New Typepad Blog

The last couple of weeks has been an interesting blogging journey for me. For a variety of reasons, I have decided to start a blog with typepad. I am enjoying blogging so much and my MOMthought blog holds a special place in my heart. Thank you so much everyone for all the positive feed back through emails, personal comments and comments on the blog. I really appreciate it a lot!!!!! I hope you continue to visit my new blog at www.suchthings.ca (it would have cost me $1000 for suchthings.com) as it grows.

Snowshoeing

Ever since last winter I have wanted to go on a showshoing adventure with our family. Each weekend, either the weather hasn’t been that great, or something is happening. Well, this weekend was supposed to be great weather, and no plans, so we packed up, grabbed a McDonalds breakfast and off we went to Cypress. The weather was fantastic and very warm! In fact it was so mild that we could feel a warm breeze in the air even at the top of the mountain. Everyone got snowshoes and the tiniest were for Megan. We set off into the woods.

We hiked through the shady and sunny parts of the woods, getting a feel for the snowshoes and checking the bird signs as we went.

We all cheered, reaching the clearing near Hollyburn Lodge. The snow was beaming from the sun. You can’t go snowshoeing without stopping at the lodge for lunch!

We ate outside in the snow. We had lots to entertain us: people, kids, lovers and a couple of interesting birds, including a Steller’s Jay and a “Grey Jay” (that’s what someone called it). The Grey Jay had quite the personality and he got quite to us. In fact, he even ate a piece of bread off of Mark’s hand. I wish I’d caught a photo of that! The girls laughed, rolled in the snow and pulled each other and Myles in the sled. Myles was most curious about the snow, but he did not enjoy touching it. He prefered to point at it and describe it with a “dugga! dugga!”

We did one more loop after lunch on a path opening to snowbanks between the trees and passing crosscountry skiiers. By the end of the loop Mark was carrying Myles in the backpack and pulling both girls in the sled. There had been some crying and Miranda’s feet felt cold and wet from her boots. It was one of those days where nothing could spoil my enthusiasm. My spirits were soaring as I took in the scenery, sun and company of my hub and kids.

As we left the parking lot, we took some secretive photos of people sunning themselves on the mountain. Miranda was protesting as we took them “Mommy, what if they see you!!!”, but just look at them in shorts on top of Cypress. Imagine.

Quilting

On the topic of quilts, which followed the beloved topic of lint in my last post, I was excited to receive a personal email from Jeanne Williamson, who wrote The Uncommon Quilter. I also came upon a blog called allsorts with a most lovely quilt story. I haven’t quilted myself, (apart from a baby doll blanket that my mom helped me with, which I still have, in fact), but from a young age, I remember the women in my church gathering together to do “quilting”. I remember being in their presence as they sewed the pieces and lengths of fabric, as their hands worked with the thread and their quilts grew to completion. There is such depth to a quilt as each patch, stitch and piece of fabric has a story to tell. There could be a lot of metaphors drawn here, but I will relate it back to lint, because lint has a special depth of its own, especially when it is infrequently removed from the lint trap.

Lint

Here I am writing again about my fascination with dryer lint. I noticed that I have not had a lot of hits to my blog about lint, but I know that it will soon become all the rage. Lint is great. It is free. It is fluffy. It is warm. It is soft. It is thick and it can grow. It is a fabulous recycling material. It can even come in different colours.

I have been searching the web for other lint-lovers, such as myself.

Here are some more lint sculptures:

The second picture is purple blanket lint. They come from a

National Lint Project.

Some more unique uses of lint:

Dryer Lint Birds nest

The Uncommon Quilter

The last one is an artist called Jeanne Williamson who uses lint as a design element in her fabulous quilts. The Uncommon Quilter is her newly published book. She has a blog with many posts related to dryer lint.

I have a great love of the concept, “beauty from ashes.” It comes from one of my favourite verses in the Bible:

“To bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning and a garment of praise instead of despair.”

Isaiah 61:3

God can take anything ugly: a heart, an attitude, an emotion, an action, even lint, and transform it into something incredible to use for his good purpose.

Competence

“It is God who arms me with strength and makes my way perfect. He makes my feet like the feet of a deer; he enables me to stand on the heights.”

Psalm 18:32-33

Secrets

A most interesting blog that I have added to my blogroll is about secrets.

I have a secret to share as well. Sometimes on a Friday night, after the kids are in bed, I find an excuse to drive out in the Malibu and I crank (I mean really crank) the tunes on Battle of the Beats.

More Than a Conqueror

Please have a look at my new blog: www.sucthings.ca

“In all these things [trouble, hardship, persecution, famine, nakedness, famine and sword] we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.”

Romans 8:37[35]

I don’t know about famine, nakedness or persecution in my life, but how about meltdowns for not having a playdate, getting three children to school on time and staying on top of the laundry? My kids have had a lot of flus in the last month and I have found myself feeling frustrated, overwhelmed and drained. I had a good chuckle at a post in the Chicken blog, along similar lines.

God says that we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. What does it mean to be a conqueror? I started to google female warriors (and a lot of very interesting images came up, I tell you!) One female warrior that I love is Eowyn from Lord of the Rings; her zest, courage and fighting spirit.

Sometimes it feels like we are in a vicious battle. Her expression above reminds me of how I felt just this morning, trying to get three kids ready for school, resorting to nagging and debating with an also emotional three-and-a-half year old.

It is good to remind ourselves that there really is no battle. Jesus has the victory and we are victors with him. We can rest confidently in His power and love. No matter our feelings, actions and irritations, God is on our side! Of course a little extra sleep, never hurts either. There. I feel better already just writing this post.

Cactus

The girls were intrigued by some cacti that uniquely grew on the beach shore at Hornby. When we got home I noticed a bright cactus at the store and I thought they would enjoy planting it and caring for it at home.

Our little pet cactus

Ferry Ride

Sometimes I don’t have my camera when I wish I did, such as the ferry ride home from Hornby. We ate lunch and then walked up to the deck so the kids could run around. They especially love jumping off the “boxes” that are placed about. I’m not even sure what they’re for—life vests, I think. It was a clear, sunny sky and terrifically windy. The girls ran, squealing, and we ended up making our way to the very back of the boat. There we found a haven free from the wind. The sun beamed onto the deck and all we could see was ocean for miles around. The girls sat, skipped and peered over the rail, watching the wide foaming wake, while Myles did his “scoot” crawl. Mark and I leaned back on the ship’s wall and relaxed, watching the trees on the shoreline, and small islands, some with only a lighthouse. The water was sparkling and for one amazing moment, a sail boat passed directly under the sun which was creating an extra-bright triangle on the water. It’s hard to know how to end this scene, except to say praise God for that moment. I’m in love with the beauty of B.C.

Island Nature

Think on things that are lovely, excellent and praiseworthy.

Helliwell Provincial Park

Nature is a child’s playground.

Nature is also my playground.

We first toured this park with our friends on a windy afternoon.

I sensed the power and majesty of God displayed by the breaking waves, cliffs, wind-bent treetops, distant views of snowy mountains, vast ocean and tiny islands. I loved it so much that I returned for a run the next morning.

The scene was transformed without the wind. The sun was rising, shining on the water and the panoramic view reminded me of Peter and Aslan on a hilltop overlooking the expanse of Narnia. Mark and I returned to Helliwell next morning with our camera for a sunrise walk. Each time I find something beautiful, I want to see it again and again.

“For the LORD is the great God, the great King above all gods. In his hands are the depths of the earth, and the mountainpeaks belong to him. The sea is his, for he made it, and his hands formed the dry land.”

Psalm 95:3-5