Ladues of the North

2012-01-31T14:27:00.001-08:00

I'm BACK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2011-05-11T10:14:00.001-07:00

Me and my boys at Christmas!!

Well it's may and I have finally gathered up the gumption to write. I am actually in the midst to thinking about a book!

So I have spent the last 4 months in college and moving forward to getting a degree of some sort! My heart is with caring for others so I am going into nursing. I do also have the ambition to get into the environmental field. Decisions decisions!

I'm not sure about all of you but for me the winter seemed to go by very quickly.

Having fun sliding!!

Josh's Basketball team they won gold in the playoffs!!

However; I do have five boys who are very active and love sports so between hockey, basketball, badminton, youth groups and school, we are very very busy all the time! We are looking very forward to summer break! And there will be NO sports in the summer...organized ones anyway.

Peter Puck! This is Hockey Day in Canada

One of the biggest changes for us since January has been our move to Whitehorse! We have been blessed with a 5 bedroom home with a wonderfully huge back yard. The first week we moved here I realized that we were all gathered together in the living room 90% of the time! Having lived in a 1 bedroom hotel room for 7 months, then a motor home for 3 months and a 2 bedroom apartment for 3 months, everyone just did not know what to do with all this SPACE!!! It took a week but we are very well adjusted to the living space now.

Top left; Danny coloring eggs, Right; All the finished eggs Bottom; Noah and David making rice crispy eggs for school!

Picking up all the pieces of our lives that were left scattered, has been difficult but we are doing it. I am not sure where I would be today if I did not have my boys. They are my everything, the reason I keep going everyday and the reason I get out of bed. I love them so much and I have been so blessed to have such great kids!

TEENS!!! (how time flies)

And, can you believe since January I have not only one but TWO teenagers. I have had many comments like; "And now for the trouble", "What ever will you do, these will be the hardest years," I do not look at it negatively! I am embracing this time with them and I believe with enough love and guidance we will get through these years and make them full of the best memories! It's a time of gaining trust, meeting needs and and boundaries and compromising. So far we are doing great and I have a very close connection with my boys.

Sweet Smiles!

We all continue to miss our "Princess" Sarai very much. We can often be found looking at pictures, talking about her and our memories and visiting her grave site. We are now in the preparations of getting things in order for her Headstone setting! Some very wonderful friends are building her a castle to be placed over her, and yes it will be a castle fit for a "Princess." So for the next few months I will be found at my sewing machine creating.

Well that is all I have to write for now and you can be sure to be seeing a lot more posting from now on!
Love and Blessings to you all

We Love you Sarai Faith Michelle

2010-12-07T11:04:00.000-08:00

Well I'm not even sure what to write. I have been reading my blog for the last week going through from beginning to end. I realize I have not written since February when we took our precious Princess home.

A lot has happened since my last post and I find myself here at this moment lost in a flood of tears, emotions and life changes.

Well I will back up to my last post.....Yes we took our girl home. We were settling nicely. Life was hectic and having Sarai home meant constant cleaning and disinfecting. We had to monitor the traffic in our home closely and when we had visitors we were constantly reminding to have hands washed and sanitized. We managed and her big brothers certainly enjoyed having their little sweet sister home.

Sarai had visits from her grandparents, and close friends and family. Our weeks home were filled with twice a week visits from the community nurses and doctor. We carried on each day as normally as we could. The boys went to school, Dad worked, mommy cooked and cleaned and tended to her sweet girl. Sitting at home and holding Sarai in my arms was such a wonderful feeling.

On March 10th, 2010 Sarai awoke with a bit of a cold! Due to her health concerns Mommy and Sarai were medevaced to Whitehorse General Hospital. There we stayed for 2 days and at that time Sarai was sent home. Because of mommy intuition I decided to spend an extra night in Whitehorse with Sarai. This decision was (at the time) a life and death decision. The next morning we were getting ready to head home to Faro, however I felt still yet a little hesitant. With in a few hours our world was coming crashing down yet again! Sarai became very ill and I rushed her into Emergency. At that time I got on the phone and called to the Cardiac care ward in the Stollery Hospital. It was at that moment that they immediately sent a medevac for us from Edmonton. As I sat there in the emerg with my baby girl, I felt helpless as she lay there with an oxygen mask covering her sweet little face. She lay there starring at me with her beautiful brown eyes as if she was telling me just how much she loved me.

I remember being so upset when the nurse told me I would not be able to go on the medevac to Edmonton with Sarai and I would have to get on a commercial flight. This was so very hard for me. At some point on that day me and my girl would both be in the sky en route to Edmonton in two different planes! (Lucky for Sarai she got to be the first patient to ride the brand new medevac jet)

Auntie Patsy, Auntie Mary and Auntie Mel were all quick to go to the hospital to wait with Sarai while mommy left on her flight! Let me tell you it was a very agonising 9 hours from the time I left my baby girl until I seen her again.

I arrived in Edmonton at 10pm that night and Nana picked me up at the airport, we then went to the hospital to wait for Sarai to arrive. I paced the hospital floor for 2 1/2 hours before they finally wheeled Sarai in on a stretcher and when I seen her, my poor girl she was so sick. I knew at that moment that this was not good at all. They took Sarai into the PICU and we had to wait in the waiting room as they worked to stabilize this delicate little girl. I was so tired and exhausted but there was no way I could possibly sleep until I seen my girl, so after 4 very long and tear filled hours the doctor came out to tell us we could finally see her. Oh how my heart ached when I walked in to her room and seen her hooked up to all those dreadful machines, lines and medications. At this point we were told that they almost lost her and she would be on ECMO alert for awhile.

Days went by as I sat by her side, singing to her, reading to her and holding her. Each day she fought through, she was such a strong and courageous girl.

Now back home life was falling apart faster than you could imagine. I can not begin to tell you what happened however all that we had already been through has triggered something in Dad and he could not cope. Mommy had to leave my girl in that PICU unit and fly home to get her big brothers. Nana and Auntie Patsy stayed with Sarai until mommy got back. This was so hard to leave her and know that I would be so far away from her for so long (It was only a few days however it felt so long) The whole time all I could think about was getting my boys into a healthy environment and getting back to my girl. I think the big brothers were so happy to be able to come and be with Sarai and I am so very happy I brought them.

Sarai spent 1 full month in the PICU and was then transferred up the Cardiac floors. At this time I was told by Sarai's doctor that Sarai would not be able to return to the Yukon as she needed to be closely monitored for an unknown amount of time. WOW! now I was left to make decisions for moving and relocating my children. It was at this time that Josh and Mick began attending the Stollery school during the days. What a wonderful school with wonderful teachers and not to mention the rest of the hospital staff who accommodated and made our stay so wonderful.

Everyday during breaks Josh and Mick would go to see their sister and if mom was not in the room at the time they would be assisting the nurses with whatever Sarai needed. It was definitely not an easy time for me. Each day I shuffled back and forth from the hotel to the hospital, and not to mention getting those boys out to play.....with 3 little ones and managed to look after my baby girl at the hospital. So let me tell you when they said we could take Sarai back to the hotel to stay not only was I ecstatic but those boys were so so very happy! Josh and Mick continued at the Stollery school for the duration of our time in Edmonton.

We did many many things with Sarai in the big city! We got her ears pierced, did a lot of shopping and since summer was approaching what girl could have only one pair of sandals and shoes? We took Sarai to many parks and on many picnics at parks, at nana and poppa's river property and to Cam and Jeanine's farm as well. Sarai frequented the West Edmonton Mall, Costcos, Walmart, Baby's R us, and many other stores with mom and brothers. We went on an overnight trip to Nana and Poppa Franks in Red Deer, went on a huge picnic there as well with their family and another picnic with Harmony, Auntie Candace and Uncle Jason.
Sarai went to the Rodeo, where she watched her 3 biggest brothers take on the Wild ponies. We also had many many visits and dinners with Nana and Poppa as well as visits to Oma's where she was always getting her cheeks squeezed by little old ladies!

Our days were filled with much happiness just being able to watch Sarai smiling, laughing and growing. Sarai loved to just lay on the floor and play with her little toes and her toys. What a precious little Princess!

We made frequent visits to the doctor for various tests ranging from cardiac ultrasounds to blood work. In mid May Sarai was readmitted to the Stollery Cardiac floors for an adjustment to her meds. At this time it was discussed between a team of doctors that it would be in Sarai's best interest to begin the stages to work towards a heart transplant! Heart Ache!!! However if this was what Sarai needed than this was what we would do for Sarai. The next few weeks were very hard for me and much more stressful on my precious little girl. Everyday Sarai had to undergo and array of tests and procedures and not to mention the blood work. That little girl she was such a trooper, she had that smile on her face all the time. A star patient you may call her! She caught the eye of everyone who walked past and stole the hearts of many.

We had many meetings and met so many NEW doctors who would now be involved in Sarai's care. Our team went from about 10 doctors, social workers and other professionals to about 25 in just one day! Overwhelming is the only word I can use to express how I felt.

The hardest part for me was watching helplessly at Sarai's bedside as she underwent test after test and poke after poke and not to mention all the prodding. Then on June 3rd, when Sarai awoke she had a slight fever and was not feeling too well. I remember holding her and dancing her around beside her bed singing to her, and praying in my mind that God would give her healing. My heart hurt so bad for her when the lady came in to do her blood work. The look in Sarai's eyes when she turned and seen her coming in.....my sweet girl, she just looked at her and screamed at her. I knew that my girl was so tired. I sat there after they took her blood and held her tight and cried for her. I remember that day so clearly; how she was so upset all day, so grumpy, and so tired but restless. I took an hour break to take the little boys to the playroom and let her try to get some sleep. The two oldest boys came from their classes and Josh sat in the playroom with Noah and David and Mick, Danny and I went back to Sarai's room. I changed her diaper and picked her up trying to console my sweet baby girl. It was at this time that I was very concerned about what was going on with her. I called for the nurse who had already called the doctor to come. Within 5 minutes the room was flooded with doctors and nurses and Sarai was being whisked away to the PICU.

I took the boys quickly to our hotel room and returned to the hospital. It was about a half hour from when I last seen her to this point and when I came in Sarai was on the ECMO circuit and and she lay under a mess of tubes and needles. All I could think as I stood there rubbing her head was "Lord how much more can such a tiny baby take?" I meant that thought as a cry for healing for my little girl. That night Nana and Poppa came to stay with me and Ron and Shelia came to pick up the boys. When I left my girl that night, after 6 hours of no response, I went to her, kissed her and told her how much I love her and how much more Jesus loves her, at this point she moved her head and arm.

I returned in the morning to find Sarai still unresponsive and she was being sent for yet more tests. It was like being in the middle of one of those nightmares you just can't wake up from. So after spending 3 days with my precious girl, singing to her, holding her little hands and feet, it came time to let her go. This is the hardest thing any parent will ever have to go through. All I could think while I was looking at the monitor was how ironic this all was, that this whole time we were fighting to keep this delicate little heart beating, and in the end it all came down to the lack of oxygen in her brain during CPR.

So on June 6th at 11am surrounded by Mommy, Daddy, Nana, Poppa, Auntie Candace, Auntie Jeanine, Pastor Randy and Joan, Sarai went home to be in heaven. The healing we prayed for was done, she would now be healed with a new heart and body.

I sit down often and think how, if only I knew the last time she looked at me with such love would be the last, I would have starred longer. The last time I held her and danced and sang, I would have held her tighter and sang longer. The last time I told her how much I loved her I would have said it a million times more.

I am so thankful we could have the time we had with her. I am so happy her brothers were there almost all the way. I am thankful she was such a beautiful, happy girl and even now as much as it hurts me that she is no longer here with me, that in Heaven she is whole and she is smiling just as hard as when I held her in my arms and sang to her.

So now I am on a new adventure with my boys and life has definitely thrown us some curve balls; however we are going forward and doing all we can to remember Sarai. Life is not that same for us nor will it be, but we will make it new and full of new adventures. Thank you all who have supported us in the last year. You are always in our hearts and will forever be!

Theres a Rainbow at the End of the Storm!!

2010-02-24T08:34:00.000-08:00

Hello all,
Well since my last post a lot has happened. A lot of great stuff. The best being the fact that we have our precious little Princess at HOME!!!!!!!!!

Our last month in the hospital consisted of many meetings with doctors, nurses, dietitians, and many many more people that I can not even remember. I am sure our paths will cross again at later dates on trips for check ups.

Such a happy girl!!

On Jan 11th Sarai graduated from NICU to the "floors" and this time till the end of our stay, well I shouldn't say that we did go back to NICU for 4 days. The doctor decided that it would be best for her if they plicated (stitched down) her left diaphragm. So yes Sarai had yet another surgery before leaving to come home. This one was fairly straight forward and very quick. We did end up back in the NICU after the surgery for her recovery and a little visit with our favorite nurse! On the fourth day we were back up to the "Floors" and on the road to going home.

Going for a ride back up to the "floors"

Daddy and Sarai!

Daddy took four of the boys and went home and Mommy and big brother Danny stayed for the duration until discharge.

Danny got to do a lot of holding while we
were at the hospital

The biggest thing during January was getting Sarai to fully breastfeed. It was so frustrating when we were on the floors cause mommy knew Sarai could do it, however i was not able to breastfeed her until we met with the speech pathologist. She came once when Sarai was sleeping and then never showed up for our future appointments. As you could imagine this was more than frustrating cause all that was on my mind was, there is no way I was taking her home tube feeding and wanting to get her to the breast.

My Baby Burrito

So what did mommy do? When we went back to NICU for her last surgery I spoke with the head nurse and said "The only thing I want you to allow me to do while we are down here is to breastfeed Sarai." She was actually very surprised that she was not breastfeeding already. And so, they let me and lo and behold by the time we went back up to the "floors" Sarai was breastfeeding only, during the days!
I just love this picture!

YAY Sarai....and Praise the Lord that she never had a hard time with it! So for the last week and half in the hospital mommy breastfed during the days, in the evenings mommy and Danny bathed her and put her to bed before going back to the room. Throughout the nights she was tube fed, they tried giving her a bottle but she was having nothing to do with it. LOL

Curly Hair after her bath!

The other thing that mommy had to learn was how to give Sarai a NEEDLE! I really did not want to have to do this, however Sarai needed it to be done for awhile yet and if she was to go home it was something mommy would have to learn. Goodness by the time everything was over I think I was ready to be a nurse!

My Mommy is going to do what to me?

Giving my little girl a needle was definitely a scary experience but I learned quickly and we have it mastered now. She gets the shot twice a day for the blood clots in her leg and neck. She will get it until the end of March so we are halfway through now. And amazingly enough that was the only med she came home on besides her vitamins and iron. Another reason to Thank the Lord. We have so so so many things to be thankful for and blessed with.

All bundled up for her walk to the room!
Doesn't Danny look so HAPPY?
Pretty in Pink!!

For Sarai's last weekend in hospital I was given a daypass for the Saturday and then an overnight pass for Sunday. Her weekend consisted of a visit from:

Had to add this from her visit with Cousin Harmony
I think they are Super Diaper Changers..LOL

Auntie Candace, Uncle Jason, Harmony and Steph, followed by a visit from Auntie Rachael, Auntie Gwendy and Jenny, a lot of cuddles and a shopping trip to Walmart and Babies R us! Come on what weekend would be complete without a trip to Walmart...LOL

Of course mommy couldn't wait to dress her up and do a photo shoot!

It was great....to finally have my sweet baby girl in my bed all night long, I laid awake for the longest time just staring at her and Thanking the Lord for bring us through the Storm and now I could see the rainbow! Staring at her and thinking about what strength the Lord has given her to go through not 1 but 3 open heart surgeries, Heart failure and the diaphragm plication. What a MIRACLE she is, laying there beside me and the only thing left that would make one realize it all is the scar on her chest, which by the way is fading very well. WOW was all I could think. WOW is still what I think!
I love her little hands

On the Monday we went back to the hospital to check in and Sarai was officially discharged that morning.............YAHOO.....Danny was even doing the leprechaun jig and clicking his heels...LOL. To watch her feeding tube finally being taken out brought tears to my eyes as the thought "this is it the last tube is finally out" ran through my mind. After 2 months and 12 days we were finally FREE!!

Tube Free and Beautiful!!

We left the hospital, went back to the room and waited for Nana to come. That night we packed up the room and the next day we went to spend a night with Nana, Papa and uncle Joey. I think it was an amazing moment for;

Nana to be driving her little "Angel" to their home...

and amazing moment for Papa to see his little "Angel" in his home

...and an amazing moment for Uncle Joey to see his little niece for the first time and see her smiling and looking so very healthy! I think everyone was able to sit back and take a deep deep breath.

Sarai even got to take in a hockey game and not any hockey game, her uncle's hockey game!

Yes I let him hold her in his stinky gear..lol

Had to get a pic of her with Nana and the players
in the background!

I wish we could have spent a few more days with Nana and Papa but at least we got to spend one and we will go back for visits! And I will take this moment to say "Dad, Mom thank you thank you thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all the days you dropped what you were doing to come and support us, mom for the many many days you took to be with us, you will never know just how grateful and blessed we are to have had you there for us! We love you guys so much.
A visit from Oma!

We also went and had a little visit with Sarai's Great Grandmother. I think it was a great moment for Oma to see Sarai smiling and healthy in her home and to be able to show off this little miracle of a girl to all her friends

On February 10th, 2010 Sarai went on her first plane ride....back home! Sarai did great.

I think it was a great moment for Daddy and her big brothers to see Sarai coming through those gates, finally on her way home! The best moment for Daddy and Mommy to finally have their little Princess laying right in between them on the bed! How we talked about that day for so long. However the Greatest moment was on he evening of February 12, 2010, walking into our home and looking at us altogether, our big HAPPY FAMILY!!! We are complete!
Josh enjoying holding his lil sis at home!

I sit here now, in our home, looking at her and it feels like I just woke up. Like we just went through the roughest storm we have gone through and I am so glad that our hearts were changed, that we were somewhat prepared and that our foundation was moved from the sand to be established on the ROCK!!! Without God I have no idea what the outcome of this all would have been. We can not deny nor can many who have been supporting and praying with us, that GOD IS GOOD!!! That He listens to our cries, that He is in control, that He wants us to rely on Him and Him alone, That He will provide for us everything we need including doctors with great talents as the doctor who operated on Sarai's heart, That He is real, that He still performs Miracles, for Sarai is a MIRACLE. God is the SAME Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow. The things we read about in the Bible, the things the Lord did in the Bible, He will still do them now and forever and why? Because He does not change!!

One of our many many cuddle moments!

Thank you to you all who have supported us in any way, in Prayer, financially, by calling with encouraging words and Believing with us and never doubting! Thank you So very much and may you all be greatly blessed!

I think the most memorable thing said about her was when Sarai was laying on the floor at Nana and Papa's and they were sitting there watching her and Papa says "You know you should have named her Miracle!"

Now we are relaxing and taking in the Rainbow at the end of our Storm.

Fun times in the city!!

2010-02-01T22:03:00.000-08:00

It was a good picture!! (they are all looking)

Well three months in this big city has made way for many experiences! Many trips to the big mall where we took in the seals, lemurs, mini golf, movies and a lot of window shopping.

This has to be one of my favorites! Daddy and his boys!

Enjoying the evening out in the snow!!

Then we have the out of the ordinary trips we went on included an evening at a huge park in the city where they had a man made lake for ice skating (didn't get to do that as we had no skates), a very fun snow hill and lot and lots of space for the kids to be free!!! We also came upon an outdoor ice festival near by our hotel. It was so cool.

The kids were able to see some very cool ice sculptures, a huge carved ice bridge, an enormous carved ice castle and some very cool gigantic ice slides. It was so cool and we went in the evening so we could see it all lit up!

Noah with a little ice dude, Josh peeking through one of the windows on the ice castle
and Noah and David in the ice Maze

The Awesome Ice Slide!

Noah and David in the Ice Maze

Ice giraffes...this was my favorite carving!

We also went on a few swimming excursions to on local pool and one pool in another town not too far away. It was a lot of fun for us all. It will be so nice to be able to have Sarai join us on our family outings!

This month we also celebrated not one but two birthdays! Mick turned 12 and Danny turned 8.

They both got to pick out their cake, and had a special day with breakfast and dinner out and visiting with Sarai!

There are many other things we would have loved to do, however there are always other times to do those things and it will be something to look forward to in the future!
Enjoy our pictures!!
Love to you all

It's ALWAYS a challenge getting a good one of them altogether!!

How Great is Our GOD?

2010-01-13T22:46:00.000-08:00

January 12, 2010 what a day! A day that will be forever marked in our hearts!

Sarai has been doing great. She has been weaned off the morphine and has taken it pretty good. A few symptoms of withdrawl but that was to be expected. She is feeding with breastmilk and they have been putting it up by 1ml every 12 hours. She had a few spells of regurgitation which were shocking to see as each time she did that she would bring up the feeding tube with it, however most of it was caused by a build up of mucous in the stomach. We seem to be over that now and she is currently getting 10ml and hour so we are 1/4 th of the way to a full feed!! Yay God.

She went through a few days of not sleeping well, or at all really! 20 minutes here 20 minutes there. My poor girl. I believe it was a combination of different things contributing to her restlessness....the weaning off the morphine, the constant ringing of alarms, and pumps, and my caffeine consumption! Naughty Mommy, should have thought things through a bit more.....however when you have a baby beside you all the time I think you are more conscious of what you are taking into your body. So I made a decision for the both of us to slow down on the caffeine intake.....2 large timmies and a large french vanilla cappuccino everyday was a little too much. So now I am down to 1 large coffee and decaf tea! And it is not an easy thing to do either, especially when Tim Horton's is around the corner of the hotel and they seem to always get it just right! I may have to start taking the long way over to the hospital for a week or so..ha ha ha

Anyway enough about that, So over the weekend they discovered that since Sarai's left diaphragm is not moving as it should and is stuck in the upper position it caused some partial collapse in the left lung. Then yesterday morning they did a chest x-ray to check on the lungs and discovered an accumulation of fluid around the outside of both lungs...it was a bit upsetting as you can imagine. hey talked about how if it got any worse and she was laboring with the breathing they would have to look at putting her back on cpap or reintubating (breathing tube) her! However she was breathing fine and not showing any signs of distress at all and her SATS (oxygen) were staying up between 97-99%!! I had a brief moment of anxiety, then I said "No, I refuse to get upset again, she will be alright" I chose to give it to the Lord, after all He is our #1 Physician right! I prayed for her, and soon after that left for the afternoon to take our boys out to play.

After supper I returned to the hospital to bathe Sarai. I gave her her bath and then got myself situated on a rocking chair to have a cuddle with her before bedtime. While sitting there with her I asked the nurse if they had repeated her chest x-ray that afternoon (they spoke about doing that just to check if there was anymore accumulation of fluid). She said no and that they would probably do it in a day or two. Shortly after the Head charge nurse came over and said "I just had to let you know that we repeated her chest x-ray at 5 o'clock today (January 12, 2010) and it was like looking at a totally different x-ray! the fluid was gone from both sides and it seems as though she just opened up that left lung, I just don't know! But it is like Night and Day!" All I could say was "Thank you Jesus"
I sat there looking at her, and was so overcome by His presence at that moment and I began to weep. It wasn't at all like crying, just tears but I was so full of joy, overcome by joy, I was looking into her eyes and she was starring into mine! It was such a beautiful moment. It is really hard to explain more than that, the feelings I felt and the joy that was with in me at that moment the feeling all around me, it is just way to Awesome, It is God.....something we all have to experience ourselves to really know!!!

People God is so GOOD ALL the TIME!!!! He has shown so much of Himself to us through this all. I know people wonder if we are really doing as well as we sound. The answer is Yes we are. However if we did not have the Lord in our lives I am sure we would be total wrecks! He is sustaining us emotionally, physically and spiritually! He is our all in all.
Yes we have our moments when we feel weak but the Lord brings us back very quickly. Lean on Him, He will sustain you. His love for us is so profound something we can not even begin to comprehend!! Seek Him with all your heart. We must not Lean on our own understanding. We must Seek Him and all these things will be added unto us!

Yesterday had such a great ending! and I pray that all who read this will be touched by this great miracle He has done. Our prayers are being answered everyday, they are not unheard!! Keep praying for us, for Sarai for God's continued healing hand, for all the other babies in the Stollery NICU and their parents. Thank you so much for your support and your prayers!! We love you all and so does our Father!!

And Who does our Youngest Prince look Like?

2010-01-06T10:29:00.000-08:00

Ok So who does David look like? LOL like it's hard to tell!!!!

Who does she look like??

2010-01-05T22:24:00.000-08:00

Ok Who does our Little Princess Look like???

Mommy? Or Daddy?

Baby Sarai Update

2010-01-05T12:06:00.000-08:00

The Christmas Princess

Well here we are 2010! It seems as though time has just flown by! It seems like only the other day when we were blessed with the news of pregnancy....and like yesterday when she was born. As of yesterday she had her 6 week birthday. That was special for her and her big brother Danny as it was his 8th birthday as well!

Sarai is doing very well. She was moved from the PICU back to the NICU on December 19th. Each day that goes by we see more and more of our Father and His great Love for us all. Each day brings another step towards going home, her healing and recovery.

About 2 days after returning to the NICU she had her catheter taken out, her dialysis tube taken out and was taken off the ventilator! So close to being tubeless. On Christmas morning her last tube was taken out...the chest tube...Hooray it was such a great gift to her and us. She was left with one IV running her nutrients and the morphine which was slowly being weaned down. She was getting breastmilk through a feeding tube and all was going so well that they decided she could be moved up to the wards or floors as they say. This is just a normal hospital word, however when we got there I had a very uneasy feeling. Like "were we ready for this?" She was in a shared room with another child and the child's dad. We were not ready or even really knew that we could room in with her. So leaving her that night was very hard, maybe even harder than her first week of life leaving her in the NICU. The reason being our little princess was in this room and the nurses were in the hall! We have been so used to her having 24 hour care with a nurse at her bedside! So I am sure you can imagine to some extent how we were feeling.

Way too Cute! Little Cutie

Of course the next morning we were up pretty early so one of us could go be with her. When I arrived in the room she was awake and seemed sad and lonely, Poor girl. The nurse informed me that her heart rate had gone up a little and also her breathing, so she was being taken for an Echo Ultrasound. It was quite the production getting her there. I packed her while one nurse pushed her med pole and another with the monitor! I just had this feeling that she wasn't really ready to be on the "floors" yet. A decision was made later in the morning that Sarai should go back to the NICU. The doctor and nurses were so sympathetic about it, however I felt much peace about it. And not to mention when I told Sarai she was going back to be with her friends in the NICU she brightened up!

This has got to be my Favorite Picture so far!!

So we moved back to the NICU. We feel so much better now and we also know what exactly to expect when she does go back up to the "floors." We will be more prepared. After we moved back to NICU Sarai hit a little bump in the road, however it is not a bump we are going to be stuck on, we continued praying and praising and God continues to answer. Tests showed a bit of left diaphragm stunning, which the doctors think will come back on its own, and this is what we are praying for. She had quite a large accumulation of fluid around her chest cavity which was drained twice on the right and once on the left. Since then there has not been any problems with that Praise the Lord!! That being said she was having a harder time with breathing and was put back on the ventilator. Yes it was emotional having to see her getting tubes put back in however we are happy that they are dealing with all these issues. We want her to be healthy healthy before she goes home. Sarai was taken that next morning to the Cardiac Cath lab where they go into a vessel in the leg up into the heart to get good images of how everything is functioning. There was a lot of praying happening and the Lord answered yet again!! They couldn't find anything and things are functioning better than they expected...man God is GOOD.

She is so very sweet!!

She was getting x-rays each day to check for fluid but they have not found any more. The fluid they were finding has something to do with the fats from the feeds, it is called Chylothorax. To deal with this issue and get it resolved they have stopped her feeds and will resume in a week and a half. Until then she is on nutritional supplements so she won't starve, no worries. She also had a short surgical procedure yesterday (Jan 4) to insert a central IV line which was put into her leg. This will insure she is getting optimal nutrition and the meds she needs. She is still on antibiotics for a bacteria she got when on ECMO and will finish that on Jan 17. All tests for the bacteria are negative, Thank you Lord. She did however end up with a couple clots and is on a blood thinner to resolve those which we will have to administer once we go home, the total time for her to be on that is 3 months.....I just have to get the guts to do it, as we will have to give her 2 shots each day. But there is something called and encephlon that can be put in place so we can just inject into that instead of poking her all the time, that will make it easier.

They did go up on her morphine again and added another med to help with blood pressure while they give her time to strengthen. They began to wean the morphine again yesterday and will take it slow with weaning over the next week. Today she is to be extubated (be taken off the ventilator) again. YAY, this is exciting for us cause when she is on the vent we don't want to hold her...as I can see this tube being pulled or something and the fact that it takes a nurse and a respiratory to get her on and off our lap!

They're making her a soother girl!

Dad just called and says that she is extubated and on c-pap, which is just the little breathing tubes that sit just inside the nostril. YAY Thank you Father for all you are doing in this little girl!!

So we hit a bump, but we are over that bump and refuse to dwell on it and get stuck. We must keep looking forward with our heads held high, continue praying and praising!!

She is so content and makes such great eye contact. She communicates with us using her eyes and has shown us ta few smiles here and there. She is such a trooper. One thing she has made known to us all is her temper!! I told her brothers they better not make her mad....lol When she is mad there is no working up to it, she instantly turns bright red and sometimes purple, we try to console her quickly with prayer, singing and stroking her hair. The quicker we can get her to calm down the better cause they like to pull out the sedatives, so if we can get her to calm down then she doesn't get them. The one morning she got so mad at the nurse and she pulled her feeding tube out!! The nurses comment on how calm she is when we are around so we take turns going over to be with her so she doesn't have many long stretches without one of us during the day. One of us usually stays until late evening to get her to sleep and she is then quite settled throughout the night.

She was just chilling out lastnight after her bath

I am able to give her sponge baths and change her diapers, it's not much but it makes me happy as well as Sarai, she enjoys our time together with her.

We look forward and go forth towards our goal of going home soon. It is our hope and prayer to be able to take her home by the end of this month. But we will not rush her, she needs a the rest she can get for that is when the most healing takes place. It is so amazing how God has created these little tiny ones' bodies, cells and tissues to regenerate and fix themselves so quickly!! His creation is so amazing!

Thank you Father for our sweet baby girl, thank you for her continued recovery and healing. Lord thank you for the surgeons and the wisdom you have shown and given them, thank you Father for the nurses and doctors who look after all these children and thank you for the compassion, love, wisdom and grace you instill in them. Lord bless each one of these doctors, nurses and surgeons, bless each parent that is going through the same things as we are, bless each child and bring great healing to them all! Lord Bless each person who is standing with us in prayer and agreement Father for our little girl and Lord we thank you for each one of them. Thank Lord for the awesomeness of all you do all you show us and all ways in which you bless us Lord. Send forth your angels and let us here the ROAR!!!! In the loving name of Jesus
AMEN

Thank you to you all for your continued support and prayers be blessed!!

A Different Christmas

2010-01-05T08:41:00.000-08:00

Well our Christmas was definitely a different Christmas for us. Of course being in a hotel room there was no baking going on for us. I am so used to baking up a storm; cookies of all sorts, candy, food.....so I missed that. However we had baking brought to us by our Aunt Edna and a whole lot of goodies brought to us from Nana....It sure didn't last long in this room with all these boys! The closest we got to any of our own baking was a trip to Superstore where we were able to find a ready to assemble Gingerbread house!
The kids were so excited to put it together. On Christmas Eve they all gathered around the table assemble the house. The older two boys were in charge, making sure everyone got a turn putting their section together. I think the hardest part for them was waiting the 15 minutes, once the house was together, for the icing to harden a bit! David was sitting at the table the whole time "guarding" the candy. It was too cute.

Time for the decorating....they had a lot of fun with this part. There was a lot of finger licking going on and I think David may have put two candies on the house and the rest in his mouth...LOL

David Caught red handed!!

Then came time for a few pictures of them with their masterpiece and.............................

within a matter of 10 minutes most of it was devoured!

The kids were very excited at bedtime as most kids usually are. However they all went to bed pretty good, I think it was a bit harder for the older two. Once Dad and I got to bed it seemed like such a short time when I heard the older two boys whispering in their bed (Very unusual for us since this was the FIRST time we never had to wake them up!). When I looked at the time it was 5:30am! I told them they had to stay in bed, then I could not go back to sleep so I got up and did some pumping before everyone else got woken up. It is always so awesome to see their expressions of complete Joy and Excitement!

Our Cute little tree, on Christmas Eve night

Thanks to Daniel this was David's most favorite gift!!

So they all sat around in a circle and we first took a few minutes to reflect on What this day means to us and to pray. Then the kids all emptied out their stockings. David was so overly excited with the candy that was coming out of his and I think breakfast for 3 of them consisted of a Kinder surprise egg and licorice...lol The boys were quite pleased with their gifts. They are pretty thankful kids for whatever they receive.

Josh I-Pod Mick I-Pod Danny DSi

Noah Got Woody and Buzz Lightyear

Once everyone was dressed we headed over to see Sarai. Aww her first Christmas I am thankful she is so little and really couldn't be bothered. At first I went in to see her with Josh and Mick. I had her little Christmas dress but she looked to peaceful to bother her by putting it on so we just laid it on top of her and the boys each posed with her to get a picture. I think Sarai had more presents at her bedside from various people in the hospital than anyone else had under the tree! What awesome staff they have there. So Sarai got a visit from each of her brothers and Mommy and Daddy, and not to mention 2 Santa visits.

Daddy & Noah Mick David Josh
Danny and I didn't get ours taken :(
We spent a while with her then we headed to Drayton Valley for the day to spend some time with family and to have an awesome meal or 2 or 3. We arrived there around lunch time for a late breakfast and as soon as we were done eating lunch was being put on the table and a mere 4 hours later a great spread for supper! Man were we ever FULL!!! It was great to be out of the hotel room and for the kids to have some space to play. They had a great time, we all did. The kids played and the adults got to have some time playing their own games, what a blast.

Obviously this was not taken at Christmas however it is cute!!

In the latter evening we headed back to the city, I think all the boys were absolutely exhausted. They all slept all the way back, well except for Danny I was quite surprised that he stayed up all day until we got back to the hotel. Once we arrived and everyone was in the room I went back over to the hospital for awhile to visit with our sweet little Princess!

Well that was our Christmas for 2009. Different however we were so blessed to have received what we did, to be together, to be able to spend time with our girl, to spend time with family, to enjoy some great food, but most of all to remember and reflect on this day when our Saviour was born!

Blessings to you all

Sarai Update

2009-12-20T15:45:00.000-08:00

Hello all, sorry I haven't updated lately, however I am not sure what i was thinking....that there would be lots of time to blog! LOL Between the hospital, entertaining our boys and grocery shopping...time...not enough in one day!Special time with Mommy before her big surgery

Waking up for Mom and Dad

Well as you all know our sweet baby girl has gone through surgery...3 in fact! And we are very blessed to report she is doing absolutely FABULOUS, Praise God. He blessed us with the best cardiac surgeons in North America if not the whole world! and the nurses have been great! We are so blessed to have been able to be here at this hospital.

A visit with Nana

A visit With Auntie

So during her first surgery they did the arterial switch and moved the coronary arteries as well, there was also a bit of tissue that needed to be removed and everything went great. Sarai did very well all night and in the early morning had a drop in blood pressure which was unexpected for everyone. So she was rushed back into surgery where they just wanted to see what was going on and they found that the swelling had caused one of the coronary arteries to kink. Therefore they put her on a heart machine (ECMO) to allow time for the swelling to go down. She did very well after this. On day four she was taken again into surgery to move the coronary artery that had been kinked. Man what an emotional roller coaster ride that week was for us!! But what a trooper Sarai was and is. What strength the Lord has given her! what grace He has for us! What great LOVE He has for us! He is so very GOOD ALL the time!

Here she is is just snoozing!!

Once the 3rd surgery was completed all has been going great. She had a dialysis machine added to her many wires and tubes, this to help bring the swelling down quicker! She stayed on the ECMO machine for about 6 days and was then weaned from it, she responded very well to that, however they then found that there was a bacteria growing in the ECMO machine which went into the plastic tubing in her IV lines. So she was then put on antibiotics to start killing the bacteria. After a few days all IV lines were removed from her body and new ones put in, in different places. Antibiotics are continued and she will most likely be on them until after she is released from the hospital.Awake and moving around, checking out the lights

We had one day where we hit a teeny bump in the road in dealing with the bacteria and that was the day they decided the best thing to do would be to remove the lines and replace them. I quickly realized how the enemy sneaks in and tries to cloud all our Joy and Praise with something so small! I realized that he was trying to steal this from us, and most of all trying to make us upset and doubt, but we were having none of it! We know the word of the Lord and we know the word He sent for her is LIFE!! And that is what she will have.

We all sometimes wonder why? or what the purpose for all this is. However at some point we all find out the answers to these questions. What a testimony this has all been for many people. Us, our boys and many many friends and family. We hear from people who did not trust the Lord before or even pray, tell us they are praying for us, for Sarai and know God is in control! We have been able to pray for families and children going through similar circumstances, been able to stand firm in our Faith and trust in our Father, and to show people how important it is to have Him first and foremost in our lives! I wouldn't have it any other way!

We have met a beautiful family there as well. They are believers and their Joy is not being lost through all their trials! you can see (literally) the joy of the Lord shining in and through them. There testimony of all they have been through has been very encouraging for us and ours for them! The people we meet in all circumstances are never a coincidence that's for sure.

As of now we are on the home stretch....She is almost completely weaned from all the meds, the bacteria is being taken care of, she is off the dialysis, she is being weaned from the breathing machine and should be off that in a couple more days. She is getting breastmilk though a feeding tube which is good because I don't want her having a bottle.
and the only tubes that need to be removed is one more chest tube (which may happen tomorrow) and the IVs which will probably stay in until we are almost ready to go.
The doctors are continuously telling us how amazed they are with her recovery and healing. How her heart is functioning so much better than they thought, but I knew she was going to be fully healed, not our way but His!

I think right now the hardest thing for us is not being able to hold her. But once she goes back to the NICU(in a few days) we will be able to hold her as much as we want.
I think when we take her home she will probably never be put down!

Another hard thing is taking time out for the boys and spending time with them. I always feel in a rush to get back to her and a few times have felt very overwhelmed with anxiety. I know the nurses sense this and reassure me that it is okay to take time out, it's just a mother thing! They make things so nice there though, and allow me to help with her as much as I am able to do without having a nursing degree. So I get to bath her myself and put her lotion on, wipe her eyes and mouth when needed and change her diaper sometimes. But after the other day when I came in and there were diapers, baby wipes and poop everywhere I have kind of stepped back from that duty...lol it was quite the site! She hadn't pooped for like 4 days and she definitely made up for it then.....3 diapers and 2 packages of baby wipes later she was all done...glad it was them and not me!

Daddy and Mommy take turns going over to be with her, it would be nice if we could go sometimes go together but we have 5 boys to hang out with too. When we are there we sing to her, read to her and pray with and for her. Daddy also made her some CDs and the nurses have provided her with a CD player and keep her music playing for her all the time! They are so nice and take such great care of her.

When I am there I often can picture these beautiful angels dancing all around her continuously and the Lord standing at her bedside holding her when we are not there.
I was sure hoping that she would be able to come out before Christmas, however I do not think it will be, but now we can hope to be able to start the New Year with her in our arms and out of the hospital!!

Well now that things are going smoother I will hopefully have a bit more time to update!
Thank you and many blessing to you all who are in prayer for her and us!!

The Princess Has Arrived!!!

2009-11-25T21:26:00.000-08:00

Introducing Sarai Faith Michelle Ladue

Born At 8:14 am Weighing in at 8lbs 4 oz with a ton of curly Black hair!!

Her First "Ride"

No one could hold this Mommy down!! I was gone from one hospital to the other one to be with her within 3 hours!! I had to be with her

Isn't she absolutely Precious!!!

Here is Daddy holding his little

"Princess" for the first time

Mommy holding Sarai
It was a whole day before we finally got to hold her
so these moments were so very precious for us!

So content is Daddy's arms!!! She already has stolen
his heart!!

Everytime I hold her now I just don't want to let her go
Leaving at nights is so hard for me.....I want to take
her with me everytime we go to eat or to go to bed
However we know she is in the Lord's hands and He holds
her when we are not!! The best place she can be, and I must
mention the awesome nurses the Lord has put in place to take care of
her and all the other precious babies there!!

Oh my the hair!! She has so much of it and it poofed
up like a little chickie...lol she is ust to cute!!

Well this is our little Princess. The Lord has given her great health and
strength. The doctors are very surprised at how well she is doing and
how healthy she is!! We all need to keep praying for her and that
she will continue to get stronger and healthier.
She will have surgery sometime soon, but we are not sure of a date
yet. Once surgery is complete she will have another two weeks in
hospital or until she is ready to go home. We will be so very happy
for that day to come. She is such a precious little gem.
She knows when her Mommy and Daddy are with her and gets very
upset when we are leaving.
She got to meet her brothers very briefly but we are hoping they will get to spend
a bit more time with her, however it is hard since we have to take them in
one at a time. The boys are such troopers though, keeping up with their
schoolwork and dealing as well as they can with all that is going on.
They were all so happy to meet her, and I think it they are quite
excited to bring her home. Noah was very concerned about us
leaving her there. Well there you have it in a nutshell, Sarai is here and
she is doing Great!! Thank you for your prayers and your continued prayers
stay tuned for more updates on our precious little Princess!!

Our trip to the zoo!!

2009-11-12T11:36:00.001-08:00

Storey Land Valley Zoo!!!

Well the day was beautiful so how better to spend it but at the Zoo. It was so much fun and to be able to see the kids faces seeing all the different animals was absolutely priceless!
This is the first animal we seen on our way in and would you know it is one of Noah's favorites so he was very excited!! What is it you ask? The Snow Leopard.

Here are the boys with the monkeys, can you tell which are which? LOL

We were just in time to see the sea lions being
trained and fed!

In the den of Nocturnal Animal

Can you find the Sloth?
How about the Armadillo

Well went to see the elephant in the elephant pen only to find out she was out on a walk, however we did manage to bump into her on her walk, up close and personal!! I love the pic of Noah with the elephant in the background!

And here is Mom, trying to keep up with the rest of the crew...they were way to fast for me, but I was enjoying the excersise and watching the kid's expressions on their faces and how excited they were running from pen to pen

Here is Josh giving us a tutorial on
Lemurs and Endangered Animals

This is the castle front at the zoo entrance and all my princes!

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall, met the Ladue Boys
and had a great fall...whoops I told you all the secret
of what really happened to the poor old egg!!

Engineer Noah and Passenger David

Mick being eaten whole by a Hippo, poor poor hippo
doesn't know what's good for him...lol

Getting eaten by a Shark...AWWWWWWW

And to end the day with a roll down the hill!

Happy Kids + Lots of fun = Happy Parents!!!

Keep watching for more fun and more updates on baby Sarai...yes we are still waiting, but I feel it will be any day now!!

Blessings all

Week 38

2009-11-06T11:56:00.000-08:00

Well Hello from the Big City!!

My two boys and I have been alone here for most of the time dealing with teething, flu colds and what not. However we are through it now and are so very excited because Daddy and the other boys are on their way here!! YAY!

Pulling out all the seeds!! Could you believe there were 359 in there

So what have we been up to? Well we have accomplished a lot with schoolwork for Daniel. We are currently working on a unit about fall, pumpkins and harvest! It's been fun and we are so close to being done. We bought a pumpkin and were able to carve it and explore the different textures and talk about the different uses for pumpkins. Our theme for our carving was "Let Your Light Shine for Jesus" Daniel really enjoyed this activity, David however was having nothing to do with touching it...lol.

Here is David doing some of his own work!! Daniel being silly while pulling out

the "Yuckie Stuff"

I hope to complete this unit by Saturday and put the lapbook together so we can post about it.

"Let your light Shine for Jesus"
Jesus takes the Yuckie stuff away so
our light can shine all night and day!

Danny and David with the finished pumpkin

We are working through our Hooked on Phonics and practicing various things in math. Next week we will be starting a Science unit on animals which I think Daniel looks very forward too. We will also be starting on our around the world tour in Social Studies which will fall in place well with animals and habitats. In Math we are going to be starting on Calendars, days, months etc, then moving into time and place value. We are really focusing on phonics and reading as well to get him up to par as well as with writing and spelling and altogether those three will fall into place!

Well i am 38 weeks today...two more weeks to go but I am hoping for 1. I had an ultrasound yesterday and she is doing well. They say she is about 6lbs 9oz now and she has a lot of hair! When they showed me her face she was sucking with her lips and it was so cute. I never seen that with the boys so this was new. Medical imagery has come so far it's crazy. I was up a lot last night with cramping and a great pain (ok not so great pain) in my upper left leg! I went to see my Doc today and I am 3cm dialated and the cervix is getting shorter.....this is encouraging. It won't be long now until we get to fianlly meet this little sweetheart.

For adventure today we are heading out to the mall later on with a good friend to meet up with another friend from back home. I am so happy to see her, it has been awhile!

Well look for another update coming your way soon!!
Blessings to you all

Just thought I'd add a few extra pics!

Here is Danny acting crazy after being cooped up in the room sick for a few days...don't worry we went for a walk after this..lol

Here is David with his Banana...funny story, everytime we go to the corner store all he wants for his treat is a banana, this momma won't say not to that!!

Family and Baby Sarai Update

2009-10-28T20:55:00.000-07:00

Noah and David made the first Snowman!!

Well here we are, winter is peeking at us around the corner, and so is our little princess!

We had our first snow at home a few weeks ago and much fun was had by all. From snowmen to snow tigers and not to mention snow balls! The kids even tried to go sledding in the mere 1 inch of wet snow we got. Lol

We also hosted not one but 2 birthday parties within 2 weeks! Talk about crazy.......one consisted of 17 kids between the ages of 1-14 the second was not so wild...only little kids and few older kids, much more toned down from the teenage party. Oh my I can't even believe I just said the "T" word! Well it will definitely is going to be a knew chapter for us but it will be fun....he is such a good boy and he is a child of the Almighty so he is in His hands and we will continue to raise all our boys with the Lord's guidance!

Noah's 4th Birthday Party....will add pics of Josh's party too
As for me, well I am here 1500 miles away from my husband and 3 boys. Thankfully I brought 2 of them with me to keep me sane and not too lonely. We are now playing the waiting game! Not a game I like too much but the anticipation of finally getting to meet our little princess is so great! In just a few short weeks we will be holding her in our arms delivered unto us by our Father. She will go through obstacles but will conquer and overcome! We have many many people praying for her and her health and we are very confident in our Lord, he can do ALL things!!

In our most recent appointments she looks to be doing well. She is very active and responds to voices with her kicking. Oh and did I mention she likes to wake up when mommy wants to sleep?? I am sure she is wondering where that soothing voice she will call Daddy went, soon enough she will hear it again. There are few new things they are observing in the echo cardioultrasound but will not be certain of everything until she is born and they can see better. She does have a small hole in her heart as well which will work to their advantage with her and what they do. As of now plans are still the same for her delivery; she will be born naturally and after birth will be taken to the Children's hospital with Daddy in tow!! Just like a little girl now isn't it....with Daddy in tow!!

(Front of Sarai's Prayer Blanket)
Our family along with many wonderful friends have helped us to make this wonderful prayer blanket for Sarai. Each square or piece of material has been held and had a prayer over it by the person/people who have sent it to be included in her blanket. Once the blanket was completed, mommy and daddy said a special prayer over the whole blanket and it is now put away and ready for her to have with her from the time she is born. My plan for this blanket is to keep adding to it as the years go by and she will always have it. So many thank yous to all of you who helped with this special project!!! Blessing on all who are in prayer for us, may you all in return be blessed by the Lord.

Well just another 9 sleeps and the rest of my family will be here with us to await her arrival. I have to have routine ultrasounds and visits with the OBGYN once a week until Sarai is born. Oh yea her name is Sarai (princess) Faith Michelle. I love the name. It was funny cause I was thinking it and then Daddy said it and so it is! For the next few days I think my boys and I are just going to lay low, do some school work and get a lot of rest!! Yay I am actually excited about it, it seems that we have been going and going non stop so it will be nice to just relax.

Well I have been up since 6:30 am and really need some sleep. Goodnight and God Bless you all!!

Baby Update

2009-09-24T16:02:00.001-07:00

Yea Yea I know I know, in my last post I said I would update more frequently! I have got to get on the ball here. However our life has kinda hit a few obstacles and we are getting through the course, all the while having the Lord hold us up!

At the present time I am 31 6/7 weeks pregnant, yes tomorrow I will be 32 weeks!! We have found out that our little girl has a heart defect which will require surgery soon after birth. Having all this news and information loaded on us sure has been trying, but we are getting through and only focusing on the positives each day! We have been blessed with a great team of doctors, nurses and case workers and of course most of all with the love and support of family and friends!! We will have the blog up and running quite frequently to update and have photos of our little Princess when she is born and during the time she is in hospital.

There is so much to do and to get prepared before we are gone to wait and yesterday I was informed that I may be sent out earlier than we thought. I will fly out with 2 of the boys and Brian and the other 3 will come a few weeks later. We will move from the comforts of our home to a hotel suite for a period of about 2 months! We will try our best to create a home atmosphere for our boys and us, but I am sure we will have our challenges.

School is back in full swing for the 3 oldest boys and we are doing some preschool things with Noah, but it is just not going as I planned with all the preparing that is going on here. Who would have thought that the boys would be growing and I would need to sort through clothes to pull out bigger clothes and put away smaller ones! And the fact that winter (yes i said the "W" word) is peeking around the corner, which means we need to get the summer stuff put away and the winter gear out! Well I have almost accomplished those two items on my list, I am so very close!! However I did hear my husband ask me what in the world I was doing when he walked into the garage...LOL

Now the weekend is here, Dad is gone and I am here with the 5 boys!! I was feeling a bit anxious earlier about what kind of stress I may be under with fighting, screaming and the phone that rings 100 times from after school until bedtime, and usually not even once is it for an adult in our home! However I must re look at my outlook on this time with them and enjoy it, for in a few short weeks everything will be in a complete upheaval with our time being mostly spent in the hospital! I love my boys so much. I was sitting here earlier trying to figure out what we can do tonight to keep things at a minimal, so I think I have chosen pizza and movies! The boys can bring out their sleeping bags, stretch out on the floor and we will all watch some great family movies together.

Tomorrow we may have company, which will be nice. I think I will finish up with getting the summer clothes put away, and with the help of my boys, bring some organization to the garage that has somehow EXPLODED!! That will give me two more things checked off my list and only 16 more to go.....awwww time must slow down.

I am often comforted by the thought of the Lord Holding our precious little girl and comforting her in this time. A friend of ours told us of a vision she had where she seen the Lord's heart beating in time with hers......He loves her so very much and we are confident that He will continue to strengthen her each day. It makes me remember that He is so much a part of us, the life in us!

Well until next time, Blessings to you all

A Ladue Summer

2009-08-09T12:46:00.000-07:00

Well well well.......yea I know you have probably all given up on my blog. I have been a terrible blogger haven't I?

Well the summer has been great so far, not too much rain and a lot of beautiful weather. However there has been a great amount of smoke due to the forest fire which is quite near to us, so as soon as the smoke clears up we will spend more time outside.

The Fire

The boys have taken in golf lessons, summer camp, swimming lessons and swim team, archery, camping, and hand games. The last thing we need to do now is take a family holiday!!
Dropping the kids off to go to camp!
The kids won 2nd place at the Hand games tournament, 2 of the team members were missing at the time of the picture...way to go John 3:16
Dad, brothers, sister and Dad won 3rd in the adults division!!

Right now we are at 25 weeks in the pregnancy and have some great news!! We are having a GIRL!!! Everyone here is so ecstatic, as you can imagine. The closet is slowing beginning to have more and more pink!! We have chosen a name for her but will keep it a secret until she is born. So stay tuned.

Here she is at 19 wks in this pic our little "Princess"

Right now hubby and our oldest boy are gone on a work/hunting trip. Lord willing they will be successful in both and come back with a nice cheque and a nice bull moose and caribou!! And maybe sonny will get to get his first kill. So me and the other four boys are going at it this week at the house Hopefully we will get some baking and cleaning done along with some sorting of clothes and inventory of winter stuff, yes I said winter stuff. With the leaves beginning to turn yellow we all know that winter is not too far off!! Maybe my honey's idea of moving way south for the winter's is not such a bad idea, although we would then miss all the sliding and winter weenie roasts with the kids.

And wouldn't you know it, school starts in just 2 weeks. Some of the boys are wanting to homeschool and go to the public school to take part in a few of the courses they offer and the other one is still undecided. We have some talking to do here in the next couple weeks and make a desicion.

In just 5 short days we will be celebrating David's 2nd birthday and then in a month our oldest son turns 13!! Wow how fast time flies. I must always remind myself that these years are such a short time and to take in each moment and treasure it dearly! Children grow so fast they go from being so needy to wanting to do everything for themselves, from wanting to learn everything to thinking they know everything. All these things help us to grow in everyway possible in our Christian walk. Above all we learn so much about LOVE. How to love the Lord with all our hearts, minds, and strength, and to trust him no matter what comes our way, and how to Love everyone else around us. To be able to show our children these qualities physically, emotionally and mentally is absolutely PRICELESS!! I thank God each and every day for our boys, now a little girl and our marriage and family.

Well my friends, I must get dressed at some point this day and make a trek to the store. I have an order for banana bread and cookies...lol

Love you all and blessings your way

A New Chapter

2009-06-05T08:33:00.000-07:00

The Boys on the Big Dump Truck

Well hello all!! Yea yea I know it's been awhile since our last post. Well considering the sickness of being pregnant and our big move, I don't think I am doing too bad!

So where shall I begin.....well after , let me count, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 loads I believe...we are finally moved! It was a lot of work but we are here, in our new house somewhat settled and excited about what the Lord has in store for us now. And no there is not a thing I miss about our old house. Only people, good friends and the kid's friend Justin (yea we miss you big guy), Joe, Frankie, David, Carson, Leeland, Jr. and Jimmy oh yes and dare I not forget miss Reagan!!

So about our house..I will post pics later...It is a 5 bedroom house with two bathrooms, dining room, small kitchen (I will have to get used to that) living room and a family room which is now my honey's office. There is a nice size patch of grass in the front and the back yard...well let's just say it needs some work. The only things I don't like is the back yard and the unfinished deck which has some safety issues. But all in all it feels like a home and one of the best things about it......there are NO BUGS!!!! (Yea that's a story for another time)

I love this picture of Noah...read his shirt, and no it wasn't planned

So the town we live is is called Faro, it's not very big but it is absolutely beautiful. You can see mountains out the window and everything is green green green! The people here are very friendly and I have already met a few other moms at a local playgroup we have managed to attend a few times. There is a small grocery store here which has all the necessities to keep one going for awhile, but we will have to do most of our bulk shopping when we go into town. There is no gas station here as it burnt down last year I believe but the next town is only 30 minutes away. So I suppose most people keep a stock pile of gas around. There is an awesome golf course here which, ready for this, runs throughout the town...yes right in town, so always be alert and listening for "Fore". There are 2 ball diamonds, a skateboard park and many smaller little parks around the town. And that is a brief summary of where we are.

David on the swings at a park.

The first 3 1/2 months of this pregnancy were, well honestly, quite awful! I was very nauseated almost all the time, had very little energy, and very very tired! So packing cleaning and moving were all a blurr between the trips to the bathroom and dizziness! But I made it....and no pills to curb the nausea. My thoughts were if I can just get over this it will be okay, and in the end it will have been so worth it! For some of you reading you are probably like "Yea yea lady...nausea is a part of pregnancy", well not for me! I was not like this with any of the boys, only vehicle sickness, but nothing like this! So with all the said I am so hopeful for a girl! I am 16 weeks today! and I am feeling a lot better...Thank God! I have my days here and there of feeling nauseated but it is nothing like before...and I now need to decide if it would be better for me to travel on an empty stomach or what. I have more energy but am still feeling quite tired. Yesterday I could feel the baby really moving about, it was such an awesome feeling to feel this little life inside of me, this miracle growing within. Noah and I have been keeping track of how big the baby is every two weeks. He is amazed by it. I was actually thinking about doing a scrapbook type of project with him and keep track of the sizes and what he says about it. The other boys are excited and all hopeful for a girl too...Daddy doesn't say much but I think he is really hoping for "Daddy's little girl".

After we moved we decided to let the boys attend the local public school here to finish out the year. With the move and my being literally sick and tired...lol....we thought it would be the best decision for them. They are quite enjoying it and have met all the kids and made a lot of friends! We are happy with our decision so far and the kids seem to be right where they are supposed to be....except for Daniel and his reading but we were well aware that he was behind in that. So he is getting an extra boost he needs and we will continue with the Hooked on Phonics program we have over the summer. I do miss them, and teaching them but at the same time I am enjoying the free time to keep up with the house and the time with the younger boys. However regardless of our schooling choices for them in the fall.....we are going to have preschool for Noah and David.

Well that is us and what is up here. We look forward to the summer holidays and all the adventures to come! I will keep updating frequently now that I am settled.
God Bless

What a weekend, and an awesome beginning to the week!!

2009-04-01T21:35:00.000-07:00

Well our trip to the city was fun, trying and an adventure, to sum it all up. Not only did we have our 5 boys, we also had our "adopted" son with us.
The boys took part in a Hockey Tournament, which as you can imagine was a lot of going here going there, waking up early, going to bed late and some sick kids at the end of it all. However the kids did great and came in fourth place of the 9 teams in their category. They played 5 games, won 3 and lost 2.
The highlight of their weekend.....they got to see, and touch the legendary Stanley Cup!!!
I never seen kids so excited as they were when they found it it was going to be in the arena!! What a treat for them.
Yep there's my 5 wonderful boys, awestruck over the cup!! Another treat for them was to see their Nana and Uncle Joey. They flew up for the tournament and Uncle Joey played hockey as well. We always enjoy a visit with them even if it is just for a few days. Too bad Grandpa didn't come but next time!

Since we have been home we have been dealing with runny noses, ear infection, fever and a cranky baby! The joys of being in the midst of all those people and germs, but all in all the kids had a great time and got to play their most favorite sport.....Hockey!

Well we have had a great start to the week. Monday and Tuesday everyone was laying pretty low, due to the colds and fevers. We did however accomplish reading and English. Yesterday morning we found out that we are 7 weeks pregnant!! Yay. It is a few months earlier than planned, but God's timing is perfect! So we will have our last little bundle of joy in November! Just in time for her momma's birthday. We are all very excited. All the boys are very sure it is a girl, a couple of them say twin girls and we are being full of faith that we will have our darling daughter that we have been praying for.

Today we did get a lot accomplished considering I have been feeling ill today too. We did more algebra, fractions, Antarctica and finally started our Volcano unit. The boys read through a neat book we bought, about volcanoes and they did a project with lego and made a volcano with it. It was pretty cool, I will have to take pictures of it and put it on an upcoming post. My printer has run out of ink again so my plans for starting a study on Jesus as a boy and then His ministry, will be slower than planned. But maybe this is a good thing for us.

I was quite happy with myself today for getting more things sorted and packed...despite how I was feeling. My poor baby boy had a fever all day and followed me around the house when he had enough energy to get off the couch. I am looking at him now and it seems as though his fever may have finally broke. Thank God!
Well that is all I have to say for now, I am tired and I have some achey bones. Time for a hot hot shower and bed!! Good night all and God Bless you all

Here we go again!!

2009-03-23T20:23:00.000-07:00

Here we go again. Another day another week! Well I am happy to report that although the dinosaur lapbooks and notebooks have been put on the back burner for a bit, they have come out again and are 1 day away from being complete. Believe me we are ALL happy, it just seems to have taken so very long.

On the past Thursday I gave Josh and Mick their new lapbooks to start....yea start but they finished by Friday after lunch! I didn't realize how excited they were about these ones, they were rattling off information to me all day long for 2 days. Josh did his guitar lapbook and Mick did a technology one. I will post them tomorrow. Our niece Kassandra also finished her Dolphin lapbook and is pretty excited about giving it to Grandma and Grandpa.
Over the weekend we got a lot accomplished around here. Well I think we did...ha ha. I do know that the kitchen is looking pretty bare and the computer from the schoolroom has been moved to the living room. It took the place of our tree....looks like that will be the last time we see it again until November!

It was awesomely warm this weekend and the kids enjoyed a lot of time outside. On Sunday night something overcame Josh and he was a cleaning machine!! He did a great job and everything looked so nice, I love it when they get into that mood, you know to be helpful and to do it without the complaining! It's great.Highlight of the week David can talk!!! Silly me, I was starting to wonder why he wasn't trying to talk, but really why should he talk when he has 4 older brothers, a mom and a dad who all seem to know exactly what he wants or needs! But he said "hewhoa" (hello), eyes, "ose" (nose) , "aww" (hair), "airs" (ears). It was so cute, and yes mommy over-reacted...lol. Oh those milestones.

This week has started with a bulk making of waffles!! I am not sure what i was thinking by quadrupling the batch but the good thing is, now we have a whole bunch in the freezer ready to be popped in the toaster. Great snacks and fast too!
Daniel had his first lesson on what a noun is today. He thought this was pretty interesting, and boy am I glad he did since this is just the beginning of many years of learning about that stuff! Danny also finished up the last of his dinosaur things for his lapbook and we discussed how he would like the layout for it, so tomorrow we will put it altogether the way he wants, you'll have to stay tuned to see it.
Josh and Mick did a study on Saskatchewan today and Josh got Kassandra to help as she is moving there in the fall. She was really interested in learning about her soon to be new "home." They also finished up the rest of their unfinished dinosaur items.
After all our work was completed today Daniel and I went on a few errands downtown...it was his turn this time and he was so excited. Every time I take one of them downtown they get to have a treat at the store and Danny's treat is always a Kinder Surprise egg!
When we got home I started a batch of 100% wholewheat bread and buns. once they were rising I put on a pot of some yummy homemade turkey rice soup..mmm...mmm..mmm!
The bread turned out great and of course the kids wanted some cinnamon buns! Okay okay I am trying to lose weight here and I have to resist the temptation and reach for some fruit instead, it's hard but I know I can do it. Daniel had to be in the picture, he was so excited about those ones with the icing!!

Well the rest of the week is looking pretty busy. Dad, Josh and Kassandra are leaving tomorrow to drop Kassie off with her momma and Dad has some work to do. On Thursday morning the rest of us will leave to the city for a weekend full of hockey!! The boys are so excited. Dad and Josh will meet us there onThursday evening. Before we leave I will finish up a project I am secretly working on for Kassandra's birthday present and hopefully get some packing done....I am almost thinking this could possibly somewhat of a break week for the boys, with a lot of reading going on. We are also going to be starting a Spring Reading Challenge in our home.....one they reach 75 points they will get to go to the store and get a treat of their choice! They can earn points by reading books, reviewing lapbooks, reading to the younger boys, and playing educational games we have made. So it will be fun too.
Well It's bedtime and they need to go to bed! Check back soon to see the 4 new lapbooks we are adding to our blog
Blessings to you all!!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

2009-03-18T00:12:00.000-07:00

Well today was St. Patrick's Day, I wish I would have had more time to prepare, but things have been crazy around here trying to pack, school and parent!! But all in all we had a pretty good day!! Actually in the last 2 days we have had our fair share of learning about Saint Patrick, Shamrocks, Rainbows and brainstorming our own meaning behind the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow. Well do you want to know what we came up with? Sure I'll tell you at the end of this post...ha ha ha.
Okay okay I know you are noticing the girl in the picture....I only have boys, but this week we have the wonderful privilege of having our Niece Kassandra staying with us. She has been a great joy to have around...believe me it's definitely nice to have another female figure in our home!

Well to start off our week I will fill you in on what is happening with our schoolwork. Monday we began working on our St. Patrick's Day lapbook, which by the way was a lot of fun. The kids did a great job. I am learning though, that I really need to give them more time to complete these holiday lapbooks! It is a lot to fit into 2 days, well actually 1 1/2 days! Here is a video I did of their Lapbook so check it out: (sorry it's sideways)

Hope you liked it!!

Well other activities we did of the last 2 days included making Irish hats, and the kids wanted to decorate our tree for this day. Yea yea I know!! lol They made a paper chain with green paper strips, green and blue crosses and then Mick thought an Irish hat would be great for the tree topper!
Oh yea let me tell you about the craziest thing that happened today! This morning the phone rang and Danny answered it. He brought the phone over to me and said "Mom it's a little Irish man!" I gave him that look...you know the one I mean...as the person on the phone could clearly hear him. I took the phone and to my surprise the man on the other end had an Irish accent!!!!!! I had a hard time not to laugh (and no I do not laugh at people for their differences) but the whole thing was so fitting being it is St. Patrick's Day and all. When I hung up Danny said "See mom I wasn't lying was I?" I couldn't help but laugh!

Well tomorrow is the start of some new units, which meant a library visit for us today. Okay I had 6 kids a the library and then added one to the crew while there, so it wasn't as quiet as a library should be. The good thing is we did successfully get the books we needed!! Hooray. I just know these situations are good for the ongoing work with in me....believe me these times can make a mother boil! but I am learning to let them be kids, where you can hear kids laughing means there is happiness and life! Anyway back to our new units. Tomorrow we will begin a study on Volcanoes and we are all doing this one together, on top of this we have for Social; Knights, Castles and the Middle Ages. Noah is going to start his CARS Totbook which once again we got from this site. Of course we will be continuing on with our continental hopping for Daniel and our Canada study for Josh and Mick.
Since our niece is staying with us I told her that she had to participate in schooling, surprisingly she was all for it. She chose a dolphin lapbook from Homeschool Share. She also got a book at the library from the Dolphin Diaries series.
Oh yea did I mention that we have started the Prince Caspian unit study for our reading as well. Phew, we have a lot on the go but most of what we are doing they will be able to do on their own, which will help me so I can focus a bit more on packing.
Well that is a view of what our week has been so far and will look like for the days ahead. Check back with us later in the week to see any new post we have. I do plan to do a couple videos on the kids' notebooking so far and our Dinosaur books...I still need to help Danny assemble his.
Blessings to you all

p.s. I know you thought I forgot didn't you....Pot of Gold at the end of the Rainbow: The rainbow represents God's promise and LOVE for us all, the pot of gold represents the treasure waiting for us for believing and having FAITH in Him!!!

Children...what a gift, what a blessing

2009-03-08T23:04:00.000-07:00

Well this past week has been quite interesting and the Lord has brought many things to mind this week.
Let's talk about babies!! I have tried my best to be in the most positive, loving and stress free environments, that I could possibly be in while pregnant (Believe me with all these boys it does not come easy!) The reason for this is so that the baby, who by the way is already developing the very important feeling of trust, would know and feel safe coming into this world. The baby would know that he/she (in my case 5 hes) will come into the world and feel safe and trust those loving parents who will cuddle, hold, feed and protect over the next 18-20 years! Wow what an important feeling to nurture and all that even before birth. Wow we mothers and fathers, our jobs start as soon as conception begins! Now for me personally I made a choice to be as nurturing and loving as I could be, long before I even had children. It was just a thing I had always thought about. Obviously the Lord had put this in me a long long time ago. I am by far a perfect mother and have my flaws, but we iron out the wrinkles and keep on going.
As infants I decided to breastfeed my boys, well my oldest boy I didn't I wish I had but that was a decision I made before I knew better. My second oldest I breastfed for 2 1/2 months, now he could eat 24/7, and no I am not exaggerating at all! Dan, he lasted 8 mos, Noah 18mos, and My baby boy well he is still feeding....he will be 19 mos this month and he is still going. Well I have been having these feelings, which I decided this week were selfish, that I want myself back, if you get what I mean...lol Well My husband said to me "Dear you are the ONLY one who can give him what he needs and wants, cherish this time with him." That really opened my eyes. I have been pondering those words my husband spoke to me over the last few weeks. It is true, I am the only person who can give him this, and this time with him is our time, just me and him, and yes I must cherish this time with him because this time will soon be over and we will move into something new. So I have taken hold of him and just sit with him while nursing, running my fingers through his hair and telling him how much I love him. Mothers and Fathers think of yourselves as guardian angels who have been blessed with these wonderful children to watch over.
Another decision my husband and I have made for our children is to allow them to sleep with us. It makes them feel secure and know that we are there for them close and never very far away. I have had many "BOOK" Parents tell me how horrible it is to sleep with your children, well I must tell you truthfully, IT HAS BEEN GREAT. They tell me oh your children will have some sort of anxieties, or problems sleeping later as they grow up, and the list goes on and on. Well you know we have slept with the 3 youngest and we have had almost the same experience with all of them. Sooner or later each one of them has moved out into their own beds when they were ready and it wasn't very long for any of them to all do this. We feel it is an important part of our nurturing and making them feel safe, secure, loved and trusting. These times are to be cherished and held dearly in your hearts. They need us.
My thoughts lately have been on my family.....and I have come to realize that this part of our life won't last for very long and we must hold this time close to our hearts. We must stop being so busy and so tuned into the world and having all the things of the world and just love and take in each precious moment, we are blessed to have these times with our children. I think about the fact that our oldest is turning 13 this year!! Seriously, where have the last 13 years gone? It seems like yesterday when we were sitting down holding him and marveling at his sweet little smile and his big chubby cheeks. Now he is coming into becoming a young man and in just a few short years he will be ready to be on his own!!! The time of our children seems so short yet we somehow think it is so long. The world has come to see this time as dreadful! I see a pattern that has developed in the ways the world looks upon different stages in a child's life and it makes me feel sad. At the age of Two the are "Terrible" then we have the "Trying" years from 5-9, then the "Pre-teen" or Tween years from 10-12 and then OH MY GOODNESS THE DREADFUL TEENAGE YEARS!!!! Now come on, I have to say I have had my moments with my children but none have been so awful that I would call them terrible or awful or look forward thinking it will be dreadful. Each moment and stage is so amazing and the LORD has given us the duty of carrying them through times of turmoil and walk with them through times of happiness. You know the "Footsteps" Poem (My favorite) think about that and how the Lord is always loving us no matter what!! That is how he wants us to be to our children, after all we are all HIS children.
Well I don't know if I have gone all over the place with this post but I truly love and have a great passion for my children and my husband and of course our families. I feel that the Lord has planted these important thoughts in my mind to help guide me through mother hood and us through parenthood. I am so thankful for these insights!!
Well I need to go to bed, I will be posting some of our weekend adventures, with pictures, tomorrow.
God Bless

On the Road Again!!

2009-03-03T22:40:00.000-08:00

Well here we are, yet again in our Home away from home? LOL Well we have travelled again, and yes Ladue Academy is fully functioning on the road! I have had questions about this subject.....Do the kids do schoolwork when you are travelling? and the answer to the question...OF COURSE! Actually I think they get to endeavour into more of the culture here and learn about their cultural background! Dad has been documenting an ongoing Culture Camp type of event here and the 2 older boys have been able to join in on the learning and the fun. So far they have taken in trapping, skinning hides, making snowshoes, making hunting packs, and have had the pleasure of listening to elders tell stories.
Tomorrow we are going to another town not far from here, where we will be checking out the house we are wanting to rent, so pray for us that all goes well.

Now on to our studies. This week will take us to the end of our dinosaur unit. Today I started on a tot book/activity pack with my Noah. He loved making the Land Before Time cards, which we got off of a site for those of us who teach tots...the site is called 1+1+1=1. Actually the 3 youngest boys played with them all morning and they loved it.
Today we read in Job about Behemoth and Leviathan. The boys were so interested and loved to draw the pictures of how the bible explained them. We plan to visit the local school here, later this week, where they have an actual chunk of rock with a dinosaur footprint. The rock was taken from a local cliff side here. So the boys will enjoy that. We were done our work not too long after lunch and went out for a walk and enjoyed the much needed sunlight and warmth.

Tomorrow we will all begin a unit study on the book Prince Caspian. We have also been looking over all of the Science lapbooks that the boys are interested in and have decided on doing one huge one on volcanoes. Mick is going to begin one on technology and computers and Josh is going to begin his guitar lap book. Daniel will continue on with his subtraction lap book and when we go home he will begin one on phonics. Noah and I will finish his new Dinosaur tot book and any other activities pertaining to dinosaurs.

Well it's late and I need sleep. So when I think of more to write I will, and you can be sure I will write about our adventures this week.

Loves you all

Big Families- Saving Money and Time

2009-02-26T11:11:00.001-08:00

Well a lot of people are always commenting on how expensive it is to raise children. Well yes it can be!! Of course if you are buying clothing at the Gap and dressing them for winter in a $200.00 snowsuit and then have a different color coded jacket for each week, yep that can can be pretty damaging to the budget! As for me well I have to admit I LOVE PLEASE MUM!!! The trick is when I do go there I am buying only from the clearance racks and a lot of time buying what I can in bigger sizes for the next year! I also do this in Walmart and Superstore. The last time we were in the bigger center I was in Walmart and looking for another pair of winter boots for my Danny, who wore the insides right out. And they were having the best sale on winter boots ever!!! Now where we are these things do not come cheap so at $5.00 a pair, yes 5 bucks, I couldn't resist. I was able to get 3 pairs for the 3 youngest, all a size bigger, for next winter. And let me tell you these boots were quality warm boots, Kodiak and Sorel brands. Yay. Now next time I go I will scour the racks for snow pants hats and mitts.
We have come home a few times to bags of boys clothes by our front door, greatly appreciated. I go through the bags, keep what we like and the rest goes on to another family or to a local thrift shop. Nothing wrong with secondhand clothes not at all.
And of course we have one box for each size for the younger boys, although there is a certain age they get too when pants are not very salvageable...lol those ones have become a part of my jeans pile to be cut up and recycled into lovely quilts for my boys!!
One could have many many kids and still stay on a pretty nice budget. I just watched this show a few weeks ago where a family with 12 kids lived quite comfortably on a yearly budget of $40,000. The key is to plan and stay on the Budget!! We have learned many hard financial lessons, but we have learned is the key and we are still learning. One has to appreciate the learning lessons that Lord allows us to go through, He has definitely been our saving Grace.
So now I am working on revamping our budget and sticking to it!! We are planning a move in the near future and we will have to stick to our budget and plans.
Another thing I frequently do is menu plan!!! Some people comment that it takes too much time and effort, well it actually doesn't take that much time and the kids LOVE it!! We hang the menu on the fridge and they can just look at it and know what exactly we are having and did I mention it actually encourages them to help with meal prep!!! Yes if they see something on the menu that they can make themselves or help prepare they are on top of it. It's great, I think menu planning definitely saves money and time! And another thing I have been touching on a bit, but plan to do a lot more of in the near future is BULK cooking and baking. I have been very inspired to do this by many blogs but specifically one family's blog Beauty and Bedlam. She includes recipes and let me tell you the best waffles EVER!!! Yep I made them one evening for supper and I made a triple batch, plain, blueberry and chocolate chip. It was great, I froze a bunch and it was just like toaster waffles only healthier. I also did bulk cookies the other day so now we have fresh baked ones and ones that are ready to be pulled out of the freezer, put on a pan and backed, Voila!! It takes just as much time as doing a single batch. So I do encourage it, Mothers you will appreciate it in the long run.
Well my friends I must go now and get my boys to work, they just finished chopping wood and packing it in so now they are ready to sit and concentrate on our studies for today. God Bless all you wonderful people.

Yay we're almost done!!

2009-02-22T01:02:00.000-08:00

Well we completed another successful week! Danny is so close to being finished his Dinosaur lapbook and the older two are still working in their Notebooks. They were on hold for a few days due to no ink in the printer but we are back in business. And it gave us time to focus a bit more on Social and get all their Prime Minister matchbooks done. By the way they really enjoyed this and learning about all the PMs!
We did take one day off this week to go on a road trip with Dad. It was nice but it threw the boys off a bit the day after!! Oh well it was nice just to go and be refreshed in the Lord through podcasts and listening to music, and it also makes way for a lot of conversation between myself and Dad. We were also able to hit some great sales on winter boots and books!!
In math Mick is finishing up his unit on geometry and Joshua is finishing up his unit on fractions. Daniel and I will be putting together his Addition lapbook next week and starting his Subtraction Lapbook. I made him a Dinosaur adding/subtracting FFG and he really enjoyed that.
Noah wasn't too interested this week but he did do some of his number copywork pages and some more coloring in his Dinosaur pages.
We were very happy to announce that Daniel finished his Hooked on Phonics Kindergarten set and we have moved onto the Grade 1 set. To celebrate he decided to write his own book using all the words he learned in the first set.
We ended the week with learning about Paleontologists and we did a dinosaur bone dig on Friday. I had cleaned off some chicken bones and we decided to fill containers with snow and water then refreeze. It worked great and didn't cost anything! Always a plus.

Here is Noah working at his

Josh, he was very into this and worked very patiently at his

Here is Mick showing off his find.
They used screwdrivers as chisels and
paintbrushes for their tools

And of Course Daniel...He found 3!! Only when home schooled can you go to school dressed as Spider-Man.

And here is a close up of the whole thing in the container.
Well that is how our week went. Check us out in the next few days for more updates!!
God Bless

What happened to the weekend??

2009-02-15T23:09:00.000-08:00

Well I hope you all enjoyed the weekend and Valentine's Day!!!
As for us we started off the weekend taking in a local hockey tournament and Handgames Tournament, which the boys payed in. It was fun to watch them they always have so much fun....for those of you who are reading this and do not know what that is, it is basically a guessing game, 6 players on each team and each player has a rock or something small in their hand. They hide it and then one player from the other team will point a certain direction and if you get caught then you are out. They play for sticks and when you win all the sticks 2 times you win the game and all this to the beat of the drum. The boys team came in 3rd place so they were pleased!!
On Saturday I woke up the family, presented them with a wonderful little Valentine's Day Breakfast. I made them Waffles with whip cram and blueberries and turkey bacon...it was delicious!! After breakfast I gave the boys there Treat bags I made up for them and Dad his chocolates. After that we headed out to the rec center for more of the hand games and hockey. The boys made a bunch of Valentine cards and taped chocolates on them. Some of the card said Happy Valentine's Day and some said Jesus Loves You and others had Bible verses on them. They just handed them out to random people and kids. The receivers were really happy to receive them and they added a bit of Joy to those who were lonely or down and out. It was so nice!
Now I am off to bed....a new week starts tomorrow. Hopefully I will feel good enough in the morning to get up and do my exercise!!I will write more tomorrow. Good night all and God Bless

2009-02-07T23:42:00.000-08:00

Yep you guessed it! This week was full of Dinosaurs. The older three boys finished their Dioramas and they did a great job. The older two have plans to do a short video, using still shots, with theirs.

This is Daniel's Diorama, we used clay to make the Dinosaurs.

This is Joshua's Dinosaur Diorama.

This is Mick's Dinosaur Diorama.
Mine and Noah's is yet to be finished!!

I had the older two choose 10 different Dinosaurs each to learn about and Daniel is doing the lapbook. I am also in the middle of creating more things for the older two, to fill their notebooks. Noah is still working in his Dinosaur coloring book which also focuses on letters.We left for the city on Wednesday and endured the 5 hour journey. It was nice though, to get out of here for a day. While there Mick, Danny and Dad took in the movie Inkhart and myself Noah and David got to enjoy a wonderful ice cream cone and a great adventure in Walmart..woohoo. They all enjoyed themselves. Josh decided to stay back and spend some time with his buddy.
Once home we then made Dinosaur eggs using balloons and paper mache. We then painted them.

And yes even Simba was there...lol I love the middle picture of David and I painting.

And the finished eggs.

And here are the eggs hatched! Noah named his Shasta the Dinosaurus...too cute. David's is babe, Daniel's is Meat Eater, Mick's is Adam and Joshua's is Rex!

Dads and sons

2009-02-02T00:18:00.001-08:00

Did it ever amaze you just what a cardboard box could do for one's family?? It always amazes me. Get a good empty box and let the kids go nuts, they love it, more than any toy you could buy!! We have done castles, hotels, cars, and now even skidoos!!! Awhile back Dad showed Josh how to make a skidoo out of a laundry soap box (something he did as a kid) the kid loved it. Yesterday Josh asked Dad to show him how again, and 4 skidoos later the boys all had the greatest smiles and were all hyped to go outside (at 10pm) to try them out. Some of them had riders taped on and one even had a flashlight through the front as a headlight. But I think the best part was watching as Dad and boys spent this time together, creating!!! How wonderful.

The end of one week and the start of a new

2009-02-01T11:19:00.000-08:00

Well what can I say the week went by so fast!!! That is definitely not a bad thing, especially for those of us who were missing Daddy. And he came home a day earlier which was even better.
This week we began a unit in Science on dinosaurs. The older two boys are notebooking everything where Daniel is doing a lapbook and a bit of notebooking. Noah is practicing writing and recognizing numbers and I also made him a Dinosaurs A-Z coloring book, which he loves, and we will continue working on his tot book. I have many activities planned and I am so happy we are going to the city this week so we can get some needed supplies. We are going to be making dinosaur eggs using paper mache, dinosaur treats for snack one day, doing a dinosaur dig where the kids will be able to pretend they are paleontologists, and we have begun working on dioramas! The kids loved this idea and the older two are talking about making a short video using their dioramas, when they are done I will post the video they make. Noah and I will begin ours on Monday and we are doing a creation diorama and then a dinosaur one also. David, well he just likes to be at the table, we have been giving him various dino pictures to color or shall I say scribble, baby art work is so cute!! We bought him some of the crayola beginners sets and so far he loves the paints, I mean what baby wouldn't when you can get it in your hair all over your hands your belly and face, it's great.
We were blessed with some awesome warm weather this weekend, -2 yesterday!! and warming up to -4 today. We took the boys to the ski hill yesterday so everyone got to ski or snowboard, even Noah...he was so cute. David walked around and just enjoyed playing in the snow and watching the skiers and snowboarders coming down the hill. Hopefully today we will make it out to the lake to take in some sliding....we'll see, we are so far off to a very slow start today. Well I will update hopefully each day from now on or at least every few days as to what is happening in our world. Take care all and God Bless

A new week a new start

2009-01-26T16:45:00.000-08:00

Hello
Well It's Monday and it has been a very good day. We started the day off by seeing Dad off for the week....it's always hard when he goes but he's gotta do it. He will be house hunting while he is gone so yes this does mean there may be a move in the very near future!! Yay.
Well in math right now Josh is working on fractions, adding them, multiplying them finding equivalent fractions and everything else to do with fractions!! Mikaiah is working on a geometry unit and Daniel is sill working on addition and subtraction slowly moving into borrowing and fun stuff like that! Reading, well they all have their reading workbooks and will be starting a novel tomorrow. Daniel is 3 books away from finishing the kindergarten Hooked on Phonics set and is sooo excited to be moving onto the grade 1 set...way to go Daniel.
In Science we are starting a unit on dinosaurs and will go into volcanoes, fossils, and all the things that go along with it. Everyone will be doing Dinosaurs but the older boys will go further into it than the younger boys.
In Social the older 2 are doing a unit on Canada and Daniel is doing a unit on His community. We are really dragging our feet through this as the boys find it boring so I will have to find something for our next unit that is interesting for them. Boys so hard to please...lol
Noah is currently working on a totbook about construction vehicles, that focuses on colors and numbers.
So now I must go cook dinner and get my printer working
God Bless

Writing Mini Office

2009-01-26T00:10:00.000-08:00

Here is the writing mini office I made for my grade 1 boy

Lower Elementary mini office

2009-01-25T23:45:00.000-08:00

This is the math mini office I made for Daniel who is currently in Grade 1

12 days of Christmas Lapbook

2009-01-25T23:15:00.000-08:00

Here is our 12 days of Christmas lapbook. We all worked on this one together and it turnedour to be a great learning experience for us all.

Math Mini office

2009-01-25T22:05:00.000-08:00

Here are the Mini Offices I made for the boys, they really enjoy them and being able to have their own private space

Candy Cane lapbook

2009-01-25T20:07:00.000-08:00

Here is our Candy cane lapbook we did together.

Christmas Symbols lapbook

2009-01-25T19:22:00.000-08:00

This Lapbook Mikaiah completed mostly by himself. I helped him look up things on the internet but he did most of it solo.

Nativity Lapbook

2009-01-25T18:22:00.000-08:00

We did four Christmas themed lapbooks and most of them we did together. This one I did with my 3 yr old, something simple but engaged him in the story of the Birth of Christ.

Noah's Thanksgiving lapbook

2009-01-25T17:28:00.000-08:00

Here is Noah's Thanksgiving lapbook. We did it together and he did remarkably well for a 2 yr old. He really just enjoys the thought of doing school work!!!

Danny's Thanksgiving Lapbook

2009-01-25T16:55:00.000-08:00

Here is the Lapbook Daniel did for Thanksgiving

Mikaiah's Thanksgiving lapbook

2009-01-25T15:54:00.000-08:00

Here is Mick's Thanksgiving Lapbook

Joshua's Thanksgiving lapbook

2009-01-25T14:14:00.000-08:00

Here is video of the Thanksgiving lapbooks we did

Noah's colors lapbook

2009-01-21T22:52:00.000-08:00

Here is the first lapbook I did with my son Noah. We are working on his colors here. He thoroughly enjoyed doing the lapbook and continues to do them. He thinks he is a Big Boy doing schoolwork with his brothers.

Daniel and the Lion's Den

2009-01-21T21:17:00.000-08:00

This is my son Daniel's first lapbook...he absolutely loves to lapbook and the learning is so awesome!!!

Primates Lapbook

2009-01-21T20:17:00.001-08:00

My 11 year old son Mick did this Primates lapbook....we did it all on our own as I did not find one on the net...but it turned out really good.

Joshua's Bee Lapbook

2009-01-21T19:05:00.000-08:00

Here is a video of my Oldest son's first Lapbook - Topic; Bees

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-01-21T17:45:00.000-08:00

Well I have all these videos of my boys' lapbooks and I can't upload them!!! wah.....
Well I will figure it out and I am sure my wonderful husband will help me do that.

Well currently in our schooling Josh is doing fractions and decimals in math, more grammer, spelling and reading skills. Mick is working on geometry and shapes along with writing skills and reading comprehension. Together they are doing a notebook on Canadian history. In Science we are all moving into a unit on Dinosaurs!!! So along with that we will do some stuff on Volcanos too.
Daniel is carrying on with reading using Hooked on Phonics....math adding and subtracting and moving into adding and subtracting double digits soon. We are starting reading comprehension, working on printing and a lot of copywork. For Social he is working on a notebook about our community and as the other boys he will be starting some stuff on Dinosaurs shortly. Noah well he is come and go, so Idon't pressure him. Next year he will have to cooperate more but for now we just let him do as much or as little work as he wants but he has completed 3 lapbooks which is awesome! He is really into lions, zebras, well any animal from the Lion King so I am thinking about creating him a Lion King Lapbook!!! I will let you all know how it goes.
Well I am off now to get dinner on the table....mmmm we are having Pizza Casserole and salad tonight. YUMMY
God Bless

Finally a break in the weather

2009-01-10T22:12:00.001-08:00

Today was a great day!!! We are finally having a break in the weather here!! -21 today it has been in the high 30s and low 40s for the past t weeks, it has been crazy. WHen it is that cold and you have 5 boys....it doesn't mix well. So today we took full advantage and went sliding, roasted smokies and hotdogs, drank hot coaco and had a full day, it was so nice! The weather is supposed to only get better throughout the week so I will be planning some outdoor time this week...yay!

Just getting started!!!

2008-12-27T20:45:00.000-08:00

Well I have finally set up a blog!!! We just want to have a place where family and friends can see what we are up to and check out some of the boys hard work. Well I will get some things together and make it a bit interesting so stay tuned cause let me tell you there is never a dull moment in our lives!!! Until next time God Bless