Just an update...

Garth is in Buffalo this week on business, so the pace of life has changed a bit. I realize even more how much I love having my husband work at home. When something exciting happens, when the kids fall and get hurt, or when I need to run an errand and want to leave one child at home...he's always there!

I'm so excited to tell you that I have lost 10 pounds since the first of January...and 5 inches in my waist. Garth has lost 15 pounds...and is trying hard to keep it off while away. We are working very hard to get some weight off and live healthier.

I also want to tell you about a project that I am working on this year called Project 365. It involves taking a picture of something each day of this year and putting it into a scrapbook album. Garth has the camera in Buffalo this week to take pictures of his time there. I want to make this album a true picture of life in our home...the good and the bad. I'm really excited about this project and seeing our life in pictures.

Sarah is 2/3 of the way through 1st grade. She is excelling in piano and it's such a joy to hear her practice every day. I seldom have to remind her to practice...she loves it so.

Benjamin began K4 today! I know it's in the middle of the year. = ) I was going to wait and start him in the fall, but he is ready now. He acted like such a big boy today as he sat there attentively and participated in the lesson. It will be exciting to see him really grow and mature as he learns.

Rachel's favorite word right now is "hi". She walks around all day long and tells everyone "hi" over and over again. It's so hilarious. She plays in the Pack n Play while the kids do school and enjoys that for the most part.

We had Missions Conference at church last week and what a blessing that was. It was challenging and uplifting at the same time. It was a joy to see the missionaries' love for the Lord and excitement for the ministry the Lord has called them to.

Matching Dresses and a Spoken In Our Home

My mom made Sarah this dress when she was a baby. Now it's Rachel's turn to wear it!




And I just want to share this "Spoken In Our Home" (Henson version!)...

This week is Missions Conference at church. We were getting ready to go last night and Benjamin asked me, "Mom, are the missionaries going to have slides tonight?" I said, "Yes, Benjamin, they are." His next question was simply "Mom, can we ride them?"

It took me a second to grasp what he had just put together in his mind and then I had to go tell Garth...of course my little man thought we could slide down the missionaries' slides tonight. He was loving the idea of Missions Conference more and more!

Dad's An American Citizen!

On Tuesday, January 20th, my dad became a citizen of the United States. Even though he's lived in the US for much of his married life, he only had a green card. Yesterday, after lots of waiting, paperwork and money, he became an official citizen of the United States.

Here he is taking the oath of allegiance to the United States. He still retains his Canadian citizenship, so now he's both American and Canadian (like me!!).


Here he is receiving his certificate from the district representative from the Office of Homeland Security. I find it interesting that Dad became a US citizen on the same day that Barack Obama was inaugurated as president! ;-)

Birthday Photo Outtakes

I love updating our children's photos each year in our home and taking some time to look at how they've changed in the last year. Recently we took Rachel's photo (about a month late, but we got it done!). Here are some outtakes.

Anybody Home?

I have had to take a step back lately and reevaluate what is most important to me in my life. While I love blogging, other things have had to take priority over the past few days/weeks. Garth and I are on a mission to be more healthy so meal prep and exercise takes more time than it used to. Other commitments that we made are also taking more time and leaving little or no time to update my blog. We are doing well...just busy...like everyone. So for now, my posts will not be as frequent. I'll still post about the big events, but not everyday life as much. I just need to make sure that I am doing what matters most...and for now, that means a slower "blogging life".

Year in Review

Jenny tagged me. I'm supposed to summarize the year of 2008 in only three words. So...here's what I came up with.

Move - Friendship - Family

And I tag...Amanda S. and Cindee

Teaching Children to Sew

Sarah received a sewing machine for Christmas and I've spent some time teaching her how to use it. She is very interested in it and has done very well so far. The hardest thing for her is to not press the pedal too hard at first...to start slowly.

I wanted to share a great website I found with some patterns and such for children's sewing. The website is Kids Sewing Projects. Also, this template has been helpful in getting her to practice lines without using any thread or fabric. It's important, though, to change the needle after using it on paper as that really dulls the needle. I encourage you to explore this website and be sure to notice the links on the side to different levels of sewing instruction as well as some patterns for kids to try.

I hope this information may be helpful to some of you out there!