Over 2000 and Still Counting

It has been a long time since I’ve done a thankful post, but I have been adding to my list almost daily in my thankful journal.  I passed 2000 this month and I’m pumped for the many more thousands of gifts that I can thank God for!  I’m also way behind on posting pictures, so this will be a 2 in 1.  Here are some more gifts:

2051. Kiera’s first bike, which we found on Kijiji.

2052. Blake’s new tricycle, which we also found on Kijiji.  Now he doesn’t have to ride the pink princess one anymore!

2053. My friend getting married at the end of July (she was one of my bridesmaids almost 7 years ago).

2054. Homemade sweet potato wedges, my new favorite lunch!

2055. Sharing my strawberry milkshake with Haley, which she LOVED

2056. The kids using my new Norwex mop pads as skateboards

2057. Watching them enjoy the finger paint I made for them

2058. Playing with a new fire hat

2059. Enjoying the kids’ pictures

The picture on the left is an egg, the red drawing is an apple, and the right picture is Blake’s

2060. The kids discovering an old toy.  I blew the WHOLE THING up with my mouth because we don’t have a pump.  I felt like I was almost going to pass out a couple of times!

2061. The fall colors I see every day when picking up Kiera from school.

2062. Eating raspberries

2063. Kisses from Daddy

2064. Having easy access to toys while sitting in the toy chest

2065. All of the new shoes the kids got

Blake picked Batman shoes, which he was very excited about!

Kiera picked these light-up ones for gym class at school

Kiera also needed new outdoor shoes and dress shoes, so I took advantage of Payless Shoes Buy One Get One for 50% off deal.

2066. Finally switching her to a forward-facing car seat at 13 months old.  My baby is growing up! :)

Let Her Eat Cake

Since we didn’t let Haley go at the cake at her birthday party, I gave her a piece the next day that she could do what she wanted with.  I think this is what she was thinking:

“Really, this is for me?”

“Let’s see what we have here.”

“Is this a joke?  Am I really allowed to eat this?”

“Hmmmm…this is more sugar than I’m used to.”

“I LIKE IT!”

“Look at the mess you have to clean up, Mom!”

“Hey, where are you going with that?  I want more.”

For the Love of Norwex

In June, my friend invited me to her Norwex Party.  I had heard a little bit about the products and wasn’t sure if I would be all that interested, but I decided to go to support her.  I was blown away by the products!  I love anything natural and I steer away from chemicals whenever possible.  After I heard about all of their antibacterial products and how good of a job they do, I was sold!  I started off by just buying an Enviro Cloth, which is an antibacterial multi-purpose cloth for cleaning that you use with just water.

Jared was skeptical at first, but then after it took off every scratch and smudge on our t.v. and left it spotless, he was sold, too!  Another friend had a party a couple of weeks later.  After hearing how the antibacterial bath towel hardly gets wet after using it, doesn’t stink, and gets hair about 80% dry after 10-15 min. I decided to order it.  It works amazingly well and I hardly ever have to blow dry my hair anymore!

I decided that I would have a party because there were so many more products that I wanted.  I was concerned at first because not very many people were going to come, but God asked me, “Why don’t you just trust me?” and I said, “Ok.”  I ended up having 7 people there and a bunch of outside orders as well.  Because of the amount of sales I had, I qualified for the August special, which was a free large mop with the antibacterial wet pad, dry pad, rubber brush for the dry mop pad, and laundry detergent.

$99.99

$15.99

$20.99

For hosting a party, I got a free window cloth, which leaves windows + mirrors streak-free, again just using it with water.

$19.99

I also got free stuff because of the amount of orders I had.  I got another Enviro Cloth ($16.99), a Car Cloth and a Hand Cream.

$28.99

$22.99

You also get a percentage of your orders, so I ended up getting $67 of free product.  I picked the oven cleaner, Silver Care toothbrush and the dry superior large mop pad, which is also antibacterial.

$29.99 – This cleaner worked really well on all of the charred parts of my ceramic stovetop, as well inside the oven.

$21.99 – This toothbrush is antibacterial, it lasts 1 year and comes with a refill head.

Regularly $34.99 but I got it for $15, which ended up being part of my free product.

For having a booking, I got another free window cloth, which is $19.99.  In addition to all of that, I ordered the hand towel, which is antibacterial, and the body pack (wash cloths) which are also antibacterial.  The host said the wash cloths have worked to get rid of eczema and have cured colds really quickly because they kill bacteria.

How do all of their antibacterial products work?  They are embedded with silver, which kills bacteria.  I was super pumped and got way more stuff for free than I thought I would.  I got $315 of product for free!  Totally worth it! :)

Road Trip Day 13

On Wednesday, July 18, we were intending to leave Kelowna fairly early and spend the day driving to Calgary.  Well, by the time we had eaten breakfast, packed up our stuff and stopped by Jared’s Uncle Gerald’s workplace to say good-bye, it was 11 a.m.  Not exactly an early start.  We drove back through Vernon, where we had just been the night before.

I really like fountains.

This building was covered in flowers…so gorgeous!

The drive was incredibly scenic

The mountains got bigger

We ate lunch outside at A & W in the mountains.  I couldn’t have asked for a better view! 

This place was in the middle of a beautiful nowhere.

I love seeing the waterfalls coming down the mountain.

So many times, I just wanted to shout, “Glory, glory!” to God.  The mountains just proclaim His majesty and greatness!

Outside of Banff

We arrived in Calgary around 9:00 p.m. and met up with our friend, Cole, who moved there a year ago, for a very late supper at Boston Pizza.  Our kids were SO done and the meal was a disaster, behavior-wise.  Our sleep at our hotel that night was very good!

Love, Love, Love

I found this quote: “In family life, love is the oil that eases friction, the cement that binds closer together, and the music that brings harmony.”  As I think of the mistakes we make every day, my continual prayer is that we will “love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins.” 1 Peter 4:8  I’m so blessed to have this family that I get to love every day!