Well now.

Because Hi is too boring a title.
~I burnt my finger at work tonight. I wanted to know if the stove was still hot. It was.
~Consolation for that: I saw a beer ad that said, "It's okay to have a blonde moment."
~Someone should start a radio station in this area that plays some of my favourites, such as Stuart Townend, Keith and Kristyn Getty, Jamie Soles, Casting Crowns, etc. Then they should get a good strong transmittor so I can get it in a back kitchen sandwiched between two buildings.
~Today I chatted with my friend who lives seven hours away via facebook. I miss having her ten minutes away, but I'm glad I could chat with her.
~Tonight I worked with a girl who I'd never worked with before. She is taller than me!!! Okay, so I'm not that tall, but most of my coworkers are shorter than me. She's also a lot of fun. So, after working alone two nights this week, it was great working with her.
~These last few days it hasn't been humid. I am enjoying it.
~My sister is reading "The Help". When she is done I get to read it. I read the first few pages, but I better not keep reading because she won't be very happy.

Okay I'm done with point form. :) So we had a sermon on Sunday about friendship, particularily the friendship between David and Jonathan. Now in such a deep friendship, people share the deep things in their lives. My question: how much is right to share? Should we fill our best friend in about all the little details? When we are sharing what is bothering us, what is the line between appropriate sharing and complaining? How do you find a friend who you can open up to like that? Now here's another topic for questions. To what point ought we to express ourselves? Where is the line between being too self-centred/whiny and not bottling it all in? Where is the line between being strong/good/cheerful/caring and showing others the weakness and troubles in our lives? At what point can I stop trying to be a strong big sister and helpful daughter and actually speak of my weakness and messed-up-ness? Ok I better stop before I say too much. lol
On a lighter note, we were reading about the creation of Adam and Eve the other day. Mom asked Nadia what God took from Adam to create Eve, and Nadia said, "His ribbons." When Emily was about that age, she said, "He took a piece out of him."

Justine

Quotes from my Brothers (and Sister)

Thomas: "I know why people kidnap people - because they want more kids!"

Thomas: "Is it illegal to fight a robot?"

Gavin: "If it's a police robot then maybe."

Thomas: "Dad, do you know what it feels like when I eat Rice Krispies? It feels like I'm having a heart attack." And then, "I just heard my day imagination. I put a bite in my mouth and I heard a bang."

Nadia is very prompt to say thank-you when she is given something. But if she is not responded to with a "You're welcome" she'll scold, "Say me welcome!"

Nadia: "Mom, keep me safe!"

Mom: "From what?"

Nadia: "From the lion."

Mom: "The lion?"

Nadia: "Justine is a lion."

A Post with Pictures :)

Today, after many days of clouds and rain, we had a few hours of sunshine. This evening all of us kids took advantage of the sunshine to play outside.

Outside our dining room window is a robin's nest in a tree. The robins have four babies. We joke that while we are watching them have their breakfast, they are watching us eat ours.

In a large puddle in the field next to our house live a pair of ducks. The ducks come nearly every year, but usually the puddle dries up pretty quickly. This year we have had so much rain, the ducks are still here. I do not know if they are raising a family though.

Nadia loves the swing. She begs, "Go too higher!" We always ask her, "Is it too high?" because we aren't sure if she will be afraid. Now she thinks "too high" is fun.

Meg taught Nadia to answer the question, "What country do we live in?" Nadia says "Me live Candada!"

Some more things Nadia says are:

When she has new clothes, "Want show my papa!"

Nearly every morning when we are doing schoolwork, "Want to colour." Then, when she has coloured a picture and folded/scrunched it up, "Here Dee-Dee (Justine), this yours." And when I have looked at it and given it back, she refolds it and says, "Here Meghan" or "Here Awsee (Allison)" or "Eah".

Sunday morning she heard Thomas crying upstairs and she cried, "T-Tom!" and ran all the way upstairs to the boys room. She loves her brothers.

The other day when Thomas got hurt, he exclaimed, "Ow! My skeleton!"

Justine

Nadia Goes to Bed

Me: "Do you want Dee-Dee (Justine) to put you to bed or do you want E-ah (Leah) to put you to bed?"

Nadia: "Na'ia do dat!"

And she ran and climbed in bed.

I thought, "That's cute, I'll take a picture and put it on my blog with what she said. (above)"

So I ran and got the camera.

Nadia stayed nicely in bed until she saw the camera.

Then she wanted to see the screen on the back.

She got out of bed and looked.

When I told her to go back to bed, she ran to the boys' room.

I followed her and put her back in bed.

So you'll have to suffice with a picture of her bed, which I got when she went to look at the back of the camera, and a picture of her crying in bed, after I put her back.

Justine

Some Things We Have Been Working On...

Warren and I made scented and coloured bath salts the other day. It was fun experimenting with different colours. One combination we tried was green and red. It turned a funny grey colour so we added a lot more red to make a pinkish colour. We didn't think anyone would find grey bath salts very appealing.

On Thursday Allison baked a gingerbread house. Decorating it was fun...after we held it together for a long time, hoping it wouldn't fall apart. Eventually we propped up the roof with Duplo blocks. After a few hours we took them out and the roof stayed on.

We covered the house with icing and candies. In the evening we ate it up. It was delicious. Definitely something we'd like to make every year.

This is what happens when you turn your paper over to paint the other side.

Nadia dug through a drawer to find a beater to lick. Problem is, when it comes out of the drawer it is clean - no sweet whipped cream. But she went around licking it for awhile anyway.

What have you been doing lately?

Justine

Nadia's First Snowball of the Season

This was last week. There really wasn't much snow, but we scraped some off the deck for her. She was delighted. A few minutes later she dropped the snowball. Warren threw it against the wall to see if it would smash (it did) and the dog ran off with the rest. That made Nadia mad! But we found enough snow to make her another.

The sled Nadia is sitting in is one my parents bought used when I was little. Warren brought it down from the barn to pull her around on the deck in. She likes it, especially when Warren swings her around the corner.

Justine

This and That

It has been below freezing all day. Right now it is -3 C with a wind chill of -10 C. We saw a few snowflakes today, but not enough to stick.

As for the chicken that was hurt, it is still alive. It eats and walks around (with a major limp). Meghan is still faithfully tending to it.

Meghan and Leah have gone babysitting. Our parents are shopping. The rest of us are at home, enjoying movie night.:)

Tomorrow Allison and I are going to a concert put on by a local choral society. We will be handing out programs. I am glad for the opportunity. I saw a poster for the concert and thought it would be nice to go. And now I get to go for free.

Last night I went driving with my driving instructor. We did the big city/major highway run. Definitely glad the rain and drizzle was rain and drizzle and not snow. Driving on the highway was easy and fun. The city was harder to drive in, but a good challenge.

Here are some pictures of a handsome cowboy and his pretty little lady.:)

Pretty good for having been taken in the basement using a camera whose batteries were dying, eh?

Justine

Nadia...

...is getting so big!

She can sit on a swing like a big person. She isn't afraid to swing, either.

She is learning to talk. The other day when Mom was calling Allison for something, Nadia was hollering, "Ayee! Ayee!" And whenever she wants something, no matter who's around, she calls, "Emy!" and Emily answers from wherever she is in the house.

She can say "Wan' it!" or "Need!" If she's hungry she'll dig through the cupboards and find crackers or applesauce cups.

In her eyes, she's an adult. But she still needs us. When she is angry she will push us away and hold on at the same time.

I used to think Nadia was annoying. It seemed like she was always whining or getting in the way. But when we started schoolwork, we made a schedule of who takes care of her when. This way she is never left to make mischief, so when we are doing something else we don't have to worry about her, and when we are taking care of her we're not doing anything else and we can just have fun with her. When I take the three little ones outside I am glad Nadia is a girl because even at her age she likes girly-er things than the boys.

Love you, Nadia!

Justine

Cheese Men

During the morning, some of us older ones take turns doing things with the little ones. Allison gives them a snack, and sometimes they do a "craft snack". Today they made cheese men.

Here they are, lined up on the counter while Allison is getting things ready. (We have a "shortcut" between the dining room and kitchen. I took this picture from the dining room.)

Eager anticipation

Three cheese men

Justine

Space Shuttle Adventure

The following is a journal entry I wrote a few days ago. The pictures were taken another day.

Every school day I take Gavin, Thomas, and Nadia outside for one hour and fifteen minutes. This morning the boys wanted to play space shuttle in the old blue van.

(Brent, Thomas, and Gavin)

Brent (who had some free time), Gavin, and Thomas took turns being co-pilot and "driver".
While Brent was driving, we went to the moon. On the way, we passed the sun and blew it up. We went straight through Jupiter and blew it up as we were leaving.

Gavin got us stuck in the middle of space. Then he hit an alien. Emily was doing a science project and was using the front of the van as a writing desk. We appointed her as an alien.

Thomas, whose knowledge of the solar system and of geography is somewhat confused, decided to head for Africa. But first, the space shuttle got stuck in a tree. After he succeeded in knocking down the tree, he steered for Africa, guided by a map of North America.

(Cyrus walking on the windshield)

Meanwhile Nadia and I lounged around in the back seat. Nadia sucked her middle fingers and watched her brothers' excited activity with a look of mild concern.

Eventually the boys tired of their cosmic flight and turned to the tamer activity of using swings as trucks and race cars. Someday maybe they'll really fly to the moon, but I doubt they'll go as far as their imagination took them one morning in an old blue van.

Justine

Our Girlie

Here are some pictures of Nadia. She is exactly 18 months old today. After all the boys it is nice to have a girl, and she is really a girl. She loves new and pretty clothes, and will go around the house showing off whatever it is she is wearing.

Nadia loves our cat, Cyrus. She calls him ca' or ki'y. He is not too fond of her, though.

Every morning I get to play outside with the three youngest for a while. It is fun watching Nadia trying to play soccer with the boys, or playing hide and seek with them.

Justine