As of Late ...

 

I didn't make this quilt. My Mother-in-Law did. This was her last work of art. She tried very hard to finish it, but her health would not allow it, and her Heavenly Father called her home before she could.

My Father-in-Law asked me to finish the binding, so it could be given to its Owner (the cute little one in the following pictures).

Have you ever heard the term "blood, sweat & tears" when referring to hard work? Well, most of the quilts I make have blood on them from pricking my fingers, but this is the first that has my tears. I have never been so moved as I was working on this.

I can't help but smile when I'm with these 2 little guys!

Last Christmas I asked my Sister-in-Law what she wanted ... and she wanted me to make her a Baby Sling.

 

 

I didn't end up using all the fabric we had ordered, so for this Christmas I made this ...

It was my first attempt at fabric flowers ... I was happy with the results!

Slavery

So, in preparation to a Daddy/Daughter Activity tonight at the Church, Darby has been asked to write a letter to her Dad.

In discussing with me what D would like to put in the letter, she told me her Dad is the best dad ever, even though they don't get to see him much. When I said, "Actually D, you see your dad WAY more than most kids see theirs," she replied:

Yeah, some kids are kidnapped and then forced into slavery and never see their families again.

What?!?!

For Yolanda!



D did ballet this year. She loved it! She has decided to try musical theater in the fall.

M is growing SO fast. She loves playing the piano, and screams till we sit her up on the bench. She is getting really close to walking!

N loves to go 'naked' and play outside. 

E makes new friends so quickly, and is always busy after school playing with the kids in the neighborhood.



At Easter we went to visit Jarems family and had family pictures taken, this is the only one I've seen so far, I hope I look better in some of the others!!

What Are the Chances?

So, Jarem and I bought ourselves a second vehicle. This has been something we have been waiting for, for over a year now, waiting for the right conditions. Well, this spring those right conditions came together. We looked here in Lloydminster, but were unable to find anything that felt right for us. So we expanded our search to Battleford & Saskatoon, still nothing felt right for us.

So we expanded our search to Edmonton.

Now because we live on the Saskatchewan side of Lloydminster, if we purchase a vehicle that has not been purchased or registered in Saskatchewan before, we have to do a Provincial Inspection (PI), pay the PST, plus any other costs resulting from the inspection going wrong.

This could end up costing a lot of money.

So we did our looking, had a few different dealerships we wanted to look at with a few different vehicles to check out. So this past weekend after months of looking we headed into Edmonton.

So we went to the dealerships, looked at all the vehicles and chose It.

It met all of our criteria. So we started the making a deal process, in which we found out that the car had just been brought from Saskatchewan as a trade-in vehicle on another purchase! Bonus #1, the car had previously been registered in Saskatchewan! So with that tidbit of information we checked with SGI (Saskatchewan's registry/insurance) and yes the PST had already been paid! Yah #2!!

So we finished our deal excited about the PST, but still unsure as to the PI. But since the dealership had just done a bit of work on it, to ensure it would pass Alberta's PI, we were hopeful it would pass Saskatchewan's with flying colors, plus, there shouldn't be any repairs too soon.

So Jarem went to the registry today, to finalize the paper work. Not only had the car had the PST paid on it, BUT the registration process on the Alberta side had not been completed yet, leaving Saskatchewan as the last registering province!!! No PI! No hidden costs!! Yah #3

So, how can we drive 2.5 hours into a different province, pick 1 vehicle out of 1000's, and end up with a vehicle from our home province?

This car feels right for us!

3 P's



Miss Mai was the first one down ...
notice the floor is still clean ...

4 weeks ago today, at this exact moment we started a very long journey of the 3 P's. I'm going to leave it up to you to figure them all out.

It has not been a very pleasant month, but ... I think it's over. It went through, literally, all 6 of us.

I have never had to do SO much laundry or disinfecting, or gone through so much paper towel, as what I have had in the past 4 weeks.

It was hard to watch my littlest ones, as it hit them the hardest. They both lost so much weight and have been eating non-stop since they've been feeling better.




He wouldn't even fight his sister, much to her dismay!
floor ain't so clean anymore ...

I am hoping that maybe, just maybe, I'll be able to get a bit of routine back into my life!



We got our trampoline right before 'it' hit. He SO badly wanted to go out and jump, but by the time he got all his clothes on and out there, he was too exhausted!

10 Years!

10 and a half years ago I met this man! Little did I know how my life would change!

A large group of us had gotten together for some games, in the basement of our church. Among them was this guy. He peaked my interest, he didn't look like the rest of the guys there. He had long curly hair, hadn't shaved for a few days and wore a Bunnyhug (I would later learn to call a Hoodie) and had baggy pants. He was quiet but had an incredible smile! After a couple more of these game nights, I decided I needed to meet this guy and get to know him.

So I asked him out.

It was a quiet ride to our designated restaurant, there were the usual getting to know you questions, but oddly the silence never felt awkward. I will never forget that evening in November 2001. This guy was funny, witty, had no problem eating strange food, drove a VW Passat (with heated seats) and somehow convinced me to ride the giant roller-coaster at West Ed!! But what stuck in my head was his incredible smile!!

I had to see this guy again.

This is the part that I can't quite take credit for. This guy, aka Jarem, had a good friend, who picked up on a few things, and for the next little while he made sure I was in attendance at any of his and Jarems outings. Has anyone ever watched the singing Christmas Tree, at some obscure church in downtown Edmonton, then gone for a walk through the Leg with all the festive lights? Well, the three of us did.

I am ever indebted to Alex Mosaico.

I had found my best friend.

By the end of January we had decided that we wanted to be together forever, so Jarem made a very awkward phone call to my Dad. And on May 18th, 2002 we were married for time and all eternity.

Best thing I have ever done. In the past 10 years I have not had one moment of doubt.

He is the best husband and daddy in the world. And no, I am not being biased.

Been Thinking

So, over the past while, every time I logged onto pinterest or read blogs I had an overwhelming sense of underachievement and inadequacy.

I always felt like I wasn't exercising enough, so I started exercising daily.

Then I noticed my house wasn't as clean as what it used to be, so I started cleaning.

When I started cleaning more regularly I noticed that I wasn't exercising very regularly.

I LOVE sewing. So I started sewing more.  Then I realized my favorite time to sew was at the same time my kids should be working on homework and I should be making supper .......

By most Fridays I am completely exhausted. Trying to keep my house clean, laundry away, exercise for at least 30 minutes every day, get some 'crafting/sewing' time in, keeping 3 meals on the table daily, plus be a Mommy (chef, teacher, chauffeur) of 4 great kids & wife to an amazing man was WEARING ME OUT!

Why? Because as women isn't that expected of us?

So after a lot of thought, I decided that women need a place to feel GOOD about 'falling short'! From now on I'll be posting about a REAL woman's life! Including all the exercise I didn't do, crafting that never happened, and the bathroom toilet that has been neglected for far toooo long, and the extra piece of Cheesecake that I've eaten EVERY DAY this week!!!

So here it is girls. I'm an overweight, mother of 4 in her 30's, bra less in my Jammie's at 10am!

I can't promise that this will be daily, even weekly ... why? because nobodies perfect!

Baked Potatoe Soup - A Pinterest that WORKED!

ok, so all winter I've been experimenting with Potatoe Soup recipes and hadn't found the perfect one till today.  I had an old cauliflower in the fridge that really needed to be used, so I went Pinteresting and found this recipe! Everyone loved it! Which is big in my family.  I did it in my slow cooker, so I made a few revisions.

1) put caulliflower and potatoe in slow cooker on high with chicken broth and water + plus 1 cup.
2) when potato and cauliflower are cooked (about 2-3 hours) continue with recipe, reduceing the milk by 1/2 cup.

Super delicious and SUPER healthy! Not even Jarem could taste the cauliflower!!!

I will definitely be making this again, lots!
  I stole the pic from the website, mine didn't look as pretty! ;)

Sick Babes ...

Our little Marjie Mai has been sick this week.

Roseola or Baby Measles.

All my kiddo's have had it while they were babies, just a virus, nothing serious, but it does include:

 Fever, rash, sore throat, ear ache, super grumpy, but incredibly cuddly!

At first I didn't mind snuggling on the couch, but after a few days ...

My house is driving me crazy!! A weeks worth of laundry needing to be folded, bathrooms that little boys have been using (need I say more?) and a playroom that has had free rein for too long! I've been cooking super easy meals, so with 1 pot meals clean-up is way easier.

I love sleeping babies/kiddo's! I love sneaking into their rooms and watching them sleep!

Things are on the mend! Thanks goodness! And it's a long weekend!!!

For The Love of Peggy

Many have asked me how my holidays were, and to be honest I enjoyed them. I had a wonderful Christmas spent at home with the 5 most important people in my life, plus some new old friends that are becoming really great friends! It was quiet and relaxed and most of all, I didn't have to cook the Turkey thanks to the great friend!

I have to admit I had a good New Year's as well. We unexpectedly spent it with Jarems family and we had a few good laughs. But on the other hand we also had a few good cries, which is why we were brought together for the holiday. The day before, December 30th we received a phone call from Jarems sister that their Mom (Peggy) was in the hospital in Lethbridge. She had fallen before Christmas and had been having some confusion and headaches so they had been doing some CT's and eventually an MRI which found something. Completely unrelated to the fall.

Needless to say, within 24 hours Peggy had been rushed to Calgary and underwent surgery to remove her stage 4 Glioblastoma. Jarem and I were fortunate to already be at my parents, so the kids were left and we made a b-line for Calgary on December 31th. Jarem and I were fortunate enough to be able to spend the next 5 days with Peggy at the Foothills Hospital. And were even there to spend her birthday on the 5th with her!

Peggy has been doing exceptionally well and continues to show us just what an amazing woman she is and what a strong testimony she has of her Heavenly Father. She has never been one to complain, as least not when I've been around, and never has anything bad to say about anyone else. So per usual, she has not sat there wondering 'why me', but instead has focused on all the blessings she has, and the blessings resulting in her predicament (something that is hard for the rest of us so see!)

Peggy we love you and so blessed to have you in our lives and I am looking forward to the future in making some more great memories with you! I've always believed in Eternal Families, but never before has it seemed so prevalent in my life!  How grateful I am for a heavenly Father that loves us so much that he has sent His Son to earth to prepare a way for us to all be able to live together for eternity!