A Getaway /a Birthday surprise /a Puke party @Tofino!

Tofino is a small district on Vancouver Island, off Canada’s west coast. It sprawls on a peninsula within Clayoquot Sound, characterized by wild natural scenery including lakes, inlets and ancient rainforest. Sandy beaches with year-round surfing facilities include Cox Bay, Chesterman Beach and popular Long Beach, part of the Pacific Rim National Park Reserve. The relaxed town of Tofino sits on the peninsula’s tip. (Google source)

In case you’re wondering what that title was, please, follow us through the pictures. They will tell you about our family’s very interesting 3 days getaway in Tofino, enjoy!

On our way, we stopped at Cathedral Grove MacMillan Provincial Park, where you can admire majestic old trees.

Then we suddenly went back in winter… SNOW

We just had to stop to this unreal scenery!

Snow is way more fun in spring, eh?

The next day, March 15, for our twin girls birthday, we went to Long Beach

 

As their birthday present, we went Whale watching!!

We were very excited…

…until we hit big waves.. like gigantic waves… and the boat started going up and down…

The excitement went down and we all took turn puking… yikes…

But, we all agreed that it was safe on dry land…

and it was the best family getaway so far!

We are looking forward to another adventure without the puke part!

 

Now, the best and craziest part was that we saw 4 grey whales!! But we were too busy puking… so we ended up not taking pictures. In our family, we have FUN together, we STICK together and we PUKE together!! 😉

 

 

 

 

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One Incredible Moment

“Blessed are the meek,” Jesus explained.
Blessed are the available.
Blessed are the conduits, the tunnels, the tools…
That’s why the announcement went first to the shepherds. They didn’t ask God if He was sure He knew what He was doing.
Had the Angel gone to theologians, they would have first consulted their commentaries. Had he gone to the elite, they would have looked around to see if anyone was watching. Had he gone to the successful, they would have first looked at their calendars.
So he went to the shepherds. Men who didn’t have a reputation to protect or an ax to grind or a ladder to climb. Men who didn’t know enough to tell God that angels don’t sing to sheep and that messiahs aren’t found wrapped in rags and sleeping in a feed trough…
So… While the theologians were sleeping and the elite were dreaming and the successful were snoring, the meek were kneeling. They were kneeling before the ONE only the meek will see.
The shepherds were utterly changed after the news… ARE YOU?

Exerpt from One Incredible Moment, by Max Lucado

The ExTrA in the Ordinary

Believe me or not, it’s been a year now I’m trying to find  a job in teaching (my passion): a paid position or as volunteer. Now, believe me or not, it seems like all the doors stay closed, a very complicated paper work vicious circle…!

What on earth would someone with 4 kids and a lot to do at home be so desperate to find an extra work? Well, I guess my life was becoming too ORDINARY and needed an EXTRA…! Can you think of a place where life is more ordinary than home? Come on, I am not talking about those extra things you do to make your home vibrant.

What about the ordinary stuff like, cleaning, vacuuming, laundries, cooking every day, eating familiar food and discussing routine subjects. As we complete one stack of dishes, another one piles up. Each week we return to music lessons, Cheerleading, football training, help with homework and wash mounds of clothes (in our case, for 6 people) and realizing it is the same clothes I washed just the week or the day before: ordinary life!

As monotonous as such everyday patterns can be, I realize there is an upside to their repetition. A predictable, you-can-count-on it home life provides security that can carry us through even the most difficult days.

It is comforting to hear my husband saying how thankful and bless he is to know that he can be away for days for his work knowing and trusting that the house will be taken good care of (he is away right now for his work.) It is good to know that the kids will come through the door about 3:30 pm for the girls and 4:10 for the boys with that joyful look in their eyes, they thrive when they know their mom will be there, ready to help handle the day’s events. Not to mention hugs and compliments they give me when they find a clean house and their favorite snack ready…

Finally, my friends, finding the EXTRA in the ORDINARY at home means looking beneath the boring surface of the mundane and discovering that it’s a blessing to be a stay home mom for my dear and love ones!

Now, if this doesn’t apply to you but you somehow complain about any monotonous, boring or ordinary situation you’re in, may be there’s something to take here!

As for me, I choose to enjoying my EXTRAORDINARY home life, not every mom have that chance!

 

 

 

Happy ThanksGiving!

Gratitude is the heart’s memory

 

Be thankful for what you have; you’ll end up having more. If you concentrate on what you don’t have, you will never, ever have enough.

November is the time to be thankful, a time to remember and to embrace those who enrich our lives. I’m thankful for a lot of things, but I’m most thankful for You!

 

JUST A MOM?

A woman, renewing her driver’s license at the County Clerk ‘s office, was asked by the woman recorder to state her occupation. 

She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself.

‘What I mean is, ‘ explained the recorder,
‘do you have a job or are you just a ..?’

‘Of course I have a job,’ snapped the woman. 
‘I’m a Mom.’

‘We don’t list ‘Mom’ as an occupation, ‘housewife’ covers it,’ Said the recorder emphatically. 

I forgot all about her story until one day I found myself in the same situation, this time at our own Town Hall.   

The Clerk was obviously a career woman, poised, efficient, and possessed of a high-sounding title like, ‘Official Interrogator’ or ‘Town Registrar.’ 

‘What is your occupation?’ she probed
What made me say it?  I do not know.   
The words simply popped out.
‘I’m a Research Associate in the field of
Child Development and Human Relations.’

The clerk paused, ball-point pen frozen in midair and
looked up as though she had not heard right.   

I repeated the title slowly emphasizing the most significant words.
Then I stared with wonder as my pronouncement was written,
in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire. 

‘Might I ask,’ said the clerk with new interest,
‘just what you do in your field?’  

Me & Them 😉

Coolly, without any trace of fluster in my voice,
I heard myself reply,
‘I have a continuing program of research,
(what mother doesn’t)
In the laboratory and in the field,
(normally I would have said indoors and out).
I’m working for my Masters, (first the Lord and then the whole family)
and already have four credits (all daughters).
Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities,
(any mother care to disagree?)
and I often work 14 hours a day, (24 is more like it).
But the job is more challenging than most run-of-the-mill careers

and the rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money.’

There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk’s voice as she
completed the form, stood up, and personally ushered me to the door.

As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up by my glamorous new career,
I was greeted by my lab assistants — ages 13, 7, and 3.
Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model,
(a 6 month old baby) in the child development program,
testing out a new vocal pattern.  
I felt I had scored a beat on bureaucracy!
And I had gone on the official records as someone more

distinguished and indispensable to mankind than ‘just another Mom.’

Motherhood!   

What a glorious career!   
Especially when there’s a title on the door.

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY TO ALL OF YOU!

May your troubles be less,

Your blessings be more,

And nothing but happiness come through your door !