February THREE

We went skating with the boys yesterday. Their second time, our first time taking them.

It was such a perfect day. Not too cold, a light dusting of snow; it was lovely. For about 8 minutes.
Jude refuses to have anything but jelly legs on the ice which is always super easy to carry a 40lb child around with jelly legs. Blaise wanted to walk on the ice in front of the other skaters. So that wasn't dangerous or anything. Noah is actually doing pretty good and seems determined enough to just keep practicing so he can skate "as good as Daddy".

We met up with our friends, Dan & Amanda there and did a bit of skating before heading back to their place for hot chocolate. But how awesome is it that our little downtown city hall has a skating rink outside it? I love our little city. It's beautiful and I really hope the boys will remember this crazy snowy winter we're having. It sure is a huge shock compared to the last two "winters" we've had in Uganda.

I have to say, I am a fan of winter. Especially days like the last couple have been. Snowy but not ridiculously cold {like, say, -30 C!!!} and sunny like today! Beauty.
Or maybe you relate to Jude and winter makes you feel like this;

I take pictures of my three boys on the third of each month. You can view past months here.

weekend links! {let it snow!}

Of course it would snow practically every day that Jamie's been away. I haven't shovelled the driveway yet. Eep. It is beautiful and it seems like it's here to stay so we'll have a lovely white Christmas!

I'm sure you've seen this video, but if you haven't please watch it! It's happy and it made me teary. Well done, WestJet!

So I wanted to share how excited I am about something big coming up: we're doing a Christmas drop in for our street next Friday! Me and the boys will hand out the invites today after school and I'm hoping we'll get to know a bunch of people on our street! We'll be serving hot drinks and Christmas goodies and I'm thinking I might serve up this awesome cinnamon infused hot chocolate! I mean, it's Joy the Baker. You can't really go wrong with Joy.  Although I might have to test it this evening. You know what they say, never try a new recipe when you have people coming over. Right?

Another great post from the Art of Simple. Three simple tips to keep the joy in entertaining and at this time of year, it's always a good idea to do a heart check.

So I have really dry hands. I think it's a combination of my skin adjusting back to this cold, dry weather and perhaps just getting older {eep!}, but I have never seen my hands look and feel so cracked and dry. It's horrible and makes me want to weep. I'm constantly moisturising but what I really need is a pair of dish washing gloves. Yes. That is what I need. So anyway, I came across this list of 7 ways to keep your hands soft this winter and I might try all of the things. What do you do to keep your skin (specifically your hands) soft and moisturised? Please tell me you have a magical cure and what it is.

And one last video. Check out The Lower Lights for some fabulous, folksy tunes. They have two Christmas albums and I can't get enough of them!

Happy Weekend!

weekend links!

Today we went with my family for the annual Christmas tree hunt and chop. It sounds so barbaric. But it's always so much fun, even if it is ridiculously cold and the baby is melting down by the end of it. And this year's tree {my parents'} is bigger and better than ever before. At least I think it is. Noah snagged a stray branch and I just finished cutting it up into smaller pieces and placing them in jars around the house. My house smells like a Christmas tree and I'm loving it!

Have you started listening to Christmas music? If not, WHY!? If so, check out this free album from Sleeping at Last on NoiseTrade {you can leave a tip if you wish}. It's a great acoustic album and if you like Sigur Ros or Bon Iver you may like this too! Plus, it's free. Just sayin'.

I have a confession. I don't like egg nog. It kinda grosses me out. But egg nog waffles? Now that I can get on board with. For reals. I do feel bad about not liking egg nog as it just seems so festive, but with these, I can partake in the merry without feeling like I'm drinking a raw egg {which is what egg nog has in it, folks. Just sayin'.}.

My friend wrote this blog post a little while ago and it went viral. If you're buying presents for a child this Christmas, please read this.

And on a materialistic note, I am absolutely in love with this shop and this shop on Etsy. Such lovely, beautiful things on Etsy. I can't go on there too often. It makes my heart want, want, want.

Okay, it's 9:45pm on Saturday so I'm going to just post this and call it a night. Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

things i'm loving, lately...

The smell of Christmas. I've been simmering a pot on my stove and it's making the whole house smell delightful! 

All you need is:

1 orange, quartered

a handful of cranberries

a few cinnamon sticks

a tablespoon of whole cloves

Put all the ingredients in a pot, fill it with water so everything is submerged and then simmer and enjoy the glorious smells wafting through your house.

Songza Christmas music mixes. My current favourite is Lauren Conrad's Holiday Soiree. Check it.

White Christmas lights on our tree and around our big bay window. So magical.

Bath & Body Works Candy Cane Bliss hand soap. It's in our powder room and my boys can't get enough of it. They'll wash their hands {bonus!} and come out waving their hands in everyone's faces saying, "Anyone wanna smell mint!??!" But seriously. Next step is to buy a candle in the scent because it's amazing.

My new advent envelope artwork by Naptime Diaries. So gorgeous and now I don't have to decorate new envelopes each year. 

Now to figure out the activities I'll be doing. I still have a week, right?

Having people over in our house. Okay so I've loved that for a long time, but it's nice now that we're more settled to have the space to accommodate them all! We had both our families over after the Guelph Santa Claus parade last weekend and with 10 adults and 3 kiddos it was a full house and I loved every minute of it! 

Can you believe my boy are the only kids on both sides? So far! I'm loving the fact that I'm going to be an Auntie come May! My sister is pregnant and I am thrilled at the prospect of being an Aunt for the first time! 

I'm attempting to do an Advent devotional this December and I'm using this free one from Desiring God. 

So technically I haven't started yet, {although I have read the introduction} but I am looking forward to taking time each day to focus and still my heart in preparation for the celebration of Jesus' birth. I'm loving that I get this privilege of talking to and hearing from the Creator of the Universe who came to Earth as a humble, helpless baby for me and you. Amazing.

And I'm loving that my boys are so ecstatic about the snow. Noah proclaimed yesterday as the snow fell and stayed on the ground, "This is the best day ever!". They want to go outside and play every day and I am definitely loving the fact that we have a built in sledding hill in our backyard. Yet another reason God picked this house for us. 

I am loving spending time with friends and family. Being in their homes and having them in mine is such a lovely blessing and I am soaking it all up. 

What are you loving, lately?

shelter from the storm

we all have storms in our lives. 

for some people it seems like the storm barely subsides before another one rages in.

for others there are many, many moments before the next storm.

but we all have storms.

today i looked out my window to see at least a dozen robins huddling in the branches of the tree in the corner of our yard.

poor robins.

they had no idea this wicked storm would hit just days after our balmy 10 degree weather.

i was forced out of the storm of good byes and packing and details of our move just today with someone else's storm. 

a scary, life-altering, family-changing storm.

thank you Jesus that you are the calm in all our storms - no matter what they be. 

and thank you that you provide shelter from the storms that shake us to the core of our being - especially those that come out of nowhere.

family day

today was family day. 

jamie got the boys up and i got to sleep an extra hour and a half this morning.

it was glorious.

the boys watched old looney toon cartoons that we borrowed from the library this morning and then our friend eric called us and suggested a humphrey/strickland hang out today.

done and done!

went met for a winter walk and turned back a little too late as jude melted down for the last third of it.

{i used my beco for the first third!}

we went out for lunch at montana's cookhouse and the kids did relatively well {did i mention that the boys went to bed 2.5 hours after their usual bedtime last night?} and then we went back to the humphrey's house and hung out until just before dinner.

the kids played well together {and we got a foretaste of the boys being able to play better together in about a years time - their two kids are exactly one year old than each of ours} and we {the adults} got some time to talk and hang out and catch up.

we came home for dinner and watched some more looney toons while we ate {a treat to watch tv and eat dinner!} and now the boys are in bed and i'm pretty tired.

jamie and i will likely watch the first episodes of this season's survivor and the amazing race.

and then to bed.

all in all, a lovely family day was had.

frosty

It was the perfect day to build a snowman. 

Mild and slightly drizzly so that the previously fluffy snow became perfect packing snow.