Christmas

Christmas

Reflections…and the perfect end to 2011!

The house is quiet…Elianna is napping, and so is hubby.  I’m feeling quiet and contemplative.  Thoughts of “at this time last year” come frequently.  It’s been a crazy full year!

Elianna started off our year by being late.  VERY late!  Last Christmas I was super-pregnant, puking, close to the end of my rope, and NOT enjoying it!  I remember sitting on the couch with Jerry in the light of our tree one evening after Christmas, crying because it felt so much like someone was missing.  “Two” no longer felt complete.  It was time to be Three and I was soooo ready!  This year, I sat on the couch with Jerry in the light of our Christmas tree and cried again.  This time because I was so happy to be holding our beloved baby girl on my lap.  I felt complete, and so content and at peace.  Our little family of three had a WONDERFUL Christmas together!  Christmas is suddenly extra special when you see it through the wonder of a child’s eyes again.  The lights, the tree, the wrapped presents…  I love to watch Elianna and see her taking it all in and thinking and trying to figure it all out.  Everything is still so new.

We started out this year in a new house, trying to unpack and settle in and get things organized and fixed up.  Now, I have a light over my kitchen table that makes the room feel warm and cozy.  I have light covers in the bathroom which make my choice of a bright teal/green/blue color a little less shocking.  (slightly.  But not a whole lot.  But I still like it a lot!)  Elianna has covers on the electrical outlets in her room (that’s a GOOD thing!)  Jerry brought me home a pantry the other day, so the stacks of pails and tubs down the hallway are tucked away on shelves, and I even had extra space to unpack some of my china so we could set the table beautifully for our Christmas meal!  Jerry put up a laundry shelf for me so I would actually be able to see the top of my washer and dryer again if I would just take 5 solid minutes to clean them off!)  We still have an addition that looks like a tornado went through it, and paper trim on some walls in the kitchen, but you can’t do everything in one year, can you!?

We started last year with Jerry limping around gingerly, trying not to further injure his knee.  He had a CT scan in June, surgery in August, and after 6 weeks time off was back to work again in September, doing harvest for my uncle.  He tramped all over in the bush during hunting season, and is threatening to play hockey again in the New Year!  We are grateful that he didn’t have to wait till next year for surgery, and that his knee is fine and he can live an active normal life again.

We started off the year with a wrinkled up baby whose hands and feet looked like she was 80 instead of 8 minutes old and 2 weeks late.  Now she’s crawling, getting into everything, laughing, eating solid foods, and starting to walk and talk.  She said “grandma” during our Christmas in SK, and completely melted Grandma’s heart, I think!  She says mama and dada regularly and sometimes even graces the dog with a word.  We’re thankful she said mama and dada before she said “Measha”!  She is such a joy.  Her smiles and laughs brighten our days and lift our spirits and melt our hearts and we are unbelievably thankful for her.  God knew exactly what we needed — a little girl to be our ray of sunshine!

Jerry is ending this year with a new job — still an electrical apprentice, but getting much more hands on experience.  I was very concerned about him switching jobs, because he had a FANTASTIC boss.  But, God has once again provided another absolutely FANTASTIC boss!  Jerry’s surgery, time off, and harvest work was an excellent transition to this new job, and we are thankful for God’s hand in events.

We started off this year dogless and catless.  Then we were just dogless.  So we got a free dog from ½ hr away…and totaled our car when going to pick it up!  God provided another vehicle for us at the price we needed, and insurance came through enough to cover our costs and we were thankful.  And now had a cat AND a dog.  Then we were catless for a while, because the dog terrified the cat, so we gave the cat away.  Then we got two more cats who knew what a dog was, so now we have 2 cats, and sometimes 2 or 3 dogs, depending on whether the stray dogs are hanging around!

We ended 2010 by coming home early after the New Years’ Eve service because I was sick of the “WHAT?!  You’re STILL pregnant!?” and “Hey, have the baby on MY birthday, Jan ___!” and “Have you tried _____ to get the baby to come?!” comments.  We tried going out for supper for my birthday, but it was a royal failure because every place in our quiet little town was closed – other than A&W, and that’s not a very romantic spot for a New Years’/Birthday supper!  This year my husband took me out for lunch (much better plan!), we went to the Pastor’s house this evening for an impressive show of fireworks, visited for a while after, and then I came home to put Elianna to bed.  She ended my year perfectly by falling asleep in my arms in the light of the Christmas tree.  My unrockable-to-sleep baby.  The one who hasn’t been rocked to sleep since May.  The one who HAS to go scream in her crib before giving in to sleep.  My non-cuddly baby.

The baby I longed for as 2010 ended was the baby sleeping in my arms as 2011 ended.  Perfect!

What is this?! A farm!? A zoo!?!?

Some days I feel like I’m running a zoo… The process of feeding 2 cats and 1 dog and managing a child is rather complicated at times.

Step 1:  Let the cats into the addition to eat, so the dog won’t eat their food. Cat #1 (also named Snowball #1) comes flying through the door at breakneck speed.  You’d think I starve them or something.  Really, they COULD go catch a mouse if they’re THAT hungry.  That IS why they exist here.  Apparently I need to sit them down and have a little talk about The Duties of the Cats around here.

Step 2:  Chase the dog (who also came running when I called the cats) away so the second [fraidy-cat, also known as Snowball #2] will , after much convincing, dart past the dog and into the door.

Step 3:  Chase dog out of the addition.

Step 4: (a while later) Place baby on floor in hallway so she can see me and won’t bawl her eyes out while I am out.  CAREFULLY edge through the door into the addition to put cats outside.  Alas, I have failed.  In spite of trying to work my way in carefully so they would not fly past me into the house, Cat #1 has bolted into the house.  Baby watches wide-eyed as I chase Cat #1 down the hallway and pick it up by the scruff of the neck, which is supposed to temporarily halt any claw activity on its part.  This worked when it was a kitten but I think the paralyzer-muscles are bigger than me now.  Cat #1 claws me as I push it into the addition and pull the house door safely shut behind me.

Step 5:  Open outside door to let the cats out.  Fill dog’s dish.  Whistle for dog.  Measha AND Stray Dog come running.  We haven’t shot at the air near Stray Dog yet because Stray Dog is a chocolate lab, and a male.  Measha + Stray Dog = puppies.  Maybe?  It would be nice.  However, we do not want to feed 2 dogs (and Dave Ramsey [a.k.a. the Budget] won’t allow another $35 to go to pets) and really, Stray Dog SHOULD go home, wherever that is.

Step 6:  Somehow get Measha IN the addition to eat her food while keeping Stray Dog OUT.  Keep in mind I am allergic to these lovely critters and am trying, in the midst my of zoo-keeping duties, to touch them and be touched by them as little as possible.  I call Measha in (who now doesn’t WANT to come in, because I just chased her OUT half an hour ago when I fed the cats) and tell Stray Dog to stay out.  Measha edges half in, Stray Dog right beside her.  Insert several sneezes.  I yell at Stray Dog.  Measha thinks I’m yelling at her and backs out.  Cat #1 (the brave, stupid, annoying one) tries to work in past the dogs for a second course.  I block her passage with my foot, and call Measha back, while giving Stray Dog a dark look and muttering about my husband’s gun.  Eventually (I’m not even sure how success was finally achieved) Measha is in, and Stray Dog and Cat #1 are out.

Step 7:  Baby has climbed up against the door, watching excitedly and thinking this is even better than TV!!!  So now I have to carefully open the door and edge my way into the house without knocking the baby over backwards on her head because she is plastered up against the door.

Step 8:  Sneeze four times in a row again.  While all animals are occupied on the back deck, I grab the water pail off the front deck and run hot water into it to melt the ice.  Sneeze.  I set it back outside, wash my hands thoroughly with hot water and soap, and blow my nose several times.  The animals are fed.

Step 9:  Nope, wait, I still need to let Measha out.  Thankfully no other animals are waiting to pounce.  She happily runs out and I go back inside to sneeze, wash, and blow again.  Lovely.

Step 10:  Seriously consider making husband do Zoo-Keeping duties.

Thankful…

I’m thankful for the wonderful visits we had on our eastern trip.  I tend to be more of a introvert than an extrovert, but I think I don’t realize how much I DO need people, and now much I miss my eastern friends from school.  Our fellowship with them was sweet.  So much so that my heart is still warmed when I think of those visits.

Walking along the ocean in PEI, visiting.

Catching up with Deanna and hearing her plans for the future and seeing her parents, who filled a hole in my heart while I lived in the east.

Going out for Chinese food and laughing our heads off with the crazy bunch of friends in NS — Dyson & Hope, & McTom & his wife — also known in real life as Ricky & Emily, and Mike & Laura.  Rick & Em were delighted to welcome their twin boys into the world just a few days ago!

Visiting staff members up at school…as well as some former staff members that walked with me & encouraged me through a very painful journey in my 2nd year…

Learning from some married students that I used to babysit for.  I couldn’t believe how fast their babies had grown up.  My word!  Where did time go?  Am I really THAT old?!  Our visit with them was EXACTLY what God knew we needed that day.  They were able to give us very wise advice on things we were dealing with, and laugh about it and let us know that we definitely were not alone in this!  Then on the way home we stopped to visit another married student friend of Jerry’s from freshman year.  I got to meet his family for the first time.

God got us home in spite of a gas light that came on a loooong ways from home!  I’m thankful we didn’t have to wake up my brother and beg him to come bring us gas!

I’m thankful that the flight home worked out well.

I’m thankful Jerry’s knee has healed with no complications, and the Dr. says the surgery was a success! I’m thankful God provided for us during that time when Jerry wasn’t able to work.  Partially through Dave Ramsey, actually.  Much as we hate to admit it, and grumble that he completely ruined our lives, it WAS because of what we learned in the Ramsey class that Jerry was able to take 6 weeks off work!

I’m thankful for a new job for him — one that will take him in the direction he wants to go.

I’m thankful that the harvest is off and it was fun to celebrate another safe harvest and grain IN the bins with my relatives and the harvest crew.

I’m thankful to be able to tag along with my hunting husband some days.  It’s nice not to be puking my guts out every morning…and afternoon…and evening!

God has blessed us, and we are thankful.

Summer Update, Part II

A highlight of the trip was introducing Elianna to 2 sets of great-grandparents.  This child has THREE sets of great-grandparents.  Isn’t that crazy?  I was certainly never that lucky!  We took 4-generation shots, and marveled at how she can look so much like her great-grandpa.

Finally, it was time for the event that we flew east for — Kimberly got married!!!

The happy couple

Kimberly (formerly known as Sanderly, on my blog) married her airplane pilot in September, and they had a beautiful wedding, with just enough excitement thrown in to make it perfect!.  The best man came about 2 hairs away from fainting (thanks to the heat of the day), and kept us all on the edge of our seats for the remainder of the wedding!  Elianna did amazingly well, considering she made it through the day with one proper nap and 1 cat-nap in the car!  The newlyweds sneaked away during the closing prayer, much to everyone’s surprise!  (I overheard one elderly lady exclaiming, “When I was young, *I* was taught to keep my eye closed during prayer!”  I take it she wasn’t in favor of sneaking away from your wedding with your eyes open….)  We spent the evening folding tulle and tulle and more tulle and then some more tulle.

Our flight home was a few days later, and was MUCH better than our flight TO the east.  We were blessed with 3 seats to ourselves on both flights, which helped a certain grouchy little girl be slightly happier.  She’s a bit like her mommy…she needs her space!  I had been worrying about our Toronto layover because it was so short and I was afraid that because of the time, baby, and Jerry’s injured knee, we might miss our next flight.  Well, even though our plane arrived at the time our next plane was supposed to depart, they held it for us, AND our luggage, AND it was just the next gate over.  Thank-You, God! I could’ve kissed the ground when we landed in Edmonton.  It’s good to go away and visit family and friends, but still, “Home” has never been a sweeter word!

The week of coming home was filled with doctor appointments for Jerry and his knee, shots for Elianna, and then I came down with the worst flu of my LIFE.  No, I’m not pregnant.  (We talked about that in the Swagbucks/blogging failure post, remember?)

The Dr. sentenced Jerry to 2 weeks of light work before he could go back to his normal job, so he hopped on a tractor for my uncle.  That turned into 7 weeks or harvest work, and he never did go back to his normal job, actually.  Yesterday he started a new job, with a new electrician.  His old boss was heading into oilfield/mechanical work, not electrical, so it was time to move on.

So….thus ends our summer!

5 things that make me smile…

1.  The way Elianna shrieks and laughs when I get down on the floor and loudly thump the floor as I crawl toward her.  She laughs so hard she almost falls over!

2.  Time spent with my man — even if it’s on the truck while he’s trucking grain or canola back and forth and talking more on the radio than to me!  It’s still good just to BE with him.

3.  Elianna’s joy at seeing her daddy.

4.  A beautiful sunrise after seemingly endless days of rain.

5.  Having one of Elianna’s Aunties unexpectedly show up for a visit — all the way from New Brunswick!

Summer Updates, Part I

I was emailing a friend the other day, and looking back over the summer, trying to figure out what to put in and what to leave out and realized that a lot has happened this summer!

God has been very good to us.  He has answered some prayers and brought a settledness and peace that is a relief.  He didn’t answer other prayers, but through those things brought much needed rest and provided for us through it all.  Wow!

At Christmas, Jerry (a.k.a. the Angel Gabriel, but in a Westernized form, on a stick horse) jumped off the stage during the church play and injured his knee again.  Other times he’s been able to walk it off, but not this time! In March, he saw a specialist who recommended surgery and told us that if we choose to do it in summer, we could pretty much pick the date.

So at the end of July Jerry went in for surgery to fix a torn ACL (it’s a ligament in the knee that keeps it from going sideways) and torn cartilage.  This was followed up by 6 weeks of no work, and then another 2 of only light work.  God answered prayer in that Jerry did NOT go stir-crazy during those weeks, and He gave me the strength to look after him and Elianna.  I didn’t realize before how much I relied on Jerry!  Jerry was also able to rest and enjoy the time off work without feeling like he had to be out working or doing something or fixing something!  Sometimes, it’s good to have “resting” as your official job!

Since he had to take 6 weeks off work anyway, we decided to head east early for Kimberly’s wedding.  Because of that, we had time to go visit quite a few friends from school (wow, did we ever have fun with them!), and even go back up to school and visit friends AT school and on the way back from school (which led to us heading home so late all the gas stations were closed and we drove about 50 km after the gas light came on and were hoping and praying we’d make it home!).  It was wonderful to see everyone again, and we had some fantastic visits that were very timely and VERY needed!

What a crazy fun meal!

Deanna!

How did we spend 4 days with Dave & Karrie-Anne and this is my only pic of them?!

Jocelyn & I and our babies

Testing …. AGAIN … please ignore!

Trying again to figure out links, so please ignore

www.swagbucks.com/refer/Logwenis

 

That was weird.  Try again, different link

www.facebook.com

More NB pictures…

August 2011

Why I am a blogging failure

So, my conclusion, after spending WAY too long on the computer today trying to figure out HOW on EARTH to post the Swagbucks banner on my blog and failing repeatedly, is that I am a blogging failure. I can’t even put a banner on my blog! Can’t even post a LINK, for pity’s sake! And that, my friends, is why I have a small, tiny little blog aimed at just my friends, because I know you will forgive me for such failures
ANYWAY, I like SwagBucks a lot, and one of these days I might be brave enough to install it on Mozilla, my main browser (but I’m scared to ’cause if I don’t like it I might not know how to get it off again, because I’m not half as computer-literate as my brothers, as you can see, because I can’t even post a LINK!).

Wait a minute.  I went back to see what I wrote to you all about Swagbucks this morning, and now I can’t even FIND that post!  Well!  Thank goodness I subscribe to myself…I’ll go to my emails and copy and paste and be right back in a minute!

OK, so this is what I wrote about it earlier this morning, when I attempted a link and a banner and all the fun stuff: “So, the time has come to tell the world about Swagbucks! Swagbucks is a search engine (that isn’t half as good as Google, my little brother says, but then *I* say that Google doesn’t help you get free money, so maybe Swagbucks IS better!) that gives you points when you search, and then you can trade in those searching points for good stuff — my favorite being $5 Amazon.ca gift cards!” (or Amazon.com gift cards, Mrs. G!)

If you copy and paste this

http://www.swagbucks.com/refer/Logwenis

and go there to sign up, I get extra Swagbucks, which makes me happy, because then I can order 25 pregnancy tests from Amazon for about a tenth of the price that you can buy them in the drugstore, PLUS (or rather, minus) the amount of Amazon gift cards I have thanks to Swagbucks.  Oh, did I actually say that out loud?!  Now I’m in for it!

OK, For The Record:  Pregnancy tests are good to have on hand, because when I get the flu worse than I ever have in my life (like 3 weeks ago), and then the nausea hangs on an extra 5 days, I start to get terrified — VERY terrified — that Elianna is going to be a big sister.  So I used up my one remaining $13 pregnancy test.  I figured peace of mind was worth the $13 test.  It was.  Then Jerry got the flu and HIS nausea hung on for about 5 days.  That works even better than the pregnancy test, and doesn’t cost $13, but the $13 test was already used, so now I had to get more, so I got them from Amazon because they were cheaper, AND I used SWAGBUCKS (isn’t that how we got here in the first place?  BACK TO THE TOPIC, PEOPLES!) and then they were even CHEAPER.  Dave Ramsey would be proud of me!

Dave Ramsey.  That’s another post in itself, but we’ll stick to the topic for now.

I like Swagbucks and I think you might too.