Blizzard or Whirlwind?

Yes, we have snow! In fact we had a snow day last week because it was coming down so thick. Our front porched is covered, but that didn't stop the snow from coming in (horizontally) and settling on our bench, window wreath, Santa & Snowman sign above our mailbox, and of course the porch itself! One of my new favorite things is to sit inside my parked van while the snow is falling and to see all of the beautiful, intricate 6 pointed snowflakes land on the windshield. God truly is an artist! This month has been so busy though, so here's another sneak peek:


Noe's cheer class at the Rec Center put on a little performance for the last day of the semester. She went up in a V-sit, but my camera wasn't working so I missed the shot. The girls were cute though. Kaleb also did his belt testing in Taekwondo and earned his yellow stripe!


The youth at church put on the play "A Stranger for Christmas" and did a fabulous job! We even brought our neighbors to watch it.

Eating green veggies now. Doesn't he look thrilled about it? Actually, he was really tired but wanted food more than sleep.

Gingerbread house only 3 years in the making! Next year we might have to get a few more so everyone can make their own.

Our Ward Christmas Dinner/Talent Show/visit with Santa/Funzone was great fun! I only wish I could jump in the Bouncy Castle too.

Our YW party was a great success with 15 girls in attendance and 7 leaders! It was heartwarming when one of them said she wanted to sit by the "cool" people and she meant me.

Kaleb and Noe had a super fun week at school- McHappy luncheon, craft morning, Christmas assembly, Continental breakfast, and Holiday/Tradition oral reports.

Our Santa Baby is 3 and he LOVED his Thomas the Tank Engine themed family birthday party!

I'm just a kid at heart and love playing with the fun toys with my kids. Gramma sent us a new Little People holiday set and we've all enjoyed it and look forward to opening more treasures next week.

Starting tomorrow Kaleb and Noe are off school for 16 days and Len is off work for the next 10, so we're hoping to have lots of fun family time celebrating the season!

Got Snow?

We do! I always say I like the snow to arrive the day after Thanksgiving (American) and then to leave the day after New Year's. I like just enough for a White Christmas. Well it arrived 4 days after Thanksgiving, but I have a feeling it will stay for a lot longer past the new year. Oh well, to honor today, enjoy this tune!

Outside and Inside

The Christmas decorations are upside! I love this season of Light and will post more pics soon!

Sisterhood

Friday night, we had a fabulous Book Club meeting. We discussed books and had a White Elephant book exchange. We also had our first of two goodie exchanges. I'll post about the books and treats on my Creative Pursuits blog, because the best part of the night was being with friends. I am grateful that every place we have moved I have been encircled by wonderful ladies who inspire me and make life more pleasant!

And as my friend Mary said, "a true friend is someone who strengthens you in the gospel and encourages you to lift where you stand." I am blessed with true friends!

We are Thankful for...

*Spending the day with my family (Len stayed home from work, and we kept Kaleb & Noe home from school). I love days like this with my most favorite people!
*Cookies! I'm participating in 2 goodie exchanges this year. Who doesn't want 22 different kinds of cookies?
*Painting whimsy. I love hobbies and creating things of joy.


*LIFE!
*Sleep, particularly when all of the children sleep through the night.
*Potato chips.


*My family.
*My birthday.
*Playing on the computer.


*My family and good friends.
*Toys, especially dollies.
*Cute cupcakes.


*My family being together.
*Choo choo trains.
*Music.


*My family making me smile.
*Momma's milk.
*Moving around.


We missed our extended families immensely, but we had a thoroughly satisfying day. It began with watching (or at least listening to) the 83rd Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade! It had been at least 5 years since we've watched it, if not 8. It was beautiful, but of course made us a little homesick and rekindled our desire to live in New York someday. We made a simple, but delicious feast with all of the staples: turkey, mashed potatoes & gravy, stuffing, green beans, sweet potatoes, corn, rolls, cranberries, pumpkin pie with whip cream, and a yummy sparkling white grape and peach drink- so good! We each enjoyed some personal time too: Teague sang (it's so cute, he sounds like the seagull from The Little Mermaid), Gavin played trains, Noe did tons of artwork, Kaleb played the computer, I went through 2 weeks worth of mail, flyers, catalogs, and Len finally started his novel! He's had it in his brain for years, but now the prologue is finally written down! Again, baby steps are good! In the evening we watched "Miracle on 34th Street" on our new sectional- love it!

What a great holiday to remember our blessings!

A Happy Ending

Last year I posted a prayer request about my friend Tori (the beauty in the red shirt) who was diagnosed with cancer. I am thrilled to say that Tori is doing well and her cancer is a memory. This sweet girl also had her wish come true and she was able to meet the President of our Church, Thomas S. Monson, whom we also believe to be the modern-day Prophet of God on the earth. Her family was able to fly out to Utah last week to spend a few days and to spend an hour and a half with President Monson. I learned a valuable lesson from Laura (Tori's mom) too. She said when we have mounted the trials in our life there is always a blessing afterwards. Tori's trial was her cancer, her miracle was her cure (that was an amazing blessing too), but she was also blessed again with meeting the prophet. I am still humbled by this darling girl and her priorities in life. I want to be like her when I grow up!

A Little Stressed

Yes, I've been a little stressed this week, so you know what I need?


Yes, I NEED some desserts! Actually, I don't- but I still want them. I comfort eat BIG time when I'm stressed. Oh dear, I'm going to gain a lot of weight! What's causing this new stress? Here's a clue:
"When you save a young woman, you save generations." -Gordon B. Hinckley
Last Saturday night our Bishop stopped by for a little visit. Our records aren't here yet, (they take FOREVER to arrive from Asia) so I knew we weren't going to receive callings. I was dreading an assignment to speak in Sacrament meeting. I told Leonard this and told him I'd much rather receive a calling than speak at church. He laughed because he's the opposite! Was I surprised when the Bishop called me to be the new Young Women's President. Gulp! Little did I know he phoned our Bishop in Taiwan. In our Church we have a Young Women's organization for all girls aged 12-18. The program involves Sunday instruction; weekly activity nights; a personal progress goal program; yearly trips to girls camp, youth conference, and others; activities with the Stake and boys- dances to chaperone, etc; plus lots of meetings to plan and prepare everything. I am feeling overwhelmed because it is a HUGE program, but then I think of the sweet girls I get to work with and the rest melts away and I know my Heavenly Father will help me with this. I also felt a big relief when I got the names I submitted for my Presidency accepted by the Bishopric, so hopefully my sisters in the gospel will help me with this load too. I'm going to be super busy with this, but I'll try and blog weekly still because I need a creative outlet! Here's a quick overview of the past week:


Super Saturday- I LOVE Christmas crafting, decorating, baking, all of it- bring it on!


The "ABC" club- arts & crafts/baking day for the kids.

After waiting 110 days, yes that's right 110 days- our sectional finally arrived yesterday! Can I get a yeehaw? YEEHAW!! We're so excited to sit in comfort while we watch our Friday Family Movies, and we're just in time for the slew of Christmas movies to begin.

Also yesterday, Kaleb earned his yellow stripe on his white belt in Taekwondo! I'm so proud of him because he's only been in it for 2 months. He wasn't able to continue with Kung Fu, but is enjoying Taekwondo instead. I also have to mention that last week he fell on our driveway/bus stop while playing tag with his friends waiting for the bus. The poor guy scraped his face off and cracked his head open on the side of the house. I was freaking out as this was our first head wound, and man do those babies bleed! Thank goodness for liguid stitches though, he was so happy the doctor could just glue his head back together without getting poked. He has healed surprisingly fast (neosporin is another miracle worker). After several fevers passed around the kids, they all seem to be doing well now.

Hopefully, this coming week won't be as stressful. Wait, there's the New Moon premiere, yearly youth planning meeting, Stake Conference, 2012 date night, Sunday Evening Discussion, Drop-in play group, Noe's cheerleading performance, Youth play practice, laundry, groceries, cooking, cleaning, nursing, report cards, Taekwondo, Institute, Thanksgiving, Book Club, Goodie Exchange, Birthday party, Santa Parade. I'll be exhausted before December arrives- but it's all GOOD!

Lest We Forget

Yesterday was Remembrance Day here in Canada (Veterans Day back home in the States), and I attended my first assembly to commemorate the day. No, I didn't go downtown to see the visiting Prince Charles lay a wreath, I had someone more important to see. My daughter, Noe was chosen to lay a wreath for her class at her school assembly. Len had the day off work, so the 4 of us went to the school to see Noe and Kaleb (who I want to give a shout-out to for being Student of the Month last month for the character trait Responsibility- way to go!) and the program their school had planned. It was actually very touching. The 8th graders reenacted "Silent Night" from WWI, and the narrator was a Muslim girl wearing a head scarf. I thought- isn't that what it was all about- soldiers died so we could be FREE and choose to worship Allah or Jesus Christ or whomever we want, it was very sweet. Another class recited the poem, "In Flanders Fields." All the kids sang, "O, Canada" while another class signed it. And another girl played the bugle. We then watched the music video for "A Pittance of Time" while the wreath procession took place. Noe laid the last wreath and she looked so precious with her little poppy on her collar. At 11:00 we stood for 2 minutes of silence to honor those who fought and died for us.

I will always be grateful for the soldiers of yesterday, today, and tomorrow who will fight to defend democracy and human rights!

On another note, I received an e-mail last year during the election season reminding women to vote and it outlined some of the horrors the suffragettes went through so that I might have the freedom to vote today. I received the e-mail again yesterday and I thought it was very good to also Remember the Women on Remembrance Day who also paved the road for the life I live today. I am grateful for them. I'm actually thinking of getting my Canadian citizenship. I would never give up my American citizenship, but I'd like to be dual so I can vote in both elections. I love my homeland and want to vote on issues I think are important back at home. I've also grown to love Canada, and feel since I'm living here I might as well have a say on the issues here too. And to you reading this, remember the soldiers, remember the human rights activists, and remember to vote. YOUR voice matters! I would also like to direct you to my husband's post about Remembrance Day last year. He looks at things in a different way, and I always appreciate his perspective.

On a lighter note, I've now learned when the official kick-off to the Christmas season is. It began yesterday at 12:30 after the malls opened. Oh my goodness, were there a lot of shoppers out!! I know Boxing Day is the biggest shopping day of the year in Canada, but I think Remembrance Day must be a close second. I've been doing some shopping for a while, but now I'm ready to get out the decorations, start baking and crafting, and listening to Christmas music. I think it's great that I get the best of both worlds- we'll celebrate two Thanksgivings this year and get 2 extra weeks of the Christmas season!

Diet Pop

No, this isn't about soda, it's about music. My dad is a musician and plays the acoustic and electric guitars along with the banjo. I spent many fun summer nights at his band rehearsals. And one of my earliest memories is singing with my mom while the car radio pumped out Barry Manilow's, "I Can't Smile Without You." However, in 4th grade I came into my own with a little crush...

...no, I think full-fledged love affair is more like it with Duran Duran! Oh my goodness, are they not the prettiest boys ever? My mom let me plaster my bedroom walls with their posters from Bop magazine (before she wall-papered it) and I had dreams of marrying John Taylor. That year for Halloween my Aunts Debbi and Connie dressed me up as Cyndi Lauper. I looked fabulous with my orange spray-painted hair, green & purple checkerboard eye shadow, and way too many bracelets.

In high school a lot of my friends liked New Kids on the Block, but they made me laugh. I liked the "cool" stuff- Depeche Mode, U2, and now my dreams were of David Gahan!

In college I finally got a CD player (yes, I'm a luddite) and the first CD I bought myself was of The Ocean Blue (it's still one of my faves). I spoiled myself with a new CD a month. I reconnected with the great ones from the 80's- The Cure, The Smiths, but the girls were my favorite- Indigo Girls, Sarah, Fiona, Tori, Shawn, Natalie, Lisa. Yes, I did go to Lilith Fair- twice!

I always considered my music tastes to be of the alternative variety, and now I've discovered I have an appetite for Pop. Gasp! I blame High School Musical and my kids. But I can't help it, I find myself singing along with Miley, Taylor, and even the freaky Lady Gaga. And "I Gotta Feeling" you love the Black-Eyed Peas too! I mentioned before that I'm a luddite and have yet to enter the world that is MP3. It's ok though, I'm looking forward to Christmas and to find what new CDs Santa stuffed our stockings with!

Sweet Testimony

For the last Sunday in October we were treated with the Primary Presentation at Church. This year's theme was: My Eternal Family. All of the kids did great with their parts. My kids both memorized theirs, but Kaleb got a little nervous and ended up reading his. Noe read the first word, then stopped, looked up and recited the entire 4th Article of Faith from memory. Way to go kids! I'm so proud of you both. The singing is always my favorite though and they did 2 songs in sign language this year. One of the new songs they learned this year was also entitled "My Eternal Family," and I really want to live these words each day:

I am a builder working each day to build my family.
And I will do the best I can to serve them lovingly.
I am a builder growing so tall and learning ev'ry day
to speak with kindness in my home, to help at work and play.
My Heavenly Father sent me here and He knows I can be
Strong and righteous as I build my eternal family.

I am a builder building a home, I seek the Lord in prayer.
And as I try to live God's word I feel the Spirit there.
I am a builder serving the Lord and following His plan
To help my fam'ly come back home and live with Him again.
My Heavenly Father sent me here and He knows I can be
Strong and righteous as I build my eternal family.

I also want to mention a beautiful experience that happened at the beginning of September. For the first Sunday of each month we have a Fast and Testimony meeting. We are asked to fast for 2 meals and then donate the monetary value of those meals to those less fortunate. We also share our testimonies during Sacrament meeting when we feel the Spirit to do so. Noe's best friend, Emma was sitting 2 rows in front of us. She turned around and whispered to Noe, "do you want to go up with me?" Noe looked at me with the expression, "what do I do?" I told her she could go up if she wanted to, but she didn't have to if she didn't feel like it. She told me she wanted to, then she walked up to Emma's row. The girls held hands walking up the aisle, then sat next to each other waiting for their turn. When Noe got up to speak, this was the sweet testimony she gave:

My name is Noe. I love Jesus Christ. I know all He teaches is true.

She then sat down (whoops, she forgot to say Amen, but it was still precious) and waited while Emma gave her own beautiful testimony. Then the girls walked hand in hand back to their seats in the congregation. I was so proud of them both and really touched by their powerful faith. I too LOVE Jesus Christ. And I KNOW all He teaches is true! If you're interested in learning about our beliefs, please visit http://www.mormon.org/. YOU are a child of God!

Lil' Happy Dance!

This morning when I stepped on the scale I saw that I lost my 20th pound since moving to Canada and am finally back down to my pre-pregnancy weight- wahoo!! Unfortunately, I still have 30 pounds to get to my target weight. I haven't done any drastic dieting or exercising, just running stairs from the basement to the main floor and upstairs cleaning up after my messy family, nursing my baby, and trying to eat healthier foods in smaller portions. Not only do I want to lose weight, I want to be healthier overall. Hopefully, these lifestyle changes can do that. I'm scared I'll plateu though and then give up and gain weight again. Being a yo-yo is not so fun. But for the moment I'm celebrating my small victory!

Deja BOO!

Halloween was pretty low-key this year compared to years past, but we still had a fun time! Our festivities didn't really start until the week before when I finally found our decorations to unpack. We had our few from Taiwan and a few more that had been in storage, including this little boy & girl. It was so cute because all week Gavin would call them Chachi and Noe after his beloved older brother and sister.


On Friday the kids had a small celebration at school. I made these little jack-o-lantern cupcakes for them, but they have a little boy in their class with severe allergies (I swear Ottawa is the allergy capitol of the world). Their teacher asked each student to bring in a special treat for themselves, but they wouldn't be allowed to share. I think it's kind of sad. They had a costume parade that the little boys and I went to, but it was a little chaotic followed by a visit from the fire department as a fog machine in the community center at the other end of the building set off the smoke detector. Gavin enjoyed seeing the firetruck though.


The kids brought home these darling ghosts they made,

and these darling suckers from their teacher.

That night we also went over to the Martin's house. The kids decorated Halloween sugar cookies and made cards to give to someone special. We also stayed for dinner. I felt so bad though, because Gavin got sick during dinner (for a total of 3 times at their house, once in the car home, and 4 more times at our house-poor guy!) Sorry Martin's!

Saturday morning, Noe went to a birthday party. Afterwards we carved all of our jack-o-lanterns. I drew a bunch of different eyes, noses, and mouths then we took turns picking what we wanted. I LOVE the results. No two are the same and they show each of our personalities. Can you tell whose is whose? (4 on bottom L to R: Jen, Kaleb, Noe, Gavin; 2 on top: Teague and Len). We put 2 on each side of our garage and the other 4 lined our sidewalk up to the front door. It was finally time to get the candy ready for our trick-or-treaters and to get ourselves into costume. You might recognize these.

Kaleb, the muscle-man ninja

Noe, the beautiful princess

Gavin, the race-car driver

Teague, the cutest punkin!

Len, the scholarly priest

Jen, the queen (of course- tee hee!)

I had so much fun playing dress-up with Noe. She was so excited I let her wear one of my fancy necklaces and dangly earrings. When she saw the pictures she said, "I look even prettier than I thought." What a little stink, but she's right!

I must have taken a dozen of these trying to get them all to smile and look at the camera at the same time. This was as good as it got. Love them!

Gavin and Teague stayed home with Daddy to help pass out candy, while I took Kaleb and Noe on their first door-to-door outing. It was fun going around the neighborhood with some of their friends from school.

The kids were thrilled with their loot. Not bad for about an hour's work! The most popular item they received was chips! They also got some good candy (although I think we gave out the best: Twix, Reese, Snickers, Starburst, just to name a few), and some toys too. I never would have thought to give out play-doh for Halloween, how fun!

To settle down before bed we watched our Charlie Brown Halloween shows. After the kids were in bed, Len and I watched Sleepy Hollow. Gotta love Halloween!