Family Day Weekend

We had our first Emergency Room experience with Nathan due to a mug coming back to bite him after he put it on the counter. We were very thankful it was a very minor injury and they were able to glue him back together (without stitches even!! YAY!) and we were in and out of the hospital in 1 hour! We'd never experienced the ER during the day but were very thankful for their efficiency. =]

 Nathan has now beat both of his parents to be the first in the family to lay claim to having a black eye. 2 days later the little guy ran into the arm of the rocking chair resulting in a gash on the other side of his head. However, this time we were all prepared with steri-strips and could patch him up at home (it wasn't as big either). So in one weekend he went from never ever having a cut to looking like a bruised warrior.

The weekend wasn't lost however, we were still able to go ice skating (when it wasn't -20*C)!

 First a sled ride on the ice.

 Then a skate! We fully expected to just put Nathan's skates on for the mere photo opportunity like last year...but he actually held himself up and was trying to skate while David skated with him.

He doesn't seem quite so certain in this picture. 

"It sure didn't look this hard when everyone else was doing it!"

We are now looking to the countdown for baby #2...only 10 more weeks to go!!!

Only Child Set to Expire

 Nathan is being booted out of the Only Child Club as of late April 2015!!! We are praising God for this amazing blessing of expecting a baby! We had no idea if we would be able to have a second child, let alone how long it would be. 

So, since we've learned of the coming baby Nathan seems to have realized he needs to step it up around the house:

 He's gotten quite good at pushing the lawn mower around...now we just need to add a blade onto it!

He also figured out that he can drink coffee to keep him going, if he put his sippy-cup in the empty cup. I'm not sure if that's creativity or desperation.

 He's decided that pushing around Swiffers and mops and vacuum cleaners and brooms is great fun! He's certainly welcome to take over the house cleaning at any time.

Teaching Children Effectively Level 2 Students work away

     He's learning that eating Cheerios is a good distraction when Mommy is trying to prepare Teacher Training classes.

However, Nathan also realized that sometimes you're just not ready to grow too big yet because Mommy & Daddy make a good shelter when you get caught outside in a hailstorm.

Library Contest and Excavator

 Over the summer David acquired a lot of overtime so he was able to take some days off. The thing he was most excited about was renting an excavator to do a bunch of projects around the yard and in the woods.

Nathan had the chance to "drive" an excavator for the first time...lucky boy!

 David's dad came for the two days and they worked together on the projects. One of the projects included cutting down cedar trees in our forest so that David can mill them to make our deck. Yay for having a cost efficient solution to making a deck. 

Nathan loved watching the men at work!

 "I'm ready to go!"

I've always loved the library! My mom teases me about how I checked out library books for our baby even before he was born. (It was the only thing to do when I was overdue!) I now like our Huntsville library even more. Over the summer they held a reading contest for all different age categories. For every book read you could fill out a slip and be entered in the weekly and grand prize drawing. Since I check out books for Nathan and read to him all the time it was a fun little activity. The best part was that he won his first contest! He won a weekly drawing for the 0-Grade 1 category which entitled him to a free "kiddie" ice cream at The Nutty Chocolatier in Huntsville. 

 Nathan enjoyed his first ice cream - Smartie flavoured (the Canadian chocolate Smarties that is). 

 He also had some help from Mommy and Daddy eating the ice cream. 

And in case anyone doubts that the child reads...here's proof. =] Ok, so he might only sit for 3 seconds but he still LOVES books. 

Empty Suitcases

Why is this a big deal you might wonder? The emptying of the suitcases and chance to put them away for more than a few days means that the "CEF Summer" is over. I knew it had been a while since a blog update but until today I didn't realize quite how long...yikes March and now it's August!  Where does the time go?!

Over the last few months of summer we've had some wonderful experiences...most of which have taken us away from home or else meant someone else was away from home.

 June: My brother's family came from Minnesota to visit and Nathan got to celebrate his first birthday with them!

 June: More birthday celebration with David's side of the family!

July: David went to Summer Training for 2 weeks and Grandma Sharilyn came to visit and then took Nathan and I back with her to Minnesota!

 Our time included a Family Reunion!

And visits with the family.

July-August: Visits to the Bible Clubs throughout Central/Northern Ontario. David went to most by himself but we tagged along for a few.

August: A week at Monarch Bible Camp!

 Hanging out with our Summer Missionaries Nathan thinks "All these beautiful girls just come to hang out with me!!!"

August: The joy of being apart of Ashley & Josh's wedding. Ashley is our "daughter" who has called us Mom & Dad since her first year as a Summer Missionary in our area 5 years ago! She and Josh are veteran CEFers and were even married at the CEF facility in Brantford. =]

 August: More trips to places like the Welcome Home Celebration concluding the CEF Summer.

 August: Nathan supervises our Summer Missionaries as they practice.

I don't think we really anticipated what a different beast the summer packed with ministry and traveling would be...yet so many good things. If my count is correct I packed and unpacked suitcases at least 21 times in 9 weeks! We now have a few days to have some family time before David transitions into fall ministry.

A few benefits of being a Missionary Baby

 Nathan may not always realize how blessed he is to grow up as a "Missionary Kid Baby" in Ontario but there are certainly some benefits. Here are a few I noticed this week:

1) The many, many people that love him even if they hardly know him. A Grandma of one of the March Break campers (who we haven't seen since last year) made this Humpty Dumpty. Last year at camp I was 6 months pregnant and shared in the girl's chapel time about the story of our baby and how God has made each one of us fearfully and wonderfully. We were so happy to have this girl join us again for camp but what a surprise that her grandma (her guardian) would put all the time and effort into making something for our baby that she hadn't even met! Wow!

One 9 year old girl that we tutor weekly LOVES Nathan so much! "Nathan is SO adorable" she says at least 5 times every time she sees him. "Even if I say Nathan is adorable a million times, it will still be true", she says. I guess he can soak it up while it lasts and he doesn't know he's cute (or that girls are icky until he's 25).

 2) Enjoying some of Daddy's fun "work supplies"
 Today Nathan got to have his very own ball pit. The office is next to our entry and he's discovered that he can crawl in there (even in his snowsuit) and try to catch all the cool things that haven't been put away yet.

 3) Living where there's SNOW and lots of it!
Like many places we've had a winter that just won't stop, but Nathan doesn't mind. In fact he is so fascinated whenever it snows that he'll stop and stare out the window. Just think, free entertainment, that's what all this snow is.

4) Living in a country that uses hockey to advertise diapers.

This diaper advertisement just made me laugh.

Canadian at last!!!

Yesterday I had my Canadian Citizenship exam and interview. I was so surprised at how nervous I was beforehand. Since it's been a 5 1/2 year process to get to this point, it felt like a big thing. It took me 1 year to get my Permanent Residency, then you have to be in the country for at least 2 years before you can apply for citizenship and then it took over 1 year from applying before I was summoned. It doesn't seem like a big deal now, but in those moments of trying to figure out paperwork, waiting, waiting and waiting it seems like FOREVER! However, today I had to give up my Permanent Resident card in exchange for Canadian Citizenship!

 I had to go to Sudbury (3 hours away) so we also had the chance to see some of David's cousins and aunt and uncle. The exam was 20 questions and I had studied lots for it so I got 20 out of 20, which was a relief. The swearing in ceremony was held today in Sudbury, which was nice to just make one trip. It was quite a neat thing to be a part of as there were 98 of us sworn in! I sat next to a guy from Columbia and lady from Pakistan! The guy is working in Fort Albany (by Hudson Bay) so he had to take several planes just to be there! There were people that have been in Canada for 7 years all the way to 43 years before getting their citizenship today.

 Nathan was all ready to raise his right hand and reaffirm his allegiance to the Queen:

"I swear (or affirm) that I will be faithful and bear true allegiance to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second Queen of Canada, Her Heirs and Successors and that I will faithfully observe the laws of Canada and fulfill my duties as a Canadian citizen."

I will admit that as an American it is extremely strange to be swearing allegiance to a monarchy!

 This was most of the new Canadians getting ready for the ceremony.

 Me, my citizenship paper and the Queen.

Celebrating my new citizenship with the judge, MP (Member of Parliament) and College Boreal Dean

So now I'm all ready to run for President of the U.S. and Prime Minster of Canada at the same time! The thing that I'm probably the most excited about is a Cultural Access Pass granted for 1 year to new Canadian citizens that will allow me to go to museums and places across Canada for free! (Bonus that I didn't know about until today!) I'm super excited to take advantage of that! Getting a Canadian Passport will also be pretty sweet and never getting kicked out of the country or paying to extend my stay. And I can now cross off "Become a dual citizen" off my childhood bucket list that I never thought would actually happen!

Some things I learned about Canada

I received my Canadian Citizenship Exam notification about a month ago and so have been studying the 50 page booklet and doing online practice tests. I'm quite a nerd and wanted to do as well on the test as I possible and thought of it as a great chance to learn about my new homeland. These are some of things that I learned along the way... How much do you know about your country? (I did do a practice test for the U.S. citizenship test in the midst of this and would have passed, thankfully. I found it interesting how much you do learn about the country you grow up in without necessarily realizing...but also how little you know sometimes!) What are the provinces of Central Canada and their capital cities? a. Manitoba (Winnipeg) and Ontario (Toronto). b. Quebec (Quebec City) and Prince Edward Island (Charlottetown). c. Ontario (Toronto) and Quebec (Quebec City). d. Saskatchewan (Regina) and Manitoba Winnipeg).

---

What did the Canadian Pacific Railway symbolize? a. Easy access to the West Coast. b. What can be achieved by working together. c. Unity. d. Ribbons of steel.

---

What is the name of the Royal Anthem of Canada? a. O Canada. b. God Save the Queen (or King). c. Bud the Spud. d. The Star-Spangled Banner.

---

Which three are Members of Ontario's Legislative Assembly? a. Brian Kilrea, Marlene Catterall, Tom Green b. Howard Hampton, Maurice Richard, Daniel Poliquin c. Daniel Lanois, Rosario Marchese, Diane Dufresne d. Madeleine Meilleur, Peter Tabuns, Yasir Naqvi

---

Who was the first leader of a responsible government in the Canadas in 1849? a. Sir John A. Macdonald. b. Robert Baldwin. c. Louis Riel. d. Sir Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine.

Fatima is a new immigrant in Canada. What law allows her to take up job at par with a man? a. Equality of women and men b. Equality of all races. c. Equal pay for equal work. d. Equal rights.

---

What are the three main types of industry in Canada? a. Natural resources, tourism and service industries.. b. Tourism, services and manufacturing. c. Natural resources, tourism and manufacturing. d. Natural resources, manufacturing and services.

.

12) Who recommended that the Upper and Lower Canada be merged and given a responsible government? 
 A. Sir George‐Étienne Cartier.
 B. Sir Guy Carleton.
 C. Lord Durham.
 D. Sir Louis-Hippolyte La Fontaine.

What is a responsible government?  
 A. The government must resign if it loses a confidence vote in the assembly.

What are the three main groups of Aboriginal peoples?  
 A. Métis, First Nations and Inuit.

Who discovered insulin?  
 A. Matthew Evans and Henry Woodward.
 B. Dr. Wilder Penfield.
 C. Dr. John A. Hopps.
 D. Sir Frederick Banting and Charles Best.

Which province is Canada's largest producer of hydroelectricity?  
 A. Ontario.
 B. British Columbia.
 C. Manitoba.
 D. Quebec.

Who is Sir Arthur Currie?  
 A. The greatest scientist of Canada.
 B. An French explorer to easten Canada.
 C. Canada's greatest soldier in the First World War.
 D. A person who started the 'marathon of hope'.

Which region covers more than one-third of Canada?  
 A. Southern Ontario.
 B. Central Canada.
 C. Northern Canada.
 D. Atlantic Canada.

How can you contact your Member of Parliament? 
 A. Write a letter to the Premier of your province.
 B. Write a letter to the Prime Minister.
 C. Call the office of the party in power.
 D. Write a letter to the House of Commons.

19) What principle was Canada's constitution founded on?  
 A. Liberty, equality and fraternity.
 B. Independence and freedom.
 C. Peace, Order and Good Government.
 D. Liberty and pursue of freedom.

Where do the majority of Métis live in Canada?  
 A. West Coast.
 B. Central Canada.
 C. Northern territories.
 D. Prairie Provinces.

How many electoral districts are there in Canada? a. 20. b. 308. c. 178. d. 59.

---

What are the three parts of Parliament? a. The Sovereign, Governor General and Prime Minister. b. The House of Commons, the Legislative Assembly and the Senate. c. The Queen, the Legislative Assembly and the Senate. d. The Queen, the House of Commons and the Senate.

---

What is the difference between the role of the Sovereign and that of the Prime Minister? a. The Sovereign is Head of State, the Prime Minister oversees provincial policies. b. The Sovereign is the guardian of Constitutional freedoms, the Prime Minister selects the Cabinet ministers and is responsible for operations and policy of government. c. The Sovereign links Canada to 52 other nations and the Prime Minister is the guardian of Constitutional freedoms. d. The Sovereign is the symbol of Canadian sovereignty and the Prime Minister is her aide.

---

What is the government of all of Canada called? a. National assembly. b. Legislature. c. Federal. d. Council.

---

Which Act granted, for the first time in Canada, legislative assemblies elected by the people? a. The Constitutional Act of 1867. b. The Constitutional Act of 1791. c. The Constitutional Act of 1982. d. The Constitutional Act of 2010.

---

---

Who was Sir Sam Steele? a. A great frontier hero, Mounted Policeman and soldier of the Queen. b. A military leader of the Métis in the 19th century. c. The first Prime Minister of Canada. d. The Father of Manitoba.