Mondays with Heidi

I'm thankful for…answers to prayer. I’m learning not to take little answers to prayer for granted!

I'm listening to…Steven Curtis Chapman online radio station, kids chatting.

What's for supper tonight…Chicken Paprikash with Sour Cream (similar to stroganoff).

Highlights from last week…2 very cold soccer practices & a trip to the library…No swimming lessons last week because of the long weekend, but we went as a family on Monday. My dad, Andrew, & Trina joined us (& one of Drew’s friends) which was a lot of fun. I LOVED swimming with my dad when I was a kid & it’s been a long time since I’ve been swimming with him. I can’t wait till our kids are old enough to play the games with him that we used to play as kids…Shark when we were little…then Marco Polo.

On Thursday we had the last visit for the year with Benjamin’s facilitator. It was wonderful to wrap that up…now all we have to do is a few odds & ends! Friday was full day. I met with Pastor Kent in the morning to go over some VBS stuff…can’t believe I only have a month & a half to get that all ready! We left straight from the church for Calgary. We were going to Calaway Park with a friend of mine who runs a day home. I was excited because she had free tickets for us…and I needed a fun day with the kids with all the stress we’ve had lately. Well, I got the day with the kids but Calaway wasn’t meant to be. We got there & discovered they were closed to the public. Kim had checked online, but missed the fact that they weren’t open till 5pm…which we still don’t understand because the free tickets she had said they were valid that day, but not after 4:00…so how do you use a ticket that’s valid before 4…when they don’t open till 5? Ah well, we headed to Bowness Park to let the kids play so we could visit. It was nice to be outside with the kids away from the stresses of life for a few hours.

Twice this week, Tuesday & Friday, Ben poured & finished pads late into the night. On Tuesday he was up every 2 hours through the night to go & trowel…not conducive to a good nights sleep! Friday was a bit better because it was warmer that day…he was home by 2am. We were both super tired by the end of the week though & looking forward to doing a bit of catch up.

After sleeping in on Saturday, we had high hopes of putting a garden in our back yard. It’s something I’ve wanted to do for a couple of years, but wasn’t ready to do the work to prep it. I decided this was the year. We borrowed a rototiller from my parents, ready to prep the yard. My dad had said we could use it, we just had to get it to start…it hadn’t run in a long time. We didn’t think it would be a big deal…well, my dad failed to mention till yesterday that this was the same rototiller that he had pulled the motor out of…when he was about 12 years old! Needless to say, it’s been around for a whileJ…not that you’re old Papa…it would be old even if you only had it since I was a kidJ. Anyways, Ben fiddled with it for quite some time on Saturday to no avail. Meanwhile I worked a bit on my flower beds with my mom who had stopped by with some ferns for me. I’m not going to be able to plant flowers this year, which I’ll miss a lot, but I really appreciate having some perennials there that come up every year…and a lot of them have come from my mom…thanks so much Mom…and it feels good to clean up the beds & make them look nice again.

Since we were so busy outside on Saturday I didn’t get the VBS stuff done that I needed to for Sunday…I ended up staying up waaaaaay too late to get it done…coupled with the late nights of the week…we were exhausted. We often nap for a bit on Sunday afternoons, but yesterday Ben & I both fell asleep on the couch for nearly 4 hours while the kids played computer/xbox games! I guess we were tiredJ When we got up, Ben took Manda to do her special night, which I’ll write about separately…they had a blastJ.

What's happening this week… Swimming, soccer, & finishing school! This weekend I’m super excited about the family reunion we’re going to on my dad’s side of the family! I’m especially excited to see my cousin Beckie. We graduated together, but weren’t very close in high school. In the last 3 years or so though we’ve had a chance to get to know each other again…even though we live 4 hours apart. It’s been so nice to have someone who knows where I’m coming from & understands me. I can’t wait to give her a great big hugJ. I’m also very excited to see my Auntie Debbie. She’s more like a friend than an aunt as we’re pretty close in age, but it’s been a long time since we’ve spent any extended time together. It’ll be great to catch up. And the rest of you…yes I’m excited to see you tooJ.

I am missing…not feeling tired. Ben & I have been working at getting our sleep schedules back on track, but in the mean time, I’m exhausted.

I am praying for…Ben. Not having work has been stressful for both of us, but I know it’s especially hard on him. I love you Ben & I appreciate everything you do for our family!