Cousins and Generations (236-269)

Families are such wonderful treasures. We learn so much from our parents, our grandparents, and even our siblings and children. Belonging to a family stretches us and helps us to grow and develop greater love, trust empathy and responsibility. It is a shame that so many extended families live so far apart. In our case, the closest family that we have to us lives 5 hours away. However, it doesn't work out that we get to visit my sister every time we drive through where she lives. My parents live 8 hours away. My other sister and my brother live 18 hours away, and Dave's family lives even further. I really like taking every opportunity I can to gather with family and enjoy a good visit. On our journey home from vacation this summer, we had a few special stops to make. First up was my brother's house, where we enjoyed a wonderful meal, soft beds, and a short visit. Then we slipped over to my sister's place for another great meal and an opportunity for the cousins to play, which was far too short. And finally, we took the scenic route back to my parents' to get in a visit with my grandpa. It was great to see my boys laughing with him and showing him their things.

This week, I am at my parents' once again. My sister and her children are visiting as well. And the cousins are relishing this time together. All of them fight over Antonin, but somehow we sort it out. It is good for Antonin to not be the oldest or biggest one all the time, although, since everyone wants to be with him, he's still got a lot of control.

236. fresh baked bread
237. warm pot of soup
238. tomatoes, fresh from the garden
239. a baby, proud of accomplishments
240. afternoon tea with my love
241. snuggles with my big boy
242. gentle reminders
243. second chances
244. improved mood
245. improved clarity
246. encouragement from a blog post
247. playing piano in the evening
248. laughing with my boys
249. baking soda bath for a diaper rash
250. travel chair straps
251. clover blossoms in my back yard
252. blossoms on my tomato plants
253. peace
254. renewal
255. joy of a child in a simple, homemade notebook
256. a baby who went to sleep on his own in his crib tonight
257. a new batch of homemade yogurt
258. hard lotion & lip balm made
259. soft, smooth lips from lip balm
260. scent of sweet orange essential oil
261. new deodorant made
262. the opportunity to develop patience
263. two hungry boys
264. latches under my kitchen sink
265. blog posts this week
266. hot chocolate pick-me-up
267. a sofa to pray/cry on
268. a little extra help from my husband who mostly worked from home on this day (Aug 30)
269. decadent peppermint-cocoa scented lotion

Time Flies... (201-235)

It's already been over one year since we moved here to Fort McMurray and into our home here. Exactly one year ago, we were just starting to unearth our things after having been without most for nearly six weeks. It felt great to be in a house that had more than one chair to sit in and to have a proper bed to sleep in. Even better was having more than one pot to prepare food in and having access to more of my good food. Then, we had a one month old and a 2 year old. And the youngest was very unsettled, and needed to be held nearly all the time (I was so thankful for my Moby wrap!!!). And the oldest was struggling to figure out why his whole world had changed. Now, we have a one year old and a three year old. And the youngest is intent on exploring his world. He doesn't crawl anymore - he walks and even tries running and falls and gets right back up. He still likes lots of cuddling, and that Moby wrap still comes in handy :) (I have learned a new trick from some of the African mamas in our church on how to tie babies onto the back and I use that method too.) And our oldest is still growing and learning and trying to figure out the way his world works.

I would like to say that I am settled in here. But I'm not. The biggest problem is the master bedroom - it has not been painted yet, so I haven't unpacked much. There are empty shelves and boxes and piles of things to deal with. This is the longest that it has ever taken for me to get settled somewhere. And it gets discouraging sometimes. But then I remember: I have a one year old and a three year old. And they require a lot of attention. And sometimes that's about all I can manage. But, I've been taking little snatches of time to work on little projects this past week and I'm slowly working through the pack-rattery and chaos and hopefully by Christmas, we'll be all settled in.

201. a boy who mostly dressed himself
202. first steps solo
203. building friendships
204. timely words in a sermon
205. the good work
206. splashing water
207. head full of sand
208. sweet tiny baby
209. playing with friends
210. refreshed
211. sweet bread from the freezer
212. cherries - fresh & sweet
213. sun & water
214. wind & cloud
215. comfy, deluxe camping chair
216. Sabbath rest
217. pretty black dress
218. fun hair
219. a new hairstyle on my man
220. hymns
221. money raised for a new church building
222. visiting with church members
223. news of a new baby girl - due early January to Lori and Jason
224. happy children
225. blintzes for supper
226. beautiful stone serving pot
227. a microwave for a gift for cheap
228. a jigsaw found at the sale
229. sorted clean clothes
230. fewer things in my home
231. a clean garage
232. a crystal bud vase
233. a bigger paycheck than expected
234. dreams
235. carrying baby African-style

A Week Derailed (#161-200)

We had a very full and busy week last week. Peaches and tomatoes were on sale last week and I picked up a lot. I needed to replenish my store of canned peaches and tomato sauce. I spent Friday, September 2, canning 28 quarts of tomato sauce. Then, Tuesday, canning 22 quarts of peaches and 12 pints of peach jam. I took a break most of Wednesday, because of the heat (it was 30C with no AC and too hot to slave over a stove), but started working on another couple of batches of tomato sauce at 5 pm. I stayed up, getting the second batch on to simmer by 2 am, then went to bed. I finished canning that batch by 10:30 am Thursday morning, before it got too hot again. I spent the rest of the day cleaning up in the kitchen and getting ready to process peaches later in the evening, when it would be a little cooler.

But I didn't get to start that. While I was preparing supper, my poor Antonin boy fell off a chair while watching pictures on the computer and landed wrong on a bar just above the floor that connected two legs of the highchair, breaking both bones in his left arm about 1-2 inches up from the wrist. Supper didn't get finished as we gathered things together to head off to the ER for the second time exactly 3 months after the trip with Titus. Thankfully, when we arrived in ER, there was absolutely no line-up. Within minutes, we were in the x-ray and then taken straight back to a room in ER. His bones were set and follow-up x-rays taken all within an hour of us arriving there. Antonin was such a brave little boy. After the initial shock, he sat calmly at home while we got ready to go. And once in the hospital, he was so cooperative with the x-ray technicians and the nurses. Sadly, the hardest part for me was when he had an IV inserted. And even then, he calmed fairly quickly after that. The doctor quickly set his bones and a follow-up x-ray showed excellent alignment. We're taking him in to follow-up with an orthopedic surgeon on Wednesday and he'll be getting a new cast then.

It's been a tough couple of days, keeping him out of trouble and occupied so that his cast could set up properly. We've watched a lot of videos (I'm so glad that I picked up a new one at the ABC bookmobile this week) and looking at pictures. We went to church yesterday, too. But I wish I hadn't. It was too much for him and he spent a lot of the afternoon in tears. Today is a new day. And I hope it goes better. For one thing, I'm not going to be as mother hennish because the cast is now completely dry and he won't be able to do damage to it. Hopefully being more active will improve his mood.

161. friends who can help
162. a reminder to accept our situations and find peace
163. blue sky through leaves
164. sunlight glinting on leaves
165. occasional drop of water from saturated trees
166. sounds of life flowing around me
167. watching people
168. knowing why I care so much about including everyone
169. a bird's call
170. driving under black clouds
171. open blue sky and white fluffy clouds next to blackness
172. sun, like a distorted ball of flame, seen through clouds
173. celebrating milestones with family
174. the phrase "a little bit while"
175. bug spray
176. antibiotics when very sick
177. being home
178. hands - being held, shaken, placed upon
179. prayer of dedication
180. personal words of encouragement and challenge
181. surrounded by family
182. making plans for publication
183. a growing son
184. patience being stretched
185. cool days
186. finding booties that will stay on baby's feet
187. taking time to love on my big boy
188. lettuce not frozen through
189. "let bitterness go away"
190. a good price on berries
191. anticipation
192. unexpected money deposited
193. a lower mobile bill
194. sleeping in
195. middle of the night with God
196. seeing His answer in the peace and enjoyment of the next day
197. a baby sleeping through the night
198. only part of a project left
199. quick dishes to make for potluck
200. singing children

Antonin in Oregon - Summer 2011

Today, I am in the midst of canning - canning 30 lbs of tomatoes into spaghetti sauce and working through another ~60 lbs of peaches. I've already done the same amount of tomatoes last week and did ~50 lbs of peaches yesterday, so we're doing good. I cannot believe the weather though! It got really hot yesterday, hotter today, and still more heat to come. Temperatures have been over 30 C or getting close to 90 F. And when you don't have AC and you're working over a hot stove day in and day out, it's a little draining. Hopefully, I can finish up the canning by Thursday night. I've got too many other appointments scheduled for Friday to be able to work on my preserving. One good thing about this weather though, it's letting my poor tomato plants work on ripening a bit more fruit.

 One month ago, though, we were enjoying some wonderful times at Grandma and Grandpa Hamstra's house in Oregon. Antonin got to experience some fun and new things. Ralph Wyman treated Antonin to a close up experience of a motorbike. He got a little scared, but humored everyone for some pictures. He copied everyone else lounging around reading and read a "hilarious" story (about church plants, but he doesn't need to know that!) He went berry picking with Grandma. And he got to pet some goats - particularly their "beards":) He made a point of going to each goat and stroking their beards. He's just got this thing about them - where he gets it from, I don't know, but I have a feeling that facial hair is in his future.

Cannon Beach and Manzanita

Two boys.

First time to the coast.

Sand.

Surf.

Grandma and Grandpa.

Auntie Flory and Uncle Matthew.

Mama and Daddy.

Frisbee.

Walking.

Tide pools.

Water.

Pure fun.

Sweet Potato Fries

One of our new favorite foods are sweet potato fries. They are so yummy! Titus eats as many of them as he can whenever I serve them, which is hard, because the rest of us want to eat as many of them as we can too. And they are so simple to make. (I got my inspiration here.)

Ingredients:
sweet potato
olive oil
sea salt

Directions:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Peel sweet potato and chop into strips about 1/2" thick. Lay out strips on a baking sheet. Sprinkle olive oil over them and toss them around to coat with the oil. Bake for 15 minutes. Sprinkle with salt and enjoy!!!

While in Oregon this summer, we went out for a late night snack with Matt and Flory and had sweet potato fries with a basil, mint, cilantro, and sriracha mayo. That was so delicious! Next time I make the fries, I think I'll try some type of cilantro mayo based of this recipe.

Train Park in Shady Dell

Grandma and Grandpa Hamstra had a really fun surprise for the boys during their visit this summer: a trip to a train park where we could go for rides. Both Antonin and Titus loved the trains and went on the rides as many times as they could. Antonin went on every time, but the rest of us took turns off taking pictures or taking care of other things. The trains are real models of trains. There are steam engines and diesel engines. The track winds around the grounds and you get a pretty long ride. It is such a fun place for children and adults to spend an afternoon. 

The One Year Old

Titus turned one on July 29. We were so excited to be at Grandma and Grandpa Hamstra's house for his birthday. He had a little road cake, and was very excited to see the car on top. He even liked eating it, but was so carefully picking at it that it took a long time for him to eat. He also got some fun presents and had a lot of fun. Antonin picked out a pink Little People SUV for him and the two of them keep having trouble sharing. Grandma and Grandpa gave Titus a collapsible tunnel, which they both love crawling through. We are so blessed to have Titus in our family. He is such a sweet little boy! He's recently started giving hugs and kisses when he's asked to. He's working hard at learning to walk and learning to talk. He is such a happy, busy boy that brings us so much joy!