It's almost winter :(

It's been awhile since I wrote anything. Our zoo now includes, in addition to dog and cat, two goldfish and five chickens. So we're eating home grown eggs. Every now and then Allie takes the chickens for a walk and Farmer Allan cleans the coop. I'm staying away from that business, since when I got involved with the kitty litter one time it somehow became one of my jobs. Jacoba, Jonah, Simon, and Allie are all enjoying and doing well in school. And I'm enjoying quiet Tuesdays. I'm working on Thursdays, which is the other day Allie goes to school. Allan is working hard at work and for Campfire and school. I've taken up jogging and participated in (and helped organize) a race to raise money for Worldwide Christian Schools. Allan took part in that race and beat me by 40 seconds, without even practicing once! Now I don't know what to do - keep working on 5K to get faster and zoom past him the next time, or learn to run 10K and out run him .... In the meantime I'm running about 5K every Tuesday morning and am looking forward to it each week.
For the rest, life goes on. God is good and provides all we need, and more. We are looking froward to Allie's 5th birthday in two weeks or so, and then Sinterklaas' visit, and then Maria, Bastiaan, Alwin, and Erika's visit at Christmas time, when we get to celebrate the birth of our Saviour together! Blessings abound! Winter is coming, but God will give us all we need to live through it, and probably even enjoy it, if we let him! Come snow, come cold - God is on our side!

Oh, yeah - that fish ....

I forgot to mention, the fish got scooped by the cat, and had to be flushed :(

Last days of spring

And now it's June 19, and I haven't written anything all this time. Oh well - now I'm doing it! We've had a super busy few months. Now school is almost over (a half day tomorrow and that's it! The kids emptied their backpacks all over the kitchen, adding to the general chaos that seems to reign nowadays.... "Mom, you have to read my journal", "Mom, I'm keeping this notebook because there are a few empty pages for me to write stories during the summer" (want to bet those pages won't get filled?), "Mom, my teacher gave me these extra math books so I can do them over the summer if there's a rainy day" (fat chance - I should write that down now and make her sign it).

Some of the things that have kept me busy this spring (if I can remember!) - Campfire! fundraiser, working on a Road2Hope partnership for Worldwide Christian Schools, Streetlight LifeSkills Club, getting ready for Vacation Bible School, staying updated with people through FaceBook (what a time sucker that is for me - aagh), Jacoba's birthday and birthday tea party, Jacoba fundraised and got her hair cut for cancer,

homework with the kids ..... oh, yeah, some sewing, quilting, gardening, baking, cooking .... not enough housecleaning but I really can't bring myself to care too much - it's not like my mom is coming to visit anytime soon :)

And so life goes on .... Simon just finished kindergarten, Jonah is almost done grade 3, Jacoba's almost done grade 4 .... It will be nice to have the summer to spend with them before they get too old so quickly! Jacoba told Allie only half a day and then they'd be home every day, and Allie's eyes sparkled with joy - it will be fun!

Sleeping in, staying up late, trips to the beach, library, bike rides, swimming lessons, Campfire!, camping, campfires in our back yard. We pray that God will give us and everyone safe and happy holidays! He is good - spend time enjoying his creation and his blessings!

(We found a turtle by our creek - covered in mud! And ofcourse, Allie finds lots of toads!)

Spring!

April is here, and with it Simon's birthday, and spring! So far, we've see two robins, two redwing blackbirds, hundreds of grackles, a bunch of hawks, and two turkey vultures. I know lots of those are around in winter too, but they seem to hide out more then, and the birds just seem to be swooping around with joy because God brought spring to Canada!
SImon had a lovely birthday. He turned 6, and is very proud of that fact. I will add some photos to this blog as soon as I figure it out ... as you can tell I haven't spent much time on this. But, I will get to it.
Hope you all have a blessed season, whatever season it is for you right now! Rejoice in God's goodness as each season moves again to the next and brings with it pleasures of different kinds.

All fed up

The kids got fed. The husband got fed. I think the husband fed the dog and one of the kids fed the cat. Aaah - I forgot the fish again. How long do you think a Siamese Fighting Fish can go without food and clean water?

Life at our house

I don't even know if I'm going to keep this up, but so many are finding this a nice way to document family life. I have always had great intentions of writing down all the funny and profound things my children have to say, as well as my own incredible words of wisdom (??). I even started a little notebook for each of my children, sort of as prayer books and memory books in one, but there are very few entries in each. Maybe this will help, maybe not .... We'll see. The key will be for me to figure out how to put photos onto the blog. If I can do that, then we'll have some measure of success. So here goes our travels, or, I guess, life at our zoo....