Rob, Jacki, Elianna, & Joshua

Just in case you're still checking...

2009-09-07T13:13:00.002-07:00

Just in case you're still checking up on our blog, I'm sad (and kinda happy) to say that I won't be posting any more...for a while, at least. Our computer refuses to connect to the internet and we've decided we like it that way! Every month the amount of spare time we have becomes more and more limited, and quite frankly, I can't afford to spend that time on the internet anymore! So instead of the blog, I'll be sending a monthly update letter by snail mail to Rob's family so they can keep up to date with their only grandchildren. If there are any of you out there who are overwhelmed with grief by the prospect of not keeping up to date with the growth of our family and children, leave a comment....perhaps I can send you a letter, too. :) But you must be overwhelmed with grief or else I can't justify the postage.
Who knows, mybe I'll be back sooner than expected. I'll keep ya posted! Bye for now, friends!

A HOUSE FOR THE BALFOURS!!

2009-08-03T14:49:00.002-07:00

Well I stole away to my parents' computer room so I could share our wonderful news with all our friends (our internet's still down):

As of last wednesday, we are finally home-owners!

In February of this year we began to pray for a house. And then we waited. And prayed. And waited. And then about two weeks ago we officially started looking...quite certain that God already had a house picked out for us - we just needed to find it.

On Saturday of last week we went to look at two houses. Both of them were alright, but they were over our budget, and they both needed a lot of work - two ingredients for disaster. After looking at the second house we felt a bit discouraged, wondering just how long this journey was going to take, and if there was actually anything out there in our price range.

So we went onto the yard of this house and were chatting with our real estate agent and my parents when my Uncle Ron and Aunt Jo drove past. They happen to live two doors down the street, so they waved us over to chat.

Very shortly into our conversation they shared that they had just put in an offer on a house that they loved. I eyed their house and with a hesitant hope in my heart asked, "How much are you thinking of selling your house for?" (and I was thinking much, much more than our budget.)

When they shared with us their asking price our jaws dropped - because it was EXACTLY our budget...only their house is bigger and better than anything we had imagined we could afford!

In fact, it's a 5 bedroom split level home!!

Within a few days, everything was settled...and we are the happy new owners of a home that goes above and beyond what we ever imagined. God is so faithful. Can hardly wait to have y'all over!!
p.s. We needed a washer and dryer for this house and recently began to pray about that. Today we moved our new washer and dryer - in great condition - which we paid FIFTY dollars for - to our future garage. FIFTY DOLLARS! We do serve an awesome God!

BC Trip

2009-07-20T18:53:00.008-07:00

Wow, I must be in summer holiday mode.

It’s very rare that I have to report news from two weeks ago, but sadly, that’s the case today! It’s been two weeks now since we got back from our extremely WONDERFUL trip to Vernon, B.C. It was refreshing (as refreshing as a trip with two small kids can be), and full of family, friends and of course, fun!
The kids are blessed with two sets of wonderful grandparents. I am always amazed to watch them reconnect with their BC grandparents as though no time has passed at all. In this case, we hadn’t seen Rob’s folks for almost a year. Yet before we even left the airport on arrival, Ellie and Grandma were stuck like glue, and before bedtime that first night Joshua was asking to be held by Grandpa.
That being said, when I was sorting through the photos of our trip, I could NOT figure out how to minimize them to a number small enough to make a reasonably sized blog post. So I decided to simply post my favourite photos of the kids with their treasured BC Grandparents…two of God’s best gifts in our lives!

Thanks, Mom and Dad for a wonderful, unforgettable time.

(p.s. for those of you with Facebook accounts, I posted the rest of our holiday photos there)

Father's Day @ the Zoo

2009-06-27T18:27:00.008-07:00

Father's day was a smashing good time this year. Due to the pajama nature of our home photos (and not much time to post this)...I'll skip straight to the zoo part of the day. We loved it so much last year, we decided to do it again this year! As always, the zoo was a great place for the kids to be cute and excited so that this mom could take a bunch of pictures. :) I think I may have forgotten to look at the animals.

Waiting for everyone to show up.

Joshua is currently the best poser in the family.

Waiting in line. They weren't quite as patient as they look. :)

Checking out the bears.

One super auntie.

Joshua shows the bear who's boss!

He relates strongly to things that growl.

It'll be a while before they get their drivers.

Hehe...they almost lost their lunches!

Nana couldn't resist renting the safari jeep. I think it paid off, Dad. :)

Regan on the camel she bailed from shortly after.

Josh trying to feed his hat to the camels.

Mr. Independent. Holding hands was not on the menu that day.

Totally captivated by the zebras. Me, captivated by their captivation.

Mr. Smiles (a.k.a. Drew)

Auntie Dana is always good for an adventure...like peacock chasing, for instance.

After the entire zoo, they still had enough energy for jumping high.

You are a wonderful Dad and Grandpa, and we love you!!

Summer Lovin'! (few words necessary)

2009-06-19T18:34:00.007-07:00

A sunny afternoon with our friend Kiera.

Josh drinks any liquid he can find. It's a little scary at times.

Bubbles!

Josh is a super helper. :)

Snack time!

Walkin' time!

Going...going...

Gone!

Ellie dressed herself that day.

Josh washing my floors. :) And his hair.
I don't think he drank this stuff...while I was looking, anyways.

"A DAH!" (A truck)

Garage sale finds...a.k.a. 'treasures'. Nana's a bit of a sucker and buys them whatever they feast their little eyes on. :)

Cleaning a garage sale treasure.

Cleaning the front door.

Watering everything in sight!

Growing up

2009-06-07T13:47:00.020-07:00

Well, it's been a changing week in the Balfour household...for the two littlest Balfours, anyways. There's been three major developments since your last update:

1.
As of yesterday, at the ripe old age of 17 months and 4 days, Joshua finally became an official walker! Yes, I know I posted a video of him walking towards the camera AGES ago, but that's about all he's done since then. Not that he didn't love walking. He was quite obsessed with and persistent about going for "a WAW!" (a walk) many times during the day (particularly when outside) but would refuse to do so without my index finger squeezed in between his drooly little fingers. Everyone commented on how steady he was, yet he showed no signs of wanting to do it permanently on his own.

Well, Saturday while I was at work (of course!) the Lord answered a prayer I had prayed just that morning. Early in the day I had asked him for a miracle for each one of us (since God is in the business of miracles!), and for Joshua I asked for the miracle of confidence and a desire to walk on his own. I wasn't feeling particularly disturbed or concerned about him not walking, but I had a feeling he would be over the moon if he had a bit more independence. (The old Joshua)

Wouldn't you know, later that afternoon Joshua began walking by himself at the park! At the end of the day when my little family came to pick me up from Hallmark, my jaw hung on the floor as I saw him walking the hallway of the mall...on his own! Life is already completely different. As I'm doing dishes or cooking supper Joshua tirelessly walks 'the circle' (through the kitchen, the dining room, the living room, back to the kitchen). When he enters he proudly yells "BOO!" or "HIYEE!". And as he leaves he yells, "BYE-BYE!" He seriously couldn't be more proud of himself. Today I went to the library with the kids, and for the first time spent a good amount of time chasing after a giggling Joshua, ripping up and down the aisles. I'm going to have to figure out a way to get the child to 'COME'...he's far too excited to listen! (any ideas out there? Ellie always stuck pretty close.)

(The new Joshua)

So, within two days of him walking, he figured out how to walk backwards, run, and walk with a juice cup hanging out of his mouth and something in each hand. He also enjoys walking over obstacles (like blankets) and stepping off small steps. Silly kid! Talk about waiting longer than necessary!

2.
The next major development has to do with Ellie's hair. :) On Thursday morning Ellie and I were scheduled to go for a "haircut date" while leaving Joshua at a friend's house. Ellie LOVES going to the hairdressers, so I usually try to make an occasion of it. Well, Wednesday night I was thinking about this upcoming appointment and with a little nausea in the pit of my belly, decided that it was probably time to cut Ellie's hair short. The hair elastics I've been using (the only ones that stay in) have been tearing Ellie's hair, and she's also been harvesting a whole new crop of wispy shorter hairs that don't fit into any ponytail or braid...which leaves her hair in extreme disarray about 20 minutes after I try combing it! So I talked to Rob - and Ellie - and we all decided it was time for....A BOB! Here are the before and after pictures:

(Ellie before)

(Ellie after..she wasn't much into posing that day :)

3. And lastly, and this one was the best thing of all! Thursday afternoon Ellie decided to ask Jesus into her heart! For those of you who might be unfamiliar, "if you confess with your mouth 'Jesus is Lord' and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved." (Romans 10:9) Somewhere along the way folks began using the term 'asking Jesus into your heart' as a way of choosing him to be Lord of your life. Well, after being at our friends' house that day (and Ellie heard Auntie Brenda explaining how her son Justice had asked Jesus into his heart) I suppose Ellie thought it was time to make this decision! I was downstairs putting Joshua down for a nap when Ellie got on the potty and sat there waiting for me to come back and wipe her bum. When I came upstairs she called out from the bathroom, "Mommy, Guess what! I asked JESUS into my heart!" My initial reaction was that she had simply been copying what she heard. So I went in and asked her, "What did it sound like?" And she readjusted herself on the potty so she wouldn't fall in, folded her hands and squeezed her eyes tightly shut and said, "Lord Jesus, please come live in my heart. AMEN. Like THAT Mommy!" And the angels in heaven celebrated...because that's what they do whenever anyone makes that best decision of their lives! I pray that little seed in Ellie's heart will sprout into a lifelong commitment to walking close with God, because that is what she was made to do, and there's nothing in the world that compares to the joy found in knowing Him!!

Youch!

2009-05-27T13:45:00.002-07:00

I can see now why they call them WISDOM teeth - because it would be much WISER to keep them in! On Saturday I went under the knife and got all four wisdom teeth removed. I refused to think about what was going to happen ahead of time, and good thing, too. If I had known how hard this resulting week was going to be, I would have been a ball of nerves! My pride told me I was going to be one of those 'tough cookies' that was eating steak the night after surgery. NOPE! Apparently 'Jacki' and 'tough cookie' are no longer synonymous (if they ever were). The picture above was taken the day of the surgery, when my swelling was still minor. I slept most of that day and night, as the anesthetic took a loooong time to wear off.

The following two days I blew up till my cheeks looked and felt like they were going to bust open. I seriously looked like some sort of alien creature, or in Rob's words, "Like you let loose for six months and only ate frosting." Hehe! Someone called our house on Monday and talked to Ellie, who told them mommy was resting at Nana's house because, "her cheeks blowed up." I refused to get my picture taken on those days, because every time I looked in a mirror I felt like crying (and sometimes did). Anyhow, I didn't actually write this post to complain. I'm now on day 4 and am still swollen, but mostly just bruised and sleepy and somewhat drugged up. So I haven't had the space of mind to blog. Excuse number two, in addition to our internet still being on the fritz!
Will post more updates on the cute ones in the family when my brain is off drugs!

The sun will come out tomorrow!! (we hope)

2009-05-15T18:50:00.012-07:00

Sorry about the slackiness in blog posts lately...but our internet crashed. And we're not trying to fix it. Some days it drives me absolutely mental that I can't look up the weather forecast or see pictures of Lisa's gorgeous new baby....but mostly it's been wonderful. I didn't think I spent much time on the internet, but I'm truly getting a lot more done without it! Naptimes are actually more refreshing without Facebook! Huh! Who would have guessed! ANYHOW, I'm at my parents' place now, and I will continue to post from here every two weeks or so until we decide to get the computer problem fixed.

For today I've decided to post all our happiest memories from the last two weeks. If I were to post pictures of today there would be SNOWFLAKES - that's right - SNOWFLAKES in the picture! We are totally experiencing Manitoba at it's worst! But we have had some beautiful days and some beautiful fun. (p.s. I just noticed that Joshua is wearing the same thing in every photo. No, these aren't all taken on the same day! The child can walk, but chooses to crawl. His little track suit is saving the life of all his pants :) Just in case y'all were wondering!)

Enjoy!

A Saturday's grocery shopping trip for picnic food and a morning at the park!

Random fun:

The overwhelming enthusiasm of a little boy permitted to play with water!

What happens when Ellie combs her own hair. :)

Joshua + Sippy Cup = True Love

My favourite girl on this planet!
The messiest boy on this planet!

An evening at Southwood School park:

"Hey there. Like my soother?"

The perfect end to a great evening: Dairy Queen!

Mother's Day wiener roast in Sandilands:

Ellie making Nana eat her homemade pretend soup.

Doing 'guy stuff'.
My birthday pie!!! YUMMMMM!!!

Surprise, Nana!!

Writing out Nana's card.

These two are inseparable!

Quite pleased about the Dorito chips!

The adorable Drew!!

Ellie conning Auntie Dana into eating her homemade pretend soup.
Jon and Dexter.

Sweet cousins!

Ellie-isms Part IV

2009-04-30T10:25:00.008-07:00

As Ellie grows she continues to distract us from the fact that we don't have TV in the house - because she is the entertainment! (along with her side-kick Josh, of course. I'm sure I'll be doing Josh-isms any day now with the amount of spunk, humor, and cuteness he is currently displaying).

One of Ellie's favourite games to play (fairly regularly) is Miriam and Moses. Any time she spies an empty basket, the temptation proves to be too much for her. She quickly locates any willing candidate to be Moses (in this case, "Pink Piggy"), drapes her blanky over her head and becomes his big sister Miriam:Another favourite activity is role-playing the story of Zacchaeus and Jesus (from Luke 19 if you're not familiar with it.) Usually it's Ellie who climbs up onto the top of the chair and yells for "Jesus" to come catch her (any one of us will do). In this particular case she decided Rob needed to be Zacchaeus in the tree:

They had me giggling when "Zacchaeus" jumped into "Jesus'" arms.

And some other excerpts from Ellie's journal...

Mommy: "Ellie, what is your full name?"
Ellie: "Ellie Joy MRS. Balfour!"
Ellie's take on the four seasons: "Now comes snow, then spring, then fall and then GRASS!"

To Rob, upon finding my bra lying on my bed (while I was at work): "*Gasp* Look! It's mommy's BOOBY thing!"

One morning I turned on some praise and worship music to listen to. Ellie asked if I was going to listen to Brain Doerksen (Rob's favourite). "Nope," I replied,"I'm going to listen to Kathryn Scott." Ellie thought about this for a while and then said, "My worship leader is called RAFFI."
(Any old Raffi fans out there?)

One afternoon Ellie was playing pretend with Rob, who was feeling rather sluggish and wouldn't get off the couch. So Ellie improvised: "You can be 'Mr. On-The-Couch' and I will be 'Mrs. Mommy-In-The-Whole-Wide-World.'"

One can tell very easily that Ellie is a firstborn girl who has had no exposure to guns. She loves to play camping. And there's always a bear that comes along. Ellie bravely goes out to 'hunt' the bear (having heard the word 'hunt' before), and proceeds to jump around yelling "HUNT! HUNT! HUNT!" She's always a little unsure what to do with her hands. I love it. I wonder how long until Josh teaches her how it's really done? :)

Ever since she received one for her birthday, Ellie has had an unusual way of pronouncing the word "cash register". One day Ellie, Rob and I were all in the kitchen getting supper ready one when I realized that Josh was being very quiet by himself in the living room. "Ellie," I said, "Could you go to the living room and make sure Joshua isn't getting into trouble?" "I'll go see," says Ellie. So she took a few steps, peered into the living room and said,
"Nope!
He's not in trouble.
He's just playing with the CASTRATOR."

For Grandpa on his 90th Birthday

2009-04-25T12:20:00.006-07:00

Hi Grandpa,

We're really sorry we couldn't be there for your party. Instead, Rob tapped into the poet within and made this little video in your honor. HAPPY BIRTHDAY!

Lots of love,
Rob and Jacki and Josh and Ellie
p.s. The quality is quite poor. We couldn't seem to get it to run any better.

Hangin' Out

2009-04-20T05:45:00.008-07:00

When I uploaded my photos onto the computer the other day, I realized (to a true blogger's delight) that if I stretched it a little bit (okay, maybe a lot), they all had something in common: HANGIN' OUT. Let me illustrate:

We had a grand total of TWO nice days last week (I feel like I'm in Vancouver again!) but we enjoyed every moment of them. Ellie was ecstatic to be allowed to HANG OUT on our newly snow-free deck...
And Joshua was too! There is nothing that quite compares to watching the wonder on a baby's face as they discover a world they can't remember from the year before. Joshua was busy for a loong time crawling in and out of our patio doors, amazed that there was actually a way out of our apartment that he could navigate himself! He, too, was more than thrilled to HANG OUT in the great outdoors:

Lately Ellie has discovered a new favourite place to HANG OUT:On top of Daddy. In fact HANGING OFF of Daddy is just as, if not more fun:

(Ellie likes to called Daddy "Rinky Dinky Donkey" when she rides his back. I can't decide if it's downright hilarious or borderline disrespectful. :)

Last week when our friend Tyler was over, he taught Joshua a skill he'd been trying to master for months: getting on the couch (strangely enough, Tyler was here two years ago when Ellie learned the same thing.) So this is most definitely Joshua's favourite place to HANG OUT:Ellie, of course, also appreciates the couch, but has recently learned it's more fun to HANG upside-down, often pretending to be a bat......but sometimes for a good read, as well.

Lately it's become apparent that I have TWO big fans of dressing up in the house. I guess Joshua is just following the only example he knows - Ellie. Here she is with her 25 cents worth of necklaces from our local thrift store. The necklaces are, of course HANGING around her neck.

It's not uncommon for us to find things HANGING around Joshua's neck quite regularly, like this necklace and headband combo, for instance:

Or his ultimate favourite, a stethoscope:

And speaking of all things HANGING, here's one more to leave you with - the concentration drool. Always hanging! It's the most disgusting when he starts to play with the sticky drool strings.

So there you have it. You're more than welcome to come HANG OUT with us anytime. :)

Easter Weekend

2009-04-13T18:13:00.008-07:00

Hi Everyone! Hope you all had a great Easter weekend! Ours was busy but peaceful...and really fun. My camera battery was dead during a lot of the festivities, but here are a few memories that did actually get captured:

Ellie bought some finger paints with her birthday money from Grandpa and Grandma Balfour and we used them to paint Easter pictures for friends. The one in this photo isn't an Easter picture, but it's the only one where Ellie was smiling for me...sort of. She was too busy concentrating! I hardly heard a peep from her for an hour - finger paints are a new best friend in our home! (Grandpa and Grandma, check your mailbox this week!)

Friday we celebrated Easter dinner with my family. My sister Dana made this cheesecake that I not only ate but ENJOYED immensely...changing my opinion about cheesecake entirely! I can now see why it can be a weakness for some people. Like my brother-in-law, Jon, for instance. :)

(I appreciate this guy. He never lets me down when I make him pose for the camera.)

We had a friend from church, Charon, join us, and the girls quickly warmed up to her (anyone willing to read a story is a dear dear friend!)

Ellie and Auntie Dana enjoying a moment:

Dad barbequed his best chicken breasts and thighs EVER (mouth is watering all over again):

Speaking of mouths watering, Joshua drooled and teethed the whole weekend, as always (2 more teeth and we should get a break until the 2 year molars start...we hope!)After supper the kids got to search for the sweet treasures Nana had hid for them in the basement (Ellie's first ever Easter hunt) and it was awesome to see the girls' eyes bulging at the mass quantities of chocolate eggs that were laid out for us adults.

Saturday I worked all day. And watched a movie with Rob in the evening.

Then on Sunday morning we had an incredibly amazing time at church. The morning started off with Calvary Kids Praise doing their Easter dances. The older kids were amazing but for the sake of time I have left them out of the video. Here's Ellie and her class doing their dance (note how 'out of it' Ellie is until she sees me and her teacher motioning her to put her ribbons down. :) She gets a bit mesmerized by the crowds.)

The best part about the service was all the baptisms that took place. Just three people were slated to get baptized, and ELEVEN ended up getting baptized instead! There weren't many dry eyes in the house. There's no better way, in my opinion, to celebrate that fact that Jesus was raised to life than witnessing others doing the same thing symbolically!

When we got home from church I ran inside and made a trail of paper Easter eggs (that Rob and I had colored while watching our movie the night before) that led the kids to their Easter presents:
New placemats! Boy that sounds lame whenever I say it, but they are truly great placemats. :) The kids love them. (And they're not loaded with sugar!)

Do you see what I mean? I no longer have to rush to get food on the table. They're too busy being entertained by their placemats to notice if there's food or not. :)

Sunday evening we had our friends Tyler and Doris over for supper which was wonderful...and that brought us to the end of a very busy, very fun weekend.

So like I asked at Valentines day...what was YOUR favourite part of Easter this year? Did anyone come up with any brilliant ideas for teaching your children the true meaning of Easter while the chocolate and bunnies were dribbling down their chins? Do tell!

Growth Spurt

2009-04-06T11:50:00.004-07:00

Although this has been a relatively uneventful month for the rest of us, Joshua has been busier than ever. He turned 15 months on Thursday, so I thought I'd post an update on his growth in the last 31 days:

He sprouted 6 teeth. That, my friends, involves a LOT of drool (as well as several tantrums and early morning wakeups).

He added more than a dozen words to his vocabulary. You can imagine my surprise when I walked into his room one morning and said, "Hi Joshua!" He said, "HI!" So I said, "How are you?" And he shouted, "GOOOOOD!" He's "GOOOOD!" every single morning now. It's impossible not to start off the day smiling.

This month Joshua grew out of most of his pants. He's taller than any other baby his age that we know.

He also learned to get on Ellie's step stool. He managed to do this before church this Sunday. I couldn't get over how mature he looked...

...combing his own hair! (And lovin' it!)What happened to my baby?

Anyhow, the most exciting thing of all that occured this month is best captured on video:

Oh No, Oh No - We Got More Snow!

2009-03-30T12:26:00.005-07:00

If Manitoba were a child and I were her mother, I would declare that she needs discipline. She is out of control. Absolutely no respect. Every spring she taunts us with a week or two of warm weather.
The sun comes out.
We spot a robin or two.
The snow melts...and melts BIG time.
We should know better, but we start to dream of barbeques and flip flops and walks in the park. We think, "This year is different. This year we will truly begin spring in MARCH, like our good friends in the United States. Ahhh. What a life!"

And just when we're all adequately delusional, we get up one morning to find out that Manitoba has done it once again:She's dumped on us.
As most of you know we got a brutal storm this week that iced the roads and coated them in over a foot of snow. Schools were cancelled and we were housebound!
So we spent three whole days in the house (and for those of you who know me well, this is a fairly big deal. Daily (or almost daily) outings are part of what makes us a happy, somewhat peaceful family!) We did our best to make the most of it. Because, after all, this is the LAST snow we're going to get this year. (Didja hear that, you dysfunctional climate??)

So we brought some snow inside and 'made soup' and 'shovelled hay'...and ate it, of course.
Then we'd do the dishes to warm up little fingers. (Yup, both activities made a big mess...but I ended up with a cleaner house as a result!)
We read books...
...and ate leftover birthday ice cream.
Delicious!!
Watched a few too many movies and wore cool hats.
Learned to use a spoon...and were quite satisfied with this new skill! (although talk about being messier than his big sister ever was! When he had sufficient amounts of rice stuck to his hands he'd wave them around, sending rice flying all over the kitchen.)

As the week progressed, sanity levels seemed to decline quickly. Here's Ellie pretending that her pink pig is retching into a bowl. The sound effects were surprisingly realistic:

Sibling rivalry went up (these were the smiles right before the tears):

And energy levels soared!

But we are survivors. The house is still in tact and we all still love each other madly. And we even got one great snowman out of the deal, thanks to my dad!

So Manitoba, it's time for a talk. You need to get into line. The Vernal Equinox has passed. We've done our time indoors. Our fingers are calloused from zipping up parkas and tugging on boots. Our cheeks are chapped, our fingers are dry, and our lungs are begging for fresh air.
Spring IS coming...or it better be, anyways. That's all I have to say about that.

A few thoughts as Ellie turns three...

2009-03-23T12:11:00.005-07:00

Whenever the kids celebrate a birthday I find myself (as you probably do too) musing about WHO they are, how far they've come, and how glad I am that God decided (out of kazillions of possibilities) for exactly ELLIE and JOSH to be our kids. He sure knows how to pick 'em!

To try and keep this short and sweet, here are three things that bless me the most about three year old Ellie:

1. Her EBULLIENCE. She is super cheerful (90% of the time :) and full of energy! From day one she had lungs and at three weeks a killer smile. At 4 months she had strangers at the grocery store stopping in their tracks because her happy shriek was so incredibly loud that she sounded like a sort of prehistoric bird. By six 1/2 months she was talking. At 10 months she'd yell "HI!" to anyone who'd listen, and by a year she had over 2 dozen words...and hasn't slowed down since. There are a few negatives to her talkative nature (teaching her to not to interrupt adults, my daily SANITY, etc.) but mostly it's been hilarious and way too fun - especially since I'm chatty too. Ellie sees the positive side of almost anything, and reminds me a lot of my favourite classic Disney personality - Pollyanna.

2. Another one of my favourite qualities in Ellie is her heart to encourage others. She will often lean over towards a friend and say, "Wow, that's a really beautiful picture you colored!". Today at biblestudy group when her favourite toddler, Benjamin, smiled at her she quipped, "That's a great smile, Benjamin! Great smiling!" Or sitting at the table in the morning she will spontaneously say things like, "You are my best mommy in the whole world!" The day before Ellie's birthday we decided to take her out for pizza as a special treat. After we had finished our pizza and paid our bill we were about to head out the door. Ellie had about 3 old ladies in the waiting area asking her questions and giggling at her answers when suddenly Ellie looked up and gasped, "OH! I forgot to tell the lady she made great pizza!!" So we had to go back to find our teenage waitress and Ellie shouted over the noise, "You make great pizza!!" That sure earned her a fast lollipop!
3. A third beautiful quality in Ellie is her quickness to forgive - and apologize. She's suddenly come to the point where if we're having a tough morning, and I say, "Boy, it's a tough morning Ellie, hey?" She'll go, "Mommy, I'm really sorry I...(fill in blank)" and she's always dead on with something she did that wasn't obedient, etc.. And it's very rare that I ask her for forgiveness for something that I've done that she doesn't come up with something to apologize about too. It's a wonderful place to be at - both of us knowing we can fail each other, but that there's always grace and forgiveness to be found. Of course as we forge ahead into year three there are many new challenges that are arising (I am not oblivious to the kids' flaws by any means!), but the point of this post is to bless. These are some of the things that make Rob and I get teary-eyed at night as we think of Ellie growing up and getting hurt and leaving home etc.. Three year old Ellie is a treasure to behold, a gift from God, and she fills our hearts to overflowing every day. Happy Birthday, Sweetie!

Ellie's Rainbow Party

2009-03-18T11:45:00.007-07:00

On Monday we celebrated Ellie's third birthday with a "rainbow" party. I am in no way gifted at throwing parties - in fact, I usually find them really stressful to plan and get ready for. But I had a little extra help this year. The day of Ellie's birthday I decided to start of the morning by reading Proverbs 16. This verse jumped out at me: "Commit to the Lord whatever you do, and your plans will succeed." (vs 3) I've recently learned how different my days can look when I start them off by asking God to order them...but on this particular day I knew I'd need extra grace! I committed my to-do list of 500 things to the Lord and asked him to bring peace and order to the whole day. It was quite extraordinary. We had an incredibly peaceful, productive day.
Anyhow, for some bizarre reason I am hard-wired to believe that I can't plan a child's party without a theme of some sort or another. I try to tell myself that it would be fine to just do nothing, but a theme always ends up happening anyways. After humming and hawing with Ellie over a few different options (she suggested 'oceans' and 'cherries'), I realized that choosing a 'rainbow' theme would be appealing to her and super easy for me. So with a little persuasion, a rainbow party it was!

Shortly before Ellie's friends arrived we painted a rainbow on her cheek. She was over the top excited about her guests coming!! We chose to do a supper party so that just Ellie's closest four friends and their moms could come (siblings stayed at home with their dads - we're pretty cramped for space). All four girls have been Ellie's friends since birth...and it was pretty amazing to see them all relating to each other as 'mature' three year olds. :)

Not all of them wanted rainbows on their cheeks, but they did all pitch in and help to 'decorate' our 'table cloth'.

Noodles and meatsauce and veggies and dip were the main course! Most girls were too excited and distracted to really eat.

After supper everyone went and played, and of course, dressed up.

For dessert we decorated ice cream sundays (with rainbow m&ms and sprinkles) instead of having cake. I nearly forgot the candle...so Ellie's ice cream was almost melted and finished by the time we stuck it in there.

The sugar did it's job!

Next came the gifts. Here's Ellie's dear friend, Chloe, telling her all about the gift she gave her.

I couldn't believe how peaceful it was with no babies! After the girls went home with their (what else) rainbow-themed goody bags, Ellie slept loooong and hard. I was so thankful that God had reminded me to trust him with the details. Normally this details-oriented, perfectionist of a mom would have been exhausted and tense by the end of a party day. But there was only peace and joy to be found instead. I was reminded yet again everything is better when He is involved, and that God is a truly a transformer of hearts!

p.s. I hope to post a little bit about "3 year old Ellie" yet, but am having trouble finding free time these days!! So there's more to come...check back.

The latest on Joshua

2009-03-10T11:43:00.007-07:00

For the last half of this week I've been fighting something resembling laryngitis (I've already called into work sick for tonight because I have no voice!) so there hasn't been too much going on aside from waiting for it to pass. Because next week is Ellie's birthday and the spotlight will be on her, I thought I'd write a bit about where Joshua's at these days, since babies change so stinkin' quickly! (Note: Because I am madly in love with this child, the ranting nature of this post will probably be more appealing to our long-distance family members!)
Joshua is now just over 14 months old. He's not walking yet (which doesn't concern me...Ellie took so long that I don't have very high expectations!) but he's a very speedy crawler...forwards and backwards! He also likes to climb and will occasionally be found grinning on top of the coffee table.

Aside from the random bad teething day (Joshua is STILL working on all four eye teeth) Joshua is a super happy, super goofy, affectionate little guy. He makes all of us laugh all the time, and enjoys a good snuggle, especially before bed. When we're in public he'll still become quite serious and watch everyone else, but at home he often steals the show! I think he has Rob's sense of humor - you only get to see the full, ridiculous extent of it if you know Rob really well. For instance - Joshua loves to tease Ellie by poking her in the face (often she laughs, other times it's hugely offensive) :

Then he notices that we WANT him to do it again, so he decides to make mashed cookies with his forehead instead:And when he lifts his face up he gives us his best goofy grin of all time (click the picture to see it enlarged - it cracks us up every time!):

The other day I was playing ball with Joshua. Suddenly he lifts the ball over his head as if to throw it back to me, gives me this knowing grin, then speed-crawls over to the baby gate with the ball in one hand and throws it over the gate and down the stairs, giggling the whole time. I think he'll make the ideal pesky little brother!!

Joshua enjoys watching videos with Ellie, but isn't capable of sitting safely on a chair yet. So he's adopted the diaper drawer as his new video-watching post:Joshua loooves to talk as much as his sister. It can get awful loud at our dinner table! The only thing is, most of Joshua's words consist of once syllable: "Ahhhhhhh!" in every different tone. He really believes he's telling us a story. Here he is pointing to the cars outside and 'telling' me about them:
He has about 15 actual words in his vocabulary (including "Hiyeee" (hi),"joojoo" (choo choo) and "bapa" (Grandpa)), but his annunciation is pretty terrible, and he mostly enjoys doing animal sounds. He usually gets too excited about what he's going to say to actually say it clearly. It's quite amusing!
Have I mentioned that Joshua excels at temper tantrums? They're short, but they're frequent! When we say 'no' to Joshua he listens, but makes him mad, so he does this quick little yell-and-eat-the-carpet routine. He usually recovers after about 3 seconds and goes on to something else. I'm glad he has a will (it's important for the future!) but I'm also glad that mine is stronger. :)

A few other things Joshua enjoys are:
combing other people's hair (must get that from Ellie):

Drawing (there are pencil crayons everywhere in our house! Yeah, they're sharper than crayons, but at least he can't eat them when I'm not looking) We will often find him laying on the floor drawing all by himself.And he's also beginning to like dressing up, too. :) He put this necklace on himself and was quite proud!
Often when he's really quiet I'll check on him and find him trying very hard to put on his socks or a hat. He doesn't get frustrated very easily, even though he never gets it. It must be a trait of a second-born...he's not the perfectionist that Ellie can be.
Joshua loves to wrestle, he loves to put toys away (and his stinky diapers, too - he suddenly started cleaning them up on his own!), and he still loves to dance - especially while standing in a shopping cart! He's passionate about rubbing food in his hair, splashing wildly in the tub, and sticking his hands in the toilet.

14 month old Joshua sure adds a lot of color to our lives.
We love you Monkey!
(Good job if you made it to the end of this post :)

A Day in the Life of a Flower Girl (Ellie's perspective)

2009-03-02T18:19:00.008-08:00

So on Saturday two of my best adults got married - Uncle Tig and Auntie Doris. People kept calling Tig "Tyler", but I don't really know why. I call him Tig. I was pretty excited that they asked me to be their princess for the day! Here's what happened:

First we drove to Winnipeg. I don't really know what Winnipeg IS, so I asked my mom and dad "Are we at Winnipeg?" at least 30 times that day. They started getting grumpy about that question. We went to the hair salon and I ate my lunch while a lady named "Amanda" did my hair like a princess.

Fluffy watched the whole time. Fluffy is one of my best friends. She helped me keep my attitude good on a pretty long, busy day.

Amanda did a pretty good job!
After we went to Uncle Jon and Auntie Dana's house so we could put on our wedding clothes. I thought Daddy looked just like a prince! (I kinda want to marry him one day)

After I got into my princess dress, mommy made me practice my best fake smile!

Then it was time for the REAL pictures. I thought Doris looked like the most beautiful lady in the world! I really like her.

There were lotttts of people dressed pretty! We were all supposed to smile at the same time. It didn't always work.
One thing neat about Doris is that even though it was her most special day in her life, she always took time to talk to me too:

Uncle Tig is the same way. He calls me his 'niece' even though I'm not! I love that guy.
Here's Daddy looking so handsome again. My mommy made a good choice!

Here he is telling me how pretty he thinks I am (and thinking about how hard he's gonna cry when I get married).
Pictures is HARD WORK!

After pictures we went back to Uncle Jon and Auntie Dana's and I had SO much fun with their puppy Dexter that I TOTALLY ruined my princess hair! Mommy panicked a little bit, and then decided that she'd just put it in a pony tail and let bygones be bygones! Then it was time for my most important job ! Throwing flowers on the white carpet! I did my best and I think I even made my Nana and Grandpa cry some tears of joy.
Then it was time for the reception (and by this time I was pretty tired). I spent most of the time practicing my dance moves, even when I wasn't supposed to. I call the dance floor the 'living room'. Me and the ring bearers had lots of fun chasing each other around! Mommy didn't know whether to laugh or cry when I let out my loudest, most fakest yawn during one of the speeches! Daddy and his friends called the 'groomsmen' were REALLY goofy and made a lot of people laugh and smile.

Uncle Tig and Auntie Doris looked sooo happy together. I think they'll have a happy life, and I sure hope they get me some new 'cousins'! Thanks for inviting me to be your little wedding princess, Tig and Doris! I had a blast!

Busy Week!

2009-02-26T06:34:00.004-08:00

Hi Folks! Sorry for the late post but this is turning out to be a very busy week. Rob and Ellie are in our friends' wedding this weekend, so it's only going to get busier! We'll post more about that next week, but in the meantime, here's a (somewhat lame) Balfour video to keep you entertained :) Enjoy!

Valentine's Day

2009-02-16T18:24:00.010-08:00

Hey All! Did you have a great Valentine's weekend?
Mine was...interesting.

Friday night it began with a trip - by myself! - to the mall in Winnipeg to try and find a dress for an upcoming wedding that Rob and Ellie are both a part of. Perhaps this wasn't really part of Valentine's day, but it's a cool story, so bear with me. :)

My old black dress wasn't fitting quite right since the kids were born, and the only other one I own is my maternity dress. No thanks! So it was high time to find a new dress...something I was not looking forward to. It's not much fun shopping for something that one doesn't really enjoy wearing, you know? ANYHOW, before I left Rob and I discussed my budget and he gave me quite a high number just in case I ended up having to buy new EVERYTHING (underwear, etc.) along with the dress. I told him not to worry, that I was aiming for a dress around $50.

So I got to the mall, asked God to please help me out, took a deep breath, and then hit just about every store that might have a dress in it. To no avail. I tried on three dresses but they all sucked. All the salespeople seemed too busy to help. Finally when I got to the last store I desperately prayed, "Jesus, please send someone to help me! Apparently I don't know how to find a dress on my own."

And then I started at the beginning again, at a store called Smart Set. Wouldn't you know, someone (finally!) came to help me...a young saleslady. I'm pretty sure she'll never forget the look of desperation on my face when I told her my plight. She didn't seem too concerned. In fact, she looked almost excited to help a poor special needs shopper like myself. She led me up to a rack of dresses I hadn't seen on my first trek around the mall and said, "How about this one?" And pulled out a dress that...I actually liked! And in my size (which is almost impossible to find)!
So I went to try it on, and as I hung it on the peg in the wall I noticed the price tag: $50.00. Not $49.99. Nope. FIVE. ZERO. Exactly the number I had told Rob. And I knew that yet again, God had answered His child's cry for help. In buying a silly dress, of all things. He really does care about the small details of our lives.
So, not only does this dress fit like it was sewn for me, but it's MODEST and I won't have to worry about flashing people as I chase after Ellie all day. I also got a camesole for underneath, a necklace, pantihose and new shoes all for about $100. Hopefully it stays in style for at least 10 years, because that's about how often I'd like to go shopping for a dress. :) Unless, of course, the shopping trip goes like this one did.

So Saturday I worked all day selling cheesy white teddy bears holding red hearts to expectant boyfriends and tired husbands desperately hoping that they were buying their women the gift of their dreams. It was interesting taking note of all the different attitudes these men held towards romancing their girls! Some were obviously begrudging the fact that they were in a gift store. Others were downright nervous. The best ones had a twinkle in their eye and said things like "Every day is Valentine's day with my wife!" Okay. There was only one that said that. Anyhow...

I was curious if Rob would have anything planned for our Valentine's evening, seeing as he was preaching the next morning and his sermon wasn't done yet. We don't usually put a lot of effort into Valentine's day, so I wasn't expecting much.

We got home and I found out that Joshua had made me his very own special Valentine's gift - a broken lamp (thanks Joshua)! And Rob had done his best to make a Valentine's meal for the family...a casserole which is now affectionately called, "Fiasco Casserole." You see, the broken lamp incident happened right in the middle of the casserole preparations...resulting in some ginormously overdone noodles, some rock hard ground beef...and well, I won't get into the rest. I totally appreciated Rob's effort. :)

It's an interesting thing, being married to a teacher/preacher. Rob, knowing that he wasn't going to have any time to do anything for Valentine's that night but still wanting me to feel special, quickly threw three old sunflower seeds from the top shelf of our cupboard into an envelope. Then he scribbled, "Happy Valentine's Day" on the outside. He could have just said, "Don't worry, Darling, I have something planned for us for tomorrow". But instead he told me to put the seeds in a cup of water...and that if I was patient, they would grow. (i.e. he had three things planned for Valentine's day, but I'd have to wait.) Perhaps a bit of a half-baked illustration, but I would certainly give him points for effort! :) He is a very sweet guy.

So Sunday I got my first "seed". Rob took me out for dinner to our favourite local restaurant and we had a wonderful time talking about deep and not-so-deep things, and later after we put the kids to bed we watched a movie, something we haven't had time to do in a loong time. It was perfect. Apparently there are two more seeds to come yet, so I'll have to let you know what they turn out to be!

Yikes. This is turning out to be a long post with very few photos. Apologies to my more visually-oriented friends out there. Here's a few pictures to make up for my long-windedness:

Ellie and I spent a lot of time writing out her Valentine's cards, and I was very surprised when (I guess after practicing her name so many times) she suddenly did this:

I had to coach her which letters came in what order, of course, but what a neat milestone to witness her reaching!

I didn't find time this week to bake my all-time favourite cookies, but was super blessed when my mom gave us a whole bag full of them for our Valentine's treat!
The kids were pretty pumped, too.

So anyways, I'll leave you with a few of Ellie and Joshua's 1 and 3 year photos (taken by a friend) that are currently being sent to all you Balfours and Fargeys along with Ellie's valentines!

P.S. comments have been few and far in between lately so I'll leave my quiet friends out there with a question to answer: what was your favourite part of Valentine's Day this year?

A weekend away!

2009-02-10T11:59:00.007-08:00

This past weekend Rob and I had our first weekend away from the kids since Ellie was born! A good chunk of the adults in our church (123 people) packed up and went to a retreat centre called Wilderness Edge, in a town called Pinawa (about 1.5 hours away from where we live). There are no words to describe how amazing this weekend was. Even though I got barely any sleep, I came home super refreshed...there's something to be said for having all your meals cooked and cleaned for you, and for not having to worry about feeding anyone but yourself! But besides the obvious refreshment that comes from a little break from parenthood, the most refreshing thing was that God's presence was absolutely tangible the entire weekend. He spoke in amazing ways and touched a lot of hearts, including my own. I have a feeling life might not ever be the same.

Rob and I also thoroughly enjoyed having a whole chunk of time to ourselves.We used our spare time on Saturday afternoon to go for a walk. Rob had it set in his mind that we needed to tromp through a field of snow. "It's too deep!" I insisted. "Look, you can see the grass sticking through the snow", says Rob. "Those are small trees," I says. But being the submissive wife I am, I follow Rob into the snow and proceeded to fall flat on my face because the snow was actually up over my knees. Hehe. That's my body print in the snow behind me in this picture:

This is a picture of Rob being sat on by me in the snow as punishment:

After we warmed up we spent the rest of the afternoon playing games with friends:

This was the "old folks" table. My parents are sitting towards the back. :)

Later we spotted a deer in the parking lot outside. Apparently Pinawa is full of them.
The food was delicious...but there were some mixed feelings about seeing the actual pig before we ate it!
Whenever we got homesick we grabbed a few hugs from the most adorable Ezra Micklefield.
And I think only the people who were on the retreat could have a true appreciation for this photo. This is one of our pastors, Dave, throwing me a chocolate mint. Dave has a thing for chocolate mints. (It hit me on the arm about one second later.)

As great as it was to be away, we were downright excited to be back with the kids again. There's no place like home!

My Birthday Party (Joshua's take on it all)

2009-01-30T11:21:00.009-08:00

Hi everyone. I'm here to tell you about my first birthday party. My mom saw those frog napkins at Hallmark where she works and figured she'd throw me a frog party. She even drawed frogs on my cupcakes, but they didn't look much like frogs to me!!The day before my party daddy surprised mommy by decorating the house while she was at work. He sure knows how to make her day!

We got bored waiting for the party to start so Ellie gave me a most excellent birthday gift to help pass the time! A DRUM! Daddy is teaching me new skills every day.

Then the party started. For some reason everyone kept wearing these silly glasses. First my cousin Regan:Then my crazy uncle Jon...

And Ellie too. I think the glasses got stepped on and broken by the end of the night. Which is good, or they probably would have stuck them on me too.

Uncle Jon is one of my favourite guys in the whole world. He's got lots of skills....like wiggling his ears and making the best faces in town!Auntie Karla, Regan and Ellie had fun watching videos of Regan.

This is my little cousin Drew, who is pretty cute if you ask me! We're going to wrestle together one day.

And then it was SUPPER TIME! My favourite time of day. Ellie and Regan got to sit at their own table...

...because our apartment is a little squishy.

We had one of my best foods - SPAGHETTI! Here I am getting tired of waiting for my cupcake.

Uncle Nathan got tired of waiting for his cupcake, too. I'm not sure WHAT exactly he did to my Grandpa...

But Grandpa sure didn't like it!!

Finally, CUPCAKE TIME! The glowy thing on top was awe-inspiring.

I didn't know if I was actually allowed to EAT this messy goodness! Everyone kept taking pictures so I just kept on smiling.

Mostly I just sticked my fingers in the icing. It felt reeeal good.

After mommy helped me get some in my belly, I started to feel really full...

Enough, I said! Enough! And no more pictures, either!!

Ellie liked hers better. Mostly she just ate the icing, though.

And finally it was PRESENTS time!! Regan and Ellie were very...uh...helpful.

I think Mommy and Grandpa both have a thing for 'capturing the moment'. It must be genetic.
I liked all my presents, but especially my new police car from Nana and Grandpa.

Sometimes the best presents aren't presents at all! This lion birthday card was super fun to pull to pieces.

Boy, was I ever tired after that. What a great idea, this whole 'birthday' thing. I think I'll do it again next year!

Birthday Footage

2009-01-29T17:58:00.006-08:00

I posted these two videos primarily with Rob's family in mind. For the rest of you friends (who are mostly young moms), I truly don't expect you spend 12 minutes of your (limited and valuable) free time watching my kid's birthday footage. :)

First is a video of Joshua (and mostly Ellie) receiving the gift you sent, Susan. (It's kind of funny how excited Ellie gets about the fishing rod, even though she's using it upside down and it's not working :)

This is a video of Joshua's party. The only people present were my immediate family, since our apartment is pretty much too small for any guests beyond that!

We wish you could have been here, Mom and Dad! xoxo

Happy FIRST birthday, Joshua!

2009-01-26T18:31:00.006-08:00

Well, it's a little late, but it probably will be every year. We decided to push Joshua's birthday celebration back to the end of January so that everyone could have a chance to recover from Christmas first. Having a birthday on January 2nd may not be the biggest blessing Joshua will have in life as (outside our own little family) it'll probably get overlooked regularly. But January 2nd will always be one of my absolute favourite days and I'll never forget it:

What an amazing thing to have a son. This little guy was the perfect fit into our little family from day one.
The year has not been perfect, oh no, it hasn't.
Although Joshua has a pretty laid-back disposition, the last 12 months have been laden with thrush, numerous colds, the flu, difficulty teething, slow mobility and other things that have created many scenarios similar to above. Nope. We've had our fair share of tears this year!
But Joshua's early and most excellent smile made it all 100% worth it!!
And the smiles have only increased in size and number and so have the kisses we can't help but smother him with!

This month as I've thought about Joshua's birth, my heart has been truly celebrating. I am convinced that God hand-picks who our kids our going to be not only for what they will be and do for His glory, but also for what they do to their parents! Because Joshua has not always been a happy boy, I have learned a new level of patience and unconditional love. God has spoken to me so often through Joshua's tears about how to draw close to people when they're broken instead of turning away. God knew I needed a boy who prefers and learns baby sign language much more quickly than words, so that I would begin to think more about what comes out of my (rapidly-moving)mouth and see how much value there is in silence. God also knew how much JOY Joshua's exceptional smile, giggle, and sense of humor would bring to my heart. Joshua, you will never know how deeply we love you. I thank God for the gift you are to us every day.

p.s. I was going to post Joshua's birthday party photos today too, but it's gotten late and I'm fighting a cold...so I think I'll wait until later in the week. Check back Thursday or Friday for the long-awaited "devouring of the cupcake" video and photos.

When it ain't minus 130 degrees anymore...

2009-01-19T19:00:00.007-08:00

We go outside! To PLAY. For the first time in 2 months.

We learn that it's okay...and FUN...to sit in a snow bank!

And how to climb a 'snow mountain'...with a little help.

When it ain't minus 130 degrees anymore, we discover the joy of pelting Daddy with snowballs...
And that it's pretty fun getting pelted back!

Some of us get to really touch the white stuff for the first time...

...and discover the good times to be had on a sled!

Butwhen the drool on our chin begins to form into an icicle, we pack it in and hope for 'nice' weather again some other day. Hopefully before May.

(Joshua and I came in early because his drool was really beginning to look like a health hazard. Rob and Ellie continued to have a blast until they heard the awful sound of a car crash happening right in front of our apartment. The snowbanks are so high around here that it's very difficult to see oncoming traffic when making a left turn. Our neighbour was trying to do just that when they were T-boned by a speeding car. Our neighbour wasn't hurt, but the passenger of the car was hurt quite badly. Kind of a sad ending to a really fun afternoon.)
p.s. it wasn't really minus 130 degrees. I'm exaggerating.
p.p.s. Joshua now has a nasty drool-freeze rash (or something) on his chin. Him and I both agree it was worth it.