Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!  January has been quite the month.  The highlight for Isaac was getting his braces off this past Tuesday.  He was counting down the days.  Retainers have come a long way since I had to wear one.  Now I get to remind Isaac to put it on.  He knows someone who didn't remember to wear his retainer so he understands it's important.  

Isaac has been off school this last week.  It's exam week at high school but he doesn't have any exams.  He was supposed to have one large assessment on Thursday morning but due to two days when busses were cancelled, he now has to do that assessment next Tuesday morning and his second semester will start on Wednesday.  He's thoroughly enjoyed his first semester of high school.  We were looking at his course selections for next year earlier today.  He has two electives.  He wants to take music and he's deciding between technology and business.  He starts his first technology class next week so hopefully he'll get a good idea this next month as to whether he enjoys it.  

Isaac made beef biryani.  Yum!

One of my highlights was taking the van in to get the sliding door fixed.  They probably spent a good 40-45 minutes figuring out what the problem was and fixing it (something had seized and they ended up removing bearings and greasing them - or something like that).  He told me it was "easy work" and didn't charge me a dime!  

It's been a lovely white January with some extra cold days.  That reminds me of another highlight - having the mixing valve on our water heater fixed.  Hot showers are a blessing.  I was hoping that we could fix it by following the instructions on Youtube but alas we needed a new one.  

Better late than never!

I was however able to change the cartridge in our bathtub faucet that was leaking.  I ended up having to buy the tool to remove the old cartridge but after asking the worker at Home Depot what I needed, he told me that if I had a Moen faucet, they had replacement cartridges for free.  And ... it was a Moen!  Yay!!!  PTL!  There was certainly no sign to tell me this so if I hadn't asked, I would have just bought the new cartridge.  

This past Sunday we celebrated the life of Robert Thomas.  It was a wonderful service full of the music and people he loved.  Near the end, his children and grandchildren and great-grandchildren sang a song composed by Bob, "Praise God Anyway".  The chorus is, "Praise God anyway; Everywhere, in every way.  Get the habit every day; Learn to praise God anyway!"

Isaac and Graham went to a Jazz Concert tonight at a local theatre.  Isaac was definitely the youngest in the room but both he and Graham thoroughly enjoyed the evening.  There's supposed to be a jazz band starting at Isaac's school so he's looking forward to that.  

Kohen and Lily-Anna are doing well.  Lily-Anna was home a couple of days this month and Kohen was home one day due to colds.  Kohen is enjoying playing dodge ball for Intramurals and Lily-Anna just started floor hockey at recess today.  Her team lost but she told me she made a very good pass.  Kohen also plays lots of soccer outside at recess.  

Starting my days with breath prayers

We are going to be studying the book of Mark in our small group.  We were going to start it last week and then lots of people were sick.  Last night a number of people couldn't make and along with other reasons, we decided to just have a short time of prayer and hope to start the study next week.  I'm leading the first session.   I enjoy reading the commentaries and looking up answers to questions.  There's going to be a new couple in the group so it will be nice to meet them.  

Graham is heading to the church for an event in the morning so I think I'll head to bed soon.  I'm hoping the photos work this time.

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Mark 1:10,11

'Just as Jesus was coming up out of the water, he saw heaven being torn open and the Spirit descending on him like a dove. And a voice came from heaven: “You are my Son, whom I love; with you I am well pleased.” '

Goodbye 2024!

Happy New Year!!!  It's still 2024 while I type at my kitchen table but 2025 is fast approaching.  It's been a full month with lots of reasons to celebrate and be grateful in addition to times with tears.  It's been a relaxing few days since Christmas as at least one person in the house has had cold symptoms since Christmas.  I've been quite tired and I'm currently hoping I'm not getting the cough that has been going around.  

The festivities haven't ended as my eldest brother and family will arrive tomorrow for a few days.  It will be great to see them.

It's a low-key New Year's Eve for us.  Graham and Lily-Anna drove friends to the airport earlier this evening while the boys and I watched one of the Star Wars movies.  Graham and the boys are now watching a comedian and I can hear Lily-Anna playing along to a song on the iPad using a piano app.  I made us all a Wod-Fam-Choc-Sod (a.k.a. a World Famous Chocolate Soda from Adventures in Odyssey) and various treats are being eaten.  

We enjoyed attending a lovely Christmas Eve service at our friends' church followed up by fun, food, and fellowship at their place.  Sadly we weren't able to attend a Christmas Day service due to sickness but we enjoyed the day.  Thankfully Lily-Anna has remained healthy so she was able to go to the Butterfly Conservatory with a friend on Saturday and celebrate another friend's birthday yesterday.  

A wonderful man from our church passed away around the middle of the month.  I cried when I found out he was dying and I cried when I found out he had passed away.  He had been in our small group years ago and has been in my brother's men's group for years (along with Graham and my Dad) and my parents' went out for coffee with him often.  He loved others well.  I will miss him and I look forward to seeing him again.  We were blessed to know him.  He encouraged my kids in their music.  Isaac was home from school on November 8 and we were able to have a video chat with Bob and his wonderful daughter so that Isaac could play some piano pieces for him.  If I recall correctly, he enjoyed the jazz piece the most.  I'm glad they were able to do that one last time.  I had been looking forward to sending him a video of Isaac and Lily-Anna playing a duet together of Oh Little Town of Bethlehem.  

Graham and the kids gave me a puzzle of Peanuts (the Charlie Brown comic strip) for Christmas.  It first made me think of Josiah as there was a Snoopy cup in the toy room at Ronald McDonald House that Isaac loved when we stayed there.  Then I remembered that Bob (the wonderful man from church) once gave the kids the book A Charlie Brown Christmas.  I think Graham said he didn't think of either of those things ... but God knew and it was extra special.  I was thankful to have help putting it together this past week.  

I need to make two types of chili and some cookies tomorrow so I'll say goodnight so I can hang out with my family before midnight strikes and then my bed beckons.  

I was able to keep up with my gratitude journal this past year, writing down three blessings each evening.  I'm looking forward to starting my new gratitude journal and devotional tomorrow.

I'm thankful to God for bringing us to 2025 and I pray that this will be a year of spiritual growth for me and my family - growing closer to Jesus and becoming more like Him and bringing Him glory.  

Blessings,

Elizabeth     

Psalm 92:1-2

It is good to praise the Lord
    and make music to your name, O Most High,
2 proclaiming your love in the morning
    and your faithfulness at night,

November

Advent is almost here!  I'm excited!  Tomorrow afternoon we'll get out the Advent Wreath and devotional book and hopefully the Christmas tree and get this place looking a little more like Christmas is on the way.  

Our small group from church made some Christmas cards and ornaments together.  They will be given to residents at a nursing home where another couple from our church volunteer once a month by leading a service.  Actually they took over from my dad who had been doing it for years and ended at the end of summer.  My family finished up the rest of the 50 cards today and put a Bible verse on the back (Romans 15:13).  Graham and Isaac did all the gluing.  Lily-Anna enjoyed making lots of cards and Kohen most enjoyed making the ornaments.  It was a fun activity for our small group to do together.  All ages were able to take part.  

We enjoyed surprising the kids with a trip to the movie theatre this month.  We watched The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.  

In other exciting news, my parents have a new garage door and opener.  This is their first automatic opener.  

There's not a whole lot on the calendar to report.  There were a number of birthday parties to attend as well as visits to the dental office and the regular swimming and piano lessons as well as small group, youth, and Olympians meetings.  I keep meeting with kids at school to practice their literacy skills and helping our Children's Pastor at church.   Our winter tires are on the van and my wonderful husband cleaned out the garage so we can park there nightly.  I see vehicles outside with a light covering of snow and I am once again grateful for our garage.  

Isaac enjoyed his visit to Graham's workplace.  He was even given a nice stainless steel water bottle and a portable power bank.  

Lily-Anna missed two days of school earlier this month due to what appeared to be a stomach bug of some sort.  We listened to audiobooks and I read to her.  She had more energy the second day.  Isaac was also home with cold symptoms one day but he mainly slept.  

I forgot to mention last month that Lily-Anna joined the running club at her school and went to school early two days a week to run.  She was able to participate in a "Fun Run" at another school.  It was a day with much prayer as I realized shortly before the run was to start that I was taking her to the wrong school and the actual school was across town.  I think something like 300 kids were participating so when we finally arrived, there was certainly no parking to be found anywhere near the school.  When I finally parked, we made our way to the starting line as quickly as we could.  The race had begun but thankfully the older age groups started first so she had a little time catch her breath.

And, I also forgot my phone in the van that was parked a good ways away from the race.  I was tempted to try to get it but thought it would be worse to miss seeing her run than to not get a photo.  When I saw her come into view for the last leg of the run(which was on paths and sidewalks), she and a friend were each holding onto an arm of Lily-Anna's hoody that they held between them as they ran.  I loved that!  I think she ran well - but after the run, she said she never wanted to do that again.  We'll see what next year brings.  

I enjoyed reading a couple of books with Kohen that involved a family who could go inside paintings and travel to museums through them.  We looked up all the paintings mentioned in the first book and I took out a number of art books from the library.  These family members are Restorationists and they have different gifts that help them restore paintings to what the artist originally intended.  They see art as pointing to the truth.  There are also Distortionists who change the art so that it negatively affects the person viewing the art, without their knowledge.   

I also enjoyed listening to Unoffendable by Brant Hansen.  He believes that Biblically, Christians should never take offense and that only God can have righteous anger due to His perfect character.  I would love to get to the point of not getting angry.  My kids will quickly tell you I am not there yet.  

I'm currently listening to It Wasn't Roaring, It Was Weeping by Lisa-Jo Baker and reading Foster by Claire Keegan as I just watched the movie based on this book.  I'm excited about the books I've ordered for the kids for Christmas.  I think books are my favourite thing to buy the kids, though I have a hard time narrowing down my choices.  

Bon nuit ma famille et mes amis!  That reminds me, Lily-Anna told me she accidentally spoke French in her swimming lesson today.

Blessings,
Elizabeth

Romans 15:13

May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

Happy Hallowe'en

Graham did a great job carving what the kids chose

Happy Hallowe'en!

It's pretty quiet on our street tonight.  I hope we get some more trick-or-treaters.  Our kids are all out with friends.  Graham is with Kohen and his friends and Lily-Anna is with her friend's family.  I'm so thankful that the rain has held off and it's actually a nice night, though I can hear the wind blowing the fallen leaves outside.  I think this is the warmest weather for October 31 that I can remember.  

Lily-Anna is dressed up as either Elsa or Cinderella depending on who you ask.  The sweet little girl who saw Lily-Anna dressed up before the bell rang at school this morning thought she was Elsa.  Her big eyes were a little in awe of Lily-Anna and she gave her a hug.  It was very sweet!  Kohen is dressed up as some sort of guard from Star Wars.  His outfit is mainly red if that helps anyone.

It's been a lovely fall thus far.  The boys have worn shorts to school the last two days.  It's hard to believe it's November tomorrow.  

Yay!  My wonderful neighbours just came by to drop off cookies so the only proper response was to put the tea kettle on (after we had a little chat).  Their sweet wee boy is experiencing his first Hallowe'en as a very cute green dinosaur.

I loved seeing all three kids reading while eating breakfast

October is always a month of birthday celebrations (6 of them) and Thanksgiving.  We were able to spend time with both sides of the family and enjoyed lots of tasty food.

I made rolls for Thanksgiving

We also started our small group this month.  Graham and I are co-leading with another couple from church and we're meeting at their home.  This is the first time we've been in a small group in which the children meet together (though separately from the adults).  Lily-Anna told me last week that she was excited it was Thursday.  I asked her why and her response was because it was the night for small group.  I'm thrilled that my kids are connecting with other kids from the church each week and it's really nice to be in a small group again with Graham.  

It was lovely to see my local nieces again over Thanksgiving as they are no longer local. 

They have gone off to university and I miss seeing them at church.

Well, my kids will be back soon with their stash of waaaaaaaaay too much candy.  Small sigh.  I also love that they'll have these memories of going door to door and getting candy.  It is fun to watch them organize their candy and trade and tell me their stories.

Kohen's lacrosse practices ended this month.  I'm really proud of him for trying something new.  I still don't know where the idea came from but I'm glad he was able to try it.  

I enjoyed helping with the Strong Start literacy program at the school this month.  I was able to do the pre-assessments with the kids and set up the binders.  Strong Start was just announced as a Platinum Winner in a Readers' Choice Award competition.  I look forward to meeting with the kids each week.  

Thanks for all the memories Shantz Family Farm!

Tomorrow is a PD Day.   I secretly think the teachers were asked to pick a date for a PD Day and they voted for the day after Hallowe'en.  That's fine by me.  I was happy to skip making lunches tonight.  

Oh, yes.  Kohen and Lily-Anna started swimming lessons again.  I'm thankful for all the progress they made in the summer and I'm happy they are able to keep practicing.

Lily-Anna and I may make a pumpkin pie tomorrow.  I have a couple of sugar pumpkins and I didn't get around to making a pie at Thanksgiving so we'll see how it goes.  I found a book at the library called Perfect Pies.  The author learned to make pies from her grandmother and she now has many award winning pies.  I've never been a huge pie person but I really enjoyed the peach raspberry pie I made out of this book.  Perhaps the pumpkin pie will turn me into a pie lover.  

Isaac played in his school's Coffee House and he helped out with setting up and cleaning up as he is part of the Music Council.  I'm thankful that he's willing to use his skills and gifts and I think he's brave.  He'd like to have more confidence but he'll get there.

I met my new doctor this week.  He's in the same building as my previous doctor but I didn't realize how jarring it would be to go in and see the changes.  I was wondering if I was going to get emotional when he came into the room but thankfully I was okay.  I was blessed to have my previous doctor for 20 years.  I can think of a number of times he called me at home or his receptionists squeezed us in when a child was hurt at school.  I'm also thankful he worked hard and found another doctor to take his patients.  Our new doctor is nice as well.  

So basically, sadly, I've forgotten how to add photos easily as when I try to add photos from Google photos, the last ones I can see are from May.  I will try to log into Graham's photos but if I've forgotten the password, he's asleep.

Good night!

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Deuteronomy 6:24

And the Lord commanded us to do all these statutes, to fear the Lord our God, for our good always, that He might preserve us alive, as it is this day.

September Stories

It's the end of September ... and I am tired.  I need to put another alarm on my phone that reminds me to do laundry.  The following happens far too often: I am getting ready for bed when I realize that I need to do laundry as one or more of us need something in the morning.  I hang up a number of things to dry so I usually need to wait until the wash is finished so that I can hang items before I go to sleep. 

I've also just switched this past week from taking my medication by injection to taking it orally.  It's the same medication but I don't know yet if it will work for me or not.  I thought it was worth a try to get away from the needles that Graham kindly administers.  This change could also make me more tired.  

It feels good to be back into a fall routine and this is the most organized I've been yet, at least in terms of the kids.  They each have lists to check off each day.  

All of the kids are enjoying being back at school and seeing their friends.  Isaac likes being in high school and has joined the band.  Thankfully there is only one early morning band practice at 7:00 a.m. and the other practice is after school.  I drive him and it reminds me of my dad driving me to band practice, though that started at 7:30 a.m. and I thought that was early.  

Kohen is one of two grade 5 boys in the grade 5/6 class.  Thankfully he is good friends with the other boy.  He goes with him to his church to a kids' program during the week.  We all went to watch Kohen play lacrosse tonight.  It's a short season with just five sessions but it's been fun to see him learn a new sport that I have never before watched.  His final practice and game are next week.  

Lily-Anna has been to two birthday parties this month.  I always like finding out who she plays with at recess and what they do.  She is so creative and has lots of ideas.  

It's been so nice to see my dad's cousin and his wife who are visiting from Northern Ireland.  It's also been fun to meet the children of one of Graham's coworkers.  We went to the park together where I realized it's been a long time since I chased after a two-year-old.  They are fast!  

I forgot to mention that we started the month with a trip to Toronto Island with friends.  Our family took the bus and train again and we managed to meet our friends on the ferry so we could eat lunch together and the kids went on some rides together.  It was a fun day.  We then saw another family from church at Union Station and another couple at a different station on the way home.  Good times!

We made some changes to our bedroom which is why I am sitting on a Lazyboy chair typing this in my room.  We were able to find a tall dresser on Marketplace so we said goodbye to our big long dresser which we were given when we married which has enabled us to have a chair in our room.  I found a little round table that can hold a hot drink and it has shelves to hold our Bibles.  

It has definitely made me want to hang out in our room more and I've found Graham sitting on the chair reading a number of times.  I didn't realize this was a needed change until it happened.  I'm thankful Graham mentioned that he'd like to have a chair in the room.  We are using one that was in the boys' room and they have one that was in our basement which also means that our basement has more available space.        

We've been able to declutter a little but there is so much more that needs to happen.  

We've been listening to lots of Vanderbeeker and now Penderwick audiobooks.  It's so nice to listen to stories of people whose company you love ... even when they are characters in a book.  I even love the pets in these books.  

Graham and I are going to co-lead a Bible study with friends from our church.  It starts this week.  It's the first time we have been part of one with children so it will be interesting to see how it works.  The idea is that the children play in one area while the parents are meeting in another room.  We'll see how it goes.  

It's time to end this and see if I can figure out how to post some photos before I fall asleep.  

Blessings,
Elizabeth

Ecclesiastes 12:13

Now all has been heard; here is the conclusion of the matter:  Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the duty of all mankind.

August

Summer and School Vacation are not over yet but we've said goodbye to August, a wonderful month. We began it in Kincardine where we were ending a lovely week at our neighbour's trailer. We enjoyed a night in Listowel with my dear in-laws on our way home. 

After celebrating the Civic Holiday with my side of the family, Isaac began volunteering at our local community centre with the Building Youth Leadership Development Program (BYLD) offered free from the City of Kitchener. Isaac was provided with a day and a half of training in June as well as feedback and mentoring during his seven days of volunteering. Most youth volunteer for ten days but Isaac's supervisor kindly allowed him to take off two days for camping with his family. Isaac received lots of positive feedback and he enjoyed being with the children. 

This is the first year that Isaac has been able to join the camping trip. He went with Graham, Kohen, Lily-Anna, two of his uncles, and two of his cousins. It used to be a Daddy-Daughter trip for Lily-Anna and my four nieces but nephews have been allowed last year and this year as some of my nieces were unable to get time off work. They rented three canoes and paddled for hours, portaging three times. They made some lifelong memories. I enjoyed meeting with three friends while they were away and I appreciated the break from cooking. 

Kohen and Lily-Anna have both had lots of swimming lessons this summer. They both passed a number of levels, making lots of progress. Kohen is now a good swimmer and Lily-Anna is comfortable in the water, enjoys jumping in, and can swim 10 meters on her front and back. One huge highlight of the month was seeing my niece get baptized in the river. I love watching any baptisms but they mean even more when someone I know and love is getting baptized. 

Last week I noticed that there was some water coming from our hot water heater. Thankfully it had an 8-year warranty that ended this coming November.  I emailed the company that installed it and they came and replaced it the next day. We just paid for the installation. PTL!!! 

I have been to the St. Jacobs Market three times this month. The first time I went with Kohen who wanted to buy Jibbitz for his Crocs. The second time, we went as a family and enjoyed delicious cinnamon buns. None of my kids seem to remember being there before so I guess they were too little to remember.  The third time, Kohen and Lily-Anna were with me after we bought Lily-Anna a pair of Crocs and she wanted to buy Jibbitz. 

Lily-Anna also decided to change her hair this month. She had over ten inches cut off and she's enjoying her short hair, though she's thankful it's just long enough to pull back into a ponytail when she wants. 

My two local nieces have left for university. It will be different not having them close by or seeing them on Sundays. I'm happy and excited for them but I'll miss them. 

We reduced screen time this summer and it was helpful (one of my children may disagree). The kids read more and played more outside and were more creative.  We also enjoyed listening to a number of audiobooks. We recently had a family meeting to come up with some ideas for a healthy schedule for screen time. We'll try it for a couple of weeks and then discuss what changes are needed. I'm hopeful. 

Kohen decided that he wants to try playing lacrosse. We were able to find a program that will help him learn to play in September. It will end with a tournament in early October so it's a short season. Thankfully, we were able to find all the necessary padding on MarketPlace as well as some balls and sticks (in addition to one new stick). We now have three lacrosse sticks and Isaac and Kohen played with a friend tonight. 

Isaac and I need to volunteer at church in the morning so I'll say goodnight. 

I'll have to skip photos now but given that the kids go back to school next week, I will soon have a little more time.  I hope everyone is having a great long weekend.  

Blessings, 

Elizabeth 

Psalm 119:105 ESV 

Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.

First Month of Summer

It’s been a great first month of summer filled with swimming lessons and VBS and a couple of camps (a maker camp for Lily-Anna and a 6-day overnight camp for Isaac) as well as family time in Kincardine.  Kohen’s main request this summer was to go camping so he is excited about the portage camping trip coming up in August.  

I had forgotten that summer feels busier for me in some ways but it also has a more relaxed rhythm (except perhaps for the first week when I still needed to pack a lunch for Lily-Anna’s camp that happened to be across town for drop-off and pick-up.). Actually, VBS was also exhausting and much earlier than normal school days but so very rewarding to be able to connect with the children in my group and the other leaders.

This is the second year that Isaac had gone away to a Christian camp with a friend.  He has so much fun there.  I’m so thankful he can have these experiences and make these memories.

Kohen and Lily-Anna have both made a lot of progress in their swimming lessons and I am thankful.  We’ve been blessed with a couple of great teachers and they make such a difference.  I love that the pool is in the same building as the library so everyday we go to the library after they finish at the pool.  

As of today, my doctor for the past twenty years has retired.  There were three doctors at our medical center and they all retired.  He was able to find a doctor to take his patients but we don’t yet know where the new doctor will be located, though we have paid to have our medical records digitized.  I guess we should finish up the paperwork for the transfer.  We have been very blessed to be under the care of Dr. King and his staff.  I can think of a few times when he called me at home to give me results.  I will certainly miss him and his staff.

Our amazing neighbour had blessed us with time at her mobile home in Kincardine.  We all enjoyed time at the beach and the pool and the kids have fun at the playground and parks.  

It is time of course to say goodnight.

One last thought - I am really enjoying the book, Practicing the Way.  

Photos will have to wait. 

Blessings,

Elizabeth

Ephesians 3:20-21

Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen.