Memories of regular days

My theme verse for the week~

"The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;

his mercies never come to an end;

they are new every morning;

great is your faithfulness.

"The Lord is my portion," says my soul,

"therefore I will hope in him."

"The Lord is good to those who wait for him,

to the soul who seeks him.

It is good that one should wait quietly for the salvation of the Lord."

Lam. 3:22-26

Let's see... there were a few "normal" things that happened over the last couple days that I thought would be fun to record:

~Andrew somehow dropped a small piece of metal into an electrical outlet on the floor and got the shock of his life. No burns, just lots of tears.

~Jacob wedged both feet between two branches in the tree he had climbed. By the time I came to rescue him, he was screaming in pain and the skin was beginning to peel.

~This morning I had to reach into the toilet and rescue two favorite matchbox cars from being flushed away. Way to start the day.

~ I killed the biggest black widow spider I've ever seen this morning. It was on one of our shoes as we were getting ready to leave.

~Jon has been out of town this week, so yesterday I decided to text message him some sweet nothings. To my horror I realized I was sending them to Olivia's riding instructor. 

~At riding lessons today, I noticed two ladies pointing upward and gasping. I casually looked around the corner to find Michael walking along a thin divider wall about 10 feet high. Yeah, I'm responsible for him.

~At the pharmacy today, while I was on the phone with the doctor's office for the third time (who said they had called in the prescription while the pharmacist said they had not received it), there was suddenly a deafening alarm making it impossible to talk. Turns out one of my boys "accidentally leaned" on the door marked NOT AN EXIT. ALARM WILL SOUND.

~My favorite memory this week comes from my two little boys. I had allowed them to camp out in the tent they had made with sheets in their room. I was awakened in the morning when Jacob climbed into my bed to warm up next to me. As I moved over to make space, I realized Andrew had already joined me sometime in the night. We dozed for another hour, their warm little bodies flanked against mine and little tufts of summer lightened hair tickling my cheek on one side and shoulder on the other. Heavenly.

~Katherine

A short break

It's Monday, in case you haven't noticed. The laundry machines are doing their thing, and everyone has been sent to bed for a nap. It came down to that after every attempt was made to keep things peaceful.

Sometimes it's like that, and I guess there's no need to beat myself up about it. We're tired on this otherwise lovely Monday. We're having a fun summer with sleepovers, lots of swimming, parties to attend, and the regular busyness of life. The kids just need to catch up on sleep if I can expect them to be emotionally stable.

Ha! That's what I want too: Emotional stability! Truth is I'm tired deep down to my core. It would seem that anemia has crept up on me again. I've gone through this so many times before that without a blood test I know my levels are pretty low. So I'm taking a break too. The shades are down, and I'm resting on my bed with a warm drink on my night table. Its sounds depressing, but it's not. It's real life!

Olivia was away for several days with our dear friends. She had a blast, and as her mom that makes me so happy. I am thankful for sweet family friends that have such a godly influence on my kids, and who are examples for me to follow. Thank you Auntie and Uncle Man... we love you!

We had some fun time here too. The boys played in their super-hero costumes, they wrestled, built tents, played army games, and made all sorts of boy noises. Actually they were easy to please. One morning, when they were missing Olivia (and were somewhat jealous of her time away) I asked them what I could do to make their day fun. They said they wanted to swim, and eat pizza and ice cream.

(I'm loving Andrew's gummy grin and sloshy speech!)

So they swam. Andrew went from cautiously swimming in the shallow end to enjoying the deep end and even jumping off the diving board. I can't believe his progress. Michael learned how to do a back dive and is working on a back flip. His eagerness to keep trying after so many painful flops makes me proud. Jacob has no fear. I do have fear so I make him wear floaties.

Thankfully I had all the ingredients for some fresh pizza Margarita and ice cream sundaes.

(Homemade slime. Way better than play dough.)

We've been looking for a house, and it's not easy! In the spirit of 'real life Monday' I can say that times of change are times of testing as well. I half joked to Jon the other night that it was a good thing we didn't know each other very well when we got married! Maybe we wouldn't have married each other! We laughed a little. It was kind of a painful laugh.

After nearly four years of dating, we knew each other as well as we could before marriage. But living side by side, day in and day out, unearths deep set differences. Sometimes I wonder if we will ever really understand each other. Sometimes I wonder how we can work through it all.

But you know, it is good we didn't realize the extent of our differences. It was part of God's kind and gracious plan. Our differences balance each other out, they cause us to grow in sacrificial love and dependance on Him. We're in this together, for the long run. And we're determined to love each other more through it all.

A timely verse from yesterday:

"In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him." Ecclesiastes 7:14

And the verse I've been coming back to recently:

"But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation. I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me." Psalm 13:5,6

OK, break time is over. Wow, the time went by quickly!


~Katherine

Bits of Summer Memories

Summer days come and summer days go. Today was probably a day that I will not remember much of in the near future. It was one of those days where I woke up to an empty refrigerator, piles of laundry, and much on my mind. It was the kind of day that moms everywhere have regularly, mundane to be sure, but vital to the building of something greater. It may not be the kind of day that anyone will remember, but faithful labor day after day is what I pray the Lord will use in the building of something much less mundane.

There are summer days I do want to remember before they become too distant in my memory. As I sit here remembering our time in Canada earlier this month, I am reminded that taking time out with family is important, even if it's only for a couple minutes between jobs on a busy day. I'm the type that can get so consumed with accomplishing items on my to-do list and I often fail to savor little moments.

Note to self: People are more important than things/accomplishments.

So before too much more time lapses, I thought I should post a few more pictures of our time up north..

My dad spent a morning building bird houses with my kids. It was sweet of him to plan and prepare a special activity with them, and we even brought one of the houses home with us to hang once we move in the fall.

To be sure, one of the best parts of our stay with my sister was getting to know my little nephew. He is such a cutie and has such a sweet and fun personality. I would love to be there when my next little nephew arrives in just a few weeks!

He has the best hair ever! He would fit in well around here with his surfer hair, especially as we will be moving closer to the coast. 

We spent a lovely day at the lake, where my kids swam in un-chlorinated fresh water for the first time! When not in the water or eating, they lounged in the hammock.

That afternoon, I forced myself to do what I didn't feel like doing at the time, but it was well worth it. I gave my full attention to my boys instead of sitting and relaxing. At this stage, there is rarely a relaxing moment with the boys. They made me get wet and covered me in stand, then we swam for a good long time along the shore. I think I will remember those moments because they were so thrilled to play with just me.

We also spent some time strawberry picking, a yearly activity for me when I was little. Michael took me into the woods where there was a little clearing by a creek. He had found wild strawberries and a few raspberries that were beginning to ripen. Olivia also requested that we go to a berry farm so that we could make some jam. My sister took us to the cutest little berry farm ever.

We arrived at lunch time, took the tractor ride to the strawberry field, and settled in. It was delicious! And we did manage to bring several baskets back.

I had never gone strawberry picking with Jon before. His enthusiasm surprises me sometimes.

Michael's one objective during his time in Canada was to catch a frog. He searched and searched the whole time we were in Quebec, but to no avail. So back in Ottawa, Grandma came to the rescue. No kidding, she was the one who searched and found this guy for Michael.

Pretty soon the boys had found more frogs, and I found myself with frogs in my lap. So these pictures are for their memories.

Jacob cried when he had to put them back in the water before we left. Little boys simply don't understand why we couldn't take them in Grandma's car and keep them forever as pets. The boys held hands to console each other as the made their way back.

And finally, a highlight for the kids this trip were the nearly unlimited number of sparklers they played with. They are not available in California, but sold everywhere back home. They make a great birthday candle alternative, or they are simply fun to run with barefoot and in your PJ's at night.

Thank you, family, for fun summer memories!

~Katherine

Places to call home

The concept of 'home' has been ill-defined for me in my adult years. I know that it is a concept much larger, much richer than even a homey place of residency. Over the years I have struggled with replacing one with another. I am now concluding that it cannot be done.

I may have gone wrong in my thinking early in our marriage when I thought I must leave my home and start a new one with my husband. This is true, no doubt, but I have found that the place of my childhood years has never been replaced by another. No, I have discovered and come to believe that I can have more than one place to call home. Each place does not replace the former, but has a unique character and meaning. They are not to be measured against each other, for each has a different history, a different purpose.

I cannot begin to describe how much I love the Gatineau Hills with its rivers, lakes, forests and meadows. They were the place of my childhood, a picturesque haven for me. As a child I noticed all the details, as only a true country girl can, and memories which have been tucked away for many years come rushing back each time I return.

I loved the time I spent with my family last week. We were not in my childhood home - that was sold several years ago - but with my sister, whose home is tucked in the Gatineau Hills. Everything felt so familiar. I loved watching my kids hang out with my family and explore the things I have told them about countless times before. I love that there is a place in their hearts for this place, too.

My little brother took us fishing the night before he left for a 2-3 year job in Yellowknife. We don't see him often, but he's sure a lot of fun!

It would seem that I have an attachment to every type of wild flower and every detail that makes this place so special to me.

There was a territorial beaver in the water when we arrived! He tried to pester us away the whole evening, but we kinda liked him.

During our last weekend, when we were back in Ottawa, Jon and I spent some time alone down town. I was mad at myself for not taking my camera along because it turned out to be one of the prettiest nights. The lighting was beautiful with a perfect gentle breeze as we walked around from dinner in the market, through parks overlooking the river, into the Chateau Laurier, and up to Parliament Hill. Jon is the one who made the city of Ottawa home to me. Yep, even in a city I can feel at home! For several years we spent time getting to know each other and falling in love as we walked the streets of Ottawa as teenagers.  There are so many places that hold special memories. Objectively speaking, it's a beautiful city. It's also where our story began.

I'm thankful that our story continues on with still more places to call home. I am glad that my life has been filled with more adventure and more discovery than if we had settled in the only place that was familiar to us when we first were married. 

And it's wonderful to remember that our ultimate home is in heaven, where there is no home-sickness, no striving for a more perfect place and no uncertainty. There will be completion in every way.

~Katherine