Lifes Ramblings...

Life has been busy... in a not so busy way. Meaning that we could make it less busy if we wanted to, but we are fine with it that way.

In the mornings our house turns into a school. I'm in charge of teaching Caleb and Zach, while Mom teaches Jesse, Nathan and Brooke.
Early afternoons we are busy with getting all of our daily chores done, and most of supper made, so that we can spend the rest of the afternoon playing hockey.
The evenings are spent getting supper dishes done and hanging out. We either play games, play Wii, watch a movie or just sit around and chat.

So there is not alot of spare time going around here, but at the same time our days are filled with spare time :) Busy... in a not so busy way! It's one of the reasons I love winter!

Saturday and Sunday we watched the All Star Skills Competition and the NHL All Star Game. It's always a fun game to watch because it doesn't really matter who wins or loses. Everyone is just out there to have a good time.

This week I'm on kids (we split the daily tasks into 3 categories... Kids (changing diapers, getting them dressed in the morning and ready for bed at night and whatever else pops up), Laundry and Meals (breakfast, dinner and supper :). My sisters and I rotate once a week. Mom does what mom's do... as well as she fills in the blanks... ) so I decided to start potty training Joey... again.
We had tried to get him potty trained before we left for our trip to Tennessee, but it didn't work out. So we voted to drop it for a while.
So far it has been going okay. He has gone on the potty once... and three times in his pants. Not so bad of an average for the first day :)

Last week we had some REALLY warm weather! It got down to 1C (33F) for a couple days. But it is a given around here that when we get as warm of weather as that during winter... we ALWAYS get either a storm or REALLY cold weather. This time around we got both. Friday was 1C and then came the big winds and blowing snow. Saturday we had -30C (-22F) and -40C (-40F) windchill, Sunday was the same. Today is about 10 degrees warmer, which is a blessing :)
So around here... while it is nice to have warmer weather, it is always a bittersweet thing cause we know that the COLD weather will come with a vengeance... but I guess that is just Manitoba. Gotta love it!
AAAAnd instead of sitting inside huddled up by the stove, we make the best of it and keep on playing hockey. Ya know, you burn more energy when it is so cold, cause you've gotta keep moving when your out in it :)

One of "my" cows, Sally has been naughty. Well... it's not really her fault, but I credit it to her anyway :)
She got a sore on her udder, and the milk machine kept opening it up... making it get worse and worse. So for the past week, I have had to milk her by hand. And by the looks of things it will be another week until it clears up enough to put the milk machine back on her.
In a way I don't mind milking by hand, but it still is an inconvenience when it comes to the amount of time that it takes to milk (sad to say, I'm not QUITE as fast as the milk machine :). Oh well, ya have good times... ya gotta have bad times right?

Well, I guess I better be off... it's time to get them dishes done. I'll leave ya with a sweet picture of our sweet dog taken by my SWEET sister Meg.
Adios all!

As Winter goes on...

I'm REALLY starting to miss doing THIS

BUT I'm still loving doing THIS

I'm REALLY missing doing THIS

BUT I'm still loving doing this....

And even this.... (yes I did just do this the other day, if you've never done it you NEED to try, it's fun :)

Yet I'm REALLY starting to miss doing this...

And this...

But I guess there ain't nothing that I can do about it except for wait... and wait... and wait. For SPRING!!

And enjoy the fun that I'm having right now. Because before I know it... I'll be wanting winter again :)

 Ecclesiastes 3:1 ¹To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:

Strangely Quiet

It is strangely quiet around here, ya want to know why?

BECAUSE, 4 of the boys...

are gone to Ag days with Daddy!

What is Ag days you ask?

Ag days is a place where there are lots of Tractors,

Lots of Machinery.... And for the boys, lots of FUN!!!

So us girls are here at home with the youngest 4. 

AND IT IS STRANGELY QUIET!!!

Sickness Update: Please pray for Mom as she came down with it yesterday and is still not feeling well. Poor Josiah is still sick as well :(

Is it a GOAL or a DREAM?

I was reading a book the other day, a book about daughters and how we can serve our daddy's in preperation for marrage.

And I came across the question... is your desire to be married your DREAM? Or has it become your GOAL in life?

A GOAL is something that you would give your life for. Something that you could not go without, nor could be content without doing.

A DREAM is something that can change. Something that you think about alot and work towards, but also something that can easily be changed if the circumstances alter.
DREAMS are something that can be accomlished, but not something that you can't live without.

My GOAL should come first, and my DREAM second.

My GOAL should be what I think about first thing in the morning and something that I'm constantly and consistantly working towards.
My DREAM something that I should strive to become, but at the same time not letting it be my constant drive.

So I asked myself. Is MY desire to one day be married, and have a family still my DREAM or has it become my GOAL.
And... if it is indeed my DREAM then what should my GOAL be?
What has the LORD said that my life GOALS should be?

Obviously as a Christian my ultimate GOAL should be to glorify God and live for Him.
My GOAL should be to seek out His will for my life, and I need to strive to do that with all my heart, mind and soul...
even if that means giving up my DREAMS and changing them, to fit it into what God has planned for my life.


^{Phillipians 3 : 12-16
12} Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected; but I press on, that I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.
¹³ Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,
¹⁴ I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.
¹⁵ Therefore let us, as many as are mature, have this mind; and if in anything you think otherwise, God will reveal even this to you.
¹⁶ Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.

I'm all practiced up...

If one of the qualifications to becoming a mother someday includes cleaning up puke... I'm all practiced up. I'm actually to the point where I can hear someone thinking about throwing up in the middle of the night, jump out of bed like a maniac, run to where they are, pick up a pail and actually make it to their bed in time to "catch it".
I've always wondered what actually wakes me up?
It's really funny how someone can train themselves to wake up to something so discusting. (Ok, maybe not so funny as interesting :)

But it actually is something that I don't mind doing (Okay, I'm using the term MIND lightly, I don't think it is possible to enjoy cleaning up throw up! :), because it is the one way that I can help the poor little sick babies out. Cleaning them up and taking care of all their "needs" is one way that I can help them to feel better.

And so... um, you can tell what is going on here :)
The night before last 2 of my roommates (Brooke and Mikaya) were throwing up ALL night long.
Caleb, Jesse and Nathan were doing the same thing upstairs.
Dad got sick during the day yesterday and is still on the mend.
And Josiah came down with it tonight, as well as Nathan AGAIN!
We are all hoping that it doesn't spread any further!

So ya, please pray that my fam. will get all better fast!

Oh, and pop over to my sister Megan's blog, she is hosting her first Givaway, you don't want to miss it!

Home at LAST!!

Mom and Dad arrived safely home last night! We were SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO glad to see them back...though of course we WILL miss the loudisher music :)

The house is back to it's normal state. No more grilled cheese sandwiches, no more secrets told with a shout, no more of getting worried about keeping a baby on schedule (trust me... it's harder then you might think :) and THANK GOODNESS no more tortilla shells!

We had almost every version of tortilla shell in a meal that you can imagine! It's the easiest meal to make (that is still really yumy) you know. :)

And I'll add (with the most serious voice that I can muster...) that although having Mom and Dad gone is certainly fun.... it is MUCH more fun when they

come back!

Especially when they come back with this!

And especially when this is something that you've wanted for a VERY Looong time (well... at least a couple months :)

I played it last night and Ker and I got up early to play it this morning. I have a word of advice... NEVER play the high intensity level two times so close together... especially if you are more or less out of shape like I am! Two words... SORE LEGS!!! Hello!

But it is still WAY fun, and I highly recomend it :)

Now I have to go and find a way to play hockey with the fam... let me tell you it could be interesting :)

TTFN!

The credit belongs....

To my beeeeautiful sister Megan for making my blog header!

Thanks SO much Meggy! LOVE you!

Jennifer❀

We are half way through...

We are half way through being "Home alone".
So far there has been no fires (well... other then in the wood stoves :), no one has called 911 and no one has gotten hurt! (are ya worried, don't be... I just randomly picked the first things that came to mind when I thought of awful stuff that COULD HAVE happened... :P).
The arguments have been minimal, no one has banged their heads on the ice while playing hockey and there have been no huge storms or major dips in temperature.
We have been productive... at least in some ways (In others... not so much, but maybe I shouldn't have told you that!).
We are enjoying having ALL the lights off when we watch movies and are glad to have the speakers blaring playing at the "happy medium" spot. (mom, dad... breathe with me, it's okay... I was only joking!)
We were able to Skype the Munck girls tonight! WAYYYY fun!!!
So far only 2 calves have been notty and got out of their pen (we just separated the yearling calves from their mommies... so sometimes they tend to be notty when they want their milk!), but all of that was resolved quickly by cowgirl Jenny! (okay... so I had lots of help... and it took a while, I'm trying to make this more exciting here ;)
Jaden has been good and let me sleep till 8:00 this morning! I was one happy big sister! :)
No toilets have overflowed, nothing has been broken and everyone is happily in bed on time, oh wait... except for me. Umm, maybe I should hit the hay now. 


But before I go I should say one more thing...in all seriousness, we have been having a BLAST!!! 


Night-Night!


p.s. just ignore the pictures if you want, I don't like posting a post without AT LEAST one picture in it... these were the best I could come up with at 11:45 at night... 

Jennifer❀

Happy Birthday....

To the most wonderful, bestest... most AMAZING Daddy in the world!!!

I LOVE you daddy, everything about you... I love the way that you take the time and effort to lead our family in the right direction, not every father takes the time to care so much about what their family is doing and how they are acting like you do.

I love the way you protect me, and all of your little girls, yet at the same time you have taught us not to be china dolls. You have in your own way encouraged us to be your strong girls, strong in the things that matter.

I love the way that you never give up, there's not much in life that can phase you. You have encouraged me in so many ways to squarely face the big challenges and to never give up, even when things get tough.

I love how you teach us how important family time is. And how you encourage us all to spend as much time together as possible, not just by telling us, but by showing us through example.

And I LOVE playing on your team in hockey! Your the greatest team captain EVER!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DADDY!!!

AND.... Happy 2nd Birthday to JOSIAH!

Joey is one of those kids who can steal your heart with one look. He is a very serious little boy, yet at the same time he can be SO goofy.

 

He LOVES his big sisters, and his big sisters LOVE him ALOT. Joey and I have alot of fun giving each other hugs and kisses :) 

Ever since Joe was a little baby he has LOVED the Gaithers. We would put a DVD on and he would be quiet for a long time. As he has been getting older he has started liking them even more, He gets SO excited when we put the Gaithers on for him, this morning Ker had one of the Gaither DVD's in her hand and he though that she was putting it on, he started jumping up and down saying YA, YA, YA! 

Love you Joey.... HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Jennifer❀

Home Alone!

Well... home alone with my eleven siblings :)
Dad's birthday is tomorrow, so he and mom took off (with our greatest blessing! :) and are going to be gone for 4 or 5 days.
This is the first time that they have left all 11 of us at home (for any number of days) since Jaden was born... so naturally we are all excited... we have a ball when mom and dad are gone.

Now don't get me wrong. It's not like we don't miss mom and dad... and it's not like we are not OVERJOYED when they get back. But when they are gone we have some good natured partying going on here! :)

What do we do... oh, let me tell you!

- Play music loudly... not to loud, just loud enough, ya know... to loud for mom and dad, but not loud enough to bust the speakers. Happy medium. :)
- Try new recipes, make lots of food and eat lots of stuff that we don't normally eat (like apple fritters (also known as new years cookies), homemade chips, grilled cheese sandwiches, brownies, jam jams and oodles of other stuff).
- Stay up late and sleep in (well, we can only do that when there are no babies that wake up early... this time it will be a no-no, Jaden usually wakes up at 7 or 7:30)
- Going off schedule. Though it is not something that we do wildly...we still keep the kids well fed and the house clean :)
- Skyping with the Munck girls (one of our most favorite parts!), it's not like we can't Skype them when mom and dad are here... it's just that we are usually to busy doing other fun stuff with the fam. when they are here (hey, don't tell me that I can't call work fun :)!
- Meg, Ker and I have LOTS of fun being crazy, telling secrets and laughing our heads off :)
- We invite Josh and Rebecca over for brunch and sit and talk for hours and hours... just like old times.
- And of course we still play lots of hockey!

So ya, for the next couple of days we are on our own... and I'm in charge (It's just a privilege that comes with being the oldest one at home, and don't worry... I don't take it that seriously :)

Oh, Mom and Dad, if you read this... hope that you have an AMAZING time! We LOVE you muches!!

Happy Birthday Josh!

One and a half years before I was born my big brother Josh made his entrance into this world. And I'm SO glad he did! :)

I have NEVER been sorry that I had a big brother while growing up. We have had the BEST of times together!

It was so fun to watch Josh as he got married and now has a family of his own. He is an AMAZING daddy.

I LOVE you Big Brother!

Have a HAPPY happy birthday!


Jennifer❀