Latest Sewing Projects

I've been meaning to post these for a while and just haven't gotten around to uploading pictures off our camera. Finally got a chance to do it this morning, so without further ado, here are the pj's that I made for the kids for Christmas:

 This first pair is for Cohen. I didn't have a pattern at all - just used a pair they each had already as a guide and the neckline turned out a little funny on his. They still fit fine, but I did the other two a bit differently and they turned out better.

 Shaela's fit her pretty much perfectly. :)

 And last - Xavier's. They turned out a little large, so I need to shorten the pants for him. He should be able to get a good year's wear out of them. :)

And here are all three of them on Christmas Eve after they opened them up:

I also made a quilt for Cohen, as he is ready for a big-boy bed right away. I'll wait to post pictures of that one until we get his bed all set up on Monday - we're basically just waiting for his mattress to come in. :)

We went to Baby Moon Ultrasound this past weekend to learn the sex of Baby #4. I was really hoping for a girl, but it turns out it's another little BOY! We're very excited for him to be a part of our family - but I'm not gonna lie, I was a little disappointed. We've talked for forever about having 5 kids and I always said it would be boy, girl, two boys, and a girl. The last few months, however, I started feeling like maybe I'd be okay with stopping at 4 - if we had a girl next. Turns out my plans were not to be successful! This doesn't mean for sure that we're not finished. But it would have been a LOT easier for me to call it quits if we were having a girl right now - we'd have two of each that way. While I know our daughter will survive without a sister, there's just something about dressing little teeny baby girls in pink that melts my heart. So we'll see how life with 4 kids treats us and then go from there. At least we have a killer middle name picked out that we'll actually get to use now! (We're still deciding on the first name.....)

And, because it's so darn cute, here's one more shot of his tiny little feet. So adorable!

 

 

A bunch of my friends have been mentioning this site - Pinterest - for a while now and I kept telling myself that I wouldn't go on it. Didn't want to waste time online with a board that is apparently quite addictive. However, after getting a link to a friend's quilting board for help with the quilt I'm making for our youngest for Christmas, I was officially hooked. It's a great site to organize ideas and find new ones. I think I'm really going to like it. I may, however, have to give myself a time limit when I log on.....

Vegas Recap

Yes, I survived the trip to Vegas! It was fun, exhausting, some parts disappointing, but overall a great getaway with my favorite girls. I won't bore you with a day-to-day account of what we did - rather, I'll just list the highlights:
- shopping at the outlet malls and FINALLY finding a pair of COMFORTABLE casual shoes (I've been searching for over two years - thank you wide feet for being the biggest obstacle in that hunt!)
- seeing "Le Reve" at the Wynn
- Old Vegas (Fremont Street)
- Caesar's Palace - so pretty in there!
- inside the Bellagio, particularly the chocolate fountain
- Madame Tussaud's wax museum
- going up to the top of the Eiffel Tower (half the height of the original, but still very cool) and watching the fountain/light show at the Bellagio from up there
- watching the fountain show at the Bellagio from the ground

Other things we saw that I wasn't overly impressed with:
- Rainforest Cafe. Cool atmosphere, but the food was only okay and it was pricey
- Shark Reef Aquarium at Mandalay Bay. Cool to see the sharks, but a lot smaller than they make it sound. Definitely not worth the $18 it cost to get in.
- M and M store and the Coke store. Neat to wander around through, but nothing spectacularly amazing in either place.
- Volcano in front of the Mirage. Glad it was free. They should devise a way to shoot the lava three times as high and then it would be more impressive.
- The Cheesecake Factory. I'm a bit of a cheesecake snob and was disappointed in the lemon raspberry slice I ordered. It had a cake-type bottom instead of the graham cracker crust and that ruined it for me. I still like mine better.
- All the flyers/posters/billboards for hot girls. They definitely call it "Sin City" for a reason!

Drinks there are also INCREDIBLY expensive. Most places will charge $4 for a bottle of water. Outrageous! We learned early on to let our ice buckets melt overnight and use that to refill our bottles in the morning. We also did a PILE of walking! I actually lost 4 pounds (which isn't necessarily bad, but since I'm 4 months pregnant, not necessarily good either!). Overall, it was neat to see and I'm glad I got to spend the time with my mom and my sisters. But I'm definitely not gonna be one of those people that will go there over and over and over again!

{http://bestcheapvegaspackages.com/bestcheapvegaspackages.jpg}

My mom has been talking about booking a trip for my sisters and I for quite a while and about a month and a half ago, she finally did it! Vegas has never really been on any of our to-see lists, but you can get crazy cheap holidays there, so we figured, why not? Now that we've been looking into all there is to see and do, I'm super pumped to be going! Tons of free entertainment, great food, and crazy amounts of shopping. Plus a 15 acre pool complex at our hotel - did I mention it's a girls-only trip!?!? In just three short days we'll land in the infamous 'Sin City', and while we don't plan on partaking in any of the 'sinful' things to do there (no drinking or gambling for us!), there are so many other cool things to experience that I know it's going to be a blast!

My Little Monkey

I must preface this post by asking you to please ignore the giant pile of dishes on my counter in the following pictures. Jared and I had really bad colds and didn't have energy to do them for a few days!

Alright - now to the point of this post! My little monkey - aka - Cohen. We had a Curious George cake for him on his first birthday for a reason. He is one busy, curious, adventurous, and resourceful little baby! A few days ago the kids and I were all playing in the basement. One of them went upstairs for something and left the door open. Cohen, of course, took this as the perfect opportunity to escape being in the basement. Who needs toys when there's an entire main floor of things he's not supposed to get into?!?!? I wasn't overly concerned until I heard dishes being moved around. I wondered what on earth he was doing and when I came upstairs, this is what I had found:

 

He had pushed the kitchen chair over to the sink, climbed up - and IN - and was splashing in the pot that I had used to cook macaroni in the night before. All I could do was shake my head. He was soaked from the waist down so he got a quick rinse in the tub and a change of clothes. And then I had to flip the chair back on top of the other one so that he couldn't move it back over to the sink.

Of course, since this incident a couple weeks ago, he has since gained enough strength in his arms to push the chairs while stacked one of top the other - meaning nothing in my kitchen is safe anymore. If he can climb high enough to reach something, it's fair game for him to play with. At least, that's what he thinks! I remember my mom telling me stories of myself doing similar things as a small child. And I laughed! Now that I have my own child doing ridiculously crazy things like this every day - not so funny anymore! It's fun to watch him explore and try new things - but I can't tell you how happy I will be when he is finally big enough to help clean up the messes he makes!

The End of Life as We Know It

This past Wednesday, Sept. 14th was both a joyful and sad occasion in our house. It was Xavier's very first day of Kindergarten and while I am so excited for him and the things he will learn, the friends he will meet, and the experiences he'll have, it also marks the end of life as we've known it for the past five years. There is no more picking up and going wherever we want mid-week. Trekking off to stay at hotels in Dauphin or Winnipeg when Jared needs to be out of town for work. No longer are Jared and I in control of our schedule. Rather, it will now be determined by the all-important school calendar. Which days does Xavier have school, which days are holidays? When is Spring Break?

It's not that we are not excited for this time in our lives. It will add a new level of structure to our days - and since he's only every Day 2,4,6 this year, we do still have a little bit of flexibility. But, case in point - Thursday night we went to the Keith Urban concert. Originally, we planned on just spending the night in the city, hanging out at my in-laws' on Friday and on Saturday going to the Rock the River concert at the Forks.....Until we realized Xavier had school on Friday and so Jared and I made a lone trip into the city on Winnipeg for Keith Urban and drove home that night when it was done. It just hit us that - oh yeah! - we're no longer free to roam about the countryside on a whim anymore. It will bring many good changes to our family, I'm sure. But it will definitely take a few weeks to adjust to this new schedule in our lives.

 {all ready for his first day!}

August Adventures

Well, the beginning of our month was busy with Janis and Mike's wedding and the last half of our month has been busy with backyard soccer games, "What Time is it Mr. Wolf?", getting ready for school, and once again cutting Shaela's hair. She informed her brother the other night that she really wanted short hair - so he obliged and cut a bunch of big chunks off the back of her head! Of course, I had to fix it - and as I was cutting it she started crying and saying she didn't want to look like a boy! Poor girl. Maybe next time she won't say anything to her brother and will instead come tell Mom and Dad that she'd like a haircut. And in the meantime, I think we'll be hiding the scissors!

 {The new do (after I fixed it!)}

Then there's Cohen - our little monkey of a baby. He's loves to climb anything and everything, but his latest trick is in Shaela's room. The kids like to stand on her bed and look out the window to watch the cats playing outside. He's not tall enough to see out on his own, so he grips the windowsill as HARD as he can and walks up the wall with his feet! He is one strong little munchkin!!

And Xavier - our imaginative, mischievous oldest. Here he is pretending to be an eagle. He is very much looking forward to starting school, although we have yet to inform him that this will mean he actually has to put a shirt on everyday! (He's pretty much only worn one this summer when we have to go out in public). And speaking of haircuts - he will be getting one before school starts. He's been adamant all summer that he didn't want a haircut, but he's starting to look a little too much like Shaggy for my liking! He'll be getting a trim whether he wants one or not. :)

Congratulations Janis and Mr. Mike!

Last weekend marked a very special occasion for our family - my beautiful sister in law, Janis got married to Mr. Mike Severloh - aka Mr. Mike. They have had a whirlwind romance the last year and a half, but they are perfect for each other in so many ways. It was very exciting to welcome a new brother in law into the family, and it was incredibly adorable to watch my beautiful children walk down the aisle at the ceremony. Janis and Mike outdid themselves with the decor at the reception site, and it was a great chance to visit with so many of our relatives that we don't see nearly often enough.

As I write this, the happy couple are now in Hawaii for two weeks, enjoying their honeymoon - which I am only slightly jealous of! I hope they have a blast!! Congrats again you two!! We love you!

The Rest of the Story

Well, by now you have all read about our adventures with Mr. Bear while camping (if not, see the previous post). After his second venture into our campsite, we decided to pack up and go elsewhere for the rest of the trip. We meandered down from the park across various gravel roads - we had a small map, but not a very detailed one. We had a general idea of where we were going, but the kids were sleeping and we were in no rush, so we knew we'd find our way eventually. After about an hour of driving, we figured out where we were and another half an hour later we were in the river valley near Russel, MB. We checked into the campground at Assessippi Provincial Park for two more nights of adventure. We got set up and ate supper and then went for a drive to the beach/playground area. It was too cool to swim that night, but we had high hopes of having a beach day on Friday.

The rest of the night proved uneventful and after a good night's sleep, we awoke to cloudy skies and 15 degrees. It was a bit rainy, so instead of cooking breakfast in the rain, we decided to venture into Russell for food. After we ate, we stopped and took pictures with Arthur the Bull and then took a drive to the Inglis Elevators - a row of 5 grain elevators that are in the process of being restored. It was really cool to see inside of them and learn about how they were built and how they operated. It's one of those local touristy things that you never really take the time to do - but since it was too cold to swim, it was a really fun way to kill the early afternoon. After a short nap back at the campsite, we took the kids back to the playground. We walked along the beach and played in the sand, but a quick dip of our feet in the water was the only swimming we got in. By that evening (this was now Friday - we had left on Wednesday), the kids were all beat. Cohen, especially, was sick of being outside and was ready to go home. After a family discussion, we decided to pack up our stuff after supper, then eat smores and hot dogs around the fire and head home later that night.

The older two kids really enjoyed the fire, as did Jared and I. Cohen was not a happy camper at this point, so it was a bit of a challenge to keep him occupied. We managed and by 9 pm, we were ready to take off. We put the kids in their jammies and they slept the whole way home. It definitely wasn't the sunny, beach-filled, relaxing camping trip we were envisioning when we left, but it was still a great experience and one we will definitely not forget anytime soon!

And, as always - some pictures of our adventures!

 {Fresh raspberries from along the path to the washrooms}

 

 {visiting Arthur the Bull}

 {Inside the restored grain elevator shaft - six stories high}

 {all five Inglis Elevators}

 {at the beach}

 {at the playground}

Camping With a Bear is No Fun!

Yep, you read that right - a bear! Wednesday marked the beginning of what was supposed to be our 5 night camping trip to Child's Lake in Manitoba's beautiful Duck Mountains. We got a late start, as it was POURING rain when we woke up that day - made it hard for me to get motivated to pack for camping. Eventually, the skies cleared and we sighed with relief as we finally headed off to our destination. It was about 8 pm before we got there, so we ate a late supper and set up camp as quickly as we could. The kids had a quick snack and we put them to bed. After chatting for a few minutes about plans for the next few days, Jared and I packed it in for the night as well. It was incredibly windy, which FREAKS me out! - long story behind that, I'll share it another time - so it took me forever to fall asleep. The kids were up early the next morning, so we were all a bit tired, and unfortunately, the forecast of 27 celcius and sunny did not appear to be happening. It was partly cloudy, windy, and about 15 degrees. Not exactly perfect camping weather, but we figured we had the bikes along and could make the best of it. We ate our breakfast and then ventured off to go get some firewood.

That's when the real fun began. When we came back to our campsite, we started unloading the wood and Jared says, "Hey look - there's a bear in the bush!" (which was just behind our site). At first, I think, "Cool!" and tell Jared to grab the camera. That's when I notice that some of the food from our hard top cooler is on the ground. I was so confused - we had just gotten back, so I knew the kids hadn't been playing in it - and then I noticed the cooler was not tucked under the end of the picnic table where we left it. And then it dawned on me - THE BEAR WAS EATING OUR FOOD!

I quickly grabbed what was left of it from the ground, while Jared shooed the kids into the van. We tried to make noise and scare him off, but he was too busy enjoying his breakfast. After he climbed onto the picnic table to look for more food and instead found the bag of books that we'd brought along for the kids, we decided it was time to get out of there and go report him at the office.

 

At the office, we were informed that there were two bears that had been spotted in the area - the one we saw, and a bigger one that was older. Apparently they had been in another bay trying to get into people's campers!! Talk about freaky - especially when you have small kids! However, at that point, we figured that since he had snagged all the food he could from our site, that if we were diligent about cleaning up and making sure the coolers were both in the van after meals, that we would probably be fine. We ventured back to our site and cleaned up all the food that he left behind. We dragged the cooler back to our site - it was lying in the bush about 20 feet away - and figured out what all we would have to replace. He made off with the bowl of chili I had packed - we couldn't even find the bowl! And he also punctured a hole in the lid of the container I had our shredded cheese in, as well as chewed holes in both milk jugs and a couple bottles of water. Apparently bears are not a fan of peas. He chewed a hole in the bag, but they were all still there! We threw them out and decided we'd just eat raw veggies in place of those. 

The bite marks in the cooler.

Next stop was the little lodge at the main beach to pick up more milk and cheese. We were able to save the rest of our food so those were the only things we had to replace. We let the kids play at the play structure there for a while before heading back to our campsite for lunch. Jared and I were both on edge when we got back, checking the trees with each little snap of a twig. It was a bit of an unsettling feeling, and I was beginning to think this camping trip might not be all we had cracked it up to be. We made our sandwiches and sat down to eat. We were just about finished when I glanced behind me, and who did I see, but Mr. Bear, coming back for some more food! Again, Jared herded the kids into the van, while I frantically began throwing the food into the cooler. Jared came back and scooped up all the dishes and I grabbed anything else I could that might be scented with food, including Cohen's booster chair - which the bear had taken a bite out of on his previous visit. During this time, the bear made absolutely no pretense of being scared of us in any way, shape, or form. He just slowly sauntered up towards the picnic table until he was about three feet away from me. It was a pretty unreal experience! 

Once we had everything in the van, Jared and I hung around the back of the van to make some noise and see if we couldn't scare him off. When it was clear that it wasn't going to work, we hopped in the van and drove back to the office. We decided on the way there that as much as we didn't want to pack up and leave, we could not stay in the campground knowing there were two bears hanging around. They graciously gave us a refund for the next four nights and while we were packing up our site, we heard the big "SLAM" of one of the trap doors - they had caught the small bear that had been terrorizing our site. But knowing there was another one still out there, we decided to just carry on and leave anyway. I'll post later about the rest of the trip - it was definitely not what we imagined! But we did still manage to have a bit of fun along the way - and hey - a bear on your picnic table - TWICE! - definitely makes for a good story!

Hello Summer

{the kiddos enjoying our Toy Story Slip 'n' Slide last weekend}

In just a few short hours, my hubby will officially be on holidays for the next four weeks. This marks the very first summer that we will actually get HOLIDAYS together as a family. In past years, we have been working at summer jobs in between the school year, or were self-employed. So save for the odd day off here and there, we have never spent an entire four weeks together with no work in our entire married lives.

Bring on the Slip 'n' Slide, playing on the new play structure in the backyard, evening fires, camping at Child's Lake, reading a TON of books, and enjoying some much needed - and much deserved! - R and R.

Almost Like New

Our kitchen chairs have been starting to bite the dust for quite some time, but buying new ones was not in the budget. After much thought about what to do, I finally realized that it wouldn't be that difficult to re-do them. So, off we went to Home Depot to pick up a sheet of plywood and then to the fabric store to get foam and material to cover them in. After tracing out new seat bottoms and getting Jared to cut them out for me, I cut out the foam and went to town with the staple gun. It was a very easy DIY project, and I must say, a lot of fun! They're not the most fabulous chairs in the world, but they are almost as good as new. In fact, I like the funky patterns that I chose a lot better than the yucky microfibre they originally came with - which, you can see in the picture, was getting very stained - hazards of having small children, unfortunately. Hopefully the chairs will now last until we get a bigger table and chair set down the road - and even then, I'd like to be able to hang on to these for 'extra' chairs when we have lots of company over.

BEFORE:

 

AFTER:

 

Silly Sayings from the Kidlets

My kids crack me up. They seriously say the funniest things. Cases in point:

Xavier got a new bike for his birthday - we actually bought it a few weeks ago, instead of waiting until his actual birthday. His other one was just way too small. Anyway....he also got the movie, "How to Train Your Dragon" from my mom at his party this past Sunday. I have yet to see this movie - but he has seen it a couple times now. He watched it Monday morning and promptly decided that afternoon that his new bike was now a dragon named "Toothless". We went over to my mom's that evening so the kids could jump on her trampoline. As we were driving away from our house, Xavier says from the back seat in a very anxious voice,

"Dad...I don't want the flies and mosquitos to bite my blue dragon, Toothless (of course, referring to his bike, which was left sitting outside near the front step). I want the birds to eat the mosquitos instead."

Jared and I just chuckled and reassured him that his bike, would, in fact, be just fine.


The other funniest, and quite possibly the MOST adorable thing the kids have said came from Shaela while eating supper Monday night. We were talking about going over to Grandma's to jump on the trampoline and Shaela was trying to say the word. She doesn't quite get it right - so I was trying to slow it down into syllables for her so she could sound it out. After trying a few times and still not getting it, she gave me a big smile and declared,

"That's a really tricky one to say!"

Melted my heart and gave all of us a good laugh. She is just so gosh darn cute!

Updates from the Last Month

I know it's been awful quiet around here again lately. What can I say? Life with three kids is busy. :) In a good way, but busy, nonetheless.

Most of my days are spent cleaning up after the kids - as of late, it's been paper and crayons. Xavier has become a drawing machine! He loves to colour and draw pictures, and especially loves when Mom or Dad draw pictures for him which he then colours in. It's been a stretch of my artistic abilities, that's for sure! When Xavier is not busy colouring, he's still into climbing and running and jumping on anything and everything.

Shaela, despite loving to wrestle with her brother, can only handle so much and then she'll retreat to her room where she loves to have tea parties and read stories to her multitude of babies. She doesn't like Cohen going in her room anymore, but she is very good about getting him his own toys to play with.

Cohen - what can I say. I think he may be our busiest baby yet. He LOVES to climb and figured out to to get onto the kitchen chairs and then on to the table a few weeks ago. It now forces me to put the chairs against the wall or stacked on top of the other so that he can't climb up there. He is a very cuddly little boy still and loves to have his snuggles before nap and bedtime. He just got teeth # 5 and 6 the past two weeks. I'm thankful they are both through and hoping the next ones decide to wait a few months! He gets very grumpy when teething! He also has a bit of a temper emerging and will let you know when he's not happy with you. The kid can almost pierce an eardrum with his scream and is almost to the point of perfecting the 'throwing himself on the floor while wailing' tactic. It doesn't work in getting him what he wants, but he likes to think it will make me change my mind.

 Over a year into it and we are still not regretting our decision to cloth diaper. We did finally get a diaper sprayer and that has been awesome! Why we didn't get one sooner, I'm not quite sure, but I'm very glad we have one now!

As for me, I have been enjoying sewing more and more things. I finished Shaela's dress that I had started and and almost done my sewing machine cover. The fabric store is having a sale the next couple weeks on a bunch of different things, so I think I'll be stocking up on fabric while I can get it for cheap. Plans for the future include pj's for the kids and a pouch sling for myself, among other things.

And of course, what would an update post be without a few recent pictures?!?!? Enjoy!!!

A New Hobby

As if I need any more things to take up my time so I forget to update my blog, I have found a new hobby, one that is going to prove very addicting! What is it, you ask?

SEWING!

Technically, I have had a sewing machine for over a year now, but the bobbin winder is broken (still is) and my step-dad was going to fix it for me. That hasn't happened yet (hopefully soon, cuz it's a PAIN doing it by hand!), and I didn't have room in our old house for it. So it sat at my parent's house collecting dust until a few weeks ago when I finally picked it up from their place and brought it to our new home, where I have a lot more space for actually creating things!

Now, small tid-bit of information. I'm a little bit scared of sewing machines. I'm sure with practice, this will get better - but I am terrified of going too fast and catching my fingers in the needle. Thankfully, the machine I have - it's a Singer from sometime in the early 50's - can go as slowly as I would like it to. Which is awesome! This weekend I started my first two projects. Fairly simple ones and although they are far from perfect, turned out a lot better than I anticipated. I made two valances - one for Shaela's room and one for ours. I also made a headboard for our room on Sunday, which didn't require the sewing machine, but was still a fun, crafty project. And it looks awesome in our new room!

 Ours:

 Shaela's:

 (it looks almost black in the pic, but it's actually a very dark purple)

Up next on the project list: a dust cover for the sewing machine - the plastic one it came with is falling apart, and a dress for Shaela, made out of the first material I bought for the valance in our room. Got it home and it just didn't quite go with the room. But it will make a very cute summer dress for our darling daughter.

Now to resist the urge to frequent the fabric store every week. They have so many cute prints in there! I walk through there with visions of dresses and pillowcases and blankets and all sorts of other projects dancing in my eyes......

Renovations 'R' Us!

My little blog has once again been sorely neglected, and I would like to say I'm sorry for my absence...BUUUUT things have been just a little bit crazy in our household, so I don't really feel the need to apologize. I'm sure you'll all understand. :)

Let's see....I'll do the Reader's Digest version of our moving story, since I could spend an hour recounting it all and it will just frustrate me all over again. We ended up with a dead battery in our Uhaul when we went to pick it up. They charged it, we brought it to our house, loaded it all up and were ready to leave and it wouldn't start. Assumed it was the battery again. Turns out it was the starter. That was Saturday, March 14th around 4:30 pm. By 7:30 pm we were finally in a hotel room for the night (compliments of Uhaul, so we booked the biggest suite available. Can we say, Jacuzzi???). Many, many frustrating conversations and enough anxiety to almost cause a mental breakdown later and our truck full of our stuff finally arrived at our new house Monday evening just after 9 pm. Got it all unloaded Tuesday evening and we've been working like crazy people to get the new place unpacked/organized/painted/renovated. Didn't help that Jared and I took a vacation to Florida and the Bahamas for just over a week at the end of March. Although that was a much deserved - and much needed! - break from life. If I could afford to lay on the beach in the Bahamas every day from now until I died, I'd be a happy woman.

And that pretty much catches us up to today! We have yet to take any 'after' pictures of the house - I'm hoping maybe tomorrow? We have a few small things to do yet on the main floor and then we need to start saving to do the backyard once all this crazy snow finally decides to melt. Yep, that's right. We still have snow! A good six inches or more in places, although we can see grass finally on a good portion of the yard.

Anyway...it is once again bedtime for the kiddos. I should go help Jared tuck them in - I love that man, can I just say that? He is so awesome at sharing parenting duties, especially when I'm feeling too wiped to do them myself. Once the kids are sleeping we have a date with the tv. OKC vs. the Nuggets tonight. A rare moment of rest for the two of us this past month. We've pretty much been working on the house non-stop every night (in between cooking and cleaning and laundry. If there were none of that, we'd be done by now!). I promise there will be an update with way too many pictures in the very near future. And hopefully some more regular updates, but I can't guarantee anything. Life with three kidlets really is anything but ordinary! :)

A Dream Come True

Looking out my living room window and seeing that SOLD sign in front of our house has brought me so much joy in the past week! It is a constant reminder of God's amazing love for me and how, if we wait patiently on Him, He will give us our heart's desires. It brings to mind two verses: Jeremiah 29:11 - "For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord. "Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." The second is Romans 8:28 - "For the Lord works out all things for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose." I'm sure there are a ton of other verses that would apply as well - but those two have always been two of my favorites.

So, why did we sell our house you may ask? Well....a long time ago - just over 8 years to be exact - Jared and I began dating and began talking about our future. Our house, where we would live, how many kids we would have, etc, etc. My dream was to live around the area where I grew up on a few acres of land so the kids would have tons of space to play and we could have a massive garden and a few animals. Jared, being a born-and-raised city boy wasn't exactly sold on the idea. At least not at first. However, after visiting my family a few times over Christmas and during the summers, we both knew by the time we got married that that's what we wanted for a future home. Then came the waiting.

Our first year of marriage we lived in Edmonton as I was still going to school. Then we decided to move back to Manitoba so that we could be closer to grandparents when we started having babies. We had to move to Winnipeg so that Jared could finish his social work degree and the initial plan was to be there for two years while he finished. Of course, once here, we found out that he would need at least three years to finish since not all of his classes transferred. And then life happened - we had a baby, and then anther one. Jared hates doing homework, so he failed a few classes. Then he finally got his act together and graduated - such a happy day! When he was done and looking for work, he tried to find a job in Brandon, but to no avail. He ended up being offered a position here in the city and so I put my dream of living in the country on hold yet again. I was disappointed. But I decided that rather than wallowing in self pity, I would be happy about my circumstance and make the best of it. It wasn't always easy - but God gave me peace. Jared kept assuring me that it would still happen. We would move out of Winnipeg before Xavier started kindergarten. I wanted to believe him, but I didn't want to get my heart broken either. A tiny little part of me felt like it was never going to happen and I would be stuck here forever.

And then, very out of the blue, Jared got a job offer from his current employer for a different position that would be based out of their Brandon office. When he got off the phone and told me the news, I couldn't stop smiling for three days! It was actually going to happen! We would be out of here before Xavier starts kindergarten this fall. Then came the whirlwind of selling our house, buying a new house, and getting all the paperwork in order. We are still in the midst of that whirlwind, but it is SUCH a good feeling to see things falling into place. And so quickly! We weren't sure how soon this would all pan out - but it's literally been just a few short weeks!

This is our our new place that we'll be calling home by the middle of March:

It's an older bungalow, so it needs a bit of work. And it's not quite in the middle of nowhere - it's in Justice, a very small town about 10 minutes NW of Brandon. But it's got a huge yard with space for a garden and way more room for the kids than we have now. It won't be our forever home, but it will be something that we can grow into over the next few years until we find EXACTLY what we're looking for in a property/house - I keep dreaming of building a place some day. We'll see! I seriously cannot WAIT to be all moved in here and out of the city!

Now, don't get my wrong. Winnipeg is an okay place and I know a lot of people love living here. But for me, well, let's just say you can't take the country out of me! It's who I am and where I feel at home. I love the wide open space, the lack of conveniences right around your corner. I love the QUIET! I love looking up at the sky at night and seeing nothing but a million and one stars. I am sooo incredibly excited that I will FINALLY be able to see this dream come to fruition! As I said, we're not quite in the middle of nowhere yet. But it's a start. It will be a great transition home as we adjust to not being in the city anymore. And someday, I know that if we continue to be patient, God will one day grant us the dream of having that acreage that we've been longing for.

So Far Behind

Okay.

I know.

I haven't updated since before Christmas.

And now it's almost the end of January! Eek!

This time, though, I actually have a great excuse!!! We're moving! My wonderful husband (completely out of the blue) got offered a position in Brandon a few weeks ago and we've been on a whirlwind adventure ever since! The great thing is that it's with the same agency he is currently working for, so he's basically doing a lateral transfer - which means keeping his holidays (YAY!) and no probation (double YAY!). HOWEVER......this has made for mad chaos around our house. Well, not quite. I embellish a little. But getting the house ready to sell, getting it listed, and now trying to keep it clean for showings with three small kids to pick up after each day - No small feat, I assure you!

My sister in law also got engaged two weeks ago - very exciting! We are thrilled for her and future hubby, Mike. But that has also added slightly to the chaos. It's all good chaos. Don't get me wrong! It's just exhausting, so by the time the end of the day rolls around my brain can't really wrap itself around the concept of coming up with a witty blog post. So I apologize. I may be absent-ish for a while as we continue packing and house hunting. Oh, and did I mention that Jared starts his job next Monday? And since we won't be in a new house yet by then it means I'll be here by myself during the week with the kiddos while he stays with family? I'm not looking forward to that aspect of all of this. I love my kids. But I also love my hubby and will miss him dearly. He's a HUGE help with the kids in the evenings and I will be longing for the days when we can be all together again. So pray for us! That our house sells quickly and that I don't completely lose my sanity while he's gone and I'm here alone.

And I promise that once the chaos of this chapter of our life calms down, I will do a major update with pictures of the new place, perhaps some Christmas photos. An update on how the kids are doing.....But for now, my bed is calling me.