April Showers bring May Flowers

These are still April flowers but we're supposed to be getting some April showers to end the month.

Did you know that this is how Maple Leaves start out? I didn't.

Lilac bush
We had friends for dinner last night.

How does your Garden grow

From this to this:

One of those days

It's been one of those mornings. I think I must have got out on the wrong side of bed. I'm not a morning person to begin with but when it seems like everything goes wrong that just makes things worse. First of all, I decided to sleep in for a couple of extra minutes and buy breakfast at work. Then I proceeded to forget my book, forget to put on makeup and as I turn on my MP3 player at the bus stop, the battery dies. Then the bus comes late and my regular seat is taken. The bus ride was ok although a little crowded and slow. As I get off at my stop, the train I need to catch is pulling out of the station. No MP3 player and no book makes 15 minutes go by reeeeaaaally slooooww. By this time I'm starving and wish I had just eaten breakfast at home. Thankfully, noone really notices when I come to work and I don't have to punch in(like my old job) so it's ok that I'm late. I stop off and get a breakfast sandwich at Tim Horton's (which is on the other side of campus) and scarf it down because I'm so hungry that I don't think I even tasted it. I think it was really good!

Well, even though this was sort of a pointless post, I'm glad I wrote this all down because now that I think about it, my morning could've been worse. It could've been -30 and blowing snow. I could've not had enough money for my breakfast. And I could not be married to Reuben ... which in the end is what's saving me from insanity.

Have a great day everyone! I'm trusting in God that my day is just going to go upill from here.

The Weekend - UPDATED with pictures

It's Monday again. Back to our regularly scheduled activities. It's been really warm the past week or so. I'm glad that it's no longer winter but I would've like a bit more of spring. I hope it cools down a bit soon because it's sort of shocking having 25 degree weather everyday. My tulips are almost blooming. I should take a follow up picture so you can see how they are doing. I'm actually thinking about watering them because the dirt looks so dry.


This weekend was busy. Diana, Mike and Hadassah came late Friday night. Then on Saturday morning when I woke up I could hear Hadassah talking to herself in her crib so I went to get her. She didn't seem too concerned that I wasn't Diana so I took her out and played with her until Diana got up. It was fun hearing her laugh and "talk". After awhile I got to work whipping up breakfast for the whole family. Karin, Josh and Elyssa came over. Mom and Dad and George and Dora vanPopta came over. And Richard and Emma too. Altogether we had 14 for breakfast. I made waffles with fruit and whipping cream, bacon and scrambled eggs. There was coffee, tea and orange juice. It was scrumptious and everyone appreciated it! We borrowed a table from Mom and Dad and some people even ate out on the deck! Which was amazing because a week ago that deck was still covered in snow!!









After we hung out for a bit, we decided to get some work done. So, Richard, Mike and Reuben went to Home Depot and bought 12 cedar trees that we are going to plant in the back to screen ourselves from the busy road that runs behind our house. Reuben's even talking about building a shed in the back corner too. Diana and I grabbed some pruning shears and pruned back some plants and raked up some old leaves, grass and dried up plants. We also got a wheelbarrow so we started carting rocks out to the back and dumped them over the fence. The previous owners lined all the garden beds with these medium sized rocks and we don't like them at all. It was really hot! There is no shade in the front of the house where we were working and we get direct afternoon sun. We were sweating and a few of us got a hint of a burn. It felt good to get that stuff done though. Then I baked some brownies and we went to Mom and Dad's for the first BBQ of the season.

We went to church in the evening for a social time for Rev and Mrs vanPopta because we've called him to be our minister. It was a fun time but my feet were sore from being on them all day so I couldn't wait to get home and go to bed.

On Sunday, we had lunch with our peers and the vanPoptas at Andre's house. And for dinner we had everyone over again at my parents. So we had a nice, social Sunday which Reuben really loves and I'm starting to get used to but sometimes I would prefer to be home alone with a book or something. No offense anyone whose reading this, I still love your company!

Andrew, you know why this picture is here

After all that I was exhausted last night and couldn't wait to head to bed again. I love to sleep!! Both Reuben and I didnt' sleep very well last night. I'm not sure why. Maybe it's cause we're not used to being so warm at night. Getting ready this morning, I could hear Hadassah talking in her crib again but Diana wasn't awake so I couldn't go in to say hi because I had to leave for work before they were up. Too bad:( They should be driving home right now. And we won't see them again for another 6 weeks.

All in all, another short but sweet weekend.

My office

Last week we had a Science Fair ... well, it wasn't called a Science Fair but that's basically what it was. A high school science fair only University-sized. It was a day for all the Science students to present their 4th year research projects. I tried to understand a few but I couldn't even read the titles of their projects! Anyway, I was involved in organizing it. It was a little stressful beforehand ... setting up was a little crazy as there wasn't anyone really in charge and everyone expected everyone else to know what was going on but we pulled it off in the end. Throughout the afternoon, I sat at the information table and handed out nametags and answered people's questions. It was fun!

The day after, one of my bosses brought in tulips for me.

After they opened more, they turned a really dark purple. They are so pretty! I love them. Especially in the dark blue vase. They are really starting to die now but I can't bear to throw them out. As I was taking this picture, I thought I would take one of my whole desk so you can see where I work.

Hannah's Baby Shower

The sweater and toque I made for Hannah Grace VanPopta.

It fits!

Woohoo ... a highchair!

Mom using her Grandma's touch to calm Hannah.

Cathy holding the l'il pumpkin.

My Job

It's official. I'm going to be at Carleton University as Undergraduate Administrator to Environmental Science, Integrated Science and the Technology, Society, Environment Studies departments until at least Feb 2009. Now, we can buy the Vespa we always dreamed of! Oh wait ... we already did.

SPRING

You would not believe how excited I was when I arrived home from work yesterday and saw tulips springing up from the ground. God is good! His mercies are new every morning. Just when I thought I couldn't take a day more of winter He shows that spring is on it's way! Even pushing up through the snow, these tulips, which we planted (ok, my dad planted) last fall just can't wait another day to view the world. It's even more exciting because this is our first year with our very own garden. As you can tell, I'm getting more and more excited about it. I've never given a second thought to gardening before we had our own bit of earth to work with. It reminds me of the movie the Secret Garden.

As a side note, I really hope our bunny friends don't think the tulips are snacks!!! Or they may not be bunny friends anymore.