Preschool, car troubles, and renovations

Ah, it has been a busy week as usual. I caught up on the laundry aspect plus ironing, which left this thurday to be a more kid focused day. Sooo, I got brave and let the kids do their first "cut and pasting" thing, although I did the cutting since we don't have safety scissors yet, they enjoyed it. They pasted tissue paper to construction paper, and then I got even more brave and let them paint it! They had fun of course.

I wrapped a nice square box and cut out a square at the top so I can stick cards of letters, numbers or anything really into it. We used it today for a few new sight words and some letters for Aaron he doesn't know very many...infact he is quite different from Amy. But he likes the letter "p" and I think he knows what "a" is.

I went through a few pages of Amy's learning to read book, she is starting to blend, but we are going slow (I mean purposely slow, I don't want to rush this on her since she is only 3 and 1/2).

And then I brought out the well...the video explains what it is! :)

The video of our fun day!

Oh yes car trouble...our car decided not to start or it started and died 3 secs later. The mechanic said it was some malfunction of the key? Something to do with a chip in it and it had to be reset...? Didn't make sense to me but here is what was attached to Jett's key...heehee, I think someone won't be forgetting us very quickly. :)

The front porch of the manse was leaking, and the window frame was rotting away very badly, so the joiners are just now replacing it all and are getting quite far with only two days of work done on it.

And now diaper duty calls. :)

Grace Gems

I've known about this part of Sermon Audio for awhile and thought I would share this less than 5 minute devotional by Thomas Brooks...

you can find this to my left here -------->

It's 2010!!

Happy New Year!

Yes, I’m late, but better late then never…or so they say. I think it is time I get things organized around here! I have about 500 or so pictures that need to be printed (most are uploaded to photobox) and put in albums, I do need to go through them though and make sure they really are all worth keeping. Yes 500 pictures in a years time. :S I still have Amy’s scrapbook that I’m working on…but I’ve been procrastinating very badly. There is toys to go through, books to go through, clothes (and lots of clothes) to go through. BTW, what do you do with old cards that people have given you? I’ve used some of the embellishments and things to make other cards with but what about the plainer ones? Anyways, these are just a few of the things that need to be done.

So…where am I going with this post? Oh yes. I was wondering lately, what should I post about? I already post bits of our daily life, but that gets monotonous and really most people know that basics of what a mother does anyways (though it is nice to write it once and awhile especially if there is encouraging feedback!). So, may I ask what you would like to hear (I mean read) about? Are there any questions for those of you who don’t know me extremely well? Or for those of you who do, is there anything you wish to know about this odd family living in a foreign country?

In other news, Jett is very busy and has hardly had much time to spend with us (but he has had some thankfully!), Samuel Rutherford is currently living with us till about February time, there is SNOW on the ground and has been here since we left almost two weeks ago (yeah!!), I am petrified of driving in the snow (yes, I am still a Canadian…), Owen is crawling, babbling, drooling (info not really needed) and has one tooth (ok, he has had it for a month if not more now). Aaron is just a little Jeremy! And Amy is still the sensitive little princess (no pea’s in her bed tonight though).

Now, after reading all that, I wish you a hearty goodnight! Till the next post D.V.

Home!

We are finally home after a long, tiresome, treacherous, trek! We left Skye yesterday and ended up going through snow squalls starting about Invergarry area and it was on and off for the rest of our way (we didn't make it to Perth). We usually go through Dalwhinnie but one guy couldn't make it up the hill (kept slipping) and another car was attempting it when I told Jett that NO we were not going to go through Dalwhinnie...sooo, we took a LOOONG alternative route which when we finally ended up at the Dalwhinnie road we were turned back because the A9 was closed from there to Pitlochry! :S So...we ended up going back up 13 miles to Newtonmore and found a hotel there...it was extremely nice to settle down safe!! Even though I have lived in Canada and have seen bad storms...it doesn't compare to now. Why? Because I have three small children in the car, the tires are NOT winter tires, the UK snow plows (although I am thankful for them) need to go to Canada to get some proper gear to clear the roads...lol, sorry, but I was surprised at how little snow they actually removed! They must have worked all night because by morning when we did head back to Perth it was very clear, and the best roads I have seen since we left Skye!! Anyways, as you can imagine my nerves are kind of shot as they say...I think I'll be wishing for less snow, or...better snow plows... :D

pictures...

Well, here we are in Skye, it is fairly cold, although it has gotten warmer over the past few days…reminds me a lot of Lewis and Harris. I’m still struggling with this computer as a few keys are still stuck (thanks Aaron) and it is dreadfully annoying to type much… :’(

Anyways here are a few pics of the kids playing…and smiling.

Another clip...

We are in Skye now but here is an old video clip

a post of pictures

And no captions due to Aaron pouring formula on the laptop. :D two keys fail to work the n and the m...so if you see these in this post it is because I am copying and pasting! :S

what must be done

Right now I really should be:

• Changing a diaper or er, make that two
• Putting Owen down for a nap
• Clip fingernails
• go through the two pages in the Handbook for Reading with Amy (the ones she knows)
• Put dinner in the crockpot
• bake some cookies (something I enjoy doing!!)
• Update this blog properly...hmm, maybe.
• Dust...this house needs to be dust ed
• Clean Bathroom DONE

BUT, I am blogging just now. :) But only to give you this video clip of dear Owen. I just watched clips of Calvin (Care's boy) and he is too cute! Lots of chub! Care if your reading this, Calvin is the sweetest little thing, I love him already!

And off to do my "to-do" list...

Congratulations!

Congratulations are in order to Carl and Stephanie!
They had a baby boy...named Lewis John Frederick (I'm not completely sure if that is spelled properly!) All of the other details I have yet to find out! Aww babies! :)

*Note, I mispelled his name (I knew I would!) Louis John Frederic I think!!

Corn!?

a clip of dear Aaron eating his corn...perhaps he enjoys it a bit too much. :)

What does it feel like to...

...step on this?Did somebody say "Ouch"? :) Now...if only our friendly Brits could use the American plug I think we would have just a little less pain... :D

A hug with Mommy

A cute smile for Mommy (ok for the camera...)

Last night we had David Wylie over for dinner and of course Amelia wasn't pleased about it. No, she doesn't like strangers, especially men. Anyways, Aaron on the other hand thought it was great. Such a difference between the two!! And Owen was just placid... :)

Tomorrow (oh, I need to call to confirm) I hope to go with the kids to Mrs. Macleods for a visit.

Nothing going on the rest of the week, but perhaps a visit from an Edinburgh friend on Friday. A busy week actually!

This blog post is picture heavy, but I'm not sorry. :) Now...Jett and I had a good laugh at this so I snapped a photo...

...was the wolf being too loud or something?

On another note, the horse and cow are Aaron's *favourite* toys.

Daddy feeding Mr Hungry

Not only does Amelia read stories to her older brother but to her little brother too!Now what colour are those eyes?

And these? Aren't they lovely? I think the lashes make them look very pretty.

A little brother moment...

...hmm, probably discussing some destructive plan when Owen gets of age.

Well, maybe not, at least not with the pacifier in his mouth.

Now, my babies are needing me. They are being bad, crying, fighting, hitting, screaming, throwing things...need I say more?

A Mothers Day Thought

I feel...uhm, how do you put it? I feel wearied? Discouraged? Maybe some. Tired. But that is an always thing. Stressed, now that is more like it. Ok, partially stressed, and dreadfully wearied. Sounds awful. But sometimes this is just how motherhood is!! Can you imagine having your days filled with diaper changing (2 in diapers, 1 is potty trained), making meals, bathing kids, reading to kids, teaching them to play fairly, playing with them or entertaining them, feeding kids, cleaning up after they spilled all those noodles and spaghetti sauce on the floor, many times of running around the house destroying everything in his or her's path, finding out that the walls are a huge canvas just ready to be coloured on, many times of screaming, many times of fighting, many times of "I want sumthing to eat", and "I want DVD!", and then one of the children decide to not nap leaving him grouchy right about 4ish (thats when Mom needs to cook supper) so you sit child in highchair as you cook supper and feed him this cracker, some corn, oh here have some of this...and then before you know it the said child falls asleep in the chair. NO! Now said child will not go to bed on time....no, now he wants to play and play and get into things and make mommy feel as if she will never have time to read and relax after a stressful day of motherhood! Phew! Yes...sometimes this is motherhood.

So, I was naive. Before I got married, or rather before I had children, I had no clue what sleep deprivation was, or what it would cost the mom for day in and day out service to the kids, house and husband duties (not in any order here). I had no real idea what it meant for a mom to be a mom, and I had no idea how much energy, both emotionally and bodily it was going to take to even get through one single day. One single day. Wow.

But before you start feeling sorry for me, I want to point out that that is not my point I'm trying to make! I definitely feel for all those mothers who go to the grind every day (and night shifts too if they are nursing) for all their service it is hard work! I want to say a HUGE THANK YOU to who else but my wonderful mothers! THANK YOU Mom for taking care of all the nitty gritty details of me as a child! Thank you for putting up with me as a toddler, as a teenager and even so as a young adult! Thank you for giving me your love, your work ethic, your hours of time, your advice, your nursing abilities when I was sick (and I know that was sooo many times!)....wow, I could add to this but I think the majority is said. And THANK YOU to my Mother in law for raising such a wonderful man as my husband. For doing all the things that made him to be who he is. For encouraging him towards whatever call he had, whether it was to art, to music, to studying or even more seriously to his occupation. Thank you for supporting his wife (me) in so many ways. I don't think you know how much this means to me!

So...that said, I LOVE YOU BOTH!!

Said child is now asleep in his bed
(this was an earlier photo of today but thought it suited the post)

And yes you are allowed to laugh. :)

must have a title here...but what?

More pictures! Not a lot going on here really. Last week was Glasgow Communion and I was able to attend the Thursday evening service which was very nice. We had a couple of extremely frosty mornings earlier this week and the sun was accompanying!

NOTE, Today is November the 12th (It says I posted this on tuesday but that was a draft!) There are too many birthdays to keep track of. Today is my nephew Kenneth's birthday he will be 7 (I think), and tomorrow is my Oma's birthday, she was born Nov 13th, 1921 meaning she will be 88?! November 15th is adorable Jenna's birthday and she will be 3.

On one of those chilly frosty mornings Daddy took Aaron for a stroll (Monday probably) in what you see below although I did add socks :) he was cold when I got him back, but he was quite upset to being put back in the house.

The frost put on a spell of baking in the house...so I made some cookies. Here is my man with the cookies I brought him.

My cam doesn't take wonderful pictures...or else this would've caught something beautiful! I like how frost just touches the outer edge of things...kind of like putting lace on nature.

Same.

Haha...a texting-bottle-feeding-little-mama! No, I'm not texting and feeding very often!!

Ooh his smile is contagious!

And those blue eyes!

hmm, said cookies tho this should've been up a few pics!! Yes they were a bit flat, had to add a wee bit more flour, but I don't like majorly thick cookies.

Somehow he was able to reach the cookies and whilst I was busy doing something in the playroom I saw him walk in with a cookie...and then he came back with another one...and well I had to put a stop to it or else I would have a lot of cookies with only one bite in them and therefore this was the outcome... poor boy, he wasn't pleased he couldn't take anymore.

Still battling with Owen's eczema, but lately it has been more controllable. He still is itchy and scratches a lot but at least his face is less red. I'm putting cream on him constantly throughout the day. I kind of wish I could use some of that Honey cream Rach uses, but I fear it might somehow get ingested and he is too little to be having honey!

Anyways on to chores. The floors need a good vacuuming, and I need to wash the wall in the bathroom (mildew likes us), put up laundry and etc. Till next time! :)

!!

I just read my last post, and oops! Yes, you can tell that I don't proofread! I think that's what you call it. Wow, and to think I've wanted to be good at writing! Blah, I never will be. Maybe I should read my entries before posting...it may be less embarrassing for me!

Here is a picture of my Mom at her convocation (graduation) with her two loyal sons. Ben on the left and Jay on the right. My Mom holds an associates degree in Business (I'm pretty sure it is an associates...) and she holds hmm, is it a certificate? I'm not sure now! But she now holds a PSW Certificate (or whatever you call it). Congratulations to my Mom!These were taken back in Halkirk, I was experimenting in hopes of getting some good photos for a collage of her being 3 years old. (I'm too wordy.) I plan on switching them to black and white, with a soft focus, but picasa obviously wants them to be colour right now for you!

This is my favourite one.

Some of them were real cute, but most of them were not nice at all. Have I posted these up here before? :S

This was especially cute of her smile, but Aaron was in the background, and Amy still remembers what Aaron was doing in that photo too!!

Monday Jett came back from Larne around 9pm kind of late but at least he was home. I had the car over the weekend so I was able to get out Monday and do some light shopping at Tesco (oh wow, a walmart equivalent but not quite that big). Found a cute hat for a £1 for Amy so that was nice. Tuesday Jett went back to class, and I was busy cleaning up, sewing! Yes, I finally pulled out the poor sewing machine out of his box...and guess what it smelt like. A coal fire. OH NO!!!! I had a lot of bad memories come back. Not that I have only bad memories of Harris days, but it was trying in some ways (pregnancy sickness and depression, Amelia's epilepsy episodes, and the awful drives to Stornoway for groceries etc.) and then I laughed. I couldn't help but remember the time the Highland cow decided to visit our yard, and on a Sabbath too of all days!! He or she was quite pretty I'll admit that. Anyways, back to my post now, I was sewing yesterday! I sewed those cushion covers and they look nice, I think. I also resized two of Amy's skirts (she has a tiny waist). Today, was much of the same, gave kids baths, did some laundry, and mended one of Jett's trousers (the hem keeps coming undone in them...I wonder if it is all my sewing or I'm just redoing poor craftmanship from where he bought them from!)

All right, enough of my newsy and yet not much newsy post.

our life in a few pickatures

A hot air balloon maybe? Anyways it served an exciting object to look at with the kids.One of Aaron's "found" toys. Unfortunately I sometimes have to search for mixing spoons and serving spoons in order to finish dinner or serve it!

Monday we were trying to catch up on some sleep since we were in Edinburgh on the Sabbath meaning a late late night for two kiddos who are used to going to bed at about 7 or 7:30pm! I felt touched with sympathy (how uncomfy!) seeing her asleep on this chair...

Mr. Beautiful or so I think, I've had a few people say that he could pass for a girl!

And again...apologies with the red cheeks (no he is NOT teething it is a breakout of eczema...ugh I was using fabric softener without really thinking...I feel just a bit dumb.)

Peekaboo!

Was trying to get some pics of him holding his feet... this one was the best which still isn't that great.

"But that's okay, right mom?"

Ooh, and what I found today...relive sympathy again. I tried getting her to sleep on the couch but noooo...and the next few minutes I came back to her in the seat! :(

And some gorgeous fabric....ooh, I think my favourite colours together must be blue and white...they are just so "clean" looking. This is from "The Delft Collection" and I only got enough to make cushion covers for a couch/sofa...heehee, yes I'm starting to dream about our "house of dreams" lol...if I can call it that!

I have a video clip of Amelia that I plan on posting very soon (maybe tomorrow) because it makes me think of Julia so much lol...I think they must have gotten similar genes or something! Ok off I go!

Abortion

This morning I took Jett to the train station so I could have the car for the day (am hoping to visit Effie, and a few other ladies of the congregation for coffee). While we were driving we had the news on and it was blaring an issue that dealt with something sensitive for me. They were speaking of a rise in down syndrome likely caused by older women having children. And they touched on abortion. I hate that word, and everything that deals with it. They were talking about the rates of abortion and possibly an increase of them due to higher rates of down syndrome found in the "fetuses". But what triggered upsetness (if thats a word) was that at the end of the report it was said that "more research needs to be done to find out why women choose NOT to have the screening done during pregnancy" the screening is for down syndrome... hmmm...what a statement! Why is it not this "more research needs to be done to find out why women are wanting to abort precious babies"? Obviously the answer is clear on the latter one, but it should be easily discovered why women don't want the screening done too! Maybe because they have a conscience and want to do what is right, because some women would never ever think of aborting or, shall we say in the proper term, murdering a HUMAN LIFE!? Or maybe it is because they don't care what the child has, because they have been waiting for a baby for such a long time. Or maybe it is all of the above! I think if people had the fear of God within them these things wouldn't need to be "researched". I'm disgusted by our society, disgusted by the sin that is so allowed in our day. When will the tide turn?

Same baby I think not...now if only I had pics of Amy!!