A few more funny videos of our kids...

These videos are all from 2009, so Olivia is 5 and Braden is 4. I decided it would be cute to put a few of our 'keepers' on here, even though that are a couple years old now. They are great memories and always make us smilie!

Olivia's first attempt at creating a song!

http://videomail.shaw.ca/view/13885573058-1244608890-39636/

Braden's first attempt at creating a song (cause he has to keep up with his sister)!

http://videomail.shaw.ca/view/13885563785-1245428300-18858/


And the song that Mommy & Daddy used to tell the kids that we were expecting another baby! It came in a recordable card that we gave to the kids and they listened to it so much that they memorized it!

http://videomail.shaw.ca/view/13885523924-1258994588-99519/

Video Nov. 2009

An old video of Olivia & Braden, that always makes me laugh!

http://videomail.shaw.ca/view/13885566576-1258653434-31437/

Fall 2011

Cold, not Smart!

Last night, when Braden was finished his bath, I brought him his towel. As usual, he stayed all huddled on the floor under his towel for a few minutes. While I was cleaning up the bathroom, he says, "Mom, I'm cold. Can you carry me to my room?" I said, "No Braden, I can't right now. I'm busy."
"But Mom, I don't know how" he said.
"I'm sure you'll figure it out," I responded.
Then came his witty response.
"I said I was cold, not smart!"

Halloween 2011

Olivia came home from school on Halloween and said, "Mom, people at school keep asking me why I am a Christian." "Mom, why are we christians?" So...that led to a pretty cool discussion about becoming a christian and so on.

So...that night, we took the kids out trick or treating in our neighbourhood. Olivia was a nurse, Braden - batman, and Julia - a very cute little ladybug!

Anyway....after we got back home and they had taken stock of the 'plunder', Olivia was getting ready for bed when she came and gave me a big hug and said, "Thanks for taking us out for Halloween, even though we're Christians."

A Midnight Moonie

Today I heard a new one.
Braden & I were up early this morning having breakfast together, as we usually do. He's always the first one up and I'm the sucker that gets to 'arise' with him. (I secretly love it though.)
Anyway...while my mom was getting ready, she asked Braden if he had eaten breakfast already? He said, "Yeah...I had a Midnight Moonie!" Guaranteed, my mom had no idea what that was. So she asked and he answered with, "You know...it's when a mom and her son have breakfast together."
Thanks Braden...that made my day!
Here's to many more Midnight Moonies!!

Trusting Ourselves?

Braden was whining to me the other day about bringing all his lego upstairs to play. I kind of have this rule that it needs to stay downstairs and he's usually pretty good about it, but once in a while, he likes to bring it upstairs and play in the livingroom. I did not want the visible mess, so I stuck to my guns and told him he would need to keep it downstairs because I don't like when he dumps it all out on the floor. He persisted by promising to not dump it all out. The best line was, "MOM...don't you trust me? (pause) I trust myself...."

It's just what Dads do...

Again while driving....the kids and I were talking about when they grow up and of course Braden somehow weaved LEGO into the conversation. He said, "Mom, I bet when I grow up, my boy is going to like lego just as much as I do." I said, "...and are you going to play lego with him just like Daddy plays lego with you?" Obviously this was a 'no-brainer' 'cause Braden answered, "Well...YEAH! That's what dads do!!!"

The New Heaven & the New Earth

On Thursday, September 29th...my grandpa (who my kids refer to as 'Megapops') had a heart attack and was hospitalized for some tests. Since my grandma needed a ride to the hospital...we offered to drive her. I picked the kids up from school a bit early and we headed over to get Grandma. On the way, I was explaining what we were doing and what had happened to Grandpa. Of course, that sparked some interesting conversations about life and death and heaven.
After a few rounds of 'questioning'....Olivia says, "Mom? How long will we be in heaven before Jesus makes the new heaven and the new earth?" I was kind of amazed at her intelligence to even ask such a question, but truthfully had to reply, "I'm not really sure, honey." There was a short pause and then Braden piped up from the backseat and confidently answered, "Umm.....I'd probably say 4 weeks!"

Our Happy Little Boy!

I hesitated whether to post this cute little story...but it demonstrates the innocence of our children and was just too cute to not put down in our 'memory bank'.

The other day Braden was outside with my mom and and kept holding the front of his pants (as little boys often do). So...thinking he maybe had to pee, my mom asked him if he needed to go to the bathroom. He replied, "No...just sometimes when I'm happy, I hold the front of my pants!" Pure innocence...pure cuteness!

Olivia's burden for her friend....

First of all...my lack of posts over the last few months is not due to lack of material, just lack of time. We just moved from our house in Abbotsford, BC to my parents' house in Goderich, ON for the summer until Shawn is able to find employment somewhere here in Ontario. So, in the midst of all that going on, there hasn't been a lot of time to record all the little things here that would normally qualify as 'noteworthy'.

Now that we are a bit settled, I am trying to make time for these important entries again. Olivia said goodbye to a number of her little grade 1 friends in BC and during her last few weeks at school really developed a passion to prove to her classmates that God is real. She informed me that one day at lunch time, she polled her class to find out who believed in God and who didn't. Apparently there were a few who said they didn't and one of them was one of her friends. So...since that day, Olivia has been on a mission to help this little girl come to believe that God is real. We have prayed for her on many occasions at bedtime and Olivia has had many of her own little 'conversations' with this friend.
Well, the other day, she was in her 'artistic zone' and was making a picture or a booklet or something. I turned to her and said, "Olivia, if you ever want to send your friends in BC a picture or card or something, just let mommy know and I'll put it in the mail for you." Her response was, "That's what I'm doing Mom! I have to prove to _____ that God is real. Otherwise, she will be stuck here when the new earth comes and then she will have to go to Saul." A little confused, but pretty sure I knew what she meant, I said, "Saul??" Olivia says, "Yeah, or whatever that other evil heaven is called." Then I said, "Oh, you mean hell." "Yeah, that's it," she replied.

While we were travelling from BC to Ontario, we had stopped at this waterfront area for a break and the kids were playing around. We kept seeing all these wasps around, but what we didn't realize was that Braden was hitting a wasp nest with his sandal, trying to kill them all. Knowing the nature of wasps, we were completely amazed that they didn't attack Braden and that he never got stung. So, we thanked God for protecting Him, fully believing that to be the reason he never got stung. Olivia must have been impacted by that.

So, now 2 weeks later, she goes on to write this note to her friend that read something like this,
"God saved my bruther's life. Naw that is power from God. Braden was poking at wasps and God saved him."

It's always interesting to me to see how our kids process the information they receive and try to put it all together in life. I'm thankful that our kids have a burden for their friends who don't believe in God, but we are now in the process of helping them to understand how to deal with that in a way that is still loving and respectful, yet still full of faith and truth.

Did you say...Ace?

Last night I was playing a quick game of "Go Fish" (or Goldfish as Braden says) before bed. We were playing with a regular deck of cards this time and the kids aren't too schooled yet on the Jacks and Aces and stuff like that. So it was Olivia's turn and she asked Braden if he had an Ace, to which he replied, "Nope...Gold Fish!" A few turns later, Braden asked Olivia if she had something and since she didn't, Braden picked up his card from the pile. As he picked up his card he smiled and muttered under his breath, "Yes! An anus!" I wasn't sure if I had heard him correctly, but I knew I had when it came to his turn again. With great confidence he said, "Olivia, do you have an anus?" After that came a little pause in the game where Mommy had to gain her composure and politely instruct her innocent little man on the correct name for a certain card.

A little bit of controversy over where Jesus grew up...

Shawn and I were thinking of taking the kids to the ocean in Bellingham yesterday. I guess they overheard us talking and Braden says to Olivia, "What's Bellingham?" And Olivia says in her 'motherly' tone, "Braden, that's where Jesus grew up."

A Single Mother???

The other night I got the rare opportunity to head to the movies with my friend Janelle....leaving daddy at home with the 3 munchkins. When I left they were all downstairs...playing lego starwars with the exception of Julia, who was just motoring around, exploring everything within reach. While in the theatre, I get a call from Shawn, which totally made my heart race! I automatically thought something must be wrong, but found out he was simply calling to tell me what Olivia had said. I guess he left to go upstairs for a minute and he hollered down to her, "Is everything alright Olivia?" She responded with, "C'mon dad, I'm trying to play a video game and I'm watching 2 kids here! What am I, a single mom?"

An excellent question!

The other day, Olivia was walking all around the house with a pile of blank papers and writing lines upon lines of nothing. When I asked her what she was doing, she replied, "Oh, I have to do this to save money for our school." Not really understanding, I asked her how writing lines on a paper was supposed to help save money for her school. She paused and pointed her pen at me and said, "Mom....that is an excellent question. I really don't know."

At least she's honest.

Finders keepers...

We all know the saying, "Finders keepers, losers weepers." Well...Braden came up with his own version today after discovering something that he intended on keeping. He proudly announced to us all, "Finders keepers, I am a loser!"

Think he got that one a bit wrong...we'll have to work on that one before we let him loose in public!

A Woman's Work Is Never Done

The other morning I was completely surprised by Olivia! One of her favourite things to do is to bring Mommy breakfast in bed. So...in her sneaky little way...she began the preparations for another special Mommy treat! Then, she also surprised me by making breakfast for her brother too. After all this, she finally moved on to making some breakfast for herself. She had this major look of accomplishment at this point and looked at me and said, "Mom, girls can pretty much do everything without tiring!"

Spoken like a true woman! I do believe she will make a wonderful wife and mother some day!

The 'Spirit'

Today was Monday. And...apparently pajama day at school, only I had forgotten. As usual...it was a mad race to get Olivia dressed and out the door, only to discover as we rounded the corner for school, that it was pajama day. I hesitantly asked Olivia if she wanted me to take her back home to get her pajamas on and of course she did. So...we turned around and headed back home for a quick change. Olivia said to me on the way, "Yeah...I just really want wear my pajamas so I can have 'spirit'." Apparently one of the student council boys had encouraged them all to wear their pajamas and show school spirit. After Olivia thought that over for a moment, she looked at me really puzzled and said, "I didn't know that wearing your pajamas could get you the spirit?" Realizing that she was a bit confused, I explained to her that this kind of spirit meant like...'showing support'. She then said, "Oh...so not like the spirit of God?"

That could have been a very big 'theological' error in the workings...LOL!

Bun In The Oven

Since Julia was born, I have been on maternity leave. Before maternity leave...I often had to send or receive through Purolator for work, so the same guy was usually here to pick up or drop off packages. He had seen me pregnant, but had not been here since Julia was born, until just the other day. When he showed up at the door, Olivia was right there with me, as usual, to see what he was bringing to the door. As we stood there dealing with the paperwork and stuff, the man commented on Julia....our new baby. Olivia looked at him and said very matter-of-factly, while pointing at Julia, "Yep. THIS was the bun in the oven."

Gramma...You're my 'Hooker'

We were in Ontario over Christmas this year and one of our favourite things to do is go out to MY grandparents house and visit there. They live in this small little mennonite village and my Grandma's house was and still is always full of the best old toys...so many things to entertain my children. One of their favourite things to do is dress up with all these old hats that my Grandma has hanging downstairs. So...Braden and Olivia were trying on these old hats and coming upstairs to show us. At one point, Braden had a bunch to try on, so when he was finished with one, he would hand it to my mom and then try on the next one. Out of the blue, he looks at my mom and says, "Grandma, you're my hooker!" What he meant was...you're my hook to hang stuff on...but the way it came out...left us all in 'stitches'!