Sharp Dressed Man

Several photos of my 'boys' were taken at the wedding. This one of Wayne, this one of Kyle and and this one of Darcy, remind me of ZZ Top's song Sharp Dressed Man ~
Clean shirt, new shoes
and I don't know where I am goin' to.
Silk suit, black tie,
I don't need a reason why.
They come runnin' just as fast as they can
coz every girl crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man.

Gold watch, diamond ring,
I ain't missin' a single thing.
And cufflinks, stick pin,
when I step out I'm gonna do you in.
They come runnin' just as fast as they can
coz every girl crazy 'bout a sharp dressed man.

Top coat, top hat,
I don't worry coz my wallet's fat.
Black shades, white gloves,
lookin' sharp and lookin' for love.
They come runnin' just as fast as they can
coz every girl grazy 'bout a sharp dressed man.

Be still my fluttering heart.

Blessings

??normal?

Things are slowly getting back to normal around here, if there is such a things as 'normal'. According to Wikipedia.com, normal is conforming to the standard or the common type; usual; not abnormal; regular; natural.

Because I always like to have a picture to post along with a blog, I typed 'normal' into google images and I found these two pictures.The top picture describes it superbly, when all is said and done, I'd rather be the me I am than the one the world expects me to be.

The next picture is just perfect, after all who would expect a dog to dress & wear sunglasses, certainly not a 'normal' dog. Yet, Snoopy is awesome, he's the epitome of not conforming to societies expectations..... gotta love it!

So, rather than get back to normal, maybe a better way to describe it would be getting back to routine... I'd rather not be normal. >.<

Blessings

Wedding Day

As I sit here and reflect on Krystle and Gerard's wedding day, I have such a wide range of emotions.

The day started early, we were up at 5:30 am, yes that's right, 5:30 in the morning to meet the make-up artist and the hairstylists. The bridesmaids arrived shortly after and the fun began. Watching the girls get their hair & make-up done was a great way for me to get ready for the day ahead.

As it got closer to ceremony time, the rain continued to gently fall and it was decided to go with Plan 'B' and we had the ceremony in the tent. As we walked in and started down the aisle I remember thinking how surreal it all seemed. The ceremony was just as beautiful and emotional as one could imagine. Gerard's Uncle Trevor (a pastor within The Brethren in Christ Church) performed the ceremony and gave a great meditation. As the wedding party, family & friends started to leave the tent after the ceremony the sun came out and the rain clouds began to clear. The afternoon turned out to be spectacular, giving us great opportunity for pictures. The wedding party ~ Kyle & Emily, Kya & Kiera, Gerard & Krystle, Janelle & Jesse and Marcia & Kyle. I love this picture of my kids! We are blessed to add one more to our number ~ welcome to the family Gerard! It was an amazing day!

Blessings

Packing her bags

All her bags are packed and she's ready to go...... it's hard to believe that in 3 short days my little girl will be married and away on her honeymoon with her husband.

It doesn't seem possible that that time has come. Wasn't it just yesterday that I brought this precious little girl home from the hospital? The old saying 'time flies' it certainly true.

It's been exciting these last few months with Krystle home before the wedding. I'm certainly glad we were able to have this time together; not only for preparing for the wedding, but also to have this last time together before she's married. I'm really looking forward to the big day!

Blessings

Summer time

This day marks the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere and the winter solstice in the southern hemisphere, and this is the day of the year with the longest hours of daylight in the northern hemisphere and the shortest in the southern hemisphere.

Summer would also be one of my favourite seasons falling second to Autumn. I like all the seasons we experience around here, but if I had to rank them in order of most favourite to least favourite, it would be: Autumn, Summer, Winter, then Spring. There is something about each one that I like, I couldn't imagine life without the change in seasons. As each season changes from one to the next it reminds me of Ecclesiastes 3:1 There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven. This helps me keep things in perspective.

Happy 1st day of summer! Blessings

T.G.I.F.

T.G.I.F is an acronym for "Thank God it's Friday" and has become a common expression of relief at the end of the work week and anticipation of relaxing or partying over the weekend. It can be used to express the joy one feels in knowing that the work week has officially ended and that they have two days off with which to enjoy.

This has been an extremely long week and I am more than ready to express "T.G.I.F", today. I definitely need a couple days where I can relax a little more and spend time at home. Somehow I don't think we are meant to keep going and going, after all we're not the 'energizer bunny'. Blessings

Pet Peeve

As an avid blogger, I must admit my pet peeve (which wikipedia describes as a minor annoyance that an individual identifies as particularly annoying to them, to a greater degree than others may find it) is people who have a blog and don't update it. For you see I am also an avid blog reader and when people haven't updated their blog in days or even worse weeks & months, I get a little frustrated. Yes, yes I know everyone is busy, but come one, there must be something to write about ...... even your pet peeve. >.<

Blessings

Gerard's birthday

Today is Gerard's 21st birthday. It's hard to believe that this young man has been a part of our lives for 5 years while he's been dating Krystle.

While I don't want this post to be about the wedding I must say this: in 12 days he will no longer be just the boy dating our daughter, he'll be our son-in-law. hurray!

Happy Birthday G! sorry that I don't have a picture of just you, this one will have to do.
Blessings

Zipline and more

We headed to Orillia again today, this time to find a place for Kyle to live while he's at school.

My niece Brenda, her husband Rich and their son Cedar live 3km from Georgian College, so we decided to visit them while we were in the area. Rich & Brenda are the Camp Directors for the Youth Leadership Camp Canada. Since there were no groups there today we were able to visit with them and enjoy supper together.

Rich thought it would be cool for Uncle Wayne & Kyle to try the zip line. Kyle was gung-ho, Wayne was a little more apprehensive, but after hearing his older sister did it, well, he couldn't be outdone. Brenda captured some awesome photos. (to be posted)

Thankfully, we did find Kyle a place to stay, not only is it close to the school, but it's also close to Rich, Brenda & Cedar. Knowing family is close by, makes this mother's heart beat a little easier.

Blessings

Admin Day

Today I joined the Administrators from MCEC (Mennonite Church of Eastern Canada) at Wanner Mennonite Church, (1725 Beaverdale Rd., Cambridge.) for a day of continuing education, spiritual encouragement, and leadership development. The MCEC Conference Minister Muriel Bechtel spoke on Administrators & The Church: Creating Healthy Boundaries . We discussed various scenarios that may arise in congregations, from the issues surrounding the opening of mail within the congregation to what an administrator's role may be within a Pastor-Congregation Relations Committee.

Over a delicious BBQ lunch it was like a family reunion. Gathering with others to discuss the joys of the job while catching up on a personal level with each other was probably the highlight of my day. Even though most of us see each other only once year, it's amazing the connection we have.

For the afternoon, Scott Brubaker-Zehr took us on a focused spiritual walk. As we toured the grounds, he encouraged us to become acutely aware of our walking and the sounds around us. It gave me a clearer picture into my life. God revealed to me that I must "be still", to stop, and to focus my eyes on him. So for the last 5 minutes of the walk I stood, patiently waiting before God and felt his love.
Blessings

"G" License

Very excited to announce that Darcy got his "G" license. hurray!! Not that alot has changed, well except the cost of insurnace. ^.^

Blessings

Secret Sister

Our w.h.a.t. (women's hearts' always together) group decided to take a break from meeting through the summer but wanted to stay connected somehow . Lea-Anne thought it would fun to have secret sisters. For those of you who are not familiar with this idea, let me explain. A secret sister is someone whom you intentionally try to bless with cards, small gifts and probably more importantly to remember to pray for them and their family, while not revealing who you are.

I've given my secret sister a couple things and then I received this from my secret sister ~ I love it!

We plan to gather together by the end of August to 'reveal' our secret sisters to each other. I'm excited to find out who had my name.

Blessings

Candid Camera

Faithful readers will recall when Krystle and I went to the Spring Banquet at Heritage. As we were busy taking photos of the evening and of ourselves, someone else was taking pictures of us. ^.^ Andrew Goodwin is a photographer based out the Cambridge area and took photos of the 2010 graduating class. He was there the night of the banquet taking photos and he captured this one of us. I love how he captured us not only taking our photo but the photo of us in the camera screen as well.

Blessings

Lo-o-o-o-ng Day

whew! what a day! After checking with our trusty google mapwe headed to Orillia today to get the grand tour of Georgian college where Kyle plans to attend school for the next 2 (or maybe more) years; he's enrolled in the police foundation program.

Thankfully we picked a good day as the traffic wasn't too bad, the weather was beautiful and the drive while long, was uneventful.

We were met at the front door by a 4th year student who gave us a thorough and knowledgeable tour. As we were heading for home, I said to Kyle that I was glad we did this, I feel alot better have been able to see where he'll be for the next several months.

Blessings

apartment bound

We spent several hours tonight, sweeping, scrubbing, vacuuming, washing, windexing, and getting everything cleaned at Krystle & Gerard's new apartment.

I was super excited to see their new place. After climbing the stairs you enter into the cutest little kitchen. Walk down the hallway that has a wall of storage cupboards and you enter into one of the biggest dining/living rooms I've ever seen in an apartment. There's one bedroom and a 3pc. bathroom to finish the inside of their place. But the best part, or so I think, would be their outdoor covered turret patio. oh so cute

After spending several hours cleaning we took a much needed break and enjoyed a pizza that Gerard went to get at Godfathers. As we sat on the floor in the dining room eating pizza with our paper towel plates, Krystle said this is like your typical move in scene you see in movies. ^.^

Blessings

Check list

With this wedding coming quickly, there's still lots to do. Rather than try to keep everything that has yet to be done with a list in my head, I've decided to write it all down. This should solve two problems: 1) I no longer have to keep remembering it all, and 2) the written list can serve as a reminder that as we check each item off, we're getting closer to being done, which means the day is getting closer too!

Blessings