The Word is alive and active!

I love it when I rediscover a TRUTH that I have always known but yet live like I am oblivious to it. This week I was reminded that God's word is a living word. It is just as applicable today as it was when he first spoke the words into being. I am so often amazed at how I can read a passage in the bible and one year it will just be words and yet at another time in my life those same words will speak to me as if they were written specifically for me to read on that day, when I was going through that experience. I have been attending a Beth Moore bible study called Believing God, well worth attending if you can, just be warned that you may feel like you've been yelled at for an hour, lol, but it grows on you :). Anyways, one of the things that she challenged us with was to sanctify ourselves for these nine weeks. She had mentioned that some people give something up and some people do something in order to sanctify themselves. I struggled a bit trying to figure out what God was asking me to give up and what it was that he might be calling me to do, I just didn't feel God's leading. One day I decided that I was going to make a commitment to pray for three specific people, and that I was going to try to have these three on my mind throughout my day and utter a prayer for them whenever I thought of them, saw them, or heard someone mention them, (I will be the first to admit that though this is my goal, I have not always been as successful at praying as fervently as I would like). So I was going along with my homework, and not entirely sure whether this was what God had called me to or not, but I figured, well at least it can't hurt even if this wasn't exactly the way I should be sanctifying myself. In the homework portion of the study we were asked to read Psalm 146, and apply it to ourselves and God's leading in our lives. Instantly as I was reading this, verses 7b-8 stood out to me. They spoke three phrases that lined up exactly with the three people that I was praying for. I was elated, to me it was a confirmation that God wanted me to commit to praying for these three people, and that my prayers were not in vain because God is the God who frees the prisoners, opens the eyes of the blind, and lifts up those who are weighed down. As I took my excitement to prayer God hit me with another truth. I noticed a little purple card in my bible with a verse written on it. In our bible study that week we were given a list of verses and asked which one challenged our faith the most. For me it was Jeremiah 33:3 It states "Ask me and I will tell you remarkable secrets you do not know about things to come." Head wise this verse is a truth to me, of course God can do that, but do I actually have the FAITH to believe that God, the God that created the universe will speak to me? Anyways, as I noticed this purple card in my bible I began to pray for a friend in our study who also chose this verse as a challenge to her faith, and I felt like God was saying, "come on Shawna, don't you see it, don't you get it?" In my excitement about feeling like my commitment to praying for these three people had been confirmed, I completely missed that God had answered a prayer in my own life, I had asked and he had shown me a remarkable secret of things to come, he spoke to me through his  living and active word. My quiet time with God that night was o so sweet, and yet, the further away from that moment I get, the doubt begins to creep back in, I think, "did God really speak to me, was he really saying that these things will come true that I am praying into these lives?" Even in that mountain top moment with God doubt can cancel out the  experience, and I have come to realize that it is a daily battle, but I choose faith. I might have to get up every morning and force myself to overcome the doubt to that has crept into my life, to remind myself of the moments that strengthened my faith, but through it all, I am believing God.

He's 1!!!!!!!!!

Well, it's official, I have thrown my last first birthday party (at least as far as we have planned, lol). It was actually a lot of fun planning a party and decorating a cake for a boy, even though there were no princesses or fairies required. I had come across this picture of a cake when I was looking at cakes for Emme's birthday and knew that I was going to attempt it for Mason, so I was pretty excited to actually try it out. I managed to decorate his cake, wrap his gift, clean the house, and survive the party without any tears, which I know means I have just put them off until I have time to absorb the fact that I am moving out of baby mode and into the final years of toddlerhood. Oh boy, here they come, sniff, sniff. I can't believe he's ONE already, I swear this past year has gone by faster then all the others. I don't know if was because Cheyanne entered school, or because I was trying so hard to will it to slow down, but for whatever reason it seems like a blur. It doesn't seem like a year ago today I was still trying to come to terms with the fact that I was bringing a baby boy home from the hospital instead of a girl, and now I can't imagine life without this little boy. Good thing God knows best! The changes in the first year are so profound, so amazing, I don't know think there is another stage where one year makes such a difference than that of newborn to one year old. They go from this helpless little blob that can't even control their heads to talking, pointing, standing, even trying to walk. I think it is such a beautiful example of intelligent design, there's no way the universe could spontaneously create such an intricate being!

  

Mason is such a sweet heart! He cuddles just long enough to make you sigh and feel like you could sit and hold him forever, and then he lifts his head off your shoulder, looks at you, smiles with a big toothy grin and squirms down to get into mischief. Mason is a content little guy. He will just sit happily in his high chair watching the girls as they noisily run around the house. Already he enjoys wandering the house and will entertain himself for fairly long periods of time, although, if it is too long he tends to be up to something. I have found him playing in the toilet, the garbage, the girls' barbie house, our bedroom, and his favourite place, the pantry. He seems to have a radar for when a door has been left open to a room that he's not supposed to be in and manages to get himself into trouble faster than any of us realize. It is amazing to watch how different each kid is. He is so busy and active that it reminds me of Emmersen, and yet he's so laid back and content that he reminds me of my nephew Brodie. If you know either of these two, I don't think there could be more polar opposites then Emme and Brodie, and yet for some reason Mason reminds me of them both. His giggle is infectious and I love how easy it is to get him going, even after being up for hours with him in the middle of the night his giggle melts my heart, it has even made me attempt to video tape him at 2am because he was so wired. Mason has figured out how to point at what he wants and it's so cute to watch him point and coo at something, it's pretty hard to resist so he usually gets what he wants. I have a feeling he might be just a tad bit spoiled as he grows up! I have also noticed that he has started to have an opinion about what he eats and will no longer eat a healthy alternative when the rest of us are eating pizza. He has also discovered dessert and Michael and I can't get away with not sharing with him anymore while we sit and have our morning coffee together. Mason is a huge game player. He loves peek-a-boo. When we have our coffee in the living room in the morning Mason crawls over to the curtains, sits beside them and wraps them around his face popping out from behind them long enough for us to make a goofy facial expression of surprise while he sits and laughs, sometimes hard enough to knock himself over. He also can turn meal time into a game by biting the spoon hard enough so that I can't get it out of his mouth after giving him a bite or by quickly putting his hand over his mouth right before you go to put the spoon in then taking it away long enough for you to think that you can get the spoon in but he quickly puts his hand there again and giggles. Another favourite game of his is mimicking. He loves to make a goofy sound and then have us copy him, he just shrieks, and looks at us and smiles to make sure we will play with him. He has taken to dancing to music lately or to his own singing. His dance moves remind me of Stevie Wonder, he's all head and shoulders when he dances. Mason is standing on furniture and walking behind everything, sometimes he will even stand on his own for a brief second or two but I am happy to report he still isn't attempting to take steps, and doesn't show any desire to do so, nor am I encouraging him to start, lol. His crawl is quick but sometimes turns into something that looks like the way a three legged dog would move, it's hard to explain unless you see it, and I haven't managed to be quick enough to video tape it, but it is definitely unique to him, none of the girls crawled like that. He always has his tounge out, especially when he is focused on something, which is apparently a Haak thing, hehehe. The other unique thing about Mason is that he has an extra tooth, yup, his toothy grin is even toothier than it should be, good thing he's a boy, hahaha. He still doesn't sleep through the night despite the fact that every night I go to bed thinking "tonight's the night" but usually that is far from the truth, however, he has on occasion, had a night where he sleeps through or only gets up once, but the norm is two or three times, with a few nights a week that he decides to be up for three to four hours solid. At one years old he still has not spent a single night in his crib, instead he still sleeps in the ensuite bathroom. We have thought about moving him many times but the fact that he gets up so often, and Bella isn't a great sleeper has just kept us from doing it. I did try it one night and he was so freaked out about being in another bed that I ended up putting him back in the bathroom.

Over all, I don't think I can express just how much I love this little guy and that ooey gooey feeling inside I get when I hug him and squeeze him and just don't ever want to let him go. The best word that I have found to explain the warm gooshy feeling hugging your own little baby gives you comes from another language, I heard it first on my cousin Jessica's blog, the word is Gheegle it's a Filipino word that means the urge to pinch or squeeze something that is unbearably cute. That pretty much sums up the way I feel every time I look at my precious little gift from God! We love you Mason, can't wait to see the way you grow up, even though I am sad that it seems to be happening so quickly!

happy to watch life from the best seat in the house!

getting ready to go watch skating.

can you find him hiding in there?

he just crawled right in and made himself at home.

getting into the flour in the pantry.

getting a candle in your toast is a birthday tradition

at our house. Mason was pretty excited about it, and

seeings how he wasn't really getting the hang of blowing out the

candle, Michael figured we should give him a spoon to try and

knock the flame out, it didn't work.

The Birthday Boy all ready for his party. He looks all

grown up in that shirt.

The cake, it was so much fun to make!!

Michael helped out by constructing the fences for me.

Cows, pigs, and chickens, looks like the ideal farm to me!

He went for the little pig right away!

loving the icing!

He ate the cupcake so fast that we had to give him a

 little more cake while everyone else was eating theirs.

He actually did a great job opening his gifts, when his sisters

would leave him alone long enough to do it, probably the

story of his life, lol.

Future Canuck fan, and I put fan because I am hoping he

never desires to actually play hockey, fingers crossed.

My Valentine!

In the last couple of weeks I have been looking over some of my past blogs and just reliving the stories that I have taken the time to record and enjoying them, but it has become apparent to me that my thoughts and passions are in my posts, and I record stories about the kids and what we do, but often I have neglect including Michael in my writing, beyond a sentence or two. I want this blog to be a record for my kids of our lives and obviously Michael is the most important person in all of our lives, so I figured Valentine's Day was an appropriate day to write a mushy, gushing post about him as a husband and father, lol. So if you don't like Valentine's Day or are sick of the mushy stuff, feel free to stop reading now, hahaha.

As a Father Michael is an incredible role model. He inspires me to be a better parent! I love how God just knew that he would be a wonderful dad to little girls, and so blessed him with three princesses who adore him! As a dad to girls he has always been very intentional about making sure the girls know that they are loved, know that they are special, and know that they are beautiful. He has a way of seeing what they need to hear and making sure that he expresses it. Ever since Cheyanne was born Valentine's Day has been important to him. He has always made a point of getting the girls a card and writing down a few sentences encouraging them and blessing them in who they are as individuals. Today was no different, each of our girls received a special gift from daddy with their own handwritten Valentine in it. Cheyanne's said "Cheyanne, you have grown up into such an amazing little lady. Remember to keep singing, Daddy loves hearing your beautiful little voice. Lots of Hugs and Kisses, Daddy." Emmersen's said "Emmersen, you are one of a kind Hunny. You are such a Joy to be around and you bring so much Joy to others. Never stop acting silly :) Lots of Love, Daddy." and Bella's said "Isabella, You are such a sweetheart :) You better never stop hanging out with me like you do now. Hugs and Kisses Tink, Daddy." If you know our kids and their personalities at all, you can tell how each card let them know that who they are is valued. I admire his ability to light up their world. Cheyanne was so excited to bring her dad to school today. She couldn't stop telling her friends how funny he was, and how great he was. Michael is always up to play any game, or dance to any song with the girls. He takes time to spin a twirl each one just like a princess. Squeals and shrieks of laughter can always be heard when he is playing with them. As Mason is getting older he is slowly starting to be a part of these activities too and can often be heard giggling away as daddy is rolling on the ground playing with the four of them. I know that he will be just as good of a father to his little boy as he is to his princesses. 

This is the video to one of Michael and the girls' favourite songs to dance to:

As a husband he daily demonstrates his love for me through actions and words. Often I am asked how I am still sane and manage to get out of the house with 4 kids 5 and under, while getting no sleep and attempting to work part time in our home, and the answer is God's grace, and the fact that he blessed me with an amazing husband. I really don't know what I would do without Michael's help, I am truly in awe of single mothers and women whose husbands work away. I don't know how they do it. I spend my day anticipating Michael coming home, at lunch, and especially at dinner time, and so do my girls. Michael helps in all aspect of our household, there really aren't any "pink"jobs in this house, aside from maybe scrubbing the toilets, lol, and yet there are definitely "blue" jobs, like taking out the garbage, shoveling the snow, cleaning the fish tank, etc. His servant heart means that when he comes home  from work he doesn't just check out and demand time for himself, he instead, looks for ways to help. He seems to be able to see what I couldn't get done in the day and finishes it for me or plays with the kids so that I can finish it, even if it is simply managing to fit a shower in! When I need to get out the door by a certain time he rushes around the house with me and helps in any way, whether it means dressing Mason or doing hair. When I have company coming over he is an expert at staging the house, he can make our home look like it is tidy and organized when only a half our before it looked like a tornado had hit it. It might not be "clean" but it is at least tidy! I have been truly blessed to marry my best friend. We have been married for almost ten years now and in this time I have experienced Proverbs 27:17 "As iron sharpens irons, so one man sharpens another." I have seen how God has used each of us to challenge and strengthen the other, I love that this verse illustrates that in relationships there will be friction, and yet it is that friction that can be used to our benefit as an individual and a couple.

I love these photos, they just show what a wonderful father Michael is:



Michael loves to play music with the kids.

Last year for Christmas we all got Jewelry boxes made by Michael. He took the time to go into the Jewelry store in town and get plaques engraved to put inside, every time the girls open their jewelry box it tells them that they "are beautiful just they way they are."

Father's day right before Bella was born.

Making "Swedish Pancakes" with his three girls

shoveling snow with Emme on his back

Playing the prince and the princess

Christmas Eve 2010 at my parents anniversary dinner

This is the doll house that he spent many hours and late nights lovingly putting together for them.

Canada Day!!



Update on Cheyanne's Project

I figured I should do a post on how Cheyanne's project for the homeless turned out. Cheyanne collected winter clothing and sleeping bags from many people in the community, as well as some family in the lower mainland. Our church family in particular, really made this a success for Cheyanne. We also received toques and scarves that were specifically knit for Cheyanne to take to the Mission, it was pretty neat! We collected so much stuff that it began to take over Bella's bedroom. On Christmas eve we were able to go to the Upper Room Mission in Vernon, and deliver a full van load of sleeping bags and winter clothing. The lady that we delivered the stuff to was so excited to have received such a large donation and thanked Cheyanne repeatedly for taking on this project. Cheyanne was very proud of what she had been able to collect. After dropping off the donations Cheyanne wanted to make sure that the homeless people would not be required to pay for the sleeping bags, but that they would be able to go to the centre and get what they needed for free. We assured her that this would be the case. Her concern and compassion for people that she has never met is truly inspiring, especially at such a young age. When we were driving away from the centre she announced that next year at Christmas time she wants to do another project, and that would be to collect new toys for the kids in Children's Hospital because they don't get to go home for Christmas. She got this idea from Uncle Andrew and Auntie Marie, as well as our Haak Christmas gathering where this done in memory of Josiah. Doing this project with Cheyanne made our Christmas special and reminded us of the true meaning of Christmas, which often gets lost in the busyness of the holiday season. It also gave us an opportunity to show her that not everyone has as much as we do, and to help her see how blessed we are.

We have continued to receive donations from people and are hoping to make our last drop off of stuff in the next week or so, if anyone else has anything that they would like us to donate please contact us.

The stuff overtook Bella's room!

The girls and Michael taking the donations

 into the Upper Room Mission in Vernon.

Eavesdropping

The other day I was eavesdropping on a conversation that my girls were having about heaven. It was too cute to listen to them discussing a topic that for me is so a deep and mind boggling, and yet their simplistic little conversation was tackling it. Cheyanne was asking Emme about whether she wanted to go to heaven. After a bit of back and forth conversation about wondering whether teddy and woof woof could come along they decided that they would like to go to heaven. Cheyanne told Emme that she wanted to go to heaven because she would get to see daddy's grandma that was in heaven, and that daddy's grandma was a real nice lady. She made daddy yummy food and played games with him, and daddy really loved her. They also came to the conclusion that they could see Josiah if they went to heaven. After discussing this back and forth for awhile Cheyanne said that Josiah was in heaven all alone but that actually he wasn't and that daddy's grandma was looking after Josiah because she was such a nice lady.