Make a scrapbook - it's easy!

House shots... Almost for sale!

I love this new wall colour in our bedroom ~
"Irish Sea" by BeautiTone
That's Psalm 127:3 above the kids' pictures "Children are an heritage of the Lord"

Tired, but getting there :)

Hmmm, the enemy or the Lord?

Why do you think that when we plan to spend the time while our husband's away having quiet chats with the kids; tea outdoors in the warm, spring mornings; getting all the laundry caught right up; finishing up the few little projects as a surprise for his return - sanding & painting a couple bedrooms doors, finishing touches on the trim here & there... why does, instead, the van break down stranding me & a friend with 5 kids under 5; the dog splices open his foot pad on a tin can lid needing an emergency trip to the vet after bleeding all over the entire house; I end up in outpatients for 3 1/2 hours Saturday afternoon leaving a diabetic 5 year old home with a 12 year old, a 9 year old, a 7 year old & a neighbour's kid; painting a few doors winds up being sanding 4 doors and painting about 5 coats on each one, plus 3 more on the front door, all the trim on the outside front windows & door frame, rearranging the living room furniture - including moving a PIANO, installing a shelf, putting up a mirror... needless to say the laundry is feeling rather neglected. Whew, what a week! The paint cans are where they belong, however, and out of my living room! Wahoo!! Last night's crock pot turned out a lovely pot roast, with gravy, and mashed potatoes & carrots. Yum! Then the kids & I raked the back yard and put all the leaves & the odd Yoplait tube wrapper (grr!) in bags - baa, baa 3 bags full - it felt good to have worked together and see such big and quick results. Then inside for a night with the Waltons and they trundled off happily to bed. It was a great day afterall. And Glenn added, plus the Boston Bruins are 'still alive'.

This week we will concentrate on the laundry, first of all, and continue to make the meals the priority - I can handle anything if I know the crock pot's humming or at least the plan is firmly in place for supper. Julie, our 7 year old, wistfully spoke of her love of pancakes this morning, so I was happy to grant her desire - blueberry ones, as well as pear. I think it's a spaghetti day tomorrow - 12 y.o. Jessie's favourite. Then just one more day to wait for Darren's return. I hope he is pleased with our work - manual labour is fun, just not normally my style ;)

Many might think the enemy has slug darts my way to try and break me, at a time my husband can't bail me out - I prefer to see it as the Lord showing me I can do more than I think I can! And that leaning on HIM is the key! There's really a lesson from the Lord in everything, if we only just look :)

My Nova Scotian Home

Hmmm... so many choices - which font, what colour, and oh yeah... what am I doing? I love reading other's blogs, but have no idea where to start... so let's start here, at the very beginning, a very fine place to start!

As I read a link from a friend's blog to a dear lady's page, who goes by Peggy, I fell in love with her format of "what's outside my window, what I am hearing, what I am thinking...." so here goes...

I am thinking... what a nice week we will have, us 5, as my husband is away in Alberta and I scored some great easy meals at M&M's for the first time ever!

I am thankful for... these 4 great kids, always eager to please and be loved, and for their Dad, a hard working man who loves us deeply, and for our home - which soon will be back where our hearts remain, in Nova Scotia, which we all will always call 'home'

From the kitchen... for breakfast will be Jessie's favourite (our eldest, she's 12) Pear & Cardamom Muffins straight out of my favourite Pampered Chef Muffin Stoneware! Lunch, let's see.. tortilla wraps with left-over chicken, lettuce & cheese; and for supper I imagine the Beef Sirloin Burgers from M&M's and the Wal-mart buns on sale I grabbed this afternoon when I dashed in to grab underwear with legs for our 9-year-old, Glenn, who started ball hockey and apparently these athletic support thingies work best that way.. :~}

I am creating... a blog page for the very first time... i just might love this!

I am going... to Value Village tomorrow to triumphantly drop off 5 very large bags of give away clothing in my effort to downsize before we move in 2 months! Value Village donations earn valuable cash for research in Diabetes.. give, give, give!

I am wearing... my nightie as it is a very strange time to be embarking on my first blog page and really ought to be sleeping ;)

I am reading... the new Homeschool & More catalogue that arrived today and getting excited already about all the great things we will do next fall!

I am hoping... to get the paint trays, brushes, cans, stir sticks and all manner of displaced items OUT of our living room tomorrow to get this place back in order for harmony and peace to return to the palace :)

I am hearing... the calm hum of the fish tank motor and the bubbles in the tank, ah, so much nicer than a TV in the bedroom!

Around the house... our youngest, 5, is fast asleep and after a late night bolus should be normalizing much nicer now since he ate far too many snacks and went a tad higher than he should have (oops!); the next one - she's 7 - sleeps peacefully as well in the bed underneath our eldest who, I am sure, in her top bunk is still reading or watching "The King & I" for the 5th time on a portable DVD player before it must be returned to the library; and the 2nd child lays beside me, in his father's spot, unable to sleep after a thrilling evening of ball hockey at the arena, followed by the NHL playoffs on TV... it's a great family, here, truly it is.

One of my favourite things... is to have a child creep in sometime in the night to find security, comfort & love, right here, with a parent, just as God freely gives to us each time we seek Him, just for reassurance, just to remember he cares, accepts us and loves us.

A few plans for the rest of the week... "razooing this place" as my dear Momma says - she's so funny - so that when my dear Husband returns from his week away working he walks in to peace and harmony and happiness, once again, so he's not stressed about deadlines to get the house on the market, so he looks around and feels restful, not stressful ~ that's my goal

Now I am supposed to share a picture thought.... hmmm....