Doggie in the Window

How much is that doggie in the window? (arf! arf!)
The one with the waggley tail
How much is that doggie in the window? (arf! arf!)
I do hope that doggie's for sale
disclaimer: she's not for sale.

At the cottage in Chelsey Lake, the window sills were quite deep, deep enough that Sasha could sit and watch out the window. When we would play tennis we would have to leave her in the house and only seconds later she would be at 'her perch' watching us. It was too precious not to take a photo of her.

Blessings

Dinner time dilemma

Dinner time at our house can sometimes be an adventure. Tonight as we sat around the dinner table, Kyle decided to dare his little brother Darcy to try something crazy. I'm talking crazy. The boys (aged 20 & 19) decided to snort Peppercorn Ranch salad dressing. Yes, that's right, up their noses, crazy huh! Darcy goes first and as I'm gagging, up his nose it goes. Not 5 seconds later he is moaning from the pain of the peppercorns. {smirk} Does this stop Kyle? oh no, not Kyle. He too takes his turn and yes he too starts to moan after a few seconds. {double smirk}

Of course we laugh and I tell the boys that the next time they were going to do something like this they need to let me videotape it, I spoke to soon because about 1 minute later they decide that they're not finished snorting things up their nose and they dared each other to snort the sugar from the bottom of the candy dish up their nose. I've got the video to prove it.

Viewer Discretion is Advised.

Life with these boys is never boring, crazy, but never boring.

Blessings

Home Again

We arrived home from our holiday with mountains of dirty clothes, numerous mosquito bites and many wonderful memories from our week at Chesley Lake. The 'fun' began as we unpacked the vehicles and piled it all into the back room. There was literally no floor space left. ugh!

Our holiday was absolutely fabulous, we had so much fun with kayaking, biking, walking, playing volleyball, and my personal favourite sitting around the campfire each night.
It was also wonderful to sit outside for supper each night with everyone at the table. At home everyone's schedule is so different, with Krystle living away from home, Kyle working days & Darcy working evenings, there isn't alot of opportunity to be together. I am so thankful that each one was able to join us. The laughs we shared around the table and at the campfire are probably the highlight of my holiday. Some of the things that these kids come up with are hilarious. Good times!

Looking forward to next year!

Blessings

Chesley Lake

We're on our way... I'm so excited!

Getting ready for holidays is a lot of work, planning our meals, getting all the groceries, packing clothes (having no idea what the weather will be like) and then the fun part; trying to pack it all into our vehicles. Thank goodness for the Avalanche and the F150 or we might have had to leave someone behind ^.^

I'm so lookiing forward to this time away, from phones, tv's, computers, all those nasty little devices that do not generate memories. I'm hoping our time together will create great memories and hopefully enjoying many a sunset sitting by the lake. (photo from last year's holiday)

gotta go.... we're on our way...hurray!

Blessings

Remembering

At 2:26 am, 11 years ago today, we awoke to the sound of our dog barking and we heard the enormous roar of a fire as our dairy barn was engulfed in flames. Looking out our bedroom and seeing the fire is an image I'll not soon forget. I raced downstairs and dialed 911 and 8 minutes later fire trucks were at our place. Waitng those 8 minutes felt like an eternity as we watched our way of life coming to an end. On an average day, it takes me about 10 minutes to drive from the farm to the office in Zurich. The volunteer fire fighters (from Zurich) made it our house in 8. Think about it, they had to wake up, get dressed, drive to the fire department, change into their gear and then made it out to our house in 8 minutes. I'm astonished actually and eternally grateful. Even though they were unable to save the barn, they were able to save the house and the implement shed.

Our kids were 11, 10 & 8 at the time and the memory of that night is not long forgotten. As I write or talk about that day, I still get choked up. Wayne & I were dependent on our friends and family during those first difficult few days. I found it hard to even think of what to make for supper, let alone what were we going to do -- rebuild, move, what?

After much prayer we decided to sell, (the cows & quota) and an even harder decision was to stay where we were and try something else. Wayne had milked cows for almost 30 years, so this wasn't an easy decision. But we learned that there is life after dairy farming.

Wayne was fortunate to have found work immediately after the loss, this helped him to put his focus elsewhere. In 5 short years after losing the barn, Wayne returned to his heart's desire and works for a neighbour as his hired dairy man.

We might not ever understand why this had to happen but we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose (Romans 8:28 (New International Version), and in that I put my trust.

Blessings

One Day

I'm amazed at the difference one day can make.

Since it is not as busy in the office during the summer (and more busy around home) I had requested to take Mondays for the months of July & August as a day off and the hours that I normally work that day, I would transfer to the rest of week. I would still work the same number of hours, but I would do it in less days. So I had yesterday as a day off -- um, I mean I had yesterday as a day at home. I found it to be the day that made the difference.

With the never-ending list of chores to be done: laundry, cooking, baking, cleaning, lawn mowing, keeping the garden weed free. Then of course there is all the extra that we're doing as we get the farm in tip top shape for the wedding. I never realized how far we let things go..... little things, like the TV antenna - we've had a satellite dish for 8 years, so why did we leave the tower up? I don't know.... it was just one of those things. I had been feeling kind of down lately with all the work that needs to be done around home.

I've been reading through the book of Philippians each day as I try to put my life back into perspective. I was finding that I was allowing circumstances to determine whether or not I was happy. By reading and re-reading the book of Philippians it has begun to sink in that I will never be happy if I let circumstances determine it. I must learn to put my faith in the one who loves me beyond everything and be truly joyful as I rededicate myself to finding joy in Christ.

From my Life Application Study Bible the preface to the book of Philippians says:
"The word happiness evokes visions of unwrapping gifts on Christmas morning, strolling hand in hand with the one you love, being surprised on your birthday, responding with unbridled laughter to a comedian, or vacationing in an exotic locale. Everyone wants to be happy; we make chasing this elusive ideal a lifelong pursuit: spending money, collecting things, and searching for new experiences. But if happiness depends on our circumstances, what happens when the toys rust, loved ones die, health deteriorates, money is stolen, and the party's over? Often happiness flees and despair sets in. In contrast to happiness stands joy. Running deeper and stronger, joy is the quiet, confident assurance of God's love and work in our lives - that he will be there no matte what! Happiness depends on happenings but joy depends on Christ."
AMEN

Blessings

Crokinole

As a child, Wayne enjoyed learning the game crokinole. He fondly remembers playing many games as their family would get together with different families on Friday night.

In June there is the World Crokinole Tournament held in Tavistock.
Wayne began seriously practicing for this tournament in January after I bought him a crokinole board for his birthday. After supper each night we would get the board out and each of us - Kyle, Darcy and myself would take turns helping Wayne to practice. I like to think that I gave Wayne the best practice because I am the worst player. ^.^ However we all know that it's the boys who were better competition for their dad giving him the help he needed to be better prepared for this game.

Wayne had a great time playing in the 'doubles' division with Paul Brubaker from Elmira whom he just met that day. (The guy we bought the crokinole board from got the two in touch with each other.) Together they placed 4th in the tournament.

In the singles division, Wayne played with his all (as he does with everything) and after a few hours of playing, Wayne placed 10th. WOW! ~ what an accomplishment! Considering he has never played competition crokinole before I'd say that was pretty darn good.

I found this video on youtube~~not too shabby.


We haven't been playing/practicing very often recently, but I'm sure once the weather starts to get cooler and the days a little shorter, we'll get the crokinole board back out of closet and begin playing again. Who knows, at next year's tournament he could walk away as champ.

Blessings

In a Band

Yep, that's right, I'm in a band. A Rock Band!

Rock Band is a series of music video games developed by Harmonix Music Systems and MTV Games, and allows up to four players to simulate the performance of popular rock music songs by playing with controllers modeled after musical instruments.

Players can play the lead guitar, bass guitar, and drums parts to songs with "instrument controllers", as well as sing through a microphone. Players are scored on their ability to match scrolling musical "notes" while playing instruments, or by their ability to match the singer's pitch on vocals.

The primary mode of play is a "Band World Tour" mode. After choosing a band name and hometown city, the band members can create their own rock characters, as well as a band logo. Once setup is complete, the band can begin playing concerts in small venues in their hometown until they unlock vans, tour buses and private jets, which unlock more cities and different continents.

So I was 'on tour' tonight with Kermit's Cleavage - the name Kyle came up with for the band. He (lead guitar) & I (bass) with our created characters, played until my fingers were sore and the night was late, but the band made some 'money' and we toured several different locales. We had a lot of fun spending time together and more importantly making memories.

I know there are many pros and cons to these games. Sure the music is loud, the lyrics are questionable, but for me, it's a time when I can connect with my kids.

If you'd rather, you can always keep your head in the sand and pretend your kids are not listening to this style of music, but I would rather listen to it with them, giving us opportunity for discussion. If I've learned one thing with teenage kids, it's that by having a better understanding of where they are and what they are doing, it allows me the freedom to have open communication and helps to build our relationships.

Blessings

Lesson learned

Rain drops keep falling on my head.....
It seems that with all the rain we've been having I've learned a few lessons.

Lesson 1: After the rain, do not attempt to weed the garden as your boots can and most likely get stuck in the mud.
Lesson 2: Do not mow the lawn immediately following the rain as it leaves horrible large clumps of grass all over the yard.
Lesson 3: Do not leave clothes on the wash-line during the rain. Not only will it not dry, it will also wrap itself around the line making it quite difficult to remove.
Lesson 4: Do not ask your husband to get things done before the rain, cause he might get caught in it.

Lesson 5: Be patient.

Because even though I have a list of things I'd like done outside, I need to wait until a) it either stops raining or b) it drys up enough from the rain.

I have a Type A personality, which Wikipedia describes as "Type A individuals can be described as impatient, excessively time-conscious, insecure about their status, highly competitive, over-ambitious, business-like, hostile, aggressive, incapable of relaxation in taking the smallest issues too seriously; and are somewhat disliked for the way that they're always rushing and demanding other people to serve to their standards of satisfaction.[1] They are often high and over-achieving workaholics who multi-task, drive themselves with deadlines, and are unhappy about the smallest of delays. Because of these characteristics, Type A individuals are often described as "stress junkies."

ouch, that was a little harsh, and unfortunately true ^.^

It's a little easier to understand then why this weather has been so frustrating for me. I have my lists of things to do and a timeline to have them done and the weather is totally not following those plans.

Lesson 5 is probably the most important one and I figure I better learn it quick, cause I am not enjoying all the opportunities presented to me to learn it.

Blessings