January in Review

A collage of pictures highlighting January's activities.....

Lily at the park...in January!! No snow!!

Waiting patiently for muffins

Making "lollipops" (for the letter L)

Books, books and more books....

Some sewing projects on the go....

Goofy girls

Kaitlyn's favorite customer....Gramma

Picking out our groceries from Kaitlyn's store

Checking out her purchases

Nice posing...

Reading again....

Go Fish!

Pretty snow

Kaitlyn skating for the 1st time!!

Thrill ride down Gramma's hill...

The month of January has flown by....so nice to have pictures to remember what we did with all that time....

Road Trip Survival Part 2

Here is some more helpful advice on how to enjoy a road trip with your kiddos:

6) Keep a small cooler close by (limit unnecessary stops.....potty breaks stop us enough!) for easy access to snacks and for keeping certain food items cool (ie: cheese, drinks, lunch meats for sandwiches).

Take time to stop and take it all in

7) Bring along several empty containers (with lids for post-snack containment!) for doling out snack size portions from boxes and packages of food.....I just use the ziploc reusable kind .

8) Lunches should be easy to assemble on a travel plate, (I used a tupperware stacking set of 3 deep plates with a lid, they don't sell my specific plates anymore but it was something like this) as mess free as possible and allow you to avoid stopping the car (again!!) while nourishing your family with wholesome food instead of greasy, expensive fast food (save fast food for a special treat once in a while, a small french fries shared between the girls

Road Trip Survival Part 1

I was reminiscing the other day about all of the time our little family has spent 'on the road' since becoming "Pre-field Missionaries" with Mission Aviation Fellowship (MAF)....and decided to be totally dorky and actually add up the hours or km's.....wanna know??

An overview of our 6 week road trip across the country

Okay, so I quickly realized that I suck at math and that I will just settle for knowing we have travelled across the country, visiting 4 provinces, 1 Island, 2 ferries, 2 states, countless homes where we had over 77 dinners/lunches with our friends & family & supporters, memorized the Cinderella movie, consumed way too many animal crackers, 'fertilized' more farmers fields than I can count, shed some tears of frustration, seen way too many bad drivers, had a 180 degree spin out on black ice, and the realization that we still have a long way to go.....

This all to say, I believe I can now call myself a 'travelling expert' when it comes to being in a van with two kids under 4 and a husband who likes to leave for our next destination at 4am. :)

Here are some ways to make travelling with your family as relaxing and enjoyable as possible: Theme - preparation is key!

Making a Sunday School song my reality....

Those of you with kids will most likely know the classic Sunday School song that goes like this:
Read your bible,
Pray everyday,
Pray everyday,
Pray everyday.
Read your Bible,
Pray everyday,
and you'll grow, grow, grow.......


Such a simple song, but such powerful words. Words that I have a hard time committing and following through with, yet I am supposed to be teaching my children the basics of what it means to have a daily, personal relationship with Jesus. Legalism aside (aka guilt for not doing this daily), these two aspect of Christianity are super important in going deeper with God. 
One of my goals for 2012 was to read through the Bible in a year.....I have never been able to stick with it and have yet to read the Bible cover to cover. Insert a 'gasp'!! I know, I know.....I always started in Genesis and then got hung up, totally bored and unmotivated by the time I hit the 'trenches' of Leviticus. I have read through the New Testament but without completing the Old Testament, I am lacking the big picture of God's love story from the beginning of time. 

Am I actually hurting the very people I so desperately want to help?

On my list of books to read in 2012

Phil and I had the privilege of attending a one day seminar, with the main speaker being one of the co-author's of the book "Helping without Hurting". This topic is hugely relevant to our lives as we are on the cusp of entering into a 'foreign' culture for the purpose of ministry and are both slightly petrified of messing it all up.  
This was something I hadn't really thought too deep about....I love helping others but today I had my eyes opened to the possibility that my good intentions in helping could hurt an individual or even a whole community! Talk about frozen in fear....but I know that is not what the authors wanted to accomplish. 

One Morning....

Here's a little view into a typical day at our house......

Learning about K

• Mer wake up @ 7am (hubs is already out the door)
• Exercise: Today's pick was The 30 day shred level 3 
• Read Daily Chronological Bible, Prayer
• Breakfast: Scrambled eggs, Toast, Berry Smoothie with Greek Yogurt
• Help kiddos get dressed, make beds (put 1 marble in the job jar)
• Mer has a shower, gets dressed and ready for the day
• Home School featuring the letter K

32 and counting....

Happy 32nd Birthday Phil!

I have known Phil for 14 years now, been kissin' him for 12 :)

Phil & I at a cafe in Meaford, on his birthday getaway!

No airplane cake mold available, a race car is the next best thing?

A Fresh Start in 2012

Our Family

I'm back. It's been almost 1 year since i last posted anything on my blog. I don't know if it was a time thing, lack of interest or purpose, and to be honest, i kinda thought 'why do i need to let everyone in on my life'? Do people really care about reading what is on my mind? I have read so many fantastic blogs on topics from crafts to motherhood....and i guess some part of me just felt i wouldn't measure up. So i lost interest and stopped shortly after i started this blog. Fast forward 11 months, and here i sit. I have mulled this whole blog thing over for a while now.....and have come to several conclusions: