The Squatters in our Backyard

I've taken pictures each day - they change so rapidly! Will has enjoyed spending time in the backyard observing the comings and goings of papa and mama robin. He's noticed the difference in their appearance and watching them fulfill their jobs of protecting and feeding. We've seen them chase off a seedy looking black bird with ferocity!

I'm not the best photographer but I hoped to capture their daily metamorphose. They started as arguably  unattractive and bald. In the coarse of a day they were peaking over the edge!

We love to watch their little beaks wait for food to be brought to them. Meanwhile, more feathers appear.

They look more like birds now, don't they? Check the latest out ....

It won't be long now. I am praying that we'll be fortunate enough to witness their fledging. This should be the week!! How wonderful this experience has been for all of us. Sure, they don't pay much rent - er, any. And the kids have to postpone some sliding fun on the the play structure for awhile. But how much better can nature study get?

Backing up a bit - Surprise!!

I have some catching up to do - recent news sort of distracted me I guess. 
Will celebrated his 11th birthday last month. My folks drove in for the occasion. I told Will last year that this was the final party I was offering but gave him the choice to forgo a party in lieu of a more expensive LEGO set. He chose the LEGO. I had every intention of staying true to my word and being done with parties after the age of 10 but I couldn't help myself.... I threw him a surprise party! 
It was so much fun and he really was surprised. I had the guests meet in the church basement because it would be easy to lure him there with an excuse. The basement worked great for the birthday activities too! The guests had a blast finding the perfect hiding place and they eagerly awaited the guest of honor's arrival.

The party was a great success! I had hired the "LEGO guy" (as he's known in our area by reputation) to entertain the group. The boys were in LEGO heaven! Even Zanna joined in and had a great time. They played games and put little gadgets together but the ultimate was at the end when they divided into teams and built a NXT robot that sumo wrestled! Too cool! 
Having planned my own themed parties in the past complete with entertainment, I found myself at a loss of what to do other than take pictures. It was lovely. We picked up pizzas and served up a make your own sundae station. The evening flew by! 
During the grandparent's visit it wasn't all about Will - my Dad had some lost time to make up for with Zanna after having been unable to come for her birthday in February. He made special time with her in the form of tea parties. It was pretty cute.

They had it down to a science there at the end of the visit! They easily found where the marshmallows, hot chocolate and cookies are kept. Notice her adoring face?
More activities to post later (we've been busy!). I'll update the status on our little baby birds. And stay tuned for my summer mantle reveal .....

Good News! The Babies are Here!!

I would have preferred this picture to be clearer, but I had a seriously snarky mama robin hollering at me from the fence. The kids discovered this new development this afternoon!!
Update on the patriarch of our family: things are looking much better than they did a week ago. He'll be starting chemo in two weeks but the outlook is positive! We're very grateful for the many prayers and encouragement the family has received. 

School work is done but lessons continue ...

We've finished our school year and along with that comes a sigh of relief! We've worked hard, learned many things and continued to grow in true knowledge found only in Christ. No more math worksheets, spelling words or writing assignments. 
I was at the park the other day and making conversation with another mom. After hearing we home educate she remarked how I must love to teach. I gave a mumbled reply but thought about it later. Do I love to teach? I don't know that I would put it that way. I do love to learn. And that's what I've been doing all along. I've been gobbling up all the juicy tidbits the children are supposed to be learning. My excitement (I'd like to think) gets them excited. 
As I look back and consider how things went this last school year I return to the mission statement I had carefully made last summer. I need to stay focused on the task at hand and sometimes all the curriculum choices and outside activities can seem overwhelming. Making this mission statement helped keep me on track as we considered what our options were and if they supported our mission statement. If you're wondering, here it is - To prepare faithful disciples to witness to the gospel in all of life.  Hey no pressure, right? Easy - peesy. Not. So. Much. 
Sometimes the lessons aren't as easy as doing a sheet of long division. Or writing a paragraph on the beauty of a whooping bird. Sometimes we wish we could avoid the hard lessons and still learn. This came to our family in the form of a diagnosis. 
I remember vividly the feeling in the pit of my stomach 15 or so years ago when I heard over the phone that Mom had cancer. I wanted to get on the first plane to Texas and be with her, thinking somehow that would help if I were just there. I never got on the plane. She wanted me to stay put and reassured me that with grandma and grandpa and Dad there, she had plenty of help. I respected her wishes but hated being so far away. 
Wayne got on a plane last night, headed for home to be with his Dad. Leukemia. He wanted to be home. To be with his Mom and Dad and brothers because a son never stops being a son even when he's become a father. Will went along - the lessons continue. He learns how Dad handles hurt. How the Pastor man, so used to being strong for others in the face of grief with the power and strength of the gospel now handles his own grief. Being vulnerable enough to share his struggle with his flock. And allowing the body of Christ to serve him through their prayers and support.  He learns that family stick together even in hospitals. And that God is present in these moments. Bringing us closer to Him, to each other. These are the teachable moments, the lessons to be learned. This is how we prepare ourselves and our little disciples to witness to the gospel in all of life - even cancer.  Thankfully, we don't have to worry about an exam!  Jesus took it already and got a perfect score on our behalf! 
Please pray for our family, for my father-in-law Jake. 
May God be glorified through this and His will be done.

Everyday Miracles

Maybe it's living in an area that has an ample winter experience but when Spring rolls around our spirits are instantly lifted! Neighbours come out of hibernation and the local park is filled again. Moms are awed by how much each other's kids have grown over the winter. We dig out our sand toys, search for buried sun hats and take in some fresh air! 
One afternoon found us at a local nature trail that allowed us to notice the signs of spring surrounding us. We observed the buds appearing on the surrounding trees, closed our eyes to listen for the different bird sounds and carefully choose a few "souvenirs" to bring back to our spring nature table. 
After our fiasco last spring of encouraging nature to "come to us" by hanging bird feeders and then being ATTACKED by nature, this year we've been beyond blessed. I am so excited to announce (drum roll please) that we are expecting - baby robins!!!!

Mama Robin has chosen our humble play structure to build her nest! Appearing seemingly overnight, the kids were thrilled to discover this everyday miracle!!!! We originally found only 1 egg but mama worked hard and produced a total of 3.

What an amazing color! I had to work fast to take this picture because mama was not amused - she let me know by chirping at me from the nearby fence. Unfortunately for her, choosing a play structure to nest her brood would not be a serene environment she would soon realize - too late! And so we patiently (or not) await the hatching of "our" babies. And I'm thinking - after mama's done with her handcrafted nest, it would be the perfect addition to the nature table! 
But we continue to be awed by God's great creation.  We recently went on a bird banding field trip with local home schoolers. I can not say enough about this amazing experience! Bird banding is the process of catching birds in nets and attaching a tracking band to their leg and taking down information about it - age, weight, wing span, etc. and keeping track of the migration of birds. 

We got to see several different species of birds close up and observe the process of bird banding along with other neat tidbits of information from the workers who are intimately familiar with these little guys. Did you know that a bird can play dead?

It was hilarious! This one even opened an eye to see if we were "buying his performance". 

I continue to be amazed at God's creativity and design, in providing for their needs and am blessed beyond words to share these moments with the little souls he's put in my care. 
I am reminded in my reading for today: 
And he said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they do not reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds!" Luke 12

New Look/New Title!

I can't believe I've been blogging for over 4 years. It was just before that I had no idea what a blog was or a podcast or even an i-Pod. Blogging started with a way to communicate home from the other side of the world about how the 2 week stay in China to adopt our daughter was going. We chose not to take Will and he was at home with my parents. I'm so glad I started "a journey to Hosanna" because I recorded so many otherwise forgotten memories of China and was able to let our friends and family from wherever be in on it!
And now, four years later here we are! I continue to record our family memories, traditions and random thoughts for - yikes, what for? For me? That sounds selfish. I guess it's still a way to keep those that wonder what we're up to well, what we're up to! And I suppose that by sharing some of our traditions I can inspire others to make up some of their own? Like any diary, my blog continues to be something I hope my family can look back on and fondly remember things in a way unique to blogging. I love to share things like books, ideas, movies we've discovered that others might enjoy too (notice the new feature "books we're reading"?) But my ultimate goal and motive is to continue to glorify God in all I do recognizing that (Christian Worship 111, vs 1 & 5) Sweet the moments, rich in blessing, Which before the cross we spend. Life and health and peace possessing From the sinner's dying friend.  Lord, in loving contemplation Fix our hearts and eyes on you. Till we taste your full salvation And your unveiled glory view. 

Spring in my Step

I checked my blog to see if there was a recent update apparently expecting my alter ego to do it? and realized that a. I am losing my mind and b. It's time for an update. In my defense, it seems that things have been busier than normal around here - Lent in a pastor's house? - and I'm ready for a break from the craziness! 
But the busyness has included some fun stuff including several field trips. Will had a program at the Agricultural Museum on food groups and Zanna had one at the same place but made cheese and a mouse puppet. Your jealous, right? We also attended a concert at the National Arts Centre and listened to the orchestra play Vivaldi.

We had great seats on the mezzanine level off to the side in one of those "private" boxes. All four of us went and we had a lot of fun!
Will is back in SHEP (Science and History Enrichment Program) Spring session. This session's theme for Science is Animals and their classifications and for history a continuation of Canadian History. He has projects to do for both and lots of homework in between the once a week class. But he really enjoys it and he's learning a lot - including how to stay focused for lectures (3 hrs with a 15 min break in between) and take notes. Good  for when he goes to Prep! 
Zanna continues to be enthralled with the alphabet and their sounds and has recently started reading the Bob books.  Her current favorite word is "precisely".  She likes to stick it in the course of conversation.  

Messy I know, but the point of it is that she makes her food into letters. Here we have the letter E in what I believe to be spaghetti sauce.
I've been busy studying for my Ontario hairstylist license and managed to pass - hooray! I've been doing haircuts for friends and their kids and a foil on my friend (don't worry, that's OK) and my whole family is getting shaggy so I guess that means their next. 
Last weekend was our local homeschool conference - small compared to some of the really big ones in huge cities but still a good day for professional development, encouragement and an opportunity to shop! I usually manage to walk out with some items I didn't count on and this year was no different. So fun! One of my favorite times of the year - homeschool catalogs come in the mail I pour over for HOURS!  I love to plan what we'll do the following school year and consider what I'd like the kids to learn - often, what we'll learn together!!  I'm currently rereading "For the Children's Sake"- my hands down favorite book on education, regardless of the type of education involved. Such a beautiful book!!!!
Our church hosted the NAD (North Atlantic District) pastors' conference two weeks ago. Lots of work but lots of fun! We had invited the pastor's son from Toronto who's Will's age to come and stay with us while his Dad was in meetings. The boys had so much fun and they are so similar in their likes (ie LEGO).  
Now it's Holy Week - busy with flower orders and pick up to decorate the church on Easter morning - so pretty. Plan on playing violin (say a little prayer that the nightmare of Thanksgiving doesn't return on Easter) so practicing for that. Trying to get a church newsletter together that seems to be down the list of things I need to get done. Maybe sometime in May? Having guests for Easter Dinner - planning menu, table arrangements, etc. Which leads me to ......

I adore my new dishes!!!!!! Aren't they the cutest? For those of you unaware of my fetish for dishes, maybe this comes as a surprise. I was looking for napkins and instead walked out with dishes. With birds on them. The bowl looks like a little birds nest. I love Homesense! A dangerous but very fun place. There may not be Target here YET (look out, Zellers) but I like this store a lot.
And as far as my not decorating for Lent - I gave that up. About 2 1/2 weeks ago. I couldn't take it anymore and attacked my mantle with Spring.

And I didn't stop there -

I downloaded that subway art picture off the Internet (people come up with these things and encourage you to use it) and I can't for the life of me found where I got it or I'd tell you. So sorry - but cute, huh?
Now I haven't put up anything specifically Easter (that comes tomorrow). And I've got plenty to do between now and the next few days, but at least I've updated the blog. My floors, however still need to be cleaned.