Caleb and Kristina

He's Here!

2011-09-19T07:42:00.000-07:00

Gideon Elijah finally decided to make his appearance on Tuesday night, September 13th. (yes the moon was still full so the birthing center in the hospital was pretty busy, there are 6 rooms and 5 of them were full! I have 3 friends who also gave birth that day in other places. LOL busy night for babies.) at 11:21pm. He weighed 8lb and 2oz and was 21 and 1/4th inches long.

It was pretty quick, we had to rush to get to the hospital because i was pretty far progressed before labor even started (i had about 2 weeks of early labor including 2 false alarms, one lasting 8 hours the other 5!) We all made it to the hospital luckily but had to bring Aurora (Caleb's parents met us there and took her home with them) because the midwives were worried i wouldn't make it if we dropped her off. I have to say, it was pretty ridiculous rushing to the hospital with her and all her stuff in the car, music blaring so she wouldn't hear that i was in pain. I had to laugh, even then.

Within 2 hours of getting there he was born but those were a rough 2 hours so i am glad we didn't wait a minute later to go.

The midwives were great! I would not go back to the having an OB for sure! it was so nice to have midwives that i knew and that were there the whole time instead of rushing in when it's time to push, and being able to have the lights off and everything quiet, it's a completely different experience than the one i had with Aurora. Although equally painful for sure it was way nicer.

I also had my fabulous sister as my doula. She and my mom have both trained as doulas and were both there for Gideon's birth and were such a help. I definitely needed Caleb as well, i actually relied on his way more this time than with Aurora i think although he was very helpful with her too, but having someone there who knows the pressure points that help and reminds you to breath and all that stuff was really helpful. i think i would have given up without them. lol.

My newest sister-in-law was also there, she's into photography and has come with me on a couple sessions now too, she's awesome. So she came and did birth photography for me. Since i hate having my picture taken on a good day this was a fairly last minute decision for me but i am really glad i had her because she got some great pictures. (see below, but keep in mind these ones are not edited and it was REALLY dark in the room. Check out her facebook page to see them fixed up a bit )

We are really loving having 2 beautiful children, even the really really sleepy moments are good. Gideon is a great baby and has done very well he past 2 nights, couldn't ask for better. Aurora absolutely adores him we just have to watch that she doesn't mother him to death. :)

Ok, enough blather, here are some pictures

seconds old

and the last one is from our first night home, Aurora and Gideon both fell asleep laying on our bed watching a movie with me.

summer project

2011-07-11T08:05:00.000-07:00

Caleb got a motorcycle not too long ago and is not working on making it lovely. It will be at least a week long project. He started with stripping down the tank of the old paint, patching a hole that he punched in it while trying to remove something (DOH!)

Once that is dry (tonight probably) he will test to make sure the patch held, fill in any dents, prime, paint, sand, paint, sand, paint and seal.

Aurora is a little obsessed with motorcycles and ATVs now, and loves "helping" Caleb when he works on them.

more crafts

2011-06-28T17:25:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple more from today. Some button hair things because i just love buttons, and some flowers using a tutorial found on littlemissmomma. I haven't made those into anything yet. Some will probably be for hair and maybe a necklace or bracelet or both. We'll see.

craft time

2011-06-28T17:10:00.000-07:00

Aurora and I have a big list of crafts to do this summer. Some of them are just simple kid ones, like her pipe cleaner glasses below, and other are more complex.

The top two pictures are us making beads from recycled newspaper. They are not dry yet so i don't have finish pictures but here she is helping me rip up the paper.

kindness of a stranger

2011-05-17T07:37:00.000-07:00

We took the day off Sunday to go out as a family. Caleb has been working 6 day weeks again and our Sundays have been so busy that we really never spend any time together. So Sunday we went out for the day.

On the way out we stopped at a Tim Hortons in Fergus for bathroom breaks. While Aurora and i were waiting in the restaurant i was talking with Aurora and told her that i wished i could buy her a donut. An older man behind us heard me and assumed that i could not afford to buy her a donut (which it probably sounded like) a moment later he handed me a loony and told me to buy her a donut.

Now, i had to tell him that i couldn't get her one not because i could not afford it but because she is allergic to gluten. So even though he kept his loony, i was really touched.

I was thinking about this again last night as i was laying in bed trying to go to sleep. It's funny how it's the really small things that can mean so much to someone. So i wanted to pass it on and give that man a shout out.
It doesn't take much at all to really make someones day.

In other news, yesterday (Monday) we welcomed another nephew into the world. Levi Joel Ducommun was born at 2pm weighing 8lb 6oz. Shanelle was a trooper and did great. So far Levi looks just like his brother. Mommy and baby are doing well and came home last night.

Aurora's new furry friend

2011-05-10T13:46:00.000-07:00

our new friend

2011-05-10T13:20:00.000-07:00

This adorable little guys has visited us in our yard a few times. He's so cute, he'll take food right out of your hands!!!
I just have to keep an eye out for the bad cat in the neighborhood!! He tried to get these cute little guys, as well as our bunnies, our neighbor's dog..... ya, it's a really bad cat!!!

May

2011-05-05T18:50:00.000-07:00

the singing dishwasher

2011-04-29T14:02:00.000-07:00

hopefully she'll like doing dishes this much when she's a teenager!

Easter Weekend

2011-04-29T06:26:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from our Easter Weekend.
Aurora has been enjoying the warmer weather because she can play out in the backyard with her bunnies now.

and feed them lettus

On Good Friday i had a midwife appointment (ya, for some reason they were still open) since nothing else was open though we decided to stop at the falls on the way back so we didn't drive all the way there for only my appointment.
Aurora was pretty nervous about the falls but also fascinated. She thinks the white parts are ice, any time she sees rapids now she thinks they are ice.
"I see ice!! I yike it, i yike it!"

she was a little too scared at this point to smile. Goofy girl

My ultrasound was a couple of days ago as well. It went well. Aurora got to see the baby, although i don't really think she got it. She knew it was "baby brother" but i don't think she really understood.

We got to see him opening and closing his little mouth, it was pretty cute. Still hasn't really sunk in yet that we are soon going to have 2 kids!! yikes!!! :)

I'll upload the pictures from that ultrasound soon. We got some good profiles this time, last time he didn't want us to get to see his little profile.

it's a...

2011-04-08T15:16:00.000-07:00

Prince or Princess?

2011-04-08T14:34:00.000-07:00

anyone want to guess if i am a boy or girl? :)

Visiting Family

2011-03-26T07:21:00.000-07:00

Aurora and I were lucky enough to get to go back to Chicago for another visit this month! Our Christmas visit was foiled by the chicken pox so it was really nice to be able to get back so soon and see everyone (we didn't get to see 95% of the family at Christmas due to Aurora's infectiousness)

Here are a few pictures from our trip. Most of them are of Aurora and her cousin (or second cousin or something like that) Ezekiel who we stayed with. The two of them were pretty hilarious. They thought they were siblings.

Playing in Zeke's backyard...

Driving to the Children's Museum on our last day there. (note Aurora's sunglasses are upside down)

making pretend sandwiches at the mini Potbelly at the children's museum

Playing with air with Auntie Alison and Zeke

and getting ready for Chicago Sports Jersy night at cubbies.

It was so great to see everyone and especially to spend so much time with my dear friend Alison. She is probably the sweetest person i know and I love every minute i get to spend with her. Oh and Aurora loves her too she probably would have stayed to live there if i gave her the option.... lol

pregnancy so far

2011-03-07T14:50:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a while since I've posted anything. I have been so sick for the last couple months that it was all I could do to get out of bed during the day and try to keep Aurora out of trouble.

I finally started taking Diclectin a week and a half ago and man has that made a huge difference!!! I can function now!! I actually get up and go out and eat meals again!! It's really nice.

I had a midwife appointment and heard the heartbeat a couple weeks ago. It was a nice steady 160, maybe there is hope for another girl. :) Not that i would be upset if it's a boy, I just have all girl stuff so it would be easiest to have another girl.

My "big ultrasound" is coming up soon, April 8th. It will be fun to see the baby, maybe help it to seem a bit more real too, my last ultrasound was at 6 weeks so there wasn't much to see besides a blinking heart. Still fun, but I didn't have this ultrasound with Aurora so it should be fun, and hopefully we'll find out if we're having a boy or girl!!! :)

getting ready for Valentines

2011-01-31T10:35:00.000-08:00

Here's some valentines day cards, still have a few to go

Potato Heads

2011-01-24T15:04:00.000-08:00

Aurora got Mr and Mrs Potato Head from her Uncle Zachary and Auntie Ruth for Christmas this year. A few days ago her cousins were over for the afternoon and she and Allistair decided to play with the Potato Heads. They had a great time decorating themselves though instead of the potato heads.

Here are a couple pictures of them. They did wear the lips and teeth too but my computer is moving very slowly at the moment and i don't have the patients to wait for them to upload. :)

Winter fun

2011-01-17T09:52:00.000-08:00

Aurora had a good time playing out in the snow in our backyard today. She just got new snow pants and was eager to test them out.

She had a good time out there, despite losing her mittens every few minutes.

I'm doing ok. The medicine that i was so happy to get makes me extremely exhausted (on top of regular pregnancy tiredness) and dizzy so i don't do a whole lot most days. I still have to take it pretty easy but it looks like things are good. I had an ultrasound on Thursday and the baby looked good.

Caleb is busy working and helping me out (since i am kind of useless these days). They will soon be moving into the new plant at work so that should be interesting.

ya!

2011-01-10T13:40:00.000-08:00

I got a nice surprise today. My doctor decided to give me the hormone pills i need! i didn't even have to ask!! What a huge relief!

Our Family

2011-01-08T13:01:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year from the four of us! :)

(yup, we found out a couple weeks ago)

Please pray, i have had problems in the past with my hormone levels which if too low can cause a miscarriage. Here in Canada medical is about 10 years behind so i don't have access to some of the medicine i did in Chicago so we really have to trust that God will keep the baby safe.

January so far

2011-01-07T08:25:00.000-08:00

We had a birthday party for Aurora this week, it was a bit late but we wanted her friends to be back. She's pretty obsessed with tea parties so that is what we did for her. She had 8 friends, and a very noisy time. It was pretty fun.

I unfortunately didn't take a lot of pictures because i was running around but here is one of her friends in his crown.

We also discovered that Aurora finally has enough hair for pigtails and a ponytail. She is pretty proud of herself.
I think she looks so much older!

Christmas Day

2010-12-30T21:10:00.000-08:00

Christmas Day with my family, yes we decorated gingerbread houses both places. :)

goofy Shanelle, she makes me laugh!

Christmas Eve

2010-12-30T20:56:00.000-08:00

Christmas Eve with Caleb's family

the 8 hour trip that took 14+

2010-12-16T09:21:00.000-08:00

These first two are out of order, oops. As you can see, we arrived safely and Aurora is having a blast. She and Ezekiel are great friends already, and she likes Carl (the dog) quite a bit too.

Discover toy guns. ya, we are in the US now. lol. Here she is "shooting" Carl. She hasn't really figured out how to hold the gun properly despite her daddy's best efforts to correct her.

Ok, back to the trip from hell.

Unfortunately i didn't even think about taking pictures until we were through the worst of it, i was too stressed out and freaked to think about pictures.
It was still pretty bad at this point, worse than I've ever seen (but an improvement from earlier in the trip believe it or not)

Here is a picture of our GSP showing how slow we were driving. At times we were down lower. Oh, it also shows our estimated arrival time, we didn't actually get in till after 2am (time change made it 1am)

This picture doesn't really do it justice, but this road was down to 1 lane, the other lane had several feet of snow covering it.Our lane had a lot of big drifts on it to that we kept having to plow through.

the sun setting, great now we get to do it in the dark!! good thing we were already past the really bad parts!

Us, driving

Aurora. She was an angel, i couldn't believe how good she was stuck in that chair for 14 hours with only 2 breaks. We could tell people were praying (also for the fact that we didn't go off the road or crash)

Here is another attempt to show how bad the road was. Still doesn't do it justice.

Once we got to the 401 it was a lot better. We still kept it well under the speed limit though. By the time we reached the US we were so tired and relieved. And even more so once we finally reached Chicago!!

Now that we are here we are having a great time with our dear friends (who happen to be family also). Aurora and Zeke already love each other and are having a blast playing together.

Today I'm going to have lunch with two of my very good friends from work. I'm really looking forward to seeing them since the last time was a year ago.

setting up the tree

2010-12-16T08:46:00.000-08:00

our week

2010-11-29T19:34:00.000-08:00

My funny girl in her toque and sun glasses.

these pictures crack me up. she is such a turkey!

Aurora and daddy at Christmas in the Country

checking out the animals

Aurora had a great time going to a photo shoot with me today. She got to hold the baby and was so into feeding her that she sobbed when her mommy took her to burp her in the middle of her bottle. Silly Aurora. she sure likes babies!

November

2010-11-24T18:27:00.000-08:00

At the Chapman's Christmas Party Aurora got to make her own stuffed animal. She picked a monkey and had a lot of fun stuffing him. :)

The silly girl is getting goofier by the day. We heard her calling us and went in her room to find her like this with her stuffed animals.

Halloween and November

2010-11-09T15:22:00.000-08:00

wearing dadda's robe

Brutie

2010-10-27T20:03:00.000-07:00

Today ended up being a pretty rough day. My sweet cat Brutie hasn't been doing very well the last few days, She's been losing a lot of weight over the last few month, she stopped eating yesterday and was obviously not herself. I finally realized the day i have been dreading for a few years was here. I had to think of her and not of how much i want her to always be here. It was awful. I've had her for 15 years and she was such a sweet cat, such a funny personality and loved to sit on my lap or lay on me and purr.

Man, when it rains around here it pours.

first hair cut

2010-10-27T19:55:00.000-07:00

Here's Aurora after her first haircut. She just got her bangs cut.

Moving Pictures

2010-10-27T19:53:00.000-07:00

Here is Aurora and Caleb with the van all packed for the first load. Just waiting for the keys now.

Caleb with the first load at the new house!!

Aurora helping remove the murals in the kitchen

Two murals gone....

New House

2010-10-25T11:25:00.000-07:00

This has been an ïntersting" month. A lot of hard stuff came out and in the midst of all of that moving.

Despite all the crazy, heartbreaking stuff we've been dealing with with friends and family we are constantly reminded how awesome God is. He is so good even in the worst of times. I'm so thankful to serve such a loving God.

I have pictures of the new house but not with me here, i will upload them in the next couple of days.

We are getting settled quickly, almost all unpacked already. It's so wonderful to be in a clean, healthy, energy efficient house!!!

Oh ya, and Aurora got her first hair cut! :) Just a bang trim but still.

hot chocolate

2010-10-08T14:32:00.000-07:00

It was a cool day and we have all been feeling not great due to this cold that's going around so i thought I'd give Aurora a little treat. Hot Chocolate!!

She's never had her own before so i thought it would be fun for her.

It was. :)

2010-10-08T12:58:00.000-07:00

Hey everyone,

Sorry for the lack of posting lately. We've been pretty busy. We started the process of looking for a house to buy a few months ago, found a place just over a month ago and are closing on it in a week so we've been pretty busy with paperwork, packing and everything else that happens when you move.

Aurora is getting big. She talks constantly (although that isn't new the words she uses are) She is saying full sentences and surprises me every day with new words. She's so funny. Teaching her patience and not to be selfish is definitely a full time job. Whatever moron said that kids don't have a sin nature was obviously not a parent!! :) I've been reading Shepherding a Child's Heart and The Ministry of Motherhood which has changed a lot of my views of parenting (in a good way) and am enjoying the ride, i see so much of my self in my little girl (stubborn, selfish, willful etc lol). But she is adorable and funny and sweet too. She helps me clean up now she says "help you" and puts the leaves into the bag or the toys away or tries to hold the rake. So it's definitely a lot of of fun.

Caleb is back to mostly normal shifts now which is really nice. Those 12 hour shifts were not too fun.

Aurora and I are helping with toddlers/preschool at NTM twice a week which is fun too.

Well that is the quick update on our lives. Hopefully i'll get more regular with this again as soon as life settles down again

chocolate cake

2010-09-07T06:16:00.000-07:00

My sister's 24th birthday is in a couple days so Julian (her hubby) through her a little party on Sunday night. He asked me if i would like to bring some cake and of course I said sure.

It's 10 skinny cakes layered on top of each other with Mint Buttercream frosting. Mmmmm. Pretty tasty if i do say so myself.
(It's supposed to have a ganoche but i didn't put it on this time)

Symphony

2010-08-28T19:16:00.000-07:00

This morning my friend Karen called and asked if i could help her bring home her new calf. She bought Symphony a couple weeks ago from a local farmer/raw milk "activist" and it was time to bring her home. Instead of hooking up the horse trailer for a small calf she decided to take her pickup, she would sit in the back with the calf and i would drive her home.

Going the speed limit the drive is only about 5 minutes long, but going 20kph it takes a little longer. The calf did great though.

She's an adorable little calf who loves to have her ears scratched. Knowing Karen she will be a great loving cow too when she grows up.

After we got Symphony all settled in we saddled up Raven (one of her 4 horses) and went for a ride. Well, i rode and she made sure i was doing things correctly. Let me tell you, it went MUCH more smoothly with a saddle than bareback!! Maybe that was partly because i was much more confident.

Unfortunatley i remembered when i was halfway there that i had forgotten my good camera at home so i only had my tiny PAS but i did get a couple of Karen and the calf in the truck at least.

Splunking

2010-08-25T20:07:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon Caleb and i went splunking with Caleb's sister Ruth and her boyfriend Glenn. It was a misty rainy day which ended up being nice because no one else was there. We found some good caves so today i went back with my brother Jon and his wife Shanelle.

Today it was a little busier there with rock climbers but we were able to way further into the caves to parts we didn't even notice last time.

It was a fun day, we got home exhausted, over 1000 calories lighter (i have a watch that measures, he he) and completely filthy. :)

Julio Update

2010-08-22T20:53:00.001-07:00

Praise the Lord!!!!

Julio was able to go home today!!!

Geocaching

2010-08-20T20:09:00.000-07:00

Today was our first experience with geocaching. I've been wanting to try it out for a while.

We took Titus along for an extra pair of eyes. Aurora enjoyed bonding with him a little more and even cried when he was too far ahead on the trail to hold her hand. (She says "hand" now when she wants someone to hold her hand. She just started that today.)

Looking for the first clue

This was the first clue for the multi cache we were doing. We found this one and it gave the coordinates for the final cache.

Heading along the trail towards the final cache

Caleb searching for the cache

Wahoo, there it is!! Even had a travel bug (the dog tag on the astronaut key chain), we're going to put the travel bug in another cache soon.

Get Well Julio!!

2010-08-14T11:09:00.000-07:00

Caleb's uncle Julio is in the hospital again, this time it's with Kidney and Liver problems along with a UTI.

Since Aurora can't go to visit him in the hospital (10 hour drive) she painted him a picture to send him. Since it will take a week or so for the mail to get to him we wanted to post these pictures for him.

If you see this Julio, we love you and are praying for you!

yes, i realize i accidentally spelled niece wrong. oops!!!

Cough Syrup

2010-08-14T11:01:00.000-07:00

As you may have seen in a previous post, I made cough syrup for the first time. My Austrian neighbor, Sonja taught me how. Part of the process is leaving the jars in the sun and letting it do the work.

With all the rain we've had this summer it took a while.

We got the shoots a little late in the spring so we didn't get as much as she normally gets but plenty for our family till spring.

Painting

2010-08-12T13:29:00.000-07:00

Aurora had a good time doing some finger painting today

Feeling Schrute ish

2010-08-05T19:15:00.000-07:00

Dwight Schrute that is... :)

I've been craving beet soup lately for some odd reason. I've only had it once, my grandma made it and it was quite good. Caleb isn't a huge fan of beets or soup so I hadn't made it yet, but Ruth just got her wisdom teeth take out and is really swollen and she happens to be the only person in her family who loves beets so I figured it was the perfect opportunity.

While i was at it i figured i would make some Beet juice too. Beet, carrot and apple actually. It was quite good. :)

"yeah pee pee!"

2010-08-01T13:07:00.000-07:00

Yeah for Aurora, so far today no accidents!!! This is her first time making it this far into the day without an accident!!!! Good job.

reunion

2010-07-31T07:57:00.000-07:00

Wes and Brenda (Caleb's aunt and uncle) have all their kids and grandkids here to visit for a couple weeks. His Grandma and Grandpa are also here so last night we all got together for a bbq. Here are some of the pictures...

Grandma, Austin and Holly in the kitchen getting ready

Brennan, Wes and Brenda's grandson learning to walk.

Aurora and Camille

Aurora made friends with her cousins (or maybe second cousins?) Emily and Maddy. They had a great time chasing bubbles, throwing balls and just running around screaming.

a walk in the meadow

2010-07-29T21:05:00.000-07:00

Aurora and I went for a walk this evening in the meadow by jungle camp. I got some great pictures (see my photography blog) and some cute ones of Aurora.

This is her smelling a flower.

i love her face in this one!

family

2010-07-29T19:39:00.000-07:00

Caleb's grandma and grandpa live in BC so they haven't been able to make it out here very often. This summer they decided to make the trip.

It's been three years since their last visit so this is the first time they have seen Aurora. Caleb's grandma has been dying to meet her so it is really nice that they were able to come. Aurora seems to be warming up to Grandma quickly, especially when grandma has cake.

Aurora loves auntie Ruth, so when she brought out her new stethoscope (she's a nursing student) Aurora had to get hers out too. Here they are being nurses together.

Cool Jewelry

2010-07-28T08:41:00.000-07:00

I was browsing Etsy this morning and found a very cool seller. She has very unique jewelry, i really liked this camera charm.
Check her out. LunaShineShine

Yummy Gelato!

2010-07-27T17:18:00.000-07:00

Today Aurora and i went for a bike ride with 5 friends and 2 other little girls. We biked around town then went for gelato at the Country Best Gelato, the new gelato place in town. It's delicious!! They make the gelato and sorbeto right there. It's owned by an Italian family.

I'm missed gelato a lot since working at Jbean in Norridge so i am pretty excited to be able to get it right here in town now!!!

Julio Update

2010-07-25T19:41:00.001-07:00

Great News!!!!

The infection didn't get to Julio's bone so he is home and doing well. Praise the Lord!!
Here is the new email:

Dear Family, and friends,

On Wednesday the M.R.I. indicated there was infection in Julio's bones. On Saturday after much
prayer,the WBC Test showed no evidence of infection at all! They may choose to believe it was a technical problem, or computer glitch; I believe God healed Julio.Thank you all for your faithfulness
in prayer.

God bless you, Bob (Dad)

2 guys and a bible

2010-07-25T10:50:00.000-07:00

Several months ago a "like" request was sent to me by our friend Scott for a website called 2 Guys and a Bible. I checked it out briefly and thought it was cool but didn't give it too much more thought. I figured it was just something he had found online.

Well today i found out that he is one of the 2 guys, the started of the website and apparently it's really taken off, they get hundreds of people reading their articles and listening to their podcasts every day!!! Wow!

After finding this out i decided to have a better look at the site instead of the quick look i did originally. lol. Turns out it's a pretty cool site.

They've done a really great job with it and have even been invited to go speak at a school in (i think) Vienna ( i could be mistaken on the location).

If you haven't seen the site check it out. Scott is a great speaker and a really neat guy.

Congrats Guys!! It's awesome to see how quicly God is opening doors for you!!!

Pray for Julio

2010-07-25T10:40:00.000-07:00

This is Caleb's uncle Julio. Julio was adopted by Caleb's grandparents about 22 years ago. He was born with Spina Biffida and blood on his brain. If blood on the brain is caught and drained right away a child can have a relatively normal life but it isn't caught it causes brain damage as was the case for Julio.

Julio is now in his 20s, a miracle for someone doctors said wouldn't live past 9 weeks old!! He is such a joy to be around, he is always smiling, always happy. He loves to talk on the phone and if you give him your phone number he'll remember it forever. He is such a sweet heart and we love him to death.

He has had his share of health problems from being in a wheel chair and not having any use in his legs. He has gotten sores on his legs and feet a few times. These sores are really dangerous for paralized people because limited blood flow to their legs and feet mean a very slow recovery and very high chance of infection.

He has been in the hospital now with another one of these sores. Below is the last email we have gotten from Grandpa.

Dear Family and friends,

Please pray for Julio. He has developed a serious pressure sore infection in his right foot. He has been
hospitalized since Monday. One more test has to be performed on Friday morning to determine if the infection has spread to the bone. He is being treated with anti-biodics; but this will not cure the infection,
if it has spread to the bone.At this time there is not sufficient evidence that this has happened.If the infection has spreaad to the bone, he could lose a portion of his foot.

As we know, God is in control, and it is our prayer that this drastic procedure would not be neccesary.

Please keep us in prayer,that we we are able hold up under the stress.

Love Bob (Dad) Isaiah 40:31

Jake's Team

2010-07-24T17:31:00.000-07:00

About a week and a half ago we heard about a little boy named Jake. He is 7 years old and his parents just found out that he has stage 4 cancer. He had a large tumor in his chest that was causing him pain (how they discovered the cancer) and the cancer has spread.
Jake's parents have already lost two children, one at age 3 and one at 3 days old (both girls) to a genetic disease. Jake is their only child now.

He is doing all the conventional treatments, but if he does natural treatments as well his chances are better and his quality of life is , i am sure, as well. The problem is, here in Ontario, only 30% of alternative medicine is covered. This leaves a huge expense for his family and they are really struggling.

It has also been amazing to see the community come together for him and his family since hearing about their struggles!

One of the local restaurants did a wing night for him where 10 cents from every wing was donated to him as well as all the tips for the night.
There have been lemonade stands for him, there are donation boxes everywhere.
At the beer store you can donate your empties refund.
And today the fire department and several other places but together a carnival and dance for him.

The carnival was admission by donation (which included all the rides and shows), You could then buy food and drinks inside, they had a silent auction, bake sales, penny tables, face painting, airbrush tattoos and other things for sale.

I went to the carnival today with our friends the Cudneys. It ended up raining REALLY hard, but that didn't stop anyone from having a great time. They didn't shut down the bouncy blow up things (except the few that were too dangerous when it really got raining, like the big blow up slides) so the kids had a great time getting soaked. There was stuff to watch inside too, people shaving their heads to join "Team Jake" and a Tae Kwon Do demonstration.

I haven't heard yet how much was earned so far today, the dance will continue until midnight so more will be made, but it seemed like a lot of people showed up for him. And a lot of people shaved their heads for him. (i was glad that Caleb ended up waiting at home because Aurora fell asleep right before we left because if he has been there he would have taken the opportunity to shave his head again)

It's been really neat to see so many people coming together for this little boy. And we are praying for a miracle!

Random

2010-07-23T19:48:00.000-07:00

Aurora and Elliot playing in the tub

Like Father like daughter; obviously Aurora has seen Dadda play xbox once or twice

Unbelievable.

2010-07-22T19:50:00.000-07:00

It's pretty sad that in order to not offend and be "politically correct" politicians are willing to further hurt everyone affected by 9/11.

I am shocked that the big news reporters like the Globe and Mail and Washington Post seem to all be supporting this mosque. It's unbelievable to me that this is going on.

At least there are a couple sane people still, check this guy out:

Shoes!

2010-07-22T19:26:00.001-07:00

New Obsession

2010-07-22T11:45:00.000-07:00

I guess our daughter is just a typical girl.

This week she discovered a new obsessions. She has always liked putting on her shoes before leaving the house and is always good about reminding you to if you forget. Lately she's been bringing me my shoes if she wants to go somewhere and trying on big people's shoes. But this week it really has turned into an obsession.

Monday Aurora and I went shopping in Kitchener and Guelph with my friend Becky. Since Becky was looking for some shoes we went into almost all of the shoe stores in the mall starting with Aldo. The obsession, i think, started the moment we walked in the door. All the beautiful shoes everywhere. Suddenly Aurora was saying a word she has never said before, and saying it a LOT. "Shoes!"

After that every store we went in was "shoes!" "shoes" she even tried some on and got angry at me when i took them away from her.

I bought some sweet ones at Aldo so every time she sees the box here at home or sees me put them on she goes crazy all over again. This is a video of her wearing them and saying shoes. Notice how she does "chimp lips" when she says it. lol

my secretary

2010-07-21T16:06:00.000-07:00

Sonja is always joking around about Aurora being out secretary (for our cleaning services).

a few weeks ago she got ahold of the phone and my day planner and was pretending to actually be our secretary. it was so funny. she was "talking on the phone" and pretending to write stuff down.

A very special day!

2010-07-05T16:04:00.000-07:00

Today was a very special day. My mom is a HUGE fan of British history and has been looking forward to this day for many years.

Queen Elizabeth the second flew into Kitchener/Waterloo today to visit RIM (the maker of Blackberry)

At about 5:30am Cynthia, My parents and i pulled out and made our way down to KW to see her. We stood outside the airport from 7am until she arrived at 10:45. It was pretty amazing to be there with about 2 thousand others (the news said 200 but they counted about 2 hours before she arrived so MANY more had arrived by the time she made her appearance) to see our beloved monarch. The excitement was palpable. Two very cute women came with a big Union Jack wearing tiaras and big necklaces, An 80 something year old man came with a newspaper clipping from before World War 2 with a picture of himself and several other teenagers including the Queen who was 13 at the time. Another lady we befriended had written the queen a letter a month ago a received a reply which she had brought along.

All in all it was a very fun day. Well worth the hours in the hot sun to support a very neat lady.

Above is Mom and Cynthia at 7:30am waiting, extremely excited.

Below is Dad being interviewed by a reporter for CTV (he made the news, the clip is in the post below)

Cynthia being interviewed for CTV news. She was also interviewed for 570 news (radio) (as was I) and for the airports website.

Trying to get some shade. it was a HOT day! Cynthia's flag attracted media attention. :)

The procession starts!!!!

She was three cars back in the one with the crown license plate and no light.

The front of her car...

A pretty sweet picture (if i do say so myself) of the Queen driving by with the Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Phillip.

The back of her car...

a shot of her coming back to the airport after visiting RIM

We got quite a few more of her in the car and getting back into the airplane but i didn't want to overload you too much. :)
All in all it was a pretty unforgettable day.
But as a wise man (Ray Jones) said to me in a text today:
"If we think that was great what about when we see the Lord face to Face. One glimspe of His dear face all sorrows will errase."
Wow Ray !! thanks for putting that into perspective. I've never thought of it in that context. How amazing that day will be!!!

CTV Southwestern Ontario - News2.rm

2010-07-05T15:13:00.000-07:00

We're famous!!!!!

2010-07-05T14:34:00.000-07:00

Check this link out. We went down to Waterloo to see the queen and got on the news!! Dad did an interview!!! We were also interviewed for News 570 on the Radio and Cynthia was interviewed for the airport website. So check us out!!!!

http://www.swo.ctv.ca/news.php?id=7720

It's the one about the Queen visiting RIM

Our summer so far...

2010-07-01T09:57:00.000-07:00

Aurora and Allistair having a fun time in the park. They were so silly. Instead of going down the slides they just wanted to hang.

Zeek playing in the grass while the "big" kids played

Aurora digging up grandma's kitchen floor. (jungle camp, tee hee)

Aurora's friend Elroy or "the colonol". This cute little guy always has a toad in his hand. I think he is really enjoying his time in jungle camp.

Caleb and Titus roasting giant marshmallows in the stove.

Auroa and her toad (don't worry we let it go after)

2010-07-01T09:34:00.000-07:00

Aurora and her kitten.

Standing by the fence to Sonja's house watching "her"puppies. She loves those dogs!

Hooch

Rufus

Strawberry garden party

2010-07-01T09:24:00.000-07:00

At MCF we like to have ladies socials pretty often. This time we had a garden party with strawberry shortcakes.

If you came wearing a decorated hat you got an extra ticket for the door prizes.

Here are just a couple of them...

Aurora and Mokey (2)

2010-06-09T10:25:00.001-07:00

Aurora and Mokey

2010-06-09T10:24:00.001-07:00

Tuesday out

2010-06-09T09:55:00.000-07:00

Monday night a friend of Ruth's dropped a tiny toad off at my house. The timing was perfect because i was hoping for one that i could take pictures of to go with the frog picture on Aurora's wall. So i kept him (outside) overnight and took pictures of him early then set him free again. here are two of them.

Later that morning we went to Keady Market with Ruth (Caleb was off so he went too) We had a good time looking around at all the random stuff. Then we found two ladies with a box labeled free. inside there were about ten adorable tiny kittens.........

Yeah.
Meet Mokey

Mover over Jillian, Aurora has a new kind of work out

2010-05-30T17:12:00.001-07:00

Aurora's first canoe ride

2010-05-26T11:16:00.000-07:00

Aurora, Allistair, Jon, Shanelle and i went for a canoe ride today. We didn't make it very long because most of the fish they stocked the lake with have died (the water is really low and way too warm for trout) so it doesn't smell great.

Our afternoon adventure

2010-05-25T13:54:00.000-07:00

Some cute little birdies that Mark found and showed us yesterday. The picture i took yesterday wasn't clear but i got some good ones today!

I LOVE frogs so we went and caught one. It looks like my daughter likes them too. :)

making cough syrup

2010-05-25T11:42:00.000-07:00

My Austrian neighbor taught me how to make cough syrup so i thought i'd give it a try. Usually this is the time of year that you be just starting but this year with it being so warm so early we almost missed the season.

Here we are collecting the spruce buds. Aurora was a big helper and didn't want to stop after we had enough

putting them in the bag

Now we put them in jars with LOTS of sugar and set them out to let the sun do the rest.

delicious and apparently miraculous. The ancient European way of dealing with coughs.

Aurora and Toopy

2010-05-24T12:11:00.000-07:00

One of Carrie's kittys passed away last week so Carrie has been on the hunt for a new on. Charlie has been very lonely. This weekend she found perfect one. A siameese (Carrie has always loved the pitiful breeds of cats and dogs. lol) kitten and they named him Toopy.

Aurora really likes him.

Aurora and her Auntie Ruth enjoying the adorable kitten

isn't he a cutie?! :)

Shopping Day

2010-05-24T12:06:00.000-07:00

Watching Miss Patty Cake on the way to Kitchener

The Booster Juice Babes

all tuckered out on the way home

Summer's here!

2010-05-24T12:02:00.000-07:00

Aurora has been having a lot of fun enjoying the weather. She loves swimming and absolutely loves bubbles.

Congratulations Ruth Cake

2010-05-23T14:15:00.000-07:00

Ruth just found out she make it into the Nursing Program at Lake Superior. She is one of 26 (i think) to be accepted so we decided to celebrate.

I volunteered to do a cake for the party. Luckily for me Shanelle wanted to help because i only had about 2-3 hours total to make the fondant, cool it enough, colour it and decorate before the party started. It didn't help that today was a hot humid day.... makes fondant hard to work with. oh well. it turned out pretty good i think.

Thanks so much for your help Shanelle!!!

and Congratulations again Ruth!!

Congrats Ruth!!!

2010-05-21T19:31:00.000-07:00

Congratulations Ruth on making it into the Nursing Program!! Wahoo!!! i knew you would

Hiking

2010-05-20T10:16:00.000-07:00

Yesterday about half of my family went hiking up at Eugenia Falls. Mom had in mind that we would be taking the nice easy big trail but Mark and Jon decided to go off the trail all together, hike down to the river bed (about a mile from the falls) and then hike up to them. Sounds good eh? the problem was that we had Elliot in the backpack carrier and Aurora was on my shoulders. lol.

about 3/4s of the way mom, dad, Lauren and i turned back becuase it was getting to hard (only because we had the babies) and the other three went on.

Going back was no easy task either though, we had hiked a long way in and with a toddler and a 7 month old it was still pretty hard core climbing up stecp "hills". I used my MIO heart rate watch and kept track. it turned out i burned more than 625 calories. LOL. I either had Aurora on my shoulders or Elliot on my back the whole time though.

All in all it was a pretty good day. we had a good time. :)
sorry for a few sideways pictures

Aurora and the Murphy boys

2010-05-20T09:56:00.000-07:00

Allistair and Aurora dancing to Miss Patty Cake

A sideways picture of me and Zeek

Broom Babes

2010-05-19T18:05:00.000-07:00

My neighbor and I have started a cleaning business. So far things are going really well. It's pretty amazing how much need there is in our area!!! We even hired my sister Carrie already!

It's been cool to work together (sofar--just kidding!!)

Here is what our business cards look like. :)

Psalm 68

2010-05-19T17:58:00.000-07:00

I've been reading through Psalms lately and this one just really stood out to me. It's pretty amazing:

Psalm 68: 1-19
1May God arise, may his enemies be scattered; may his foes flee before him.
2As smoke is blown away by the wind, may you blow them away; as wax melts before the fire, may the wicked perish before God.
3But may the righteous be glad and rejoice before God; may they be happy and joyful.
4Sing to God, sing praise to his name, extol him who rides on the clouds his name is the Lord and rejoice before him.
5A father to the fatherless, a defender of widows, is God in his holy dwelling.
6God sets the lonely in families, he leads forth the prisoners with singing; but the rebellious live in a sun-scorched land.
7When you went out before your people, O God, when you marched through the wasteland, Selah
8the earth shook, the heavens poured down rain, before God, the One of Sinai, before God, the God of Israel.
9You gave abundant showers, O God; you refreshed your weary inheritance.
10Your people settled in it, and from your bounty, O God, you provided for the poor.
11The Lord announced the word, and great was the company of those who proclaimed it:
12“Kings and armies flee in haste; in the camps men divide the plunder.
13Even while you sleep among the campfires, the wings of [my] dove are sheathed with silver,
its feathers with shining gold.”
14When the Almightyd scattered the kings in the land, it was like snow fallen on Zalmon.
15The mountains of Bashan are majestic mountains;
rugged are the mountains of Bashan.
16Why gaze in envy, O rugged mountains, at the mountain where God chooses to reign, where the Lord himself will dwell forever?
17The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands; the Lord [has come] from Sinai into his sanctuary.
18When you ascended on high, you led captives in your train; you received gifts from men, even frome the rebellious that you, O Lord God, might dwell there.
19Praise be to the Lord, to God our Savior,who daily bears our burdens

Wow. I just thought that was really encouraging. The whole beginning is about how powerful and awesome God is, but he daily bears our burdens

How cool is it that a God that is that powerful "his chariots are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands" "his enemies are scattered as smoke in the wind" daily concerns himself with what is burdening us. All the small stupid stuff that we stress over as well as the big stuff.

I thought that was cool and worth sharing.

Silly girl

2010-04-13T15:28:00.001-07:00

Finally!!!

2010-04-13T15:19:00.000-07:00

It's been FOREVER since i posted, i know. so here are finally some new pictures of Aurora.

more pictures

2010-01-08T11:02:00.000-08:00

Aurora with her birthday balloon from Grandma and Grandpa. She loves it becuase it's on a stick and she can wing it around. She screams while she does that. :)

Aurora's new dolly and stroller. Her great great Aunt Anne gave her some birthday money so she got a dolly with a bottle and a potty and a stroller to put her dolls in. She loves it. She was trying to give it the bottle before it was even out of the package. :)

We went to Crabby Joes on Aurora's birthday for wing night with Caleb's siblings. since it was her birthday they sang to her, gave her icecream and a popsicle ( i think kids always get a popsicle not just on their birthdays) this one was her enjoying her popsicle the next day.

Here she is playing with the doll and cart she got from Nia and Papa for Christmas.

This is her in her new car. i bought it for her on kijiji. she loves it!

She has started feeding herself. :) She actually does pretty well. here are a few pictures of her feeding herself a yogurt

a little messy afterwards :)

Aurora's 1st birthday party

2010-01-08T10:47:00.000-08:00

Here are a few more pictures of Aurora's birthday party.

Aurora's 1st Birthday!!!

2010-01-08T10:40:00.000-08:00

Aurora turned 1 at on the 29th so we had a party for her the night before. The weather was terrible that night so a few people weren't able to make it, but we still had a good time.

Ruth helped me with the cake and we thought it turned out pretty awesome!

our christmas

2010-01-08T10:32:00.000-08:00

We had a good Christmas this year. In the morning Aurora and Caleb opened their stockings. We had spent Christmas Eve with Caleb's family so we went over to spend Christmas morning with my family. Besides being a little over tired Aurora had a good day. She really enjoyed opening presents. :)

A few more pictures

2009-12-26T10:32:00.000-08:00

Spoiling my youngest nephew. He may only be 9 weeks old but he loves suckers already!! You should have seen his little tongue shooting in and out. it was hilarious!

Three cousins in the bath playing.

Aurora and Elliot

Merry Christmas!!!

2009-12-26T10:25:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple pictures from Christmas. none of them are great pictures. Aurora was very tired and not feeling great and by the time the boys into their oufits things were falling apart (emotionally) so here is what i have so far.

I think i have more on my camera but here are just a couple.

Check out the looks on the baby's faces. lol!

Aurora Dancing with Grandma

2009-11-25T16:57:00.001-08:00

She was very hyper tonight and dancing with Grandma

Booster Juice

2009-11-21T15:21:00.001-08:00

These are a couple pictures we took for Ruth. Aurora stole my booster juice and wouldn't give it back. she LOVED it!! :)

a couple more

2009-11-21T09:57:00.000-08:00

haha, we put this hat on her as a joke (it isn't hers) and it looked so hilarious we had to take a picture. this would be Aurora if she was born in the 80s and was a boy. lol

i got home from Bible study last week and the little angel had fallen asleep on caleb's lap.

Trouble

2009-11-21T09:53:00.000-08:00

Aurora has become a little trouble maker. she climbs everything in site now and loves making big messes.

I peeked in on her during her nap the other day and she looked so cute i had to get a picture.

"helping" me with the laudry.

In the dvd cabnet with the cat. You can't see the cat in this picture but she is in there behind Aurora.

Lounging in her high chair, she decided she likes it angled back abit some times. Notice her finger too, she likes to sing "this little light of mine"

Bowling and Dude night

2009-11-21T09:43:00.000-08:00

Here are a couple pictures from Bowling and dude night Tuesday.
The guys dress up like whatever they think of as a "dude"and we all go bowling.
It was pretty hilarious, the guys went all out this year.

Caleb came in 4th for bowling (for the guys) so that was pretty good. i did very poorly. i think my final score was a 54 or something like that!! lol. oh well, i never claimed to be a good bowler! :)

2009-11-14T09:11:00.001-08:00

keep voting for Aurora!!!!!

Sweet Pea contest

the walker

2009-11-12T13:42:00.000-08:00

Auroralyn has mastered walking now. She almost never crawls anymore.
Today she decided to try jumping and sprinting. It was quite entertaining to watch because she just kept falling but she sure is persistent in trying!
Here is a quick video of her walking. she was not in the mood to walk when i took it a few minutes ago. now she has a cookie in her hand so she is strolling around much better. but oh well. :)

cutest baby

2009-11-09T08:33:00.001-08:00

Vote for Aurora in the Sweet Pea cutest baby contest. the winner gets a $200 shopping spree.
you can vote for her once every day until November 30th!! please vote!
http://www.sweetpeahanover.com/photos-3.html

Aurora's first Halloween

2009-10-30T17:07:00.000-07:00

Halloween is actually tomorrow, but we'll be out so we showed off her costume to our parents today

oh yeah, and she is walking now too by the way. you can see her a bit in the one video

they new boys in the family

2009-10-25T15:41:00.000-07:00

Here are a few Zeeky and Elliot.

(Zeek is the one with all the hair, Elliot is mostly bald)

A fall walk

2009-10-12T13:08:00.000-07:00

Aurora and i decided to go for a walk today. We wanted to enjoy the nice fall weather before it is gone. We walked up through jungle camp and past there to the feilds behind. Some cows were eating on the far side of the field, heard us and came over to investigate. (They were a LOT closer than the picture makes it look.) Aurora was quite interested but we left before they came close enough to pet becuase i saw that they were probably bulls and wasn't sure how nice they would be. :)

Happy Thanksgiving!

lovebug

2009-10-12T12:58:00.000-07:00

I was fooling around today and took some pictures of Aurora. just for fun.

three nephews

2009-10-12T11:14:00.000-07:00

No neices.

We added another nephew to the family. Ezekiel Julian Murphy was born just over a week ago. he weighed 9lb 5.8oz!! big boy, with lots of black hair!!