Magnetic Letters

Samara spent a lot of time making words out of the magnetic letters the other day. She put together word after word and I had to take a picture of each one. I think she's ready to graduate to longer words. Here are the results of her work: (If you know my girl, you can tell she's not feeling very well in these pictures. She's been fighting a cold all week and hasn't been herself.)

This was one of my favourites. She had used up all the "B's" in other words and so thought outside the box and put together two "D's" to make an upper case "B". I love it!

Date Weekend

Mike and I rarely get to go out for a date night at this point in our lives. It just doesn't happen with the way our life is right now. I'm not complaining . . . just stating the facts. This too shall pass.

Anyway, this weekend we were blessed to be able to spend the whole day and evening together on Saturday. We left the kids in the capable hands of Grandma and Grandpa halfway through the morning . . . just enough time to do a bit of shopping before lunch. Then we had lunch together. Table for two. No crayons. No cutlery being thrown around. No bathroom breaks every five minutes. And we actually had a conversation with no interuptions. Wow!

Then our afternoon was spent at an End the Wait seminar. "Come hear from adoptive families, Christian adoption professionals and churches making a difference in the lives of adoptive families; then join the conversation as we talk about the many ways believers can respond to God’s call to “look after orphans . . . in their distress” (James 1:27)." Steven Curtis Chapman and Geoff Moore were even there sharing their adoption stories. After that we went met up with some good friends for dinner. Friends we don't get to see very often so that was fun too.

And then the day was finished off with this:

Mike's been a fan of SCC forever and I got him tickets for Christmas. We had great seats - three rows back from the stage, right in the middle so we were looking straight on at the stage. Just as we anticipated, the music was incredible and the stories and testimonies shared were so moving. We loved it. And the kids had a great time at home. Grandma and Grandpa took them to the airplane museum and all six of them had fun. It was an awesome day for everyone with lots of new memories created!

It is spring right???

Well, we woke up this morning to a winter wonderland. Normally this would excite me but the little taste of warmer weather we had last week makes me not appreciate this stuff so much anymore. I just can't believe how much of it we have . . . and it's still coming down!

Here are a few pics I took tonight - that's why they're kinda dark. You can't really see his face in the picture, but Mike is SO happy about shoveling more snow! (or not!)

Adoption Magazine

My friend, Sharla, put together a website all about adoption - called Adoption Magazine. It's a great place for pre- and post-adoptive families to go to for a large variety of resources. It's "a place to share information and stories about adoption's complexities, trials and joys."

Today one of my older blog posts is featured on the Adoption Magazine website. Go check it out!

Spring Reading

Well, I’ve decided to join the Spring Reading Thing challenge posted on this blog. I have so many books that I really want to read and never get around to reading so when I saw this challenge, I decided to sign up. I have no idea when I’m going to find the time to read but I’m up for the challenge. Hey, I have a whole season right?!?!

So here’s my list. It’s not huge – there’s only five – but believe me, it will be a struggle to get through this many. We’ll see what happens. I'll post about this again around June 20th and let you know how I did.

Sweetness in the Belly – Camilla Gibb

When You Believe – Deborah Bedford

Michal (from The Wives of King David series) – Jill Eileen Smith

Mothers – Living a Life of Fulfillment God’s Way


Fields of the Fatherless – Tom Davis

Samara's Birthday

On March 4, our baby girl turned five years old.

Samara we feel so very blessed that God chose us to be your parents. We are so proud of you. You are so full of life and you put your whole heart and soul into everything you do. We love you so very much and pray that God will continue to bless you in the days and years to come.

Warmer Weather

I'm loving the warmer weather we're having over the past few days. There's nothing like seeing all four kids playing nicely together outside in the warm sunshine. We even had lunch outside! I know we haven't seen the end of the colder weather yet but we're definitely looking forward to summer.

The warm weather, lots of fresh air, picnic lunches outside, a good night's sleep after a full day outside . . . it all makes this worth it (I think):

Surprise for Victoria

This blog post is well overdue but I wanted to make sure I documented it so here goes. Victoria had her birthday in December but due to the busyness of that time of year, we didn’t plan a birthday party for her. But we made up for it by planning a surprise in January. One Friday morning I stated that I needed to go out to do a few errands and I asked Victoria if she wanted to come with me. She said yes, as long as it was just her and me. Well, when Daddy came home at lunchtime, she changed her mind and decided she wanted to stay home with Daddy instead. I then proceeded to tell her that I really wanted her to come with me and because she already said she would, she should keep her word and come with me. So she begrudgingly came with me. As we were driving along, here’s how the conversation went:

Me: Hey, wanna see if Breanna (her cousin and BFF) wants to come over for a sleepover?

Of course that was followed with squeals of delight and a definite YES!

Victoria: Tonight?

Me: Oh, tonight? Well, uuum, I don’t know about that. Is your room clean? (LOL!)

Victoria: Oh, um, well, sort of” (ha . . . that made me laugh!)

We then pulled into Breanna’s driveway. Victoria got her seatbelt off and said she was so excited.

Me: Well, Breanna won’t be home will she? It’s Friday and she would be at school wouldn’t she?

Victoria: Oh ya. Oh well, I’m going to come in with you anyway.

When we stepped inside, there was Breanna all ready to go with her bags packed. Aunt Michelle took her out of school early and she knew she was going somewhere but didn’t know where. All four of us left in the van. It was hilarious because the girls didn’t even ask where we were going and why all four of us were going. We listened to them chat away behind us. They talked all about coming over to our place for a sleepover and all the things they were going to do. They also assumed we were going swimming somewhere because Breanna had bought a new bathing suit that week. It wasn’t until we had been driving for at least a half an hour (our house is only 10 minutes from Breanna’s) that Victoria asked why it was taking so long to get home. We told the girls we were taking the scenic route. We teased them the whole time saying that this particular road (the QEW) was Aunt Michelle’s favourite road. She LOVES driving on it so we thought we’d take a spin on it so she could enjoy it. (LOL!) We got a little confused (okay, maybe lost) and the girls wondered why we turned around at one point. We knew we were getting closer and as we got to the intersection of the place we were going (this hotel), the girls pointed at it:

Girls: Hey, look at that cool hotel! It’s so big!

Us: Ya, that does look cool . . . we should go there sometime!

Girls: YA!!! Let’s go now – just the four of us!

I turned at the intersection and pulled into the driveway of the hotel. The girls asked what we were doing and I said I just needed to stop and ask for directions. (wink, wink). I went to check in and when I came back to the van, I said, “Hey, this place looks really cool. Should we stay here?” Well, Victoria squealed and exclaimed yes but Breanna said she really wanted to go to Victoria’s for a sleepover. Ha! We explained to the girls that the four of were staying at the hotel for a night. They had a special sleepover package at the hotel that included a one night stay for four people, pizza and pop for supper, popcorn and a movie and breakfast for the four of us the next morning.

We had so much fun, swimming, laughing and just hanging out. Victoria loved it and said it was the best birthday party ever!