Family Ski Date.

Our main Christmas present to our children was a ski trip to "bigger hills" in the state of New York.

Malachi got a few extra toys for his present, and he enjoyed the day playing at friends.  We aren't ready to try a 4 year old on the slopes!

Maybe next year!

We have had a VERY mild winter, but we ended up with a gorgeous sunny day.  Less than half of the runs were open, but we pretty well had the place to ourselves....we NEVER waited in a lift lines!

We were so blessed to enjoy the day together!

This was the first cell photo I took....where we gave up trying to include Eric in the selfie with all of us short people.  We gave up.

We were starting to slide backwards down the hill!

As you can see....I specialized in quick not-so-special cell photos where we are NOT moving- at least down a hill!

These hills were bigger than our usual and it took all my concentration to stay upright...never mind trying to take photos!

I'm thankful to report no falls for me...and I'm all in one piece!

Winter FUN!

We have had a mild winter so far with very little snow...at least the stuff that stays around!

But it IS here now, and with that comes some traditional Canadian fun.  We have a public holiday Monday in February called "Family Day."  After we enjoyed a fundraising breakfast at the church our friends invited us to join the fun at their wonderful skating pond.

This same friend (who may or may not make an appearance in the this post) has also challenged me to explore manual settings of my (new!) camera!  

F-stops, shutter speeds and ISO have been all the talk.

And so we set out to try out a bit of what we've learned...on all things but one of the most difficult to photograph...snow....with moving people!

The second set of photos are a different day of sledding with my children (and my camera out!).  

Do you see Gideon's breathe in this one?

This guy seems to be in many photos...probably because he wasn't moving as fast as the others! 

Our trusty hot chocolate carafes! 

The super funky 70's style is just the best.

And UP the sledding hill we go!

Davy Crockett hat!  

Or in this case a possum skin from New Zealand!

I hope you all didn't mind the photo dump of  winter FUN!

It's time again....You might be a MOMB ("Mom of Many Boys") IF......

*  Milk.  You go through approximately 6 bags a week.  That's 6 times 4 Litres = 24 Litres of milk.  And we raise beef cattle...maybe we should add a milker.

*  The church collection bags goes by the row each Sunday, and the youngest son consistently drops his money in with the arm actions of a crane.  And you think nothing of it, because well, that's normal.

*  It has been heard at your meal table, "This is suppertime, it is not the time for fart arm guns."  You try unsuccessfully to suppress your giggles.

*  Decorative sticks.  You see them in those magazines.  They are strategically placed in a nice pottery vase.  The local Christian school benefited from my dreams on this one.  I purchased two bundles about 1 metre long at the auction.  In boy's worlds...sticks = weapons.  1 metre became an assortment of broken pieces with the average length of 20 cm.  The second bundle was donated back to the thrift store.

*  Paper towels are considered disposable by the world.  In my world, so are socks. And probably pants too.  (See previous posts regarding "knees")

*  You regularly have text messages with your boys' friends' moms organizing mutual times to play minecraft or tanki.

*  "Please don't eat like a gerbil."  You say things like that.  Regularly.

BUT.....I wouldn't change ANY of this for the world!  

Devotional.

Paul David Tripp does it again.

Each morning, with the children I am currently reading his devotion book from 2014 called "New Morning Mercies."

"365 Gospel Centred Devotions for the whole year"

"Mornings can be tough. Sometimes, a hearty breakfast and a strong cup of coffee just aren't enough.  Offering more than a rush of caffeine, best selling author Paul David Tripp wants to energize you with the most potent encouragement imaginable: the gospel.

Forget "behaviour modification" or feel-good aphorisms. Tripp knows that what we really need is an encounter with the living God. Then we'll be prepared to trust in God's goodness, rely on His grace, and live for His glory each and every day."

We have been reading it for a number of months now and this description (from the inside cover) is exactly as described!  Although the book is written for adults, almost every reading can easily have an extra explanation added to make the application understandable to the younger children.

Our sin is clearly shown each day.....but the comfort of the Cross usually at the end of the reading causes us to praise!

Highly recommended!

(As an aside, Macayla also commented how much she appreciated this book, it would make a great gift for a young adult.  

She loves her personal copy from us!)