Is it springtime yet?

I am just feeling a little anxious for spring today. We don't even have any snow, but I am longing for green and earth and little treasures in the garden. Only two more months 'til it is officially spring!

awwwww... aren't they cute?

Here are T-Bone and Bailey, looking as sweet as can be.

Quebec City

Adria is going to Quebec City with her class. Not until May, but we had a meeting tonight at the school and I am so excited for her. They leave early on a Tuesday morning in a bus, get in around suppertime, get into their rooms, eat, and start having fun! Two full days of sightseeing and fun, and then home on the fourth day. I can't tell you how much I wish I had had an opportunity like this when I was a kid!
Learn more about Quebec City.

Dad

from left to right... my sister's son Jared, my sister Shelley, me, my sister's daughter Tara, my dad Ted, and my daughter Adria. This was taken on my dad's second last night of his visit... it was kind of late at night, and my sister decided to come and spend one last evening together. We had a lot of fun. I was so tired though, after a long trying day with the daycare kids, and was feeling pretty grungy. I really enjoyed my dad's visit.

Finally

Thanks to Susan, I have figured out how to add links on the sidebar. I am not quite sure why some letters are normal and some are giant, but I won't be picky right now. I am just happy that I have links there! Now I wonder how I get pictures over there! Baby steps Melissa, baby steps!

My sister-in-law, Eva

I would like to introduce you to my sister-in-law, Eva. This was taken on Christmas Eve and I think she looks so beautiful here. The little dog is named Roxy. Eva is a new mom to Aniela who is five months old now. She is also a super step-mom to Ayden and Leah. She loves to bake. She takes good care of her family. I am missing her a little right now. It has been a while since we talked. Maybe I will call her later!

Post-Surgery Update

Cory had his surgery on Wednesday. He came home Thursday and has been taking it easy since then. They took a piece of cartlidge from his ear to make a new nostril for him. He has gauze stitched into his ear, and stitches on his nose and cheek. The surgeon did some other little things to loosen the skin grafts, and makes things a wee bit more symmetrical. He has some heavy duty pain killers. He has started eating fairly normally, which is a good thing. He is sleeping well and long. He has been happy and content it seems.

I found this today and it really spoke to my heart!

Authenticity
I have often heard it said that the easiest place to be spiritual is in the pulpit. That may be true, but on the flip side, my home is the toughest place for me to be spiritual. It is where the kids drive me crazy, where my attitude can run unchecked, where I can hid my “pet” sins, and where God really wants me to be a man after His own heart. It is the hardest place, and the most important place for my faith to be exposed—to my wife, my kids and my guests. I want to be real in my walk with Jesus…so opening our home makes us be real. Wouldn’t it make an impact on some people to see and live out how you follow Jesus every day?
We have learned a lot by allowing so much exposure to our lives. The first is not to fake it. If guests are in your home only occasionally, it is easy to “be on your best behavior” for those times. By constantly opening up our lives, we have learned integrity—to be the same with people all the time. The second thing we have learned is to relax. We used to stress ourselves out making the house look pristine every time people were coming by. We have a much more kicked back demeanor now. Our house is comfortable and picking up still happens, but we aren’t as worried about this stuff as we used to be—because people know us for who we are. It’s a lifestyle that our four children have caught as well.

Kary Oberbrunner Redeem the Day Ministries

Uh oh!

It has been quite some time since I made a post, hasn't it?

Well, things are going along. Cory is off work now. He has his surgery on January 11th. We had a good Christmas and a quiet New Year's Eve. My dad is still here. Right now he is at my sister's. He leaves for Toronto on Friday and flies back to British Columbia on the 10th.

We bought Adria a guitar for Christmas. She loves it and has caught on really quickly. She spends hours in her room, plucking out songs!

All our snow has melted. It has been rainy rainy rainy. Now I can see all the dog poop out on the lawn in the back yard. Have to send Adria out there to clean it up!!!!!

My Christmas tree and decorations are still up. I think this is the latest ever. I just haven't felt ready to take them down. We bought a Frasier Fir tree and the thing is amazing. It has been up since the 10th of December, and it is still not losing needles! I will definately buy this kind of tree again! I will probably start to disassemble things today. I am back to work today. The daycare kids are a little high strung. It takes a few days to get back to normal after being away from the daycare. They forget how they need to behave here.

We bought a pug in November. What joy he brings to our family! His name is T-Bone.

One Month Until...

until my dad arrives from British Columbia. I am getting excited! He will be in Ontario from December 20th until January 10th. He will be visiting between his sister, my sister, and me, as well as time with old friends. So he will be in and out during that time.

Cory installed new lights in our family room, and they make such a difference. It used to be very dark down here, but now it is brighter. I am not much from dark rooms. I like things to be well lit.

We had snow on Friday... it actually stayed on the ground over night. But it was all gone Saturday morning. I am not ready for snow to stay, so it can just wait a month or so!

Things are going well. Cory is enjoying his new shop and is changing things here and there to make it his own. He has been really busy so that is great.
We are getting our new fence in the back yard sometime this month. I can't wait! It has been five years since we moved here and I have been staring at that ugly falling down fence since then, just waiting for the day we could build a new one! I think it will be beautiful, and so nice not be looking into the neighbours' yards through the chain link.
Cory is off today, so we have a couple of fun things planned... going to the market this morning, and later he is going to watch a movie with Dean while I go to see Eva and the baby. I haven't seen them in a month! Aniela will look so different I bet!

Good News

After a week of worrying about it, we have an answer. He is going to another shop to be the manager there. It is farther away than the one now... maybe 40 minute drive. He used to work there and really liked it! So everything is good! Thank you Lord!

Still Nothing

We still haven't heard anything. Apparently, a couple of big wigs had some meetings today, so maybe something has been decided. Cory came home very frustrated and down. So many things hang on this... we might lose our van which is a company vehicle... for managers... officially he will still be a manager, but one without a shop. He will lose his cell phone... same deal there. We are worried about our benefits... Adria's orthodontist expenses... we still have several more months to pay those. It seems so unfair. I just keep praying that the Lord will work it out. It is not fair to Cory to leave him hanging... the shop closes Monday. The poor man should know where he is going. I have the dreaded feeling that they are going to let him slip through the cracks and he won't have a job at all.

No Answers Yet

We still don't know anything. They talked about various options at the meeting, but nothing concrete. Now I am getting worried! And I don't have the energy to explain it all here. But I do know that the Lord is with us!

Meeting in Windsor

Cory is at a meeting tonight in Windsor. They are closing his shop, and they are trying to figure out where to move Cory. There are not any manager positions open right now. Who knows what they will do with him, but I just keep praising the Lord that they are not planning on giving him the boot! I have been nervous all day, wondering what is going on at this meeting. I do not know when to expect him home.

Blah!