Today...

From the Simple Woman's prompts...
For today, Monday, April 27,2009

Outside my window - glorious sunshine and brisk wind
I am thinking - about grandpa - mom just called and said he isn't doing well and it won't be long
I am thankful for - family, spring, new life and the time I've had with grandpa
From the learning rooms - how to work different things on the blogs
From the kitchen - fish, beans and potatoes. Nothing too exciting I'm afraid. I hope to make more muffins tonight as the kids are going through them like crazy!
I am wearing - mint green capris, off-white t-shirt (which I need to give up - Drew keeps thinking it looks dirty!), my trusty slippers and my visor (I was outside)
I am creating - a third blog - for my 101 list; and scrapbooks for the 2 new babies born last week!
I am going - hopefully to boot camp tonight - we'll see how my feet feel in shoes (3 moles removed on Friday)
I am reading - blogs; small group is still going through Blue Like Jazz and I am slowly getting through Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World (and learning lots)
I am hoping [but not hoping] - to be able to get up to TBay if necessary
I am hearing - birds, my froggie water fountain and Lenka on my ipod
Around the house -things are quiet; the kids are at a friends and Cierra is vacumming downstairs; dinner is being prepared
One of my favourite things - just found the eye masks I bought at Michaels the other day for $1.50 - stocked up for my top 10 list for brides and moms to be gift bags
A few plans for the rest of the week - making my garden bed; posting my 101 list, catching up on my zone cleaning; scrpabook pages; get Cierra a prom dress
Here is the picture I am sharing - TBD

Baby Gift Albums, Fashion Shows and Silent Auctions

My dad asked me to attend our local agencies silent auction/fashion show with him this past week as my mom had extra tickets and couldn't go. It's been years since I have attended so of course I said yes. I also happened to have committed to donating 2 scrapbook albums to the worthy cause. Being the procrastinator that I tend to be (I'm getting better) and the overachiever I sometimes am, I kind of forgot how long these albums can take to make. They are pretty simple really but still, they take time. I mean it is 40 pages. In less than a week by the time I decided to start. So I had a few late nights. But overall I was quite pleased with the results - so much so that had I actually had more time I would have kept them for the two girlfriends that had babies this week and made smaller, faster ones for the auction. Oh well, now when I make new albums for these friends I will make duplicate pages for future things such as these. But, just so I can show off my work (Not that it is at all original - many are scraplifted of course; credits can be seen at flickr), I hope to get a mini slide show here.

BTW? The show was great - so fun to see people with special needs and the people invovled with them have such a great time. I woudl love to see Cierra particiapte one of these yeasrs - she wouls have a blast! Oh and my albums? I had to leave early, but one was at $40 and one was at $45!!!! WOW!

Happy Earth Day!

Happy Earth Day Everyone!

Everyonewho knows me knows that the environment is a bit of a passion with me. Today on my run I couldn't believe the amount of garbage I saw strewn all around our neighbourhood. We live in a pretty affluent neighbourhood (not that that means anything) - but it surprises me how little we do to control this behaviour. Even the school ground is littered with garbage. Granted we don't have any garbage cans around either (issues of bees I think??? - obviously not right now though!!!) but why is it that we can't take our garbage with us? I have two pastic bags attached to my strollers for garbage and recycling now because it is always around us. Even the kids comment on the pieces and grab them as we go by (yes I also have wipes and gloves). (I've trained them well=))

Soooo, being earth day - we are going to spend a half hour after school picking up garbage on our way home. I love our neighbourhood and I love how it looks and I want to keep it that way!

PS - why is this a passion of mine? Genesis 1:28 says "God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill hte earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground". The Life Application version discusses that "to rule over" something is to have absolute authority and control over it. We are given the responsibilty from God to take care of the environment and the other creatures that share our planet. We shouldn't be careless and wasteful with all that we have been given. God wasn't careless is how he created the earth and we shouldn't be careless in how we take care of it.

10pm - it was raining when I picked the kids up (not when I left of course so no umbrella) so needless to say they wanted to go straight home. We'll see what we can do tomorrow!

Convicted!

Do you ever have something that you just begin to feel strongly that you shouldn't do? It's amazing how when you feel you are to be doing something all the signs around you seem to focus on that very thing. I am finding right now. I am totally being convicted about some of the things I watch on tv. Primarily CSI and CSI Miami. I'm beginning to see how when God really wants us to do something He shows us in MANY ways.

Drew has talked to me for ages about getting rid of cable because of all the junk on tv these days. And of course to save some money. I'm not quite ready to go there yet. We really don't watch that much - maybe an hour or two a day after the kids are in bed and even then I'm usually multitasking - although I'm even finding that difficult lately. The kids get treehouse and some specific PVR'd shows as well as movies (an hour of computer OR tv a day - some days they get it, other days we run out of time). When we did the tv watching survey a few months ago I was surprised but we didn't really watch much during that period - we were just too busy. But I still tape things to watch in the summer when the shows are off - and I do get a few marathon watching days in there too. But I am finding it harder and harder to catch up. And Drew is right - a lot of what we watch is crap. Mindless and I hate to say it, violent. So I'm thinking it is time.

The book I have been reading - Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World has been discussing listening to God and what happens when we disobey and what happens when we obey. We are reminded, "Whoever has my commands and obeys them, he is the one who loves me." John 14:21. Yikes! "When we refuse to listen to the Lord we shut him out". We miss out on all he has in store for us. I want more! And I want to be able to hear His voice!

Todays post was convicting as well. I think this part struck me the most.

"The reality for me is I can't "dance" around sinful deeds, thinking I'm safe because I haven't acted on them. Jesus is calling me to stay far away from sin … in my actions and in my thoughts. If I dance around a cactus long enough, I will eventually get stuck. And if I dance with sin long enough in my mind, I'll get stuck too. And while forgiveness and healing is available through Christ, that kind of stuck leaves scars I don't want." Right on. It's not like I think I'm going to go out and murder someone- or that I am that interested in being a CSI officer myself but I think it is possible to become less sensitive to these issues - to in a sense glorify this type of behaviour the more we watch and allow that material to be a part of our lives. And what does that say about me?

If I know this then why has it been so hard to let go? It's incredible how long I've come up with excuses - "I'll just watch one more"; "I can always rent them later"; "I'll watch them when Drew isn't home"; "I'll catch up in the summer". It's not like there aren't good things on tv - or movies to rent - or tonnes of books I want to read!

So enough ranting, enough procrastinating - I hear you Lord - it's enough - CSI is purged! I pray some good will come from it! And specifically I reiterate the above postings prayer:

Dear Lord, thank You for giving us warnings about sin. I sometimes think I have no control over my mind. But I know that's not true. You have offered me help to take thoughts captive. Please reveal those areas in my thought life that need to change. I want to bring honor and glory to You in all areas of my life. In Jesus' Name, Amen

Thanks Proverbs 31 Ministries!

He is risen!

Why do I do it? I am so glad that I went for a run this morning but man do I feel gross right now! What a fabulous meal - just way too much of it. I really felt like exercising some more just to feel better but now that the kids are in bed and we got all of the car emptied and put away it is the last thing on my mind. As I said - I'm glad I ran this morning!

So a recap on the day...

Marlee woke us up early (too early 5:50 - thank goodness she went back to bed - to her OWN room) - we then put them off doing anything until we climbed out of bed at 7am - at which point Drew said "we're really going to make it to the sunrise service?" You betcha mister! And they did great. We were at the park by the water by 7:30am! Brisk, but cool and what a glorious sunshine! We saw ducks, an otter-like animal and the kids were actually pretty good! It's been 3 or 4 years since we've made it to this service. A great way to start the day!

I ran home and was greeted with french toast! Nice treat I haven't had in, a year? The kids were eager to get going with the 'hunt' so the toast had to wait. The task was to find the first clue (in a book) and then start the hunt - bringing everything back to sort. The eggs had some treats, some puzzle pieces and 12 that go with the numbered resurrection eggs. We read through the easter story and then put the puzzle pieces together. They led to a final clue for their final easter prize. Cierra got a bag and socks, Matt got a jacket, shirt and a new spiderman bedspread and Marlee got a dress and a movie. The 'family' got a new swing to add to the swing set and the first season of 7th Heaven which we hope to watch as a family.



I then got a 'surprise' - Matt had put together a scavenger hunt for me as well! It was so cute - 4 clues around the house that led me to some beautiful perfume that Drew 'got' me (wink -wink!) There was also an egg hunt in the bedroom just for me! What great kids. Marlee did quite well not totally ruining the surprise.

I managed to get in a quick shower and back to church we went. A great service - the place was full, people to catch up with and again the sunshine. It is amazing how the sun can just really compliment the whole mood of the day.

After church we raced home to get the dog and then headed to the farm. Much to the kids dismay we had to have lunch before they could explore the barn. But when they finally got to - they weren't let down. Another haul! It was too brisk to stay outside so we all lounged inside - some of us had a snooze; some watched some golf or scooby doo and some oohed and ahhed over new magazines and colouring supplies. Don outdid himself with a great ham and everyone else contributed to the state of bloating that I am now feeling. Dad was able tocome out since mom is visiting grandma and grandpa and he even brought his first attempts at homemade pie. Well done! There are lots of leftovers to carry on this day. And now I am ready for bed - apparently Drew is too since he is asleep on the couch.

Do you think she needs some new tights?

Happy Easter!

ER revisited

I finally finished ER 2 days later. I have to say that I quite enjoyed it! It left a few things open - maybe for a reunion some day? Either way, it was a sad evening, but well worth it. It was a great journey! I got some great memories and photos from the internet and I look forward to showing a layout about it in the future! BTW - I couldn't get Drew to watch all that much! Yet he had lost to remember about the recap episode. What's up with him?

Goodbye ER

I'm sitting here watching the final episode of ER. So many emotions. I can't believe it has been on for 15 years. I'm pretty sure that I've seen most of them too! It is now 11:13 and the final is 2 hours long and I am insisting that Drew stay up to watch the end. I feel like it is a historic moment. We just saw the recap episode before the finale and it brought back all of the reasons why I love this show. I'm pretty sure that I cried while watching most of them. Both in joy and in sadness. I was continuously reminded of how frail and beautiful life is. How we as people are given talents and what we can do with them, with God's help. We are still human and we make mistakes and we try to do our best. As one of the characters said, it's the humanity of the show that really resonated with me. It's now 11:38 and I've lost Drew - and now I'm at the part with a mom having trouble after giving birth - reminding of the season with Dr Green losing the mom in one of the earlier seasons. I'm going to have to go - it requires my whole attention, but suffice it to say, I'm going to miss this show. Yes it's only a tv show but hey, I'm a sucker for dramas.

March 2009 Recap

Welcome April!

As you can tell, the Simple Woman thing didn't work out that well. I think I need to vary the day because I've basically spent all day Sunday at church for the month (dance you know =~) so you may see some here and there in the future. I was also thinking of keeping track of odd things like how much toilet paper we used but then Matt got some extras for a craft and Drew didn't count one week... yep - blame the other guys. But I do need to look at changing things up a bit. I will have to investigate some other options.

Celebrations/ Events to Remember:
- Children's Evangelical Minsitry Seminar (25th)
- Funeral Brian Griffin (Kerry's dad) (27th)

Movies seen:
Willy the Sparrow
House Bunny (Yes, really)
Kite Runner
Expelled
Enchanted (2nd time)
Quantum Solace
Monsters & Aliens (at the theatre)

I worked out at least 15 times in the month

Books read:
How Did I get so Busy?;
Somebody Else's Summer;
Shattered Dreams;
Something Borrowed

From my procrastination list
- I finally did my mending