{books read in 2012}

this year, i was keeping track of the books i had read (they were in my side bar)
i made it up to 38, which considering i was pregnant, had a 2 year old, and a new baby, is pretty impressive i think!

I am almost done another one, but considering today it the 31st, i don't  think i can make it to an even 40.

i could maybe make 39 by the end of tonight, but it would be pretty near impossible, so i'm happy with 38.

my friend Stuart made a resolution last year to read a book a week (or 52 books in the whole year... i don't think it actually has to be one a week)

i'm not sure i'm going to be able to make it to 52 this year (still have a 3 year old and a fairly newish baby after all!)

but i'm going to make it my goal to get to 40 books this year.

i'll keep track in the side bar again like i did this year :)

my top picks from this year:

The Parenting Book by Nicky and Sila Lee
Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions by Lysa Terkeurst
Fire in the Bones: Bill Mason and the Canadian Canoeing Tradition by James Raffan

it's funny to me that these are all non-fiction books, because generally my favourites are always fiction.
i guess it was a different kind of year :)


Here is my full list from 2012:

1-Elizabeth I
2-The Virgin Cure
3-Because of Winn-Dixie
4-Owls in the Family
5-Anne of Ingleside

6-The Parenting Book

7-The Making of a Nurse

8-Fire in the Bones

9-Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone

10-Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

11-Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

12-Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire

13-Harry Potter and the Order of the Pheonix

14-Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince

15-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
16-Death Comes to Pemberly

17-All Creatures Wise and Wonderful

18-All Creatures Bright and Beautiful

19-The Magicians of Caprona

20-Witch Week

21-The Lives of Christopher Chant

22-Mixed Magics: Four Tales of Chrestomanci

23-The Night Shift

24-Little House in the Big Woods

25-Howl's Moving Castle

26-Fantastic Mr. Fox

27-Charmed Life

28-No One is Here Except All of Us

29-Five Bells

30-A Recipe for Bees

31-Conrad's Fate

32-The Pinhoe Egg

33-The Gilly Salt Sisters

34-Ru

35-Heaven at Home: Establishing and Enjoying a Peaceful Home

36-Young House Love: 243 Ways to Paint, Craft, Update & Show Your Home Some Love

37-Unglued: Making Wise Choices in the Midst of Raw Emotions

38-The Snow Girl

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

we have had a lovely little holiday

we spent time with family and friends

we gave

we received

we feel full

thank you Lord for family and friends and love and laughter and life.

thank you that you sent your Son for all of this.

Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice on the cross and that this is what you came to do:

to bring us into a relationship with you.

Amen.

Day 19: myself, a year ago

(can you believe how small this tiny is?)

wow.
a year ago seems like a crazy amount of time ago!
i probably either just found out, or was about to find out i was pregnant with Megan!
i had a fresh new one year old on my hands and I had been back to work for a couple of weeks.
what a difference a year makes!
now i have a 2 year old, an almost 4 month old and i have been on mat leave for 5 months
(seems weird considering i was just back at work at this time!)

we had just moved into the Dearing's basement
were getting used to life without Olivia and life with 5 other people ;)

Isla had just started walking more than crawling!

whenever i watch videos of Isla from a year ago, i'm almost uncertain as to whether it's the same girl or not!

Day 16: someone who inspires me

last year i posted about Isla inspiring me to be a better mama.

well this year is similar theme, but the person who inspires me to be a better mama, wife and friend is my friend Sarah.

Sarah has 4 children... 4 very young children.
She has a very happy home, her kids love each other, they are obedient (and they are cu-ute!).

She loves Jesus, loves her husband and loves her kids.
She cares about others and is a blessing when she shares or speaks.

She keeps things real, but is always looking for the better.


When I had Isla, I found it surprisingly easy, like I had found my calling.

I never expected anything different with two.

Two was very different than one. To be honest...having Megan threw me for a bit of a loop.

I found myself becoming a mama that I wasn't so proud of.

I was yelling a lot, I was disorganized and felt overwhelmed and was very easily angered.

I decided to spend a morning with Sarah, just to pick her brain about how she makes her little brood work.

Sarah offered a listening ear, she offered some advice, some books to read, and what she has found to work.

I went out of there feeling loved and filled with confidence and peace.

Sarah makes you feel so welcome and like you are worth listening too.

one thing stuck out to me like crazy, something that I have been thinking about since that morning: Sarah's cell phone buzzed at one point shortly after I got there, she then picked it up without looking at it, turned it off(!) and did not look at it again the whole time I was there.

I think that right now, in our culture we are pretty used to cell phone's and we don't really take not when we or someone else answers a text or phone call right in the middle of a conversation, but let me tell you, it is significant when someone does NOT answer it. It made me feel like I was the most important person and that whatever I needed to say or receive in that moment was her primary focus.

She does that with her kids too. She loves each one as they are and considers the heart connection with them as one of the most important parts of being their mother.

I want to be like that.

sarah blogs over at Snailskin
she blogs about Jesus, family and real life.

Day 14: style inspiration for the season

I loved last year's smallish style so much :)
I've been working on a few new ones, so without further ado,
here's another edition of "i wish they made that in my size"

smallish style fall

Dress: Striped Dress, H&M, $17.95
Bag: BDG Buckle Tote, Urban Outfitters, $58.00
Scarf: Men's Plaid Flannel Scarf, Old Navy, $18.94
Boots: Distressed Riding Boots, Forever21, $47.80
Socks: SmartWool Women's PhD Snowboard Medium Knee High, SocksAddict, $16.77

original smallish image pulled off of Pinterest

but is from the Australian clothing company:

Country Road

Day 13: something i'm proud of

this time last year, Thom and I made the decision to move into our friends' basement.

we made this decision to be able to pay off our line of credit and save for a down payment on a house.
i was just back at work (and pregnant!), Thom was at Stats Canada and Isla was just starting daycare.

it was a bit of a crazy time, we are so thankful to our friends for inviting us into their home and sharing their space with us (two families and one kitchen!!)

in the span of 8 months we were able to pay $8000 off of our line of credit and save for a down payment on our house (which we purchased in May and moved into in July).

it was a miracle in our lives

our house officially ours!

a few months prior to that i had been looking at our situation and our finances and seeing that it did not add up to us having a house anytime in the near future (or even not so near future!).

it was through the love and kindness of our friends, our diligence and budgeting, and most importantly the grace and favour of God in our lives.

and i am proud of that.

Day 12: the last item i purchased

the last item i purchased was gas to put in my mom's car... 

but that's boring, so...

the last item i purchased was more of a little shopping spree.

while i am in Hamilton i always visit Once Upon a Child.

it's an amazing consignment store, 

nothing else i have been in has ever come close to comparing to it! 

the prices are amazing!

on this trip i bought:

cords for Isla

striped sweater for Isla

polka-dotted sweater for Isla

2 Sesame Street dvds

an activity mat/gym for Megan

a toy Winnie the Pooh colours/shapes/numbers phone

all for about 40 dollars!

pretty happy about all of that :)

and my mom found a cute little house and mouse family to keep at her house and it kept Isla entertained for hours!

Day 11: three years ago today

it seems fitting to be remembering on this; Remembrance Day.

 

my Poppa was on the HMCS Gananoque.

Albert Van Impe

we had a visit with him and my Gramma today.

it's nice to be able to spend time with them.

They have 8 children, 17 grand-children and 8 great-grand-children.

I am very very thankful for all that my Poppa did for us, in the war and in his family to give us the family and life that we have to enjoy.

 

as for me, i'm not sure exactly what was going on 3 years ago today, i know that i was close to quitting my job at the hospital, that we were still in the 6 month waiting period after my molar pregnancy, and i was in School of the Word Canada.

 

i like that you can look back on facebook and find out what was going on, it definitely helps when i think that Megan should be sleeping through the night, but then see that Isla was not at the same age.

on November 11, 2009 i found this:

 

Oh, thanks Kate!!! It's my great honor to be a friend of yours.

Thanks for your voice that encourages me a lot. Thanks for everything! Praise the Lord.

it is from my friend Gwanggil.

he's nice.

 

i'm not really sure what it was in regards to, but it sure was a nice thing to read!

 

Day 10: a favourite recipe

i grew up with my mom making amazing chocolate chip cookies.

they were amazing, so tender, so moist, so chocolatey.

my mom's cookie recipe was the best of all the mom's, no one every matched her homemade recipe.
nobody.

here it is:
 

• 3/4 cup  Shortening
• 1 1/4 cups firmly packed light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 1 3/4 cups All Purpose Flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

• heat oven to 375ºF
• combine shortening, brown sugar, milk and vanilla in large bowl. Beat at medium speed of electric mixer until well blended. Beat in egg. Combine flour, salt and baking soda. Mix into shortening mixture until just blended. Stir in chocolate chips.
• drop by rounded measuring tablespoonfuls 3 inches apart onto ungreased baking sheet.
• bake 8 to 10 minutes for chewy cookies, or 11 to 13 minutes for crisp cookies. Cool 2 minutes on baking sheet on a cooling rack. Remove cookies to rack to cool completely.

seriously, you have never tasted a cookie recipe like these.

when i was in second year university i called my mom to get this recipe. she started reading it to me over the phone.
halfway through she paused and said, "you know, you can just get this on the back of the Crisco box"

so you've never tasted cookies like these unless you followed the recipe on the back of the Crisco box, and my childhood was a lie.



a big fat cookie lie.

the one thing i change about this recipe is that i make the cookies tiny. they are like little chips, which is great but problematic as you can eat about 14 in one sitting.

you can find the recipe here.

Day 9: a close up of my day

basically this is my day right now :)

 



Day 8: three inspirational quotes

 

 

The unfailing love of the LORD never ends!

By his mercies we have been kept from complete destruction.

Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each day.

I say to myself, "the LORD is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!"

The Lord is wonderfully good to those who wait for him and seek him. 

Lamentations 3:22-25 New Living Translation

 

Listen earnestly to anything your children want to tell you, no matter what.

If you don't listen eagerly to the little stuff when they are little, they won't tell you the big stuff when they are big, because to them all of it has always been big stuff.

 Catherine M. Wallace

 

 

i've been working through quite a few things since becoming a mother of two and a mother of a toddler.  love and discipline and grace and consequences. on living in the moment and planning for the future. schedules and free for alls.  it's been a big learning curve, figuring out this new stage; one that has it's difficulties but truly does have more joys that outweigh the difficult moments.

i've been speaking with friends and reading books and praying.

these quotes and verses have stuck out to me.

 

that verse from Lamentations is actually one i shared a preach on Mother's Day two years ago when miss Isla was first born.

 

image source.

 

 

 



Day 7: a song for the day

well, my current playlist involves a lot of Kindermusik, Raffi and Sesame Street.

having a two year old kind of dictates what kind of music we listen to.

the nice thing is she also likes Snow Patrol, Karen O. and the Kids (from the "Where the Wild Things Are" soundtrack), Mumford and Sons, and Metric.

so that helps :)

we've been doing a bit of driving these past few days -- we drove to Hamilton, and then today we drove an hour each way to a butterfly conservatory which was actually an amazing place for a toddler!

anyhoo, in the car we've been listening to a Raffi cd that Isaac got Isla for her birthday as well as her Kindermusik cds.

I think that the song that seems to however stick out the most is "Down in the Valley"
Thom used to sing it (and still does when we visit) to his younger brother Matthew who has Down's Syndrome, and now he sings it almost every night to Isla while tucking her in.

I so love to hear it over the baby monitor when I'm in another room with Megan.

But this week we are away, so I've been singing it.

It's a lovely way to end the day. 

Down in the valley, valley so low
Hang your head over, hear the wind blow
Hear the wind blow dear, hear the wind blow
Hang your head over, hear the wind blow

Write me a letter, send it by mail
Send it in care of Birmingham Jail
Birmingham Jail dear, Birmingham Jail
Send it in care of Birmingham Jail

Build me a castle, forty feet high
So I can see you, as you ride by
As you ride by dear, as you ride by
So I can see you, as you ride by

Down in the valley, valley so low
Hang your head over, hear the wind blow

(lyrics slightly changed from the traditional American folk song)

Day 6: a book I'm reading

I'm currently reading

Heaven at Home: Establishing and Enjoying a Peaceful Home by Ginger Plowman.
 

 

 I got it from the library on kind of a whim, I was looking for a book on parenting and godly-parenting.

 

this one came up.

it's been amazing.

it reminds me a bit of babywise with some other relationship and organizational ideas thrown in.

it's about letting your kids be who they are in Christ and allowing yourself to be who you are in Christ as well.

 

there is always room for improvement and grace and growth.

 

i actually think i may reread it right away, as it has had a lot in such a small book and i want to make sure that i am getting all that i can out of it.

 

she also points to scripture for the basis of all her points.

 

it's possibly a life-changer, this one. 

 

 

30 days hath November

I've figured out a way to jump back into blogging lickety split!

30 days hath November!!

I took part last year, and I truly enjoyed it!

So, I am a day late, but I will start off with day one.

this is the line-up for this month:

Day 01: A place I'd like to travel.
Day 02: A favourite movie.
Day 03: Something I never leave the house without.
Day 04: A friend I adore.
Day 05: My hometown.
Day 06: A book I'm reading.
Day 07: A song for the day.
Day 08: Three inspirational quotes.
Day 09: A close-up of my day.
Day 10: A favourite recipe.
Day 11: Three years ago today.
Day 12: The last item I purchased.
Day 13: Something I'm proud of.
Day 14: Style inspiration for the season.
Day 15: Three blogs I always read.
Day 16: Someone who inspires me.
Day 17: My family.
Day 18: What I wore today.
Day 19: Myself, one year ago.
Day 20: Something that means a lot to me.
Day 21: A self-portrait.
Day 22: What I love about my job.
Day 23: Eight things you didn't know about me.
Day 24: Something that makes me smile.
Day 25: The contents of my purse.
Day 26: Something I'm looking forward to.
Day 27: A silly self-portrait.
Day 28: A skill I'd like to learn.
Day 29: Something I could never tire of.
Day 30: Three wonderful things that happened this month.

some are the same as last year, and Desiree has switched some up.

super duper looking forward to this :)




yaaay!

i've been working on a few posts (i swear it's true!)

but i'm finding it difficult to finish thoughts, to write them down, how to express properly what i've been trying to say... nothing ground breaking, nothing earth shattering... heck some are just about the veggie garden prep or newly dug gardens...

i'm hoping it is simply because i am out of the swing of blogging, that i have forgotten a little about what my bloggy voice sounds like (looks like? reads like?)

i'll post something soon.

...


hopefully.

hi there!

this is what miss Isla can be heard saying pretty much every time she see's Mommy or Daddy.

we love it!

sorry for the hiatus!  

we've been a little busy this summer.

July has been jam packed.

July 6-I turned 30

July 7-we moved into our very first house!

July 8-we celebrated 6 wonderful years of being mr & mrs

July 17-we became auntie & uncle & cousin for the first time!

and the most exciting for us:

July 23-we welcomed a 4th member into our family

miss Megan Elaine!

we are completely smitten by her,
even her older sister can't seem to get enough of her!
(which frankly is a big relief!)

we are loving life as a family of four,
and are adjusting very well.

Megan is slightly more noisy than Isla was in the cooing/grunting/crying department,
but she sleeps almost as well as Isla did at the beginning,
so no complaints here!!

blogging will return regularly as i can't wait to show pics of our family, our house, our yard
and what we've been up to these past few weeks :)

oh jimmy.

when Isla was still just super tiny,
and we were doing the whole nursing every few hours on the couch kind of thing,
i would watch Late Night with Jimmy Fallon which played the next day at a very reasonable time on E!

for some reason they took Jimmy out of the daily schedule at some point during that year :(

but oh how i laughed and laughed while watching that show.

Jimmy is your best friend.

small style #52

week 52!  

a whole year has gone by since the original small style here at Katie Geranium!

amazing.

i was looking through some of the old small style pictures earlier this week and i thought that i would pull out some of my favourites from this past year.

but of course, let's start with the original small style post.

what the what.

can you believe how much this tiny has changed?

i seriously cannot.

i blinked my eyes and now she is a blond toddler who is about to become a big sister.

with Auntie Beth, learning to drink from a straw.

camping.

learning to climb 

(and getting blonder)

model pose.

chicken!

a sick sick winter :(

spring finally came for us!!

and most recently, we spend the may long weekend 

(Victoria day here in Canada)

at the cottage with many friends

oh yes, i'm that mother.

who fears the sun.

those sun suits are amazing and so far i have bought 3 for Isla.

one i paid full price

($40 eep!)

but the other ones i paid $3 or less at value village!

i am so much that mother, 

that i sent Isla down to the dock with Auntie Beth after putting on Badger sunscreen,

but when i got to the dock, 

realized that i did not rub it in.

at.

all.

i became the mom who puts zinc all over her child's face.

sheesh.

(i'm not actually that mother!)

sun hat: Joe

sun suit: NoZone, thrifted

don't you just love Isla and Isaac together?

they did so well this weekend.

(the last 2 cottage photos were taken by Noah Bright)

small style #51

Isla is having the most cute days lately.

she is saying so much,

she has started saying: "k mommy" when i ask her to do something

she also will say: "please mommy"

which i just love.

look at how big this girl is:

how can this one be from just a year ago?

she looks like an entirely different child!

pretty much 1 year and a few days from today!

what the what.

little baby is getting big.

this is where miss Isla started:

seriously,

little baby...

where did you go?

wee Isla, 

not so wee anymore.

boo hoo hoo.

from the top photo:

shirt: George

shorts: Old Navy, consigned

shoes: Sand N Sun

i can only imagine how quickly life will fly once there are 2 little girlies!!

small style #50

50! 

we are getting close to a year here!

I thought that I would go ahead and fill you in on this little outfit that Isla was wearing in last weeks post.

because,

well, 

it's a cute one!

and any excuse to put another picture of these 2 cuties on the blog is worth it :)

shirt/tunic: Gap Kids, thrifted

diaper shirt: Carter's

leggings: Gap Kids

socks: Old Navy

shoes: Pedi Ped

blankie: hand knit by Isla's Great Grandma-Mary

those two.

destined.

small style #49

we're working on the 'no' around here

lately, a lot of questions or requests by mommy or daddy is met with a très whiny "NO!"

this morning, trying to get a picture of my sweet Isla,

was met with many not so sweet nos

{no!}

ah well,

we are working on them.

so far time outs on the stairs seem to work fairly well.

{no!}

{maybe?}

needless to say,

we did not get a picture of her full outfit.

shirt: Joe Fresh, gift

diaper shirt: Carter's, consigned

jeans: Mexx, consigned

sure glad that we have lovely happy times in between the nos :)

Isaac and Isla

Isaac and Isla

little kindred friends from the start 

(mostly partly because their mommas made them be)

but they have an authentic little friendship that will be fun to watch as it grows

this is Isaac and Isla 2 weeks ago at our All Nations Church Sunday morning meeting.

they are both on Maryann's lap.

{altogether now: "aaaawwwwwww"}

this is them last Sunday before the meeting started,

sharing snacks,

Isla is usually not a good snack sharer unless she is the one being shared with

{let's put our heads together}

{not talking}

{Isla finally sharing}

{can you see that this is an action shot? that little orange fish is flying through the air, not sitting on her dress}

{best little buddies}

these 2 crack me up, 

they play rough, 

and often get a little miffed with each other,

but they are always so happy to see each other and give each other the biggest hugs upon greeting :)

small style #48

we had some more sunny weather on Sunday,

which makes sense (sun-day... hee hee)

Isla has been loving the pigtails ever since Kattie did them last week.

this afternoon we did some strollin'

and then after i had some major disobeying/running away/yelling "NO"

we went inside and Isla played with Josh.

she calls him "Shosh"

don't ask me, she can say SH and TH but i guess J is confusing?

cute, aren't they?
(i like how they are both rocking the sailor look)

sweater: Joe, consigned

dress/shirt: unknown, thrifted

leggings: Gap Kids

socks: Old Navy

shoes: PediPed, with a big Groupon savings!

i promise at some point i will do some posts other than small style!
but for now, we've been busy,
working on some things,
saving for some things,
and trying to rest in between :)

small style #47

whew!  

47, can you believe?

Isla is getting so big,

and so much fun to be around,

she does also however throw some tantrums that are not so fun to be around!!

she has also turned into a true blondie now.

hard to believe she was born with almost black hair!

this morning she came to me with these little pony tail holders that her daycare provider had put in the day previously and kept pulling on her hair.

so i put pigtails in for her again, just like Kattie had done.

wouldn't you know it, first time she stood still while i did her hair.

i guess she likes to impress Kattie! 

her daddy picked out this outfit,

minus the shoes, mommy picked the shoes :) 

long sleeve shirt: Joe, consigned

onesie(underneath): Carter's, bought by Gramma Kiki

jeans: Old Navy, borrowed

socks: Old Navy

shoes: unsure, borrowed