Daddy Time!

I haven't really posted much on my awesome husband on here! So I got a little collection of "Dad" shots on the recent picture cd so I thought I'd share him( Just this once!) Haha. Dave and the kids play "Hiya" as the children call it. They can't play that game except with dad and not without their special "hiya hats"(this is mom's rules as hiya is basically karate chopping one another! Dave is fun and the kids love that time. They run in and grab the spit blankets and beg dave to play now.

Chloe is now 3 and I finally got a picture of her birthday back:) The neighbour Mrs. Carroll(who they call nanny carroll made the cake and brought it over. She's a lovely neighbour and we are pretty thankful for them and their daughters.

Dave and our sweeties in a saturday morning snuggle session.

Housecleaning on a budget.

Well I found some great recipies today for household cleaners. I like the idea of having safer cleaners and I always like the idea of making it myself! Check it out at Passionate Homemaking

Watcha eatin' Wednesday?

Here's a wonderful and fast microwave dish!

Tangy Mustard Cauliflower

1 medium head of cauliflower

1/2 cup Kraft salad dressing(here i usually use some kind of ranch dressing)

1/2 tsp chopped green onions (optional)

1 tsp prepared mustard

1/2 cup shredded cheese

Method: Place cauliflower in 1 1/2 quart casserole or other microwave dish that holds a good size cauliflower. ( a glass pie plate works very well). Add 2 tbsps water. Cover with saran wrap and cook for 7-8 minutes or until tender. Combine salad dressing, onion and mustard and mix well. Place cooked cauliflower on serving plate. Spread mixture over top and halfway down sides. Sprinkle with cheese and parsley flakes. Cook uncovered 1 minute to heat topping and melt cheese. Cut in pie shaped pieces.

This recipe was given to me at my wedding shower 5 years ago and I've loved it! Thanks to Bev Tulloch:)

Have you got any good microwave recipies to pass along? Feel free to post it in the comment section here.

I also tried a new recipe yesterday that was really quick and Dave and the kids really love it..

(Found at Biblical Womanhood)

Christmas Candy

On a baking sheet, spread out:1 sleeve of Saltine crackers

In a small saucepan over medium-heat, melt:1 stick butter 1 cup brown sugar

Once the mixture is gooey, pour evenly over crackers.

Bake at 350 degrees for five minutes, until bubbly.

Remove from oven, and sprinkle on top:2 cups chocolate chips(here i tried spreading one side with chocolate and one with butterscotch chips and we kinda like the butterscotch better)

As the chocolate melts, spread it evenly around.

Pop into the refrigerator until set, then cut apart the candy and put into gift containers.

(above photo courtesy of FreeFoto.com)

Making our home a Haven

Well ,recently I've been inspired by the Making our home a haven challenge over at Biblical Womanhood. The one thing that I've started with has been the Morning routine list. I'm not an organised person so I find it hard to keep things together on a regular basis. So the following is my morning routine and has worked fairly well for me this last week!
My Morning Routine

1.Read and Pray
2.Get dressed(yes.. i have a hard time to leave the sleepy comfort of pj's)
3. Tidy Kitchen
4. Start Laundry
5. Plan Supper.

My house hasn't been so clean in a while. I like having the dish rack off the counter.. it never used to disappear from the counter top!
I was hoping to post pictures but alas the walmart photo center had a broken machine.. will post the pics when i get them back!

Another fun looking recipie!

I came across this recipie the morning for Milk and cereal bars. click here to check it out!

Watcha eatin' Wednesday?

Last week i made one of my standard recipies past down to me by my mom. So I thought I'd share it for our recipie this week.

Banana Loaf

Cream: 1/2 cup margarine

Add: 1 cup white

Beat In:1 Large mashed banana (2 small)

2 eggs

3 Tablespoons milk

Sift together and gradually add

1 1/2 cups flour

1 teaspoon Baking soda

1 teaspoon Baking powder

Optional: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

1/2 cup raisins (soak in hot water first)

(add these to flour mixture to dredge them)

Pour batter into greased and lightly floured loaf pan. Bake @ 350 for 50-60 minutes. Cool 10 minutes before removing from pan. Cool on rack completely. Wrap in aluminum foil. Store at least 6 hours or overnight in fridge before serving.

Important Note: When adding dry ingredients stir gently only until all are moistened. Do not over beat.

PS. Did anyone give the quick fish supper a try? I imagine it could work with any type of fish??

Have a good day!

Chloe's Photography

Ok.. so my mom asked me to post a picture of me.. seeing as i'm home alone with toddlers and babies most of the day the only photographer i could get was chloe my charming 3 year old daughter. So here you go.... ( Is there a resemblance between this picture and the cod fish picture in the below post??):) Love you mom.

Watcha eatin' Wednesday?

Ok, so I thought it would be fun to share some recipies from my home to yours. We all eat differently and I surely love trying out new food ideas. So Hopefully each wednesday I'll be able to share some recipie that we have enjoyed here. So for the first one I thought we'd go with a little taste of newfoundland cod. While visiting my elderly neighbours with the children one day I mentioned we were planning to have cod for supper and that's when skipper(or so the older gentlemen are called out here) pulled out his recipie book and said try this one it's really good! And it WAS good...

Quick Fish Supper

2 1/2 lbs cod fillet

2 eggs (beaten)

1 cup soft bread crumbs

1 tomatoe (sliced)

1/4 cup margarine

1/2 cup onion chopped

3/4 cup grated cheese

salt & pepper

Directions:

Place flillets in greased baking dish. Spread beaten eggs over fish. Sprinkle with bread crumbs. Add salt & pepper. Garnish with tomatoe slices. Add chopped onions & margerine. Sprinkle with cheese. Bake @ 350 for 25-30 minutes. Do not overcook.

It's very fast and I think can be easily enlarged or lessened depending on your family size!

Enjoy! If anyone has any comments or ideas about this recipie or any other recipies you'd like to share please leave a comment. I'm always looking for a good recipie!

THE QUILT

Well it's taken me a while to get to putting up pictures of the quilt I recently finished for Dave. He picked the pattern from one of my quilting magazines and told me the colours he wanted (copper, gold, Iron,... can you tell he works in a mine! lol) And the other request was that it didn't have flowers. So.. as most quilts go this is not one I would have chose but its nice and i'm glad to have been able to bless my husband with a little homemade love:)

Three little Monkeys...

Nahum will be 5 months tomorrow. He's over 16 pounds and is as happy as a baby could be. He's rolling everywhere and really loving interaction with Chloe and John.
Yesterday we had a babbling session and he was starting to get out some da's and a couple days ago in a bit of a cry he popped out mamama(interesting how they say da da when they are happy and ma ma when they are in hysterics...)




Chloe and John love to read(unfortunately they also love to rip books.. we're still working on that.. any tips?) Here they are reading an old second hand book i got on how to make kids rooms and playyards.
My singers. Sometimes when i sit down at the piano they will request songs and sing. Other times they say stop that i'm "resting" haha but here they are doing their own duet. They often will take hymn books(or any of dad's shelf books) and sing about any words they have been learning or such. Recently it's been about Balaam and his donkey(don't beat your donkey balaam and so on!)

I had a good laugh about this picture! I can't even remember what I was making.. maybe Chloe's birthday cake?? Chloe always hanging on to some furry friend and john busy at eating. Very typical of the two of them:)

I call these my Brrrr Babies. They are fresh out of the tub and in the "assembly line" to get cream and pj's before bed. All cuddled in Mom and Dad's bed.

This that and the other...

Well I have ventured to start some "schoolwork" with Chloe. I really have no particular plan as of yet but have found some useful stuff on the web and just made up some ideas. Today she did a little bit of the tracing page for Letter A that i found on this website. She also drew this picture of Noah and the rainbow.

I explained to her about student and teacher. She was really excited about that! She said after lunch "John's a toddler and I'm a student and your a teacher" haha how sweet is that. So hopefully she will enjoy being a student.

Uh... did i forget to mention Chloe had a birthday? Yep she is now 3 (november 11th). I showed her how put up three fingers for her 3 years old. So now if I ask her she says i'm three and likes to show how many fingers. John is funny If I ask him how old he is he does say 2! He won't be 2 until the end of December technically but that's all good.

Also we recently got our pictures done at walmart. The last time we had a family picture done was when chloe was 3 weeks old now she is 3 years old! So if you are one of the "chosen" :)you may receive an actual picture, but if not I hope you will be appeased with the below photos:)

The Campsalls 2007!

My sentiments exactly!

I came across this site Biblical Woomanhood a few months back now and have really enjoyed a lot of what the website offers and promotes. Tonight I was feeling rather discouraged in my handling of this role called "Mom". I read the following article and it was a very good reminder and help to know that I am not the only one who struggles along. It's also good to be reminded that really.. I dont' need to struggle along on my own.. I have a gentle Shepherd who is right there leading me and helping me on my way! " The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want." Psalm 23:1
Here is the article for your encouragement too!

If Only I Were Perfect

by Crystal Paine

I've wished so much recently that I could find a way to have a spotlessly clean, organized, and well-decorated home, serve delicious and elaborate meals on time three times a day, spend the necessary time to maintain a business, while at same time not in any way neglecting my relationship with the Lord, my husband, or my daughter.I wish I could get out of bed every morning at 5 a.m. to an immaculately clean home. I wish I could shower, dress, and fix my hair before anyone wakes up. I wish I could spend a solid hour of uninterrupted time reading the Bible and praying before I begin my day each and every morning. I wish I could have the house all perfectly cleaned and in order by 8 a.m. every morning (though, I guess if I woke up to it immaculate, I wouldn't even need to clean!). I wish that the laundry and dishes magically washed themselves and put themselves away or that I had a live-in maid.I wish that I never said an unkind word or had an unkind thought. I wish that I would never disappoint my husband. I wish that I could spend all day everyday playing with my daughter. I wish I were never tired and had a boatload of energy all the time. I wish that I could live on 3 hours of sleep or less every night.Instead, I'm just me. My house is often messy and always in need of some type of cleaning. I'm always behind in some area. I never get to spend as much time playing or reading with my daughter as I'd like. I'm forever behind on the ironing. My husband comes home some nights and I'm exhausted, the house is messy, dinner is only a figment of my imagination, and I'm still in my pajamas. I often say and do things that I regret. I fail in some area on an hourly basis and can easily become discouraged and overwhelmed.Yes, sometimes I wish I were perfect. But, then I realize that if I were perfect, I'd never have anything to trust God about. I'd never need anyone to pray for me. I'd never need anyone's help. I'd never have to cry out to God for mercy when I'd failed yet again. I'd never need comfort from the Scriptures. And, I'd never know the depths of God's grace and mercy to one so undeserving as me.

Crystal Paine is a 24-year-old homeschool graduate from Topeka, Kansas. She is the blessed wife of Jesse and joyful mother of Kathrynne. Visit her site, Biblical Womanhood, for books, articles, encouragement, and inspiration!

The Simple Gospel

Ok so I was again struck by a thought that popped out of an unseeming passage in the scripture. I was so excited and there was no one awake here to share it with so I thought I'd share with all here:)
My daily reading was in Numbers 19! The Red Heifer and the water of separation. When I first began reading I wondered again what could I glean from this but here is how my thought process went today.
The ash from the burnt heifer mixed with water,sprinkled on anything or anyone, cleansed from the contact made with a dead person. There was provision made for a person to be cleansed from sin. ("...and it{the ashes} shall be kept for the congreagation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin." verse 9)
God gave the instruction and provided the means to carry out the instructions. All that remained was the obedience of the offender.
This reminds me of Christ!
He gave the instructions "Verily, verily I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life." John 5:24
The instructions?--> Hear the word, Believe!
The provision?-----> Jesus Christ!
"For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." (Romans 3:23)
"For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord."
(Romans 6:23)

That's the GOSPEL! Simple!

Journaling..(and kids)(:

Recently I've been challenged as I said in an earlier Motherhood Post to reasses my training of my children. I had a wonderful conversation with a friend the other day and we both feel similar in that we are wanting to be better at the job the Lord has given us but we both admitted we feel unsure at times on how to proceed. So after some discussion we've decided to keep a little journal and to try and regularly encourage eachother to seek the Lord. I sat down this morning to do my daily through the bible in a year reading in Numbers 16!! So at first I thought.. I'm not sure how this is going to apply to me as a mother but nonetheless the scripture itself says ALL scripture is profitable... So as I read through the chapter it was talking about Korah and Dathan and Abiram who decided they could do the job Moses and Aaron were doing just as well as they could. They came up against them and challenged them. Moses told them to get their incense ready and then God would decide who's to do what. (This is obviously me telling the story in my own words. If you want the real deal read Numbers 16 eh!) Anyway the end of the matter was that God was not happy with them trying to be something they were not meant to be. God had given them a job to help in the tabernacle. They were not to run the show! So after they get swallowed up into the earth for this sin of rebellion, I began to think.. hey.. I was given a place.. don't take it lightly and don't look to be something I wasn't given to be. So I was given to be a mom and wife and that's just what I ought to be about doing. (Nothing new here folks.. just a good reminder.) Also the fire went out and consumed up the rest of the folk who were burning incense that shouldn't have been. And if that wasn't a good enough warning to the rest of the nation they began to murmur again the next day and the wrath of God was kindled and the plaque began spreading through the people. So Aaron took his incense and ran into the middle of the people and stood between the dead and the living and the plaque stopped! 14,700 people died that day and were it not for Aaron interceeding as it were on the behalf of the people many more would have gone too! My thought was on the power of prayer then. So if Aaron can affect a change through intercession on the behalf of the people then perhaps I can affect a change through intercession on the behalf of my children. I need to pray for my children! Ok.. so that's the product of my first journaling experience.

Here are some pictures of the kids playing at the park. This picture was obviously the end of the roll and it makes it look like chloe is leaning forward there just to stay in the picture and not drop off the "end of the roll" as it were!:)

Halloween......

Today is "Halloween" to most of the known (canadian) world at least. Often when this day comes we as christians are at a loss as how to go about handling it. I've done a good many things in days gone by. I've went to play games at someones house with other christians. I've lived in places where it's unlikely to get any visitors(such as those good matheson sideroads) and i've hung out in the dark. The last two years we've began passing out candy with bible materials. (Living smack in the middle of a town has a way of making you deal with this issue!!) Although we are not at all saying halloween is something we want to participate in as we do not go out with our children and we do not celebrate it as if it were a wonderful thing. We however are not against passing out the gospel to those who freely come to our door. What about you? What will you or did you do for Halloween this year?

Motherhood

Bandaid was to help her stop scratching bugibtes we are scheduled for a long overdue family photo on saturday!
He's a toddler for sure now.. He looks so much more grown up with his hair cut!
Hehehe... what a cutie!
This is a picture taken by our friend Stephanie Feltham who had come saturday with her friend Victoria(pictured here with us) for a nice visit.

Being a mom is very rewarding and sometimes very challenging. I wouldn't want to have it any other way!! I find in those moments that I feel like i'm losing the battle are the moments when you can lean the hardest on the Lord and come out victorious! I've been challenged in my parenting lately in the sense of, am I doing this God's way or my own way. I read somewhere that we go to the bible for godly living in other areas of our lives and yet somehow neglect looking for how to "train" our child God's way. I am challenged to consider a commen known verse of scripture and rethink what it means. ("train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he shall not depart from it" ) I wondered what the verse meant. Did it mean do your best and hopefully he will follow the Lord?? Is this a promise that if you train a child in godliness he will for sure follow God?? I am beginning to lean toward the latter idea. I want to take God at his word. I do believe the bible in it's completeness to be the inspired word of God. I therefore should believe what this verse says. So thinking it over makes me reasses then HOW I am training my children. Am I merely giving them an outward appearance of godliness that will be shunned in later years? How do I train my child so that when he is older he will not depart from the things of the Lord?... I am still pondering such things...

Around the town...

Sorry this is a lot of posts all at once but i can only upload 5 photos at a time. So these are some shots from the town of King's Point and some from rattling brook. These two towns are one after another along the coast.
This i took just to prove i was really there too.. (someone was supervising these little cuties!)

There was a fishing boat just coming into town so I thought the children would like to see the boat. Once we were right at the side of the boat we could see the sunlight shining in the water below and could see a bunch of fish swimming around! If only i knew how to work those fishing nets!


Haha.. the pictues you often think are terrific just aren't so great once you get them developed! But this is the bridge over the brook coming down from the falls. The falls are the little white specks just to the right of the red tree!!
Now this was a neat find! This is a pottery shop of one of the local newfoundlanders. The wood they used to make the outside posts and deck above is quite something. Inside the store they have similar gnarled wood made into shelving stands! I was tempted to take pictures of the inside of the pottery shop but i didn't want to look like to much of a tourist. :) I bought some bakeapple jam. Now for those of you not familiar with newfoundland I am told this is something native to newfoundland?? Bakeapple berries. That's the name of them..when i first heard tell of it i thought the girl was saying baked apple pie.. (what do i know eh?!) So it's pretty good stuff i tried it out on some toast tonight! But at 8.50 a small jar i probably won't be adding it to my regular grocery list anytime soon! Also bought a nice pottery candle holder with a whale on it. Check out the Pottery website too!.

So it was a nice day with the children and it was nice for mom to be able to enjoy them enjoying God's world!

On the Trail...

On our recent outing we walked, as far as a mother with two toddlers and a baby in stroller could go, up the trail to see the waterfall at Rattling brook. The trail followed the water and the children here are catching a glimpse of the rushing water along the way. This is mom at the same spot only daring to get a little closer to see what was up ahead:)
Baby Nahum is pretty cool with whatever is going on.. Chloe however tripped and fell while we were looking at the boat before going on the trail and took a little chunk out of the palm of her hand. So... she wasn't as happy to be going down the trail as the rest of us were but was convinced to go by me allowing her to ride in the stoller with Nahum!:) I didn't know she could fit in there! John patiently enduring my picture taking!
Can you see the waterfall just up and to the right of John's head? That's as close as we could get... But i still think that this is a neat picture!!!

Newfoundland Scenery...

The Children and I took a ride to King's point and Rattling brook today. It's about a one hour drive from where we live. I came across the place a while back on another trip and wanted to go back to devote some time to looking around. It's geourgeous really and my pictures don't do it justice(novice photographer with a disposable camera!) but we really enjoyed the day.
This first picture is on the road going into the town and you can just make out the little houses in the village on the far side. This is once we were in the village looking back to where we had come from.
Well this was an attempt to get some driftwood in the foreground and the fishing boat in the background.
Can you spot John?? This little picnic stop is across the road from a very large waterfall which is hidden behind the trees on the left in this picture. The falls however start at the top of that hill! Pretty neat.
Haha!! I love newfoundland... northern ontario we get moose.. newfoundland has moose and whales!.

Where there's a will there's a way... I got a disposable camera put onto a cd and voila!! We are back in business here on the blog! Chloe and John are becoming quite good friends. They have their moments but it became very apparent the last few days when Chloe spent a couple days in the hospital. John was often asking... "Where's OE" as he fondly calls her. Chloe was in the hospital 2 days as a result of asthma. I didn't know she had it but am glad to find out what is causing all the troubles for her. She is back home now doing much better. She's got some puffers and medicine to get her back to normal and hopefully we can help her control it for the future. And John is sure glad to have his "friend" home again to play with. Well one of these days I'll figure out how to turn sideways pictures around but for now you'll have to do the "hold your head sidways" look to check out this pic of John in one of his favourite spots outside in our yard..
Baby Nahum is getting that same campsall baby "chubby" look to him. He's a very happy kiddo. He's starting to follow the other two with his eyes as they play about the room while he happily watches from his "mat".
Me and my little Newfie!! Yes folks.. we have produced the first ever Campsall newfoundlander!! Yes By!
1,2, 3 Jesus loves me... Ah my little people.. this was part of a photo shoot i had one day.. I'm not the greatest at taking pictues so I thought I'd try and put some effort into it! This is taken in our living room. One other neat thing and a prayer request too is that about a month or so ago Dave met a man hitchhiking one evening on his way back from a business supper. He told the man that he needed to get home to see his kids for a bit but if he was still at the gas station needing a ride in an hour he'd come back and take him home. Well it turned out he needed the ride and dave drove him the 40 minutes or so to his home. I remember praying for Dave to have opportunity to speak with this man of the Lord. And also to find some encouragement in spiritual matters. So when Dave returned home he said that with a few minutes of starting on the ride this man confessed his need to get back to things of God!! Dave said the man was interested in coming with us to the meetings on sundays. So every Sunday for 3 weeks we returned to his home to see if he would come.. he was never home. So the next 2 weeks we were not able to get out to check for him but the next saturday which was two saturdays past now he called us up! We were glad to hear from him.. but.. not only did he call... he had moved into the same town as us.. and not only that.. he only lives 2 blocks if that away from us!! So he's been to the meetings with us the last 2 sundays. He's a very humbled man as he is seeing his need of help to overcome sin. He used to attend meetings elsewhere in years gone by but had stopped going and had fallen back into his sinful lifestyle. So last sunday before getting out of the van he asked how can you be sure you are going to heaven?! Dave pointed him to the verse in 1 John 5:13 "These things have I written unto you that believe on the name of the Son of God; that YE MAY KNOW that ye have eternal life, and that ye may believe on the name of the Son of God. "
Again tonight he asked "how do you get saved at your church..like do you go up to the pulpit or what.. i've seen people going up and then a bunch of people crowd around you and put their hands on you and pray..." Dave pointed him to another scripture that says " Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved"(Acts 16:31) Suggesting to him that it mattered not where you were or what position you were in but how your heart was before God. He also shared how often times in the midst of sin his heart would be sorrowful knowing what he was doing was not right... This man is certainly looking for something that he hasn't quite found but we trust that the Spirit of God is working in the heart of our friend Hilary and it won't be long before he can say "Amazing grace how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me I once was lost but now I AM FOUND, was blind but NOW I SEE!" Will try and keep you updated.
Also one other bit of interest is that at our meeting today we were told that 32 chinese folk who are currently in Gander schooling to become pilots attended the morning meeting!! The saints as led of the Lord changed the regular meeting plan from sunday school to a gospel meeting so as to share the good news that Jesus died for them! I pray that they will return again next week.
One last thought... My mother once had a saying posted in her kitchen and I have never forgotten it.. it went something like .."If tasks are not done no one will remember... if people are not won God will not forget!"
Amy

Quilting

When can you really say you are a "Quilter" is it when you have finished at least one quilt..maybe when you've finished two??? or maybe when you're actually good at doing it?? Whatver the case.. for the purpose of this post I'll say I am a quilter:)I had the opportunity about 3 years ago now to join a quilt guild in matheson ontario. I didn't know a thing about it. I had only taken a sewing course maybe a year before that.. so needless to say i wasn't the greatest seamstress. But i took a course with the guild and the below picture was the result. I made it for Amanda (Cooney) Hayes for her birthday and sent it by mail to Ireland where it currently resides:) Since being in Newfoundland I also found a quilting shop that did courses so I took an evening course while I was pregnant with Nahum. (Thanks dave for my once a week night out!) So this is the quilt I am currently working on as it never got finished before our move to our new house in may and the baby coming in June! This is a double Irish chain single bed quilt I am making for my little sweethear Chloe! She'll come in and see me sewing and say.."are you sewing my quilt!?"

I will post more pictures of the quilt when i get a bit more done. Also I also started one just after moving to Newfoundland and finished a couple weeks ago one for my husband Dave. I will post a picture of that one when i can get it from him long enough to do so! It's very rewarding to be able to make things that are useful and people enjoy having... so yeah.. there you have it... another post!!!!
Love Amy