My Kids Have An Amazing Dad

Are We Done Yet?

So I just had to post this for some of you that want to see my hair blonde. I've realized now that when I'm stressed, I have a desire for blondish hair... The last time was when we lived in the trailer and now we're just about to sell the house. I rest my case. This is actually the first attempt and then I wanted it lighter, so my hair dresser fixed it. Well, we're almost at the end of this "build your own house" journey. It's been three years since we started and had we known what was ahead, we would have laughed wildly and stayed in our rental. Hahahahahahahahaha!!!

I'm so happy with how the garden has grown. I can't really say I've done anything to it other than it had good soil and I prayed for it as I wanted it to look like it had been there awhile. The gardening has been my favorite part of building the house.
We're going to be house sitting for my friend for three weeks of August, so our big goal is to have all the painting, and a bit more landscaping done and then to get it in pristine condition. In my dreams, the house would sell while we're away and I'll never have to clean it for a showing. That will all be in God's hands. I can't even describe how excited I am to be debt free after the house sells! Our debts have been like a chain around our neck for the last eleven years and we are going to feel very light when they're cut off. One of the first things we want to do is go on a family vacation for at least 10 days. We NEED rest and refreshment and I can hardly wait :)

My First Pick For Second Wife!

I've often felt like this, but having the Dyck family here this weekend confirmed that Christian needs a second wife! Our good friends Keith and Rachel finally came to visit us on Salt Spring and after watching Rachel's cleaning and baking skills in action, I decided that she needs to live with me! We think we'd make a good team. She could cook and clean and I'd do the birthday parties and meal plan and whatever else needs done.
It was so good to have their family come and spend the night with us. We were able to show them our house and around our island a bit and they were able to show off their new cutie Liam. This was Christian's first time meeting the new addition to their family and he just stole our hearts! It was so good to have a visit that lasted hours instead of the usual, quick," let's get together as we rush through Abbotsford" kind of visit. On Sunday we were able to take them to one of our island gems, Ruckle Park and go for a beautiful walk. It's also perfect scenery for lots of pictures... It was also nice to get our kids together to play. Our boys miss living closer to Nathan and Chad.
If you click on the picture with the rock cliffs, you'll be able to better see Brennan part way up one. This is why we need to keep a close eye on him when we're close to cliffs... He went around the corner where we couldn't see him and after a minute I said, "We'd better go check what the boys are doing". When we came around Brennan was already half way up! He'd already started climbing down by the time I snapped a picture. He always freaks us out! I need to buy my son some ropes, a helmet and those thingys that help rock climbers hook into rock. (I'm so technical!)
Thanks for coming to see us Dyck family. We were blessed with your presence!

Spring Break Fun!

I've been meaning to make a post out of these pictures, but I was having trouble with iphoto, so finally now it's been fixed... Two weekends ago, the kids and I were able to make a trip up to Mt. Washington with two of my best friends and their kids. My friend Sonja has a log chalet up there and this is our second time going up with all the kids for winter fun. They had so much fun with their friends and I had lots of fun with mine :) The hot tub/snow sitting was definitely a favourite for the kids!

Isaiah and Brennan both tried snow boarding on some small hills. I actually think they'll catch on fast if they have some lessons. I'm stumped whether to get them learning snow boarding or skiing first... Any advice?
The triple bunk beds were also a huge hit. Abby actually fell out of the middle one on the first night and hit the headboard of my bed down below. She still has a large bruise on her leg and I'm so thankful that her head didn't hit anything. I felt so bad for not blocking off the edge! She only cried a bit and said the bruise didn't hurt. She's a tough cookie, that Abby; she has to keep up with all the boys!
The boys also tried skiing on their friend's skis. We didn't venture up any of the lifts this time. All of us got to go tubing though and that was a blast! For our last two runs, I hooked up with all the kids and we went down as a huge group of eight!
This is the view from the chalet. I think it's the best view of any one on Mt. Washington.
One of my favourite parts was riding up the rope tow on the tube as I got to be by myself and just praise God for his awesome mountain creations that were all around me. We came home filled up but pretty tired.

Still tired...

This is a picture of Christian doing sound for Randy B. at the Commodore in Vancouver last weekend. Part of why I'm realizing that I'm still tired! We've had a busy month and I need to learn how to go to bed earlier... Christian was away last week on the road with Randy Bachman's new band and I was at home taking care of business :) I got to join him for the last concert in Vancouver and we got to go out for dinner together and stay at the Four Seasons hotel. We didn't get much sleep though... I walked to the hotel at 1am after the concert and Christian had to stay and load gear and merchandise and didn't get in til 3:30am. We were up by 7:30am to head to a day long parenting conference called "Raising Truly Great Kids", by Dr. Tim Kimmel. It was excellent and fun to have a whole day without the kids, but we were very TIRED.

We headed for home the next day and thanks to a fire on an earlier ferry, didn't get home until 10pm. The next morning, Abby and I were up early to catch the ferry to Victoria so she could have dental surgery. Her poor little baby teeth were a mess. I really didn't like having her taken away to the operating room. I couldn't even eat anything until I knew she was o.k. Seeing her in recovery later hooked up to tubes, made me think about her birth and how much God has blessed us with our sweet, vibrant, healthy girl. We arrived back on Salt Spring after dinner and I started preparing for Brennan's birthday which was the next day.
We started out with a pancake breakfast and Brennan opened his guitar, which he is thrilled with. He's been jamming out a lot in his bed room and having some special time with Christian learning his first guitar lessons. We had a wild, loud birthday party that night with eight boys and one girl in the house and a night time treasure hunt!
This week, I've had a sore throat and cough, and the stomach flu and I realized today that I've run myself ragged. Looking at my pictures, I started to figure out why... Some things are worth being tired for though and it's just been one of those months. I think I'm rambling on this post, so I'd better stop now and hit the hay!

Whew! I'm tired!!

Wow! That was fun, and now I'm exhausted :) We just had the best Christmas. We hosted my whole family plus my Auntie Beth and my cousin Andrew, so we had 19 people for Christmas dinner and company here for almost five days. What a ride! It all started with record breaking snow falls for Salt Spring island and I have to admit it was a wee bit stressful shopping for food as it was hard to make it out of our neighbourhood with our vehicle. After a few attempts, I made it to the grocery store. I've never seen such madness there before! Heather, Richard and their kids made it safely on Tuesday and then Mom, Dad, Dinah, Russ and their crew arrived on Wednesday. That brought on a lot of anxiety for me too and I cried with a complete stranger in the store parking lot because I was so worried about them traveling here in the snow storm.
It was so great to get the whole family together in one house for two days. The cousins got along so well and we all had so much fun together. The kids and dads rocked with the sledding runs and the mommies were super stars in the kitchen :) We had a blast caroling with each child on an instrument, eating, opening presents, eating,listening to Christian and Russ jamming, eating more, and of course being crazy! Family, you are all the best and most fun fam in the whole world! I love you so much.
This year, instead of getting gift for our nieces and nephews and the adults, we all pooled some money together to buy a goat for a family through World Vision. Mom even bought a stuffed goat for all of us to pass around for the year and take pictures of us with to email each other and to remind us to pray for the family who receives the goat. Thanks Mom. Turns, out we have enough money to buy two goats!!
O.K., I'm realizing that I'm using WAY too many exclamation marks on this post, but it has been THAT MUCH FUN!!!!!!!!!!!! Mom also sewed Santa hats and made t-shirts for all her grandchildren that had their names on them and said "Saltspring Cousin's Christmas ". Mom, you're the best.
I didn't send out Christmas cards this year, so this is my card to you. Hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and here's to 2009. May it be a year of happy memories and new adventures!
Love Jenn, Christian, Isaiah, Brennan, and Abby

Milestones

We've had a couple of milestones this week... I wanted to tell about Brennan's first but I don't know how to make his the first picture on here. I think I need some blog assistance. Well, first for Biscuit. He is officially sleeping through the night!!! I am really thankful for that because I don't do well with interrupted sleep and I'm too busy to take naps these days, so I was driving around way too tired. Also, he's already gained 3 and a half pounds. What a big puppy ;) He still needs to figure out that outside is the ONLY place he's allowed to do his business.

Brennan joined karate in September and yesterday he earned his first stripe. He's well on his way to becoming a "karate master". He is my only child interested in this and it's neat to see him learning so much in only six weeks. He also has to really listen and concentrate which is good practice for my lively, rambunctious, easily distracted boy :)
Crongratulations Brennan. All my children got report cards yesterday as well and they're all doing very good. Good enough to get a trip off this island and have a swim at Duncan's brand spankin new pool this weekend. Yipee, I get to wear a bathing suit! Help me Jenny Craig!!

Christmas planning...

Just wanted to write a quick post to say that I'm soooooo excited to have the house full this Christmas! My whole family is coming!! If my auntie and cousin join us that will be ten adults and nine lively, noisy kiddos. :)

I love Christmas and my brain is now busy full time thinking of activities and food and traditions we can incorporate into our celebrations this year.

I've got to get myself in gear and start decorating... I know, some of you already have your tree up! Since, we just got the puppy, we're not spending too much on Christmas gifts this year, so my shopping is pretty much done. That is a first in my life to be almost gift ready in November! Hopefully that will help me to have some quiet time reflecting on the great gift God gave and how Jesus's birth has changed my family's history and future.

Our new family member!!

Meet our new puppy Biscuit! On Monday, Christian completely surprised me with an overnight trip to Victoria and a concert. He packed everything and had the kids all farmed out to different friends. We had such a blast having a couple of days on our own. At some point, Christian said, "wouldn't it be fun to bring a puppy home for the kids." We've been discussing getting a puppy for months now and the right timing of it etc. So Tuesday morning after breakfast we set out puppy hunting. By 12:30pm we'd found our pup. An eight week old Zuchon, which is a Bichon/Shitzu cross. We fell in love with him and within half an hour decided to bring him home. We were like a couple of giddy children all the way home on the drive and ferry ride. We could hardly wait to see what the kids would say and do...

We picked up Brennan first and when we told him it was his new puppy, he got a perma-grin. He held him in the car on the way to pick up Isaiah and Abby and at one point said, "I feel like I'm dreaming." Isaiah and Abby were completely thrilled and Isaiah always says, "He's just sooooo cute!", and Abby keeps telling me, "Mom that was the best surprise ever when you brought home our puppy." When we got home we started looking up dog names on the internet and within an hour all of us agreed on Biscuit. It was so cool because I had wanted to name him Poppy since we adopted him on Remembrance day but the kids didn't agree. After I put them all to bed, I opened up the Times Colonist newspaper to the Remembrance Day section to read a letter a man had wrote to his mother in World War I telling her that he's been injured by a musket ball hitting him in the chest, but it would have been much worse had it not been for the biscuit he was keeping in his chest pocket as a snack. So, I guess Biscuit does have a good Remembrance Day name!
So now I'm in the middle of the not getting much sleep as I deal with this puppy at night and spend lots of time researching how to have a well mannered, good sleeping, house broken puppy. It's a bit like having my first baby! If you have any good puppy advice, I could sure use it... Christian and I are so excited to have our first pet (other than goldfish) in fifteen years of marriage! Life is good :)

Summer fun

We've had a great summer so far... Lots of sun, beaches, company, and a bit of work around the house. We were so fortunate to get to go to Mt. Washington a couple of times as my good friend let us go up to their chalet for free while they were away on holiday. The kids had so much fun disc golfing, and going on the bungee trampoline. The chalet is huge and peaceful and a nice break from everyday life on Salt Spring. The second time we went in late July we were hoping to take the chair lift to the top and hike, but we got socked in by cloud and some rain. So instead we went down the mountain into Courtney/Comox for a lovely walk and trip to a petting zoo. Abby and Brennan loved the rats. Yikes!! We also hit a really fun mini-golf in Parksville. The kids loved that!We've been able to see more of Mom and Dad as they're stationed in Naniamo for the summer. They bought a bigger 5th wheel to live in that much better accomodates Mom's needs. I'm so proud of them for choosing to live in their trailer so they can volunteer all over Canada and the U.S. with Sowers.
We were also blessed with visits from Heather, Richard, Charlie, Sam and Violet. We had so much fun hanging out and showing them around Salt Spring a bit more. Our kids have so much fun with their cousins and I'm so happy that we all live close enough to see each other a least a few times every year.
My sister took a family picture of us. I think it's been a very long time since we had a pic taken of us all together, so thanks Heather!
Isaiah bought himself a new mountain bike. He's worked very hard since his birthday saving money and had enough to buy himself a great bike and a lock. He had lots of fun trying it out at the mountain.

So, how's your summer been?

I'm Becoming a Gardener!

We've been working lots on the outside of our house while the suns shines and I must say it is very hard work, but I'm really enjoying it! I loved researching which plants were deer proof, low maintenance and pretty and planting them. Moving all the rocks that were all found on our property was a lot harder but still fun.
We've got a ton of work left to do... We're going to put a gravel path to the front door, and gravel down the driveway. We've got grass to plant in the back, junk to take to the dump, and outside trim work to finish. I'm thinking of painting my front door black... What do you think?
We've also got a raised bed at the elementary school that is completely deer fenced and I've planted lettuce, spinach, green beans, tomatoes, carrots, snap peas, onions, and radishes. I'm really enjoying that too. I was so shocked at how tiny some of the seeds were when I planted. It's amazing that veggies can grow from those! So, what are you all up to outside this summer??

Fun With Cousins

We had a great weekend. My sister Dinah and her hubby Russ and their three boys, Elijah, Hayden, and Joseph came for a visit. This was special because, even though they only live about an hour away, this past year has been crazy for us and them and they have never been to visit us all and stay here since before we started building our house. That's been over two years! It was warm and perfect and we got to show them some fun places to swim and hang out here on Salt Spring. My kids had lots of fun with their cousins! We are really blessed on this island and have lots of great places we can hang out in the summer. We spent a lot of time swimming and boating and my two oldest nephews even got to try tubing behind a motor boat for the first time.


My nephew Hayden was so funny. On the second day, I took him and a couple of my kids grocery shopping. After putting chips, marshmallows, chocolate, and ice cream in our kart, Hayden announced, "My Mom would never be this nice!" My son Isaiah quickly sorted him out and told him that I hardly ever buy junk like that and it was only because they were visiting. Well, they are pretty special!
Thanks for coming Bueckert family! We love you!!

My Baby's Not a Baby!

Today is Abby's last day of preschool. It just hit me this morning that I'm officially out of the toddler/preschool days and that all my kids will be in elementary school. I don't know where the time went!! Part of me is relieved as being the secretary for the co-op preschool has been more work than I ever knew. But I'm sad that there'll be no more duty days in the classroom, preschool teddy bear sleep overs, spring carnivals to set up and tear down, and hearing the funny things one of the boys in her class always says... The preschool has been so important for our family in connecting with other families on Salt Spring. It has really made us feel that we're part of this community and helped me make some wonderful friends. Goodbye preschool...we'll miss you.

We're Simple Folk

Some of you may not know our exciting news on Salt Spring Island. We finally have a bus! The kids are so pumped whenever they see it and yell, "Look, it's the city bus!" It doesn't take much to get Salt Spring kids impressed ;) So, last week I decided to take Abby and her friend Amy that I take care of on a bus ride from Ganges to Fulford. Oh, you would have though I was taking those girls to Disneyland, they were so happy!

We had enough time in Fulford to hang out on the dock, eat our picnic lunch, and watch the ferry come in...
Abby actually started feeling a wee bit bus sick on the way home, so I quickly drank my to go coffee from Rock Salt in case the cup was needed as a barf cup. You'll be happy to know we made it home safe and throw up free!

Spring Madness

Little late as always, but I wanted to post some pics of our spring vacation. We were looking forward to this so much as Christian hasn't had a full week off since Abby was a baby! We started off with a visit in Chilliwack to see my sister Heather and her family and my parents who had just come back from volunteer work in Texas. Our first day, Sunday, was amazing... sun, visiting, quad rides, campfires, reading. And then Christian started to get sick. My poor hubby could hardly get out of bed the next morning and this was pretty much the state he remained in for the rest of our trip! I was determined to keep on with the plan and packed us up on Tuesday to head to Kamloops to a cabin I'd booked on Pinantan Lake. I drove all the way and when we arrived around dinner, Christian crashed on the couch and I unpacked, made dinner which he couldn't eat, took the kids for a walk on the ice covered lake, and put the kids to bed. Not quite the way we'd pictured things! Needless to say we did have a lot of fun, thanks to lots of drugs for Christian, but I had to do most of the packing/unpacking, and care of the kids. We enjoyed the sun, which has been severely lacking on Salt Spring...
Got to try ice fishing...

Go for a go-kart ride... Brennan threw up on the way to go-karting and then was fine. He went on a high speed one with Christian and steered like a maniac and then threw up again as soon as we started to drive away in our car. The throwing up lasting til about midnight on Wednesday. This is when I seriously began to think about packing up and going home and beginning to feel a bit ticked that my family was so sick for our only holiday in over four years!
On Thursday, after Christian visited a walk-in clinic in Kamloops, we headed to Sunpeaks, and had a great time exploring the village and swimming and then drove back to Chilliwack. That's when Isaiah started to get sick.
We did get to visit some dear friends in Chilliwack/Abbotsford and then I got to attend a cancer fund raiser at Heather's church to hear Feather Janz speak and some great music. I was blown away by Lisa Adrianne's story and singing and I cried a lot, which I think was a great way to get over our vacation that did not turn out the way I'd planned... My sickness started on the ferry ride back to Salt Spring and I came home exhausted. After times like that, all I can usually say is "c'est la vie" and that I believe the verse that says that God works all things together for good... I'd like to say I always rest in that belief but then I'd be lying about the tantrums I throw :) Funny thing is, that we're already talking about the memories we made and all the kids remember was the fun!