Graduation

Yesterday morning Conrad graduated and officially received his PhD! It was a long and boring ceremony but he walked across the stage and was hooded by his own supervisor, which was really nice. It’s a bit strange because he was done months ago and now he graduates so it’s a bit anticlimactic. We had a few people over tonight to celebrate – we had a good evening (chocolate fondue ...Mmmm…. don’t you wish you were here for that??) We plan to go away next Friday for a night too which we’re really looking forward to. I hope you all have a blessed Sunday!

Toddlerlogical

The other day I over heard this conversation between Anneke and Lukas:

A: "Do you want to play house Lukas? I'll be the Mom and you can be the kid, but the Daddy's not here because he's dead."

L: "No! I want to be the Dad and you can be the kid and the Mommy's dead."

A: "That can't be Lukas because Daddy's are older so they die first."

Now that, folks, is what I call Toddlerlogical!

Exciting mail, free fabric and a finished project!

One day last week I went to get the mail and this was in it:

Not very often do I get something fun like this in the mail! This already made it a great day but then later in the afternoon the courier came to the door with my order from ConnectingThreads! What an exciting day!! I had ordered lots of thread as I didn't have much cotton thread. I bought a neutral set, a bright set and a few extra of the natural. In the sets they were only $1.59 per spool of 1200 yards and separately they were $1.99!! I don't think you can get that anywhere else. I have to thank my sister for telling me about that place. Anyways, in order to pay only $7 for shipping I bought a charm pack (what a hardship :) ) and some 1/4" tape.



This morning at quilting JW had brought a whole bunch of fabric she didn't want after cleaning and sorting her fabric closet. I found a bunch of stuff to build up my collection! First some fabrics that I know one day I could use for a quilt...

Then two pieces of a bright, tropical print that I thought would be really fun for some beach dresses for the girls, or maybe even backing on my bright quilt one day. We'll see...

The last pieces are an orangy-peach and green of the same fabric. My first thought was skirts or summer pajamas for the girls...



This last picture is of my "nephew" Ben. I had promised to make PJ's for his birthday back in April but I just finished them tonight! I guess it's better late than never and it's just in time for the cool weather. I was glad they fit! Isn't he cute?

Thanksgiving

This past weekend we had a special day to be celebrate Thanksgiving. I believe that everyday we need to be thankful and live out of thankfulness for Christ's saving work. It is nice to have a day to be reminded of all the things we should be thankful for and to realize again how abundantly we have been blessed. We spent Sunday evening with friends from church and on Monday we had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner with relatives/friends. The strangest part of the weekend was the weather. It was so, so hot and humid and felt like the middle of August. It didn't feel like we should be eating a big dinner. Conrad and the kids even went for a swim! Yesterday it cooled right down though and now it's only 10 degrees so hopefully we get some nice, cool, fall weather.

Yesterday I got to see my best friend! She was visiting her family for a few extra days after the weekend so I went with the kids for the day. It was really nice, especially to see eachother's kids again. The part that always feels funny is that you feel like you should be talking and catching up because it's been half a year but because we always talk on the phone we ended up not talking about much of consequense yesterday. I think we talk better on the phone :) I forgot my camera so I don't have any pictures to share but I'll post some when C sends me some.

Crafts, Duplo and the beginning of Autumn

I think one of the best parts of being a Mom is watching your kids be creative. Anneke and Lukas love to colour, draw, cut and paste. It is amazing to see them learn how to control a pen or felt and then start making shapes, people and so on. Last week We got some huge pieces of paper from a friend and the kids spent over an hour making some wonderful posters. It was a big mess but definately worth it!

This is our family that Anneke made

Lukas drawing beds :)

The kids, Tessa included, love duplo. We have a lot of it, some bought new, a lot given to us and some really good deals at the second hand store. Hours and hours of fun!

Lukas playing knights (who do you think started that one??)

On Sunday after church we went for a walk around the stadium, by the river which is right across the road. I forget that the river is so close by. It was a beautiful day and the trees are just starting to turn colour although that's a bit hard to tell on the pictures. We saw lots of Canada Geese. Does that mean they're on there way south already?