MULA a Blessing in Disguise

What exactly is a MULA you ask - according to uncle EATON it is a: Mandatory Unpaid Leave of Absence - kind of ironic that they use a term often used to describe money as the acronym for a week of not getting any! Yes in an effort to try and prevent further lay-offs my company decided to require all employees to take a week off and this week was mine. Thankfully I will get Easter Sunday off without the worry of getting called in which is a blessing.
I have spent much time pondering the events that took place throughout this week approximately 2009 years ago. There were several defining moments that took place:

Jesus entering Jerusalem while riding a donkey and the town folks covering his path with their garments and palm leaves while shouting 'Hosanna'
The Priests plotting against Jesus and for 30 pieces of silver Judas Iscariot joined in on the betrayal.
The Last Supper and the explanation of "Communion"
The Garden of Gethsemane
The betrayal of Jesus by Judas
Peter's denial of Jesus
Jesus' trial by the Jewish leaders
Jesus' questioning by Pontius Pilate
The releasing of Barabbas in exchange for Jesus
The beating and mocking of Jesus
The trip to Golgotha with the cross
The Crucifixion
The burial
THE RESURRECTION!

As a Christian one of the things during the "Holy Week" that always struck me was Peter's denial of Jesus. Here is a man who walked Hand-in-Hand with Jesus and in a moment of fear he not only denied Him once he did it 3 times in a matter of moments!
I know why Peter scoffed at the idea that he would fulfill this prophecy in the time frame given him. As the owner of a crowing rooster I realize that the window of time from his conversation with Jesus to the final denial was a short amount of time - at least it was if the rooster that Jesus spoke of was anything like our rooster Bobby!
It just goes to solidify the fact that we need to keep our focus on God and the fact that He is with us (Really With US - Not just a state of mind) and we need to acknowledge Him and spend every moment possible communing with Him - after all that is our Purpose!

The Easter Egg has been labeled with all sorts of meanings, some religious and other pagan. I like to think of the Easter Egg as a reminder of the Resurrection of Jesus -and the Real Easter Egg resulting in a new born chick reminds us of New Birth and the resulting empty shell reminds us of the empty Tomb!

While I didn't hatch them myself the kids and I picked up 6 new spring chicks today. I hope to use them as an object lesson so they will be reminders to the children about the importance of Easter not only during this week but throughout the entire year.

Happy Easter

Mark 16:1-6
1 Saturday evening, when the Sabbath ended, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome went out and purchased burial spices so they could anoint Jesus’ body. 2 Very early on Sunday morning, just at sunrise, they went to the tomb. 3 On the way they were asking each other, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance to the tomb?” 4 But as they arrived, they looked up and saw that the stone, which was very large, had already been rolled aside. 5 When they entered the tomb, they saw a young man clothed in a white robe sitting on the right side. The women were shocked, 6 but the angel said, “Don’t be alarmed. You are looking for Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Look, this is where they laid his body.

An Excuse To Be Irish?

Today is one of the few days each year that half of me looks forward to with glee and the other half dreads.



We are starting to see the hints of spring and with the celebration of a great man now known as St. Patrick there is an abundance of green to cheer one up (along with a full growler of stout) yet I find myself struggling to celebrate the day without letting my mood turn to sadness when my thoughts become overrun with memories of my father.
Today would have been my Fathers 65th birthday. It seems like just yesterday I was saying my goodbye's yet the fact is that it was over 15 years ago now.
As I type this I find myself struggling with he fact that I allow my emotions to rule me at times - they say that it gets better with time but I have yet to find that saying true.
While sitting on my father's head stone today I was reflecting on all the happy moments and wondered what the dashing young man from my memories would look like now if he were still alive (my luck he would still have more hair on his head than I do!) and wondered what would our relationship be like now that I am an "adult" with a family of my own.
As I sat there under the blue sky watching the robins search in vain for the first worms of the spring I became thankful that I have a reason to celebrate. While my wife might have some Irish heritage - the closest I come is English but thanks to my father's date of birth I too can be Irish for at least one day a year! I began to feel my mood change more to cheer and on the spring breeze there was a hint of corned beef and cabbage and despite the lack of a rainbow with a pot of gold at the end I knew I was the luckiest man alive.
I was alive and had my own little leprechauns waiting for me at home - as well as a wife who also shares my love for corned beef with potatoes, carrots and some nice green cabbage. Thank goodness for St. Patrick's day!

My Dad's favorite song played on my favorite instrument.



Happy Birthday Dad
Stephen Patrick Wearne SR
3/17/43 - 2/14/93
Gone but not Forgotten

8 is GREAT.

All I can say is the years fly by! It seems like just yesterday I was waking Rebecca in the twilight to take her to the hospital for the birth of our son - Alexander - and now in the blink of an eye he is 8 years old. I decided to go through some of our digital pictures and picked out some of my favorites throughout the years. The one thing that stands out the most as I looked at these is the constant smile on his face!

Alex,

Happy Birthday son. You are very special to me and as I sit here typing this I can't help but reflect on the memories we have created during the past 8 years of your life. I remember the day I found out you were growing inside of your Mamma's belly and the nights spent talking to you and feeling you kick against my hand even though Mamma was trying to sleep! The day you were born you amazed us all when you rolled yourself over on the delivery room table - I knew right then an there you were all Boy! It has been 8 years since that day and you continue to amaze me as I watch you grow. I have great memories of time spent together as father and son, time spent sitting on the side of a stream fishing, on the rock wall hunting deer, sitting around the fire camping or in the back yard; time spent playing board games at the kitchen table, building Lego creations, playing baseball in the back yard, or just cuddling under a warm tee-tee they have all been precious to me. I am proud of the kind young man you have grown to be and although I wish you could be my "little boy" forever I look forward to watching you grow into a man and the loads of new memories we will create in the coming years. For now I pray that you will enjoy your childhood and especially the upcoming year, Happy Birthday Son - I Love You!

Daddy

Doggy days of winter

For her 10th Birthday, Ariel received a sewing machine and has been taking weekly sewing lessons from Mom Rathbun - A.K.A. Grammy.

Over the past few months she has made herself an outfit, little pillows for everyone and most recently a sweater for Gabriel - our Min Pin.

Most of the people who read this know that Gabriel had an accident as a puppy and as a result does not use his right leg very much. Supporting his weight with and relying on only 1 front leg has caused him to develop the muscle mass of a bull dog rather than that of a little lap dog!

Now I am not a big fan of dressing up animals but you can't help but feel bad for the little guy when the mercury drops and after his morning jaunt he curls up in a little ball and shivers in a feeble attempt to warm up.

We tried a couple of different store bought sweaters that we found on the mark down rack but due to his massive shoulder muscles they just didn't fit comfortably and were a pain in the Hiney to put on and take off.

Rebecca decided to do some research and ended up finding a pattern and after taking some measurements passed the project over to Ariel. Below are some pictures of the finished project. Needless to say - as a man who attaches loose buttons with a fishing knot and has no understanding of how a sewing machine works - I am very impressed and look forward to seeing her talents progress.

Top view

Bottom View

Getting warmer

Our little "hot dog"



Now he might not look too pleased in the pictures above but after feeling the warmth return to his achy little bones he was happy as a "bug in a rug" for lack of a better term!

Tagged - Blog Meme.

Here are the rules:

1. Go to your documents/pictures files.

2. Go to the 6th file folder.

3. Find the 6th picture.

4. Blog about it.

5. Tag 6 friends to do the same.



Now I normally poo-poo these kind of things but have decided not to be such a party pooper (or in this case - meme pooper) in 2009! Due to the fact most of the people I know who would participate have already been tagged I will be ignoring rule # 5.

This picture was taken during the summer of 2007. Alex and I spent the day together while Ariel was away at summer camp. We went fishing on State Line Pond and I taught Alex how to fish with rubber worms. We had a great day on the water and Alex caught several fish and was really excited when he reeled in this nice little bass. I have great memories of summer days spent fishing with my dad and now I have begun to make new memories with my son.

The warm sun on our face - the hum of dragonfly wings

The calming sound of waves lapping against the side of the boat

The excitement of a child catching a fish

The Memories that can never be taken away

That is what this picture reminds me of!

Winter Fun with the Family

As everyone knows I really enjoy the fall and winter months. I enjoy the time spent in the great outdoors in the cool weather and both my kids are following in my foot steps. We have had the chance to go out Ice fishing with my cousins the past 2 weekends. The first weekend was cold, sunny and the ice was like glass - the next weekend was actually -4 degrees out on the ice but there was a nice coating of snow which made walking around much better. As always we kept warm with a steady flow of food - Deer venison, Caribou venison and sausage, goose meat, corned beef hash, chicken eggs - fresh from my little farm, and the menu goes on and on! It is nice to spend time outside in the fresh air doing something I love - Fishing. What makes it even better is my kids are out there with me as well as my extended family from my fathers side.
The Cousins
Ariel with her first catch of the day

Alex and Sonny's trout

Getting Jiggy with it!

Waiting Patiently with a Smile

The Great Procrastinator.

I start by asking - What and/or Who defines Tomorrow?

I realize that my last post said to look out for a post "tomorrow" but for some strange reason it has been over a month since I last sat down and posted here on my blog.

Am I the King of all Excuses?
Well I could be if I tried but I will spare you my feeble attempts to explain why I have been just plain lazy and inattentive to my posting!

This past December went by quickly and to be honest I really don't remember a whole lot about it other than the time spent with family and friends during the holidays.

Well considering that today is a tomorrow to a past date here is a day time and night time picture of the Christmas Tree in all its glory set up in the house.

Oh Christmas tree - 2008

The Christmas season is upon us again! In keeping with our family tradition we went out this week and cut down our Christmas Tree.

We have been getting the same kind of tree the past 3 years - it is a conifer that smells like citrus when the needles are rubbed.

It was a nice cold day and we enjoyed ourselves despite the fact that there is no snow on the ground - something that was corrected the next day!

As in years past the first tree we found was the one that we ended up taking.

I enjoy the time that we spend together looking for a tree each year and even though we almost always find a tree immediately after walking into the tree farm - I always spend at least a half hour walking around before cutting it down just so we can enjoy the experience and develop life long memories.

The kids with the Chosen Tree
Me and the Love of my life - Rebecca


My Awesome Family

Me and my Kids

Ariel and Alex posing with the

2008 Christmas Tree

Be on the look out for the next post tomorrow which will be of the tree in our home with all its glorious decorations and lights!

Friends + Sports = A Night of FUN!

It has been awhile since I have sat down and tended to my Blog and I realized that there have been several events worth blogging about. A couple of weeks ago we had a family night out with one of our good friends family. We went to a UCONN Hockey home game.

I recommend that anyone with a family who is looking for a great night out as a family without draining the savings account take a look into attending a college game. I spent less for a family of 4 than it would have cost for a large 2 topping pizza!

After picking out our seats behind the penalty boxes Mitch and I made our way over to a table which the kids could sign up for a chance to participate in a friendly competition on the ice between periods. There were several different contests and raffles that we signed up for along with everyone in our family.

The game was exciting and it was nice to spend time with friends and watch my kid's competitive spirit come out. Despite our Team losing in the final period we had a great time.

The highlight of the evening was between periods when Ariel's name was called out over the loudspeaker as one of the chosen contestants for "Dress like a Husky" - It was at this time I realized that we never mentioned to the kids that we had entered their names! Ariel was really excited thinking that she had won something - it wasn't till she realized that she had to go out onto the ice in front of everyone there that she started to get nervous and wanted to back out of the competition.

After a little teasing and lots of encouragement she made her way out onto the ice. She competed against another little girl by moving down the ice putting on a UCONN hockey uniform and shooting a puck into the goal. She moved swiftly through the competition until she took the shot on goal! Thankfully due to her speed in the beginning of the course she had just enough time to recover the puck and send it to its home in the net!

The Omelettes are coming - The omelettes are coming!

No, its not the British its the chickens! It seems like just yesterday the "girls" were nothing more than a bunch of tiny puff balls - they sure do grow up fast!

This past week the Girls turned 20 weeks old and right on schedule they started presenting us with our much awaited little golden eggs. Well OK they might not be "golden" eggs but they sure are golden delicious on the inside.

Last Sunday Ariel found 2 soft shelled eggs under the deck then on Tuesday we found 1 egg in on of the nesting boxes - then Wednesday there were 2 more eggs. Today there were 2 eggs that were broken due to the hens dropping them as they flew off their roosts this morning and 2 more in the nesting boxes this afternoon!

The kids have enjoyed checking for eggs throughout the day and I will soon be enjoying my first omelet!