Guess Who's Birthday??

Why...Ryan's of course! Today he turns 8 years old!! Every year we say it, but it's hard to believe he is 8 already!!

Blowing out his 8 candles.

Getting ready for lunch.

Being the ham that he always is!

Who doesn't love presents on their birthday?

Sara and Kurtis (don't they look so old??) Those 2 are going to be 10 this year. We won't even talk about that now...

Happy Birthday, Ryan!! We love you! Thanks for all the joy and laughter you bring to our lives! Have a great day, big guy!

Yes, it really is!

We went to visit Ryan for his birthday on Sunday (his birthday is coming up on Thursday, more about that then). Tom works with the neighbours to make and maintain an icerink at their local park. If you know and love Tom, then you know that he doesn't do some things like the other 95% of us do!

Shovelling the rink is way to much work for a busy dad so a few years ago Tom got a (drumroll please...)

Of course, what else but his very own Zamboni! Now, Tom has become quite famous because of this, even having his picture published in the Toronto Sun a few years back. He even McGuyvered a seat (complete with seatbelt) for a co-pilot. I think sometime soon he will be featured on Pimp My Ride!


So the kids received a ride on Sunday. What more could a kid ask for!

Thanks, Tom, for always keeping our life interesting!

Look Up

It's true. I wasn't sure I'd ever be saying that. But it's true.

Time does make wounds easier to wear. The intense ever-present pain slowly becomes replaced with a New Kind of Normal (this is the title of a good book that I read last year at this time that left me with many thoughts and appreciations). It is the perfect way to explain things. We are not back to normal. We will never again be that normal. But we have evolved into a new normal. The cloak is still present. But we are also warmed with blessings, happiness and joy. God is good. Always has been . Always will be.

But yet, there are times. My new kind of normal includes moments of difficult times. And I have discovered that the "times" that I am struggling with my heavy cloak are often because I'm not looking up.

It makes me think of the disciple Peter. When he stepped out of the boat, he was walking just fine. And then he thought twice about what he was doing. And then he looked down. He looked into himself and saw the hopelessnes of his situation. He got scared, and fast! And he began to sink. Panic. Fear. He must not have been that good of a swimmer! I used to wonder why he didn't just swim back to the boat and get back in. He couldn't have been that far away. But, I now understand: There is no turning back once you've started the journey.

So Peter is panicking and sinking and fearing and feeling hopeless. And Jesus is standing there offering his hand, a personal floatation device. And Peter is just fine. Restored. Forgiven and forgotten. Until the next time he forgets to look up. Hey, don't we all.

And indeed, sometimes I admit, I get sucked into the vortex of missing and longing. Of wishing the old normal back. Of just wanting to chat with Annette and Mom. And I start to sink. I've taken my eyes off the horizon and looked down at the water I am treading.

Thankfully, I have become quicker at noticing I'm sinking and am better able to re-focus my sightline up. Things are so much easier to bear when we have the perspective of His-tory. Our story is not over. Our connection is not severed. They are not gone forever. We will be together again. Of that, I am sure. In the meantime, I have a life full of people who love me. We are all enjoying health and happiness. We are blessed. We have much true happiness and joy. We love and are loved. And in the big picture, we are more than OK.

Peter learned this, too, although he was not a quick study either. I've never heard of Paula White before, but I like what she has to say about this story. And I will continue to remind my self to keep looking up.

One Up... Another Down

Well, Connor recovered enough to make it back to school today...but then Sara was not feeling well this morning.

After much convincing (she really wanted to go to school as she had a fun sleepover planned and really wanted to go) she agreed to stay at Opa's ("..even though I'm not sick, just tired...). She is really feeling it tonight. Poor thing.

And Connor put himself to bed at 6:30 with his clothes on. He was asleep at 6:45 with all the lights on.

I think it's going to be a long weekend... *sigh*

PS: I won't tell on Opa that he took Sara to McDonald's for lunch because she was feeling significantly better at the time. Oh, the things Opas can get away with!!

PPS:I jokingly asked Sara if I could put a picture of her being sick on the blog. She said, "OK". Never one to miss the spotlight, that girl!

Is there an echo in here?

Boy, it seems if I'm not telling you about our ice rink (I know-enough already!) then I don't have much to share with you.

You certainly don't want to hear that Connor has been sick this week with a fever and aches and pains. You definitely don't want to see any pictures of him either... that would be a rotten thing for a mom to do.

I could tell you about how rotten I feel when I have to work and one of my babies is sick and how this is the one time I wish I wasn't a working mom. But neither of us wants to hear about that (again!)

We certainly don't want to chat about the weather as I seem to be one of the few people around still enjoying the snow falling.

I know you're not interested in the fact that I just spent 2 hours on the computer playing with the settings on this blog when I could've/should've been doing any number of other things.

We definitely don't want to rehash the Superbowl, unless we're talking about the halftime show.

Hmmm... I'll have to ponder a little harder on this one...