Stillness

check out i heart faces
site for more great photographs!

this photograph was shot indoors
in a wee pool:)

Sweet Wee Family

Well, here is your little peek....
sigh....

thanks for such a lovely morning
thanks for sharing your story with me
and allowing me to photograph the new love
in your lives

you both are relaxed, easy going, patient parents
with a sweet sense of humour
great qualities to have in the world parenting I think:)

hope you enjoy these and the others that are to come!

MJ

a classic dolly look

Garbage Chores

This is very typical him
flying
jumping
crashing
craziness

I was laughing this morning remembering
a funny conversation I had with the Buddy
while we were driving though
a certain neighbourhood the other day

Buddy: Mom!! Look at that house
it is huge!!! I would love to live there

(it has 4 garages, sprawling property backing
onto a river, dripping in hugeness...
that make sense?-I knew just what to say
to make him re-think this)

Me: Oh ya? Can you imagine how many garbages
they have in this house?

Buddy: Oh ya....well then forget that
I don't want to move there then.

The Buddy is responsible for emptying
the bathroom garbages in our house...hee hee

on another note....

I was thinking about how I/we compare
one anothers lives
we try not to because it is a snare
that can bind and hold
but I try to find a balance where I am inspired by others
and glean from them what I can
and not compare
but what i was thinking about when I have found
myself comparing my life to others
and there have been many many times
is that when I do this
when I am focusing on what others have or do
I am missing what I am doing

what God is trying to do in my life

one way I found this was happening to me
was through facebook and other peoples blogs
which a great and useful...sometimes

I had all this knowledge about peoples lives
sometimes useful but the majority was stupid info filling my brain
and I found it was affecting me
it was so subtle, barely present (I thought)

until I shut it down

I wanted to see how much those internet worlds
were affecting me....
wow!

so first there is the habitual withdrawl
symptoms, ya know, I would just got onto these sites
while I am waiting for pictures to load, checking email
or whatever
I found that pathetic..lol

then I felt so disconnected with the world
are you kidding me? the world? disconnected?
facebook and the blogs have that quality
of giving you the feeling like
EVERYBODY is here or reading this or "in the know"

then I was gone
and did anyone noticed or cared
OF COURSE NOT!
because we are not really connected in these places
not really in any type of foundational relationships
with the masses

but that is not what I am writing about at this point

my goal was to see how much my choices or my feelings
were being influenced by others
2 cent information

heather is baking cookies with her kids
marcie is cleaning up pee
betty is watching grass grow
laura is painting her house while making supper
sara is rebuilding her car while her 2 year old triplets
watch
lisa just found a cure for cancer while having a dinner party
for the homeless

get what I am saying?

ridiculous!


I broke free and for me it has been fabulous!

who is the woman God is calling me to be today?
how is He shaping me right now?
what is He calling me to change
or do or be? just me?
not my neighbour, not anyone else

just me
today
now


I was reading this post from the girltalkers
about the Snare of Compare
for women and found it fitting.

Skiing with da boys!

here we are on the lift
taken with my phone
so thankful I didn't drop it

of course I am trying to get a nice pic
but the boys could care less about that

HH took the girlies to Great Wolf Lodge
and I just couldn't bare? to go again
I have had more than enough of that place
so
off skiing the boys and I go

perfect sunshine
perfect weather
a few perfect crashes
hanging with da boys

it was interesting at home that night
as the girlies were spending the night away
we were home alone

again the switch in dynamics
having the girls out of the mix
brought the boys together in such a lovely way
they just hung out together
had a lot of laughs
and really enjoyed one another's company

family, siblings are not a burden
this is how we are taught to love our neighbour
as ourself
your siblings are your closet neighbours
my hubby is my closest neighbour
they should be the easiest people to love
and they are
but they can be the hardest
but this is where we start learning
to love these neighbours
as ourselves
because we all certainly love ourselves...
and then some

J.O.Y.

J-esus first
O-thers Second
Y-ourself last


daily choosing to think of others first
before oursleves

the daily CHOICE of serving one another
instead of ourselves
why?
why on earth would I do that?

because of love
because Jesus came to serve and not be served
and in that act
we show love
that everyone is infinitely valued and precious in His sight
we are all equally loved

off to love the girls while we grocery shop this morning....
oh dear..lol

Thoughts on our relationship

Here he is looking supa cool
if I knew how to post a series
I would
I was trying to tickle him to make him smile
and nothing
he didn't budge:)
anyway,
I have been thinking about a few of the many things that have made me
so happy since we pulled him out of school
these last 3 years
but the one thing I wanted to write is this

he talks to us
he asks us our opinion on most all things
we have a daily working relationship
with respect and laughter
joy and discipline
I found when he was in school all day
we (the parents) lost our voice in his mind
the teachers always knew more
compared to us
even if that wasn't the case
he didn't seem to respect our thoughts or ideas
especially if they contradicted what he was being taught
I hated that
but they did have more power
more influence
because that is where he spent his whole day
I can read into all the different angles regarding this realization
and I have
but the pure simplicity of it is
he now have a daily relationship
with more depth
with more shared experiences
with WAY more conversations
and laughter
more teaching moments
more fun
more of life the way we want it
because it will be coming to an end
and he is preparing to move on
move out
and I will not regret this time
ever!

it fills my soul...

Super Blu and Hammock Head and a getting ready tip

this photo got in the wrong spot..ugh
taken by Lady May
this week
she directed me into
this sassy little position

sweet wee thang

she does a nice job taking a picture
she has a natural eye
for composition
more so
is her ability to direct her subject a bit
if needed

and she is just 6! imagine the future:)

There is nothing like taking flight
off the bathroom counter
in a horsie bathing suit
nor
is there nothing like trying swing in a
hammock with your head

highly promoted in our house


My morning hair tips:

1. Go to bed with wet hair and wake up and go...

I use this technique when I want this look ;
like I've been at a modeling session with a giant fan,
or got trapped in a wind tunnel

2. Wash and dry hair before I go to bed...

lay still all night long in one position
hoping I don't move and spoil
the "I am so put together
hair do...isn't that a joke"
look

I need to get some photographs for these two
oh- so -sought after styles

A couple converstaions with the Blu

Today between Hot Husband
and the Blu while performing a
flying eagle one the living room floor....

HH: Are you bigger today? (He asks her this everyday)
BB: Nope not today, would you like to buy another one of me?
HH: sure,where would I get one?
BB: At the Science Center.
HH: Really, how much do you cost there?

pause and a whisper from MJ ....
BB: 2 dollas


Conversation #2 as it happened in the adult hot tub
of Great Wolf Lodge(which children under the age of
16 are not allowed in....
and the 3yr old Blu is in, illegally:)

HH is wanting to get out the hot tub and
the Blu says,

BB: Papa, our turn is not up until the man comes and tells
us our turn is done

(actually, this is when he kicks you out
for being in there under the age 16)

BB: where is the man papa? The mans must be at work. Right papa?
Mans go to work
and mamas stay home.....

lol...

I just love that she thinks her turns lasts
until the man(s) says so...
and for the record

HH is the one escorting our children
past the age restriction sign
against my better judgment

I just pretend I don't know them

is that wrong?
oh dear:):)

The New Skirt

this new skirt was a gift
a gift from her older sister
Lady May

Lady May went away for 4 days
4 long days....
she was missed tremendously

only half and hour after her departure
Mj confessed how mush she was missing her

during those 4 days
she tried to engage with the others
she was much quieter than usual
without her attachment piece

and I would often find her wandering
without direction
(and believe me, she always has direction)
and I could see how
lost she was without her
Lady May

it is good to stretch ourselves
to work on other relationships
to mix up the dynamics

to also see how much you value someone when
they are gone from your daily life

I remind them often
that I wish so much for my sister
I wish she was still here
I remind them that she died
and we could lose eachother
in a minute
starting to teach them young
that each day is a gift
not to taken for granted
to be so very thankful in every
moment

God is Good

The Dolly Yesterday

I love when she wears pink
her hair really stands out
here she is modeling for me on the kitchen table
and my heart melts
seeing her looking so sweet
what a blessing to be able to
live eachday together
she was born in this house
as was little Blu
and she will leave this place
roller blading around the kitchen
jumping off the shed
over the net of the trampoline
and into the trampoline
(she started doing that at 4!)
I really need to get a picture of that!

our first 911 call was made from this house
for the dolly of all people
I did think for a few moments there
she was going to die
the most sickening feeling I have
EVER felt in my life
I am sure I will feel like that again
as life goes on
but this season of our life is ending here

and moving into a new one
new growth
new hopes and dreams
new kids hopefully

new home

Jammy Hockey

She escaped the other day
without me noticing
escaped out the front door
thinking I wouldn't discover what she had done
that I wouldn't discover that she took off her
clothes for the day
and put her jammies back on

well,
when the kids called me out
I discovered her like this
tending goal in her jammies
there is only one way to react
and that is to laugh so loud and hard
I just might pee my pants

on another note,
not wanting to write here
too much going on in my head....
from teenage boy loveliness
to living radically simply
to arm waxing and
family devotions
to adoption more children
and having more children
to seeking after God's heart everyday
and wanting to take pics of our home we are saying good bye to
capturing the times we've had here
in photos
and the dying people in our lives
to
the sweet girls I have who play dollies and
draw hearts everywhere
to the new apron I got to help keep me organized
to boys who love to read and
to a husband who adores his family
and works hard for us everyday
to
the joy that constantly drives me
and
makes me feel like want to explode
to the gospel in one sentence, 3 seconds

Jesus is Lord.

...to bed I go...

knickers are in a knot!