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mail!!

 ellie was very excited to open her letter from her cousin!  nate was busy....cough....but he did look at the pics after and thought they were cool!
 she was confused at first
 then she read them
and laughed at them

thanks maya for the beautiful drawings and letter, i have them on the side of my fridge!  it was awesome to hear from you guys! 1 comments

props

 nate found the props ive been working on
silly kid
 he esp liked this one
 and let me know what option he liked most...
playing together. thank you jesus for these 2 blessings.  0 comments

my dolly and her dolls!

 awwwww
she loves her daddy so much
 she loves her dolls!
 total trust
i think my dolly is going to have a father daughter relationship just like i had
my daddy can do no wrong! 0 comments

playground!

 my friend decided to try out the zip line yesterday. hahaha
 wheeeeeeeeeeee
great job nat! haha

we finished school up early yesterday and spent a good 3 hours outside playing, there had to have been over 15 kids i the back yard and 5 moms. it was nice to sit and chill and catch up from the long winter. the kids played really well together! 

i am still adjusting tto having so many ppl in the back yard, esp ppl i don't know!  like i told the girls yesterday we are all trying to figure it out, where the boundaries are, whats ok, whats not, solving kids disputes etc...

we did put a lock on the trampoline and zip-line, once chris finished the clubhouse it will have a door and that will also be locked.  that way we can have a bit of control over what is going on and its not a free for all....there was an incident wed night and i closed the park down, sending everyone home at 7...the bottom line is it's my house, my property and my kid's club house....a-nee-ways....another post for another day!

i am thankful for HOT weather and great neighbors! 0 comments

treasure box/science!

 i made this "simple" box up for a friend yesterday morning.....it took me 2 HOURS!  seriously, 2 loving hours!  its for the preschool kids class for the months of june and july, something about treasures or other
 i am kicking myself for working on it during a play date, haha.  nate and his friend were in and out of the room, asking for things, i must have stopped 20 times to tend to them. haha

yesterday afternoon, we did a quick science demo on the size of Jupiter. did you know it is the largest planet? made up of gases. very cool and it also has a hurricane like storm circle...haha
 we measured out the sizes, comparable to the size of earth as a focal/visual
(yes we home school shirt less, it was hot and he was outside playing before we started)
 nate did it all by himself!  ive learned to chill and let him do it
we used 4 cans of play doh. haha see how big Jupiter is?  0 comments

tea time!

 last night i joined up with some friends to celebrate a special lady's 30th birthday. it was a tea time style/theme....think downtown abby with a toss of call the midwife. 
the cake. 2 layers of yumo!  hand painted and made by the birthday girl's besty. 
 lo-lo. i will out picture her. hahahaha
 table set up. so cute, simple and chic
 amazing sandwiches!
 elegant gift table, i love the card box!
 lo lo and i.  the pic is not the best, i find i cant take pics with certain lighting!
 prop table for the photo booth and scrap table
mason jars with mustaches. so cute!

it was so nice to get out with the girls, to chat and be social and not be a mom for a few hours....i will admit, i was tired when i got home, i went right to bed! 


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my wkend with ellie-boo!

 we did some shopping
 she lead the way
i tried to take a pic of what she put in her cart....ice cream makers! haha love her!
 wearing papas hat which she calls "papa-hat!"
chris and nate left us on thurs around noon to help shawn pour and start building the shop/garage at their place in hali. i know they worked hard because they came home yesterday around 12:30 and chris went to bed from 1-4, then he stayed up while i ran to the store for some quick groceries and was back in bed sleeping from 5-8:30....and back to bed he went from 9:30-until well.....its almost 9 am and he's still sleeping! hes one tired man!

the original plan was for nate to stay iin hali for the week while i picked him up on fri. but he picked up something, im guessing the bug charlie has  and nate has spent his time on the couch, the toilet and his bed. poor guy!

it was so COLD around here from thir-sun!  the warmest it got was 9!  its 6 right now, is this for real????? its MAY or rather the END of MAY! where is global warming???  redic!

with the weather crap-tas-tic i was able to get a good chunk of neglected work done, cleaning and digging through nate's school work, marking, planning lessons and getting a plan out for next yr.  yesterday afternoon i was shocked to realize that we will be in a good place for the next school yr!  yeah for me, yeah for us!  i have a list of about 4 books we need for the yr, the rest i have already!  i told chris Nate's school books will be under 100! unless i pick a few more electives that cost more.  i plan in intro-ing independent reading, which means i will have to gather more reading books for him, unless i want to track to the library weekly with 3 kids....NOT. id rather have my own library of sorts and save myself sanity, time and gas. ha

so it's monday morning, i just finished my FRESH, HOT coffee (trust me this is a luxury), the kids are playing quietly and peacefully...a perfect way to start the LAST week of may!  wheeeee

happy monday everyone! 1 comments

school outside!

 i left nate the other day to do his math work while i was upstairs
i came down to this
 i dont care where or how he works, as long as he works. haha

we spent the rest of our book time outside, it was nice, not too windy
 i enjoy being outside with the kids
finishing up hie work so he can...guess.....go play! ha

now that summer is here, ive noticed how little i see, spend time with nate.  when he wakes up he eats and runs outside till school time. after we are done school he's outside waiting for his friends to get home from school. i usually dont see him again until 6, for a quick supper, that i force him to eat! then hes gone again until bedtime....i miss having him around. i was reflecting on how glad i am that i do school him, i get those valuable, precious hours of his day....as he grows the less he will be around....which is the way its suppose to be! i just like my kids. haha

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kids at play

 ellie found a pretty that was left at the club house, she loves it. ha

how much do i love having a play ground in the back yard?  it means i dont have to lug the kids to the park!  we spent our morning, when the weather is cooperative, out side playing
 nate pushing ellie on the swing. she LOVES to go high and fast
 nate was making sure she's ok. he loves her so much
my ellie girl this morning, all prettied up and ready to play. such a happy girl! 2 comments

ellie peek a boo

 she does this eye thing and i tried to capture it on camera this is the best i could get
happy girl
then she lowers her head and peek out the side at you keeping a straight face
 then peeks up and bursts out laughing...
silly girl!

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club house

 chris working away again, late into the night. he out on the railing and trap door. now he needs to do the siding, paint and finishing touches and voila the club house is done
 ladder up to the house
 ladder up to the 2nd floor/loft
 happy creative chris
 trap door to the loft
front window out

chris also jacked up the zip line to make it faster and adult friendly. we had a crew out last night playing on it....adults and kids.....hahaha 4 comments

kick in the pants!

this made me think this am and i thought i'd share it

after we lost ben, i wanted to pay tribute to him some how. we waited until we knew what we should do.  4 yrs ago in june we were sent to caring for the heart ministries in colorado. the week changed both of chris and my life. we still use the tools that they taught us to make our marriage stronger.  after we left i felt that we should support this amazing ministry monthly in memory of ben. not for what we lost in ben, but what we've gained.  each month we get a monthly newsletter/update and i want to share this month's letter. it totally made me think!

we live in such a i, me, my world that we become comfortable thinking only about i, me, my. we notice this in children, teenagers and adults who are thinking about their own needs, own wants, not looking around at others.  it may seem that we are busy with life in general. many mornings i ask the lord whom HE would like me to reach out to today.  the list can range from a divorced, single neighbour....to a widower....a couple who is lonely....etc....the list goes on and on.....


the letter went on but this totally reminded me a few yrs back, actually when i was in the midst of my grief, anger and rage. i was lost in my own pain, my own world, my own self.  i was talking to a friend about, well. me!  she looked me in the face and sharply, with little mercy but lots of love told me to get over it. and to stop being selfish by thinking about me. then with love..ha ha...she told me that as long as i was focused on me and my own life, my own pain, me me me that i was wasting my salvation. i was saved to be self absorbed? no. i was saved to reach out and get over me and my hurt, my pain, my life.  she then reminded me that while im focused on me, ill never do anything for Him. 

you know what? she was right. i stopped thinking about me and my hurt and instead asked god to show me ppl to reach out to. i was blown away by the new relationships i've built. the coffees i shared and how full my life felt.  i wasn't living for me. i was living for him. 

so as i read the above the other morning, i realized that i need to get back out there and ask god to use me to reach OTHERS who are hurting. it was a good kick in the pants.  so far, ive already made a new friend and welcomed more kids into my back yard to play and talk....i like to call my back yard my mission field...i may be a stay home mom, homeschooling, mama of 3, wife to chris, church volunteer, etc...and say but im busy, ya'll!  busy! busy! busy!  sure that's true, but i cant be too busy to welcome someone into my home, to chat, email, text, visit, encourage, teach a church class, reach out to a neighbor, make some cookies etc...i cant be too busy doing my own thing to be used by god....right?!.....

stop thinking about yourself and your life!
get over it
be used today!

live a full abundant life!

im off to start my day...


2 comments