best. dad. ever.

Too bad for the rest of you, but my boys have got him, and since there can be only one, all your children are hooped.  That's right. We've got the very. best. dad. ever.

Don't ask me where I got this idea. It was on a blog, somewhere. I'd love to remember, so if you know, tell me.  But, in any case, the t-shirt we made Jared for Father's Day really sums it up.  I'm a lucky wife, and my boys are even luckier. 

Love you Jared!

Jenny

Killing Myself With Romance

While Jared and I are definitely madly in love, we are not really big on the gushy, romantic stuff.  We have often decided to forget about birthdays, or we just go out and buy our own presents and then call them our birthday present.  I bought Jared a pretty awesome mic for his birthday this year that I caught a quick glimpse of after he bought it for himself.  What a good wifey I am!  Last year we celebrated our 6th anniversary in Cody, Wyoming, where we only realized it was our anniversary halfway through the day when I was signing a guest book at a museum and noticed the date at the top of the page.  I yelled out the door to where Jared and the boys were lassoing fake cows "Oh Jared, happy 6th anniversary."  That was it.  Six years.  Yeah!  Don't worry, we manage to show our love for each other in many other ways. It has been six wonderful years!


Anyway, today is Valentines Day, a day we have always neglected more even than our anniversary.  I think Jared has brought home flowers a few years, which I dearly appreciate, and once he made me macaroni with an octopus hotdog on top (loved it!), which we ate on our china, but that's about it.  This year I really put myself out there and made Jared these. 

Okay, the truth of the story is that I made ones just like these for Jared for Christmas two years ago.  He never wore them, for he lost them.  This year for Valentine's Day Jared actually made these himself. I did go out of my way to find and buy the supplies all over again for them, I just didn't get it together enough to put them together, so Jared did it for me.  Call it his Valentines gift for me!  Love, true love!

They are authentic old typewriter keys.  I bought the keys and the cuff link posts of Etsy and epoxied them together.  I just love the look of men in cuff links, and so have decided to start Jared collection of them off with some personal, pretty awesome ones. I think the next ones I make will be Lego or Scrabble pieces.

Happy Valentines all!

Photo Blocks

 One day Jared is going to have a job.  And, at that job he is probably going to have a desk.  On that desk he will have these wonderful little photo blocks, on which are pictures of his wonderful family!

How'd I do it?  I cut a 2x4 into three squares (tell me why are 2x4's actually 1 1/2" x 3 1/2"?) Then I sanded them really nicely and stained them with a dark cherry stain.  I printed the pictures and Mod Podged them on. You can see in the pictures that I didn't get the Mod Podge on very smooth, but I couldn't figure out how.
Jared loves them, I love them, and Eli loves them.  What more could I ask for?

SIX YEARS!!!

I know, I can hardly believe it, but it's been six whole years since Jared and I said "forever."  LOVE YOU, Sugar Booger!

The Worst Two Months of My LIFE!!!

I have a friend, Coreen, who has six children.  She is amazing to me for so many reasons.  She is an incredible mother, a devoted friend, a spiritual giant and an inspiration.  Due to the wonderful housing market in the US right now, her husband has been finishing his residency in Pontiac, Mi. for the last 10 months, and she has been living with their 6 children in Tennessee.  I've always thought she was amazing, but having just spent the last two months with Jared in Spokane and me on my own in Calgary, I am in complete awe of her.  Honestly.  I am so sick of being a single mom, and can't wait until Jared is back with me. I can't imagine how single mothers survive day after day, week after week, month after month, and for some, year after year!  I see why Heavenly Father created us to procreate in pairs, because doing it alone is really, really hard (the raising the creations, not the procreating itself- although that would be really hard too.)

The past two months has given me a lot of time to consider just why I am so lucky to have Jared in my life, and why I love him so much.  So, here's to him:

It started a long time ago, before the idea of kids even crossed my mind. I thought you were crazy, and funny, and kind of liked you. We dated.  I was right, you were crazy and funny, and not ready for commitment, so I dumped you, and then I realized I loved you.

So, you said you wanted to get serious, move to Kelowna, and asked if I would come with you, as your wife.  Then you decided that Kelowna wasn't for you, and dropping out of university wasn't the best idea.  You stood faithfully by me through our crazy 3 month engagement with all the emotion involved there.  You supported me wholly through the worst teaching year ever when I worked for the crazy feminist, and we made it wonderfully through our first year.

When we decided to multiply you came to every one of my prenatals.  You supported my decision to hire midwives, even though they were expensive, and have a homebirth, even though it was so strange to you, knowing that although I was having our baby, it was my body and my experience, and so you researched and learned, and you were there when it all fell to pieces and I needed you most. 

You didn't want to leave Calgary, but you knew it's what you needed to do to "pay for the family" so you packed up the house and drove across the continent.  You suffered through 3 years of Law School. You spent countless nights reading, typing, studying.  You worked harder than you've ever worked before to finish school.

You have trusted your instincts, and mine, as we have learned how to parent.  You have embraced the gentle parenting approach that we try to live by.  When I bring information to you about health or parenting, you strive to understand it and then wholeheartedly go for it.  You are my biggest supporter when it comes to some of the things I do that others don't understand.

When we made another baby, you drove me to all my prenatals across the border, you again understood my desire for an empowered birth, and so you supported me in hiring midwives again, which was still expensive, and have a "hotelbirth," as we had no home.  And again, when plans changed, you were there to hold me up when everything around me was falling down.

You have used the power of the Priesthood, which you are worthy to hold, to bless me and our sons countless times.  You read the scriptures to them and teach them how to pray.  You show them how to be a good man and a wonderful father.

You continue to work hard, knowing that the adventure isn't quite over.  You are willing to live alone for two months to study for the hardest test yet.  You call me every night to tell me you love me and wish you were here.  You say prayers with Eli over the phone, and tell him you love him too. 

I love you so much. I am so glad that you stole me away from that boy.  I love that you love me, and can't wait to be with you again!

The Fireworks Begin Today!

In the summer of 2003 I wrote in my journal something to the effect of:

"Tonight I hung out at David Lancaster's.  His roommate is Jared Wiebe, a boy from the youth dances.  

He wants to be a lawyer.  I think I will marry him."

Well, it's been 7 years, but he's there!!!  Today, my darling husband, graduated from Thomas M. Cooley Law School with a Juris Doctorate.  That's right folks, I married my lawyer!

The House that Jared Built

So, while we live in my parent's basement, we actually own two houses in town.  One very nice, very new condo, and another outdated but well loved house.  We lived in the house before our Michigan Adventures and rented out the basement to help pay the bills.  Since our departure from Alberta we have rented all three units and managed to stay in the black.  Yeah!

We happen to be between renters in the basement suite right now, and since Jared doesn't have a job (the reason why we're living in my parent's basement) we figured this is a good time to give the suite a much needed face lift, or a face replacement, really.

Let me just stop here to say that my dear Mr. Wiebe is incredible.  He has spent the last week an a half working from sun up to well past sun down tearing down and building up our modest little basement!  While I consider myself a pretty self sufficient woman, there is no way I could pull off what he has managed this week.

This is what we started with:

 Please take careful note of the carpeted kitchen.  Yum!

He tore out EVERYTHING.  With the help of my sister Alice, her husband Aaron, my nephew Benny and our friend Heidi we managed white wash the whole place on Saturday.  On Monday while we had the new flooring installed we spent WAY too many hours at IKEA picking up a new kitchen and several beautiful accessories. And today, with the Russell contingent helping again, we put things back together and began installing the kitchen.  As far as dark little basement suites go, I think this one is going to be pretty awesome.  Seriously!

Here's some pics of the current state of the basement:

 And Silas, for the first time in his life hung out in a play pen.  I was worried about the off-gassing of the new carpet, so when I wasn't wearing him I stuck him in the cage!  Well equipped with plenty of stuff to suck on, he didn't seem to mind.

New tenants move in on Monday, so this place HAS to be finished this weekend.  Final product pictures to follow, I promise!