Haven Swap update

I interrupt this blogging break to show off what my haven swap partner sent me, and what I also sent her. Carrie and Monica recently hosted a swap, and the theme was haven, and we were to swap things that would help us to make our homes even more of a haven. I swapped with Kim in Ohio, she does not have a blog, so I will include what she sent me and what I sent her.

Here are the goodies I got...



Now I have to say that this is the first swap Kim has participated in and she did a great job!! The shoe box she sent the things in was a plastic storage box which I desperately needed at the time, as Devin's markers are filled to overflowing around here, so I was really excited! She wrote little labels on everything, which was such a neat idea and a nice touch! She sent me.....

*candles
*a wall plaque which says "As for me and my house we will serve the Lord". It is now the first thing you see when you walk in our front door
*Thomas Kincade notecards
*a picture frame for a family photo
*recipe cards
*body lotion ( raspberry and vanilla, yummy!!)
*iron on transfers to stitch something really nice when I am sitting here snowed in
*a lacey crocheted doily made by an 88 year old friend of hers
*The book "Passionate Housewives Desperate for God". Boy do I need this book!
*a list pad
*an old brooch to pin on my coat or scarf
*and my favourite thing - a potholder which belonged to her grandmother. She and I both have very treasured memories of our grandmothers, and she was so thoughtful and sent me this wonderful potholder! Here is a close up...



Thank you so much Kim for sharing so much with me and being so thoughtful!


My box to Kim looked like this:



And this is what I put inside...



I included...

*tea
*chocolate
*dip mixes
*wax tarts (they look like big cookies and they small wonderful!)
*dishcloths I knit
*a punched tin lantern
*some blocks I made which say HAVEN
*doilies
*tea lights and a holder
*a pillow which says Cherish and can be hung on a door
*notecards
*an apron
*a larger square embroidered doily

Here is a close up of the apron and doily. I found them in a vintage linen store which I have fallen in love with!



And here is a fuzzy picture of the blocks which I made...



Thanks Monica and Carrie for hosting the swap again, and thanks Kim for being such a great partner!

Simple Woman's Daybook

To participate in this Daybook, and to read all the amazing Daybooks written by others, please visit Simple Woman's Daybook





Monday August 11, 2008

Outside My Window...it is another grey morning so far. I can see the area we cleared near the fire pit yesterday, and it looks so much better! No more plywood, bits of leftover burned wood and garbage from the previous owners.

I am thinking...that I have a lot to get done this week.

I am thankful for... the burn permit we bought. The fire department visited us last night, as the fire got really smoky at the beginning and I suppose someone complained. As soon as the fireman saw the permit, and saw that we had the hose out and knew what we were doing, all was well. Whew!!

From the kitchen...peach pie for a pastor's visit tomorrow night. I have never made one before, so I need all the prayer I can get.

I am wearing...khaki shorts, a blue and white striped T shirt, and yellow flats. I know, a vision of beauty!! But I have cleaning to do and this is as good as it gets this morning!

I am creating...would you believe I am still working on my haven swap partner's box? I am making progress, though it is slowwwwww....

I am going...to take my boys to the dollar store today, followed by a trip to a neighbouring cove to see a bike jump park if we get time.

I am reading...Gooseberry Patch Christmas books.

I am hoping...that my son Jeremy feels like this is home, even though he misses his friends terribly. We are all struggling with this, but Jeremy is my sensitive child, and he is really hurting right now. It is hard, as I feel so powerless.

I am hearing...boys thumping upstairs, the washing machine ( I hope I don't hear it thumping!), the hum of the computer.

Around the house...getting the school room in order today, laundry ( I need to hang out the slip covers for the sofa, and I am hoping the rain holds off), cleaning like a mad woman for the pastor to stop by tomorrow night, cleaning the feathers from the living room. The sofa has down feathers in the top layer of stuffing, it make for a comfy sofa, but it soon will be flat as a pancake at this rate!

One of my favorite things...looking for starfish at the fishing villages with the boys ( yes, this includes my big boy, my darling husband!)

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:taking the van in for an inspection so we can get Nova Scotia plates and not look like tourists anymore! A visit to the Halifax Citadel, maybe back to the harbour to see more of the busker festival.

Here is picture thought I am sharing...



Well, after having a big fire to burn brush, we all started to smell a little smoky! Devin wanted to have a soak in the jet tub, but Jeremy put bubbles in it. This was the lowest amount of bubbles we had, at one point they were up the wall! Boys!!

Okay blog award #2

I think I did this backwards, but it is early in the morning and I haven't had my tea yet!

The second award I got is from my great blogging buddy Christine. She lives on Manitoulin Island, and that is my most favourite place on the face of the Earth, it is just gorgeous there. In my toodling around Nova Scotia, though it has been limited, I haev found some nooks and crannies that remind me so much of the Island. Each time I get a wiff of sweetgrass, it just takes me back there! I love her blog, she is so warm and so much fun!! She and I have become great friends, but now I need to either get her here or cart myself there for a visit in real life!! And she is going to have a baby, it is so exciting!! So here is the award she sent me...



I would like to share this award with the following blogs which I enjoy reading so much ( Well, I love reading more than these listed here, but I especially love...

Connie
Audrey
Kim
Kelly
Rebecca
Kim in Nova Scotia

Thanks for sharing your thoughts, ideas, views, recipes, and your hearts with me, I love your blogs!

Woohoo, I got two blog awards!

Wow, not one but two, isn't that neat? The first one arrived the other day from my friend Kim (I seem to know many Kim's all of whom are awesome!). She lives in a rural town in Ontario, and has the most amazing garden I have ever seen. I am hoping she will come here and help me get mine going for next year, though she doesn't know that yet(Surprise!) Isn't there some law that says if you are a talented gardener you need to go and help your friends with one too? If there isn't , then there should be!

And then, to my surprise my friend Connie also nominated me!! How cool is that! She lives on a vineyard and is working hard on those grapes, but still manages to find time to blog and share her heart with others. Of course, she needs to come here too and help me get my garden going....

Here is the award...



Now, the rules of this award are to nominate 7 other people, but how the heck do I do that when some of them have already been nominated? How do I choose when I like everyone's blogs so much?? And some of them have cheated and already gotten the award?

Here are my nominees. I apologize in advance if you already have this and I have just not caught on yet!

Kerri at Heartprint Cottage

Heather

Christine

Kim right here in Nova Scotia

Kelly at the Barefoot Mama

Sandi

Audrey She is taking a blogging break, and Connie has likely snagged her already, but hey, maybe I can get there first!

Here are the 'rules' of the game:


Once an award is received, these are the rules:

Put the logo on your blog.

Be sure to add the link from the person that sent it to you!

Nominate at least 7 other blogs.

Be sure to add those links to your blog too!

Oh, and leave a message on their blogs so they know they are nominated!

19 years ago today

19 years ago today I pledged my undying love and devotion to the most amazing man ever. I was 20, Mike was 19! Everyone said it wouldn't last - we were too young, blah, blah, blah. Yet here we are, 19 years later, 3 beautiful children and more in love today than ever before. Mike is my soul mate, my cheer leader, the love of my life and brings so much joy into my life each and every day.

It wasn't always that way. I met Mike in high school. He drove me totally insane. He called me Morris (because of my red hair, remember Morris the cat from the cat food commercials?), he played hockey up and down the hall with my lock when I was late for class. He generally drove me loopy. I "went steady" with a couple of different guys, and they of course, didn't last. Then one day...

I went to one of my best friends parties, it was a pool party. I went with a friend, and I looked at the pool, and saw the cutest guy. I thought it must have been my friend's cousin or something. I nearly fainted when I realized it was Mike. Yes, that Mike, the most annoying person in the world. I felt like I was hit in the head with a 2X4. He was so cute all of a sudden.

Well, Mike was his usual annoying self. He would not leave me alone!! Then he kept asking me if I would go out with him. He was just schpeeling it off ( there's a new word for you!) over and over again, and thinking he was joking I said YES. He wasn't joking.

Well, I basically avoided him most of the remainder of the summer. We went to the movies. We took my friend and one of his. His friend had a crush on me and told me that Mike wasn't serious about going out with me, it was a big joke. I was FUMING. When he dropped me off at home (in his 1979 Granada, which he bought himself) I told him I did not appreciate being made fun of, and he didn't know what I was talking about. It was then that I realized this other guy made it up! GRRRRRRR!!!

So, off I went to university, in Guelph, where I just moved from. I had full plans of breaking it off with Mike, as he was more like my brother than my boyfriend. I could talk to him about anything. Those were the plans until he came to see me at university the first week I was there. That is when I got hit with the 2X4 again, only harder. I was falling for this guy!! (Cupid's little arrows never really worked well for me, God's holy 2X4 is much more effective!)

We saw each other all the time from that point on. He even came into my dorm residence covered in blood after a successful salmon fishing trip! What a guy! He wrote me the most wonderful love letters. It wasn't long before I told him,"I am this close to falling madly in love with you". We went to his cousins wedding ( the cousin who died recently) and guess who caught the bouquet? ME!!

When Mike proposed to me, I was watching TV with my mom. Mike came in with a butterscoth dipped ice cream cone from Dairy Queen, my favourite! He had the ring wrapped around the twirl at the top. At first, I was more taken with the ice cream!! Then I saw the ring and I was just so over the moon happy!! I was just so thrilled and so happy that I was going to be married to this man!!

6 months later, we were getting married!! My sister made my dress for me, and my flowers were gorgeous, especially since my family owns and operates a flower shop. The wedding ceremony was wonderful. It was even very exciting, as we had a cat come into the church and sit just behind my feet while we were kneeling at the altar! We managed to get a picture taken with it afterwards, poor Mike is so allergic to cats and luckily he didn't have an asthma attack! I remember being so incredibly nervous that day, but when I came into that church on my Uncle's arm, I was so happy and excited that I would soon, within minutes, be Mike's wife! He was just as nervous as I was, that helped me a lot too!

Mike truly is the best husband and the best father and God has blessed me so much. Yes, he has some rough edges, but his rough edges help smooth out mine and vice versa! We truly are a partnership, a team, with God being the head coach. I am so thrilled to be a wife and a mother, and seeing Mike drive in the driveway from work each day just makes my heart soar.

Being apart for the better part of 4 months has made me realize that I did often take Mike for granted. I cannot tell you how heavy my heart was each morning I woke up and realized he was so far away, and I wouldn't see his happy, goofy face when he came home from work. Crawling into bed at night was just awful, I had no one to put my cold feet up against! And then to think of him here on his own, coming home to a dingy little motel room each night after working for hours and hours. It opened my eyes a lot, and I realized that as long as we are together, with God leading the way, I am happy beyond words, and have nothing to complain about.

Thank you sweetie for being so loving, kind and thoughtful. Thank you for putting up with my anxiety attacks and praying through them with me countless times. I love you more than words can say!

Since I can't get our song played on the radio, I posted it on here instead.

Simple Woman's Daybook

Wow, I can't believe it is Monday again already, that week went by quickly! if you would like to participate in the Simple Woman's Dayboook, which takes place each Monday, by sure to stop by Peggy's
blog and check it out. Also make sure to set up some time to check out the other bloggers participating, it is really wonderful! Okay, on to today's entry...






Monday August 4th, 2008

Outside My Window... I see a grey, drizzly sky. I can see that the two tiny apple trees in the front yard are growing tiny apples,and just starting to get a blush of red on them. One sad little tree only has one apple, poor thing!

I am thinking...how fortunate I am and blessed indeed to have a wonderful husband who gets an extra day off today for Natal Day, here in Nova Scotia. We have been adjusting to his new work schedule, and it seems we don't see him as much, as he is working later in the evening. He does go in later in the morning now though, so that makes up for it. My dh is jsut so sweet, thoughtful, funny and the cutest man there is!

I am thankful for...the new church we have found, the warm and caring people in it, and the vibrnat and alive service yesterday. It is a tiny church where we are all like one big family. We certainly pray it grows though!

From the kitchen...I am just about to make cinnamon buns for breakfast, with the help of Pepperidge Farm! I also need to make some banana muffins, as I have had some sitting around a bit too long, and they are becoming a feast for the fruit flies very quickly! Where on earth did they come from all of a sudden?? For supper tonight we will have chicken with steamed broccoli and scalloped potatoes.

I am wearing...A black T shirt, some funky jean capri things which are flared a bit more than I thought they were, but are sort of cool in a "gross out your teenage daughter" kind of way!

I am creating...a plan to get my soap business up and running again, but in a different way than before. Think simplicity!! Also, I am almost finished creating the sign for the top of the driveway, and I am making a few thinks for my Haven swap partner, mum's the word on that though, I can't have her peeking!!

I am going...to stay home today as far as I know. I am going to be cleaning out the fire pit so we can have a big fire to burn all the brush we have been cutting down to clear our land a bit. I may take Jeremy out to a nearby town to check out their bike jump park.

I am reading...Simple Hospitality by Jane Jarrell; Heirloom Baking with the Brass Sisters.

I am hoping...the rain stops soon so we can get a drainage ditch dug by the side of the house, and hoping that my daughter is having a wonderful time with her best friends back in Ontario. She has been gone for 2 weeks with 4 more to go.

I am hearing...Robins twittering away outside, a car coming down the dirt road, my son watching Archie upstairs on TV, the hum of the freezer.

Around the house...I am sorting out the school room, and getting myself organized for another school year. This year I must be even more organized as I need to register with the school board.

One of my favorite things... I love going out with my son Jeremy on our own. He is a quiet guy, but he is so much fun to be with, and we enjoy going out exporing and to have soem down time together. We don't do it often enough and I need to change that.

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week... going to the library to see the display the librarian made of Jeremy's monster truck collection, swimming at the wave pool, hoping for a trip to the Citadel in downtown Halifax, entertaining our new pastor, who is the funniest man, and just so on fire for Jesus!


Here is picture thought I am sharing...



I love hanging out my laundry. In fact, I am almost obsessed with it! The first thing we did here was to put up this clothesline, and poor dh had to scale the tree with an injured arm to do it! See why I love the man so much??!! You can also see the ugly old oil tank which is currently the fire pit. They left it full of garbage for us, which I have been taking out by hand, blech!! But, it will be great for having a nice big fire, and doing so safely.