The Gingerbread House

The first picture here is from the week before Christmas, when the boy won the Gingerbread House in a raffle at the school Christmas Concert. This was a lovely house, packed with extra Smarties (a favourite Canadian candy-coated chocolate treat) in the chimney. His principal told us she always saves hers for New Years Day, but we decided taking it to Seattle on Christmas morning would be better!  After all the gifts were opened, we tore into the Gingerbread House.  I was going to give the kids 15 minutes, but Aunt Nancy's tolerance for this sugar extravaganza was lower than mine.  I think the 6 cousins (and my hubby!) had 8 minutes to devour whatever they could!Can you find the Canadian in the crowd?

Finding the perfect tree

We have been thrilled this month to have Grandma and Grandpa Caldwell with us from "Back East".  They have 3 of their children's families on the West Coast, and came west for Christmas.  It was so fun to bring them along with us this year to the Christmas Tree Farm to cut down our tree.  Now the tree farm does not offer bargains... just a lovely winter experience, complete with tractor ride, cutting down our tree, hot apple cider and hot dogs by a fire. This year, it was special to have a wee bit of snow falling while we hunted down the perfect tree.  Grandpa, farmer that he is, was not quite as excited as the boy and the girl to go on a tractor ride - particularly when the bench seats were wet from falling snow!

I caught Grandpa laughing after I told him he had to enjoy himself whether he liked it or not!- this lovely experience was costing us a pretty penny.The Girl finds a cute tree.The Boy ready with saw in hand.Hubby and Grandma.

"No Wonder" Kids Christmas Production

Tonight our church hosted an evening with the Children's Christmas Production of the musical "No Wonder".  It was very well done! I am so proud of my dear friend Kristy, the musical director, and the work she did with the choir.  Another friend, Rachelle oversaw the play, and 2 young adults from our church directed the actors.  They all did a great job.  Our Lulu, who enjoys performing quite a bit, got a solo in the song "Thank You".  She was to sing 8 lines at the beginning of the song on her own, and then sang the 2nd verse with her friend Emily, in the black. The girls did really well - singing in front of 400 people at the age of six years. 

Poor Lulu woke up not feeling 100% and coughing this morning (I can hear her coughing now in her sleep, with the humidifier going in the background).

Josh even wore a tie tonight! He didn't have a solo (NO WAY!), but he did sing very enthusiastically in the back row, with his friends James and Connie nearby. 

After the performance, our family went out for a special dessert treat to celebrate.  We each ordered something different so we could share.  Perhaps not the greatest idea letting our kids eat a Hot Fudge Brownie and a Sticky Toffee Pudding (sugar high!) right before bed, but we wanted them to know that this was special and rewarding!

I love all the special events we participate in over the Christmas season.  Joyeux Noel!

An evening well spent

Last night I ventured out to church.  The last Monday of the month, our church hosts "Just 4 Me", the women's ministry night.  There's coffee and treats, door prizes, worship and then we split into smaller groups for prayer, or a cooking class, or a "Woman of Faith" testimony, or a crafty session - or some healthy activity.  Always at least 5 choices to make.
Last night I was waffling between Judy's "Decorating for Christmas" (she's our very own, local Martha Stewart - but with a great sense of humour!) and hearing Samantha's testimony. I chose Samantha's story, and I am so grateful I did!

Samantha is a beautiful young woman of about 22. 10 years ago I taught her art, and possibly coached her basketball, at middle school.  I remember her red hair and a twinkle in her eyes.  A boy in my core class was so lovesick, he could not help but stare at her through every art class!  I was so sad to hear of what Samantha struggled with as a child: her father's unfaithfulness, her parent's divorce, her father living next door with the other woman and her children.  There was also abuse by a family member, anxiety that led to OCD, that led to drug addiction in her teens.  I had no idea of any of this. Yet last night she shared her story to a room of women and teenaged girls. She was nervous, but God was the focus.

God's hand has so evidently been on her life... despite the struggles, and 2 near death experiences (a car accident and a random shooting), she is alive, full of life and hope. God miraculously took away the desire for drugs - He is healing her.  He has a plan and a purpose for her life.  And I had tears in my eyes.

As a public school teacher, I pray silently for my students.  Sometimes I pray over their desks in the morning before school, or in a quiet moment while they are bent over working, and I am watching over them. I was so convicted, listening to Samantha's story, of how important it is to continue praying for my students.  I often do not know about their private or home-life struggles.  Sometimes they share, sometimes they keep it all inside.  I do not openly talk about my faith with my students - I just love them. Yet, I know He who does know them, understand them, love them.  I will continue to lift them up to the One who longs to be a part of their lives and who has the power to save, heal, deliver.

I am so thankful for Samantha - who thanked me for being there last night to listen. There is something powerful about a life story. I'm so glad I know the Author.

What's that smell?

Having children opens up your life to all sorts of new questions... and a question asked frequently is either "What's that smell?" or "Where's that smell coming from?"

Last Thursday, this: Hubby and I had noticed a strange smell in the girl's room. "Honey, what's that smell?"  The girl smiles sweetly (maybe even batted her eyelashes), and responds "I don't know...". Thursday I'm in the girl's room vacuuming, look under the bed, under the dresser trying to determine where the offensive odor is coming from. Mission is unsuccessful, continue on cleaning the rest of the house.
Thursday evening, am home alone with the girl, in her bedroom.  I follow my nose and am HORRIFIED to discover on her shelf, behind some crafty things the following:

• a small goldfish bowl containing,
• dandelions
• broccoli
• cucumbers
• parsley
• water
• a pink lizard toy
• possibly some rocks

I immediately took the lizard's habitat of green, rotting goop to the toilet to flush. Girl follows me, screaming and crying - "Don't flush away my lizard! Mommy, I need my lizard!"  I allow the screaming child to stick her hand into the rotting, green goop to remove the lizard before I flush the remaining contents.
The girls then tries to scrub away the odor from the pink lizard - spends several minutes with shampoo and soap.  The lizard REEKS... and I throw it away.  This of course induces a tantrum of screaming and crying. We haven't even had dinner yet, but I put the girl in PJ's and tuck her into bed, still crying.  A while later, I call Nana and Papa to share, and apologize for any rotten things I put them through when I was a child (hubby and son were at soccer). During the call I decide I must go check in on girl, as crying has finally stopped.  Pull down covers to discover bed is filled with pillows, girl is missing.  Search the house to discover that she is hiding under an end table...
Oh - to have the mind of a 6 year old again!  We had a big talk about NEVER again bringing anything like that into the bedroom again!

Brave little performer

Our little Lulu is a brave girl... she and her two best school friends performed last week in front of the whole school! The music teacher encourages everyone to audition for the bi-weekly assemblies to showcase the talent in the school.  Josh was pretty impressed with his little sister because "I would NEVER do that!".

Quebec City

One of my very favourite cities is Quebec City. It is the oldest city in North America and is full of history and charm.  I've had the chance to visit the city many times (I believe this was my 10th visit), and never tire of it!
My last few visits have been during the month of March with about 30 12 & 13 year olds... this visit, for a convention was quite different.

I stayed at the Hotel Chateau Laurier right on the Plains of Abraham, just outside the Old City walls. It was very nice.  My parents attended convention as well, so I was able to save $ by sharing a room with them (just like the good old days!).

The Convention itself was fantastic! There was awesome worship, incredible speakers (an Anglican Archbishop from the Congo who was once a Muslim; a Mennonite Brethren church planter from Quebec; the president of Foursquare France, and our own Pastor Barry Buzza, president of Foursquare Canada), excellent conversations, and the chance to present the new curriculum I've been developing: Wisdom & Wonder. (see note below).

I also had the chance to go for a run around the Plains of Abraham on a gorgeous fall morning (Red leaves!), shop at Simons (! my favourite!) in Vieux Quebec, eat well, visit an art gallery and enjoy the city.  I am so glad I went!

I was also very happy to return home to my family.  I hope my next visit I can bring my loved ones with me!

Pics of my visit: some lovely women from Praise Family church in Toronto (in front of my banner), a cool planter made of succulents on Rue Buade, pumpkins in front of Aux Anciens Canadiens (excellent tradional quebecois eatin') and sunflowers on Rue St. Jean. Charming!

Time in Toronto

Early October I left my family for a week. It was SO FUN! Well, for me... I'm not sure my husband and kids has so much fun!

On my way to Quebec City, I stopped in Toronto for 2 nights to visit my dear friend, Shalan, and her family.  Shalan and I have been friends since we were 3! We went from preschool to 12th grade together. We did Brownies together, played Barbies together, celebrated Grad together... and even got engaged within a week of one another!

So my time with her and Ryan, Mylene and Elise was very precious.  Mylene is my adorable, 5 year old goddaughter. I loved having her meet me at the airport, picking her up from kindergarten, and making crafts together one morning while her mommy went to the gym. 
Elise is her lovable 2 year old sister - and she is personality plus!

Shalan and I also got to spend a good time together. I so enjoyed sitting having tea with her, exploring the Royal Ontario Museum (even though the Dead Sea Scrolls was inexplicably closed that day!!!), and going to Shoe Mecca: StyleSense.  15 000 square feet of shoes!!! Friends, if you are ever in the Greater Toronto Area, you must head to one of the 2 Stylesense stores! Amazing.  Did I purchase anything?  No... guilt about just buying a pair of ankle boots 3 days earlier prevented me, but it was a tonne of fun to try on!

I so hope Shalan and her family move back to the West Coast some day. I miss my friend!

I love my family!

At the end of September we had a wonderful afternoon bike ride... we'd love to bike year-round, but some how once soccer and dance start up we don't have the same amount of free time. Or rainy Sunday afternoons give way to naps (Wesleyan Hours in Mark's family).

I loved this day - we rode our bikes along the Coquitlam River, stopped in at a park, and Mark and the kids played Hide & Seek. Here they are at the end of the game, before we went to our favourite gelato shop.  Gelato BEFORE dinner! I love my family!

September Start-up

Well it's almost Halloween... time to talk about school start-up - 8 weeks ago! Lucy and Joshua are now in grade 1 & 3.  They are both in French Immersion, and love it!

These pictures are from the Terry Fox Run at school in September - a hot, sunny day.  Our city is Terry's hometown, so we are very BIG on fundraising for cancer research. Our library is a bit of a museum - with some cool info about Terry's Marathon of Hope run across Canada, and his Prosthesis, famous adidas sneakers and lucky sock are all on display.  The Friday night of the Terry Fox run, our family went down to city hall to watch the movie "Terry" on the big screen (Cinema under the Stars) in the park. It was so cool to be sitting beside Bruce Moore, our mayor's father, and one of Terry's former teachers.

Hmm... I have a blog?

I have been chastised by my dear friend Darcey for not writing here for 2 months... I have been writing - Just not here!

I promise to do better though...
What's been taking up all my time?
Wisdom and Wonder - the curriculum project I've been heading up. We just launched the first part of the 3 year, birth-13 years Sunday school lessons.

We're working on writing years 2 & 3, writing a youth component, adding multi-media & art, writing a family devotional AND possibly translating this baby into French and Spanish.

I had the great privilege of travelling to Quebec City (my FAVOURITE city!) earlier this month to speak to participants at the Canadian Foursquare Church Convention about Wisdom & Wonder. This project is truly an act of worship... and I can't wait to see where God will use it.

To check it out, go to www.foursquare.ca - it's on the main page!

Cheetah Girl

My daughter went to a birthday party yesterday... and at the end of the party I brought home this creature instead. Grrr.....

Who went to Leavenworth???

Lucy, Shalynn & Gracie



Lou-Anne, Blake, Nancy (& Brian for a bit, but he missed the photo shoot), Mark & Erin - all amazing river floaters and card players...

And a bunch of hyper kids - who brought them???

Caldwell's take on Wenatchee

The first week of August found us Caldwell's in Plain, WA at Pastor Dan's cabin. We LOVE it there because:

Griffin & Lucy can make "pizza" on the front lawn in their pj's for 3 hours every morning...

we can play volleyball with our men-folk in pajamas... (Mark, Josh, Brandon & Blake) The women-folk can kick their butts... (Shalynn, Nancy, Gracie & Jenna)

Lou-Anne can take care of her puppy, Tobi...And even on the windiest day...

there will always be warm arms to hold you...

Canadian cousins go cross-border shopping...and other adventures

We love when our Driedger (my sister's) family comes down from the Way-Up, very cold North. (Okay, maybe it's not cold at this time of year, but we froze up in Prince George at Christmas!)

This year we were heading to Washington State to meet up with Mark's family, but decided to hit the outlets first with Tara, Dave, Noah, Zach and Nana.

The poor lil' troopers were a wee bit tired by the end, but my, did we get some good deals!

How we beat the heat wave

We swam in the River with our cousins....

We had dinner at the lake with more family who popped into town...

We went to Groovy Girls mini-camp with Emily...

And we sat in the (much cooler) basement where we read stories and watched Prince Caspian (over and over and over again!) [Note: Millie really liked being held like that, with her back feet dangling off the sofa].

Mini camps

This summer the kids have done Soccer camp and swimming lessons, but at our church we also offer "Son-Fun Mini Camps". The idea is that kind people offer a 2-3 hour "camp" that costs $2-5. It's an easy activity to fit in between swimming lessons, and visits by relatives.

This summer I ran 3 mini-camps:Scaredy Squirrel camp (based on the books by Melanie Watt) - which Josh and I planned together, but I have no pics. Then we did "Fun Desserts for Kids" camp: 15 kids + 5 helpers in a hot kitchen, on one of the hottest days of the year - and we turned on the oven to make Peach-Blueberry Crisp. We also enjoyed ice cream sandwiches and Chocolate Pudding surprise.

Our final camp was "Survivor", on another scorching hot day!

The kids were divided in to teams to outwit, outlast and outplay each other in 3 competitions: a crazy 3D puzzle, team-building body constructions and the ever dreaded "gross food challenge". This year's most disgusting entry was preserved duck eggs (they were black), followed by grass jelly drink. Yes, the things kids sign up to do!

Scenes of Summer - II

I love all the little fun bits of summer, like:
A visit to my home by my dear Carleton U - days friend, Gayle (flowers in our hair courtesy of one Miss Lulu) Josh and his friend Dante enjoying a bit of sun after soccer and the sprinkler

Going to a great concert with Tara, Dave and Mark (why doesn't my sister live closer???)

Benjamin's dedication

Our dear friends Anne & Stephen recently had their precious Benjamin dedicated at church. After the service, Anne's parents, Gramma and Pa, hosted a delightful luncheon at their home.

Though a black bear wandered very close to the outdoor dining area, a good Nicholson party will not be extinguished by wildlife! Lucy and I had the great pleasure of reading adorable Ben some of his books.