father's day friday links

how is it friday already? i asked at least 3 times yesterday if it was really thursday. it's crazy.
our staff and students have all gone back to canada and it's quiet. i definitely miss them, but we needed some space and "normal" back in our lives again. i can see it in my kids' behaviour. more tantrums. more disobedience and "angry hearts". we need to come back together and focus on us. we'll have a few weeks to do that before jamie takes off for the philippines at the beginning of july {eek!}.
anyway, i've got heaps of links for you. so many, in fact, that i save a bunch and i'll post them next week. because they're all so good i don't want you to be overwhelmed!

so here are your father's day friday links!

i don't even know how i found this website {pinterest maybe?} but i love it. i love colours {i was just discussing how i love the names of colours of crayons and paint and nail polish the other day while getting a mani/pedi with the staff women.} and this is a fantastic site to give you some colour inspiration for the mommy-to-be. although you could hypothetically answer the questions and get some ideas as well.

and i'm adding this to my list of things i should be able to sew by now. it's DIY blackout curtains. seriously. i should be able to make these. right?

i'm not sure if you know this, but i kinda like to research things. not everything. just things i'm interested in. it's called being a "knowledge specialist". and so i've been researching things like giving birth in a hospital and what to bring as i've never had to deal with this before! anyway, with father's day being on sunday and all, i thought this was an appropriate list for what dad's should bring to the hospital.

and i just generally love all things pregnancy and baby and that includes fantastic birth stories like this one. i've got to admit that before, the thought of having an unassisted home birth freaked me right out. now? not as much. doesn't mean i'm planning one, but if it just so happens to come upon us too quickly i would rather stay home and get comfortable {as much as possible} than have this baby in the car. thank you very much!

um. i love these. i think they're on my list of things to make when we get back to canada. so hipster!

and oh yes! here's your friendly reminder. it's father's day on sunday! we're not so big on the grandiose celebrations around here, but i love these two ideas that you can do with your {slightly older} kids who can at least answer questions. i'm going to attempt at least one of them with the boys for jamie.

and there you have it! happy weekend!

fathers

To my Father,

I love you. I am so thankful for you and for the role you've played in my life. You've been a quiet constant that remained steady even during the rocky storms.
Now you are the grandfather to my children. It does something inexplicable to my heart whenever I hear one of my boys call out, "Grandpa?" (you know I'm thinking of Jude's little singsong voice when I write that, right?).
Thank you.
We (me, Jamie and the boys) all love you very dearly and are so thankful we get to spend these months with you before we leave.

last summer in Quebec with Jude.

To the father of my children,

I love you.
Jamie, I always knew you'd be a fantastic dad. I often thought you'd be a better dad than I would be a mom. You love your boys. And they love you.
You can tell the influence you have in their lives and especially Noah's as he says things like,
When I grow up, I'm going to be a Daddy and have a beard and go to work on a campus. Just like MY Daddy. Oh and I'm going to drive a car, too. 
He emulates you. He wants to be you. And I know you don't take your role lightly (as you might have some believe) as you strive to be a man who loves Jesus and loves others.
Thank you for being present.
For valuing our family above other things.
Thank you for valuing Jesus most.
We love you so much!

pretending to sleep.

wrestling time on the bed.

moving day {or the one where i vow never to rent a truck from Uhaul again!}

first, i'm glad my moving day didn't look like this:



and it definitely could have been worse {it could have rained or been super cold} but it wasn't. in fact it was the perfect day. sunny but not too hot with a cool breeze every now and then.

moving day breakfast and Noah looking as unimpressed as i felt with Uhaul

but when we still hadn't heard from Uhaul {um, how are they still operating?} and it was 8am on the day OF THE MOVE {after numerous phone calls the night before and the morning of and jamie getting disconnected once after a 20 minute hold time on the phone} i was kinda pissed annoyed.
but we made the most of it and people came over when they could and we moved everything out to the garage and drive way and then this happened:

pick up soccer

and this:

watching movies on Daddy's computer {Noah is holding an unopened roll of wrapping paper, in case you were wondering}

and some of this:

naps out in the sun

and then finally! around 4pm {FOUR PEE EM!} we got the truck and started loading it up. jude was a little freaked out about all the moving and boxes {today was we moved some boxes into my parents' attic he was totally freaking out again. poor fella. he hates boxes now.} and was quite clingy and wanting to be with jamie. this time though, i was prepared for it. noah was almost this age when we moved out of our apartment {when i was 7 months pregnant with jude!} and it was quite a traumatic experience for him so i was prepared for this kind of behaviour with jude.

the truck was bigger than we originally booked, but God is sovereign because He knew we'd need the space {sigh. we have so much more stuff than i originally thought. kinda depressing.}. and of course the kids got a huge kick out of going inside the cab and truck. 

when all was said and done, we were out and unpacked in Toronto {our temporary home until we leave for Uganda at the end of August} by around 8:30pm. 

what a day!

not how i anticipated our move to go, but thank God it's over! 

a HUGE thank you to all our family and friends who came to help pack, move, clean and support us through this move! 

{and now i'm off to read articles on the riots in Kampala and Osama Bin Laden's death - my life is good. i have much to be thankful for.}

three

today i watched my friend suzanne's son, jacob for a couple of hours.

jamie commented to me,

three isn't so hard. we could totally do three. 

(my evil plan is working...)

Amazed

Here I sit, weeping over a 6 minute video. See if you don't feel inspired and full of hope when you come to the end of it.