Zoo Trip - May 2011 - Matthew's Grade 1 class

Back in May (yes, I am behind big time with pictures) I went with Matthew's school to the zoo.

It is good to see the world through the eyes of children for a day. They had lots of fun.

This picture belongs on the bottom, and was taken at the end of the day. The next photo is the start of the day, don't ask how that happened - sigh.

One of the first birds we saw wandering around when we arrived. A white peacock perhaps?



This little girl was so good all day long. She did not cry once!!! Too much to see and too many people to smile at.

A gobble gobble and a cockadoodle doo.

This little guy came along. He was really good too. It's an excellent place to go for running.

Ohhhh was he tired at the end of the day.

One day, I will find a peacock feather!!! (not attached to a peacock)

A contemplative moment.

Hippos are hilarious!!! I loved watching them.

They liked being together.

Next, we went on the bus in the bear sanctuary. We were really blessed to see lots of them because they had just been fed along the road.

It was a beautiful warm and sunny day. One of few that we had in May.

Concentrating very hard on eating.

Some boys from Matt's group with Peter goofing around on the aligator statue.

After all the school kids left, we stayed at the zoo because I needed to nurse Nadia and I promised the boys we would see the turtles and monkeys again.
While I was nursing Nadia, this peacock came right up to me - I wondered what it would do but it just sort of looked at me, checked us out and wandered away.

Getting closer...

and closer...I sure love that color!!! Such beauty God has created!!!

I'm not sure if this is Amryn or not, but I did think of baby Amryn when we saw the giraffes.

Giraffes are amazing really. They have really cool valves in the blood vessals in their necks. Imagine if they didn't, every time they bend over all the blood from their neck would cause such high pressure on their brains that existence would be impossible. Isn't God creative?

Aren't giraffes cute?

Okay, giraffes are cute but my favorite animals are turtles.

Not the most adorable but in cartoon they can be really cute.

Trying to get a decent picture out of these two is like trying to get water out of a rock!!!

Mom, would you just take the picture already?

What are those guys doing? I'm just going to have a nap now, it's been a long day.

Taking a picture, of me taking a picture.

The boys seemed to love the statues of the animals the most.

Take a picture, take a picture!!!

I accidently deleted the gorilla shot. Here's the last one at the exit. This pose took forever because certain people did not want to leave the zoo.

Crock Pot Granola

Do you want an easy granola recipe? This is it!! This is from the two Michelles. I discovered this from my sis, Michelle, who discovered it from her friend Michelle. Just put everything in your biggest crock pot, stir lots and cool!! It's that easy. Here goes (while I have the five minutes to type this)...

Crock Pot Granola - orginal recipe.

5 cups old fashioned oats (can also use quick)

1/2 cup oil

1/2 honey

1 tsp vanilla

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup coconut

Crock Pot Granola - adapted for 7 quart crock pot for larger families

20 cups of oats

2 cups of oil (I use half olive oil and half canola)

2 cups honey

4 tsp vanilla

4 tsp cinnamon

1 1/3 cups of milled flax seed (for fibre!!)

1 1/3 cups of gr. almonds

1 1/3 cups of raisans

This recipe is totally flexible when it comes to the extras. Try whatever you want as long as it fills up 4 cups!!!

What I do is mix all the ingredients BUT the oats first in the already warm crock pot - I just turn it on when I start. Then slowly add the oats - it's a good arm work out but it's worth it.

It is important to stir up the mixture every half an hour or so. Really scrap the bottom around or the mixture will burn down there.

Put on LOW for five hours (some pots may be less) and have lid open just a crack so mixture dries out abit. Stir often!!!

Enjoy.

Quick Question

Does anyone know where I could find light weight jammies for this baby for the summer?

Right now I just have cotton sleepers (size 9 months) and before I stock up on 12 months I want to find something that she could wear that's not as cool as a onesy but cooler than a sleeper (maybe a two piece? maybe light pants to go over a onesy?). I'm not even sure what this in-between jammie would look like. Any ideas? Yes, I am hoping for warmer weather :)>!!!

So far I've tried Superstore, Wal-mart, and Valu-village.

Right now it's late for me but stay tuned for an awesome recipe, and more pictures. Sports Day was cancelled for tomorrow so who knows maybe I'll have the chance to download for awhile.

Take care and remember:

HUGS!!!

NOT DRUGS!!! - as seen on my BILs T-shirt.

Short and Sweet

Started off the day with this little boy deciding to take a bath in his clothes.

I'm not sure what he's up to but he didn't do things like this when he was two (which is the usual age). Maybe he's just crying for attention. You can never give them too much you know :).

I don't know if he'll do it again now that I've given him all that positive re-inforcement with the camara. Good thing I've lightened up in my old age. I actually laughed alot.


Hopefully Hilda has passed this off to Wes and Rose by now and this won't be a preview for them. This was suppose to be their house warming gift - almost two years late but better late then never I guess. Also, it was suppose to be a table runner but the colors didn't match their kitchen so it became a lap quilt. Aleana assisted me with cutting, ironing and even some great sewing.
It started off with "I really want to make pinwheels!!" (which I did at the retreat) to "Now that I have all these pinwheels what should I do with them?"
And...I just went from there. Design as you go I guess you could call it. Lots of fun to make and I was very pleased with the end product - beautiful!!! I love it!!!
Thanks for all your help Aleana - you are fun to work with!!!

This shot shows the backing - I love how it pulls out the little bit of blue on the front.

The edging.

I didn't do binding because I was under the gun to get it on the plane on time.

I am happy about that decision though and I don't regret it.

A close up shot.

A very willing model. Notice her red cheek? Could be teething?
BTW - quickly - this little girl is saying Mumma, crawling and sitting now. Wow!!!

Two willing models but...

one wanted to pull on the quilt to get at the camara - funny girl.

We had a good laugh over that too!!

All in all, it was a great day - clean kids and finished quilts.

Shhhh don't tell Aleana's teachers that she helped me but she really did have a cold :).

Who Has a New Camara?

We do!!!
Uh oh!!

Nadia has a cold so she's not smiling very much now that we have a camara again.

Funny thing is she remembers what it is for...

and sure knows how to look pathetic when she has the chance.

Don't you feel sorry for this little girl?

Today she was feeling better so maybe tomorrow I can post some smiley shots :).

Stay posted because I have lots of things I want to take pictures of now that we know how to download everything. The other children for starters, sewing projects, the expanded garden, and the new paint in the living room.

Lots of inside work to do with all the rain we've been having - ha ha. My 80+ neighbor predicted that we are going to have a short and hot summer with more yucky weather to follow that. He's an experienced gardener and he rememembers the flood of '49. Anybody reading this remember that flood? Barnston Island was under water!!! And Lulu Island. Anyone know what major attraction is on Lulu Island?

YVR - Vancouver International Airport.

My main point back there was that he remembers all the weather patterns from the past 70 years (as long as he can remember) and this is just his educated guess from experience but one that I would trust. I'm just hoping that when it's really stinking hot we are camping so I don't have to deal with it. I am a true Alberta girl and I prefer the cold to the hot.

When I turn 50 I am moving to Alaska!!!

Seriously though, I would rather holiday in Alaska then in Mexico. Maybe one day I can buy a cabin up there and cool off for 20 years. Now I'm just getting more and more silly - time to call it a night. At least I know how to amuse myself...

Good night!! Don't let the bed bugs bite!! (Mom, what are bed bugs? How big are they? Do they really bite you? Can you see them? - this all from Peter one night when I made the mistake of saying this :) )

#9 - Spirit Led Not Symptom Led

This is Matthew's vest he made to celebrate 100 day.

He's smile is...shall we say interesting?

The orginal spotting phrase from Dr. Low is : Self-led not Symptom led.

I changed it.

What Dr. Low orginally intended was for a person to take back control of their bodies.

What this means is that you lead your self, you do not allow your self to lead you.

As Christians this is a very good principal to help a person with self-control.

Instead of sounding like we are caught up within ourselves or believe that WE can do all things I changed this one to include the Spirit who leads us in all things.

If we use this phrase then we can better control our anxiety about certain situations that cause our symptoms to go out of control (eg. public speaking, crowds, new environment, confrontation, rebuke). Using this phrase will remind us that the LORD is in control, we are not, and our symptoms will subside or simply fade away.

"Since we live by the Spirit, let us keep in step with the Spirit."

Galatians 6:8

#8 Do Things to Get Well, Don't Wait to Get Well to Do Things

This picture was taken in January when Will and I were sick at the same time. Peter took the picture and told us to make funny faces. Of course, we always listen to him.
That's not why the camara broke - I broke the camara.


Now I am off topic...This spotting phrase takes a couple of seconds or several repeats to understand it's meaning.
It may be hard for you to really "get" if you do not struggle with getting yourself motivated. The concept of "well" here is not just about physical illness (although it can include it) but more about when you are not doing well mentally.When depression or anxiety start to take over it is easy to fall into bad habits of isolating yourself from others and/or not doing any of your usual acitivites.
If you recognize this or if someone close to you notices this early then it's time to do things to get well instead of waiting until you get well to do things. If you waited, you could be waiting a long time. It may never happen if you don't force yourself to get out into the world again. The feeling of motivation may never return until you force it. "Do things to get well!!"
You may not want to, you may really struggle, you may hate it, you may be sick the entire time, you may have symptoms, and it may not be fun. But to do anything is better than to lie in bed and NOT. The more you do any one thing, the easier it will get. It could be something like walking to the park, driving your car, being in a crowd, public speaking, or going to work. It will get better because you are overcoming the fear of doing something you hate.
Once you overcome that fear, your strength returns because an accomplishment has happened.
"Do things to get well"
It's sounds too simple, and it sounds so trite but it works and has worked to help many people. With God's help and through His grace we can become better.
Not perfect, but better.
"He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak"
Isaiah 40:29

#7 Humor is our friend, Temper is our enemy

This is another phrase that I have to say I love, and I have used frequently.

Do you have a sense of humor? If you do you are blessed, because it is something that you can tap into to calm anxiety and tame a temper.

Even if you do not have a good sense of humor so to speak it is something that you can train yourself to use. Sounds impossible but the human condition is such that once you set your mind on something - you can do it. The LORD has blessed man with these capabilities. We can use our minds to control our bodies and its reactions to things. It doesn't mean that WE are in control of the universe - that's God's realm but we are in control of our bodies.

An example of using humor to help your temper would be in a hospital situation.

I used this when I was being induced to give birth to Nadia. They had me holed up in a corner (no windows) on a bed with a small curtain all around. I knew that I was closer to having our baby but I also knew (from experience) that it would be very painful. It was clautrophobic and my anxiety levels were going up.

Will, my husband was there and occasionally the nurse would stop in to see how Nadia was doing in the baby hotel. Everything was going great from a broad view (another spotting phrase I will cover later on) but from my narrow view I was getting warm and sweaty. Once you recognize what's going on - you have a choice - do I want to have an anxiety attack (No!!) or do I want to take control of the situation? Will helped me to take back the control - we started laughing about things and joking it up. Within minutes, the small space opened up, my heart rate lowered as we really focussed on keeping things lighthearted.

Humor is our friend because it calms your nerves, relaxes your muscles (which is especially good for giving birth!!) and it releases all sorts of good hormones for healing.

Temper is our enemy for all the opposite reasons - it wrecks your nerves, tightens your mucsles and releases the flight and fight hormones in your body that over time will cause illness.

Which will you choose?

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"A cheerful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones. " Prov. 17:22

" A man's spirit sustains him in sickness, but a crushed spirit who can bear?" Prov. 18;14

#6 Feelings and Sensations come and go, rise and fall if we let them

Okay, it's agreed that some sensations have to be dealt with!!

Feelings of anxiety can cause all sorts of interesting symptoms that reek havoc with your body.

Increase in heart rate, chest pain, trembling, choking sensation, gagging sensation, nausea, and trouble breathing are only a few that could be mentioned. Every person has their "signature" symptoms. For some, the sensations are so bad that they have trouble functioning and for others they rarely experience anxiety but when they do it's always in a certain way ie: stomach ache, or headache.

This spotting phrase works on the premise that if a sensation has been created then it can also be destroyed. We only need to slow down and allow it to go away. Don't fight it, don't argue with it - accept it and things will settle down.

Feelings are NOT facts.

"Oh no!! I can't breathe - I feel like I'm going to die!!"

Remind yourself that feelings are not facts and that feelings and sensations come and go, rise and fall if you let them. You are in control of your body, your body is not in control of you.

"Why is this happening to me?" is a common question Christians will ask when faced with extreme anxiety or depression. The fact is that you may never find out. That being said when things get bad - it's often a clue that something in your life needs to addressed. Whether it's physical (hormones), emotional (a past that needs resolving), relational (a relationship that needs work or reconciliation), social (imbalance in the way of isolation or busyness) or spiritual (living in a sin that needs repentence) - it's time to make a change for the better.

"The LORD is good to those whose hope is in him, to the one who seeks him; it is good to wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD."

Lamentations 3:25-26

#5 - Do things in Part Acts

It's like building lego - life I mean.

We have to put all the pieces together to make it into something.

The end product can seem really daunting and huge.

It's going to take what seems like a million pieces and time we don't have.

That's where this phrase will help. Especially with the thing we call ADLs - Activites of Daily Living. The ADLs are the basics that you need to do to get on with living in the day - things like eating breakfast, having a shower, brushing your teeth and doing your hair. Taking care of your body is necessary but when you are down and out even these tasks can become overwheming OR one loses concern for them. If you think about the thirty little things you have to do in the morning before you can start the say as a Mom or go out the door - that's too much. So, break it down into parts and do one thing at a time. Celebrate each success. It's not silly - it's a victory over doing nothing at all. So the train of thought goes something like this "Okay, self. Move muscles out of bed, good job! Now I will get dressed. Well, I got dressed good. What is the next thing?" Just keep doing the one thing and then move on to the next thing.

Do things in part acts.

"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. "

Lamentations 3:22-23