It’s That Time of Year Again

In precisely 4 hours, I will once again load up what feels like everything I own and head out on another youth retreat.  Retreats happen twice a year in my youth ministry world, and although it’s only a 48 hour trip, man, does it take a lot of work.

I easily log 70 hours of work during “retreat week”, and this year was no different.  There are so many details to figure out, games to plan, talks to write, and people to coordinate.

But it has always been so, so, worth it.  And I’m anticipating that this weekend will be no different. There is something pretty special about hanging out with thirty of your closest friends, enjoying nature, and drawing closer to God, and you just can’t recreate that on a week to week basis.

So, although there are certainly parts of retreat week that wear me out, discourage me, leave me feeling anxious, and sometimes make me scratch my head wondering why I do this crazy job.  There are larger parts of me that can’t wait for what is in store.  I posted this on our youth group’s facebook wall today:

Things I packed in my car today:
Pool Noodles
Feathers
Bricks
Marshmallows
Pantyhose
Blow up Rafts
Glosticks – many, many glosticks
Chips
4 soccer balls
Chopsticks 
the Rooted Cup
3 cans of Alphaghetti

This can only mean one thing: IT’S RETREAT TIME!!!!
Get pumped people.

 

Every year I chuckle and shake my head at the random items that end up being “necessities” for a youth retreat.  But, they really are.

So, I’m out.  I’ll catch you all on the other side of this long weekend (Which will no doubt feel even longer on the 3 hours of sleep I’ll probably bank each night), hopefully with many stories of crazy stunts, moments of laughter, and lives transformed.

16 Months

Well Ellie,

It’s been a while since I’ve written you one of these posts, and I figured it was high time to remedy that.  There are so many things to note about you and your growth and development, because, let’s face it, a lot happens in four months.  Especially when those four months have you going from this:

to this:

to this:

to this:

(annnnd, yep, if you’re counting, I totally missed month 14…we’ll just blame that on our Florida trip…)

So, in the name of brevity, let’s just recap some key areas that hopefully you’ll care about knowing 20 years from now…

Walking

You’re still not doing it.  And I think that’s great.  You are dang cute when you stand there and laugh because you know you’re doing something great by standing all by yourself, and although you’ll take a few steps here and there, that seems to appease you for now.  I know once you realize how great it is to actually get from A to B without getting on your knees, you’ll just take off, but I’m just as content to have you reach out your chubby little hand to grip my finger to help you than see you do it by yourself. You have a lifetime of walking ahead of you kiddo, so hold my hand as long as you’d like.

Talking

Good golly kid are you ever a talker.  I have NO idea what’s normal for a kid your age (nor do I really care), but from what I’ve seen, my guess is you have a lot of words in your repertoire. (I think you’re at around 40…).   What’s really awesome is that we can literally teach you whatever words we want (OH THE POWER), and so although most of the words you know make a lot of sense for a 16 month old to know, there’s a few that we’ve thrown in there just ’cause – like: donkey.  Because, why wouldn’t you need to know how to identify a donkey?  We’re just preparing you for the future kiddo.  (and as a sidenote: there are a RIDICULOUS amount of donkeys in children’s bibles…)

Things you Love:

Ducky.  Oh how you love ducky.  This isn’t new, but I’m fairly certain that as you get older, your love for this little animal gets deeper and deeper.  Tonight, in fact, an entire hour after you went to bed, I heard you crying away upstairs. It’s unusual for you to cry that hard after being in bed a while, so I checked on you, only to find ducky, lying on the floor, and you sobbing, looking over the crib, calling out for him.  Well if that just doesn’t melt a mama’s heart, I don’t know what does.

Baths and brushing your teeth.  Both of these bring you much joy and often throughout the day you’ll either ask “teeth”? or “bath”?.  You little hygiene champion, you.

Your daycare.  For this, your dad and I are really grateful.  You are only there 2 days a week, but still, we are so glad you love it.  You love our daycare provider’s 2 kids, and their names are often heard around our house.

Fruit.  Seriously kid, I know this isn’t an abnormality for little kids to love the sweet, juicy taste of fruit, but it’s almost comical when we put it in front of you.  You can scarf down a banana in 10 seconds flat (you think I’m exaggerating).

Things that Make Me Think “Just When I Think You Can’t Get Any Cuter…You Go and Do Something Like This”

For months now, your dad has done this thing with you where he says in a playful voice “I…..love……you” and when he says it, he points to himself, then pats his heart, and then when he says you, he finds you and tickles you.  You have loved it for months, but in the past month or so, you’ve learned how to do it yourself.  It started with just patting your chest, and then expecting him to do it for you, but lately, you, in your own playful voice, say “I….wuv….you” and then you usually expect him to still tickle you, but sometimes, if we’re lucky, you’ll tickle him.  (and as another sidenote to the blog readers: I DARE you to tell me that there’s ANYTHING more heart-melting than your kid telling you they love you)

We try and pray with you before we eat meals, and when we put you to bed, and now, when we stay it’s time to pray, you just hold your hands out expectantly, knowing that’s just what we do.  You’ve learned how to say “amen” (well…ay-bed…but the good Lord knows what you mean), and this week, when you and I have prayed for supper together, you just don’t want to let go of my hand.  So we pray again.  And then again.  (And each time, you squint your eyes mostly shut) And then even when we’re done praying and you’ve said your “ay-bed’s”, you just grip your little fingers around mine and I have to eat with one hand.  I don’t mind so much.

Ok, Ellie, I’m pretty sure I used the word “brevity” at the beginning of this blog post, and here I’ve gone and just wrote and wrote and wrote.  So to sum up, 16 months is pretty darn great, and we are so, so lucky to have you.  

And Then It Was May

Is it just me, or is this year FLYING BY. How the heck is it already May?  I always feel a little lame lamenting the passing of time, because really, time is not passing more slowly, or quickly than the year before, but STILL.  MAY???

April was a full month.  And I think what made it seem more full was the fact that it was supposed to be a relaxing, open month with nothing on the calendar.  And then all of the sudden, 14 days of the month had company.  And before you know it, it’s MAY.  

Company, however, is a really good thing and we feel so lucky to have people that want to come visit us.  And so, to recap:

First, we welcomed our dear friends, Phil and Sheena.  They were in town for a wedding and we got the pleasure of hosting them.  At one point, I think we had 11 people in our house between them, our kids, and some friends who came over to visit and it was CRAZY.  In an awesome way. Ellie has some lifelong friends in the making!

And then, my birthmom, Colleen came!  She was here for (almost) a week and it was a great visit.  She got to spend some quality time with Ellie, we got to wake up to a clean kitchen each morning, and it was time well spent.  Ellie, however was fighting a cold and a MISERABLE BEAR for the majority of the week, which was too bad.  Our normally happy go-lucky little girl was all of the sudden crying on a whim, and that was a bit tiresome, but thankfully, Colleen understood, and even at her worst, Ellie manages to bust out smiles, so it was ok.

And now, to round out the month, Ben’s sister Rebecca is visiting.  She hails from allllll the way out in BC and it’s so great for her to be here and spend some quality time with us.  Plus, she keeps Ellie outfitted in the hippest accessories.  These sunglasses are case in point.

 

All in all, it’s been a full, busy, but good chunk of time.  And let’s be honest, my bathroom has never been cleaned so many times in one month.  It’s all about celebrating the small victories.  

Reason # 58 Why I Want a New Kitchen

We’ve lived at our house for almost three years now, and I could have told you the day we moved in that I wanted to re-do the kitchen.  It was (is) colourless, outdated, kind of run-down and just in general blah.  

I also knew, however, that it was functional, use-able (which is just another word for functional…just work with me here people), and in short; FINE.  I have always wanted to be careful not to buy into the “must-have-bigger-shinier-better” mentality, and although I knew that I would often WANT to update and change and renovate our kitchen, there wasn’t too much necessity behind the want.  So until now, things have stayed the same.

And the reality is, they probably will stay the same for a long while longer. (Well, unless we suddenly come into an abundance of money somehow….anyone feeling generous?) 

BUT.  OH and there is a but.  Sometimes, the rational, responsible part of me that knows we really don’t need a new kitchen, gives way to the teensy part of me that realllllly wants a new kitchen.

Especially when things like this happen.

Our counters are so old/outdated/crappy that they will absorb any ink/colours/WHATEVER you happen to leave on the counter.  And they don’t just come clean with a simple wipe of a cloth.  Often, it requires Clorox bleach spray to lift the stain.  Which we happen to be out of.

So, anyone want to guess what fruit Ben pulled out of the freezer and left on the counter overnight to thaw?

Thankful

Every other week,  Ben works in the evening (3-11pm), and I have youth programs on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.  These were the nights in the week that I was dreading the most when I thought about going back to work.  It really stressed me out to think about finding people to watch Ellie, and carting her all around town before racing off to youth, and then jarring her from her sleep as I picked her up, and loaded her back in the car to head home at the end of the night. 

As I’ve written before we really do have a great network of people helping us out with taking care of Ellie, and I truly am thankful for that.  And tonight, as we trudged in the door after another 12 hour work day (for me), Ellie asleep on my shoulder, snuggled in with her duckie that I realized there is another element to these crazy days that I absolutely love.  

When we get inside, Ellie is usually in a semi-sleepy zone where she’s kind of awake, but only enough to try and make herself  as comfortable as possible, and just buries her face in my neck over and over.  I walk her upstairs, shielding her eyes from the light and head to her room.  Before I put her in her bed, I sit in the rocking chair and just be.  Me and my baby girl.  Rarely any more would I get such quality snuggles from my baby and I really do love it.  I pray over her and kiss her head and neck as many times as I want.  Eventually, I know I need to put her down, and I say a little prayer of thanks for her and lay her down. 

If I had the choice, I would still probably choose to not have to maintain the schedule that we do, in order to make this work. But until things change, I choose to be thankful for moments like I get those four nights a month.  

 

Science Project

One of the things that continually amazes me about my husband, is how much stuff he seems to know.  Just random, interesting facts that he can seemingly whip out of thin air to contribute to a conversation.  I am often left wondering “How the HECK do you even know about that??”, as I sit, silent, with nothing of any substance to contribute to whatever conversation we are a part of.

One of the reasons he can do this, is because when he wants to learn about something, he just does.  He reads up on it, asks questions, and just learns what he can.  It’s pretty awesome.  (Unless I don’t care about said topic, in which case, it can be pretty boring to listen to him ramble on and on about, oh I don’t know, say…..liquid silver. (it’s good for your health, you know). )

Anyway, his latest conquest, is….wait for it….water kefir.  

Yeah, I know. I’d never heard of it either.  And frankly, I don’t even know how he got on to this subject, but once he did, he was hooked. Kefir grains are made up of yeast and bacteria, and are typically used to make a yogurt, or a milk drink.  (I had heard of kefir yogurt before…but that’s about it) It is REALLY healthy and great for your digestive system.  I didn’t even know you could even have water kefir grains, but lo, and behold,  Ben was once again the bearer of obscure knowledge.  

Water kefir is basically a drink that you start with kefir grains and let ferment.  Kefir grains grow and multiply as they ferment, so you can pass them on to other people – which is how Ben acquired ours….through Kijiji.  (See? Who else would just up and drive to someone’s house to pick up grains? I just love him.)

You put the grains in a mason jar with water and sugar (the grains feed off of sugar), and a little lemon, and let it go to work.  After about 24 hours, you end up a with a carbonated, sweet water that apparently does wonders for your digestive system. (A natural pro-biotic!)

Anyway, all that to say, our kitchen has taken on the appearance of a science project as Ben has a few different jars on the go.  The drink is actually pretty good (you can mix it with some fruit for a tasty little concoction)!

Each night Ben tends to his science experiment water jars and mixes me up a little glass.  I still have no idea how to make it, how to even take it out of the jars, or how to know when it’s ready, but as I see it, we are just 12 steps away from owning our own hippie farm.

It Was a Good Friday

I meant to post this yesterday but the day just got away on me.  If you’re like me you hardly ever actually watch the videos that people post,But I figured I would post this one anyway.  A beautiful, powerful, heart-swelling, tear inducing video about the power of Good Friday.