(Valentina's POV)

Harvestfest was a wonderful time full of refreshment and family, but it’s also great to be back home and back in the swing of things. We were surprised one day with a light dusting of snow one morning, it didn’t stick but it was a great sign that the seasons are soon to change and that winter will be here before we know it! Recently at church our pastor preached a message on never wavering in our faith despite the changing seasons, and how timely his message was. There’s so much change happening all the time, yet we shouldn’t get caught up in our lives that we forget our God and his goodness to us! My uncle Allan preached the message on Harvest Sunday, and it was wonderful having almost all of our family in our grandfather’s church. The message that weekend was also apt and spoke about building a Godly legacy that will follow on even when we’re no longer on the earth. My grandparents made sure to live in a Godly manner and raise their children as such, and it was a good reminder to us grandkids that now that we’re having children we need to have the same fervour for the Lord and prioritize raising Godly children! 

The kids have been excited to start school again, Aria is 8 turning 9 next year with Ansel turning 8 in the new year - so they’re only a grade apart with her starting 3rd and him starting 2nd. We use loads of different curriculums depending on how they teach different subjects, including the one that I used growing up, so I feel confident that I know the subject content inside and out since I was taught it and reviewed it. They both get right into homework after breakfast so they can be done and head outside to go play, we do quiet time with the younger kids if they’re up so that the mornings aren’t as hectic as they can get. 

Since they're close in age, they're on the same level of piano and violin lessons. At home they have their own violins, but for piano they travel to a piano teacher's home for their lessons twice a week. We're in the process of looking at electric pianos so that we can get one for them to practice on. Music has always been important to me, growing up my parents showed us that music was an incredible way to worship the Lord, even the Bible says so. Having the kids play music that honours God will help them to redirect their thoughts to Him and keep worship of him in their hearts and minds, the hymns I was taught as a little girl still play in my head daily and I would love the same for them. Eric works from home so he's usually witness to their music lessons, thankfully for all of us the kids have been improving in their skills so the music is nicer to listen to - but regardless of how it sounds we always make sure to cheer them on.

Aria loves to keep the little kids occupied when I need a few minutes to recharge, she loves helping them with their learning cubes and getting them to say their letters, numbers, and colours. When we do family devotions we all pick our word of the month, and Aria (after learning the definition) chose patience and her word of the month. She says that having younger siblings is a way the the Lord teaches you patience, and I have to agree with her! She only ever engages with them for around 15 minutes as a toddlers attention span is only so long, but she says that those 15 minutes are enough for her in the moment 😂.

Eric has been teaching the kids how to ride a bike, he takes each kid out on their own so they can move at their own pace. Ansel is slightly more apprehensive than Aria, to our surprise, you'd think that the little boy would be all gung-ho about bike riding, but in this case it's Aria who has more confidence! Eric says she's be zipping around in no time!

My sister Sabrina came to stay with us too, Tucker was out of town on farm business with his parents so Sabrina and little Campbell came to see us. She's in her second trimester now and will have a gender reveal with the family at Celeste's wedding to reveal what this newest blessing will be! While she was over we looked at baby names, they won't reveal the name until the baby is born but at least we got her down to a shortlist of names. I'm out of my pregnancy/labour & delivery season of life, and I've enjoyed getting to pour into those around me who are just entering motherhood - especially my younger sisters and sisters-in-law. The Lord having Sabrina live close to me feels like a blessing in that I get to be here for my sister, along with the fact that we have each other for support. We're headed to Britechester in a few weeks for her final dress fitting, she wants all the sisters there for her final fitting as she's only had one or two of us there at a time for her earlier fittings. She's asked Macie and I to be her maid and matron of honour, so we're in the process of arranging schedules for a nice bachelorette weekend for her. She wants something small with her loved ones, so we're aiming at renting a cabin and heading up the mountains for some fun in the snow to take advantage of the winter weather.

Zach was also with us after Harvestfest, he stayed for a bit to spend some time with Kelsey. It's heartwarming seeing my younger siblings meet their person and work to build the firm foundations needed for a Godly relationship. Kelsey is such a wonderful girl and makes Zach so happy, hopefully there's news of an engagement soon!