Church Retreat

Last month our church had a weekend getaway together to a Hungarian Baptist Camp.

Can you find us?

It was a lot of fun and a great time for connecting.

Kraft Dinner

Macaroni and Cheese isn't Macaroni and Cheese north of the border.  It's Kraft Dinner.

It's popular, too.  More Kraft Dinner is eaten per capita in Canada than Macaroni and Cheese in the States.

There are more varieties as well.  Sometime in the past year they started selling Kraft Dinner Smart, which has half a serving of vegetables in every serving of KD, by replacing some of the flour with freeze-dried cauliflower.

Just a few interesting facts about Macaroni & Cheese for your day.  Check out
http://www.food.pop-cult.com/macaroni-cheese.html if you are interested in learning about the history of the stuff!

Casa Loma

Casa Loma, the only true once-resided in castle in North America, which can be found in downtown Toronto, is pretty amazing.  We visited it with Ethan & his three girls, and we were all really impressed with it.

 

It was built in 1911 by Sir Henry Pellatt, an incredibly wealthy Canadian.  At various points in his life, he held the North American record for his time in the mile, he controlled over 25% of the Canadian economy with his investments, and he financed the Queen's Own rifle guard to train and travel to Britain to compete - all 600 of them! He was also a leader in the move to change gas lights to electric in Toronto, along with many other hydro electric activities.  Sadly, (and this I do not completely understand) the government expropriated his electricity business, which was the beginning of his very long financial fall.  Less than 10 years after he and his family moved in to the castle, they had to leave.

Check out his shower!  An awesome rain shower head and six different layers of water would squirt out from the sides.

John's and my favorite room - a sitting room surrounded by windows, off of Lady Pallett's bedroom.

This door, along with five others just like it, leads into the conservatory. You can swing the brass decoration away from the glass so that the window can be completely cleaned.  At the time the castle was built, each door cost $10,000.  If one of the doors breaks now, it will be $130,000 to replace it.  One door.

Casa Loma - a Toronto site that is definitely fun to see!

A cousin visit!

This past week we were blessed with a visit from John's bro, his wife & two of their girls. John & I had a great time with them, but I think it's fair to say Helena had a blast being with her big cousins.  At least I've been hearing "No-Morey" (Anamarie) and "Me Mae" (Amellia Mae) countless times since they left.

Hanging out with cousins involves all kinds of fun things - shared treats, suitcases to pull, big boots to wear, kids to run after, trees to climb, people to watch swimming, etc.

One day we took a trip out to Niagara Falls.  

An awesome pic, Ethan.  Thanks for sharing!

Last time John & I had been there I was 6 months pregnant.  Wow, our Little Critter has grown!

It always amazes me how it seems like no time has passed when you get together with family.  There aren't the awkward questions at the beginning of the conversation; rather talking just begins and it keeps going until it's time to say goodbye.  Thanks for coming, Ethan, Anika, Anamarie & Amelia Mae!

A Great Resource

In my days at Northwestern College, I took two Bible courses from Dr. Daryl Aaron. Neither of them included fun games or fantastic personal anecdotes. Rather they both were focused on what the Bible tells us. I really enjoyed both of the classes, as Dr. Aaron had organized the class material in a very managable and understandable fashion.

So last month when Bethany Publishing House asked if I'd like to do a book review of one of his books, Understanding Theology in 15 Minutes a Day, I jumped at the opportunity. Reading through his book was a great refresher course of what I had learned in his Christian Theology class back in 2006.

Each chapter focuses on a different theological issue, such as “What are Angels and Demons?” or “How can Jesus be both God and Man?” or “Can Christians Lose Their Salvation?” I found that each chapter provided a thorough explanation of the different theological sides of the issue and numerous Bible verses that relate to the issue, all while remaining very understandable. While Dr. Aaron does include his own opinion in some instances, he does a good job at presenting both (or all) of the different thoughts.

I would recommend this book to any one who is looking for answers about the Christian faith. I know this is a resource book that we will keep on our shelf for a long time.

*I received a free copy of this book from Bethany Publishing House in exchange for an honest review.

A Go-to Meal

What do you make when you have little time before dinner or little food in the fridge?

(the pic was a quick one, just like the meal!)

My go-to meal is a German Pancake.

It's a one-bowl, one-pan dish.  It can be served with simply syrup or something a little more time-consuming like yogurt and fruit.  Plus, for all the hungry ones around your feet, it's fun to watch while it cooks, because it grows up along the edges of the pan.

German Pancake

4-6 Tbsp. butter
6 eggs
1 1/2 cups milk
1 Cup flour
1/4 tsp. salt
powdered sugar

Heat oven to 425.  Melt butter in 9x13 pan in oven.  Mix eggs, milk, flour and salt just to blend.  Pour batter into hot butter.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar.  Cut into squares and serve with yogurt, fruit or syrup.

What is your go-to meal?  I'd love to know!

Dad/TomDad/Dad2/Grandpa/Poppy

He's known by many names in our home, and they're all affectionate ones.   During John's dad's visit last week, we ate out at a lot of fun restaurants and he & John were quite cultural with two concerts and a museum visit.  None of those activities were the highlights however. 

The first highlight was keeping up the family tradition of hunting & gathering in the dark.  When John was young, the men of his family would sneak onto the Mackinnac Island golf course in the middle of the night and collect hundreds of golf balls.  Here in Toronto they collected "chestnuts" with Helena to later roast.  Good thing John researched it before we tasted them, however, as they'd actually collected horse chestnuts, which are poisonous.  (Later we bought some and man, do they not taste good.  That Christmas song is now ruined for us.)

The second highlight was going to a University of Toronto football game.  Wow, is our team ever bad.  In 2008 they ended a seven-year winless streak at 49 games.  They managed to end the game we watch with a score of 34-6.

Do notice that the team emblem is not on the 50 yard line.  Rather it's on the 55 yard line.  In Canadian football there are almost 110 yards, which is very close to 100 meters.

Third highlight?  Playing hearts with TomDad each evening.  He is so good at shooting the moon or attempting to shoot the moon and yet still unload all his point cards on us; yet it's so much fun.

Thanks for the visit, Dad/TomDad/Dad2/Grandpa/Poppy!

Thankful

On the TTC bus today, I overheard two blind men talking. One has been blind most of his life, the other lost his sight 6 months ago. While listening to them discuss how being able to perceive enough light to know whether it is day or night is such a gift, I couldn't help but be inspired. At one point, the man who has been blind since his childhood said,

“I'll be honest with you. I've had my days of depression. But then I was reminded that God had given so much and that there are others who are less fortunate than me. I can do something to help them.”

These two men had some of most hope-filled voices that I have heard in a long time.

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I know it's a day late, but I am so thankful for all I have.

My little girl may have a regularly appearing cough but she can see, hear, talk, walk, run, and so much more.

My husband may be spending most evenings in the library studying this semester, but I have a husband who loves me, who is willing to stay up all night with his daughter, and who wants to have a positive impact on as many people as possible.

Our family may be far away but we have managed to stay close through emails, Skype and visits.

The friends we see most often may be those who we've only known for a year or two, but how they have become people who we can depend on.

We may live in a downtown always-dusty apartment but we have so much space for Helena to move and play in – and we have two bedrooms!

Our God may be one that is sometimes confusing but He has proven Himself o'er and o'er in our short number of years.

I am thankful for all of this and more. What are you thankful for?

A bit of fun for Canadian Thanksgiving

A fun video that shows many spots in Toronto.

I'm thankful to be living in this country.

Twins

At church last Sunday we were unplanned twins: jeans, sweaters, black shoes, and green purses.

Helena loved it - and admittedly, so did I.

Sweet Roasted Butternut Squash and Greens over Bow-Tie Pasta

This morning my oven looked like this:

And this afternoon it looked like this:

A brand new oven is a beautiful thing.  BEAUTIFUL.

So a never-used CLEAN oven needed to be initiated into the cooking world with a delicious meal, right?   Check out The Splendid Table's recipe

 Sweet Roasted Butternut Squash and Greens over Bow-Tie Pasta. 

Happenings of Helena

Our little girl is getting older every day - yes, it's a fact but it's also obvious now!  Here are just some of the things she's been up to lately:

 

Cooking - if Mom is cooking, Helena is usually also cooking.  Her meals don't take anywhere near as long to prepare, however, so she also has the time to feed her animals.

She's also begun helping me cook.  In her kitchen, an apron is not necessary but a helmet is.

Most mornings her farm animals join us for breakfast.  All lined up on the opposite end that Helena sits at.

The above is a sign that Helena has been busy in the kitchen.  Let me tell you every one of those containers' locations was chosen with a lot of thought.

She still loves her babies.  Here she is giving 4 of them baths at the same time.

She's saying "cow" above.  Wow, has her verbal language exploded.  Many of her words only Mom & Dad can understand but they are definitely words.  Do notice the hats in the photo - she likes to be a twin of somebody.  So she shared her hats.

Helena knows that if someone is on the computer and can't play at the moment, she can snuggle by just sitting on his or her lap.

 

One afternoon in the park I introduced her to tree hugging.  She has continued to do it weeks later :)

There is still no better way to hear Helena's laughter than to let her swing.

Last but not least, she still loves her tools.  It doesn't matter what she's wearing, she's always ready to use her hammer!