4 Days of Getting Up with the Kids!

Made pancakes for them this morning! So very grateful to Shelby and Rachel who have been calling me every morning to check up on me!! I have the most wonderful and supporting friends. Such a small change for me to make but it's impacting us all in a huge way.

Good Morning!

Guess what time I got up this morning? 7:30!!!! I set my alarm last night and got a wake up check up call from Shelby at about 7:35... just to make sure (and she did ask if I was actually out of bed and not just laying there awake). My reward? I was in the kitchen when Megan (my middle one) came out of her room and she looked at me with well, complete and total surprise and confusion to be honest and asked why did you set your alarm before mine? My answer - I wanted to get up with you guys this morning. Her response? She ran across the kitchen and gave me the biggest hug, looked up at me with a huge smile and then hugged me again. Wow. Talk about your heart stuttering.
She just left for school and as always, wanted a mouth smacking lip on lip kiss (definitely her love language) and I told her that God is always with her. Big smiles, big hug and she is off and ready to face the day.

My oldest (Sydney). Yea... kind of like pulling teeth with that girl to get any sort of response but I like to think she is smiling on the inside. We even managed to keep the TV off until after 8:00 and Jeremy actually ate his breakfast at the table instead of on the couch watching TV.

And the blizzard outside? Who cares. I had a great morning and spring is in the air!

'Self Esteem' with Brenda on March 23rd

Brenda Summach - married to Larry for 34 years; 3 daughters - Melissa, Michelle & Mandy-Rae, 1 son in law mike, and grandson William. Was a dental assistant, taught piano, and owned a small retail store in Alberta. 23 years ago this spring she started her Mary Kay business to be at home with her girls. In this profession she has become a National Sales Director of which there are only 450 out of 2 million consultants in 37 countries globally. Brenda loves to travel free, courtesy of Mary Kay, for the last 18 years, her favourite place being Bali, Indonesia, and going to Italy this May!!

"My purpose and focus has been to help my daughters & other women to have the courage to become all God designed them to be. Excited to have the privilege to share my journey with you!"

Peer Pressure with Jodi

What a fantastic morning..Thank you so much Jodi for coming out and speaking to this fabulous group of women!! We can learn so much from each other, can't we?? Listening to Jodi was fantastic and confirmed alot of things for me, as well as made me realize how important being a mom is! A bit of pressure, yes, but with God beside us, we will do an amazing job in raising our little kidlets! Like Jodi said to the 'young/new moms'..Peer pressure is coming...So, are you going to react with 'Faith' or with 'Fear'?? Wow...I would like to say that I parent by Faith, but I think in most part, being a controller by nature, that I mostly parent by fear...I have alot to learn. Lots of good insight today...made me think alot about why I do what I do. I hope that all of you moms that were there today, left feeling encouraged to start fresh in your 'Parenting Journey' with a strong sense of Faith with you!!

If any of you would like to have the info that Jodi was talking about, please email the MOMS Ministry at momsministry@hotmail.com and I will be more then happy to send it your way!!

Have a great week Ladies!!

~Helen Vander Kooi