Be alive

So i've been seeing a lot of situations lately of sick people. Like the little boy a few doors down who has struggled most of his life with illness, and is expected to pass away very soon from cancer. So in light of that, I am here to say, I am thankful for my health! Yes, our family tends to have a perpetual cold the entire winter, and I won't lie, it wears me out! A lot! But there are no promises in life, so right now, in this moment I am choosing to be thankful we have that. Life can change so dramatically in just an instance, and if we can't easily find the good when we have it good, how can we expect to get through difficult times that WILL come eventually.


Here's a song I've been listening to lately. It is GOOD to be alive. :)

A little giggle for the day

A certain little brother thought this was funny :) Thankfully he knew which sister would appreciate his humor, and which one wouldn't ;) And also, note Madison's arm draped over Emily in the picture. They sleep all snuggled together every night. So sweet.

It's feeling like fall... a little bit ;)

Well all the public school kids are back in school, and of course we get asked constantly "have you started yet?". And I guess in a way we have, in that the kids got some new books and they've cracked them open. ;) But the reality is, we don't 'start' or 'stop'. We just learn! Some learning is more formal and from a textbook, but most is just by living. I feel so blessed to have finally just made homeschooling a part of who we are, instead of trying to fit it into our lives. (that has taken years to happen though for any new homeschoolers reading, so don't be discouraged when it doesn't start out like that!)

Anyways here are a few things we've been up to since the long weekend...

A lake day with Papa (grandpa). 

A trip to Lethbridge and while James worked we went on a nature walk, played at a park, and saw a movie at the theatre :)

Some 'electricals' with dad ;)

Running to save some tomatoes from frost and being thankful they will ripen inside!

And of course taking the time to really notice the beauty that fall is. How absolutely stunning to see these fall colors against that blue sky. 

Visits with family!

My mommy came to visit :) Which means I got to visit with my brother as well (since we don't see him often otherwise).

Gramma giving painting lessons to maddy!

At the zoo

Butterflies at the zoo

Isaac doing the 'flamingo'. haha

Its a good thing :)

Summer that is... little time for blogging, lots of time for FUN!

For some reason, i'm generally not a fan of summer. I don't like the heat, the bugs, blah, blah, blah... But this year! Oh so different! We are having a GREAT time! I only wish it could last so much longer!
We've done many many fun things... get togethers with family and friends, stampede, lake days, camping trip, playgrounds, waterpark, creek fun, hikes, watching storms roll in and out. *sigh* These are the days of summer :)

I can feel the seasons starting to change... the nights are getting cooler, days are getting shorter, and kids are getting ready to go back to school. I've even found myself pouring over curriculum catalogues and buying new pencil crayons for the kids ;) But i'm not ready to let go of this beautiful season just yet!

Finally some random pics of some of our summer fun:

Camp!

So I was going to post about how hard it was for me to let her get on that bus that took her away for 2 weeks, but that's not really choosing joy! So I'm just going to say that I'm praying like mad that my biggest girlie has the time of her life! I know she is going to have some amazing opportunities, and I hope that she makes some great friends. And I won't lie, my phone is pretty much glued to me 'just in case' she calls!  *sigh* 

A new habit?

So its been just over 3 months since I started this blog. And do I dare say I have a new habit? The habit of choosing to be happy. When I first started, it wasn't the easiest thing to do. It was a choice, and on a regular day (sometimes more like every minute) I had to think and consciously choose to be happy and thankful. And sometimes it was a fight, and I occasionally lost. But its so much easier now. There is less fight, and my automatic response (usually) is joy. And when I see the grouchies creeping in, I know how quickly that can be turned around by making a simple decision.
It is good :)