Friday, June 29, 2007

Quotable Quotes from our house this week

On the way to the Med Clinic to get a bloody chin stitched up:
"Do I need new batteries for my body?"
Later the next day, "Do I need new batteries for my chin?"

Chasing a fly around the house:
"Where is the fly splatter?" (aka fly swatter)

Asked what he was doing out of bed, squatting down on the floor in the dark bedroom an hour after being put to bed:
"I'm sneakin' around."

Baby update

I had a visit to the midwives on Thursday which was quite fun despite the multiple needles drawing blood samples. I got to listen to the baby's heartbeat for the first time. What an amazing sound! Babies heartbeats are typically described as "galloping" and this little horse was moving. The student midwife was very pleased with the heartrate and she was smiling with me. So in order to find the baby, she had to press firmly on my squishy tummy to determine baby from organs. After just a few seconds, she found it and caught up with it on the heartrate monitor. This morning, I thought, "Maybe I can find the baby too". Umm...yeah. I'm poking and pushing around. I have no idea how she could feel that itty bitty baby apart from all the other stomach stuff. Well she does have two years of nursing and I have zero.
But I am able to feel the baby moving around a bit. I have been for several weeks now, which is exciting.
I haven't put on any weight and my clothes still fit comfortably, but that shouldn't last too much longer. Also the student midwife said that underweight women usually put on more weight by the end than normal or average weight women. Sooooo, I probably will end up packing it on like crazy.
I go for an early ultrasound on Wednesday morning to doublecheck the due date as my cycle is not a typical 28 days and therefore the Jan. 7th date might need some tweaking. It will be wonderful to see this little person who is being "knit together" by God Himself.

I CANNOT Believe This!


The police have been investigating our next door neighbor's house and its occupants since last night. They first showed up around dinner time and were still on the condo property as late as 11pm with at least 12 officers seen by other neighbors. Today two returned late this afternoon. My best guess is that it is a guy they are looking for as I heard them ask about a "he" being around. When I saw them coming up the path which begins at the parking lot, I decided now was a good time to pick up toys outside, hoping to hear what was going on. One of the officers greeted me and asked if I knew if the neighbor was home. I said I didn't know as they come and go frequently during the day. They thanked me and knocked on the door. I heard a girl's voice answer and they ask if "someone" was there. Then they asked if they could come in. They were admitted, but were probably only there for about 5 or 6 minutes before they headed out. Over an hour ago, one of the same officers returned alone. Still no signs of anyone being taken away, so who knows what the final outcome will be.
No matter where we have lived in Canada, we have had troublesome issues with the neighbors. Police have been involved in many of the instances and many have been evicted from the properties by irritated landlords. The condo board here has outstanding issues with this neighbor including parking, garbage removal, and unkempt yards. So one can only imagine what the police are investigating.
I can only marvel, shake my head and ponder the reasons why we are continually plagued by unstable neighbors.

Tuesday, June 26, 2007

Trusting God with our Children

One of the young moms at Girltalk recently wrote about a very important lesson that she is still learning: trusting God with her children. Her son Liam struggles in several areas of development and is currently being helped by special education classes.
Kristin from Girltalk writes:
One small, yet often-too-big fear is about my middle son, Liam. At an early age, Brian and I began to notice some delays in his speech. When we would go to his doctor and answer the standard questions he was never falling in the “normal” range. In fact, the doctor’s developmental questions almost seemed designed to exacerbate my fears. (You know the ones I’m talking about - Does your child stack blocks? Draw a circle? Say twenty words or more?) By two years of age, Liam was still not talking much or answering my questions- he would simply repeat the question back to me.
At times, I would respond to these delays with fear and anxiety. I wanted him to be typical, just like any other kid. I would worry about his future. Would he be able to grow up and become a husband, father, and provide for a family? These are not bad things to want for our children. But I was not trusting God for the perfect way he had created my Liam.

As Kristin prays for her son and dreams about his future, she thinks about her son from God's perspective as laid out in Psalm 139. Our job as Christian parents is to align ourselves with God's purposes for our children which depending on the manner in which He made them and designed them, may be far different than what we idealistically plan for. I credit Jean Fleming's book A Mother's Heart for teaching me that concept.
You can read the entirety of Kristin's post here at girltalk.blogs.com

Life as seen from a four-year old's camera Album 1

So the little guy got a Fisher Price digital camera for his birthday, compliments of my mom. And he can take around 85 pictures before the camera needs to be unloaded, so yeah, some of them need to be deleted. Others you have to turn your neck at crazy angles to recognize the context. And since most of you have not been to our house and its surroundings you will be at a distinct disadvantage. However captions should clear things up a little. The resolution is not that shabby, however the focus is not always the clearest, but given the fact he doesn't warn you before taking your picture, it's probably a good thing. Enjoy his work.
His first picture ever!






Waiting in the car for mom...

Still waiting...


One of my favorites...

That's quite a zoom lens

Who knew concrete steps could look so interesting


Oh, of course, it's...?

Another favorite of mine


The photographer being photographed at his request

Monday, June 25, 2007

Our Progressive Garden

Working feverishly to get the backyard presentable for our son's birthday party was my job two weeks ago. This is the glorious results. The two planters in the foreground contain cosmos and zinnias both grown from seed back when I should have been packing. Definitely the right call!

Garden newly adorned with solar LED lights. It's starting to feel like a real garden. Now I'm on the prowl for some nifty rocks and climbers.

With the carriage light to stand guard, the zinnias are on the verge of sending up their first blooms.

Happy 4th Birthday Little Monkey


Enjoying the backyard with our new patio set and flower garden.

My two dearest friends and Spanish sisters, Norma and Euri.

The birthday boy and his friends.

Pin the decals on Lightning McQueen. Our only party game, but lots of blindfolded fun.

The wonderful birthday cake made completely by Euri herself. Muchas gracias, Euri!
Birthday boy needs Daddy to help blow out McQueen's lights.

Wow, a puzzle with Lightning McQueen, a dinosaur outfit and much more. Thanks so much everybody!

Unwrapping more gifts on his real birthday. Thank you Mem-mem and Nannie!

Hanging out with the birthday balloons. What a great day!

Wednesday, June 13, 2007

WTS Book Sale

Westminster Theological Seminary(WTS)is having a great sale on some great children's books. Their website and details can be found here. I'm eyeing up several including The Child's Story Bible by Catherine Vos and the church history titles by the Withrows. And with $5 shipping(US), it's even easier to imbibe. :)
This one also looks good:

The Handbag Song

What can I say about this? Not much, so just click and listen for yourself.
Handbagfriends

Friday, June 01, 2007

Reformation Theology

Nathan Pitchford, a contributor to Monergism's blog, Reformation Theology wrote up this helpful list of Bible references supporting the doctrines of grace also known as Calvinism or TULIP. It is a systematic approach of references starting with God's sovereignty over all and ending appropriately with God's preseveration of His people.
Doctrines of Grace Categorized

Teaching our Children

As we have struggled to be consistent in our family devotion time, it is not due to a lack of resources. Christian publishing houses have seen to that by the amount of books they have put on the market. So far, I have relied on several sources for helping us pick appropriate material. One being, a blog I have previously complimented on here called The Children's Hour put together by Pastor Ray Van Neste. Suffice to say in this second post about his blog, it is very helpful and interesting. Another resource has been Noel Piper, the wife of well known Pastor John Piper. Her book, Treasuring God in our Traditions, was extremely helpful to me in making great choices for reading and teaching materials for our son. Two of the books I use the most are Carine MacKenzie's My First Book of Question and Answers and My First Book of Memory Verses.
One last place I have relied on for great children's Bible materials is our local church. Over three years ago, our New Brunswick church bookstore introduced me to Leading Little Ones to God which has been a great book thus far for teaching our son about God and His Word. The chapters are brief, yet well written to convey important theological truths to young children.
There are still books out there that we have yet to own which I have heard many great things about, one being Catherine Vos' The Child's Story Bible which is over sixty years old and has been enjoyed by many generations of Christians. And of course there are others, but I'll save those for another post.
Having the resources to teach our children is great, but consistently using them is indeed better. I pray that the Lord will strengthen my resolve in this area of parenting.

Miss Read

I'm posting today because I have some whiffs of inspiration floating around in my head, not because I have the permission from my household chores. They'll all get done someday, perhaps.
Yesterday, after a tiring day of running errands and a light supper of Subway sandwiches, I settled on the couch with a book I haven't read in a while, Summer at Fairacre which is slow-paced, yet entertaining and very British. I currently own three titles by the author, whose pen name is Miss Read. But I have read many more of her books through the library.
On the front cover of this book, a quote from Jan Karon reads, "If you've ever enjoyed a visit to Mitford, you'll relish a visit to Fairacre." And of course, I've already discussed my enjoyment of Jan Karon's Mitford books, so I can readily affirm her statement about Miss Read's books.
I look forward to rereading the other books I own and adding more to my collection as they are good friends to have on the shelf.
As most of our books are now unpacked and awaiting organization, it is one job that I look forward to finishing. One of the highlights of my days spent working at Barnes & Noble was shelving the books. Making room for new titles or just bringing order to disheveled shelves meant taking a few minutes to flip the pages of an interesting read while sitting cross-legged on the floor. The managers did not seem to mind if they saw us hunched over a book for a stray minute or two. After all as booksellers part of our job is to know about the books we are selling and browsing them ourselves certainly aided us in our ability to help customers find the right book. So now as I see the basement shelves brimming with all those books, I anticipate a rewarding afternoon or two of restoring order and an appreciation for reading.