There's interesting wildlife in our backyard when I'm not really looking. Really!
For instance: A few minutes ago, I was typing up my writing assignment, when a huge, black bird zooms past the kitchen window! I thought I must be a crow, but wait- crows aren't that big, and it's wingspan is huge! It seemed to have something white in its beak, or maybe that's the beak colour? I looked on the web, and it could be a turkey vulture, unless anyone has another idea? And it just kept zooming back and forth.
The other wildlife is squirrels right now, lots of them.

Church was cancelled all day yesterday, because we got another foot of snow! It was whiteouts for a few hours in the morning. Then we had a supper with Oma and another lady from our church. It's probably nicer for them than being stuck inside all day. But it felt weird not going to church...kind of makes one appreciate when we can go!

Anyway, better get back to my schoolwork. ;)

SNNNOOWWW!!

That about sums it up.
I think we got about a foot and a half from last night and this morning. I heard that the O.P.P . asked for our town's snowmobiling club to rescue drivers off the 402!
Right now the kids are building snow forts, Toby's having a hoot, and Lydia and I are stuck inside doing schoolwork, practicing, etc....blah. Just one more revision on my writing assignment and then I'm done.
I am planning to go sledding today, though!

MOM TURNED 40 YESTERDAY!! :) ;)

We had a full house and great cake!

And I'm eating leftover soup from yesterday...mmm.

If you happen to live in my part of Ontario, and there's not a cloud in the sky, a brisk wind tossing leaves here and there, and a temperature of around 15 degrees, go step outside and enjoy the weather. It's just beautiful!

Classical thoughts...

I'm sitting here listening to CBC's lovely classical web channel...with no news!
Just lovely classics to listen to any time you want. (Check it out in my blog links!)

I don't know about you, but there's something in classical music that's beautiful, even powerful-- something that I hope will never go out of style or people ever tire of listening to. If you've never been to a concert, I highly encourage you to!
How many people do you think still listen to or see Handel's Messiah performed at Christmas?
I guess I love this type of music so much because I grew up with it and play it.

I like the Baroque style the best- music from Bach and Handel's era. It can be a challenge to play, but it's fun to see and hear all the voices in the score flow together so beautifully. I never used to like the way it has to be played- all broken and detached, but that's just the style and you can still be expressive.

Perhaps you're not big on classical music. I like country and easy listening stuff too. But to me, listening to it sorta feels like being transported to the era when life was simpler.
I believe that God placed all those composers in that time for a reason. For His glory, ultimately, but perhaps for people in the future to relax with music.


Now here's something not so classical...the wind must have been blowing in the wrong direction because our house smelled like a cow barn all day! I guess it's not impossible, seeing as how we're just minutes from the country.


And...I went to Tamarack last week! It was great...again! It was nice seeing people from last year, except you think you know them, but can't remember their names. The weather was beautiful, considering how it's been all year. And Cabin 7...you girls were a pleasure to be with!
The theme was "For His Glory" based on Galatians 6:14 "But God forbid that I should boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world"

Wow it's been looooong since I last posted. Lydia, Katelynn, and I have been busy with the renovation of the office in Dad's shop. We (including Dad) took down the wall behind the front desk. Sounds scary, I know... but originally it was never there, so it wasn't all concrete and stuff.
Now the last couple weeks we've been repainting the walls and trim.
I'm real tired now, but I've just gotta say, that today I got officially insured to drive, and I drove All By Myself to the church and back! It felt kinda wierd, fun, and scary at the same time.
Someday, I hope, I'll get a car and save Mom gas money, instead of me lugging our big Safari around.

I think I feel a cold coming on...better hit the sack
good night :)
ZzZzZ

Dreary Day...

Rain...*sigh* Feels like fall again... The farmers are probably jumping for joy.
Be nice if my brain sped up and gave me ideas for revising my writing assignment article.
Had my last flute lesson today, and we're having our last piano lesson tomorrow...ah, summer's coming!
Lydia did her English exam today. 1 down, 3 to go. Keep it up, Lid!
We've started to get things ready for going cottaging up north on Saturday! It's on Trout Lake, near Lake Nippissing. It will be nice to get away for a week. Hope we actually catch some fish this time!
Well, I'd better get started packing!
See ya later.

All Done!!

Today I did my Grade 7 piano exam!!

All those months of studying, memorizing, and agonizing are finally over! It's always nerve-wracking of course, (I've never done a piano exam before!) but I got through it. It's so wierd that it all comes down to a 15-minute exam (playing the 5 songs I memorized, scales and other technique in front of an examiner just scribbling away) but the minutes just zoom by!

I also did my Grade 1 Theory exam in May, Kiwanis Festival in April...probably have to do a Grade 2 in September...

Now what?? I'm so used to being always practicing, playing... Relax time! And finishing up school, and helping Dad at the shop.

Nice the weather's finally warmed up, eh? Had some nasty thunderstorms, though.

We've been using the pool quite often!

I passed!!!

Oh yes!!!

I PASSED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

:) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

i am now an official G2 driver!

This is so amazing! I was soooo nervous...but I did it!

(I'm still shaking)

Yikes!! Tomorrow I'm going for my G2!!!

I'm using the instructor's car,
just had a refresher lesson yesterday,
and she's taking me through the route tomorrow (how sweet is that?),
yet I'm still worried/scared/nervous.
I hate worry.
Yet I know that God's probably going to have me go through more things like this, but never without Him and not without His control! And by His grace, these things will strengthen my faith. So even if I fail...there's always a next time.

Please don't think that this is my logic at the present time. I'll probably be just as worried tomorrow as I am now. But you know, maybe not! Maybe I should just wait and see and trust.
Look on the bright side.

"I love the Lord...."

OK...I was going to wait until I got the pictures but I can't hold it in any longer...

Last Sunday (March 30th) I did Profession of Faith!!
It was a stressful, yet beautiful day. (I think my nerves made me forget a bit how beautiful it was) The church was packed, especially with family from Matthew T., who also did it with me. It was so nice to have family and friends there as well- makes me feel so blessed! (Thanks guys!)
Rev. Slaa based the sermon on Ps. 116. He also picked a verse for both of us.
Mine was Ps. 116: 1,2 : "I love the Lord because He has heard my voice and my pleas for mercy. Because He inclined His ear to me, therefore I will call on Him as long as I live."
...Beautiful.

Right now, I'm stopping schoolwork for a while because I have to study for my Grade 1 Theory exam in May. Then I'll be polishing 3 piano pieces for the London Kiwanis Festival at the end of April. So ya, right now it's pretty busy...(sigh) I don't think I'll have the summer off, schoolwise.

Next week will be our minister's last sermon in our church and then he's off to Smithers! It's kinda sad. Last Saturday was the Farewell Evening. But hopefully we don't have to wait too long for another minister.

Tomorrow we'll be holding down the fort, because Mom and Dad will be off to the Kitchener homeschool conference. Hopefully, I can go to OCHEC!

So, I think that's all...I hope to get the pictures on soon! (No, we didn't take any :( )

STAMP COLLECTING!!!!

Have you ever thought about how interesting stamps are? You know, the kind you put on envelopes? Not just because they're often quite pretty or nice to look at, but because they are a piece of history preserved on a thin slice of jagged-edged paper.

That's why I love to collect them! :)

It must be quite a bit of work for the stamp designers to come up with a way to show an picture or event on such a small stamp. Especially events or commemorations that you didn't even know about.
I guess they're works of art!

I think I was about 7 or 8 when I first started collecting stamps.
I remember always asking Oma for ones she got from Holland. Dad also gave us some from Holland when he collected that are very old. In a way, I guess, they're like memories.

I hope to focus mostly on Canadian stamps, and perhaps Dutch ones. Right now, I have ones from all over the world that I got over the years. This year's Canadian one from the Year of the Rat is pretty cool! I hear that there's one coming out in June commemorating Anne of Green Gables! Check it out here: http://www.canadapost.ca/personal/collecting/default-e.asp

It's too bad that they changed some stamps from the kind you have to lick yourself (remember those?) to the self-adhesive ones. It just takes longer to soak off the paper.

So, now that I've got you interested, go out and get yourself a bunch of stamps and start collecting! (just kidding!) ;) (The only thing that's hard to get are good stamp collecting books... there's always Ebay)

FYI...This site's pretty cool, it lists all Canadian stamps from since stamps were made till 2007: http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/02/020117/020117030431_e.html

So this is my little hobby...stamp collecting!

Lydia's Blog!

Lydia has a blog!!! You can click on the link on "Favorite Blogs"

Finally! A Much Needed Post

I think I'll just forget about all the excuses of not knowing what to post about and just post away.

So....

um...

well...


Why don't I start by saying "Happy Family Day"! Sounds kinda dumb, don't you think? It's a neat idea in itself but, perhaps it's just an excuse to do something together as family just because- it's Family Day. It could be a wake-up call to our broken-down society. Or an excuse to have a day off work(and school). Too me, it seems sad to have a holiday just to be a family.
But you know, maybe I take for granted how blessed I am to have a wonderful family!


I think too much.


Yesterday we had a great sermon by Rev. Pot (afternoon only because morning service was cancelled due to freezing rain) about "Thy Will Be Done" (Lord's Day 49) This could apply to everything-especially worries about what God wants one to do after school. He said that we can worry too much about what we think God wants us to do, than what we should be focusing on here and now: living in obedience to God! God will open doors in his time. Trust and pray. And yet that's so hard for me to do sometimes.

We also had Young People's at the Haan's last night. First we were going to help sing at the nursing home, but we came too late because there was baptism and our church was overflowing to the foyer because some URCers came because their church was cancelled.
Anyway we had a pretty good discussion and also began planning what to do for the Farewell Evening for the minister. Only over a month away! :(

Lydia had her 15th birthday last week!! Makes me feel old!

And I will finish my perch dissection tomorrow even though it's totally gross.

Blessings for the week ahead
Rach :)

Winter pics!/Update

Wow! It's hard to believe that this was how much snow we had on that Sunday! (refer to pics below :) )Now it's all gone...and in it's place, mud and water from those crazy high temps a couple days ago.

Hope everyone had good holidays! I did! Those lovely bliss-like days sitting around doing nothing- I think I read more books than I ever have!- then having our own Christmas dinner with Oma, watching movies almost every night till, um, twelve, sleeping-in till nine. Then we had relatives from my Dad's side over for New Years' Day! We had a nice big turkey dinner. It feels so nice seeing cousins you haven't seen in ages!! (since they couldn't come for Christmas)

But it's back to the old grind again, strangely, I don't really mind it...yet.

(I really should be doing schoolwork right now, but I think I have a bit of the flu :( )

So here's the pics: (thanks Lydia!) :)

Looking out the front window...can't even tell where the driveway starts and the lawn begins!

Dad in the back grabbing a shovel with Toby

Linnea playing in the snow on the deck :)

Katelynn and Linnea on the deck

Then all the kids went sledding!