veggie garden

i swear, i've been trying to snag some final pictures of the completed bed, but it's been raining on and off for the past few days!!

come out sun!

here is a little about the process:

i used all cedar and bought it all at Lowes

4-2"x6"x12's

1-2"x6"x16' cut into 4 pieces

6-2"x2"x48" balusters

as i mentioned before, i was inspired by Miss Mary Mary's cedar bed, so i pretty much just followed along with her plans.

i dug out holes for the posts, and then my mom and i carried it over to it's spot.

i put down a thick layer of cardboard first, 

because there were lots of weeds back where the old garden was.

and then it took a lot (i mean A LOT A LOT!!) of dirt, manure (i used sheep manure) and peatmoss to fill it up.

the one thing i would change if i could do it again is that the screws i used were 3" so the ends stuck out a little, which meant that i couldn't put the screws in from the inside... for some reason i was really worried that the 2.5" screws wouldn't be long enough, but i wish I would have used them because then i would have been able to hide most of my screws.

also, because i had my end pieces cut at Lowes, they were slightly off, so while i still always wish i had my own saw at home, it worked well enough to be happy with the finished product. i probably could have asked for more specific measurements if i had been super concerned about the final product.

once that sun starts a shining, i'll get a pic of it and the rest of the gardens my mom pretty much did all on her own!!

Thanks Mom!

a veggie garden in the works!

so, when we looked at our house for the first time, Eduardo-our friend and real estate agent- looked out in the back yard and said "what do you think that is?"

my eyes sparkled as i replied: "that is a raised vegetable garden"

when we moved in to our house, the "raised" veggie garden looked like this:

well, 

it kind of looked like that, 

that is actually from October, my mom had transplanted a lily back there because there was no where else to put it, and there is also some fresh topsoil in the back left with some newspaper under it to try and ready it for the next summer.

and when we moved in, it was even more full of weeds than this:

and truthfully, when we did our final walk through, the weeds out back were probably taller than my waist.  

no exaggeration.

last weekend i attempted to make the current beds work for me.

first i thought I would just stack the smaller rectangles and make 3 smaller beds, but then i decided to take them apart and make 2 square beds. 

i got to this point:

and then i had a little huff and said to Thom: "i'm sad"

the wood was a little to rotted and ant infested to carry on.

but, being recently inspired by Miss Mary Mary's new cedar bed,

and after chatting with Thom, 

he told me get some cedar boards for Mother's Day to build my very own cedar bed!

Happy Mother's Day to me!

the building break-down to follow

it's been a week of needing an extra measure of grace.

for myself, for my girls.

we are dealing with teething and first tempers and tiredness.

it's been a week of reminding myself that i can use all my own strength,
                                                             but it probably will give out at some point.
my strength to be patient
my strength to be kind
my strength to choose my words carefully and
my strength to show love

  have all given out at some point over the past week.

today as the sun is shining through my window, i am reminded of this scripture:

Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord rises upon you.

See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, 
but the Lord rises upon you and his glory appears over you.

Isaiah 60:1-2 (NIV)

and this one:

This is My command: be strong and courageous. 

Never be afraid or discouraged because I am your God, the Eternal One, 

and I will remain with you wherever you go.

Joshua 1:9 (the Voice)

Thank you Lord. 

Thank you for your Holy Spirit and your strength in me. 

Thank you for second chances and new beginnings.

Thank you for your forgiveness and for your never-ever-ever ending love.

Thank you for being with me and
Thank you for choosing me to be the mother of these 2 little ladies.

Amen.

World Down Syndrome Day

my brother-in-law has Down Syndrome.

he is fun and loving and such a true delight.

he loves his mom and his dad

and puts up with merciless teasing from his three(!) older brothers.

as you can see my girls think that their Uncle Matthew is pretty much the greatest thing of all.

i read this article today:

http://www.thespec.com/opinion/columns/article/905852--down-syndrome-day-celebrate-being

Uncle Matthew will teach our girls how to care, how to laugh and how to love Jesus.

He will teach them to be thoughtful and caring towards people who are not exactly the same as them.

my husband is a more caring, considerate and patient man because he grew up with  brother with Down Syndrome and parents who taught him that every person is worthy of love and patience, and frankly, of life.

We love you Uncle Matthew!!

how little ones point us to Jesus

can i just say that i love being a mom?

an unexpected part of being a mom this time around was discovering again how much i need Jesus.

it's an amazing thing, this truth that i've always known...


but now.

now it seems even more evident.

little ones can test your patience, without meaning it, without doing anything other than what a little one is meant to do.

they ask a lot of questions, forget tasks, wander off, and make messes.
they take their time responding, and eat all the peanut butter.

it can be overwhelming, this take take take.

but this is what:

Jesus is bigger, he loves me, he loves my children and he matched us up.
I am learning what it means to not have control of my children, to give them grace, to let them grow.

just as God doesn't stand there, tapping (or stomping!--not that this ever happens in our house!) his foot as I am learning new things, he gives me guidance and patience and love.

another slightly more painful and a little gut wrenching is how God uses our toddlers to show our least becoming behaviours.

a few notes on that:
-we are teaching Isla to use nice manners, to speak nicely and ask nicely is a kind thing to do, and I've realized that I often forget to say please or thank you when I ask her to do something for me

-attitude! the other day Isla was asking for some juice, from the basement, while I was making dinner.
I asked her to come upstairs and ask nicely, which I'm going to hope she maybe didn't hear? a few minutes later this is what happened- she walked to the bottom of the stairs and shouted: "I said, 'I want some juice!!'" and believe you me that 'I said' had some serious sass to it.
 almost like she was repeating a tone she had heard an adult say use before... strange that.  ;)


for me, God is gently pointing out the immediate reactions that I sometimes have when I don't get my way or when I feel misunderstood or unappreciated.

I am thankful so much for these moments in motherhood,
for the stretching and growing and light that it brings.

and the fun, oh the fun it brings!!

secret resolutions

does anyone else do this?

it feels similar to when i make a list and have some things i can cross off right away.

ie today's list could be:

- get Isla ready for daycare
- feed Megan
- blog
- get dressed
- look at paint for Isla's room
- tidy
- maybe go to the Restore or Ikea


you know... it looks like i've accomplished something already today

(which frankly speaking, getting one girl off to her day of fun 

and feeding the other one is an accomplishment!)

anyway, where was this going?

oh right, secret resolutions.

well, it kind of goes with the whole resolution of getting out more with the girls (which isn't so easy to keep with -30 celsius windchill... this doesn't mix with newborns---or with me)

but i also wanted to resolve to get out more on my own.

i had been tossing around the idea of cross country skiing

my family did it a lot when i was little, but it's not something i've really done seriously in probably 20 years.

so a couple of weeks ago Maryann and i went to look at used skis at Trailhead... apparently they only sell them at the end of their rental season--which makes sense, but is a bit of a bummer.

so with lots of giggling and a poor young sales man (who was so nice and unfazed -mostly- by our giddyness) we proceeded to try out and by brand new equipment!  

and on Monday night we did our first real ski.

we went to Gatineau and skied into a little cabin for a dinner.

Emma got us all together, Annie picked the route, Maryann provided the car and i drove.

it was so so so so nice.  and i was so happy.

and not entirely too sore the next day...

just my fingers, elbows and left big toe.  i have no idea why.

so secret new year's resolution was to start cross country skiing.

check.

ps. 

apparently skis are fit based on weight now and not height. this was a sad discovery, 

however our lovely little salesman showed us the first pair of skis which were between 100 and 130 pounds 

and said "this is probably right"

Oh Pat... you've obviously helped ladies purchase their first skis before ;)

it's a new year!

wow.

2013.

it's funny to watch old tv sitcoms from the 80's where they think that by this time we will have hover-cars and robot butlers and all kinds of crazy "futuristic" things.

not so much!

i've been working out a small list of resolutions in my head, mostly i like to pick fairly achievable ones as i like to cross things off my lists :)

so in no particular order, here are some:

1-to finally stop biting my nails for good -- disgusting habit, even more so when you are a nurse. blech.
2-to go outside with the girls in the winter! -- this is tricky for me, i don't like being cold and it seems like a tremendous amount of work to bundle up 2 littles when i don't want to be outside in the first place!
3-to get back into cloth diapering -- i was a cloth fiend with Isla, and i had a pretty decent start with Megan, but kind of fell off for awhile (mostly they get cleaned and then live on top of the dryer for weeks at a time!)
4-to sew some things -- really i just want to sew, anything at all.
5-to read 40 books this year -- as mentioned here.


so, those are a few of my resolutions... do able, but i also know that i have to be intentional about them all.

i like that.