Baby Blanket

Deroche - Aug 28-Sept 1, 2013

 For a couple of Labour Day long weekends we have gone to Deroche, B.C. with the Van Delft clan. 

We always have a grand time and the kids LOVE it!!!  What's not to love?  They have....a waterslide,   

 a pool,

 a cozy cabin with a loft, 

 a bat house, 

 a dog, 

 swings,  

 to make them giggle,

 flowers to make them stand in awesome wonder, 

 and of course, dwarfs (!!!??).

 The best part was Auntie Alice and Uncle Colin had baby Jude on Monday morning 

- on labour day, go figure!!! What a blessing!!!

Manning Park 2013

This was the weather at the end of our trip.  I have some pictures from the rainy days on the other camara.  

We didn't last.  I was fed up after 2 days of rain and we packed up and came home 3 days early. 

 We had alot of sunny days at the beginning - yah!!!  We went hiking almost every day and this is how Madilyn traveled.  She loved her backpack!!  

 What a good way to travel!!! 

 Aleana with her Auntie Michelle. 

 After awhile it does get a little boring. 

 You can't see it very well - but I chose these two pictures because you can see Joel's and Matthew's ribs. 

Matthew was very scared to do this and you can see it in his face.  But he did it and I'm happy for him that he did!!!  It was good for his confidance. 

 Grandma and Grandpa Bredenhof came up for supper - fun!!! 

 We had Smores around the fire - delicious. 

 One trail we hiked on was a cross country ski trail.  That's why these outhouses are so high!!  This was Nadia's first experience with an outhouse.  She asked what the hole was for and I explained and instead of protesting (or refusing to go like some of our children!) she replied "Okay" and dropped her drawers!!!   

 The boys were very excited to accompany Uncle Ryan on his bug adventures. This is rare bug that only comes out every 21 years!!  Ryan was very thrilled that he found this guy!! 

 This shot reminded Aleana and I of a scene from Alice in Wonderland.  

 An old Chevy we found on one of our rainy day adventures. Aleana takes cool pictures. 

By 4pm we were all packed up and ready for home.  Yah!!  It was fun but once the rain came - it was NOT!!  We had a good week with lots of good hiking, fishing and canoeing.  

Thank you LORD for keeping all of us safe!! 

Long Needed Update - August 2013

Little Girl Sweetness

I had the opportunity to sew today!!!  There are some things that I worked on that I can't show you so please excuse ALL these pictures on what I can show you.  I really really love this!!  It's nothing fancy but it's the fabric that makes it beautiful.  The fabric is from Robert Kaufman.  Save-On fabrics in Surrey is starting to carry some nice lines and for a really good price!!

Will bought this bed for Nadia with the bottom sheet last year when I went to Ontario.  I have been wanting to sew sheets for it ever since.  Nadia is our most grateful child.  She will ask "Who did this?" and we will answer "Mommy" or "Daddy" and she will reply "Awwww Tank you!!".   She talks about her room that way.  "Did Daddy make my room?"  and we will answer "Yes, Daddy painted your room and bought your bed" and she will reply "Awww, It's so preeeetty!!"  I love it when she does that!!

I didn't make this bed up until after she went to bed tonight (in our bed) - look how light it is out!!  I can't wait until morning when she sees the sheet on her bed. 

It was easy to put together of course.  Here it is with her baby quilt.  I wasn't expecting it to match but it kind of does - doesn't it?  

Matthew's 9th Birthday, Green Timbers Park Pictures and Madilyn Likes to Sit (Not on Her Own Yet)!!

Today I have no time to write about anything, but time to present you with some photos of some latest happenings.  ALOT has been happening lately but I either forget to take the camara or take the camara and then forget to take the pictures.  C'est La Vie!!!   Enjoy!!








Peter loves to make gifts for his family.







Madilyn is our first thumb sucker and her she is doing it with her index finger on her nose.
I love it!!!




I love my sister!! 



I love this sitting thing and want to do it more often now - way more to see!!!
So far Madilyn's eyes are blue with a piece of brown in her left.  Unusual coloring - just like Nadia. 
Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!! 

I'm Not Sure Yet...

Hi everyone - it's not everyday that I get the chance to write on here.  It's hard enough to get the pictures on.  Now that I'm using flicker to get them here it takes me TWICE as long to do the chore.  I'm thinking of switching blogs again.  Seriously, should it be taking me one hour to choose, download and then transfer 12 pictures and then maybe write comments underneath them?  To me that's a big chunk of my time that I am not willing to donate. 

Some things are slowing down thankfully.  Like homevisits (Will), catechism (A and E), Piano (A and E and M), Strategic Planning Committee work (Will), and Nursing at Night (Madilyn - yippee!!!).  Then there are some things that are picking up like: School activities, Bible study group work, friends who are moving, gardening work, Saturday soccer with the boys, a special sewing project that has a deadline that is fast approaching (pictures to come soon!) and room re-organizing that led to spring cleaning that led to furniture shopping (for A) that led to moving more things around (sigh...). 

Will and I were actually sad the first night Aleana was downstairs.  We missed her!!! It was more of a

psychological issue than physical though.  We were just really feeling the movement away from us as a symbol of what is to come in the future - wahhhhh - she's not supposed to grow up!!!  It reminds me of the first night Madilyn slept in her cradle at 6 weeks I think it was.  We missed her too.  Now, she is really good at sleeping in her cradle and she has slept through the night for week.  She is vastly different than Nadia - maybe later on I will see some similarities but so far I haven't seen any.  Nadia was a Mommy-suck. Madilyn is happy with anyone who talks to her.  Nadia wanted to be held constantly and Madilyn needs her space.  Nadia cried alot and Madilyn not.  Some nights Nadia still wakes up more than Madilyn.  I feel very blessed to have such a content child at this point in our family and in my old age (ha ha). 

And before I go off on more tangents, there are some things that are staying the same: like the rhythm of sending kids off to school nice and early, of Thursday night meetings, of doing papers with the boys (I used to do papers as a kid and now that I am doing it again - I really love it! - I told Will the other day that the older I get the more I see myself becoming like his Mom. I said this because she has done papers for over 30 years now and mostly enjoys it :) ), playing games with the two older kids on Sunday nights (they get so hyper!! - This past Sunday I was soooo tired that I didn't make any sense about anything and they had lots of fun with that.), going to church every Sunday (what a blessing!!), having a stable husband with a steady job (always thankful for that!!) and ummmm what else???,  children who continue to be healthy and well.

Well, it's not everyday I share so much but tonight I had the time and the energy and it's good for me to reflect on things and take a step back and look at it all.  There just seems to be so many difficult current and personal events happening lately - it really can rattle your faith and ruin your day to hear about some of it.  I'm sure anyone reading this can think of something that has been rattling lately.  The Tim Bosma case is one on my mind and bringing that up reminds me of 4 years ago when Will joined the neighbor in chasing two kids (who robbed and assaulted the boy across the street) and then 10 minutes later they murdered someone else who chased them. Be rest assured I hugged my husband alot closer that night!!   Subsequently, Will became a witness in that case and along with the crown prosecutors did his best to bring justice for the family.  In the end, we comforted our neighbors with our belief that the LORD would provide justice in some way, some day and that we have to trust that.  Hard stuff. 

Some days we (maybe just me??) can get caught up in the finite details of cleaning up the constant messes every where and then other days we can not let it bother us as much as we share a laugh or two with the kids instead.  I like the laughing part better but the obsessive housewife in me has a hard time letting the messes go.  Messes stress me out!!!  Seriously though, should I be sacrificing good relationships with the kids for a spotless home?  Like Paul says - I do the very thing I hate...This is starting to sound like Confessions of a Stay-at-Home-Mom (that's another post) isnt' it??     

Anyway, there is alot more that I want to write about and I think of these great topics when I'm nursing at night - of course right now I can not think of a one.  That's where the title comes from - I started to write without knowing my topic or where I was going.  Sometimes that can be a nice way to write and it works.  

So what do you think the title should be?  

Have a blessed weekend - In God's Hands.

Love, Gloria

   

Peter, Nadia and Madilyn - Can't Get More Creative Than That!!!

This little girl get's lots of pictures taken by her big brother Peter.

Nadia bashed her head on a cabinet - We spent two hours in ER on a Sunday night.  No stitches thankfully - doctor decided it wasn't worth the trauma.  He would have to sedate her for it and the wound had stopped bleeding already.  She remembered too much of when we went in for her toe.  As soon as she saw the dr. she grabbed her toe and started screaming.  Poor girl!!! 

I'm having trouble with aligning everything so this will have to good enough for now!!