This month we drove a number of hours to another new museum we've never been to, The Agriculture Museum. There was a fair of sorts happening and we thought it would be interesting to visit, as it happened to be my husband's weekend off. So, away we went.
The kids saw some adorable ponies and were able to pet them.
There were fun opportunities for picture taking, which I must do of course!
They had some interesting critters to pet in a children's area, including this tortoise, other turtles, some other reptiles, and snakes! I wasn't touching the snake, but my son got to hold it.
This heritage museum is similar to the one we visit often in that it is a whole village, but one thing they had that ours did not was a railway with rail cars, a station, and even a grain elevator! That was interesting to see!
Another thing we really enjoyed was the ability to be able to pump the foot pedal of the printing press ourselves. We all gave it a try. My son took this picture of me working the machine. It was interesting and actually a bit difficult to get the hang of to start. Once you got it, though, it was easy. Like the man said, it was like riding a bike!
I liked the post office area. The boxes there reminded me a little of what it was like to get the mail from the post office as a kid. We had to go into the building and find our box. They weren't near our house at all. These were much fancier looking! But the style was similar to what I remember as a kid.
I took this picture of the under stairs area pantry. I think this is something I should do in my basement! The museum here had lots of two story buildings we were able to go upstairs in and view. The kids thought that was great!
This one house, one of the first ones we saw, reminded me of my childhood. I have no idea how old the house I grew up in was, but the doors, the hand rail, the wallpaper, all of it reminded me of what was in my house growing up before we modified things. The door handles were the same, with the large keyhole underneath.
The register is one thing I miss from my childhood. Sounds strange, I know. I remember putting our socks and boot inserts over it to dry them after coming in from the wet snow outside. It was very much like this one, just with a different scrollwork. There were similar beautiful floor vents as well that I remember having in our house before they were switched out. The floor is similar, too. The hardwood underneath the linoleum looked very similar. It splintered into our socks like crazy. Those slivers make that floor all the more memorable.
And this post at the foot of the stairs! So similar to what we had! It's crazy!
I did not expect to have nostalgia visiting a museum I had never seen before! I had a lot of fun, and the kids really enjoyed it, too!
Mid July we decided to head for the Icelandic town in our area. We've enjoyed visiting before, but only recently learned of a heritage museum they have there! So, that's where we went!
We enjoyed walking in the town a bit. There was an art thing going on at the time and we saw a few artists painting the docks and boats.
The museum had so many things to see! We learned that things were rather difficult for the Icelandic people who came here in the 1800s. Their boat went off course and was allowed to drift to this area. They called it 'New Iceland' and settled. So many of the people and families died. There was one family with 13 children. 5 of them died in Iceland due to the earthquakes, smoke and ash there. They came over to Canada in desperation, and then 5 of their kids died of smallpox in the first year here. Smallpox claimed the lives of many of the people here.
The museum had a little dress up area near the end and the kids enjoyed trying on some Viking costumes.
Their was a bit of info on volcanic rock, trolls, Icelandic religion and beliefs, and some history on Iceland and why many of the people left.
In all, it was a really fun day trip! The kids enjoyed it, we all learned something new (it was interesting to see some of the parallels to our own heritage as well), and I would definitely go again. It never seems to be enough time to go to things like this where there is quite a drive.
So in the beginning of June we went to the zoo on one of my husband's saturdays off! It was a lot of fun! It was rather warm that day, and a few of us got a little sun burnt, but the kids all had a great time. I missed seeing the zoo as the last time we went was fall of 2019 for a homeschool thing when our 6th was a baby.
My husband loves the wolves. They were a ways from us and difficult to spot, but we could see them!
This guy was my favorite. When we arrived, he was nowhere to be seen, but we passed by later in the day when the clouds were rolling in (it rained just as we left the zoo) and he was so happy to see us that he came to the front of the cage and was purring. So cute! As long as he's behind the cage, anyway. Not sure I'd want to meet him without that protection, haha.
I remember these when I was a kid. They were always fun to climb into.
An axolotl. Why do I know anything about these guys? Animal crossing. Yup.
The kids thought this guy was fake at first, because he was moving so slowly.
They have a 'dinosaur' area, and Bram decided to try to mimic this guy.
I love the seals! They were so cute! They love to swim back and forth over and over.
The polar bears were out and posing for their pictures.
These guys are so cute. I love owls!
I remember these as a kid, too. Some things are just nostalgic.
It was a lovely trip out as a family. Hoping for many more this summer!
When life grips you and doesn't let you go, you neglect the things that aren't of vast importance. And this blog has been one of those things. I apologize. I haven't been here since 2018, and it is so strange to see this space again after so long!
Life has hit us hard. Good things, bad things, all the things. We've almost lost the farm. 2018 was hard in that way. My husband's dad became sick and was unable to work on the farm anymore, and my husband has been working extra hard to keep it going. Summer of 2018 saw a huge heat wave hit the area, and many farms were affected. Milk decreased, and the animals don't do well, even when you do everything you can to help them. The bank we were with decided to send someone down in the midst of the heat wave. He didn't like dad, and had decided we were neglecting our animals (they hold their heads down when hot, and look so sad). He made an attempt to set the milk board against us. We were told a number of things by animal welfare that we were to do... all of which we were already doing and had been doing for years except for two things that were not something we could reasonably do in our current barn (I will say, we did end up doing them both, but the one has cost us tens of thousands in repairs over the last 5 years. Exactly what we said would happen. We were supposed to be able to build a new barn by now, but the bank lied to us when we signed on 14 years ago). This guy sent a bad report to the bank which caused them to tell us to pay the mortgage in full right away or they would foreclose on our farm. We had to sell land, quota, equipment, all to attempt to keep what was ours because one guy (who made it clear in the past that he disliked dad for some reason) wanted to shut us down. We didn't cave. Thousands of dollars in lawyer fees later, we were allowed to push the payment of the 7 figure loan for about a year. I got pregnant during that time, and we had a baby girl, due right around when they wanted the balance. Thankfully, they allowed another few months, and then because dad was super ill, they pushed it yet again. We were paying off huge segments of the loan with the sales of land and quota. Then, at the beginning of the covid19 pandemic, dad died.
I don't even know where to begin when it comes to dealing with the passing of someone close to you. The kids were devastated. My oldest son and dad were very close. My 5th child, Baby Z, the one I mentioned in my last post, was named after my father in law. In Dad's last weekend, I felt my husband should take Baby Z to visit dad. I'm so glad he did. We were blessed to be living next door, and the older kids went to play games and puzzles with mom and dad often (we knew he was dying for months now, so we did what we could to keep the kids from getting sick. We were told even a cold could kill him). It was hard. And then we got the call. He had asked for my husband. We knew. The ambulance was called, he was brought to the hospital, and only one person was allowed in the room with him at a time. He died alone, when the brothers were switching shifts outside.
What made things even harder was that this was in the midst of the shutdowns. No hugs. No gatherings. No funerals. 10 people in one place and no more than that. And my family was 8 people. No exceptions. We felt very alone during that time. No church family, although I am very grateful to the 2 families who came of their own accord and brought us a meal. Very few people came to the viewing. The service was one of the first ones they did online, and so there were bugs to work out, but they managed it. Two of his own children couldn't come because they lived out of province and travel wasn't allowed. It was really hard on mom.
I gave hugs anyway.
Covid really wrecked things for everyone, and our family was no exception. Some things didn't change much, however we lost many of our support systems. Lost friends. Hurtful things said. Felt abandoned and alone by our church. Our homeschool group ended due to the regulations. Our farm was struggling to get by as it is now half the size it was before while still trying to support the huge insurance payments and such from when it was so much larger. Then there was the storm that destroyed part of the barn in 2021, and while insurance is supposed to cover everything, the last concrete tower silo was unable to be salvaged and the cost to rip it down and replace it and the feed room was more than the 'value' of the tower by insurance, so we had to pay 5 figures out of pocket, which we really didn't have. The drought brought a huge increase in feed costs, so that they doubled in only a few short months, and we felt like we were drowning once again. In fact, I'd say we've been barely surviving things this entire time.
March of 2021, I found out I was expecting yet again! It might sound weird, but I was terrified. I didn't want to make appointments. I didn't want to acknowledge it at all. I was scared of what people would say and think. I'm not sure why, but I think my hormones and anxiety were in rough shape due to everything over the last few years already. It took everything in me to even make my first appointment, and with the mask requirement in most places, I stayed home. It is hard to describe what I felt. It made no sense. In order to make myself tell others, I decided to write a parody song to Shania Twain's 'I feel like a woman'. I did my best to get excited and not worry about what others would say or think, and it actually worked. I became excited over time about our coming baby!
Pregnancy is always a crazy time for me, and I went a bit crazy renovating the girls shared bedroom. Built a few things outside, cleaned in the barn office, found project after project to keep my mind and body occupied as my anxiety was through the roof with everything going on. I feared giving birth. I feared I would die. Nightmares plagued me. Anxiety was terrible. It was crippling. I had never experienced it this bad before. And then, my husband was sick and anxious himself. On medications. Problem after problem on the farm. Dad was gone. He was the sole decision maker, and there were a number of things he still had to learn. It was hard.
I went through a 46 hour labor with my last baby, and oh boy... she did not want to turn. I didn't know when to go to the hospital because my pushing stage with my 6th baby saw my contractions at 5 minutes apart even while pushing. I had 2 weak contractions and one strong one with my last 3 babies. It made things very difficult to time. I actually had an epidural this last time, and almost had issues with that one, too! I was exhausted as I hadn't slept in days now, could feel that I was fighting the contractions due to exhaustion, and so I asked for one. The tech said there was a blood clot in the needle and he had to re-administer, and it was likely I would get headaches due to loss of spinal fluid. Thankfully, I didn't get the headaches.
Baby still didn't want to come out, and I was afraid I'd need a c-section. I usually reach pushing stage and baby is here in less than 3 contractions of active pushing, but I lost count with my last baby. She wouldn't enter the birth canal. Not at all. I remember saying 'I can't' out loud, and then prayed that God would do something because I couldn't do this without Him. Next contraction, the baby entered the birth canal! The following contraction, she was out! Turns out, she was not facing the right way. She came facing my left leg instead of my spine. However, none of that mattered in the end! She was here! And she was beautiful! All the kids were so excited to meet her, although they had to wait until we came home as there were no visitors allowed in the hospital at all due to the restrictions. Honestly, though, I kind of liked it being just me, my husband, and our newest baby. Blessings in all things, and God knew what I needed. (I did make a video on YouTube of my birth story, but it isn't made public right now. Not sure I want to publish it publicly yet. I might need to make a shorter version for that).
Anyway, Baby K is a year old now. We are planning our 20th anniversary already. I'm homeschooling 5 kids age kindergarten through 9th grade while attempting to keep the farm going. I've been learning new things, like making butter, cottage cheese, yogurt, and I even started canning this last fall! And I've joined the ranks of bird owners, as we got chickens last June, too! I love having my own fresh eggs each morning!
Life is an adventure! It is incredible to me just how much things can change over the years. Time has been hard on us, but we are better for it. And our family is bigger, and I wouldn't change it for the world! God knows what is best for our family, and I just pray for His continued guidance in all things. I need more time with Him, as I feel pulled in so many directions as of late.
How is it possible that my oldest is a young woman already? How is it possible that I've been married almost 20 years now? How is it possible that I'm turning 40 this year? How can it be? I still don't feel much different than I did when having my first baby almost 15 years ago. How is it possible?
The flow of time is swift and harsh. One day, you are young and newly married, then you start having a family and you are a young mom, then you look in the mirror and see an older person than you thought you were looking back at you. How does this happen?
The saying really is true... Time flies.
How did it get so late so soon? It’s night before it’s afternoon. December is here before it’s June. My goodness how the time has flewn. How did it get so late so soon? - Dr. Seuss
Hello everyone! I must apologize for my absence. A lot has happened in the last two years (wow, really? 2 years? Crazy). I realize that I made the rest of my posts for the 'Around the World' with Focus on the Family, but I never polished them and finished them so as to post them for all of you to be able to see! Oh no! So, here they are, very late. I apologize for my tardiness. All will be explained in a future post...
But first... ONWARD!
Hello again, and welcome here! Are you travelling with us around the world with Focus on the Family? If not, why not join in? It is fun, and can be as simple as just following the itinerary they have themselves, or as complex as you wish to make it. I decided to post the links to recipes and youtube videos that I am using with my own kids, as well as the maps and printables I made to go with the 'program' myself. You can view those by clicking the links below.
Aug 26-France I decided to make an artichoke kalericotta pie for breakfast with tea and biscuits, and thenpalmiers for
our picnic lunch.
Mark 6:31-32 31 Then, because
so many people were coming and going that they did not even have a chance to
eat, he said to them, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some
rest.” 32 So they went
away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place pray
And here are the kids prayers.
M - I pray
for France, and thank you that *name of missionary she has been praying for* is helping them in churches.And I pray that more people will go to the
churches and love you
Bram - I pray
for France, and for the churches, and that more people will love You. And now for some links to the National Anthem
"La Marseillaise", a video of a 'kids picture book' of Paris, France, we read our Mickey
Book about France and also watched a video
about facts on the Eiffel tower.
Sweden - Aug 27
We once again did our map and flag work, then found and listened to the Swedish National Anthem - "Du Gamla, Du Fria". We made a dala horse (printable) modified to fit 2 large, 1 medium, and 1 small to one sheet. The kids enjoyed painting theirs. Here is another fun vid -
breakfast around the world.
As silly as it sounds, we went to Ikea, ate lunch there (swedish
meatballs... yum), looked at some of their names and things at the store, as
they are Swedish. And, well, why not use this as an excuse to go to Ikea, right?
Hello everyone! I must apologize for my absence. A lot has happened in the last two years (wow, really? 2 years? Crazy). I realize that I made the rest of my posts for the 'Around the World' with Focus on the Family, but I never polished them and finished them so as to post them for all of you to be able to see! Oh no! So, here they are, very late. I apologize for my tardiness. All will be explained in a future post...
But first... ONWARD!
Hello again, and welcome here! Are you travelling with us around the world with Focus on the Family? If not, why not join in? It is fun, and can be as simple as just following the itinerary they have themselves, or as complex as you wish to make it. I decided to post the links to recipes and youtube videos that I am using with my own kids, as well as the maps and printables I made to go with the 'program' myself. You can view those by clicking the links below.
Proverbs 22:1 A good name is to
be chosen rather than great riches,and favor is better than silver or gold. This time, when I read the clues the kids figured this country out on their own. They colored their flags,
found Egypt on our map, and worked with their stamps and passports. We listened to the national anthem, and watched a few videos on the Pyramids here, here is another one, and yet another. There was also a fun episode of Cyberchase that had an Egypt theme you can watch here.
I managed to write down the kids prayers this time.
Bram - I pray for the people in egypt
that they won't be killed because they love You.I pray that they will be able to live so they can tell others
about you and more people will love you. M - I pray for Egypt that they won't be
killed anymore, and I pray for Focus on the Family to help more and more people
there. For breakfast, I made Ful Medames.
Lebanon - Aug 23
Psalm 92:12 The righteous will flourish like a palm tree,
they will grow like a cedar of Lebanon;
1Thess 5:16-18 Rejoice
always,17 pray continually,18 give thanks in all
circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Besides our usual map and flag work, we played the 'bounce' game. I could not bounce the ball on my head! Barely did 2 bounces. We found balloons much easier.
Here are the kids prayers: Bram - That Christians would
be able to talk to non-Christians so that they could become Christians and that
people won't kill others because they are angry. M - I pray that the
Christians will love their neighbors even if they do bad things and they will
be able to teach about God. Here are some links to a few videos we watched. National Anthem Baalbek (and here, here, and here) Schools 10 places to visit in Lebanon We learned a new word... alhamdoolilah -
praise to God. For supper I made shawarmaand tihini sauce... with peanut butter instead.
Israel - Aug 24 I made chakchouka
for supper only I had no
peppers, so I put in carrots and celery.
We did our usual map and flag work, and the kids prayed. I love reading what they have prayed! I am so glad I wrote these down. M - I pray
for Israel that the people will stop fighting, and that You will protect the
Christians there Bram - I pray
that the wars will stop, and that people will leave Islam and follow God, and
that there will be more Christians. We played hold the
rope and read 1Cor 12:12-31. We then looked at a sabre
fruit, which I must admit, is quite interesting.
Hello everyone! I must apologize for my absence. A lot has happened in the last two years (wow, really? 2 years? Crazy). I realize that I made the rest of my posts for the 'Around the World' with Focus on the Family, but I never polished them and finished them so as to post them for all of you to be able to see! Oh no! So, here they are, very late. I apologize for my tardiness. All will be explained in a future post... But first... ONWARD! Hello again, and welcome here! Are you travelling with us around the world with Focus on the Family? If not, why not join in? It is fun, and can be as simple as just following the itinerary they have themselves, or as complex as you wish to make it. I decided to post the links to recipes and youtube videos that I am using with my own kids, as well as the maps and printables I made to go with the 'program' myself. You can view those by clicking the links below.
So, since we know the USA pretty well (hello, southern neighbors!), we looked at our map and noticed how many states there were. We colored our flags and stamps, then we prayed.
M- that the people would listen to you
Bram - I couldn't hear him as baby Bella was too loud.
As usual, we colored flags,
found Mexico on the map, colored our stamps and glued them into our passports. We went through the clues on the sheet, and I decided to make a few recipes this time. I made homemade tortillas for beef burritos, and then I made hummus, Mexican wedding cookies, and a Mexican sunrise drink. Hopefully all the links work for you so you can try the recipes out yourselves.
Next, we played
Basta as outlined on our worksheet.L was our letter, and the categories
were food, animals, fun things to do, countries, and people names. We also prayed for
Mexico. M - "I pray
for Mexico that they will have safety." Bram - "I pray
for safety for whatever they need safety from." A - "I pray
Mexico, safety in the barn." (how can you tell that I ask for my husband's safety in the barn when we pray often!) We watched a few videos using YouTube as well. One on the anthem, and a few about step pyramids here, here, and here.
Hello again, and welcome here! Are you travelling with us around the world with Focus on the Family? If not, why not join in? It is fun, and can be as simple as just following the itinerary they have themselves, or as complex as you wish to make it. I decided to post the links to recipes and youtube videos that I am using with my own kids, as well as the maps and printables I made to go with the 'program' myself. You can view those by clicking the links below.
And so, our sixth week of our 'travels' took us to South America: Suriname, Bolivia, and Colombia.
Suriname Aug8&9
We found it on a
map, read the clues, colored flag/stamp, and listened to
national anthem " God zij met ons Suriname" with the first verse in dutch, and the second
in Sranan Tongo
We listened to
Kaseko music, and then made drums and
played to it.
I did my best to write down what the kids prayed for, but I couldn't get it all word for word. I love keeping this so I can see it again later. It is wonderful to hear our children pray.
M - That
the word would travel through the rainforests to the people
Bram - that
they would hear of God through the rainforests and that many of them would know
He is the Saviour and that He made everything
The kids wrote the things
they were anxious about and put them on their shoes, ran outside, and then kicked
them off to come inside before our baths/supper. These were the things they wrote.
A - power
going out
Bram -
school, nightmares, needles
M - when the
power goes out, thunder, school, nightmares, spiders
Let us not become
weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not
give up.
Once again, we read the clues, found Bolivia on the map, colored the flag and stamp, and listened to the national anthem.
We also watched a video of a balero, and then watched a video
of the Salar de Uyuni in Bolivia... called the worlds largest salt flat and
God's Mirror. Beautiful. Kids said they want to see it in real life someday.
They don't have
'snacks' here usually, but they have a morning tea time around 10am called merienda, and an
afternoon tea time around 5 called tecito.They like to have baked goods with their tea.Click here for more info.
We learned about
desserts there (they use a lot of coconut and chocolate) and their fruits. See more on that here and here.
We made up our own
'family flags'.
We prayed for
Bolivia-
M - that the
people would know Jesus, that they would have enough food
Bram - that
they would get enough money to buy food
Colombia - Aug 12&13
We read the clues, found Colombia on the map, colored the flag and stamp, and listened to the national anthem. We watched a footbag
or hacky sack tricks video and then tried to play ourselves. We were not successful. Balloons made it easier, though.
Our verses: Leviticus 19:32 'Stand
up in the presence of the aged, show respect for the elderly and revere your
God. I am the LORD.
1 Cor 4:8-9 we
are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not despairing;
persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but
not destroyed;
We played with spinning tops, as per the activity for the day. And we prayed.
M - I pray for the leaders to make
decisions so that people will not be in poverty.
Bram - I pray for the people in
Colombia to have their leaders so that they will not have poverty and will
accept you.
We invited my parents to come for
supper, to serve them first, oldest
to youngest.
