morning!

i've been over at my wordpress blog for about two weeks now. it's been fun learning and building! this home was just what i needed to start blogging, and its contents will not be deleted. i hope to eventually transfer some stuff over to my pages in my new home!

if you are hopping over here first everyday to catch up to me, i give you permission to bookmark my new digs!

thanks for taking the hop with me, and let me know what you think over there!

blessings and prayers,

barb

I've started a bit of a new chapter in life. I've ventured out to find a new crib that might hopefully offer a bit more personalization. I've started a blog over at wordpress. You can find me at www.barbaraheide.wordpress.com I will be trying it out for a bit, and then reevaluate it after about a week or so I guess! Please hop over there and join me! I don't mean to drag you all over the place, or ell you what to do, and hopefully this won't complicate our relationship, but only make it stronger! Ok, i'm off to the new diggs...are you coming? Come'on!

We did an impulse quiet time this week, that actually ended up as more like a nap time for K. She ended up falling asleep, much to her disappointment. I walked in to their room to let them know they had successfully been quiet for the designated quiet time, and where free to come out and play. L was awake but lazy in her bed, and in the bed next to her, I found my little sleep reader!

I laughed, and ran to grab the camera. With all the commotion (tho i was TRYING to be quiet), she woke up slightly from her slumber, and raised her book a bit.

It didn't take long though, and it slowly dropped back down perching on her face. I took a few more shots, and pried the book from her fingers. She woke slightly, but was tired enough to get a good nap in yet!
Precious moments of life!

Today marks the 3 month mark since I birthed our last baby! WOW, it's flown by! I still remember so clearly the anticipation and wonder of what God would bless us with. We're SO thankful for the healthy baby girl we've been enjoying for the last three months!

Happy Birthday "Baby Alison Summer Heide" (as Kaylee calls you when asked what the babies name is)

The first picture is today, and the second picture is 7 weeks earlier

Yesterday I spent some time uptown as it was my driving the kindy kids day. I spent some time at the local MCC thrift store. I didn't browse too deeply, as that really isn't one of my strong points (lack of patients I would have to say). I did however find some books for the girls, a top for the girls

(photo courtesy of genius babies.com) , magazines for me (homemaker) and then......THESE beauties!

just ignore that beautiful double chin you see across the top of

the picture....the focus is the beads! FOCUS my friend!

What treasures have you found thrift shopping?

Did you have a top as a child?

Enjoy your wednesday, whatever might spin your way!

This year I tried to keep it simple in my fall decorating. Honestly, a friend and I decorated for our thanksgiving potluck last weekend, and I dragged the 'display' we created out of the garage to the front door and said woola! LOL.
I'll share with you what we came up with today and call it quits!
Oh, I would love to see what you did for fall decorating tho! Please, send me a link to your photo's or just send me a photo!
Be inspired...

I've been working on little 4x6 cards with pictures of the kids to pass out instead of school pictures or monthly baby pictures. It's a kind of combo of sorts. Sure, i'll still take the pictures of them annually seperate from this, but this gives me the freedom to not stress out about ordering enough to have on hand to pass out to family and friends. PLUS, it makes it so much simpler on others to not have to post three seperate pictures of the kids.
Now, here comes your part. I've been on a creative frenzie, and I need your help. Which one do you like, and why! Come on, let me have it, and BE HONEST!

Exhibit A

Exhibit B

Exhibit C

Exhibit D

Exhibit E


ok...so, einy, meiny, miney, moe.....which one is NOT it?

I hope you all enjoy your weekend before thanksgiving. Many of you i'm sure have the next three weekends booked chalk full of gatherings. Count your blessings and fill your tummies for me! I'm hoping to get two gathering in, and one friends potluck! Hmmm.....I can smell the food already!

Yesterday I headed to Winnipeg to my sisters place to help her get her house ready to move into last night (which I purposefully meandered my way out of with my needy children). No, not really on that last part, I just didn't see myself capable of carrying anything on my head for terribly long whilst holding a baby and having my other two monkeys attached to my legs. Great vision, isn't it?! LOL. SO, needless to say, I went to help wash out the house a bit and I also brought food. My domestic skills where put to use, and I served supper and brought some snack/dessert treat. As soon as they threatened to start moving boxes and furniture, I packed up the family and headed home.

The day went well till this point. The baby was tired, as she hadn't had her usual naps, and the ones she did get in, where much shorter lived than her usual. Needless to say, she started crying as soon as I got her in the car...so I got the girls to help and feed her in the back seat while I drove. She finished the bottle, and mostly fell asleep. We where just out of the city, and had another 1.5 hours drive ahead of us, when she woke with a screaming cry. Well, nothing the girls tried to help her with in the back seat seemed to help, so I pulled over, grabbed her out of her seat, and tried to help her myself. Nothing I did seemed to help her either. ...so, I pulled the blankets over her and got out of the car to walk in the light of the headlights. Well, this did seem to help, but due to the cold breeze, and being parked on the side of a busy hi-way in the dark....I didn't choose to walk for too long. So, carefully I climbed back into the car still holding her trying not to disturb her peacefulness...well, as soon as the butt meets the seat, she starts screaming again. I bounced, sang, I prayed, and I cried...we tried everything. Nothing worked....I mean NOTHING. So, yes, I climbed back out of the seat and walked a bit again. Once again, she calmed down...but there was no way I was walking home, as I had no one to drive my car behind me and shed some light on my path. So, I climbed back in, and with a crying baby in my arms drove a few more miles. I might have made it about 10 miles when I stopped again and tried to help my helpless and overtired and screaming baby. OH how I wanted to be home at that moment. I considered phoning my husband to come get me…but realized that in reality there was nothing that would have helped other than give the baby another set of ears to fill. So, I drove. I drove and I drove all the while praying that she would give herself a break and fall asleep out of sheer exahustion. Finally, 20 minutes from home the answer to prayer came. The car was quiet (both the other two girls had fallen asleep at this point as well). So, I drove as carefully as I could knowing full well that what I was doing was not in the interest of my baibes safety. At this point, I was not willing to sacrifice that for anything, and in hinesight, I'm ever so glad I didn't.

As soon as we where home and the car stopped, we woke up again. The older two girls went straight to bed, climbed in and put themselves to sleep. They where tired, and my arms where full with the baby who had, once again started crying. I did get her to drink a bit more, and calmed her down by walking. Any shift in position would bring out wimpers and tears. I carried her for about an hour. I finally could put her down long enough to take a much needed potty break for myself. I thought of waking the other two girls for a potty break, but decided to let the sleeping children remain sleeping. The baby woke up a few minutes after putting her down, and once again I carried her. This went on a few more times till I finally had her calm enough to be able to sleep. We woke up throughout the night for various needs, including a mild fever. So far, I'm not sure what the problem ultimately was, but at this point we're just living in the present. We're sleeping well today, and are mostly back to being ourselves.

My husband asked me if I had learned my lesson through this, to which I laughed. Not exactly sure it was meant to teach me a lesson, I do know that my baby doesn't get out as much as my other two girls did at this age, and it's showing in many areas. There is ultimately nothing I would change about her, or in her life. My aim is to keep her happy, healthy, and content. If that means making some sacrifises at this stage in life, so be it. I am ultimately glad I did go to the city yesterday, but may not venture out alone with the girls again for a long while. *smile*


this face could fool anyone....and it's a cuter face to share than the one i saw last night! (tho through it all, I surprised myself and was able to keep my cool and still see the beauty in her sad sad face.) the picture isn't recent...but i dare not disturb today!

I've always been a sucker for a good magazine cover. They draw me to them, and I frequently enlighten them by purchasing them at my grocery store. In all honesty, I usually pick a longer line (if my kids patients will allow it) and grab a magazine while i wait. You don't know how many dollars i've saved myself in doing this!

However, I had booked haircut appointments for three of us last night. When I got to the hair dressers, and was waiting my turn, I realized that they had gotten rid of all their magazines that where not hair related. I ran over the the nearest drug store and grabbed me two magazines with covers I had been googling at for a while already. Honestly the magazines that can attract my attention and claim my pocket change are always holiday ones. It all starts in the fall, when they put amazing foliage pictures on them, right into Christmas where they give amazing ideas for decorating. Sometimes I'm suckered into getting a spring one as well, but that's become less frequent.

Do you subscribe to any magazines? Which ones are you likely to grab while waiting at a checkout stand?


(oh the beauty and insiration!)
photo courtesy of BHG.com

I would have to say, i'm not much of a 'green earth' type of person. Yes, I love my trees to be green, and the grass to grow well....I just think that many of the organizations and programs are either overboard, unnecessary, or money making gimics. WOW, that was a lot said, I know. Hold on a minute before you get all huffy on me. I think we ALL need to do our part to leave as little mark on the earth as possible. I just don't think we need HUGE commercialized programs and parties and teams to get that done. We should each use our common sense and choose to simplify our lives to rely as little as possible on others.
So, before we start a huge green and gooey debate on eco friendliness, lets get back to on to what I came here to say originally!
What do you do to recycle? Do you try and reuse packaging items in your household that are bound to create a great big huge pile of junk at the landfill? Share some ideas! I loved these ideas I found for reusing plastic 4 ltr. milk containers on this website by Marion Owen!
What do you think of this new designed milk jug?


(note: i don't know who shr is, but i'm determined to help her become popular!) LOL

It's always so nice when the weather is beautiful on a saturday when we're all at home with time to enjoy the warm sunshine and weather! It proved to be an amazing saturday! The kids and the husband spent most of the day outdoors, playing with the the husbands toys. The girls love them just as much as he does, which i'm glad for. It sure helps them spend quality time together! The baby and I ended up inside mostly.
I did get to town for the ever FAMOUS walmart anniversary sale. WOW was the place hoping with people! So, I grabbed the formula (that i saved $12ish dollars on with the purchase of 5) and hotdogs and ran out!
Another amazing part of the day, was the delivery of lunch! While i was out doing the walmart run, my girlfriend brought us my favorite dish, fettachini chicken alfredo (however one spells that) HMMMM....simply divine!
We ended the day with a fire in the firepit fellowshiping with friends! It simply couldn't get any better!

Here's to more sunny saturdays this fall!

Last night at girls coffee the subject of christmas shopping came up. Some of us had started shopping at this point already. Do you shop this early? How do you decide what to buy? Do you go off of lists? Who do you all shop for? Children, spouse, siblings, neices, nephews, parents, grandparents, friends, friends kids? LOL. How far do you go?
Ok, that was more than one question of the day, I guess it's more of a discussion of the day!
Talk to me!



{as you can tell, i'm WAY ahead in christmas shopping, i'm busy wrapping already! hehe yup, the biggest one is for YOU! i PROMISE!} ;-)

Each fall, I've tried encouraging the girls to join me in playing in the fallen leaves. Twenty years ago (give or take), some of my favorite memories are of playing out in the yard in the fall with my sisters and as much stuff as we could drag out there from the basement. We built houses (floor plan style) and played house.

Last year, Larissa got into it with me, and we built her a house she shared with Kaylee. To my surprise and pure joy, she asked me to help her build on again this year! At the time, I told her we had to wait for the leaves to start falling. This week, proved to be the start of it! We started a little late into the evening, but got two houses 'built' before dark. It was fun to watch them dream, and hear them chatter on about where they wanted their houses, and their design of their home. We started off with Larissa's, and built her a garage for her bike.





From there she planned and worked on the rest of her house mostly on her own. I did have to help and get more leaves, as well as create her bathtub, toilet and sink. We built a road to her 'friends' house (Kaylee), and then built Kaylee's house. Kaylee was mostly just running around being 'the friend' and planning sleepovers at each other houses. I asked the homebuilder where she wanted her kitchen, living room, dining room, bathroom and bedroom as i built. It didn't take long, and we had the house build. As it turned out, it wasn't as big as she'de imagined, but was easily convinced it would meet her needs.







It's really exciting to see them playing and dreaming and being just being kids. (tho i'm not sure who's being more of a kid, me or them!)

Each year a group of friends heads for the local Pembina Hills and enjoys a hike and picnic. We usually meet at our house, and then caravan our way out to the Pembina Valley Provincial Park for a hike (well, as much as we can hike with young kids and babies in tow). From there we head to the Pembina Valley Bible Camp for a wiener roast and a bit of playing till it's dark and we head home.

We usually all have our cameras in hand and try and get as many shots in as possible! This year I felt a little disappointed in how many pictures I ended up with, but that's to be expected when I am left behind with the camera and baby during the actual hike. Comes with the season of life we're in I guess. I love the fellowship during the hike (which I missed out on this year), as well as the food and fellowship later on. I became aware this year that I'm thought to over prepare or pack for events such as these. In all honesty, I probably won't change what I'm packing if our excursion situation isn't changing. I enjoy being prepared, and I enjoy preparing…it's who I am. Picnic food is fun, and why stop something that's enjoyable? Other than a few disappointments, it was a memory worth making!

I'll share with you my three favorite photo's. As you can see on the first photo, I made some coffee over the fire! It was a gift from my husband for my birthday this year, and in all honesty, when I got it I thought when will I ever use this other than the two times we go camping each year? It ended up being so nice to have along which helps me realize, I stand by my packing standards.

It all started as a child with a small 3x3 white covered lockable diary. A place to write the untellable…to dream, to doodle, and a place to spread emotions when there seemed no other way to turn. To just throw it out into the wind, out of my mind and up towards God. I have had many different types, shapes, sizes and colors of journals…but as of late, have chosen to not only throw my thoughts into the wind, but to also throw them to the world.

It was always a large part of my life…my life before marriage. The season of journaling seemed to yield to my lack of need to clear out my thoughts onto paper. I'm not sure if I would say I substituted it with anything…the first thing that comes to mind would be that I now had a listening ear 24/7 and didn't need to unload my mind at days end with no one to listen. Though that would not entirely be enough reason. It slowly came to a standstill, and at times crept forward inch by inch…but realistically, there's been no real rhyme or reason to it in the last number of years. In reality, I've missed it. I've always been someone who needs to unload the clouds of words scrambling in my brain.

Life has brought about more events than ever to document, in the last number of years. It's sad to think that there's been a lack of documentation on my part…but with the hope and dream that I have then lived IN the moment and will be blessed with memory enough to document the events, people, dreams, and milestones later in life.

At times I wonder why I choose to throw it all out to the world, as I'm not trying to be someone, compete with anyone, or brag about anything. I just am being…being me in 2008. This works for me. It combines all my loves in life, writing, reading, family, friends, and computers. How much better can it get?

Are you a journalist or a writer? I don't claim to be either…I'm a typist!



(no, this image is not me...just what i got when i googled "journal"+"picture". thank you by the way...whoever you are that owns this picture!)

have you ever had just 'one of those days?' today is THAT kind of day for me. i'm not grumpy, i'm not sad, i'm not upset, nor am i irritated. i just am. nothing more, nor less.

nothing to whine about, or gripe about or complain about. infact, i have loads to be gratefull for! the dentist covered their mistake today when i went in and talked about it, my daughters are playing amazingly well, my parents (who are both still with us, PTL) had the two kids while i ran errands and had one in kindy. baby dd has napped forever this afternoon, as did I! dh came home for lunch, and thanked me for the sandwhichs i served. my coffee tasted really good this morning, with the piece of banana cake i snuck in for breakfast. oh, and i deposited money INTO the bank today, instead of just having to shop and spend money all the time! my car works wonderful, and fits me and my whole family in it snuggly. the baby was perfect while driving today. the school bus picks up dd every day...one less worry for me in trying to get her too school. really...it's been more than just one of those days, but i guess i haven't found the energy to really live it.

are you living each day? no, not literally...i mean, are you REALLY living?

today i really need to focus on the promise from God found in John 10:10

The thief’s purpose is to steal and kill and destroy. My purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.

Praise and thanks to God for the richness and fullness in MY life!