The other day I looked at my toddler’s hands and was shocked at what I saw. How did his hands get so big already?
I can remember holding them when he was a newborn, amazed at how detailed and functional such a little thing could be. His chubby baby hands were my favourite.
So in order to preserve them as they are now, as well as his brother’s very chubby little hands, I decided to make salt dough ornaments. Specifically little Santa hands. Continue reading “Salt Dough Ornaments”
We’re just three days away from Christmas and I **think** I am ready. My baking was done a while ago, the presents are all bought with all but one wrapped (**note for the shopping list – pick up wrapping paper), and I believe I have all the food I need. Continue reading “Merry Christmas, Love from the Dyck Family”
The cold weather (and the cold weather colds) have set in, which means our opportunities to burn off toddler energy outside are getting more difficult.
Elijah gets whiney when he is bored so this morning I decided to put aside my thoughts about the mess it would create, and make him a sensory rice bin. Continue reading “Colourful rice bin sensory play activity”
With less than a month to this baby’s due date, I am double checking my mental list of things to do and making sure I am ready for this little guy’s arrival.
On the schedule for this week – wash, dry and put away all the newborn and 0-3 month clothing. We recently reorganized all of our baby storage, but I think I foolishly put the box of baby clothing at the back, which means this is a task I have been putting off for at least a week already. Continue reading “My 6 must-have items for baby”
In 2010 I put the finishing touches on my undergraduate thesis. Today, the topic I chose “Homosexuality and the Christian Church as portrayed through media, specifically television,” seems more relevant than ever.
Tonight I logged onto my blog to check out my stats. I wanted to know exactly how many of you faithful readers are really out there. In the process however, I became distracted by scrolling through and reading bits of old blog posts. It wasn’t until I came across “This proves you never quite know where you’ll be in just one year,” from November of 2011 that I really felt the urge to write about what I had been reading.
I started this blog in March, 2010 and didn’t really start writing regularly until June of the same year. At that time the blog was really just a place for me to write whatever was on my mind. This was a transitional period in my life, I had just finished school, ended a serious relationship, and just began working full time in the journalism world. A few months later, I moved to Alberta and I bravely put my blog out there for all of my friends and family to read. It was the simplest way to share some of the stories we would have otherwise shared over coffee.
However, in scrolling through the old posts, I realized this space had been so much more than a place to share fun life stories. It was a place for me to reflect and challenge anyone who took the time to read the post. And for that reason, I am going to divulge in a bit of reflection.
Continue reading “A little reflection is a good thing from time to time”
As the little monkey sleeps this afternoon, I’ve decided to take advantage of having both hands available and bake a few cookies. They’ll probably go into the freezer or to work with Cody, but it feels good to have the time to be baking again. Reason 101 why maternity leave is wonderful (the first 100 have to do with the little monkey of course).
While I’m doing the same recipes, today the Nutella Peanut Butter Cup Cookies Cody is crazy about (albeit without the Peanut Butter Cups and with toffee pieces instead as that is what we had in the house and besides the success of the recipe has nothing to do with the mix ins, and everything to do with the Nutella), I can’t help but notice that how I bake has changed a bit.
As I take an ingredient out of the cupboard, I measure out what is required and then place the item back in the cupboard. I wash dirty dishes and measuring cups as I go, and throw out garbage immediately. While some of you might say this is how you’ve always baked, I used to be the kind of baker who had flour everywhere by the time I was done and left all the cleaning until the very end. All of this advance cleaning is now done as a precaution. You see in the event that the little monkey decides to no longer sleep so peacefully, I already have a mostly clean kitchen and all my attention can now be on him.
As a child I never quite understood why mom was constantly cleaning. There was never a dish left in the sink for very long, and just about every free moment mom had she was tidying some part of the house. Now that the little monkey has invaded our house…I get it. If I don’t do little bits here and there when I have a free moment, then the tasks pile on top of each other and the to-do list becomes insurmountable.
Some of you will roll your eyes at me and wonder why it even matters to have a sink void of dishes and a house free of dust (not that the house is free of dust, I haven’t quite mastered that). Others will be very quick to label me as type A personality. And while that may be true, we’re happy. My kitchen is clean, smells of fresh baked cookies and my little monkey has my full attention when he’s awake and wanting to play.
Motherhood is certainly work, but so far, we’re having lots of fun.
A little under nine months have gone by since my last post and now that things have calmed down a little I hope to get back to completing some semi-regular blog posts. I guess for this post I’ll catch you up on the whirlwind the last nine months have been for me.
In May of 2012 I was able to make a quick trip home to celebrate the 50th wedding anniversary of my Grandparents on my mom’s side. This was such a blessing. Not only were my grandparents celebrating 50 years of God’s faithful provisions in their lives, they were doing it in a year when their two oldest granddaughters would also say “I do” and begin their own marriages. The party was perfect and I can’t say thank you enough to the people who made it possible for me to be there.
During that same weekend I got to meet my first niece. She captured my heart immediately, not that this was anything special. Victoria May-Lynn Feddema was the most precious baby I had ever set my eyes on and I could wait to start bragging about her – as you can see from this picture taken during the surprise bridal shower my mom and sisters planned for me. Needless to say it was very busy four days spent with lots of family. I don’t think I have ever been so aware of all the love that I am surrounded by as I was throughout the course of those four days.
In May the newspaper also hired a new employee. I’d like to say all kinds of nice things about this new hire but he only worked for the paper for a mere month and a half before leaving. Much lying and deception was involved so I’ll stick by the saying “If you have nothing good to say, don’t say anything at all.”
In June I visited Ashley in Bonneyville. It was nice to drive through a different part of northern Alberta and see more of the province. I arrived late at night and after catching up, massages (of course) and saying goodnight, we fell asleep only to awake early the next morning to head out on a shopping trip to Edmonton. Much was accomplished including finding shoes for my bridesmaids as well as myself (two pairs in fact because I couldn’t choose and if you think that’s bad, on the day of the wedding I actually had three to choose from), we also ordered Ashley’s bridesmaid dress and purchased a ton of candy for the wedding. It was so great to do a little wedding prep in Alberta with one of my bridesmaids.
July was fairly slow so I’ll skip to August. In August I once again flew home to celebrate alongside my sister Lyndsay and her new husband Erik who were married on August 18. We couldn’t have asked for better weather, the ceremony was beautiful, the reception was beautiful, Lynds was beautiful. The whole thing was beautiful.
I think that’s all the catch up I have time for now…but part two including wedding, honeymoon and christmas will be soon to come!
What could be more fun that putting 30 women in one room filled with spa treatments? I’m not sure, I wasn’t even skeptical and as it turned out, it was a great evening of Christian fellowship and pampering.
And for those of you who are wondering, no I did not eat my face mask (but it was made of oatmeal, yogurt and honey), and yes, the woman in the photo did actually lick me.
Our Family Chatter 