For Buppa

This post is for Buppa, Caily's name for Dave. He is her shining star and I knew that arriving without him would be a great disappointment for her. When I got into the truck at the airport, I got this huge smile and the first word out of her mouth was 'Buppa?', as in 'where are you hiding him Mimi?'. It wasn't until a few miles down the road that she finally said Mimi, realizing I guess that this really was as good as it was going to get this trip.

Not only is Dave at home, but he has been sick with a nasty cold/cough and on top of that, it snowed yesterday! Crazy! So this post is for him...pictures of his girls that he is missing.

Caily loves sitting in this corner in the pen that the puppies get to play in when we feed them. They were escaping out the hole so she decided to stand guard instead! Any puppy that came close got some extra loving, caily-style.
Tootles loves this corner as well so didn't mind being held by Caily.

Caily saw Darin coming out of the house and I managed to capture her smile...her Daddy is definitely her hero!

Dave is also missing seeing his 'baby girl' 28 weeks pregnant, so I decided to post a couple of pictures that I took last night before they went on a date and I looked after Caily for the evening(we had a great time together once she got used to the idea that Mommy really did leave her with Mimi! How dare she?)

Tonight us girls went shopping and Caily got a new bathing suit. We had to try it on when we got home and she absolutely loved it! Here she is modelling it for us on the bed in her room! Look at those legs!

I couldn't help but think that if Dave walked thru the door this is the smile she would have given her Buppa....so this one's for you!

A Day on the Ranch

I love life here on the ranch! There is always something to do outside, some new animal to see or walk to go on. I thought I would give you a glimpse of some of the things that happen around here in a day.

Sometimes a girl is just too hungry to wait for breakfast. A quick yogurt on the kitchen floor is a wonderful pick-me-up.

Daddy coming thru the door is always cause for celebration. Especially when he gets down on the floor because that means that there is a horsey ride in store. Caily hangs on like a real pro!
Saying good morning to the new milk goats. Caily loves to say the word , 'goats', but now she actually has goats to greet in the morning.
Puppies need to be fed three times each day so that is the first destination outside in the morning or after lunch.
On a really good day, Daddy is riding and Caily gets to have her turn too! She just loves riding...

Speaking of horses, they need to eat hay! So Caily picks up any she finds on the ground and feeds the nearest horse....Teresa in this case. Needless to say, the horses are more than happy to eat!
Sky is usually close by and Caily lavishes love on her.
Caily enjoys reading books.....changing a diaper is always a good reason to stop and read a book before the next adventure.
Speaking of adventures, today's adventure was the delivery of some baby ducklings. They were so cute!
Caily enjoys the swing....unconventional way, but enjoys it none the less!
She also really enjoys checking on the new chicks.


It's been hot the last couple of days so the front porch is a great place to enjoy the sunshine and warmth without getting over-heated or sunburned. Mimi and Caily enjoy coloring on the cement with the sidewalk chalk(don't laugh all of you that know I can't draw! Fish, flowers and stars are just fine by Caily. Good thing she really, really likes Fish!)
Daddy comes along to check on the chicks and ducklings so Caily gets to give the chick a kiss. She is amazingly gentle.
Welcome to our ranch little duckling!
Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Puppy Love Texas Style

Yup, here I am.....enjoying watching Sky and her puppies here in Texas! They are always excited to be let out into the sunshine.
They are still nursing and learning to eat their own food, so they have their choice of food supply. I thought this was cute of Sky and Hook sharing the food dish.
Caily loves the puppies and for the most part she is very gentle with them.
They are learning to squiggle free so then she has to hold on tighter. Nibs isn't so convinced he likes it.
Making sure they all have room in the food dish.
Here's Jods holding Curly...
A handful of puppy love! Smee, Curly and Starkey
Nibs and Hook pose for a picture.

This morning the neighbors joined us. Taylor made sure that all 9(yes count them, there are 9 there) got their food.

He leads me by still waters.....

This past week Dave and I were part of a conference held at a beautiful retreat center called Cedar Springs. As we looked out of our window, I couldn't help but think of this verse over and over again.

We were in the farthest building to the right of the picture....

We had amazing weather for the middle of February, day after day of beautiful sunshine which made for perfect reflections.

During prayer time with our prayer partners one morning, one of the gals, prayed Psalm 143:8 :
Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love,
for I have put my trust in You.
Show me the way I should go,
for to You I entrust my life.

The words of this verse stuck with me and I found myself praying them each morning.....Thank you Lord, for the reminder to put my trust in You! May each new morning bring to you word of His unfailing love!

25 Random Things About Me

Well I have been tagged numerous times on Facebook to do this and finally posted them on Facebook today but realized that not all of my Blog Readers are on Facebook so decided to post them here as well. Sorry for the repeat if you read in both places.

1. I have the most amazing husband who loves cooking way more than me and loves nothing better than telling me that he will cook the steamed vegetables because I only serve frozen corn or peas or fresh veggies cut up.....seriously!
2. I love candles and enjoy having the burning just because.
3. I love travelling and someday hope to get back to Europe, but also see Africa and Australia/New Zealand.
4.I go to Curves 3/week and have been doing that for 5 years. I love Curves and exercising.
5. I have an awesome friend who has walked with me since our youngest children started Kindergarten(they are turning 26!).
6. I like cats better than dogs even though we had a dog for 14 1/2 years.
7. I have had 2 cats named snowball in my life...I named the first one when I was just little, and then Heather named the second one when she got her while I was on a Choir Tour!
8. I love to sing....but am terrible about remembering words!
9. I love to laugh...long, and loud and clear(that's from Mary Poppins and I could sing that entire chorus for you)
10. I don't like movies with sad endings.(life has enough of those without paying to watch another one)
11. I love sports and sometimes am the one to ask that the channel be changed to watch a Canucks Hockey Game or some other game that is one.
12. I love Figure Skating and have been blessed to have tickets to both the Canadian Nationals and the World's when they were in Vancouver. However, I didn't get a single ticket for the Olympics and am sad about that. (and yes, we tried)
13. My first language was German and yes I can still speak it even though I moved away from home 35 years ago this fall.
14. Speaking of languages, I actually love languages and have learned to say hello in several(but I get into trouble because I don't know how to answer if the person asks me something after I say 'hi').
15. I took piano lessons for 13 years and completed my Grade 10 exams including all the theory.
16. I was working on my ARCT in Piano Performance when I was in a car accident and cracked my neck. I never did complete it....so sad.
17. I would rather pull weeds in my flower beds than cook(yes it's true).
18. Speaking of gardening, I love flowers of any kind but Gerbera Daisy's and orange or yellow roses are my favorites.
19. My husband does most of the grocery shopping in our house these days and he often picks up flowers to bring me!(yup, I am spoiled and know it!)
20. I planted over 200 bulbs in our garden in fall and the first snowdrops are blooming.
21. I love to read and love anything historical.
22. Taking pictures is something I enjoy a lot.
23. I also enjoy scrapbooking our pictures and usually need 2 albums for one year of pictures.
24. Swimming is something I love to do, preferably in a lake, but a pool is ok.
25. If I could be anywhere right now, I would love to be walking along a sandy beach somewhere warm with my sweetheart!

Lessons from the Bench

Last night we found ourselves in a Middle School Gymn here in town, watching a Grade 8 Boys Basketball Playoff Game along with our sweet grandsons and their beautiful mother. It was the most amazing game!! After winning their playoff game the day before by just 1 point, Jamie's team surprised the No 2 team in their district and beat them very convincingly.

We yelled, cheered, encouraged, and held our breath as we watched the underdogs play an incredible game for their coach. We were sitting right behind the bench so we could hear every word Jamie spoke as he coached his team to an unlikely win. He was encouraging, positive, inspiring, believing the best of his players.

I couldn't help but think back 15 years to when we were watching Jamie play Basketball. As a parent it was sometimes frustrating to see him patiently wait on the bench for his turn to play. But as we have watched him coach teams since then, it is obvious to see that he is a better coach for having spent time on the bench.

Some of the lessons he learned on the Bench:
** that anyone can have good attitude when they are winning games but it's harder to have good attitude when you are the underdogs and don't always win
**that it's easy to be into the game when you are playing most of the game, but it takes character to be into the game when you are on the bench the entire game and your role is to be the best cheerleader of the team that you can be
**that the most athletic players aren't always the best players. Sometimes the ones with the biggest heart make the biggest difference.
**that whether or not you are a starter, you are important to the team

I had to think that it is the same in life! Too often we want to be the stars, the best looking, the most athletic, the players that get the most attention instead of the ones sitting on the bench cheering others on. But sometimes we learn the most when we are on the bench, watching from the sidelines. God wants us to be the best we can be....whether on the bench or in the starting line up.

Being on the bench isn't all bad! In fact, it makes for an awesome coach who believes in his guys and who is encouraging, positive, patient, quietly strong, Jesus with skin on. I was so proud to be introduced as Jamie's Mom! Go Huskies! They will be playing for first place in their league this coming weekend and we will be there again....cheering them on!

What's in a Purse?

This blog post is dedicated to Heather, who several years ago encouraged me to begin the journey of purging my house of all those special things that I couldn't stand to part with! Oh she started small, with just one magazine rack but eventually our entire house was purged....no room or closet was left undone!

But this Christmas she tackled another 'sacred' place.....my purse!! For Christmas from Heather and Matt I received this classy number seen above, brown and sleek, along with the challenge to see if I could actually pare down all the 'necessary things' I crammed into my other purses!

Well here it is Heather! I did it!!!(and that really should be accompanied by Aidan's "I Did It!!" Dance which is priceless and very enthusiastic). When I finally got up the nerve to see if I could use the purse without making it look like a 9-month-pregnant woman about to give birth, I did it!

The only items that went into my new sleek brown purse were my blackberry, wallet, 1 pen, glasses cleaner and cloth, kleenex, hand lotion, lip gloss, and Mary Kay Compact complete with lipstick, eye colors and blush! I was all set.

What wasn't in this purse that spent the day at home in the old one was:
**8 other pens(yes 8!!)
**my camera
**my photo album with pictures of my family
**another lip gloss
**another lip stick and lip liner
**two old thank you cards

**a make up case full of advil, oil control blotting tissues, two more glass cleaning cloths, bandaids, another hand lotion, dental floss and toothpicks

I know! Quite ridiculous. But you just never know what a gal might need when she is at work all day! Fortunately, I didn't need anything more than what I had in my fancy new purse! Thanks Heather! I did it! :-)