Our NBGB turns One!

I can't believe a year has flown by and little Luca is now a year old (yesterday)! Here he is playing with his gifts.

The proud non-biological grandparents and big brother Aaron.


I know, I know, more animals. Jason complains that all we post are animal pics; however, who really ever gets tired of seeing a baby bunnie? He looks pretty cosy in Gary's hands.


Or, who ever gets tired of seeing a full grown bunnie? This guy is digging a hole. Why? Just because. Or yard looks like warn-torn Beirut! (spelling?)

Is this spring?

I visited my NBGBs today to drop off a little Easter gift. Here is Luca (1st birthday coming up on the 21st) with his Easter chick and book.

This is supposed to be a picture of Luca and Aaron - only Aaron disappeared before the shutter clicked and then I had a 'CARD FULL' message. Jeez, I hate that!


So, I'm officially blamming Frank for this mess below. We had all this snow stuff gone and look at it now. The only consulation is that it is disappearing fast! Frank, please stop praying for snow!


There are only two good things about this storm: #1 - gave Gary another opportunity to play with his new tractor in the snow and #2 temporarily covered up all the bunny poop!

Happy 26th Birthday Jason!

What does a mother do on her child's birthday? After wishing him a 'Happy Birthday' and doing the gift thing, that is. Well, you reminisce about the birth and about the pregnancy - or at least that's what I do. So, here goes with a little reminiscing. When I found out I was pregnant with Jason, I was thrilled!!! As some of you may remember, I had trouble getting pregnant and had many test to find out why - to no avail. Sometimes, they told us, there is no reason that they can see and some women just never get pregnant. So you can imagine how thrilled, and surprised, I was when I found out - I thought I had the flu! I had a pleasant and uneventul pregnancy up to about my 6th month when I found out I was a gestational diabetic. No problem for me, but there could be problems for the baby so I had to go in the hospital and learn how to give myself insulin shots. Fun! Let me tell you, sticking a needle in an orange is not the same as sticking it in your own flesh - that is how they teach you to give yourself a needle! Anyway, I learned to do it and I was induced on my due date, as they do with gestational diabetics. Oh, only after an amniocentisis to make sure the baby's lungs were fully developed. So I entered the Grace Maternity Hospital on April 6th for induction. My stubborn baby hung on, through induction on April 6th, and 7th, and wasn't born until 7:32 p.m on Wednesday, April 8th! A beautiful baby boy weighing 7lbs 1 oz. with a full head of black hair - he was gorgeous! Of course, Mom, was right outside the delivery room and got to see her newest grandchild right away. The sad thing was that Dad had passed away 2 months before Jason was born and he never got to see him. This much wanted, much anticipated baby boy was certainly a joy for the whole family - especially after the sad time that we had gone though with Dad's sickness and death. So again, Jay - we wish you a very 'Happy Birthday' with much love from Mom, Gary, and Brenton!

Somebody's having a birthday soon!

Jason's birthday is coming up on Sunday, April 8th! My sweet baby will be 26 on Easter Sunday! I'm thinking that this is the first time his birthday has actually fallen on Easter Sunday - is that right, Jay? Anyway everybody, don't forget to wish him a good one!

My new buffet is done!

I know - shock - two posts in one day! Anyway, I think I had a pic of Gary working on this buffet in his shop quite awhile ago (I keep distracting him with other 'little' projects) and now it's finished. When we redecorated the kitchen/dining room, I decided that I would like a long, low buffet since I need more storage space. Well, I figure if I can think it, then Gary should be able to do it and, TA DA! Here it is. I think he did a great job. It has tons of storage space.

Another view - the top has the same ceramic tiles that we used on the kitchen backsplash.



Look at all the storage room! I no longer have to store my breadmaker, baking pans, etc. in the spare/Jason bedroom. Life is good! Congrats to my hubby for a great job. This is only the second piece of furniture he's made - the first was a little night table for the bedroom. Slow but surely he is getting more tools (his planner was a must for furniture making) so I think this is just the start. Hum, what do I want him to build next?

Signs of spring - bunnies and tractors.

Gary showing off with his new tractor by lifting the poor little Bolens off the ground. Gary may love his new tractor but he also loves that Bolens - it did a pile of work on our property and I think he's a little sad to see it go. Oh well, his brother Eddie is buying it so he can visit it whenever he wants.

This picture was taken out the window of our spare/Jason bedroom. There are 17 bunnies in this one shot! We seem to be getting overrun - anyone want a few for Easter?



This litle guy, who I've named Flopsy, is the only bunnie that we have with lop ears. His grandmother was a half lop (she had one ear up and one down) and his grandfather was a full lop. Funny thing is - his grandparents and mother were white with black and brown spots so he has his fathers coloring and mothers ear genes. Ain't genetics interesting?



We're not worried about the Easter Bunny coming - these guys, and a few more, hang out on our front door step all the time. Here they are enjoying the sun. Too bad we can't train them to not poop on the door step!

Some oldish photos

I think this is the last picture I have of you, Tim. Do you remember this? We were at Mike's for MJ's christening. Jason was 9, Brenton is in my belly, and MJ is a newborn. Now Jason is almost 26 (April 8th) and Brenton is 16 and MJ will be 17 in July. Time flies, huh?

Where's your smiles Tim and Jason?

Brenton got his Beginners License today!

Brenton got his Beginners today; however, he refused to pose for a picture holding the newly acquired license - Michelle, take all the pictures you can of your little munchkins, 'cause the day will come when they shy away from the camera instead of giving big smiles for the camera. Anyway, Callie was happy to pose for a pic - snuggling on her tiger blankie!

Boys and their toys.

Gary driving the zamboni at the Bridgetown arena - he works a few shifts over the winter to help out and 'cause he loves driving the zamboni!

On Tuesday Aaron brought his wooden train set over. We had fun making this track and then Brenton thought it looked like fun and re-designed our tracks.


Brenton's design - a little fancier than Aaron's and mine! Pippin keeps an eye on things from the chair.

Gary gets a new tractor!

Boys and their toys! Click on the picture to see the big smile on Gary's face. Gary can do all our plowing in about half the time now.

It's quite a pretty tractor - as Gary says, "It matches the rest of our fleet" which consists of our Ford van and our Ford Taurus wagon - which are also red, of course.

The NBGB's arrived safetly!

A happy reunion with Aaron and 'Teddy'. This is the only pic we got with all the excitement and hugging at the airport. After a visit with the NBGB's I'm sure I'll have more to post. Aaron will need some english lessons as, naturally, he's been speaking German only for the last 4 months. On the drive home he would tell his Mama something and she would say, 'Aaron wants me to tell you' this or that. He knew I couldn't understand him. I'm sure he will have his excellent English back in a week or two.

Our Non-Biological Grandbabies come home tomorrow!

We pick our NBGB's up tomorrow, along with Mama Silvia and Papa Manfred, at Halifax International at 2:40 p.m. They've been gone 4 long months - Luca is now 10 months and Aaron is 3 years and 4 months. As you can imagine, I'm not very excited or anything . . . Below, Aaron is all packed and ready to go!

Happy Luca.

The finished project

Here is the first coat of primer on half of the paneling.

About 90% done here and I'm still relatively sane.



The finished project - painted in Debbie Travis 'Apple Green' which is just barely green. Now it looks bare so we will be putting up some pictures. We also added a new light fixture to complete the updated look. If I never see paneling again, that will be fine with me!

Some chilly days at Upper Clements

Finally, I get to use power tools - I love this nail gun! We actually had to buy 2 sheets of paneling to fill in where we took out the shelf in the stairwell - do you believe paneling is $20.00 a sheet??? Oh, I forgot, it is 'real' pecan. Too bad - it's all getting painted anyway!

What to do on a chilly day - feed hungry bunnies!


And more hungry bunnies - notice Callie is hiding behind me.



Callie is at the end of her rope with all this cold, snowy weather.

Bunny up-date and new project

Before beginning any project, safety is important - Brenton and I demonstrate this with our safety glasses!

So, first this shelf structure must come down to open up the stairway more. That may sound easy, except the former owner believed in 5" spiral galvanized nails, and many of them, for every project!

Here is a kind of neat picture that Brenton took with his new camera - a Canon 630 (I believe). This shot was taken while we were driving in the van.

The baby bunnies are now 2 weeks old - alot more fur - this pic doesn't show them very well but it was very cold and we didn't want to keep them uncovered for long.

This black bunny has moved to Upper Clements Cottages from Upper Clements Wildlife Park. He's a great addition as he is a different color than any of our bunnies - he's pitch black so we couldn't resist calling him Midnight. He seems to fit right in with our bunnies and we should see some little black babies soon!

Baby bunny up-date

So this is the picture of the newborn baby bunnies taken last Monday.

And this is taken 1 week later. And you thought your kiddies were growing fast, Michelle!

More pictures for Aaron!

Here's a picture of Gary's tractor, Aaron, as promised. If this snow keeps up, it's going to be a busy tractor!

This was taken Wednesday - what a gorgeous day. Can you see the big yellow house behind the boats?


The big yellow house - sun and snow - does it make you a little homesick?

Margaret on the front step of Aaron's house.

Some pictures for Aaron!

Well I guess someone is going to have to tell me how to move pictures when I put them in the wrong place! This one should be at the end. See all the bunnies eating bread, Aaron, and see Callie on her rope beside the bunnies. Watch the next few days for a tractor picture and (maybe) one of Margaret.


Rumor has it that Aaron is monitoring our blog from Germany so here are some pictures for Aaron. Below, Gary working in his shop.


New baby bunnies born on Sunday - we think there is about 10 babies here. Click on the picture and see the tiny little hands and feet.

Bunnies sunbathing by the garage. Oh, they're also waiting for Gary to come out and give them a treat!

Some Random Pics

A picture of the crown molding in the kitchen - installed by Gary with Brenton's help. I also painted the wainscotting white to brighten the kitchen up. When you look through the door going downstairs you can see my next project - yep - painting the last of the awful, dated paneling. Want to help Michelle - I know you've had lots of practice!

Our diningroom is done - crown molding up and mirror window - this is a window frame that is over 100 years old, rescued from Manfred & Silvia's barn. The frame is put together with wooden pegs. We painted it and had mirror installed in place of the broken glass. The stars were a Christmas present from Brenton.


Above, Pippin looking very regal.



You know its too cold out when Callie is happy to stay in and lay around!