What's up with Glenn, Heather, Katrine, and Elspeth
Okay, I have been hard at work crafting a set of Elspeth sized tenor drum sticks and I must say that I am quite pleased with the results. So here they are, presenting the pink duck tape (with leopard and cupcake accents) My Little Pony tenor drumsticks.
Notice the different ponies. This pleased said daughter greatly.
Now she is ready for some twirly practise…and she needs some work but makes up for it in enthusiasm.
Yup, I am officially in my 4th decade with Glenn to follow soon enough. It has been a wonderful birthday too. I got to sleep in (mainly because I slept through the alarm but that is a minor detail) and still made it to work on time! Waiting for me in my mailbox was a can of coke (my caffeine of choice) and a pink flamingo hat. So, all day I was walking around school with a flamingo on my head…and the kids loved it! I shared treats with my SSC students as well as those in my prep coverage classes. I think that I smiled all through the day. To top it off, it was a fairly smooth day at work.
I picked Katrine and Elspeth up and we met Glenn for dinner. We chose to go to B*ston Pizza because they had GF items that I can eat as well as meals that the girls enjoy. Glenn made the meal extra special by finding out if the bacon wrapped steak bites were GF. They were!! And they were also delicious (we got them without the onions or dip) A perfect way to change an ordinary meal into something special. After a delightful dinner it was back home for dessert and gifts. Glenn and the girls had baked a GF chocolate cake with chocolate icing and then topped it with 40 candles. It took 3 puffs for me to blow them out. Man that is a lot of candles. Topped it all off with cuddles from my girls, a glass of wine and a roaring fire. What did I get? Lots of stuff but one of the best things is a new dishwasher from Glenn. Doesn’t sound special? Well it is when it means that the broken one is replaced and dishes no longer have to be done by hand. Now that put a smile on my face.
Saturday was a reasonably quiet day that involved some sleeping in and more relaxing. Today was the official end of the celebrations which were marked by the arrival of a visit with a dear friend and her family who brought me some beautiful roses that are now brightening up our kitchen and mantel. Then it was off to the local skating trail for some family fun with friends. It was a wonderful day to be skating – cool but not cold and with only a slight breeze. Plus, Elspeth is improving leaps and bounds so she was going at quite a good pace which meant that Glenn and I got some actual skating in. We ended the afternoon with dinner at home with those friends marked by great conversation and watching all four girls consume mounds of cake pops.
Thank you to everyone who helped to make this birthday special for me. I have had a weekend full of love and it has made me feel special. My twenties saw me married, my thrities the arrival of our girls, so I can only hope that my forties are half as good as either decade.
😎
The first summer that Elspeth was home we all went to the Highland Games for Katrine’s dancing. It can be boring for a wee one to sit on a blanket and play so Glenn took her for walks. Her favourite destination was always where the bands were playing. Everytime the mass bands played she beamed and pointed to the drummers; well one type of drummer in particular -a tenor drummer. I had some pipe music out over the break and Elspeth asked again about the “Twirly Drumming” and could she learn. Off I went to do some research and I found out that the Richmond Hill Pipe Band offers drumming lessons. Additionally, they were willing to give this four year old a go.
As a result tonight we headed off for her first drumming lessons. She had a blast! It will take a while for there to be any level of skill but it was awesome to see her so happy and proud of herself. Her Great Grandpa would be very proud of her (he was a flourish drummer too).
No flourishing in this photo. Just some good old fahsioned drumming.
We ended 2013 and welcomed 2014 with snow and lots of it because we were up at my parents. Mom made a most delicious steak pie and triffle (GF of course ’cause she is the best mom ever). Then my parents were off to their “Hillbilly New Year Hoedown”. Yup, off they went to their party where they had an awesome time while the four of us crashed at their place…as you can see below, the girls were party animals.
New Year’s Day we headed off to the Wye Marsh for some skiing. It was awesome to be there as a group of four. Elspeth was tickled pink to be on skis like the rest of us. Unfortunately she is still a bit slow so we skied to the parking lot and then back before she had enough. Then I took her out on a sled around the trails before Glenn and I switched places and I got some skiing in.
Don’t you just love the rosy cheeks?
After a lunch it was time for some more outside play in the backyard with SOOOOO much snow.
We were planning on going sledding this morning but didn’t make it as it was super cold. Maybe next time!
Happy New Year Everyone!
We have been wanting to see the Mesopotamia exhibit for a while and finally took advantage of this time off to get down there. The Mesopotamia exhibit was very interesting but no photos were allowed so that is all I can tell you. Photos were allowed in other zones so I have photos of some of them.
I love this baby dinosaur because it eventually would grow into….
…this!
Aren’t the colours beautiful? It is however still a big bug…ugh!
Both girls got into the spirit of things in the biodiversity area.
In Egypt, Elspeth spent a great deal of time creating a personal senet game. In the process she also practised printing her numbers from 1 to 16 with the help of the volunteer.
Katrine didn’t make a game but she kicked the volunteer’s butt playing said game and had fun doing it because he was an awesome helper.
Katrine was not sure if she would want to skate on these early Canadian skates.
One of the last things that the girls did was race wind up crickets in Asia. The crickets were so fast that they actually hopped off of the table.
The last two days have been a lot of fun for the girls. We have spent large chunks of time outside each day and then come in to relax with homemade hot chocolate and rainbow looming. I say homemade because Glenn found an instant chocolate recipe and whipped it up before Christmas. He melted semi-sweet chocolate and mixed it with cream and then when it cooled he cut it into squares. You just plop some in milk, nuke, stir and deliciousness!! As for the rainbow looming, Elspeth is working hard to figure out how to loom a simple bracelet. It is a bit beyond her but she really wants it. Katrine got a pattern book for Christmas and was able to bead a bracelet and make her heart’s desire – a starburst bracelet.
The fact that her uncle and aunt got her glow in the dark elastics sweetened the deal because said bracelet also glows in the dark. Katrine has also been enjoying using her new foot spa. Now I love a good foot soak as much as anyone but this new spa is a bit much for me. To me it feels…ugh but then it is not mine so I don’t have to like it.
Katrine had a lot of fun being an engine for Elspeth.
This is what Katrine did when she got bored.
Near our trail there is a soccer field with a lovely nice slope. They started using a sled but…well…who needs a sled when you have a butt or belly covered with a snow suit? Apparently that is just as good.
Here is the new foot spa.
Yup, that was tonight. Instead of a traditional type of Christmas dinner we went for hot pot with Glenn’s mom, brother and sister-in-law. It was delicious! Maybe the two hours we spent outside this afternoon made it extra delicious, but that is another post. Doesn’t it look yummy? We cooked up rice noodles and some veggies along with LOTS of meat. Mmmm.
(The one side is clear chicken broth while the other is oh so spicy broth. Delicious when mixed with some extra garlic, ginger and spring onions.)
The it was dessert with extremely candy caney white chocolate bark…oh and Martha Stewart style sugar cookies (because the other Heather is an awesome baker) and of course, more presents. The girls each got a bean bag chair. I will let the photos show their reactions.
Actually today saw us joining Glenn’s family for a great extended family Christmas celebration. It reminds me of when I was a kid and we spent Christmas Eve with my dad’s family. The cousins would gather together and just have fun. I can’t recall what we actually did but I know with certainty that it was fun. Today’s outing involved great conversation for the adults and bonding for the kids. Some of that bonding occured outside in the snow which gave me the opportunity to play some more with my camera. Here are waay too many photos of the girls at play.
Those are two of my favourites. At Glenn’s cousin’s house there is a wonderfully large lawn off of the deck. The kids got quite the speed running down the stairs and out across the snow. At one point there was even a train waiting to sled on down.
Elspeth also enjoyed the icy playset. Who knew that swimming on a frozen swing could be fun? (Yes, she is sitting on a layer of ice and did so for a full 20 or so minutes.)
One of the cousins shared their jumping rock and the girls embraced this concept. I was quite surprised to see Elspeth get in on the action given that she usually needs to be holding on to a hand in order to jump off of something into an unknown ( in this case a pile of snowy grass). Seeing her sister and cousin jumping encouraged her to give it a try and then it was hard to convince her to try anything else outside. By the way, I love how my new camera takes action shots!
The girls gave us a real present today – they slept in!! And on Christmas Day!! It was wonderful. Once we were up and their grandparents were up it was off to stockings.
Then once breakfast was done and we had fueled up the unwrapping began. I will let the photos do the talking
.
Finally dressed for dinner. Not a bad looking pair!
Once they had collapsed in bed, it was out into the snow for some shoveling. What a beautiful way to end the day. Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night.
In the morning, I took the girls outside to play in the ice/snow. We have some of those Sno*Markers which meant that they had something to do aside from slid on the ice. They got pretty creative. I can honestly say that if you launder snowclothes covered in this “ink” it comes right out of snow clothes.
We had picked up Glenn’s mom yesterday and then my parents joined us at our place today so we have a full house right now. My parents got a new tree and as a result, they donated their old one to us. Now we have two trees. As you can see, there are a few ornaments on the new one but that is okay, we can grown into it. The girls talked their Grammy into helping them.
Then Katrine got roped into helping her Grandma do the prep work for the lentil soup for Christmas Day.
The work in the kitchen was no where near done. There were sugar cookies and Baby Jesus’ birthday cake to be iced as well as a gift for Mom to be made. (Katrine did the ‘Saint Jesus’ on the cake. Never heard that before but oh well).
Glenn worked with Elspeth to make me Candy Cane Bath Salts with Katrine as the official photographer.
(Epson salts; add peppermint oil and food colouring; stir and bottle. Smells great.)
After dinner it was off to chruch for the evening service followed by a tour of local lights before the Santa set up began.
The girls even had their stuffies get in on the act.
