Practicing Gratitude: Patriotic Edition

It's Canada Day tomorrow! She'll be a youthful 144 years old.

I'm thankful for wide open spaces. For endless prairie skies. For the wind in the waves of ripened grain and tall grass. For "character-building" winters. I'm thankful for hardiness and endurance! I'm thankful we're known the world over as peaceful, friendly people.
(provided we don't lose at hockey, of course... )

I'm thankful for freedom, even though some insist on exercising it in unattractive ways. I'm thankful for choices in education, occupation, and relationships. I'm thankful it's still possible to worship without fear, to not have to meet with other believers in hiding.

I'm thankful for all the choices that don't get made FOR me ~ how to dress, how to act, how to live. I'm thankful failure to abide by the rules isn't automatically punishable by death. I'm thankful for opportunities to learn from my mistakes.

I'm thankful for all the luxuries I have the luxury of whining and complaining about. I'm thankful I'm learning, on a daily basis, how to live more gratefully ~ developing an attitude of contentment. I'm thankful for unexpected treats and delights from family, friends.... and God.



I'm thankful for the national anthem, though I wish we would sing it through more often. Especially the last verse:

Ruler Supreme,
Who hearest humble prayer,
Hold our dominion in Thy loving care.
Help us to find
O God, in Thee, a lasting, rich reward,
As waiting for the better day,
We ever stand on guard.

God keep our land
Glorious and free!
O Canada! We stand on guard for thee.
O Canada! We stand on guard for thee.

I'm so thankful for my country, though not as much or as regularly as I should be. I find myself often looking at other nations with "greener grass goggles," but really,

I have it so good.





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Schoooool's Out. for. Summer!

Well, after the awards ceremony this afternoon it will be anyway!

Let the holidays BEGIN!

(And the sleeping in, too!  It'll take a while for them to get the hang of it, but give me a week or so, and I'll have them sleeping until at least 8:30 every morning!)

Other than the girls' first ever week at camp, we don't have much lined up for the summer.  The girls were in "early bird" swimming lessons again this year, so they finished those on Friday. We don't have anything out of the ordinary planned for the summer, but for all those days and weeks at home, I really liked the goals we made last year and so I decided to do something similar again this summer.  In fact, I'm copying and pasting the entire list!

• Get to the local library and school playground once a week
• Spend 20 minutes a day in the garden ~ this one NONE of us stuck to last summer, but I really want to work at it myself, as well as involving the girls.  Note to self: buy them each their own hoe!
• Teach the girls some simple chores ~ I had them doing some laundry and swish 'n' swiping the bathroom almost daily last summer, so we're going to implement that again. And I think I'll try setting the timer for 15 minutes each evening for the three of us to do a "27-fling boogie" à la FlyLady.
• Get the girls involved with meal prep and dishes once a week each ~ I virtually abandoned this goal last summer, but I want to try again. Summer is the perfect time for this because meals are often simpler and I don't need to worry that I'm not allowing them enough play time after school/before bed.
• Weekly piano lessons for Peanut ~ we have struggled with maintaining this throughout the school year, but picked it up again at the end of May and she moved to the second level two weeks ago. We've set up a few short- and long-term goals now, and so she's more determined to practice and better at reminding me it's lesson time again
• One playdate or special activity each week ~ not counting the ones covered by the other goals listed here!
• Try to head to the lake or pool once a week ~ I'd like to get a bit more organized to prevent much of the "last-minute" running around that ends up taking an hour and making the whole thing just feel like WORK!

• MORE PICNICS ~ the girls, especially Fidget, are always begging to have a picnic supper or lunch, but it's just so much easier to stay indoors! If I can get my act together with the meal prep and planning goal above, this won't be as much of a hassle and we can all enjoy it.

Whew, it looks like a lot of goals, doesn't it?! A little planning will go a long way though ~ and it will also serve my purpose to become a more deliberate parent. I really want to try and wrap my head around the fact that I'm raising future adults. While I want them to enjoy childhood as long as possible, I also would like them to learn that responsibilities are just part of life.

I also have one goal specifically for myself:

• Work at getting in more face and/or phone time with my real-life friends.  ~ The Internet has just made it too stinkin' easy to not actually spend time with anyone. Given my reclusive tendencies, I feel like it won't be long before I don't HAVE any real-life friends if I don't start investing a little more personally in them! I want to make sure I at least talk to a friend on the phone once a week if not actually getting together with them and chatting face-to-face.

Do you have any particular goals this summer? For those of you well into your summer holidays already, how are you doing with your goals?

 

Practicing Gratitude

Wow, I can't believe it's been a full week since I posted anything ~ that's gotta be some kind of record around here!! Even when we've been away from home for a week, I generally have a couple of scheduled posts during that time.  We haven't been anywhere!

And it's been TWO weeks since I posted a Thankful Thursday post!!  Not because I wasn't grateful, of course, but because last Wednesday, I posted about my daughter's birthday instead.  Because it WAS her birthday!  I'm so thankful to have had SEVEN years with my "baby."  She's kept us hoppin', that's for sure!

I can't think of anything in particular that I'm thankful for today, so I'm just going to list a few of the things that have appeared in my gratitude journal over the last week:

• a tractor that mows most of our yard!
• wide prairie sky
• Peanut's doing really well with remembering to practice her piano 5x a week.
• girls loved "bike week" at school ~ and riding their bikes all the way home after the last day (with mom slowly cruising behind them in the van and eventually picking up the little one, whose legs just couldn't quite make it!)
• seeing the girls learn how to think a little more about what they're praying
• BEAUTIFUL summery weather for Fidget's birthday party/playdate
• a husband who takes the responsibility of provider for his family very seriously
• old-fashioned Saturday morning cartoons!
• the sights and sounds of my two daughters playing so well together for hours
• WONDERFUL day at the lake with my church family (best weather we've had in a long time for our annual lakeside service!)
• thoughtful friends
• good, challenging discussion with my husband ~ WITHOUT it turning ugly!
• a husband who wants to grow in his relationship with God and who wants the same for me

• conversation about faith, God, and Christian living with a good friend
• FOOTBALL SEASON HAS STARTED!

What are YOU thankful for today??

 * Click the button at the top of the post to visit our host and other thankful bloggers!

First ever Fidget-Fest!

Believe it or not, this year was the first time we really had a birthday party for Fidget, our younger daughter.

She turns 7 today.
(Man, where DOES the time go??  ::sigh::)

I don't remember why we didn't have one for her last year ~ although after-school swimming lessons the week of her birthday were used as an excuse, if I remember correctly. This year, the girls are once again in after-school swimming lessons this week and next, but we threw her party on Friday so that wouldn't be a problem. Only two of her little friends came (50% of the guest list), but the four girls had a great time together.

Fidget isn't into organized games and has no patience for crafts, so it felt a little weird to not be planning anything, but it certainly made my job easier!!

After a quick snack, the girls visited our almost-month-old kittens, jumped on the trampoline, played on the tire- and rope-swings, and picked this beautiful oriental-looking bouquet for our picnic table.

Then we played a little "sidewalk curling." My girls love it when I freeze water in sour cream containers and then they slide the ice chunks ~ usually with a small figurine frozen inside them ~ along the sidewalks. (seriously, I ask you again: why on earth do we bother buying them toys??!) In a flash of brilliance, I'd thrown a few in the freezer the night before. My only regret is that I didn't do way more ~ they were a hit with our guests, too!

Fortunately, The 'Man was able to be home just in time for supper, so he could look after getting the fire started, whittling some roastin' sticks, and supervising the li'l wiener-roasters at the fire while I brought out all the other food. I hadn't originally planned on a picnic, but it was a BEAUTIFUL summery day and Fidget is always begging to eat outside, so it worked out perfectly. (And kept my house cleaner, too!)

Then it was cake and present-time and more running around before the moms showed up to pick up their kids.

(Simplest. cake. EVER. I love how easy-to-please this kid is!)

♥ Happy birthday, Fidget! ♥
It was fun throwing your first official birthday party!!

The Lesson Plan

As most of you know, I was working through the ebook 31 Days to Clean and participated in the related challenge over at Joyful Mothering. I decided I needed to set that aside for yardwork season ~ I just can't deep-clean my house right now! Our Canadian prairie summers are so stinkin' short that I want to be outside enjoying them ~ but the Mary challenge from Day 15 has haunted me since I first read through the study for that day.

The assignment was to come up with a lesson plan (I'm guessing not necessarily a LITERAL lesson plan, but at least a general idea) for teaching our children why keeping an orderly home is important. WHY is it important for them to keep their rooms tidy?  WHY is it important to be organized and efficient?  Sarah Mae's suggestion was to also find some supporting Scripture verses to add to the plan.

I thought about it and thought about it, but just couldn't even really figure out a philosophy, let alone articulate it into something I might be able to teach my daughters.  And I sure didn't know where to start looking in my Bible either. So, at a complete loss, I turned to one of my most trusted resources:  Revive Our Hearts Radio (bet that didn't surprise anyone, eh?!)  I found the answers and inspiration I was looking for in an archived broadcast called The True Value of Your Home. Host Nancy Leigh DeMoss says:

Being home keepers, homemakers, reflects God’s heart for the home. God is somebody who loves home. Psalm 68:5-6 tells us, “A Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation. God settles the solitary in a home.”

God is a homemaker, and we reflect His heart for home when we cultivate homes where people can grow and be nurtured and nourished.

When you bring order out of chaos in your home... you are reflecting to the people in that home the One who created the world when the earth was formless and void and dark. You’re incarnating the Creator God in a sense, giving people a glimpse of Him.

When you cook nutritious, tasty meals for your family, you are pointing them to the One who feeds the hungry and who satisfies thirsty souls with Himself. You’re giving them an appetite for Him.

When you go to the time and effort to be sure that your husband and your kids have adequate clothing that fits, you are pointing them toward the One who clothes us with His righteousness.

When you learn how to decorate your home tastefully, you’re giving your family and guests in your home a glimpse of the One whose handiwork and artistry are reflected in creation. The heavens declare the glory of God and the firmament shows His handiwork.

When you maintain a clean home, an orderly home, you’re creating an atmosphere where your family can appreciate the value of being spiritually clean, cleansed from sin, and of having lives that are spiritually ordered. You’re teaching; you’re training not just to be clean and orderly because that is not a supreme, ultimate eternal virtue. It’s pointing them to virtues that are supreme and eternal. As you are homemaking what you are doing is creating a taste for our ultimate home in heaven.

Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms . . . I am going there to prepare a place for you” (John 14:1-2, NIV). So Jesus is a homemaker. His purpose is not Himself. “I’m going there to prepare a place for you.”

The thought of what Jesus is doing in preparing a place for us in heaven is supposed to keep our hearts from being troubled. It’s supposed to bring us peace as we wait and anticipate that home.

So our ultimate focus is on our eternal heavenly home and our homes here on earth are supposed to point people to Christ and to give them a taste for their home in heaven. They’re supposed to be glimpses of heaven here on earth, places where hearts are encouraged, not troubled, where hearts are at peace.

See, every aspect of homemaking is meant to reflect some spiritual, eternal truth that we’re trying to picture to our world.

This is what takes the mundane and the tedious and can make it an act of worship,

can make it a work of art,

can make it something profoundly spiritual.

As we prepare a place for our families, for those that we invite into our homes, we are demonstrating to them the way that Christ is serving us and preparing a place for us in His Father’s house. (bold, same-colour emphasis in original; different-colour emphasis was added by me. Clicking the picture at right will take to the beginning of the ROH series, God's Beautiful Design for Women.)

That's my lesson plan.  That's what I want to keep in mind when I feel like I'm tidying up the same mess for the bajillionth time.  That's what I want to remember when I'm tired and the girls want me to jump on the trampoline, or when they want a picnic even though it's so much simpler to eat inside.  That's what I want to remember when I'm feeling taken for granted, and figuring I need more recognition than I'm getting.  It's what I want to teach and model for my girls.

My home can have significant eternal value depending on what it is used for. I have been blessed with a home so I can use it to be a blessing to others ~ my husband, my children, our guests. I want to care for it like I understand and believe that.

And I want to teach and model that to my daughters so they will understand the value and importance of their future homes as well.

It's a hard-knock life...

...for us.

Really.

I had planned to mow lawn, but discovered my lawn-mower had been taken to town by The 'Man, who figured the grass on the shop yard was in desperate need of cutting.

So I guess I'm stuck doing THIS.

::sigh::

How are you spending YOUR Saturday?

 

31 Days to Clean ~ The END!

Well, this has been quite a process, hasn't it??! I really regret that I couldn't keep up with the Martha challenges. I petered out sometime during the third week when yardwork became a higher priority, but I am looking forward to implementing some of the things I've learned along the way in the winter months when yardwork, houseguests, and good weather aren't hampering my goals! (haha, hampering ~ get it? This week was all about laundry... :P)

Day 26 had us developing a laundry plan that works for us and I was happy to have nothing to do!  I feel like I have a pretty good system ~ I do one or two loads every weekday.  The girls' bedding gets done every other Monday, our bedding gets done every Friday, the bathroom towels and bath mat get done every Thursday, and everything else gets done on Tuesday or Wednesday, or as an additional load on one of the other days.  I generally either fold my laundry as soon as it's out of the dryer, or leave it for that same evening if I'm planning on watching a bit of TV.

Day 27 had us gettin' familiar with Goodwill and even before I read the day's lesson, I had gone through the girls' room and thrown all the outgrown clothing into a huge garbage bag. I immediately lugged it out to the van because I otherwise it probably would have sat in my front porch for another 3 months! Our church runs a small thrift store just down the street from the church and all proceeds go to the summer Bible camp our church helps staff and operate. I dropped the bag off on Thursday when I went to visit a friend.

Day 29 and 30 were a breeze ~ thinking of and writing down things I'm thankful for is something I practice very literally on a daily basis. It's been a helpful way for me to really begin loving my life and actively pursuing contentment. I think it has gone a long way to help me ward off what used to be fairly regular bouts of mild depression, and it has certainly dealt a blow to my tendency towards self-pity and envy. I think that's probably going to be a life-long battle, but thank goodness, there's been improvement!

And tomorrow, the 6 weeks are over! Though I haven't participated in most of the Martha challenges over the last few weeks, I've so enjoyed this process of changing my heart-attitude about homemaking and housekeeping. Thank you, Sarah Mae for this wonderful resource and to Christin for hosting the challenge!  I've loved the insight and encouragement from both of you!!   The entire ebook is now printed out and in its own section in my "Control Journal," so I can consult it any time in the future when I'm trying to convince myself to tackle the bigger projects. Or just feeling BLAH about housework! (not that that EVER happens, right??!) I've also enjoyed meeting and getting to know some new bloggers and have really appreciated your ideas and words of encouragement along the way as well.

And remember that "lesson plan" that we were supposed to come up with WA-AY back on Day 15? It's FINALLY coming on Monday! Stay tuned.... and have a wonderful, relaxing weekend! (If you've been involved in this challenge, you've surely EARNED IT!!)

* Click the button at the top of the post to visit the Homemakers Challenge Host and other "cleaning ladies!"

Practicing Gratitude

I am so thankful today for where I live. Not just the peaceful country that offers all sorts of rights and freedoms many can't even imagine, but my own little valley. Even after nine years of living here, I'm still blown away by the scenery.

I love our yard, despite the crumbling out-buildings and much-needed TLC. I'm so thankful my girls have space to really run. Earlier this week, Fidget was timing her long-legged older sister to see how long it took to run the inside perimeter of our entire yard... it took a full three minutes! And let me remind you, my 9-yr old Peanut is FAST! (In a short, straight footrace, I can still usually beat her, but NOT BY MUCH!! She kicks my butt when it comes to distance very consistently!) I'm thankful the girls can fly their kites, turn endless somersaults and cartwheels, ride their bikes, and play virtually any outdoor sport imaginable on our yard.  We are not lacking for space!

I'm thankful for the decaying barns because they provide a seemingly-endless source of food for our farm cats, and because the haylofts offer warm, safe, dry nurseries for the many litters of baby kittens we've enjoyed over the years. I'm thankful my girls have witnessed first-hand the miracle of birth (albeit feline births!), and experienced the velvety softness of baby animals. I'm thankful for the built-in opportunities these pets have offered us to have "THE TALK" with the girls!

I'm thankful for the endless prairie skies and a view that stretches to the horizon in virtually every direction each time I go for a walk. I'm thankful I've learned to appreciate the beauty even in winter, but I gotta tell ya, in summer, it's just special. Maybe because our summers are so short ~ it's a welcomed treat every year.

I'm thankful for my home, my cozy little house, and I'm thankful for our large yard ~ even though it takes a lot of time to mow it all! ~ but most of all, I'm thankful I live in the country. I grew up in the city and sometimes I miss some of the conveniences, but I wouldn't trade THIS for anything. ♥

 *Click the button at the top of this post to visit our host and other thankful bloggers!

Out to Pasture

We "retired" our old truck a couple of weeks ago. It was almost a little sad.

The Exploder, as she came to be known, was the first vehicle The 'Man and I bought as a couple. We got married in February 1997 and bought the ol' girl in September that same year, replacing my relatively new, but completely useless Geo Storm, and hubby's rundown Volkswagen Golf. She was four years old and had far too many miles already, but for the amount of money we had to spend, she was perfect.

Other than a rather hefty bill almost right off the hop when we had to replace the 4X4 hubs, she has cost us virtually nothing in repairs since then.

Aside from numerous trips from The Big City to where we live now when we were still coming up just to visit, she drove us to Jasper National Park almost exactly 11 years ago ~ our first and only road trip on our own. And then, once we moved up here just over nine years ago, she continued to make the same trip to and from The Big City regularly when we went down THERE to visit.

She carefully chauffered me to all my doctor's appointments during my failed first pregnancy, including the D&C on Valentine's Day ~ our 5th wedding anniversary. Her upholstery undoubtedly soaked up some of our tears.  She took me to all my doctor's appointments during my second pregnancy, too, including the hospital where I went to stay eight weeks before my due date.

She lovingly carried Peanut safely home 3-1/2 weeks later.

She was joined by a half-ton we really couldn't afford about 7 years ago, but she was the one that took me to a hospital in the next province to unexpectedly give birth to Fidget, who also arrived early. She sat at home while the big black half-ton made the trip out to bring us home.

She was replaced in February 2005 as our family vehicle by the "Silver Bullet" ~ a mini-van ten years her junior, no less! ~ and was briefly sidelined, until we decided to unload the half-ton.  After all, she was bought and paid for and still in good shape.  I tell ya, she might have been shamed by the van's shiny silver paint job and larger cargo space, but the ol' blue Explorer proudly continued to give us almost identical fuel mileage as The 'Man's work truck.  But she was definitely beginning to show her age.

This winter, we all really thought she wasn't going to make it. The driver's door had a serious attitude problem, her bodywork was badly crumbling, and new peculiar sounds were discovered on an almost weekly basis. All the little ailments had taken their toll.

Once again, she was benched in favour of a newer half-ton. This time for good.  She spent the winter nestled in a snowbank in the middle of the yard, but once she could be freed, we gently pushed her with the tractor to her final resting place in the trees just outside our yard. She could have made that final journey with greater dignity and on her own steam, but a certain child had not been able to close that pesky driver's door, and the overhead light had drained the battery.

Rest now, old girl. You done good.

 * I really never intended for this to be all mushy! It started out as kind of a satire, but there really are a lot of good memories tied up in that truck!! I won't miss it, but it definitely feels like we closed a chapter in our lives when we parked 'er.