The live tree

We had a busy month of Christmas prep and amazing memories. Here are some pics that sum it up

Getting a real tree again for our front entrance was fun. We have eager children who wanted to help with every part! 

Strong boys who used teamwork to bring it in and help dad set it up just right !

Love these kids! 

Dad and the children worked hard on setting it up so it can be ready for mom to  decorate it . 

Here is the finished tree in our front entrance! 

Complete with the nativity scene underneath.

"It's the most wonderful time of the year!"

This past weekend our boys got to be part of our city's Santa parade with their scouts group . They were able to go tree hunting to find the perfect trees for their float with their scout leader so that was pretty special. 

They were "walkers" in the parade and did a great job taking turns holding the banners .

We had fun watching the parade this year. 

And of course our children wrote letters to Santa and got to hand them to the Canada Post mail carriers.

We sure hope Santa writes back! 

After the parade we came home to mugs of hot chocolate for all with the Christmas music blaring and as our tradition we decorated our Christmas tree! 

Each of our children love to participate In hanging up ornaments of their choice . 

 

Each year a differnt child is chosen to put the star on the top of the tree and Isaac was pretty happy for his turn . 

So far our living room is decorated and we even put some lights outside on our front fence . 

I just love making Christmas memories with the family I have been blessed with ! 

At night we have been reading Christmas stories as well .... So fun. 

Christmas spirit

So I waited till Remembrance Day was over and the very next day I couldn't resist and pulled out some Christmas music . What can I say. We are a family that loves this season- everything about it ! Since we have had our first snowfall I felt more in the Christmas spirit and then Netflix started putting out Christmas movies on their options. 

So yah, our children have already wAtched "Elf" this year and "Christmas with the Kranks" 

I found myself up with a restless baby in the night and even then I was browsing Pinterest for Christmas decor ideas. So we are definitely ready to embrace this "Most wonderful time of the year! "

A big brother and his baby sis

Children love having a baby in the house ! Everyday after school they run home to play and hold their baby sis. Today I captured a few pics....

Baby Neveah is starting to reach out more in response and it's beautiful to watch.

Siblings that love each other .....a precious sight!

A Tale of Two Brains

a Tale of 2 Brains

I saw this at Ladies Coffee Hour this morning and had a good laugh. its so true!

Self Pity...No thanks!

I AM ABOVE SELF-PITY ....these are the words engraved in the bracelets I won at the Above Rubies ladies retreat and I find it both encouraging, challenging and convicting to allow these words to resonate in my spirit and sink into my heart. How many times in my life have I succumbed to poor-me attitutes and selfishness in order to feel right about something.. I had an interesting scenario play out this weekend while at a playdate for Lidiyah and her Friend. The mother and I got the chance to have a nice visit over some tea and she expressed her feelings of being overwhelmed and stressed constantly with her 3 children and wondered how i did it. As i took a deep breath and shared a bit of my humble story, her facial expressions changed and even her tone got softer . She told me she was angry with her husband for not helping more, angry at her children for always making messes and trying to keep up with everything and then she looked at me and how i balance everything and she got a glimmer of hope and realized half the problem was HOW she was looking at things.. Changing a perspective does wonders and I shared with her my struggle in this area as well but how often SELF PITY rears its ugly head my way and I can quickly recognize it and not even allow it to be entertained . Do you ever wish your hubby did help more with the housework or with your children? ...Well like Nancy Campbell said last week, why focus on that! why not challenge yourself to step it up a notch, have zero expectations and be totally grateful for when (and if!) he does help out. Hmm...that doesn't go with our rights though. Sometimes "Keeping Sweet" literally can change even the atmosphere!! What about when we have a houseful of sick children and we are soo sick ourseleves. (Like jet puke and multiple trips to the bathroom sick! ) Do we start to feel sorry for ourselves and make everyone around us know how much we are suffering and whine and complain begging for help ASAP or do we shut our mouths, deal with the nasty circumstance the best we can and keep a thankful heart DESPITE how awful our situation is? I believe we can ! Banish those temporary feelings and choose not to wallow in our self pity and RISE UP to every occasion to show our inner strength and focus on the positives! that is my motto and its amazing how easy life can be...though the world around me could be raging, I am NOT! After sharing this ...the mom sudddenly got excited and she asked me more detailed questions and she was totally inspired to start this new attitude with herself, her husband AND her children . TAking baby steps like an attitude change is often just enough to make CHANGE happen in our hearts and minds. And ITs WORTH it. For everyone. WHo likes to be around a nagging, grumpy self wallowing woman who is literally Tearing her house down with her own hands! .....

Smoothies all around

I am NOT a breakfast person. I just cant stomach it...and did I mention that I am also NOT a morning person? ....which means it takes great discipline and consistency to function and be up early which is essential to managing a large family such as ours. Since I cant eat much I have found that blending up a smoothie is the perfect solution for me,and the children enjoy it too. There are Soo many recipes out there for yummy smoothies and I tend to use what I have on hand!

I've just started experimenting with more "GREEN" recipes too, which i'm not fussy about but they are tolerable. surprisingly the children don't mind the green ones and our 6 year old Elijah even said the Kale in it was "Delicious!" guess ill keep up with the green ones, as they do provide nutrients and IRON which I so desperately need...especially since being pregnant my iron stores are always low.

I am enjoying finding different ingredients to add to sweeten or just for variety. often I have some veggies on hand I throw in, sometimes I even add in protein powder, or Coconut oil, and my fave to add is my Greens+ powder, and even maple syrup is a nice touch to a fruit smoothie. Its also nice that a big full blender yields a lot of servings which feeds our large brood. Our children often race to the kitchen the minute they hear the loud "Vroom" of my blender!