This is the reality of my Mother’s Day.

BUT … These are the moments that I am grateful for over the Mother’s Day weekend …

My sister, grandma, mom and I were able to get together on Saturday (and boy, I am so annoyed that I didn’t get a photo) … here is a photo of my mom and dad, who I love SO VERY MUCH.

Grateful for my mom and her absolute determination and love in raising her three children …

thankful for spring garden blooms …

mornings with chalk and the girls …

a Mother’s Day love note …

a sweet hand woven coffee coaster, made by Lacey …

… many loads of laundry, yes. laundry.     This means I have five healthy children who play in the dirt, get muddy and fill my day with laundry chores. And honestly, that’s a blessing.

{Do you see your laundry that way?
I challenge you to! This is something I’ve learned to see as a blessing through the powerful words of my friend, Lena, my small group leader.}

Church Sunday morning.

{Don’t let this image fool you.
We were on our way to church Mother’s Day morning …
Lovie was not happy – after a few minutes of pure stubborness and a quick time out, she finally gave us permission to sit together for a few seconds …
it certainly required much patience from her sisters as well …
but she sat with us and that’s what mattered in the end … and I am grateful! }

an afternoon nap in the fresh air …

and best of all … a photograph that I will cherish forever!

{bursting heart right here}

“These are never years.
Never enough money.
Never enough time,
never enough sleep -
but always enough love.

The sweetest kiss of a baby,
the tooth-paste-flavored kiss of a child on his way to bed,
the sleepy kiss of a husband who’s
just as tired as you.

These are the busy years,
the wonderful hectic, impossible years.
Soon, the children will be grown and I’ll have plenty of time to organize my house,
sew, and to cultivate outside interests.
I wonder if it will be as wonderful as they say?
Or am I in the middle of the wonderful years … right now?”

-The Power of Motherhood

Happy {belated} Mother’s Day to all the moms out there. Know how amazing and blessed you are!

Can you believe two weeks? I can’t. Her due date is tomorrow. I love that I’ve had all this extra time with her in our family … she certainly makes mornings sweeter …

… and then of course, Lovie comes to snuggle in … {personally, I do not think these two look like sisters, but then again,  Lyla and Lucia were the same way … and now people think they are twins somedays!}

… and give kisses ….

and hold hands …

… and count fingers …

The lack of sleep is so worth it.

“I can only imagine where these tiny feet will go in their lifetime.
My only hope is that they never forget their way home.”

- Candace G. 

Okay, sidenote! I love sharing a good recipe when I find out – or something homemade that just really does the job – and these granola bars are just FABULOUS!

My friend, Leanne, shared this recipe with me {from here}.   It’s really easy and my kids loved it!! Great for school or road trip snacks!

~ Homemade Granola Bars ~

Now, you can add anything you want to this recipe – instead of chocolate chips, you can add raisins or dried cranberries, flax seed, etc. Get creative!

4 Cups Old Fashioned Oats
1/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
1/2 Cup Shredded Unsweetened Coconut
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Cup Chocolate Chips*
1/2 Tsp Kosher Salt
1/2 Cup Canola Oil
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1/2 Cup Honey {<- I used agave nectar instead …}

Preheat oven to 325 F. and mix  the first 6 ingredients in a bowl.
In a separate bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients an then pour the wet ingredients over the oat mixture and stir together.
Place  the granola mixture on a parchment lined baking sheet and shape into a rectangle, about 13 x 9 x 1 inch thick. {I did not have parchment paper, but instead use a glass dish and sprayed with oil so they wouldn’t stick. Worked just fine.}
Bake for 40 minutes.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes then cut into bars and share the goodies with your kidlets!

Saves you tons of money and WAY healthier than the storebought granola bars (I refuse to buy them!).

Enjoy!

What can a simple cupcake do?

It can give hope to a family that desperately needs it.

It can give joy to a mother’s heart, heavy with burdens.

It can build faith in a family that needs to see compassion again.

It can help Jennifer Flynn and her family in her journey.

{Photo Credit: The Orangeville Banner}

Sixteen year old Jennifer is in desperate need of your help.

You see, Jennifer was born with Trisomy 12p, a rare disorder caused by having three copies of the short arm on her 12th chromosome, instead of the normal two. This means her condition affects all cells in her body, causing hydrocephalus, seizures, a poor immune system, and lack of depth perception …

{You can read more of her story here.}
Jennifer can barely walk and relies mainly on a wheelchair to get around.

But … she needs a new wheelchair – and a new motorized wheelchair will cost her one-income family anywhere from $10,000-$18,000.

This is where the mighty cupcake comes into play.

She Takes the Cake (run by Leanne Button) and HomeSchool Life (run by my friend, Leno Emo,) are hosting a fundraiser over the next two weeks for Jennifer – all you have to do is purchase a cupcake for a donation of $2.

Better yet, purchase a dozen and share them with your friends, co-workers, grandparents, neighbours … all of the money raised from each mighty little cupcake will go straight to Jennifer’s family to help fund her new wheelchair.

Here are some details -

You can choose between rose or hydrangea cupcakes (chocolate or vanilla) …

ALL the proceeds will go directly to help pay for Jennifer’s new wheelchair.

Orders can be sent to shetakesthecake@live.ca – please inquire about locations for picking up your order at this time.

Order by Wednesday to receive them in time for Mother’s day!

This town is an amazing town for helping others out … I know you will all come through and support the Flynn family …

Thank you for making the tiny cupcake a mighty thing … for helping Jennifer on her journey.

Little Leia’s newborn session has taken us a while to accomplish – we’ve been doing bits and pieces here and there … and with the help of Lacey (So thankful for her help!) …  I’m sure this will be one post of many photos to come …

I just LOVE having a baby in the house again – everyone is loving having a baby again! She is so lovely to hold, cuddle and snuggle … she’s snuggled on my lap right now while the rest of the girlies sleep peacefully in their rooms … we’re all feeling very blessed …

{My sweet father in law made this swing for Leia – and my awesome dad made the backdrop so this is a lovely photo dedicated to our fabulous grandpas in her life!}

I think she looks a LOT like her daddy – but that is no surprise! All the girls look like Gauthiers, not Clairs … my hubby’s gene is strong … I hope Leia keeps her darker hair …

More to come as I edit them …

It’s very hard to believe that little Leia could still b in the womb right now.

Hard to believe a week has gone by so fast.

Hard to believe that we have been so blessed with such a wonderful addition to our {ever-growing} family.

I wasn’t sure how to post or what to post about the birth of our new baby girl … it all feels so personal and yet such a miracle … such a joyous experience … so here it goes …

Let me just say, the birth of Leia was absolutely amazing – it was all I ever hoped for, really. I didn’t know what to expect with a home birth, but I knew (or rather, hoped) it would be a quick birth looking at the history of my other four deliveries. I’ve witnessed a few (so beautiful!) home births and was ‘sold’ on the intimacy, the calmness, the privacy of having a baby in the comfort of your own home.

And with the birth of Leia, it was exactly as I had hoped … my contractions started and stopped all night long on Monday night. I really didn’t know if it was real labour or just some really intense Braxton Hicks (at this point, I was still 2.5 weeks away from the due date) .. I was hoping for labour so by 3 a.m., I woke up Abby and suggested that we set up the birthing pool and mattress (No, nothing was set up yet!) and lay out whatever was needed – just in case. After that, we found it hard to go to sleep – my hubby paced the floor a gazillion times (he’s never done that – he usually stays asleep till I finally wake him up and say “TIME TO GO TO THE HOSPITAL!”) and then finally said, “Well, we’re up – I may as well make bread…!” And so he did. Two beautiful loaves of the freshest bread at 4 a.m. What a guy. I slept a little off and on and still nothing big contraction wise. I timed them but they would stop and start or I’d fall asleep and lose track.

Eventually, after a night of nothing too serious, the girls woke up for breakfast. They saw the birthing pool set up and started to look a bit puzzled. I told them maybe today might be baby day – they were excited but everything was still very calm…{so thankful for the calm!} It was so nice to see the girls, give them kisses and know their daily schedule was barely even interrupted (especially important for the little ones).

The contractions were still there in the morning around breakfast time, but not too bad…

But by this time, I figured I had better call the midwives and let them know I felt ‘different’. I called my BFF, Leanne, to come in and be here in case we needed help with the kids, etc. {So grateful for her help this morning!! She also took these lovely photos!}

My primary midwife, Heather, showed up at 8 a.m. and checked the progress and to my joyous delight, promptly announced, “You’re 8 cms and the baby is ready!”

I was AMAZED that it had progressed that far …! And I was excited and OVERJOYED this was the real deal! So my sweet BFF put on a movie for the girlies to watch in the living room and gave them a snack while the midwives broke my water. I stepped into the birth pool, felt normal and then  … holy smokes … LABOUR … woweeee … it just happened so fast … within minutes, the baby was there … the midwives said “You can push now!” and I could barely believe it! Already?!

No kidding – less than eight minutes …. and I went from normal to intense … to sweet, sweet baby …

and just like that, she was born – so healthy, so wonderful and so beautiful … she barely cried … it was so peaceful once Leia arrived as I held her to my chest and met this little one who wiggled and kicked and hiccuped inside of me for the past nine months …

{And can I admit that I was so happy she was a girl! I love having girls and it’s so awesome to have this sisterhood to raise and nurture – I was overjoyed to have another little angel to care for.}

… it wasn’t long after Leia was born …

that her sisters slowly began to come back into the room … they walked over to where I was with the new baby and were quiet and yet so excited to suddenly see “their baby was out” … I think it surprised some of them at how quickly this day had come … “The new baby is here?” Lucia kept asking … now a week later, she still walks around saying, “My new baby is out now!” Precious.

This was my favorite part of the day, naturally introducing the girls to their new baby sister, slowly, in their own timing, without rushing and without stress …

and of course, Lovelyn is just fine as a big sister … she’s still my baby … I just have two (or five!) now …

It was fantastic for the girls to watch the midwives do their routine checks on Leia, listen to her heartbeat, etc. What an amazing way for the girls to be so involved in such a special day …

I really hope this morning is etched into their mind as a beautiful memory as it is etched into mine …

I’m so thankful. SO thankful.  I am blessed beyond measure with a new life to care for … so thankful.

A woman when she is in travail hath sorrow,
because her hour is come: but as soon as she is delivered of the child,
she remembereth no more the anguish, for joy that a man is born into the world.
~ John 16:21

And can I just say I love this batch that we – Abby and me -  are making! Having a new baby is like pressing the  REFRESH motherhood-love-button for me … talk about a MASSIVE blessing … to be handed another little angel from God to love, cherish and raise for God … wow … such a huge privilege and such a FANTASTIC honor. I treasure these moments with the girls learning and loving on their new little sister, Leia, who is fitting into our family ever so sweetly and wonderfully. And I feel great. Honestly. I’ve always been able to operate on little sleep (sorry, mom!) and now I can see why God created me that way! {I didn’t sleep that much as a child – and was always waking up at night … guess God knew what He was doing, eh?!} In fact, I went to Bible Study the day after giving birth, was pulled over by a police officer on the way home at 11:30 p.m. and had to explain why I was out and about the day after having a baby … I think the cop thought I was crazy, but really, I felt fine enough to go to Bible Study so I did! (Leia was safe and tucked away in her car seat with me, in case anyone is wondering if I left her home!) I have a fantastic family and awesome friends who make ‘getting back to life’ so much more pleasant. I can’t believe how many of you have dropped off meals, treats, flowers, cards … amazing! Even homemade granola for a super hungry nursing momma! (Thank you, Michelle!) Amazing. We are so blessed by your acts of kindness!

God is good.  And He has entrusted Abby and I with this new precious bundle of pink to love and raise up with her sisters … we have a huge responsibility on our hands. But I am absolutely thankful to be raising this ‘big batch as one’.

Doesn’t Leia just fit so nicely in there?

{First morning at church for our family of seven}

In case you are wondering, her name is pronounced like Princess Leia from Star Wars. Yes, Star Wars. No, we are not huge fans of the movie, but we have always loved the name… this time, Abby choose the name and was very set on her name being Leia …

Still working on a blog post regarding the birth … I’m trying to decide if Leia would be mad at me in 20 years if her birth photos were posted on the internet or not … But I can just say that our home birth experience was AMAZING, peaceful and so very much as I had hoped it would be …

I *will* blog more about this (maybe tonight?) and share the joy of the morning of April 24th.

Thank you all for your congratulations and comments and happy thoughts.  xxxoo

Introducing Leia Hyacinth Anne Gauthier -

6 lbs. even (my biggest baby yet!)

8:51 am. Tuesday, April 24th

We feel so blessed and in love – and I can’t wait to share her home birth story with photos!

For now …. I am going to sleep. I have a feeling  I will be needing more of it in the days to come …

I don’t know about you but getting a birthday present for the men (hubby, dad, etc.)  in my life is always VERY challenging … and of course, Abby never asks for anything … seriously. Ever. He always just says “A hug from my girls will be enough.” And he means it.

So what do you DO on a birthday to make it special?

You make his favorite homemade meal (lasagna with lovely bread and Caesar salad) … you make cards (completely decorated with motorcyles and pictures of daddy as Prince Charming).  You make crowns for King Daddy to wear with his princesses when he gets home from work. And my friend in town helped create a gorgeous picture frame that says “I found my Prince Charming – his name is daddy” which framed a cute photo of daddy and his girls.

Lacey played Happy Birthday on the piano and made her daddy a peach/strawberry/cranberry crisp. Lyla made the Caesar salad for dinner (I was surprised by this – she really could handle the whole salad by herself). Lucia just hugged daddy with her giggly voice and Lovie gave sloppy kisses. {I am giving him a baby – I figured that was enough. Hee hee!}

I think that was exactly what he wanted for his birthday.

We love you, Abby. You truly are the best daddy to these little girls …

“Spinning around on the tops of his feet
smiles of the angels cannot be so sweet
Wide blue eyes and piggy tail swirls
She’s her daddy’s girl …

‘Cause he know the jokes that always makes her laugh
Takes her for ice cream instead of her math
At the end of the day by the light of the moon
They turn up the music in their living room
And she yells …

Dance me, dance me around
Till my feet don’t ever touch down
There’s nothing better than being your girl
And if I’m your princess then daddy
You are the king of the world …”

- Cindy Morgan

A lot of people keep asking me if I am going to hire help when the new baby comes … how am I going to handle ‘it all’, etc or if this is ‘my last’?

And maybe I’m crazy. Maybe I’m living in a slightly-dreamy fairy world, but I think everything will be fine. We’ve been working so hard on homeschooling that we’re almost done and will be over the majority of it by the time the baby comes … and then it’ll be summer … and the girls and I will be spending a LOT of down time together … and THAT, that, I can handle.

Yes, there will be things that will be busier than normal.

The laundry. No fun.
The floors. So annoyingly dirty with all those bare feet.
The dinners that need planning. And cleaning up afterwards. {Why DO I make rice?! Someone slap me!!}
The outings that will have to be more routinely planned. {And praying we get our a/c fixed on the suburban before the heat comes!}

… but really, this is what I signed up for and this is what I feel so blessed to have! If we look at our tasks of being a mom, washing floors, doing laundry, grocery shopping (Oh, it sounds so glorious, doesn’t it?!) as annoying-to-dos, our attitude will reflect that. I’m not saying I will have joy in every single moment of every single day … I will get tired… I will be exhausted and I will probably want to die around the third month of sleepless nights (Is that not the hardest part? Off the babymoon, and into to the depths of exhaustion?!) … but …it will be fine.

Today, after coming home from a long dance practice with the girls, I was feeling very tired, had to make dinner for the girls before they left from their Awana club, had to clean up, find the backpacks etc. and I looked into the other room and saw Lacey, in all our eight year old maturity, sitting, rocking Lovelyn (who had missed her nap because we were at the dance practice and was very tired and crabby when we arrived home) and stroking her hair ever so gently, slowly putting her to sleep.

It was so precious. So precious.

It made my heart go pitter-patter.

I hadn’t asked Lacey to help with Lovelyn and we all know little 18 month olds are not exactly the happiest right before dinner (aka. the witching hour). It just completely blessed me to see Lacey step up to the situation and care for Lovelyn in such a motherly way.

It doesn’t matter that my laundry is still on the line (to be fair, it’s the fourth load today!) and that it’s supposed to rain tomorrow (yes, I plan on getting it off the line – eventually). I am grateful.

“Motherhood is a calling, a privilege, and a gift.

It is our legacy. It is what we embrace and pour ourselves into.
It is not burdensome.
It is not an onerous list of unending tasks to complete. It is not some half-hearted thing we do on the side of other things.
Motherhood is a most powerful and significant calling.
We have the opportunity to be in a loving relationship with a precious one-of-a- kind creation from the very hand of God Himself.
We are granted guardianship, friendship and mentorship with an eternal soul whom we have the joy of sharing all of life with.
It is the most amazing thing! What could be a better use of our time? How can it ever be thought of as less than what it truly is?
To be in relationship with our children and grandchildren throughout our lives with the ability to love and minister to them is absolutely the best of all opportunities.”

-Above Rubies

I saw this online today and couldn’t resist t ….
I had to try these out – they are just soooo cute! {And photogenic!I have to admit, I *do* love to photograph food … especially pink coloured food …}

Mini Whoopie Pies.

Instead of marshmallow fluff, I used an awesome icing recipe:

1/2 cup of vegetable shortening

1/2 cup of butter or margarine

4 cups of icing sugar

dash of vanilla

2 tablespoons of milk

coloring of your choice

Mix in mixer until fluffy.

They were quite easy to make and really didn’t take too long since they only bake for about 5 minutes. I need to make them more flavorful though. Not more sweet but more flavor. Does anyone have suggestions? Maybe the marshmallow fluff would’ve helped?

Here is the recipe I used for the pies. (Thank you, One Lovely Day! You can see her original post here.)

1 egg
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla
Food coloring in your choice of color

Preheat your oven to 350 F. In a large bowl with a mixer at medium speed, beat egg and vegetable oil. Gradually beat in sugar and continue beating until the mixture is pale yellow in color. Add food coloring to create your desired sandwich color. In another bowl, combine flour, baking soda and salt. In a measuring cup combine milk and vanilla. Add the flour and milk mixtures alternately to the egg and sugar mixture, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients. Drop the dough by teaspoons onto a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper, leaving about 2 inches between drops. Bake about 5 minutes or until the tops spring back when lightly touched with finger. Remove from baking sheets and allow to cool completely on wire racks.

I piped the icing in between each ‘pie’ and that’s it. It was simple. And I was quite impressed. Imagine these in a rainbow of colours for a birthday party, baby shower or summer tea party?

Speaking of baking, this baby is nearly done. I can just tell. Mainly because I am so super sore! And so much pressure. You ladies know what I’m talking about.  And I’ve been having dreams and thoughts that it’s a boy …. I’m soooo curious. I thought maybe girl, but now I think boy. Slower heart rate. It seems bigger this time. I’m more sore, feels different than the girls, but then again, who knows?!

36 weeks.

What do you think? Boy or girl?