the couches and chair, tidied up the bookcases and put everything in its place. It looks so much better! Now I with the children's help we should be able to get the other "to do's" done this afternoon.
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Afternoon update:
I asked S. (our oldest daughter) what she wanted to do on the list, she chose, vacuum and wash floors. So I cleaned up the kitchen, folded laundry and did a quick celan up in the bathroom. N. (oldest son) did want to fold laundry, so I sent him up to my room to do it, but he ended up just playing around with his brother, so no laundry got folded. Once I went up, I had to send him on his way. S. is now wasing the floors. It is looking much better around here.
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Evening update:
All done!
Sorry no pics today....
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Last Tuesday, I had taken some new garden pictures. I meant to post them, but then with the excitement of the new house, I didn't get to it, so here are a few now. I will take new ones this week, things have grown so much since just last week. I'll show each section too. We are all quite happy with how the gardening is growing.
Far left to right - tomatos, leeks, yellow beans, green beans and potatoes.
Children weeding the corn... So far left is where the first patch of tomatos, leeks, beans, potatoes, flowers, onions, flowers and peppers, corn and then peas.
Front of garden by first patch of tomatos.
S. heard some squeaking, so she went to see what Dana (my parent's dog) had found, she thought is was just a mouse, but then she saw this baby bunny. Much to the children's dismay, Dana quickly "took care" of the remaining baby bunnies. 
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Jun. 29, 2008 Wedding Anniversary
Today it is my dear husband's and my eleventh wedding anniversary. Eleven years already, yet it seems like it was just yesterday that we were married, but yes eleven love filled and happy years have gone by. We have so much to be thankful for. I look forward to seeing what is in store for us as we continue our journey through life together. God is so good!
Delight thyself also in the LORD: and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart.Commit thy way unto the LORD; trust also in him; and he shall bring it to pass.
Psalm 37:4 & 5
 June 29,1997
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Jun. 25, 2008 House Building Update #2 :) Jun. 24, 2008 A Big Day!! The First of Many!
Today was a big day!! After waiting for over a year, the ground has been broken for our new home!! To start at the beginning, (this is a very short version by the way) since the end of 2006 we have been dreaming and planning to build a new home out in the country. Spring and summer of 2007, we were in the process of planning to build and getting things lined up, but some issues came up with getting a building permit. (long story) So the planning had to be put on hold. This past spring (2008), we again submitted the house plans and we were given a building permit that same day! Praise the Lord!! We were all so happy! Since then, it has been a time of waiting, but finally the day has arrived when the excavators came and started digging. So this will be the first of many updates as we journey along the road of building a new home. God is good!
I just wanted to add this whole process has been such a learning experience for me. You know we have dreams and plans and we think it should all happen right now, but I have been reminded over and over again, that God is in control and He has a perfect plan for us, which includes the perfect timing as well.
The bulldozer busy at work.
All five children watching...
Running down the new unfinished driveway
Happy children...
My mom, baby and I standing where the front door will be sometime soon.  So behind us is where the house will stand one day soon.
This was an exciting day! We are thankful that work has begun and we look forward to watching and seeing how this will unfold all in God's good and perfect time.
"Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain." Psalm 127:1 |
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Jun. 24, 2008 Kitchen Tip Tuesdays - Freezing strawberries
A tip to share for Tammy's Kitchen Tip Tuesdays!
When freezing strawberries; after you have washed and hulled them; lay them out on a cookie sheet and then place in freezer. Once frozen put into bags and that is it. Doing it this way the berries don't stick together and then it is very easy to take just a few of them out of the bag when needed, since they are not frozen together.
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Jun. 23, 2008 Strawberry Time!
This morning we went strawberry picking! We pick six baskets full and N. (our oldest son -5 yr) had his basket full first. Good for him!! We had a good time too. Where we were the sun was shinning and it was hot, but we could see that to the north of us, it was starting to rain. We could hear the thunder! By the time we had our baskets filled it was really dark to the north and I was just hoping we would get home in time to take the laundry off the line! On the way home, it started to rain just as we came up to our small village, and by the time we reach home it was pouring. We rushed inside and I then saw that my wonderful husband had taken the laundry off of the line and the girls were happy that he had also thought of Buttercup (our bunny). He was safely in his indoor cage in the garage. The rest of the afternoon was filled with lunch and clean up, hulling three baskets of strawberries for jam and then another one for freezing. The remaining two we left for eating fresh. While doing all that, I also made yogurt and had to tend to diaper changes, and a couple of toddler potty accidents. The children worked really well together, I was surprised and happy about that! Come evening that peacefulness had disappeared, I'm not what happened to change that! Anyway, all is well now and quiet. While we were busy inside about three thunderstorms passed by. I was really thankful we had gone out this morning and not planned to go this afternoon!
Picking berries, all four are here, just count the arms... :)
Yummy berries....
Hulling the berries...
A content baby girl....
Now our toddler had joined in too...
Mashing the berries...
Others also mashing berries...
 Getting the berries ready for the freezer.... He soon tired of the job, mashing berries looked like a whole lot more fun!
Mommy checking up on the work. :)
A picture of me, thanks to my 5 yr. old son :)
Filling the jars...
All done and sealing, this is the first batch of jars, the rest were in the canner.
For my jams I use Pomona's Universal Pectin. It is what my mom uses too. With Pomona's you can use as much or a little honey or sugar and the recipe is so easy to follow. Recipes are included for many jams/jellies with pectin.
So that was our afternoon and hopefully we can have a couple more afternoons like that before the strawberry season is done here. It was a good day! |
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Jun. 23, 2008 Making Your Home a Haven Monday
For today's list we have:
1. tidy up kitchen
2. tidy up diningroom
3. tidy up living room
4. a load of darks - laundry
5. strawberry picking
As I am typing this out, the children are busy upstairs doing the first 3 chores on the list for today. The laundry is in the washing machine and as soon as it is done, I'll hang it out on the line. Then we are off to pick strawberries! We are suppose to be getting more rain today, so hopefully we can get the laundry dried and the berries pick before that comes, so far it is sunny.
I'll update as the day goes along.
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Update 10:52a.m. first 3 chores on the list done, thanks to 3 little helpers. Now I'm just waiting for the laundry to finish washing, it is almost done.
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Update 11:08a.m. laundry is out on the line...So strawberry picking here we come! We will be picking at a local you-pick farm. The children can hardly wait!!
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update 12:41p.m. We picked 6 baskets of strawberries, we just got home and it is raining hard. The children were good pickers, our oldest son (5) had the first full basket.
I'm off to prepare lunch and I think I'll turn some strawberries into jam this afternoon. I'll be back later with some pics of the day here.
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Last update for the day, I just posted pictures in a new post. Please click here!
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Jun. 20, 2008 Just a Garden Update
This morning the children and I, minus baby (she was having her morning nap) went over to the garden and did some weeding. The garden is looking really good and the weeds are pretty much under control. Next week I hope to plant some more corn, I wanted some to be ready at a later date, so that we don't have to eat/freeze it all at once. There is also a bit more space where some squash didn't come up, so maybe I can still plant some more squash and use up all the space. It will be fun once harvest time comes, but for now we will be kept busy keeping the weeds under control and watching the garden grow.
The girls and a barn kitten we named Blackberry.
R. and Blackberry
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Jun. 17, 2008 Funny Sleeping Places
Today, just after lunch, I had taken a few minutes to sit down here at the computer. When I went back upstairs, I found B. sleeping on the mat in the entry way! Not the most comfortable place to sleep, but there he was sound asleep! No, I didn't leave him there, I put a comforter on the floor in the living room and picked him up and laid him down there. He hardly even opened his eyes, he was so tired.
Here is another place he had fallen asleep about a month ago.
We are also on week two with potty training, not completely accident free, but it is getting better, except for the #2 part. I know that will come. |
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Jun. 16, 2008 Making Your Home a Haven Monday: Refresher Series- my day
 Monday's making your home a haven!
Here is my list for today's Making Your Home a Haven Monday
1. Two loads of laundry - both drying on the line
2. math with S.
3. bake bread
4. tidy bedrooms
5. tidy and vacuum living room
6. clean aquarium (fish)
Ok, about the laundry, one is already drying on the line and the other is in the washer, almost done. Now I'm off to check on the laundry and do math with my oldest daughter. Math is our last subject for this year and we are almost done!
Blessings to all of you as you make your home a haven for your loved ones!
I should be back later on to check things off the list!
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First update: both loads of laundry drying out on the line.
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Second update: Tidied up bedrooms, girls did their room. Now I'm off to make bread. S. is almost done her math too.
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Third update: Bread is rising in the oven and the aquarium has been done.
Hubby has taken the 4 older ones out with him, so S. was going to finish her math after they got back home. Anyway, it is pretty quiet here, since baby is napping too. I should go and take the clothes off of the line and tidy up the living room. It has been a good day. The weather is perfect too, blue sky with puffy white clouds and a lovely breeze!
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Fourth update: Laundry off the line, bread out of the oven and the livingroom tidied up and vacuumed, plus vacuumed the dinningroom and kitchen. I'll post some pics later.
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Picture time.....
Fresh from the oven
A precious baby girl who just woke up from her nap. She had such a long nap this afternoon, must be because the others were all out, so it was pretty quiet here. Such a sweetheart!
Sweet smiles
That's my last update for the day. Today went well and we are ready for a new day tomorrow. God is good! |
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It has been a busy week. I was planning to blog one or two evenings, but it never happened, but there is always next week, right?!
We did go to the garden for a bit one afternoon and it looks wonderful! I'm very pleased with how everything has come up or grown. I should have taken my camera along, next time!
My dad will be/is a big help too, he had a lot of it hoed already, so I helped finish up a few of the areas that needed some hoeing done. Next week, I plan to plant a few more rows of corn and also plant a bit here in my little "kitchen" garden.
Next week, hopefully, I'll be able to take a few minutes and do some blogging.
Until then, God bless and keep you all in His wonderful care!
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Jun. 5, 2008 Little Boy and Hats
Here is a cute saying from our 5 yr old son.
My husband was recently looking at hats, one of which had a chin strap. Our five-year-old son said that he liked it, because "it holds your head in the hat".
Here he is in his daddy's new hat.....
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Jun. 5, 2008 8 Month bundle of Sweetness
Today our sweet bundle of joy turned 8 months! As each month passes, I still wonder where does the time go. ( I know I say that everytime!!) It just doesn't seem like eight months already! She is a darling baby girl. Her first top tooth just came through today as well. That makes 3 teeth now. She can sit by herself, roll over and when on her tummy on the floor she seems to get places by moving backwards.
Anyway, she is the dearest baby girl!
A serious moment
A sweet smile
A big happy smile!
We are so thankful for this sweet blessing in our home!
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Jun. 4, 2008 When Mommy's Heart is Right...
Everything else will be right in the home too. This morning, things here were going ok, sometimes stressful, but overall most was going fine. But by noon, I was starting to feel really bothered with how the children were behaving, but mostly I was not liking the way I was reacting to what was going on around me. So I went up to our bedroom and had a few minutes of prayer, asking the Lord to give me strength. A verse that came to mind while I was praying, was "I can do all things, through Christ which strengthen me". I can honestly say that after my time of prayer, I was able to come back down and things did go a lot better. Sure the children were still needing guidance on their behavior, my oldest was still having some difficulties in math, but I was able to deal with things properly and all went well. This thought came to mind,
When mommy's heart is right, everything in the home will be right too.
Shortly after that time I was reading a bit in my Bible, I have been following the Bible Reading plan in Hidden Wisdom and today's reading was 1 Timothy 4, the verse that spoke to me was 1 Timothy 4:12, it was the second part that spoke to me.
".... but be thou an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity."
I desire for my children to see the Lord in me. The Lord shining through my speech, conversations etc.... in everything I do or say. Anyway, those were thoughts that I had on my heart today and I just wanted to share it all with you too.
This afternoon, we had a productive one! We made waffles, muffins and cookies. The waffles came out of my MOMYS cookbook and they are delicious. They are made with whole wheat flour and oats, plus the usual, eggs, milk, oil etc... I'll be making them again for sure.
The muffins are from Tammy's recipes, I made the Oatmeal Buttermilk Muffins with Raisins, they are so yummy and simple to make, I have made 6 batches so far, all in a weeks time too. :) Ok, before you start thinking we must eat lots of muffins, we did have some teenage boys helping us with a job last week, so they enjoyed the muffins too.
The cookies were chocolate oatmeal cookies, an old recipe of mine, but one of my favourites!
It was a busy day and yes our oldest finished all the math she needed to do too. Now I must be off and mix up a batch of granola, so I can put it into the oven to bake all night.
Blessings!
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Jun. 2, 2008 Making Your Home a Haven Monday: Refresher Series
For Making my Home a Haven Monday with Crystal, I tackled the kitchen. It was very cluttered, so I went to work and loaded the dishwasher, washed the extra dishes, wiped down all the counters and the stove and put everything else in its place. Now it looks so much better! It is amazing how rewarding it can be to stand back and admire a clean and tidy kitchen.
My day was also filled with laundry (perfect day for drying laundry out on the line!), some school with my oldest daughter and a bit more tidy up around the house. Our home always seems to need a general tidy up after the weekend. The children helped with that.
Anyway, now I'm off to do some much needed vacuuming and then get supper on the table.
Blessings to you as you make your home a haven for you and your family.
God bless!! |
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This morning I went for my walk. While walking I was blessed to breathe in the fresh smells of newly cut hay. That smell is a favourite farm smell of mine. It brought back memories of bringing in the hay when I was younger. Good memories...... Since the beginning of April, I have been able to get a walk in most days, I feel great and enjoy getting out, sometimes it's just me alone or just me and baby, or just me and toddler or just me and all 5, plus hubby.
Anyway, yesterday, I was going to do a little post about my day, so here it is. We have been really enjoying the sunny and warmer weather! The children have great fun playing outside and I enjoy hanging out the laundry. I try to keep the dryer "out of business" as much as possible during the warmer seasons.
Here R. is helping me make Tammy's Meatballs! They were delicious too!
Instead of walking yesterday, I decided to take out my bike. I thought B. would really enjoy the ride, so I brought him along. I have taken him before,when he was a baby, but I never rode my bike last year,(for me being pregnant and bike riding don't mix) so all memories of bike riding for him have been forgotten. He was not to sure at first and exclaimed, "not to fast, not to fast!" I think once he realized he would not fall, he enjoy himself. Here is before the ride. He was excited!!
We stopped at a little creek. He enjoys throwing in stones.
After our bike ride, I needed to do some vacuuming, so he offered to help with that. I love it when they are so eager to help with the work.
The boys and I also went over to the garden and planted the cucumbers and more peppers.
So that is about it. Nothing to exciting, but we had a good day.
Here is a picture taken last week, S. was doing her math and baby sister was quite happy to watch her! S.did her last English test yesterday! So now we just have to finish up 2 math paces(one is just about done and she has started working on the last one too) and do a Science test and she will be done school for summer. She is looking forward to that!  |
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