The Parable of the Wide Load

We have been looking for learning opportunities with our kids and the Lord pretty much dropped one in my lap today.  We had to get to the dentist and, with the roads being less than ideal, we left a little early.  And found ourselves behind a very wide load (see above pic, sorry for the quality).  Someone was in the process of moving an entire house.  It was wider than the highway, so not only did opposing trafffic have to pull off and let it by, they had to stop whenever there was sign in the way and move it.

Very slooooooow....

Thinking we could possibly beat the house, we turned off and took a detour around the country mile block.  We felt pretty smart and smug.

Until we got to the highway again.

There sat the house completely obstructing our approach, and, to add salt to the wound, they were allowing all the traffic that had been following the chance to go around.

As we sat waiting I asked the kids what we could learn from this.

Patience was the big answer.

But we took it even further.

Sometimes in life you have to make choices regarding which path you are going to take.  Will you stay on the road you're on - the one that looks long and difficult, where the end is unsure?

Or will you take a detour on the road that appears to be faster, easier, the more sure thing.

Chances are it isn't all it's cracked up to be.  And here's the kicker - you generally end up right back where you started having only taken the scenic route.

And that, my friends, is now our family's "Parable of the Wide Load".

Hope it helps someone else more than it helped us today!

Fruit fly fever

 

Ever have one of your kids come to you and let you know that someone put a banana in their bedroom garbage? Oh, and some oranges and apples in the downstairs bathroom garbage?  Which they then forgot to empty?

 

The result?

 

A swarming mass of fruit flies.  I hate these things.  We got some in the summer with some fruit that came to our house.  Fortunately, I came across this solution on the internet and guess what - it works!

 

I can't believe how quickly they get trapped in this.  It is simply a jar with a piece of banana and a little apple cider vinegar.  You then make a paper funnel, shove it inside and tape up the rim of the jar so nothing gets out.  The flies can get into the funnel, but they can't figure out how to fly out.  Once they're trapped, throw it out.  Simple!

 

This is jar no. 3 of this round, and I think that is finally the end.  Note to self - don't just assume they checked if their garbage needed to be emptied...

Mennonite Girls Can Cook: Honey Bran Buns

This is my favorite bun recipe right now.  They have a light, sweet taste and my kids love them warm with, you guessed it, honey!  Really easy and so good.


Mennonite Girls Can Cook: Honey Bran Buns: Honey bran buns are such a nice light and fluffy textured bun, and a good source of fiber, sweet with a light bran flavor. 2 cups boiling...

And so it ends...

6 years ago we lived in Okotoks and Spencer was on his way to our family. We decided we had reached that fork in the road - to go to school or not.

So we did.

Fast forward to today.

4 moves, 3 schools, 4 home addresses, more than 5 jobs and here we are.

Dan just called from Edmonton to let me know he passed his NCTRC board exam. He is now officially a nationally certified recreation therapist.

School goals - check.

The rest of our life? Here we come!

Our children can't even remember when dad wasn't studying for something. Maybe we'll be like retired people and not know what to do with ourselves...

But who cares. I'm so excited for him I am literally jumping around my house alone like a fool. Wish someone were here to scream with me.

The words every elementary school parent cringes to hear...

..."mom, my heads been really itchy for, like, 5 days..."

Oh great.  Under the lights for a lice check.  Positive confirmation, with him and his little brother who have been sharing a bed. 

 

We just got the letters home from each of the classes last week saying lice had been found in "at least one student".  Looks like we heard too late. 

 

 And why did he not tell me sooner? He wanted to grow his hair out for Halloween in order to be old Obi-Wan, so he thought he'd just ignore it.

Out come the clippers.  All 3 boys shaved just up from bald. Check the sister and mom with hair daily.  Possibly shampoo with Nix just in case.

And now for the fun part - wash absolutely everything in the house and put all pillows through a 20 minute dryer cycle.

This was supposed to be my day home alone...now I get to spend it with some very uninvited guests! 

Hello, is anybody there...?

I know this is the question many of you have been asking about us.  We are still here.  We are still alive.  We are still healthy and fine and happy.

But we are really busy!  In a good way.  I have 13 piano students to keep up with as well as all the usual family back to school things and I just haven't had much time to think about anything else.  Just ask my sisters - take up to a week to play my move on scramble words!

I haven't even taken any new pics to simply post.  How lame! 

I will tell you that Dan has his National Board exam on Friday, so as long as all goes well 6 years of almost perpetual studying will come to an end and the rest of our life may begin.  So everyone pray for him this week.  It would really mean a lot.

So don't worry, more to come...as long as I can keep all these balls in the air!