Cupcake Love...Picture Perfect Valentine

Valentine's Day Treats

Valentine's Day Fun!
(We have purposely left out the globs of chocolate on the floor, chunks
of sticky marshmallow on the chairs, and red sprinkles scattered
everywhere to further your  personal visual enjoyment.)

Why is it that kids always enjoy the messy projects more? Marshmallows, pretzels, melted chocolate and sprinkles. Yummm.

The kids had a blast dipping and decorating all the treats to be delivered to their AWANA classes that night as a little pre-Valentine's day party.

And 6 Months Later....

Elija at 6 months

Can you believe it's been 6 months since we last posted?  Apparently though, even when life gets busy and we don't post for half a year, babies still grow.  Isn't this the cutest baby you've ever seen??  Wait....I may have said that about the last 6 too...oh well, even so, one cannot deny his charming adorable-ness.  No, I'm not biased at all....check it out in the picture above, it's plain to see that he should be on the cover of Cuteness Magazine!

Welcome Home Baby Elijah!!

It's actually been a week since we welcomed home our newest addition to the family,  but I'm just now finding the time to get some pic's up   :0)

Details??  I've already talked or emailed most of you, but for the sake making it forever saved into cyber history....

As per my request to the Lord, labor was very fast! 1.5 hrs to be exact!  He was also the biggest baby we've had, being 9lbs 2oz.....don't let anyone tell you that bigger babies are slower to push out!  He was born at 2:45am, the perfect time, since all our other little one's were peacefully asleep in their beds while as whisked away to the hospital.  (We woke our eldest to go sleep on the couch in case one of the little one's were to wake in our absence.)

By the time the little one's woke up and had breakfast, Jason was back at home gathering them up to come see their newest brother.  He stayed with me most of the night, since we had a little bit of a scare with some post-delivery bleeding.  I've never had any issues with that before, but this time they pumped me full of 3 bags oxytocin.....yucky, but obviously it did the trick because the bleeding slowed down after a couple hours. 

Coming home was a little crazy this time since we are in the middle of selling our house.  Our older kids have been amazing though, pitching in wherever needed to help keep things clean, organized and having all the little one's watched over while we show the house.  It's been a little tricky to pack up a newborn and get all the other kids to the park during a viewing,  but God has been good to us, we've had great weather and the patience to just continue focusing on the bigger picture.


We'll try to get some more picture's up as soon as we've settled into school a bit.    :0)

17 Already???

Okay, at some point a parent has to look back and say, "how old am I really?"  Danika celebrated her 17th birthday today!!  How old do you have to be to have a 17 yr old in the house?? (should that be a rhetorical question?)


For lunch we all built our own sub sandwiches and then we dove into cheesecake and gifts. Later we watched a movie with snacks and pop, etc.   It has been so sweet to watch Danika grow up into such a lovely and godly young lady.  The Lord certainly has big plans for her!

Showing off her new ring

Jo bought her a princess crown  :0)

Big hugs from sister

Nathaniel gave her a journal

Did you notice the "princess" theme??

Noah Boah Turns 12

This year Noah was able to celebrate his birthday with grandparents and great-grandparents too! Both the older boys spent the past week in Grande Prairie visiting family, on their way back home we met up with them at grandma's house for birthday BBQ and cake.

Spiderman Ice Cream Cake

Nathaniel's Gift of Two-nies

Noah Reading His Card

Opening His Computer Game

Joe's Gift of a Loonie

Great-Grandparents were able to make the trip back too!

How To Seat a Family of Nine

More boys means more chairs....broken chairs, that is.  Over the years we've collected all sorts of various chairs to fit everyone in - foldable, stackable, wooden, plastic, metal, fabric, etc.  Whatever worked.  They are well used for everything - eating, climbing, fort building, hair cuts, school time, lunch time, dragged down the hall and down the stairs.  Oh the stories chairs could tell....until they chip, crack, brake, fall apart and ultimately end up tossed in the back of a little trailer headed to the local dump.

Well, in efforts to rid ourselves of one more broken chair, and motivated by the need for one more spot at the table (3 more weeks til baby!) Jason went out and built us 2 one of a kind,  hand crafted, extremely sturdy table benches to fit our growing family.  He built them from the left over wood of an old water bed frame he had as a boy.  They turned out FABULOUS! (Maybe he missed his calling to be a carpenter??)

The finished work before varnishing...doesn't it look amazing!

Danika helped by sanding, staining, and varnishing her Dad's work of art.

Homemade Ice Cream Cake

I forgot that I told everyone that I would post the recipe for the ice cream cake (can I blame it on being pregnant...or is that excuse getting old??)

Home Made Ice Cream Cake


In order, layer a large rectangular cake pan (or in our case a huge lasagna pan) with:
Ice Cream Sandwiches
Whipped Cream
Drizzled Butterscotch (or chocolate syrup)
Crushed Oreo Cookies

Repeat layers until your pan is full and then freeze until needed.  Take out to thaw for 15min before serving.  It's THAT easy!  It is also less than half the cost of ordering one from Dairy Queen and serves a huge crowd....and I personally like the taste better too.

Happy Father's Day!

Man Of the Hour

Who better deserving of a "day" than a Dad of 7! All the kids got together and helped fill up a huge multi-picture frame with special cards of love and encouragement devoted to Dad.....even little baby still-to-come got in on the action, we placed his ultrasound pic on the lower left.  The older one's also went out and bought something small to give and Mommy took all the little one's to the Dollar Store find something special.  Then Daddy took everyone out swimming and we enjoyed spending the day relaxing together.

We actually found a frame that would fit everyone!!

 

                                                         

                                                                    Nathaniel's Special Gift, lol!

14 Already?

Today we all had fun with Justin celebrating his 14th birthday!  Lots of grilled burgers, chips, and homemade ice-cream cake, YUM!  Can you believe we have another one old enough to drive?

THE CAKE. Justin preferred to make his own birthday cake this time. I'll post the recipe later on....it was Yum-O-Rama!!

Another Year Of School...All Done!

With both the older boys done their final exams and Danika being finished the end of this week, things are becoming a bit more relaxed around here. The temptation is to dump everything and just sleep in, do nothing, and "chill" for the entire day. But life in a large family doesn't allow for a vacation from LIFE! Even without school, we still have a lot to keep up with or we'll soon see the fruit of our laziness...after all, even though some of us are technically on summer vacation, we still need to be productive members of the family! Cooking, cleaning, various chores that need to be done, helping out the little one's, watching for proper attitudes, being ready to serve others when needed. Sleeping in til noon is not an option (and frankly not good for anyone's body anyway)and neither is spending all day, everyday at a friend's house, etc. We will just enjoy the simple rhythm of a gentler schedule...one united family in Christ focusing on spending time together.

Turning Two!

After a traumatic start to the week little Ole celebrated his 2nd Birthday with one less tooth, but a whole lot more cars and trucks!!

YC 2012

"There is something incredible stirring in the heart of this generation. It's an authentic desire to know God, know His presence, His power, and His purpose. Journey with us to 2012 Surrender, the place where everything changes."

Danika just got back from an exciting weekend of concerts, seminars and fellowship with other youth who gathered for the 2012 Christian Youth Conference in Edmonton. We are so thankful that God provides opportunity for things like this to help inspire kids from around the province to move forward in their faith! There is nothing quite like mega "corporate" worship of God. It gives you a perspective of God's people in a way that Sunday Church just can't.

Football Jamboree

Warm-up before 4 hrs of ball!

First Half...

Second Half.... The Jamboree brings an end to Justin's Football Spring Camp where 4 teams from surrounding areas gathered together for a final taste of the game before August when they officially begin next season's training.

Spring Camp...Go Mustangs!

Our eldest son Justin signed up for his first season of football at Highwood High and has been excited to meet some of the other team members and be a part of the Mustangs Spring Football Camp. He's had nothing but praises so far....we all knew he was built for it! Jason has also signed on for assistant coach this year so they will both be really busy this coming school year. Go Mustangs! Here's Justin in all his gear:

Got Milk?

After my ultrasound we served BLUE colored milk to all the kids at supper time.....

Yep, you guessed it....6 boys in a row!

Mother Goose

This past week our daughter Danika was featured in the local newspaper, along with the rest of the cast of Highwood High School's annual Mother Goose Play!

Advent

It's December!  We've been dumped on with a LOT of snow and it's "Starting-to-feel-alot-like-Christmas!"

We typically change things around a bit for school in December to focus more on Advent activities and ministry stuff.  This year we've linked our Advent devotions to our school day so we can really dig in and soak up the good things that God has revealed to humanity since the beginning of time.....the coming of a Savior!

The basic meaning of Advent:  The foretelling of the coming of Jesus Christ through over 300 distinct predictions more than five centuries in advance!!    These prophesies are unique to all history.

"The ancient world had many different devices for determining the future, known as divination, but not in the entire gamut of Greek and Latin literature can we find any real specific prophecy of a |Savior to arise in the human race.....Mohammedism cannot point to any prophecies of the coming of Mohammed uttered hundreds of years before his birth.  Neither can the founders of any cult in this country rightly identify any ancient text specifically foretelling their appearance."  Wilbur Smith

As we go through each day studying the prophesies (our devotional book only covers 18) we will be creating a giant Advent calendar on our wall.  (Replacing the giant Fruit of the Spirit tree we had before...we needed something less summery and more Christmasy)  By the end of the month our entire wall will be covered! Here's a sneak peak of what we're creating:

(Update: Here's where we stopped since I felt like barfing my guts out all day, lol, we studied up to 16)

Are Children A Blessing?

People now days believe children to be a curse and debt to be a blessing! But what does God say?



"And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:28

"And God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, “Be fruitful and
multiply and fill the earth." Genesis 9:1



"And God said to him, “I am God Almighty: be fruitful and multiply. A
nation and a company of nations shall come from you, and kings shall come
from your own body." Genesis 35:11






"I will turn to you and make you fruitful and multiply you and will confirm
my covenant with you." Leviticus 26:9

"And the LORD your God will bring you into the land that your fathers
possessed, that you may possess it. And he will make you more prosperous
and numerous than your fathers." Deuteronomy 30:5



"His children will be mighty in the land; the generation of the upright
will be blessed." Psalm 112:2

 "He will love you, bless you, and multiply you. He will also bless the fruit of your womb." Deuteronomy 7:13






"Behold, children are a heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward.  Psalm 127:3






"Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children
will be like olive shoots around your table." Psalm 128:3