a weekend of art

this past weekend the kids attended a stage production of Aladdin with their dad. I didn't go, staying back with the little ones, but it is still the main topic of conversation in our house 4 days later. It was a children's cast and we knew 8 children (all home schooled)in the play. The kids have been singing the songs and recounting the evening over and over.
what a thrill!

Our little red head said that it was "the best play I have ever seen, 'cause it's the only play I have ever seen", quite impressing himself with his own wit(speaking of wit, don't ever ask your children to "clear the table into the dishwasher" lest you be challenged by your 9 year old- "wow, that's going to be hard...how do you think we can fit the table in there mom?")

back to the art-filled weekend...

we were also entertained by a steam punk art exhibit put on by a 15 year old home schooler. We didn't know this boy at all. His mother advertised on a homeschooling forum i am on that all were welcome to come and it seemed like a neat idea. We were expecting some paintings hung in a garage or some such thing - well, let me tell you...this talented young man had transformed his family's garage into a world! a hallway led us past a full wall mural of a Victorian street scene and we came around the corner into a laboratory full of candles illuminating sketches, bones, bugs, birds and beakers (that alliteration was unintended). nothing was grotesque or creepy, this wasn't a halloween haunted house, but rather a chance to go back in time, and to imagine. As we left the lab we found ourselves back out side where the artist had posted photos of the process and was waiting, leaning on a picnic table, to say hello and answer our questions. He explained that most of the wood was salvaged from skids and the walls built with old election signs. He was approachable and pleasant. Not at all a horribly awkward "home schooler". oh, and a red head to boot! we thanked him for sharing his talent with us and after a quick photo by the exit got our kids out of the cold. It was a great night. I loved that he had worked so hard, had such a creative vision, and had been given the time and support to pull it all off!
Yay for homeschooling/unschooling families.
and yay for the performing and visual arts! how they enrich our world!!

outside

today was one of those days...
the weather has been amazing (for November) and I knew I should be outside.
the kids spent a lot of time outside soaking up the incredible fall day, the gorgeous sun...
but I kept making excuses for not heading out.
even when they had lunch outside, I didn't join them. I felt I had too much to do.

finally, once my love was home from work, I knew it was my last chance, the sun was going down - fast!
so I slipped on my shoes and headed out.
my sweet girl joined me, and I am so glad she did.

we walked to the end of the street, not far, but just far enough to breath in the fresh air and get the restlessness out of my legs.

then, what a gift! at the end of the street where it becomes forrest was a gang of turkeys.
16 wild turkeys.
it was gorgeous!
This wasn't the first time we have seen them, they have wandered on to our property before, but it was the first time we got so close.
of course they didn't like us there nearly as much as we liked them, so it wasn't long before they gobbled off into the woods in a big long row.

the sun was warm on my face. We walked back holding hands, she and I.
I am so glad I forced my self outside today.

some thoughts on parenting

Fight all error, but do it with good humor, patience, kindness, and love. Harshness will damage your own soul and spoil the best cause.

-- St John of Kanty


this quote rang so true to me today...my children are my treasure...but i am human...often weak. and i have been known (*ahem*) to not be patient, kind or loving at times...this quote from St. John of Kanty reminded me that even good intentions in our parenting can go askew when presented with harshness. a harsh word...an unkind look...they don't hear the message...but they do learn to be harsh, with each other, with me...
praise God that i have a husband who loves the Lord, fears the Lord, and knows me...so well. he is so strong, so loving. helps me to stay balanced...helps me to know that i am loved, and only through loving do we properly teach and guide our children.




as for life around here...things are well. the baby is unbelievably gorgeous and getting wonderfully chubby!
we had a fantastic and challenging week away at a family retreat.
now that we are home we have a lot of thinking, talking, and praying to do to process all that we heard and to continue to build our family in Christ.

this moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual from SouleMama. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

it is august

july was one of the longest months of my life, and yet, now that it is over it seems to have flown by.
we had Silken baptized last week. at a week old she was our youngest to be baptised. usually it is somewhere around 6 weeks. but it just worked out this way and came together easily, so we just went with it.
thursday was full of preparation and visitors.

we enjoyed a beautiful hour with our dear friends from pembroke. with 4 girls in their family cakie was always in heaven at their house. now that she has joined the "sister club" she was excited to introduce Silken to her friends. Silken was given a beautiful dress to match her adorable soon-to-be-best-friend Little S.
I would love to post a photo but I haven't cleared it will Little S's mom...so I will stick to only putting my own babies on the internet...

Later that day a bunch of my family showed up and we all enjoyed a chaotic pizza dinner before heading to the church.
it was a lovely baptism. Cakie and Daniel read the readings and there were plenty of children to make the whole evening "lively" ! and Jesus said "Let the little children come to me"

my sister and Darryl's brother are the Godparents, and we know that Silken will be so blessed to have them share this important role in her life.



this was our attempt at taking a "kids" picture...Zac really wanted Mama in it.




we are going on a family retreat this week. our summer has been wild busy, baby aside...so I am really looking forward to some time away. Getting to Mass each day, spending time on the beach... it will be just what we need I'm sure.

Have a beautiful week everyone! xoxo

picture time

our little Silky is almost a week old and as much as I would love to be on here daily posting and updating - it's not happening. Lots of other things are though...our house has been busy with visitors welcoming our sweet girl, endless sibling cuddles, lots of skin to skin, our amazing midwife checking in on us every couple days, yummy meals from friends - life is good!

a very happy, and tired family welcome our newest! (Zac woke up about one minute before this photo)







when they wake up they remember what came in the night





Darryl calls them her baby boxing gloves





nothing like a newborn to make your toddler look like the most giant baby in the world...the cutest, but giant none the less...







the family with our wonderful midwife - I can't say enough good things about this beautiful woman...



checking out every perfect part of her.



gorgeous girl



big brothers



sleeping bliss



so there you have it, a peek into our home...come by if you can!

she's heeeeeere!!!

we are thrilled to announce the arrival of our little angel,
SILKEN

7lbs 12oz (my smallest baby!)
she is such a blessing to us!
The birth went well and I felt wonderfully supported by those present and by everyone in our life.
thank you!

back again

look at this! twice in one week! must be that I am waiting on baby and now that everything is "ready" I don't have much to do with myself! ha!
but, it's true. the baby clothes are washed. the tub is ready to be put up. I even have a (mostly) clean house!
today the kids and I made the baby's "birth day" cake. it will be waiting in the freezer for our big celebration for Waterfall's arrival.
just in case you were wondering what a pregnant me looks like ( if you haven't seen me pregnant I must not see you very often, as this is my fifth time in 11 years!) I am putting up a photo - me at 38 weeks



I also wanted to show a little summer fun we have been having....



Cadence pampering me at my Mother Blessing a couple of weeks ago



sprinkler + siblings always = a good time



watermelon on the beach. wonderful.



my beautiful girl in the garden



this is just impressive.


and thats all for now.
cheers!

summer joy

excitmant and anticipation are mounting 'round here as we wait for baby Waterfall's arrival. I am trying to keep us all occupied, so as to keep my own mind off the fact that baby isn't here yet. "isn't here yet" doesn't seem fair, I am just under 2 weeks from my due date,so baby isn't late yet or anything. but really....there isn't much else I can think about.
so many people ask me if it ever gets "old". anyone who has more than one child understands that it can't possibly get old. Every child I have had is a miracle - one to be marveled at. and the more our family grows the more of us there are to marvel! really.
the kids are so consumed by baby. they spent this morning making birthday cards...they are eager to tell me of dreams they have of the baby...this child is truly coming into a lot of love.

I thought I would hate a summer pregnancy, but so far it has been nice. Sleeping is a bit difficult, but I find that at the end of any pregnancy. I am enjoying being out in the sun so much, and staying pretty active. I feel very healthy this time around.


so, here we go again! please if you are reading this keep us in your prayers. and join us in little Zachary's mantra "BABY! Come Out!!!!"

God is so good.

ok, ok, today is the day

alright, enough is enough already! I haveen't posted since january! ha.
I have written posts. several of them...but never pressed the publish button...
it will not happen today.
IT WILL NOT!
so, if you are reading this and there are spelling errors or things just don't make sense it is because as soon as I get enough down to seem like i made some point about something, or shared a little peice of my self i am pressing publish, and that is that!.

how can i even sum up the past 6 months... I admire all of you who are able to post regulary and now have this gorgeous scrapbook/memeory journal of you and your little ones. I aspire to that. but there just seems to be soooo much to do - all the time. when do you do it! (no, seriously, i need some insight...)
I could blame it on the fact that I home school, the pregnancy, the kids - but perhaps I am just not the daily blogger and that is okay.

alright, my spare 5 minutes is up. Zac is awake from his nap and needs me.... this has been an incredibly gorgeous day, after a couple of WAY too hots and WAy too colds - today is prefectly June.


headed out to the garden with my sweet babe....

the wonders of Super Salad

so I did some thinking over the holidays about this blog.
about what I was doing (or not doing with it) and what I really wanted to say.
I type a lot of froo froo junk.
reading back over some posts it's like I was actively avoiding what I really wanted to say.
not always, mind you.
but a lot of the time.
as with real life, I find it hard to really say what I think/believe for fear of offending or upsetting others.
but really, what is the point in a blog if you can't say what you want. isn't that the whole point?
so, I move forward.
I want to share.
what I think
if you don't like it
hmmmmm....
don't read it.

Now, I bet you are expecting me to rant about something really significant today. seeing as I am all fired up and ready to share.
funny thing is, today I want to talk about food.

yummm
yes, food.

it has been on my mind a great deal (usually is, in fact, several times a day!)

real food.
eating good food.
and seeing to it that my children eat good food.

one of our favorite meals is a little something we like to call SUPER SALAD! (not to be confused with soup OR salad.)
the thing that is so appealing about this meal - and let me tell you, everyone in my family gets excited when they hear that it is Super Salad night - is that it is a make your own concoction sort of thing. I have found over the years that the more input that the kids have into what is on their plate, the easier it disappears off the plate.
Here is how it works; all the fixings for salad, and then some, are put out on the table and everyone customizes tier meal. so easy right?!
there are a few "rules" to make sure they understand that an entire bowl of raisins and nothing else does not their dinner make.
so, they must have a variety - this isn't usually too difficult, as they are given so much to choose from - and they need to have some good protein in there.
here is a list of things we usually have out
a variety of lettuce - leaf, romain, ice burg etc.
baby spinach
tomatoes
cucumber
celery
broccoli
green onion
carrots
snow peas
peppers of different colours
zucchini
apples
clementines
strawberries
pineapple
hard boiled eggs
chicken
bacon
homemade croutons
different nuts , walnuts, almonds, pecans
flax seeds and others
rice or couscous
raisins and cranberries

not that we have ALL those things each time we have super salad, but usually most. it is a great meal for using up left overs!

as far as salad dressings, I make a couple of my own and put out what ever is in the fridge, but in fact, most of my kids prefer their salad with no dressing - doesn't really need it when you combined so many wonderful foods!
so there is it.
a salad that I don't have to focus what parts of it my family doesn't eat. a lot of the time when a salad is made and just put in front of them I have to pick out the tomatoes for her or the mushrooms for him or he won't eat it if dressing has been added. Super salad night is always fun. lots of chopping and dishes, but we enjoy trying new combinations and chatting away while we make our bowls. Then all is nice and quiet while we enjoy our salad art.
oh yes. and the name. in a family of super hero obsessed members it helps to have a fun name, we all get healthier and stronger as we eat. ready to save the world!