another day, another park

i love the fall. so does nate, actually he is quite taken with the leafs falling. we took in the nice weather and went for a walk at my new fav park

self portrait, note the zero makeup on moi. i have some self confidence to post a pic of me with zip make up on

then we stopped for the mandatory, throw rocks in the water and run around

cheese!

we had such a delightful morning. not to hot, not to cold. the wind was perfect, the leafs were falling.

nate woke up last night 3 times, he is not feeling well. he has a cough, runny nose and a bit of congestion. very sooky and wanting me to rock him to sleep, very unlike him. i had to actually search for the tylenol, i haven't used it in the longest time. hoping he will feel better tomorrow

2 comments

Posted by mel at 3:34 PM

the coolest driveway evah!

chris has been hidden away in his man house for weeks working on a fun idea that he came up with this summer...but before i blab that news, i will brag on the concrete stones chris is making for our walkway from the driveway to the front door and from the back door to the man house...chris made and is making each one by hand

first he poured the concrete into the above mold (which of course he made)

these are the bolts for the sprinkler system that chris built into the driveway! they took forevah to find, they had to fit perfectly. chris never gave up and we found them...more on the drive way in a bit...

back to the concrete stones, once he poured it into the mold it had to set and shape

the fun colors we picked! the driveway will be poured concrete. instead of boring white, we bought the above colors so the concrete will have different shades and shimmers (chris, don't be mad that i used "shimmer" to describe your manly concrete) once the concrete has been poured, chris will them roll a pattern to give it depth and design and why, of course...chris made the roller himself

sample product of the patio stones. this will be the design of the driveway also. see the different colors?

now on to the amazing driveway! chris has designed and built a SPRINKLER system in the driveway! it's a mini splash pad!

more important. see nate above? tucked under his arm is chris's hammer. see his other hand? why there he is carrying nails...why?

on the wooden beam, there are pre-drilled holes. nate put the nails in each hole, then hammered them in! all by himself.

then nate helped chris fill in the sprinkler pipes with the concrete. ha.

the splash pad has 3 parts. a circle, 2 rows and a cross. see the black (that i hate and will be changing) lantern light beside the garage door? under it there are black pipes, those will control the sprinklers, they can all come on at once or individually, chris is also rigging them up to have hot/cold and warm water. chris will paint the pipes white to blend into the house better.

i took this pic this a.m so show the sprinkler set up. the white pipes are the sprinklers. chris will pour the concrete around them...see why it was so important that we (ok, chris) found the perfect metal ring, it has to be durable for all weather, strong, able to plug up over the winter and flush with the driveway. the driveway will also be poured on an angle to allow the water to flow onto the street and not settle in the driveway

front shot. not a great pic, but you get the idea

yep, i am married to a genius who created a splash pad in our driveway...

you can do anything, if you set your mind to it

2 comments

Posted by mel at 1:38 PM

nate's shades

nate was helping chris on sat, while i got the grub on. nate found my wed night specks and sported them

he was very proud of his new look

chris said he must have had them on for a good 5mins before he saw him. ha.

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Posted by mel at 8:52 AM

life is busy, busy, busy!

chris was working on the driveway this afternoon, so i took nate for a walk at a local park. above it one paths into the park. beautiful

for some reason, nate would say "momma! cheese" and smile at me...maybe it's the sugar he's been eating, crazy boy!

another path

water, the trees are just starting to turn

nate was helping chris in with the drive way, then he spotted his tractor and away he went

over the grass, down the side walk, over the hills....as a matter of fact, he's still out side playing with the tractor!

i have been busy. i spent the week writing our wed night 7-12's curriculum. normally, i loath writing it, this time i enjoyed it! i had so much fun putting it together. the kids are going to love it. the first 6 weeks are about creation and then i break off into understanding the world god created, how to protect it etc...i put a lot focus on science and hands on experiment's for the kids to learn with. so far they are loving it. yeah! (it's very scary to write your own material, i hear the good and the bad)

then i started working on my friend's baby shower that i am hosting next week. it's going to be fun! i have done most of the work so far, i made the decorations, favors, games and all that jazz. i just have a few more details to finish.

this am i went to the ladies breaky, the food was most amazing. seriously, i stuffed my self. so good. then i spent a few hrs photocopying the wed nights 3-6's curriculum, i didn't write it (no time) but as of this wed night i am taking over the class and will be teaching it myself. chris will teach 2 wks on 2 off with the 7-12's, on his weeks off he will keep nate home and i will teach every wed night the 3-6's...wish me luck with that...talk about moving out of one's comfort zone! i am WAY out there

i can't get over how much nate has grown and changed. he adds words to his vocab daily and makes me snort with his snappy come backs to questions. he now says "yeah" for yes and "nah" for no, he grabs my hand and says "hold hand" when he wants to hold hands. the other morning i was greeted to "hey, mama. out please, t.b (t.v) please" but my fav yet is his comments to what he would like to eat...

me-' nate, what would you like for breakfast?"

nate- "meat and cheese"

me- "what would you like for lunch?"

nate- "meat and cheese"

me- "what would you like for supper?"
nate- "meat and cheese"

me-"what would you like for a snack?"
nate-"meat and cheese"

swiss much?

have a good one!

2 comments

Posted by mel at 5:55 PM

sunday's sermon

sunday chris and i were able to sit in the service, what a treat! the youth pastor spoke and at the end of his message he played this video. it's 7 mins, so grab a cup of coffee....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lGMG_PVaJoI

it brought me to tears. not because as most video's are designed to trigger that emotional response which leaves you a temporary feeling of extreme emotion, but doesn't change you one iota. the words in this video have stayed with me all week

i was brought to tears for several reasons.

1-it brought me back to a time of utter anguish and for 1 tiny second, i felt that prickle of pain stab through my heart sunday morning. i never want to go back there again.

2- with out going into deets. our church is taking a beating, it's rough. taking a stand is brutal

3-being in leadership is not for the weak. chris and i have taken a beating. we refuse to settle, we refuse to play church. our standards are high.

4-i let my passion for children's ministry slip. i have taken on an attitude of "no one else cares, why should i?" it happened bec i kept my eyes on what was happening around me.

5- do i REALLY want to be broken to a place of utter anguish again? do i want to take the pain? do i want my life to breath children's ministry once again? i realise that if the enemy can get to me and knock me down, he will get to chris.

6- i do want to be happy, i do want to please people, i want others to like me...and by choosing to care about how others feel about me i am automatically stepping away from the call god has given us. i can not serve man and god. it won't work.

7-it's time for me to step back up to the plate. passion for god, for chris, my family, my church. 1 comments

Posted by mel at 8:16 AM

our week away...sorta...

my parents delighted us with the amazing gift of 1 week nate sitting for chris and i to take off and get away. we did, sorta. we left mon-wed bec we had to teach the kiddo's at church wed night, then we left thurs p.m-sat morning. the first 2 days we went to hopewell rocks. we explored albert mines, check out the above pic

then we snooped in the woods and we found this cozy cottage. we untied the ribbon that held the door shut to find

a clean, furnished and well kept cottage. i am guessing a hunting log. note the fem touches that fill the cabin, even the table is set! there is no power or running water but adorable!

tues we spent the day hiking through hopewell rocks, then drove to fundy and spent some time exploring the place. we also discovered am amazing mom/pop restaurant that had the best food evah!

more water and rocks

hopewell fun

thurs morning we all went to the park to find those ducks and feed them

nate found them and chased them

and more chasing

walking with nana and poppa

ohhh more ducks to chase

thurs afternoon (after spotting a frenchies and spending some time there) we headed off to our next destination where we stayed at a b&b on the water

we discovered this amazing plantation, that housed over 5000 different trees. it was HUGE, every tree was labeled, there was also am amazing garden and hiking trails. we enjoyed it immensely! (jeff, you would have wet your pants :) ha

we walked along the beach, on the trail so my shoes would not get dirty

it was over 4 km's walk. it took us an hour. if i was alone, it would have done it in less than 30 mins

more beauty

beach

more beach

chris and i had a great time but to be honest. splitting the trip up was super sucky. out of the 5 days we were given nate free, 2 of them were spent doing something and enjoying our selves. next time, we are not splitting it up and we are going away farther!

nate did well. he didn't miss me much, which makes me happy. i know i can leave him again for a longer time (good for me!) and it makes me feel good that he is fine spending time with his grandparents.

so my next question is.....when can we do it again!?!

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Posted by mel at 1:21 PM

guess who's sooky free?

the whole sook thing was such an issue with me.

before nate was born it was the question: do i want to use it? i had heard much negative jazz about it. at 10 days, old while trying to eat out in a restaurant, i chose to use it. ha.

then it was: how often? when is to much? public? crib? car? age??? as nate grew i weaned him more and more. then at 1 yr, he only got it in the crib for naps and bed

then it was: how in god's wonderful, glorious, green, grass world will i take it away? i needed a game plan. i researched, bugged other mom's for wisdom and made a plan...some day ( i could not actually commit to the date) i would snip the tip of the sook off, after i clearly explained to nate that he is a big boy and big boy's don't need sooks. wonderful good. game plan, all set, all comfy and ready to one day take the sook away

then we went to jon and jess's and the dang sook got lost! so i made the decision right then and there, monday afternoon. nate was done with the sook. i put him down for his nap and due to his exhaustion he crashed after 15 mins...

then we went home. monday night. night 1 with no sook. he cried for about 20 mins. it took over an hour for him to fall asleep but he did well...after crying "oh no" and pointing to his mouth...and asking for countless glasses of juice....

tues nap time. it took an hour to fall asleep and countless trips to his room. then he crashed for an hour...with all the constructions, paving and landscaping it is really loud and it's hard for him to sleep.

tues night. 15 mins of crying, 3 trips to his room (ok, i admit, i enjoy the cuddles) 1 glass of milk. 45 mins to fall asleep.

wed nap. 45 mins to fall asleep, 2 trips to his room and no milk.

wed night. 45 mins to get to sleep, no crying, a lot of talking and roaring, 1 glass of milk.

we are sook free. i can say it because i am his mother and i made the choice. i hope and pray he naps well this afternoon and night. all this sleeplessness has created 1 cranky monster boy!

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Posted by mel at 11:40 AM

labour day at jon&jess's

what's a trip to uncle fun and aunty gus with out a stop at the train and sand box? nate played, chris and i indulged on coffee

we decided to explore a trail by jon's house. we found an awesome rock pile on the river. many rocks were tossed into the water

then we found sticks and carried them around

nate was helping the big boys cut down trees; over all acting manly

nate did the grunt work

i flew a kite

then we made a fire, to burn off some wood. nate was having a chat with jon

chris and jess thought it would be brilliant to add a "couple" feet of extra string to the kite. which worked well, until it got stuck in a tree

nate and i cuddled by the roaring fire with milk and apples

chris and nate rolled around in the grass

much fun was had

then it was time to go

nate found his toes to be extremely fascinating and spent quite a bit of time inspecting them

we had a great visit. there is something to be said about simplicity. we spent our time outside in the quiet country setting, nothing but the sound of the wind through the trees. fall is in the air and it truly is the most wonderful time of year

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Posted by mel at 10:58 AM