Emma & Sophia's First Day of School

Unfortunately, my camera batteries were not cooperating despite recharging them, so I had to take pictures with my Blackberry, and they are less than stellar - so disappointing. But either way, here are Emma & Sophia on their first day of school - Gr 4 & Gr 2!

Off they go!

Kidisms

This is short and sweet cause I want to go have a quick nap yet.

Couple things I want to write down about the kids before I forget them!

Emma's first words were "Whatsat?!" which coincidentally was exactly the same time as that beer commercial which consisted of a bunch of people saying "Whatsup?!", so we thought it was pretty funny.

When Sophia was really little, she would stand and bounce on her tip toes all the time, so we called her "Tigger".

Olivia - here's a good quote that sums her up quite nicely "Mom, you know why I don't listen? It's because you don't teach me!"

Jacob - he calls all semis "Mack" from the Cars movie, he loves all tractors, trucks, semis, cars and can recognize his dad or grandpa's truck the second it's in sight. But apparently he does not have the same skills with birds. We were driving down the highway and when we passed a bunch of Canada Geese he shouted "Chickens!"

Post 3 of 31 done!

What are we missing?

Yesterday, I read about a little social experiment that took place in the DC Metro Station and it definitely made me ask myself - what am I missing?

On January 12, 2007 Joshua Bell, one of the greatest musicians in the world, played some of the most intricate and difficult pieces ever composed on a violin worth $3.5 million. And virtually no one noticed.

The Washington Post article is lengthy one, detailing how it came about, what they were expecting and the actual results.

Just a few days earlier Joshua Bell had performed for a sold out crowd in Boston where people paid $100 for decent seats. And then he performed incognito at the Metro station where he remained virtually unrecognized (only 1 person recognized him!) and earned a paltry $32.17

And here's the quote from the Post article that struck me the most....
There was no ethnic or demographic pattern to distinguish the people who stayed to watch Bell, or the ones who gave money, from that vast majority who hurried on past, unheeding. Whites, blacks and Asians, young and old, men and women, were represented in all three groups. But the behavior of one demographic remained absolutely consistent. Every single time a child walked past, he or she tried to stop and watch. And every single time, a parent scooted the kid away. (emphasis mine)

I see my kids in those kids.

I see myself in those parents.

And it almost makes me weep.

Logic says it should've been different if I was there. Though not a world class musician by any stretch, music has played an integral part in my life and for a few years I was practicing piano for hours every day. I'd like to think I would've noticed the talent. I'd like to think I would've appreciated the extraordinary music being performed in such an ordinary setting. I'd like to think I would've taken the time to stop and enjoy this once in a lifetime opportunity.

But I'm pretty sure that's wishful thinking. Granted, it would depend on the circumstances and whether I was in a hurry to get somewhere. But the truth is, my propensity to procrastinate means I'm almost always in a hurry to get somewhere because I'm always late. So, the odds are rather huge that I would've hurried right past him, dragging my kids behind me despite their appreciation for the magnificent that has not yet been dulled by the me-first, more is better, rush, rush mentality that permeates our culture.

And the sad thing is, in Randy Alcorn's words...

If we do not have a moment to stop and listen to one of the best musicians in the world, playing some of the finest music ever written, with one of the most beautiful instruments ever made . . .

How many other things are we missing as we rush through life? (emphasis mine)

Blogtober - 31 posts in 31 days

I have decided to accept the same challenge as my good friend Pam and am going to blog every day for 31 days in the month of October!

Considering I've only had 26 posts all year long, (due largely to my heavy participation in my Bible in a Year and Beyond blog) this is going to be quite the challenge for me!

I will definitely make use of the handy blogging feature of writing scheduled posts ;)

It'll be a great chance for me to record all those little things from our daily lives that I'll love to look back on in years to come.

Obviously, some of these posts will be short and others will be long. But hang on to your hats, here we go!

Family Photo Shoot

We were blessed to have a friend do a family photo shoot for us last weekend and I think the pictures turned out fantastic - thank you Kim!! (Facebook friends, feel free to check out all the pictures on my profile page).

Our blessings from God...

Emma - 9 yrs old

Sophia - 7 yrs old

Olivia - 5 yrs old

Jacob - 2 1/2 yrs old

Our girls have attitude? Never! ;)

I love him, I love him a lot!

Book Review: Love, Charleston by Beth Webb Hart

Love, Charleston revolves around the lives of four main characters - sisters Anne and Alisha (Lish), their cousin Della and a widowed priest named Roy.

Anne is single but is holding out hope for love based on a promise from God she heard years ago. Her hope is waning and her sister and cousin urge her to move on.

Anne's sister Lish seemingly has the perfect life, but her health struggles combined with her husband's career ambitions threaten to destroy this picture perfect family.

Their cousin Della has become disillusioned with the life she's made with her husband and the return of her former fiance to Charleston is making her rethink her life choices.

Roy loves ministering to his flock and struggles to understand why God would call him and his daughter to pretentious and superficial Charleston.

Roy's passion for the Word is contagious and inspires you to grow in your faith. Anne's flagging hope is a reminder that God's promises will be filled in His time, not ours. Lish's story reminds us that our hope needs to be placed in God alone. Della's struggles shows us how easy it is to fall for Satan's lies especially when our focus is on ourselves instead of God. All of their stories are excellent reminders that God's plan for our lives is perfect, even when it doesn't make sense to us. I thoroughly enjoyed this book.

Thank you to Booksneeze for providing me with my complimentary review copy of Love, Charleston.

Book Review: The Sixth Surrender by Hana Samek Norton

About the Book: Sister Eustace, born Lady Juliana, the last of the de Charnais line, is about to pledge body and soul to the cause of the queen duchess, Alienor of Aquitaine. Learned yet humble, passionate yet wholly innocent, Juliana has a singular determination - to possess her rightful home, the viscounty of Tillieres.

Alienor's young scribe must choose: husband or the cloister. Juliana prays for a man who is honorable, kind, and literate. Instead she is promised to Guerin de Lasalle, a worldly though landless mercenary with a blackened soul. The couple enters the union with just one shared desire: to put an end to the marriage.

As the queen's prophecy, "Honor, like love, comes in many guises," echoes through Juliana's first days as a wife, the race intensifies to safeguard the crowns of Normandy and England for John Plantagenet, Alienor's last surviving son. Schemes by traitorous lords and the mystery of Lasalle's past could cost John his thrones - and Juliana her life.

My thoughts: I'm not sure if it was the strange names, the unfamiliar history, the language of the period or a combination of all three, but I had a slightly difficult time following some of the plot lines. I don't like having to concentrate as hard as I had to, when reading fiction.

That being said, the parts I did understand easily, I did enjoy. Although, enjoy is probably not the right word to use, considering how much this made me appreciate that I did not live during this period of history! There were schemes, plot twists, battles and politics - a lot going on and a lot to keep track of.

I found the interplay between Juliana and Guerin to be very interesting - I found it to be very realistic in fact, because their relationship could've been so much better if they had trusted each other enough to actually communicate what was going on in their thoughts and lives. I think the same could be said for many real life relationships as well. The truth is not always easy to tell, but deception always makes things worse.

Thank you to Penguin Group for providing me with my complimentary review copy of The Sixth Surrender.

Book Review: The Jewel of St. Petersburg by Kate Furnivall

About the Book: Russia, 1910. The young Valentina Ivanova is the darling of St. Petersburg's elite aristocracy, charming them with both her classic Russian beauty and her talent for piano. But it is a scandal when she chooses her love not from their stock, or even from Russian blood. Her romance with Jens Friis, a Danish engineer, brings to her life a passion and intimacy she has never known. Unbending in their opposition, her parents push her into a loveless engagment with a Russian count.

Valentina struggles to claim her own independence. But at the same time she is desperate to protect her young sister from the dangerous tumult that is sweeping through the city.

Meanwhile, Russia itself is bound for rebellion. With the tsar and the duma at each other's throats, and the Bolsheviks drawing their battle lines, the elegance and opulence of tsarist rule are in their last days. And Valentina will be forced to make a choice that will change not only her own life, but the lives of those around her forever....

My thoughts: I really enjoy reading historical fiction and this book was definitely no exception. In my opinion, there is no more enjoyable way to learn history! And Russian history is something I knew very little of. My interest is definitely whetted by reading this excellent piece of fiction.

Valentina was an interesting protagonist - some of her characteristics (her sense of duty and loyalty to her family, especially her sister; her determination; her desire to become a nurse despite its lowly status) make her intensely loveable, while others (her naivete; her foolishness) do not.

You get to see the two drastically different sides of Russia as Valentina dances at opulent balls and enters the poorest districts of the city. The chasm between the elite and the poor is simply mind boggling.

It's so frustrating to see history played out, knowing that so much of the war and strife could have been prevented - you know, if selfish and proud humans were not the ones in control.

Thank you to Penguin Group for providing me with my complimentary review copy of The Jewel of St. Petersburg.

Book review - Promises to Keep

About the Book: Successful photographer Callie Perry thinks she has a pretty perfect life, although it may not be everyone's idea of happiness: a great job, lots of time with her daughters, but a workaholic husband. She couldn't be more unlike Steffi, her younger sister, who has never held down a job - or a boyfriend - for more than six months. Walter and Honor, their divorced and perpetually feuding parents, have almost given up hope that Steffi will ever learn what it is to be responsible ... until they all receive a shocking email that changes their lives forever and brings them together one extraordinary summer in Main.

Promises to Keep is about the hard choices we sometimes have to make, about having to be your parents' child long after you've grown up - and about the enduring nature of love.

My thoughts: I really enjoyed this book. I found the characters to be thoroughly believable and the plot to be not only entertaining, but also thought-provoking. Though dealing with several serious subject matters, it was also light-hearted and downright funny at times. I loved seeing how the characters grew throughout their life experiences, both personally and in their relationships with each other, in believable and realistic ways.

Unlike the other books I have reviewed on my blog thus far, this book is not Christian fiction, however, it is very tastefully written (ie nothing explicit) and I have no hesitation in recommending it to Christian adult readers.

However, because I am a Christian reader, I found that the deep issues of the story and even the relationships between the characters (though touchingly portrayed, developed and worked through) felt somewhat superficial, empty and unsatisfactory. This was not at all due to a deficiency in the writing (on the contrary it was very well-written), but due to a difference in worldview.

Overall, I really enjoyed the book and would definitely recommend it.

Jane Green's website

Thank you to Penguin Group for providing me with my complimentary review copy.

Mural Project

I took over the superintendant position of our Sunday School this past year. After a meeting with our pastor about wanting to revitalize the look of our kids ministry, we renamed it Adventureland (we want to teach our kids that living for Jesus is an adventure - hard work but the best plan for your life!) and dreamed up a great mural concept for one of our main kids rooms. We wanted to paint a huge mural of a Bible town - we figured it was a theme that wouldn't go out of date and therefore would not need to be redone anytime soon! There is a gentleman in our church who does this type of work and he agreed to do it.

However, because he is extremely talented, he is also extremely busy. Fast forward one year and it just hadn't happpened.

So, the 3-5yr old kids church leader, Charlene, and I decided that if we wanted to get it done, we'd have to do it ourselves! (Her kidz church takes place in this same room so that was her motivation). Charlene did some digging and found a mural she thought would work - from there I found their website, Creative for Kids, devoted to children's ministry with a huge array of options and we picked two different mural kits (Bible Town and Bible Story Vol 1) and combined them to create the look we wanted.

It was very simple to do - basically a gigantic paint by number scenario - but it was definitely time consuming.

First we had to prep the room - and that always takes longer than you think! We stripped the wallpaper border (thankfully it came off quite easily), washed down all the walls, got a painter to come patch the walls for us that first night, primed the dark wall, removed outlets, drawer handles and cabinet doors and then we were finally ready to get started! The murals are printed on transparencies so we enlarged them to the size that suited the room and penciled them in and then started painting as instructed. It was so exciting to see it start to develop! Once we were completely down painting we had to outline every single detail with a gigantic black Sharpie marked (Sharpie is the only name brand to get, let me tell you!). It's amazing how much that made the whole thing pop!

Though we were not able to get too many volunteers to help paint (bad time of year for that as most programs are just ending and everyone needs a breather), we did manage to find babysitters who volunteered their time almost every day that we painted. Unfortunately there was one day we just couldn't get anyone and we definitely didn't get as much done that day - we set the kids up in a large room off our room with baby gates to keep them out but so we could still see them. But Jacob is a momma's boy and if he can see me but not touch me, that's not a good combo. We managed to still get a decent amount done that day, overall it went better than I had anticipated.

A huge thank you to Lori, Kerilynn, Rachel, Alison who each babysat one or two days for us - it was so appreciated! Another huge thank you to those who did manage to sacrifice even a couple hours to come paint - Annette, Karoline, Mark & Victoria - as well as Robyn who came for 3 days at the end to help us finish it off! The church secretary, Faye, helped paint a couple hours and was a huge help in picking up miscellaneous supplies that we had forgotten to pick up, and our music pastor Dwight helped us put back up the cabinet doors (apparently we had taken them down by taking out a lot more screws than was necessary!!). Charlene and I were there for approximately 16 days and several evenings - it was a lot of work, but it was worth it.

And now, finally - before and after pictures for your viewing pleasure!

One of the entrances to the room has now been turned into the Sea of Galilee (not necessarily historically accurate!)

Going counter-clockwise around the room, the far right door in the top picture is the other entrance to the room, and the other two doors are classrooms. Now replaced by houses!

Again moving counter-clockwise, this shot has my office door right in the middle, and then the first or two doors on the left which open up into one large classroom - this was turned into the marketplace - notice the Tapestry Shop, Pottery, Carpentry and Fish Shop. You can see the start of the Inn on the left as well.

Continuing along the same wall we have the two doors that open up into that one large class - this is where the inn is and the beginning of our countryside scene - love the monkeys!

And the final, fourth wall was turned into the countryside.

Here are some of the hard workers!

Here are a few of the fun details!

We're going to get a painter to come in and clear coat the room to give it some protection. Once that's done we need to superglue some googly eyes on the crab - too cute!

We still want to order several Bible time people wall stickers for the final finishing touch - a mom and her baby between the inn and the marketplace, a boy with a fish running in the marketplace, a girl skipping on the path on the countryside, a little boy and his dog by one of the houses, maybe a girl running somewhere if we can squeeze her in.

I'm so happy with how it turned out - and it's even more impressive in person!!