Only a Prayer

No New Year resolutions, only a prayer for you and me for 2009: May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half truths, and superficial relationships, so that you may live deep within your heart. May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression, and exploitation of people, so that you may work for justice, freedom, and peace. May God bless you with tears to shed for those who suffer from pain, rejection, starvation, and war, so that you may reach out your hand to comfort them and to turn their pain in to joy. And may God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world, so that you can do what others claim cannot be done. -Franciscan benediction

Christmas Snapshots

As you can tell my last posts, the snow has been a big part of our lives these past few weeks. So it's no wonder that it also changed our Christmas plans. We had anticipated having Shawn's parents here for Christmas, but since they also got dumped with even more snow than we did, they thought it was wiser to stay home where they were safe and warm. We also missed our treasured Christmas eve service at church, but we had our own at home instead. Nolan was a little disappointed that we had memorized Luke 2 and now had no one to recite it to. Once he understood that the main reason we did it was to honor God, he was happy to recite it without a big audience. The night of the 24th was a the longest one ever to our kids, and probably to many more around the world. Nolan and Ethan were awake at 3am and were baffled when Shawn told them to get back to sleep! Which fortunately they were able to do. Christian told us he woke up at 2am, then again at 4am and when he woke up again at 5am, he just waited until he could finally get up. So at 6am the kids misery ended and we all went to peak under the tree. Christmas morning greeted us with some more beautiful snow falling outside, and we were able to enjoy a nice day with our family.

Legos are still at the top of the Christmas wish list

I'm so glad I have some of my family that I grew with in Brazil now also living in North America, and not to far from us, just north of the border in Abbotsford. They joined us on Saturday to celebrate Christmas together. Here is my cousin Jackie and her precious new little daughter, Adrianna Louise. After all the good food and sitting around that invariably comes along with the holidays, we had to head out and get rid of some of the accumulated energy .

Snow Fun

Like most people around the country, we too had to deal with a larger then usual dump of snow. And we sure dealt with it, the best way we knew how to, having fun and enjoying it.

The kids got their snow gear out and hit the slopes (aka as our street).

They found a hill I did not even know was there.

Kami and and her husband Nathan, fresh from the South African summer, had their turn sledding and playing in the snow. aren't they a cute couple!

Of course, it was not fun for everyone. This poor Texan was not counting on our slick roads!

Action Shots

Some of you out there are excellent photographers and this might not happen to you often. As for me, I could not be happier that the world went digital. There would be a lot of wasted film otherwise. Take a look!

"The headless sledder"

"Too fast!" Or the photographer was too slow! "Face plant" But once in a while you get it at just the right moment!

Drudgery or Delight?

Depends who you ask. The boys have been in a snow daze since Sunday. Nolan mentioned that he just saw sleds in his mind when he closed his eyes and even his blanket felt like a sled; this was on Sunday after sledding all day long. Ethan woke up this morning and said that he dreamed that all that snow was gone, this was met with a gasp of horror from the other two. There was great disappointment this morning as Christian felt cheated by the forecast and school was on, with a 2hr delay. As soon as he left for school, it came down in big flakes. It was very hard for Nolan and Ethan to concentrate in their school work. After an hour of trying to get their focus I gave up and out they went, not be seen for hours. The neighbor kids were picked up early from school and the party was on! It's dark now but they are still out there. You will probably not get this excitement from whoever had to be on the road today, but in this household, snow means delight! I just hope Shawn will make it safely home, he would probably call it drudgery today.

Following the Tracks

As many other moms will do today, I also bundled up to go outside and snap a picture of the first winter play of the season. As I stepped outside, all was still and peaceful. However, there were plenty of clues for you to know that there were kids at play out some where.

There were angels left behind

Broken sleds that lay forgotten

Sled tracks that led to ditches, but no boys to be found

Until I heard screams of delight and shouts of excitement

And here I found them

Playing down in the cul de sac with the neighbor kids

How much fun can that be?

A Boy's To Do List

1. Have a snow ball fight 2. Make a snow angel 3. Sledding 4. Build a snow fort 5. Crawl through the threes in the snow 6. Build a snow ball ramp (?) And all of this in barely 3 inches of snow. Imagine if we had a foot of the white stuff! Mom's to do list 1. Dig out the snow paraphernalia 2. Convince a boy that even though his foot has grown 2 shoe sizes, last year's boots will do just fine 3. Convince another boy that mom's snow pants fit him just right, since last year's pants will not close 4. Find matching mates for lonesome gloves 5. Get sled and boys outside and close the garage door 6. Have a few minutes to herself (to update blog) To do later 7. Warm up freezing hands 8. Hang up dripping snow clothes 9. Make hot chocolate 10. Enjoy this beautiful winter wonderland.

I Spy . . .

. . . an eagle!

Actually, three of them. And surrounding these three, there were another nine of these magnificent birds. We saw numerous more as we joined the parks and rec ranger program. At this time of the year the eagles fly south to feast on the returning (and dying) chum salmon. They are certainly a feast for our eyes.

If you put Nolan and Ethan together with their arms stretched out, you'll get an eagle's wingspan!

Seeds of Kindness

Our cub scout theme for these past two months has been seeds of kindness. Kindness at home, and kindness around our community. Of course this has been something Shawn and I have been working on since day one. Some days we see the fruits of these seeds, some days we think all the seeds have been carried away by the wind! But we press on, working on planting these seeds in the boys hearts.

The boys made ornaments in our cub scouts meetings and we went out to a nursing home to bless the residents not only with hand made ornaments, but also with their singing voices, smiles . . .

. . . and silly faces! Always a boy's favorite!

All Things Aquatic

The day was clear and crisp as we boarded the train to Seattle. Our goal was to spend the day at the aquarium to see and touch all the things we have been learning about. We were joined by our friends, the Crowleys, who are studying the same material. The kids spent hours observing, admiring and touching God's amazing creation. They were also given an "aquatic hunt", and looked for pinnipeds without an ear flap, for a melon that is not a fruit, for dermal denticles and the list went on. I thought I had made it a challenge and told them they would get 50 cents per answer, to use in the gift shop. Good thing they only had 10 things to look for, otherwise I would have gone broke!

This cute little seal (a pinniped without earl flaps), must have been attracted to the bright colors of our jackets. Our friends told us that as soon as we walked through the door the seals turned their heads and followed us. We were unaware of it and stopped right in front of the little deck, where both seals jumped up, still with their eyes fixed on us. We assumed that their care givers (aka to the seals as "fish is coming"), must wear these same bright colors. We tried the trick again, but the seals were not fooled the second time around. >

Oh the Joy of . . .

. . . Christmas lights! I really enjoy a Christmas tree full of bright clear lights, but it is a chore to wind them all around every branch of the tree. The boys wait (impatiently) while I put the lights strands on, so that they will be able to hang the ornaments. This year Shawn and the boys wanted to surprise me. They would set up the tree and all the lights while I was away. That was the idea anyways. I got home to a tree with with half of the lights working, a big pile of discarded light strands, boys that had long lost interest in the tree and a husband that still seemed calm but obviously very frustrated. We worked with the remaining functioning lights and it looked like we had accomplished the task of distributing the lights evenly all over the tree; as long as we turned the tree to hide a few of the lower branches without lights. As we were turning the tree, all the lights went off. NOW WHAT !! Turns out that the wire came right off the plug due to the tension. Instead of just giving up, which I'm sure he felt like, my dear husband got out his tools and the electrical insulated tape. In no time we were back in business again.

After waiting an extra long time this year, the boys were finally able to hang the ornaments. I have to say though, I heard Shawn mention that next year we are getting one of those trees with ready to go lights. My questions is, what will happen if one those strands burn out?

A Simple Wish

Nolan's only request for a birthday gift was a reading lamp; so he could read early in the morning without waking his brother up. How could you deny such a request? He woke up in morning of his birthday and bumped his head on the lamp that we had place on his bed early in morning. He did not mind the bump and started reading right away.

He also received a more typical 9 year old gift.By 6 am all three boys were up and ready for a Nero gun battle.

As it is a tradition in our house, the birthday person chooses the menu for the whole day and also gets the day off from all his chores. Nolan's birthday cake was a raspberry cream cheese cake, although not your traditional cake, it still had candles. I forgot to get a number 9 candle, so we used our math skills, 3x3= 9 years old.

Happy Birthday my Dear Son!

WE LOVE YOU !