Trip to Saskatchewan... Pictures

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August 27, 2009

What a day yesterday was. It all started with Sam being a complete twirp... While I was in the washroom, he climbed up on the kitchen counter and I caught him playing with a big butcher knife. Later, I showered and just as I was conditioning my hair, Eli knocked on the door to tell me that Sam took off his diaper and pooped on the floor. I quickly rinsed off and went to clean it up. While I was cleaning it up, he PEED on me! Ugh, what a horrible way to start a very busy day.

I got to watch my dear friend Kirsty's kids yesterday morning. We haven't seen them in a couple of weeks and the two youngest had a hard time for about 20 minutes, but we had a blast once they felt comfortable. I just have to tell you how much this friendship means to me... It's so neat to have a friend with kids the same age and sex as mine and since Kirsty's a stay at home mom too, we get to see each other quite often. She has an uncanny ability to make me laugh and I really feel like we have the same ideals and values. I love her! I was so happy to help her out by watching the little darlings... A couple of pics and a video of the boys playing together...

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Things kind of went downhill after lunch. Not only were my parents leaving Medicine Hat for the last time, but another friend of mine, Jodi, was moving too. Both Mom & Dad and Jodi wanted to get together at roughly the same time. It was pretty stressful trying to nail down times to see everyone and in the end, I never did get to say goodbye to the Eason family. Mom & Dad met the kids and I at a park and then we headed over to the house for our final goodbye. I really didn't expect to have such a hard time. I was fine until I was strapping the kids in the car and hugging my parents. I've only lived in a different town than my folks for about 6 months of my life and it's very hard to think of having no family any where near us. Mom & Dad have always been such a huge support to us. They've been here for every one of my kid's birthdays. They know my kids better than anyone else in the family. I cried and cried all the way home and still have some tears in my eyes now. I feel pretty alone now. We're 3 hours from the nearest family member now, six hours from Mom & Dad. I have a feeling that we won't see much of any of my family now since the 'rents are gone. Boo. Makes me so sad and isolated. The folks are planning a visit in October over Thanksgiving, so I'm looking forward to that time a lot... It'll be the first time anyone from my family has stayed in my home! Trev also told me that we can try to get up to Edmonton to visit them between now and Oct, although it's unlikely.

A positive note from last night... Kirsty called me to check up on me and she cheered me up and made me laugh so hard I was crying... good tears this time!!!

A pic of Mom & Dad and the kids from yesterday... I wanted to do more, but they had so much to do.

August 23, 2009

This past Sunday, we celebrated Sam's birthday (Sept 6) and my Dad's birthday (Aug 24). My parent's are moving tomorrow, and we wanted to have them for dinner before they left, so I figured I could guilt them into taking the evening off by calling it a birthday party... Just kidding! We had a great time and a delicious dinner, if I do say so myself... I roasted a chicken, made stuffing, steamed carrots, Mom made gravy to go on the creamy mashed potatoes.... Yumm, my stomach is growling! I bought the cake from Safeway... Anyway, a slide show of that fun...

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My parents blessed us tremendously by giving us a bedroom set INCLUDING a mattress!!! We have a grown-up room now... Matching furniture and a bed that doesn't have springs poking through it! Thank you so much Mom & Dad... We are so appreciative!

Something really neat happened last night with Elias and I just had to share it with you. We were about to say bedtime prayers... I'll give you a script of what happened.

Elias: "Mom, it makes me really sad that Jesus died on the cross."

Me: "Well, Eli, Jesus did that because He loves you so much that He wanted to give you a way to get to heaven."

Eli: "But Mom, I don't want Jesus to be in heaven. I want to play ball with Him and hang out with Him. I want Him here with me!"

Me: "Eli, you can have Jesus here with you. If you ask Jesus to come into your heart and to be your best friend, He'll be with you forever! He'll be right beside you even though you can't see Him. He'll be like an invisible friend that never leaves!"

Eli: "Mom, I want that!"

Me: "Tell Jesus."

Eli: "Jesus, I want you to come into my heart and be my best friend forever."

I wept!!! So amazing... He asked me if Jesus was my best friend, Daddy's best friend, and so on. He asked what he could do to make Jesus stop being his best friend to which I replied that Jesus loves him even more than I love him and NOTHING he could do would change that. What an amazing thing. PRAISE GOD!!! He even told Nana & Papa this morning that Jesus will be best friend forever!

AMAZING Band... Among The Thirsty, Song "I'd Need A Savior"

My sister introduced this band to me this morning and it's just so amazing. I had to share it with you.

Not too much to tell...

I realized that I haven't blogged in a while, so I figured I'd do a quick post, even though I don't really have anything new going on...
Last week on Monday, the kids and I FINALLY got together with Tanya and her kids... I haven't seen them since the triplet's birthday in November! I had such a good visit with Tanya and the kids played really well together. Forrest appeared at my side almost as soon as we arrived and we were best buds the whole morning... Such a cutie! Connor seems to be a little bit more reserved and shy... Apparently they work together to torture their sister though, little turkeys!
My sister, Sheri and her brood of darlings were here on Sunday night, along with my Mom, for dinner... Our time together was really short, only one evening and the following morning, but we made the best of it and enjoyed each other. The only bad thing is that now my boys are pestering me for a dog just like Chewie (See the pictures... Cute dog, but not gonna happen!) Sam prays for his cousins and Auntie Sheri, telling God that each of them are so fun... "Jesus, Thanks, Fun Sheri, fun Joah, fun Braeden, fun Dawson, fun Amaris..." and somehow this dog gets 3 fun's! "Jesus, FUN FUN FUN Chewie!" Little turd! It makes me sad to think of how long it'll be before we can see them again... I don't feel like I know Sheri's kids as well as I want to!
My sister-in-law Nicole had her baby on the 14th... Little Gavin Alexander Inglis joined the family after nearly 26 hours of labour! He's so adorable and we can't wait to meet him... Hopefully next weekend, depending on how Sam's doing.
Other little tidbits that most of you know already... I'm doing this for the benefit of those who aren't on FB...
Sam's been quite sick... coughing for about 3 weeks now. I'd been treating him with a bronchial dilator as needed, but he wasn't improving at all. I took him to the walk-in and now he's on a steroid twice a day, an antibiotic twice a day, and the same bronchial dilator I'd had him on before. I thought he was improving, so I didn't give him his nebulizer treatment this morning... Now he's coughing and gasping again and also has a high fever. Poor baby.
Sam broke my rib about a week ago... I was lying on the couch and Sam jumped on my chest. Pretty awful pain, even now! I haven't ever broken anything but toes, so it's really sucky for me.
My parents are moving away from Medicine Hat next week. I've been over at Mom's quite a bit this week helping her to get packed. It's really bittersweet for me. I am SO happy for them, moving on from here since I know they haven't been happy. However, I'm really sad for me and my kids. They're moving about 6 hours away, so we won't see them much at all. I've only lived away from Mom & Dad for about 6 months of my life, so it'll be a big adjustment I'm sure.
Anyway, some pics...

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The last week or so...

Since I hate uploading pictures to Blogger, I'm going to do a series of Smilebox's cuz they're faster and easier to do...
Last Sunday, we headed out to Echo Dale for a few hours of beach fun... Eli and Trev started building a sand castle, but Eli found out quickly it's more fun to wreck it than to build it... Poor Trev!

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Yesterday, Elias and I took off for a while in the afternoon, just us. I LOVE spending time with Eli on my own! We decided to go down to the river to toss some rocks, a favorite past-time for most boys I'm sure! When we first arrived, there was a fire truck parked at the boat launch dock and the firemen were on the river practicing rescue maneuvers. They'd cruise by and the wake would come crashing to shore and Eli had a blast leaping over the waves. As we searched for rocks, a man rode his bike up to us... Now, I hate to admit it, but I judged this guy by his appearance first and he scared me right away. He got off his bike about 4 feet from me and just stood there looking at us. A lot of you know about my history... being raped and struggling with pretty crippling anxiety for years afterwards... and it all came rushing back. I didn't want to scare Elias, so I maintained my cool (I think) and asked if I could help him. He told me no, he just felt like watching. Creepy, right? Elias was to my right playing by the water, this guy was to my left and I had my back to a bunch of bushes. No way was I going to turn my back on this creep. After roughly 10 minutes of him standing there awkwardly staring at Eli & I, he got on his bike and started to ride away. I watched him leaving and noticed that he rode onto a path that went by the bushes I was standing next to. I watched until he was out of my view and then I heard leaves rustling behind me... I'm fairly certain he got off his bike and walked into the bushes! I was more than sufficiently afraid at this point and I called to Eli that it was time to go. Eli asked why and I told him that some strangers aren't safe and I didn't trust the man who was watching us. Eli readily agreed and we walked back to our car. Just as we were getting in, another fire truck started backing into the parking lot and as soon as the truck stopped, a fireman jumped out and called to Elias! "Hey buddy! Want to come check out my fire truck?" Oh my gosh! Elias and I were both flabbergasted and so excited! These men were so amazing to Eli. They each took turns showing Eli where they sat in the fire truck and explaining to him what the equipment was for and what their jobs were. They let him 'drive' the truck, wear a fireman's hat, and hold the nozzle and hose! What an amazing thrill! When I asked Eli later what he thought of the firemen, he was so funny... "I was scared, Momma, because they're so HUGE!"
Will you allow me to dig a little deeper into this exciting adventure for a minute? God has been speaking to me a lot lately about how I've been held prisoner by fear and anxiety after being raped. I've been trying very hard to let go of my fear, but I really felt like yesterday was meant to be a reminder for me. I was terrified of that man. I don't know for sure what the heck he was doing, but I was scared stiff. And while I'm shaking in my boots, dragging my son away from some one-on-one fun with his mother & running to hide in my fear, who shows up but 5 of the biggest & strongest civil servants I've ever met. God didn't just send one nice gentleman or a polite couple into my path... Oh, no. God sent me an army of protectors. Like He was saying to me, "Why are you still so afraid, Beckie? When are you going to learn to trust that I'm here and watching everything that happens to you?" Pretty cool, right?
Anyway, I am ashamed to admit that I didn't have my camera on me and had to take these pics on my cell phone, but you get the idea!

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After we got home from the river, we picked up Sam and Trev and headed to Central Park to play...

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Today we headed down to Kin Coulee to support our neighbour's fundraiser for her cousin. "Angels for Angela" was meant to raise support for Angela's cancer treatments that are not covered by Alberta Health Care or her insurance. It looked like they had a great turnout!

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And there you have it... A quick update on our lives from the last week!