Mama-luia

This week involved a few tears and many prayers as my dad underwent a 'standard procedure' to determine what, if anything, was wrong with his heart. Really, when it's your daddy, the words standard procedure mean nothing when you hear heart as well. Your mind races to different possibilities and you find yourself simultaneously panicked and trying to ignore your own thoughts as the Holy Spirit whispers over and over, "trust, trust." We are so grateful that all went smoothly and there is nothing serious to be concerned about. He is doing extremely well, and seemed so calm and completely himself when he came from the hospital on Tuesday. He smiled and watched in delight at his three grandkids playing in his yard, playing in the sandbox and pouring buckets of water everywhere. I saw a smile I have seen many times, but never knew exactly what it meant until not so long ago. When I sang a solo in my honour choir's Christmas concert -- in German -- Dad was t...

Patrick is out with my parents' van tonight, busily taking boxes into our new house with the help of my ever-selfless father-in-law. I'm home as Noah peacefully sleeps, dreaming of the big plot of land we'll get explore first thing tomorrow . Our first day in our home! I probably should be putting our remaining things into boxes. You know, like, this computer. But I am so eager to show you our home, and invite you to come over for a cup of tea (hot or iced, we like both!) or some homemade gingerale . Whatever you choose. We have no furniture actually in the house yet, of course, so until then, you're most welcome to pull up a cardboard box and enjoy our ocean view with us. Without further adieu, the house: The entrance. Just picture some sweet hanging baskets and a few Craine touches and it will be perfect. It's home. Our home . A funny sight when you first walk in, I confess. Yet an amazing gift to a cloth-diapering stay-at-home mom: a washer and dr...

I got this image from a blog of a lovely friend and a wonderful mother. Click it to enlarge and read it. Then go live it! I told you last time about us deciding to buy a house. What I didn't tell you about, though, is the confirmation we received right after making up our minds that we were doing the right thing . As I mentioned to you, we had struggled for a year living here with the idea of community . Friends, other young families, fellow Catholics -- we wanted them, we knew they were around, but how exactly to connect with them? We signed our offer on a Friday, and found out our lovely friends the Wee Irish Lass and the Texan Liturgist were in town for a visit that weekend. Splendid. Could they come over? Sure, always. They told us that night they had decided to move back to Nova Scotia from the nearby but not close enough for my liking Island. Our hearts swelled. We share so much in common, and we can hardly wait for their baby to come this fall! Dear friends of ours, living s...

In less than one week, we will be moving into our first house! I can hardly believe this is happening, but yet, I feel so at peace. God has been doing wonderful things in our lives, and He really is extravagant. I will tell you all about the house when we're there (with pictures, too, of course!) but for now, I want to just want to tell you about how God set the whole thing up! When Patrick and I made the decision to move back to Nova Scotia, we were in the hospital after Noah's birth. My dear husband was unemployed, we had university debt to last us, well, a looong time, and here we were, cradling this innocent gift of God who was relying on us to supply his every need. It was very humbling, to say the least. We knew we had a wonderful community in Barry's Bay, and we even thought it likely that Patrick could find some work there, but it just didn't seem right for us to move there. Not when we knew we could live in Halifax and be so close to both sets of parent...