Paleo pulled pork (or beef)

Another yummy recipe we've been loving over here is paleo pulled pork/beef. A friend gave this recipe to me a couple weeks ago and I really like it.

A couple things to note:

1. Next time, I plan on doubling it, as we like our meat more saucy than not, but the regular recipe is good if you don't.

2. I am also still trying to figure out my slow cooker, and find that theres a burnt ring around the pot no matter what times/settings I've done. It doesn't affect the taste of the meat, as I'm careful to not mix the burnt part in. So, adjust your times/heat settings accordingly.

3. I've made this recipe with both pork shoulder and beef (whatever roast was on sale) and noted that since the pork is fattier, it can handle long times in the crockpot (like 12 or more hours on low), whereas the beef will dry out quicker, so it's best to not leave it too long. For example: I put mine in the crockpot on Saturday night at 8pm until midnight on low, turned it to warm til 7 am-9am, and to high from 9-12:30 and it was probably a little too long. I may skip the 7-9am low setting next time. (it was good, but maybe a little dry..although more sauce next time may help this).

Anyways! Enough of my rambling..here's the recipe.

Paleo Slow Cooker Pulled Pork

1tbsp coconut oil
3 cloves garlic (I used 8;)
2 shallots minced
1 tsp organic spicy mustard
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp chipotle seasoning (I used Cajun seasoning)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 1/4 cup chicken broth
Juice of 1.5 limes
1 tsp pure maple syrup
6 oz can tomato paste (no salt)

In sauce pan, heat oil. Add garlic and shallots and sauté until translucent.

Add mustard, smoked paprika, chipotle, cumin, salt, and sauté for about 30 seconds.

Add broth, lime juice, maple syrup, and paste.

Whisk all ingredients until smooth. Bring to a light boil, reduce to simmer and slightly cover with lid.

Simmer for 45 min and let cool.*

*I never let mine cool..I just add it right away to the slow cooker. I put a bit of sauce on the bottom, add the meat, and then pour rest of sauce on top. I turn the meat every 1.5 hours. When it is falling apart easily, I pull it apart with a fork and leave for at least another half hour.

I ate mine with onions and mushrooms that I had sautéed on the side and fresh green beans, boiled and then sautéed in garlic and sunflower oil.

Enjoy!!

Inspired

Amy, you've inspired me to blog again! (well, for today at least;). I love trying new recipes and since Amy has been posting lots of new ones on her blog, she inspired me to as well.

I am currently 4 days into a 30 day, kick my butt in gear, eat stricter challenge with a friend of mine, Sarah. We are following a Paleo menu and this yummy recipe is one of our b'fast (or lunch or supper!) faves. And they are super quick and easy to make, and taste yummy! Can't beat that!

What you'll need:

Paleo Pancakes

1 large egg
1 banana
1 tbsp. ground flaxseed
1 tbsp. almond butter
1 heaping tsp. cinnamon

Mix banana in bowl with mixer. Add egg. Mix. Add flaxseed and almond butter. Mix. Stir in cinnamon.

Heat approx. 1 tsp. coconut oil in skillet and add small dollops of batter (I can fit about 4 in my medium sized skillet). Do not flip for about 2 minutes, or they will fall apart. Also, don't heat pan too much (I don't set it higher than 6). I find the coconut oil can burn easy if at a higher heat.

I ate mine with frozen berries that I heated up in my pan, and a little bit of maple syrup.

Enjoy!!

Also, if you are interested in eating Paleo and maybe to add some yummy new, healthy recipes to your menu, check out the book "Everyday Paleo". It has tons of yummy, healthy recipes, and pictures of everything (a MUST for me with a cookbook). The author also updates her blog all the time, so check it out at www.everydaypaleo.com.

What am I raising?

This past year of parenting has been one that I've spent alot of time pondering and praying what exactly I am supposed to be doing. My oldest is 10, with the two middle girls at 7 and 5, and my babe turned toddler will be 2 in May.

I've found myself often saying that I feel like I have one foot in every stage, except the baby stage.
(and I am entirely alright with that, by the way. :).

I've also said how I feel like poor Maeve has inherited a much crazier, much more impatient, and intense mommy then her older siblings had.

And she has.  And I am.  

But, she's also inherited a mom who is fully aware that I do not have all the answers.  And that's ok.  A mom who makes mistakes every day with my kids.  And I am ok with that.  

For a long time, I think I was more focused on being the perfect mom (in their eyes) than I was just being.  Living life in front of and with my family...with all the ups, downs and complete face plants each day brings.  

I am more comfortable being who I really am in front of my children.  Even more, I am quite convinced that it is imperative that they see as many shades of who I am...and who I am not...as possible.   For in those shades, I am convinced they can see God's amazing grace and love in my life.  

But, what's been on my mind lately, has been my posture towards my kids and how that grows and changes as they get older.  I said to my hubby this spring, when our oldest was 9, that I felt like I had to change my mental posture towards him.  

You see, the first 9 years have been spent protecting him, guarding his heart, and being the primary influence in his life.  And while there is still lots to protect him from, and lots of influence left to be had, I began to feel this intense need to change my parenting with him.  I had this new mental image.  

It was no longer him walking towards me, with my arms were extended around him, keeping as much out as I could.  But rather, it was him walking away from me (slowly!), my arms still extended around him, but with each step, he stepped further and further away from the protection my arms could offer.

Ya.  Kinda sad.

Except...I don't believe that he is and has been doing this thing, called his life, alone.  I know that he has a relationship with God and that it is necessary over the next few years, for that relationship to become the primary relationship in his life.  

Yes, I am and always will be my sweet boy's mama.  There to love, influence, and protect for the rest of his life.  But I am not, and was not designed to be his sole, primary relationship.  And there is a huge peace in that. 

So all this realization has led me to change another aspect of my parenting with all my kids.  And that's what I protect them from.  I never would have viewed myself as an overprotective parent, but probably more of one that was on the offensive.  

An example of this is a simple one.  Let's say, I made plans with one of my friends for their family to come over on a Friday night.  I know my kids will be stoked, but I don't tell them about it, until about an hour or two before they are due to arrive.  Why?  Partially for me, to minimize the amount of stress and questions that will excitedly arise.  But partially for them.  Because I know that life happens and that there is a chance plans will change and they will be disappointed.

But, over the past few months, I've been changing.  I actually find myself kinda glad when something disappointing happens in their life.  (sounds horrible, when written down like that!).  But, seriously, I find myself viewing those small disappointments as opportunities for growth in their life.  Opportunities that force them to that uncomfortable, hard place.  That place where not even mom can comfort them fully.  

The place where they are forced to go to God for comfort, reassurance and answers to their questions. 

Takes the pressure of this humbled mama, and puts it squarely on the shoulders of The One who can handle it.

Tears For Fears

My hubby is an avid 70's, 80's & early 90's music fan so today's blog title is a shout out to him. :)

So, the other night I was putting the older three kids to bed.  I had been pretty relaxed and let them stay up later than usual, so I was wanting bedtime to happen quickly.  


I had just tucked the girls in, and went into the kid's bathroom to check if they had left it in good shape.  Recently, I spoke with them about rinsing their toothbrushes when they were done, wiping down the sink of excess toothpaste, and just in general trying to not leave a big mess.  Everything looked great except for one cup, full of soap & water.  A potion.  :)  My kids enjoy mixing together anything they can get their hands on and someone had made a potion and forgot to dump it.  


No big deal.  I dumped it down the sink, only to realize after that they had also put toilet paper in it as well. Now the soggy toilet paper was clogging up the sink.  I cleaned up the mess and walked into Kier's room and asked if he had made the potion.  


"Ummm...potion??  Where?" he stammered.  "Kier, in the kids' bathroom.  Obviously you made it.  Please just tell me the truth."


"Ok.  I made it." he says.  "Well, please don't put toilet paper in it next time.  It's clogged up the sink, because I didn't know it was in there.  Ok?"


"Ummm...I didn't put any toilet paper in it, Mom.  One of the girls probably did."  So, off I go next door to the girls' room.  "Guys, which one of you put the toilet paper in the potion in the bathroom?"


Cait, ever so innocently:  "Not me, Mama."  Rory, very insistent: "I didn't either Mom.  I didn't do it!"


Hmmmmm....who do you think put the toilet paper in the potion?


Well, after many back and forth's between their room, I still didn't have an answer.  Now, someone was lying.  I told them that I didn't really care about the toilet paper.  At this point, I just wanted the truth.  I told them I was going to ask one more time, and if no one told me the truth, then all their blankies would be taken away.


No one fessed up.


So, amidst tears and sad eyes, I took all their blankies and headed downstairs.  I told them whenever someone wanted to tell the truth, to come down and talk to me.  


Ugh.  One of those 'this is so not fun' parenting moments.  

A couple minutes later,  my boy appears beside the couch.  Lip quivering, I can tell he's struggling with what to say.  Finally, he starts, "Mom.  I made the potion.  But...I didn't put the toilet paper in it.  But, Mom please just punish me.  I've told the girl's that I would take the blame.  Please Mom.  They are in their beds, crying so much.  I can't take hearing them so sad.  So, please Mom, just punish me.  Keep my blankie.  You can even take my pillow."


Guess who started crying then?  Yep.  Me.


In the end, Rory fessed up shortly after.  We were huddled in a heap, everyone crying, when Daddy walked in from his meeting.  Needless to say, we all learned lessons that night.


"While we try to teach our children all about life, our children teach us what life is all about." 

Living Unbalanced

For years, I've said that we were trying to live a balanced life just like Jesus did.  Not resting solely on grace.  Not living simply out of truth.  But a balanced blend of the two.  Not forsaking one for the other. 


John 1: 14:  "The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth."


And I still believe we are called to live out this balance.


However, over the past few years, I've realized that I've taken this principle of being balanced and tried to apply it to all areas of my life.  And failed.


Or at least that's how I ended up feeling.


For example, in a 24 hour span, I may have spent a bit of time of intentional one on one time with each of my kids, made 3 healthy meals, tidied up the house at the end of the day, and maybe even read my Bible!  Yay for me!


But, I would lay in bed feeling discouraged.  Ok, so I got some major areas covered today (time with my kids, balanced meals, a house that doesn't look like a tornado ran through it, and I even had intentional time with God), but I was still left looking at so many areas that I hadn't touched at all!


Time with my husband.  Time with friends.  Time with women from church.  Time for myself, relaxing.  Time for myself, challenging myself (exercising, starting a new project, etc.).  And the list goes on.


So, I'd wake up the next day, determined to focus on some of the areas that I'd not even touched the day before.  And I would!  I would plan a date with my hubby.  I would do my 30 minute workout.  I would shower and actually do my hair and makeup!  I would call a friend.  I would set a date to get together with a lady from church.  


And that night, I would lay in bed, again feeling discouraged.  I had hardly even acknowledged my kids today.  Dinner was a quickly thrown together tuna casserole.  My house was upside down already (how does that happen so quickly?!?!).  


And the cycle began again.


Finally, I started to question this cycle.  Jesus wants me to live with contentment and peace, and I was busy doing things and being intentional and trying to be balanced, and ended each day being discouraged with all that I hadn't done.  So, things weren't adding up.  Why?  I was trying to live a balanced life, just like He had.  What was I doing wrong? 


Then, I had a breakthrough.  It wasn't trying to be balanced that was the problem.  It was that I was so focused on balancing everything at once, while keeping a perfect balance within each thing.


I'd created a checklist.  Spend time with my kids.  Check.  Ok, now I must balance it and spend time with my hubby.  Check.  Spend time by myself.  Check.  Ok, now I must balance it and spend time with ladies from the church.


Now, don't get me wrong.  I believe we have to be intentional in most areas of our life. 


But I was more focused on being intentional, than I was on truly seeking what God would have for me today.  In this moment.  And trust Him.  Not my checklist.


There are natural ebbs and flows in our lives.  Rhythms.  And I believe that Jesus lived in these rhythms as well.  If you look at His life on earth, recorded in John, there are rhythms that are represented in his day to day life.   When getting ready for our recent Ladies Discussion night, I found a blog from a lady named Christine Sine.  In her post, she had identified 4 basic rhythms in Jesus' life – the balance between spiritual and secular, work and rest, community and solitude and fasting and feasting.


Reading this was an 'Aha!' moment for me!  In order to live a balanced life, we will be unbalanced!!  Especially when measuring our lives on a daily basis.  If I feel that today, God is asking me to spend intentional time with someone who just needs company and encouragement, I simply may not have time to myself that day (community and solitude).  And that's ok!  There's no need to lay in bed at night, berating myself for what I haven't done.  There will be time for solitude.  It just wasn't today.  


Reminds me of something....Ecc.3:1-8:


"For everything there is a season,
      a time for every activity under heaven.
 ² A time to be born and a time to die.
      A time to plant and a time to harvest.
 ³ A time to kill and a time to heal.
      A time to tear down and a time to build up.
 ⁴ A time to cry and a time to laugh.
      A time to grieve and a time to dance.
 ⁵ A time to scatter stones and a time to gather stones.
      A time to embrace and a time to turn away.
 ⁶ A time to search and a time to quit searching.
      A time to keep and a time to throw away.
 ⁷ A time to tear and a time to mend.
      A time to be quiet and a time to speak.
 ⁸ A time to love and a time to hate.
      A time for war and a time for peace."


To everything there are seasons...rhythms to be embraced and be imbalanced within.  


My life should not amount to a list of checkmarks.  


But rather, a wonderful, colorful essay...with many paragraphs and chapters.  

When it rains...

...whip out that rainy day outfit, and rock it! :)

An upside down kinda day

My sister Jenn was visiting us for the past few days, and today was her last day here.

And I woke up with a migraine and on day two.  

(wink, wink)

Today was not what I had planned for my last day with my sister visiting us.  

Her, playing with Cait, while I laid on the couch, with a cold cloth on my forehead.

Her, feeding Cait lunch, while I was trying to put something in my belly.

Her, cheering Cait on as she splished and splashed in the pool, while I sat in the shade, with sunglasses on, holding a cranky, teething baby.

But, then the fog began to lift and the day righted itself, for a couple hours, and we got to talk.

And it was lovely.

Having 3 sisters of my own, I am just so happy to know that my girls will have each other.

Of course, not to leave out the important big brother.  That relationship is oh, so important on so many levels.

But, equally important, is the bond of sisters.

Fellow girls, women, who know you, love you, support you, and are there for you...

No matter if the day is upside down or right side up.

Love you all.  Oh so much.

Friday Crushes

What I'm crushin' on right now (in no particular order):

Pinterest.com!  So fun!  It's an online bulletin board, full of fun ideas and sweet pics!  Check it out!  And I dare you to not get addicted! ;)

My sweet little girl, Maeve.  She's almost 14 months old now and is so close to walking.  It's so cute to watch her at this stage.  She has slices of all of her siblings (and parents) in her, but is also very much her own little person.  Enjoying her so much at this stage...this, my last baby.  And I am ok with that.  :)

Red, white and teal.  Loving this color combo!  Possibly for my girl's room.  Possibly for my basement.  The possibilities are endless! ;)

Wordless Wednesday

Fun in the Sun

So, last summer I had just had my babe and I had one goal for the summer.  Survive it, while trying to do as many fun things with the kids as possible.  But, I set the bar low.  Real low.  Like, hanging out on the back patio for the morning, afternoon and evening and calling it a party, low.

But, now that my babe is just over a year now (say it isn't so!), I am heading into this summer ready to raise the bar, just a little.

A few fun ideas that I've been kicking around: 
make a summer drink with the kiddies.  I just cut up a whole watermelon and froze it, so I'm thinking something along the lines of watermelon/coconut/mango/strawberry combo.  Thought it might be fun to get just the right recipe that we all agree on, name it and make it our summer 2011 drink.  Simple, but hey...if it's not simple, it probably won't make my list.

get them all to pick a summer project (or at least one that will take more than an hour to do).  Something like a detailed painting for their room/basement that they have to do in stages, maybe a sewing project (that is, if I can get the dust off my sewing machine enough to get it working ;), or a simpler project (making bracelets/jewelry but make a list of people that we want to make them for and do it one at a time.

getting into our summer house routine tops the list too.  making beds as soon as you wake up (as per usual), and getting back into our chore routine that we've gotten out of the past couple months.  The kids actually enjoy helping to clean and cook, even though they think initially that they don't. :)  Kieran is 9 and Rory is 7 now so they can definitely take on more than I've given them lately.  Doesn't sound much like fun, I know.  But the way I put it, is that mommy still has all her work to get done, so the more help I get, the faster we are able to all get out of the house and having fun.  Works well for us. :)

As hard as it is to believe that we won't be out in the sun, lapping it up every moment of every day...I remember that not long into summer (say, july 5th or so), the ever present phrase: "I'm bored. What can we do? There's nothing to do..etc.." makes it appearance and I am reminded why, even on summer vacation, we have a schedule to each day.  A flexible one, but still a guideline.  And I find that works best for me and the kids.  If they know they have to play outside in the pool for 1 hour, they give up with the excuses (yes, spoiled, I know...who complains to have to play in the pool?).  They surrender to the fact that they have to do it for an hour and usually get playing so much that one hour turns into two before anyone even bothers to notice.  And that's good for all of us. :)

So, there's the start of my brainstorming.  Not much, but it's a start.

What to write?

My last blog post was a looooong time ago. I enjoyed keeping a blog for awhile, but then found that I wasn't updating very much, so slowly got away from it.

But, with Kristi now blogging again, my dearest Amy still bloggin' away, and just finding Rachel's blog, well, I am tempted, I must say, to start up again.

We'll see. :)

Thankful

I'm here.

I just realized that I am now in the place that I always pictured when I was a little girl. The picture was always fuzzy on the specifics, but I realized that my reality is even more sweet and rewarding than I ever imagined.

A relationship with God that is deeper than I've ever had. I used to struggle to view Him as my Father, but now, I find it easier and easier to just fall into His arms and allow Him to be the Father and me to be His child.

An amazing, devoted husband who loves God and me and my kids more passionately than I ever dreamed.

I have 3 of the most special, beautiful, sweet, funny, kids in the world.

My son Kieran is 6.5 years old now, just finishing grade one and has the most gorgeous smile and most tender heart. My girl, Rory, is now 4 and is already such a wonderful sister and second mama to her brother and sister. Her laugh is infectious and when her walls are down...look out! She has such a sweet, sweet heart. And my baby, Cait, is now 18 months old...going on 16! Seriously, this fiesty little girl is so much fun! She plays hard, loves hard and has the best scrunched up smile ever!

And so I've realized that this is where I've always dreamed of being. And I'm right in the middle of it...finally. And realizing this has really made me stop more...leave the cooking and cleaning for another hour, or another day, and just spend time with these amazing kids and my wonderful hubby.

I'm just so glad that God brought things to my attention lately to help me get my head out of the busyness of this phase of life...and allowed me to start to look around and take a breath, and see where He's brought me, what He's brought into my life, and help me just be thankful.

And I am.

Very, very thankful.

Happy Last Day!!!

Today is the last day of work for Kristi, and I am sooo excited for you!!! With baby arriving anytime now, you will need these next few days (weeks?) to get ready for baby...which in mommy terms means...SLEEP!!! Sleep long, sleep lots!! Because as incredible as having babies is, and y'all know I love havin' babies, sleep is the main thing I miss when one is born.

But, the good really does outweigh the hard times, and you are already a wonderful, caring, loving mom. The excitment you've had throughout your pregnancy for your baby to be growing inside you, and now, to finally meet you, is proof enough that you are already an amazing mama.

I really can't wait to see your baby. This baby has been so prayed for and wished for by so many people and I can guarantee he/she will be worth the wait. Worth the tears. Worth the wondering.

Because you are about to have your very own baby...and that truly is one of the most wonderful, most completing things in the world.

I love you Kris.

Boy to Babe

We had a really nice weekend. Kier is now back to school :(, but he was actually looking forward to it, so that was nice. That, and the fact that it's a 4 day week, and then he has 4 days off for Easter, doesn't hurt either. One of the funniest parts of the weekend happened on Sunday afternoon. I was on a cleaning rampage (again), Cait and Daddy were napping, and the older two were playing in the basement. I should've known something was up when Rory came upstairs looking for girls underwear...for Kier. :s But, I was in my bubble, and just said that Kier doesn't wear girls' underwear...obviously.

A few minutes later, this is what appears at the door....

Isn't he pretty?

Oh my.

A Fitting End...

So, March break is almost over. I've already started 'prepping' my little boy for his journey back to school. He's actually looking forward to going back and telling everyone about everything he did on March Break...but, that's about all he's looking forward to right now. :)

Today I took Kier and Rory to the Milton Mall to a one hour magic show. Very cheesy, yes. Did they love it? Yes! Rory kept looking at me saying, 'how did he do that?' Kieran, on the other hand, would look at me and say,'I know exactly how he did that!' They're pretty cute. Then we came home and took Cait with us to the park and on a nice walk. Yes, I said the park. There's still tons of snow here, but it was beautiful here today, so we trudged through the snow and had a great time! The house desperately needs to be cleaned, laundry desperately needs to be done, but all that was left for tomorrow...and we had a great day!

Anyway, I was gonna post some pics from our trip to Ottawa and other random pics, but I can't find my card reader, sooo....maybe sometime soon.

Love you kris...have a great weekend with Jay! And the rest of you too!

Quick Little Update

We are home. Arrived just after supper last night. My baby didn't sleep until about 1/2 hour from home, and then woke up after 10 minutes, but all in all a good trip home.

We had a GREAT time with Alex and Marie. They really are awesome. Marie is just as sweet as ever, Alex is just as funny, and their boys, Issac and Eli, are sooo cute! My kids are already asking when we can go back.

Things we did on our trip: relaxed over coffee, chatted, played in the SNOW, of which there was SOOO much! The snow on either side of their driveway, was well over Rob's head...and he's 6ft. tall. We went to a sugar shack and went on a sleigh ride there...sooo fun and sooo cold! Went swimming (indoors, of course), and then Marie and I shopped for a few hours and went out to eat at an amazing restaurant! I ate way too much over the weekend, but it was so good! We also went to the Children's Museum in Ottawa, and it was awesome! The kids loved it and it was alot of fun! And, of course, Marie and I jetted off for one last shopping trip to our favorite store, Value Village. Where, I found out, that Value Village hires the most rude, impatient managers in all their stores, not just the ones around here. But, we still found some good stuff. :)

So, now we're home. Rob is back to work, Cait's napping, and the older two are building a fort. And me, well, I'm trying to decide what to tackle: getting pictures developed and finally put up on my walls, finally organizing and digging out the clutter in our store room, figuring out what and when to do Rory's 4th birthday party, as it falls on Good Friday this year or waiting on all that because I only have today, and then clean houses for the rest of the week. I'll probably just wait.

Nothing too exciting and lots of thoughts running through my head today, but no time to type 'em here, and that's probably best. Think I'll go finish my coffee and have some time talking to God.

Oh, but one last thought......I'm REALLY looking forward to spring. :)

Sigh...

Well, it happened again. I went to bed late (midnight...crazy i know), and slept all the way through the night (thanks to Cait), woke up at 6:20, to give Cait a bottle, and slept until 6:50 (yes, that extra half hour was worth it!)....and yet, here I am still more tired than when I get up once or twice a night with the kids.

Weird. Bodies are weird. Sometimes I feel like just as my body is finally adjusting to regular sleep patterns, I go and get pregnant and then I'm back to square one. :) Oh well. Makes the coffee much more enjoyable. Which is what I'm drinking now.

So, what's new here? Well, not a whole lot. March Break starts Friday, and we are heading out to visit Marie & Alex for about 4 days, and I'm super excited!!! :) Marie is such a sweetie, and we always have alot of fun when we hang out. Plus, Ottawa is really nice, and it's just close enough to not be too big of a 'trip' (5 hours away), but still far enough that you feel like you're really 'away' from home. Ya know?

So, yesterday at supper, I had another cool conversation with Kier. He is just growing up so quickly and is really 'clueing' into alot of different things all at once. It started because he had a punishment right after school until supper, because he had not obeyed the babysitter we had the night before. So, after informing him of all he'd lost due to that (a lollipop I had picked up for him...right into the garbage....made him watch and everything...lots of tears there and a tv show that he wanted to watch), I decided that he was to write a letter to Maggy (the babysitter) apologizing. I wrote down four words I wanted him to include in it, and told him to add whatever else was on his heart. So, here is a summary of the note:

"Maggy, I am sorry for disobeying you. Will you forgive me? You're the best babysitter. love, Kieran to maggy"

Cute. And he really got what he had done, and was really repentent for it. I love those instances where, as a mom, I know my child so well, that I know exactly how to communicate with him to really help him understand what he did, and the consequences. The real test of how well he got it will be the next time she babysits...so, we'll see.

Then, at supper, he mentioned that a boy on the bus had hit him. I asked him if he had done anything to provoke the boy, and he initially said no, not really. But because, as a rule, the kids on his bus don't randomly walk around hitting kids, I pushed him to get the whole story. Turns out that this kid was being mean to his friend, and Kieran wanted him to leave his friend alone, but then the boy called kieran a 'name.' When he told me that, and was almost crying when I asked him to tell me what name he had called him, I thought for sure, we'd entered the stage where he was going to be hearing bad words. So, I braced myself, and after alot of coaxing and being reassured that we wouldn't get mad at him, he finally whispered in my ear the word.......

Bum bum face.

He had his hands over his mouth nervously after saying it, and was like, "are you mad that I just said it?" We told him of course not, but I still wanted to know what led to the boy hitting him. He said, "Well, he called me that name, and was still being mean, so I called him the name too". Oh. Now, I really understood where all the nervousness and guilt was coming from....not only the fact that he heard the word, but more the fact that he said it too. We told him that we were proud that he told us the truth, and I said that now that Jesus is in his heart, whenever he would make wrong decisions, he wouldn't feel good about them, because Jesus wants to help us make good decisions and doesn't want us to have peace when we make bad ones. It was obvious he knew it was wrong, so we had a good chat about better ways to deal with bullies, and he had some great ideas....obviously, don't call them bad names back; also, move to another seat on the bus to get away from them, or my favorite, ignore them.

So, that's life around here lately. Lots of life lessons for my boy, my middle girl turning 4 in a couple weeks and soooo excited about it, and my little baby turning 15 months next week, and showing no signs of slowing down. And I love it.

Ok. No more sighs. Coffee's gone, and lots to do. xo

Watch This Video

If you've ever taught a child to swim, swam with a baby, or remember learning to swim yourself, you will find this video pretty unbelievable. I've decided to make some predictions as to how some of you will react when watching the first little bit of this video...lemme know if I was right. Don't read the prediction until you've watched the video. :)








Here are my predictions:
Kristi: will say 'Oh my word!' about 20 times, hand over your mouth, but smiling, even nervous laughing a bit.
Amy: will yell 'Oh my!' And will be belly laughing within a few seconds of the 'shocking' part of the video.
Marie: will say 'what? what? what?' 'no, no, no!' 'for real??!?!?', and then some nervous laughing.
Sarah: will let out a little yelp at the 'shocking' part and will spend the rest of the time figuring out how the kids do it.

Welcome Back from Lunch Kris!!

It was great 'chatting' with you just a second ago on facebook! I think I'm gonna put one more post up here just to amuse you! Hope you can watch videos at work!

Have a great afternoon, and give that guam baby a belly rub for me! Love ya! xoxoxo

Weekend Life

Our weekends vary from weekend to weekend. This past weekend was one that started out looking like it would be not too bad on the busy scale, but pretty low key. Instead it turned out to be filled with alot of fun and relaxing family time.

Starting Thursday night, we picked Kier up from school and decided to make an impromptu trip to the library. We stopped at the grocery store first (for snacks and a couple necessities), and had a lot of fun there. To let you get to know my kids a little more, here's where their interests were the whole time at the grocery store: Kier--as soon as we walked in, he saw a Life magazine with a picture of lightning on the front, went over and grabbed it, and settled in the cart to flip through the magazine until we were done shopping. A man's man already. :) Rory was focused on getting the free cookie at the bakery, but was easily distracted by the girls' clothes, shoes, candles, cheesies (their treat), dancing in the aisles, and helping me put things into the cart. But, the whole time, she never forgot the cookie at the bakery. And gobbled it up pretty quickly when she finally got it. :) Cait, however, had no choice but to sit in the cart and amused herself pretty well. By grabbing everything she could and either eating it, or throwing it onto the floor, and then pointing and grunting. The kids think she's hilarious so, when she clued in that she was getting laughs, she didn't stop for the whole trip. :) And she enjoyed the cookie too.

So, then we were off to the library. Before going in, I gave each of them an apple to gobble up, in an effort to curb their supper appetite. Kier and Rory finished quickly but Cait was taking her time. It was actually the first time I gave her the whole apple, skin on, to just hold and eat herself, and let me tell you, she loved it! She is already quite an independent little girl, but the sight of her walking around the library, apple in hand, mouth full, waving and smiling to everybody, made the trip that much more fun. I tell ya, that girl is happiest when she is in a room full of people and is the center of attention. (not sure where she gets that.....).

Moving onto Friday night, I had actually picked up some movies at the library (free movies...gotta love that!), so we put on Peter Pan to watch with the kids. Not my favorite movie at all. I have never watched it, and really didn't like it. Peter Pan's attitude is so cocky and rude, and he has girls all over that island...and is quick to ditch one for the next one that catches his fancy. The kids weren't into it, so we ended up playing playmobils for a bit, and then the kiddies went to bed. We invited our good friend, Mitch over to play some games, but we (Rob, Dawn, Mitch, & I) just ended up veggin' and had great conversations. About marriage, divorce, committment, and my desire to tour North America and just help people with their marriages. Alot of sad stuff happening to couples today. We had some laughs too. (i said, 'pardon?'...inside joke.)

Onto Saturday, I usually have music practice on Saturday morning, but it was cancelled this week, so Rob let me sleep in (love that guy!), and then we packed the kids up and went to the Waterloo Children's Museum. It was alot of fun and was perfect for all of their ages. Cait just loved being able to run free and kept looking up at the lights and chinese lanters they had hanging from the ceiling, and smiling. She's so cute. Saturday evening was pretty uneventful, as Rob had to prepare for the next morning, and for some reason, I was pooped. I am convinced that my body works more efficiently on less sleep, because anytime I get extra rest, I seem to be much more tired. Weird.

So, church was good, and then we went out to eat with a bunch of people after church which is always fun. There were some 'new' people there who I haven't gotten to know very well yet, so it was nice to just veg and chat. After settling Cait down for her nap at home, and the other kids were off to play scrabble, and daddy was 'watching tv' (ie-napping :), I snuck out with Dawn for a couple hours to power shop. We hit about 9 stores the hour before they closed, and it was fun. We both found what we were looking for, and I hit some sales for the kids too. Then, I went into mommy organizing mode when I got home, and blitzed for about 3 hours, cleaning, vaccuuming, reorganizing and scrubbing. Felt good. Then, Rob and I settled in and watched a movie together. I found it hard to get into, cause it was pretty slow and didn't 'hook' me at the first, but it was so nice to just be with him for a couple hours.

So, that was our Stanley weekend. Nothing spectacular, but got to spend lots of time with most of my favorite people, so it was a good one.

How was your weekend?