God is so faithful and so Good!

My mom and I sat up till after 3am last night on a mission to get Adam's and my taxes done. I needed a few things out of the way before Annabelle goes in for her hernia surgery on Monday so I can relax without trying to do extra stuff while she is recovering. So, we finished it!!! Thank you so much Mom! And as always, God is so good to us! We use our tax returns to pay for the kids school and although the price is steep, we payed in full last year in May and this year we will be able to do the same, and still have a little left over to set aside for holidays and maybe buy Adam some much needed chest waders for fishing.

Also, we had a big scare with my dad this week and after tests, let me say it again, GOD is SO good, and Dad is going to be fine. What they thought was possibly the worst case ended up being serious but easily taken care of with some antibiotics.

Spring break is coming to a close and I feel a weight lifted and revitalized to start the usual schedule.


Psa 23:1 The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want.
He maketh me to lie down in green pastures: he leadeth me beside the still waters.
He restoreth my soul: he leadeth me in the paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies: thou anointest my head with oil; my cup runneth over.
Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life: and I will dwell in the house of the LORD for ever.

If I were a Butterfly

Over spring break I was certainly busy but enjoyed all the quality time with the kids... and extra kids. Here is one of the projects we did and finished up yesterday. I forgot to take pictures of a couple of the crafts along the way but you'll get the idea. A lot of the pictures turned out fuzzy also and that was the cause of a finger print that my sister discovered on the octopus day. I got most of the craft ideas from the link below. Very great site, I have used it often over the years!

If I were a Butterfly

If I were a butterfly I'd thank You Lord for giving me wings,

And if I were a robin in a tree I'd thank You Lord that I could sing,

If I were a fish in the sea, I'd wiggle my tale and I'd giggle with glee

But I just thank you Father for making me, me.

For You gave me a heart and

You gave me a smile

You gave me Jesus and

You made me Your child

And I just thank you Father for making me, me

If I were an elephant I'd thank You Lord by raising my trunk,

And if I were a kangaroo, You know I'd hop right up to You, (see them on the left side?)

And if I were an Octopus, I'd thank You Lord for my good looks,

But I just thank you Father for making me, me.

For You gave me a heart and
You gave me a smile
You gave me Jesus and
You made me Your child
And I just thank you Father for making me, me

If I were a wiggly worm I'd thank You Lord that I could squirm,

And if I were a fuzzy wuzzy bear I'd thank You Lord for my fuzzy wuzzy hair,

And if I were a crocodile, I'd that You Lord for my great smile,

But I just thank you Father for making me, me.

For You gave me a heart and
You gave me a smile
You gave me Jesus and
You made me Your child
And I just thank you Father for making me, me

The finished project and lovely art on the wall for the kids to admire as they go to the basement to play. We tried this before but didn't quite get finished so I am glad to say it is a complete project. The kangaroos were a toilet paper roll craft and the fish were made with washable markers on coffee filters, wet with spray bottle, dried by blow dryer and then cut out and decorated with little craft jewels. A lot of fun for sure!!!

St Patrick's Day

Since I have a bunch of Irish blood in me and St Patrick's day was made a big deal of when we were kids, I like to do the same for my little ones. This year we had a crowd but enjoyed it none the less. I always read the children the Legend of St Patrick which they love. Then we do a craft and watch the Veggie Tales version of the legend on The Sumo and the Opera. Here are a few pics of the fun of the day. The thing uploaded them in odd order so sorry about that.

Here the kids are watching the movie and having popcorn. They really enjoy it.
My nephew Eric with his finished hat

Curtis and Annabelle just goofing around with their hats on.

Joel made sure there were lots of stickers on the front and insisted on no glitter or glue.

Annabelle with the biggest smile of her life! ha ha

Eric, Alex and Curt, working hard on their pictures.

Buds!

The crowd, crafting away at the kitchen table.

working on their hats.

Hope your day was wonderful! God bless!

TERRACE IS HOCKEYVILLE!!!

The kids and I watched the Hockeyville results at the 1st intermission of the Canucks-Sharks game tonight. Joshua and Joel wore Charlene and my jerseys.

Terrace Is Hockeyville!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Hope to get to the game at the arena vs. The Islanders on September 14th.

Hockeyville Madness!

Well I decided to go down to the voting center tonight to do some intense voting for Hockeyville. Very glad I did. There was a nice community spirit as everyone voted away.
I had worked hard to get my 3,000 votes and almost tripled that in about 3 hours down at the voting center!!! I'm always amazed that when I step out of my comfort zone and do things that are not things I want to do but feel right I'm shocked at how positive the results are. Terrace is Hockeyville or not it was a great experience.

Voting Summary:
computer (hard, several days) 3,303
3 hours at voting center 11,130
__________________________
Grand Total 14,433 votes!!!

Hockeyville!

Joshua took this picture of Adam and I at the Sportsplex after skating. Don't we look so cool! ha ha
Adam really wanted us to get the Hockeyville jerseys. I am glad we did as I love to supporting local things like this and we use the Arena quite often with the kids.

Here we were just getting ready to head home from free skate which is every Monday from 3:30-4:30. So much fun!

Adam proudly wearing his jersey.

Annabelle was starting to get a little sore from falling by now so she was using the wall to help herself along. She actually is a very good little skater already. I am glad the kids get a lot of practice time as I didn't get a lot as a kid and I am pretty scared on ice.

Joel can skate great... well, it is more like running as fast as he can. It is so cute. I can't help but laugh. He rarely falls though.

And Joshua has pretty much mastered skating. No fear!

Adam is doing very well getting close to his goal for votes for Terrace is Hockeyville. Tonight finishes the voting and then we can get back to regular life! I have not put in many votes but I have done a few. How exciting! Only a few more days and we will know if Terrace did it!

Vote for Terrace (of course) HERE
I timed 10 votes there at 3:36.
You can also vote by phoning 1-866-533-8066. I timed 10 votes there at 6:55.
Test messaging would be the fastest but I can't time as I can't text message.
Text- Vote Terrace to 222111

Since original post a couple of hours ago I've voted 200 times. My goal is 3,000 votes.
Maybe I'm not crazy about hockey but this will affect the community. I've also really enjoyed the free skates at the arena on Mondays 3:30-4:30pm with the kids and look forward to the kids enjoying the arena. Hopefully with a $100,000 upgrade, eh?

Watkins?

OKay, I know this is a little strange but for anyone who loves Watkins, I have a friend who sells it and she was telling me that there is a free shipping offer till the end of this month (Friday) on orders over $50!

They have about the best spices and extracts around as well as many natural medicines (cough syrup, muscle pain relievers and much much more). I need to get some chili powder and a few other items so I was thinking I will put out an order on Friday and if anyone wants to get anything when I do, I can add it on if you have some money for me :) Let me know ASAP.

Valentines Day

Valentines day for our family is a great day for me and Adam to help the kids understand how much God loves them and how much we love them. And that God's love is greater than any other that a person will have. Also that we learn how to love by the example of Jesus life and the word of God, who is Love!

Adam and I have never really celebrated Valentines day for us as our anniversary is 3 days later so we choose to celebrate it instead. This is fine by me because I always found it a bit cheesy anyway. Although I never really minded the attention it brought. ha ha.

Here are a few pictures of our day. Adam and the kids did buy me a big Valentine balloon and some beautiful flowers but we didn't remember to get pictures of them before the balloon was demolished. And my mom bought the kids a board game and chocolates that, as well, got overlooked in the photographs but the kids are enjoying the game everyday since! We also got a babysitter in the evening and went out to the church where there were wonderful desserts, great friends and conversation and a speaker in from out of town to talk about marriage. It was a nice evening.

We read 1Corinthians 13 and explained it to the kids. Then we gave them these. The Bernstein Bears books are the christian series of 4 that they have out. They are wonderful stories!

Also my Dad and his girlfriend sent some gifts for the kids and they just loved them. Here is Joshua with his markers and cool paper. Very neat.

Annabelle with her princess hair stuff and jewelry!

And here is Joel, you can see how excited he was for these two cute sports Curious Georges!

And Joel didn't get valentine cards because he is not in school yet so Joshua and Annabelle made sure that they gave him one each. He was so pleased!

Annabelle holding Daddy's chocolates from all of us. And Adam will be giving Annabelle the heart box tomorrow. That will make her as happy as can be.

Yum! They are good quality chocolate. Almost equivalent to Purdy's!

And then our last project of the day... Adam and I finally conquered the boys border for their room. We have had it for the last 2 months and just finally put it up. The boys picked the border and the paint colour. I think it looks great! My mom and I will be picking out material for curtains soon and my mom says she will make them! What a blessing! I can't wait! She made our last ones too but then we had the water damage. We could keep the old ones but she said she doesn't mind making new. The others were space theme and were awesome! But would not match too well with the room now. Thanks Mama!

The boys admiring their border. They were so excited! You can't really tell in the picture but they honestly were!

And while we were doing that, Annabelle was working on this. Then she decided that this is how she wants her hair for wacky hair day. That is this Friday! Should look cool!

Other than that, we headed over to Adam's mom's house for her birthday on the 15Th. Was a blast and she made supper for all of us and Adam's brother's family. Was so nice to all be together! Then we played some dice and headed home.

Yesterday Adam and I went out to the Hot house for our 8 year anniversary. Then we headed to the theatre and watched Mall Cop, very funny! And then went and shopped for gifts for each other. Was fun. We bought a few movies from Wal*mart so when we got home we watched School of Rock and that concludes our last few days... Hope all is well in blog land! God bless!

Here's a story

Most people know that I babysit this little cutie. Check out this link to a little story and maybe go show your support at the garage sale this weekend!

PATHWAY OF PAIN

If my days were untroubled and my heart always light,
would I seek that fair land where there is no night?

If I never grew weary with the weight of my load,
would I search for God's peace at the end of the road?

If I never knew sickness and never felt pain,
would I search for a hand to help and sustain?

If I walked without sorrow and lived without loss,
would my soul seek solace at the foot of the cross?

If all I desired was mine day by day,
would I kneel before God and earnestly pray?

If God sent no winter to freeze me with fear,
would I yearn for the warmth of Spring every year?

I ask myself these and the answer is plain,
if my life were pleasure and I never knew pain

I'd seek God less often and need Him much less,
for God is sought more often in times of distress.

And no one knows God or sees Him as plain
as those who have met Him on the "Pathway of Pain."

-------Helen Steiner Rice

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A blog giveaway

Well folks, my good friend Darci is doing a give away. It just happens to be for 12 candles and the Fireproof movie!!! I just got mine in the mail today and I am so looking forward to watching it with my Love tonight. Head on over to Darci's blog, leave a comment and tell what you will be doing for Valentines day, to be entered in the draw.

Fireproof

I wrote about the book a while ago and now am waiting for my movie to come in the mail. I am looking forward to seeing it so much. What a powerful message it holds. People in our small group were saying that they have already rented it and that it is an awesome movie!

Loves not a fight, but it something worth fighting for. This is a song in the movie and I just love it. It is truly the heart of marriage.

I loved listening to this on my way to work on my Ipod. Be encouraged!!!

Pride

PRIDE
My name is Pride.
I am a cheater.
I cheat you of your God-given destiny...
because you demand your own way.
I cheat you of contentment...
because you "deserve better than this."
I cheat you of knowledge...
because you already know it all.
I cheat you of healing...
because you're too full of me to forgive.
I cheat you of holiness...
because you refuse to admit when you're wrong.
I cheat you of vision...
because you'd rather look in the mirror than out a window.
I cheat you of genuine friendship...
because nobody's going to know the real you.
I cheat you of love...
because real romance demands sacrifice.
I cheat you of greatness in heaven...
because you refuse to wash another's feet on earth.
I cheat you of God's glory...
because I convince you to seek your own.
My name is Pride.
I am a cheater.
You like me because you think I'm always looking out for you.
Untrue.
God has so much for you, I admit.
But don't worry...If you stick with me,
you'll never know.

READY SET LEARN!!!

For anyone with preschool age kids that think they might want to have their children in Centennial Christian school, check this out. It was in our news letter. Try to sign up soon while they have spots. It is a very enjoyable time. I have obviously been there for the past 2 years and this year I get to go again as my little Joely is starting kindergarten in the fall!!!


Ready, Set, Learn 2009
On Thursday, March 5, we will be hosting
our fourth “Ready, Set, Learn” open house.
Children ages 3 - 5 and their parents/caregivers
are welcome to the library from 10:30
- 12:00 pm. There will be a story time and
playtime for the children in the preschool
classroom and opportunity for coffee and
discussion for the adults in the library.
Lunch will be provided. If you have a child
or are friends with one, you are encouraged
to register them for this event. Please call the
school at 250-635-6173 by Monday, March
2 to sign up for this free event.
Bev Mantel - Ready, Set, Learn
Coordinator.

Thank you Uncle Andrew!

When Adam's brother Mark went to their brother Andrew's wedding he brought back a few little gifts. This was given to Annabelle from Andrew and she just loved it! So cute too as we were watching Anne of Green Gables and Annabelle really wanted a puffed sleeve dress, which this is a little bit. Thanks so much Andrew for thinking of our beauty. She absolutely loves you... and the dress!

Bible verse of the day

I was just checking the bible verse of the day and it was so funny because I just finished prepping for teaching Sunday school tomorrow and I am teaching on trusting God and having faith. What an encouragement to see this! It is just so true and I am blessed to have these reminders. Sometimes I think that teaching Sunday school teaches me more than it teaches the kids. All the prep work and I really understand the concept more than I ever have before.

Bible Verse Of The Day
Saturday, January 31, 2009
— 2 Thessalonians 3:5 —
May the Lord direct your hearts into God's love and Christ's perseverance.

God is fully trustworthy. I am finally learning this. I'm finally learning His sovereign plan is the best plan. That whatever I entrust to Him He can take care of better than I. That nothing under His control can ever be out of control. That everything I need He knows about in every detail. That He is able to supply, to guide, to start, to stop, to sustain, to change and to correct in His time and for His purposes. When I keep my hands out of things, His will is accomplished, His name is exalted, and His glory is magnified.— Charles Swindoll

Elikia Village Project

Cammie Clarke shared in our church last Sunday. It was encouraging to see what God is up to in the Congo. Check out this video which she showed at our church. The site about the Elikie Village Project is http://elikiavillage.wordpress.com/

New Years fondue

We didn't do it on new years eve this year but the fondue was a great success. It is my all time favourite meal of the year. I love it. It was delicious and I think I gained about 5 pounds that night! Here a just a few pictures to show a bit of the greatness of it. We were too busy eating to take many pictures.