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When we arrived at Bible Camp, I set up the tent with a little “help” from Chloe and John. The air mattress had to be pumped up with a hand pump. John was surprisingly helpful in this area!

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Our evenings were spent enjoying the fire and the treats that go along with campfires!

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Our days were spent jumping,

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horseback riding,

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swimming and rolling in the mud,

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playing on the GT,

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napping,

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water-sliding,

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puddle jumping (or puddle-sitting),

and our week ended with two sleeping tots on our way home! What an incredible time! The Lord spoke to me through so many of the messages, I made new friends, enjoyed our adventures and found plenty of quiet time to myself under a shady tree while the littles napped each day.

Now to tackle the laundry!

• This post links to Wordless Wednesday (also at Two of a Kind, Woven by Words and 7 Clown Circus).
• Current Giveaway: Pocket Disc Giveaway (Can & USA 7/31)

Raising Olives has a giveaway going on right now for a $50 Sonlight Gift Card. How amazing would that be to win? I would love it – so don’t go and enter There is also a great giveaway for an Ergo that you also shouldn’t enter. (I love Ergo!!)

Right now we’re doing Before Five in a Row and I can’t wait to share about that with you when I return.  But Sonlight PreK is what we plan on using to homeschool officially at some point this fall.

Today I am packing…we’re heading out to bible camp! We’ll be gone for the week. I am once again thankful that I had the opportunity to review List Plan It! I really must include a picture of my list when we packed for Africa. I used List Plan It, loved it and still have the list.

I do have reviews and giveaways to get up still, but they’ll keep.

Chloe & I went to bible camp when she was 6 months but I doubt she remembers. This will be the littles’ first tenting experience. They are so excited.

A little miscellaneous information:

• Enter before it ends! Pocket Disc Giveaway (Can & USA 7/31)
• Don’t miss your chance in the UV Skinz Giveaway (Can & USA 7/24)
• beautifulcall is now on twitter. If you follow, give yourself a bonus entry in the giveaways.
• I also just added google friend connect to my sidebar. If you follow, give yourself two bonus entries in the giveaways.

Have a wonderful week; I know we will. Please pray for us, that we will be safe, that it won’t rain and that we don’t have an incredible heat wave!

Working away, cute as can be!

then…{looks at me}

“no take my picher”

• Enter my current giveaway: UV Skinz Winners Choice! (Can & USA 7/24)
• This post links to Wordless Wednesday (also at Two of a Kind, Woven by Words and 7 Clown Circus).

It’s kind of rainy today; I’m thankful for that since we need rain but sometimes a little challenging since the littles love to be outside.

So, despite the rain {or maybe because of it} we headed out for a walk. Cool and refreshing

                        {wet}

                                  we walked along singing, picking flowers

                                                                                                                     {and grass?!?}

carrying our umbrellas and rejoicing in the day that the Lord hath made. We had sandwiches for lunch…we eat them a lot {it’s summertime!}. We read some books and played some Uno Moo.

Have you ever played Uno Moo? Mom and dad bought it for the littles for Christmas and they really enjoy it. {John is still figuring it out but Chloe had it down pat just days after receiving it. She was almost 3.} Anyway, it’s a simple game that teaches matching using animals and colors. The pieces are nice and chunky for tots to handle. We also make the animal sounds which makes the game even funner (not a word, I know!).  I think this is a great game!

So I thought today on this rainy day I would share with you posts from the archives for any new subscribers. Be sure to check out 23 Rainy Day Ideas and a Box of Rice on a Rainy Day.

{“Flowers” picked by Chloe. Blade of grass picked by John who ended  up being too tired to play Uno Moo and went down for his nap early.}

• This post links Gratituesday and to the 30 minute Challenge 

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We have a pet fish. His name is Nemo. He’s a blue fish in a blue tank with blue rocks. He’s kind of hard to see. John likes to talk to it. He’d talk to it all day long if I let him. Sometimes I tell him…

Nemo is asleep

            just so he’ll leave the fish alone for a while.

                                                 Even fish need a break. {I think}

• This post links to Wordless Wednesday (also at Two of a Kind and 7 Clown Circus) even though it has words.

To Do List:

           blow bubbles

                     {giggles}

                                         eat lunch

                                                            enjoy the sunshine

                                                                     have fun

                                                                                     Mission. Accomplished!

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{Yes, we shared a plate for lunch…summer = simplicity = less dishes for momma!}

• This post is for The Season When The Sun Shines Most, A Haiku. 

I’ve been busy. Running here and there. This is happening, that to do…the littles feel the change, the tension, the lack of routine and so does mommy.

Home.

I long to be in it, to stay in it, to rest and relax. To get caught up on laundry, to whittle down the to-do list.

Today. I. Am. Home.

We’re not going anywhere. Thursday or Friday!

Up, dressed, devotions, happy day dance, breakfast…I’m going to tidy the kitchen, wash the floor {much needed), vacuum, throw on a load of laundry and then

we’re

going

             to

                  sit

                       down

                                and

                                       read some stories, play some games and maybe bake some cookies. Maybe we’ll head out to the back yard and read stories on the swing. My littles love to have stories read to them and {most of the time} I love to oblige.

We’re taking it easy today at home. We’re not going anywhere {No, no we aren’t!}.

Things I love Thursday? Home! I love my home!

Vote for My Cutie Littles

I’d also just like to let you know that Ottawa Cloth Diapers is having a facebook photo contest. Become a fan ad submit a summer picture of your little one or a picture of them in a cloth diaper and you’re entered! Oh, you can also vote for my pictures by becoming a fan and “liking” the pictures. Did I mention that the first place prize is $150 gift card? WOW! {Yes, this is a shameless request but last time I entered the contest, I don’t think I had a single vote and it seemed really sad to vote for myself…if that is even legal!}

Milkies – Happy Moms, Healthy Babies

I received the following email from a reader the other day sharing her experience with Milkies; a product to help moms store breast milk without having to pump. It means that you are never wasting a drop of precious milk. She kindly agreed to allow me to share her story with you.

“I just had my fourth baby. She is 6 weeks old now.  For physical reasons I have been unable to pump milk and save it for any of my babies.  We invested in pumps that are supposed to be for people who may have trouble, etc.  Painful! Twenty minutes of pumping for about 1/2 ounce.  Seriously, just won’t happen for me.  Now, this time, I came across this thing called a milk saver.  It was $25 dollars, and so I gave it a shot.  I am so excited about this product.  It is a simple idea, but as far as I know, these are the first people to capitalize on it.  It is made of bendy plastic that is BPA free, and comfortable on the skin.  You put it in your bra on the side that you are not nursing from.  While the baby nurses on one side, the average women expresses  up to 4 ounces on the other side.  Usually this milk just goes into your pad or towel, or whatever, and is totally wasted.  But the milk saver catches that milk so it is not wasted, and instead you can store it and use it later. It is very easy.  No electricity, batteries, etc.  Just stick it in, and collect. This has been a huge blessing for our family the past few weeks.
I wasn’t paid to advertise this or anything, I just thought you may be interested in my story, and in their product.  I had never heard of it prior to 4 weeks ago, and I have already collected over 50 ounces of milk!  There are other mommies out there, I know it, who have the same physical issues I do, and I just know they will love this milk saver.  I am not a blogger, or an advertiser, or a public relations person. I am not in any way connected with their company. I am just a stay at home mommy who wants to pass on her wonderful find to be able to help some other ladies out there who are like me with this information.”

Rebekah

Before receiving this email, I had never heard of this company or a product like this but I definitely think there are moms out there who would be delighted to learn of it’s existence! Thanks for sharing, Rebekah!

Who Comes First?

“Sometimes the baby will cry just as the older two need you, too. It’s true outside your home and it’s true here, too — you can’t please everybody all of the time.

Make sure the baby is safe, and then take a minute to tend to your elders’ needs. They’ll remember feeling neglected if you always go to the baby first, but the baby won’t remember a thing if he cries for an extra minute. And you’ll make it up to him with extra snuggles at midnight. And 2 a.m.  And 4 a.m…”

SimpleMom.Net

Now I am not a fan of letting babies cry it out and certainly don’t want to debate the point, but here the author is talking about baby waiting an extra minute which is a completely different thing altogether in my opinion. Anyway, I read this today and thought, not only about putting older children first at times but also my husbad. My littles are young and need me…but if I am honest, sometimes they can wait a little! This will go a long way to ensuring that a husband knows he’s still number one even though his wife is “mommy” to needy little ones.

Winners!

Amber Ryder is a facebook fan of Dezign with a Z and also our lucky winner. Be sure to check out the Wall Decal review!

Erin H of Cheep Peeps is our random winner for the DivaCup Giveaway. I’d highly recommend reading the review. I love this product and was so thankful to have the cup in my bag when I was taken by surprise in the airport while we were on vacation. DivaCup simplifies everything! {Shameless pulg: Well.ca offers free shipping within Canada and I am an affiliate}.

Reminder

Teva Sandals Giveaway ends Sunday June 20th! Enter to win a pair for Dad…or your children or you!{Canadian friends only}

Thank you for bearing with this eclectic sort of post. I’ve got lots of things going on and it simplified life to put it all into one. I’m so glad you all can’t see my desk right now. {Actually, I can’t really see it either, which is the problem!}

This morning while out doing errands, Chloe spotted a park. “Mommy, look! A park, can we play?” While it wasn’t part of my day’s plan, we stopped for a little impromptu play. Since it wasn’t planned, I didn’t have my husband’s camera with me. (And mine is broken). The park had this really neat whale teeter totter but the springs looked like this one which meant that even one person could bounce. While the children played, mommy bounced. You know, we go to the park fairly often and I watch, cheer, encourage, help, push littles on the swings but I seldom play. Today was fun, refreshing, relaxing. Mom’s need to play more!

After we finished up at the park, we continued on to the garden center. We spent a delightful hour in there looking at plants. {Love my Ergo carrier which is where John was}. Chloe picked out several geraniums in all shades of pink of course. We like geraniums. They were on sale and pretty cheap, the bloom all summer and of course they are hardy and not easy to kill. Perfect for a beginning gardener. {Mommy, not Chloe!}.

We had a healthy (tongue in cheek) lunch at Wendy’s; a special request from Chloe. The littles had their noon naps and mommy started on the garden. By the time Chloe woke up, it was time to plant the beans {nice big seeds for clumsy little hands} and several other plants that we got on sale.

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John and Chloe both took great delight in watering the plants with their own little watering cans {thanks Aunty Sandy} and they watered themselves a little too.

Finished with the garden, we dug out the kiddie pool we found on the curb on garbage day last fall. We filled it up and spend the remainder of the afternoon playing in it.

A picnic dinner of grilled cheese, cucumber salad and pickles and then back into the mud/pool for more fun. A little time snuggling on the swing eating popsicles then then the littles’ day is finished with a bath, pj’s, library time and a few pages from Little House on the Prairie.

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Mommy now sits in the quiet of the back yard. The day is now cool. {She is swinging on the porch swing her mother found for free on kijiji. This makes her happy.} She thinks it has been a good day, not because she accomplished many tasks on her to-do list {though she did do that too} but because her priorities were right today and she invested in things that will matter in eternity; her family!

Have you had any good days lately?

Pillowhead

We arrived home this weekend, tired but happy. I’m thankful for safe travels. My first trip to Africa was an amazing, eye-opening experience. {BIG thanks to my in-laws for the opportunity to visit Africa, the good food; they were amazing hosts!}

I didn’t fall off the face of the earth but after my camera died, it seemed like I didn’t have a chance to post anything else…

Upon arriving home I was greeted by a cut lawn and some extra special touches around the yard; new flowers, pinwheels, fresh mulch in the garden…what a wonderful and much appreciated surprise! {BIG thanks to my sister and brother-in-law!}

I am thrilled to be home. I missed my family, friends, church and Canada is general. I love Canada!

I must have brought a bug home with me though because the other day I was SICK! I laid in bed in between trips to the bathroom wishing my mommy was here (yep, I’m 31 and was thinking that!) and wondering how I was going to care for my littles the following day.

Thankfully my nana-in-law lives has an apartment in our home and  took them for part of the day, then they had naps and then daddy was home. I did survive the day – barely! It’s so hard when you are that sick that you can hardly walk, yet you have little ones depending on you for everything. {so a BIG thanks to Nana for your love and help!}

I was sad to have missed my Epicure meeting last night; they made dream boards! My leader and friend, Carm, is an amazing person and I missed her too. Looking forward to getting together to catch up! {a big thanks to Carm for the special ‘gift’ for my trip which I wore and loved!}

Today is Tuesday and though I didn’t start writing this as a Gratituesday post, it kind of ended up that way didn’t it? I’m thankful for home, family, friends, the blessings God has bestowed on us and especially I am thankful for health.

I’m feeling better today. I’m unpacking, doing laundry and then baking my cupcake order for tomorrow. I kind of feel like the house is upside down right now because we arrived home from our trip and then being sick, nothing got done. But for today; essentials only. Sometimes a mom needs to take it easy right?!?

What are you up to today?