Ages Ago.....

.....Paisley got her little ears pierced.
She cried, I cried, Denay cried.

But now she's got her princess bling and mama loves it!

Dinner @ The Keg

This is the very definition of "catch-up".
These photos are from back in February and my parents took us down to Victoria for dinner at The Keg.








I LOVE where I live!

{Fifty Years}

Think about it.
Fifty years.

For most people, that's over half of a lifetime.
We had the privledge of attending Trevor's aunt and uncle's celebration of fifty years of marriage. It was awesome. We were able to see my father-in-laws entire side of his family (minus just two people) in one place, together.

All of Roger and Vicki's grandkids got up and spoke. They talked about the influence their grandparents had on their life and their walk with Jesus. It brought me to tears listening to each one thank them for their listening ear, and their solid Christ centered example.

I left feeling so filled and touched.
I am years away from being a grandparent.
I never considered that my influence on the future generations of my family could extend past the raising of my own children.
Hearing these young adults talk brought me to tears and filled me with hope and promise.

"For the LORD is good and his love endures forever;
his faithfulness continues through all generations."
Psalm 100:5

:: Mini Mainland Vacay ::

Ever taken a ferry ride with a six-month-old and a two-year-old?
I did.
Forgot my wallett. Broke my sunglasses. Got (literally) covered in sweet potato baby food and then left napkinless by the only other person (who had kids of her own) in the kids playroom, who bolted the second the baby food spilt.
Two weeks ago, I scrambled myself together and did just that. My husband and I planned to travel on Friday evening for Easter/his birthday/his Uncle and Aunt's 50th wedding anniversary, but I figured since I didn't have anything else going on, I could go out early and surprise my in-laws.
Everything went off without a hitch and I got to spend two extra full days with those I don't get to see often enough.

On Thursday, my SIL Shawna offered to have Denay for the day (Which she literally jumped at. She misses her cousins) and I spent the day with Paisley and my MIL in the states. We were at the Tulip Festival for about three minutes and took six pictures before we bailed from the driving rain, had a lovely lunch of delicious Chicken Gnocci Soup at Olive Garden, and spent some time shopping at Target and the Dollar Tree. In the evening Trev's parents put the kiddos (thanks guys!!) to bed and Shawna and I used her cereal box coupon and saw Soul Surfer....and bawled like babies.

On Friday we lounged and relaxed and then had McDonalds for lunch with Grampy and Grammie and Uncle Jordie! Later in the day Shawna and I left the kids and spent a few hours taking pictures on the beach. You can check out her session on the Christy Joy Photography blog along with the photos from the session I had with my inlaws on Saturday.

Saturday was the annivesary party (check back for the post later)......then on Sunday we ate food, had an Easter Egg hunt, celebrated Trevor's b-day and hopped a ferry in time to watch the hockey with 100 people.

It's been over a week since we got home and I still don't have myself organized but it was so worth it.
Thanks MaC family.....we love you!

:: Yeesh ::

Firsts off, I want to apologize for the severe lack of PHOTOS on here......I am extremely unimpressed with my photo hosting site and am using another one :)

That being said, I'm slackin' around here.

I spent five days chillin' with my in-laws and since we got back on Sunday, I have yet to get caught up with life......so here are a couple photos to tie you over until I get a second to sit and blog.

:: PAISLEY ::

Six - number of months old my dear Paisley-girl is.

Two - number of teeth she has (YAY!)

Mango, Apple, Banana and Peas - foods she's tried and (so far) likes.

A Couple - number of seconds it takes her to get from where she is to what she wants.

:: First solids.....banana/mango puree, loving whipped up by mamma! ::

:: Six Months Old ::

Had my girly weighed today and she is 14lbs 7oz, a whole pound and a half heavier than her sister at the same age.

Purpose, Intention & Stewardship

I'm going to try (and try) to keep this post relatively brief but I'm just so excited that I can't guarantee anything.

I've been inspired.

I am priveledged to be surrounded with an amazing group of people.

There are two couples that I know, that live their lives very counter-culturally.

Avoiding Walmart, Coca-Cola, non-fair trade chocolate and sugar, supporting local at every opportunity and striving to waste little are just a few of things that make for a way of life for them.

They have inspired me.

Not to start living life the way they live life, but to start living my life with more purpose, intention and stewardship and to start THINKING about what I do and why I do it, rather than just doing things for the sake of doing them.

I started into prayer about what MY causes would be, asking God to refine all of my crazy notions and ideas and reveal to me what things He wanted me to pursue.
One of the first things that came about was making the switch to cloth diapers. It only took about three days before I had purchased 18 used (another avenue I'm going to start using, buying secondhand when I can) cloth diapers. I will say it's been up and down figuring it all out but, between a small handful of helpful girlfriends I have that do the same, I'm slowing starting to get the hang of it!
Here's my girly (piccy's taken today) rocking her Baby Kanga's from JamTots.
A few of the other changes we're making:
- keeping reciepts and tracking our spending on PearBudget
- buying our produce from the local farmers market and eggs from a farm down the road
- making my own bread
- (hopefully sometime soon) switching to cloth baby wipes
- meal planning a month in advance so our produce is fresh and getting used before it starts going bad
- getting a used pail from Trev's work to start storing, and then composting our food scraps
- I did this with Denay too, but I will be making all of Paisley's baby food and cereal
- trying to buy used whenever we can so we are not only spending less, but not consuming new materials
- trying to support local when and where we can afford to do so

For the first time I don't feel overwhelmed or bogged down by all the things I feel like I should be doing, but empowered and movitated to pursue those things that I feel God has placed upon my heart that are for me and my family.

{Little Lady}

Sweet Denay.

It seems like overnight she's turned into such a tiny lady.

Smart as a whip and an attentive and nurturing big sister.

(pictures taken at the SheShe party I had a few weeks ago. I hardly knew she was even there, she was so quietly in awe of all the jewellery, hats, purses and sunglasses.)

{Oh, Mister Sun}

With the increasingly bright and sunny days we've been having, comes more and more time outside.
FINALLY.

Glorious, glorious, SPRING.

{Drumroll, Please}

ANNNNNDDDD......the winner of the GOGO from SheShe Inc. is......
CRYSTAL

I thought I had taken photos of the WHOLE process but apparently not.
I listed everyone's name who commented in a random order of a sheet of paper. Then I assigned each person (again, randomly) a number between 1 and 11 and then used this site to generate a number for me!
Congratulations Crystal!
Click on the "Email Me" button or FB message me ;) and I can get your prize in the mail!

Thanks to everyone who played along and left your great organizational tips! There were a few I loved that I want to highlight.....
Loni - "Give your purse (aka Diaper Bag for me in this season of life) a quick look through as soon as you get home. Add what's needed and take out what's not. Then you always know you'll have everything you thought you had in there :)"
Crystal, Shawna, Megan and Lizze - Shared about meal planning and prepping veggies so there is less to do when dinner time comes around
Shawna - "1. always take out more than you brought into the car...the car will be relatively clean.... 3. Make your bed before 9 - even if you are not going anywhere."

Thanks again girls!