Here are some photo’s from this memorable event.

It all started with a good spray down with water.

She was not pleased with the whole layering technique…

…but after some instruction and encouragement, was able to endure the process by holding her hands together and being a tough cookie!

The lady put her hair in a fun little twist, which Stella was quite happy with.

This is the certificate that Stella got with her 1st professional haircut.  I found it so special that they even saves a lock of her hair for us to take home.

This is the before and after shots that they took for us.  Beautiful!  Thank you for being such a good girl during your hair cut.  Mommy is so proud of you, and I love you so much!

Our time together was refreshing.  We went and saw the movie “The Vow,” which was really good.  If you haven’t seen it yet, I would definitely put it on your list of ‘must sees,’ but be prepared to cry a little bit.  It’s one of those movies that pulls at your heart.

We decided to utilize YELP to help us find some good places to eat.  There was this Thai food place that seemed to be screaming our name.  Matt and I both love Thai food, and after a quick review we decided to give it a try.  It was called “Khao San Road” and was located in this little hole in the wall on Adelaide.  At first glance, we second guessed our decision, but then we realized that the place was packed, and there was a line of people waiting to get it.  That was a good sign.  After we were told we had about a 45 minute wait ahead of us, we were bummed.  BUT, since we had no time restrictions, we waited!

I cannot emphasize enough how worth while that wait was.  The food was the best thai food Matt and I had ever had, hands down.  Here’s what we ordered:  A coconut curry, chicken and potato dish, and a twist on pad thai.

I’m not a huge fan of pad thai in general, but this curry dish simply melted in your mouth with the most perfect blend of flavours and heat!  If you like thai food, you have got to try this place.

On Saturday morning we visited the St. Lawrence Market which was lots of fun.  The weather was terrible that day, which sort of played in our favor because the market wasn’t busy at all.  We were able to get a coffe and breakfast without any pushing or shoving, and even sit at a tabel all to ourselves.  This was my first time being at the St. Lawrence Market, and it was a fun place to go, even if you’re not looking for anything in particular.

I’m a major sucker for truffles, so Matt and I each picked out one.  I had a hazelnut crunch truffle which was SO yummy.  Thankfully, they were way to expensive to buy a whole box, or I may have been in trouble.  By the end of our morning we had also bought some delicious organic guacamole and mango salsa.   

We then headed over to the Eaton Centre to do some shopping and browsing.  It was fun to shop without the challenge of a double stroller or whining kids by your side.  We visited Chapters and bought a few magazines, each got a new pair of jeans, shared a banana and strawberry juice, bought the game UNO for a after dinner tournament (which I won), and simply walked and talked about life.

We grabbed a quick lunch at this place in the mall called “Mr. Green Jeans.”  I believe that Matt and I were still just dating or engaged when he took me here for the first time.  They have the best milkshakes I’ve ever tasted, so of course we indulged.  The nacho’s were pretty good too.

This event included a lot more talking where we came up with some good goals changes for life.  Matt and I are big believers on stopping and assessing the patterns of life every once and a while.  We come up with new ways to do things, new ideas to implement, and ways to change the things that just aren’t working.  These things apply to any area of our lives.

Saturday night was a bit of a let down in the food department.  We went to this place (that shall remain nameless) that was highly rated on YELP.  We got all dolled up, and headed out with high hopes.  Unfortunately, those high hopes were destroyed as we were served food that was simply o-kay.  I would have given it about a 6/10.

 Nonetheless, the conversation was wonderful, and our evening ended with a good old UNO tournament.

Sunday morning we packed our bags and checked out, and back into reality.  We had a splendid brunch at a place called “Lady Marmelade.”

It was traditional breakfast with Mexican infusion.

Not NEARLY as good as Stoney’s, but delightful nonetheless.  Before leaving the city we stopped at “Lit Espresso Bar,” which served us delicious latte’s while we read our magazines we had bought the day before.

Seriously delicious!

The weekend was perfect.  I am so thankful to my mom and dad who took the girls for the weekend.  But I’m even more thankful for such an amazing man who I enjoy spending time with.  I love you so much.  Thank you Matty, for being my best friend! xo

Here’s a video capturing a moment of laughter exchanged between the two of them.

Here is a sweet photo of Reese waking up her big sister from afternoon nap.  Reese LOVES to do this.  All I have to do is ask Reese if she wants to go wake up Stella, and she begins to kick her legs and wave her hands as if to say, “YES, YES, YES!”

Bath time is one of the girls favorite things to do together.  I think they both could spend an entire day in the bathtub together and still want more.  Reese loves to watch Stella perform for her and Stella loves to teach Reese every fantastic thing she can about water play.

Reese has recently learned to pull herself up using the furniture.  Stella loves that her baby sister is becoming a big girl because that means that Reese can participate in more play with her.  Stella often congratulates Reese when she stands up by giving her a huge hug (sometimes resulting in them both toppling over).

In fact, I’ve really noticed that Stella loves to encourage Reese in every way.  Sometimes she is consoling her when she’s grumpy or got an ouchie, and other times it’s simply a big sister gently teaching her little sister the rules of life.  For example, over the holiday’s Stella has indulged in eating some treats that she knows Reese isn’t able to try yet.  As Reese attempts to rip the treat from Stella’s hand, Stella gently removes her hand and says, “No Reese, one day you can have this treat, but not right now… you’re too little.”  SO sweet.

This morning, Reese had missed her morning nap and was a little on the grumpy side.  Stella got a little too close to grumpy-pants, and Reese grabbed Stella’s hair to use as leverage to stand up.  My sweet Stella kept her cool, called for Mommy, and never once attempted to retaliate against her little sister.

I know that there will likely be moments, and even seasons of war between our girls.  But for now, I am savouring every one of these precious moments.  Years down the road when they are in battle, maybe they can read a blog or two like this and be reminded of the blessing they have in each other.  Sisterhood is a gift.

Here’s the recipe:

The recipe for the wonton filling was SO good.  We found that it really tasted close to the flavor you get in wonton soup from a restaurant.  This part was what took the most amount of time.  The recipe called to make 30 of these, which equaled 6 portions of soup.

I had never used wonton wrappers before, but I actually found them really easy to work with.  My only negative is that this whole process was quite time consuming.

About 30 minutes later, and I had 30 pretty little wontons.

The broth was super easy and quick to make.

This is one portion of the soup.  It was quite filling, so the other four servings were packed in the fridge for quick lunches for the next few days!

Matt testifies: “It’s a winner.”

“For Whom the Lord loves, he disciplines.”  Hebrews 12:6

Re-phrase: Discipline in our lives is evidence of God’s love for us.

In the past couple weeks, I have learned more details concerning the life of David than ever before.  The text is so RICH with practical application and lessons for my life.  Last week, we went over 2 Samuel 11:1-27, paying attention to the smallest details of the story. If you haven’t read it before, I would encourage you to do so.  Here is my paraphrase of this particular portion of scripture:

It begins by stating that David (being King) was scheduled to go out to battle during this time of year, BUT did not go.  Once evening came around, he went on his rooftop to walk around and began lusting after a woman who he saw bathing down below.  This woman’s' name was Bathsheba, and she was the wife of one of David’s best soldiers (Uriah).  

NOTES: We may not know the exact reason David stayed behind, but we can be sure that is was not honorable.  Kings were suppose to fulfill their duties, and failure to do this was his first act of sin in this story. Secondly, he sinned by lusting after a woman that was not his wife, and then sinned again by sleeping with her.  

Question: How do I react to the temptation to sin.  Have I ever responded the way David did? I should I respond instead?

David sent some of his messengers to retrieve Bathsheba, and when she came to him, he had sex with her.  We find out here that her previously mentioned bathing was to cleanse herself from her monthly period which had just finished.  Bathsheba discovered she was pregnant, and sent word to tell David.

NOTES: Because Uriah was off at war, Bathsheba’s pregnancy would obviously not have resulted from relations with her husband, but from David.  There would have likely been at least a few people that knew she had gone to be with the King that evening, and news of this adulterous occasion would have spread like wildfire. 

Learning of this, David then pulled Uriah out of war and had him return home.  David tries to coax Uriah to go home and sleep with his wife on 3 separate occasions, but with no success.  The reason David wanted Uriah to sleep with his wife was because he wanted Uriah to believe the child was his.  He wanted to cover up the result of his sin, and be done with the whole situation.  However, Uriah was devoted to his duties of the kingdom, and would not forsake them in order to go rest at home.  He knew he had responsibilities, and was going to remain faithful to them.

NOTES: David sins again by attempting to cover up his sin of sleeping with Bathsheba and getting her pregnant.  He attempts this 3 times, unsuccessfully.  By this time, David would have been getting desperate to hide his sin.  No doubt he was anxious, and overwhelmed with the situation he had gotten himself into.  Every time David sinned in this portion of scripture, he did not turn to God in repentance, but continued to dig himself deeper into a pit of sinful self-sufficiency.  

Question: Have I ever attempted to cover up my sin with more sin?  What should I do instead?

With David’s first attempt at covering up his sin failing miserably, he resorted to plan “B.”  David wrote a letter addressed to Joab (battle commander of David’s army) which instructed him to put Uriah at the front lines of war, and then abandon him so that he would be overtaken and die.  Ironically, this letter was delivered to Joab by the hands of Uriah himself.  Joab obeyed the orders, and Uriah died in war.  

NOTES:  Murder.  David was so desperate to cover up his sin and fix this situation himself that he resorted to murdering a man.  If Joab died, then at least he wouldn’t have to face the man whom he betrayed by sleeping with his wife.  The pit in which David had dug himself was deep, but it goes even deeper still.

Question:  Have I ever dug myself a pit of sin so deep that I feel like I can never get out?  What do I do then?

Joab then sends a messenger to tell David the news that Uriah is dead, but he gives the messenger specific instructions to go along with the message.  He tells the messenger that if David becomes angry, and bombards the messenger with questions concerning how such a terrible and unlikely thing could have happened with his best soldiers, then he is to simply respond with, “Uriah the Hittite is dead also.”  So, the messenger goes and tells David the news.  David does not respond with frustration or anger and asks no questions.  He simply requests that the messenger encourage Joab by saying: these things happen sometimes.  Don’t get too get bent out of shape about it.  Just dust yourself off and overtake the enemy now.

NOTES:  I find this portion of the text especially interesting.  Joab did exactly what David asked him to do by placing Uriah in a “sure-to-die” positon in war, yet he tells the messenger that David will likely become angry and ask questions as to how such a thing could have happened.  Any good King would have responded in this way.  But David responds with relief, basically saying , “lets not think about this anymore, but move forward.  These things happen.”  In this moment, I believe that the messenger would have either known that deceit and foul play was present, or been extremely confused by his response.  Davids response is significant, because it reveals his relief.  He knew that as a result of Uriah’s death, he would be able to marry Bathsheba, and cover up his sin once and for all.  It took David many sins to get to this place, but he believed he was in the clear.  He was wrong. 

Question:  Have I ever become hard-hearted toward my sin, diminishing it in my mind to mean nothing?

Bathsheba hears of her husbands death and mourns.  After her mourning, David calles for her, and she becomes his wife.  Bathsheba bore him a son.  BUT, all the things that David had done displeased the Lord.  

NOTE: ALthough all seemed “fixed” in the eyes of David, God was displeased.  We cannot hide our sin from the Lord.  Because God loved David, he would discipline him.  David would soon begin to truly suffer the consequences of his sin.  

Question: Have I ever felt as though I got away with my sin without consequence?

In 2 Samuel 12, David is confronted with his sin head on.  He developed a broken and contrite spirit concerning his sin, and sincerely repents to the Lord.  The Lord forgives him (2 Samuel 12:13) and washes David clean of his sin, but consequences to his sin remain.  Over the years, David will suffer these 4 consequences to his sin:

1) The sword will never depart from his house.

2) Evil will stir up against David from his own household.

3) Someone close to David (his son) would sleep with David’s wives in broad daylight.

4) David’s son, born of Bathsheba will die when only a few days old.

LESSON: Sin will take you farther than you expected to go; it will keep you longer than you ever intended to stay; and it will cost you, more than you ever expected to pay. (Kay Aurthur)  I bet that when David first laid his eyes on Bathsheba, he never dreamed that he would end up where he did, or pay for his sin so greatly.  Sin is always diminished in our eyes to appear little and insignificant, but it is not.  David belonged to the Lord, and as such, God would discipline him.  Likewise, my sin is just as significant.  I need to be aware that when I choose to sin, I choose to welcome some sort of death into my life, in addition to God’s righteous discipline.  Thankfully, God will forgive me of my sin when I approach him in repentance with a broken heart.  Thankfully, God is bigger than my sin, and will use it to glorify himself.  Although David’s sin was great, and he suffered greatly, God used his sin to teach me about myself, and cause me to glorify God!  I’m thankful for David, because in him I see myself.  Praise the Lord for his ways are perfect!

As any parent can attest, vacation with 2 little ones is limiting.  With Reese napping twice a day and Stella still desperately needing her afternoon nap, our adventures were on the mild side.  Nonetheless, our days were full of fun, and by the end of each day the girls were POOPED!

We spent one day visiting the outlet malls which was fun.  Somehow we spent most of our money on stuff for our kids and not ourselves… funny how that happens.  It’s an outdoor outlet mall, so the girls were happy to ride in their strollers and watch the world go by while Matt and I shopped and chatted about life.

A few glorious mornings we spent at the beach.  Reese loved the way the sand felt on her toes and her fingers, and she looked so darn cute in her bathing suit I could hardly take it!  She sat and played in the sand for almost the entire morning on both occasions.  Stella adores the water and sand, and spent the whole time working up a sweat.  Stella and I dug a deep hole in the sand, and she immediately set her heart on filling that hole with water.  Obviously, each bucket of water that she dumped in the hole quickly disappeared, but that didn’t discourage her.  She continued to collect water and pour it in that hole for what seemed like forever until I distracted her onto another task… making sand castles with Daddy!  But even then, the moat needed to be filled with water…  it was a never ending task.  Loved to watch her working away so intently.

I cannot possibly count how many times we visited the pool while we were there.  It was about a 5 minute walk to the pool from where we were staying, so Stella would often hitch a ride on her Daddy’s shoulders to get there faster!

Everyday we spent at least a little bit of time in the pool, and some days we went swimming with the girls on two separate occasions.  Those days made for early bedtime and sound nighttime sleeps.  Reese loved the water.  She was so happy just to sit in her floaty thing and watch everything going on around her.  There was a few times when both Reese and Stella would “jump” off the side of the pool and make a big splash.  Reese was so excited to be playing alongside her big sister!  Stella became even more of a fish while we were there as her Daddy (the swimming instructor) pushed her to grow as a swimmer.  As the mother, there were times where I had to just look away as he would throw her 6 feet in the air and then come splashing down and under the water until he’d scoop her up and she’d take a deep breath in and say, “again.”  Her willingness to participate in these kinds of shenanigans would give me peace of mind.  Stella learned to do what she calles “dive” in the water, which is characterized by her holding her breath and dunking her head under water, and then popping back up for air.  I was given many lessons by her concerning this method of “diving,” and according to her, still have much room for improvement.

FOOD: We went and ate at some of our favorite restaurants including the famous Cheesecake Factory, The Olive Garden, Tommy Bahamas, and Yabba City Grill.  One of my favorite food’s was the coconut shrimp at Tommy Bahamas… SO GOOD!

The restaurant Tommy Bahamas is located in a beautiful part of town where we walked around after dinner.  The trees are all beautifully lit up, and there is live music playing outside (which Stella LOVED dancing to).

The Yabba City Grill restaurant was really yummy as well.  They are famous for their crab, so of course we got their crab cakes as an appetizer.  They did not disappoint.  Stella’s favorite part of this restaurant was not the food, but meeting the alligator statue out front.

The last note on the food department concerns the best ice-cream I’ve ever tasted in my life.  It comes from this place called Kilwins, and the flavour is “toasted coconut.”  To say this ice-cream is amazing would be an understatement.  It’s too good for words.

As you can see, Stella agrees.

Our time in Florida was amazing.  Not because of the place we were in, but because of the time we spent together as a family.  I thank God for experiences like these were we can grow together as a family.  I am so blessed!

The other day I felt like trying a new and slightly untraditional cookie recipe.  Scrolling through this book I found one called, “White Chocolate Chunk Fudge Cookies.”  My husband is not a fan of white chocolate, so I simply replaced the white chocolate with milk chocolate chips.  It goes like this:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour

1 1/4 cups unsweetened cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/4 cups room temperature butter

2 egs

1 tbsp vanilla

1 1/2 tsp finely ground coffee beans

9 oz. white chocolate chopped

6 oz. semisweet chocolate chopped

2 cups confectioner’s icing sugar

Process:

1. In a bowl, mix together flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt.

2. In a large bowl, using an electric mixer, beat sugar and butter until light and fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.  Add vanilla and ground coffee, beating well.  Add flour mixture, beating just until flour is incorporated.  Stir in white and semisweet chocolates.

3. Place confectioner’s sugar in a bowl.  Scoop batter with 1/4 cup measure, using your hands, roll into balls.  Drop balls into conectioner’s sugar.  Coat balls well and place on prepared baking sheets, about 3 inches apart.

4. Bake in preheated oven or 16-17 minutes.  Do not over-bake.  Let cool completely on baking sheet on a rack.

Oh golly… these cookies are amazing.  They are moist and packed full of chocolate goodness.  DELICIOUS!

My husband has told me several times that they are seriously the best cookies he has ever ate.  Give them a try… they’d be great as a Christmas treat!

Bless her little heart.  We’ve discovered that trying to ask a 2 year old for her reasoning behind the special hand movements is profitless.  I guess the reasoning doesn’t really matter.  It makes me smile, and I bet it makes God smile too.

For the past number of weeks, I have had the blessing of being part of a Women’s Bible study called, “Anointed, Transformed, Redeemed,” by Priscilla Shirer, Beth Moore, and Kay Aurthur. It’s a video and workbook study on the life of David. As we relate to the biblical character of David throughout the study, we are challenged, encouraged, convicted, and drawn into a deeper and more vibrant and trusting relationship with our Lord. Visit here for a quick promotional video of the live event that has already taken place and now been turned into this study.

So far, we are only done the part where Priscilla Shirer shares the Word, but God has all ready used that short teaching time to change me immensely.  Here’s a few pints we’ve already learned:

1/ As a believer in Jesus Christ, I am handpicked by God.  I have been elected and chosen by God and given a purpose.  Because I am chosen, my confidence rests not in my own faithfulness, but in God’s faithfulness (PTL for that)!

2/ My life must be centered on God… any other way of living is empty.  I am slowly adopting a pattern of God-awareness or God-consciousness in my life whereby God is increasingly being in the centre of my daily living.  Whether I’m snuggling with a sick kid, preparing dinner, doing laundry, etc… God is there, and those tasks are with purpose.  They are not mundane, but part of his plan and purpose for me.  Similarly, David was anointed by God when he was 15 years old, and didn’t begin his reign of Judah until he was 30.  For 15 years he continued to tend to the sheep, and do things that may be perceived as mundane.  But they were all part of God’s preparation and plan for David’s future reign as king.

3/ I am sustained by God, fully and completely dependent on him.  In David’s life, he continually sought the Lord in ALL things, leaving nothing up to his own wisdom or understanding.  David trusted God so much, that even when God asked him to do things that didn’t make sense to him, he acted as God had commanded, and was blessed!  I’m learning to trust God more, and seek him in ALL things.

4/ I am established by God.  Nothing I accomplish is ever a result of my own strength and power.  It is the Lord’s allowance… his enabling.  When I feel ill-equipped in this life, I remember that although I am incapable, God has established me, and he will work through me.   My success depends on the centrality of God’s authority in my life.  I am learning to let go of the need to control my circumstances, and allow God to lead.

5/ I am positioned with a purpose.  One of my main position these days is having the blessing of being a mom.  The purpose is not to clothe them, feed them, bath them, and give them kisses per-say, but rather the purpose behind my position as a mother is to reveal Christ to them.  This happens in every thing I do and say i.e.) all those seemingly mundane activities I mentioned in number 2.  I am becoming more conscious of this purpose daily.

I’ll post frequently concerning this study.  I want to share with you how God is at work in my life.

1/ As I look into their eyes, I tell them that I feel so blessed to be their Mommy… then kiss them 10 times in a row (or until they push me away).

2/ Save a scribbled picture they made me forever and ever.

3/ Read them one more story, even when they didn’t ask me to… then one more again to make it two.

4/ Take lot’s of pictures, and when I think I’ve taken enough… I take more.

5/ Capture a heartwarming moment on video. A moment becomes a memory in seconds flat.

Anyway… I saw my sweet little 2 and a half year old singing with joy a silly little song in the back seat, and I knew that moment’s like these would one day be over. She couldn’t quite keep up with the pace of the song, and half her words were made up… but she was loving to sing, and was proud of herself.

I captured this sweet moment on video because when she’s 16, I’m pretty sure her singing in the back seat wont have the same cuteness factor.

So here it is… my little singer.