Christmas is over

Well, it was officially a crazy Christmas season for me. I got sick in the beginning of December, and as a result my big paper was done two weeks after the semester ended (instead of two weeks before) -- by God's grace I was able to drag myself out of bed and finish my other two courses on time! Just before I got sick (while I was working like crazy on that paper), someone wonderful gave us some very nice bunkbeds for the girls. So now Bethany and Carrie Ann are sharing a room, and I have my own bedroom instead of a cot in the living room! (Matthias still has his own room, but the smallest one instead of the biggest one.) So after I finally finished my paper (on the 20th or so), I started work on re-arranging the toys to go with the new beds (thanks to the volunteers who helped move shelves, desks and the extra bed!). The holidays were quiet -- many of our friends and relatives were out of town, but we had a nice Christmas with Kathleen and Alec and went to a movie on Christmas Eve with my friend Marilyn. Other than that, the kids and I went to Van Dusen to see the lights, to a Magic show benefiting the burn centre at Children's, and to Science World (thanks to Grandma's Christmas money). I spent a lot of time sleeping, trying to get over my cold. After Christmas I used some of our Christmas money to buy storage containers for the girls' room, and we worked on sorting toys. Today, finally, we put the last toys away and I vacuumed everywhere so I can now officially say that the chaos (begun by the gift of bunkbeds) is now over. You can come visit if you want!
The kids are back to school. Carrie Ann is still loving kindergarten -- a couple days after they started back, she came over and gave me a big hug as I dropped her off and thanked me for letting her come to such a wonderful place! Two of the staff at the school commented on how happy Matthias is now, and how great his laugh and quirky sense of humour are. Bethany did a wonderful job in her choir concert, and is now trying out for a part in the school play!
I realized on my first day back to school that if I take two courses in the summer (as I was planning), I can finish next December instead of April 2013. This could save me a lot in student loans, so I'm going to go for it. Because two of the remaining courses I wanted to take are only offered in the spring, I decided to take a third course this spring. I'll be busy, taking three courses and working as a teaching assistant for Principles of Translation. (I loved that class, and I'm very excited to be TA'ing it, especially since I haven't had to do any grading yet -- that's always the hardest part of the job!) I was dreading the beginning of this semester, not feeling like I was really recovered from my last cold (the last one came with dizzy spells, weird) -- but once classes started I got so caught up in the subject matter, I'm excited about them now. It's amazing to be in a program that I love so much it's a privilege rather than a chore to do the homework! I just hope that that enthusiasm lasts long enough to carry me through to the end of the semester!
Well, we packed away the Christmas tree this evening. I did take pictures of it, but I'm short a monitor at the moment, and the working computer is not the one with the camera card reader. I'll post the pictures when I have a moment (hopefully sometime before July!) Thanks to everyone who helped make our Christmas this year special.

Birthday Party!

We had Carrie Ann's fifth birthday party a month early -- since many people are out of town (or partied out) during the holidays. I sent invitations to her whole class, and we had 10 five year olds (plus one big sister) come over.
Wow, five year olds have a lot of energy! They were great -- they all played really well together. When the boys were finished in our little apartment, they asked if they could go outside to play, so we went downstairs to the playground out back and they ran off their energy for at least half an hour. It was so fun watching them! Carrie Ann loved all the gifts she got -- and she let her friends play with them for the rest of the party. She did such a good job sharing, even the mom who stayed with her kid was impressed :-).
My kids even decorated the apartment themselves (after helping me clean it). I left to do some grocery shopping, and gave them scissors, tape and streamers left over from one of Bethany's parties. The whole house looked celebratory when I got back!
Sorry, I didn't even think of taking pictures... maybe next time!

Haircut!

Well, Carrie Ann decided to cut her hair while I was out tonight... Bethany helped even it out, and this is what I came home to:



For a bit of perspective, at least they didn't fight over the scissors and hurt someone ... hair grows out! And I won't be arguing with Carrie Ann about cutting her bangs off (she's wanted to do it for some time) again for a long long time.

Carrie Ann's pictures

Carrie Ann took some nice pictures recently:


And she was working on her selca:

I also found another tulip picture which I missed earlier:

It went well!

The dancing went well! The shoes I was planning to dance in actually broke on Thursday, so I headed in early on Saturday to see if I could replace them with real dance slippers. When I got there, the saleslady didn't think they had any ballet slippers, but lo and behold there was one single pair in my size and the colour I wanted (God knew ;-) ). I managed to fake not being nervous, and knowing what I was doing, and enjoying myself well enough that I think I fooled everyone... maybe even myself ;-). It went well over all, and we got quite a few positive comments. Wow!

Today I also taught my first class. I'm a teaching assistant this semester for Syntax and Semantics (advanced grammar, kind of). In the summer I was a teaching assistant for Field Methods, and I did a number of 20 minute presentations, but I was never responsible for a whole class. Today, I taught two 75 minute classes (the same material at the undergraduate and then the graduate level). I used the professor's (excellent) materials, but I had to present it (and answer all the questions) myself. When I asked for questions at the end of the graduate class, about half a dozen hands went up! But that didn't mean it wasn't presented well, the questions reflected that the class was thinking about the topic and digging deeper into it. So it was fun, and went well, and I thank God for that! One of the students even asked if I wanted to be a teacher when I'm done my degree -- and another said the class was a "life-changing experience" -- but I'm pretty sure he was just teasing me!

Israeli Folk Dance!

Well, since moving back to Langley I've had the opportunity to pick up an old hobby I enjoyed last time I was in school -- dancing! Specifically, Israeli Folk Dance. My teacher asked a group of her students to perform at the Abbotsford Multicultural Festival on behalf of Israel (at 12 noon, if you can make it), so I will actually be dancing on stage tomorrow -- exciting and terrifying! Here are some of the dances we will be doing:
Tzadik Katamar -- my all-time favourite

Nigun Atik

Mayim Mayim

Hine Ma Tov -- not my favourite, because it's a line dance rather than a circle.

This is more what it usually looks like:
Ma Na'avu -- our group is about this size, but a little more energetic.

Ki Eshmera -- we dance like this, but don't have so many people or such a large space.

I hope you enjoyed the links, even though you can't all come to the performance! Pray that it goes well, everyone stays safe, and the audience is moved by it :-) .

Strong Enough by Matthew West

I just came across this song on Praise 106.5, and I love the words.

It includes Philippians 4;13, "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me," one of my all time favourite verses.

Flowers

I'm having a happy day today, and what better way to celebrate than with flowers? My summer flowers aren't doing so well anymore, but some of the crocuses and tulips from last spring were beautiful.


I like the contrast between the flower and the drain.

I must be Dutch because I always love the tulips.

So, How's it Going?

Well, it's the day before Labour Day, and I thought I'd do a quick update (yes, it's been 8 months. Sorry). In April I successfully completed the first year of my Master's degree in Applied Linguistics and Exegesis. That year was on linguistics. In April, Matthias joined us in Langley, and in June I started work as a TA (Teaching Assistant -- like all fields, mine has lots of acronyms). It was very fun to work and earn a paycheck, and I had a great summer. After the summer session was over, we enjoyed a visit with Dad and MaryAnna, culminating in Kristine and Dan's wedding (yay! see picture below). The next week we visited the kids' Daddy and Grandma in Creston, stopping at Kelowna on the way to visit with my aunts and uncles. I really enjoyed catching up with my friends Karon and Cait in Creston. Visiting with 5 uncles and aunts at once in Kelowna on the way home was an awesome treat!

This month, I get to start Greek! The exegesis (Bible interpretation) part of my degree starts, so I'm taking Greek and Biblical Hermeneutics. I'll also be TA'ing Syntax and Semantics (that's kind of like Grammar, woo-hoo!). Carrie Ann will be starting full time kindergarten -- she is so excited about that! (About as excited as I am about Greek!) Bethany is looking forward to Grade four, and Matthias is going to do well in Grade five at Langley Christian School.

In August I also reconnected with an old friend from Calvin named Tony. It's been fun chatting on the phone with him and getting to know each other again. Lots of laughter.

And in the bad news, I need a crown on my tooth... but wow, that's a lot to be thankful for compared to one little crown! God is faithful and full of grace.

Fun at Fort Langley

We had fun at Fort Langley with Auntie Kathleen. The girls were so happy about the facepaint! We hadn't brought our cameras, so a kind stranger took the picture and emailed it to us.

We also got to try some bannock, pet the bunnies, feed the goat, watch the muskets being fired, and guess what? I was really good at the game of translating native place names into English ones. Who would have thought?

People are Awesome!

People are so awesome! But some people are so awful to other people. Just an observation.
At Aldergrove SDA they had some awesome pictures in the powerpoint for "How Great are You Lord." The first one is the closest I've seen yet to how I picture Jesus when I'm praying or worshiping:

The second is how I picture Jesus when he lived on earth -- again, one of the closest I've seen.
and of course I love the names of God in all languages in the background!
My apologies to whosever the pictures are -- if they are yours, let me know and I'll give credit.
Finally, a picture of Matthias and Frank opening Christmas presents at Grandma's house. (Thanks to Grandma for the pictures!)

Carrie Ann was watching Veggie Tales lately, and they used the word "Hunky." She asked what that meant, and I explained it as "Good to look at." So now, whenever she likes how I look, she says, "Mommy, you're Funky! That means, good to look at!"

Carrie Ann's birthday

Pictures from Carrie Ann's fourth birthday! Her new best friend Riley was there, but I didn't ask if I could post pictures of her... However, it was very fun to have Aria, Nana, and lots of aunties there!
Opening Presents

With Bethany and Nana

With Aria

Reading a story with Kristine

Showing off barrettes

The Tale of the Shy Princess

One of Bethany's first books. I made it into a pdf -- hopefully this will work. Ideally, you should see two pages beside eachother, with the picture on the right and the text on the left.
The Tale of the Shy Princess

Girls

I have some pictures of the girls, with many thanks to those who took the pictures and sent them to me!
Both girls, making cookies with Aunty Kathleen.

Bethany had fun!

Carrie Ann dressing up in Aunty Kathleen's belly-dancing costumes.

Carrie Ann dressing up in Hawaiian clothes at our friends' place.

Bethany dressed up too.

Carrie Ann playing dress-up last May.

Carrie Ann did a good job cutting and colouring her name with a craft kit from the Library last spring.

Christmas tree

Thanks to the generosity of some anonymous friends, we got a Christmas tree this year!

We are very thankful to everyone who gave us gifts or money this year. It has been nice to be around family and friends, and enjoy the season! May God bless you all as you share His love with others and meditate on the miracle of his incarnation and birth.

by the way

By the way, I don't have access to practicadoula anymore, so if you've been trying to email me there please try at: (name of my blog) zero seven at gmail dot com. Hopefully you can make that out better than the webcrawlers that steal email addresses...

Gone again, back again

Hi there! Well, it has been a while (okay, 7 months). Sorry. Quick recap: in June, I could no longer hold together my marriage with Frank, moved to Langley. After a summer of living here and there (thanks to everyone who helped us out!), we now live in a subsidized apartment for single moms. Matthias is living with Frank, and having fun "unschooling." We will see how that goes. When I prayed about what to do with my life now that marriage was no longer an option, God reminded me of the MLE I didn't do 14 years ago. So here I am -- already done the first semester (the "Killer Pack" -- by God's grace, it didn't kill me!). If you want to talk to me about any of this, feel free to call or email (I'll be off email for the holidays, though). Dad and Deb both have my number, and Calvin College, or leave me a comment and I'll call you.
I wanted to be intentional about celebrating Christmas this year, so we sat down and made a list of what Christmas is about. The first thing on our list was "remembering Jesus' birth," and I listed all the things we've done to celebrate His first coming -- playing religious Christmas music, reading the story, attending Christmas plays, programs and concerts. The one thing missing on my list was setting up a nativity scene. So we talked about how hard it is to buy one that matches my mental image. The next thing I knew, Bethany asked for my fabric scrap bag, and she created costumes for all her Barbie dolls and now we have a beautiful "Barbie Nativity." So much better than a store bought one!

Close up

Getting There

Yay! (or as Carrie Ann says, "Woo hoo!") Yesterday, she stayed dry all day -- not y me rememering to put her on the toilet, ut y going all y herself! That is a huge step ahead. Hope it will last, it's aout time! Sorry aout the key after a... the kids got it yesterday.

My ankle is getting there too. I can walk, even on grass, ut still have a limp, and it hurts at the end of the day. Actually, all of oth legs hurt from compensating! I'm very glad to e ale to get around, though!

Oops!

Good news first... the other day I was babysitting an almost two year old at her house with Carrie Ann and Bethany. Carrie Ann went over to Luna's play kitchen, and said, "Now I'm going to back my favourite food! Spinach!"

Today I sprained my ankle -- I was rushing to walk to the school to get Bethany for a dentist appointment, and tripped when my foot hit the backpack on the back of the stroller. Then suddenly I had lots of time, because I knew I couldn't do the half hour walk anymore! I flagged down a passing neighbour and got a ride home, then called Frank's Mom who was happy to pick up Bethany and take her to the dentist. So it all turned out all right, I even got the fish tank moved to a shady corner with everyone's help (hopefully that will cut down on the algae overgrowth), but now I can't sleep because my ankle hurts. It's not at all like the worst sprain I had (in 1996) which took months to heal. This one will probably be better in a week or two. Such is life.

Updates

Well, it hasn't been too busy here the last two months, at least not for the camera!

In January we went skating, went to Torch day (Carrie Ann calls it "Canada", since we sang "O Canada" there), saw a baby calf, and I went to a fabulous concert by the Toronto Consort. I don't have pictures of all that, of course, but there are some pictures of the beautiful sweater MaryAnna made for Carrie Ann!



In February:
We did a reading Olympics for school -- 2000 minutes in one month, per kid, and we just finished on the last day!
We went to a concert by the Canadian University College Chamber Orchestra. It was incredible -- the music swept me away a couple times, and that hasn't happened in a very long time. We had a couple of flautists over for the night afterwards. It was fun! They were from Thailand and Seoul, so we could have spent lots more time talking if it hadn't been so late!
Carrie Ann stopped sucking her thumb (with a little help). It took two weeks before she stopped saying "I really need my thumb" at bedtime.
We watched a little bit of the Olympics (mainly figure skating).
But I don't have pictures of that.
I have pictures of the smile finder on our new camera, a new family picture, and the first shoots and flowers of spring.
If anyone wants their own copy of our family picture, just let me know what size, what format (electronic or paper) and which one (this is number one, number two has Carrie's eyes open but everyone else looks bored).

Click here to see the rest of the pictures in my gallery.