A beautiful day for a walk

The weather this year is very bizarre.  It'll be "warm", just below freezing or a little warmer, sometimes it's rained even, then the next day will be minus -20 and windy.  It's a bit crazy, so I am figuring out that each day, I have to poke my nose out and see how it is, because some days are gorgeous and the perfect temps to go out for a winter adventure.  These pics were taken one of those warm days.

At the end of our street, someone made a great snowman, looks like he wanted to roll in the snow and make a snow angel.  Emora and I took the dog with us and she was so happy to get out of the yard.  We headed to the lake park because I love to visit the water- even when it's frozen.  This is by far, one of my favorite places.  I need to go visit some of the other favorites while winter is here.  I'd like to see if the deer are still sleeping up on the hill where I found little deer nests one time.

The frozen lake is past the wall, under a bunch of snow.  There are ice fishing shacks out there, but I'm still too much of a scaredy cat to walk out on the ice.

With the rains we've had, it left a thin sheet of ice on the snow.  The ground was crunchy and slippery to walk on and so very pretty with it's designs and the way the sun would shimmer off the surface.

Emora was doing her best dog imitation here.  She was pretty effective!  She liked to run and slide on the ice.


I'm working on some Christmas presents and wrapping, trying to work down some of my list of "to dos".  We went to the reindeer festival today too, which was fun- now we are all sugared up.  We got to see real reindeer, make crafts, get lots of sugary treats, including an ice cream sandwich and hot chocolate. Ivan's favorite part was the reindeer race- they put on antlers and a red nose and raced down the hall, then got candy canes- he did that about a half dozen times until I pulled him away.  Dominique liked the races too and went to the most craft tables of all of them.  Emora is saying the liked the races too.  She also enjoyed petting the reindeer.  I'll post some pics some day!

When we first moved here, I didn't think there was much going on, but so far this weekend, we've taken in 2 events and missed 3 others, because we are a slow paced kinda family.  Poor Emora has been a bit grouchy each night by supper time and I think she's a bit short on sleep.  Wouldn't you know she slept until nearly 10am this morning!  I hope there is lots of sleeping in over the holidays!

jobs gettin done

This was Ivan serving us for the pancake breakfast fundraiser.  With the proceeds, each class drives into the city to watch the Globe theater's play.  This year they saw The Wizard of Oz- a show I've always hated, but they quite enjoyed it.

We were able to convince Tyler and Victoria to join us for our fine dining experience.  They kind of had to come, they had our kids ;)

Emora was being a goof- as usual!  She does like to make us laugh!

Welcome to our winter wonderland.  This is taken from our front window.

Our trees out the same window.

Past the tree is the field- that I hoped would get a good hill for sledding, but my cousin said the guys got in trouble for dumping it there the year we had the best sledding hill!

Emora was showing me she had finished all her eggnog. We are trying to get all sorts of things done for Christmas and end of year and lalalalala. Hope you are not overly stressed, take time to breathe and remember that this is all for love and loving.

Emora's "2" year old picture

Someone is being my big helper.  We've been recruited a few times for some jobs and she is earning her keep!  She helped me with some cleaning, then we got to prep some craft materials for the Reindeer festival and we helped as monitors for the perfect attendance movie.  That was really tough.  We gave out popcorn, helped ourselves to a bag and watched a Christmas movie.  I did give one kid permission to go fill her water bottle while the teacher was out of the room!  Hard work, I tell you!  My favorite part was hearing one child guffawing with loud bursts of laughter throughout the movie... it was Emora.  About 10 kids in the room and I think the smallest liked it the most (It was the movie Santa Clause).

Anyways, Mike has been guiding me through a different process for Emora's painting.  It's taken me way too long (nearly 2 years so far), but I can tell it will be way better than the others.  He told me how to "underpaint", by doing a detailed drawing first, then spraying it with a fixatif, then using burnt Sienna watercolor to give it depth and finally to paint it with acrylics.  It's like doing the picture 3 times, but it should solve my skin tone problem and make this last step with the acrylics go a lot faster.  It's amazing how the smallest tips can make a huge difference.  Like I was saying that the drawing was smearing so much, he picked up a paper, put it under his drawing hand to protect the page and pretended to draw!! DUH!

I actually got the watercolor on it since these pictures.  I may add a touch more of watercolor, but probably not.  Mike keeps warning me to simplify.  Sometimes (ie rarely- I listen!)

Maybe over Christmas holidays, or when the grandparents arrive, I'll find some time to work on this.  Maybe I could have it done by her 4th birthday!  That would be nice.

We got our tree up last weekend and the kids were so very excited to decorate it.  It was actually quite nice- I barely touched it at all, just relocated a couple dozen ornaments that were all clumped on the same few branches.

Dominique the ballerina

These pics were from many weeks ago, when we were invited to go watch Dominique's ballet class.  Classes here have been a bit crazy.  The teachers all commute from the city, and this winter has been crazy so far with lots of freezing rain, making highway driving extremely dangerous, so they've had to postpone many a class.

Dominique loves the dancing.

And the girls and giggles.  They get to pretend they are princesses a lot and that fits her fancy too.

Soar girl, soar!

The same night of the ballet watch was a windup night for after school yoga class- which Dominique also did.  Ivan could have been in it, but it was not his cup of tea.  I told the coordinator that if there was lego building, Ivan would be all over that, so that may be one of the options in the new year.  Since our school is a community school, they have funds to offer programs.  Ivan is excited for next year.  He wants to do roping and curling... his Texan and Saskatchewan roots will really shine then!

Unfortunately, I had to miss this part, but Brian faithfully took pics and video for me... which this program is now giving me probs loading videos, so we'll see if I can bully it into posting more at some point!

funny funny

Of course all the kids (namely girls) in school are into Justin Beaver (sic) and of course mentioning the Beaver in our home always elicits a strong reaction from the musician of the house, so Dominique was especially excited to come home one day with Bieber stickers so that she could make a note for her dad, which she hung on our bedroom door.

We love our puppets- really we do.  Not sure why Kermit was punished so cruelly.

10:30 at night, I see Ivan's light still on and decide to investigate.  He had just gotten a new lego set with his birthday money.

The girls weren't any better.  Here they are at 10:30pm.  Their bedtime is 9 by the 1way.

Apparently everyone is a joker in our house- even the cat.  This is where he decided to take a nap one day.

Hope you have a great day with some giggles in there for good measure.

Whatayaknow!

Oops, this was supposed to have posted a week ago... getting behind I am!

Well- yesterday it told me I couldn't post any more pics and today it let me, so who knows, maybe I misunderstood or something.

This one can be such a delight and such a little terror and all within a few minutes.  Like when things are going her way, she's so fun and happy, but oh boy, if she has something in her gorgeous head that does not work out like she wants it to- watch out world!

Partners in crime ;)  Actually my helper and I got quite a bit accomplished today and to celebrate that and American thanksgiving and new snow, we got some special items at the grocery store- fresh raspberries and eggnog!  Brian's never been a fan of eggnog, since he overdosed as a kid once, so I've never really bought it, but I saw it last week on sale and it's been on my mind since, so when it was on sale again this week- I had to get some.  The kids all love it too.  UMMMM- so fun.

Homework!  Ivan thinks it's highly unfair that he is the only one with homework and the girls were both begging to have homework, so they now get time all together to work away.  Dominique loves to teach her little sis.

She also likes to share all her knowledge and stories and who knows what all else she was telling us.

And poor Ivan trucking away at his spelling words... looking forward to another long weekend ;)

When Ivan was taking guitar, he had these chords to play over and over, he started to talk to me and I told him to keep playing.  It sounded like a blues song to me, so I ran and got the camera and made him tell me again.

oh wow!

ACK!  I just deleted a huge post I'd written, with the 3 videos and thanksgiving message for our American friends and family!!!

I'm a bit stuck technologically tonight obviously!  First it says that I've used up all my photo space, so I'm going to have to figure out how to delete photos I didn't know were being saved, somewhere... out there...  Then I thought I was just cleaning up my list of posts, some of which were empty drafts, which I thought I clicked on and   OOPS- deleted my longest post ever- so witty and enjoyable- really you would have loved it!
(haha)
So I'm working at getting the videos back up and trying to remember the best of what I'd said!

First off- happy thanksgiving to all our American friends and family!  I hope your turkey is moist, your desert rich, your heart full of love and thanks and that you know that you are loved and amazing- a gem in this world that we are truly grateful for.

We have a shortened week, not because of thanksgiving, but to compensate for busy nights with parent/teacher/student interviews.  It's always good to hear the teacher's perspective of how our child is doing and to figure out ways we can work together to help our children maximize their learning.  School work is a lot harder for Ivan than it is for Dominique- mostly because he is not passionate about writing, spelling, paper work...  If spelling was rearranging lego characters and he wrote with a light saber and writing involved a yelling chase to terrorize his sisters- he'd be all about it and excel with flying colors.  Dominique on the other hand loves the paperwork and homework (she doesn't have any, but likes to check out Ivan's), the stories and writing.  She comes home and bosses/teaches her sister, who also loves to write, color and learn from books.  All of that said- I am super proud of Ivan for making a huge effort this year and making marked improvements already, for the very fact that he does have to work hard at it.  We are also learning how he learns best and ways to encourage him that are meaningful to him.

We did make it to a pancake breakfast fundraiser finally.  It motivated us some to have Ivan serving.  We had to arrive with camera.  I'd say our family only got a C- on our performance that day though.  As soon as Ivan helped push a tray out, he picked up a plate and a sausage rolled off onto the floor, then Dominique spilled her full glass of juice all over the floor, table and paper place mats made for the occasion.  Fine dining is not our forte- but our dog would have been impressed!

The fundraisers are for the kids' trips to the Globe theater.  Dominique went last week and Ivan went Monday to see the Wizard of Oz.  Ivan's class also went swimming.  We are hoping we get to go to the pool Friday since we missed last time with the blizzard that came in.

Today was a weird day in that it was raining/sleeting/hailing/snowing the temp must have been right at freezing, because the precipitation didn't know how to come down.  It made it very slick, and beautiful white again. Winter can be so breathtaking here.  The other day, we were dazzled with frosted trees in the morning.  I love the sounds snow and ice make, the different way it shapes, the way wind can create designs in it.  The only thing I really have against winter is the cold.  I really hate being cold, but being bundled up in the cold isn't horrible, if it's not too bad out and hot chocolate, soups and cuddles under the blankets are always more appreciated when the temps outside are the chilliest.

 Emora and I got to skate this morning, at the rink, then again on the road and sidewalks as we went to get the kids from school.  That one is growing up too.  Last week, she had a 30 min. meltdown because I was having her walk instead of taking her in her stroller, now she's decided that walking is quite fun- and it really is without the big stroller and with a dancing, happy, walk/ skippy little thing at my side.

Hopefully next post, I'll be able to figure out the picture situation, but until that gets fixed, this appears to be letting me put up videos and I had several to share here with you.  We got to watch one of Dominique's ballet classes (contrary to Ivan's predictions, they do not karate chop each other!), as well as her demonstration of a yoga class she did.  And I've got video of Ivan and his bow, of him on his guitar singing about his bow, that same bow that then sat in the garage unused.  ah well, it sure did create some excitement when he got it though!

Hope your weekend is a wonderful one and ours too!  I am happy and thankful for the many Americans in my life, especially the 4 that gather around the table with me each day.  Texas was a wonderful place for me in so many ways and has meshed it's way into my life in inseparable ways.  I will always have a place for it in my heart (Texas would add a "BIG" place) and it is- a BIG place in my heart- where the heat is hotter, the tea is sweeter, the pecans fell into our yard and amazing people were brought into our lives.  I was forever changed, enriched, graced with love- so to America and the Americans who make it home- thank you.  And of course to the Lover/Creator/Friend always at our side, thank you for the journey, even the hard parts, because you are there and that's all that matters.

Sledding part 2

More pics of us sledding.  I'm finding with winter here, I barely take any pictures.  Inside pics are just not as nice and I don't think of it much since we are not doing anything out of the ordinary.  And outside- we haven't done much special either, and it's tucked away from the cold.

Emora's my sled buddy.  We pick up the kids from school with her riding in the sled now.  The other day, since we weren't in a rush, I had her walk and get exercise- she threw a huge fit and cried for about 4 blocks, until I got to the store.  I told her she could sit outside because they didn't let crying kids in stores, or she could quit crying and come in so that we could get her waterproof mitts.  She finally stopped crying, LOVES her new mitts (we had to search every possible store in town- all 3 stores to find a pair).  She later informed me that if I had taken her to go get a donut that she wouldn't have cried all that time and that maybe we should in fact go get a donut.

Dominique is still loving ballet and just finished up an after school yoga 6 week program.  She wants to be in everything!  I'd like to sign her up for a keeping your room clean program, but don't know where to find one.  We were giggling over her report card, because her teacher put in that she always keeps her things organized.  We told her that her teacher must not have seen her room and she laughed saying "no way- but my desk is tidy".

Brian the stunt man was roofing on ice again today and has successfully not fallen off ;)  We are quite proud of you hun!  This was a little play snowboard I got cheap when our other grocery store went out of business.  I think you have to be much shorter than Brian or I to attempt it.  The kids had some fun on it, but we just kept falling over!

Sliding head first produced less snow in the face than feet first actually, but you have to try several methods to figure out the best way down!

Ivan is the lego king at our house.  He is always building away and will work days and days following the instructions from a kit.  He has also made some huge improvements in his writing, so we are super proud of him working so hard at something that is not his passion. 

Sledding part 1

Taking to the hills.  It was so, so nice to have a 4 day weekend, even if we did get snowed in and missed out on swimming- look at what we got to do instead.  By Monday it had stopped snowing.  Brian was all caught up on shoveling and the temperature was nice, so we took to a hill and got our first sledding outing of the year in!

Emora went down several times in front of Brian or I, then, fully face washed, decided she'd had enough!  I don't blame her, it got cold on the face.

I'd never sledded on this hill before.  It was pretty perfect for a good long run with plenty of speed.

Dominique had her own style too which included lots of snow in the face.

Poor Emora- I got lots of pics of her, for one thing, she looks so dramatic with all that snow and for another thing, she stayed still long enough for me to get a picture.  The others were just going up and down the hill non-stop!

a lovely day and hot chocolate at home, a friend came along after a bit so that was good too to catch up and check in.

Snow, snow and more snow!!!

d

If you haven't heard, we got some snow.  We had a 4 day weekend for Remembrance day, so I had planned to take the kids to the city to swim, but everyone was saying a blizzard was coming through.  The roads didn't look bad, but I figured I'd better listen although I really wanted to go, I wasn't sure how hard it would be coming back.  The snow started Friday and didn't stop until Sun.  Brian would go out and shovel a foot of snow off the drive and in 2 hours later, you couldn't tell he'd shovelled at all.

We all had to go run in it a bit.

The kids barely wanted to be inside- it was awesome!  They even noticed that they weren't asking for "screen time" constantly!