My photogenic family!!

Every year we receive Christmas cards from friends and family with beautiful family pictures in them. I am always in awe of many of these pictures - the kids are all smiling beautifully, no eyes are closed, no heads are turned, no goofy faces, even the adults look relaxed and happy. Some day maybe I'll figure out what their secrets are! Then there is my family - here is what we get when I try to just take a few nice pictures in front of the tree. I didn't even attempt to get all 3 on a picture together. I'm not quite ready for that yet! :)

A good 'deWolde smile'!I'm really not sure what was going on with these 2 for this picture!Okay, finally a nice one of Kendra - a little forced but i'll take it.And then a good 'Kendra smile'!Then there is our son. Doesn't he look like a happy child!! We do still love him - really, we do!This is about as good as it is going to get with him!Finally, our littlest one - maybe the third one will be different and like the camera! Time will tell!

Finally, Kendra wanted to take one of mom and dad . Not a bad picture, especially with our track record of 'couple pictures'.

So, we'll try again next year and see if my family improves photogenically!!

Expectations

Kendra loves to make things and she is very creative. Yesterday morning she worked all morning to make a 'surprise' for me - I was not allowed to look at it until she was finished. This has now taken a very special spot on top of the piano for all to see! I love it! I often get caught up with "expectations" this time of year. I have a certain picture in my head of what the Christmas season is going to be like - visions of wonderful family outings with perfectly behaved kids, sitting quietly reading Christmas stories, enjoying dinners and Christmas baking, driving around looking at lights, attending beautiful Church services, and on and on. And while many of these things do happen, there is always the reality of life thrown in with it all - 6 year old hyperness, 4 year old meltdowns, 1 year old missing naptime, and dinner dish flopped, my mixer breaking, missing family members and on and on too. It never really works out like it does in my head and then I get a little sad.

However, then I look at the scene Kendra made for us. It makes me aware of the reason why Jesus left his perfect home in heaven to come down to this very imperfect world - a world full of unmet expectations. He came to save us from all that is wrong and sinful and broken in our world. It makes me realize that even if some of my earthy expectations are not met, the expectation of Jesus returning to take us to his Heavenly home will be met - and met far beyond what I can even begin to imagine!!


So, Merry Christmas to you all! May many of your "expectaions" be met this season, even if they have to be adjusted a little! May we always be aware that one of the greatest expectations has already come to pass and another is still coming!!

"For to us a child is born, to us a son is given,

and the government will be on his shoulders.

And he will be called

Wonderful Counselor,

Mighty God,

Everlasting Father,

Prince of Peace.

Of the increase of his government and peace,

there will be no end.

He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom,

establishing and upholding it

with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever.

The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this."

Isaiah 9:6-7

Our little dancing cow!

Last night Kendra had her very first dance recital. It was entitled "A Nativity Story" and it was put on by "Everybody Dance Now" studios. The evening was made up of all the different dance classes that the studio runs and obviously Kendra's class represented the cows in the story. The run all different types of classes from pre-ballet to hip-hop for worship classes. It was SO cute to see all those little dancers! I've seen other little dancers before but when it is your own little girl doing her very best and concentrating so hard to remember her steps, - - well, we were very proud of our little dancing cow! Here is Kendra, all ready to go on stage!

Kendra goes to the dance class with her neighbor friend and they were thrilled that they got to dance right beside each other!

We did take a video of the dance but I can't get it to load so the pictures will have to do!

Jocelyn is One!!!

Our little baby is now 1 year old!!!

It doesn't seem like that long ago that we welcomed our little tiny bundle into our family! It really is amazing how much growth and development happens in a little person's first year of life. We enjoyed a quiet day at home celebrating Jocelyn's first year, eating cupcakes, opening a few gifts. The 2 older kids were probably more excited than the birthday girl! What a precious gift she is to us!!

Birthdays and snow days

4 years ago, God blessed our family with a beautiful baby boy! We loved him instantly and we continue to love him more and more!He is no longer a baby but a definite a boy! He loves his cars and trucks and loves anything with letters or numbers. He is full of unique personality and we can't wait to see what his 4th year has in store for him!

On the weekend when he was born, there was lots and lots of snow . . .

. . . and now 4 years later we have snow again!! The kids had a great time yesterday playing in the snow, helping to shovel the driveway . . .

make snow angels . . .

getting buried in the snow . . .

. . . or just trying to figure our what all that white stuff was outside!

Too bad it is almost all gone again this morning. Welcome to life in southern B.C. !

Moving vertically!

Our little baby is now on the move - vertically! She took her first steps last week and once she realized how great it was to be moving that way, she never looked back. Crawling is no more! It is amazing how much more grown up she looks now that she is walking. Almost 1 year old already!!

There are some days, it seems, when the kids just don't know how to occupy themselves. Then there are other days when they can just play and use their imagination to create and play. I love those days! This is a shot of the kids playing with the 'clicker blocks' and making cool creations and then using them in made up stories. Oh to have the mind of a child! Jocelyn is just hanging out and supervising their work!

Drawings

This is a little more of what happens on rainy days. Kendra loves to colour, craft, paint, create, etc. Yesterday she decided to do a self-portrait and this morning she figured that Owen needed a drawing of himself too. I think they are pretty good and may need to be framed! Jocelyn's picture was in the works but had a little accident when it fell on the floor and Jocelyn decided it looked like something to eat! We'll see if her sister is willing to try again later!!

What to do on a rainy day?

Now that summer is over, the fall rains have come. I'm finding that rainy days are not always so easy, for me or the kids! They were so used to playing outside with each other or the neighbor kids that they almost don't know what to do inside anymore! So, this morning they decided to take every pillow and blanket they could find, pile them on the couch, sit in the middle of them and read books! They looked pretty cute! As for little missy, is there anything better to do than play in the Tupperware cupboard?

We'll see what the rest of the day brings!

Trick or Treat!

It was that day of the year yesterday when we dress up the kids and head out around the neighborhood collecting crazy amounts of candy, chocolate, chips and the like. It really is quite a weird idea, if you ask me, but still kinda fun. So, we headed out with a gymnastics girl, an elephant and a cute little bear! We met up with some friends and toured around their neighborhood and then did a few more houses around our place. The kids were very excited with their loot! Until next year . . . ! Little Bear is standing on her own now - we think walking is not far behind!!

Ready to head out for the night!

The three carved pumpkins keeping watch over our house while we were away!

Pumpkin time again!

It is pretty difficult to get into the season of fall without a trip to the pumpkin patch. The kids thought it would be a fun place to take Grandma while she was visiting here. Here are a few pictures of our morning at the Apple Barn.

Playing in the ivy

On a beautiful fall day last week, I headed outside to trim all the crazy ivy that we have growing on the rocks in our backyard. I plunked Jocelyn down in the middle of it all and she had a great time pulling at all the leaves, climbing in the garbage can lid.

However, there then reached a time when she had had enough!! Time to go inside for a nap! Trimming the rest of the ivy will have to wait until later!

A little sewing

My brother and his wife had their precious little baby girl last week so I can finally post what I made for them. Baby Myah was born on September 11th and she is absolutely beautiful. They did find out what they were having and may have let it slip a few times so I did know that the baby would be a girl. So, knowing this, I was able to make them a quilt that was a little more girly and not quite so gender neutral. However, I didn't want to make a standard 'pink' one so this is what I came up with. The back is done in coral colour minky material that is the softest material around - perfect for a baby quilt.

After I had made their quilt, I realized that I had quite a bit of material left over, probably enough for another quilt! (I'm still trying to figure out why the lady at the quilt store sold me so much when I told her I wanted to do a baby quilt). Anyway, most of the pieces that I had left were smaller than the squares from the first one, so I needed to alter my plan a bit. I have only ever done just the basic squares quilt. I had seen this tutorial for a Stacked Coin Quilt and had also seen a quilt that a friend of mine had done in this pattern. I think it turned out pretty good!

I didn't have enough of the coral minky material left to do the backing of this one and I also thought because there was more of it on the front, it might be a bit much of the orange. So, in the bargain bin at Fabricland, I found this almost as soft grey that worked just as well! Now the quilte will just sit in the cupboard, waiting for a little baby girl to be given to!

Finally, last week I whipped up a few more little bags for the kids. Owen is starting his Wee College and needed a little bag to put his stuff in (the blue one). Kendra still has her Wee college bag from last year (purple one) and I let her choose the material for one to put her ballet clothes in. Very quick and easy pattern to follow. I added the strip on the top for a little more interest and if they get tired of that side, you can flip them inside out for a different look!