Are you a mushy brown Banana?

Mushy, brown bananas... what are they for? Yucky, gross, throw them away! No, they are just perfect. How can rotten fruit be perfect, it's not good for anything! They might not look perfect on the outside but mushy brown banana's are perfect for baking banana bread! In so many ways our lives may be like those mushy brown banana's, full of bruises, spotted with mistakes from the past, discolored from hurts and pains of life and yet the Almighty Baker can make something wonderfully beautiful from those mushy brown banana's, all we have to do is let Him peel back the layers!

I know it's not the most perfect metaphor, but it's what crossed my mind today as I was baking with my son. As I thought about it, it made me smile - I sound like my Grandpa! That may sound strange to some of you, but you see my Grandpa has this way of taking things from his ordinary life as a carpenter and seeing it in another light. I remember how at one family reunion he shared about an experience where he was imagining what his carpenter pencil would say if it talked. No, he's not crazy :) I don't remember the whole story but I believe it was something about making marks on other people's lives and how important each mark is to the whole project or structure. Thinking more about it this afternoon, I have to say how glad I am to have such a wonderful Grandpa, he has worked hard to create a wonderful legacy of love, especially love of the Father. He is never afraid to say something, even if it may be hard to hear, or if he has to fight through his emotions, if God has laid something on his heart - he shares. I know that both my Grandma and Grandpa pray for their kids and grandkids everyday - what an excellent example you have set! I will try my very hardest to keep that legacy going!

Where we are at..*updated with pics*

I know it's been a while since I've posted. So you may be wondering where we've been and what we are up to. First of all I am happy to say that my daughter is now potty trained!! I am REALLY happy about that! She has been interested in 'going potty' from 1.5yrs because all the other kids (my son and daycare kids) would go on the potty. She was doing pretty good but was not consistant at all. In the end of November something happened (I still don't know what) but K would just NOT even sit on the potty!! After two weeks of working on it, she would finally sit again, but would not do anything. Another two weeks and she was finally doing what she was supposed to, and two weeks after that potty trained!! It will be nice to have all my kids potty trained when we decide to have another child.

In other news, we finally decided to get the kids a bunkbed! They were SO excited!! I had debated on and off for a while and finally went ahead with it because I really noticed how TJ was almost outgrowing his toddler bed! We only have a 2 bedroom house so the kids share a room and there is not enough room for a twin and toddler bed without being cramped. (they also have a dresser in their room as well) This way, if and when we would move to a bigger house, they would also each have their own bed as it separates into two beds!

Things seem to be going a lot better this winter than last winter for me. Last winter I had a serious case of cabin fever/winter blues. This winter hasn't seemed quite as bad. Although I am hoping that things will continue with this weather - it's been fairly mild here but the best thing is that it's been so sunny outside! Somehow the sunshine just makes everything better! Another thing is that I have been making an extra effort to make sure I take my multivitamins. It seems to help. Anyway, I hope to get some pictures in this post later today or early tomorrow :)

*Of course I didn't get my pictures in as soon as I wanted (dead camera batteries) but here they are, better late than never :)

Chocolate pudding painting with the kids.. it was a hit!! (as you can tell probably most of it went in the mouth)

I really don't like this picture of me, (so please ignore it) it was my only picture of the kids new bed so far, I was tucking my daughter in to bed for their first night in their new bed!
My daughter's early morning attempt at putting on lip gloss :)

Wordless Wednesday: Somedays I feel like this...

(TJ took this picture himself.. he was experimenting with my camera.. I had to laugh so hard when I saw this one!!!)

Tasha :)

Things have been going well so far with Tasha. The kids LOVE her! They got up at 7:22am this morning just to see her! We had a wonderful walk outside with her while huge snowflakes were falling (it's only -5 to -8, very mild anyway). Here are a few pictures of TJ and Tasha.

TJ and Tasha were watching the graders outside. (Tasha was actually watching the door because her previous owners had just left an hour earlier)(I know I need to clip off the long end of her collar yet)

Excitedly Waiting!!

We are awaiting the arrival of a new member of our family this afternoon. She is about 3 and has golden hair, a wagging tail and a slobbery tongue :) I will try to get some pictures up soon of our newest family memeber :)

Help for Haiti!

There are many bloggers that are doing what they do best, for the sake of helping Haiti! Here are just a few, and each of these blogs have about 20-60 links to other blogs that are also doing what they can to donate to Haiti's cause!

Mrs. Moneysaver

The Diaper Diaries

The Finer Things in Life

Many are donating through:

Compassion

Habitat for Humanity

Samaritan's Purse

Red Cross

We have chosen to donate through MCC's Relief program

If money is tight and you feel like you can't do anything to help - check out the blogs I listed, and the blogs that they have listed, many are donating money per comment left on their blog - so even if you don't give the money yourself, by promoting the cause, you are helping with what you can!

Who are you??

Courtesy of the Growing C's, I realized that it was delurker day :) (I got a good giggle from the pic, so I had to upload it too)



So YOU! The one reading this.. You stopped by my blog... so please take the time to say hi :)

Inspiration

"Hope frees us from the need to be secure. Consequently, hope frees us from the driving need to protect our self-interests and releases us to take risks for God.

Hope allows us to live for God, regardless of how perilous it may be, and enjoy God's gift of peace while doing so."

Taken from The Messenger, volume 48, number 1, January 6, 2010. Article, "A Hope That Lives On" by Arden Thiessen, D.Min.

The Little Moments

As a mother there is always so much to do.. especially with a preschooler and a toddler! Most days are filled with the busy-ness of housework, laundry, making meals, refereeing, dressing and making sure kids eat and go to the potty, plus many other things that come along the way. It's easy to miss the small moments. Even when those small moments seem to present themselves, too often we are too busy, too impatient, too tired, too cranky, too much of anything to take those moments. Last night I had just crawled into bed, layed there for about 5 minutes until I heard someone's door creak open and saw a little shadow. It was my little K. So as I got up to usher her back to bed when she told me she wanted a snack. Now, all too often I would grab a few crackers and convince her to get back to bed so I could get back to bed, but tonight was different. I realized that she had only had a few bites of supper (due to being out and her being distracted) so I picked up my little girl, grabbed a fresh bun, and curled up with her on the couch with a blanket. I sat there, just enjoying my little pumpkin while she picked away at her snack. What precious moments they were. Looking at my daughter, knowing that only a short while ago she was always nestled against me for her suppers and snacks, and knowing that in a short while she will be beyond curling up (or wanting to) in my lap! So even if I was up until midnight because of my daughter, I am thankful for the stolen moments we shared! I realize I really need to keep my eyes open for the opportunity of these tiny moments and take them, no matter if they seem inconvenient!! I challenge you mothers (as well as myself) to watch for the little moments in your life, particularly this week!

Our Holidays in Pictures