I got my baby fix and it was awesome.
I babysat my friend's lil' Miss 2 month old baby so she could get a MUCH needed night away from 'reality'!
Nothing else needs to be said, other than - isn't she SO cute?
Sunday, October 31, 2010
MY Saturday night FIX
I got my baby fix and it was awesome.
I babysat my friend's lil' Miss 2 month old baby so she could get a MUCH needed night away from 'reality'!
Nothing else needs to be said, other than - isn't she SO cute?
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
FRIENDSDAY - Wednesday's
Another awesome FRIENDSDAY,
started out with some super special hot chocolate for some pretty cute kids!!!
(oh, and don't forget about the spray whipped cream in the mouth)
Destiny
(Noah's friends' little sister)
Isaac
(Noah's friend)
After the hot chocolate, Destiny and I made some chocolate cookies,
THEN some banana bread (looking ever so cute while stirring the dough)
THEN, she wanted to do some crafts (so we did)
THEN, she wanted to sing some High School Musical karaoke on the WII (so we did)
Noah and Isaac came in (just) long enough (from playing hockey in the RAIN) to tease us girls and get a photo!
THEN, after supper Destiny wrapped Jacques around her little finger
and convinced him to sing some songs with her!!!
What a great day....can't wait to see these two cuties come back again!
Tuesday, October 26, 2010
Wise beyond his years...
On this 3rd and final day of tryouts for the competitive basketball team for grades 4-6, this was my boys prayer:
"God, please help me at my basketball tryouts tonight because I am just not strong enough on my own."
Need I say more???
I was just beaming with pride after this and it made my day! Thank you buddy for reminding me that we are never strong enough on our own!! You make me SO proud!
"God, please help me at my basketball tryouts tonight because I am just not strong enough on my own."
Need I say more???
I was just beaming with pride after this and it made my day! Thank you buddy for reminding me that we are never strong enough on our own!! You make me SO proud!
Thursday, October 21, 2010
Chinese Cooking Day at school!
Tuesday we had a Chinese Cooking Day as a project for school.
Part of the lesson (beyond cooking alone) was that we learned how to find recipes on the internet, consolidate all the ingredients to make a shopping list and shop for all the items needed.
Then, a friend of mine and her daughter (who also home school) came over to help cook.
We had fun...cooked from 9:30am thru to 2:30pm, stopping only for a lunch break.
In all, we cooked 7 Chinese dishes! NOW, I want a WOK!!!
All of them (except for my tried and tested Wonton Soup) worked out better than great!
The dishes we prepared (and their links) are below:
Chinese Braised Spare Ribs
(we omitted the cinnamon and added lots of garlic and some honey)
Chicken Wonton Soup
(the attached recipe is for wontons only just add a
Chinese Broccoli
(we also added some sliced almonds right at the end)
Vegetable Lo Mein
this one was BY FAR my favourite!
Chicken Balls
Chicen Fried Rice
Egg Rolls
All 7 recipes.
Spare Ribs
Chicken Fried Rice
Lots of the BEST egg rolls
Wonton Soup
Chicken Balls
Too much on my supper plate of all the yummy
The day was an amazing success and I can't wait to cook Chinese again!
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
His sweet voice
You know how sweet the sound is, when my comes to me with an issue that he chose ME to talk about with!
Well, it happened this morning.
He confessed his fears about adopting. Right now there are a few, and rightfully so considering the "sting" left from his only other experience with adoption last year. He was so upset that I had been hurt by that situation. He told me that he hated seeing that happen and he was scared this would happen again. *sigh* What can a mama say to this? Her little boy being protective *double sigh*
And of course the other issue, was the thought of having a baby in 'his things'. He asked again if he could have a lock on his bedroom door and I assured him he could. This seems to be a real big issue for him, considering he's talked to me twice about this now! His fear of having a baby in the house is real, and I told him that it was OK to have these fears. He soon compared it to a friend of mine who has a boy Noah's age and an adopted baby girl (thank goodness for your family "L"). He soon realized that it would be really cool to have a little, little sister! This boy "K", embraces his little sister and is very comfortable with her, including soothing her when she was upset. Noah remembered this from our visit this summer!
Christmas is coming and with us talking about saving money for the adoption, he fears that he won't get a Christmas present because we'll save his Christmas money for the adoption! I put his mind at rest and told him that Mommy & Daddy were giving up OUR Christmas gifts to save money this year, not his!
I shared with him that I, too have big fears about welcoming a baby into our family. He seemed very surprised that I had fears too and was comforted by this fact alone.
We talked for what seemed like forever and in the end, Noah began to talk about how excited he was to have someone to share in our family! I'm even more excited now too that he feels so comfortable to voice his deepest fears with me....and what a sweet voice he has!
Well, it happened this morning.
He confessed his fears about adopting. Right now there are a few, and rightfully so considering the "sting" left from his only other experience with adoption last year. He was so upset that I had been hurt by that situation. He told me that he hated seeing that happen and he was scared this would happen again. *sigh* What can a mama say to this? Her little boy being protective *double sigh*
And of course the other issue, was the thought of having a baby in 'his things'. He asked again if he could have a lock on his bedroom door and I assured him he could. This seems to be a real big issue for him, considering he's talked to me twice about this now! His fear of having a baby in the house is real, and I told him that it was OK to have these fears. He soon compared it to a friend of mine who has a boy Noah's age and an adopted baby girl (thank goodness for your family "L"). He soon realized that it would be really cool to have a little, little sister! This boy "K", embraces his little sister and is very comfortable with her, including soothing her when she was upset. Noah remembered this from our visit this summer!
Christmas is coming and with us talking about saving money for the adoption, he fears that he won't get a Christmas present because we'll save his Christmas money for the adoption! I put his mind at rest and told him that Mommy & Daddy were giving up OUR Christmas gifts to save money this year, not his!
I shared with him that I, too have big fears about welcoming a baby into our family. He seemed very surprised that I had fears too and was comforted by this fact alone.
We talked for what seemed like forever and in the end, Noah began to talk about how excited he was to have someone to share in our family! I'm even more excited now too that he feels so comfortable to voice his deepest fears with me....and what a sweet voice he has!
Monday, October 18, 2010
Family Fall Photo Time
Time for our Family Fall Photo shoot.....even though most of the leaves have fallen :(
Since living here in Grand Falls, we've gone to a little camp ground with some pretty colours. Sadly, this year most of the leaves were on the ground (and not even that colourful anymore).
Oh well....my disappointment matched everyone's mood as we headed out after church to make some family memories! I had snarl remarks and many complaints as I tried to snap some nice photos. Then, poor Jacques added the icing on the cake and made another snarl comment and I FREAKED. Woops....
It wasn't pretty....and I told them that I was SO disappointed and I would walk home to burn some steam. I mean, really...all I ask is for about 30 minutes a year for them to look their best and have their nicest smiles. The least they could do (after ALL I do around here for everyone in this family) is just SUCK it up.
After I had a little (or big) meltdown, explained how I felt - they convinced me not to walk home (which really wasn't that far - about a 20 minute walk)....we managed to make some family memories.
THAT SAID, each time I look at these photos - I will always remember the cost of getting them to smile like they cared!!!
All is well now....and I don't think our yearly ritual will not continue to be a head ache producing session!!!
Here are some sneak peaks.....the best we could get with a tri-pod and some dirt on the lens that I just can't get off!!!
Since living here in Grand Falls, we've gone to a little camp ground with some pretty colours. Sadly, this year most of the leaves were on the ground (and not even that colourful anymore).
Oh well....my disappointment matched everyone's mood as we headed out after church to make some family memories! I had snarl remarks and many complaints as I tried to snap some nice photos. Then, poor Jacques added the icing on the cake and made another snarl comment and I FREAKED. Woops....
It wasn't pretty....and I told them that I was SO disappointed and I would walk home to burn some steam. I mean, really...all I ask is for about 30 minutes a year for them to look their best and have their nicest smiles. The least they could do (after ALL I do around here for everyone in this family) is just SUCK it up.
After I had a little (or big) meltdown, explained how I felt - they convinced me not to walk home (which really wasn't that far - about a 20 minute walk)....we managed to make some family memories.
THAT SAID, each time I look at these photos - I will always remember the cost of getting them to smile like they cared!!!
All is well now....and I don't think our yearly ritual will not continue to be a head ache producing session!!!
Here are some sneak peaks.....the best we could get with a tri-pod and some dirt on the lens that I just can't get off!!!
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
It's FRIENDSDAY today!!!
Yup, today is Wednesday and we've re-named it to 'Friendsday'.
Each Friendsday, we are having a friend over after school to do a super fun activity!
This week, Noah had his friend over to pretend to be paleontologist - digging for dino bones (cool)! Very cool activity we found at the dollar store (even more cool). It's been fun (so far)! It occupied the boys for over an hour, now they are in the garage building something!
I think this idea of Friendsday is going to go awesome. Noah was SO eager to get his school work done this morning, in preparation!
Here are some photos of their fun, fun, fun!
Each Friendsday, we are having a friend over after school to do a super fun activity!
This week, Noah had his friend over to pretend to be paleontologist - digging for dino bones (cool)! Very cool activity we found at the dollar store (even more cool). It's been fun (so far)! It occupied the boys for over an hour, now they are in the garage building something!
I think this idea of Friendsday is going to go awesome. Noah was SO eager to get his school work done this morning, in preparation!
Here are some photos of their fun, fun, fun!
Pride
I can't even begin to describe how much I see this weekend of Jacques and I being away did for Noah.
He's growing up so fast, and I have to tell you something, for every one of his behaviours that is annoying and hard to manage, he has double or triple that many behaviours that make me the most proud mama in the world.
Noah has the biggest heart you could possibly imagine, he is one of the most compassionate kids you'll find and he is downright hilarious with some of his ideas and deliveries!!!
This year, he figured out that Santa wasn't real (early in the year). So this Christmas is going to look a little different. Thankfully, he was SHOCKED that we spent all the money on him for OUR gift AND for Santa's gift as well so it will be easy to scale back some this year.
Christmas Gifts:
After our decision to adopt was finalized, we spoke to Noah about how we were going to be saving as much as we could and spending much less on things like eating out, going to the movies, etc. He was very understanding and to our surprise, he was even 'giving' in his acceptance. He told us that for Christmas, maybe he could just get $100 and put the rest into our adoption fund!!! My heart MELTED when he sincerely offered that.
Dollar for the Needy:
The other day, we went to the mall. A man was playing his guitar with the case open, looking for donations. Noah asked if I could give some money, but I didn't have any.
Yesterday, we were back at the mall and the man was playing his guitar again. Noah said, 'Mom, would you please give him some money this time? He's working so hard for his money.' I responded by asking Noah if he would be willing to use his 'myjobchart.com' points to pay for this donation, and to my surprise he said 'SURE'. SO...I handed him a dollar and he dropped it into the guitar case.
Once in the mall, he said, "Mom, that makes me feel SO happy to give that man a dollar."
*heart melting over here, AGAIN*
Special Cuddle vs. Jammie Jams:
Okay, so this is just too funny! Since Noah was in a bed, we've (for the most part) had something called 'special cuddle' at night. Special cuddle is where we snuggle in his bed, read a story and talk about our days (the concept and term stolen from my older sister who used to do that with her boys). I am pretty sure if you ask Noah about his childhood when he is older, THIS time of day will be considered to be one of the best memories of childhood!!!
SO...fast forward to when we had the conversation about S-E-X for the first time. I explained that husbands and wives had their very own type of special cuddle to make babies....and so on! I think you get where I'm going.
SO....fast forward like a year and a half later now.
Yesterday, Noah asked me if we could change the name of 'Special Cuddle' to something else. When I asked 'WHY', he responded, 'well, Mom when you tell someone that we had special cuddle, it sounds bad because of.....ummm.....well.....you know.' I said, 'no honey, what do you mean?' He said, 'well it sounds like well.....ummmm.....you know, like what husbands and wives do'.
Ahhhh....point taken. So 'special cuddle' is now called 'our Jammie Jam' (meaning we're in our jammies and we're jamming about our day!! (I believe this term comes from The Office)
So there's bits and pieces of my kind hearted, compassionate little comedian!!!
Keep up all your hard work and NEVER stop being YOU buddy. We love YOU!!!
He's growing up so fast, and I have to tell you something, for every one of his behaviours that is annoying and hard to manage, he has double or triple that many behaviours that make me the most proud mama in the world.
Noah has the biggest heart you could possibly imagine, he is one of the most compassionate kids you'll find and he is downright hilarious with some of his ideas and deliveries!!!
This year, he figured out that Santa wasn't real (early in the year). So this Christmas is going to look a little different. Thankfully, he was SHOCKED that we spent all the money on him for OUR gift AND for Santa's gift as well so it will be easy to scale back some this year.
Christmas Gifts:
After our decision to adopt was finalized, we spoke to Noah about how we were going to be saving as much as we could and spending much less on things like eating out, going to the movies, etc. He was very understanding and to our surprise, he was even 'giving' in his acceptance. He told us that for Christmas, maybe he could just get $100 and put the rest into our adoption fund!!! My heart MELTED when he sincerely offered that.
Dollar for the Needy:
The other day, we went to the mall. A man was playing his guitar with the case open, looking for donations. Noah asked if I could give some money, but I didn't have any.
Yesterday, we were back at the mall and the man was playing his guitar again. Noah said, 'Mom, would you please give him some money this time? He's working so hard for his money.' I responded by asking Noah if he would be willing to use his 'myjobchart.com' points to pay for this donation, and to my surprise he said 'SURE'. SO...I handed him a dollar and he dropped it into the guitar case.
Once in the mall, he said, "Mom, that makes me feel SO happy to give that man a dollar."
*heart melting over here, AGAIN*
Special Cuddle vs. Jammie Jams:
Okay, so this is just too funny! Since Noah was in a bed, we've (for the most part) had something called 'special cuddle' at night. Special cuddle is where we snuggle in his bed, read a story and talk about our days (the concept and term stolen from my older sister who used to do that with her boys). I am pretty sure if you ask Noah about his childhood when he is older, THIS time of day will be considered to be one of the best memories of childhood!!!
SO...fast forward to when we had the conversation about S-E-X for the first time. I explained that husbands and wives had their very own type of special cuddle to make babies....and so on! I think you get where I'm going.
SO....fast forward like a year and a half later now.
Yesterday, Noah asked me if we could change the name of 'Special Cuddle' to something else. When I asked 'WHY', he responded, 'well, Mom when you tell someone that we had special cuddle, it sounds bad because of.....ummm.....well.....you know.' I said, 'no honey, what do you mean?' He said, 'well it sounds like well.....ummmm.....you know, like what husbands and wives do'.
Ahhhh....point taken. So 'special cuddle' is now called 'our Jammie Jam' (meaning we're in our jammies and we're jamming about our day!! (I believe this term comes from The Office)
So there's bits and pieces of my kind hearted, compassionate little comedian!!!
Keep up all your hard work and NEVER stop being YOU buddy. We love YOU!!!
Happy Thanksgiving Weekend
WHAT a fantastic Thanksgiving weekend we had! It was a little, no it was much different than what most of our other Thanksgiving weekend's look like. BUT WOW!!! I will do a weekend like this again in a minute!!!
It started off with planning a trip to the Gaspesie Pennisula in the fall for the 3 of us. No weekend worked, except for Thanksgiving. Then...Noah said he didn't want to go so we got a sitter and scooped up some much needed couple time!With homeschooling now, I feel like I am ALWAYS with Noah (which I absolutely love) BUT time away is equally loved as well!!!
So we packed up a little overnight bag and hit the road on Sunday morning.
We drove and talked, and talked and drove. We stopped when we wanted, but mostly admired the views and the company.
I can't remember the last time Jacques and I talked SO much. We discussed everything and anything. NO topic was off. We laughed and cried, we planned for the future and reminised about the past, we came up with plans and we kyboshed old ones. It was the MOST amazing time for conversation on our drive there.
We stopped at a Savonnerie (or in English a Soap Factory - but just a small one). It was perfect. She was actually closed, but allowed us to come and shop. She was a sweet French lady who clearly struggled with English, but did her very best with me. Jacques translated most of the time, but when I'd ask a question to Jacques in English, she'd do her best.
We stopped at an Artisant Market, even bought a little stained glass dragon fly for a window for when we have to do a nursery! It's a cute pink & blue body! I got it just in case - cuz ya never know what may happen!!!
We arrived in Gaspe around 3:30pm (NB time) and found a no-tel-Mo-tel (actually, that's all we could find0. We checked in and relaxed. By the time we ate some delivery for supper, we both fell asleep quite early.
In the morning we were up and on the road by 8am (NB time) or 7am local time!
Though we talked much less on the drive home, it was meant to be that way because the views were WAY prettier than on the drive TO. It was spectacular views. I especially loved the drive where the van was sandwiched between the cliff and the ocean.
We listened to music (just like always), we sang and made up silly words to the songs. We still giggled and had so much fun on this drive.
By the time we were about 2 hours from home....we just wanted to get home to see Noah! We are crazy like that. We love being away, but miss Noah dearly when we're gone! At least, both of us are the same!!!
When we got home, Noah was clearly happy to see us - NOT. He was too busy watching TV at Dianne & Maurice's to even bother with us - little BRAT!!! lol
What a lovely weekend, and I'll travel on Thanksgiving weekend again in a heartbeat to see the all the fantastic colours of the season!
What a way to start our trip...THIS was the view out my kitchen
window as we packed the van to head out!
Perce Rock
WELL...trying to get a photo of us with Perce Rock behind.
*sigh* - oh well!
The tip of Park Forillon
The north side of the pennisula, the most beautiful scenes and the most colourful!
I copied the photo of the GPS idea from a friend's summer vacation photos, but I wanted also to take a photo of something I've never photographed before.
Do you see the blurry little angel hanging next to the GPS?? "Joshua' is written on this angel, to symbolize that Joshua is always with us on every vacation we go on.
Here's the Cliff, Road then Ocean I described up top. It was like this for a few hours.
One of my favourite parts of the drive!
But THIS view was my favourite, by far.
We saw several like this. It is a water fall coming out of the side of the cliff!
Absolutely beautiful.
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