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! 

Checking In

Halfway through Bethlehem LIVE! 2014 and we are all still alive and well. We miss David who is busy serving, but he isn't in tonight's performance, so we will get to see him soon. They've had record breaking numbers on this the mildest BL weekend that I've experienced. In year's past it's always been the coldest days of December that we've tracked to BL. It's a nice change for the workers, but especially for the parking crews. I have a few random things to share, so I'll get right to it.

• When I especially miss my David I steal borrow his shirts out of the closet. My littles give me a bit of trouble or they laugh about it depending on the day. I usually send David a picture in way of confession with some cheeky caption like "Shh! Don't tell, I borrowed something". Silly, but it makes me feel better.

• I have recently come to the conclusion that I think I am an artist. Let me explain. I never doubted that I was creative - my mom was great at making sure that I knew that (her mom always said that she wasn't and my mom really is, but didn't know until she was an adult). I learned many kinds of crafts as I wanted to try new things, but I wasn't what I thought you could call an artist. I took art when it wasn't an option (it's a core subject in elementary) in school, but didn't pursue it after that. I wasn't into painting, drawing, sketching etc. all of which I considered to be artists' domain. Something's happened. I don't when it started or when I realized, exactly, I was doing it, but I started doodling and dabbling in watercolours then acrylics and WHAM! It hits me! I think I'm an artist. What?! Well, maybe. Still pondering.

my living room floor on any given evening

art·ist/ˈärdəst/

noun a person who produces paintings or drawings as a profession or hobby.

• I whipped up a couple of notebooks for a Christmas gift exchange. I tried my hand at fabric "doodling" and I had so much fun making these happy little houses. Love how they turned out.

• I found this ribbon at the dollar store... how cute is that?!

• My David has given me my Christmas presents early. He knew that I could be using them already and boy oh boy, have I ever!!! Spoiled rotten!

Art 101 Art set ~ two layers of art delights! (acrylics, watercolours - pallets, pencils and tubes, oil pastels & oil tubes )

I forgot to flip the picture, but this is a cool easel I'll take better pics to show you, soon!

• I've been prepping my Documented Faith planner. I will probably do a post about that later, but for now. Washi tape wonder!

• This girl! After my own heart. Abby can't contain the art inside of her. It's so difficult for her to wait until quiet time to create. (Micah gets into everything and I usually ask her to wait till he's napping - we need to assess a better way, maybe, but that's how it is right now). I've had her start an art journal where she can keep some of her pieces (Abby makes 5-10/day, so we just keep her "best" or pieces done with her latest techniques). 

• In case I don't get the chance later, Merry Christmas to you and yours. Hold them close and tell them how much they mean to you, you never know how long you have! 

May the Lord bless you and keep you. May He make his face to shine upon you and give you peace.

Bethlehem LIVE! 2014 Begins!

our Malachi as Jesus (photo credit)

Tonight Bethlehem LIVE! returns to Winnipeg. I'm not directly involved this year, but my David will be guiding tours through Bethlehem and praying with those who would like someone to pray with. I will tour Bethlehem with my older two littles (the babies are sick) tonight and with a new scene added, I'm particularly excited. I didn't get to attend last year (I had severe mis-alignment issues in the last month of my pregnancy) and I missed it! Bethlehem LIVE! is an interactive live nativity that our church hosts every year. There are hundreds of volunteers who gift the city of Winnipeg with a Christmas tradition that won't easily be forgotten.

Abigail's favourite scene: King Herrod's palace 

I've had the privilege of participating in BL four times. The first year I sang as an angel, heralding the good news from up high. The second year, I brought baby Abigail with me and we were in the town well scene and also sat in as Mary and baby Jesus for a few tours. Abby was 11 months old, so a little difficult to pass off as a newborn, but people especially love to see live babies play the special role.

David as a tour guide with Micah waiting to begin

The third year, our Malachi was weeks old and David played Joseph while I was Mary and Malachi was baby Jesus. What an especially memorable time that was! There was a tour that came through that I remember with extra fondness. The group had been ushered from our stable scene and on to see the shepherds and hear the angels, when a lady came walking back to the manger side. She had tears in her eyes and a smile on her face as she softly said two words... "Thank you". You could tell that she was so impacted at the reminder of why we celebrate Christmas. It snapped me into an attitude of awe and gratitude at this incredible gift that we've been given.

Baby Malachi plays baby Jesus

The fourth year, I brought baby Micah to the well scene. Once again we sat in at the stable scene for a few tours and I got to see the delight on everyone's faces as they witnessed the miracle of Christmas. That does not get old!

We try to tour BL every year as guests, too

Hannah hasn't been to BL, yet. Since my Christmas baby was born on Jesus' birthday, she has a different honour. Our hope is to someday journey to BL as a family and serve together. This year, we release David to serve and pray that this gift will be a blessing to many.

Every tour group gets to hear a mini sermon message from one of our great pastors

If you're in Winnipeg come to Gateway Church at 851 Panet Road
tours run every 8 minutes and last approximately 40 minutes
Thursday 6-9
Friday 6-9
Saturday 12-3, 6-9
Sunday 12-3
Come early and expect to wait, but know that it's worth the wait! Visit the BL website for details and more pictures.

Malachi as Jesus

Lingering Giveaway! ~ Winner, winner, chicken dinner!!!

Congratulations, Will Strickland! Comment with your address to claim your prize.

Sometimes there are some great perks to having this little blog. I never planned on using this little space for much other than an extension of my creative expression and for keeping in touch with loved ones afar. I don't mind; however, when other benefits come my way. Today, I get to share with you a new Christmas album that I've just been introduced to.

Lingering by Karla Adolphe is a haunting and melancholy album that has me snuggling in a blanket with a cup of hot tea and enjoying the warmth of the indoors on a cold winter day. You might wonder why you'd want to listen to a melancholy album at Christmas, but as Karla wrote on her blog

"Christmas is often the most wonderful time of the year, but as I learnt with Honeycomb Tombs, grief can cause even the treasury of Christmas to become challenging.  I really wanted to create an album that would extend grace and warmth to those of you who may be grieving this season and honour your kindness to me as a listener.

I hope you enjoy the songs I selected, some of these are my absolute favourite!  The songs express themes of pilgrimage, longing, hope, revelation, visitation and prophecy.  I hope in them you find rest; linger with me and thank you for joining me on this journey." 

Every year David and I look for new original Christmas songs to add to our extensive collection. We love Christmas music and could listen 64 hours straight and not hear the same tracks twice. We do have our favourites and on any given day (any time of year) you might hear specific Christmas albums playing in our home. I began listening exclusively to Christmas music mid October of this year. That's even a little late for me. I've had Lingering on repeat all morning. It's how I roll.

My first introduction to Karla's rich melodies and thoughtful lyrics was on her Honeycomb Tombs album. As my husband can attest, I listened to her album for days on end. It is still one of my favourites. I am looking forward to the same familiarity with Lingering.

Lingering was released to today and can be purchased for the low price of $6. That's only $1.20 per song - cheaper than most songs on iTunes, by the way.

I invite you to add to your favourites, Lingering by Karla Adolphe.

I'm happy to offer a FREE copy of Lingering! To enter, leave a comment sharing your favourite Christmas song/album/artist. If you'd like an extra entry, "like" Karla's Facebook page and leave a comment here saying you've done that. I will use a random number generator to choose a winner. Winner will be announced December 7th. 

*I received this album to review but I was not financially compensated in any way. The opinions expressed are my own and are based on my observations while listening to this album.*

Checking In

Phew! I've got a lot of catching up to do. So much has happened in the last two months, I'm not even sure of where to begin. Looking through pictures, we'll just go in order...

• December 1st was our first annual Gingras family Christmas pyjama (spell check says this how to spell it, but it looks wrong to me) dance party. With our fall family ball being such a hit (I just realized that I forgot to blog about that, I posted it on facebook) we decided to combine our pj tradition with a dance party. Everyone rocked out new pjs and we bought a fun light ball and a bunch of glow sticks and danced the evening away. Unfortunately, I was unable to actually dance as I suffered an awful case of pelvic mis-alignment for the bulk of December and wasn't even mobile enough to lift Micah. David stayed home from work the entire month to help me at home and chauffeur me to the many appointments I had trying to resolve the issue. I am happy to say that aside from minor nursing/posture pain, I am recovered.

• December 20th was our 9th yellow day. It's a funny little tradition that we continue to carry out.

• December 20th we went in for fetal assessment (baby was breach and we wanted to be sure she turned) and found out who our Gingras baby was. We shared the news with our littles and had a little celebration.

• December 25th, of course we celebrated Christmas. We had our handmade gifts that we were excited to give our littles. Dance ribbons, jewelry box, bean bag toss with 6 bean bags, plus all the gifts that friends and family sent. It was chaotic and memorable. David spent the afternoon cooking a wonderful ham dinner which I could barely eat as I was I labour.

I didn't wrap any gifts this year, we just used these Santa sacks I found at the dollar store.

• December 25th, 11:21 PM Hannah Noëlle was born at St. Boniface hospital. My midwife went on leave at the beginning of December and I was "assigned" a new midwife. Julia Allen, if you ever read this, YOU ARE AWESOME! I am so grateful for Julia and I hope she has just as great help when she delivers her new baby this spring.

• We spent New Year's eve at home and it all seemed so quiet.
• David began potty training Malachi. He must have been ready because he has had very few accidents in comparison with our Abby when we first tried to train her. The difference in potty training a boy vs. a girl? You have to do laundry not because you've run out of clean underwear, but because you've run out of clean super hero capes.

• January 11th we received a call that sent us reeling. I don't want to share much about it here, as it feels really personal, but David's dad, Richard passed away. This sent us into a whirlwind of planning for the unexpected trip to Alberta. 

• January 15th we attempt to leave for Alberta only to have to turn around due to terrible weather/road conditions. The rest of the day and well into that evening were spent tending to a sick family. Flu hit in full force - yuck! Thankfully it was a short lived sickness and we found we were ready when the roads opened up to leave the next day. FYI, our van is a dream to travel in!!!

• We stayed at the Days Inn in Regina... they have a great family suite that our littles especially loved. Side note, it's really difficult to book a single room for a family our size. If we couldn't get this family suite, we'd be forced to pay for two rooms due to capacity issues.

• We had to postpone Abby's birthday party, we did get to celebrate her with family, which was a special treat. Grandma June and Abby baked cakes, we took her to West Edmonton Mall Waterpark, on a visit to the Santa Maria replica and she got one ride at Galaxyland plus a special dinner with Mama, Papa and Hannah. It was a full day. Just wait until you see what she got for her birthday. (That will follow in another post.)

• Hannah is already a month old! Wow! It's been a crazy roller-coaster of a ride, but we are now settling in to find our new "normal" (whatever that looks like).

Yup, a lot has happened. I have at least a dozen projects in my head I want to get to, a family retreat to help plan and life to live. We'll see how we adjust to our new "normal", but I'm sure it's all going to be quite adventurous. Until next time,

 

Checking In 2013

Hello, January! Welcome, 2013. I am sure looking forward to a year full of new adventures. We do need to look back a bit to catch up, though.

•  We have a shelf in our bedroom that I put a few things on, but hadn't really settled on what to use it for. I found my David styling it with significant things in our marriage. I LOVE this man!

• We did make some handmade gifts that I love! David made and bottled coffee syrup. I made labels and we included bistro bottle pour spouts. We made almond and vanilla...yum! If you're not a coffee drinker, you can still use syrups for drinks like steamers or tea mistos (a London fog is a common misto). We used this recipe for the basic syrup and just changed the extract.

• I made Abigail and Malachi giant reading pillows. They like to drag it around by the handle and stuff the pockets with treasures. They both got new books with their pillows for Christmas. Tutorial here.

• I whipped up some mulling spice packets for my girlfriends at my Ladies group. I had shared this crock pot punch as one of our family favourite recipes at Christmas and then gave the recipe with the spice packet. We love brewing this over the holidays.

• I also made obi style hot/cold wraps, but forgot to take pictures. I made them two for friends, but I'm sure I'll be making myself one at some point. They look something like this.
• My David hunted long and high for the perfect snow globe for me for Christmas and he NAILED it! Love this. It's a simple Christmas tree in silver on a pedestal with a light and a fan that blows the snow inside. It's so beautiful. Truth be told, i am a picky snow globe person and he totally got it! This picture doesn't do it justice.

• New fabric! New project in progress... any guesses? 

• Road test tomorrow...finally! I am excited and nervous, but as my friend said yesterday, the worst that could happen is I fail. If that happens you try again. I am looking forward to little things like taking my littles one on one for dates and sneaking out for little Mama breaks.
• We got a new camera for Christmas... thanks to our family for the Christmas money. I am still learning it, but you can see it here.
• Micah was sick over Christmas and quit the soother. This is new ground for me. Learning.
• We cut down our Christmas card list. Postage is brutal! Sorry, if you didn't make the cut, it's not because we don't love you. You can print it out if you like. I got the inspiration here.

• Oh, and here's our return address label. Actual address not included. I like the maple leaf, not that that is a surprise.