Hard questions!

I love Saturday mornings with the girls with nowhere to go because of the conversations we have that come from just hanging out together, relaxed and comfortable.  This morning was no different, except the line of conversation took an interesting turn- it became about heaven.  Kaley has talked a few times of heaven and asked questions as most kids would do.  We talked a lot about it when my grandma passed away but it has come up recently and today she was playing with her toys and asked if she could bring her toys to heaven with her.  Then she asked if she could bring her beloved woof woof and blankie with her as well.  She was visibly upset and very worried about it.  I tried as best I could to explain what heaven was and how happy a place it was, but I could not bring myself to tell her that she couldn't bring anything with her. 

I admit that I was torn.  I was torn between wanting to protect her heart from the sadness that would come if she knew she couldn't bring those things that she loves the most heaven with her, yet at the same time, I didn't want to be untruthful with what I know about heaven and paint a picture that she would later realize is not the truth. 

Kaley is at a precious place on her faith journey.  She has been talking more about Jesus living in her heart and asking questions about prayer, Jesus, the Bible and of course heaven.  I want her to ask questions about all of these things as she grows in her faith as this is a critical part of her journey.  It is just difficult to know how much information to give a four year old. 

In the end, we prayed together and asked God to give her heart an understanding about heaven that she can grasp and to give her a sense of comfort and peace.  In the meantime, I will seek the advice of those mamas and dads who have tread this course before and of course pray for God's wisdom. 

Why, oh why, do these conversations come up when the pastor is not here?  

One Big Science Project, Fingers Crossed

I was determined this year to make our garden work.  Last year's garden was a colossal failure.  I think we got enough lettuce for one dinner and maybe 10 tomatoes if we were lucky.  I had read a book a couple of years ago, Square Foot Gardening by Mel Bartholomew, that presented a successful no-fail method and was excited to try it.  Since we got our backyard complete this summer, I knew that I had to dive into this project and see if it could actually work.  And, I'm happy to say that it has so far! Check out our garden...

Okay, so these were labeled "winter squash" bush type at the nursery.   

I'll believe it when I see it, because they look an awful lot like tomatoes:-)

Eggplant

 

Zucchini

Green peppers

Tomatoes

Red Onion

celery

Kale

Our first harvest of the season!

I'm being overly optimistic that all of the plants will grow and actually produce vegetables this year and am really pleased with the results so far.  The best part is that I have had to only pull about 5 weeds the entire summer.  So easy:-)

 

Lessons from Sunday School

We had a conversation on the way home from church this morning about what Kaley learned in Sunday School. I wish sometimes that I could have a tape recorder built into the car because we have some of the best conversations and I would love to have a recording what Kaley comes up with. I was fortunate today to get one of our conversations on video when we got home. This is a video of what Kaley learned in Sunday School. She is quite the little girl!

Woodworking with Daddy

Mark has really enjoyed his hobby of woodworking and has become very good at it. On Wednesday nights, he and Kaley have a "daddy date" night where they go do something special together. Mark had found plans for a bubble gum dispenser and decided that it was something that he and Kaley were going to make together for their daddy date. Kaley loved it!!! She enjoys being able to make things with her hands and learning new things, so it was a win-win for her. Plus, like any child, the garage is like a playground with all sorts of tools and gadgets just waiting to be explored, and Kaley has always been fascinated with everything in the garage.

Mark got all of the pieces cut and ready to go and had Kaley do some special jobs like sanding and gluing and then of course the painting! She had a great time making the bubble gum dispenser and she is proud to tell whoever is listening that she and her daddy made it. Can't get any better than that!

A First Time for Everything

These past two weeks have been filled with new experiences for our girls, mostly good and one not so good.

Kaley received dancing lessons, an outfit and ballet shoes for Christmas and has been really excited to try them out. Our little dancing queen started her first dance lessons last week and she has been having a great time. Kaley and her two friends are doing the class together with about 8 other girls and they are so cute! She came home today and told us all about the new game that she learned and showed us all about it. It is so fun to see her having fun with the other girls and doing something that she really enjoys.




For Chloe, her Christmas present was swimming lessons! She loves being in the water and playing around, so it was a good time to start them. I was the most nervous about her going under the water for the first time, but she has a great teacher and she was a great help. Unfortunately, Chloe didn't quite think it was fun at all going under water and let us know under no uncertain terms that she did not want to do *that* again. She did great floating on her back, kicking her legs, and she really liked it when she could jump off the side of the pool. Hopefully next week will be all smiles and giggles and no tears!


The last new thing that happened this week was the girls going to daycare. They officially start next week, for two days each week, but Monday was a practice day and it couldn't have been more of an opposite experience for the girls. Kaley was excited to go back and see all of her friends again and had a great day! Chloe on the other hand, had a bit of a harder time. To put it mildly, she was MAD, all day and was not a happy camper. Chloe doesn't deal well with change, as most 18 months old don't, but it takes a little longer for Chloe to get used to new places and new people. We love the daycare they are in and are excited to see what they learn and how they grow in the next couple of months.

Lots of changes for a new year and this is just January! Can't wait to see what else 2012 has to offer.

Armed and Dangerous

against germs that is - and I hope with all my might that I will be victorious!

We have been blessed with really good health for all of us, but especially our children. When Mark came home from the doctors this week with the case of strep throat, we just did our best to keep the girls a safe distance away from him until the 24 hours passed when he wasn't contagious anymore. He had antibiotics and was resting and I honestly didn't give it much thought to doing anything for the rest of us.

Yesterday after coming home from a play day at our friends home, both girls fell asleep right away, which for Kaley is a rare event. She woke up an hour later crying, with a fever of 102 and complaining that her throat hurt- oh oh! I didn't want to jump to conclusions yet, but I wanted to catch it early in case she caught what Mark had. I went downstairs to get the bottle of probiotics out of the refrigerator and to my dismay, found out that it had expired. So then, I went to find the Tylenol and found that the four bottles of Infant Tylenol and the one bottle of Children's Tylenol had also expired. I gave Kaley some juice and a cool washcloth and headed out to the store.

It was on the ride to the store that it dawned on me that not only did the girls and I need to be taking probiotics, but especially Mark since he was on antibiotics - duh! A short while later, and having spent a small fortune on stocking up on all of the important items, I returned home to try and get everyone back to good health.

I pulled out the ingredients for the Natural Disinfectant Spray to make up a new batch, gave everyone the their "medicine" and prayed that we would get out of this quickly.

This morning I was so relieved that Kaley woke up and was her happy bubbly self, no temperature and her throat felt fine:-) Whew! Just to make sure that we are free and clear, today's job will be disinfecting our home which is a good thing to do anyways. I wish I could say the Mark is just as good, but unfortunately he has to let time and his body do the work of getting better . It is hard to watch him go through this, but I'm glad he is taking it easy and hopefully will come out of this soon.

Good health to everyone this new year!

Happy 10th Anniversary!

Today is the day 10 years ago that I married my best friend. What a great 10 years it has been. In those 10 years, we have moved to a different country, bought our first family pet, lived in 4 different homes, moved our church once, had two adorable children and survived the sleepless nights, loved, laughed, prayed and have gained much wisdom along the way.

May the next 10 be just as amazing as the first have been.
Happy Anniversary my love!

God has given me
Someone like you
To have and to hold
‘Till our lives are through
Our lives together
Was planned from the start
It was there in the making
When love touched our hearts

By M.S.Lowndes

Look What I Learned How To Do Today!

Count Your Blessings

It was one of "those mornings" after one of "those nights." There was tossing, turning, getting poked in the back by arms and legs, nursing every two hours, and a dog curled up where my feet were supposed to be. Needless to say, there wasn't much sleeping going on. So when the alarm clock went off, waking up was about the last thing I wanted to do.

Count your blessings...

It started off as a fun sleepover in daddy and mommy's room with Kaley in the bed and Chloe in the playpen. We've done them numerous times and it was something that I had come to really look forward to and enjoy. But it just wasn't happening as planned this time. I woke up more tired than when I went to bed and I had to drag myself out of bed and try to muster up some energy for our big day.

Count your blessings...

As we hurried through breakfast and got everyone out the door and into the car, a familiar feeling settled over me. The feeling of "lots to do, so hurry through this thing in order to get to the next thing" which leads to the next thing and the next thing and so on. As things get ticked off the list, it isn't a feeling of accomplishment that settles in, but rather an emptiness, of time wasted with those that I love dearly.

Count your blessings...

This morning as I sat in the drivers seat of my car, something different happened. Right on the heels of this empty feeling was a little voice saying "Count your blessings." As it always is with the little voice, there was peace, quiet, and a gentle nudging to try something different, to make a shift in my thinking. I had been viewing last nights events as tiring, stressful, not at all enjoyable and wishing there had been a different outcome in the morning.

Count your blessings...

When I began looking at the almost sleepless night as a blessing instead of a bother, a beautiful thing happened. I became thankful, appreciative and very blessed!

I am blessed that our girls are still little enough that a sleepover in mommy and daddy's bedroom is fun to do.

I am blessed that the arms and toes that make their way onto my side of the bed mean that our toddler is growing healthy and strong.

I am blessed that our baby is still nursing and it is a beautiful thing.

I am blessed that I can watch our girls drift peacefully in and out of their sleep cycles.

I am blessed to be the first one to watch their beautiful faces greet the morning with eyes twinkling and smiles on their faces.

I am blessed to hear the words "Mama" come from our little baby and she peeps her head over the top of the playpen.

I am blessed that our toddler remembers first thing after she wakes up that today is her and mommy's special day together.

I am blessed that God still speaks to me in his clear and distinct "little voice."

What a blessing motherhood is and especially the time when our children are little. Don't take for granted the time that you have when your children are little. Savor the moments, drink them in and enjoy this precious time that is only here for a moment.

Have a blessed day!

2 new additions!

Wednesday was a good day in the Coulter house. The girls and I went on mini road trip to visit our good friends down in Toronto for the day and had a great time. Kaley loved playing with the older girls doing dress up, playing house and of course getting her first "tatoo." It was great being able to sit, relax, and catch up on everything that has happened in our lives over the past few months.

When we got home, I had two surprises waiting for me.....a gift from our neighbor and a beautiful new desk that Mark made!

I had been saving up for a piano since the start of the summer, but wanted to pay cash for it when I found what I was looking for. Since I learned on my parents piano when I was little, I knew that I wanted to find something similar to that- you know, being sentimental and all:-) I knew how much it was going to cost to move one and get one tuned, so I had a figure in mind and a goal. Well, my surprise came when our neighbor called to talk to me, and her friend had two pianos similar to what I was looking for. The answer to prayer? It cost exactly as much money as I had saved! I immediately fell in love with the first one that I saw and just *knew* that this was the piano for me. It is in beautiful shape and has a crisp, clean sound to it. Time sure flew, because it was ready to be delivered the very next day!!! So very exciting.


But the fun doesn't end there my friend! Not only was the piano a huge surprise, but Mark also had a surprise for me. I'm a big fan of antique looking furniture, but not such a fan of the price that comes with it. Awhile back, I found some pictures of secretary desks with a flip down lid that I really liked, so Mark asked me to print them off and keep them until he was able to build it. Mark had a week left of vacation in August, so he decided to take that time to build a desk. As always, he is a genius with woodworking and very talented as well. I gave him the look that I wanted, and he got to work. He found a supplier that had rough pieces of beautiful wood available, so he picked up some, used a planer to get them the size he wanted, and then started piecing them together to form the desk. (Hint, hint- If you talk to Mark, he would have a much better description of the process with more technical terms than what my limited knowledge of woodworking can give). And this is the final product!!!






I love both additions very much, as have the girls. Although, on another note, my next challenge it to figure out what to do with all of the brown that we have in our livingroom now- the couch, the coffee table, piano, desk, entertainment unit and bookcase- they ALL have the same shade of brown:-) Oh Shannon- I need you!!! :-)

Happy 1st Birthday Chloe!

Happy birthday sweet Chloe! A year ago today you entered our family and have been such a blessing and a treasure to us. We just love your sweet spirit, your beautiful smile and infectious laugh. We have enjoyed seeing that little bit of "spunk" in your personality come through and how much you really love playing with your sister and Baracus. It is amazing to watch as you learned how to roll over and hold your head up, seeing you smile for the first time, learning how to sit up on your own, how to crawl, your first words, eating food for the first time, your first laugh, and just yesterday learning how to stand up on your own.

We thank God for you precious one and look forward to how God is going to use you and the talents he has given you. Happy birthday Chloe! Love always from Dada, Mama, KK and Baracus.

Little Miss Talker

Our little Miss is getting quite the cute personality as she nears the one year mark and one of the things that is coming through this past week is her interacting with the stuffed animals and dolls that we have around the house. This particular doll in the video is one that talks and she has found it very interesting! She started "talking" back to it and we got it on video. Very cute!

And our other little Miss is just bursting with personality as well! Just this morning she was watching Mary Poppins while I was making breakfast and the scene came on when Mary Poppins was measuring the kids and herself. I asked Kaley after the scene ended if Mommy was "practically perfect in every way" like Mary Poppins is and she was quick to say "No mommy!" much to my dismay. But then afterwards she followed up with "Only Mary Poppins is perfect". True enough! She is quite the character!

Old MacDonald and the Bible

What do these two have in common you ask? Well, let's Kaley instead. She was singing to herself the other day and this is what she sang:

"E-I-E-I-O
Yes that's the book for me,
I stand alone on the Word of God,
E-I-E-I-O"

Yep, that's our girl!

The Orange Experiment

Kaley is always thinking, watching, observing and taking everything in around her. Tonight was no exception! We always know that something is happening when it is quiet for a few moments. I walked into the kitchen and this is what I saw. I'll let the pictures do the talking...

And the inspiration of all of this:

Like I said, always thinking, watching, observing and taking everything in around her!

Our Almost New Backyard

When we first purchased our house almost four years ago, there was a "creek" running through the back of the property which we thought would be fun to have and we'd build a bridge across it and plant a garden on the other side. Well, we quickly found that that wasn't going to be the case because of some limitations that the city put on the land. Along with that, we found out that our "creek" was quite unsafe during a rain storm and it was a popular place for kids to play in when it was dry. To make a long story short, the city and the developer decided to make some changes to the creek and we would be able to fence in our yard and be done with it!

The work started mid June and went quite quickly. It was great entertainment for us and Kaley would sit out on the deck and chat with the workers as they walked by. What we didn't count on was gaining and much bigger backyard than what we had. They were a couple of days away from being done and were going to sod our new backyards when we had a HUGE rain storm that dumped a TON of water all at once. The force of the water moving through the creek shifted the cement tiles they had used to line the creek and thus creating a BIG problem.

So, right now everything is at a stand still until they can figure out how to move forward and we are left with a vision of what our yard will be, but have to wait a little more to see it finished. We keep telling ourselves that we have already waited three years for this to be done- so what is a couple more weeks of waiting?

Here are a few photos of the progress!

Our old back yard with the creek

Kaley keeping a watchful eye on everything!

Our "new" back yard:

The Ministry of Motherhood"

For Mother's Day this year, I received a book titled "The Ministry of Motherhood" and it has quickly become one of my favorite books to read. Here is an excerpt from today that really hits close to home:

"As mothers, we have the hearts and the trust of our children from the earliest moments of their lives, and they need us for so many reasons. They naturally look to us for physical sustenance, protection, affection. Deep in their hearts, however, they also long for a special place to belong, a place to feel their worth, and they need us to help them find it. These precious children were designed to fulfill a purpose for God by bringing his glory to bear through their lives. They were designed to be his hands, his voice, his heart and mind through the various kinds of work they undertake in his world."

LOVE IT! I can't think of a better reason for being parents. Even though this book is primarily focused on moms, this particular quote is equally important for dads as well.

For my mom friends out there, if you are looking for a good read this summer, I encourage you to try this book!

The Ministry of MOtherhood

Strawberry Picking!

One of my most favorite summer time activities is picking strawberries and blueberries. I have fond memories of picking fresh berries in Minnesota and Wisconsin with my family and wanted to do those same things with our girls. This week seemed the perfect opportunity. The strawberries have been delicious this year and we had a great day yesterday to go and do this.

Auntie Sharlene and I packed up the girls and headed out to the local farm. Kaley in her usual fashion of experiencing something new, was wide eyed and wonderful. She took in every detail and was almost buzzing with excitement. She came ready with her little bucket that she was going to fill and did a great job! Chloe was bundled up safe and sound in the baby carrier with Auntie Sharlene, and even though we lost her soother along the way, she did good and really enjoyed tasting the berries.

It was a fun afternoon together and a learning experience for Kaley. She now knows that food does not come from a supermarket, but is grown in the ground- and even better is that we are eating food that is grown right here in Barrie. I love this place!