Yesterday Visit

So yesterday Justin and I headed up to Mom and Dad's for a visit.

The whole way down Justin kept up this litany.
Where we going mom?
To Oma and Papa's house?
What do there mom?
I don't know Justin, visit I think, what do you want to do there?
Play with TOYS! was the delighted response.

Granted, after 10 minutes of this the conversation was getting rather old for me...but hey...what do you do when it's just the two of you in a car? You point out trucks and silos and farms and tractors. And manage to intersperse those into the conversation, and when all else fails... get "tagu" to help you drive the car (and be scared off all the transports on the road). That's what you do! :)

Anyways, had a lovely visit with my parents.
Helped mom with a computer problem.
Justin played and played and played some more.

We left a bit later than expected because the first attempt at downloading a thing that mom needed failed, and I wanted to get it all installed for her as well.

Justin fell asleep soon after we left.
Slept when I brought him into the house.
Slept even after Jim tried to wake him up.
Slept after I got him up.
Finally I held him in my lap so he could watch Thomas on my computer. That helped him get going again. If he'd gone to bed for good at 430 he would have been up WAY to early for me.
We had a BAD supper...pizza, but it fit for a end to a tiring day.

To read up on how I got him into bed at the close of the day, go here.

It's been a Spell

So it's been a spell since I've updated everyone. Not a whole lot to say either!

Okay...let's think here.....
This past weekend Jim and I headed out of town so that we could go to a teaching conference. We stayed at another Pastor's house as they were very close by. it was nice to stay with them and get to know them a bit more. Jim knows Doug better than I do, but the family seems quite nice and Doug is just this sweetie of a man. :)

This teaching conference was hosted by the Discipleship Committee of the RCA, Ontario Classis. The conference was put together to explain Vantage Point 3 and LOH (which official name escapes me at the moment). Anyways, LOH is based on Vantage Point 3 which is an adult discipleship/leadership training course. It lasts for three years, costs mega-bucks to be part of, but the classis is willing to reimburse some of that cost. LOH is directed toward youth, cost is more reasonable and includes a yearly retreat. Both sound good, but I have to admit I have some hesitancy toward it.

My hesitancy toward Vantage point 3 stems a lot from my irritation in the morning session where the Speaker used a lot of pop-psychology language where I ended up thinking...so what exactly is he trying to say here? Can't you just find a normal way of talking rather than using all these stupid catch phrases that don't mean anything.

My hesitancy toward LOH comes from
1. why should we pay for a conference that we might not be able to attend? Why should that cost be built in? Does it (and I never got this answered) include the price of accommodations (the standard answer to such like questions was "depends a lot on the churches and the region involved). Tells me nothing, even if it is true.
2. Most churches, if they put a bit of work into it, could develop a similar program for a lot less financial outlay on the whole. $100 per student per year (for 2-3 years)translates into a lot of cash. Cobbling something else together could quite effectively do just as good a job. Granted, means a bit of work on the part of the church, but that's what we're in ministry for...to do the best job we can with the resources God has granted us, to further the kingdom of God.

Enough of that. :)

Justin, while we were gone, had LOTS of fun with his grammer (Jim's mom). Tunnels, trains, tents, snow, popcorn and laughter all round. :)

I've posted my bunnies for sale. Have 12 to sell. I'll give kijiji a couple of weeks to do it's thing and then I'll just bring those I don't want to the market in London and sell them there. I potentially have two of them sold already. YEAH!!! :)

This coming weekend Jim is off to the Classis meeting in Welland, Justin and I might go to the Market in London and we're visiting my folks on Thursday (Justin and I, Jim has to work).

What else? Can't think of anything off the top of my head so I'll just close off then.

Update on my bunnies

So, all my young bunnies are sold! YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Most I sold for $10 a piece, two for $8 each, most went to decent homes as far as I know, and three I sold at market for not as much as I wanted, but ah well... at least I didn't have to feed them and I didn't want to risk being stuck with them either. :)

One lady came out at 11 p.m. to get her bunny she was so eager. Dragged her boyfriend along for the ride. Came out from London.

Sent one off yesterday to a lady who is hoping to start breeding her own bunnies. Had a lovely chat with her and her two little ones.

We're left with the two that I really wanted to keep as replacement girls so life is good. :) Oh...and the one non-grower that I still have no clue what I want to do with. Not sure that I can leave her with the piggies indefinitely.....

Some of Justin's favourite on-line places

As an aid to my hubby

some favourite pages of Justin's

colouring pages

• Disney CARS colouring pages.
• bob the builder colouring pages ... same company with CARS
• blue clues :)
  

Activity Sites

• thomas the train
• bob the builder
• pbskids for caillou, berenstain bears, and clifford.

And then of course there's the ever popular YouTube with it's various thomas the tank engine clips. :)

Challie's Contest

You'll notice in the sidebar a link to Challies new Contest.
He is giving away this month the following:

Three prizes will be awarded as follows:

• First prize: Five Films Gift Pack: Still Standing: The Stonewall Jackson Story, Inherit the Land: Adventures on the Agrarian Journey, The Eden String Quartet: A Bountiful Blessing, A Journey Home, The Peasall Sisters: Family Harmony.
• Second prize: New Films Pack: Still Standing: The Stonewall Jackson Story, Inherit the Land: Adventures on the Agrarian Journey.
• Third Prize: Still Standing: The Stonewall Jackson Story.

Yesterday Out of Town

Yesterday the whole family took our normal Monday let's get out of town day.

We went to London where we stopped to pick up mom because of a little boy's persistent request that we take gramma to the Train store.

Once there he gleefully showed gramma the trains that he didn't have. He then winnowed it down the two that he just had to have. Hard choice for a wee lad.

Gramma chose to spoil him.

He chose an Emily (with her two green coaches)






And a Sir Handel with his two red coaches.








So we have one very happy little boy who refused to nap for gramma. he had new trains! gramma was too much fun!

he apparently ate like a horse for gramma.

Jim and I had a nice day out. We just hung out together. didn't have a lot of shopping to do so we just went willy-nilly here and there. Fun to do that once in a while.

I should add this since Jim found the answer to a query.... we passed a protest of some sort or other and wondered what FARC was all about. Jim found the answer here.

They were among hundreds of thousands estimated to have marched at the same time in 185 cities around the world to protest the actions of FARC (the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia).

Sold Bunnies

So today we went to London, went for a couple of reasons.

1. sell bunnies
2. get some bouillon from Watkins at london market - used rabbit money to buy this! :)
3. pick up duckweed from mom's (that she picked up for us from a freecycle person) - made the fish happy when I stuck it in aquariums.

Sold Bunnies
3 mini rex to a pet store for $36
4 other bunnies at the Trail's End Market for less money than I wanted but it worked out over all.

For a grand total of about what I expected and less than what I hoped for. :)
In retrospect from a cost effective perspective would have been better to kill the older bunny that I brought in. Only got a bit for him, he probably weighed in at 6-7 lbs. So he would have given me more dog meat than what I got for him monetarily. BUT seeing as I liked this little boy, at least this way I can think that just maybe he's got a bit of life left in him, instead of thinking of him as dog food, a life I hope as a breeding buck in someone's rabbit program. :)

But of the three littles ... one had a bad eye so I consider anything I got would be a give-me. especially since originally I thought I had no choice but to keep her, but her eye was looking pretty good this morning, just a touch of cloudiness so I thought...she can leave! The others I just didn't want to feed up to a decent weight for butchering, so I got more than what they were worth weight wise. So that's good.

And the mini-rexes selling for $12 each...well..that's just way cool! :) As that's more than I think they were worth meat wise. So...Life is good. Was even able to pay Jim back for buying rabbit food. Good to surprise one's hubby once in a while. :)

I have left three bunnies that I want to sell. And if I don't sell them privately for $10 each then I will bring them to the market in 2-3 weeks. Bring them in early, hopefully have them at a better spot for selling (early sale better price from what I could observe).

One very curious mini rex. He weighs 1.25 lbs. Love this bunny, very tempted to keep him. He is such a curious soul. Always ready for the next adventure. He has pretty good form, not perfect, but he's young yet. I expect he'll mature into a solid buck. Part of me would like to keep him for my breeding program, and yet I wonder if I should or not. Have time to decide. Of course, if I get a solid cash offer for him he's gone. :)



Two mixed breeds.

• A tan and white female weighing at about 2 lbs. She's a nice young doe. Would keep her but she has a sister who looks almost the same with a slightly better temperament and is bigger than her by 2 oz. Doesn't seem like much, but when I want a larger meat rabbit, size matters.
  
• A tan male coming in at 1.5 lbs. --- this one Justin just really enjoys him. He is very placid and tolerates a little boy picking him up. Quiet and somewhat shy. Nice rabbit, if he'd been a female I'd want to keep him for his body build.
  

So...if my readers live close by and want a bunny...well... let me know, I'd be happy to help you out. :)

My Dog and My Boy

It was fun yesterday....After a day doing onions (I had gotten 20 pounds of onions cheap three weeks ago and finally had time to do them up - dehydrated some and chopped others up for the freezer) and taking breaks to play with the boy. Justin had slept in late so didn't have a nap, at 4ish he was starting to get pretty tired, so I thought to myself... I need to get out and do something with him. We don't need each other getting frustrated and mad so.....off we went to the park with Sassy.

Sassy LOVES the park. :) So does the boy child. :)
I had neglected to bring gloves for myself so we didn't go for a walk. That idea just seemed perfect to freeze my hands off! Instead we went to the snow-covered playground equipment and had fun on it. There I could keep my hands in my pockets or tucked up into my sleeves and stay warm for the most part. Justin wasn't allowed on the big children's section since it looked too slippery for my taste with a little lad. Proved to be a good choice as the wee children's section had plenty of zip for him.

Justin and Sassy had races down the slides. :) Who was first? Who was second? (they have two slides side by side...first was one side, second was the other). Who could do ready set go first? Could Sassy wait for Justin? Could Justin wait for Sassy? Who could get to the bottom, get themselves upright and get to the stairs for another go round? We had a blast for 20 minutes. Then with wet bottoms and cold hands we went home again.

I also thought it fun hearing comments from passers by. "Look! that doggie is sliding mommy?" "Yes, she is being a silly dog isn't she." "Look mommy boy playing with doggie!" :) Made me grin watching those smiles and hearing those comments. :)

We got there just in time for Daddy to take the car and head off for his meeting. He would normally have taken the van but flat tire and broken bolt nixed that plan!