Date Nights

2 nights of amazing movies.

the second night we even got to go out for dinner first:

Subway!

You will love the Banff Mountain Film Festival World Tour if you like the following:

movies

laughter

the outdoors

outdoor adventures and pursuits

travel

people and their lives

learning about cultures

seeing people accomplish goals

heartpounding, seat gripping craziness

dreams coming true - or at least people attempting them

i recommend that you check out the tour in a place near you.

out of the ones dan and i saw i had a couple favorites:

Reel Rock: Origins Obe & Ashima - crazy awesome boulderer: 9 year old girl.

Kadoma - an amazing story about kayaking in the Congo. 

(a story about adventure, dreams, life and, unfortunately, loss)

C.A.R.C.A - the way avalanche rescue should be.

(for a full list and descriptions, go to the BMFF tour site)

Praying for my kids

I became a mom 4 1/2 years ago. 

My church has a thursday morning women's Bible study that i used to go to weekly.

it's called TLC. 

thursday ladies conversation?...tender lovin' care?....the ladies connection...(i never knew what it actually meant until recently) 

Anyway, I met some amazing women there.

learnt some wonderful truths about life and the Bible.

Shared prayer requests, and prayed with others.

it was always a time to go and spend time with other young moms, and some special senior women.

there was always child care, which made it so much easier to focus on the teaching that day.

i haven't been going lately - i got out of it when the boy had swim lessons on thursday mornings.

anyway,

one day Christine, who was leading it, brought in an article about praying for your kids.

I liked that idea. 

I had thought of it but beside the "dear God, please help my kids grow up loving you, and keep them safe" i never had a specific prayer time for them.

The article had 31 character traits to pray for - one a day (for most months) 

it talked about this guy's discovery as he began to pray specifically for his kids daily.

Well, i have adapted some, by merging a couple or adding a new one,

but i have been attempting to do this each morning..

i will be honest.

i was doing awesome, every morning...

 then i missed a day..

and another..

it's been a couple months and i just started again. 

3 mornings in a row now.

one thing i try to do, as well, 

while I pray for the specific character traits for my kids

i also pray them for myself and for my husband. 

if we don't have character traits then why do I expect my kids to see the importance of it.

Here the list as i do it. 

with verses for reference (some from the article, some i chose).

1. Salvation (Isa 45:8, 2Tim 2:10, 1Thess 5:9,10)
2. Growth in Grace (2Pet 3:18, 2Tim 2:1)
3. Love (Eph 5:2, Gal 5:22, Prov 3:3)
4. Honesty & Integrity (Ps 25:21NLT, Prov 12:17)
5. Self-Control (1Thess 5:6)
6. A Love for God's Word (Ps 19:10, Ps 56:4)
7. Justice (Ps 11:7, Micah 6:8, Ps 106:3)
8. Mercy (Luke 6:36, Matt 5:7)
9. Respect (for self, others, authority) (1Pet 2:17a, 1Pet 3:15b)
10. Strong, Biblical Self-Esteem (Eph 2:10)
11. Faithfulness (Prov 3:3)
12. Courage (Deut 31:6)
13. Purity (Ps 51:10)
14. Kindness (1Thess 5:15)
15. Generosity (1Tim 6:18-19)
16. Peace, peaceability (Rom 14:19)
17. Joy (1Thess 1:6)
18. Perseverance (Heb 12:1)
19. Humility & Compassion (Titus 3:2 & Col 3:12)
20. Responsibility (Gal 6:5 TNIV)
21. Contentment (Phil 4:12-13)
22. Faith (Luke 17:5-6, Heb 11:1-40)
23. A Servant Heart (Eph 6:7 TNIV)
24. Hope (Rom 15:13)
25. The willingness and ability to work hard (Col 3:23 TNIV)
26. A Passion for God (Ps 63:8 KJV)
27. Self-Discipline (Prov 1:3)
28. Prayerfulness (Eph 6:18)
29. Gratitude (Col 2:7, Eph 5:20)
30. A Heart for Missions (Ps 96:3)
31. Forgiveness (Col 3:13)

when a day is missed feel free to pair up the ones missed and just keep praying.  

Praying for our kids is very important for us as parents, grandparents. 

if you're planning to have kids, adopt kids, raise any kids, it is never too early to begin praying for them.

Keep pressing on. 

School Days part 2: how many days a week?

We're in the district of the only school in town that currently has 5 day a week JK/SK.
that is 5 full days a week, for the 4 - 6 year olds. 

when we were looking forward to sending the boy to school i had a problem with that above fact.
He was turning 4 the summer before he started school, and i knew my son enough to know that sending him 5 days was not a wise choice.  He needed his alone time in the day, and if i'm home why do i need to send him.

personally i feel like it's to accommodate those families with both parents working or the single parents who have to work.  it's free and the kids are somewhere learning.  for those families, great. Glad there's the affordable option for you.
For our family, i am at home with our kids, and we chose to send our boy 3 days a week.

I honestly expected a fight.  i expected the school to try to convince me i needed to send him all week.  I was ready.  I was defending it as soon as people asked what school he was going to.  Now i know that i didn't need to be defensive.

the school told me just to let his teacher know what days i was sending him, she would be in charge of knowing what days, since other parents were doing their own schedule. 
What? other parents aren't sending their kids all week long? 
we are really allowed to choose the days, even times, that our kids will be there?

No school information told us that.

they boy's teacher told me she was glad that parents were doing that, since we know our kids and if they can handle 5 full days or not. 

What a relief!

Kids don't legally have to be in school until they're 6, so, i guess it only makes sense that we - as parents - should have the authority to choose how often they go. 

the boy started the year, you know how it started with the bus..., well he started the year with a lot of tears! i do mean a lot! 

i figured he'd get used to the 3 full days a week once he realized the schedule..
wow,  things don't always go as planned.

stay tuned for part 3.

Step in Time

Well....

I LOVED IT!

Dan and I are back from watching the Broadway Musical (in Toronto)

MARY POPPINS

I loved it.

The stage

The transitions

Bert

Mary

the songs

i will admit - not too big of a fan of the dancing statues..

but other than that

two thumbs way up

spectacular performances.

wish i could go see it again.

i get so crazy weepy when i watch performances like this..

but i can't bring myself to let the tears out. 

so hard to control today.

The live performance is so different than the movie,

but so amazing in it's own way.