Great G-ma

We spent last Saturday at my mom's for a family gathering. Micah LOVES his G-ma. He spent the better part of half an hour talking to her, pulling on his toes.

My nephew Owen is a monkey and had to be a part of the picture.

Which frames suit me better?

Daddy's?

Or Mommy's?

The Weather has turned

The rain is falling

Micah is under the rain cover

Joel walks in the puddles

Not so happy about having to wear a rain jacket

Its just too wet

A long dreary wet winter is ahead of us. Yah!

Joel's Favorite Book

Shaw's PVR Guide

Who would have thought?

Reflections

Washing hands!

How did the accident occur?

Lack of adhesive duck jammies.

The picture doesn't even do his goose egg justice. But pajamas without sticky feet cause falls and injuries.

Post Bake-A-Thon Clean Up

 Matt, Rach and baby Anaya came over for our monthly bake-a-thon. We had a great time of fellowship, followed by baking. This month, I was shocked at the crumbs on the floor, and decided to document the mess.

Gross!

 A batch of granola, double chocolate cookies, lasagna, nutella stuffed cookies, quesadillas and vanilla pear muffins later and my floor is a mess.

As is my couch! We let racks of cookies cool there! Apparently, the racks could not contain the cookie crumb goodness.

My Post-Partum Migraine

For some strange reason, about 4-5 months after I give birth, I am struck with a debilitating migraine headache. It happened with Joel as well. It only lasts one day, but it is PAINFUL! I think my hormones are still working themselves out and being overtired from still waking up at night just adds to the pain. Yesterday, it felt like a building was imploding every time a kid made a noise or Dan spoke. Or any sort of noise was made actually. It was awful. (Especially trying to feed Micah. He kept snorting and I kept wincing in pain). Dan stayed home and took Joel for a walk in the morning while Micah and I slept for a few hours. I was awake for two hours, in a drug induced state before I needed to sleep again. I slept a few more hours in the afternoon and began to finally feel better. I'm super glad that Dan was able to stay home and help me out, since there was NO way I could even think about taking care of the kids. (This is where having some good friends close by to watch the kids would come in handy, but they have out of town guests, are overwhelmed by their own kids, are too old, too far away, are going to school/work, or were just too busy to ask). But once I began to feel better, it was nice to have Dan home. We took it easy, heating a dinner we made at the Bake-a-thon the night before, curled up in our jammies and watched tv all evening. A nice way to end the day.

Cleaning Up

Licking the beaters

Definitely a favorite kid moment

 

Yes, he's licking the beaters right before dinner.

Yes, I dipped the beater back into the cake batter for a good photo.

And sadly, yes, I did let him stick his finger into the cake and lick his finger....

.....numerous times.

But, what can I say. He was just following my example. Gold star on my mommy chart today! 

The Generosity Factor

"There's enough for all, if we would learn to share it.

There's enough for all, if we would learn to see.

There's enough for all, so bring your loaves and fishes

And offer them to Jesus, there's more than enough for you and me."

---song

 

On Sunday, I was overwhelmed by the generosity of our church. We had already given the offering. And, here we are, offering up our loose change in a second offering. The kids were each given a loonie during the children's feature to put into the basket. Joel loved this. And as we went back to our seat, Gran-Gran gave him a few more coins to put into the basket. So back to the front of the church we went, dropping more coins into the basket. I was overwhelmed by the amount of money that was being put into the basket. This church is very generous.

 

We had an entire sermon, by a guest speaker, about stewardship. About giving. Some points I agreed with, some I didn't. Did you know that if you have over $60,000 in assets, that you are in the top 10% of the rich people in the world? Crazy! The guest speaker also asked, "Do you consider yourself to be rich?" Immediately, I silently screamed, "Yes!" We are super rich. Which is so funny to think, because we live pay check to pay check. We don't have a lot of assets or things. But we are rich. Perhaps, it has more to do with our attitude about life than actually about the money (or lack thereof) in our bank account. We live a simple life. We give when we can and we give what we can. We enjoy sharing meals with people. If we sense a need in our friends or family, we quite often will give. Sometimes its money. Sometimes its clothes. Once it was a kitchen table. More often than not, its food.

Growing up, my father was a tightwad. A cheapskate to the umpth degree. I did not learn to be generous from him. In fact, I probably learned that giving wasn't a great thing because then we might not have enough. But luckily, my mother was generous. She would give (often without my father's knowledge) to help others out. I remember her making a pie to bring to a family in our church who's son had just broken his neck. That family was so thankful. They were having people over later and didn't have the greatest night beforehand and didn't have time to make anything. It was a blessing to them. But I think that experience solidified my desire to give. I have seen how giving affects its recipients.

We were at a panel discussion this week, and one man told the story of how he grew up in East Vancouver and how they never locked their doors. When someone asked him why that was, he replied, "Our neighbour might need something that we have." With his doors unlocked, they could just go in and get what they needed.  A great lesson in generosity.

I think that the speakers main point was that cheerfully giving is good. An act of worship if you will. I feel like adding, that giving, whether monetary, time or possessions, is good. But giving is not only something that we do out of obligation, its a matter of heart.

One thing that Dan and I have realized is that we love to give. Our hearts are there. Our bank account may not follow suit...and sometimes bills go overdue or unpaid for a time. Sometimes we dip into our savings account. Sometimes that meal we had tucked away for a later date, will be shipped off to someone else. Those cookies that we made will be passed on to someone who will benefit from them. Sometimes we'll sacrifice a night alone together to watch someone else's kids. Sometimes our meal for two, will be blessed with another couple joining us. Our hearts just desire to give.

 

After church, I was talking with someone who also struggles to pay bills. She expressed that she felt guilty about not being able to tithe or give more. But she also expressed that she wanted to put food on the table for her own family. She didn't really like the sermon. Perhaps because its uncomfortable. Its uncomfortable to go without material needs, so that someone else can have some. Something about that conversations irked me the wrong way. I have thought long and hard about it. Replaying the conversation numerous times. I talked with Dan about it. I think I just didn't have the words to say what I needed to say. I guess I wanted to say that its not always about the money. We can't always give money. But we can give something. A free babysitting night. A meal. A cookie. A word of encouragement. Its not so much about what you are giving, so much as that you ARE giving. Its that spirit of generosity. Give what you can, when you can. Sometimes its painful. Sometimes it hurts. Giving isn't always an experience in lovely feelings. In fact it can be awkward. It can be hard. But we are called to give! And give joyfully!

 

 "There's enough for all, if we would learn to share it.

There's enough for all, if we would learn to see.

There's enough for all, so bring your loaves and fishes

And offer them to Jesus, there's more than enough for you and me."