Checking In

It's February. To me that means more than a statement about which month of the year it is. It has become a statement about the season I'm in. It's a dark month, not much sunshine. There are moments where the sun peeks through, but I'm weary. There is a history of depression in the women of my family and I'm not sure exactly whether or not this is classified as such, but I'm ready for "February" to end. In the meantime, I choose to believe that God is good and I have SOOOOO much to be grateful for. In 1 Samuel 30:6 the Bible talks about how David encouraged himself in the Lord. Have you ever noticed that where your focus is, that is where your heart is, too? Well, I've come to realize that if I focus on my circumstances instead of the goodness of God, I quickly become buried in heaviness. So, how do you "encourage yourself in the Lord"? Remember his promises. If you don't know His promises and about how he is always faithful to keep His word, then that's a great Bible study to begin. At my Moms' group, we have a little bookmark card with a great reminder on it...

My friend last night reminded us that when we are discouraged by life's circumstances or we are consumed with how big the storm is, we just need to study about how BIG God is and it's amazing how our change of focus can bring encouragement and hope. Bad things happen and life is hard, sometimes, but God is good ALL the time. That is what I will stand on.

In other news, here's a bit about what's been going on...

• The actual season of winter has been pretty amazing. Yes, we've had some 'stupid cold' days with a windchill of -40C, but the cold snaps haven't lasted for weeks and weeks and the nice days, have been really nice. That has meant sledding days and river walks and getting outside. We've really been enjoying the toboggan runs (winter slides) at Kildonan Park. I don't recall ever seeing these in Alberta, but we've really appreciated how much easier the stairs are than hill climbing with littles and David's injured ankle. They're super fun, too.

you don't even need a sled!

• The Forks! I still think this is by far the coolest place in the winter. The river is frozen so you can walk (or skate) for a long way before you run out of room. The artistic warming huts and ice sculptures make it engaging and fun even for the littles. We went on Louis Riel day (Family Day for a lot of Canadians) and I just kept saying "I love this city!"

The littles are looking for sharks under the ice

checking out an ice sculpture on the river

• This is one of the warming huts on the river and since it was painted the same colour as Malachi's jacket, we told him was so camouflaged that we couldn't see him. Then I had the littles pose for some pictures and I only showed him the pictures without him there. He was totally convinced.

• Valentines was quiet and nice. David and I went on an unexpected date on the Friday evening before. We weren't planning on it because we have big plans next weekend, but when you are offered free babysitting you go on a date! We did a "fancy" littles friendly dinner and had a mini family selfie session. We ended the day with a glow stick hunt. It was simply sweet.

• Bible journaling has begun to fill my Bible nicely and there are certain books that are full enough to require adding in pages. I still have plenty of room in the Bible in general, so I won't be buying a new one for some time, and I think I'll be sad to close this one. It's become so dear to me. Not because of my art, but because the art represents more time in the word and more word getting into my heart.

• My Documented Faith journal is also filling in nicely, but I love how it will take the entire year to fill properly. 

• I haven't had very many custom sewing jobs lately, though I've played around a bit.

"doodled" house keychain

Bible cover inspired by this

•  I am thankful that I've been able to save from my sewing jobs and David and I are going to have a weekend away - just the two of us. I am beyond excited. It is long overdue.

• Oh, I have a little art journal that I use to practice faces and play around with doodles etc. On a particularly cold day, I filled in a page with what I love about living here. I really do love it here!

Thanks for stopping in today. If you're struggling in life's circumstances, join me in turing our focus from the storm to the God who not only created it, but who is able to calm it (and if not, He is still good!)

August Love

As I predicted, August went way too fast, but it was a great month. This summer had a lot of "perfect" days. I know that perfect isn't possible this side of heaven, but what I mean is that we had a lot of simple outings that everyone enjoyed and days that we'd love to live over and over. That's about as close to perfect as you can come. Here's a mini run down of August...

We tried to do a lot of family crafts. Stick paintings, bubble painting, Abby and I had an art afternoon and we made paper, too.

We continued to date our littles. David took Micah on a date and they had fun at the toy store. 

David and I managed a couple of dates, too. Our anniversary found us in the back of our van at our own personal drive-in and we also managed to read together under our favourite tree in the English Garden at Assiniboine Park for another date.

Sometimes ninjas and super heroes join our outings

Perfect days usually include a drive and a walk and my most perfect days found us on the beach.

We had a lot of perfect days and I will cherish the memories of this summer for a long time.

Just Because...

My last post seemed a bit on the heavy and I didn't mean it to be, but I've been thinking about 2014 (still) and I thought I'd throw in some silly and just because favourites of 2014.

• I was introduced to a few new movies and my favourite one was definitely The Secret Life of Walter Mitty - I watched it twice one evening after another when I was first introduced and have watched it several times since. My David even bought us the soundtrack. So good! My favourite scene is the shark scene! I laughed so hard and still do every time.

• We camped overnight with the littles last summer - I don't think I like camping anymore. I'm good with a warm bed shared only with my husband. I'm okay with my sense of adventure being different than it used to be. 

• Bible journaling and Documented Faith have brought me into a place of self discovery in art and I'm loving every minute of it! 

• A group of my girlfriends have been chatting throughout the holidays via Facebook messenger (it actually began in the beginning of December) and I love these girls more everyday! I am so blessed to have such great community here! Its real and funny and crazy and honest and encouraging and I love to hear my phone ping at any and every hour! 

• Our weekly tradition of pajama van has been invaluable to me and has made my littles amazing road trip travellers! This might make us sound like crazy mean parents, but on the trip home from holidays, David was the only one to leave the van (to fill up with gas once) from Moose Jaw, SK to home (Winnipeg, MB). That's about 400 miles or 640 kilometres! The day before, the older littles got out of the van once for a bathroom break and that was almost the same distance. I take for granted how well they travel, but I think it's because we drive 1-2 hours at a time every week. Some days we go for a extra 45 minute-1 hour drive just because. David and I have always loved going for a drive together and now we take the whole family and hope they love it or learn to just as much as we do.

• Hannah's first year went by so fast! Phew! It's like I blinked and it was gone. I'm trying not to miss anything and like Jesus' mother,  Mary,  I'm treasuring all these things in my heart.

• Being an artist wasn't my only discovery last year. I'm so glad to look back and see some character growth. That's especially encouraging when I feel stuck in the SAHM mom rut.

• I've grown to really enjoy Instagram and I post there almost daily. Sometimes I forget that I have anything to blog about because I've already posted about it on Instagram. 

• Last year's parties were fun and I'm pondering what to do this year. Any ideas you've been itching to try?

I think this should be all for my 2014 musings. I will give you a quick rundown on our road trip soon.

Looking Back and Moving Forward

Phew! Anyone else wrung out a bit? 2014 was a crazy year that had really great challenges and really great blessings. I can hardly believe how much has happened this year and yet, I know that we have so much to look forward to in 2015. Here's a bit of a breakdown of 2014:

• We said a sad goodbye to David's father, Richard in January. God showed us His generous provision as we traveled to Alberta for the unexpected funeral. Hannah was only weeks old. Abby celebrated her fifth birthday among our extended family - a first. I mourned the loss of something in my David that I feared I'd never see again - his jovial nature. We came home to a really long and extremely cold winter.

Richard Gingras

• February was a month of adjusting and healing, both physically and emotionally. We were blessed to attend a family retreat on Valentine's Day weekend. It was a great weekend that I enjoyed more than I thought I could. 

Family Retreat

• David returned to work after being on paternity leave just after spring break in the beginning of April. That adjustment went better than I expected, but I do recall thinking that I'd be glad to get out of this season of just surviving. I wanted to thrive. April was still cold and we were all longing for spring.

• May brought Mother's Day and for the second time, we got to dedicate our baby on that special day. We were so blessed by the support of friends and our Winnipeg "family" at her dedication and in awe of Hannah's big sister, Abigail, whose prayer for her dedication was incredibly special.

Hannah's baby dedication

• We had a little backyard BBQ in June to celebrate Micah's 2nd birthday and waited for the heat of summer. Micah, our only summer baby, got a swimming pool with birthday money that we enjoyed throughout the summer. 

Micah's 2nd birthday

• In July we celebrated our one year van-iversary. We are still in awe and wonder as we think of what a blessing our "Cinderella" has been to us!

Cinderella's van-iversary

• 10 years of marriage brought us to August's party of the year. What a great celebration we had with David's mom and step dad as well as brother and sister, plus my parents were able to come and join the fun. We renewed our vows along with many others (we invited the married couples to join us in the vow renewal). Fresh cotton candy was a party favourite - if you ever get a chance to rent a cotton candy machine, do it!

• September brought our little Abby to Kindergarten and family adjustments as David returned to work once again. We had our family pictures taken by our favourite photographer and life rolled on.

Abby's first day of kindergarten 

twila mae photography

• October rocked my world as I received a text from my mom saying that I needed to come if I could - My dad almost died. It seems so unreal as to how he got there and how he's doing now, but it was a scary time. I clung to the promises of Psalm 34 and did, in fact, go visit my dad. Hannah and I travelled over a weekend and Dad was barely aware that we even came. Thankfully, that wasn't the end of the story.

• In November we celebrated with my Dad as he finally accepted Jesus as Lord, but continued to pray fervently for his healing. Things got dicey for awhile. We hosted 37 people in our home for a superhero party of epic proportions. I've heard stories that the children who attended are already planning for next year's party. Sorry, littles... not sure I'll repeat that one, but I'm so glad you had fun. The party was to celebrate both David and Malachi's birthdays. Malachi still asks about Mrs. G (my heroic alter ego).

some of our 37 party heroes

"Mrs. G - Truth Serum"

• December had us make the long drive to Alberta again. We weren't originally planning on going for Christmas, but with my dad still in the hospital, I couldn't imagine him there on Christmas without company, so we went. We stayed for a week and a half, travelling back and forth between our families about every day and a half. I got to visit with my dad 3 different days, including on Christmas, and I'm so glad to say that he's doing really well. The long road to recovery is only beginning, but I'm still praying for miraculous healing and an incredible end to that story. Our church family experienced a tragic loss and though I wasn't personally close to their story, I couldn't help but be even more grateful that we were celebrating Christmas with my dad and not attending his funeral.

we celebrated yellow day on our drive to Alberta

Christmas at the hospital

We are home now and it's New Year's Eve. I've been thinking a lot about the past year and looking forward with hope for the next one. I've chosen a word to focus my prayer life around and how I want to live in 2015. I'll share that with you soon. I don't make new year's resolutions, but I do try to make reasonable goals. I hope to find myself thriving in 2015 and not just surviving, but it's something I plan to FIGHT for. Through our trials my character is being refined and strengthened. I hope to put that to good use next year.

Thank you all for sticking with me through this year and I hope to share many triumphs and joys with you in the next. May you be blessed!