The In-laws

The very mention of the word sends shudders down my husbands and my back. I had no idea what a messed up family came with my husband when I married him. Of course it wasn't until after the actual event, that all the craziness started to happen. To this day, I wonder how he turned out as "normal" as he did. Of course, I can't really say anything nasty about my own parents. I will admit that my mom is a little excitable and controlling. But in contrast, his family always wins the "crazy" award.

I'm mentioning this b'cos this weekend we're heading to S'toon to visit his family. It was supposed to be a quick trip, up after church on Sunday and then home Monday afternoon. However, as "luck" would have it, he was able to get Sunday off, so we're heading up there tomorrow (gasp!!) till Monday. Good heavens...I don't think I'm going to make it.

To say that his mother and I don't get along, is an understatement. For some reason I can't figure out how to impress her. If I say I don't want tea (I'm REALLY not a big tea drinker), she takes it personally meaning somehow I don't like her. There's lots I could say, but what good would it do? I'm still going to have to go there tomorrow. I'll put up with it 'cos his step-sister has a horse, chickens and kittens. My son loves all of the above. For that reason it's always exciting to go to Grandma's acreage.

As I was sweating the inevitable, this verse came to mind, "Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified b'cos of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. " Deuteronomy 31:6

And I just have to take a breathe, close my eyes and count to ten, and know that God will be with me!!

How To...?

Last night as I was getting ready for bed, my husband asked me if I wanted to try and get a book on "How To Be A Better Housewife"? I looked at him amazed for a few seconds, unable to answer. He proceeded to tell me that as a youth pastor, he's continually trying to better himself by reading books, going to conferences, etc. So, a housewife by profession, shouldn't I want to better myself and continually try to be better? I said, "sure, I'll just walk down to the library and pick up a book."

Second Guessing

I wonder if that comes with being female? Always second guessing yourself. Wondering if it's something your doing, or the fault of the other person? Wondering if your making the right decisions concerning your marriage? Kids? Work? Life in general?

I have no answers for the questions above. Sometimes I wonder if it's my stint in life to just continually ask questions and one day receive answers. All I really know for certain right now is that God loves me, He's watching me and that is a Pepsi slurpee in a Sponge Bob cup.

My husband and I met and married in 5 months. We met, February 14, 2001. We were married that June. Sometimes I wonder if life would've been easier and less stressful if we had waited to get to know each other before we got married. Then there are those times when I think waiting would've been foolish. Why wait when you just know there's no one else? Again, no answer.

6 months after we were married, we found out I was pregnant. Total surprise! Would things have been different if we had waited the 3 years we had "planned" on waiting, before having kids? No answer.

I know you shouldn't dwell on the past and the "if only's" in life. And I know I shouldn't worry about the future. Our youth's theme this summer is from Matthew 6. Where it says "do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself." And God will take care of everything. It's hard, really hard to wrap your mind around that statement. God will take care of everything. But if you can, it's an amazing relief. The trick is to continually remind yourself of that. And for us to remind eachother of that as well. I'm amazed sometimes when I hear about all of us Mom's who feel "alone" or bored or something. If every Mom who felt that way, met for coffee one afternoon, they'd need a HUGE hall to fit us all in!!

31 more sleeps!

New Link

I'm always looking for helpful links to add on to the site. There's Women's Fitness link to the right. This is the first time I've visited the site, it looks alright. If you know of a site that you like to visit or think is better, let me know. We'll have a look and add 'er on.

Holidays

Hard to believe it's already August! And yet, in a way, it seems to have taken forever to get here!? The past few weeks have been interesting to say the least. Way back in July, my husband and I took our youth group wilderness camping. The moquitoes were HORRENDOUS! After receiving numerous pointers from many people, we just decided to coat ourselves continuously in repellant and stay close to the fire. That week trip was cut short a day. Then my husband took some youth to a church camp in near Clear Lake, Manitoba. Which was great! He took off for a week, the only problem was that he took the van, our only vehicle. It's amazing where you can go, when pushed to do it. My kids and I were everywhere that week. We took full advantage of our stroller, wagon and trailer. The only complaint I really have was the lack of "pedestrian rite-of-way" I seemed to hold. There were times I had to wait, what seemed like forever, for cars to stop and let me cross the intersection. The "highlight" was having a police car drive by, not stopping, and watch me standing on the sidewalk, fuming at the lack of "respect". What hope do we, as pedestrians, have of crossing when our city's police cruisers can't even stop? That's my tiff of the month.
Our actual family holiday was the last week of July. We went to Candle Lake with my family (brother and his family, sister, and parents...7 adults, 3 kids under 3, and 3 dogs) for a week of camping. What an adventure! The weather wasn't anything great or spectacular, the cold killed off some of the mosquitoes, which was nice. Our son had a 24 hr flu and took a night and the morning to let his stomache react. Not a nice experience in a sleepbag and tent! My brother's 7 mos. old decided this was a good week, NOT to sleep at night. Tents....gotta love them! But all in all, it was a very enjoyable week. We especially lov'd the cheap ice cream there. I don't know what the store is called, but it's the place where they have the trampoline and all the Little Tykes toys. Wow, super big scoops for cheap! We were all glad to get home tho', have a nice shower and sleep in our own beds.

Holidays...gotta love them!!

Countdown to Mom's....September 13, 2005!! That's 41 more sleeps! (i think...)

Kidzfest

If you haven't heard already, Kidzfest is back in Kinsmen park again this year. I don't know how many years they've had it, but I went last year, saw some of you there. It was busy and there were line-ups for the cheap food (I think it was like .25 cents for hotdogs, ice cream and juice). But it gives us parents a chance to take our kids out for some fresh air and let them run around a bit. This year it's this Thursday (July 21) from 1-5. Should be a good time! Hope to see you there!

Anniversaries with Great Big Sea

Tommorrow is my 4th Anniversary with my husband. In some ways 4 years seems like such a long time. Yet in the many (many) years to (hopefully) follow, 4 years is just a little chunk of time. We look at couples who've been married for longer than we have, some 40 years or more, some 10 or so and some only a year longer than us, and I realize there's so much we can learn from them. Nowadays the norm is to have your parents get divorced. How do we stop that? How can we as wives and mothers help change that statistic around? I'm definately not saying that I have in inkling of an answer, but I'd like to think that I have a slight idea. If we raise our kids in loving households and hold marriage and love at the highest regard in our own lives, it should show through to our kids. Then they'd strive to be like their parents when they grow up and get married.

Hmm...

So my husband and I decided we'd go to dinner and a movie for our anniversary. I picked the restaurant, he's picking the movie. We went to dinner last week and we're going to Batman Begins this weekend. We heard somewhere it's playing in IMAX, so we're going to Regina to check it out. That's not the only reason tho', we also heard that Great Big Sea is putting on a free concert on Canada Day. My parent's live in Regina, so that's free babysitting, the only other thing we have to worry about is our dog. We have a HUGE 85 lbs-er german shephard. My parents have 2 little Yorkie Terriers. It should be an interesting weekend! My husband and I always look back at our "many" years of marriage and see how we've grown. What we've accomplished and goals we'd still like to accomplish. That's one of the things I enjoy most. Sitting down with my hubby and doing our "year in review". I don't really know why, but I do. To anyone who reads this, what are some of your memorable anniversary dates?

Anyway, this is going nowhere fast, so I'm going to end by wishing you all a safe and happy Canada Day long weekend!

Change

As a side thought, I added a link to Galaxy Cinemas. I'm a firm believe in date nights with your husband. Someone once told me to make a goal of having one every month in the least. If you and your hubby have a night set apart each week that is FABULOUS! Good for you guys, if not, try it for just one week. Pick a date a week or so in advance, mark it on your calendars and stick to it. Go for a walk, eat dinner out, go for coffee, or a movie. Choose whatever, just make sure it's just you and your man. NO KIDS!! You won't regret it!

Also, if anyone else is interested in adding their own thoughts to this page, let me know. If nothing else it'll stop me from rabbling about nothing so often. You can e-mail me at: l.s.reid@wildmail.com

A Spectacular Weekend

I hope you all had a good weekend! I think despite the rain, wind and clouds our weekend was overly enjoyable! Our yout group had a photo scavenger hunt down at the street fair, in the rain, on Saturday. They all had a good time and we had lots of laughs over the photos! I saw some of you out there braving the weather. I hope you all had a good time too! Then we hit the free Tom Cochrane concert over at Prime Ministers Park. Yup...that brought back alot of memories from the past. You know you're old when all these kids today have never even heard of Tom Cochrane, and you know all the words to his songs! Sheesh...that put me in my place, but it was alot of fun.
Sunday, I did my best to please my husband. I can say this knowing he'll never read it, but I STRONGLY believe that guys get PMS too. Yesterday was his day. He should've been relaxed and soaking up the attention. Instead every little thing the kids did seemed to irritate him. It was not a relaxing good day. It did seem to get a bit better about 4 p.m. when we headed out to Founder's Day on the riverbank. It wasn't so much the activities, but rather the playground at Riverside School that released some steam and some tension from his shoulders. It was good once again. We ended the day by hitting the fireworks, which are a personal favourite of mine. If there was such a thing as a firework groupie, where all they did was travel around after firework displays, I'd be there!
A busy weekend had by all. I hope your household had a good weekend. It's sunny outside now and the forecast for the rest of the week is nice and hot. I pray that you'll be able to get out and make the most of the nice weather this week! Summer is officially here!!

Good for you!

Last night I was talking to my husband about something someone said that really rubbed me the wrong way. It was as if they were saying that being a stay-at-home mom is a second rate job. I just got the feeling that money was a high priority for this person. I think if more people put less priority on money values and more priority on family values, this world would be such a better place to live. If you choose to stay home even tho' your bank account is hurting, I applaud you! I used to wonder if I should get a part time job to help out financially a bit. So I did. I got a job at Shanannigans coffee house. The job itself was great. 4 years ago, before I was married and started having kids, it would have easily been my dream job. For some reason, I just didn't feel right tho'. So I only worked that once. I figured out that for now, my job is at home with my kids, supporting my husband. It doesn't pay much, but the rewards are priceless!! I get to nap in the afternoon and eat cookies with milk for snack! How many jobs do you know of let you do that?
Here's a little theme song that a friend of mine wrote about us Homemakers. I hope you enjoy it! Feel proud that you are a chosen few!

Sigh...

I once had the opportunity to live off a small island between Vancouver Island and the mainland. It was great. I could walk from my house to the beach and listen to the ocean in like 2 minutes. I tried to take advantage of that everyday, 'cos I knew I wasn't going to be there for very long. I was there from September to December. Maybe b'cos it was autumn, I'm not really sure, but I hear it's like this most of the time. Rainy and cloudy and downcast. It got really depressing after awhile and I was only there for 3 months! We need sunshine for sanity sake I think! So if this recent BLAH kinda weather is getting you down, take a few minutes to mentally picture yourself sitting on a beach. Imagine the warmth of the sun beating down on your skin. Your in the warm zone. Make yourself a pina colada or iced tea with one of those little umbrella's in it. (It's kinda funny, the song "wake up to the sun" by Limblifter just came on as I'm writing this. It's a totally "sitting back and enjoying summer" kind of song. Very cool.)

Anyway, I'm sure it won't be this dreary for much longer, and if I'm wrong, call me up and I'll make you a pina colada with a little umbrella in it. We'll apply the sunscreen, sit in our beach chairs, start the little propane heater and enjoy our "summer" together. Remember misery loves company, so call a friend over. Trust me, it will make you feel better!

Good Boy!

I never knew I could get so excited over someone going pee in a potty! Finally my son is catching on! This is great! I'm so excited!!

I'm a good mom!

Well I don't know about you but it's easy to get in a slump. You do something wrong then condemn yourself for it then continue the cycle until that's all you know anymore. I read something that said you have to verbalize what it is you want to be true. Say out loud, "I'm a good mom!" and slowly you will become just that. I was doing a bible study 'Believing God' and she said at one point Satan finds out your worst fear and sets out to confirm it. He can't read your thoughts but he can watch your actions and words. If he sees you doubting your calling as a mother or your ability he will pounce on it and set out to confirm it. By speaking out loud things you want to be true, you will discourage attack in that area. Say "I'm a good mom!", "I love my husband.", "He is a babe!", "I love my children.", etc. The spoken word is so powerful, let's use it for good.

Thoughtful Weekend

I wonder if anyone ever reads this. Sometimes what seems like a good idea can totally turn around and hit you in the butt. I guess in a small way tho', this has been kinda therapeutic. Writing down my thoughts helps sort out my mind.

This past weekend my husband and I took 8 kids from our Youth Group to Strathmore for a youth conference. It's something we do every year. However this was the first time I've been able to go. The team behind the conference try to get the weekend as meaningful as possible for Jr. Highers (the age group allowed to go to this specific conference) while still attempting to make it meaningful for leaders as well. This year they did something different and had stations set up around a gym for the kids to go to. There was a prayer station, a "Dear God," station where the kids could write notes to God, a foot/hand washing station, a "Letters from God" station where the had scripture written all over a table and a "sin-giving" station where the kids could throw black paint against a white sheet of drywall symbolizing them giving their sins to God. It was really cool and very well done. Definately something that impacted both kids and leaders. But there was something else. Each year they take an offering. This year the money was going to a group called Childrens Hopechest. They showed a video clip and one of the leaders had been to Russia and seen first hand how the program worked. It all got me thinking about my own children. There are so many unwanted, uncared for, and needy children all over the world. What right do I have in bringing another child to life when there are so many others who could use my help and would die to have a mother's love? It all pulled at my heart strings and I started to cry. Does anyone have an answer? Why does God allow this to happen? Are not children innocent in His eyes? The video said that there are over 800,000 orphans in Russia today. When they turn 15 or 16 they are released from the orphanage and sent into the world to make it on their own and "survive". I don't remember exactly all the stats, but I remember that only 10% of those "released" make it and survive. Roughly 60% commit suicide, 30% turn to prostitution. It makes my heart ache. If this even makes your heart quiver a bit, there are many ways that you could help. Ask your church about sponsoring a child. I started sponsoring a child 10 years ago thru Compassion Canada. There are groups that sponsor thru World Vision. I encourage you to look for an organization that suits you. Be thorough in your search and find out exactly home much of a monthly donation goes straight to the child. Or if sponsoring isn't your thing, pray. It's amazing how a simple prayer can change a life.

May God be with you and your family this week!

The Sound of Silence

This morning I went for a jog out at the Little Red Park. For those who don't know where that is, it's across the river on the Highway towards Nipawin and Candle Lake. Just 5 mins. out of town. I love going there. My parents used to live here in PA, and one of the things they missed most, when they moved away, was the Lil' Red Park. So I always try to take advantage of all it has to offer, while I can. As I was saying, this morning I took Gus (my brute of a dog) and we went for a jog. The sun was shining, the wind was keeping most of the mosquitoes away and everything was silent. As I was running I tried to pay attention to the stillness. Listening for the sound of the wind moving the tree tops. The sound of the birds singing and squirrels sqeaking (or however you spell that!). Nature and the outdoors can be very soothing and a GREAT way to relieve stress. So I encourage you all to take advantage of something great that PA has to offer - Little Red Park. Take your kids, take your husband, take a friend or just take yourself. Drive out there and walk, bike, run or just sit at one of the many fire pits. Reflect, think, pray. There's tonnes of awesome nature trails in the back area if you take the first exit (towards Pinegrove, but keep going straight instead of turning right). If your still a bit nervous about getting lost, you can pick up trail maps at Fresh Air Experience or the lodge in the Park.

Lack of wisdom and a whole lot of PMS

This past Wednesday I got my 2 right wisdom teeth pulled. Maybe I'm a bigger softy than I thought, but my head still hurts. It feels like I've been hit really hard in the right jaw. Not that I know what that feels like, but it hurts. So I'm continually popping Ibuprofen, which helps out with the next fact...PMS.

My husband can usually tell when I'm PMS-ing. This week however, I gave him the heads up before he got the chance to say anything. In my opinion I've been really good this week. Last night tho' I'd say was the worst. I had a conversation with my Mom that didn't go as well as I would have liked. I'm not sure if I was reading too much into it, or if she was just unwilling to help out. Anyway, it didn't end great. Then the emotions kicked in and I felt like crying. To make things worse, the whole problematic issue needing help seemed to somehow get 10x worse than it actually was and my husband, Steve, say's "don't worry about it." By now we're getting ready for bed, the lights off and my jaw is starting to hurt. Dead silence. I have all these thoughts racing thru my head, and I'm waiting for Steve to say goodnite before he falls asleep. Silence. Finally I say,"fine then. Good-nite." and roll over and start crying. Of course now that I'm telling someone this, I feel like a complete loser. It's amazing how our emotions can get the better of us. This prompts him to take on his psych-voice and ask me what's wrong. I say my jaw is hurting and all I can think about is the problem next weekend. He proceeds to tell me again not to worry about it. God will handle things, and he rolls over and falls asleep. This irritated me more than ever. Here I was fuming mad, with millions of thoughts running thru my head waiting for the Ibuprofen to kick in and he, so easily, rolled over and fell asleep. Just like that. I decided it was my duty to toss and turn and make as much noise as possible, trying to get comfortable. It was to no avail, as his body started to twitch (which it always does when he first falls asleep). Eventually the drugs kicked in and my mind settled down and I fell asleep too. What a night.

I'm thinking the PMS has to be over soon, and the pain in my jaw should go away. Then life will get back to normal once again. Hopefully your week was much better. And if not, if your suffering from a PMS week, well I'm praying for you. The week is almost over!

Happy Mother's Day!

Hope you all have a great day! Here are some stories and quotes about Mother's. Enjoy!

Mothers hold their children's hands for a short while, but their hearts forever. -Unknown

I can't seem to copy and paste stories, so you're gonna have to look some of these up. Sorry.

"What the child says he has heard at home." -African proverb

"Of all the rights of women, the greatest is to be a mother." -Lin Yutang

Here are some more good Mother's quotes

A Mother's Prayer

Dear Lord it's such a hectic day,
With little time to stop and pray,
For life's been anything but calm,
Since you called on me to be a mom.

Running errands, matching socks,
Building dreams with building blocks.
Cooking, cleaning, and finding shoes,
And other stuff that children lose.

Fitting lids on bottled bugs,
Wiping tears and giving hugs,
A stack of last week's mail to read,
So where's the quite time I need?

Yet when I steal a minute Lord,
Just at the sink or ironing board,
To ask the blessings of your grace,
I see them in my small one's face.

That you have blessed me all the while,
As I stop to kiss that precious smile.

Finally, you can check out the Celine Dion song "A Mother's Prayer"

Friendly Conversations

The other night I went to a going-away/prayer/party party. It was alot of fun. We laughed, we cried, we talked, we ate. It was all good. It was the first time in awhile that I was able to really enjoy myself and not feel like an outsider of sorts. So thank you, ladies, for letting me be a part of that evening!

New Colour

I'm sorry, but the pink was getting a little too "pinky" for me. I've added some links to the side there. Hope they work. If anyone has any comments or questions, please feel free to do so!

Thanks!

So much to say

I'm stoked. I have the new Avril Lavigne cd (surprisingly very good and clean) playing on the stereo, my belly is full, the kids are napping and the husband (or as a friend likes to call him: my first husband) is gone to the church for an hour. The house is mine!

Last weekend I bought a new pair of swim shorts. They're a little tight. I believe however that I still have a few months anyway to fit nicely into them. It seems that every year around this time, the female population is thrown into a tizzy about weight and the impending swim-suit season. Sadly I'm one of those females. I'd like to think that I don't put alot of pressure on myself about my weight, but as my husband looses weight, I feel that I must as well. To me, there's just something not quite right about weighing more than my husband. At the Mom's Nite Out awhile back when we went to BP's and bowling (by the way...would anyone be interested in doing that again??) someone said that they thought it was so cool when they hit the 200 lbs. mark when they were pregnant. After having the baby, however, it wasn't that cool anymore. I laughed when I heard that and it still makes me smile when I think about it now.

So this morning I went for a run out at the Little Red Park. I love going out there. Usually I take my bike and my dog, but this morning I felt like running. I used to be a track runner when I was in high school. I loved the feeling of being near death (or so it felt) in the heat, sweat dripping all over. To me there's something about that feeling that makes me feel alive. I wonder what happened? This morning I think I nearly did die. I ran for about 7 mins before nearly collapsing on the trail. My dog, bless her, came over as if urging me on. I couldn't do it. I had to walk the rest of the route. I'm determined however, to beat that trail, and fit nicely into my swim shorts!

So if you are like me and dreading the upcoming season of skimpiness. Take heart in knowing that God made you how you are, but He also wants us to take care of ourselves. So grab a buddy and get active. Yesterday I simply walked over to Kinsmen Park so my kids could get some exercise and fresh air too. It was great! I'm always looking for someone to get active with - if your stuck give me a call! I'd love to go with you!

Later!