Beautiful table, wonderful chairs

Our kitchen is now wobble free. While we will miss the lovely blue table that Candace lent us for so long (thank you! It was a BIG blessing!) we are in love with our new round table and chairs, which are nice and sturdy! Before we know it Corrina will be joining us at this new table to gobble down mush and cereal! Here are some picture from our life the past week, and of course the new table and chairs (Thank you mom and dad Colvin. They are perfect!)
-Janie

Aunty Bre's Little Bunny

Aunty Bre thought this hat would be adorable. She has never been more right about anything.

Happy dave janie corrie

Dave wrote a little lullabye for Corrina just now. I am going to share it.

We've got you swaddled
We've got you ready
Now go to bed
And go snuggle your teddy

We are having a very calm night and focusing on putting Corrina to bed early by 9:30). Right now she is relaxed in dave's arms. She has been overtired (my fault) and we are going to cure that.

Today i went for a beautiful walk with a beautiful friend. I had a wonderful time and it felt so good to move and talk! Thanks friend.

Dave would like to describe his day using this sentance:
"a process of plodding and stumbling onward towards the hope of a richer although somewhat ubiquitous end."


-Janie

Screaming Monday

Today is monday. Dave has mondays off so after we finished our chores (we had mounds of dishes to do because we spent the day making a cake for a friend's engagement party. I'll find the picture... And there was a superfluous amount of icing and caking and such involved in this process, so there were sooo many dishes. Oh, and there was a colorful spread of clean clothes taking of residence on our bed... still putting those away) we decided to go for a walk with little Corrina. But being overtired, she woke up in the middle and could not get back to sleep so was forced to wail at the top of her lungs until we arrived home and could help her sleep. So while i would usualy agree with some people that personal music devices are a nuisance and prevent people from listening to the nature around them or conversing with others, today (and other days) i have appreciated that they save me the embarassment of walking past people who are thinking "bad mother... listen to that screaming baby". Of course i know that the majortiy of people are not thinking this, especially people who themselves have/had babies, but i will admit that i feel like they think that about me: Cooley's Looking Glass. Said walk certainly was not the joyeous occasion we intended it to be, but we still got our excersize and are happy campers!

Recently i have found more time to read and i have choosen the book Abba's Child by Brennan manning. It is an extraordinary look at behaving and living with the understanding and trust that God loves us completely, not because he has to, but because he wants to. He likes us... imagine that. There are so many challenging thoughts in this book and i am going to take a moment to share a few that impacted me greatly this morning:
"God calls His children to a countercultural lifestyle of forgiveness in a world that demands an eye for an eye-and even worse. But if loving God is the first commandment, and loving our neighbor proves our love for God, and if it is easy to love those who love us, then loving our enemies must be the filial badge that identifies Abba's Children. The summons to live as forgiven and forgiving children is radically inclusive. it is addressed not only to the wife whose husband forgot their wedding anniversary but also to parents whose child was slaughtered by a drunken driver, to the victims of slanderous accusations, to the poor living in flithy boxes who see the rich drive by in Mercedes...The dmenads of forgiveness are so daunting that they seem humanlu impossible. The exigencies of forgiveness are simply beyond the capacity of ungraced human will. Only reckless confidence in a Source greater than ourselves can empower us to fogive the wounds inflicted by others. In Boundary moments such as these there is only one place to go-Calvary. Stay there a long time and watch as Abba's Only-Begotten dies utterly alone in bloddy disgrace...The crucified Christ is not merely a heroic example to the church: He is the power and wisdom of God, a living force in His present riseness, tranforming our lives and enabling us to exten the hand of reconciliation to our enermies. Understanding triggers the compassion that mkes forgiveness possible... The heartfelt compassion that hastens forgivenss matures when we discover where our enemy cries. "

Wow, that was a mouthful! But such an excellent bite of wisdom. Now i shall work on swallowing it all and implementing it in my everyday. Forgiveness is so important because with it (perhaps preceeding it) comes the compassion for people that Jesus daily exemplified. Because God has such tender compassion for us he has perfect acceptance of us. How wonderful. We are God's beloved.
One last quote of a quote in the book:
"Henri Nouwen's words are incisive here: 'What is required is to become the Beloved in common places of my daily existence and, bit by bit, to close the gap that exists between what i know myself to be and the countless specific realities of everyday life. Becoming the Beloved is pulling the truth revealed to me from above down into the ordinariness of what i am, in fact, thinking of, talking about, and doing from hour to hour."

Now i will share some pictures with you... random pictures.

This is our good friend Ernie! He is a great guy. Him and Corrina were chillaxing at our friends engagement party this weekend.
This is a cake I made for our friends engagement party. Her colors are green and pink (those are little pink, yellow and white flowers... sorry small pic). Dave helped me out with the decorating. It tasted delicious and wasn't too hard to do. I wish everyone could have enjoyed the cake. Congratulations Odie and Zach (i fyou ever stop in here). See you at your wedding! Oh yes, and in the picture below you can see our new chairs. Super comfy, and they don't fall apart when you sit on them.

4/20

Hey there all. Found this funny article on 4/20 day / Joan Miro's Birthday. Enjoy!

http://www.dcist.com/archives/2006/04/20/youre_under_the_1.php

-D

Great-Grandma

My mom sent us an email yesterday that I wanted to share. Mum was talking to her mother (my grandmother, aka "Nanny," and Corrina's Great-grandmother). Here's the part I wanted to share:


I talked to Nan yesterday and she was so excited because she had finally been able to see the blog pictures of Corrina clearly - some days her sight is better than others. She has pronounced Corrina "absolutely adorable" and "pretty as a picture" so now its official!


I just thought that was so neat! I don't hardly know anything about my great-grand parents, and my family tree has always looked a bit like something out of Charlie Brown's Christmas, so it's just really neat for me to see the family stretch and grow. First me and Janie, then Mark and Rachel, and now Corrina! And that makes Janie Mark and Claire's sister in law, and Rachel Claire and Mine's sister in law! And Corrina makes John and Lucy (my grandparents) GREAT Grandparents...and so forth and so on, and all the sudden my family is blooming!

I dunno. It's just a nice feeling, this family thing. And I thought I'd share. I just hope I can hang on to that email long enough for Corrina to read it--that'd be neat.
-Dave

3 Months

Here are some pictures from the life of Corrina as a 3 month old! Her new accomplishments include sleeping better with longer naps, sucking fingers, smiling and sorta giggling, wearing cloth diapers, and most difficult of all: constantly being cute!Cute easter dress!

Carcassonne debacle!!

So here's a question:
If you're in the middle of a game, and your game is cut short (for whatever reason) do you:

a) Pack up everything and forever wonder who won, ignoring the current standings complelety and arguing that "The game wasn't finished yet"
b) Tally up the score as it stands (not forgetting that the final score would have been different yet nonetheless acknowleding the current leader as "Winner")
c) Other

Let us know!
(to all who may be concerned as to our marital state at this point, please see the above as a humourous attempt and nothing serious! We love you!)

On a completely unrelated note:

Here is a test for anyone who's ever wondered if they're dyslexic:

If you see the word "Convulsion", think it says, "Convolution", but notice that "Convulsion" bares a striking visual resemblance to the word "Colvinson", YOU MAY BE A RED NECK!
(um... I mean, uh, dyslexic. You may be dyslexic).

-Dave

Chocolate!

There’s nothing quite like Chocolate, is there? So smooth and sweet, so melt in your mouth. Mmmmm! Chocolate is one of my favourite sweets (and that’s saying a lot!). But there’s a lot about chocolate that I bet you didn’t know! Like did you know that chocolate, when you forget about it in your pocket, will melt very, very quickly? Did you know that even a tiny about of chocolate, say from two tiny Easter eggs, can spread over the surface area of the total contents of said pocket? Keys, key chains, a quarter, even an old shopping list! And did you know that chocolate, although sweet and yummy, is also sticky, stains easily, and does not like to leave a pocket or its contents once it has adhered itself (both physically and emotionally, as I can only imagine). Well I sure do! Chocolate is also giving! I started off with just two little chocolates, and now not only do I now have a lovely brown stain in my pants, but I have also gained smelly keys and a quarter with a much-improved flavour!

Mmmmm, Chocolate! Nothing else like it!
Happy Easter!
-Dave

Rolley polley

Janie and Dave ate Rolley Polley's for breakfast (biscuit cinnamon buns), and Corrina rolled from front to back today! Here she is trying! She is so amazing. It was just on friday that she really starting pushing herself around when on her stomache, and now, sunday, she can roll over. She is also spending alot of time trying to shove her WHOLE hand in her mouth and sucking on it. It is very cute to watch. When she is lying under some of her dangley toys she makes attempts to hit them, and today her little hand latched onto a loop dangling in front of her! She is very attentive and loves to smile when people look at her. Needless to say we are having a great time parenting this little treasure.

Also, enjoy the happy family pictures taken just the other day! Thanks for all the comments on the posts. I love reading them, although i don't always get a chance to reply to them.

Tomorrow it is going to be warm in Winnipeg (18). We hope to get a walk in, and then have a bbq/bonfire at our Tricia's place with some friends. What a nice way to start the week. Glee and wonder to all.

'Nother movie

Okay, another attempt at a video. Let me know if anything plays. (It's only 2 secs, but oh well)
-D

Narnia Night

Hey there all,

This is just a simple request. This evening I'm hosting a Narnia-themed evening with our Junior Youth at the church. This is one of our first Junior events and I really want it to go well. Please, if you remember, please pray for the evening and the youth, and that God would impact their lives as we talk about Aslan and Christ's sacrifice.

Thanks all.
-Dave

3 Quick Thoughts

Hey there, bloggerland! How are ya!

I just needed to share 3 things.
1. Carcassonne. If you've never played this game, you need to. It's probably my favourite (if you live nearby, come play it with me!) Build cities, farm pastures, rule with an iron fist, it's all good. Tile-based strategy never looked so good. Especially good for fans of Settlers (and not as expensive!).

2. Scratch Fury: Destroyer of Worlds, is sure to delight the Feline Fan in you. Cat lovers and lovers of good comics will enjoy these three links. PVP has definately become my favourite webcomic.

3. The views expressed in the "Giant Corrina in the Grand Canyon with a Transformer" wallpaper (below) are those of the participants and do not necessarily reflect those of youcanspellthis.blogspot.com That was just a gag and wasn't really meant for public display. Don't come after me, claiming "Child endangerment" or "Public humiliation" or "Blatent disregard for all that it decent and good". I mean, sure those things are "true", But hey! It's funny!

-Dave

Desktop Wallpaper!

This morning i was staring at our computer wallpaper, which at the time displayed a lovely picture from our trip to the grand canyon, and thought it would be nice to instead have a cute picture of Corrina on there. Dave was at the computer at the time so i asked him if he could put a picture of our baby up. A few minutes later i looked over to see this:
So now we have Corrina, in the Grand Canyon, being visited by a transformer. Ahhh, all our tastes combined into one!
Today has been a really great day. Corrina has had a few nice 1 hour naps, i have dinner going in the crock pot and i made a fruit filled coffee cake! Yum! I am drinking an iced Chai tea, and i think i might take some time and work on our filing system. Calm, together days are really nice. Corrina is currently snoozing in her swing. We will probably go for a little walk once dave gets home, eat dinner, i will visit our friend Tricia and Dave will grocery shop.
Calm days to all!!

Just some pictures

Here are some pictures (for you Candace!). They aren't new ones, but they are great ones. Above is our friend Tricia looking great.
Corrina, Correy-Nina, pumpkin, cutie, cupcake, little baby: just a few of the names we call this one by!


Auntie Sarah and Corrina hanging out one night!

That's it. I will take more pictures for all your travelling friends so you don't miss any changes!

Correction

Oppps, the Robeez are called Rodeo Star!

Fun Page too!
It's friday, so dave is at youth. I have the house to myself, so of course i have people coming over. I need interaction and socialization most of the time. Moreso in the evening than in the day? Are you like that? If you get energy from people you may be an Extravert like myself. Myers-Briggs... i'm telling ya. Also a good page. So, there are some things for you to check out!

I hope everyone's weekends are refreshing in their own way.

Human Rights and Human Nature

I don’t know if you’ve been following the story, but I’ve been very interested in the story of Mr. Abdul Rahman in Afganistan. Well it’s been on my heart for a while so I’m going to take the time to say something. My interest was peaked the other day when Janie and I caught Rex Murphy’s report on the National. You can follow that link and read it for yourself, but here are the first two lines:


Here's a pop quiz: Name the democracy in which changing your religion is a criminal offence and that offence carries the death penalty.

A simple follow-up question: If there were such a democracy, would it be worth fighting and dying for?


Rex’s basic point was that a democratic nation cannot enforce a restriction on religion, and that Canadian troops are fighting – and dying – to set up a democracy which has then threatened to execute Mr. Rahman for converting from Islam to Christianity. It’s been a very interesting journey.

Now Abdul Rahman has been released from prison (under what terms, I do not know) and has apparently fled the country. Reports were saying that his life was in danger even if he did avoid the death penalty, and that there was a public outcry for his blood.

Then came a very interesting article today, and this is where my point lies.

Time magazine released this article today, looking at Mr. Rahman’s “family values”. It reports that he was a deadbeat father, unemployed and prone to violence towards his family. The interesting thing was (and you can correct me here if you disagree) that the article seems to suggest that since he was such a indecent human being, perhaps we should not have been so quick to cry for his release. Perhaps, it seemed to suggest, organizations and governments should be more careful in whom they choose to rally behind, and how that person’s track record might reflect on them.

But I say otherwise. I think people/governments were correct in coming to his aid, because his right to freedom of religion was being violated and someone needed to step in. Simple as that. Now, I can see that it may have been very convenient for the Bush administration to have a Christian face that needed defending against a corrupt government right in the heart of Afghanistan. And I can see now why they would be embarrassed if he turns out to be violent and slothful, perhaps not quite so worthy of the Poster Child position he had attained. But I think that it makes a better case when the violated individual shows flaws. If a perfect person is wronged, everyone comes to her/his side. But what about an imperfect, even deplorable person? Who will stand for them? Who will be their advocate, even when they abuse their freedom?

I am reminded of a passage in Matthew where Christ says that we are to love all people, not just our brothers and sisters, but also our enemies. Regardless of his personal attributes, we must defend him because he is human. Now, wouldn't it have been interesting to see what the case would have looked like if a Christian nation was threatening to kill a convert to Islam? Perhaps that would have brought some of our motives for defending Mr. Rahman’s plight under closer examination. My question is this: would we stand so strongly united with someone seeking his right to defect from our side?

-Dave

Fashion SHoe Show

WELCOME to my fashion shoe show! I wanted everyone to know just how cute my feet look ALL THE TIME. I am excited that i already have a knack for footwear, for to go through life with no shoe fashion sense would insult my parents, family and friends. Thank you to everyone who has helped to start my first collection of beautiful shoes.
First up:
These adorable little Robeez were given to me by my very knowledgeable Aunt Sarah. She manages a shoe store and knows all about the latest trends. Really she is the one who started my shoe fetish. They add the finishing touch to so many outfits. These little robeez are called cowgirl. Isn't that cute? Now if only i could find a cowgal hat to go!

These puppies (ha ha, i am so funny!) are for all my lounging purposes. Plus, when i wear blue it helps me to understand the other gender. I feel i should get a head start on this, for i plan on being an equal in every way, and thus i am just fine with sporting some blue. You should try it, you might like the feeling! Thank you to Dave, Sue and Julia for providing me with my first insights into boyhood. My feet are warm, toasty, and friendly,
wouldn't you say?OOOOHHHHH, you'll just love these next ones! On with the show:
















So here we have the new line of Spring sneakers for babies. It looks like i know how to wear shoes with laces, but ha, you've been fooled: they're velcro! Baby shoe designers are so intelligent. These shoes are so sturdy and trendy. I just love the little flowers, and again i have the chance to look good in BLUE! Thank you Auntie Heather for having an eye for cuteness!


This pretty pair came all the way from Englad, with love, just for me! (I just love getting mail, and i have never gotten quite so much in all my life. Neither have my parents!) Thank you Uncle Mark and Aunt Rachel. I was just thrilled to have a dainty pair of "ballerina style" slippers. When I'm not quite sure which pair of shoes to wear i always pick these ones because the subtle pink flowers match every outfit and don't overpower my cute face! They are adorable and soft, i don't know what i did before these babies arrived.

Well, those are my shoes. It is just fantastic to share this part of my life with everyone. And again, thank you to everyone who so kindly is building my shoe collection and wardrobe!). Ya know, i really love doing these fashion shows so keep your eyes open for more. Maybe next time it will be the best baby sweaters for the season! Everyone has been so busy knitting!

Adios to my fans

Title!

Yippeee!

Alright! So I have to--Just HAVE to--get on here and blog about the wonderful, stupendous and fabulous Birthday I just had! Hurray! You guys are amazing!

Please note that my intention here is not to show off but I just have to acknowledge what wonderful, and thoughtful friends I have!

So my Birthday was on the Monday, but on SUNDAY my friends Bre and Ernie offered to take me out for a surprise. So they picked me up from work, I got weird looks from old ladies when I left church with a strange woman while Janie was nowhere to be seen, and they took me out. Where was Janie? "Oh, I don't think I can make it to church today." "Oh, I'm too tired!" Little did I know!! So Bre, Ernie and I go to Subway for sandwiches and then to the Cannes Lions International Advertising awards, which is basically about 2 hours of the world's best commercials. It was a lot of fun! After leaving the theatre we were a little "over advertised" but in the days since I've had a lot of fun remembering different situations and laughed at some of the very creative bits. So anyways, we go back the car and I'm thinking "That was really fun!" Then Bre says she's thirsty so I ask if they come up and have something to drink. They say yes, saying I'll need to open my present from them anyways-- then they probably said some other stuff but i couldn't hear anything else other than "present"!

So we go up to the apartment, and I go in and the TV is on and Janie says hello, everything seems cool. And I'm feeling good, because it's been a great day. Then I walk around the corner and "SURPRISE!!" Balloons! Streamers! Friends from across the city popping out all over the place! and the Food! My goodness the Food! Lots of hugs, lot of commotion (how i LOVE a good commotion!) and Five Iron Frenzy blaring on the Stereo. So good! Then there's more great food, and more balloons, then I found a whole tub FILLED with Jones Sodas! I love that! Even sugar-free Jones for our Sugar-free friends! (We have more than you might think!) Then came presents and cards which became toys and Cd's and wonderful things like that, and just a whole lot of sitting and hanging out and catching up and generally feeling loved.

Thank you thank you for all my wonderful friends who made it out and who helped make the event so special.

And thank you thank you THANK YOU to my wonderful wife who orcastrated it all, devious little master mind that she is, who worked so hard and who jsut got so darned excited! Thank you my love. You.... you are just the best. I love you.

Okay okay, this is long enough.
Take care all. God bless and be well.
-Dave

Coming Soon to a blog near YOU!

So for the last month we have had free cable from Shaw. How nice of them to offer a complimentary service! The shaw man came to the door today to inform me that "IF YOU DON'T START PAYING WE WILL VIOLENTLY RIP THE CABLE CORD FROM THE WALL AND YOU CAN SAY ADIOS TO THE FREE CABLE!!" He yelled so loudly at me that ! I shuddered in fear and scurried away from the door with trepidation in my heart. "NO!" i yelled, "YOU CANNOT DO SUCH A HEARTLESS DEED!!" My face was red hot as i dashed toward the cheque book. "ALRIGHT, YOU GOT ME! I AM ADDICTED AND MUST HAVE CABLE! HOW DO YOU EXPECT ME TO GO ON LIVING WITHOUT KNOWING "WHAT NOT TO WEAR" AND CONTINUALY WANTING TO REDECORATE MY HOUSE BECAUSE OF "WHILE YOU WERE OUT!" NO CANNOT TAKE IT AWAY!" Out of breath i slumped into a chair and began writing out a cheque. Gasping for breath i announce, in a very defeated tone, "I, I will pay...just take my money and leave my family alone, please." "Thanks," replied the rather cheery shaw man, "we appreciate your business!"
Alright, so that is not at all how it went. In reality he was very pleasent and i was not fearful of losing my cable, so i politely declined their offer for more cable at a low rate. I hope you enjoyed my imaginary, short, ridiculous thriller!

COMING SOON: A FASHION SHOW STARING CORRINA AND HER LOVELY SHOES! WATCH FOR PHOTOS!

in the words of elvis "Have a Happy"!

Cookies, Movies, and other ill-propagated suffixes

Everyone needs to ask Janie for her Oatmeal Raisin Cookie recipe. They're awesome!

Speaking of words that end in "ie", have you ever thought about how funny the word "Movie" is? It's hilarious! It's just a basic observation of one aspect of the product, dumbed down without a real suffix. It sounds about as child like a description as possible. Like Dave Naus naming his childhood favourite toys "Brownie" or "Blackie" or "Greyie". Why? Take a wild guess. "Movie." I can't say the word anymore without giggling.

And who am I to say that giggling is a bad thing? I say we take things one step further. I say we start referring to all film-industry related positions in more child-like terms. Lines and scripts could be the "talkies". Special effects workers could be "blower-upers". Wardrobe could be know as "playing dress up". Because isn't that what the movies (giggle) are after all? A giant game of make-believe?

In conclusion, don't forget about that recipe.
-D


PS> I get to work on a movie set in few weeks time! I'm so excited! I feel so "grown up!"
= D

The frustrations of a ASCII Gorilla

Any of you who have read the infamous bre's lastest blog know how I tried to make a gorilla for her comments section, only to be thrawted by the limitations of font choice. Knowing the same fate would no doubt await my ASCII creation on our own blog, I have decided to post a screen capture so y'all can see that I'm not crazy and that there really is a picture of a gorilla here. (Note: This is not the EXACT same image, as I increase the resolution to fit the wider margins of this page).



















How did I do it? Did I slave away over a hot keyboard all day? Was it through shear will and determination of spirit that I carved this primate from the depths of txt? Of course not. Follow this link and try it for yourself with any picture. Enjoy!

-D

PS> For those of you who were wondering, yes, I did make it to my meeting. Thank you to both moms who phoned to remind me.

two months old!

Wow! Another month. Corrina has grown alot! I don't know her weight, but i measured her the other day and she is 24". She was 21" when she was born! She is having lots of naps these days, and her bedtime is slowly moving forward (10pm), although some of her nights have been a little rocky lately, and she has been waking up numerous times throughout. She is also starting her days earlier: 7am! She is having lots of fun discovering the world around her. She smiles alot more and makes so many cute noises. Although most of her smiles are random (and therefore hard to catch on camera), i think she is begining to smile in response to our smiles!
Enjoy the pictures!

The 10th Commandment

Please allow me to get theological for a moment:


At Church this Sunday I am responsible for the weekly Reading, the proclaimation of the Word, and this week's reading is Exodus 20:1-17, the Ten Commandments. Now, when it comes to the 10 Commandments, I do well with 1-9, but I always struggle to understand the 10th and last one, "You shall not covet..."

This this is the question that I shall post: What is the sin of Covetousness? Is it materialism? Is it jealousy? Is it an unholy dissatisfaction? Eugene H. Peterson paraphrases the term "covet" as "lust", an interesting interpretation to be sure.

So what is it? What does it mean, in our 21st Century world, to Covet?
I look forward to your comments (that means you too, Dad!).

-Dave
PS> Yes, I looked it up a bit and asked my pastor, but I'd still like to hear your point on the matter. Thank you.

Personal Favor

I need your help for just a little something.

On monday, March 20th, I have a Vestry meeting at church. I really need to attend this meeting, but since I don't work Mondays I have a terrible time remembering. So how about this: How about YOU call me at 6:00pm on Monday and tell me to go to my meeting!

Note: Prov allumni will probably get a kick out of this, since if you replaced "Vestry Meeting" with "Stuco Meeting", I was saying pretty much the same thing 3 years ago! I even wore a button saying "Remind me about my STUCO MEETING". At least it worked!

So it's up to you now. If I miss this meeting, on Monday March 20th at 6:30pm, I'm holding each of you responsible! Vesty, here I come!
-Dave

Look! A duckie!

IMG_1859
Originally uploaded by JAnie & DAve.

I am playing with flickr right now (even though i should be asleep because Corrina just went down for the night), and i am learning to connect the photos on clickr to blogger! SO much fun. So... now if you click this picture you will see a TON of other Corrina pictures, just taken this week.. she is 6 weeks! Wow. See ya

Auntie Candace

IMG_1860
Originally uploaded by JAnie & DAve.

Candace and Sarah came over on saturday to help us out because Dave brought home a cold virus. Both Corrina and I are sick right now; lots of icky stuffy noses here! Auntie Candace and Auntie Sarah got to experience Bath Time! Corrina is such a joy to have in the bath tub. Here is Candace and Corrina (such a cute face!) being adorable and cuddly! Thanks for the help girls!

Signs of the Times

It's not that I disagreed with the statement, or that I objected to the sentiment. I in fact appreciated the comfort which her statement brought me. But what exactly does the phrase "It's okay. Ebay loves you" tell us about the world which we have created?

Regardless of any implications the statement still rings true, and the feeling is mutal. I just can't believe I forgot to send something on Valentine's.

-D

Swinging, swining, swinging

It is 8:30pm, friday night. Dave is at the Church with the youth group. Behind me is the constant whoosh of a wonderful baby swing (borrowed from a friend.. Thanks!) entertaining Corrina. When dave got home from work at 5:30 i had just finished feeding Corrina, and she was ready for some cuddles with Daddy. I was microwaving some frozen casserole (life savers!) and Dave decided that we may as well plunk Corrina into the baby swing to see if we might attempt having a meal together. This swing has quite a wide motion and she was very happy to quietly emjoy the wind rushing through her hair. We looked over to check on her, and wala! she was asleep! How nice. She is in her swing again, happy but not sleeping this time.
From the baby front lines i had an excellent week. Last week was a little stressful because i was trying to start a routine with Corrina. These things take a few days, and these few days are long and arduous. After much hard work Corrina is taking regular naps, albeit short (30 mins), eating better and less often ( every three hours), is much less ccranky/fussy/gassy, and has some super fun "play times" throughout the day. I too am feeling like i understand her much better and thus are able to care for her better.
And boy is she growing and developing new skills. Anyone who has been around to hold and love her knows that she has a very strong neck and can lift and hold her head up for a few minutes. I can't wait until i can sit her cuteness on the floor and play peekaboo! Just the other day Corrina was lying under her mobile and we watched her follow one bug all the way around the mobile. Her little eyes made a full circle, and she even moved her head up and around to follow the little ladybug! It was so wonderful to see her respond to her environment!

We are having a great time as parents, and everyday just keeps getting better. When i feel discouraged and overtired i reflect upon the things we have accomplished (that took lots of time), and i know that the months to come will just be filled with delightful times, and even more sleep!

Thanks to everyone who has been helping us out with keeping our house sane, keeping us entertained, and keeping us fed. We really appreciate all the gifts and packages that have come in the mail and all the cards and phone calls we have received! We all feel loved, and Corrina feels very welcomed!
Sorry no time for pictures, Corrina is asking to be put to bed now. Love to all,
Janie

It's not that I'm materialist, but...

There are WAY too many really COOL toys on the market today!

And not just children's toys, oh no. Many toys on todays market are aimed at the +18 market! Take, as a point of reference, the warning on the bottom of a toy advertisment I saw recently:

Warning: The Product Emits An Electric Shock. Keep out of reach of children. Not suitable for those under the age of 14. This is a novelty item, not a toy. May interfere with electrical devices such as pacemakers.

You see my problem? How can I resist such an statement! The words "Electric Shock" alone make me start salivating.

Alas, (or should that read, "Thank goodness"?) I cannot afford any of the following goodies. BUT, on the off chance that YOU can and would let me come over and see them, here are a few suggestions:

Airzooka Air Gun
This simple, battery-free device emits a powerful vortex of air (and Noise!) up to 20 feet across the room, savagely disturbing careful-sorted documents, destroying expensive hairdos, and scaring that heck out of your cat. $14.99
http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/warfare/60b6/

Green Laser Pointer II
Not only is this laser pointer GREEN, and not completely-boring, runofthemill red, but the beam itself is visible, not just the point at the end. Perfect for presentation, stargazing, and looking like a wizard/jedi. $99.99
http://www.thinkgeek.com/gadgets/lights/5a47/

Marshmallow Blaster
Who of us can honestly say that we've never been in this situation: You're trying desperately to chuck marshmellows at friends/co-workers but your aim is off or you just can't throw it far enough. Worry not, fair citizen! Marshmellow Blaster to the rescue! $29.99
http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/warfare/7b54/

And, for those of your who just can't wait to find out which product I was describing before...

R/C Laser Tag Shocking Tanks
Remote control tanks that shoot infared beams at eachother and register each hit by sending an electric shock into the hand of your oppentent. "Two shock levels (wimp and tough guy) are available. How brave do you feel?" "Handy wrist straps are built into each controller so that when you shock your boss and he freaks out and drops his controller, it won't hit the floor" $49.99
http://www.thinkgeek.com/geektoys/rc/7485/

Please let me know as soon as you order these, so I can set up camp in front of your mail box and let you know the instant you recieve your package. In fact, just because I like you, why don't you send the items to MY address, and then I'll be able to bring them to you! You won't have to worry about a thing!

=D

-Dave

Samantics, History, and Nonsencery

Language.
The basic purpose of language is to communicate. But occasionally it falls short, due largely to the limited nature of language. In order to function, language must have some limits. If whenever we couldn't think of a word, we simply made up a new one, how could we possibly communicate with others? There would be no way of knowing what new words others had created or what they could mean. (This is why so many parents believe that their teens have stopped using English). However, while the growth of a language must be slowed, it cannot be stopped. For as long as a society is progressing beyond its previous state towards another, whether for better or worse, there will always be times when previous language simply will not suffice, and a new, bold addition to the language must be made.

This is one of those times.

I was talking to a youth from our church the other day (yes, I actually do that on occasion. At least I'm doing better at it now) and I was trying to express the newfound cultural importance of the name Colvin.

9 months before the wonderful Mrs. Rosa Parks made her historic stance against racism and started the mighty gears of the American Civil Rights Movement toward their inalienable goal, there was another. A younger woman, only 15 years of age at the time, also refused her seat to a white customer. She was subsequently arrested. Her story is the same as that of Mrs. Parks, yet it is only recently has this young woman gained recognition for her bravery. And that young woman's name was Claudette Colvin.

So there I was, trying to explain the significance of my namesake while trying to subdue my obvious and rather geeky enthusiasm for historical trivia, when I stopped.

What did I just say?

Colvin is my "Maiden" name?!

Suddenly my mind was filled with a very vivid and disturbing image. There I was, a young Colvin boy, dressed in a frilly pink dress and locked in the tallest tower of a castle, complete with dragon circling precariously.

"This is not right." I thought. "Maiden is NOT the right word".

(For those who do not quite understand, I was indeed born a Colvin, and my lovely bride was a Davidson. When we married, we decided to amalgamate our names into what it is today. Thus Colvin is strictly my pre-marriage name).

So I leave it to you, the blogger community, to enlist into the English language a bold, new word, a word that goes where no word has gone before! Specifically, it must be a word that describes a Man's name previous to his marriage, the same way "Maiden Name" refers to a woman's name prior to her wedding and assumed taking of her husband's name.

What should this new word be?
Me? My money's on "Maxibachlo!" "My Maxibachlo name is Colvin." It references both my previously unwedded state of Bachelorhood, and describes how cool and awesome my new marital state is: Maxi!

Now it's your turn! Comment! Do it now!
-Dave

One Month Old

Corrina has hit her first little landmark in the space- time- wrinkle continum: she is ONE MONTH OLD! Wowzas! Her little face is chubbier, and when weighed on the 16th she came in at a stunning 9 lbs 10 oz. Good eater! So she is healthy, we are mostly rested, and our house definately needs some deep cleaning. Any volunteers???
Here are some pictures to keep you ooohhhing and aaawwwing.
Here is Corrina yesterday enjoying her swing. She has been making some very "content" faces that are almost smiles! So fun!
Here is Corrina on Valentines day in her Valentines dress, courtesy of Pam! Thanks!

And here is Corrina enjoying the afternoon in her sling.. made lovingly by Auntie Heather S! She snuggles right down into it and falls asleep to the enjoable bounce of my walking.

Well well!

Well, Happy Valetine's Day, everyone!

And I truly hope it was. On this most festive occastion let us not forget the Saint who invented chocolate. Or something like that. Apparently.

Well, I'll admit at the beginning of the day things were looking a little grim. With Corrina's blessed arrival I haven't exactly had the spare time to prepare a fancy card or bake special goodies. And these days eating out/going on a romantic date isn't really possible with a brest-feeding baby (I appologise to all of you who may have been offended by the word "feeding"). And we don't exactly have a ton of cash lying around for a fancy gift (not like we're exactly into that... we all know how much Janie loves Diamonds)... so I can honestly say I was at a bit of a loss. But we talked about it and we decided that the best gift of all these days is time together, so I was able to go into work early in order to take the afternoon off.

It was great. We got to sit and talk, which is so nice. We had a nice sub for lunch and I was able to pick up a coconut steamer from the Fyxx for Janie on my way home, which smelled great. And, perhaps best of all, I got to spend some real quality time with my little girl, who was actually somewhat playful for what I beleive was the very first time. We cuddled on a fuzzy blanket, stared at the mobil, and had very meaningful conversation. It was lovely. And when she had a nap, Janie and I got to just be "us" for a few precious moments.

Oh, and for dinner we ordered pizza from Diana's Gourmet Pizza, which was awesome. Tell you what, if you live in Winnipeg and want some serisouly good (yet pricey) pizza, check it out! Winner of "Canada's best pizza 2005" by some random group of judges (who may or may not work for Diana)! Great pizza, try the whole-wheat crust with olive oil and herb sauce! Mention our add and get free bread sticks!

Lastly, I'd like to make a plug for Dave'd Rae's Third Wheel Convention:I was only able to drop by for a few minutes, but that doesn't mean it wasn't awesome and hilarious. Check out Dave's blog, now on Blogger!

Anyways, I have to go to bed. S'been a long day, but a really great one.

Hope you and your's are doing well, and God bless.
-Dave

Video Test!

Hello everyone out there in blogger land!
let me see if this works!

Birthday!

We're hanging out at the girls' house the right now. Where are you?

It's Allison's birthday party, we've just eaten a big meal and are feeling very satisfied, ansad i acan't satand typing of a freaking laptop comkputer keyboird!

Corrina is hanging out on the floor, enjoy the bliss of nudity while someone changes her diaper.

Here are some quotes from our concervastion so that you can feel like you're here too!
"Eggplant is hard to cut through"
"We're not cleaning up, we're just bringing out more food"
"Did you see the Valentine's day dress"
"You're snorting like a piggy again!"
"You're not allowed to go again, I just cleaned your bum!"
"Wahh!"
"I want to be naked, I tell you! Naked!
"That's true, you're mom is quite....pooey"
"Wow. What a hot little girl!"
"hehehehehe"
"She's like, a homey"
"Oh, it burns!"


-Dave

Hey Janie!

Hello Janie, my precious, my love!

I'm at work and I just wanted to stop by and say hello! and I love you! and stuff like that. I didn't want to phone because last time I did I woke you and the baby up, but I figured you'd probably check the blog at some point!

I hope you're having a fabolous day! I hope you are well, and rested, and get to eat something today! (and I hope that all the lovely people out there leave nice comments for you too because you love to read them!)

Anyway, keep your chin up! Hope Corinna is having a wonderful day too!
-Love, Dave

I found it!

For many a year now, I have been searching. Tirelessly searching. Tirelessly and endlessly and expeditiously searching.

And of course, when I say "tirelessly" and "endlessly", I mean that at the very least I never really actually and completely stopped, which is much easier to do when the going is only really half-hearted to begin with. And of course by "searching" I mean that I've been keeping a general eye out for, and occasionally asking the odd person, some of whom may or may not have been in a position to accurately respond.

At any rate, and at the very least, I've been curious. Perhaps one might say mildly curious. Yet out of that mild yet unquenchable curiosity has sprung forth a near Herculean effort (which, while fettered by the daily grind of other more innocuous pursuits such as social responsibility and personal hygiene, is nonetheless impressive) to track down and otherwise lay hold of a fleeting artifact, unbeknownst to the collective consciousness for eons, from the very depths of my origin.

It might be fair to clarify that “origins” could rightly describe any point previous to the current one. And perhaps it would be courteous to point out that what might be mere months or possibly only a few years to you or I could easily be considered eons to something of a lesser earthly duration. Say, perhaps, an earwig. And while the reference to the great Olympians of old may not represent an accurate gauge of my labors in the traditional sense, it cannot be said that my attempted efforts were not entirely without at least some degree of personal anguish and sacrifice.

Ahem.
The long and the short of it is this:

Back in High school Karla Ann Naus showed us a book created from although not entirely written by a Dr Suess. Ever since I’ve been trying to remember the title and track down the book. Today I managed to. Good for me.

-Dave.

2 Weeks Old!!

I'm 2 Weeks Old!!
Can you believe it?? I hardly can. It feels like we just brought her home from the hospital. Wow, i have survived 14 nights (and days) with this cutie pie. Actually, she is a rather good sleeper at night. She actualy does a 5-6 hour stretch every night. Last night she had an amazing night!! Usualy she won't sleep until 2pm (and then does her 5 hr stretch), but last night she went to sleep at 10, didn't wake up until 1:30, went back to sleep at 4, and didn't wake up until 9:30ish!! Isn't that splendid. It is a blessing to have a good sleeper, and to have energy during the day! She makes such cute noises all the time, and really doesn't cry unless she has a gassy, sore tummy! She loves motion; the most soothing movement to her is up and down, up and down, so we do biscept curls with her and get a good workout!! She still eats alot (she will eat for like 2 hours... i know she isn't eating that whole time, more like sleeping half the time!!). Her eyes seem to get bigger and wider and more beautiful with every day that passes. She has endless funny expressions that she shares with us. We has seen little smiles, mostly when she's falling asleep or gassy, but we can't wait until she smiles in response to us!!! Chris and Mary are visiting with us until sunday and have been very helpful: sweeping, dishes, cooking, entertaining, holding and burping!! Well, enjoy the pictures, and leave a comment if you've stopped by; I LOVE READING THEM!!!
Adios from the Colvinson Clan (Corrina is the first true blood Colvinson!!)

This little red shirt (dress on her) was knitted by Auntie Candace! Cute Cute Cute!

Corrina likes to fall asleep in her swing!

Dad and Corrina rocking the day away!

This picture is about a week old. It was taken at her first bath!