Final Week of School

This week is the last week of school before summer vacation. We are looking forward to it! 4 days and counting....(well two if you are Owen and Alexandra).

Last Wednesday Alexandra had her S.K *graduation*. WOW! I am struggling with where this year went....why do they seem to keep getting faster and faster?!

 They got to sing a couple of songs before they got their *grad* certificates.

 Mrs. Phillips, Xanj's SK teacher. She was Anthony's too and we just love her to pieces. She is such a wonderful lady and puts a whole lot of effort into the teaching of these kids.

 Good friends....except when they aren't ;)  Sometimes three can be a crowd but usually the girls are stuck together like glue. I am thankful that they will go through school together.

Since February I have been working on redoing the boys' room. And it is F.I.N.I.S.H.E.D!!!!!

The city has re-done the waterfront over the past year and two weeks ago they had the *official* opening. I took the kids down an they had a blast. It was sunny and warm and beautiful out (for about 45 mins and then the fog blew in for about an hour and then it turned nice again!)

 Hanging out with friends.

 Anthony James.......he actually let me take a NICE picture of him!!! I have very happy with that!

The weather has turned nice....after weeks of rain and very cool temperatures it is nice to see the sun and actually feel hot when you go outside.

This weekend to mark the start of *summer* we are headed out camping and then to our friend's annual Canada Day party. Alexandra will have a diving camp next week and my parents come to visit the end of next week. Lots happening and we are most definately keeping busy.

My house is still a disaster and the photography business is picking up (praise God!) so life is hectic, but it is a good hectic :)

Off to hang laundry on the line and head out to the beach for a photo session this afternoon!

Keeping it Real

Sometimes Pinterest bothers me. I see all these really cool craft ideas or sewing projects or little things I would love to try around the house.

So I click on the link and am taken (usually) to a *Mom Blog*. 

Don't get me wrong. I think the stuff is adorable and wonderful (I clicked the link remember?) But then I start to feel a little inadequate. Like I some how don't measure up.

Which is silly and crazy. But it's how I feel so then I take a break from pinterest and blog land and focus on other things (like the things that are important to begin with!)

Tonight however, I was looking for a diaper cover pattern and a tie (which ended up turning into a bow tie but that's another story) so I had to go and find the blog that I had book marked that had it.

Once again, kids are smiling and happy, house is clean and organized and it doesn't appear that there are any mistakes in the sewing project.

SO..... incase there are others of you out there that get a little tired of seeing the *perfect* house when you go to check out a tutorial, here is what my house looked like when I sat down to sew when the kids were in bed (and I should mention that the boys where yelling at each other all the while...)

I ignored the (small) pile of laundry that needs to get put away

 I ignored the half finished teacher's gifts sitting on the counter (cuz why would I finish something prior to starting something else...case in point, that blue fabric in the corner is part of a sundress fro Xanj.....it's been there for almost a month. BUT it is still jeans weather here more often then not!)

 I didn't even bother putting the dinner dishes away, I just moved things around to make room for the ironing board. And yes, that is a vacuum in the kitchen. I had been vacuuming the living room floor so I could steam clean it.

 And there's the *sewing table*

About 2 weeks ago now our city flooded. Well, parts of the city were hit worse than others, and it wasn't helped by the fact that one of the sewage pumping stations shut down and caused sewage to start spilling into flooded homes.

Very thankfully, we live in a neighbourhood that was pretty much unaffected by it. So I knew things were bad for a lot of homes, you hear it on the news, see pictures on Facebook etc. But I have been driving around town over the last few days and driveways have emergency flood response vehicles in them...some of them with licence plates from other provinces and some of them with area codes from cities easily 20 hours drive away.

There on their front lawns or by the curb are people's lives. Everything. But at the same time, not only are you left wondering the cost (a lot of them don't have or couldn't get, flood insurance) but is the house safe to go back into? There are houses that are not. They have been condemned because the foundation is caving in from the amount of water.

My heart breaks for these families. And it is one of those situations where I am left feeling helpless. Yes there are ways to help, but at the same time it could take years for some of these families to recover, for houses to be fixed.  The community has responded in a BIG way though and it is great to see. The Red Cross and Samaritan's Purse are also here now. Working to get help to those who were flooded out.

There is normally about 20+ feet of clearance between the bottom of the bridge and the top of the water.

This land is well back from the water's edge.

Roads gave out. There are still sections of highway closed because they are working on getting it fixed.

The last two weeks have been relatively rain free. It has given the city a chance to get things under semi-control (the pumping station is still with out 3 of their 5 pumps). It is raining again today.

The irony of it is that there are places in the province, who at the same time Thunder Bay was declaring a state of emergency due to flooding, they were begging for rain to put out the forest fires that have been ravaging their cities. Praying for their droughts to end.

Remembering...

that leaving the house is a good thing.

 that sometimes, you just have to tell yourself you are going to enjoy the day, laugh, giggle and have fun.

 that changing routine is needed for my sanity and the kids.

 that God's grace is enough and His mercies are new every morning.

 that they kids are OK, and that they will be OK. Even on days where I am less then gracious.

 that they grow up too fast and now is the time to spend having fun and making memories, for in a few years they might not want to do it anymore.

 that finding time in the day to be alone with God, soaking in His word, is a very, v.e.r.y good thing. It changes me from the inside out.

 to say yes instead or no and that it is not about me.

 that my kids really do love one another....despite the some times constant bickering!

 that their joy is worth it. Always,

 that time with my kids and camera has a way of drawing me back to what matters. God is good like that.