Dawn of Adulthood

As a kid it was always confusing to me when I considered that I might be 10 years old but somehow that put my in my 11th year. So really, when you think of it that way, a 12 year old is really a teenager because they are in their thirteenth year! Does that mean that if you are 19 you are no longer a teenager?

Well, all that aside, we had a wonderful birthday celebration a short time ago. I love to take birthday's to the kids who no longer live at home, but I also LOVE to have them come home for birthdays! This year Alisha came home for her special day. Of course one of the first things that happened - almost as soon as she got there - was the opportunity for her to participate in Myles balancing trick. She was pretty determined to get out of the predicament on her own, but was fortunately spared from a cold shower when her brother brought the chair back and took the bucket of water away.

All joking aside, Alisha visited with family and friends who were here. It was a great day to celebrate a birthday because there was no school in our area, so everyone was home and excited and eager to have her and her friend arrive. Myles showed her and her friend some of his shop projects and Melodee showed off her cool water bottle. Supper was a sumptuous feast of mashed potatoes, vegetables and meat and we introduced Brandon to cantaloupe pickles - something most people have never tried before. With the meal out of the way it was time for cake...

 There she is, determining her strategy for blowing out all those candles.

And then a big breath - focus...

 And in one huge breath they are all blown out.

Funny, she forgot that since she brought a boyfriend, she should have left one burning. ☺ 

 Here she is, waiting patiently to open her gifts. We were having a few technical difficulties with the camera - so she had to wait on us for a minute or two.

The rest of the evening passed comfortably. We enjoyed visiting and doing family things together. It was so good to have Alisha home again - even for a short visit. She is such a joy and delight to have around. I love special family days!

Poster Partners

Some time ago my youngest daughter came home with a question. Would she be allowed to bring home a paper big enough to cover the whole office floor? Well, she might have been exaggerating on the size just a bit, but, I couldn't see any harm in it. In fact it sounded like fun! A few short days later, she came home with a big tube of cool yellow paper! It didn't take her long as she gathered her drawing supplies and a couple of her sisters, and they had a poster party!

First they rolled out the paper on the floor. It covered the center part of the room, leaving just enough room for them to work from the top and bottom sides of the paper.

Once they completed their artwork they were eager to share their pictures! I came along with my trusty camera so I could record the event. Each of the kids had drawn a person or two with a large head and small body. We had lots of different sorts of characters represented.

As you can see we've got a pirate and a cowboy and a musician illustrated above. They even named them all.

Here are the girls proudly portraying their cartoon characters - the results of their poster party! I LOVE activities like this! I love to see my children working together on projects they enjoy. I love to see them use and share their talents. I love to watch them as they watch for potentially creative ideas and supplies. And, as the projects begin to come together, I love to enjoy the results with them. What fun there is in creating and sharing together. I know that my kids had more fun because of the sharing way they created their poster. They are great poster partners, outdoor playmates, kitchen companions, and best buddies. What a joy it is that fills my heart as I watch them learn together, grow together and be best friends together. If you look at the picture above, their smiles say it all!

A Little Spring in our Snowy Steps

We are all SO ready for spring to spring! The snow is kind of fun this time of year because the cold isn't so biting or unmerciful, so you can at least play in it if you choose, but the hint of spring in the air is enough to drive me outdoors on more than one occasion. Of course, once I am out there for a few minutes, I've got my head back on straight with the chilling fact that winter is still here!

Well winter or not, we are starting to do 'springly' things! We decided that it would be fun to walk to the river as a family. It was a beautiful morning and we all enjoyed the outing as you can see from the photos below...

Here the kids wait for their slow parents sitting
on top a hill enjoying the view.

Couldn't resist this picture. The lighting made the
gravel look so pretty and colorful! How amazing it
is to find such a variety of color in the ordinary
rocks on our roads!!!

The morning scenery was beautiful too!

Now, for the excitement! As Chad and I were walking back up the hill to the car the kids, who were always ahead of us, had gone around a bend so we couldn't see them anymore. As we rounded that bend we didn't have time to even register that we couldn't see them before to our right a pile of excited arms were swinging snowballs at us!

Here they are - some are still hiding behind the hill...

And the snowballs fly!

Well, those snowballs were mostly off target but we had to call it quits when the warmth of the day turned a portion of them to ice balls. It was a short snow ball fight, but fun.

That was a good sized walk which tuckered out a good portion of us! What a joy it was to spend that time together just enjoying the wonderful weather and the scenery. Even without the green growing things it was an absolutely beautiful setting. We are so blessed to be surrounded by such beautiful things!

Onze

March is a month filled with special days! This month Charity had a special day - her birthday! She was so cute. She presented us about 3 weeks before her birthday, with a list of gifts she wanted. She even had it itemized out as to who would buy her which gifts - of course that is smart because then she doesn't get any duplicates! Well, we took that list and made sure everyone knew what was expected, then we worked on the surprises....

Here was the expected...

And here are the surprises...

Of course we did cake first. A few birthdays ago we let the kids convince us to let them open gifts first and then come back for cake later... as it turned out we waited 3 days to cut the cake because that birthday gift was sooooooo cool! We decided that small pieces of cake at least let us get the candle blowing fun out of the way so that gifts can be fully enjoyed!

So if you count the candles you can figure out how old she is and if you don't know what the word 'onze' means it is how old she is in french! (One of the few french words I remember from my french class back in my high school days)

Birthdays are such joys! At our house they are always eagerly anticipated and enjoyed. I love that we celebrate without fail the birth of our spirits onto this earth and of course the fact that they were born into a physical body. What glorious things we have seen and felt. We are so blessed to enjoy mortality and as we always keep the Lord in mind, we will always feel that certain joy that comes with knowing we are here to learn and grow in goodness. The resultant joy is unmeasurable!

Water Bottle Wonder

Once a week my grade 7-9 kids go in to the high school and get to participate in shop and home ec classes. Myles recently made a bow out of PVC pipe. It is pretty cool. I'll have to get a photo and post it here. He's made himself an arrow to go with it. It is pretty impressive.

A few days ago Melodee came home with the coolest water bottle! She designed her decal and applied it herself. Of course she chose horses to decorate it with along with her name. I tried to take some good pictures, but you really have to let your imagination take you the rest of the way, as the pictures were way darker than I liked.

It is a pretty cool project!

I love how technology makes these kinds of things possible. We live in such a wonderful day and time! The creative possibilities of today are endless and I am so thankful for the enlightenment the Lord has given the world to bring us to such a glorious time. What a Joy it is to enjoy the knowledge of and apply that knowledge to so many fabulous things!

Very Tricky!

A few days ago my son came home from school with a new trick. Now he has been dabbling in magic for the last year and has some pretty cool tricks, so everyone was quite eager to see this one. He called it the balancing trick. That sounded like something akin to his levitating trick so he had lots of eager volunteers. He got Naomi to assist him the first time. He kind of did it on the sly and showed her the trick without anyone else nearby. I was in the kitchen decorating a birthday cake - I was probably the closest as they were in the living room.

Pretty soon I see Myles walking though the kitchen nonchalantly and then I hear Naomi call, "Mom?! Help!!!" I figured I needed to go find out what she needed and this is what I found...

Yup, there was Naomi balancing a partially filled bucket of water on a broom handle. Left alone in the room, she didn't have much choice but to stay right there while I took the privilege of snapping a photo or two. Of course Myles followed me back into the living room and agreed to rescue his sister from a cold shower.

A few days later, everyone was gathered and Naomi told Myles it was time to show the rest of the family his cool new trick! He obliged quite willingly coming back into the room with the necessary equipment. This time Beth got to hold the broom. Nobody but Naomi and I knew what to expect, so when Myles walked away there were a number of surprised individuals. Of course everyone could see the predicament Beth was now in and they were quite thankful they hadn't volunteered for the privilege of assisting in this particular trick.

Here Myles has just taken down the bucket of water and Beth is quite
happy to be holding the broom normally now - with the threat of a cold
shower removed.

It was pretty funny. The kids later tried it on their Uncle who was pretty wise to the trick - he could see the outcome before the materials were all put into place, but he hasn't seen any of Myles other really cool tricks so he wasn't sufficiently prepared to be 'suckered' into this one!

I have to say, that I am so very thankful for kids that can play practical jokes like this on one another without getting angry. Both Naomi and Beth got a good laugh out of the prank and were eager to share it with others! What a joy it is to have children that love each other that much. Somehow I don't think this will be the last of the balancing trick for a while yet!

Something Good to Eat!

This month we've had occasion to do some experimenting in the kitchen!

For Family Home Evening a few weeks ago we made Caramel Coconut Cream Tarts! They were very tasty. Somehow a whole bottle of caramel sauce mysteriously disappeared almost overnight with the project... I'll have to remember that next time I try this combination!

Naomi loves to cook and try new things, one of her recent selections was Stromboli. The best way I can describe it is basically pizza pie! Yup, pizza with a crust on the bottom and on the top! She filled it full of good things to eat, added cheese to the top and viola a delicious and nutritious meal!

OK, maybe not so nutritious with the nacho's
but it was a birthday request! Had to make it fun!

It is amazing the variety that is available for meal choices out of such similar ingredients. There isn't really a lot of difference between pizza, chili buns, or even taco soup! Yet they are all uniquely different.

Life is not much different from cooking in the kitchen. Each of us is so unique and so individual and the choices we make and ingredients we use, will produce some thing a little bit different from everyone else. If we were cooking up choices, in our lives, in our circumstances, in our history, will each  cook up with different, though appealing results. However, those good choices will always smell good, taste good and nourish those who partake of them. Our choices nourish our families, friends and associates. It is so cool! I love how just cooking a meal reminds me of the great gift of agency that I have been blessed with. It is so awesome to have the gift to choose for myself what I will be and do with my life. And when I choose well, I always feel that powerful sense of joy that comes from God, who endowed me with the gift of agency in the first place.

Life is like biting into a tart and finding sweet caramel surprises that sweeten the experience and fill me with gratitude and joy for the very gift of life itself!