I Want My Baby To Remain A BABY! (at least for a little while longer)

Simon: "everyone has a mom, right?"

me: "yes"

Simon: "but not everyone has a dad"

me: "nope, everyone has a dad as well, at least biologically"

Simon: "no, some kids at Queen E don't have dads"

me: "yes they do, their dads just don't live with them, but you do need a Daddy to have a baby. Where is this going?"

Simon: "guys don't have babies, so why do you need a daddy?"

me: (flustered) "Um, Simon, do you remember when we were watching tv and that Red Bull commercial came on? I told you that I'd explain it to you when you're older? Well, this falls under the same category and you will just have to wait 1 more year."

Simon: "oh, okay'

End of discussion.

Another bullet dodged until next time.

BTW, all the time this is happening, Amy is in the background grinning her fool little head off at my expense...grrrr :P

Michelle? I may need to borrow that book again sometime soon, I'm not sure if he'll wait another year :(

My Husband Is Home!

Jay's home. Jay's home. Jay's home. Woohoo! After 9 very long months he's home. Did I mention he was gone for 9 months? :)

I love, love, love having Jay home. He arrived here on Sunday at 2pm after a veeeery long drive. We spent the balance of Sunday catching up and Monday just relaxing and finding space for all the stuff Jay brought home from his apartment in Calgary.

We have been having a wonderful time and there is so much to catch up on. Poor Jay can't believe how much Amy and Si have changed and grown (and not just Si's hair lol)

But...

The noise level in the house has risen several decibels.

I'd forgotten the sound of Simon's laughing, screeching and screaming, "no Daddy, no!!!!" and as Jay tickles him merclessly.

I'd forgotten how when Amy is excited, you can't make her close her teeth for longer than 5 seconds.

I'd forgotten what it's like for my voice to be drowned out in the non-stop chatter of 3 monkeys all talking and laughing at once.

Am I complaining you ask? Well, maybe just a little (insert sheepish grin here).

Not complaining about having him home, just about the rise in the noise and confusion level around here. Something I must get used to and learn to accomodate once more (not that I really mind).

It rained yesterday, again and Simon decided to take advantage of the incredible downpour.

I remember playing in the rain as a kid and how much I loved it. I remember those days when the sun would be brightly shining and then the rain would start pouring. I loved those sun showers :) We don't get those sun showers as much anymore...I wonder why?

So, for dinner last night we had homemade lasagna, garlic bread and salad (I'm forcing lots of veggies on hubby after his 9months of veggie starvation). For dessert we had a chocolate cake and ice cream that the kids made to welcome Daddy home.

Here's the first sign that my hubby is back...

Poor kid couldn't even eat a piece of cake in peace. *Sigh* Boys will be boys :-)

Today we got up late and met my dad at 'the office' (the local McDonald's) where he hangs out most mornings with his friends over numerous refills of coffee, or what McDonald's like to pass off as coffee "ack".

We're just getting ready to go for a drive to the Black River Cheese factory, so I will post some more later tonight.

Oops wait, Simon just came in from outside and here is a second sign my hubby is back...

Jay was pulling a dent out of the side of his truck with a plunger and well, "boys will be boys".

7:30pm

What a great day!

Went for a drive to the Black River Cheese factory

for one of my favourite treats, Salsa Blend cheese mmmm.

Then we drove to what used to be Point Traverse, I think it's called Prince Edward Point?

We spent the afternoon wandering the shale and skipping stones. We also found 4 very large, very dead fish. I won't post any pictures of those, suffice to say the stink made me turn and run off the other way while Jay and kids stayed to investigate. GROSS!

Jay thinks he's found an alien skull (should I burst his bubble?)

and here he's found a little worm.

It never ceases to amaze me how straight these rocks are...

Well, that's enough for now. We're going to go watch a video and then have an earlier night.

God Bless!!!

Just Knitting

I recently bought some really beautiful yarn from a very talented friend of mine Ann-Marie (see her Etsy shop).

It's a Merino Tencel and the colourway is called 'Serenity'. Can you see the gloss to the yarn? I love knitting with this yarn.

This is what I'm knitting with it.

(bad colour from my camera grr)

I also finished 2 others projects. Here first are my Birkenstock socks. I wear Birkies almost exclusively in the spring/summer/fall months and wanted something that I could wear them with comfortably under pants. I HATE the socks that have toes so I found this pattern on the Paton's new stretchy sock yarn.

Aren't they cute!

Last but certainly not the least...I finally finished my first attempt at Fair Isle type knitting. I found this pattern on Ravelry called Simple Stripes Fair Isle Socks by Kathleen Taylor and fell in love with the patterns and colours. It was originally a pattern released on KnitPicks to be knit with their Simple Stripes yarn (which has been discontinued).

Since I couldn't use their yarn, I came up with the idea of using some left over yarn from different sock projects I had completed previously. I have bought quite a few skeins of yarn in various colours from my friend Ann-Marie in the Merino-Tencel that I love.

The first picture is Kathleen's sock done with the self striping Simple Stripes yarn.

This second pic is of my completed (unblocked) socks (this pic doesn't show the brilliance and depth of the real colours). I am very proud of these socks. Using 4 leftover yarns in different colours I was able to very closely match the colours of Kathleens.

All About Brandon

My nephew Brandon got his hair cut yesterday!

Oooh, you say, "big deal" a haircut.

Well, if you know Brandon you'd know it IS a big deal. This picture was taken last October and his hair was even longer when he got it cut yesterday. Brandon has the most beautiful blonde curly hair. The kind girls pay fortunes trying to get.

Brandon has also always had long hair. You could always tell him from the distance.

This is Brandon before his cut.

This is Brandon yesterday afternoon, after his cut.

and this is what's left of Brandon's hair. Count them - 10 ponytails - to be shipped off to British Columbia. Brandon grew his hair for cancer and these gorgeous locks are going to contribute to a beautiful new wig for some child suffering the after affects of cancer treatment. The longest piece was 14" .

For more information on this very worthwhile cause, check out the links below.

http://www.cancer.ca/ccs/internet/standard/0,3182,3172_14519_84874484_langId-en,00.html

NOTE: Simon is growing his out as well. Although he wavers every now and then about cutting it, I think Brandon has inspired him.

He's got about another 1-4" to go depending on whether we cut it at 8" or wait till the 10".

Something I Forgot To Mention...

While Jay and I are sure we made the right decision for him to return home, it was really cool to see how God confirmed this decision for us right after we made it.

While at camp I attended a morning bible study taught by ???. On the first morning as he was speaking on having God as your center and relying only on Him he gave a few examples of what not to do...and this one hit me straight in the face.

"you can move to Calgary, but end up taking all the same problems with you". Wow! My sil and both looked at each other in shock. He could have used any other city, country etc., but he said CALGARY! He's right, although the job offer Jay got was good, it would work out to the be the same financially as it was here before he left for Calgary.

The next day or so, Jay called me all excited. He had been praying and giving up this whole decision to God when he'd said to God. "You know what I need to get all my stuff home, either a cap for the truck bed or a tunnel cover". The next day he went to a new job site and while working noticed a white tunnel cover lying up against the garage. Upon asking the owner of the house what his plans were for the cover and if we could buy it, the owner told him he could just have it. It is now installed on Jay's truck and the truck is packed already for the trip.

So, what do you think? We really feel that God is blessing us with this return.

Jay has asked me to ask everyone to 'pray him home' as he and Devon travels the 4000+ km home next week. Our new truck is an unknown as this time and we are praying it will get Jay home quickly AND safely.

Family Camp I

Well, it's been a busy couple of weeks since I last posted. The kids and I went to family camp at Wesley Acres and had an awesome time. I love going to Wesley Acres with our trailer, but this year presented a bit of a challenge due to the fact that Jay isn't here and I DO NOT know how to tow a 5th wheel trailer.

A friend from church, Harvey C. came to our rescue. What a great guy! He made arrangements for a couple of men from W/A to come and tow our trailer to the acres!

Thank you to Russ and Bob, we so appreciate your help.

I need to tell you a little about our neighbours at camp, Bob and Nancy. Bob and Nancy belong to a ministry called SOWERS, Servants on Wheels Ever Ready.

What are SOWERS you ask? Check out their website (above link) but here is a blurb I borrowed from their website,

As our name states, Servants On Wheels Ever Ready (SOWERS) are first and foremost SERVANTS…people with a true missionary heart who are more interested in serving others than accommodating their own desires. We are all SERVANTS and we choose to serve in the SOWER Ministry. We are born again Christians who have recreational vehicles (RVs), are self-supported, and are retired or semi-retired. We delight in serving the Lord by using our various acquired skills and God-given gifts to perform volunteer work on selected projects at various Christian ministries. We enjoy the RV lifestyle and the adventure of traveling throughout the United States and North America. Some of us are full-time RVers while others maintain homes and travel periodically to work at projects.

'Sower' Bob showed up at our house Saturday morning, hitched up our trailer and proceeded to tow it to the acres, but first had to stop off at a local pubic school in Bloomfield to assist with picking up some chairs for the tent meeting.

Once we got to the Acres, he proceeded to set us up by leveling the trailer, helping me hook up the hydro, water and open our awning. Upon noticing I didn't have the proper equipment with me to strap it down during storms, he got some pegs, straps etc. from his own trailer and secured our awning for us (praise God for this, because we had a couple of doozy thunder/wind storms that week) that prevented it from being torn off.

Bob also was there whenever I had a question about how get the propane running and he even spent a good 45 minutes trying to fix my hot water tank (unfortunately to no avail, thus the $96.00 repair bill the next day from a local trailer repair company :( )

Anyways, I am truly thankful for these SOWERS...they were there asking nothing in return and made our transition to camp much easier than I'd anticipated. God Bless this ministry!

Let's see now...about camp.

This year Simon decided to try the VBS program and attended 3 out of the 5 days (a big improvement over the past 2 years).

Amy tried the Youth program for the first time and enjoyed it much more than any of the other programs of years past. She was able to find some new friends who were very likeable (my words). There was "B" from Germany, over here visiting her aunt and cousins. Then there were L & S, a sister and brother team that both kids hit it off with. I have to wait on posting any photos until I get permission from their parents.

I, of course, managed the evening nursery again this year and couldn't have done it without the help of my very able assistants, Melissa, Farah, Victoria, Jenny and Lindsay. Thank you girls!


Our campsite




































Simon in a bike rally







Enjoying the beach









Working in the nursery









Amy and friend hanging out on the beach










A great week was had by all, plenty of good food in the dining hall (no I didn't have to cook any lunches and dinner wahoo!), bonfires with sausages, hot dogs, smores and marshmallows, lots of knitting, reading and relaxing. Got to the tent a couple of evenings to hear Rick Webb speak.

On the last Saturday evening Pastor Rick and Pastor Mike performed as auctioneers at the annual W/A live auction. This was an experience to remember! There were pies, cakes and Wesley Acres own maple syrup going for huge $ amounts. One 3 layer chocolate cake was auctioned off for over $1000.00!!!! Almost $11,000 was raised that evening all in support of the Harbour Ridge Children's Ministry at Wesley Acres. That's a lot of sweet tooths!

Live Auction










Pastor Rick Webb (in blue) as auctioneer and Pastor Mike (hunched over with date squares)



Family Camp II will be starting in a couple of weeks and hopefully Jay will be able to come and stay with us as well. I hope to have more to write about and lots of pictures to post.

God bless everyone!