bikes, baking and the boy

i love this bike. i bought it for 4 bucks in this teeny, tiny antique shop in the middle of no where sasky. it was beat up, rusted and had very little paint. i took it home, sand blasted it, painted it twice because the first blue was not the color i wanted. ha. it now sits in the front of my 3rd home...

under it sits this rock. it looks like any other rock. big. solid. boring old rock

it's not an old boring rock to me

this rocks sits in the front of my home with a label on it

the label says "god is faithful. god is good"

why?

this rock came from the bowness park. calgary.

www.calgaryarea.com/calgary_parks/bowness_park/bowness.htm

chris took me to the rock pile (my family knows where this is) we sat. i cried. chris held me. i just left my home to follow the man i adore...as happy as i was, i was equally sad...i missed my life!

chris and i prayed. there and then chris made me a promise...we will return "home" one day

when it was time to leave, chris picked the rock up and put it in the car. where it was driven to our new home in saskatoon. it sat in front of my "little house of love" (and i mean little!)

then we moved "home" and it sat in front of my new home "my little home in the country"

and once again, we moved. it now sits in front of my new home, "my redic-in my dreams house"

think of how many times you walked in front of that rock...thinking..."wow, what a boring rock"

every time i walked pass, it screams of god's goodness

chris is working today with a friend. they are slaving away in this heat. i am in my a/c home...so i baked chris's fav bread. walnut date. now my house smells simply divine!

wanna come over for a piece?

nate cuteness. so. we have been having issues with nate as of late. nothing serious. just child training. anyways. he has lost his mail box 6 out of 7 days. today, he actually earned it. so i went to fill it with some candy

imagine my surprise when i opened it and saw that nate already filled it...for himself...ha

with what?

why a whole wheat cracker and an apricot

he must have thought he would reward himself, with or with out my help

ha

i added some candy to it

i leave this long-winded blog with this funny read

"a lazy man says, "there is a lion on the road! a fierce lion roams the street." prov 26:13

i love it. i keep quoting it...esp hen it suits my need

e.g

"mel, can you mow the lawn?"


" i can't!!!! there is a LION on the road!!! a FIERCE lion is out there!!!!"

bawahhhh

david was such a card, i bet he was fun to party with

0 comments

Posted by mel at 2:22 PM

baking and tears

having the opp to create yummy-goodness yesterday, i created what i call "chocolate-peanut butter ball-butter whipped icing cup cakes"

i was inspired a while back while making p/b balls

i took a chocolate cupcake recipe, changed it around to suit my mood...then made a batch of p/butter balls, rolled them, then added a spoonful of batter to the muffin cup, placed the p/b ball in the center then added the rest of the batter to cover the top...then.....

i stopped for a crying session. me and nate. we sat on the floor and bawled...chris snapped a pic

why? sometimes the pain and grief of my lost babe hits me. i cry...even in the middle of baking

nate stubbed his toe and needed comfort

so we cried together

then we prayed and both felt better

back to the baking...
the cup cakes were awesome! i will tweak the next batch for sure...add a little of this and less of that...

anyways. we took them to the partay and they were GONE less than 10 mins...the food wasn't even put out yet!

they were divine!
ice cream, in swim wear on the way home

nate was enjoying his

can't ya tell?

ha!

1 comments

Posted by mel at 2:49 PM

nate's new class!

all dressed for church. looking like a cute, well behaved boy. holding his bible and picture perfect

typical boy. he then uses his bible as a weapon and hits the wall with it!

back deck before heading out...sniff, sniff

nate was moved to the next class today. i did it a bit early cause he's SO ready! he is now the youngest in the class! he's growing so fast! he did great...once i left that is...

i snapped a pic of him playing

while waiting for lunch, i asked nate to tell me about his new class, new teachers and new friends. i thought it would be fun to have him tell me the story and with out knowing what was taught, i wanted to guess the lesson...

here he is telling me about the big, big wall that fell down
but no worries, it was built again

by some man named "nemiah"

heehee

i was able to guess the story. ha

he was thinking about the awesome puppet play and what the puppets were saying

then i gave nate my camera to take pics. good job bud!

yes misty that would be our bogo's. hah!

flowers and such

my roses bloomed! they are beautiful. i wanted roses SO bad and i finally got them this year! they are pink, red and a fuchsia color. so perty

for those who asked about the garden. here she is!

the beans! i have picked a HUGE bowl everyday this week and i swear they are multiplying over night. they are wonderful-good!

peas are almost ready. still need to sweeten up a bit

mmmm lettuce mmmmm

i have decided that i am going to dbl the size next year. i am going to dig it to the back of the shop and expand it to the left a few more feet. i plan on adding more veggies and try my luck at the herbs and such....wheeee! who woulda thought i would love gardening

ok

i fess up

i love eating the results of my garden

ha!

0 comments

Posted by mel at 2:14 PM

happy birthday sister!

heehee

so. today is your birthday. you have been around for a few yrs now. ha. i must remind you that i am in deed the YOUNGER sister. ha

sure, life may not have turned out the way we thought and planned it to but we have gone through it together. good and bad. happy and sad. we are still bestest buds!

as i thought and reflected about you on your birthday. i remembered a few of my greatest memories...and deciding NOT to include disney in any of them haha but instead i focused on our "sister trip" one of the greatest and saddest trip we have had!

hee hee. mickey in spain!

on tht mountain top, after that gondola trip that i swear, almost killed us!

*ignore the over exposed film

we had the car before it was cool...right!

that mountain. the one with the goats on it. i forced practical you to stop and let me take a picture of them, bec they WERE cool..as sheep and goats are!...and the view was amazing...and the car stalled and we almost died on this mountain top because the car would not start and no one would come by and help us caniadians, who were stuck on the mountain top, who did not speak spanish...and it was hot and we had no more water....

but

the car started. i got my pictures and we lived

then we went to the cave. which again, we almost died in... haha

then we went to gibraltar to go shopping and see monkeys...who jumped on me and almost killed me with their sharp teeth!

camels. they stink. yep you rode them

and forced me to...you even paid for my ride...and i almost died!





but i lived

the day from hell. you MADE me go to africa. it was the worst day of my life. i swear, i almost died 100 times this day! if it wasn't the boat that almost killed us (ok, kinda actually real) the food! the people, the smell, the toilet (ok hole in the ground) the worst day of my life!

fresh chicken anyone?

hee hee

the best day of my life (next to marriage and child birth) SHOELAND!

love the roads, streets and walk ways...that almost killed up with those crazy local drivers!

the greatest memory of the trip

the restaurant

the purse

the food

the toilet

they tried to kill us!

need i say anything more?

haha

crystal, my older sister. ha. happy, wonderful, amazing birthday! you are a wonderful wife, an amazing mother, fabulous sister, typical (ha) daughter, practice, level headed...keeps to herself, shopping kinda sister...most important a dear friend to me...you have laughed with me, cried with me, fought with me. we have shared our struggles, heart aches, disappointments, achievements, proud moments and most of all love

i cherish our friendship

adore our relationship

you are my best est friend

"above all else; guard your heart. it is where your life comes from"

i have not posted much about you/us for a reason. i cherish our friendship and i guard it with my life

you are very special to me. i love you

4 comments

Posted by mel at 1:47 PM

d day!

dentist that is
he's a big boy now and went into the chair all by himself

big boy!

my wonderful hygienist showed nate the ropes

nate did great! i did leave the room when the dentist came in, i thought that nate would be better not having me there. sometimes he will refuse to listen if i am around, anyways. after i left nate opened his mouth and the dentist did a full and complete check and clean! he's growing so fast!

toys? who needs toys?

over a month ago, i got a box and turned it into a play house for nate to play with....since then it has been

-a rocket

-a puppet stage

-a slide

-a ramp

-many forts and tents

-a dog house

-a car garage

-a farm

-and more, i know i am forgetting something...

i fear it's becoming a part of out furniture...haha

my dentist experience

i hate the dentist, it's a fear that use to consume me. i am so much better. i can go now and not cry :) my dentist is wonderful and has helped me work through these issues :) i do have a teeny cavity between my teeth and i booked the appointy this monday to get fixed. how far have i grown??

anyways

this year of firsts SUCK. i never know when the next one will come!

i am sitting in the chair this morning and andrea comes in (dental assistant) our convo goes like this...

a- hey, how's it going?

m-good!

a- and how is the baby? you had the baby in april right? last time i saw you you were 16 weeks

m-umm there is no baby, we lost him at 18 wks

a-oh

m-don't worry about it, you didn't know...it's ok..there is really nothing to say

a-i am so sorry

m- :)

then she left the room and i cried

when will this end???

4 comments

Posted by mel at 12:38 PM

i have not had a dream, that i remembered (!) in a long time. last night i did. it was so vivid i had to share...and it's even cooler that god showed me what it meant. and no, it was not for me...

i saw a huge field of mud then a second later i saw a dried up old dirt road. you know the kind, after a big old storm with lots of rain makes the dirt all muddy, then ppl walk and drive in it, leaving tracks, bumps and such

well in the dream i saw a dear friend walking along the dirt road, stepping over the dried up dirt...the mud was gone...just dirt

then i saw ppl walking in mud. you know when you walk in mud it's hard work, it does not flow, it's hard to walk in it, you drag your feet, it's so tiring and seems pointless and it's just plain gross...

then the picture flashed to my friend. she was walking on the now dried soil

after i asked god to show me what it meant i got this

"walking in mud is never enjoyable, it's hard work, it's not quick, it's messy. staying there, not quitting, not giving up. walking. staying. the storm is over. the mud is now dirt, see those bumps that you are walking over, that's the problems, the situations and general life. it's under your feet, it's dried up. it will not stop you from going forward. they serve as a reminder of what is now, under your feet. you are no longer walking in mud. your path is dry...walk....enjoy...."

then i saw this huge, green meadow, filled with flowers and there was my friend. walking in livid color

so, dear friend. you know who you are. your storm is over. enjoy your future. i celebrate with you!

those who sew in tears WILL reap in joy!

1 comments

Posted by mel at 1:29 PM

after seeing all those birds yesterday that did not have a home, nate wanted to make one for them. so, i did the next best thing. i bought one (micheals, 40 cents) and he painted it

he did a great job. he used all the colors up. painted the whole house. all by himself. then used BLACK to repaint over the colors. so now he has a black bird house. ha

ice cream for breakfast! sure! why not! we went to the park this morning, met up with some friends, instead of going to get groceries, i went to sterlings and got fresh veggies and ice cream. seriously, they gave us 2 cones for a buck! mmmmmm birthday party mmmmm

while i was upstairs making the beds, i heard my vacuum go on. i came down to this...

he found chris's swiss hat and put it on to "help" him

yep, he vacuumed my lower levels

and got into to it

then he used my cube chairs to make his play room

what a card!

1 comments

Posted by mel at 1:07 PM

today's vent

why can't god's way be the easy way???

just once?

for me?

please???

that is all. as you were 3 comments

Posted by mel at 1:35 PM

went to feed those ducks again. such a beautiful morning it was. funny how a nice day, in the park can help you "hear" god's small voice

who would have thought i would ever say this...moncton is so beautiful and has so much to offer!

some trees got a jump start to the coming fall

nate's stock pile of treasures that he collected en route

funny kiddo!

1 comments

Posted by mel at 1:15 PM