A wonderful country we live in! Sometimes when I am feeling reflective I begin to think what would have been should God have seen fit to place me in this world in a different country. Perhaps somewhere European, somewhere American, somewhere African, etc. How much different my life could have been, how much different my circumstances would be, how much less I might have to be thankful for. I try not to be complacent or take for granted the abundance I have but as a human being that can creep in without so much as a thought. Yesterday was a gentle reminder of all we have to give praise for…a beautiful world, a great country, amazing friends, family, life!!! I’m not sure I need to say more but, “Thank you Lord for all you’ve given”.

We started out the day with a great homemade pancake/waffle breakfast with three other families, then off to the parade where we met up with three more families, then home for a restful afternoon, complete with naps all around and quiet time as a family, then off to an evening bbq with four other families and topped if off with some great fireworks. Needless to say it was a busy, fun-filled day with some exhausted kids at the end but everyone was happy and feeling very patriotic. James said that this day of the year ranks close to the top of his favorites and I have say, “well said James, I think you’re right”!

This is just a tribute to a wonderful couple whom we have known for many years and recently celebrated their 30th wedding anniversary! Dave and Nancy Collins are the kind of couple that anyone would want to know and emulate in their own lives. They are dedicated to each other, their family, their faith and living a “real” life. In the last few years we have had the privilege of getting to know them on a more personal level. They love each other deeply but don’t pretend to have it all together. They are great parents but know that every child is unique and as they grow will make their own choices and mistakes, knowing this you can see how they let go and let God. They seek God’s will and know that not every choice they make will please Him but they also recognize that in his graciousness God allows us freedom to come to him in our own time and in own way. They’ve seen goodness and struggle in their lives but from an outsider’s perspective they have weathered it well.

I am blessed to know them and as the picture below indicates my children will also reap the benefits. I pray God grants them many more years of love and life!

I could not resist this beauty! My daughter has so much spunk but there is no question that she is a stunning little lady. I can only imagine what she will be like as she gets older but I can only hope that this innocent, soft inner beauty that I see in this child remains as she grows to a young lady!

 

So Jake has always been our clown. He loves to make us all laugh and he is rather good at it (he’s also very good at making me want to pull out my hair when he’s whiny)! Anyway, these video clips are of his preschool fieldtrip to a local dance studio to do some “dance”. For anyone who knows Jake they know he LOVES to dance, break dance, hip hop, etc, basically anything that requires a little bit of body movement. We are thinking of enrolling him in a hip hop boys class. So these are for your enjoyment.

Finally here is a little clip of his preschool graduation. I can’t believe he starts kindergarten next year. I’m not sure I’m quite ready to give him up yet. Of all my kids he’s my most affectionate (so far, I guess we’ll see what Annie is like). He loves wholeheartedly and has no problem showing his feelings. Thankfully I have one more year of having him home half days because I think I’ll need a gradual transition to having him gone all day.

And one last one of Annie doing her army crawl. She is such a happy baby, the last few days she’s been kind of grumpy but she’s teething so we gotta give her grace for that. Other than that she’s super content and such a joy to have in our family. The kids love her dearly and dote on her constantly. In my family my brothers and I always joked about how spoiled our baby brother was but as a mom I watch my three older kids with their baby sister and I know it’s inevitable that little Annie will always have our hearts.

Alright so this video is my very first ever since getting a new camera for my birthday and a new computer for James for Father’s day. I am having so much fun taking pictures, editing and blogging now that I have all the appropriate technology. These first videos are a few of Sam’s baseball games. So far baseball has been the only consistent sport in Sam’s repetoire and one he is quite good at. He is an amazing athlete with a love for the game and a natural inclination to understand the concept. Every coach so far has been completely impressed with his abilities. We continue to encourage him to be both competitive and sportmanlike in his athletic endeavors and know that as he continues to be involved in sports he will learn many valuable life lessons!

These videos are of Jakie and his baseball games. He’s also a natural despite how we thought he would be a bit clumsy! I can’t quite figure out if he picked it because of watching Sam so intently for the last two years or from practising on the Wii but either way he’s quite good. He can hit the ball almost as far as Sam. Although he’s planning on playing Friday Nite Basketball in the fall I imagine that baseball will be a part of his sports repetoire as well.

Alright so this video is my very first ever since getting a new camera for my birthday and a new computer for James for Father’s day. I am having so much fun taking pictures, editing and blogging now that I have all the appropriate technology. This first video is an edited video of a few of Sam’s baseball games. So far baseball has been the only consistent sport in Sam’s repetoire and one he is quite good at. He is an amazing athlete with a love for the game and a natural inclination to understand the concept. Every coach so far has been completely impressed with his abilities. We continue to encourage him to be both competitive and sportmanlike in his athletic endeavors and know that as he continues to be involved in sports he will learn many valuable life lessons!

These are mostly for the benefit of Tim (my little bro in Regina who hasn’t seen the kids in 4 1/2 months) but the rest of you can enjoy the pics of my beautiful children as well. Hopefully I’ll figure out how to get some video footage on here to!

 

 

 

 

Okay this is just to let anybody know that actually follows my blog that I will be updating with pics soon. I just have to figure out my new computer and then I’ll be in full force.

So as many of you have already acknowledged I celebrated my 30th birthday today!! Wow just saying those words makes me feel a little bit older. Thanks to my wonderful children, a great husband and fabulous parents, I did in fact feel like today was a special day. Despite being woken up at 5:30 by my beautiful daughter the day got off to a good start. Sam woke up at 6:30 and realizing I did not want my day to start with a fight I let him go about his business. Good choice mom! He popped into my room at 7:00 to see if I was awake and give me my birthday present. He’d wrapped it in a gift bag and made a special card, which he signed from him and Jake. It turned out he’d picked out a beautiful blouse for me when shopping with my mom a couple of weekends ago. She had no clue he was up to that until they met at the till (it was a small store) and he brought along the desired shirt. Mom warned me that I might not like it but as it turns out my 7 year old son has amazing fashion taste! He wanted me to wear it all day but between walking the kids to school and doing laundry I figured I’d save it. I changed my mind as the day wore on thinking how special it was that he wanted to give me something. I got all “dressed” up for dinner and then ended the day with a Dairy Queen ice cream cake donned with the numbers “29”! Smart man, that husband of mine, I have now entered the years of being perpetually 29.

All that to say that 30 isn’t so bad, at least not so far. I had a moment today realizing that I have four beautiful children, I’m done having babies, pretty soon I’ll need to start thinking about a career and my children are growing too fast! But overall I just realized that there is nothing in my life I regret, nothing in my life I wished I’d already done and knowing there are so many more, good years ahead of me. God has blessed me with a great family, both immediate and extended, and many, many great friends. What more could a 30 year old girl ask for?