Keeping Busy

Well, it seems as if the golf season may be over, for me anyway. I've only worked one of my last five scheduled shifts at the golf course - the other days weren't busy enough to need someone working in food & beverage. So, I've been enjoying the time off and keeping pretty busy, for now.

I always seem to have lots of off ice stuff I can do for skating - this week I was preparing entry forms for an upcoming competition. Next week it will be bills. I enjoy the days I work on skating stuff; I take the laptop into our office and spread out, I always feel so productive after an office-skating day!

On Tuesday, I was feeling a little crafty, so I worked on a few little projects I've been wanting to try. I made a little Halloween sign for our front door and started a few 'Scrabble Tile Necklaces'.

Here's the Halloween sign...


(I was having trouble taking a picture - I kept getting a glare because of the glass - so, I took it off the wall and set it on the floor in our spare room.)

We've had the Ikea frame hanging on the wall for a few weeks now, and it's been empty. I got this idea from a blog, but I don't remember which blog. Anyway, I just used some Halloween scrapbook paper and scrapbook letters to create the word 'BOO'...the pumpkin and the spider on either end are stickers, I found them on sale at Michaels and figured they would fill the two open spots nicely. I'm not thrilled with it, but I'm going to leave it because it's better then nothing.

Here is a picture of Scrabble Tile Pendants - I didn't make these, this is a sample photo I found on Google Images...


(Each of those is a scrabble tile with paper decoupaged on to it, the paper is then sealed with a substance that hardens and looks like glass. A jump ring has been attached, and a chain or piece of leather makes the necklace.)

I'm going to try to make these for my skaters for Christmas this year. I actually bought all the supplies to make them last year, but didn't get them done...honestly, I didn't even get them started. I wanted the tiles to have a figure skating theme, but I can't find any supplies related to figure skating, so I've given up on that idea. Instead, I just bought some origami paper with various patterns, so I'll use that and try to make each one different. I'll post pictures if I'm happy with them when they're finished :)

Aside from these crafts, I also had time to write a letter to Aubrey, our World Vision sponsor child from Malawi! Another thing I've been wanting to do for some time. This is actually the first letter I've written to him, and it was a little hard at first - I didn't really know where to start. It took a little while, but I'm happy with the result, and know that he'll be happy just to receive something from us, it won't really matter what it says.

Last night was our first night of curling, too, so it was a busy day! Curling was a lot of fun - and more of a workout then I expected! I was nervous leading up to the first night - we had to register in the competitive league because it was the only night Curt and I were both free, but we're rookies, far from competitive. But, we ended up with great teammates, Vince and Patsy. Ironically, I know Patsy through golf, so that was comforting. Vince and Patsy are both really good and have a lot of curling experience, but, they're also very patient and willing to help us learn the sport. Curt and I were both happy with how we played, especially considering it was our first night. We know we have a lot to learn, but that will come with time. It didn't hurt that we WON either - always a good feeling!

Today was a little more low key - although I did make a pretty good dinner, which is worth mentioning, because it doesn't always happen in this house :) I made slow-cooker lasagna - so easy - with caesar salad and garlic bread. Curt said that it was a 'superb' meal!

After dinner we went to visit Kevin, Susannah, Stella and Cole. Cole was really cute, and sooo tiny! He has a lot of dark hair, and really LONG fingers. I held him for a little while, but he was hungry so he was pretty fussy - and fussy babies usually get passed back to their moms pretty quickly with me. I put our camera in my purse on the way out the door, and then forgot to take it out during our visit, so I don't have any pictures.

So yeah, it's been a good couple days! I'm looking forward to the next few days, too - this weekend is Skate Canada International, in Kingston. I bought my tickets for this competition months ago, so I'm excited that it's finally here! I'm sure I'll have a post or two about the competition, so stay tuned.

Planes, Trains and Automobiles

It's been a quiet week around here, apparently we were saving all the excitement for today!

Planes - Curt booked our flight and accommodations for Florida today!!! Our travel plans are going to be a little different this year then they have been in the past. For the past two years, we've done two trips each winter - but, this year we're going to do Florida in January and then save up for a BIG trip in April (there's still a lot of work to be done, but we're hoping to go to Kenya!). You may be wondering why/how we're able to go to Florida when we hope to do such a big trip a few months later. Well, our trip to Florida is part of a timeshare thing; so, if we do the week in Florida, the timeshare company will then give us a week at another one of their locations - anywhere in the world! So, we're hoping to use that week while we're in Kenya. Hopefully we can get all our ducks in a row and make all of this work :)

Trains - I actually don't have any train related news, but it made for a catchy title :) I do have some baby news though...

First, Curt's brother and his wife did the big gender reveal today. I posted about them back in August, and mentioned that they already have four boys, and are expecting their fifth baby in March. Well, they are going to have their own little hockey team soon...baby number five is a BOY!

And, our good friends, Ike and Jeanette (finally) had their baby today (I had to put that 'finally' in there because the baby was due on Oct. 15th and poor Jeanette was getting really tired of waiting)! They had a boy too, which we knew months ago...they had his name picked out months ago too, but kept that a secret until today. His name is Grayson James, isn't that cute!?! For those of you who know Jeanette, you know she's tiny...so, you're going to find this hard to believe, but Grayson was 10lbs 6oz!!! Mom and baby are doing well, but Jeanette will need a little extra recovery time because she ended up having a C-section. We haven't had a chance to talk to Ike or Jeanette yet, so we don't have any other details, what we know came from Facebook.

Oh, and I don't think I posted about this at the time, but our other close friends, Kevin and Susannah, had their second child last week. They had a boy too, Cole Jacob was born on October 13th. Curt and I are hoping to fit in a visit with these guys this weekend, but we're all kinda busy, so it may not work out. If not, hopefully soon.

So that's a lot of baby news - a lot of BOY baby news! And baby news is more exciting then train news, right?!?!

Automobiles - We SOLD our car today! Well, Curt sold it, and it's been in the works for awhile, but it was finalized today. Last week, Curt came across a Ford Ranger that he liked on Kijiji...he went to see it, and discovered that the guy selling it was looking to replace it with a small car...in order to buy the truck, Curt had to sell his small car. Do you see where this is going?!?! Yup, they ended up trading vehicles! It wasn't an even trade, the truck is newer/nicer and has fewer km's, so Curt just paid a portion of the asking price and the guy ended up getting money and a car for his truck!

This was actually my car, I bought it before we were married. But, when we got our Jeep, Curt let me drive the Jeep and he graciously started driving the car...he's good to me! I'm not really sad to see it go though, we put a lot of kilometers on that car - back and forth from Acton to Belleville on weekends while Curt and I were dating, a two hour work commute the year I worked at a high school AND two trips to and from Myrtle Beach - so, it was time to get rid of it.


The car, sitting outside the license bureau, all ready to be sold. This is actually the cars good side - there is a hole in the front bumper on the other side! Curt drove into the arm of a forklift...apparently it was buried in snow, or something like that?!?!

Curt is more of a truck guy anyway - this is his third Ford Ranger! And by far the nicest, which I'm very thankful for.


He looks proud, doesn't he?!?

See what I mean about all the excitement coming today!

Lucy the Librarian

For the past two weeks, our local Christian radio station (UCB Canada) has been running a contest called 'Lucy the Librarian'. I've been listening to this station for almost a year now, but this is the first time I've participated in a listeners contest - this one was just too good to pass up.

So, the contest was called 'The Incredible UCB Book Giveaway' with Lucy the Librarian. From October 4th to the 15th, Lucy the Librarian revealed the titles of the 100 books in the Giveaway Library. Listeners had to keep track of the titles and authors of the books, collecting as many as possible over the twelve days.



I didn't even come close to getting all 100 book titles, in fact, I only had 36 book titles. But, this afternoon, the host explained that he would be doing a 'spot check' - he would randomly ask for ten book titles, and you only had to get 8 of the 10 correct, so I thought it was worth a try.

Just after 3pm this afternoon, the host made the announcement that it was time and that he was looking for caller #99 - so, I started dialing! I was really surprised when I got through right away, but I guess I was a little too anxious because I was caller #1, HA! From there, I frantically hit redial for the next hour - and I got through five more times (I was #17, #49, #66, #75 and #90)!

Curt arrived home early on in the process, so he was calling too, but he wasn't having the same luck I was. That is until the end, when he got through and was caller #100...it's not as bad as you think, caller #99 had gotten something wrong, so they were still looking for a winner!!! I was soooo excited - I was jumping up and down!

And here's what happened when Curt got through....

The host asked for Book #4 - I didn't have that one :(
The host asked for Book #13 - I didn't have that one :(
(It's not looking good at this point)
The host asked for Book #22 - I HAD IT! Crazy Love, by Francis Chan
(I've been wanting to read this one, so I'd love to win it!)
The host asked for Book #38 - I HAD IT! Growing Grateful Kids, by Susie Larson
The host asked for Book #51 - I didn't have it, game over :(

By this time, it was already after 4pm, and I was late for skating. So, I asked Curt to keep calling, but I had to leave.

He never got through again :( Curt kept listening, and apparently they said the person that won was #99 - so they must have edited it for some reason?!? The man that won had 55 book titles - that's 19 more then me!!!

Oh well, it was a lot of fun collecting the titles! Lucy the Librarian often gave the titles and authors name quite quickly, so I would write down as much as possible, and then go to amazon.com to make sure I had the right information. So, I've added a number of books to my 'To Read' list...now I'll just have to buy them.

A 'Thankful' Long Weekend - Acton Portion

Having arrived in Acton on Saturday evening, we were able to enjoy all day Sunday with the family. The forecast was warm and sunny, and that's exactly what we got! We took full advantage of the day, and went to a nearby pumpkin patch for wagon rides, a corn maze and, of course, pumpkins!

We started with a short wagon ride out to a corn maze. There were two mazes to choose from - a large 'adult' maze that was supposed to take an hour, and a short 'kids' maze that was supposed to take thirty minutes. Obviously, we went with the 'kids' maze...and it's a good thing, because that one ended up taking us forty-five minutes! There were 'clues' throughout the maze, and we were looking for five letters to spell a word at the end. Nolan seemed to enjoy it, and quickly caught on to searching for the 'treasure' as he called it.


Nolan, pointing out one of the clue stations.


Whenever we came to a fork in the path, Nolan got to pick the path we would take next.


Nolan and I, hiding in the corn, ready to jump out and scare the rest of the group. The second time we did this, I think Nolan legitimately startled Curt when he jumped out and yelled 'boo'.


The 'Mr. Mom' photo...Curt with Nolan, and Tom with Abby.


Awwww, I LOVE this picture. Two of my favourite guys, both looking really cute!


CUTE, no other words needed.


Getting ready to head home. Nolan with the pumpkins he selected, and Abby catching a little nap.

Sorry for the picture overload! Tom and Krystle forgot their camera, so I had to be sure to get lots for them...and then I just had to share them with you!

We also spent Sunday night and Monday in Acton; Monday was really low key, we didn't even get out of our pajamas until almost noon. We had dinner at my parents, and just before dinner, Nolan and I went outside to play in the leaves. And, of course I have some pictures of that, too...


One side of Nolan, sweet and innocent.


And Nolan's other side, mischievous! He is just about to throw those leaves at my head, which he thought was hilarious!

Curt and I left for home right after dinner on Monday; we were expecting the traffic to be pretty bad, but were pleasantly surprised and made it home in good time.

So, it was a great weekend...and having had Monday off, this week is going extra fast!

A 'Thankful' Long Weekend - Piker Portion

Curt and I had very busy weekends...some of the activity was on our own, and some it was together. Overall, I think we both enjoyed the time with friends and family.

Curt's weekend started Thursday night, when friends started arriving for the Piker Open. Seven of the ten guys were here visiting Thursday night, and five of them spent the night. They were up early Friday morning - they played two rounds at Oak Hills on Friday, so they had to get an early start. Friday was the 'Founders Cup'...something new to the Piker Open this year; it was team play, modeled after the Ryder and/or Presidents Cup. Conveniently, the five people that spent the night here were all on the same 'Founders Cup' team - so, they could get dressed in their team uniform without anyone from the other team seeing them :)


A slightly awkward picture of 'Team VanderWal' - Curt, Jeremy, Pete, John and Dustin.

Although it was close after the first 18 holes, Team VanderWal ended up with a HUGE win! The final nine holes was singles match play, and Team VanHuizen only got 1/2 a point...to the non-golfers reading this, that's not good. In the end, Team VanderWal won 17.5 to 7.5! The above picture shows the team with the official Piker trophy...which apparently gets to stay at our house for the year.


The official Founders Cup score sheet, created by Curt. He made, and printed, this at work (of course).

The guys played another 18 holes on Saturday, this time at Black Bear Ridge. Saturday was just normal individual stroke play; and congrats to Colin, who was the winner this year. Curt had a rough go on Saturday, and unfortunately finished last. He is usually really lucky on the golf course - if his ball goes in the rough, he'll find it, and be able to play it! Or, if his ball hits a tree, it will bounce right into the fairway. Crazy! But, those things weren't happening on Saturday.

In case you can't tell by my lengthy summary of the Piker, I'm a little jealous of the whole thing! It just seems like so much fun. But, it's a boys only event, so I'll never get to play in it. I'd be horrible anyway, but it would be fun!

Anyway, since nine of the ten guys were staying at our place on Friday night, I wasn't allowed to be at home. So, Jeanette had Maria and I over for a girls night. I picked up Thai food on my way home from skating, and we ate that, watched a movie and then visited for awhile. It wasn't anything too crazy, and we didn't really stay up too late...probably because Jeanette is pregnant and due any day, so she doesn't have a lot of energy. It was a good night though.

And, just for fun, some pictures of what nine men did to our house in two short days...


Our dining and living rooms. Yup, the dining room table was swapped out for a ping pong table. And below that, notice the random futon mattress...it didn't matter where it was, if there was floor space, the guys slept there! And, I'm guessing by the couches, they wanted to try stadium seating?!?


And, our fridge! Notice the beer shoved everywhere, including the fruit drawer.

Saturday was a typical day for me, I had to skate and went from the arena to the golf course to work. It was a quiet evening at the golf course and I didn't have to stay late...which was perfect, because Curt and I left for Acton following my shift.

More about that in the next post...

Better Late Than Never

Back in September, I posted about taking Nolan, my nephew, skating for the first time. You can read about it here...(I've tried to post a link here, so you could click on it and go right to my post from September 15th, but I can't get it to work?)

Anyway...

At the end of that post, I mentioned that I didn't have any pictures, so I had to wait for my brother to send them to me. Well, that never happened! But, Krystle posted a few on Facebook today, so I'm going to 'borrow' them from there.


Nolan and I when we first stepped on the ice. I love that you can see his big smile in the picture! My back was a little sore by the time we finished; I spent the majority of our time on the ice bent over like this, holding Nolan up.


Returning to the dressing room after our skate. We let Nolan walk down the hall by himself, first so that he could get the feeling of walking in his skates (which is all we want kids to do at first, walk on the ice), and second, because he was really wobbly and it made us laugh (he looked drunk!).


This one is a little blurry, but I had to post it anyway. This isn't from our skate together, either, this is from his lessons in Acton. Krystle's caption below this picture is the best part: On his bum at skating again! Snow Angels are his favourite thing to do at skating!!

Nolan is on the younger side for starting to skate - usually kids are at least three years old when they start, and Nolan won't be three until November. So, it may take him a little longer then the older kids, but he'll get it, and it will benefit him in the long run! In the mean time, as long as he's smiling when he's out there, he's doing well!

And, just because I can't forget about Abby, here is a picture of her that I 'borrowed' from Facebook.


I thought her little smile was funny in this picture, a little crooked. Maybe she's been sampling the wine - notice that the Jolly Jumper is conveniently located next to the wine rack!

I can't wait to see these cuties this weekend! And I have to admit, I'm pretty excited about my moms turkey dinner, too!

Just Because

I don't really have anything to blog about, but it's been awhile so I feel like I should do something. So, this is going to be a random little update about what's been going on for the last week.

I have been working A LOT! Most days, I spend mornings at the golf course, have an hour or two at home in the afternoon, and then head to the arena for a few hours of coaching in the evenings. I've had a few shifts on the beverage cart at work, and it's been a nice relaxing change of pace. My first cart shift was during a high school tournament, so the tips weren't great, but it was a nice day, so it was just good to be outside. Things are finally starting to slow down at the course though, and I couldn't be happier about that. This week I was only scheduled for two shifts, which is fine by me!

Skating is...fine. I have solo music cut for all but two of my skaters, so that's a major relief. I've started choreographing a few solos, and hope to get all of them finished in the next two weeks. I'm planning on taking kids to a competition in early December, so we don't have any time to waste!

Oh, and I just thought of something kind of exciting...Curt and I have joined a curling league! Go ahead, laugh, I'm laughing as I type that :) We had a few friends all lined up, and we were going to register as a team, but clubs don't let you do that. They don't want a full team of rookies, so they split you up into pairs...so, we lost the other two (Kevin and Maria). But, Curt and I decided to go ahead and join. We ventured out in the cold and rainy weather tonight to pay our fees, and then the league starts in two weeks. Should be a fun night out once a week.

This coming weekend is Thanksgiving, and I am really excited about going to Acton to visit! We're only able to make it home for Sunday and Monday, but this time last week I didn't think we were going to be able to go at all, so two days is obviously better then none!

I have to coach and work on Saturday and Curt has his own big event this weekend, it's Piker Open! Piker is a golf tournament he plays in with some of his closest friends...it sounds low key, but this is like the PGA for them. They'll play two 18 hole rounds on Friday, and one 18 hole round on Saturday. On Friday they're trying out a Ryder Cup format for the first time, and I'm pretty sure Curt's team is the better team, so they should win. And then on Saturday, they'll play standard stroke play. Curt won the Piker trophy two years ago, so we'll see if he can win it back this year. Check out www.pikeropen.com if you're curious about the tournament :)

Hopefully I'll have a more exciting post after Thanksgiving weekend.