Christmas Joy!

If you were to ask me what my favorite gift fro Christmas was, it is a toss-up between an awesome watch

This watch screams Blake Johnson!

and having two wonderful visitors!

If you look closely, there are fish eating my parent's feet!

A wonderful Christmas meal

It is always a joy to go out and buy your turkey for exciting events as the smallest turkey breast we could buy was 2 kilograms (4.4 pounds) and leg with thigh (they would not cut off the just the leg for me) was 2.5 kilos (5.5 lbs), so needless to say, we cut up the pieces of the bird, totaling about 10 lbs, when we got home into thirds and still had leftovers cooking only 3 pounds of meat.

We were fortunate to have some people send presents and were very blessed to have a full tree

and presents for our kids

We went swimming Christmas day

Ellianna and Jolen's favorite present was Crazy Forts as Ellianna now sleeps every nap and night in her new fort.

Those of you who have grown up with Ukrainian culture know about Ukrainian Christmas, so that means December 25 in Ukraine is a normal working day.  We received Christmas greetings from another team-member here in Ukraine about how Jesus was probably born on a working days as well.

I was reading Facebook and many people commented how this year doesn't feel like Christmas and it reminded me of the first Christmas.  Did it feel like Christmas when Jesus was born?  Probably to the shepherds and the Magi who saw the star, and Mary and Joseph had a special gift, a child!  But in the grand scheme of things, was the day so special to the world?  Eventually the birth of our Saviour would turn the world upside down: Herod's murder of the children of Bethlehem, Pilate's condemnation of and innocent man, the Stone rolled away, tongues of fire spreading to this day to the whole world!  What a special day and a wonderful reminder over here as to the "normality" that was the virgin birth.

I pray blessings for you and your family as you enjoy each other's company in Ukraine, South Africa, Canada, USA and wherever you are reading these humble ramblings of someone who is truly blessed to have a beautiful, loving wife, 2 beautiful, crazy and busy children and parents who were able to come over and share in the normal Christmas festivities!  Merry Christmas!

A little piece of Canada

As we anticipated the arrival of my parents, Ellianna get more excited each day, until the day we were going to the airport to pick them up.  She squealed with glee!  "Canada is Coming!!!"

They arrived safe with lots of goodies (I think they only packed 1 extra pair of clothes and filled the rest with stuff for us).  Kevin and Penny just went to visit their daughter for Christmas as well and I am assuming they did the same thing.

This is suitcase 1 of 3 so we got spoiled!

Jolen is now walking like a pro and does not want to be fed.  He will only eat if he gets to do it himself... well... last night we had perogies, with sour cream of course and how can you not love a face like his?

Another thing we were blessed to have my parents for is St. Nicholas' day in Ukraine.  The Ukrainian Orthodox Church celebrates it on Dec 19 (today) and instead of stockings on Christmas morning, you put your shoe out on Dec 18 night and get your shoe filled with goodies, or coal if you were naughty.

Funny thing I noticed though when taking my parents out and about here in Kiev is they notice how different things are.  I was talking to Colleen just the other night how even though we have been here only 6 months, you forget what things used to be like in Canada.  When I think of things here and Canada, I cannot differentiate the difference.  As far as I can tell, they are the same.  Canada, in some ways has become a distant memory, so much so that I forget what it is like.  I was reminded of this when "fresh" eyes came here and the differences are glaring and you remember for a little bit where you came from.

I know I have written about heaven alot lately and this time is not different.  Will we remember Earth, or our life here, when we get to heaven?  Will it be a distant memory, and more distant than when we have been there ten thousand years?  When we get to heaven and get "used" to it there, when new people "arrive" will we remember what we have been saved from more vividly?  My parents were asking us tonight if we like Ukraine and we both said "We Love It!"  Will I like/love heaven more than Ukraine?  I, in some ways, cannot imagine this as Ukraine is so real and home, but heaven (I know) will be my permanent home, a home with Jesus!  A home that will never be destroyed!  Not a temporary location like Canada, Ukraine, Earth, or even our sinful bodies, but a truly REAL Home!

I can't wait, and yet, I am terrified I will forget the love and friendships on this side of heaven.

You know what happens when you assume?

So, the secretary of KCA, a Ukrainian, told us of this great store that is friendly to foreigners and has lots of foreign stuff and we should try it out.  Well, we have been looking for black beans for the last 6 months and have come up empty; so we figured this was our last hope!  We looked up our transportation route and headed on our way.  Just like the internet said, the bus stopped right in front of the store so we went on our merry way shopping.  Just as we were told, we went into this "Costco" style store, showed our passports and were given a temporary card to shop until we dropped!

We found black beans!  After countless stores and time after time of failed attempts, our mission was successful!  I told Colleen she better stock up on these as you never do know when you can find these again.  So we continued shopping and our final bill came out to roughly $75.  And, me being the assuming Canadian, paid the bill and we began our adventure home.

The wonderful website www.eway.in.ua/en/cities/Kyiv failed to mention that this store is on a busy street, without any way to cross to get to the other side where we can catch a bus back.  Us being the daring Canadians trudged against the snow and wind for a good kilometer with kids and our goodies in hand towards a place where maybe we could cross the street and get on a bus home.  While waiting for the bus, Colleen asks me what the bill was.  "$75"

"Wow, something is definitely wrong, those beans didn't cost $10 a bag did they?  Let me see the receipt."‎

 

I showed her the receipt and sure enough, we bought a purse for $25.  Now you have to realize, $25 dollars can feed your family for a week here in Ukraine, so this wasn't just pocket change we had spent on an item that was not in our possession.  But, be being the assuming Canadian did not even think that the cashiers would possibly scan items and add them to your bill for personal gain, but we all know what assuming does.  And boy did it ever.

 

Needless to say, we did not walk back the 1 kilometer back to the store to try to explain why we did not have a purse in our possession but it is on our receipt and we would like our money back, please (very polite Canadian!).  In the end though, we were thankful that we are very fortunate to be able to cushion the $25 blow and still be surviving.  What if this had happened to a Ukrainian who had been ripped off food for his family for a week?

 

Christmas is upon us so we decided that cookies are the way to go.  Sugar cookies, nice and simple.  At least I assumed they were.  All the ingredients are easy to find here so we baked them, made icing and then we wanted to colour the icing.  Food colouring and sprinkles.  Sounds simple; but not at all simple.  I went to the store and to my surprise, there is no food colouring and no sprinkles.  Even IGA in Bow Island or the grocery store in Sexsmith has these things, but Ukraine, No way Jose.

 

So, I had a brainwave!  Jello!  we could buy coloured jello mix it and then we would have colours for our icing.

I think the colours turned out ok.

Next, sprinkles.  I found pastiage in the shape of ladybugs on leaves, and what colours are those?  Red and Green; Hello Christmas!

And the knife came out and I cut until I could cut no more, but we had sprinkes and coloured icing!


Can you tell where the countertop ends and where the cookies start?

In life, we often assume things will always be the same and then when things do not go as expected, you lose your job, you get sick, your children start dating someone who you have never met, that life that is nice and cozy is then brought into disarray.  I remember praying a prayer in contemporary issues in missions and it went like this:

Disturb us, Lord, when
We are too well pleased with ourselves,
When our dreams have come true
Because we have dreamed too little,
When we arrived safely
Because we sailed too close to the shore.

Disturb us, Lord, when
With the abundance of things we possess
We have lost our thirst
For the waters of life;
Having fallen in love with life,
We have ceased to dream of eternity
And in our efforts to build a new earth,
We have allowed our vision
Of the new Heaven to dim.

Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly,
To venture on wider seas
Where storms will show your mastery;
Where losing sight of land,
We shall find the stars.
We ask You to push back
The horizons of our hopes;
And to push into the future
In strength, courage, hope, and love.

By Francis Drake

 As much as it pains me to imagine a life with Jesus that is not assumed I am terrified of what that could mean by asking God to disturb my cozy, comfortable life.

So after a week of assuming things and realizing what that does to you, we all relaxed, exited that it is just 4 more sleeps until Grandma and Grandpa Johnson come visit!

Mr. Mom

Wednesday was quite an eye opening day for me.  Colleen had flu clinic at KCA and I had no classes, so we swapped places for the day.  She spent the day poking and making children cry, while I had to deal with crying kids at home.  The day started out just fine, Colleen, being the wonderful person she is made oatmeal, mainly because I don't know the right proportions and she has been making oatmeal for the last 2 years or so, so naturally, she is just better at it than me.  Thankful for the "break" of not having to make breakfast, I soon found myself alone, outnumbered by my precious little rug-rats!

Once the door closed, as Colleen left, she took with her all the great ideas I had and "fun" things we were going to do at home without Mommy!  I put the kids on the floor to play and scarfed down my food as well as the rest of theirs and took a look at the kitchen and table we just ate at.

It was as if a little "mess bomb" blew up in the apartment.  Starting to pick everything up, the kids started getting restless and the three of us began "cleaning"!  I use quotations because each one of the three of us left at home has a different idea of what cleaning is.  For Ellianna, cleaning is taking the small milk spill on the table and wiping it up so it is no longer on the table but on the chair and floor too.  Jolen, put away one dishtowel and then proceeds to take out three...put another away and take out three... put another away and take out three.. oh we are out of dishtowels... lets "put away" potholders... and when that is done... crackers... garbage... Anything else I can possibly get my hands on!  And Me, simply pick up everything and throw it into the sink.  Towels, milk, garbage, leftovers, I think I may have even tossed Jolen in there at one point, but finally after an hour long struggle, it was done.  Everything was out of reach of my children!  Alright, time to play!

Wrong!  Very Wrong!  Time to make the bed.  Pull up the sheets and covers;  sounds simple enough.  Ellianna pulls out her toys that only she is allowed to play with and the only place she is able to play with them is on the bed where Jolen cannot go but squawks the whole time Ellianna is up there arguing his case that he is a "big-boy" and therefore capable of differentiating the difference between a Lego-man's head and a piece of puffed wheat!

Laundry, the kids cannot possible make this difficult can they?  Well they can throw all the clothes on the ground.  That wasn't so bad... but wait a minute... what clothes are clean and what are dirty, what clothes just got washed and need hanging up?  The wet ones.  OK, that is simple.  But the wet ones have been thrown onto the dirty/clean ones and now they are all wet.  I guess that is why God created us with noses because clean clothes smell clean, right?

Eventually, I was able to sit down and play with the kids building blocks for about 5 minutes and then I looked at the clock and it was lunchtime and about time to start the cycle over again!

Reminded me of a song growing up

I know I have mentioned how life circumstances can give us a glimpse of heavenly things and as I watch my children grow, they are becoming more mature.  Very slowly at times it seems, but I wonder if when Paul is addressing the Corinthian Church in 1 Cor 3:2 saying he gave them milk and not spiritual food because they were not ready yet, if Our Father in heaven sometimes says, "enough with the childhood act!  It is time to grow up and not leave "messes" everywhere but grow in maturity so you may be someone who does not need to be "babied" in the faith day after day.  But be someone who is able to come alongside others and help them grow in their maturity as well!"  I know I often go about my spiritual walk and say to myself, "that doesn't need to be dealt with yet" or "I can be ignorant in my faith because I don't have the time or priority or desire to really dig deep and grow in my faith"  And I admit, I lots of times am a part of the "mess" instead of the "cleanup."

Here are a few pictures of our bundles of joy "growing up"

Dreaming of driving already

Brushing teeth for the very first time

I want to be an "old man" like Daddy!

Unified

This last week has been super exciting here in Kiev.  We learnt in school about the iron curtain that used to separate Western Europe from Eastern Europe and over in Canada we think that it has fallen.  While politically this my be true, culturally, this is not.  We hear in the news about Russia creating laws limiting homosexual activity while the West is creating laws opposite of this.  There is a cultural "curtain" that Ukraine is caught in in the middle of.  The very definition of Ukraine is "at the edge;" basically at the edge of Russia.  So, culturally, there is this battle between Russia and the rest of Europe.  There is an important summit coming up for the European Union boosting free trade between Ukraine and Europe.  One of Ukraine's main trading partners is Russia so if this deal gets signed, Russia has threatened to limit trading between the two countries.  So, in the wake of this pressure from Russia, Ukraine decided last week to not sign the trade deal.  The people of Ukraine have not been to happy and have been protesting since last Saturday.  We, had the privilege of seeing the beginning of the protests.

We were in the building right across the street when you see the riot police.  I have never seen riot police in person before so this was pretty exciting!

We went in the morning before it got crazy, but by evening there were 100,000 people gathered to protest. 

Friday, November 29, they are planning to create a human chain stretching from Kiev to the Poland border, 625 km and involving about 1 million people!

It is interesting living in Kiev with this all going on because where we live, it is life as usual.  Everyone still goes out and goes about their business as if nothing is going on.

As neat as this was on Saturday, Colleen and myself were not prepared for Sunday.  In the morning, we catch a marshutka (bus) and travel for 30 minutes to church and last Sunday it was raining, so this means walking in the rain and waiting to catch a bus in the rain and sitting in church with wet clothes and grumpy children and well ... you get the picture.  We made our way downstairs and went outside and asked "Is it worth it to go to church today?"  Boy was it ever.  We go to a Russian/Ukrainian church and most Sundays it makes little sense, but this Sunday, we understood!  Not that we are not unified with other believers around the globe despite language differences; but this time we felt like active participants in this instead of observers!  I pulled out my phone and recorded a bit of the singing.  Hopefully you too will sense this unification with other believers 9 time-zones away!

It is so wonderful to be a part of the Universal Church!  I can't wait to get to Heaven and celebrate with believers from all nations, languages and centuries!

We had my grade 9 class over for pizza this week!  Lots of work, but lots of fun too!

Looking up to big sister!

Movember is in full swing at the Johnson house!

A Difference of Perspective

Today, I was invited to travel along with the Grade 9 class to the Chernobyl museum.  Going there with a bunch of people who did not live through it definitely was shocking!  Although on April 26, 1986 at 1:23 am (April 25, 4:23 pm Alberta Time) I was only 3 years old, I still remember the effects of the cold war.  And as most of you reading this are older than me, and remember this happening (except you Emily), this event probably sinks in deeper to you than me.  But I tell you, seeing the perspective from the this side of the pond sure brings about a different attitude.

A couple of things stuck out to me.  One, the New York Times had the disaster on the front page of the newspaper giving it full exposure to us in North America.  In Ukraine, there was a small write-up in the bottom left-hand corner on page 3 of the newspaper.  And much of the information in the museum was only released in 1991 after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Another, the museum is a tribute to the heroes that went to the front lines and payed dearly with their lives.  Nuclear disasters are terrible, terrible, terrible.  Ukraine has passed a law that no one is allowed to inhabit the immediate surrounding area of Chernobyl for 2000 years.  The people were evacuated, never to return.

As we were in the museum, I presented a question to the students.  "What if you went home from school today and your parents told you you were moving away and as soon as you got into the house you were ushered away never to see your friends again.  The only life you know is now gone.

I got quite upset when the class just smiled at me and said, "Facebook!"  "They must have had cell phones back then"

They did not even want to try to think of a world without ... Facebook, Internet, Cell Phones, Immediate Communication, Running Water, Electricity, etc.

My heart breaks for this generation that will not even try to put themselves in another person's shoes.

But then, I began thinking of myself.  I do not want to think about how my jokes hurt others.  How me making fun of someone makes them feel.  How my sin makes God feel.  How Jesus died for MY sin.  Jesus humbly said "I will put myself in your shoes"  "I will take the punishment for sin you deserve and will suffer the ultimate punishment for you!  All because I love you!"

I am excited because tomorrow I am teaching on celebration and when you know Jesus, it is an eternal Celebration!!!


A couple of neat photos from our week

Jolen learned how to sleep standing up!

Noodles are a favorite around the house (I did her hair by the way!)

The night sky outside our window

That is the moon that is so bright!  Beautiful!

Will they ever stop eating?  I think we already have a couple of teenagers!

huge heaping helping of humilty!

If any of you have ever taught School, or Sunday School, or piano or just about anything else ... Hey, if you have ever been to church, school, McDonalds or just plain been around people; there always is that one person that you think (maybe secretly or out loud) would make the place better if they were not there.

I have such a student, this student is smart as a whip but will not complete assignments, only answers a couple answers on each test I give, even though I know they have gotten 100% when no one else did.  They speak out of turn in class, show up late, don't take notes, and ask the weirdest way out in left field questions.  If I was to be honest, I confess, I do believe KCA would be a better place without this person.

If you know me, I tend to ruffle a few feathers everywhere I go and KCA is no exception.  I have had a few students say to me "Mr. Johnson (weird to be called that), could we talk."  "Oh, No" this is going to end in my wife telling me how unintelligent I was regarding this person and I deservedly deserve it.

Well, Monday happened and one student came up to me and asked "Mr. Johnson, could we talk?"

My heart sank, "What did I do now?"  So for 10 minutes, every thing I have ever said to this person flew through my mind, trying to pre-emptively know what they were coming to confront me about.

10 minutes was up and in this student walked, "Mr. Johnson ... I don't think Bob (fake name for the student who grates on my every-single-nerve) has any friends.  I don't think Bob knows Jesus.  I came to you because you are my Bible teacher and I was wondering what I can do for Bob?"

Any pride I had in me evaporated like water in the dead sea, leaving behind a sediment of shame and guilt.  This student who is not an adult, sure is a whole lot more mature than me.  I should have been the example to the class of what true love is to Bob.  I, the teacher, should be Jesus to Bob, but I have not been.  Let's just say, the student has surpassed the teacher.  Here again, I my students are teaching me.  I am beginning to wonder if I am the one who should be attending KCA as all the lessons seem to be directed toward me instead of the other way around.

Immediately Philippians came to mind Chapter 2 verses 1 - 11

Therefore if you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any common sharing in the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, ² then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and of one mind. ³ Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, ⁴ not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.

⁵ In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus:

 

⁶ Who, being in very nature God,
    did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage;
⁷ rather, he made himself nothing
    by taking the very nature of a servant,
    being made in human likeness.
⁸ And being found in appearance as a man,
    he humbled himself
    by becoming obedient to death—
        even death on a cross!

⁹ Therefore God exalted him to the highest place
    and gave him the name that is above every name,
¹⁰ that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow,
    in heaven and on earth and under the earth,
¹¹ and every tongue acknowledge that Jesus Christ is Lord,
    to the glory of God the Father.

 

A few students of mine were reminiscing with me about past years and there was one common theme "KCA" changes people.  (OK not KCA but God, but it seems to be a common occurrence within the walls of the school)

 

God has changed my attitude towards Bob and I am proud to say I have been much more humble in regards to Bob and I don't know if it is God working in the heart of Bob or my heart or maybe a little of both, but God truly is faithful at KCA, my life, your life and all around this giant ball of dirt we call home (Earth)!

Mr. Independent!

If you were to ask me what my biggest fear is, I wouldn't need to hesitate to answer.  It is Eternity.  In my finite mind, I cannot comprehend something that does not end.  I take comfort knowing that my life will end.  Not in death itself but the certainty of it.  But spending Eternity forever, without end, and no chance of it ending terrifies me.

 

I know I have mentioned it before but being a parent sometimes gives us a glimpse into what our Heavenly Father sees watching us struggle through life.  Jo-Jo, as we call him, took a huge step of independence this week

 

Yes, our little man can now drink from a cup by himself, actually, he prefers it.  Funny how independent they get so fast.

 

The lesson I learned from this episode of independence has to do with our kitchen.  Ellianna is pretty smart.  Jolen loves her and chases her around the house, so Ellianna has devised a plan.  She lets him chase her for a while and then goes to the kitchen. 

Now our kitchen has a little step, probably only about 5 inches or so, but once he is up there he is stuck.  As independent as he is, he will not get down no matter what.  Ellianna just runs away after he has chased her and gets a little peace and quiet before we go over there and let him down.

This evening, I was just looking at him, still happy to be up there and started contemplating.  "Jolen," I said from the living room, "it is so easy for you to get down, trust me, I have the bigger perspective, it is not that big of a leap."  Then, God said to me, "Blake, it is so easy for you to live eternally, I have the bigger perspective, it is not that big of a leap."  And I suddenly had this vision of God in the "living room" that is heaven seeing the big picture and our small perspective urging us to Him because he can see everything and his perspective is the perfect one that matters.  And maybe death is not the big deal we make it out to be in light of HIM!

 

 

 

First Tooth!

Jolen, after 10 months and 4 days, November 1st, has cut his first tooth!


Jolen is quite a character as he will not eat mush anymore but prefers to eat chunky food.  This is incredibly difficult, but somehow he does it.  He was super exited to get his tooth though!

 

And we have already got him cheering for the proper team!

 

Ellianna this week has been exponentially difficult.  Everything is a battle.  "Let's go outside" - "But I don't want to Daddy" - "Ellianna listen to me" - "I want to but my head is telling me no."

 

Well today we had a rare, not uneventful but minimally eventful, trip to the grocery store and she got a treat.  She wanted Ice Cream.  Now when Ellianna wants ice cream it is usually she wants the idea of ice cream and after 1 bite it ends up on the floor, on her shirt, anywhere but her mouth.  But tonight we found a winner!

Before

Almost gone!

 

I finally got around to getting proof that I do teach at KCA!

Fortunately, the school has PowerPoint as if the students had to follow my writing and train of thought (see evidence above) they would get lost.  I usually use the whiteboard to emphasize a point and after I am finished it looks like a bunch of scribbles.  The lesson I am teaching above is David's sin in committing adultery with Bathsheba and murdering Uriah (see if you can follow the lesson).

 

As I began teaching this year, I was wondering how I would be forming these mouldable minds and lately, it has been me the one moulded.  We were talking in Ethics about "thou shalt not commit adultery." so Colleen and Myself divided the class into boys and girls had the sexual ethics talk with them.  Man, I wish I was mature as these 16 year olds when I was their age.  They already realize the gravity of sexual sin and take measures against falling into it.  I was floored at their maturity.

 

The next commandment is on stealing, so, naturally, because of their age, we talked about illegal downloads of music, videos and games.  You could have heard a pin drop when I asked the question, "Is it ok to download illegal music?"  The sex talk was easy as everyone had an opinion mostly because it is just an idea in their head, but now, downloading music is something that hits home.  It wasn't only the students who were convicted but I went home being careful to be sure the proper copyrights are followed and they get their money for their music and videos.  Some of my students actually went home and deleted hundreds of gigabytes of illegal content, again floored by their maturity.

 

The kicker was when the grade 10 class heard about this.  They asked if I would be teaching next year because if I was, they needed to listen to all their illegal downloads before I made them delete it all.

 

I was reminded of a story I told my ethics class in the boy/girl talk.

 

I was at YC (a Christian youth conference) when I was around 15 or so and one of my friends brought a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue that we were going to look at that evening when the session was over.  The speaker spoke on purity and asked if anyone desired to take a stand for purity.  I stood up and spoke these words, I kid you not, this is what I said "God, I commit to being pure, ... after tonight."

 

I told the students that that was my mentality, When I turned 20 then I would be pure, when I get married then I will be pure, when I turn 30 ...  our battle with the flesh is a lifelong battle.  We need to be filling our hearts with His word and make a stand right now, not tomorrow, not next year, but Today, right now!

 

Your first tooth only comes along once, but God calls you to a life devoted to Him everyday!





So much to say, So few Sentences

This probably ends the busiest week since we have been here.  It started Thursday night as we (I should say Colleen, I watched) baked cinnamon buns for my grade 11 and 12 classes to come visit on Friday Morning.  We had a blast as the pictures show

Grade 12 Class

Grade 11 Class

Oh ya, I forgot, before we did the baking on Thursday, we had to go get costumes for Fall Festival on Saturday.  Funny story, well kind of.  Last year, before Halloween, Colleen wanted to buy Ellianna a Tinkerbell outfit for $5 at Walmart.  I said "NO" as we already had an outfit for our child and it is a waste of money to buy another outfit that will only be worn once.  Then, KCA happened.  I have been peppered with questions, "What are your kids going as for Fall Festival"  When I said I didn't have the time, they said "But you have to dress them up" so the Pressure began.  I spent my energies (and my money later) to find a costume shop for my children.  I found one and lets just say I spent an astronomical amount of money just to fit in and be a "good" Dad.  If you have been to PRBI you understand Thought Analysis.  Well, the next morning I was analyzing my thoughts and realized that I did not buy the costumes out of love, but out of personal selfishness.  I did not want to be the dad who did not dress up his kids.  I didn't want to look bad, I wanted to fit in.  I wanted everyone to say how cute my kids looked, I...I...I not one unselfish motivation.  It hurts knowing you have been selfish when it comes to being a parent.  My kids did look cute but how they got there was convicting act.

Our little Spud

If you look closely, the three of us have matching face-paint!

We threw in a first haircut for Jolen (Ellianna has not had one yet)

Marking then began for report cards which the final grades were due on Wednesday.  I am definitely looking forward to an uneventful weekend.

Through it all, God taught me some amazing lessons about myself (which I did not want to learn, but am glad I did) and His grace and forgiveness.  Sometimes I think the Students are the teachers instead of me because I don't know how much I teach them, but try to be the student everyday learning lessons from the pure in heart!

P.S. I have been learning about Canadian English here at an American School.  First, if you wear a touque while using a serviette after poutine while on a chesterfield, they look at you funny.  And also, bells don't go, they ring.  As in "Did the bell go?"  Yes it went"  they look at you funny again.  And one more thing, The American  version of the war of 1812 does not involve Canadians.  Go figure?