My Scrap Space

Well, here is my Scrap Space...a room of my very own. Notice the pink? Yup, I got to use pink!! With a house full of boys, I am happy to have a room I can be a bit girly in. I wanted 2 pink chandeliers in the room too but Wes thought that was a bit much. I am still looking for some sort of lighting in there as when we finished the basement we put 2 halogen fixtures in the room and I have come to dislike halogen lighting as it is waaaay too spotlighty and creates harsh shadows that don't do well with my scrappin'. My Ottlite helps tremendously at my scrap table! I have a few albums on the go at the moment...been working on our California scrapbook, and have a baby Asher hospital scrapbook that is almost complete...and Aidan's scrapbook sits on top of the computer desk. I am so far behind...but that is okay...I enjoy the process of creating these life long memories so much. I think I am going to set a goal for myself come January 1...a resolution you might say. I want to get so many pages done per week...anyone want to join me in this challenge???

Christmas Snowmen

Well here Addison and I are on Christmas day at my parents. There wasn't a whole lot to do, other then eat so we baked some snowmen sugar cookies. My grandma who lives in Edmonton gave Addison a snowman cookie kit so all we had to do was add an egg, some margarine, mix, roll and cut. Oh ya, we baked them too :) Probably the best Christmas baking I have done all season...all thanks to a very special 2 year old who must wear his "hat and apron" when he helps in the kitchen now.

Word made Flesh

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, 'Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord...Suddenly a great company of heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and sahying, Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests." Luke 2:8-14 (emphasis mine)

Merry Christmas my friends! Today, so many many years ago, the Word of God was made flesh. How can we even comprehend that? Can you imagine being Mary and giving birth to the Savior of the World, the Prince of Peace, the Lord of Lords? Wow! I am reflecting on that this morning.

Wes is at work today, will be home at 8pm tonight, Aidan is at his dads and I am home with the littlest guys. It doesn't feel like Christmas morning, or how I remember it as a child. Is this what happens when you grow up?? Haha! We, as a family of 5, will celebrate the birth of our Lord by exchanging gifts tomorrow morning as Wes has to work nights tomorrow night so we will also enjoy a turkey dinner at my mom and dads before he has to head to the gas plant. I am looking forward to tomorrow and time with all of my boyz!

Today we will go over to my parents for the day and hang out there. It is different for them this year too as my sister and her family won't be around. It was nice we got to see her on Monday when we went to Edmonton to see her and my grandparents. I am getting anxious for the birth of a new niece or nephew, and I guess she is too.

On the weekend we had a nice celebration with Wes' side of the family. The photo above is a family photo from Saturday.

Lord, we give you all the praise as you sent your only Son to be the Savior of the World. We thank you for how you have blessed our lives so abundantly and we pray that how we live our lives is pleasing to you and glorifies your Name.

Birthday Party

Tonight we will begin our Christmas celebrations. Wes' sister Jennifer and her husband Colin and their 2 little ones Zachary and Rachel are coming to Red Deer to spend the weekend with our family and Wes' parents (who also live in RD). Tonight we have invited them over for a birthday party for Jesus. Wes and I have decided that we will do this every year and Addison was quite excited about the idea saying we should make Jesus a Lightening McQueen birthday cake...and then he talked about a "baby cake"...maybe because Jesus is portrayed as a baby so much during this season because of His birth. I asked Mama G to make an angel food cake, partly because I am afraid to try it and it not turn out, and secondly it will be one less thing to get ready for the festivities.

I was sad, it actually made me cry, that my parents said they wouldn't come over tonight for dinner and the "party." My mom claimed she had "too much to do." I could be all sarcastic about it in an attempt to disguise my hurt but I won't. I wish my family believed in our Heavenly Father and wanted to celebrate Him like I do. That is one of my biggest struggles as I wonder sometimes if my family even knows me at all in how I want to live my life as a Christian. Wes and I keep praying that they will want a relationship with Jesus someday too.

Well now that I am emotional all over again, I will try to re-focus on our day. I have been doing some cleaning and tidying toys as I know a truckload full are probably headed our way over the next week of celebrations. Asher is sick with a cold again...he was up 5 times last night just wanting some mommy cuddles which I won't complain about one bit. He is napping at the moment and Addison is playing with a wooden nativity scene and says he is building a castle with the pieces.

I haven't taken any photos for a few days now...I can tell by my mood. The happier I am the more photos I seem to take. I don't know why I don't feel happy...it isn't that I feel sad, just "blah." Do you know that feeling? I am disappointed that Wes has to work again this Christmas but am trying to focus on the 4 days he has off of work before Christmas Eve in which time I pray we will get some nice family time. My sister is due to have her baby in the middle of January but is feeling that the baby might come early so she doesn't want to travel from Beaumont to Red Deer in the event that the baby comes so I don't even really know what we are doing for Christmas with my side of the family. Maybe that is why I feel unsettled. I am looking forward to this weekend and spending some time with Wes' side of the family. Barb (Mama G) is cooking a turkey dinner tomorrow and we are opening presents at their house tomorrow morning sometime.

As I hear Anne Murray singing Christmas songs on the TV I am going to sign off. I will let you know how the party goes... Remember the reason for the season is Christ our Lord.

Hockey - Giesy Style

Sooo...another winter brings on another backyard hockey rink. This is Wes' passion in the winter...building and maintaining a "rink" so the boys can play on it in our back yard. Addison got skates and a helmet this year (he is 2.5 years old) and he has been out there everyday since it has been cold enough to be frozen all the way through. Aidan has already spent HOURS out there...yesterday I would say he was out there a total of 4 hours playing hockey with boys from the neighbourhood. Again, as I sit and type at the kitchen table I can see and hear the older boys playing....and yes it is dark out. BUT leave it to Wes to assemble some rink lights so they could play at any time of the day or night. Wes gets so much joy out of watching people use his creation and is out there almost every day scraping off the snow, flooding it, painting the lines on it again if they get scraped off by the boys skates. It is amazing to watch how good Aidan has gotten at skating and at playing hockey in the two years we have done this. I say "we" but it is really Wes that puts a huge effort into the rink creation for our boys. I can imagine how we are going to have to move to a house with a larger yard at some point so all of our boys can have friends over to play out there. My husband rocks.

Christmas Beauties

Yesterday I had the pleasure of taking photos of 3 Christmas beauties....Melisa, Rebeca, and Amanda. I was not feeling very creative, like I sometimes feel but I am happy with the results and I hope Mom Naomi will like a few of the photos too!

I am at a time when I am questioning what I want our children to believe at Christmas. As I raised Aidan, I taught him (like so much of society) that there is a Santa Claus and he lives in the North Pole, makes presents with the elves, we write him a list of all the toys we want...and then something magical happens on Christmas Eve night as his reindeer pull a sleigh through the air, around the world and deliver millions of presents all in one evening. I guess one doesn't think about different time zones when explaining this all.

This year I started talking to our 2 year old about Santa, and as he would look at the toys in the Sears Wishbook or in the Toys R Us flyer I would tell him he would have to ask Santa for the toy. He had it down pat..."mommy I ask Santa...Santa bring me the Rocket." Wes saw this and kinda questioned me on this...I can't remember exactly what he said but it really got me thinking.

At Friendship Factor today the guest speaker asked the group of ladies a question...and it has stuck with me all day. "What do you remember as a child about Christmas?" I remember a big deal being made about Santa and presents. Growing up in a non-Christian family I don't ever even remember Jesus' name being mentioned...well I guess it wouldn't be as my parents didn't think that was the true meaning of the season.

I want our children growing up knowing the real reason for the season. Christmas is the celebration of Jesus' birth. I don't want it to be about Santa and so many other things that take away from the REAL meaning.

That is it for now...so many thoughts on this topic...

Today

Today I squatted down to pick something up off the floor and my favorite pair of jeans ripped, right in the crotch area (what a terrible word...but how else do I describe the location of the rip?) I am sure this is due to the fact that the jeans are getting a little tight due to weight gain.

Today, quite early in the morning (4am to be exact) I cried with frustration due to the fact that our 2.5 year old keeps getting out of bed and running to our room. I stopped counting at 10 times out of bed throughout the night. Not to mention the fact that Asher was up twice as well, needing to be rocked to sleep (he is not feeling well again).

Today, again very early in the morning, I "told" my husband he had to deal with Addison as I was "done." When I asked him this morning why he kept getting out of bed he said "cause I want to."

Today I will pull out my Dobson book on Strong Willed Children and read, if my tired brain can take it. I do not function well with no sleep...and Wes is working again today and tomorrow. Sometimes I don't think the money from the overtime shifts are worth me losing my mind.

Today my husband had a pot of coffee ready for me when I awoke to get Aidan ready for school and a much needed little love note.

Today, despite the frustration I feel seemingly more times then not lately, I will rejoice with our Lord over our children who are gifts of the Lord. I will make every effort I can to focus on that and think positively.

Today is a new day.

Scrabulous

I am counting down the days until my second set of parents come home. Wes' parents are currently in Dallas, Texas and have been there for waaaay too long doing volunteer work for Wycliffe. Wycliffe is an organization that sends missionairies to unreached parts of the world to translate the bible into different languages. So I have the privledge of picking them up at the airport in Calgary on Friday. I am looking forward to our coffee times and some good games of Scrabble in the 6 weeks they are home before returning back to Wycliffe.

Fun with Trains

As a parent, have you ever put toys away to bring them out again and the kids are totally excited about them again? Well we took out the train tracks this morning, and it was like Christmas morning over here for the little guys. Asher just likes to take the trains off the track and touch and examine the wheels, much to Addison's annoyance since he knows the trains are supposed to stay on the track. Addison played so nice with the trains this morning...now Mom has to get her creativity hat on and come up with some cool track layouts.

"Buzz Boyz"

So, here are the BUZZ BROTHERS...I gave all three of them a "buzz cut" last night. First Aidan asked me to take him for a haircut...and I said I would, then he asked me "can I get a buzz cut?" I said "sure" (he used to have them all the time when he was small). Then I thought I should save the money and use our clippers and do it. Wes just bought a new set from Costco, here is the perfect opportunity to use them. Well they got a good work out that night. After Addison heard that Aidan wanted a haircut..well he couldn't stop asking for a haircut too. (Last time we took Addison to the Locker Room for a haircut it cost us $16...crazy!) Then I just decided Asher needed one too, he actually needed a haircut the most as his hair was fly-away crazy. He needed it the most and he definitely screamed the most during the process. Anyhoo...here are our boys! Oh how I love them....

Secret Sister

I have had a rough past 2 days. I have not been a patient mom. I have yelled at my kids.

Wes went back to work on Monday after being home for 7 weeks. I got used to him being home, I kinda liked sharing the household responsibilities. It took me a while to get over the "invasion of my space" and it turned into a collaborative effort in running our family. And yes, it even allowed me to be a little selfish at times...go shopping, fly to New Brunswick, you know...things like that!

So our 2 year old has decided he needs to find out who is boss again in this whole transition of daddy back to work. This has resulted in too many "nose in the corner" and the more serious solitary (I mean business) time-outs in his room. The last 2 nights at supper time have been gong shows...I try to cook a nice meal to not even be able to enjoy it because of screaming children...food is cold, shovel it in, hurry and get their fruit, wash their hands...ok bathtime? Well let's cut your hair too....This only produced more high pitched screaming from Ash (who was mad the whole supper time because we tried to "make him" eat spaghetti and meatsauce) that actually brought daddy running upstairs to see what the heck was going on. A mere brush cut I say...

Neither of the little guys are going to bed easily...Ash is needing to be rocked to sleep the last 2 nights and Addison comes out of his bed numerous times. Last night I called Wes on his cell phone (he had physio for his ankle and then was picking up milk). I was short with him. I was frustrated and I took it out on him. I needed him to help me put the kids to bed. I was not a good wife. I was not respectful. I was not that loving. I was unfair.

As I rocked Asher to sleep last night, I sat in the dark and stillness. I heard "children are a gift from the Lord." Tears streamed down my face as I thought about how I had treated my gifts that day. I didn't treasure my gifts from the Lord.

So, today is a new day. I started my morning off with reading my bible (yeah!) and read Isiah 40. The words that were spoken to me before our 2 year old awoke: "He tends to his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young." Isiah 40:11 I prayed for his guidance in mothering our children.

I could not attend Friendship Factor this morning as the little guys still have runny noses and can't be in child-care with the snot rockets they produce. I had gifts for my Secret Sisters that I needed to drop off, because I didn't give them anything last week...I felt like I just needed to give. So we stopped in...well actually, I ran in and drop the gift bags off and ran back out to the van. On the gift table was a gift with my name on it from my Secret Sister. This is what she wrote:

"Shauna- Each week when I see your face I am thankful you are here. I have been thinking about your family often and understand what it is like to need encouragement for being at home raising Godly children. I believe you are right in the center of God's will when you are at home with your boys. You are a fantastic mother it seems, and there is evidence in your children; they are beautiful. I look forward to getting to know you deeper Shauna. In Him, S.S." I almost cried. God is so good, He works through people I don't even know...He knew I needed that letter this morning. Thank you Lord, and thank you Secret Sister.

Because of You, I am having a much better day!

Open the Door

When Aidan and I were in New Brunswick and PEI we passed by so many churches. It actually stood out to me the number of churches we would see...you could not drive far without seeing one then another. In Moncton and Charolettetown they each had a street actually named "Church Street." On Church street in Moncton there was 3 churchs on each corner, each of a different denomination. Interesting! I couldn't help but notice the beauty in the real wooden doors, unique hinges...the age of the churches produced great beauty! Hope you enjoy them as much as I did!

Behind Bars

Well it has been an exciting week over at our household. Asher ended up in the hospital on Wednesday with broncholitis. I don't know if I spelt that correctly...but that is what he had. If you are wondering what that is...it is an infection of the bronchioles, the tiny air tubes in the lungs. It differs from bronchitis which is "just" an inflammation of the bronchi. So this ended our littlest guy in the hospital for 3 nights. The first night was by far the worst, with him being so tired and sick. He needed supplemental oxygen so they had to put nasal prongs on him, which he HATED. Poor little Ash went through so much that first night...not to mention Mom. Daddy took the next 2 night shifts and Ash progressively got better. We are so thankful for good health care and a few really kind hearted nurses, which can either "make or break" your hospital experience.



Here is our dearest Asher with his favoritest toy...his bed time bunny! He seemed so happy to have him in the hospital with him...carrying him around with him all around when he was freed from the oxygen tubes.

Singing

This is Addison at bedtime...he loves to sing! I can't get over how cute little kids are when they sing...how their little voices sound...how the words are mispronounced...just everything about it! You may have to turn up your volume :)

These are his versions of "Baby Beluga" and "Jesus Loves Me"

Baby girl Kalyrra

I was blessed to take yet another baby girls photos yesterday. Baby Kalyrra is a daughter to some new friends of ours. What a pure delight...seems like all the babies that I know that have been born lately are girls. Maybe it is something in the water...where can I find me some of that water??? Haha!

Little Man Shaun

Well this "little man" is now 4 years old. He is my best friend Ginette's son and his name is Shaun. Yup, I like to say he is my namesake, even though his parents might not agree :) He has quite the little personality and I had the opportunity to get to know him a little better as we visited them in Shediac, New Brunswick. By the end of the trip he let Aidan and I give him a "hug sandwich"....he was the ham (as he chose) and Aidan and I were the bread...one on each side of him and we gently squish him to make a sandwich...it is a fun way to give a hug...I challenge you to try it...how else do 3 people hug??



One of my favorite photos from the trip as we were leaving the beach one day...notice his fingers...he was being an "alasaurus" dinosaur as he walked through the tall grass at the beach. What a sweetheart!!

Lobster

The other night we ate Atlantic lobster...and I actually cracked my own and ate it. Aidan had a blast cracking it up, drinking some sort of salt water from the claw (as directed by Andrew, I skipped that step) and eating the lobster. We both had a hard time with the lobster "poo" that came out...me moreso then Aidan. This did not stop Aidan though...he ate more then me! Here they eat their lobster cold and without butter. Andrew states that they serve butter with the lobster in Canada to add some flavour to the lobster because usually it doesn't taste very good like it does right on the coast. It did taste yummy!

crab legs

Here is Aidan with some New Brunswick "crab legs"...haha! We were at the ocean yesterday at Bouctouche (or something like that) and we saw many baby crab shells and even a few empty legs. I joked that Ginette should cook us some for supper...I loooove crab legs.

Some quick observations about my time in New Brunswick so far:

- the secondary highways here are verrrry bumpy and narrow and curvy, resulting in a tad bit of motion sickness for me
- people have their houses located very close to the secondary highways
- the tourist season is over, so many places close down (it is nice in the way that there aren't a tonne of tourists in your photos...but hard to find a decent restaurant outside of Moncton)
- all the powerlines are above ground here
- there are a lot of churches here...mostly baptist and anglican that we have seen (we went into Moncton today and saw 3 different churches in one close location...one on each corner. A man saw us taking photos of the church and he offered us a personal tour, which we accepted. It was a tour of a very traditional Anglican church, interesting!)
- Lobster is priced at $6.50 per pound. We have yet to buy and eat some...although Ginette and Aidan enjoyed a "lobster roll" for lunch at a restaurant in Alma.

That is it for now...toodleoo from across the country!!

Shutterbug dad here.....

Well.... Its been awhile since I've snooped onto my lovely wife's blog as many of you call it.
Its funny, I actually learn a lot about my little," tasty peach" as I read her blogs. (When you see her next time you'll have to ask her where that nickname came from, ha ha its too funny) I know how it is, personal reflection looks different to a each person. I've also learned over the years that my wife is a thinker. I'm a talker, (hmmm, big surprise there hey?) I use to sit and wonder why, when I would have all these revelations or God thoughts and share them with Shaun, she'd give me the ,"Uhmmm", thing. Slowly, I've realized that usually God has been speaking similar things to her, she just needs more time to process. Time to re-think. When I'm on the 102nd page of the book, she's getting past the acknowledgements. Get my drift? What I've also noticed is that, when she,"gets it", it sticks. For me, I tend to move to the next chapter, before I've fully picked up what Gods laying down for me.

This week, I have the ultimate privilege of looking after two of the three most important young men of my life. Shauna and Aidan have ventured off to New Brunswick to visit one of Shauna's life-long friends, Ginette. (I hope you guys have a fabulous time there. If you lived in Hawaii, trust me I would not be staying home!!!!) I'm so glad that Aidan gets to spend almost a full week with mom. I know ever since I came into the picture, when Aidan had just turned 4. He was all Shauna had and they did everything together. Now that Aidan is getting into the,"Maybe girls don't have germs after all", stage in life, Shauna can sometimes feel that her connection with him is somewhat changing. Not wrong, just different as we`ve been learning in our life group study, Love and Respect. So thank-you God for the good find on the flights

Anyway, the faint smell of Eau D stinky bum is in the air and that should be my cue to take care of some stinky business. You know what they say...... a mans work is never done!!!!!!! I ll keep you posted

Treasure the Wonder

Yesterday we heard a wonderful sermon at church. I love going to church...I wish there could be church everyday as I seem to learn so much from the words of our Pastor. Ulimately, he is elaborating on HIS word...giving life to it, "translating" it for us, putting it in words that we can relate to. Pastor Dan challenged us to be "radically obedient" and to follow the "prompts" that the Holy Spirit gives to us. How easy is it to brush those aside? To not "listen" to what He wants us to do? One way to tell if the prompt is from the Holy Spirit is if it is in line with the words of the Bible. I don't know lots about the bible...I wish I did. I will though...in time. This I commit...I long to understand more of God's word....I "treasure the wonder" of it as Beth Moore stated in a recent simulcast I attended. The bible is something that needs to be treasured. I will treasure the word of God! I will respect the word of God! And I am excited to see how our lives will be radically different in understanding God breathed words of life!

So, every morning I have this little battle...one I have can choose to "ignore" quite easily nowadays. Once things are settled with the kiddies I sit at the kitchen table and open up the lap top and go and check out my favorite blogs, check email and look on facebook. This is almost a routine for me. Yuck! How is this behavior taking precedence over my desire to learn more about our Heavenly Father and how he wants us to live our life? Why? Maybe because it is easy....it is a "no-brainer"....well no more! I am commiting to putting the Word of God at the forefront of my day! I still may go and check out stuff on the computer...but not before the Word of God. In Timothy 3:16 it says that all scripture is God-breathed..."God breathed a soul into Adam, same God when He speaks His word, it is life to us!" That is the life I want!!!!

I praise you Lord. How wonderful your Word is in so many ways. I pray Lord for desire for your Word...every day...I want to hear your voice Lord...I want to know more about You and how you want me to live. I long for your word to be sewn into my heart so please help me retain what I do learn. Thanks Lord...you ROCK!

Halloween

This year we decided to go to Edmonton for Halloween as Aidan was going to be doing stuff with his dad and their family. So we went to spend the day with our niece Rachel and nephew Zachary, oh and Colin and Jen too :) I couldn't resist buying Rachel a little princess costume from Old Navy, especially when I found it was 50% off! She makes the perfect little princess doesn't she??

Asher was definitely a "lion"...we woke him up from a nap to eat supper so we could go out trick or treating when it was still light outside and that didn't make him very happy. It was a huge fight to get his costume on, and Wes had to hold him down so I could paint a little nose and whiskers on him...oh the chaos! Every time Wes took him out of the stroller to the door he screamed as soon as the person opened the door (and they weren't wearing costumes) so we ended up leaving him in the stroller and the older boys, Addison and Zachary ran from house to house as the little ones watched from the stroller on the sidewalk.

The boys were soooo cute in saying their "trick or treat" and "thank yous."

Overall it was a fun time! It was nice to do something a little bit different as I feel bad doing "traditional" things when Aidan isn't home to enjoy them with us. Ben told me that Aidan's "costume/gore" turned out awesome and that he received so many compliments. When he sends me a photo I will post :)