Life at Oak Grove

N…  Today I would like to highlight two words for N.

NEST – I’m a bird lover.  When spring arrives I look forward to see and hear the numerous birds that will come back. The first ones I see are the Canadian geese flying in a V formation above my home.  Spring time also means that these birds will build a nest – a home for their family.

Nest for me is an illustration of our home.   Our house is a place where I want my kids to know that they can be secure and that mom and dad are there for them.

Having a home also mean that you have neighbours.   We are called to shine our light for our neighbours.    I am blessed to have wonderful next door neighbours on both side of my house.

I am participating in the 2011 Mommytography 365 Project! For this year long project I will be posting an image a day, to get me out shooting, using my camera and learning new things with it daily. Anyone interested in photography can join, no need to be a Mommytographer. We have teens to adults, male and female, as well as people from all over the world. Come join the fun!

Me and my 3rd son, Jérémy – yeah boys will be boys….

I am participating in the 2011 Mommytography 365 Project! For this year long project I will be posting an image a day, to get me out shooting, using my camera and learning new things with it daily. Anyone interested in photography can join, no need to be a Mommytographer. We have teens to adults, male and female, as well as people from all over the world. Come join the fun!

Me and my son, Dominic.

Picture taken with smaller Canon camera…. while at the Museum of Science and Tech.

M is for Motherhood.

I don’t think I would enjoy life without kids.

God was gracious enough to give me four of them.

We also have four sponsored kids through Compassion Canada.

One lives in Bolivia.

Two live in Dominican Republic.

One lives in Thailand.

All these children are precious in my sight and at the LORD’s sight.

No matter where they are, God is with them.  Always.

I am participating in the 2011 Mommytography 365 Project! For this year long project I will be posting an image a day, to get me out shooting, using my camera and learning new things with it daily. Anyone interested in photography can join, no need to be a Mommytographer. We have teens to adults, male and female, as well as people from all over the world. Come join the fun!

The picture is not perfect but I thought she was so cute with two phones….    Is it what it will be in the future?

L is for love.

The love God had for me because he sacrificed His own Son for my sins.

The love He had for me as my adopted Father.

The love He gave me when I finally met my husband.

The love He gave me again when I became a mother four times.

The love He continues to show me in various ways.

Knowing that He is with me at all time – good and bad.

Without love I would be nothing.

There is are popular verses in the Bible about LOVE.   Check out 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

“Love is patient; love is kind; love is not envious or boastful or arrogant or rude.  It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices in the truth.  It bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things.”

Someone once challenged us to replace LOVE in these verses by our name.   When you do so you quickly realize that there is no way that we can be like that.   Then replace the word LOVE by God.    Think about it.   He is LOVE.   He is all these things.  He can do it….

GOD IS LOVE!

I am participating in the 2011 Mommytography 365 Project! For this year long project I will be posting an image a day, to get me out shooting, using my camera and learning new things with it daily. Anyone interested in photography can join, no need to be a Mommytographer. We have teens to adults, male and female, as well as people from all over the world. Come join the fun!

To complete one of his Awana activities, Alexandre had to create a diorama of a scene from the Bible.  He decided to illustrate Paul and Silas in the prison.

K is for kindness.

Have you help a neighbour lately?  Or a family member?

Kindness can be expressed in various ways – from making a meal to a new mom to praying for someone who is sick.

Kindness can be done daily if you open doors to strangers at the store, if you smile to the people you cross on your way to work or simply by being nice on the road while driving.

Kindness is something you sow around you.   Eventually someone will do something nice to you too!

So what are you waiting for…?   Be kind to someone around you.   Even if you don’t feel like it.   You might be surprise what a little bit of kindness will do to you and the person who receives it.

J is for two important people in my life.  Turns out that two of my kids’ name start with the letter J

J is for Jérémy.

Jérémy is a fun little boy who loves to rock to fall asleep (literally – in his bed…).    I caught him often in a funny position while sleeping and I wonder how he does it sometimes.  He is quite flexible and loves to show it to people around him.  Jérémy will eat what he likes and do the chipmunk for the rest.   *sigh*   But this little boy loves to smile and laugh.    He is quite curious about everything around him and enjoys exploring with the rest of the family.

J is also for Jasmine.

My baby.  oups – she would say I’m not a baby anymore… and she is right.   My youngest child is quite determined and seems to be the one with the strongest will.   She loves to follow her big brothers but at the same time she is everything girly.   She loves dresses, the color pink, ladybugs (lucky me!), dolls and Dora.   

I am participating in the 2011 Mommytography 365 Project! For this year long project I will be posting an image a day, to get me out shooting, using my camera and learning new things with it daily. Anyone interested in photography can join, no need to be a Mommytographer. We have teens to adults, male and female, as well as people from all over the world. Come join the fun!

Me and my girl… 

I am participating in the 2011 Mommytography 365 Project! For this year long project I will be posting an image a day, to get me out shooting, using my camera and learning new things with it daily. Anyone interested in photography can join, no need to be a Mommytographer. We have teens to adults, male and female, as well as people from all over the world. Come join the fun!

Awana Quizzing Competition today – Alexandre excelled again by answering correctly for the multiple choice questions and the speed questions for his book 2 section 1.  He was competing along and ended up finishing 3rd place after all.   Way to go!

I stand for imagination.

Have you looked outside today or picked up a book that display all the various species around the world.

I think God had lots of imagination to created all the living creatures, the plants, the stars and humans.

Recently I have reviewed a book titled Natural History and I am in awe of the various colours and originality behind the bugs, reptiles, birds, fishes, animals and so much more.

Way to go God because without you our life would be more than likely boooooring.   Thanks you for diversity and your imagination.

Thank you for putting this imagination into our mind.   Kids are especially good at this.   

Don’t forget to use your imagination – whatever it would be like writing, painting, drawing or building something special in Lego with your kids…

I am participating in the 2011 Mommytography 365 Project! For this year long project I will be posting an image a day, to get me out shooting, using my camera and learning new things with it daily. Anyone interested in photography can join, no need to be a Mommytographer. We have teens to adults, male and female, as well as people from all over the world. Come join the fun!

Friday afternoons are Nintendo afternoons in our house (if the kids didn’t fill their page of strikes that is…)!

H definitively stands for husband…

I am blessed beyond measure with the man that God has put in my life.   When I least expected it, here he was.

My husband is extremely supportive, loves to spend time with me and the kids, enjoys fishing, is willing to work hard so we can homeschool.

My husband is an entrepreneur.  He has many ideas and doesn’t hesitate to try anything.

He is my best friend (after Jesus that is) and he is a wonderful father to our four kids.

I love him dearly and enjoys going through life with him.

I am participating in the 2011 Mommytography 365 Project! For this year long project I will be posting an image a day, to get me out shooting, using my camera and learning new things with it daily. Anyone interested in photography can join, no need to be a Mommytographer. We have teens to adults, male and female, as well as people from all over the world. Come join the fun!

Up close and personal with an Evian bottle that I received for review…

I could say that G stands for Grace but when I went through the 1828 Webster Dictionary to read the definition on grace, a word caught my eyes.

GIGGLES

I love the sounds of my kids laughing when I tickle them.   

I love hearing that they have fun together.

Giggling and laughing is good for everyone.   I know that it snap me out of my blue mode when I am down.

Have you giggled lately?

F is for FAMILY

I love my family…. my husband and four kids.  

Wouldn’t trade them for anything in the world.

Without them I would be nothing.   I would be lonely.

Family is important in my heart.

I am participating in the 2011 Mommytography 365 Project! For this year long project I will be posting an image a day, to get me out shooting, using my camera and learning new things with it daily. Anyone interested in photography can join, no need to be a Mommytographer. We have teens to adults, male and female, as well as people from all over the world. Come join the fun!

Popping fun!    I received a package with the bubble wraps….  The kids had fun in the kitchen.

(This was taken with a small Canon camera – not the regular one…)

E is for encouragement.

From whoever send some my way, I am grateful of them.

Because when you are an homeschooler and a stay-at-home mom having encouragements once in a while is well… encouraging.  *grin*

Seriously, getting encouragement for what we are doing is good to have because that way we know that others see it.

But the best of all, is the encouragement I receive from God while I journal to Him.   He would speak to my soul and lift me up.

I am participating in the 2011 Mommytography 365 Project! For this year long project I will be posting an image a day, to get me out shooting, using my camera and learning new things with it daily. Anyone interested in photography can join, no need to be a Mommytographer. We have teens to adults, male and female, as well as people from all over the world. Come join the fun!

Taxi anyone?

I am participating in the 2011 Mommytography 365 Project! For this year long project I will be posting an image a day, to get me out shooting, using my camera and learning new things with it daily. Anyone interested in photography can join, no need to be a Mommytographer. We have teens to adults, male and female, as well as people from all over the world. Come join the fun!

Discovering how the Inuit kids strengthen their muscles to become good hunters.

D stands for Dominic.  My 2nd born and artist at heart.   He loves to smile and cares for animals.

He enjoys camping and fishing.   Laughs a lot.    Care for his younger siblings and compete with his oldest brother.

Dominic loves to draw and make people laugh.

Thanks for your contagious smile Dominic!

I am participating in the 2011 Mommytography 365 Project! For this year long project I will be posting an image a day, to get me out shooting, using my camera and learning new things with it daily. Anyone interested in photography can join, no need to be a Mommytographer. We have teens to adults, male and female, as well as people from all over the world. Come join the fun!

HUGE version of a popular game – Jenga.

The letter C is for Christ.

He is my Lord and my Saviour.   He is my best friend.  I know that He will be with me no matter what I have to go through in life.  

He is my eternal companion and sometimes I feel like the little girl in the picture.