Check Katie's Blog

** Edited to add: Not to be outdone Meggie has also updated her blog!! Check her out too.

Hi everyone - Katie has a brief new post up, check her out by clicking the link on the right.

We are keeping busy and enjoying the weekend despite some horrific weather - it has rained and been cold for days. Winter seems to have arrived! All of which serves to make the girls and I even more excited for our trip to America.

I'll post more later but for now I need to get the girls breakfast so we can make it to church on time. Happy Sunday!

Meggie's Poetry

I know it's been quiet here on the blog for awhile - we are in a crazy race to the finish trying to cram in our last few weeks of school before we head to America. Meggie has continued to write in her spare time and I thought I'd share one of her poems today. I think she does a great job!

A Sailor’s Happy Life

By Meggie Morrison

I around the island sail,

Day and night, sun or hail.

When thunder rolls, and lightning cracks,

I go down to the mast.

I put up the sails, and off we go!

The waves pushing us high, and low.

But, at calmer days at sea,

The wind fills me,

With joy, and glee!

The wind pushes us, and pushes until,

We can hardly stay still!

When we finally come to a stop,

I find that we are at the dock.

I jump out, and give a kiss to my wife,

And we go home, happy with life.

iphone Pictures

I was going to title this post "iphone dump", but I decided that sounded a bit off and anyway I'm not winning any awards for creative titles so changing it to the even more boring "iphone pictures" is no big deal. It's sad because the big two girls are doing a writing course by dvd and I watch it with them and the instructor did an entire lesson on writing a good title but the fact is that when I sit down to post I'm tired, it's the end of the day, four kids are vying for my attention and it's a good night if I can manage some run-on sentences and unedited pictures. Which is what you are getting tonight, sorry.

I took the girls rollerblading the other day - and I even put on some blades myself. It was tons of fun but Ellie didn't last long in her roller skates before she decided she'd rather ride the scooter around the rink. Meggie was a great big sister and helped Josie when I was otherwise engaged and Katie can skate like a champ so she didn't need any help. (By the by, I know neither of my children has on a properly fitted helmet in this shot, it was a work in progress. I survived my childhood skating rink without a helmet, wrist guards or knee pads so I figured they would too.)

For Mother's Day we went to lunch in town after church - one of my local fave's. My girls gave me some terrific gifts and coupons and poems and I felt very loved and celebrated. Presents and going out to eat are two of my favorite things! The girls took their "children" with them as well.

I have a fun new application on my iphone called "Hipstamatic" and I played with it on our walk the other day. It basically gives you some lenses to choose from and each one has a special effect on the picture, they all look kind of vintage-y. I think it's kind of fun.


We saw these adorable calves on our walk and as we were visiting with them the farmer came by and gave the girls some fruit and veggies to feed them, who knew calves liked bananas?! Meggie asked me to get her a cow when we move back to America. Sadly I reminded her that neither her Daddy nor I am a farmer so that was probably unlikely. I'm always dashing her rural dreams.

Dugald was out of town for five days last week, five. He is very obviously no longer unemployed! We all kind of enjoyed his "gardening leave" but I guess it's a good thing that he's working again. Thanks to those of you who prayed as he looked for a new job - he got three great offers and is really excited to be where he is now.

That's all our news - love and hugs from all of us! xx

Sweetness

And here is a great article written in the Tyler paper by my friend Leigh. Happy Mother's Day!!

Thank You Mom

It's Mother's Day again - and once again I have not managed to organize myself well enough to get a gift in the mail on time for my mother. It's not for lack of love or appreciation, it has more to do with a lack of organization and an inability to find a gift that represents who my mom is to me, the gratitude I feel towards her, and then there's the problem of what to get someone whose taste is so much better than yours!

However, I can share here what I'm thinking on this day in the hopes that my mom will know my heart and that maybe in some way this will mean as much to her as the homemade cards I made when I was a child with the made up poems (I got one of those this year and I love it). So mom, this is to you!

I saw "The Blind Side" last night and there were so many things I loved about the movie, but the thing I think I related to was how Sandra Bullock, as the mom in the movie, really fought for her children and didn't let anything intimidate her in doing so. I feel like I have a mom like that - she's always been strong and fought for us, and sometimes with us (for our own good). I was relating to my own girls recently the saga of me learning how to ride a two-wheeler bike. It took me all day and I so wanted to give up, but my mom hung in there with me as the whole neighborhood watched (and probably felt sorry for both of us) until I finally got it. I also remember her helping me fight my own insecurities in order to try new things, to keep at something even when I wasn't excelling like I wanted to, to take new adventures, to not give up. I am not naturally a risk-taker, but thanks to my mom's encouragement I've had some amazing opportunities to reap the rewards that come from getting out of my comfort zone, and I've learned that life is better when you are willing to risk. Thank you mom.

Another of mom's many gifts is that of hospitality. She can throw a party like nobody's business, and often did! Our home was always a beautiful, welcoming place for us to bring friends home to, and we did a lot. I had the most amazing birthday parties - not just in expense, though some were pretty pricey - but more importantly I am left with memories of the effort that was made to make me feel special, loved, and like the belle of the ball. Mom is full of creativity and devotes her considerable energies to making life memorable for those she loves. My children still get to experience that with amazing adventures with Mimi - things like "Cousins Camp" and shopping days and going on dates with her to get their nails done. Every day is an adventure at Mimi's and she is an incredible and inspiring grandmother.

Mom has modeled for me what friendship means. Her friends are like family to us and I've seen her be there for them through the good and the bad. I learned from her what loyalty looks like, how to support those you love through tough times, how to truly be happy when something good happens for someone else and what empathy looks like when things aren't going well. I have seen her throw more parties for other people's kids, wrap more gifts for friends she loves, cook food for those who are sick, organize receptions after funerals, the list goes on and on but her acts of service for others are endless. I hope to be half the friend to others that she has been to those in her life.

I also am so grateful that I've been blessed to have a mom that was involved in our schools and our community. She has never been one to just complain about things that are wrong - she's the one with her hand up volunteering her time and energy to improve the situation instead.

I could go on and on but I think the heart of what I'm trying to say is that now that I am a mom myself I am even more in awe of you and even more grateful for all you did to give us an enchanted childhood in so many ways. I love you and my girls love you and we hope that you know how much we appreciate you and the efforts you make on our behalf. Happy Mother's Day!!

Happy Birthday Dugs!!

My sweet hubby celebrated another birthday on the 2nd of May. When I asked him what he wanted to do, numerous times, he said he wanted to spend the day with us. So easy! I start thinking about what I want to do and where I want to eat days in advance of my birthday, but Dugald is a lot more low-maintenance than I am, obviously.

We had a great day - went to church, went to eat dim sum with friends, then hung out all day just playing games. We have a new game addiction called Dominion and he got an expansion for it as a gift.

I am so grateful for my amazing husband - he is a blessing to me and our girls in so many ways. We love you honey!!