These are a few of my favorite things...

My mind is wandering off to some more relaxed places and thoughts these last few days. Yours? I hope so.

A slower pace allows us to actually notice more of what is around us. To pay attention to some of the "finer" details.

A simple purple or yellow flower, with soft, flowy petals.
A roasted hot dog... one of my summertime favorites, by the way... (yes, yes - I know what's in them).
A shadow on the living room floor caused buy sunshine pouring in the window.

Summertime favorites are different than springtime favorites, or wintertime favorites or fall favorites.

Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, these are a few of my summertime favorites:
the smell of fresh cut grass

the colors of flowers, so many colors and so many flowers

no coats, or boots, or hats

holiday time

little, diaper laden, bums that can be seen waddling around beaches

fresh, juicy strawberries and maybe a shortcake or two

new nail polish colors

fun clothes

smores (ever tried Leclerc "Celebration" cookies with your smores?)

sunshine, sometimes for days on end

clothes dried on the clothesline - my ULTIMATE favorite!

campfires... for... roasting hot dogs and making smores

summer time chocolate - have you ever had it? It pretty much tastes the same as spring, winter or fall chocolate, but the calories simply disappear because it sweats out of you so fast, which means you should eat a lot of it. So for all intents and purposes, summer is a guilt free chocolate season!

Yup, just a few of my favorite summertime things.

Yours?

Many hands make... less weeding... Part 2

We have recently done some landscape work around our church building.

Are you familiar with landscaping, first hand?
Oooooo my aching arms, legs, and hind end. Muscles I had never used before, nor fully understood that I owned, ached.
Can you relate?

I felt old and very out of shape.

It's funny though, because when I made the statement that I had no arm strength, a faithful 'worker outer' asked me if I was interested in changing that fact. To which I replied, "No, not in the way you do!"
Hummmmmm... I wonder if lifting a spoon, laden with DQ Ice-cream, all the way up to my mouth, would a good exercise make? I'll try that out and let you know!

Anyway, as we were weeding, another person said this, "How like us and our sinful nature are those weeds... no one had to tell them how to grow, they just appeared. And boy do they take a lot of hard work to get rid of."

There we have it... sinful nature... weeds... our natural bent to gossip, judge, swear, covet, act ungrateful for our blessings, demand our way and the list goes on and on. Weeds.
And so much work to pull, to change, to get rid of, IF we want to get right to the root. Which, as we all know, ensures the best results.

Nothing good is ever easy.

Remember, weeds just appear. Remember, weeding takes work.
And know that landscaping leaves absolutely beautiful results.

Is there a landscape you wish looked different, in your life?
What weeds are you pulling this summer?

Fruit Flies

Finally, summer!!!! Hot humid weather, lazy days by the pool, fresh fruits and vegtables and.......... pesky little fruit flies. I hate ( and I know, hate is a strong word ) fruit flies. I will be asking the Lord upon my arrival in Heaven, " Why did you create fruit flies"? I opened my cupboard yesterday and a cloud of the little fliers came wooshing out at me; getting in my eyes and nostrils. As I tend to forget the amounts for the ingredients needed for the "fly trap" from summer to summer, I wasn't too long getting on the phone with my husband's grandmother to get the recipe I needed to rid me of my torment.



For those of you reading this who hate fruit flies, I am giving you the recipe for the cure:




1/2 cup water
1/2 cup vinegar

1 table spoon sugar

1 or 2 sqirts of dish soap


Place ingredients in a glass. Some recipes tell you to place plastic wrap over the glass and poke holes in it; but I find no plastic wrap is neccessary.


Despite being Gross, I take great joy in seeing the little lifeless critters floating in the above mentioned concoction.



Can anyone relate to my situation? Let me know if the recipe works for you as well as it works for me.



ENJOY THE SUMMER!!!

Domestic moment, or two...

Every so often I take the time to enjoy (yes, I said enjoy) a domestic moment or two.

This past weekend I took the notion to cook. Cooking is not my usual first choice for domesticity. Laundry is. But this weekend I entered the kitchen.

I made a bean salad. Have you ever made one of those before? They turn out to be HUGE salads, so be forewarned (for a couple different reasons).
I baked mouth watering scallops in butter and cooking wine, baked nice big russet potatoes and added butter and sour cream, and I baked salmon steaks with fresh lemon and chive.

Oh my goodness it was so good.
And there were leftovers.

Mostly, of bean salad.

But here is what happened during the construction of the gigantic bean salad - only favored beans were added, plus purple onion, green pepper and zucchini.
While I was preparing the zucchini I thought to myself, "I've never had bean salad with zucchini in it before. And, who tells someone what to put in their own bean salad anyway?"

And then I chuckled, again, to myself. (Is anyone worried yet?)

How like me to NOT follow a recipe. instead, I look for a LISA way to do... a bean salad. Or a decoration. Or a song. Or a project. Or a gift. Or a "whatever".

MY way - I want to do life MY way.

Can you relate?

All that from a bean salad recipe deviation... well, that and a HUGE bean salad.

What is your language?

Three years ago my husband and I did a study called The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman. At that time, we were married 9 years and we thought we communicated well enough and showed each other love in ways we felt was meaningful. We truly learned so much from doing this study together and taking the Love Language Quiz. We discovered which love language we needed to speak and which one was needed. The 5 languages mentioned in the book are Words of Affirmation, Quality Time, Receiving Gifts, Acts of Service and Physical Touch. My husband's languages are "Physical Touch" and "Quality Time". Mine are "Acts of Service" and "Quality Time". I now understand why he likes to always sneak up behind me and cuddle. It is not to take me away from "important" tasks but to fill that need of physical touch. I always remind him when he takes out the trash that he is speaking my language and he chuckles. Since we have started using practical but powerful ways to express our love to each other, we have noticed an extra special spark in our marriage. Want to know your or your spouse's love language? Go to www.5lovelanguages.com and take the simple Love Language Quiz. I hope everyone enjoys speaking a new language they might not have spoken before.

VaCaTion...

Saturday, July 17, 2010 is the official first day of my summer holiday. I am, honestly, sooooooooooooo excited. And I am praying, well, begging actually, for sunny weather.

Eyore's personality tends to be more my bend than Tigger's (although I am asking God to help me change that). Sunshine helps to lift my spirit. So I can't quite imagine two weeks of holidays in the rain. Oh goodness, I hyperventilate just typing that out.

I'm going to lay low for a few days, visit friends at their cottage for a few more days, bum off another friend for a few more days, and then maybe cross the border for some Fun and Frivolity with the Females in my Family (and maybe hit up a Few shopping malls!).

Will you pray that I can decompress quickly, pray for safety in travel, for lots of fun... oh yeah, and for sunshine!

What are you doing for your VaCaTion? I'll pray for you, too.

Forget your umbrella...

Last evening I read from a Bible version that I am not familiar with. And I came across a verse that jumped off the page at me. I love when that happens as it assures me that the Word is living and that God is personal.

Here’s the verse:
“For God has imprisoned all in disobedience, so that He may have mercy on all.”
Romans 11:32

Pretty amazing, eh?
I underlined it and circled the words “all”.

Then I went back to my good ol’ faithful version to read it again, in words that were more familiar to me.

Guess what? I had it underlined there too - with the word “WOW” written in the margin. It seems to have struck me at another point in time as well.

I am imprisoned, and yes, it does feel exactly that way sometimes, so He can have mercy on me. This also means that you are imprisoned so that He can have mercy on you.

Your mercy is falling, is falling, is falling. Mercy is falling like a sweet, spring rain. Mercy is falling is falling all over me.

In a Funk

Here I sit with  a million things to get done ( one of them being my blog entry ) with very little motivation to do them.  I can hear my little girl in the background chatting to herself and singing in some foreign language and it is sweet music to my ears.  I would much rather give up on the blog, plop down and play with her.  But alas, I must learn how to do all the technical things I need to know in order to produce a good blog. Don't expect any pictures until next entry as I am learning as I go;  but once I get going there will be no stopping me!!!

Well have made my first blog entry.  It isn't pretty but I feel good about getting my feet wet.  For the next few days I hope to be getting out of my Funk and getting things done. 

Anyone else out there in a funk? I hope I am not alone.  Maybe we can encourage one another on to great things!!!!!

Many hands make... less weeding...

StoneRidge Family - remember we are having a couple different weeding/planting parties this week.
Tuesday evening from 6-9:00PM and all day on Wednesday, 9am-9:00pm (all or anytime in between).

Come in grubby clothes, bring garden gloves and tools. Don't forget water and any snacks you might require for bionic energy boosts.

And, yes, children are welcome because we have a great paved parking lot that is absolutely perfect for bicycles, tricycles, rollar blades and skateboards.

So, weed you there!
I mean, seed you there!
No, I mean SEE you there, we need you there!


PS: friends and neighbours welcome

Let's Read Together

Vacation time is here and with the warm weather comes summer reading. I always enjoy diving into a great book that keeps me eagerly wanting to turn each page. There are some great choices at your local public library and there is also a great selection in the StoneRidge Fellowship Library. If you need help choosing a book, ask a friend for a suggestion. I bumped into a friend in the library and we got giddy with excitement as she suggested books for me to read. A good book can take you on an exciting adventure into a new world. My books come with me to the beach, the car and they even keep me up all hours of the night in a tent with a flashlight. Yes, I have stayed up for hours reading in my tent while my family gently sleeps all around me. I have chosen this historical fiction series by Best-Selling Author Liz Curtis Higgs and I just can't wait to dive in! Pick up a book and let's read together.

Veggies Anyone?

I have always wanted to grow my own vegetable garden and this year I finally took the plunge! My husband filled the garden with soil and I eagerly raked and prepared the soil for the vegetables. My daughters wanted to help every step of the way and I wanted them to participate in our first family garden. We chose peppers, lettuce, celery, beans, cucumbers, tomatoes, pumpkins, squash, onions, broccoli, cauliflower, jalapenos, zucchini and red cabbage. Quite the ambitious garden for my first time but I am so excited that I just planted everything I could get my hands on. It will be so fun to go out to my garden and pick my salad for supper. I will also enjoy watching my children getting tomatoes for snacks. I excitedly await the first sign of a veggie. As I was writing this, I thought it would be nice to use my garden's harvest to make connections with neighbors and treat them to a basket of veggies on their doorstep. What a great way to let my neighbors know I care about them and show them love in the simplest way. Maybe this garden won't just yield veggies but also some new friendships.

Clean up, clean up.....or not....

It starts off so innocently. Deciding that, although it's summer, this mess has to be dealt with before we do one more thing. "Kiiids!" I call in my sweet mother voice, "We're going to spend some time cleaning up today." And then, in same sweet voice start singing that good old clean up song: "Clean up, clean up, everybody, everywhere..." What? It seems to work fine in nursery school. My 7 year old instantly drops to the ground crying, holding his head in his hands. My 5 year old smiles sweetly and says, "Sure, I LOVE cleaning. Cleaning is my favorite thing EVER." My three year old doesn't need to be asked twice and instantly goes upstairs and cleans her entire room in under five seconds (did I mention she's a GIRL?). After that here's how it goes:

-Give 7 year old two options (in sweet, patient voice): Clean room or no Wii.
-Give 5 year old explicit instructions on what to clean, knowing that if you don't it won't get done AT ALL.
-15 minutes later. Remind 7 year old, in semi-sweet voice of his two options. Ask 5 year old sort of nicely to please stop playing with toys and actually clean them up. Send 3 year old GIRL downstairs to start working on playroom, since room is done.
-15 minutes later. Try and encourage children for the 1 cm of floor space they have cleaned...but remind them that my patience is wearing out and for heaven's sake just clean it all.
-5 minutes later: Rush upstairs after hearing "I'm bleeding, something got me!" only to find a small pipe cleaner injury.
-5 minutes later: Reassure 7 year old (who is now the only one cleaning even though his 5 year old brother LOVES cleaning SOOO much) that yes, his brother would have to clean his share of the room as well.
-2 minutes later: Ignore 5 year old who is insisting his finger is broken and is therefore unable to clean. Try to also ignore growing rage inside yourself.
2 minutes later: Tell 3 year old, who has now cleaned her entire room AND playroom, what a stellar child she is. Give out popsicle. Ignore other children's pleading to be done and have one too.
2 minutes later: Run upstairs after hearing the sound of a frisbee banging against the wall. Unleash rage. Give speel about coming up here with big black garbage bag, how parents aren't slaves, etc, etc.
-4.7 seconds later: Retreat to room, frantically playing computer games while singing the clean up song in a crazy voice to yourself, wondering why you have ever started this fiasco. Ignore children staring at you in doorway..then eventually slinking away.

And that, my friends, is my explanation on why my house remains half cleaned and also why my Bejewelled score keeps improving. ;)

Parades & Patriotism

July 1st comes and goes and I love the sea of red and white as I walk through my city. I also enjoy watching the maple leaf blow as the wind hits the flag. My favorite part of Canada Day is parades I love watching the men and women in uniform. It always brings a tear to my eye when I see them marching so proudly for their country. There is just something about a large group gathered together celebrating their freedom and their country that stirs the spirit of patriotism inside of me. I am Canadian!

I just knew it...

When I discovered that the month of July was dedicated to a sermon series on the book of James, I just knew that I'd not go unscathed (in other words: inevitable conviction was headed my way).

Two phrases that spoke to me from this past weeks message are these:
Trials are designed to bring out the best of me.
Temptations are designed to bring out the worst of me.

There it is in black and white. James 1:12-13.
When I allow God to work through me during trials - that is the best of me, because it actually isn't me, it's all Him.
And when I give in to temptation - that is the worst of me, because it is all me and none of Him.

Good lessons are hard sometimes.

What have you been learning?

A good summer read...

While growing up I never enjoyed reading. It felt much too much like work to me.

However, once I entered University and was emmersed in courses that were of interest to me, reading took on a different feel.

Now, reading is one of my favorite things to do. I can get competely lost in a good book or a good series (even better than a good book!)
I am a picky reader, though. I call myself a book snob.

I especially enjoy Historical fiction, can be convinced to read some biographies, and have discoverd that I also enjoy books written in a journal format.

One series that I have thoroughly enjoyed, I call it the most delightful series I have ever read, is the Mitford series.

Check out the official website. Visit your local library and begin summer vacation in the charming town of Mitford, getting to know Father Tim and his "never a dull moment" lifestyle. You'll be ever so glad that you did.

Sing it like you mean it...

Oh, Canada

Our home and native land,

True patriot love - in all thy sons command.

With glowing hearts We see thee rise,

The true, north, strong, and free.

From far and wide, Oh Canada, we stand on guard for thee.

God keep our land glorious and free.

Oh, Canada we stand on guard for thee,

Oh, Canada we stand on guard for thee