Why is it so hard?

Why is it is so hard to pray?

When I know that I need the filling of the Holy Spirit

each day to give me strength.

Gve me strength to walk with integrity.

Love my children with out yelling.

Strength to think thru dififcult situations

and make decisions which affect our future.

I have time to drink a second cup of coffee.

Pull out the vacuum cleaner

to suck up the playdough before it gets into the carpet.

TIme to call a friend,

eat a piece of chocolate,

buy a new top.

But not time to pray.

When I know that He fillls me with peace

A peace I cannot buy at the store,

bake in the oven,

Hear from another.

He empowers me to love the ugly,

instruct my children,

go where it's unknown.

Sustain me.

Why is it so hard to pray?

Give me an undivided heart, O Lord.

That I may seek Your Face each day.

Sun, sand, and a bear horn or two.

We have just returned from camping at our

very favourite campground - Killbear Provincial Park.
Located in Near North Ontario on Georgian Bay.

We enjoyed a beautiful week of weather and family fun.

We cliff jumped.

We read.

We journaled.

Some of us searched for....

and caught tadpoles and frogs.

While others slept....

and I looked for new things to photograph. 

Some posed for pictures....

...while others were caught unaware.

Tim went fishing with the girls.

And they were all smiles because the fish were biting that day.

We ate the caught fish.

...and octo-dogs....

...and s'mores...

....and grilled cheese sandwiches...

And I drank a.lot. of coffee.

Tim had the privilege of fishing with his friends.

And a bear decided to visit our site on the first night...

...so our fellow camping friend bought

himself and us some bear horns.

I tried to capture our Christmas picture.

...while Emily captured caterpillars...

...and frogs.

Little ones...

....and big ones...

I think Hannah's smile perfectly depicts

how our week made us feel.

Perfectly rested.

Perfectly happy.

How was my day?

Um...not so good as far as making healthy eating choices go.

 It was my Oma’s birthday today.

  Tradition dictates that we visit her on her birthday.

  So we did.  At 10:30 a.m. 

And tradition also dictates

that she makes her own birthday cake. 

 Usually a 6 inch high torte with fresh raspberries. 

Well Oma walked away from tradition this year

 and made TWO birthday cakes. 

 One chocolate with buttercream chocolate icing.

. And one raspberry, blueberry, strawberry torte with whip cream. 

Which one did I eat?  You may ask. 

Both of them.

That's right.

One piece of each. 

 Two pieces of cake...at 10:30 a.m.

And not tiny little slivers either.

 Generous pieces of cake.

And I didn’t say “hold the whip cream please".

 I said “Bring. It. On”.

So how was my day?

Not so good.

How was your day?

It really DOES get easier

The girlies have been very busy today.

Busy working on a project.

A project they thought up all on their own.

They stayed in the basement for hours upon hours.

Quietly working.

Working together.

No fighting.

No crying.

No whining.

Only asking me for help to knot their thread.

While they worked on their project

I worked on my projects.

Some work needing to be done from home.

A little bit of this

and a little bit of that.

And at the end of these many hours

they showcased their work.

Barbie Sock Fashions.

This one is on the risque side of short...wouldn't you say?

But look at the ribboned shoulder.

Hannah's grandma taught her how to hand stitch.
She put her skill to use hand stitching these pants
and halter top.

Check out the sweet heart neckline on this one
and the hemline on her skirt!
Emily made it all by herself.
My 5 year old scissor genius.

And we'll start taking orders.......

....now.

Cottage Time

Every year on the last day of school

I head to the cottage with my girlies

and my sisters and their children.

We celebrate Canada Day

at The Village at Blue Mountain.



The five oldest cousins worked together
in completing a Scavenger Hunt.
It was smoking hot in The Village.
The kind of hot when you feel irritated
about having to breathe.



We ran into my husband's best friend.

These two have been friends
since they were just young boys.

He was our best man.

I love him too.

It was nice to see him...in his own words

"I nearly crippled myself on the mountain today".

Translation:  this guy likes the extreme sport
of downhill mountain biking.

We're glad he didn't cripple himself
and we could take a picture of him smiling.

For the past 8 years my family
has had a garage sale.

We find the most success in having
these garage sales at our parents' cottage.

This year we had a bake sale
and Alison sold her paintings.

All money raised was to be given to a project
 that our church helps support
(i.e. Kids In Crisis Project).

A total of $84.50 was made!

This will allow a child in
Guinea, West Africa
to attend school for one year.

About 6 months ago Alison started painting on canvas.

After completing her first painting
she decided that she would sell it
at our garage sale in the summer.

Imagine her delight
when she sold
THREE
of her paintings.



This little nephew had some trouble selling the toys. 

And this little nephew needed to sit
 beside his big cousin and help.

He kept asking "what can I do to help?"

These two dads were lots of help.

Seriously though...they sat only for a little while to read the paper....

....amidst the mad rush of garage saling people. 

At the end of the day

we put everything left over from the sale

at the end of the road.

We made a sign
so no one would be confused
with what may have looked like garbage...



 ....except, of course, for one priceless thing.