My Day..

Good Morning...the sun is shining, hubby is 'at the gate', according to his text, at Buffalo airport waiting to board for his flight to Florida, Ben and Megan have left for school, Maya has crawled into bed ( after working her first night shift at Tim Horton's )..... And the dogs are sleeping...the house is quiet...I'm sitting here, contemplating my day....many things to do...tidy up from the weekend, put the quilting room in order cause little William should be sleeping in it tonight....eldest son Ryan is coming down, with his family, to join in the effort to get eldest daughter's house built so they can move in, five weeks from this Wednesday. Last week number three son helped building walls also....he said he enjoyed it....good thing he likes the cold....no heat on in the new house yet.....but number three son went back to the army, ( his regular job, he normally lives on base about five hours away from here)....which is good, cause them Maya could move back into the room he was using (which was hers, before army guy came home,) to make room for eldest son's family, to stay in her new room....confused yet? It's like musical rooms(chairs) around here! That's okay...we will survive! .....when Maya wakes up then I'll get the vacuuming accomplished.....sometime today, I'll get my quilting stuff gathered up cause tomorrow is quilting class! Yea!! It'll be good to see the ladies again. I have to try and find out today, just what is going on with Emma, our wayward daughter...she is suppose to be returning to the youth home today....if she behaved herself all weekend and came home for her curfew at the youth shelter(which is a different place than the youth home).... Haven't heard from her since last Thursday when she sent me some confusing texts....I sent her a text last night but she didn't respond. So, I guess i'll try the shelter and see if she's still there. It's a sunny day, and there are things to do, places to go, people to see...guess I'll get on with my day...have a good one! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Happy New Year!

Good Morning Company Girls! ...and a Happy New Year to one and all!

I have not posted for a few weeks....things have been rather confusing, busy and my poor brain has just been patiently waiting for my regular routine to return. The kids have been off school and they return on Monday....thank goodness...not that they've really been a problem...like for instance...it's after nine and they're still in bed and the house is quiet...I like quiet...it feeds my soul....but....because they are home I don't feel back into the regular routine yet. Three weeks ago, my army guy Paul, also came home for his Christmas leave....just in time to move into the room that Maya vacated....Paul has a girlfriend, Sara and he's been spending a lot of time with her...plus helping at eldest daughter's new house with the drywall install, so he really hasn't been here a lot. Trouble is..I really don't know when he'll show up and he wasn't too impressed when he came home for supper the other night, after working all day..in the cold (there isn't any heat on in the new house yet) and all I was serving for supper was soup and grilled cheese sandwiches! Oh well...

Our Christmas was just fine....all but two kids came home for Christmas dinner....I suppose this is the beginning of 'the sharing of the kids'...my sister has had to do it for years but I haven't really had to..I've been spoiled but I guess I'll get used to the new norm. Emma even came home for the day....she behaved herself just fine (but I really think she was 'on' something....just a little too subdued for my observations).

New Years Eve was quiet...have I mentioned that I like quiet.....hubby and I usually just spend it together...this year it was the first time that two of our kids were with us to watch the ball drop in Times Square....the next year we all travelled north for a little over an hour to visit hubby's mom for the afternoon...it was a lovely visit and his mom appreciated us coming.
This week, we had a visit from a half sib of four of our adopted kids...she was adopted into another family...they hadn't seen each other in a couple of years so they were all quite excited....we took pics but Paul declined to be included so it just shows the four of them...

So, next week...I was hoping for normal routine but I'll just have to keep hoping cause hubby flies down to Miami first thing Monday morn...of course...it's just business (as he keeps assuring me)....but it's a lot warmer than it is here, I keep telling him....he's only scheduled to be gone a couple of days, returning on Wednesday evening....so...we'll see how next week goes....maybe the following week will be 'normal'....now I'll try to post some pics..not sure where they'll end up in the post but you'll get the gist.



Lauren and Samuel


Honour and Verity


Paul and Sara


Emma and Lauren and
Lauren's boyfriend Ryan


Samuel and Afton


Eldest daughter's house


The Sibs...Megan, Katie (not mine) Maya and Ben..


Samuel and William in the matching outfits we bought them for Christmas...aren't they handsome!


My Christmas table...


Hubby and his youngest grand boys .....


Opening presents....


Visiting hubby's mom....


My hubby and what he does best...putting the babies to sleep...(although it's usually interesting to see who gets to sleep first!)

That's it! I wont bore you with anymore...a snapshot of my life for the last few weeks...have a great week!

Have yourself a Merry little Christmas....

Good Morning Company Girls!

Well, How are you all doin'? Things are just peachy around here...I'm waiting for my grand girlies to arrive for the day....eldest daughter called last night to see if I could take them while she took eldest grandson to Toronto for his special therapy. The lady that she had lined up to babysit wasn't able to do it....her kids were busy being sick....so, it should be an interesting day...Honour is 8, Verity is 6 and Afton is 3. They keep ya goin'!

Hubby and I have been working our fingers to the bone the last few weeks. Emma's old bedroom, is significantly larger than Maya's 8 x 9 space, so when Emma moved out we decided to move Maya down to that bedroom. First of all, we had to pack up Emma's remaining stuff....then we had to assess the damage...yes, you read correctly....it would seem that whenever Emma was angry, she took it out on the walls.....several holes from kicking and punching needed to be repaired. I got the inspiration that putting some nice white wainscoting around the perimeter of the room would look nice as well as cover up at least 3 of the holes...hubby agreed....so that's what we did. Since hubby has a very busy schedule, most of the work was done on the weekends. We repainted, put up the wainscoting, new trim and baseboard, a new door (ya, that was kinda wrecked up too)..and last night Maya spent her first night in the 'new' room. We'll see how her night was when she finally decides to roll out of bed this morning. Today her work shift is 2pm-10pm, so I'll let her sleep awhile. Now, Maya's old room will be turned into an office. Hubby is in sore need of one....teaching between 2-3 classes per semester and doing the church books, and our books...he has so many different binders and cases around here..all spread out in different locations...it will be good when they're all contained in one room! This little makeover....new paint and moving the desk from the family area..oh and the printer in there wont take place for a few weeks cause Paul is coming home! He needs a place to sleep while on leave, so he'll be in Maya's old room....it's kind of a good thing that we get this break cause hubby and I are a little weary .......

How is your Christmas shopping coming along? I have one son that I still have to buy for and stocking stuff...oh, and order a plant arrangement for my mother-in-law.....we have to remember to get a turkey this weekend..we tried at our grocery shopping last weekend but they didn't have the size we needed....we don't need as big a one cause there will be less people this Christmas..Emma says that she'll come for dinner but I'm not holding my breath....haven't heard anything from Corey, so I doubt he'll come...daughter Lauren and her boyfriend will be attending his family Christmas dinner...and my mom, who has been at my place the last few Christmases will be at my brother's house. I figure a 15 pounder should do.....hope somebody has that size tomorrow.......

Hubby has next week off and the kids go to school all week, til Friday, so I'm really looking forward to having some time with him next week....and we wont have to paint anything, or nail anything...yay! Now,..if we just had the money to go away for a few days.....oh, well.....I'm just grateful that the room is done...maybe we'll even have some time to decorate our tree! Poor tree...sat for two weeks without anything on it...absolutely bare....last Sunday hubby got the lights on, so it doesn't look dark and quite so forlorn....maybe this weekend we'll get the 10 or so rubbermaid tubs upstairs and get some decorations on it....although just the lights do look pretty.....:0)

I doubt I'll have time to be on next week but....in case that I'm not, I would like to wish all the other Company girls a wonderful Christmas...I want to thank all that read my blog throughout the year, who left lovely encouraging comments,..who prayed for me and my family, please don't stop...I'm afraid that Emma is on a slippery downward slope. Thank you so much.

Merry Christmas!


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A Week in the life of.....

Good Morning Company Girls! It really is morning...the wee hours of....it's 2:57a.m. as I type...I can't sleep...too many things running around in my mind...have you had that happen? You wake up just for a quick run to the bathroom and before you can drift back off to sleep, your brain turns on and dong! ..you're awake...I first saw the time at 1:38 and have been tossing and turning ever since....I struggled with what to do...obviously try to go back to sleep....tried that for about an hour..obviously didn't work....thot about what I could do if I got up....I could work on the hand quilting of a quilt I'm doing...or I could finish cutting out the pieces of a new quilt....it's a big one...12 different materials...all cut in 1-3/4" strips before you cut them into the various lengths that you want....I've already been working on them a total of about 8 hours and still have 4 lengths of material left....or...could watch something on my ipad...with earphones as not to wake someone...or...I could come out to the living room and write this post...as I'm doing....

Last Saturday, I received a call from my quilting friend Carol....her husband has been in the hospital for the last month battling another form of his cancer...poor Dave has been battling it on and off for the last 8 years....they thot he was getting better..even talked about doing rehab with him, but his body couldn't take anymore and he passed away early that morning. Today I attended a memorial service for him....it was very hard...not only seeing my friend go thru this horrible time, but I will admit to feeling a strong emotional impact because this is the first funeral I've attended since my dad died. This service was also held at our church and they even closed with the song 'How Great ThouArt'...which was sung at dad's funeral. By the end I was a blubbering mess.

Earlier in the week, I went to the dentist...I was suppose to go on Thursday but because of the service I changed it to Tuesday. I was on my way there when the traffic slowed to a crawl, it continued on for awhile and then finally cleared. As I left the highway and got on the streets of the city, it slowed again...everyone was trying to get somewhere at the same time....I started to fuss..it was raining and I was concerned about being late and then being even later for quilt class after that. I pulled out my cell phone as we were crawling (I know...against the law around here) and called the dentist office to tell them that I was coming but delayed because of traffic. By the time I got there, I was a good 15 minutes late....I hate being late...I quickly parked on a main thoroughfare, hopped out of the van, ran across the street and into the dentist office....leaving my cell phone in the cup holder on the console in the van. Normally I always have it in my purse. Well, when I came out an hour later I was shocked to see that someone had smashed the divers side window in on my van and reached in an stolen my cell phone....there I stood, in the rain..disbelief allover my face. I reached for my cell in my purse and that's when I realized...'oh no, they not only destroyed my window, they took my phone and I couldn't even call hubby to come and save me.' I went into a nearby building and asked to use there phone...they were very kind and helpful as I was an emotional mess. Hubby came but it took close to an hour...he works a good distance away...I couldn't even drive the van as the drivers' seat was filled with shattered glass and I could only sit there and watch the rain come down, getting the interior all wet and listening to little bits of glass as they sporadically tinkled down from what was left of my window.

Hubby cleaned it up as best as he could and then he drove it home while I took his car. On the way home I stopped at my cell phone provider and was quite dismayed when I found out that they no longer make my phone...good grief I only got it 18 months ago...all they had were models that I find difficult to use (with my handicapped hands)..plus they said that I wasn't eligible for an upgrade yet so that would cost $80 plus the cost of a new phone. I've never paid separately for a new phone..they've always come with the plan...good grief, phones on their own are expensive! So, my mood was even worse by the time I got home...good grief....

I started checking everywhere to find a copy of the same phone that I had but to no avail. Then I was talking to daughter Lauren...she suggested Ebay...so I did...lo and behold they did have some....hubby agreed to me ordering it and now I just have to wait for it to come in the mail. The next day hubby took the van to work, he had already arranged with a car glass place to have a replacement window ready and during his lunch hour he took it in and got it all fixed up.

So...the bottom line is....$300 deductible that we had to pay to get the window fixed thru insurance and $100 for a new phone, (that I hope comes in the mail real soon)...that means $400 that we have to try and find this close to Christmas...not a pretty picture is it....tell me...why do people in our society of today have so little respect and regard for other people's belongings? Just because this person was walking by my van, obviously looking for stuff to steal (and my phone isn't even one of those expensive kind...not a blackberry or an iphone)....it wasn't random, obviously most people don't carry around instruments to break peoples windows with as a matter of course.....but...this person did...not only destroying my window and leaving the interior to get wrecked in the rain but taking my cell..with all my contacts, my calendar with all my appointments and pictures and videos that can't be replaced......why do people think it's alright to do this...what has our society become...very sad....after Joyces' comment on Facebook I realized that I was fortunate that they didn't take my van and destroyed it...I just know that our insurance wouldn't have covered the cost of a new van as nice as the one I have...and I had also been planning to take my Ipad into quilting to show the girls some pictures but at the last minute I didn't...so thankful cause they would have taken that too....

but...as I think of my friend Carol...all that she's been thru in the last month...heck in the last 8 years....and now what she has to look forward to in the coming time...her and her husband had just celebrated their 40th anniversary...I realize that I am blessed......after all...van windows and cell phones..they're just things...material possessions that will some day be a pile of rubble....but family.... relationships with those special people in your life...those can't be replaced.....they are what is important.....

...as we prepare for this Christmas season I hope that I will remember that it's not all the 'stuff' that goes on that is important but it is those relationships, especially with your family that really counts. I always told my kids as they were growing up...look at your brothers and sisters...they'll always be here for you...ya you may bicker and fight from time to time...and from time to time they may let you down, they may disappoint you, they may even anger you...but they are still your family, they'll always be here...friends come and go but family is always there....don't you forget it. As I think of the coming Christmas season, I think in particular of two of my kids who right now are wandering in the wilderness...Corey and Emma...both doing the life that they think they want...both systematically destroying their lives....please pray for my kids...especially those two.....one day I pray that they will also remember that family matters, that family is aways there...no matter what.


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Today....

Today is my sixty-first birthday.....that sounds so very old....but I really don't feel that old, in my heart...but my body has a completely different age! My body feels old as it struggles to keep up...for instance, yesterday I did the vacuuming ....something I've done prit near all my life...my mom started me doing it when I was around ten...the living room had to be thoroughly cleaned every Saturday....that was my job....plus cleaning the bathroom...there was just one small one...for six of us...how did we ever survive....anyways..back to yesterday....I knew we were going away overnite, and I knew that I didn't want to come home today and do it on my birthday....so there I was, yesterday afternoon...vacuuming. It's a job that takes a good hour..by the time you do the floors and then the carpets. When I was done, I was fatigued, very warm and in need of a sit down and a cup of cool water. Years ago, I would have gone on to do the dusting, tidy everything and leave the room sparkling...then move on to the next job! Alas, life is different...something's you have to accept....the cleaning will still be there tomorrow..

But...61....at the risk of sounding maudlin ....I imagine if the good lord gives me a full life that this means I'm about 3/4's thru.....just imagine.....in thinking back on my life...just what have I accomplished in my own little quiet corner of the world...hmmmm..... It does give one pause to stop and reflect....if I had things to do over what , if anything, would I have done differently...or, on the other hand, is there any point to thinking that or do we just look forward, with purpose and choose just how we would like the remaining 1/4 to pan out?

Things to think about as I ponder the day and anticipate a lovely lunch at an old mill with my hubby....have a lovely day!


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Emma

Today is Emma's eighteenth birthday. Truth be told I've been waiting for this day for 90 weeks.... It was around that time that Emma became very difficult if not impossible to live with....someone with some legalease told us that she could do as she wanted basically but we were legally responsible for her actions until she was 18.

Today her birthday is bittersweet because 12 days ago Emma forced our hand and we took her into the shelter in the city to live. My only experience with shelters up to this point had been what i'd seen on t.v. ,......big huge rooms with cots set up.....this shelter is very different. It's run by Good Shepherd ministries....a local organization and it's specifically for youth. The building is a huge house and Emma must share a room with a couple of other girls. They provide food, laundry facilities, television and computers in a library. They even have a curfew.

In the last week that Emma lived with us, we had two meetings with the mental health clinician at the shelter...Emma included....in the meetings we agreed to give her a do over for her curfew...this clinician had two weeks previously set up a curfew schedule of 4 days at 8:30 pm, ( like the police had suggested after she had stayed out all night) and then the 5th night it would be 10 pm. In the following two weeks she never was able to accomplish that and many times she also came home reeking of cigarettes and pot. The day we all agreed to the do over Emma returned home at 11:45pm....obviously she had no intention of doing the do over. The week went downhill from there resulting with me packing her stuff and hubby taking her in to the shelter. Of course she was furious with us...but she went, refusing to speak. I don't think she really thot we'd actually go thru with it. Anyways, she's there....and as I said, it's bittersweet because this is her eighteenth...a birthday that all teens just wait for...( although in actuality I guess 19 might be more important in Ontario because that is the legal drinking age).....I feel somewhat sad this morning, thinking that we really can't have a proper birthday celebration.

Yesterday morning I called into the shelter to see how she was doing...I talked to a support worker and except for going AWOL two nights last week she's been coming in on time and no major behavior problems. Of course they're not aware that she's been stealing clothes from a local store like I know, or that she's been drinking and doing drugs....and 'having relations'......but I know, a mother finds out these things, a mother knows...I knew when my other kids were doing it and I know when Emma is.....I know. It saddens my heart to know that she is systematically destroying herself. The shelter is trying to get her into a youth home that is a little more like home...but they don't have a female spot yet.

The shelter people must have suggested that she call me....and surprise, surprise...she did...we spoke briefly, I asked if she had plans for her birthday. She said no...I asked if she'd like to go out for some supper...she said yes. I was surprised that she agreed....although the cynical side of me wonders if she'll stand me up...just to 'teach me a lesson'.....

I don't know how things are going to end up for Emma, I pray that she starts making some good choices...that she gets off this 'suicide' mission.

I pray that she has a Happy Birthday.


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Have you met my son, the doctor?

Once again, haven't posted for a few weeks but I was determined to post with good news...so here it is!




This is my eldest son, Ryan....tomorrow he is scheduled to graduate with his doctorate in theology ...... Dr. Ryan Wettlaufer....isn't that fabulous! After about 15 years of post secondary education...he's finally done!

It has been a very long journey...in the beginning hubby and I, and some of our kids drove Ryan and his best friend James, out to Briarcrest College, in Sakatchewan to begin 4 years of schooling for his B.A., then we drove him to a little town outside of Boston, to work on his M.A. At Gordon Conwell, two years after that he got married and started his work on his Ph.D. at a college affiliated with the university of Toronto, back up here in Canada....if nothing else our kids get us traveling!

The last number of years have been very long....for Ryan...for his wife Jennifer...and for the rest of us , his family, as we have supported, encouraged and prayed that he would have the success and endurance to finish the race. Over the years Ryan has had to take many different jobs to support his family, to provide for them, especially as it grew to include William and Samuel, their sons. Right now he's been working with a local contractor, building houses...he's learned so much....I don't think there's anything that he can't build or fix...just a couple of weekends ago hubby and Ryan went to our trailer and ripped up the rotten flooring and replaced it with new. Now I know that hubby is capable but his strength is in numbers...he is an accountant...but knowing he had his son beside him to help with the job gave him the confidence to get the job done...and they did a great job!


There have been many times I have felt great pride in all my children...whether it be graduations from high school,college, or the military, or overcoming a difficult life experience....all the different aspects of their lives that have shaped them into the people they are today.....people that we are glad to say....'ya, they're our kids....ya, we were crazy to have nine of them...but we couldn't imagine what our life would have been like without them'......well, maybe a little quieter and without as much drama....

But tomorrow, it's Ryan's day....he's worked hard and long for it.....we are not only proud of his academic accomplishments but we are proud of the man he has become....a husband, a father, a carpenter (just like his papa), ....and a good son.

Well done.....we will watch with joy in our hearts and probably tears running down our cheeks as you walk across the stage tomorrow to claim your prize.....well done!


The pic above is him modeling his cap and gown that he must wear tomorrow...in true mother fashion, I told him that he'd better shave tomorrow!