Erranding...

Today I had 4 hours OFF! Four hours to run errands, kid-free. Four hours to totally blow and waste, if I wanted to. I chose to run errands.

In this order:

1. The Bank (deposit, thankfully!)
2. The Pharmacy (pick up a couple things)
3. Water Warehouse (duh - water!)
4. Home Sense (look around - we had a gift card - I didn't buy anything)
5. Future Shop (information gathering)
6. Ikea (a few things, misc)
7. Michael's (duh!)
8. Home Depot (pick out paint colors for Joshua's room)
9. Chapters (crossword puzzle book)
10. Save-On (groceries)
11. Registries (I had to change my drivers' license address)
12. Panago (for dinner!)

Okay, so it was really fun! And the best part is this: I only spent $155.93 ! :) When is the last time I ran 12 errands in one day and only spent that much money? Like, NEVER!

Yup, I'm pretty satisfied. It's *date night*, so we're going to settle in and watch a movie-o now. Our babysitter was at a funeral today, so obviously we let her off the hook.

It's been a good day. A horrid sleep last night, but a good day today. We took the kids to Millenium Place to play in their indoor park. They had a ball! Then lunch, then erranding time! :)

G'night!

I must be crazy...

Good grief. I feel horrid today.

It can't be because I didn't get enough sleep - Graeme let me sleep in this morning.

It can't be because I'm not eating - I'm eating a well-balanced diet right now...

It can't be because I'm bored and don't have anything to do - believe me, there's plenty to do around here.

It's likely not from my sick Dustin - he's a bit more of a handful, and it's a bit draining, but not that draining.

Hmm. I think it might be because of the absolute craziest workout ever that I did last night! Good grief! I'm not sure what I was thinking.

The other night (so, Monday night), I got on the rower, felt great, and proceeded to absolutely smash my personal best for 10K, within my one-hour workout, during which I posted a personal best distance by a respectable amount. I thought last night, that since I have an option to "re-row" a workout and use a paceboat based on my previous workout, that I should try and "keep up" to that workout from Monday night.

Usually I wait at least 3 days between the really heavy workouts like this. I mean, an hour of rowing is a lot of rowing, but when it's an hour of hard-core blood & guts rowing, it's a bit more of a challenge. So normally I wouldn't have re-rowed until Thursday. I would have opted for a lighter or shorter workout instead.

Well, I got a little ambitious. I re-rowed last night instead. I was doing great - keeping pace - until the last 7 minutes, at which point I hit a wall, and my second wind never came. I did finish within about 60 metres of my Monday's distance, which is still good, but let me tell you, the workout just didn't feel as good. It'll be a couple days before I row again. I'm exhausted!!

Must run - er - walk - er - lay down - ... :)

Good day!

What I love about Dustin

So, where do I start with my Dustin? My baby, my baby-sweets, my Dustinator, my crazy goose, my bugaboo, my little rascal...we called him an urchin before we discovered that "urchin" actually means "mischievous child"...and that pretty much pegs him perfectly!

Dustin is so many things wrapped up into one fabulous little package. I love Dustin because he is SO different from what I ever expected we'd have in a child - especially since Joshua has always been so calm...so cautious...hee hee...I can hear you laughing already! *They* tell you that you can wonder how two children who came from the same parents can be SO incredibly different, but you don't believe it until you live it yourself. When we were expecting Dustin, we told ourselves that if we ended up with another Joshua, that would be so neat - because we love Joshua sooooo much. But, it was soon apparent - as in, three or four months before he was even born - that Dustin was going to be a different ballgame altogether. And - surprise! - we love him JUST as much as Joshua.

I love Dustin because he is a nutcase. He is crazy, free-spirited, fabulously in love with life and exploration. I love Dustin because he is anything but predictable, and brings so much color into our lives - don't get me wrong, Joshua brings color, too, but Dustin's rainbow is in a completely different color palette!

Dustin loves to fling himself backwards out of arms or chairs - falling backwards and laughing his head off in the process. Or he likes to play "Blow Me Down" - something he and Joshua saw on The Wiggles one day, and so Dustin climbs onto Joshua's bed and blows himself down - falling over and laughing himself silly. He loves to climb. He loves to pet unsuspecting kitties. "Frogs and snails and puppy dog's tails, that's what little boys are made of." Yes, our Dustin is indeed a little boy. To the core.

Dustin constantly tries to do the things his big brother does. Climb/jump on the couch. Play his recorder. Make funny fish-faces. Make rude noises. They're quite the duo, those two.

I love Dustin because he's a go-getter. A little too much of a go-getter at times, but he has a zest for life that I dare not quench. I must learn, under God's wisdom and guidance, to direct Dustin's vigor for life into something productive and positive. This is where the rubber will meet the road -Dustin's intensity may be a challenge, but God is faithful and will have to do a good work in both of us to bring Dustin to a positive place in life. I have little doubt that Dustin will do great things. Completely different things from Joshua, but great all the same. Just as honorable.

I love Dustin because he is never boring. He has always been quick to smile & laugh, but he is also quick to be silly to make others laugh, too. His favorite pre-nap game right now is to run around to the other side of his crib (we have a space between his crib and the wall lest he bangs the wall incessantly and wakes Joshua) and give us that urchin grin. Then when we move to get him, he squeals and runs to the other side again. It's either that, or he crawls under his crib, lays on his back, and then LIFTS the crib off the floor with his incredible leg power. Once he's accomplished this minor feat, he then will go to Joshua's room and move furniture - push it 20 feet down the hall to Mommy's & Daddy's room - furniture that is four times his size! Now you know why we call him The Dustinator.

I love Dustin because he is 100% pure BOY! He loves to go down the slide on his tummy and then stand up, clap, and say "Goo dob!" meaning, you guessed it, good job! When he gets outside to play, his first mission is to find the biggest pile of dirt and dive in with his whole body. He doesn't mind getting dirty. He loves it, in fact. Give the kid a pile of dirt and he'll be happy for hours. Who needs toys? DIRT!

I love Dustin because he is 100% pure BOY! I know I already said that, but it bears repeating... the boys love to go frog-hunting. Joshua is more sucessful at catching frogs than Dustin is, thankfully, and you'll find out why in a moment... One day after some frog-hunting exploits, Joshua caught 3 little frogs and put them in his little red sand pail, then put the pail on the deck. He turned around to play with something else, leaving poor little Kermie and his friends unattended. Next thing we know, Dustin has the red sandpail in his grubby little hands, and is - *shudder* - lifting the pail up to his face as if to drink! Yes, he was trying to eat the frogs. We caught him just in time. Literally. Could you imagine? Oh, I also learned the other day that Dustin likes cat food - we were checking on the Skrettings' cats and next thing I know, Dustin's chewing on something that smells suspiciously like catfood! Yup - I asked him how it was, and he goes "MMMMMMM!" - just like he does when he has ice cream or chocolate milk or some other delightful treat.

I love Dustin because he teaches us about life. About taking risks. About not being afraid to try something new, because there will always be Someone to watch out for us. About not being afraid to make mistakes. About exploring and not being afraid to get a little beat up along the way. He teaches me that my Heavenly Father delights in me when I'm passionate about life, the same way I delight in Dustin and his passion for life. He teaches me to laugh. Did you know God likes to sing over us? I love it when my children sing with me. How much moreso does our Heavenly Father delight when we sing to Him, our Creator?

Paige reminded me that my *sigh* at the end of my post about Joshua should have read *contented sigh*. How true, and it applies to Dustin as well. When I think of Dustin, my heart melts. He drives me batty sometimes, but I love him with my whole heart and he's my bestest little buddy. He's precious. Wonderful. Nutsy. Beautiful!!

*contented sigh*

I sure love Dustin. God gave us a pretty special little boy when He gave us Dustin!

What I love about Joshua

Been reflecting today - and I wanted to share some of my thoughts. I've gotten to spend quite a bit of unique bonding time with each of my boys lately, aside from regular stay-at-home-mama responsibilities. It's been neat. Today I'll share about Joshua - this might be a long post, which is why I'm only writing about one of my boys at a time. :)

I love Joshua because he's my bestest big buddy (not to be confused with our bestest little buddy, Dustin). He loves to laugh, and he loves to have deep conversations. Lots of "why, Mommy?" questions pop out of his mouth throughout each day. Sometimes it can bet a little annoying, but then I remember that he is a sponge. Every question from a child is a teachable moment. Will I take the time to teach him that his curiosities are valid? Will I take the time to give him the knowledge he craves? Or will I teach him that he is simply an annoyance and a hindrance to my "Mom-duties"? Joshua is a very bright child and keen to know everything about everything!!

I love Joshua because he likes to read. I recently bought him a Little Critter compilation book - a book with 7 Little Critter stories inside. He has the whole thing memorized - all 50-something pages of it - and "read" about half of it to his Auntie Carly the other weekend. His recall is amazing. I sometimes get annoyed that he wants to have me read to him so much, but then I remember that his little brain is wired this way and that I need to nurture him. Yes, there is a time and a place where I simply can't read to him and that he needs to understand that, but my first and foremost "Mom-duty" is to teach and instruct him. Whether this be stories, or taking him outside to chase frogs or grasshoppers, or teach him how to use a hammer and nails - he is my little man and he wants to learn.

I love Joshua because he is so forgiving. We can have a really rotten day together, and at the end of the day he'll still crawl up into our laps and snuggle and together we can wash away the negatives of the day. He teaches me about God our Father in this way - as His children, we mess up, too, but as we crawl into his lap at the end of the day for a snuggle, He washes away all the hurts of the day, too - wipes them clean and still loves us deeply. Unconditionally. No matter how much Joshua upsets me, disobeys me, or frustrates me, I will still love him unconditionally.

I love Joshua because he is funny. I think (as do many other parents) that God made kids cute so that they would survive their toddler years. :) We can be in the middle of trying to reprimand him for something, and out of his mouth comes the funniest reply - and we're melted into a pitiful puddle and our "reprimand" is completely lost, or so it seems. We carry on with our day and we never have another trouble similar to the one we had before "the reprimand".

I love Joshua because of his incredible memory. I mentioned before about reading books - well, he recalls things from months and months and months ago that we'd even forgotten - things from spending time at Gramma & Grampa's house, things from Canada Day, even things from our old house from last summer and things from when Dustin was first born that we haven't talked about in ages. He amazes me. Yesterday I was looking for my brown extension cord so we could make cookies together, and after I'd spent a few minutes looking, Joshua asked me what I was looking for and then promptly told me where I'd put it. Duh! Of course. He truly amazes me.

I love Joshua because he is *usually* so honest. He tells it like it is. He generally isn't afraid to rat himself out on something. Of course, he has learned that if he does something bad, he will get into trouble...but even more recently he has learned that if he does something bad and lies about it, he will get into even more trouble. I love Joshua because he makes funny faces, says "excuse me" when he burps or toots, has good manners, and cleans his plate (except at dinnertime, which is an entirely separate matter). I love Joshua because he is usually a good big brother, except for tonight when he swiped a towel out from under Dustin's feet, causing Dustin to be completely up-ended and get very upset. He likes to take Dustin by the hand and teach him. The very first thing that Joshua tried to teach Dustin, when Dustin was but a day old, was that the round thing ticking on the wall is called a clock. Funny kid. So eager to learn (check out the pictures - he wants to print already, and is doing very well!). So eager to teach. So eager to share with strangers about his love for frog-hunting at our new home in the country.

*sigh*

I love Joshua. God sure gave us a pretty special little boy.

More "doing" stuff :)

I had a responder to my last blog post, which feeds into my facebook account (where the responder, umm, responded - duh!). Here is Dreena's response, worth noting:

People can't model what they have not been shown or given themselves. I guess the other part of that problem would be the assumptions that we ourselves make about the other person when we perceive that we have been treated unfairly. It's a crazy crazy thing - dealing with emotions!

My response was somewhat along these lines: I know that what she's saying about us perceiving things wrongly in some situations...but sometimes the offence pretty blatant and there really isn't any room for doubt...those are the times I'm referring to!

Sadly, the people often causing the offense usually have no clue that they're being so rude, and if you gently address them on it, then the situation only gets worse. Some people just can never be wrong about anything, right? *sigh* This is where decisions have to be made - keep the relationship superficial - don't let them "in" - or just completely walk away. The trouble here is that if it involves family, as it often does, then you still have to make a bit of a compromise somewhere - it's SOOOOO complex! What to do, what to do...

Graeme has a day off today, so we'll be doing some yardwork around kids' naps and such.

I had a good workout last night - totally KICKED my previous 35-minute time on the rower!! (I just couldn't do a full hour last night - I had some things to take care of, still, and I also knew my energy wouldn't last a full hour. So I settled for a hard 35-minute row.) Yeah, I'm pretty happy about that. Just when I think I can't push anymore, my body and "second wind" kicks in and gives me just that little bit extra. The other night I totally kicked my previous 10K time, too, so yeah, I'm stoked.

I've been spending more time rowing lately because I'm desperately trying to find music that "fits" a rowing rhythm, which you can't do until you're actually rowing to the music! Out of 5 CD's, I think I've got about 7 songs so far. Then, once that project is finished, I'll be able to just enjoy the music and not think so much about the rowing - which should yet improve things. Yippee!

Okalee dokalee - Dustin is sleeping, so I need to make hay while the sun shines *and the frost is melting*!! :)

Blessings on yer day!

Doing right the wrong way?

So, I've been reflecting lately.

People can be so harsh and rude sometimes. Then you walk away feeling like garbage because of how they treated you.

Case in point: the other day I was doing something and I was reprimanded by someone for not doing it correctly.

Okay, so I don't mind being told if I'm doing something wrong. Or if I need to be corrected. But I much prefer to be corrected in a non-*stupid* manner - i.e. I don't like to be made to feel like I'm an imbecile. Nobody does. You'll get farther with me if you treat me like an adult.

So here's the deal - A scripture came to me as I was drifting off to nap this afternoon. I can't remember the reference (I need to seriously brush up!), but the scripture says "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger." (I think it must be in Proverbs.)

Similarly, I wonder that if we, as a human race, chose to treat each other differently when it came to correcting each other - be it a boss correcting an employee, a parent correcting a child (even sometimes grown children), or a child correcting another child - that we could perhaps have a more harmonious existence. Can we then paraphrase the scripture to say, "A gentle rebuke/correction turns away wrath, but a harsh rebuke/correction stirs up anger"??

Okay, so I suppose that if someone doesn't really care about their relationships with the people they've just corrected, then they may feel free to continue harshly rebuking. However, if we actually cared about one another, and desired to carry our relationships farther than a simple superficial level, then perhaps we need to re-evaluate how we treat each other and in what tone of voice we speak in our challenges and suggestions.

So, there you have it. My rant for the day. Take it lovingly. :)

Trusting...

When all else fails...

when circumstances around you are unstable...
when people frustrate you to no end...
when unforeseen problems arise...
when situations are out of your control...

Whom do you trust?

I've just had a recurring thought this week - a thought that's always in the back of my mind, and one that I live by daily - and it's this:
When circumstances around me are unstable,
when people frustrate me to no end,
when unforeseen problems arise,
and when situations are out of my control,
I trust in the unfailing love of God my Savior.

I see people - even Christians - around me, fretting about this and that, worrying about how someone else's child is going to turn out, wanting to control everyone else's every move, and worrying about money when they've got loads in the bank, and I think to myself, "I'm SO glad I can rest in the love of God my Savior!" Sure, people frustrate me, and situations arise that have the potential to be all-consuming and sleep-depriving, BUT I am comforted by my all-knowing, ever-present Heavenly Father.

Therefore, I will not fear. I will not become restless. I will not become frustrated or anxious. God's timing, His strength, His wisdom, and His care are ever with me. I don't have all the answers, but I do know that God is sovereign and will meet my every need - physical, emotional, financial, relational.

I encourage you to do the same. Surrender. Simply rest.