That is the front of our house and the neighbour’s tree. Here is some of our clean up crew.
Then the girls had some fun sliding on the ice. At one point a polar bear showed up!
Category: Heather
Christmas Market
Last night we took Glenn’s mom with us on a festive outing downtown to the Christmas Market. We went last year but thought that it would be a nice family outing which it was. The lights are truly beautiful and all of the snow last night made them even more so. Imagine walking along to the sound of christmas music amidst a swirl of snowflakes as lights dance in the breeze over head. Oh, and there is a huge tree and tons of festive decorations.
We made a family visit to Santa before ducking inside for much needed hot chocolate.
A little bit more walking took us to a chocolate shop. What a heavenly smell greated us as we walked in. If we hadn’t already had hot chocolate I would have stood in that super long line for some. Instead, we saved our pennies and watched the machines making chocolate. Mmmmm.
Oh and a head update: the tape is finally off of Elspeth’s head and it is looking much better than when the tape was on. Just a pink line. Yippee!
Gingerbread Party
And so we the school based celebrations began this week with a gingerbread cookie party at Elspeth’s before&after school care. The kids had painted signs and made glitter centerpieces which were really cute but I forgot to get a photo of one (naughty mommy). I did however make sure that each child of mine had a cookie, knife, icing and WAAAAY too much candy for her own good.
 Here is Elspeth and her creation. She actually ended up eating quite a bit of her cookie this year.
This is Katrine’s cookie. He is a Cyclops gingerbread man. Can you guess what she is reading a lot of right now?
Some more Christmas fun
First, for those wondering Elspeth is basically fine. We are still waiting for the bandage to come off so that we can see what type of scar she might be looking at.
Okay, Christmas!
This past weekend it was off to Christmas on the Farm run by a local church. The girls really enjoy it. This year Elspeth was quite interested in their live nativity (which is pretty darn good). One of the wise men had “golden” chocolate coins.
Once the nativity play had been enjoyed (and we were thoroughly frozen), it was off to the craft zone in the barn. This year’s craft was a cute folded Christmas tree held in place by a jube jube.
We topped the evening with a wagon ride to look at all of the fabulous lights. A very cold evening but festive fun.
Wound update
Well, I can now say that I recommend opting for stitches over glue when given the chance. Elspeth seemed okay until Saturday morning. That is when there was some blood on cleaning. Again today. She is being a trooper but it hurts as her hair is caught in the tape. Guess we are heading back to the doctor’s. Sigh. On Wednesday she wrote a note to her teacher explaining what had happened. It is very cute. Makes me smile.
In amidst all of the drama there have been good things as well. Yesterday the whole family went to see the pantomime Peter Pan. It was hilarious for both the kids and adults. Top that off with time spent with cousins, uncle, aunt and grandparents and you have a great time. A great early Christmas gift.
Still smiling over all.
This afternoon was the annual Advent Craft Dinner at church. The girls LOVE it! They spend time doing crafts and being part of the church community. Top that off with dinner, ample dessert and a family centered worship service and it is a sure fire success. A great way to kick off advent…well, that and their Playmobile calendars.
Hard at work crafting
The evenings work…aside from the cookies which disappeared in a flash.
Finishing Up Halloween
Okay, we carved our pumpkins the day before Halloween. Katrine actually managed to convince Elspeth that she should put her hand inside the pumpkin. Numerous squeals and exclamations over how gross it was followed but in the end they were hollowed out ready to carve. As you can see, we made two pumpkins. The face on each was planned out by the girls while Glenn channeled his inner carver to finish them off. I thought that they were pretty darn cut. Then during trick or treating we ran into the final two creations.
This Halloween, Katrine had two costumes. At school she was an angel but we told her that it was not a good costume for trick or treating give how cold it usually gets as no one would be able to see her costume. One of our friends gave us some dress up clothes recently and in the batch there was a gorgeous asian style dress. Then while at the dollarstore picking up her angel set, Katrine fell in love with a mardi gras mask. So in the evening she was a “Mardi Gras Princess”. It worked out perfectly as her rain coat fit underneath (you can’t tell but Elspeth also had raingear under her costume). The dress came home oh so wet but the child was toasty cozy.
Elspeth had her Kindergarten Halloween celebration on the Wednesday because they spent Halloween Day at the farm. A whole day in the rain. That said, she was super happy and pleased as punch to show off the mini pumpkin she had chosen for herself. She was once again an adorable penguin.
Ready for her first field trip ever!Happy Bar Mitzvah Elan!
You won’t get any photos of the birthday dude but sending him birthday wishes anyways. He did a fabulous job and we are super proud of him. So very neat to have watched him grow up over the last 13 years. It was also great to bask in his parents pride as he performed the religious aspects. Rightly so as he did amazingly.
In addition to celebrating a momentous occasion with good friends, Glenn and I were able to sneak in a weekend away together…you see, the bar mitzvah was in Winnipeg! The girls got quality grandparent time while we flew out west to relax, eat, drink and dance with friends who we haven’t seen in far to long. The fact that the beds at the Fort Garry were beyond comfortable really aided in the relaxation aspect of the trip.
Before flying home on the Sunday, we went for a walk at the Forks where the Red and Assinaboine Rivers meet. It was a bit chilly but nice to stretch our legs before the plane ride home.
The hotel was built in 1912 near the railroad tracks. It even has a resident ghost who we gladly did not meet.
Some photos from the Forks.
The mall’s ode to Winnie the Pooh of literary fame who was named after Winnipeg.
We saw this big guy at the airport and I had to get a photo with him.
Thanksgiving Birthday Weekend
Yup, we combined many fun things this weekend. It was busy and lots of fun.
We started the weekend with some leaf fun. It is really nice that my parents get so many leaves at their house because we don’t have that many at our place. Plus my parents got free labour as the kids raked and raked…of course all of it was for nothing after they started jumping into their pile. Fun!
That evening was our family Thanksgiving dinner. Mmmm, turkey and all the fixings meant full tummies. The next day we took the kids to the Marsh so that they could work off the previous evening’s dinner as well as work up an appetite for more food. You see, October is a double birthday month for our family with Elspeth turning 4 and my sister in law 40. We finished the weekend with dinner with Glenn’s brother and sister in law where there was more cake and a brand new calico house which is being used with the new sweetie cart, train and rowboat also received over the past few days.
Here is how the sugar shack looks without all of the snow.
More leaf time and some net fishing with her uncle. All any of the kids caught was weeds.
Pre-dinner gifts.
My mom had made up some adorable cupcakes. Coupled with the 4 candle we had one delighted kidlet on our hands.
Okay, random cuteness to end it all.
Elspeth made a Thankful tree at After School Care. Apparently she is thankful for us and candy. (Hence the sweetie cart for her calicos)
Plus, Katrine landed her double toe which meant a trip out for frozen yogurt.
4th Birthday Party
With Elspeth’s 4th birthday falling on Thanksgiving Sunday we decided to hold her party a week earyl. Now this has confused her in that she can not understand how she is still three if she has had the cake and presents. :) This year’s theme was Ponies…as in My Little Pony. There were ponies everywhere. We used books, toys and printed pictures to decorate. The only item we had to buy was the Pin the Cutie Mark on the Pony game. I guess it pays to keep all of the elder daughter’s stuff sometimes.
The kids started by making headbands. A month ago our littlest could not print her name. Now, she is a pro….well except for the spider E. All of the kids got in on the action. They even made hats for Glenn and I!
Then there was the game, running around like crazy, playing with balloons and toys, talking, dressing up and making bookmarks. I don’t think that Elspeth stopped smiling once and Katrine was a great big sister. She tried to make sure everyone was having fun while also having fun herself. The fact that some of Elspeth’s China family were able to join us for the celebration made it extra special for both girls.
The party wrapped up with the gift unwrapping. It is hilarious to watch three year olds exchange gifts. They all want to help the birthday girl unwrap what they brought so more often than not there were at least two sets of hands on a present at any given time. We do have one photo of her unwrapping a gift by herself so it did happen. That said, Elspeth couldn’t care less if someone was helping or not. She was over the moon to simply be getting presents from her friends and family.
Can you believe that in 7 days she will be 4?
Richmond Hill Fire Department Open House
We had a great Saturday morning. The rain held off and there was a nice fall feel to the air (aka nicely cool). So we headed off to the community event at the local fire station. It was a lot of fun. There was a really cool train set up beside the train safety booth. Free popcorn and cotton candy. Sparky the mascot who Elspeth eagerly waved at but would not so much as take a single step towards. Add in balloon animals, games and of course fire trucks and it was a winning combination for both girls.
I really enjoyed seeing each of them use a hose to put out a pretend fire. Of course, they both had help from an actual fire fighter (especially Elspeth who is still tiny). Huge smiles on their faces. Katrine played a fishing game and became the proud owner of a bingo set while Elspeth got to ride on a battery powered bike. She could actually reach the pedals! AND, to top it off she wasn’t half bad at steering.
Post lunch was spent getting ready for the next day’s birthday part with cake icing and a trip to Longo’s for fancy cheese. (That is where the pumpkin photo is from. Outside of the Longos).
