Ballet Classes....

they cannot start soon enough for one little girl that I know!

p.s. We will try and get that firetruck tattoo off her hand before classes start!

Project Popcorn

I'm not entirely sure how this exactly started, but I have an idea. It probably happened at supper one night when one or both of the kids didn't want to eat their food. At that point I'm guessing either Jeremy or I launched into that famous speech that every single parent in North America has used at least once in their lifetime. You probably know the one I'm referring to because every single person who grew up in North America heard it at least once when they were a kid... "You should just eat your food and be thankful for it! Did you know that there are kids in Africa who don't have any food at all and they would be so happy for what you have on your plate?!!"

Fast forward to a couple of nights ago. We were eating our supper and visiting when Sam all of a sudden blurted out, "I feel sad for the people in Africa who don't have any food." Jeremy and I both picked up on the cue that this was one of those "Teachable Moments" so we started to talk about it. We asked the kids what we could do for the people in Africa and this is the plan we came up with:

1. Make a bunch of Caramel Popcorn (the kids call it "Brown Popcorn")
2. Divide it into small bags
3. Sell the popcorn at a rather high price (and since the kids helped in the making and packaging of the popcorn our target market is people who are more concerned about kids than they are about food safe!)
4. Donate the proceeds to a non-profit organization who is helping in Africa (a couple that we trust are Global Aid Network and Food for the Hungry)



I know it's just a little thing, but so were those five loaves and two fish that Jesus used to feed 5000! Who knows what He'll do with our few bags of popcorn?!!

If you want to join us in this project here is our recipe for
"Brown Popcorn":

1 cup of popping corn, popped (dump into a large oven safe container. I use a big stock pot, but a roasting pan would work well too)
2 cups brown sugar
1 tsp. salt
1 cup margarine
1/2 cup corn syrup
bring to boil over med. heat stirring constantly. Boil without stirring for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp. vanilla
Pour over popcorn and stir well. Bake at 250 for 45 minutes stirring every 15 minutes. Spread on table to cool. Store in airtight container.

Humbled... again

Recently overheard...
in the car...
on the way to church (of course!)...

Sam: "Mom, aren't you going to say sorry to the family for talking mad to us when we kept waking you up in the morning?"

A Baby Pool of Sorts

Not sure I've mentioned this on here yet, but this is what we are super excited about these days:



The kids are over the moon about this new baby! My belly gets hugged and kissed about a million times a day. They have even tried giving the baby a high five on occasion! It's so fun that they understand what's coming and it's really fun to hear their thoughts on it!

Sam thinks:

• we are having both a Boy and a Girl! (he's wrong by the way... we are only having ONE baby.)

• Name Suggestions: Justin and Emily (Sam has a different name for the baby every. single. day... his name choices are getting much better he started out saying "Obi Wan Kenobi" for a boy and "Obi Jo Kelobi" for a girl.)

• Birthday: October 2 (that's nearly one month early, but by the time October rolls around I may be hoping he's right.)

• 100 lbs and 100 inches long (If he's right I'm sure we'll get our own TV show... you can watch for us on TLC!)
  

Maarti thinks:

• we are having both a Boy and a Girl! (again, in case you missed it... JUST ONE BABY!)

• Baby Names: Sheriff and Lightening McQueen (obviously, we are open to other suggestions!)
  

• Birthday: November 3 ( I guess that's reasonable. Actual due date: October 30)
  

• 14 lbs, 14 inches long, with lots of purple hair (I guess that explains the heart burn!)

Family Day at Giggle Ridge

Sam has been wanting to try mini golfing for a pretty long time and yesterday was the day! Our favorite mini golf place in the area is Giggle Ridge... lots of nice shade, beautiful landscaping, not too busy and well maintained.




The kids approach golfing with with different techniques. Sam likes the hockey method... chase that ball around and keep hitting it until goes in the hole. He got the highest score in our family.

Maarti likes to be efficient... hit the ball once, pick it up and place it two inches from the hole and hit it one more time.

This method allows the golfer to enjoy everything else the course has to offer like climbing on the rocks and jumping off of them over and over again. Maarti pretty much got two on every hole and ended up with the lowest score in the family.

Jeremy and I landed in the middle... his score a little closer to Maarti's and mine a little closer to Sam's.
What a fun day!

Five Years Old!

On Saturday we celebrated Sam's birthday with a bug party! We had a great time...
swatting bubble flies...

decorating bugs...

having bug races...

opening presents...


eating dirt 'n worms...

and of course having fun with our friends!

Today is Sam's actual birthday so we met Daddy at Tim Horton's for lunch with Gramma, Grampa, Uncle Chris and Auntie Mary. Gramma and Grampa gave Sam a puppet which we have named Terry the Tree Frog and also a lunch box for when he starts Kindergarten in just a few weeks! Yikes!... not sure I'm quite ready for that!


Happy Birthday Sam! We love you so much and we are so proud of who you are and who you are becoming!

Birthday Boy Interview:

Favorite color: dark blue
Favorite food: chicken and ketchup
Favorite show: Space Chimps
Favorite story: Stories from when Daddy and Mommy were kids
Favorite Toy: Super Mario figurine
Favorite song: Go Tell It On The Mountain
When I grow up I want to be a: Super Hero
Something I want to learn: How to be a super hero
Something I'm good at: cleaning up... really, really good!
Something I'm excited about: my next birthday
Favorite memories from being four: making crafts, playing cars, going in the parade, and preschool.
If I could say something to the whole world I would say: I love you!