Welcome to my little corner of the world. I've been married for 14 years to My Wonderful Hubby and I'm a Canadian Homeschooling Mama of 6 Blessings. This "journey through motherhood" is one of the most challenging things I've ever done and yet I continually experience God's faithfulness! These are my musings. Join me. "I sing for joy at the works of your hands." Psalm 92:4b http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Sandpiper/ en-us Homeschool Blogger Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:46:00 -0600 Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:46:00 -0600 I love the cute things that kids say. Here's a couple that make me smile: Later in the day, after we told the kids that we would be having another baby, my 5yr old son piped up with: "Mama! You're going to need four arms! You're going to have to grow another pair!" "I am?" "Yeah, for the new baby!" He's probably right! My sleepy 3yr old daughter wandered through to breakfast the other morning and said: "Is it Christmas time?" "No, not quite yet." She replied "After breakfast will it be Christmas time?" (Congratulatory flowers from my mom!) Have a wonderful day!! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Sandpiper/745931/ Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:46:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Sandpiper/745931/ My heart was pounding. I looked in the first window, you know, the one that tells you if it's working properly. Then I watched the second window. Sure enough. It was working. The second little blue line appeared confirming a positive test result! I went upstairs to my bedroom and sat quietly in my rocking chair. Back and forth...contemplating. After a few quiet moments, my husband came in and he knew. He knew that in a few short months we'd have another cuddly little bundle to hold! Yep! Baby #7 is on the way!! I'm already 12 weeks along and due the first week of June. We kept our news to ourselves for a little while this time because we were feeling quite overwhelmed. My other 'little baby' is only just 13 months and so I wasn't really ready for this kind of news.  Don't get me wrong, we LOVE babies around here and they are truly a blessing.  I just wasn't expecting this so soon and needed time to adjust to the idea before we began telling others. It still doesn't feel real yet, except for the nausea. Although it's tapered off a bit now, I've never had nausea this bad with my other pregnancies. And the tiredness! I need a nap just about every day! I'm amazed that such a teeny tiny baby can make you so tired!! As for cravings, the only thing I've really craved is milk. And, of course, with every pregnancy, I crave ice-cream! My pants are already beginning to get tight, which is freaking me out just a little. With my first pregnancy, I don't think I started showing til I was 18 weeks!! So. we'll have to juggle around the bedrooms again and figure out how we're all going to fit in our van, but those are minor adjustments.  I'm just thankful we have a house to put them all in! And June is a lovely time to have a baby(we already have 2 June babies).  We'll get a good year of school in before the sleepless nights ensue. And I'll have given birth before the heat of the summer. So that is our Happy News! Thanks for stopping by! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Sandpiper/745080/ Wed, 18 Nov 2009 11:56:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Sandpiper/745080/ Martina Carrying Breakfast on a Tray, 1904 "She did not know anything about a great many things, but she knew a great deal about loving and cooking and a woman can go far on that." From A Tangled Web by L.M. Montgomery I love that quote! It's so true! Loving and cooking(which go hand in hand) wraps up what we as moms do every day! Nothing else is as important. And if I have any readers left out there, I am still around, occasionally.  Life is full this year and blogging seems to have taken a back seat. I always have many, many ideas for blogging, but alas, at the end of the day I cannot bear to sit in front of my computer screen. I make no promises to be here more frequently, that would be in vain. But I will post when the Lord gives me something to say and I can snatch away a few moments of time(like now as I'm waiting for the lasagne to defrost). As for the goings on around here: A couple of weeks ago Hubby(who did most of it) and I did some bulk cooking and have 30 meals in our freezer! Yeah! My sweet Baby has turned one and learned to walk.  Fun times!(Busy times!) We are well into school, although not moving as fast through our Canada studies as I hoped.  I may also need to re-evaluated my son's science curriculum as it seems to be quite challenging. The kids have been enjoying a homeschoolers ice-skating group on Fridays. Dd just finished a session of horseback riding lessons and the instructor said she was a 'natural'. The boys continue to make 'stop-motion' Lego movies with the camera and I have to weed through their hundreds of pictures to find the ones that I took! . I'm reading Bleak House by Charles Dickens, it's incredibly thick and I'll need to renew it a few times before I'm done! Hubby and I celebrated 15 years of wedded bliss in September! God continues to provide for us in the way of hand-me-down clothing. He is so faithful! One post I do plan to make soon is about the Pre-School Activity Bag swap I organized this year.  Stay tuned for that! Blessings! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Sandpiper/743425/ Mon, 9 Nov 2009 18:50:00 -0600 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Sandpiper/743425/ #96. a warm, happy Summer of memories, #97. wobbly legs, just getting their balance as Wee One explores the house, #98. stripes of vibrant pink as another day draws to a close, #97. an iced coffee from my husband, Thank-you dear! #98. the accomplished look on my Wee One's face when he reaches the top of the stairs, #99. watching my sweet daughter take to the ice, her first time on skates, with utter determination, #100. a roof that no longer leaks! This is indeed a blessing! #101. watching my 10yr old trying to amuse his cranky baby brother, #102. a husband working hard in the yard, #103. a full harvest moon, http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Sandpiper/733562/ Mon, 5 Oct 2009 21:03:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Sandpiper/733562/ About a year ago(and it really was a year ago, as I just went to check the correct link for the post and it was Sept. 23,2008!), I was over at Holy Experience reading about how to make and keep a journal. I have kept various journals since I was a teen.  Writing my thoughts comes easily to me, easier than saying them aloud.  At times, when I was young, I would write for hours, late into the night. Back then I didn't have young ones who would expect my full attention first thing in the morning.  And sadly, as I got married and as more children came my journaling decreased.  I would write and then months would go by before I would write again. When I saw Ann Voskamp's Homemaking Journal, the idea really appeal to me.  The scrapbooker(something else that has fallen by the wayside!) in me loved the creative aspect to it and I love pretty pictures in magazines.  I also have a knack for expressing my thoughts.  When things happen during the day, I re-play them in my mind as if I was writing a story(that may sound strange, but I've always been that way, so I'm used to it!). So, I bought the blank notebook, found some magazines at a thrift store and began to snip away.  I worked on it for a few days, getting the first few pages done. And then life took over and it sat.  And it sat, eventually to be tucked away in a drawer.  Another really cool project that I didn't have time for. Also about a year ago, I joined Twitter.  I could quickly type out the events and thoughts of my day, just as a means of expressing myself.  It was fun to share cute quotes from my toddlers or what we were having for dinner. Then, about a month ago, while again reading more about journaling, I had a 'light-bulb-moment' and I finally got it! All of the things I was sharing on Twitter, I could put in my journal.  Here I was telling the world(my mere 30 followers or so) all about my day, when I could capture those snippets of life for my children, for my family. I finally had a vision for what this journal could be for me, for my kids and even their kids.  I have kept every letter my Grandma ever wrote to me.  And now that she's gone, her thoughts, her handwriting is priceless.  How special to have something like that for future generations! I also realized that decorating the pages of my journal did not have to be done before I could start writing in it.  I can slowly fill it up with pretty landscapes or favourite things that inspire me. And what do I put in it? Anything from "These peaches feel cozy!" (a quote from my 3yr old) to "My husband just bought me a chocolate bar.  He's so good to me!" to "Thank-you Lord for another warm, sunny day to dry my laundry outside."  I always date it, but other than that there are no 'rules'.  I'm free to fill it as I like.  I leave it easily accesible, often laying open on the kitchen table(where I spend a lot of time), where I can write thoughts as they come to me and where those passing by are free to read. In a way, I am writing a story.  A story of our life as a famliy, recording those precious memories that can easily be forgotten(Did the baby get his forst tooth at 6 months or 8 months?) and reminding us of God's faithfulness and all that we have to be thankful for! Blessings! http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Sandpiper/723814/ Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:17:00 -0500 http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/Sandpiper/723814/