Thursday, July 5, 2012

The world of Gillis

Well, I started this blog post yesterday morning.. I got as far as the title and then the phone rang and my busy busy day began.... well..I should say busy morning... in the afternoon I took 6 kids to the beach and then just lazed around watching them play and talking to my friends.... I know some hardship huh?  I love living near the beach........

Well I haven't written a good blog post in a while so I thought I would bombard you with pictures and stories of what has been going on in the world of Gillis.  We kicked off summer with a trip to shining waters.. I was really busy having fun to bother with too many pictures but I did take a few.  Sweet pea was miss scaredy cat with almost everything.  She went on these little cars meant for toddlers and looked to be having fun until she looked like this....


I don't know if she suddenly decided that the ride was going a little too long or what but they had to stop the ride for her! Silly girl.  Since that was the first ride she had been on, she was timid the rest of the day.  Although I did get her to go on one of the water slides with me and she had fun there.  She also had fun playing in the water at the wading pool.

The rest of the kids had a blast though!   They ran all over the place exploring the woods and going on rides!


J even did a bit of purple dragon surfing!


My sister and her family joined us and Sweetpea was so very happy to have her bestest bud G with us.


And Sweet pea caught this gigantic fish... no not really... actually when she saw we were walking towards it she wanted to go a different way but I convinced her that it was okay.  That face tells you everything she's thinking... "Mom says it's okay but I don't really believe her...."



Last week we also to a trip up to Cavendish to the Avonlea village.  Here I took lots of video but for some reason only one picture.  Here Sweet Pea is making her letters on an old slate in the school house.



When we aren't out roaming the roads, the kids have plenty of stuff to do here at home.  We are doing a bit of schoolwork during the summer.  Just some reading and some ancient history.    Here's Jules with her cuneiform and hieroglyphic writing.



We also have some great kids who live next door and they are always over playing.  Last week they decided to have a lemonade stand/yard sale.  They made signs and sold cookies, lemonade and random toys.  What I didn't know was the signs that they made said things like "Raising money for Africa"  "Every dollar you spend goes to Africa"  Here I was watching from the house and wondering why when people stopped they gave money even without buying something.  One guy gave them 5 dollars for a blue crayon.  Another woman gave them 7 dollars for a little tealight candle holder one of the girls had made.  They made about 130 dollars in two days and gave me the money to take to Africa.  What sweeties!


There was a little bit of playing going on in between customers!


Love this picture of my boy!


My boy with his best friend and his friend's brother (behind them)


Sweet Pea even came out to add some cuteness factor.


And then there was Canada Day last weekend.  We celebrated the day by going to the beach, having a bbq and seeing fireworks with our good friend Holly and her girlies.

While we were relaxing at her house for supper the kids were just begging to come down to the shore and get good seats for the fireworks.  Then we had some time to wait so I took pictures!  Here's me and my hunny!


There were silly hats......


And Silly faces.....


There was climb all over Jeff time.....




Time to practice some gymnastics....


I don't know what Jeff is thinking in the above picture but I assure you he was not plotting his revenge for the previous attack of the kids.

There was also time for some snuggles...



Sweet pea had been fed cupcakes for dessert that night so with all the sugar she was in an exceptionally good mood.


There was even some time for some contemplation on life....



and FINALLY the fireworks started....

Sweet pea was hilarious... she covered her eyes for the whole time but was peeking out with one eye. I don't think she knew what to think of them.  She said later that she didn't like them because they were too blue and yellow.


so funny...

And that brings us to yesterday.... The beach... I did take a few pictures there too.. we had a blast.  We left after lunch and didn't come back until 8 at night.  We took our two neighbor boys with us and met a bunch of friends there so the kids had a ton of kids to play with.  

It was my nephew Griffin's first time at the beach and I must say he did really good.


Sweet Pea is not a huge fan of the beach so far but I did manage to get her to venture off the blanket this time.


Look at this gorgeous girl... she could be a model!


Sweet Pea got to play with her cousin again... she loves her.


I didn't take a lot of pictures but I did take one video that was hilarious.  At one point we look out to the water and see the kids doing this..... can you guess what they are doing???




If you guessed baptism then you are right!  I think each kid got baptized 3-4 times throughout the day.

What funny kids.

Well since this post took me over 24 hours to write I think I'll go do something else now.  The kids are waiting on me to help them make cuneiform tablets out of modeling clay.. so off I go!

Monday, July 2, 2012

"No Greater Love" A review for Tyndale Publishing





A little while ago, I got the chance to read this book, No Greater Love by Levi Benkert.  I received it free from Tyndale Publishing in exchange for a review.  I was not required to give a positive review but I'm going to give one for this book!   I wanted to read this book because it's subject has been touching my heart lately.  As I prepare myself for going to Africa myself in November, I wanted to read about other peoples journey's.   I think it arrived in the mail on a friday and by Saturday morning I was finished with it.  It was by no means a short book but I just couldn't put it down.  I was in tears before I even finished the first chapter.

Levi Benkert had been playing at the park with his kids when he got a phone call from a friend urging him to take a two week trip to Ethiopia.  He went and 6 weeks later, he and his wife sold their house, packed up their kids and moved there.   They rescued children who were condemned to death by a tribal superstition.

His stories of their triumphs and their failures will touch your heart.  His stories were honest and at times very raw.  His journey was not an easy one but he found purpose and meaning to his life.  I highly recommend this book.   One statement jumped out at me and I'd heard it before but forgot it was this.  "We were made for more than this"   This book challenges you to step out in faith and do the unthinkable.  I loved it.