Sleep...the never ending battle...

My daughter Rowan and I are fighting a battle that seems to have no end. She refuses to sleep. She says she's scared, but she can't tell me what she's scared of. She just doesn't have enough words yet. It's the same time every night. She'll yell for me and want to sleep with me. If I tell her that she has to sleep by herself, she screams and wakes up the whole house.

As of right now, I have not given in to her wanting to sleep with me. I know that if I do, I'll never get her out of my room. She naps well (1-2 hours) and is eating well. Thinking about it now, I seem to remember a similar battle with Declan when he was this age. I guess I just need to keep repeating my cousin Maida's mantra, "this is just a stage, this too shall pass".

On the up side, Declan has been extremely helpful while I've been sleep deprived. Today he made breakfast for himself and his sister (yes that's right, my 7 year old handles breakfast on his own!). They sat at the table chatting and eating frosted flakes. Then Declan put up the gate that separates our living room from the rest of the house and played quietly with Rowan while I napped for an hour on the couch (his suggestion!). I don't know where this mature attitude comes from, but I'm grateful...soooooo grateful! My son is such a caregiver and I love him for it!

I have discovered that every stay at home Mom needs some support. Today, mine came in the form of a beautiful 7 year old boy. He is my angel in disguise...

I'm baack!!!!

Well, I'm back at home (although the kids don't come back until tomorrow). I had a wonderful time packing my sister in law's basement and seeing some old friends. I got to impress (not!) my dutch friend by attempting to read a book written in dutch. Needless to say my accent needs a little work! I had some amazing food while I was in Canmore. Anne took me to a restaurant called Crazy Weeds. I had a 12oz rib eye steak that was chili crusted with mushroom salsa and truffle butter. Yum!!! It was fantastic! Anne made a lamb roast my first night in town, Lee made bacon sandwiches one night, and Tara made pecan crusted salmon. I also had a turn at cooking and made my Mom's famous Apple Sauce Chicken with brown basmati rice and asparagus. I'm sure I've gained 15 pounds but it was well worth it. On the up side, I found a new bag of chips to love. They're from a company called RiceWorks and they are sea salt brown rice chips. They are wheat and gluten free, no additives, no fake flavour, organic and yummy!! Really good dipped in humus.

Today John took me to a local vietnamese restaurant. The meal was great and we had a fantastic time together. John saw a red bottle on the table and said, "they must have some american things on their menu because that looks like ketchup to me." Now of course, I would have to try the contents in the bottle to confirm this, wouldn't I. It was NOT ketchup!! That was HOT chili sauce! John was rather concerned when he saw my panicked face as I tried to reach for water, then he turned red and started laughing! Eventually I was able to laugh too, but it took a tub of water and two cans of coke to get to that point.

Anyway, I'm off to have a relaxing night with my love before I have to go get the kids tomorrow. Have a wonderful night everyone!

Away...

That's right people....I'm away for a whole week! I miss my kids and my hubby already but here I am with my sister in law packing like crazy so she can move. It will be an adventure filled week to be sure! I'll blog all about it when I get back...

To My Valentine...

One day a long time ago I met this man. He had wonderful eyes, they were the first thing I noticed. He was caring, gentle, quiet, a deep thinker. He was also strong, accountable, able to compromise, in every way a man.

That man is now my husband. What a gift you are to me! The father of my children, my lover, my friend, my confidante, my teacher, my partner. How God saw fit for us to meet, to fall in love, to create a family, to go on this journey together, I will never know. He knew what we needed and provided abundantly for us! It has been an incredible road that we have travelled. Filled with potholes, bridges, and beautiful scenery. We have made it through every trial, every test. We have rejoiced together when things are good and we have stayed strong through the tough stuff. You never let me quit, you don't give up. My life would be very empty, if you were not a part of it.

Happy Valentine's Day John! You are the love of my life!

I'm back......

Well, the cough still lingers but I'm feeling much better and so I have returned to blogging. Yesterday Rowan and I were playing and she suddenly got very quiet. She went to the closet and got her winter boots and a hat. Then she found my broom and said 'giddy-up' and rode her "horse" all over the house! I think the thing that cracked me up was that she simply could not ride that horse until she had proper boots and a hat! By the time I got a camera ready to film her, the "horse" was sleeping and she almost was too. Oh well, guess I'll have to try and catch her another day.

Soooooo sick...

I'm not ignoring all of you, honest I'm not. I have never been this sick ever in my life. Well, that's not true, but I feel pretty gross at any rate. I have a fever and I'm coughing and sneezing and desperately trying to stay warm. It's not working. I'm just praying that John will be home soon so I can go have a bath and leave the kids to him for an hour. Anything to warm up would be great at this point.

I will blog again, when I'm not infecting everything within a ten mile radius of me....

The beginning of an era...

Well, I did my first recording session for someone else today. I'm just waiting now to hear what the artist thinks of my work. I think the waiting is harder on my nerves than actually playing! I could honestly spend all day in that studio. I feel so at home there. It's just like being at home, except someone records me and I have a way better keyboard to play on in the studio then at home!

What could I possibly have done to deserve this?!?!? I am blessed beyond blessed! How is it that my dreams have come to reality so fast? It just goes to show that no matter how many side roads you take in your life, if God has a plan for you, He will see it through to the end no matter what! I can't wait to see where He takes me!

A great story...

I read a story today that I really liked so I'm going to post it here for all of you to enjoy. I hope you like the message in it as much as I did!

After a few of the usual Sunday evening hymns, the Church's pastor slowly stood up and walked over to the pulpit. Before he gave his sermon for the evening, he briefly introduced a guest minister who was in the service that evening. In the introduction, the pastor told the congregation that the guest minister was one of his dearest childhood friends and that he wanted him to have a few moments to greet the Church and share whatever he felt would be appropriate for the service. With that, an elderly man stepped up to the pulpit and began to speak.

"A father, his son and a friend of his son were sailing off the pacific coast when a fast approaching storm blocked any attempt to get back to shore. The waves were so high that even though the father was an experienced sailor, he could not keep the boat upright and the three were swept into the ocean as the boat capsized."

The old man hesitated for a moment, making eye contact with two teenagers who were, for the first time since the service began, looking somewhat interested in his story. The aged minister continued his story.

"Grabbing the rescue line, the father had to make the more excruciating decision of his life. To which boy would he throw the other end of the life line. He only had seconds to make the decision. The father knew that his son was a Christian and he also knew that his son's friend was not. The agony of his decision could not be matched by the torrent of waves. As the father yelled out, 'I love you son', he threw out the life line to his son's friend. By the time the father had pulled the friend back to the capsized boat, his son had disappeared beneath the raging swells into the black of night. His body was never recovered."

By this time, the two teenagers were sitting up straight in the pew, anxiously waiting for the next words to come out of the old minister's mouth.

"The father," he continued, "knew his son would step into eternity with Jesus and he could not bear the thought of his son's friend stepping into an eternity without Jesus. Therefore, he sacrificed his son to save the son's friend. How great is the love of God that He should do the same for us. Our Heavenly Father sacrificed His only begotten Son that we could be saved. i urge you to accept His offer to rescue you and take a hold of the life line He is throwing out to you in this service."

With that, the old man turned and sat back down in his chair. As silence filled the room, the pastor again walked slowly to the pulpit and delivered a brief sermon with an invitation at the end. However, no one responded to the appeal. Within minutes after the service ended, the two teenagers were at the old man's side.

"That was a nice story." politely stated one of them, "but I don't think it was very realistic for a father to give up his only son's life in hopes that the other boy would become a Christian."

"Well, you've got a point there," the old man replied, glancing down at his worn Bible. A big smile broadened his narrow face. He once again looked up at the boys and said, "It sure isn't very realistic, is it? But, I'm standing here today to tell you that story gives me a glimpse of what is must have been like for God to give up His Son for me. You see, I was that father and your pastor is my son's friend."

Could you give up the life of your child for someone who isn't saved? I'm not sure that I could. But that's what God did! I can't imagine how painful that must have been for Him knowing that not everyone understood or even wanted His precious gift. I for one am so grateful that God is strong enough to give me His Son's life to save my soul.

The start of a small business...

I have been doing research on how to start a small business. Let me tell you folks, this is not easy to do! Part of the problem is that the companies that register small businesses are all private in Alberta so you really have to shop around to make sure that you're not paying through the nose to register your business. Then there are the issues of what type of business you want to open. Is it a sole proprietorship? An incorporated company? Which is better? Then you have to make sure that you're not using someone else's company name and you have to reserve the name you want while all the paperwork goes through. Of course all this stuff costs money. Also, there are GST accounts to consider. If you don't expect to make more than $30,000.00 per year, you don't have to have a GST account, but they do suggest you get one anyway. Why? Who knows...

I didn't realize how much a person has to invest to start a business. Just opening the business can cost you well over $300.00 and that's not including whatever the bank needs from you as a balance in your business account. Yuck...

Well, we'll just keep plugging along here and see what we can do. Thank you for all the suggestions for naming my company. I haven't decided on a name yet. I'll let you know when I do.