graduation

Today was "Graduation" day for our little Lidiyah. She is in senior kindergarten and they had a ceremony and presentation that she eagerly participated in. She was so cute as she performed some songs with her classmates and every parent/grandparent there was gushing with tears, laughter and pride.  What is it about little ones and the funny ways they dance and react to a crowd? Some get shy and barely move, while others are confident and show off their moves..lol...

It was so sweet to watch her recieve her graduation certificate from her lovely teachers...it made me so proud.

After they had time to take pictures and that was followed by a reception with Cake, snacks and fruit trays.

We are so proud of all our children but especially today we were so happy for Lidiyah.

Congratulations Lidiyah! We can't wait to see how you will grow and change in the years ahead!!

Mail!

Its Monday! and the SuN is shining...
our two littlest girls have been so patient with me today, as all morning I've been on the phone with business calls, it's one of those Monday's where I like to get all my stuff done so I can go on and enjoy the week. One of those calls was to the "Above Rubies" office and I was blessed to chat with Nancy Campbell (again!) and she told me our package was in the mail! I'm pretty excited as we've had a mail strike and now these should be coming soon.

These are the aprons that are on their way!

If you know our family, you will know that the girls of the house, well we all love pretty things and Aprons happens to be one of the "lovely" things we collect. It all started when our firstborn daughter was a toddler and I bought her her very first apron at a craft sale. She and I spent so much time together in the kitchen that her first apron had so many washings and was getting worn so we found her another one and here we are a decade later with more little girls in our family who have their own aprons too! Oh- and of course mommy didn't miss out on those craft sales and Etsy sales either..lol..I have some sweet aprons of my own too.

Anyhow, back to these gorgeous aprons in the mail. They are made from the lovely ladies and daughters from Above Rubies. I want to support this amazing ministry and what better way. Above Rubies has blessed my life and many of my friends lives not only through their website, but through their incredible magazine and awesome retreats. I have been so refreshed to attend one of their Mother's retreats and still have fond memories and spiritual moments from it.

Another website to find beautiful handmade things is Etsy. Now be careful, because it can be hard to get off that site! It's basically like Ebay but its pretty much ALL handmade. I have bought baby blankets, cloth diapers, pillowcase dresses, soft cloth playbooks, and cute baby toys off there. ~happy sigh*

 
Well that is all for today, I have some laundry to do, and then I need to pack our cooler to meet dear hubby on his lunch at the waterfront. Have a Blessed Monday!

new book!

We went to Chapters and bought some new books. Chapters is a weakness for me, as I always find sooo much I want to buy and have to use self-control to narrow my choices down. I could spend so much money at that store!-just thankful we dont have one here in our city but have to travel out of town to visit one.

I found this book by an amazing Christian Lady author which many of you will know by the name of "Nancy Rue". I have bought a few books by her for our 10 year old daughter which she has really enjoyed. To my delight, I came across this one for mothers...

Nancy Rue has a way of using humour and I have been diving into this one at night. She has very practical applications and lots of wisdom. Here is an excerpt from the back of the book:

"this equips you as a mom with comprehensive, expert, and encouraging guidance for helping your daughter's cross the bridge between girlhood and the teenage years...every mom faces that time when her daughter is no longer a little girl but not yet a teen. She's a "tween", trying to figure out how to deal with her increasingly complex world.."

that pretty much sums it up well. We have such a sweet spirited daughter, but I do see some mood changes and other fun things in her that I would love to understand and this book seemed appropriate for such a time as this!

More from the book.....

You know you have a tween in the house when:

- one day she wants no part of your advice , and the next she's in your lap begging for help

- one hour she's playing dress-up with her little sister, and the next she has a sign on the door that reads NO SIBLINGS ALLOWED?

-one minute she wants to operate the stove or the ATV or the chain saw, and the next she's afraid to ask a waiter for a glass of water

-one second she's asking you to drop her at the corner so her friends wont see what you're wearing and the next she wants to borrow that cool necklace you just bought..?

These made me laugh...

Wordless Wednesday

beach bum

So we had the most amazing weekend! the weather was so beautiful and warm, and it really felt like summer. We spent most of our time outside, visited the "nutty chocoaltier" for their "sunday scoop " deal, and visited the park.



I'm kind of bummed out for our older  children as their school year is actually longer this year- and they will miss trips to the beach this month of June. I am just hoping our weekends continue to be hot!

I think tonight we'll head out to the mall and get some new beach toys/gear.  I need to get some more pails, shovels and water wings for our toddlers. The children were eyeing up some floaty toys there that some other children were using... so maybe we'll get them some of those too. Oh-we need to get some stronger sunscreen too, right now we have SPF 30, but I would feel better if we had SPF 45!

Welcome SUMMER! (though not official yet)

more pics

Our sweet newborn sleeping...so precious!

Celebration cake Daddy went out and bought to welcome baby Zionnah

Zionnah nurses like a champ and is gaining her weight beautifully! This is our midwife using her scale to weigh her

Love this!

 

Introducing....

I am so excited to introduce our newest addition to the family! (Long Overdue I know, it's taken a bit to get our groove back after enjoying time with a new babe in the house and savoring every moment)

We had a different birth again this time in that my water broke the Friday before our "sweetpea's" due date and then we waited to go into labor, but as it has happened before, my body took a bit to kick into high gear of what would be called active labor. It wasn't until the actual due date that things progressed and when they did, it went so fast. Very fast and intense.

We were so excited that indeed our 7th Blessing was a GIRL!!

Our SweetPea arrived and the second I saw her and she was placed upon my chest I wept, She was so beautiful, soft and tiny...

Here she is, seconds old!

We named her "Zionnah Hope"

We chose "Zionnah" as it is a Hebrew name which means "One of true Goodness" (...it is pronounced "Zie-on-uh")

Her middle we chose for very specific reasons and felt it was very fitting to call her Hope , mainly due to some amazing things that played out during my pregnancy with her and some things dear hubby and I were learning through certain circumstances. I can still say her name over and over again, and I fall in love with it everytime. It is so "her"

She weiged in at 6 lbs 8 oz and 47 cm which is 18.5 inches

born on her due date Saturday April 30 at 5:50 p.m

She's a Beauty and such a Miracle!!

She is adored by all her siblings....

Each morning the children want to hold her and are so good now at taking turns

We are so blessed to have another little one in our lives to raise and nurture!

Now that little Zionnah is here, we can't imagine life without her! She fits so well into our family and we are so thankful for her LIFE!! Thank you God for the sweetness of a newborn in the house...

Here is our first official family pic with all our Blessings!!