of Mama's Day (part one)

Today we had our first Mothers' Day celebration.

my mom.

Mom and her husband drove up from their home in Washington state, and my brother and his family came as well, and we had a small brunch.



We drank tea from my new teapots (they work well, but don't hold very much... I was constantly refilling them!)






















We ate yummy food...  and there was much bad punning (as one would expect at a Janzen gathering...)























 And we got our fill of these two lovely little people...  oh, they grow so fast!!

Five Minute Friday: Good-bye

Five minutes. Just write. Don't edit.
Here goes:

Good-bye.

It's never enough, the last time you say good-bye. So many words, so many thoughts, all inadequate.

So final, it is. So immutable.

I took a walk this morning in the fog; down the hill, past the dew-speckled fields, through the gap in the hedge to the cemetery.

There were so many more flowers there today than usual. Because of Easter, I suppose... we hope for the resurrection; cling to the promise that we were not meant for death.

Walked past where my Daddy is buried... missed him again, all over again, hole in my heart aching for all that was, and all there was meant to be but won't be. Regretted the things I meant to say but never did... remembered the day we said good-bye.

Linking up at the gypsy mama

another birthday

 21 years ago I became a mom.

I have now been a mom for half of my life. How odd.

I can't fathom a life without my kids.

They alternately frustrate me, surprise me, make me laugh, break my heart, stun me with their awesomeness, fill me with joy.

I would not be the person I am, had I not had them in my life.

I love them. All of them.

But this one here, she was the first one to make me realize that I was forever changed.

birthday party

frogs were kissed

princess shoes were worn

presents were opened

candles were blown, and cake was eaten.

Ellie's 6th birthday was celebrated. Much fun was had.

happy day

Today I spent a happy time walking through one of the richest areas of Vancouver... oh the lovely old houses!!

I also got to spend a happy couple of hours with my sister, and with my nephew who is courageously fighting leukemia.

And when I got home, it was snowing. Oh, happy day!

25 days... why now?

Ten years ago, on Christmas Eve, we got the news that my dad had terminal, inoperable liver cancer.

Last night, the phone call let us know that my seventeen year old nephew has leukemia.

I stumbled through my day, trying to keep to my routine; remembering at every moment that my sister has been thrown adrift. Her day, and the many days that follow, will be anything but routine.

Today I hold their family in my heart; a wordless petition resounding throughout my body, to God who can do all things. I cling to the fact that He gives hope. That He is good. That He shines light when things seem very dark indeed.

making memories

Life with teenagers can sometimes be challenging. Seriously.

After an intensely difficult week, culminating with an extremely unpleasant day, it seemed to me that it would be a good idea to create a happy time.

So, in spite of the fact that attitudes were not good, and chores were not completed, and because the weather was spectacularly pleasant (25+C/80-ishF, with a clear blue sky), we went on a wee ramble through the woods.

Well, it kind of was a bit too much for Ellie, who is 5 and doesn't like steep hills... but she did just fine with a little help from her brother and dad.

 We clambered straight down the mountainside from a logging road, down to the lake. The path was barely marked, and there were downed trees across it in places.

But we made it down without falling too many times, and the lake at the bottom was simply lovely.

We had our snacks and water, and threw lots of stones in the lake, and then made the trek straight back up the mountainside. As we drove away, we saw a bear cub rambling through the trees.

And, strangely enough, now that we're back home, attitudes have changed. Everybody is more relaxed. Life feels a bit better.

august break 28

by request: people through the viewfinder of the duaflex.

my opinion: not quite so creepy, even though it is reversed.

august break 23

seventeen. today.
happy birthday, my girl!

august break 2

The culmination of a month-long celebration of my inlaws' 50th wedding anniversary... a family photo.
Here are Oma and Opa with all their grandchildren.

thankful for...

... sunshine, and a clothesline full of sun-dried clothes.




... a $20 craigslisted china cabinet!!!





... hydrangea blossoms


... a vacuum system that actually works, thanks to its filter being cleaned out (and the husband who got all dusty doing the cleaning).


... a sweet sister who cemented her best-auntie-in-the-world status by first of all letting me drop off my daughter at her house for a couple of hours, and then by taking her to the water park!!! Thanks, Rachel :)

gone, gone away

This feels very strange indeed. My eldest child has left the family nest... flown the coop... headed off into the great unknown. Well, she's moved out to her Grandma's house, anyhow. I don't know what to think.

Five

Has it really been five years since I last gave birth?

Apparently it has.

sister weekend

I went away last weekend, sans kids and husband, with my sisters. I think it's the first time we've ever done that... but it won't be the last. At least, not if I have anything to say about it!

We took the ferry across from the mainland to Vancouver Island and spent the afternoon in Victoria. I'd have happily spent a whole week there. What a pretty city! Of course, we were blessed with perfect weather, too, which didn't hurt.

And, oh, the cherry blossoms!!!

We had lunch at Rebar, of course. Ever since we were made aware of their cookbook, it's been a favourite. I've made so many things from it, and they've all been spectacularly wonderful.


The rest of the weekend was spent with our cousins up-island. We visited the farmer's market, and walked around town, and went to the beach, and had an all-round wonderful time visiting and catching up on old family stories.




I didn't get nearly as many pictures as I would've liked to, and the only one of the three of us that really turned out only included half of my sisters' faces...
good thing they know that I really do love them, hey?

Happy Valentine's Day

This is our 24th Valentine's Day together.

That seems like such a long time...

...and yet somehow it's gone so fast.

I love him so much.

failure is always an option - day 13

We spent the day with family today - brunch with mine, dinner with his.

I'm tired now!

It was a very good day.

Ellie and I went to watch the Russian figure skaters yesterday at our local arena... none of my pics turned out at all, but we had a great time watching four of the singles skaters practicing their routines.

Ellie was very pleased to find out that one of the girls is named Alena!





And YAY!!! I finally managed to do something I've been attempting for the past week... I've installed a new comment system on the blog! I've always been frustrated and unsure of what was the "proper" way to respond to comments. I generally send an email to the commenter, but then other people can't see that I've done so. I know that I *could* respond in my own comment form, but sometimes people don't come back to see if I've done so (I know I never do...). It all felt very inadequate. Soooo, all that to say... when I heard about disqus, I was super excited! Of course, it didn't work the first time... and so I had to change my blog template... and then figure out which settings were getting messed up... but it's here now.

So leave me a comment already, so I can see if it's really working ;)

failure is always an option - day 3

A sick kidlet keeping me up half the night with her crying/coughing/snottiness resulted in my get-up-and-go taking a day off. So I ditched the "doing stuff" plans in favour of having tea with Oma.

Coincidentally, this resulted in me baking some very tasty cranberry scones, which I wouldn't otherwise have done. Hmmm.

Oma had been going through some boxes, and brought along some toys that were originally bought for her own kids when they were small. Ellie had a lot of fun playing with her daddy's old toys!



AND... in other exciting news, my magic yarn ball arrived today!!!!!!!

I squealed with excitement when I found the package sitting by my front door!

Sarah sent me two luscious balls of alpaca/shetland blend sockweight yarn. LOVE!

And oh, the goodies inside!!! And oh, what fun I had unwrapping it (what, did you think I had the patience to knit them out??? are you kidding me???)

Bigger pictures can be found at my flickr stream...

Seriously, this was the best swap ever. Actually, I think that it was just that I had the best swap partner ever.

Yep.

Road trip

Well, I've made it through the first full week of January without actually accomplishing anything. Many thoughts have percolated through my head. I'm contemplating what seems to be the newest New Year's trend - the word-of-the-year. I haven't yet found the word that I want to encapsulate what I want in my life. They all seem incomplete. I will keep pondering.

I took a wee overnight road trip with the husband this week. He had to head up-country to do some work, and I tagged along for fun. The drive up was simply gorgeous. I miss living in snow country.

I got to see the smallest house in the whole world...













... and I got my first-ever letter from Ellie:

"Mom, can you please not forget me."

Yeesh!

Just when you think you've got it all together, something happens to mess it all up again, you know?

The sixteen-year-old had a seizure on Monday evening.

You know those silly web pages with the flashy-flashy lights that tell you "do not click this link if you have epilepsy"? There's a reason for that warning. Seriously.

And no, we don't know if she's epileptic. It could (oh please, oh please) be a one-time thing. But you never know. More testing will follow. Her CAT scan was normal, so that's a relief!

Meantime, here's some more fun stuff that I don't have time to do...

• A simply gorgeous bracelet made out of... can it be? a piece of PVC pipe??? Are you kidding me?

• Paper craft ideas using stuff you'd just throw away. I especially like the magazine cutout masking idea!
  

Wow!

Do you see this gorgeous creature wearing... duct tape??? Can that be right?Yup... that's my girl! Can't believe she's all growed up and graduated. It honestly (cliched as it might sound) doesn't feel like I should be old enough for this. Ah well.

But she's impressive. Her prom dress was designed and made all by her, even the parasol! (Well, the little purse was my contribution...) I'm so proud of her!