Saturday, September 29, 2012

My dah-ling Maggie!


Before I get into anything else, I've got two things to share.  First, I'm super excited about two finds I've recently acquired.  The first is an antique school desk that I found put out for garbage!  I think it's maple.  And it even has the inkpot holder.  It is missing the drawer underneath the seat, but Mike promises me that he will build one for it soon (hopefully it won't take as long as it took him to build the swingset - 2 years!) My plan is to refinish it and restore the desk to it's original beauty.  Isaac has already claimed it as his as he loves to sit at it and read or 'write' or colour.



And my second exciting find was a vintage Polaroid ColorMark Land Camera for only $4.  And it is in mint condition, with the manual and case and some original posting boards.  I could not believe that the thrift store was selling it for that ridiculously low price.  I almost feel bad for not giving them more. I've cleaned it all out, put batteries in it and it works...I just need to get some film for it. 


 
 
 
Oh and one other cool thing to mention is I've found a great online community for women interested in bible studies.  It's www.shereadstruth.com  I've really found it great to study God's word with other women and be able to discuss it with a large group of fellow Christian women.  I like that there are people from all over and from a wide range of backgrounds.  It's definitely worth checking out!

Ok so I've been updating about the kids.  And continuing chronologically, next up is the always funny, ever so beautiful Maggie.  She just turned 12 a couple of weeks ago and is growing into such an amazing young lady.  My Mom recently had a family get-together when my Uncle Jack and Aunt Kelly were up from Florida and I was so absolutely proud of Maggie (and all the other kids too!)  She helped prepare dinner, set the table, asked people if they needed a drink, and had some good conversations with different people.

Maggies interests currently are:  One Direction (ugh!), playing on her dsi and ipod, anything to do with fashion or makeup, scrapbooking (I wonder where she gets that from?), and of course she loves doing anything outdoorsy!











This is Maggie after getting her face painted at our church's Fall Festival.  Our church is Forks Road East United Church here in Wainfleet.













And this pic was taken just before school started.  Most of my kids are sick of me taking their photos all the time, but not Maggie!  She would let me take pics of her all day long!





Well, thanks for stopping by.  And God bless you!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

I'm on a roll....here's Bruce!

Ahh Bruce, where do I begin?  My first-born son, my quiet, serious, but hilarious and fun-loving 10 year old.  My Grandma told me something a long time ago that I never really understood until I had Bruce.  She said "Sarah, you'll love all your children the same but wait till you have a son, he will steal your heart and you'll never want it back!"  And as always, Grandma was right.

Bruce has been through so much in the last while.  He was diagnosed with ADHD and autistic tendencies.  What's the difference between autistic tendencies and autism, you ask?  Well, not a whole lot; I think it's just that on the autism spectrum Bruce presents at the low end or has the least amount of characteristics/symptoms.  We are still learning, so bear with me.

Here's a great starting point if you're interested in learning more:
http://www.autismontario.com

So Bruce is on a medication for the two disorders and has been adjusting so well.  His behaviour has changed so much (no suspensions, no bus reports, a huge decrease in fighting with his siblings)  Bruce has always been a sweet, caring, gentleman of a boy but he got a bit lost in there for a while. 
He's back and wow am I ever proud of who he's becoming!

Bruce is super excited that basketball starts just after Thanksgiving.  He has signed up to be on the travel team this year and is looking forward to our weekends away at tournaments.  Last year, he missed out because not enough kids in his division were interested in the travel team. 

And he's also interested in trying out karate or some other form of martial arts so we are looking into that for him. 




  I think I've taken so many photos of the kids that some of them (especially Bruce) are getting sick of it!  I pull out my camera and Bruce groans!

Here's Audrijana!

Alright, so my last post was an update about Isaac so I guess I'll keep going and update about the other kids.

Audrijana is going to be 7 in a couple of weeks!  I can't believe how fast she is growing up (well, actually, I can't believe how fast they all are growing up!)  She is in grade 2 this year and most days she loves school.  Her struggle has always been not wanting to get up in time for the bus, no matter what time I send her to bed.  I guess she inherited that from me as I would much rather stay up late than get up early!  We are looking to get her into dance and/or gymnastics although she also would like to try karate.  Maybe she'll try all 3 (if we can fit it all in somehow!)  She continues to be a "princess tomboy" (that's really the best way to describe her.)  She loves makeup and dresses and painting her nails but she also loves swimming in mud puddles, catching frogs, snakes and other creatures, doing tricks/stunts on her bike and lots of different sports.  At school, she is writing a book and she is so super excited about it (she told me tonight that it is completed but she has to wait for her teacher to mark it.)  I am super excited to read this masterpiece!




Thanks for reading and God bless you!

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

I can't believe it's been this long!

So, it's been a really, really long time since I last posted on here.  A while back, I had it in my head to start blogging again, and guess what, I couldn't remember my log in.  That is so typically me!  Well, I've got it sorted out and here I am, ready to blog again!

So much has happened since my last post that I almost don't know where to begin.  Almost.  Of course I'll start with the kiddos!

Isaac - He is now 3, as of June 27, and weighs 51 pounds (that about 5 lbs more than his almost 7 year old sister, Audrijana!)  People ask me all the time why he isn't in school, he is such a big boy! 
We are still working on figuring out his speech delays.  He's on the wait list (surprise, surprise) for speech therapy.  That should start around January, if their estimates are correct.  And we are waiting for a spot in a childcare setting because his speech therapist believes that being around other children his own age will help him with his speech.  He will see an ear-nose-throat specialist in October to investigate the thyro-glossal cyst and to see if there are any issues with his oral muscles, etc that could be preventing him from speaking clearly.  So I'm doing a lot of praying because I know God can heal and I know God has a great plan for this little man of mine!  He has an amazing spirit and I know he is going to do great things in his life!


I'll keep this short and sweet and finish this post here so that I have to come back to update y'all about my other 4 amazing children!

to be continued.......