a week of camping

We just got back from a week of camping... a few days in Coombs with friends and a few days in Bamfield. The two mini holidays couldn't have been more different!

In Coombs we camped with a group of people - our friends Ian and Melissa invited us to join them and Melissa's family for a few days at Coombs Country Campground so we decided to take them up on their offer. And an added bonus was that Jeremy and Holly were planning to camp on the island so they joined us too! We had such a great time with everyone... it was HOT and the kids had so much fun playing in the man-made lake and the swimming pool. We also played lots of games, hung out at the Coombs market and even checked out the sand sculptures in Parksville. We managed to pack in alot in 3 days.

Customize your own scrapbook design

We left Coombs for a very different adventure, to Bamfield. From Port Alberni, it was a 2 1/2 hour drive on a bumpy logging road going an average of 40 kms. Long to say the least, but we knew it would be worth it. When we arrived in Bamfield it was foggy and COLD, which was a drastic change from Coombs. The Murrays were overlapping with our trip by one night so we got to hang out with them for awhile before they left the next morning. We would've stayed in Bamfield for at least 3 nights but the extremely loud partyers on either side of us drove us away after only 2 nights. Very disappointing, to say the least! Other than that, we had an awesome time hanging out on the beach, sitting by the campfire (apparently the fire ban rule doesn't apply on native land or on the fog belt?) and exploring the town of Bamfield. We left Pachena Bay on Saturday at 5 pm, and made it home just before midnight.... stinky, tired and happy to be home. We will go back someday, but not for awhile... I have to forget about the parties first and then we'll try again.

Digital scrapbooking design personalized with Smilebox

Happy 6th Birthday to my sweet Cameron!

Scrapbooking design created with Smilebox

Childless

It's been 5 days without kids, and 10 without a husband... and I had plans during this time. Big plans.

But the thing is, I'm totally lost and unmotivated to accomplish my "To Do" list. And when I decide I'm going to relax and forget about my chores, I can't sit down for longer than 5 minutes at a time. Having an empty house is just too strange, too foreign.

However, when I look around my house, I do notice that: my pantry is neat & tidy and I can find my food; my windows are clean and the sunshine is streaming into the kitchen as I type; the floors are gleaming; the toys are in their bins; the livingroom is spotless and I even dusted for a change; my scrapbook table is in complete "creative" chaos..... so maybe I have done a few things after all.

They just weren't on the "list".... except for the scrapbooking!

I'm so ready to have my family back tomorrow.

Creation Calls -- are you listening?

I was listening to one of my Brian Doerksen CD's this morning, as I was doing my mundane chores (laundry-folding, crock-pot cooking, sweeping the kitchen floor... those kinds of everything things)... anyway, when this song came on, I just stopped what I was doing, sat down and closed my eyes. This song never fails to move me... on a normal day I get goosebumps. On a more hormonal day, I break down and actually weep. (FYI, today is normal! :-) Anyway, I found the song on UTube and thought I'd share it. Will it move you? Are YOU listening? God bless you today in a very special way.

Stuff that goes on around here lately

First of all, I would like to dedicate this blog posting to my good friend, SUNSHINE!!

You are my sunshine, My only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away....

Maybe if I serenade that hottie in the sky, she'll stick around for a bit...

Today was sunny! We were outside all day, doing various sunshine-y things, other than the brief grilled cheese lunch in front of the TV while watching the World Cup, and I had some Sunday School homework to do (but is it really homework when the Circut is involved?? :-) We even managed a lovely long walk to visit orphaned garden gnomes in the forest with Brooke, Dina and Boo.



Rodger's been working on a shed re-build for the past couple of weeks. We acquired it from the Lobb's, but it needed to be disassembled in order to get it home. Anyway, we're excited about having a home for our bikes and assorted outside junk, and the Lobb's are excited about their bigger, grander (mammoth) structure they've got going on in their back yard! The next step is to put the roof back on... if we could just get 6 people over here to lift the sucker up.

My garden is coming along. I keep adding more pots at the front of the garage and I'm starting to ignore the weed-patch at the back of the house. Sure, there's a few things growing alright back there, but nothing compared to my SFG boxes & pots on the driveway. And now that the sun's out, I am hoping my veggies will really take off!




And here's a photo of the arbour that Rodger built a couple of months ago. We used to have a funky one made out of twigs and branches, but during a windstorm this past winter it was destroyed. This new one is solid and I don't think a windstorm will take it down! Next Summer I will plant another vine-y plant of some kind, to fill it out more.



Our girls are doing great - I just love the black ones! The colouring on them is so pretty... but is one of them a "He"?? "She" is significantly bigger than the rest and the comb is much larger too. I guess I should read up on chickens & roosters one of these days, but in the meantime I just enjoy watching them. And I cannot wait for the eggs...




One more picture... for those of you who never use our front door! This is what the entranceway looks like these days - it's actually quite tidy and the pots are looking good. They will look even better when the geraniums, fuschias and nasturtiums start to bloom.




It was a good day. Thank you God for the gift of sunshine.

Serious lack of Vitamin D

I've had a few bad mom days lately... and I'm going to blame it on 2 things: 1) Rain, and 2) more rain.

Rain, rain.... GO AWAY!!! Seriously - enough already!!

Yes, I would like some cheese with my wine... er... whine.

The sun made a very brief appearance this afternoon and I ran out the door to catch it before it disappeared behind a nasty black cloud again. I think I even knocked one of my kids out of my way in the process.

So anyway, I finally planted the kids' tomato plants in their appropriate pots, as well as a pot of carrots and potatoes. I also replante4d more radishes, spinach and lettuce. I'm a newbie gardener so I wasn't sure what to do with my spinach... it was quite leggy and already starting to go to seed, even though I was only able to pick half a bowl of spinach so far. I decided that it was because of the lack of sunshine? So I pulled it out and replanted it - and we'll see what happens.

Today Ruby and I went to Friendship Community Church so I could attend a Beth Moore video series with another Kindergarten mom. It's sort of like our Coffee Break, and since I haven't been able to go to our bible study on Wednesdays this year, I thought I would give this a try. It's a 4 week series and so far it's quite interesting. Ruby enjoyed playing the nursery with her two buddies, and was babysat by a home-schooled teenager for an hour. It worked out great, and it was a nice break for me.

Tonight I need to work on some Sunday School stuff, so I will stop procrastinating and get to work! But first, I'll make myself some tea, put on some long pants and socks... because it's Winter!

Enough whining. Actually, I feel much better now. Writing is good therapy... I think my mom taught me that.

A visit from the Cherybas

I can't believe it's the end of the month already... where did May go?? Although, I guess if I had to backtrack and look at the calendar, it's been a busy month. And time certainly flies when you're busy! 2 birthdays, a wedding in Kelowna, a visit from the Cherybas.. and add in there the daily stuff of pick-ups, drop-offs, laundry, Sunday School responsibilities, a new-found obsession (more on that later)... well, like I said, it's been a busy one.

Lisa and I have been friends since 1991, which according to our calculations turns out to be a significant amount of time. It all started when we became roommates, out of necessity, when the company we were working for (Rogers Video) relocated their office from Calgary to Richmond. There was no way either of us could afford to live on our own there so we decided to pool our (very) meager wages and bunk together, without really knowing each other. During those 11 months of living together we became very close and we've been friends ever since! And lucky for us, our families get along too! Whew! :-)

Beachcombing at our local beach:



Tie Dying fab-u-lous t-shirts with the kids:





Seriously! Don't they look awesome?? I am so obsessed with Tie Dying now... it's great fun!! I've dyed every crappy t-shirt I own, and a few of Ruby's too. So be warned... if you're walking past me in a 100% cotton frock of any kind, watch out! I'll snatch it from you and dye it into an amazing masterpiece...

And check out this baby:



(Mom, I can hear your heart beating faster from here... can't wait to play it with you! There's Quad word scores... oh my!) We played many games while Lisa and Matt were here - she said I can babysit the game for her. Yippee... isn't Lisa the greatest?

Other fun moments: tasting our first deep-fried chocolate Mars bar; Ocean Discovery Centre; swimming at the local pool, root beer floats, making pizzas, watching many Wallace and Grommet movies, Happy Hours and chip eating, Katie sharing her DS with the boys, and just hanging out together! Sigh... it was a good week. I'm tired.