I Think This is Cheating..But Oh Well

It is my favorite things Monday and following some fellow bloggers I went to my kitchen to see what I could see. I saw nothing that I would say is my favorite. I asked my family what they thought and this is what they came up with and I totally agree.

My favorite thing in my kitchen is my kitchen sink window!! You can see it in the above picture on the right and when I look out it I can see most of our back yard and here is what is on display right now...
Our rhododendrum looks so full and gorgeous this year!!!

This smaller rhodo (we think) is also
looking very bright and cheery.

Surprise! Surprise! I'm not sure how these got here but they popped up - maybe I can transplant them and put them somewhere more noticeable.

Can you imagine faces on the flowers? Little flower pixies...

These are our cornflowers that haven't fully bloomed yet but you can enjoy the rhodo shouting in the background.

Last but not least...our lilac tree.

Another thing I can see from kitchen window that I can see is right there over that fence and towards the back. Yes, it's the neighbor's yard. It wouldn't be right to post pictures of his yard, but it is gorgeous and he is out there almost every day. We frequently talk to him over the fence and ask him for advice on this and that. Matthew torments him when he is on the trampoline - he'll be bouncing up and down and yelling "Hi!! Mr. S!!!" and "Mr. S. look at this jump!".

We are often reminded of the movie Dennis the Menace when Matthew does things like that - Mr. S is a good sport though and nothing like Mr. Wilson :).

Praise to the LORD the Almighty the King of creation!!!

How We Celebrated Will's Birthday

The children made this big card and displayed it on the fireplace.

The kids found this balloon floating around on the last windy day and managed to hide it until Dad's big day. They were so proud of themselves for saving money!!

Balloons we a definate requirement.

I didn't feel like fixing this photo - you'll just have to crank your head.

We had bought sidewalk chalk only a few days before for a story hour activity.

Nice for Will that the whole cul-de-sac now knows how old he is!!

Very touching though and alot of dedication on Aleana's part to wake up before seven to get it done.

We had some family over - it was Sunday.

Will and his Dad.

Will's two youngest brothers Mitch and Kris.
Nice of them to miss some biking for Will!!

Aleana once again came through with a great cake. It looked better the day before so I guess the lesson is to wait until the last minute or all the icing flops. It is suppose to be a golf course and it says bogey on the bottom. It tasted really yummy. Will would love to play real golf but doesn't have enough time in his day so instead he plays the occasional game on our Wii. He's at the pro level but yesterday Aleana tied him a game - much to his chagrin!!!

Happy Birthday to you!!!

It was a really nice day and it was amazing to me how much the kids did, without my urgings, to show that they loved their Dad. That's really special.

Hope you had a great day dear and May the LORD bless you richly in the years to come and with many more to share with all of us.

You are a great husband and father to our children and the fact that your family is your top prioirity is evident in all you do for me and for the kids. The small things you do every day for me without ever complaining is such a testimony to your love.

I am so thankful to the LORD for bestowing so many blessings in you.

We love you!!!

What else is New?

I have not written about our gifts in a long time. I have been hesitant because I did not want to mention things that I had already written about. Today I think I can wing it in regards to some things that have been going on around here for. So here it goes...

Thank you LORD for...

1) All the kids are outside right now - playing together and not fighting!!

2) It stopped raining long enough for the kids to play outside

3) My good sis brought dinner and it's in the oven! - thanks sis!

4) Good medical professionals who take good care of me (from the MOAs to the doctor)

5) Ethan who has such a nice smile

6) Matthew who keeps me laughing

7) For my cognitive training that keeps my mind calm and imagination from taking over - I really thank the LORD for this!!

8) That Peter has been such a good distraction to me

9) That Will is done his Mon/Tues night course schedule - that was tiring!!

10)That Will is doing his last EVER Tues/Thurs night course schedule that will be less stressful

11) Will who takes good care of me by cooking right now

12) Aleana who has been doing alittle extra of everything to help out

13) A good reliable vehicle that get's us where we need to go

14) For all the prayers of our family and friends - thank you!!

15) For this little person who we've never met but love already

16) For all the love this little person has already created in our family - the kids are so excited!!

17) For the gift of peace about this little person and how long she/he will be with us - the LORD is so good to us!!

18) For the rain that makes my garden grow!!

19) For the 2 rows of strawberries we planted - from last years group

20) For more sunshine and longer days - what a blessing!!

One Big Mean Eating Machine

This is the beautiful "Black Forest Delight" cake Aleana made for my birthday.

She feels that it is one of her best so far and I would have to agree.

Thanks Aleana - you did a great job!!!

One may read the title and wonder "What is this going to be about?". Well, I would venture to say that you thought I was talking about the youngest or perhaps one of the boys in the family.

Wrong!! It is me!!

I feel like that is all I do right now. Eat. As a rare execption to the human species, I must admit that normally I do not enjoy eating - in general. I sometimes will enjoy feasting but rarely do. It's my genes, my make-up, metabolism - whatever you want to call it. It's like those that have curly hair wish they didn't and those that have straight wish it were curly. I really wish I did have a better appetite and other people have looked at me and wished they had none. It's just the way it is.

Right now, my dilemma is that I need to eat approximately every hour and I would really rather not - most food is disgusting at this point, especially proteins. Eating, however, is the one thing that helps with the nausea. For six months I have been trying to gain weight when I should have just tried pregnancy. Will bought $40 of snacks and juices for me the other night and in three days I had consummed all of them!! Like I said - every hour...

I guess this is more of a rant than anything. A plea to be understood :).
Have a great week under God's grace.

Our Vancouver Trip

Some painted stairs in Robson Square.
The famous zipline that people would wait hours to ride.
I had enough fun just watching others on it.

Part of Robson Square.


The kids and me. Matthew is in there if you look harder.

Taking advantage of some on the photo opportunities.

The boys especially thought this was cool!

Bobsledding with the gang - makes a pretty good team!!

The famous olympic cauldron. It was to be lit that night at 8pm for the para-olympics - 3 hours after we saw it. Oh Well!

Some of the artwork sprinkled around downtown.

Inside downtown library. I would love to study up there on the left!!

Some more unusual artwork we found. HUH???

I think this is suppost to be a crumbled piece of tinfoil - or do I just have no imagination?

In the Art Gallery - Will got in trouble for this one - No Pictures!!!

At a park across the Lion's Gate Bridge.

Children can play on driftwood for hours!!

All in all, it was a fun two days with my favourite people.

Orchid Bliss

This was a gift from a member on Mission Board. Orchids are non-allergic.

Isn't it beautiful?? I just hope that I won't kill it.