catching up

Long post alert - there's a lot to catch up on between moving, vacation, settling in and back to school! Two days in and it seems like the kids had only two weeks off of school instead of the two-and-a-half months we enjoyed apart from the stress of moving.

This year, we planned to stay in Port Huron instead of Waterloo. However, a wrong turn while aiming for the hotel we spotted put us on the ramp to the border. So we spent the night in Sarnia instead.

selfie in Sarnia the next morning - it's really hard to squeeze 6 people into a picture, but Dave did an admirable job

 
Here we tested the waters of Lake Huron before heading to the cottage (you can see a piece of Michigan on the top left)...

Dave made apple pie for the journey in his new cast iron skillet - his birthday present this year. Half it was consumed on the road....

 ...And here's Moses enjoying a piece shortly after we arrive. He was quite happy. :)

  The cooler weather + strong wind most days made for perfect sandcastle building opportunities...

Here's Ben's lighthouse...

 And Brie resting after all that construction.

 More wind turbines seem to crop up each year we return. Dave likes taking the kids to see them up close and personally. Personally, it freaks me out to be that close to one.

 Luke thoroughly enjoyed the water this year and lost much of his past fear of the water. He and Isaac even ventured out to the first sandbar.

The day after we got back, we made a last-minute decision to head to our local county fair - we missed going our favorite one last year. The week at the beach must have caught up with Luke and Ben:

synchronized sleeping

But they quickly recovered. Luke  seems to be conquering much of his fears this year as he chose to brave an airplane ride with Ben...

Brianna had a hard time choosing at first. She settled for the "fun" slide, but it wasn't exactly the thrilling ride she was looking for. 

This however, was.

 We spotted it from a distance and it proved to live up to its name. Here she stands in line...

And my brave two-days-away-from-turning-ten year old soloed (she rode without one of us by her side) a ride that took her high in the air and turned her upside down.

 Brie tried her best to convince Reese to join her on the "Screamer" but he'd had all the thrills he wanted on Pharaoh's "death" ride (his name for it). It was one of those big boat rides that swing you perpendicular to the ground. Especially if you choose to ride on the very end like Reese did. After that, the fun house and bumper cars were more his speed.  

 And, in a rare photographic moment, here's Reese arriving at home after the fair. It always takes a little extra activity to wear out our Reesie. :) 

However, it wasn't all fun and games. Despite just spending a week away and a good time at the fair, three out of four arrows found it hard to say they had a good time. (Big parental sigh). I know they did, as the pictures clearly show, so it's frustrating when I see a lack of gratitude and good attitudes in our children. In these moments, I'm tempted to ship them away to a farm or a boot camp to get a good dose of hard work. But then again, I know I often do the same thing, but as an adult I'm just better at hiding it.

And, finally, Brianna turned 10! Where, oh where, did that time fly? For her birthday this year, we braved the cooler, overcast weather and had a few friends meet us at the beach. And then home for dinner and cake. Like the loving big cousin that she is, Brianna gladly helped Jack help himself to a piece of cake (rocky road cheesecake made by Daddy).   
 

Happy Birthday Joel!

Here's a special message for you:

We hope you have a great day and wish we could celebrate with you.

Birthday Recap x2

To be fair, I'll start with D since his birthday came first. It all starts and ends with this...

...the famous blueberry lemon cake that also made a guest appearance at Tim and Lauren's wedding.

Here's Dave's "don't even think about taking a bite, a second helping, a crumb of my birthday cake expression." Just kidding, honey. Sort of. : P

Brie woke up to a new scooter yesterday morning. It's something she's been wanting for a long time. Love that I found this for $10 on Craig's List (and got one for the boys to boot). Can you tell she's excited?

Here's how the cake was supposed look when it was finished (I went with a Strawberry Shortcake theme):

However, the dolls kept toppling off the cake, so we stuck with this:

The cake itself was really good. I did 7-minute frosting which is a heck of a lot of work, plus buttercream frosting for the letters and rosettes and I used dried strawberries to color the icing and decorate the cake. Will probably share the recipe in another post - would be great with lemon curd between the layers and a dusting of powdered sugar on top.

Here's Brie and her best friend Livie.

I cannot believe we have a 7-year-old daughter! Here are a couple vintage Brie photos, because I'm missing my wee little girl who was saying "milka milka" and "booka booka" at a year old. We love you Brie Brie.

Brie at 9 or 10 months (Ben does the same nose crinkle thing)

Brie at 2 years in Goderich

7 years ago today...

Dave and I were getting ready to head to Danny Boys for one last great meal before our lives changed forever...in the best way possible. Haveing a scheduled c-sec lets you think about what you'd like to eat before fasting and then undergoing a liquid diet for a couple days. :)

Now I'm on the hunt for a great white cake recipe for our almost 7 year old. I think I've found a good one, but we won't know for sure until tomorrow about this time.

Happy Birthday Luke! Belatedly

Since it is exactly one month since Luke turned 2, it's probably about time that I posted some pictures and thoughts on his birthday. The poor guy doesn't even have a scrapbook or photo album...the least I can do it to capture the birthday memories somehow!

Here's the birthday boy getting ready to blow out the candles. It's hard to tell who's more excited about the prospect of that "joe-joe" cheesecake...Reese or Luke.

Luke on the alert for anyone who wants to steal a bite from his plate

Opening some gifts...in this picture it was Thomas the Tank Engine books that made sounds, given by our neighbor - a big hit with Luke (and Reese and Brie)

It's fun to watch Luke when he gets to be the focus of attention, which can be a challenge with two older siblings. I can see him soaking up all aspects of his day - he is so joyful when it's his turn to do the things he sees us doing!

The day also marked our 7th anniversary, but we celebrated the Saturday and Sunday before...the best gift is helping each of our children feel special and loved and I pray they always look upon God as the greatest provider and overwhelming source of love.

Happy Birthday Brianna!

My dearest daughter Brianna,

Wow! Five years old today. It feels like we've had you for a lifetime and yet this time has gone so quickly.

Five years ago, on a Wednesday morning just as today is a Wednesday, you make your appearance at about 10:30 a.m. We knew the day you were going to be born and the approximate time because you were breech and needed to come out through a C-section. It seems God was giving us a glimpse of your determined personality even before you were born!

We went to Danny Boys the night before we needed to go to the hospital for a "last night before Brie-Brie arrives" dinner. I should have eaten more than I did! I was so hungry the next morning and I wasn't allowed even to have a sip of water. I also should have napped more...a lot more. I didn't sleep that much that night as I was too excited and nervous about meeting you and being welcomed officially into the world of motherhood.

Early in the morning we began to get ready for the hospital. Daddy captured some of those moments on the videocamera. The first time he tried to "interview" about how I was doing, I burst out crying - again the whole nervousness thing. But I calmed down enough to have a brief on camera conversation.

At the hospital, they got me all ready for the surgery. They gave Daddy some clothes to wear too. He looked very cute - if I wasn't already, I would have wanted to marry him.

The nurses brought be into the operating room first to get me ready. They gave me a big needle in my back. I was shaking as I held onto the nurse while they gave me the medication, but then I could feel God help me to grow calm again.

In no time, I was lying down and they were beginning the surgery and I'm glad I was awake for it but I also wish I could have watched what was going on. Daddy came in after the surgery began - he was able to watch everything and enjoyed every minute of it because he knew I couldn't feel a thing.
Then, they were pulling you out. This felt weird. Even though I was numb from the medication, I could feel some tugging and it felt like the doctors were pushing you into my lungs.

"Here she is," the doctor says. "And she's peeing...and pooping." Guess they surprised you - you weren't ready to come out I guess.

The moment I had been waiting for was when I heard you cry and then they placed you beside me for a moment. I'll admit it didn't seem real at first - after all, I hadn' felt really anything nor saw you being pulled from my abdomen. But that changed once I got to hold you. I like the part where they give the baby to the mom!

From there we jumped right into being a mom and dad. We began to get to know you - how you looked, the faces you made, your sounds, your cries. You began to know us and your grandparents and everyone else who loves you. I hope it wasn't too shocking - after all, Dad and I didn't have any experience with a newborn before you arrived.

We were glad you were born when you were - God's timing is perfect. The day after you were born there was a blackout (no electricty anywhere) for several days and it was in many cities (we kept the newspapers so you can read about it). We discovered a hospital is a good place to be in a blackout because we still had lights and air conditioning.

After we brought you home, there were so many fun discoveries and firsts. You got to meet your great-grandparents and they got to see a lot of you, which we were grateful for because great grandpa died when you were 1 3/4 years.

Some of my favorite things I did with you were:

• taking you for walks
• taking you to the beach and Goderich
• bringing you to church and having you baptized there
• travelling with you up to our family in Ontario
• sitting with you on the lawn with some toys and waiting for Daddy to come home
• reading with you
• feeding you
• encouraging you to take your first steps
• cuddling with you on your big girl bed

And now you're about to start school. You can dress yourself, get a snack and a drink of water, you're diaper free, you are learning how to make play with and make friends, you can write many of your letters, you can count, tie your shoes (up until the bunny-ear part), climb trees, ride a bike, dance, sing, make up stories and games. You've had sleep overs, been on an airplane, learned how to become a big sister (twice!), been to summer camp, been on a boat, kayak and canoe, played on many playgrounds, played with your cousins, endured many hours in the car.

Best of all is seeing how you've gotten to know God...through songs, Bible stories, learning Bible verses, talking to Him in prayer, listening to what He tells you. I pray you continue to look to Him as your Guiding Light - that He becomes the number one priority in your life and that you can trust Him to show You the way to go.

You've brought so much joy to our lives and God has taught me so much about Himself and is teaching me how to be a better person by being your mom. I praise Him for that and I thank Him for you.

Have a wonderful, beautiful birthday, Brie-lee!

I love you,
Mom

Happy Birthday David!

Since a picture speaks 1,000 words, here you go...

I didn't plan it, but notice how the color of the signs match with what each of our munchkins are wearing? God is good!

It's hard to believe that, once again, you are a decade older than me ;). You are an amazing husband and father and I am in constant awe that God would give me such a wonderful man to share my life with. That fact that he gave us these three shining faces into the bargain too shows how extravagant in His love He is. I pray I may show you the same extravagance in love every day and He enables me.

Happy Birthday Reese!

Okay...so it's a little late, but here's the scoop on Reese's 3rd birthday...The above picture is the cake he requested - Rocky Road cheesecake. He put in his request for this several times during prayer time - looks like God gave him the thumbs up on that prayer. :)

We celebrated with cake and some of his gifts the weekend before his birthday. Here are some pictures from that...

Reading Skippyjon Jones with Amy and Brie (Amy's gift to him)

Opening his gift from Grandpa & Nan

Lauren & Tim - no birthday is complete without them!

On his actual birthday, we celebrated with a picnic at the park with "Nan", and, later a vegan "joe joe" cupcake from Nature's Bin with Grandmaa - a regular birthday bonanza. The best was giving him his gift from Brie and Luke - fireman boots (do people know boys are born with an internal magnet which draws them to puddles, especially, deep, muddy puddles?), a frog raincoat and seed packets of carrots and sunflowers seeds. Here's a veritable feast of photos from the day...