Little Miracle

Today I am enjoying my day with a smile on my face! For the past couple weeks I have been searching for my wedding band. I remember taking it off and putting it somewhere - not where it belongs, of course! I even remember thinking I should put it away properly or I might lose it!

Well, I lost it! Correction - I couldn't FIND it (don't really want to admit that I lost it)! Now, a little background. Before this summer, I hadn't been able to wear my wedding rings since...don't really know - maybe since I was pregnant with Rebecca! The point is that it's been a LONG time since I've been able to wear my rings. Then this summer, I lost enough pounds that my ring slid right onto my finger. Yeah! And then, to have it go missing! NOOOOO!

Yesterday I had a friend and her son over for lunch. I was sharing with her that I couldn't find my wedding ring. She told me about a verse she had read on a friend's blog but couldn't remember it exactly. So that afternoon she looked it up. The verse is Isaiah 45:3 "I will give you the treasures of darkness, riches stored in secret places, so that you may know that I am the Lord, the God of Israel who summons you by name ..." After she read that she thought to herself "Leanne's going to find her ring!"

This morning when I arrived at our church's Mom's Group I showed her my ring finger with my wedding ring on it. She was so excited! I then proceeded to share with the ladies about my little miracle. I had wanted to do a quick vaccuum before Mom's Group so I pulled the vaccuum cleaner out of the closet, picked up the carpet attachment and saw my wedding ring fall out of the attachment! "Thank you, Jesus!" Rebecca and the 3yr old boy I babysit were right there so I took the opportunity for a life lesson and shared my excitement with them. "Look! My ring was lost and Jesus just helped me find it! Dear Jesus, thank you for helping me find my ring. Amen!"

So, excited as I was, I just had to share my little miracle with you! And about how God reaffirmed to me that He is God, that He is in control and that He cared even about my "riches stored in secret places".

38.5, 39.4, 39.3, 37.5, 36.6

Numbers can say so much, especially when associated with a thermometer and a child's fever. Do I give more Tylenol or should I wait? It's 3 o'clock in the morning - I don't want to check their temperature. My built-in thermometer (my lips kissing the forehead) says it's time for more Tylenol. Sleepless nights, bad dreams (perhaps from the fever?), runny noses, carrying child back to bed, carrying child back to bed again, giving up & letting child sleep in our bed...! All this in just over a week!

I have spent the last week and a bit checking temperatures and administering Tylenol first to Daniel & then to Becca. Daniel missed 4 days of school. Besides the fever he had no energy and on Monday this week began antibiotics for Strep Throat. He was able to return to school on Wednesday this week - just in time for Rebecca to come down with a fever on Tuesday night! So the cycle began again! So far for Rebecca, she hasn't complained about having a sore throat so we may be able to escape the Strep Throat part - I'm hoping! She hasn't had Tylenol since last night so I'm hoping things are starting to get better. I'd like to go to church this weekend. Had to miss last weekend because Daniel was too tired from his body fighting things. Well, I spoke too soon! Since starting this post (amongst numerous interruptions) Becca's temperature has gone from 37.7 (not a fever, but close to one) to 39 and 39.1. Time for some Tylenol and a nap!

It's the times that the kids are sick that I'm very thankful I can be home with them. Early last week I had a job offer. It was for a part-time office position. I really struggled with whether I should take the job or not. I wanted it so badly but knew that it would be too much strain on my family. So after praying & processing, I turned it down. Then a couple days later Daniel started to not feel well. I felt like God was confirming with me that I made the right decision. There are definitely times I wish I was working and in a "grown-up" environment more, but when I hear my 3 yr old daughter emphatically express "NO!" when she hears me speak about her going to a babysitter or preschool so I could work - then I know my place is here at home with her. So, for the time being, I am choosing to be thankful for my job experience as a nursemaid and paying close attention to the numbers on the thermometer!

Cousins, More Cousins & Camping

I thought I would travel back in time a bit to share about our summer. I'm mostly doing this for our extended family's sake so bear with me!

Each July we go to the Island for our week-long summer holiday. My parents have timeshares in Parksville so we go there every second July with my parents, sister, bro-in-law & their three kids. Often we have other family & friends join us as well. It gets to be quite the group! This time we went over a day early and spent some time with Jeremy's family. We didn't get to see everyone but enjoyed our time with those we did see. The kids especially enjoyed going out for dinner with Grandma & Grandpa Olson, swimming at their cousins' house, and eating candies at GG's (Great Grandma)!

After visiting Jeremy's family we headed up to Parksville to join up with my family. There was quite a group this year - my parents, us, my sister & brother-in-law and their kids, an aunt & uncle & cousin, my sister-in-law & youngest nephew, my parents' pastor and friends from my parents' church! All in all, we had an average of about 13 people with a max of about 17! Not everyone stayed the whole time so somehow things weren't too chaotic!

Jeremy & I thought our holiday would be busy with people and activities - it usually is. You know how you go away only to come home and feel like you need a holiday to recuperate from your holiday?! Well, surprisingly, we didn't feel that at the end of our week. We had two suites which helped to spread people out and because it rained most of the week we didn't go out and do a lot of sightseeing & activities. I even read a Nicholas Sparks novel! I was hoping to go to the spa as well, but I left it too late so it didn't happen. Oh well, I'll just have to book an appointment here in town instead!

Our kids had a great time with their cousins. Because of the distance between us we always try to make the most of our time together. We went to Cathedral Grove for a walk in the woods to see some huge & old trees. We also enjoyed our tradition of going to Coombs for a little shopping and ice cream. Then we got to pet the goats on the roof of the store! They even tried to eat our hair!

All in all we had a great week spending time with family - something I'm learning to not take for granted anymore.

Then, in August, we went camping with our church cell group (small group). Now anyone who knows me probably knows that my idea of camping is going to a 5-Star resort. I don't like bugs and dirt in my food and I don't like outhouses!!! I really think God has a sense of humor because over the past couple summers my feelings on camping have been changing. This spring we went "camping" for the day and the kids had a blast. It was then that I really realized how much my silly dislikes was affecting my kids. Then when our cell group started planning a camping trip I thought "Either I can be a party-pooper or I can suck it up and have fun". I chose the latter. And I did have fun, despite the outhouses (I am now a believer that outhouses don't always smell!) and the torrential rains. (I can see God smiling right now)! The disappointing part of the weekend was that two of the families (they each had a little one) had to leave early. It was either that or they were going to be swimming in the night! But Friday night around the campfire was fun. We even had a visit from the Ranger reminding us to enjoy ourselves a little quieter! We tried - we really did!

Those are the highlights from our summer. Hope you enjoyed them and that yours was fun too!

I Can See Clearly Now...!

Last week I took Daniel for an eye appointment. Turns out he's a little short sighted (things far away are a little blurry). He needs glasses for school, watching TV and when he's on the computer. Other than that he's fine (for now). So, today we took him to look for glasses! At first he answered "NO!" to every pair of glasses. But eventually we found some Spiderman frames that got a "Yes"! Then most of the frames appealed to Daniel. But because that would be too good to be true, he then changed back to "No" for everything again. Aaaggghhh! Then, along came a pair of Snoopy frames. They got a "Yes"! After having him try on a few pairs over and over again (hoping for a consistent "yes" from at least one pair) he was sold on the Snoopy ones. At first we thought we'd go to a couple other places before buying these ones - just to make sure - and then we remembered we were dealing with an almost 6 year old. He had decided on a pair of frames and those were the ones he liked. Why mess with that?! So we headed back into the store and bought them! Actually, we got 2 pairs for the price of one (a back-up pair, just in case - LOL)! So, an hour after paying, Daniel joined the club! He is now the VERY proud owner of blue Snoopy glasses! It feels like he just grew a little bit more!

I remember when I first got my glasses - I was in Grade 3. And Jeremy was 7 years old when he first got his glasses, so I guess it was just a matter of time until our kids entered this new stage of life! Becca sure wanted the pair of bright pink Barbie glasses she tried on! It took a bit of convincing to get her to put them back. One day, little girl, one day!

Here are some pictures we took today to show off the new glasses.

"Before"

"After"

So Proud!

What's Your Pet Peeve?!

I am feeling the need to share one of my pet peeves! Although the object of my pet peeve is tiny it can sure cause a lot of frustration. FRUIT FLIES! Aaaggghhh!!! I bought 30lbs of peaches the other day to slice up & can. I guess I left the peaches "a little" too long because last night when I was finally able to get to them a swarm of fruit flies came out of the box. Now when I say swarm, I mean swarm! There were hundreds of them. Gross! I even used the electic zapper to try getting rid of them. Needless to say, once I started I knew there was no turning back. And by 11pm I realized that any canning or jam-making would have to wait until the next day. So, at 1:10am I finally finished cleaning up. I didn't dare leave any dirty dishes out for those pesky flies to feast on. My one comfort is that I've heard they only have a 24-hr life span (the down side is they multiply so fast). I'm hoping that within the next day or so they will be gone.

So, this morning I took on the challenge of making jam (the peaches were a little too ripe for canning) amongst the fruit flies. Thankfully I managed to eliminate quite a few last night. It's amazing how there will be one lonely fruit fly until you open up a bucket of sliced peaches. Then the whole extended family comes in hopes of a feast. I put my multi-tasking skills to practice by stirring the mixture while killing & swatting fruit flies. I know - I have many hidden talents!

As I'm writing this post I'm enjoying a peanut butter & peach jam sandwich. Yum!!! Maybe I'll be able to appreciate this whole process in a few days when things have settled down a bit. Boy, it sure has reminded me about Pharoh and all the plagues he was hit with. No wonder he eventually gave in.

Here are a couple pictures (you've gotta love digital cameras!):

The fruits of my labour!

My little helper!

So, what's your pet peeve?

Time Off for Good Behavior

Back in June, Jeremy was away quite a bit (Men's Retreat, fishing trip) so when we got an invitation to my cousin's wedding, Jeremy didn't hesitate in letting me go by myself and enjoy the wedding. Don't I have an awesome husband! So, for the first time in a long time I got to go to my parents' place all by myself - no husband, no kids! It was weird but nice. I was able to have a complete conversation without being interrupted by kids and I didn't have to run after them at the wedding (which was a good thing because it was an outdoor wedding on the ocean - sheer drop-off cliffs down to the ocean). The setting for the wedding was absolutely gorgeous.

This is my aunt & uncle from Mexico (parents of the groom) with their granddaughter (groom's neice) .


This is my aunt & uncle (from Nanaimo) with their grandson.

This is me with my parents and my mom's aunt & uncle

On another note, Jeremy & I are official whole-home owners! As of August 31st (before I left for the Island) we signed papers at the lawyers. We have bought out our co-owners and are 100% owners of our home! A little exciting and scary all at the same time!

And, tomorrow, Daniel begins his new adventures as a Grade 1 student. He is looking forward to seeing all his friends. Let's just hope that he is as excited about learning as he is about his social life!