...green dress and booties!

sooooooooooooooo.....

Greg had surgery on his foot yesterday

and today I am thankful for all he does in our home.

It's easy to take for granted all of the things that your spouse  does... and today I REALLY noticed it. I am used to having the two kids all day, but I always know that daddy is coming home and that I will have a few moments to breathe before I begin the night "routines". Kael and I always anticipates daddy's arrival... no one plays better than daddy.  So... I got to do it ALL today... and for the next few weeks! Let's hope I can keep my perspective right :) By the grace of God I will not kill anyone... and remain thankful :)

Greg and I had A LOT of laughs in the waiting area yesterday. We had to be to the hospital by 9 am but his surgery was not scheduled until 12:30. So to say the least... we needed something to occupy us, and laughing was fun. Besides... how could I not laugh at with my husband sitting beside me in a pretty green DRESS and BOOTIES! I tried to get a picture but he caught me every single time and I got "beat" every time so I have no proof. :( But it's true. It will serve as a funny visual for years to come! (side note... NOT flattering on anyone! :) )

We have been joking about him "milking" the fact that he cannot do anything for weeks now .. and  yesterday he suggested I get him a bell claiming it would make my life easier. Well, I wont tell you where I told him the bell would end up the first time he rang it... ! I told him it would be detrimental to his health to say the least.  All of my so called friends have come up with other "noises" to help... but really they are just diggin him a grave... :) . We'll keep it at "hun"... it works!

I was up with Levi at 2 so I decided I needed to check on Greg. (He slept on the couch downstairs (his "man cave" as he calls it)... don't gasp. If I hit his leg in bed I would have been killed. Not worth the cuddles :P ) Anyway, I kept thinking "what if he is hallucinating and thinks I am a stranger and beats me up when I go downstairs". Real conversation in my head. I had to convince myself that I could handle him if he came at me ... hahahahahaha! You should have seen me walk down the stairs. First I tip toed around the corner... listened for breathing and then proceeded to inch my way closer. He did not have any blankets on... so I got him the one on the floor and picked it up  ready to run for it if he came at me. I seriously was terrified. Hey... ya hear all these crazy stories of people of drugs... and he was on some powerful drugs.  I could lie and say he came at me and I took him down....i could have... I know I could have!. Don't worry... nothing happened :) Poor ending to a great story. I bet he tries to scare me tonight. Would be hillarious...but he knows it would not be worth his while as he would have a pretty rough day tomorrow when I did nothing for him :P At least I have leverage:)

Anywhoo....

exhausted.

Bed.

Please.

Don't look at the time.

you're lucky i love you...

Well, it's Monday. Greg is at pulpit committee... and I just sat down hoping I do not have to get up for a little bit. Scratch that. Kaela is crying... again. (why do children become "afraid" of the dark...???) Just a water call. Amazing how thirsty a child can get when they get into bed. :P

Take two. 

We survived Irene... the house is all in tact! Thankfully, Quebec got its goodness and not us. I asked Greg when the winds started up last night if we could move somewhere that I would not have to think about hurricanes and wind ... and he said, "where is that". "Manitoba???" He said, "good night, Amanda". Ha! I took that as a no!

And so he rolled over and went to sleep while I laid in bed praying the trees off of our house... literally! I kept thinking one of the trees was going to fall right on our bedroom... and of course then I was thinking what would the kids do and who would find them... and... minds are wonderful, twisted things! So I just prayed until I finally fell asleep... then WHAaaaaaaaaaaa... Levi.  Then WHAAAA... Kael. Had to sleep in Kael's bed cause the power went out and the wind was scaring her. (ME TOO!) She fell asleep and I snuck out an hour later and STOMPED  tip-toed back into my bed. Greg still snoring. (angry face). Then  a half hour later...Whaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa.... Levi. (11,4 and 6, and 7. WHAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!) Wake up at 8... thankfully to a daughter who just wanted to cuddle! I can handle that! 

Text Greg and said, "You are lucky I love you."

He said, "Why, did you have to get up last night."

  (MOUTH DROPS IN SHOCK)

Only 18 times while you rolled over and took my spot in bed EVERY time

I got up my darling husband. MEN! :)

He proceeded to tell me he did not hear a thing.

Never knew the power went out.

Or that either child was up.

I'll make sure that never happens again.  :)

What Jeremy said in his message a few weeks back is so true. If the rolls were reversed I NEVER would have heard the end of how bad his night was ...God knew what He was doing when he made us their help meet... I need a help meet sometimes! MOM!!! :)

:) So I decided today was a FANTASTIC day to put my sheets and duvet and anything else I could find out on the line. I had to use a TON of clips cause the wind was VERY strong! ha. Hey, they were dry very quickly!:)

When Greg got home we went for a walk around First Lake. My fav. Nova Scotia truly is a beautiful province. God is good.

So now... laundry washed, folded AND put away (I don't like that part).  Beds all made and kids in bed. Greg out.... hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Jen??? :P 

Time to go read.

Tummy is growling.

Ignore. Again.

night:) 

never again...

I will NEVER again speak of the success I am having with Kaela and the pottie.

EVERY time I do... I end up with a day like today.
 NEVER, EVER, EVER!

sigh.

Greg and I took the "kidzzzz" (ha, still sounds funny), to the Halifax waterfront today and walked from one end to the other. Then we decided to be the best parents ever and take her on a boat ride!! Yep, that's right! BEST parents ever. Thank you Halifax/Dartmouth Ferry! :P She was BEYOND excited and it cost us $5.00! Greg sat with her on the top on the way over... me on the way back. I love seeing her experience new things. When we got to the Dartmouth side, we walked a couple of blocks to the Christian Book Store. We never walk out without a few new great books. This time we got a Keys for Kids family devotional, and a spiritual parenting book by Spurgeon. Kael got a book on manners (wink wink) and one on Queen Esther! Then we took the ferry back and headed home. And yes, even Kael slept in the car on the way home. Shocking!

I have started to read the Spurgeon book. Interesting. It made me stop and think about the kids in our church that sit up during the morning service. He was writing as a pastor and said that if there is not something in your message that children can understand and walk away with, then you have missed the heart of God. It's so true. Jesus loved/loves the children. We say it, but do we believe it? He stopped everything to take time to teach them. We serve a God that cares about the LITTLEst things :) Praise the Lord!

I am just so thankful for my family. LOVE them all.

randomness...

Well folks, I am all "happy danced" out for the day! Kaela pooped on the pottie THREEEEEEEEEE times today... and has had no accidents for four whole days.

YEEEEE HAAAAAAAAAAAWWWWW!

All we had to do was tell her that if she messed her underwear again that she would not be going over to nanie and boppie's for a sleepover. Who knew she liked them that much!!! haha! If only I had of thought of that 6 months ago! :P I try not to get to excited.... but it's almost better than a million dollars. ALMOST! If she goes backwards... I'll take the million.

I had the opportunity to have company over on Sunday. For those of you that know me... this was a BIG deal. I have no problem having people my age over or really anyone for that matter.. but when there is a meal involved that has to be better than hamburgers.... I start to sweat. I am just not comfortable cooking for people. I never think about it on a daily basis because if I ruin something... who cares. We will eat something else. (which so far has not happened! Close... but not quite!) But when I HAVE to get a meal right... I almost feel sick. I think it's mostly when it is Sunday afternoon... cause Sunday lunch just HAS to be good. I don't know of any other meal I crave more. Weird, I know.

People keep telling me it gets easier. I think they are just liars ... crazy in the head! :P I know they are right... but a lot of prayers go up when I am hosting! ha. I over think it. But I WILL over come this flaw.... I will. Still not feeling it. I WILL. I WILL. ! And no you may not come over on Sunday to help me overcome this. I am busy. Right BEV????? :)

Really though... I do enjoy having people in my home. I just like it more under relaxed circumstances! Don't fear if I ask you over on a Sunday... I really do want you there! I am just fighting my pride of failure.... and you may get hamburgers:)

But I make AMAZING hamburgers!

So did you hear that my friend Jen has started a blog. It's my fault. I'm proud! Enough said!

Levi has outgrown his "I'm easy to put to bed" stage. Why do they go and do that??? I was quite happy with our little routine. Oh well. My ears can handle crying now because Kaela broke them in... sorry buddy! I leave you with these ADORABLE pictures of the 5 new babies in our church nursery. So much fun. We truly are a BLESSED congregation. 
Abigail , Levi, Joanna, Mary-Beth and Elijah!

my boy! Levi Gregory

 my handsome nephew...baby Elijah :)

 cousins!:)

notice Abigail holding Levi's hand :) TOOOOOOO cute. My kids love those Matheson kids! 

 Mary-Beth

 baby jo

 Abigail

who do we think we are...

Life has its ups and downs and "in-betweens". Struggles come and go... and through it all, GOD IS FAITHFUL to ME. Praise the Lord because I am testing HIS faithfulness and grace again.

Character has always been something that I have valued and tried to protect by the grace of God. I believe it's the "meat and bones" of a person... The heart and soul of who a person is. I also believe that man's TRUE character is only known by God, though our actions do give light to our heart.

I wept tonight thinking of my negative and ungodly attitude. Assuming the worst, though I know better. God has laid a burden on my heart to simply back off the "judging campaign". I am guilty. You are guilty. But we need to change.

I need to change. 

I am a CHRISTian. I need to be CHRIST like. It takes self denial, and forgiveness, and love. I need to lift the brethren UP not tear down. It is counter-cultural... but it is right.


Some of you may think ... what in the world is going on in her life. Nothing in particular. God is just working in me...! He has not given up!:) Praise the Lord!

LOVE one another. 

Lift someone up today.

Make a point to do it every day.

By God's grace...

back to reality...

There is always so much anticipation surrounding vacations! I love the hype... and the true desire to "just get away". Kaela pictured this feeling perfectly the morning we left for the airport 3 weeks ago. We had been doing a countdown for oh 27 days, so when we got to 2 more sleeps she decided it was time to go to Nana and Papa's right then. She clearly was tired of counting! One more sleep came... then packing... then the morning of! I could have asked her to do anything and she would have said, "Yes, Mommy, I will do that." Too cute!

So when Nannie pulled up to get us, Kael waved faster than her hand could even handle and ran towards the car while dragging (and I mean dragging) her suitcasebehind her, just to tell Nannie that she was going on an airplane to see Nana and Papa! The whole way there she just kept saying, "We are going on an airplane, right Mommy!" Every person we met in the airport found out where we were going... and of course the fact that we were going on an airplane! I think we all feel like that when we are going away... she can just get away with all the excitement and still be cute. I think if I tried that I may be put in my room and told not to come out for a while! ha.

The vacation was even better than expected...if that's even possible! The first week mom and dad both worked but we still got to spend evenings together and some random trips here and there. Visiting my grandparents (or great nan and GG) is always on the top of the list. Kael did a great job while we visited. The weeks consisted of swimming in the pool Nana bought her, playing with Abby and Jacob, trips to IKEA, pedicures, a trip to the cottage, and AFRICAN LION SAFARI (where she was more excited about riding a bus like Boppie than looking at the animals! I think I could have bought bus fair in London for $2 and saved myself $30! haha! JK) I kept a journal to keep track of all the events and people we saw. Lots of fun to say the least. I just loved being home. I don't need to do anything... just be! And I did lots of that!

The first two weeks Greg was in Nova working so I found the parenting part of the trip exhausting. We are still fighting the pottie training battle so that was a little discouraging some days. BUT she did go poop on the pottie once while we were away! YEAH. The other 20 days... well, we wont talk about that! Look on the bright side right?????????????????:) I was very thankful when Greg arrived to lend some support! I don't know how single parents do it. I am SO thankful that we are a TEAM!

Kael and I went to pick up "daddy" at the airport on Thursday night. It was pretty late for Kael... and when she is tired we either have a night full of laughs or a night full or tears. THANKFULLY it was laughs! She asked everyone who came to pick someone up where their daddy was. HAHA. You should have seen the look on one of the guys that was picking up his girlfriend. So random! When she sees a guy and a girl together she automatically thinks "mommy and daddy". I love it. Kael was happy Daddy was "done work"! (I was too!)

The next morning we hopped in the car and began our trip to Ottawa. I seriously question whether we will ever drive to Ontario any time soon.:) Greg and I had to go to bed at 9 because we forgot to bring our monitor to listen for the kids. ha. Oh well! Turns out we needed the extra sleep for all the excitement all night long! We went and bought a monitor for night #2! Two early nights just was not happening! :) Kayleigh and John got married on the Saturday. Beautiful wedding. I loved the reception spot and the breakfast food they served! mmmmmm! We walked around parliament on Sunday before heading home... I think I would move to Ottawa. It's my new favourite city in Canada right now. 

THEN the "next" day came... my 30th birthday! 30 pairs of undies on a line with a big sign... do you think people noticed? :) I embraced the day and now I am old.

Pretty much dead actually.

haha! Just kidding. 30 is the new 10! I'm good!

Blue Jays game with Jewels and Jay, States with hubby and hanging with family finished off the week. BUSY end of the trip but FANTASTIC!

I struggled a lot leaving, as per usual. I always struggle with contentment when I am home in Ontario. It would be foolish for me to pretend otherwise. BUT GOD always gives me more grace to get up the next day and praise Him for all the blessing I have been given...! I know I am where I am supposed to be... and don't get me wrong, I am happy here. It's just not easy somedays. I think contentment is something I have to practice everyday...not just when I leave home. It makes you count your blessings... and it's an amazing peace you get when you KNOW you are "okay with the shoes you are wearing"... or the place you are in!

So now I have to blog as an old woman... at least I will be wise... RIGHT!??! :)

the line addict...

My of my... you are going to be jealous of my night last night.

do you sense a touch of... sarcasm:)

As some of you know... I AM A CLOTHES LINE ADDICT... But I am okay with it ! I hate the dryer (except to 'fluff' after my clothes are dry.) As soon as the weather is somewhat warm, my clothes are out on the line. I let the piles build and watch the weather to see when its not supposed to rain...  and on sunny days I actually look for things to wash...psycho I know..(Should I really be confessing this? Confession is the first step to healing... right ?:)?)

Hey... I got our power bill down to $77 for 2 months last summer... well worth the work!  Anyway, last night, I seriously  contemplated quitting that practice.

Greg got home about 11:30 and I went to bed while he was showering. At about 12:00, while I was reading the news... I jumped out of bed so fast because I swear I got pinched so hard under my arm but had no idea why. I checked it out in the mirror and saw a bite staring to grow... so I SLOWLY pulled back the sheets to see what "tried to eat me", as Kaela would say. And there sat an EVIL wasp ...I threw the sheets back over it and ran and got Greg. Super womanly I know. Hey... guys like when you need them, right?!

He came up  thinking I was dying and took care of it... then he began MOCKING me when I made him take EVERY sheet off the bed, every pillow... then of course I had to go and check the kids sheets to make sure they were OK. Ha. Cause ya know... if there is a wasp in my bed, there surly would be a wasp in theirs too!!:P 

By the time I finally got into bed, Greg was pretending to be stung and let me tell you... the humor was LONG over. I told him to roll over, while I laid in bed with my eyes wide open and no sheets on cause I felt bugs crawling ALL over me! Gr... the power of the mind! ha. And I pretty much saved his life anyway.... cause I was on HIS SIDE OF THE BED when Mr. evil got me. So you are welcome, hun!

Don't worry guys... I got up today and did another load of laundry on this GORGEOUS summer day and hung it out like a faithful line addict!:)

No wasp is going to bring me down! haha!

So I cut the lawn this morning... and my neighbours too! That whole second mile principle I tell ya. The funny thing is... as I was cutting it I was laughing that its pretty easy to go the second mile when grass is long and ugly and uncared for! (another slight addiction).

Anywhoo... off to the wonderful boiling hot province of Ontario tomorrow. Home away from home! Gonna be great! Kaela is insisting that its two sleeps away still... Whatever.

still singing:)