Happy April Fools Day

For all of you faithful blog readers that have been with me from the start of my blog, you know that April Fools Day means DANGER in our house. (This is one of our daughter's favorite holidays.) I know I will miss my daughter when she goes away to college but I don't think I will be missing her on April 1st of next year. I know you are all on the edge of your seat wondering what she came up with this year. Since she did not have to work, I knew I wouldn't have to worry about a phone call about a fake accident at work. Well, true to her form she waited until we went to bed to put her plan into action. Her first task was to do a good job in coating our toilet seat with Vaseline. (I won't go into detail of what a surprise that was first thing in the morning.) In the kitchen she put vinegar in our coffee pot. She also rearranged our kitchen in moving things around. She then put some stuffed animals in different cupboards to surprise us when we opened them up. She did make a nice April Fool's sign for us. Now this could not be MY daughter I am talking about, could it? I hope you are enjoying a Happy April Fools Day.

A Celebration of A Life

The last couple of months I have had several friends that have had babies. It is such a happy and joyous occasion to celebrate these new lives. Today on the other hand, we had the joy of celebrating a dear lady's life of over 90 years. Betty however, was not there to join us as she is now enjoying her new life in heaven. She had such a beautiful testimony of a life lived for God. What a challenge to live one's life 100% sold out to God. Betty was a Mother of a missionary who has been on the mission field for over 40 years. To be able to release your children and grandchildren to the Lord to go overseas for most of their life is not easy. As her daughter just went back to the mission field Betty reassured her that she would be o.k., she was in God's hands just as her daughter is in God's hand. Betty assured her daughter that even if they didn't see each other again down here on earth, they would enjoy their reunion in heaven. Well, done thou good and faithful servant!

Are You Claustrophobic?

Are you Claustrophobic? That is a good question. I know I didn't have trouble with tight spaces ten years ago but how do I feel about it now? I had no trouble with heights ten years ago however, I have noticed that I now do feel a bit queasy when I am up high. The reason the question of being claustrophobic has come up is that I am going to have an MRI done for a problem with one on my legs. So with the up coming tests where I will be in a tight space I thought I would do a bit of an experiment to see how I feel about tight spaces. I tried laying on the floor of our pantry. I also tried laying under our futon. I also went into a tight closet. Unfortunately I don't think I learned a whole lot from my scientific experiment but it did help bring some life to our lazy Sunday afternoon.

Happy Spring!

It is starting to warm up a bit, We have been waiting for spring for a LONG time. Vern and I were out today and we came home to a special little gift. My sister-in-law Brenda, made this amazing little "Happy Spring" gift. Thanks Brenda for helping us usher in spring!

Please Play Again

Every year here in Canada the Tim Horton's coffee shop has "Roll Up The Rim To Win". This is as close as I come to playing the Lotto. I have a great ability to never win anything. Therefore Tim Horton's, "Roll Up The Rim To Win" has not been a draw for me to quickly run in and buy a coffee so that I might win it big. I have however bought a few coffee's due to early morning trips to the airport and things like that when I really needed some thing hot to drink. Although I dream of having that winning cup of: a new car, or $10,000, which I have pledged to use towards Ruth and Zachary's college fund, I know too well from years past and present what "Please Play Again" looks like. I am just glad that my hope and trust is in not in "Roll Up The Rim To Win", but in Jehovah Jireh - My God will Provide.

Birthday Celebration

Last night we had Titus' birthday celebration. For his special meal he wanted a bar-b-que. The weather was a lot nicer to grill out yesterday then when we did it at the end of January for Ruth's birthday. He had his two best friends over to join us for his party. And if you are wondering how Titus likes to celebrate, just read the t-shirt that we got him and that says it all.

Happy Birthday Titus!

Fourteen years ago God blessed us with with a precious little boy, Titus Otto Dyck, who would complete our family. I had a troubled pregnancy so it was with great joy and tears of happiness that we welcomed him into this world. Now here we are 14 years later. Titus we wish you a VERY Happy Birthday! We are so glad God brought you into our family. We would not be complete without you. You keep us smiling, and hopefully young at heart. Have a wonderful day!

Empty Handed

Although I am a city girl, there are many things that I enjoy about a small town. It is nice to walk into the bank and know the ladies by name and actually have a relationship with them that you chat about their lives and families. It is also nice going into the local grocery store and know many of the employees and managers. However, this morning was not one of those mornings that I was thankful to be living in a small town. I woke up at 6:30 a.m. and thought I would make a couple of batches of oatmeal chocolate chip muffins. I knew that my Sunday school class as well as my children would enjoy muffins this morning. I usually have lots of baking supplies on hand, so away I went making my muffins. I had them half way done before I realized I was lacking a very important ingredient, oatmeal. By this time it was 7:00a.m. and if I were living in Chicago it would not have been a problem to run out and pick some up. I did venture out to the only two stores open in town; a convenience store and a gas station little store. Unfortunately I came home empty handed. When I got home I went through every muffin recipe I had to see what muffins I could make with the ingredients I already had mixed up. Well, I couldn't find anything I could make with what I had already mixed in my bowl so it was time to move on to plan C. I did end up making a chocolate coffee cake for the my children and Sunday school class although by the time I got that in the oven it was then after eight and I had to rush around to get out the door on time. I did finish up making my muffins when I got home from church and it looks like the boys will bringing them for their lunches. Even though I did come home empty handed this morning and I wished for a few more conveniences in this small town in Ontario, I can still say that I enjoy the small town atmosphere.

WELCOME HOME!

This morning it was an early morning as I was up at 4:00 to go pick Vern up at the airport. His had a flight that flew through the night. Needless to say, he was pretty tired when I picked him up. We are glad to have him home again!

Out In The Work Force

With the economic situation of the world, there are lay offs and job losses every where. Our family has felt this like many others. Last summer it took one of our sons three months to get a full time job. Then over the winter two other sons were laid off. We are PRAISING THE LORD that as of Monday all of our adult children are working again. Since the construction industry has been hit hard, Seth might not have steady work through the spring and summer. However, we are thankful for each day that our children are able to work. It is nice to see empty spots in our Dyck parking lot during the day.