One Thousand Gifts–Weeks 40, 41 and 42

401. The smell of spring in the air.

402. Going to pray for the kids at our church with the pastor’s wife even though the evening wasn’t schedule in March.

403. An appointment with a specialist to get a test done at the hospital instead of having it done at a private clinic like back in August last year where I went in shock.   

404. Having my appointment schedule for said test for September but also knowing that I will be called if there is a cancellation…  Getting called twice last week because of cancellation.  The first day offered wasn’t working but the 2nd call offered me two dates with one working perfectly.   New appointment is on April 16th at an hospital about 40 minutes away but it’s worth it.

405. Seeing God at work in our lives.

406. An opportunity knocking on our door – though to be honest we don’t know if we should go for it or not.

407. March Break where we took it easy during the week.

408. A birthday party for the kids to go in the middle of March Break.

409. Time for my husband and I to spend together while shopping for a new cell phone for me.

410. The fact that I can hear the new cell phone better (I have hard hearing –>   There are hearing aids in the future for me just not now!).

411. The nice sunshine and warmth when we go outside.

412. Shedding the winter clothes.

413. Shorts!

414. Crocs.

415. Turning 43 on the first day of Spring.

416. Last minute day trip to go shopping in the US with the in-laws – in two vehicles.

417. US KFC – cook in the oven instead of dipping in oil.    Delicious!

418. The kids switching vehicles so they can spend time with grand-maman and grand-papa.

419. An opportunity to get involved in our church with the grades 5 & 6.

420. My husband going out of the house for a contract which meant I could bake chocolate.

421. Trying a new cake for my birthday – Thanks to Pinterest!   

422. Being able to go to a new restaurant for lunch time alone while my oldest babysat.

423. Trying to figure out God’s will in our life with a specific thing.  

424.  Food testing activity – we definitively don’t do this often enough… LOL

425. Fun products to review with the family!

426. Receiving a YES when requesting a product – even though it takes time to get the answer or you don’t get the answer but are surprised by a package one morning (That’s how I got the Handbook of Nature Study from Anna Botsford Comstock last week which I requested three weeks ago and never heard from the publisher.   I was debating if I should purchase it or just use the free version I had found on the internet on the iPad.  But to be honest I couldn’t see myself carrying the iPad in the forest all the time…)

427. My son’s team winning the first place at AWANA Quizzing competition.

428. In-laws willing to babysit and bring the kids to an activity while we have to attend another event.

429. Knowing that camping season is just around the corner!

430.Seeing how many clips my daughter can put in her hair…

One Thousand Gifts–Week 39

391.  My 2nd son getting a year older.

392.  Seeing his interest in Star Wars.

393.  An opening for me to see my personal doctor because of sickness.

394. Being in a country where you can access medical care easily.

395. This upper respiratory infection which forces me to slow down a bit.

396. The Building Walls For Saving Lives Campaign celebration at our church this past Sunday.

397. My husband getting his own  new to him iPad.   (I barely had it since the past couple of months…. because he was learning with it.)

398. Our city cleaning crew – though I would prefer them to do it during the day and not wake me up in the middle of the night…

399. Adventures in Odyssey which is a huge thing for my kids when we drive to swimming courses.

400. The fact that my oldest has a “private” swimming course for the past four weeks as one family has not showed up yet.

One Thousand Gifts–Week 38

381. Family Day in Ontario last Monday (Feb 20th)

382. Playing Scene It! Disney Edition with the whole family

383. Playing Blokus with my oldest

384. A surprise from another homeschool family who came sledding with us after swimming though my kids didn’t have their snow pants.

385. SNOW STORM!   Now we can sled next week as it won’t be as icy.

386. Making a cake for my son – though it was a bit last minute.

387. Receiving new products to review.

388. Finding a place where I can get grain to mill to make flour- now I just have to go buy some…

389. Pizza

390. The flexibility of homeschooling our children.

One Thousand Gifts–Week 37

371. A sweet valentine with my family

372. My little girl going to her first girly birthday party

373. Seeing how much she enjoys painting

374. Seeing her transforming herself into the Wasp (Avengers character) with her butterfly wings and pretending that she is part of the Avengers with her 6 years old brother.

375. Finding a place where I can purchase grains to mill my own flour with the product I have received last week.

376. Getting my order from Rainbow Resources – Editor in Chief here we come.

377. Seeing my oldest get excited when we received the DVD to learn Access 2010 – did I mentioned he is only 10 years old?

378. Receiving the Easy Grammar Teacher Book for grade 6 to review.

379. Bring sunshine peeking through the windows during the day – MELT that snow…!

380. Looking forward to not having boots when I go outside.

One Thousand Gifts–Week 36

361. Another session of swimming lesson for the kids.

362. Fun time at the hill sledding with friends

363. Good news from companies I contacted to review their products.

364. Awana Grand Prix even if my son didn’t get a medal this year.  The important thing is participation.

365. Special night at Awana – last week was Valentine night and the kids blessed their friends with little chocolates.

366. Receiving a replacement copy of Devotions for Homeschool Moms because the one I had was falling apart due to a problem in the binding.

367. My vision – to see the colors, the face of my kids when they are silly, the words on the page on a book – things we often take for granted…

368. Being able to whisper “I Love You” to each of my kids and my husband.

369. God’s provision in our life.   May He continues to open doors of opportunity in the weeks and months to come.

370. Seeing my husband counting down the weeks to see when we can go to the RV…

One Thousand Gifts–Week 35

351. Survival Week at swimming lessons which is a HUGE hit for my kids – wearing clothes in the pool and doing things that are out of the ordinary…

352. Having a hill next to the swimming lessons so they can go slide and have fun afterward…

353. WINTERLUDE in Ottawa, ON.    A fun time for everyone!

354. The ice sculptures we went to see yesterday.  (the picture is part of a sculpture titled Food Chain…  See the mouse in one of the feet of the owl.)  Amazing details!

355.Awana Fun night – Pyjama were the dress codes last Thursday.

356. Even though my husband had to work on Saturday – having the kids go play outside was an enormous blessing.

357. My oldest son who is always very helpful.   

358.Being told that it is always a joy to teach my kids when they come out of Sunday School at church.

359.Getting a good deal for a sled (because one died a couple of weeks ago) and a Jiffy Rink (which we will use next year).

360. Having the books/curriculums to teach my kids numerous things.    It’s unbelievable how God has blessed me since I started homeschooling and reviewing products!   Speechless.

One Thousand Gifts–Week 34

341. the weather – though we had a lot of freezing rain lately…

342. The back of our house facing south which means we have the sunshine in the kitchen/living room throughout the day!

343. Supper with my husband at a  new restaurant.

344. Getting free books in exchange of reviews – the best part is that I can request anything I want with that publisher!

345. A husband willing to help when one of the kids is sick – together we were able to clean up in 30 minutes which would have taken MUCH longer if I had done it alone.   At 11:15pm – it was a gigantic blessing!

346. A lunch with another family from church

347. Seeing my kids having fun with the kids of the other couple.

348. Having a beautiful sunny day so they can go play outside.

349. Great conversations between the adults.

350. Netflix and the series MONK.

My husband rocks my world in good times and bad times

Honestly I think I am the luckiest woman in the whole wide world.  My husband is just the best because he is there no matter when I need him.  I seriously think I got the jackpot when he entered my life.   But I also know that God knew what was best for me.   Even after 14 years being together, I am amaze how we complete ourselves in various ways.

Let me explain.

In the past two days, I had on and off pain in my lower abdomen.   Thursday was the worst for the pain was constantly there.  Not a bit pain but it was bothering me.   I prayed about it and it seemed to somewhat disappear because on Thursday evening while we were having our date (the kids having Awana) I barely noticed it.   Compared with the afternoon sensations it was better.

On Friday morning I didn’t feel anything.   I thought it was gone.   But in the afternoon it was there – on and off…   I could feel it at times while other times I was fine.   That morning for some reason I woke up at 311am and couldn’t go to sleep.   No reasons in particular.  Just insomnia I guess.

So in the afternoon I took a cat nap for a short period of time.   I got up at 4pm because I needed to prepare supper.   At some point before we sat down to eat, I asked the kids to pray for mommy’s pain because I could feel it again.    We ate and my daughter kept complaining that her belly hurt.   We both knew that she dislikes the mixed vegetables she had in her plate so we encouraged her to finish her plate to get dessert.   We have a rule in our house – you can’t finish you plate then you don’t get dessert.  

After supper time, she kept complaining more again.    I thought she was doing so because I asked for prayer for my own abdominal pain and sometimes she copies other on that.   So I told her to lay down on the sofa and rest a bit.  She took off to play instead.

We went to bed at 9ish…   at 1115 or so I heard crying – more like whimpering.   We don’t have a dog and I knew immediately that it was Jasmine.

I got up and she talked to me with a whining tone saying something like “You didn’t give me a bowl.”   What is she talking about?   But before I opened the light the stench smell hit my nose.   NO!  Opening the light I saw the mess on her bedroom floor (which is carpeted by the way) and in her bed.   Even one of her Barbie's is dirty.

Poor sweetheart… her belly was REALLY complaining.   But at this point in time, maybe because I wasn’t in my plate myself due to the pain and the lack of sleep and also because of the smell, I felt overwhelmed.  Almost borderline going to cry.    I didn’t believe her…  Where should I start?   Somehow my brain was not thinking properly.

So I did something that usually I wouldn’t do.   I woke up my husband and told him I needed help.   You see my husband has trouble to fall asleep.   Oh he can but if I wake him in the middle of the night it can take hours for him to get back to sleep.   I knew he went to bed after me but I didn’t know at what time (he was working on his computer as he reformatted it).    So unwillingly I woke him up.   He got up rapidly and came with me.  He couldn’t believe his eyes.  I mean the floor was covered with it.   The bed, her favorite pink blanket, one Barbie, the bed sheets, even her PJ.   (For the sensitive hearts reading this I am sorry for the details… but it was overwhelming!)

His reaction was “Oh my goodness!”   We immediately kicked in geared both of us.   I took care of the bed sheets while he took care of the floor.   We picked up the mess, vacuumed, and even washed the carpet.  All this at 11pmish.   There was no way that she would be able to fall back to sleep with the odor in her room.    I gave her a shower, changed her pajama, put some clean bed sheets in her bed.   However I had to tell her she couldn’t get back her pink blanket yet has it was dirty.  She understood and asked for the one with princesses on it.   Within 30-45 minutes, we were able to put her back to bed.

At 12:15 her door closed quite loudly.   I went to check and she only had to go to the bathroom.   

It took a while for me to go to fall asleep.   But at 715am I was awake again.  Thought that I heard her calling me again but she was playing downstairs with her big brothers.

She seems to be fine right now.   She is back to her normal self.   Me?  Well I am a bit tired but happy that I had help to clean up.

Before going back to bed, I apologized to wake him up but my husband told me “Don’t worry about it.   I’m glad you woke me up.   Besides I had just went to bed.”    I told him I felt overwhelmed and he said “No kidding.”   

Last night I learned two important lessons.

Lesson 1:   When one of my kids complains that he/she doesn’t feel well – believe it.   I mean they don’t have the habit to complain so there might be something to investigate.   Though I have taken her temperature but she was fine.

Lesson 2: Don’t hesitate to wake up the husband when these kind of situations happen.    After all we are one and we can support each other through health and sickness.   We worked as a team last night.   It took less time than if I had to do it myself…  

So my question today for you is simple.   How does your husband rock your world in challenging times?

One Thousand Gifts–Week 33

331. Being of service for some friends who needed a lift to the airport last Wednesday morning.

332. Awana re-starting on Thursday after the Christmas Holidays and a cancellation the previous week due to freezing rain…

333. Reaching the half-way point in our Math Curriculum!

334. Spending a great supper with friends and having a great time on Saturday.

335. Trying pavlova for the first time and LOVING it!

336. Finding pavlova recipes on Pinterest….   (I want to try to make one…)

337. My oldest son, who was out last Wednesday morning before 6am, to remove some ice from the drive way – though I find him a bit young to be out that early and we had a chat about it…

338. The kids helping each other and helping around the house.

339. Sledding after the swimming courses though the snow was an ice rink.

340. Being part of a church family!

One Thousand Gifts–Week 32

321. Participating to the Ladies’ Prayer Night last week – it was a nice experience to pray for each kids in the church we go to.

322. LivingWatersCanada.org – the ministry that bring relational healing.

323. A snow storm though it meant that Awana was cancelled… to the disappointment of our kids!

324. Having written the previous statement I realize that I am delighted to see my kids loving the Lord the way they do and wanting to spend time with Him.

325. Grand-parents willing to come and babysit on a Saturday so we can attend a day session of LW.

326. It might be silly but I am thankful to watch Monk with my husband.   It is quite clean and fun to watch…

327. A supportive husband.

328. Letting go of some things in my life…

329. Developing self-control especially in the social media realm.

330. Scripture Journaling

One Thousand Gifts–Week 31

311. A new year starting

312. my French Bible which I am using this year

313. a great devotional that helps to dig deeper in the NT and the Psalms –> Quiet Time Bible Guide by Cindy Bunch

314. my husband buying skates for himself

315. going outside the whole family together to explore skating

316. looking forward to growth in Christ this year

317. free apps for the iPod/iPad

318. Snow falling from the sky when it is sunny outside.

319. decluttering a bit with giving away the VHS tapes we had.

310. Shopping outing with my 4 years old daughter.

One Thousand Gifts–Weeks 29 and 30

291. My sweet daughter turning 4 years old.

292. My husband officially turning 40 on Winter Day.

293. Free French books for our homeschool.

294. Awana Store where the kids purchased Christmas gifts for others.

295. Reflecting on Jesus birth.

296. My husband who did a treasure hunt for the kids on Christmas Day.

297. Good food. Great company. Laughter.

298. Friends coming to visit.

299. My kids who bought me a MOM ring.

300. My brand new KitchenAid Mixer – red empire – Do you think I should put black spots on it?  *grin*

301. Family get-together

302. Watching Captain America with friends

303. the flexibility of homeschool

304. SNOW – we almost didn’t have a white Christmas…

305. People slowing down and stopping so you can cross the street with your little girl.

306. An invitation for New Years lunch from another family at our church.

307. Free potatoes – thanks to another homeschooler who had too many of them after forgetting she had purchased some and had some at home!

308. My kids who are very helpful around the house.

309. Goofy gifts

310. The new year starting – HELLO 2012!

One Thousand Gifts–Week 28

281. Going through the book Tabitha’s Travels by Arnold YTreeide with the kids during Advent.

282. Doing our Jesse Tree at the same time

283. Doing my daughter’s cake

284. Being creative in finding items for a mermaid cake…

285. Receiving an A+ for the last course of my Social Media Certificate

286. Finishing the Social Media Certificate

287. helping a friend in need

288. blessings from above – especially the ones that are surprises

289. Numerous Canadian Geese flying above our house – it’s the time of the year!

290. cookie social at church yesterday

One Thousand Gifts–Week 27

271. Having finished my courses in advance so I can work on my special project for the upcoming celebration of my husband turning 40 later this month.

272. The kids letting me work on the project in the afternoon.

273. The fever that my daughter had on Wednesday night – Friday morning that disappeared mysteriously and nothing happened afterward.

274. Family and friends who chipped in for the birthday celebration by bringing some food – potluck style.

275. Our family doctor who allowed me to bring our daughter in because of the weird fever/shivering she was experiencing.  he ruled out the shore throat, the ear infection, the lungs infection… 

276. New opportunities for my husband

277. The lack of snow (though I would prefer having some but I am trying to see the positive behind the current weather in Ontario!).

278. The friends and family members who came to celebrate my husband upcoming 40th birthday (he was born on the 21st of December).

279. 40 candles on a cake.

280. My son, Alexandre, who said the text, scripture and prayer on HOPE this past Sunday at church by heart.  He has an amazing memory!

One Thousand Gifts–week 26

261. cleaning done by someone else because hubby got a deal via a group buy

262. new swimming session that is starting with a lower price

263. great food + wonderful people = Marvelous Christmas party at our church

264. finishing a book discussion with my husband’s brother and wife

265. planning another book to read and discuss with them (their turn to pick the book)

266. a child who can babysit + errands to do = possibility of spending more one on one time with each other kids

267. baking a recipe that my mom used to do

268. adapting said recipe for our needs because the original way of doing it was too long…

269. my oldest wanting to make a batch of the recipe by himself

270. delicious Heavenly Mushrooms like my brother-in-law would say…   (he did mentioned that it tasted like heaven! *grin*)

 

One Thousand Gifts–Week 25

251. Having to celebrate the 6th birthday of my 3rd son which means he had the privilege to go sleep on the top bunk.

252. Seeing his face when he opened up the card I made him – priceless!

253. angry birds….

254. putting the Lemax houses/animals out on the mantle

255. Survival Week at swimming lessons… which means the kids get to go in the pool all dressed-up!

256. First snow fall!

257. high temperature – though it melted the snow… – almost wish I could go camping!

258. my family

259. playing in the snow after swimming

260. my camera