Enjoy this wonderful Christmas season! :)

Well here it is two am....did I just say TWO?!? ummm yeah..I did...well in that case this will be very short and sweet!

Today was a wonderful day. We had Christmas at home. We were home by ourselves with only Grandma(hubby's mom) here. It was much quieter than it is some years...especially those spent with my family!! We missed them all today! We had some friends over...7 of them. So altogether we had 14 people for Christmas dinner..It was fun and the food was yummy! We finished off the day singing Christmas carols in livingroom, accompanied by Lindsay on her guitar. Everyone sang along and seemed to enjoy themselves. After that the kids brought in the karaoke machine and everyone had fun singing along to Frank Sinatra, Julie Andrews and some others. It got quite lively with Louise taking the mike and singing "New York New York" with Frank. :) All in all it was a good day filled with lots of fun and laughter and good food. We are so thankful that Jesus came to this Earth to die so that we could live! He is so gracious and merciful to each one of us and I am soo thankful for that!
I hope you had a wonderful Christmas with your loved ones!
Have a wonderful time this Christmas season as we celebrate the birth of our Saviour.
Love Heather
ps
will post some Christmas pictures for you -- hopefully tomorrow...but maybe the next day..I think we are having more friends over tomorroww....from now til New Years...party party party....well actually ...truth be told..it's more like visit visit visit~ It's so nice for everyone to have time off to be able to spend time together and just soak up the togetherness of it all!

Rita

I have copied a post from another blogger's blog. It was SO touching that I wanted to share it. It is written by Katie from "The Journey". Please hop on over and have a look through her blog. It's amazing! :)
Please take a moment and read on...it's a captivating read.



I found this story in my journal last night... its fairly old but still has the same meaning. As you hold the ones you love this Christmas, please keep in mind those who have no one to hold them.

Yesterday a sweet little girl named Rita came to my house with two teeth that had been completely eaten through by a cavity and were almost completely rotted away. The holes looked like they were starting to get infected and the nerve was exposed; I cant imagine how much pain she was in. I took her to the dentist, and they said they were closed. The dentist was in a hurry to leave and wouldn't help me, but he said I could use his things and do it myself. Of course I was terrified, but I was more scared to think about the teeth not being removed immediately; they looked so painful. I gave her a shot to numb her mouth, waited about ten minutes, tried to sterilize these tweezer things with a match and dug out what was remaining of her poor little teeth. I don't think she could feel it, but my heart hurt for her.

I took her back home, made her a hot bath and some soup. Then she had ice cream and slept in my bed under a big blanket. As i tucked the covers in around her and kissed her heas she looked up at me with these big, wondering eyes. Unbelievable as it is, she was SOOO happy. She told me that this was the best day of her life, even though her mouth hurt. She said that she would get her teeth pulled every day if she could stay with someone like me. And that made my heart hurt even more.

There are so many children out there that don't feel loved on a daily basis. So many children that don't have a person to hold their hand or rub their back when they are scared and in pain. So many children who don't have the simple pleasures of taking a warm bath or sleeping under a blanket. I would move all of them, ALL of them into my house if I could. I wish I could love them all. I wish more people cared enough that they also wanted to love them all. Sometimes I just can't even believe how blessed I am. I have always been loved, always been cared for, always been warm and well-fed. Its frustrating sometimes, but mostly its just motivating. Sometimes I feel so tired, and then something like this happens and I am reminded that I can give a child the best night of her life simply by naking her soup and kissing her forehead. Simply by love her.

Sometimes I feel so tired that I think if I give away any more of myself I may actually be empty. And then I remember, It is only in giving away the love given to me by the Father that I am ever actually full. And so I keep going because of Rita. Because kissing her forehead and saying 'I love you" actually did change the world for that little girl. Because maybe through my hands she can get just a glimpse of a fraction of the love her Maker has for her. There is nothing better.

Darling Rita, now sponsored - Shout out to the Littleton family!

Which one are you?

(Scroll down..there is another new post below this one) You Are Easter

You are an optimistic, hopeful, and genuinely sweet person. Sensitive and affectionate, you are easily touched. You love nature, animals, and anything cute or cuddly. For you, every day is a new chance - no matter what happened yesterday. What makes you celebrate: Almost anything. You love most holidays and celebrations. At holiday get togethers, you do best as: The peacemaker. You can prevent any squabbles that might break out. On a holiday, you're the one most likely to: Remember to include everyone

What Holiday Are You?

The Water Taxi

We have a highway widening project going on in our area. It is the only highway that goes from one end of our valley to the other. Well after 9 months of work being done, they had a setback. A HUGE crack appeared on the side of the mountain--where it wasn't supposed to be! The blasting created this fissure(crack). There must have been a fault at that spot.It made the highway below it unsafe for travel, as it was slowly sliding down towards the road. SO this meant that we were now cut off from the central and northern end of the valley. Which is where the largest city happens to be. So that meant that hundreds of people were no longer able to get to their jobs on the other side of this now closed road. People came up with different solutions. Some took the backroads through the bush. This was rather dangerous as these roads are sometimes very narrow with steep drops over the edge! YIKES! So that wasn't safe. The government decided after a week or so to upgrade a former logging road for use. They did this and it helped very much but a former 45 minute drive now became 1 1/2-2 hours. Then they decided to put a water taxi into service around the blocked road. This became a very popular form of transportation. Well...I decided that I'd like to try out the water taxi service. So one saturday afternoon my daughter and I drove up to the terminal and got on this FREE water taxi. I figured we could go have coffee with friends on the other end and then turn around and come home.
We had a great time on the boat! It was a neat experience. The boat was a summertime tourist boat....all set up for summer parties. It was a very pretty boat on the inside.
We should have left earlier in the day so that it wouldn't be so dark by the time we got to the other end of the run....oh well....it was a fun experience.
Once we got to the other end our friends talked us into staying overnight. It was great! We left in the morning so we could get back in time for church but ended up missing most of it....oh well...all in all it was a great experience and a fun weekend!

The walkway to the boat.















It was a chilly foggy day on the water.







Our windblown selves on the boat.


This picture shows the crack...sort of...too bad it was so dark by this time. Anyway...along the right side of that orange fence is where the crack goes...right down to the road--it goes across the top and then back down the other side to the road again...nice clean break..but WAY too much material to come down at once as it would land in the lake and cause a mini tsunami!
If you look you can see the smoke coming up from the drills...you'll also see the lights. They're drilling and blasting across the top of the crack. They blasted a bunch of rock etc. -pushed it over the edge and up against the bottom of the crack. This was to hold it up enough so that it would stop sliding! C-r-a-z-y!! Not my idea of safe! But I guess it's temporary and they say that if it does decide to let go and slide that there will be enough warning for everyone to get out of the way. I sure hope they're right!

If you look-you can see a mountain goat that fell down into the crack. They were able to sedate him and lift him out...apparently he was okay.
**I got this picture off Google**

My place of origin....ain't it purdy??

that warm fuzzy fleece blanket

I've been wanting to make some knotted fleece blankets for my kids for Christmas. Do they need them? Well...not really..But I thought they would make a wonderful snuggly gift for them...that would last for years! "A special memory of something that Mom made for me when I was a kid..."
Well..there's nothing wrong with any of this really...but then this morning I read this:

December Project!

As you know, a major earthquake hit the Sichuan Province in China in May. This earthquake killed over 50,000 people and left man more homeless. Save the Children says that, “3 million infants, children and teens have been among the worst affected”. This was a disaster of immense porportions. School buildings, orphanages and small village towns were completely destroyed along with hospitals and office buildings.

As you can imagine, recovering from a disaster that destroys EVERYTHING you own is not easy. However, if you are living at or below the poverty level. . .it becomes nearly impossible. Today, many children and families remain homeless. Many others are lfet without basic necessities. And. . .it’s getting colder by the day. Winter is fast approaching with overnight temps already at freezing. Children remain without blankets.
Doesn’t that just break your hearts? As you tuck your children into bed covered up with multiple blankets in a home that has heat, can you remember these children? Would you like to do something?

Our KidsLake’s project for the rest of this year is. . .

BLANKETS FOR CHINA!!!

For $10, you can provide a warm blanket for a child that needs it!
Not only can you meet a need for a precious one, but you can teach your precious ones in the process! Use this opportunity when you put your children to bed and snuggle them up, to teach them about children who do not have what they do. Teach them to pray for the children who are cold that night. Teach them to be thankful for the blankets they have. . especially during this season! Then, help them to do something!

• Allow them to ask for a blanket for Christmas and forgo a toy in favor of supplying a child with a blankie!
• Have a hot chocolate stand in your neighborhood to raise money!
• Have them do chores to earn money. . .possibly making beds!
• Forgo a fast food lunch or dinner and have pb&j at home and donate the money

Whatever you do, get creative and involve your kiddos. Help them expand their vision of our world by teaching them about the children of China. Help them be a part of the solutions!

Blankets for China!
PS: We’ll have a paypal button on the kidslake site soon! The organization we are working with would love to receive donations as your kids earn them (instead of waiting until the end of the month) this way, they can buy blankets as it gets cold! Feel free to blog about this too. . let’s spread the word!

I copied this from Red Letters Campaign blog....go take a look at the good things they're doing! Maybe YOU can help a shivering little one be able to snuggle up in a warm blankie tonight. Tucking my kids into bed tonight won't be the same. :-\

Another day at the Zoo.

Well this morning was spent chasing paperwork around town. My first stop was at the police station. Randal and I are both required to have a criminal check, a vulnerability report, and fingerprints done. So as I stood with the policeman holding my hands with black ink on them I told him that I never thought that I'd ever be standing in a police station having my fingerprints taken! He chuckled..and said "well this isn't bad unless you come in the back door!" He was really nice and waived most of the fees for the three things I had done because we are adopting. He only charged me $15 for the fingerprints! I was SO happy to hear him say that. He was very helpful and made my visit very pleasant. He told me to go have a seat and he would do my criminal check while I waited so that we wouldn't have any delays!
I then headed for my next stop and had a very important thing done! My eyebrows!! :P My next stop was the drugstore for a passport photo and one canNOT have one of those done with big bushy brows!! :-D I then got the photo done..for a great price too! -$9.99! I picked up passport applications and lunch and headed to Randal's office to have lunch with him and give him the forms...It was a nice little visit that we don't often get to enjoy in the middle of the day.
So this was my first day of many to come (me thinks!) spent running around with paperwork.

Well will keep you posted on the journey. Have a great evening.



Heather

Thank You!

Thanks to Randi Jo...I was able to figure out how to change this. These different templates are something new for me..I'll have to play around and see if I can make it look better...well...maybe! I spend enough time on here as it is, without finding new stuff to play around with! Thanks again Randi Jo...I see alot of other fun gadgets on the cut8st blog on th* blo*k..like I said I'm sure I'll be over there playing around. Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Heather

HELP!

Okay...I changed my blog background to what you see here. Shortly after changing it up I decided to do it again. One small problem! It DOESN'T WORK!!! I do everything exactly as they instruct me to do...and the same thing I did to change it to this template..and it doesn't work, it stays exactly the same as what you now see in front of you!! grrr...frustrating! Does anyone have any idea to help me solve this mystery?? I hope so...please leave a comment if you think that you can help me.
thanks so much!
Heather

We're adopting!!

For those of you who didn't figure it out from two posts ago...Yes!! We ARE adopting! We're all very excited and can hardly wait until she gets here! Yes we have applied for a baby girl. She should be somewhere between 0 and 6 months old..at least when she is proposed to us. Hopefully this will be a quick journey.
The girls have already been looking up baby names and have started a list. When we've been out shopping we have all been over in the baby section...ooohing and aaaahing over how cute this and that would look on her. We have no idea what she will look like but it doesn't matter..she will be absolutely adorable whatever she looks like!!
Our current youngest is 10 years old...so we are going to have to start over collecting baby furniture and all the incidentals that go along with having a baby in the house. We're excited to get her room ready for her too....that will be fun picking out colours etc.
This reminds me of all the work we have to do around the house before she gets here! Two other bedrooms need to be painted, as well as the entryway, bathroom and hallway! We've also got bits of trim here and there that we somehow missed when we did our last painting project..the kitchen, diningroom and livingroom. We are either going to have to add a bedroom somewhere downstairs or two of the girls are going to have to share a room. That is yet to be decided.
And all of that is just the physical work ....
All we've done as far as paperwork goes is submit our application and retainer. So as any of you know, that have already adopted or are currently doing so, there is a TON of paperwork left still to do! I welcome any comments or insight you can give me if you have already been through this or are currently doing so. I would like to figure out how to find people in my area(or even in my country!) that may be going through the same process. I'm not sure that there will be anyone though(in this area), since our agency is on the other side of the country over 4,000 kilometers away!
Well time to get off here and go get another load of laundry on and get some homemade soup in the pot to simmer for supper.
Have a super great day!
take care


Heather

You Are an Audrey!

You are an Audrey -- "I am at peace"

Audreys are receptive, good-natured, and supportive. They seek union with others and the world around them.

How to Get Along with Me

• * If you want me to do something, how you ask is important. I especially don't like expectations or pressure
• * I like to listen and to be of service, but don't take advantage of this
• * Listen until I finish speaking, even though I meander a bit
• * Give me time to finish things and make decisions. It's OK to nudge me gently and nonjudgmentally
• * Ask me questions to help me get clear
• * Tell me when you like how I look. I'm not averse to flattery
• * Hug me, show physical affection. It opens me up to my feelings
• * I like a good discussion but not a confrontation
• * Let me know you like what I've done or said
• * Laugh with me and share in my enjoyment of life

What I Like About Being an Audrey

• * being nonjudgmental and accepting
• * caring for and being concerned about others
• * being able to relax and have a good time
• * knowing that most people enjoy my company; I'm easy to be around
• * my ability to see many different sides of an issue and to be a good mediator and facilitator
• * my heightened awareness of sensations, aesthetics, and the here and now
• * being able to go with the flow and feel one with the universe

What's Hard About Being an Audrey

• * being judged and misunderstood for being placid and/or indecisive
• * being critical of myself for lacking initiative and discipline
• * being too sensitive to criticism; taking every raised eyebrow and twitch of the mouth personally
• * being confused about what I really want
• * caring too much about what others will think of me
• * not being listened to or taken seriously

Audreys as Children Often

• * feel ignored and that their wants, opinions, and feelings are unimportant
• * tune out a lot, especially when others argue
• * are "good" children: deny anger or keep it to themselves

Audreys as Parents

• * are supportive, kind, and warm
• * are sometimes overly permissive or nondirective

http://www.okcupid.com/tests/are-you-a-jackie-or-a-marilyn-or-someone-else-mad-menera-female-icon-quiz

IT'S OFFICIAL!! FINALLY!!!

We've sent in the paperwork----finally!

Here's a hint! :) :)

Wordless Wednesday .....Autumn pictures

Almost "wordless"...
...the Autumn photographer


PS

Peter~
these are the fall photos that you had requested...I waited too long to take the pictures and most of the trees were already bare. Hope you enjoy the ones that I did get.
take care
Heather

Time FLIES!

Wow!! here it is 2 months since I last posted...oh dear...I didn't plan on letting things fall so far behind. I guess you could say that I've been busy!! I've been doing a bit of volunteer work at the girls school...which includes driving for local activities, as well as day trips. Helping the student council get their school coffee shop up and running...and a few other things. One other thing I did was prepare a hot lunch for the teachers. It was something I did to honour them. They have our children under their care for almost as long as we have them in a day. Sooo I made hot beef on a bun with au jus on the side, caesar salad, veggie tray with dip, ice tea with sliced lemons and chocolate iced brownies for dessert! They loved it. I also set the table in their staff room with a nice tablecloth and some pretty napkins and name cards. I also made a big sign for the wall that said "we appreciate YOU!" They all very very blessed...that's what I was aiming for so I guess it was a success. They've all blessed us so much in the past that I just wanted to pass it back to them for a change. :)
Our church just had a 60th anniversary this past weekend. It was really busy for me! I was in charge of getting the place decorated. I had my girlfriend help me out with it~she's amazing! I told everyone that she was the brains in the operation and I was the brawn! haha.. She came up with alot of the ideas and I did alot of the footwork...which is hard for her as she has arthritic knees. We had a ton of fun working together. We used to do this together in years past but it's been quite awhile.
Two girlfriends and I got together last weekend and made 96 meals! We made meals for the freezer for a month!! That was a really long day. We were at it for about 11 or 12 hours. The day before the "big cook", we did the shopping for the food.
I've tried about 6 or 7 of the meals with our family so far and they've all been quite good and some were delicious!
All in all it's been a busy fall! The trees have changed colour and I have pictures to show for it...I just have to get busy and post them!! So hopefully I'll get it done tomorrow...or the next day. ;)
Have an awesome week friends!!
love

Heather

so...now what....?

Well here we are starting into the second week of school. Here I sit wondering what to do with myself. Oh don't get me wrong...there is LOTS to do...but I feel at loose ends without the kids here. I haven't been home alone for over a year! I have all of the kids in the local Christian school now and so that means I'm not homeschooling anyone. Which is STRANGE! I've homeschooled for 7 out of the last 11 years! So you probably get the picture....no one needs me to do a math lesson..no one needs lunch prepared...a ride to work...no one needs to be nagged to do the dishes (except myself!!), no one needs to be supervised in the pool...no nagging to bring me their dirty laundry..jeepers...I sound like a real nag, don't I?! I don't think I am really...but....hmmm....anyway, I think you see where I'm going. Soooo....I'm going to make myself a cleaning schedule, so that I have a direction to head when I get up in the morning and don't wander around like a lost puppy! If I don't lay it out I tend to get overwhelmed and don't know WHERE to start! And then don't start anywhere--which is not a good thing. :) If you have a super duper organizational schedule of house cleaning and you'd like to share...please leave me a comment about it or send it to my email listed on my profile. Thanks so much

Have an awesome week.

Heather

Update: I will be helping in Janelle's class a few times a week...so that should keep me busy in between keeping a house for a family of 6!

It's cooling down for fall

Well it is starting to cool off now...We've had several days of rainy weather, along with a few thunderstorms. I love a good thunderstorm! The biggest problem with them in this area is forest fires. But so far this year, we haven't had too many. When they do start, it's been rainy enough that they haven't gotten too out of hand. Aaanyway.. the pool has cooled down quite a bit and it looks like we'll soon be closing it down for the season. It's so pretty when it's open and so bleak looking when it's closed-- oh well..
The kids are bugging me to take them to the city tomorrow so they can spend some of their hard earned cash! I'm not really excited about this prospect...but I think we'll head up that way anyhow. One last trip before school starts. I guess we should probably pick up school supplies while we're there. The cousins that were here are gone(all except one) and it's been pretty quiet. That will soon be ending, as my mom and grandma and 3 more cousins arrive on Sunday! I'm not sure how long they will be staying--probably for 5-7 days. School starts in 11 days, so they will need to be home in time to finish preparations for school. It will be nice to see this set of cousins, as it's been since last summer that we've all been together with them.
Today I took my eldest in to the clinic where they removed some kind of a "thing" from her leg. I think it's either a cyst or some type of wart. They're sending it to have it analyzed. We will get the pathology report back when we go in for stitch removal next week. If you can believe it, I watched while the dr. froze her leg with about 8 or so pokes of a needle, then watched whilst he removed it with his scalpel. There was a hole there after he removed it and you could see her blood pumping up from it...sorry if that was too graphic for you. I then watched him stitch it up. I have to say that I really surprised myself! I tend to be a bit squeamish about incisions and the likes. Aren't you glad I didn't take my camera?? She wanted to take pictures of it as it happened but forgot the camera. THank goodness for that!!
Anyway I hope that all is well with you all!
take care.
Heather
=)


I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of the girls and the cake they made. They just did it for fun. It wasn't for anything special. They finished it and we had it mostly eaten within an hour or so! It not only looked great it ~ it tasted great too!!

contemplations.....

Well here it is the 17th of August..and I sit here contemplating the end of summer. two more weeks and the girls are back in school...that makes me sad. I have had such a wonderful summer with them. We've been really busy. We've had lots of friends stop in for a visit, quite a bit of time with both Randal and my family visiting and also have celebrated two or three birthdays. We've also had several cousins come to stay. So all in all, it's been a great summer. But unfortunately time keeps marching on, summer ends school starts, the kids get older, we get older..... :) gee that sounds so melancholy! I guess I just hate to see the freedom and fun of summer end. Our time together has been sweet.
Aaaaah...time to start looking to the new school year and the next step in our lives. Everyone starting a new grade...new teachers...little bits of anxiety over how Janelle will do with her new teacher. I'm trying to look toward that part with a positive attitude...one of not dreading it but of being proactive in her education this year. I tell myself that she will be fine. I hope I'm right!!

We've got some plans forming for this coming year that are of a very different nature. We will spend some time planning and working at it. Then when things are firmed up I'll let you all know what we're up to! Please pray for us that things will work out for us......I know that's pretty vague, but that's as much as I can say right now. Like I said, I'll give you all the details when I can.
Well it's time to get ready for church..well actually it's pretty much time to leave! gotta run! Have a super day!
Heather

summer....cousins.....fun.......

My brother, Paul, got sucked into a game of charades with all of us. He dropped the cousins off and then headed back home...it's a 4 - 5 hour drive.




"See ya in a week, Uncle!"



The kids brought a snake in to show me....I decided to be brave and hold it...
Not the best plan. It tried to head up my arm and just seconds after this photo, I had an involuntary arm thrust! :P The poor snake went flying and hit the floor. You should have seen our uncle move! Apparently he doesn't like snakes. Hee hee.



"I'm not so sure about this!" :D





Can a snake be cuddled??















The girls trying to get away from the other kids who were trying to "show" their snakes to them. ;)