Old friends with new kids. A closer look at this moment would reveal: A new baby boy who spends much of his day in tow with his master photographer dad. Two middle kids hanging with their moms. The two eldest daughters about to get acquainted. And in the opposite corner, a mini-scene involving a first time mom and pop that could make you glow nearly as much as they do. What the photo does not reveal is that miraculously, the children allotted us early 30-somethings all just enough time to catch up. My long chatty walk with Tannis and our later evening extra visit with Jer were total luxury, to say the least. Tanks-a-lot, guys.

Me and my funny, cute, hip, generous, humble and occasionally all-knowing mom marvelling at the sunset, but mostly just smurf'n around and cracking ourselves up as usual.

Good morning baby

What a merry, uplifting and relaxing weekend it was for me with these city dolls.

Thank-you for being here.

While we're on the theme of pictures high on meaning, low on focus...

What would happen if for the next bit, i post at least one photo everyday, with or without any text. And, i keep changing the little write-up under COASTING until something sticks. It's better than whatever I've been doing for the last half-year and it might save me from dumping this thing into outer-space forever!

Hey guys. I don't usually view or even create blogs (no offense), but I had to drop a little ad in for something big that's coming, bigger than Halo 3.

"Shake Hands with the Devil" is a major motion picture that will hit the theaters on Sept 28. It's based on my all time fave book by the same name.

It's a story of a Canadian general who was placed in charge of a U.N. peacekeeping mission to oversee a peace agreement in a tiny country in the middle of Africa. Rwanda. Rwanda WAS the most highly populated country of Africa, but that was about to change. In less than 100 days, Hutu Power extremists managed to slaughter over 800,000 Tutsi's and moderate Hutus, in what was the most effective genocide known to man. Most of the slaughter was commited with machetes. There was no elaborate system of trains and ovens, just lot's of men with tired arms and machetes.

Strictly awful.
I have read quite a few good books on the heart of Africa lately:

"We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families"

and "the shallow graves of rwanda" are both fantastic.
There are a few more, but no book has struck me more deeply than Gen. Romeo Dallaire's account of his involvement in Rwanda.

His writing left me staring out the window, wordless, just stuck. Traumatized actually. It took me 3 months to read that book. It was just so stinkin awful, you had to take breaks. The U.N. had given him a mandate of inaction, he could do nothing more than watch the horror.

Please go and see the film.

I won't be so gullible as to say "never again", because it is happening right now, in Sudan, mostly in the Darfur region.

I have thought recently, that the only reason why anyone gets upset about Rwanda, is because it is over. Now, we can be upset, and we will lose nothing. We must remember the 800,000+ who perished. But let's go further and adopt some World Vision kids.

Far out.

Steve.

I hope that made some kind of sense.

Bring back good old Canadian peacekeeping/peacemaking. Chapters 6,6.5, and 7!

My photoshop wizard sister-in-law has done it again.

Thanks Heathcliffe

kitty story posted...
scroll down!
scroll down!

Simon's First Birthday!!! Cake, Crumbs, and Chaos HERE!

Happy August Birthdays you two

miracle surprise dream orange kitty born unto Em moving day morning

So, a kitty we kept from last year's litter was acting all grown up this spring and like the good, responsible, ex-southern manitoban country folk with a white-trash twist we are, we made a appointment to get her spayed. But then we forgot all about it. And then we kept reminding each other to re-make it. And it was during that time when the kitty's tummy began to swell and there were less screaming cat noises in the bushes reminding us to phone the vet, that Steve had a funny little dream. Baby kitties frolicing in a field. Big whoop, well, get this: a furry fluffy foo-foo calender style orange kitty pounces up from behind the rest! So, Steve tells me about his "silly" dream and we just kind of decide to put off fixing her and her obvious load. And why should this silly dream prevent us from not allowing more kitties to enter this cruel world? Because for years we have heard about how much Emily loves her cats, but "if only i had an orange one". So, being too busy to call vets and transport prego cats during our packing and moving month, we left it. And sure enough, moving day morning, little striped babies all over the upstairs. We carefully bundled them all in a big kennel with mama cat and kept loading our u-haul while they waited in the carport. Many hours after the trio of stripeys had been born, Steve and Tommy were having a hamburger in the carport and shooting the breeze beside the kennel when Steve started shaking his head and writing off the orange kitty dream (not that he had really thought more than twice about it in the first place). Just then, while sunlight gently flooded the kennel, the most spectacular orange fur popped out and it was then that Steve said "cool." and then told me and I cried and danced for joy!!! What about Emily?! She was at her best friend's house and I decided that orange kitty's purpose was to take the edge off the difficult good-bye they would have, so I waited until after that event to show her that.......are ya ready for the punch line of this rambling story, are ya?.....to show her thaaaaat....dreams really do come true.

(That was her clever Great-Grandma's response, by the way)

The End

Shyanne and Peyton

niece and nephew for me

also arrived on my island to stay, on moving day

honeymooners pat and susie-love them

a trippy walk on the docks

Best Friends for 3 years

Come back soon Cheyenne

holy crap, i have 3 kids!

(still hasn't hit me)

Simon John Franklin and the man who started it all...well, not really...what?

Um, hey gorgeous, you're distracting me from the peach tree I wanted to document. Yeah you there, you mind moving to the left?

I need to photoshop some white wings on that last one...i love you Thomas the Bruce.

more to come...

My beautiful baby turns one later this month. He loves it when the sun shines on the floor at a certain time each day. He sits on his bright warm spot and alerts us to his discovery with loud Goo's. Amazing how each of our children display personalities that are %100 their own. What made me think one would ever be the same as the other?
Oh, Simon.

Hi!


Here's something a little less disturbing than that last photo to look at while I take yet another break from my blog.


I just want to say that I miss "us"! The little comments and emails my blog stirred up always made my day. But our computer is all bunged up and I don't even have the patience to turn it on anymore. By fall, I'll have a little punkie in Grade 3, some free time and hopefully by then we'll be enjoying the high-speed Internet we're paying for.


Until then, we're taking millions of photos as always and we'll be straightening out our new home and life here in Qualicum Beach. Not a day passes without me feeling like a child-hood dream has come true for me living here. I feel this new wonder for God's tender-heartedness. But, not a day passes without me feeling like the challenges of having 3 kids is way beyond me. The good moments really are out of this world even when not compared with the miserable ones. The name "Coasting" applies again but I'll need a new slogan thingy because now we're not living at as much of a dead end anymore, geographically speaking . I'll be back to change it soon.

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A certain 8 1/2 month old took their first steps yesterday. Bring it on Simon. Show your bro that you're not some boring lump of slobber that stole his mommy.

Daddy Daughter fishing season started again last night. Wish them luck. Maybe this year they'll catch something legal and I'll be allowed to post the photos!

click for twinkle buddy

click for muffin man