Off The Wall!!

Actually, it's ON the wall ~ "Wii on the wall" ... plus PS3, PS2 (x2), X-Box 360 & Game Cube! How many game systems are there anyway?

CRAZY or WHAT?!!

Last night our church youth had a video games night. They had a lot of FUN! Check it out ...

The Love of Reading!

Melissa LOVES to read! Actually, all four of our kids enjoy reading, but I think Melissa and Rachelle really enjoy it the most (well, they spend more time reading anyway). I guess they all got it from Harvey because he really enjoys reading. As for me, I actually don't enjoy it so much, sad to say. I've never liked reading ever since I was a kid ... but somehow as parents we've managed to instill the joy and discipline of reading in our kids. Maybe it all started because for 5 1/2 years as a family we lived on a ship that has a HUGE book shop with LOTS of great books ... and when our kids were little, every night before bed we would read to them. Imagine that!

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Well, whatever the reason, I am just glad because reading is foundational to learning. I am glad they don't have to be told to read ... it just comes naturally to them and they gravitate toward books. Everyday you will often find Melissa with her nose in a book. Currently in school Melissa is part of a book club called The Silver Birch Reading Club. So far she has read at least 13 books. And on the side she is working her way through "The Chronicles of Narnia" and is on the fourth book. Rachelle & Sonja also both just read a big 700-page book called ROOTS by Alex Haley. I'm not sure what Jordan is reading at the moment but for school he has to read both English and French books and do book reports both in English and French. To me that is very impressive.

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My problem with reading is that I have great difficulty with attention & staying focussed - I am distracted by every little thing, even my own thoughts. When I can get into the right zone mentally, I can sometimes, occasionally get lost in a book ...but FIRST I have to PICK up a book ...and THEN I have to OPEN it ...and then I have to start READING it :) ..........I do go to the library though and borrow books for the kids - does that count??

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~Posted by Brenda

Monday Morning Blues

The weekend is over ~ it's back to reality...again. Poor Misty is so bored. Everyone has gone off to school or work (except for me) ... poor Misty has no one to keep her company (except for me). But I'm not much fun 'cause I always get busy doing my own things and don't give her much attention other than to send her outside. Often when I walk toward her with the intention of petting her she turns and walks away from me because she thinks I'm coming to clean her ears or something, which she really hates. I don't blame her. But someone has to do these things. She has a lot of trouble with her ears and we have to keep them clean. Believe me, I don't exactly enjoy doing it either.

Anyway...today looks to be another very wintery day with a fresh thin layer of snow and a temperature of about minus 10 degrees Celsius. I think I'm about to experience those mid-winter blues. I'm not complaining, but the fact is, physically I just don't cope very well with cold temperatures. My muscles tighten up and I constantly feel stiff. A hot bath always feels good, though and is helpful. Thankfully, life continues to be wonderfully busy so time is zooming along and a person tends to forget about the weather.

Posted by Brenda

Logos Hope...sailing into ministry!

The BIG and EXCITING news in OM right now is that the new ship, Logos Hope, after five long years of hard work by countless volunteers, has finally been granted the PSSC (Passenger Ship Safety Certificate) required for sailing as a passenger ship. OM purchased the Logos Hope in March 2004 ... to learn about her history click here. Before her maiden voyage yesterday, February 19th, the last port where Logos Hope was berthed was Køge, Denmark since June 22, 2008. Here is the ship's schedule for the next few ports:

• Göteborg, Sweden ~ Feb 20-23
• Harlingen, Netherlands ~ Feb 25-Mar 10
• Scheveningen, Netherlands ~ Mar 11-30
• Edinburgh, Scotland UK ~ Apr 1-14

...and contininuing on to visit other ports in the UK and Ireland.

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We are praising God for what He has done and is going to continue doing through the OM Ships ministry. As you may know, Logos Hope has replaced Logos II which completed her 20 years of service with OM Ships in July 2008. Prior to Logos II was the first Logos which OM purchased in 1970 ... sadly she ran aground off the coast of Chile in 1988. Finally, there's the Doulos where we lived & served onboard as a family for nearly 6 years between 1991 and 1997 (and Harv served as a single guy from 1984-1988). The Doulos is still in operation but her future is somewhat uncertain (check out this article in the Shipping Times) ...as she continues to require a lot of work and refitting in order to meet the safety at sea regulations. OM purchased the Doulos in 1977. She's a very old ship, built in 1914 and is recognized in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's oldest active ocean-going passenger ship.

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It's incredible to think of how many lives have been touched through the ministry of OM Ships and we know that God has so much more in store. Please pray for the leaders and those who serve on the ships. It's an exciting place to be, living and working in an international community of believers from all over the world, yet they also face many challenges. It's not an easy place to be all the time as it is a very high-paced lifestyle and a very close community. There are many wonderful blessings of living and serving in this kind of environment but the enemy also tries to have his way in people's lives especially those who are serving in the forefront of missions like this. So we thank you for praying.

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Did you miss the Logos Hope departure from Køge, Denmark? .... Check out this movie of Logos Hope setting out on her maiden voyage ...

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http://www.omships.org/dashboard/

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Posted by Brenda

Youth Tie Dye Night

Tuesday nights are Youth "LINK" for our kids ~ that's right, all four of our kids are now part of our church youth program, even Melissa! Of course, this is Junior & Senior Youth combined (Grades 6-8 & 9-12). There aren't actually a lot of Sr. youth coming out this year. Rachelle is more like an assistant leader to the Jr. youth. Anyway ... they do a variety of fun & interesting things, often together but sometimes separate. Melissa went on a Jr. youth retreat in Collingwood a couple of weekends ago ~ one of the highlights was snow tubing down a huge hill ~ she had a great time! About once a month the youth have a Friday activity or event. Next Friday they are having a video games night ~ "Wii on the Wall" (via the power point projector). Tuesday nights are usually more of a Bible study. They've been watching a lot of Rob Bell NOOMA videos followed by a time of discussion. Sonja works Tuesdays so unfortunately she hasn't been able to attend youth at all this year. This week they had a T-shirt tie dye night. Rachelle took a bunch of photos ~ LOTS of colorful T-shirts!! Looks like they had a fun time ....

Rachelle is going to college!

Yesterday, Rachelle got a letter in the mail from Sheridan College saying that she has been accepted into the Art Fundamentals program. She's actually hoping to get into the Animation program but the application process for this is still underway. March 2nd she'll be submitting her art portfolio. It's really hard to believe that Rachelle is going college! Where has the time gone?

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BUG-A-LICIOUS!

Continuing what seems to be an ongoing food theme here ... I am sure that Harv is enjoying some wonderful Brazilian food right now (and maybe drinking Guarana) ... but I wonder if it's anything like what Sonja got to sample yesterday. Keep reading ... this post is certain to stir up your appetite for sure :) ~ maybe not quite in the same way as those tasty-looking Valentine cookies, but ...

I mentioned a couple of posts ago that our kids have eaten a wide range of different foods growing up ... well, this definitely was a new experience for Sonja. Yesterday afternoon she went on a school trip with the Environmental Club to the Niagara Parks Butterfly Conservatory where they were holding an Insect Food Festival this past weekend ~ BUG-A-LICIOUS! Doesn't that just sound delectable?! Disgusting I know, but surprisingly Sonja said it's not so bad. Of course they also enjoyed exploring the conservatory and observing all the gorgeous butterflies (which I don't think were on the menu) and Sonja took some spectacular photos. All I can say is it's wonderful to see all that luscious green and color in the middle of winter ~ who needs to go to South America when you can just visit your nearest butterfly conservatory! Take a look ...

Posted by Brenda

Happy Valentine's Day! :)

Some Like It HOT!!

The main person in our family who likes hot (that is chili pepper hot) food is Harvey ~ he likes it SUPER HOT ~ but the rest of us also like it to varying degrees, even Melissa. Our kids have grown up eating a range of different foods. I have a few recipes that I cook with extra hotness, such as chicken curry. I personally have to be careful not to eat too much spicy hot food as I've started to experience digestive pain later on. Harv likes to grow his own chili peppers (jalapenos) ~ last summer our garden produced A LOT, too many to use them all. He eats them like candy and he preserves them (chili sauce, etc). I used to can homemade salsa and we would make that pretty hot, too.

This is Harv's home canning ... I had nothing to do with it :)

~Posted by Brenda

It's a sunny day! And look what came in the mail...

Today I received a package in the mail ~ so EXCITING!! ... Pampered Chef prizes from my sister-in-law, Sara through a give-away she did back in December. THANK YOU, SARA! All I had to do to enter the draw was post a comment on Sara's blog ~ a "must-have" dish for Christmas morning brunch. One of my favorites for brunch is Hash Brown Quiche. I shared this recipe on our blog last month.

Above are the prizes I won ~ a recipe book, skinny scraper, mini-whipper & mini-serving spatula. Below is my old mini-serving spatula that I got at a friend's Pampered Chef party several years ago ... as you can see the handle is off. But, I liked the spatula so much I couldn't part with it (I just don't know why I still have the handle??)

...the other great thing about today is that the sun is shining and the snow is starting to melt. Below is our dog Misty, enjoying the sun's rays today. When she doesn't bark to come back in the house that can only mean one thing ... THE SUN MUST BE SHINING!! :)

~Posted by Brenda

One month down!

Wow, it's February already! Winter always seems so long ... but for that reason I'm glad time is going by fast. Life continues to be busy and full. Rachelle and Sonja survived final exams last week. Hopefully they did well. This week they start 2nd semester. Jordan and Melissa are taking swimming lessons now ~ one day/week for 10 weeks. Before we know it, it will be March break at which time we will celebrate Rachelle's 18th Birthday! We also want to go to the Sugar Bush again this March with OM staff who are interested ~ some have never experienced it. Two years ago we went and then came back to our house for Belgian waffles...and of course REAL maple syrup!

Lately, I have personally been busy with a new job for our church, putting together everything for the power point (i.e. songs, announcements, etc.) for Sunday services. Aside from that I (we) have been doing a lot of running for our family and just keeping up with the usual daily routine stuff like housework, meals, laundry ... plus other involvement with church and OM.

Melissa is going on a Junior Youth weekend winter retreat with our church which she's excited about ~ her first time!

Harv is preparing for OM International Leaders Meetings (ILM) this month in Brazil as well as an OM Canada board meeting at the end of Feb.

Jordan has been gearing up for High School already next year and had to fill out forms for his grade 9 courses. He will be continuing the French program.

Rachelle is steadily working on her requirements for the college program she wants to enter into. She has applied to Sheridan for their animation program and hopes to be accepted for this Fall. She's also trying to find a job and soon needs to go for her drivers test.

Sonja is juggling school, work, jazz band and her social life (she's wishing she had more time to spend with friends). Sonja is enjoying playing piano with the high school jazz band which has been practicing extra hours to get ready for a big concert this month, called "The Sound of Celebration."


...well that's the scoop for now! :)



Posted by Brenda