Good Morning!  Once again, it has been a while.  I'm not really sure why I don't feel I have time to blog as much since we moved.  Its not like we homeschool, have four kids, and lots going on or anything.  Anyways, I really, really want to get back into the weekly (or more) blogging thing so we will see how that goes.  Its one of my Spring Resolutions. Ever heard of that?  Me either.  I think I may have just started something....

Its Sunday morning here.  I was up, putting together my meal for our church potluck today and was about to go take a shower when Liam came up and told me he threw up in the night.  Liam is a little different in that he will not wake me up when he gets sick in the night.  Just ask my family from Christmas time.  He sometimes will get sick in his bed and sleep in it!  Yuck!  Anyways, he got sick in the night, but said he was feeling better.  But just a little while later he was throwing up again.  So Liam, Lexi and I are home from church this morning.  I will admit I was quite disappointed to not be in church this morning.  I love our church family and I love going.  But Liam needs to rest.  So I am blogging instead. ;-)

Since its been a while, lets update on all the family.

Liam, our big 6 1/2 year old is doing well.  He still loves school, although it is getting to be a bit more of a battle as we are nearing the end of the school year.  It also doesn't help that I think Spring finally decided last week to show up and we have had some awesome weather.  The high 50's and low 60's!  Perfect!  So he is wanting to play outside every chance he gets.  He has been riding his bike up and down the street (well, on the sidewalk), and playing with the neighbor kids.  There are quite a few kids on our street that are all our kids' ages, so that is neat.

Last month, Matt took Liam to his first pro hockey game.  They went with some people from church.  Liam LOVED it!  He still talks about it.  It was a special time with him and Matt.  I know Matt loved it too.

Liam has developed a love for reading (that's my boy!) and is excited that he now reads "chapter books."  He is currently into the Boxcar Children books.  My mom got him several and he is reading them all the time.  He also loves reading his monthly magazine, Highlights.  I often will find him reading to Leila or Libby.  He also loves to read his Bible.  All on his own he will spend time most every day reading some of it.  Makes my heart happy to see that.  We really do see the change in him since he accepted Christ as his Saviour.  Yes, he still disobeys and fights with his sisters and such, but there is definitely a change in him and I am so thankful to see that!  Even his prayers have gotten deeper and more like a conversation with God than just repeating what he hears Mommy and Daddy say.  I can see such a tender spirit in him and pray that never goes away!

Leila is her ever bubbly self.  She still is constantly moving, can - hardly sit still for more than five minutes.  She still runs, skips, or hops most anywhere she goes.  She like school okay.  But it is a daily battle with her.  She sort of reminds me of me.  She doesn't seem to have the same desire to learn like Liam does.  She does, however, love art and is very good at coloring and cutting and such.  I am often surprised by how well she colors things.  Its funny to see the difference in the personalities of your kids.  Liam couldn't care less about coloring, but loves arithmetic and science and reading.  Leila, on the other hand, hates writing and numbers, but loves the artsy stuff.  She is able to read small, three letter words and some two-vowel words and does a good job of it.  I sit there, listening to her read and think, "I can't believe my Leila-girl is reading!"  Time is going by very fast!

Leila loves to help me out and, as always, is usually not too far from me.  She wants to do whatever I am doing.  Although while I am doing it she often will say, "I don't want to be a mommy when I grow up because I do NOT want to do that."  She usually says it when I am switching laundry or putting something in the oven.  I tell her, "Sorry, babe, but no matter if you are a mommy or not, you are going to have to have clean clothes and eat food!"

Leila has been bringing up salvation a bit more lately.  Whenever the kids bring it up, we talk about it, and then we just tell them that when they are ready to ask Jesus as their Saviour, to come to Mommy or Daddy.  We did that with Liam for probably over a year until he was truly ready.  The last thing Matt and I want is to pressure them into a decision or give them a false idea of their salvation.  It has to be their decision.  We want the Holy Spirit to do the work.  He doesn't need us to do His job.  So we are just praying for Leila and talking with her about it all for now.

Libby.  Oh, my Libby-cakes.  She is a busy little girl.  Thankfully, we haven't had a marker-on-wall incident in about a month.  But she still gets into enough mischief.  She's always busy doing something, but still follows me around everywhere.  She is talking in a lot less gibberish and I can understand most everything she says now (although not everyone else can...).  She loves her Princess dolls.  She has four that she always wants with her - her Ariel (which actually sounds more like Eeyore when she says it), her Belle, her Princess (which is Snow White), and her Mommy Princess (which is Sleeping Beauty).  Took me a while to figure out when she would say that she "wanted her mommy" that she was not talking about me, but her Mommy Princess. ;-)

Due to the bedroom situation in this house, all three of the older kids are sharing a room.  And for the first several months of us living here she would wake the other two up each morning by turning on the light.  Libby is the early riser of the family, where as Liam and Leila sleep in much longer if not disturbed.  Well, I finally figured out (I'm kinda dense sometimes) that I just needed to rearrange the furniture in a way where she can't reach the light.  Problem solved!  Although now we have another
problem - its called the sun.  We are quite a bit farther North here than we were in NB, and now that it is spring, we see the sun much more.  As of now, it gets light around 6:30ish and is still light until about 9:15 ish.  And its only April.  I asked someone in the church and she said that come mid-summer, it will still be light at 10:45 p.m.  What?  I knew this would be the case, but was somehow hoping it would be different. Having it light that late isn't my most favorite thing.  The kids seem to have a harder time going to sleep and Libby wakes up way earlier when it is like that.  So, after some great advice, I got some black garbage bags and taped them to the windows in the kids' room and that has made a HUGE difference!  Woohoo!

Libby also loves to sit with Leila and watch her school with her.  I don't mind this as long as they aren't goofing around.  Yesterday Libby asked me if she could watch Leila's school.  I told her no, Leila wasn't watching it then.  So then Libby said, "But I'm Leila Claire!"  She spent the next few minutes trying to convince me that she was Leila so she could watch school.  Ha!  Cute!

Our little Lexi-bug is busy, busy, busy as well!  Now that she can walk there is no stopping her.  Her current favorite toys are: the broom, my tupperware, books, toilet paper, Libby's potty seat, and the potty brush.  Oh, and my baking supplies, as usual.  I think I spend a good half of my day getting her out of something she shouldn't be in.  I know this is common for this age, but she is WAY busier than any of the others.  I really think she thinks she is older than she is.  She wants to do everything the others do.  And gets very frustrated when she can't do it.  She has learned the trick of throwing herself on the floor crying when she doesn't get her way.  Ya, that doesn't work for us.

She is still a Daddy's girl and loves to give kisses.  All you have to do is say "kisses" and she will pucker up, make a smacking sound with her lips, and sometimes even say, "Mmmuuaahh."  So, stinkin cute, I tell you!  She LOVES music and the second it comes on she will start bouncing her head and dance.  It is too funny to watch her shake her little tush!  I will have to try to get it on video!

As for her nights, she still is up at least once a night, usually two times.  I have discovered she has some allergies/sensitivities which are affecting her digestion.  I think I need to get some testing done, because it is hard to figure out what all upsets her belly.  So far we know dairy and strawberries affect her greatly.  She can, however, drink goats milk so that is what she is on.  I am thinking of trying out almond milk, but want to do a little more research on that.  This is all new to me, as neither Matt nor I, nor the other three have any problems.  I do think that her belly is affecting her sleep some, so the sooner I figure this all out, the better.

Matt is doing well, busy with church.  He still is really busy here, but its a totally different busy than he was back in NB.  It is so nice to have another Pastor to help carry the burden and not have everything on his shoulders.  Matt really is in charge of youth and young families.  He has started a Sunday School class which I am loving.  Youth group is going great.  He started that up from basically scratch when we first came and now we are running about 20 consistently.  We are reaching out to the young families and trying to build, encourage, and minister there.  He is really looking forward to the golf courses opening up, hopefully in the next few weeks.  There are quite a few golfers in the church, so I know he is looking forward to going to the course with them.

I am busy with just the normal household stuff.  Not too glamorous but my calling for now.  I was asked to share my life story last week in church.  For some reason, I was SO nervous!  I am not usually very nervous when I speak in front of people, but I was this time.  But God calmed my heart and I was able to share all that God had brought me through and all He has done for me.

I guess this has gone on long enough.  I have lots more to share, but will save that for the next time!

Until next time...

I've Got A Confession

I've been a "bad" mom lately.  I've been very frustrated with my children.  I've lost my temper.  I have raised my voice way above where I would ever want to admit.  I've wanted to scream.  I've just up and walked out of a room where they all were and told them that I will come back a little later.  I've had a hard time with the parenting thing, these past few weeks.

Maybe its because it is still so cold outside that we are stuck indoors a large part of the time.  Maybe it is because we are all still adjusting to a new place.  Maybe it is because our sweet 14 month old still does not sleep for more than 4 hours at a time.  Which makes this one exhausted momma. And the incessant whining, bickering, and fighting from the other three is getting to me. Maybe it is just because I'm a sinner, my children are sinners, and we are all trying to live in the same house, sinning together.  Whatever the excuse I could throw at you won't change the fact that I have just plain been struggling.  I've had to apologize to my children for how I have been.  I've been irritated with myself for my struggling.

But God brought me a great reminder this morning, oddly enough, through Facebook.  I got up this morning, and sat with my kids as they were watching Doc McStuffins.  I had my iPad and was browsing through Facebook "just to see what was happening in the world."  And that's when I saw a post from one of our friends.  They had commented on a page of some couple who were announcing that their precious, nearly 1 month old baby, was now home with Jesus.  Immediately my eyes were filled with tears and I was ashamed.

From what I can gather, this baby girl was this couple's first child.  And due to complications (placental abruption, I believe) the baby at birth had gone 9 minutes without a heartbeat or oxygen.  She was revived, but had brain injuries.  She was kept alive for about 20 days, but last night, God took her home.  The post said that she was in the arms of her mommy and daddy when she left this world.

My heart aches for this couple.  Even now I can barely type because of the tears in my eyes. I do not know this couple, probably never will.  But the pain and ache I feel for them is nothing compared to what they must be feeling.  I have been lifting them up to God in prayer ever since I saw that post.  Praying for strength and comfort.  For acceptance and growth spiritually.

It was through this post that God touched my heart and reminded me to take a step back, look around, and be thankful.  Be thankful that I am surrounded by 4 beautiful children who are healthy.  Be thankful that I can look into the bright blue eyes of all 4 of them and tell them, "I Love You!"  Be thankful that I can pick them up, squeeze them tight and kiss their soft cheeks.  Be thankful that I can smile at them, and receive a huge smile in return.  Be thankful.  To just be thankful.

Then God reminded me of this post I read a few weeks ago.  This sweet mom has a precious daughter with many health problems.  Her daughter is completely dependent upon her parents for everything.  They can't carry on a conversation with her.  They can't enjoy the experience of their child running and jumping into their arms.  They can't experience all the "normal" childhood stages like others.  And yet, she has a very positive attitude about it all.  Oh, I know she probably has her bad days, but still, this post made me, again, stop and be thankful.

So why am I writing all this?  Its not because I want any sympathy or whatever.  I am writing this for a reminder for myself.  To be thankful.  I have been struggling lately.  I am exhausted.  I sometimes do feel like screaming.  And all those feelings will come and go, off and on, over our parenting experience.  But I want to remind myself that, yes, I will struggle.  But when I do, try to remember to stop, pause, and thankful God for His blessings.  To hug and kiss my children as often as possible.  To play with them.  To sit  down and talk with them.  To listen to them.  To spend time with them.

And to pray for those who are aching for children gone on whom cannot do any of those things with here on earth.

Until next time....

What's Been Happening You Ask?

Well, a little of this and a little of that.  Its funny.  I love to blog and am almost constantly "blogging in my head" but to actually find the time to sit down and actually do it is another thing.  It's terrible, too, because there are so many things that happen and go on that I want to record (which is the main purpose of this blog), so I feel as if I am letting things slip by that I will one day wish I had written down!  I am really going to try to do better for sure!  For my own sake! (aren't I selfish! :-) )

So anyways, on to what's been going on.  We have been busy with our lives here in Alberta.  Church is going well - Matt's busy with youth group and the young families.  This past Sunday we started a new Sunday school class for young families and had 9 come out for it.  We are excited because that is more than we were expecting!

I had a birthday a few weeks ago.  The big 31!  Whoa!  When did that happen?  I tell people in my mind I am still about 21 years old.  Then I realize how tired and sleepy I am and remember that I am no longer in my 20's.  Bummer.

For my birthday, Matt took me away for a night in the mountains.  We stayed in a resort "hotel" type thing and it was beautiful.  We had a suite that was absolutely beautiful!  It had a full kitchen, two bathrooms, two bedrooms, a fireplace, and washer/dryer.  Very cool.  Definitely will be going back to that place again!  It was a nice relaxing day/night and was nice to have a night off of "mommy duties."  Some friends from the church here stayed with the kids and they did great.  Except Lexi kept them up a bit at night.  But that is nothing new!

The kids are good.  Mostly healthy, for now.  Libby and Lexi are fighting colds, but nothing too terrible.  Liam and Leila are still plugging away at school.  We aren't taking any more days off (at least not planned ones) in order to finish the first week of June.  I am NOT a fan of school way into summer.  I need the break and I think the kids really need it too.  They need to just be kids and go outside and play (if it ever gets warm and stays warm!).

The weather hasn't been too bad.  We seem to hover around 30-40 degrees during the day and go below freezing at night.  We did get several inches of snow over the weekend.  I love winter but I have to admit, I am starting to crave some warmth a little bit.  And playing at the park.  We have one just around the corner from us, but have only gone once since its not that fun when most everything is covered halfway or more in snow.

Some other things that have been going on will be easier to explain through pictures.  Here we go....

Lexi is learning to drive...

For Duct Tape night at youth, Matt made this handbag out of duct tape...

We are all enjoying the comfy new recliner we got on clearance....

We've been sporting our new Calgary Flames shirts...

We played in the snow at church Family day....

 Some of us like to get into Mommy's baking supplies and eat chocolate squares...

Sometimes we get some wildlife visitors down our street...

Matt, Libby, Uncle Sean, and Cousin Charlie went to 

West Edmonton Mall (similar to Mall of America) while rest of us were home sick...

This is a hurricane machine

Do you think they have enough tickets?

Watching the penguins (the animals, not the hockey team.  Ha!)!

Matt and I got a picture of ourselves - first one in, well, a long time! 

I got to see the BEAUTIFUL Rockies! I love me some mountains!

 Liam had a few lines in a kids program at church.  He did great!

 Leila learned how to take pictures on my iPad.

Batman, Spiderman, and a Storm Trooper(I think?) came to dwell with us.

On nice days we go outside and play with the neighbor kids....

 Libby likes to eat spoonfuls of sugar....

And draw on herself with blue marker during the night...

So, yes.  We are busy.  But having a great time!

Until next time....

Fun Times....

So, this past week was a busy one.  Last Thursday we had youth group at our house.  Since I have the four kids, and not really anyone to babysit, I had not yet been able to make it to youth group.  I want to start getting to know the teens, so we had them all come to me! That night we had about 16 teens and one leader besides our family.  It was nice to talk with them and put names with faces.  The kids loved having the teens here, too.  One of the girls seems to have "caught Libby's eye" and Libby is usually attached to her anytime we are at church.  So she was excited to have Tianna in our house.

Sunday as a big day for us.  It was Matt's induction service for the church.  The church we are at now is a part of the Associated Gospel Churches of Canada.  Whenever a church hires a new pastor, they first put them through an interview to see how doctrinally sound they are and how well they know their Bible, and to be sure they will be the right fit for the church.  Then, once the pastor is hired, they have a service for him, publicly asking him if he will uphold the teachings of the Bible, live a life according to what pleases God, etc.  After Matt has publicly committed to this, the pastor, the elders,  and the head of the AGC prayed over Matt and myself, dedicating us, our family, and our ministry to God.

It was a very special time, and we very much enjoyed the service.  There is something very special about godly men laying their hands on you and praying for you and your family.  So now, everything is "official" in our position here at the church.

Besides the youth group, our ministry is to the young families ( which basically means anyone with children still living at home).  Our kick-off meeting was Sunday night for a Super Bowl party.  Now, football is not really a big thing up here (hockey pretty much trumps every sport).  But, it was still a good excuse to get together.  We had a total of 42 people over that night.  A bit more than half of that was kids!  But, we planned ahead, had some of the teens over to oversee the kids playing downstairs. It was a nice time of food, fun, and fellowship.

Halfway through the party, Leila came up to me and I knew right away she was not feeling well. Her eyes were very puffy and when I hugged her, she was burning up.  And that was just the beginning.

It starts with puffy eyes and a fever.  Then a runny nose.  Then a terrible cough.  And lots of interrupted sleep, whining, and aches and pains.  So Leila started with it on Sunday.  By Tuesday Liam started.  Thursday Libby started.  And today (Friday), Lexi has a fever.  It's been a long week and I will admit that I am quite tired.  Matt has been in and out with work, and we have had my brother in law, Sean, and his 3 year old daughter, Charlie here, too.  Thankfully Charlie hasn't gotten sick, at least not yet.  But she left today to go back home to her moms so we are probably sending her home just in time to get sick!  Oh well.

As of now, I think Liam and Leila are doing a bit better.  And Libby doesn't seem to have gotten it as bad.  They are still coughing, but not nearly as bad.  Over the past few years, I have really been changing my thinking on how we treat sickness.  I am never one to just jump to medication, especially with my kids.  But sometimes, when they are struggling, I give them ibuprofen or Tylenol. But this time I decided to try and let their bodies fight the fevers naturally.  So we didn't give any meds.  I have, however made good use of my essential oils, using them in The humidifier and rubbing it on their chests and temples.  I also have recently been introduced to elderberry syrup.  So we got some of that and I can see a noticeable difference.  Almost immediately it helped Leila's cough.  At first I was concerned about it settling into her lungs.  It just sounded horrible! But once we started the syrup it changed and sounds much better.  The same with Liam.  With Libby I started giving it to her even before she showed signs of sickness and I am sure that is why she is not getting it as bad.  Also, the EOs are helping a lot too.  I use eucalyptus in place of Vicks, along with several other oils for other ailments.

So, although these remedies didn't completely take away the sickness, they significantly lessened the symptoms and I feel very good about not putting "junk" in my children's bodies!  Now, if I can only find an essential oil that completely removes whining, all would be great!

Yesterday we took Lexi in for her one year well baby check. She is doing great - 50th percentile for height and weight.  Her eczema still flares up some, but has been a lot better since I switched her to goats milk and started probiotics.  AND the last four nights have been better!!  She has slept from 7:30  to 5:30, 7:40 to  3:30, 7:30 to 4:30, and 7:30 to 5:30 these last four nights!  I can only hope this is our new normal.  It is a VERY welcome change to waking up two, three, and four times a night!

So, that's been our life lately.  My saving grace this week was a long chat on Skype with a friend.  It was a nice little "getaway" for me!  Ha!

Well, I think that's it for now.  If I have the time, I plan to post pics tomorrow from our move and other stuff, so check back!

Until next time.....

Random Thursday

Due to surgery, moving, and holiday traveling, we are a wee bit behind in school.  I was going to catch up by having the kids do on Saturdays.  But that ain't happening.  It's a chore to keep Leila still long enough to do school each day, that I simply don't want to deal with it more than five days a week.  And with Liam being in Grade 1, his workload is about double what it was in kindergarten, so it takes a lot longer each day.  And I can see that he needs the break on Saturdays, too. So, I guess we won't be done begin of May like we were last year.  I hate going to the end of May, or even into June.  I like my summers, and the kids need it.  Maybe we won't take a spring break.

Along the lines of homeschooling, I wonder.  Am I the only mother who is constantly dealing with pencils?  I mean, every day we are dealing with either finding them, or sharpening them, or something.  It drives me crazy!  I hate pencils!  Can't I just let them use pens?

Since we bought our couches a few weeks ago, I have wanted to buy the spray protect ant that repels liquids and stuff.  Well, today, Matt went to the furniture store to get it.  And came back with a "man chair."  He has been wanting one for a long time.  Well, today he found one in the clearance section.  Like $700 off clearance.  So, he got it.  It is actually a very comfy chair.  So he's happy.  I'm happy he's happy.  We are all happy.

Enjoying the new chair.

I don't want to complain too much, but it's been, well, cold.  And then it will get somewhat warm.  And then it will get freezing.  Like last Friday.  We went out shopping and running errands and I only needed to wear a hoodie.  Then, this Monday and Tuesday it was freezing.  As in, a high of -17 Fahrenheit.  I didn't go anywhere those days.  Way too cold.  Our house is relatively warm, unless you are near a window.  Then you feel a breeze and can see the 1/4 inch thick layer of ice on the inside of the window.  Nice.....

Last week we had birthday central here.  Libby turned three and Lexi turned one.  Wow.  Cannot believe it!  I plan to post pics and more about that in the very near future.

Ice the other morning on our
dining room window.

Speaking of Libby, she has yet to draw on any walls in this house.  Woohoo!  We may be making progress in that area!  Also, she had her very first haircut last week.  She did really well sitting there so still.  And I love her cute cut now. It's short - about to her chin.  But so much easier to deal with!

Lexi is not walking yet but so close.  She will take one or two steps then go to her knees.  I'm not in any hurry, though.  She is busy enough now, let alone when she can walk around!  Oy.  My life is gonna get even busier.

Doing a good job sitting still.

Speaking of Lexi, she still does not sleep through the night.  She has never slept through the night.  I'm pretty much clueless as to what to do.  I was stressing out about it because I was so exhausted and needed my sleep.  I've tried lots of things, even resorting to some old wives tales to see if they worked.  So far, nothing.  I tried the crying it out thing like I've done successfully with my other kids.  But that was not working for her.  I did changer a few things that seem to be helping some, so I'm crossing my fingers hoping this works.  One thing is I changed her to goats milk.  Cows milk didn't seem to be treating her well.  I also give her probiotics every day.  I give the other kids probiotics, but I hadn't gotten any for her yet.  But since I started them this week, she is sleeping better!  She used to wake up two times each night, and each time for half an hour or more..  The past three nights its been only once, and only for about five minutes.  Again, I'm not holding my breathe - yet.  But I sure need more sleep.  Seriously!

Tomorrow I have an appointment with a chiropractor.  I'm so glad - I really need to see one.  When I am going regularly, I don't have hardly any headaches or S much trouble with my back. But I haven't been to one since before we moved, and I have been having several headaches a week lately and it has been hard.  Can't do all the housework and keep patience with the kids when my head and neck or screaming at me.  So I'm am looking forward to this appointment tomorrow!

Well, I know there was more I wanted to say, but can't think of it right now.  Better get to bed and catch what sleep I can!

Until next time...

New Furniture and Other Exciting Things

So, moving is a big deal.  I mean, if you "just" move across town, it takes a lot of organizing, etc.  but moving across the country takes more organizing and planning than any one person can do!  That's what is so great about having a husband/wife team that work together to get things done.

You may remember me talking about selling a lot of our stuff.  That was such a busy time.  I never realized it would take so much out of me to coordinate prices, meeting times, etc.  But, I stuck with it and all the money I made I had set aside to use here when we settled in. So the past several weeks or so we have been able to purchase things that we needed.  And it has been so nice to pay cash for things and know that I worked hard that cash!

The first thing we bought was a dishwasher.  The one here on our rental did not work (I think it was older than I am!).   And, although it is a considered a luxury to many people, it is a necessity to me.  I have enough to do in my day besides stand at the sink three times a day and do dishes.  It takes too much time, and it's hard on my back to just stand in one place for a period of time. So we were able to purchase that.  We told the landlord we bought it, but that when we move out, we are taking it with us.  Sorry, Charlie.  I'm not that generous! (By the way, her name is not Charlie! Haha!).

Then we were on the hunt for living room furniture.  The landlord had a set, but they are falling apart, pretty dirty and smelly, and I wanted my own set.  So we were constantly looking at Kijiji (that's the Canadian version of Craigslist, for those of you who didn't know) for a good deal.  But we weren't finding one.  Either it was a great price but in not great condition, or just plain ugly that would cost a lot to recover.  So, we decided to just buy new.  And, with it being not too long after Christmas, there were some great deals.  So off to the furniture store we went (yes, with all the kids I tow).  We were there for quite some time sitting down on couch after couch.  I had almost decided on a couch when all of a sudden, I walked over to another side of the store and immediately saw the one I wanted. ( I say "I" because Matt was just saying, "You get what you like.  I'm fine with whatever you want."  He's of the mind "happy wife, happy life."  Haha! I'm so spoiled!).

I sat on the couch, loved it immediately, as did Matt.  Liam even said he liked it best, so we did up the paperwork, paid for it, and it was delivered three days later!  Can I just say I LOVE them!  Love, love, love them!  It was kinda funny at one point.  We were giving the lady our info, and another worker who had also helped us was standing nearby.  When they heard our last name, they both smiled and said,  "Sealy - are you related to the people who make the mattresses?" (We get this question a lot!)  We just looked at them and said, "If we were, we certainly would be buy a genuine leather sectional instead!"  Haha!

So, we had the couches, but, now we needed a coffee table and end tables and lamps.  Since this house is about 30 or more years old, there is no overhead lighting in the main rooms, so you definitely need lamps.  And I sold/gave away all of mine!

That Saturday we headed off to Edmonton, the big city about an hour north of us, where there is an Ikea.  I had never been to one, but have wanted to go for a long time.  So, we loaded up all of us (we don't really have anyone that knows the kids well enough yet to babysit), and went to Ikea.  On a Saturday.  It was crazy busy, but kinda fun.  And we found a coffee table, two lamps, and some Expedit bookshelves to use as end tables.  I love them too!  I'm quite happy with our purchases!  And again, so thankful to be able to pay cash for all of it!

The next thing we wanted was a dining room table.  Again, there was one here, with four chairs.  So, since we had moved we hadn't been able to sit together at the table as a family.  So we had been just looking for some cheap chairs.  But, we would need a table when we moved from here anyway, so we again looked around on Kijiji.  Well, we had emailed several people about stuff, but either it had already sold. Or we never heard back.  Until one Monday night, two weeks ago.  Matt found a table and six chairs set for sale for $200 OBO, so we emailed them, gave them our best offer, and by supper time the next night we were sitting at it - all together as a family!  I love the table and chairs, and love that we can all sit together as a family again!

I think that, for now, we are good an furniture.  We still don't have beds for Liam and Leila (we have mattresses, just not bed frames) but that can wait for a while.  We actually want bunk beds but I want a good, solid wood set and those are hard to find and often expensive.  So we will just bid our time on that for now.

Now that holidays are over, we are settling in to our new normal.  Its funny, over the last 5 months I got so used to having Matt around all the time, that its really different with him back to work.  I miss him! :-)  He is pretty busy, but not as busy as before.  I can't tell you what a world of difference it makes with having two pastors in a church, and not just one.  If you are in a church with only one pastor, I hope you pray A LOT for him (actually, I hope you pray for your pastors, no matter how many you have! :-) ).  But if you have only one pastor, he has an incredible load to carry.  Pray for him.  Encourage him.  HELP him in whatever area you can.  Believe me.  A little help and encouragement goes a LOOOONNNNGGGGG way.

Well, we have lots of other exciting things going on, which I plan to write all about soon.  Plus, I have a big change coming up with this blog.  Stay tuned..... ;-)

Until next time.....

Are You Selling Us?

So, my days are so busy with packing, selling, organizing, etc. that I hardly have time for pleasures like blogging!  It's so crazy to think that in just over two weeks we will be pulling out of here and driving across the country to our new dwelling place!  I have been feeling quite overwhelmed with everything, but I am just trying to take it one day at a time.  Our house is looking less and less "homey."  One of our couches is gone.  The girls' dressers are gone. The dining room chairs are gone.  My living room lamps are gone.  All sold and in someone else's house. We have more furniture and various items leaving tomorrow.  The kids get nervous a out me selling their clothes, their toys, or even them! Ha!  Whenever I am getting ready to sell something,  take a picture of it, then post it online.  It's crazy because often within just a minute or two I start get inquiries and offers on stuff. I thine will spend the next hour or hours dealing with prices, meeting times, etc.

Well, Matt had taken a cute picture of the kids the other day.  I was emailing it to my mom when Leila came up, so me looking at it on the computer and asked, "Are you going to sell us, Mommy?"  I just hugged her and assured her I would never do that.

With all this going on, the kids are really sensing the changes coming.  They know we are moving to Alberta (or "Alaberta" as Leila calls calls it.), but they don't really know what that means.  They think we are just going on a big trip.  They will ask if they can take such-and-such with them.  But we have also been having a lot more attitude and obedience issues.  It is a stressful time, and the kids feel it too.  I will be very glad when this part is over and we can begin settling into our new life out west.

Our house still has not sold.  We have another open house this Friday.  Praying, praying something comes of that, if not before.  We have a few possibilities of places to rent out there.  One is actually a house that Matt and I looked at when we were out there and I really liked.  But, we can't buy until we sell our house.  But, the house is sitting there empty and the owners have been contacted and are willing to rent it to us for a few months.  We are just waiting to hear how much rent would be.  But we will see!

So, that's basically what we are up to.  Matt's leaving on Wednesday to go up to northern Quebec again to speak at a conference among the Cree.  The kids and I aren't going for several reasons.  One is that it is the north, and it's gonna be cold.  And its a good 12 or 13 hours drive one way.  And we are getting ready to drive 50 hours across Canada and the USA.  So we are staying at Matt's parents house with my mother-in-law.  Matt will be gone until Monday, then, Tuesday morning we have family pics, then we head out to go to New Hampshire for American Thanksgiving.  Then we will come home, meet up with the truck that is taking our things, then off we go on our new adventure!  So, I may not be posting too much, but will try to when I can, as I know you all are just dying to know what's going on with the Sealys!

So, until next time.....

Yesterday We.....

Woke up to snow.

So we had to go out and play in it!

And make our first snow angel, of course.

When we got cold, we came in to play.  Doesn't Lexi look thrilled!

 

 Then we jumped around on the mattress on the floor.

And fell down a lot, too.

We posed for some sweet pics with our cousins.

And were being a little silly, too.

All in all, we had a fun filled day!

Daddy comes home today.  Yay!

Until next time......