St Nicholas resource

I was just pointed to this wonderful website by my friend Jenny in CT. Mamma Jenny is using some of the suggestions from it for her parish's outreach for St. Nicholas Day.
It is a wonderful resource and very fitting as we prepare to celebrate the feast of St Nicholas on December 6th!

Winter Wonderland

This is not a typical November for Vancouver. 20 cm are predicted to fall overnight. The city is beautiful; the drivers are not. No one here has a clue how to drive in the snow. We have already had a successful attempt at snowman making.
Quite a change from Florida! Look at the below post and see what I was wearing two weeks ago in the evening! It is 0'c (32'F) and 60 km/h winds are predicited.

Many Years to Mitzi and Todd

This is the whole family celebrating my brother's wedding. It was a beautiful day. All four of my children were in the wedding party. I made the girl's dresses. They seemed to turn out well. They did a fabulous job: Margaret and Esme were flower girls, Niko was the ring bearer and Elijah was the junior groom's man. I did a reading at the wedding and my husband said the prayer before dinner. We are all very tired now! I was shocked by how grown up Elijah looked standing at the front of the church. He really is becoming a man. I am not sure I am ready for that. Esme loves her new aunt and I can tell that Mitzi has a big influence on her...during the dance at the reception Mitzi and Esme were shaking up the dance floor! We couldn't get Esme to leave to go to bed.
The little ones love running around and playing with all of the other kids--there were tons of them. I had to keep a very watchful eye on them; the lake had ALLIGATORS in it.
I am not kidding......I don't know about these folks in Florida.










This is the present I made for my brother and sister in law. It is a duvet cover, 2 sets of pillow cases and various pillows. I think that they really liked it. My house was chaos before we left: me working and trying to sew all this and the flower girl dresses!


I will try and post some pictures of the rest of our holiday soon.

Things I learned in Texas

So there are some interesting things that I have learned during my sojourn in The Woodlands, Texas:
1-Watch out for Fire Ants (they have that name for a reason)
2-When it rains...it RAINS. In BC it rains a great deal of the time, but in TX it rains the same amount, but in about 45 minutes.
3-The mosquitos are BIG...and hungry
4-It is possible to have seven children; as long as their are four parents
5-Texas is waaaay too far away from BC.

BFF

How can you tell if you are with REALLY good friends? Everyone is on their own lap top in the same room chatting while blogging / working / checking email /shopping. Does it get better than this?
We are in Texas staying with our friends-in-the-trenches. We have had a fabulous weekend. We went to Blue Bell Creamery and had a tour of the yummy ice cream factory. Now the kids are plotting out the states in which we can purchase this new favourite.

Here are all SEVEN kids that have been under the same roof for the last four days. This is outside of Blue Bell Creamery.


This pic is of the two 2 yrs olds. They are having a blast! They met when M was 8 months old and G was 10 days old; now they are both 2 yrs old and fast friends.
Texas is too far away :(

The Bahama Mammas

This gorgeous woman with the flower crown and veil is my (in the very near) future sister-in-law Mitzi. From right the left: Nicole, Donna (Moo) Mitzi, Kim and Kimbo.
What a fabulous group of women I had the pleasure of getting to know last month in a little ol' place we like to call THE BAHAMAS! Where else would fabulous Floridians and one imported Canadian go to for a bachlorette weekend? We had the very best of times. It is a truly incredibly beautiful part of the world. We went snorkeling and saw parot fish and angel fish and 2 baracuda.


Luckily no sharks! Putting your head in this aqua blue water is like looking into an aquarium. We saw fire coral and fan coral and swam over top of the coral reef. The water was so warm--although the Floridians tried to tell me it was too cool! I found a triton sheel and brain coral (dead) and a conch shell to bring home. It is impossible to describe how blue the water is. At every chance I ran in for a swim.
We Island hopped and drank all manner of rum drinks and ate a lot of sea food.
Best of all I got to know Mitzi better. I am so excited that she is going to be my sister on November 12th.
Get ready girls....I am on my way back soon and the Bahama Mammas will reunite!

The Man I Want to Stand Me Up.

I have only ever been stood up on a date once...and that twist of fate (or act of God) brought me to meet my husband that night instead--thank you Lloyd where ever you are! I have been concerned this week that I might cross paths with someone that I would rather avoid. I have not met Ernesto and quite frankly I don't want to; he is far too unpredictable and has a history of violence. I was worried that I would have to make his aquaintance on Thursday, but it now looks like I will be avoiding this awkward, inconvenient and potentially dangerous meeting all together.
Mu future sister in law has invited me to spend some time with her so we can get to know one another and so I am leaving my family far behind this week to bond with the sister I always wanted, but never had. And Ernesto? Well,there is no room for a stormy man when the girls are on the town!

Finally

Have you really arrived when you have proof of your existence on the web?
My girl friends have told me that people have come to their husbands workplaces because of this--we will see.
Thank you Alexei for (continually) putting this together.

We have a home!

We have done the almost impossible:
We have moved and unpacked our entire household in 4 days.
It is such a great thing to have space. The children are like inmates who have been set free; they have been running around inside, outside, upstairs, downstairs...
It has been a long two years living in teeny tiny spaces. A fenced yard is such an indescribable blessing. We all have space to be together and to get away from each other. The 4 kids and I actually happily cooked dinner together tonight--there was enough space for all of us!
The luxery of having an office that is just an office...sigh.
We are discovering things that we haven't seen because they have been in storage for two years. It is so much fun.
It seems to be all coming together. We can see that there is indeed a reason for all that we have given up. How can you measure trifles like home ownership against the beauty of the people that God puts in your path? We are truly blessed and now we have a place that is big enough to comfortably spend time with said blessings!

Say What?

I am not sure this feat will ever be repeated. We were invited over to dinner at an old/new friend's home. Both my husband and I knew the husband of this clan as teenagers in the good ol AYM (Anglican Youth Movement). Well my husband and this husband both grew up to be priests (who'd a thunk?) and now they chat liturgically. Well, my family was invited over to his family's home so both families could get to know each other. The wife is a lovely human and they have two adorable small people running/crawling around. My children were, of course, hideous and caused chaos in every corner of their fine home. Quite embarrassing to have absolutely no control over your own children; well, they outnumber me 2-1, I say in my defence.
There my husband and I were sitting around the dinner table trying to keep the 2 and 4 yr olds in their seats and the 11 yr old from putting his elbows on the table and smacking his lips and all the while trying to have an adult conversation. I am thoroughly horrified with that I have been found out as the brutal mother that I am by a woman that I just met (I usually like to warm them up with the my sparkling personality and witty conversation for a few visits before I show this side). Anyway as the meal ends my 4 yr old says--without prompting, I swear--
"May I please be excused?"
and then GET THIS.....
"Thank you for the lovely dinner"
He really really said that "the lovely dinner"
Who talks like this?
Suitably impressed (and I pray with a good dose of amnesia for all of the previous behaviour) our generous hosts excused him from the table and off he went to continue chasing their little girl.
Kids.

Ramona is the Winner!

Ramona, of the clan Wildeman, is the winner of the piece of chocolate ganache cheesecake for correctly sourcing the quote from the previous post. To collect your prize please contact this blog's author. We shall have to set up an evening to celebrate!

Happy thought, indeed!

Happy things are afoot. We have found a home....a big home! For the last two years we have lived in tiny apartments--first in New York and now hear in Vancouver. Sharing one bathroom and three bedrooms among six people does wear thin after a while. Now we are going to have 5 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, 2 kitchens (something the big two are very excited about) a HUGE deck and a fenced yard....there is even a great stretch of pavement that is just begging for a game of street hockey! The best part is we will finally have a place to entertain. All of our friends and parishoners have been incredibly sweet and kind and have braved the squishyness of our little condo for many a meal. But now, watch out! My inner hostess will be unleashed in this new house where there will actually be room to breath and talk and eat and drink! O happy day.
Oh and a piece of chocolate ganache cheese cake for the person who can give the the reference for the title of this post.

I Am Done.....almost

Last night I wrote the final exam for my Breastfeeding Counsellor Certificate Program.
I now have to complete my practicum hours and journal about my experiences. This should take me into the summer to complete....I know my limitations, Margaret!
This is quite an academic course with a heavy reading load. Breastfeeding is truly an art; there are so many nuances and sublties. It is ironic that there is a 3 months course to teach us how to trouble shoot and educate women about something that women have been doing since the beginning of time.
What has happened in our society that we don't possess the information we need to nourish our offspring; that our mothers and aunts and sisters don't posses the innate knowledge to help us when we have problems; that are health care system doesn't recognize that supporting and encouraging mothers to establish and maintain breastfeeding greatly reduced illness in both mother and baby for the rest of their lives?
It is a crazy world we live in!
So I am anxiously awaiting the marks from my exam and excited about learning more through my practicum placements.
If you have a breastfeeding issue feel free to send it my way--I would love to see if I could help.

Lord of the Rings

Since Thomas was unexpectantly pegged as Galadriel, it made me curious about who I would come out as....to my surprise it wasn't Gollum!
Try it for yourself.

You scored as Frodo Baggins. Frodo Baggins 90% Aragorn 77% Legolas 70% Gandalf the Grey 67% Meriadoc Brandybuck (Merry) 57% Eowyn of Rohan 57% Arwen of Rivendell 50% Saruman the White 47% Samwise Gamgee 43% Boromir 40% Galadriel 37% Gimli 37% Peregrin Took (Pippin) 33% Gollum 27% Which Lord of the Rings character are you most like? created with QuizFarm.com

A New Baby!

Congratulations to Cary and Akeiko ! They welcomed their first baby, a girl named Kiera Mae Chow yesterday at 12:29pm (May24, 2006)
They had her at home with a midwife in attendance! Way to go first time parents! I can hardly wait to meet this little one.

The Good and the Really Bad

Will I believe you when you say
Your hand will guide my every way
Will I receive the words You say
Every moment of every day
Well I will walk by faith Even when I cannot see because this broken road
Prepares Your will for me Help me to RID my endless fears
You've been so faithful for all my years With the one breath You make me new
Your grace covers all I do yeah, yeah , yeah, yeah, ya
well I will walk by faith even when Ii cannot see
because this broken road prepares your will for me
Well I'm broken- but I still see Your face Well You've spoken- pouring Your words of grace Well I will walk by faith Even when I cannot see Well because this broken road
Prepares Your will for me (Repeat)
Well I will walk by faith Even when I cannot see
Well because this broken road Prepares Your will for me
Hallelujah, hallelu I will walk by faith, I will walk by faith,I will walk by faith I will walk by faith, I will walk by faith,I will walk by faith I will walk by faith, I will walk by faith,I will walk by faith I will walk by faith I will walk,I will walk FaithI will walk, I will walk by faith
--Walk by Faith

My brother, Arron, has just introduced me to a great christian artist.
Jeremy Camp Check out his website. It has some pretty cool interactive bits.
The above lyrics are from the song, "Walk By Faith". Have a listen to this young guy; he has a powerful voice and has something valid and real to say.
"Holy fire burn away my desire for anything that is not of you and is of me. I want more of you and less of me" This is a guy struggling to be holy.

I am trying to find really good artists to get my kids to listen to--they don't have to be Christian artists, but they need to have something positive to say that contributes to human kind. Much of the music that is out there is very "me" and "self" focused; children are already "me" and "self" focused and do not need anything that is going to encourage them to stay there! I want music that will challenge my children and the society around them.
Well, I let Esme pick out a cd a couple of weeks ago, Love, Angel, Music, Baby by Gwen Stefani. I have heard some of her music and was quite pleased that No Doubt did a cover of a Talk Talk song that I love. While driving around Victoria we put in the LAMB cd for Esme to listen to....a couple songs in and I was extremely uncomfortable with what I was hearing and we skipped to the next song and then the next song and then the next.....all the songs were about having sex (some really not-so-subtle euphemisms and imagery "Hurry doctor come, need to get me some"), getting rich, living the high life....not so much about anything that is anything, ya know what I mean?
Now let me just preface the next bit by stating that I am not opposed the swearing in lyrics (in fact I think Bruce Cockburn, U2 and Spirit of the West and even Johny Cash if I am not mistaken, have used incredibly appropriate expletives to convey very strong feelings about the ISSUE they are singing about....think: "If I had a rocket launcher some son of a bitch would die" ), but repetative swearing that is used as a chorus?
Oooh, this my shit, this my shit
Oooh, this my shit, this my shit
Oooh, this my shit, this my shit
Oooh, this my shit, this my shit
So that's right dude, meet me at the bleachers No principals, no student-teachers Both of us wanna be the winner, but there can only be one So I'm gonna fight, gonna give it my all Gonna make you fall, gonna sock it to you That's right, I'm the last one standing, another one bites the dust
--Hollaback Girl
Not only mindless swearing, but illicit sexual interaction packaged up as some sort of aggressive physical contest. I sooo don't want this to be something that my kids think is appropriate or normal or to be aspired to....
Then let's fill their heads with metaphors that equate "love" with street racing and drugs:
Driving fast in your car. I’ve got you tracked on my radar. It’s just such a trip how you’re still my speed racer. You got me so addicted just like a free baser. I want you all over me like L.A.M.B. So get here A.S.A.P. it’s gonna be a party. Don’t forget to make a U-turn. (don’t forget to get here) I see you left your blinker on. (you see I want to get it on) I got it rolled and ready here to burn. Meet me back at home. (you know you need me so come back) Drive back baby to me fast in your car. I’m here waiting, CRASH into me real hard.
--Crash
Now I am sorry to be so hard on Gwen Stefani, but the woman is quite intelligent and this dumbed down-sexed up routine doesn't really help to uplift women or give girls permission to expect not to be treated as sexual playthings and to be loved and cherished or teach boys that they are called to a higher set of standards and should be protectors of woman and that they do have to wrestle with sexual desire and overcome it, not give in--this is what makes a boy a man, not a shag behind the bleachers.
So there's my rant for the day. Your thoughts?

She shoots, she scores...

This is my new camera. The Canon Powershot S3 IS. I love it. The camera has a 12X optical zoom, 6 megapixels and image stabilization and a 1 gig memory card. It can even do things like take a picture in black and white and then make part of the picture colour--part of the picture colour! I think I need an intensive course to figure out how to use most of the features. Margaret pulled my old camera out of my hands and dropped it on a hard wooden floor at the Capilano Suspension Bridge a few months ago and since then I have been blessed by the generosity of Mark whenever I needed to digitally chronicle an important event. In the last few weeks I have had two doula contracts and decided to use the fees to purchase this wonderful camera. The photos on the flickr side bar were taken with it last Sunday. This weekend I am tasked with taking pictures of my kids and nephews for my future sister-in-law's wedding web site. I can see the slippery slope from here; next I will need a tri-pod and then a wide telephoto lens and then an externally mounted flash......
I had better find me some doula clients!
I really am grateful to have this camera. It wasn't even supposed to be availabe until the end of this month, but there is was at London Drugs last week--one. I had to wait until I was paid and it was still there! Then when I was purchasing it, Peter, the sales guy, said, "I'll just go get your camera and printer"
"Wait a second Pete, I am not buying a printer"
"I know", Pete says to me, "You get it free when you buy the camera"
"Huh?"
So now I have a very nice HP printer awaiting a need.
And it gets better....they price match and I just checked the Future Shop flyer and they have the camera on sale for $25 cheaper. Goin' in today to get my refund! I just love it when a plan comes together.
I will share some funky pics when I figure out how to take them! Already I have taken some great photos of dowtown Vancouver and the North Shore Mountains form my office. I will upload them soon

A beautiful Vancouver Morning

I have lived in Vancouver for nearly a year and I finally did something that I have been wanting to do since we set up shop here. Let me preface this by explaining I had a very frusterating start to my day:
1-I woke up to kids squealing with delight at 0640--that bit was alright, but I had actually been hoping that my client would have gone into labour during the night and that at 0640 I would be at a birth not in my bed.
2-I have a HUGE assignment that I must complete for a lactation consultant course that I am taking and I just can't get motivated to do it....and I am still trying to catch up on 4 weeks of reading for said course.
3-I have to go back to work tomorrow and really want to be able to be at this birth. I have a great back up who will be there to cover during my working hours, but I really would like to be at this birth and wandering around the house trying to will this woman into labour was not working
4-Loaded the toddlers in the van to take Niko to preschool AND THE VAN WON'T START! Dead battery. Thank God we have a great road side service, but that made us 45 mins late for preschool.
So I was a little ansy and on edge this am. After dropping Niko off I decided that I was going to dust off my running shoes and go for a run on the seawall. I strapped Greta into the jogging stroller and jogged from W8th & Heather down to the sea wall at False Creek (see the dotted blue line) then I ran to the Burrard Street Bridge....over the Burrard St Bridge....along Drake and over the Granville St Bridge then back home. It was great!
When one is that exhausted it is hard to find the energy to be irritaed about unobliging uteruses and unfinished assigments and, actually, it cleared my head a bit and I got quite a bit done on my assignment...and then fell asleep when I tried to do my reading!
Gotta love this city!

Sunday, Glorious Sunday

Today is the Sunday of the Myrrh-Bearing Women and today St Nina Orthodox Mission Station celebrated its first divine liturgy. It was beautiful. We are so blessed by God. I am having a hard time finding words to express it. Dear friends came from afar to support us and help us celebrate. Matushka and her children came from Holy Resurrection to sing with us until they had to leave to go and sing for their service. How awesome is that? Teenagers getting up earlier than they needed to on a Sunday Morning! Margaret had her Godparents there...Nikolai had his Godmother there...I am unable to even say what this means to me. It was so wonderful to have familiar faces worship with us--even though they must return to their own churches next Sunday, it was such an incredible gift to have them with us for this first service to be there for moral support and lend their voices.
And the troopers who have travelled with us to this point waiting and waiting for services to begin--God bless you all for your patience and faith!
It is a fearful thing to have a missionary ministry and to feel very alone most of the time. This Sunday really confirmed that we are supposed to be doing this and God is blessing it. 41 people were at the service!!! Glory to God for allowing people to hear and come and find us in our tucked away spot.
Thank you to all who have prayed for us...please don't stop!
I have put Flickr on my blog, so you can look at pictures of the service.