On another journey...

ey, so what do normal people do when they have three kids and life is hectic?  I know, open a new business!

Yeah, we're crazy like that. I mean, we got married 5 days before Christmas and twice we moved when I was ridiculously pregnant. 

Our crazy adventure started in June of 2014. Hubs was working a job where he had to commute a lot and I was trying to figure out what I was going to do once our littlest was ready for school. We had been throwing around the idea of taking over a local franchise but would Hubs leave his job right away, or would I work it, add new clients and then have him join me later on down the road.  We decided he would stay at his job until at least the end of the year. In some ways I wish we would have delayed him coming on board for at least another year, but in December 2014 he was all in.  

And then the crap starting hitting the fan.  

But we pushed through and now have gotten past the first two full years in business. In that time we've gone through some incredible challenges but all throughout we can see where God was intervening and working things out for our good. 

Despite the fact that on paper, we can't afford to send the kids to a Christian School, we keep managing to pay the tuition every month. All three kids are all enrolled in an amazing school and are flourishing. 

Hubby and I work together in the same office on a regular basis and have managed to not kill each other or divorce. LOL

We've doubled our local client base and opened up two new areas. We've got deals ready to go, new clients are starting to come to us and things are definitely turning around. 

It's been a period of trail and error, figuring out pretty much everything! But our hard work and determination are really paying off. People are starting to say that they've seen our logo in the community or hear our name at functions and are curious about what we do. Now we are going to start working on our social media presence and get our name out there all the more.  

Looking forward to what this year holds!

Hard to believe that there are only a few weeks left in this year, it's one of those years that has gone by so slowly and yet so quickly at the same time.  As of today I am 35 weeks along. :o)  A few weeks ago, we seriously thought this little one was going to come early but he's hanging in there.  Hard to believe that by December 6 this little family of ours will have five members instead of four.  Are we ready?  Not really! LOL  Over the last couple of months, I have accumulated a lot of baby clothes and other items that we will need but the nursery is not even close to ready!  I'm not worried though, for the first little while I'm going to have baby in a bassinet beside our bed so we'll have a bit more time to get the room painted and everything organized.
A few weeks ago we moved Grace back into Zander's room by putting the bunk beds up.  I have to admit, I was very worried about how this would work out. I considered putting Grace to bed at 7 by herself and then putting Zander to bed at 8 but that's now how it's worked out.  We start the routine at 7:15 and hopefully by 8 both kids are in their beds.  They both have flashlights so that they can look at a book for a bit.  Grace ALWAYS asks "can we talk?" and we give them about 15 minutes where they can talk and giggle and then we tell them it's time for quiet.  Some nights we have to tell them a dozen times and other nights, they get one reminder and then we don't hear another peep.  With DST this past weekend, the kids were up earlier than usual, with Grace actually crawling into bed with me this morning and going back to sleep. That may not seem like a big deal, but it's HUGE to me!  Grace is our least cuddly child.  Even when she is sick, she prefers to be in her own bed. Zander on the other hand, will use just about any excuse to crawl into bed with us, and he has done this a few times in the last month.  The kids have also recently started to have a major fit if I dare leave the house without giving them a kiss and a hug. And Grace actually had a major meltdown last night because Grandpa left our house without giving her a kiss and hug.  Daddy had to carry her out to their car in her jammies so she could get her kiss and hug... she also insists that Zander give her a kiss and hug before he leaves her on the playground at school.  It's very cute and Zander accommodates her, but I wonder how long that is going to last. 
I'm wondering how the kids are going to react to Mommy being away for a few days when the baby is born.  They manage quite well when they go to Grandma and Grandpa's house for a sleep over, but it's been well over a year since I have been away for a weekend. I usually go to an annual ladies retreat for a weekend but didn't go this year.  Thankfully, the hospital is right around the corner from house and from the sounds of it, I'll be going in on a Thursday for a scheduled section and will likely be home by Monday.  They don't keep you for long these days!  I've been praying for an uneventful delivery and speedy healing, I hope others will pray the same for me. :)
Today I stumbled across a video of a family on God Vine and it made me realize how very blessed I am to have two healthy, happy children and our baby is healthy and developing as expected with no problems. I could complain about how difficult this pregnancy has seemed, but all in all, I'm healthy and very blessed. God is so good. Constantly I am reminded that He is the creator of all things, that He is in control, that He is always with me and that He has a plan for my life.  He is my peace in time of trouble, my comforter in times of sorrow and pain. 

Well, looks like I'm going to have to change the title of this blog to just the five of us.  That's right, somehow we had a lapse of sanity and agreed to have another baby.  There are still moments when the kids are going crazy and we look at each other with that "what are we thinking?" look.  But seeing my sister-in-law with her little guy brings back memories of snuggles, and late night feedings, first grins, etc. Call me strange but I didn't mind late night feedings.  It was time for just me and baby to be together quietly, with no interruptions.  Yes, I was tired sometimes, especially after Grace when I had two children to chase around, but I cherished those late night times. :)  So now the biggest question is, "what's in a name?"  For some reason, a girls name came easily enough, but boys names?  We'll probably end up with a boy because we just. cannot. seem. to. agree.  Suggestions are certainly welcome but please don't be too offended if we don't pick your name. Looking forward to this first trimester being over with, but that's another blog. Happy May, bring on spring!

With Christmas just around the corner....

We started to get some of our Christmas items crossed off the list.  Christmas tree out, dusted, set up and decorated?  check!  Christmas cards filled out and sent?  started... Shopping?  I don't even want to think about it!  You would think that kids would be easy to buy for, but honestly, I have no idea what to get for my own kids, never mind the nieces and nephews.  See, in our house, our kids only watch Tree.house which has almost no commercials, or movies or Net.Flix. We limit what we expose our kids to, for many reasons, but it bites us in the butt when we ask them what they want Santa Claus to bring them.
Yes, we are doing Santa....  there was a time when we considered keeping Santa out of our family Christmas equation but now that my son is in school, it's unavoidable.  They are learning about it at school and there's nothing we can do about it.  So we are going with it, but also teaching our kids that Christmas is the day we also celebrate Jesus' birthday.  It's something they get. When you say it's someone's birthday, they think cake and candles and a party, and really, Christmas is like that.  The family gets together, shares a great meal, some sweet desserts and everyone gets presents.
It's very important to us that our kids know about Jesus.  I grew up with very little exposure to Jesus/church/ the Bible, and lived for a long time, feeling like I was missing something.  When I found Jesus I realized just how amazing and wonderful He is, and the kind of life He wants for me. I want my kids to start off with that as their foundation, something to stand on, to build their lives on.  Jesus is talking about Himself in the following:
Luke 6:47-49 "Everyone who comes to Me and hears My worlds and acts on them, I will show you whom he is like: he is like a man building a house, who dug deep and laid a foundation on the rock; and when a flood occurred, the torrent burst against that house and could not shake it, because it had been well built. But the one who has heard and has not acted accordingly, is like a man who built a house on the ground without any foundation; and the torrent burst against it and immediately it collapsed, and the ruin of that house was great."

Jesus is the rock that we should be building the foundation of our life on.  So this Christmas, when we are wondering what our kids/spouse/relatives would like to get we really should pause and remember what this holiday is all about.

And she gave birth to her firstborn son; and she wrapped Him in cloths, and laid Him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.  In the same region there were some shepherd staying out in the fields and keeping watch over their flocks by night.  And an angel of the Lord suddenly stood before them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them; and they were terribly frightened.  But the angel said to them, "do not be afraid; for behold, I bring you good news of great joy which will be for all the people; for today in the city of David there has been born for you a Saviour, who is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.  And suddenly there appeared with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, "Glory to God n the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom He is pleased."  Luke 2:7-14

Merry Christmas to you all, may God bless and keep you.  May His face shine upon you and be gracious and give you peace. 

KIDS!!!

It's amazing what and how fast, kids pick things up. Grace is talking so much now it's crazy and Zander's suddenly become a chatterbox. Today I was griping a little about a car that was parked a little to close to me and saying that I might hit it. Then I said that I should hit it to make a "freaking"point. The next thing I hear is Zander saying "why is that freaking car there?" or something like that. I asked him to repeat it just to clarify that he did in fact just use the word freaking, in a sentence, somewhat appropriately. And then I looked at my friend in horror. "You said it not me sister," was the response I got from her. So now I have to find a way to explain to my five year old that it's ok to say, "I'm freaking out," but not ok to say "why is that freaking car there." Trust me there was some internal forehead slapping going on. It could have been worse.
And then there is Grace. This girl is really going to give us a run for our money. She often says things that just crack me up. The other day she told me that she was sad. When I asked her why, her response was, "Well, because I am not happy." Sheesh, no kidding. The other day, I told her no for some reason or other and the reply was, "No, you don't say no to Grace, you say yes Grace." The reason that is funny is because a lot of times when I ask the kids to do something and they say no, that is what I tell them, but about not saying no to Mommy. We don't have a lot of rules in our house, but really the basics pretty much cover everything.
1. Listen to Mommy and Daddy and do what you're told.
2. Don't say no to Mommy and Daddy.
3. No hitting.
I know we'll have to add to the list eventually but for a five year old and a three year old, this is sufficient.

To sell or not to sell...

In recent weeks we have tossed around the idea of selling our house... For a time there, we were unsure that we would be able to afford to keep it, but after a lot of phone calls, research, and thoughtful advice, we are still sort of up in the air. It almost feels like we've gotten a reprieve. I'll explain. At one point, we were worried about losing the house altogether so rather than chance that we decided to call an agent and list our house, when our tenant gave her notice, it seemed like the answer we were looking for and did go through with our listing. At the time, our mortgage company was being less than cooperative and it seemed that the only was to get around having to deal with them was to sell the house and consider renting for a while until we could get things straightened out. We looked at apartments and quickly realized that one, apartments where we live are, for the most part, disgusting and two, we'd almost be making the same payments as we are now... back to the drawing board. We then spoke with our Mortgage Broker. And he spoke with our lender about the treatment we had been getting... and magically we get a call from someone higher up apologizing for the way people had treated us. And then, the light at the end of the tunnel... If we wanted to renew our mortgage two months early, we would have to pay a penalty however, the interest rate we'd have to pay would be almost 3% less than what we are currently paying, which works out to a nearly $500/month savings. We couldn't rent for that! So now we have to cancel our listing.. rent the apartment and go from there. Some other pluses are that we stay in a great neighbourhood, our son starts school in the fall at a great school, and NO MOVING! Thanking God for providing everything that we needed and will need!

There are just some things I will NEVER understand

When I was driving past a nearby, very prominent hospital I saw a sign that was very disturbing. It said something along the lines of: "9 months... that's how much time you have in Canada to get an abortion... with no medical reason necessary." If I hadn't been driving I would have burst into tears on the spot. I remember having my ultrasound done at 10 weeks when I was pregnant with each of my children and marveling at the sound the the heart pumping the blood through the tiny human being that was developing. I could not imagine how someone could think that at that point, it was not really a life. But to then think of a person aborting a child at 22 or 23 weeks (or later) when so many have been born at this age and survived was heartbreaking for me. In the moment when I realized what the sign said, I glanced at my children in their car seats and I wondered if I feel such heart ache, what does God feel when each life is snuffed out?