dad's birthday nature walk

my parents were just recently here to visit.

during the time they were here, my dad celebrated his 62nd birthday.

i asked him, "what do you want to do today, dad?"

it was a saturday, so we were all home.

he thought wistfully and decided that we should go on a 'drive'.

now you got to know that in my childhood many weekends were spent going on 'drives' with my family.

my dad LOVES to drive.

we decided upon a destination, the goose sanctuary it was.

and off we went.

we admired the beautiful scenery in the van and were eager to walk/hike once we reached the geese.

here are some pictures from that afternoon...

we all had a great time.
the girls so enjoyed themselves and i felt a bit of nostalgia for my childhood.
it's time to start our own traditions with our girls.
that's kind of strange to think of...
like we need to branch off on our own, without our parents.
but it's exciting to see our children enjoying the same things we enjoyed when we were young.
thanks for the 'drive' daddy-o... and happy birthday again!

handsome

i stumbled across this pic of my hubby the other day.

i know i got a big old belly in this picture but
i just gotta say...
he's pretty darn handsome.
and he's MINE!!!
aren't i a lucky girl?

God time

confession...
my prayer life has been a little non-existent as of late.
it's been embarrassingly stagnant.
i have no excuses.
i can say things like, "oh, my kids are keeping me busy!" -- they are.
and, "when i have time for God i'm just too darn tired!" -- i am.
and, "i just need some time for myself." -- sometimes i do.

but they are not excuses.
or rather, i should say they are extremely poor excuses.
it's like i tell Jesus, "hey, can you just hang on there a minute?
can't you just wait over there until i feel i really need your help?
i'm just gonna keep you in this neat little box, ok?"
this is what i'm saying to the creator of the universe.
this is what i'm saying to the almighty and omnipotent God.
this is what i'm saying to the one that has saved me.  ME?
pathetic.
uh huh.
that is me.

i know what He should be saying back to me and my 'excuses', "YOU want ME to wait?"
but He doesn't say that, does He?
He does wait on me.
all. the. time.
He is always there.
He is the one that is always craving me.
when it should be exactly the other way around.

i shouldn't be surprised that this is the way things are right now.
my relationship with my Jesus is essentially the same as other close relationships i have in life.
like my marriage, for example.
i can't just assume that my husband and i are going to have multi-faceted intimacy without communicating.
can i?
and i can't just assume that my friend (swap friend with mom, sister, etc.) and i are going to connect on deeper levels when we're not even talking.
can i?

so how come i think that i'm going to have this grand ole' spiritual life when i'm not in communication with my God?
it ain't gonna work, will it?
true intimacy and depth cannot be achieved without some form of communication.
i will not continue to grow and thrive in my spiritual walk without a proper prayer life.
it will take work.
it will take dedication.
i will fail.
but my God will be there every time to pick me up and dust me off.
and i will try again.

step one in this journey...
carve out time for God.
this includes getting up BEFORE my girls get up.
oy!
this is a hard one for me because i am NOT a morning person.
M is getting up early for work anyway, so why am i staying in bed 'til the last possible second?
i can make the time.
i'll read my bible along with doing my daily devotions on my phone.
(i get daily devos sent to my email from proverbs 31 ministries... which are really awesome, by the way)
step two...
coffee!

i don't think it's a bad thing to lure myself out of bed in the mornings for the promise of a hot cup of java.
i am setting my coffee maker timer every night before bed in the hopes of an amazing early aroma.
step three...
use those free moments i have during the day to talk to Him.
you know the times... sitting at the bus stop, taking a shower, going for a run.
there are always times when i can pray.
i know that.
i just need to take the opportunity.
step four...
see where things go from here.
see where God takes me.

The prayer of a person living right with God is something powerful to be reckoned with. 
James 5:16 MSG

Happy Thanksgiving

Great is thy faithfulness, O God my father
There is no shadow of turning with Thee
Thou changest not, Thy compassions, they fail not
As Thou hast been, Thou for ever will be 


Great is thy faithfulness
Great is thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed thy hand hath provided
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me

Summer and winter, and springtime and harvest
Join with all nature in manifold witness
To thy great faithfulness, mercy and love 

Great is thy faithfulness
Great is thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed thy hand hath provided
Great is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me

Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth
Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide
Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow
Blessings all mine, with ten thousand beside 

Great is thy faithfulness
Great is thy faithfulness
Morning by morning new mercies I see
All I have needed thy hand hath providedGreat is thy faithfulness, Lord unto me


i can't help but feel thankful when i hear this song, 
one of my favorite hymns of all time.
this thanksgiving i'm thankful for my family, 
my friends, 
my church, 
my health, 
my country, 
and so much more... 
but most of all, i'm thankful for a Savior that keeps loving me 
even when i'm the most unlovable.
His faithfulness and assurance is a surprising but welcomed gift 
when i am weary, down trodden and feeling unworthy.
(which is... ahem... all the time)
Thank You Lord for those tender mercies!


happy canadian thanksgiving to all!

letters and a desk

i'm always looking for new projects and crafts to do for my home.

i want my home decor to convey our family, our likes, our creative juices.

i'm always inspired by many things; other bloggers, pinterest, store window displays, you name it.

i found these wall letters at anthropologie a few months back.

i think i saw them somewhere in nie nie's house a while ago as well.

i love the idea of our initials on the wall.

however, i wasn't ready to spend $15 per letter.

actually, i shouldn't say that.

i was ready.

i did spend over $15 per letter.

and then proceeded to return them the very next day.

i just couldn't justify it.

i still wanted that 'look' so i thought i'd replicate it in a much more cost effective way.

enter hobby lobby!

(i LOVE that store! why, oh why don't we have it in canada?!)

i picked up all the letters i needed and they were priced at $1.99 each!

yup!  less than 2 bucks per letter!

then i went to my local scrapbook store and chose some pretty paper.

here's what the letters looked like before i added the paper to the front:

and here's what they looked like after:

 then i put some 3M sticky strips on the back and stuck them to the wall, like this:

once i had them on the wall, 

i moved my couch over because i had to move the side table over, 

so the table lamp didn't block my new letters.

then i noticed there was a big empty space to the left of the couch.

i remembered this cute little kid's desk i bought at the thrift store a couple of months back.

i first thought that i'd spray paint it and it's sat in my garage ever since.

today, i realized i wanted to keep it the way it is, rusty and weathered.

methinks there's gonna be a whole lot of 'school' playing in the living room.

and i'm just fine with it!

no heat curls

this is not my new princess leia hair-do.
i'm sure, like me, you've heard of 'no-heat curls'.
if not, well, read on.
i first saw them on julie's blog, on her daughter.
oooh, i thought, looks easy and cute.
well, not the headband part... the after part, of course.

ok, easy and cute?
i'm sold!
so i watched the 13 minute tutorial here.
and it really was THAT easy.
easy enough, that i now do it ALL the time.
that's mostly because i am as lazy as it comes, when it revolves around my hair.
and, sadly, my girls' hair too.
those poor girls have to rely upon headbands and pony tails to make their hair look fancy.
moms of boys that long for a girl with hair to play with are hating me right now.  ha ha ha!
So long boring hair!

 HELLO, no heat curls!

it really is the simplest thing.

if you have relatively long hair, try it.

my hair takes curl very easily (because i have natural wave) and i leave it in for only a couple hours.

i wash my hair first thing in the morning.

let it air dry ('til about 85% dry).

start wrapping around the headband, all the way around 'til all the hair is up.

then i do everything i need to do that morning, including picking up little k from the bus stop.

(i don't need to tell you i turn heads when i have that awesome headband hairdo!)

then take it out of the headband once i can feel it's all dry and...

voila!