'Tis the Season...

What kind of Christmas is Christmas without a couple o' cookies being cut & baked, hmm? We managed to wing off a few dozen gluten-free gingerbread. The girls enjoyed the dough handling more than anything (second to the actual ingestion of said cookies). I have to admit, I really like doing this too - brought me back to when I was a girl with my Mum letting me decorate cookies. We're not quite at the 'help decorate' stage but soon...

Concentrate...concentrate...

Decorated cookies.. I went a little old school, but it was worth the results..

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Smiles for the camera!

New territory was conquered just before Christmas - we took the kids skating for the first time. As you can see, there's a bit of practising to be had, but at least she's confident enough to stand without holding on (okay, there's the 'safety skate' at the boards..). Even Noelle loved being out on the ice, when she wasn't hiding from the smiles of the oodles of other strangers that wanted to engage her.. How I ended up with 2 shy girls is beyond me, but they slowly show signs of emerging from their wee shells and continually surprise us.

Halloween or H1N1, which is scarier???

..that is the question, apparently.. I guess it would be silly not to point out the whole healthcare fiasco of late or at the least, give it mention. Suffice it to say, this whole immunization against the swine flu has been a complete keystone cops routine and unbelievably poorly organized by our healthcare system - 5 hour waits, wristband entries and public protests are just a few of the sad lowlights. On a happy note, the girls have both been 'shot' and are nursing owie arms. I'm not sure when we will go get ours, hopefully the vaccine jar will once again be flush in a few weeks and the mass hysteria will have died down and then we'll get'er done..

In other news..
For Halloween, I was a mechanic, Kyra was a witch (last year's costume still fit! yay!) and Noelle was a featherless chicken (she didn't want to wear the poke-y feathers).. The bootie was great and is currently residing atop an innocent cupboard, nicely forgotten.. oo, did someone say 'snack time??'

What to do, what to do...

SNOW is definitely part of Canada's Food Guide..it is at our house.

Don't worry, she only ate the white snow...and lots of it! It took until 'blue lip' stage to get her in the house. Good thing she likes the stuff, I have a feeling we'll be seeing quite a bit of it this winter.

The Last of the Summer Mud

..reason number 29 as to why I do LOTS of laundry.. this was taken an hour before bedtime .....and minutes before bathtime..

Back in Time

Officially, we've begun our slow climb into good health once again...and to celebrate such good fortune (being alive, that is) we took the girls to Heritage Park. Yes, it is a 'trip back in time' but it really brings us both back to when we were kids going to Heritage Park or riding the bike path by, around and across from it. Nothing but great memories I think and today was no exception - the sky crystal clear and the crowds, far apart from each other. Kyra guided us through the park deeming herself 'Chief Map Engineer' (she's BIG on maps these days) and we hit all the great spots with trains, chickens, weird looking stoves (Kyra couldn't identify the stove in the old kitchens) and the arts & crafts display. Oh, and let's not forget petting the bunny bums (the non-bitey end) or the work horses and enjoying a grassy picnic by the fountain..sigh. I'm also pretty sure Noelle enjoyed picking up Poplar tree leaves & trying to feed the hens with them AND getting free candy from the Bank..

Lunch time!

This one looks just like the one in our garage!!

Hen Teasing 101

Playing with the Fountain

Gasoline Alley (beautifully restored classics) - no Model T's tho'...hmm

Below is a tribute from the HandCrafter's Guild to Audrey (our neighbour), who died August 25th suddenly and saddened us all. We have many of these fine tatted articles in our own home, gifted by her - she did beautiful work!

Summertime Memories

So here we are, it's August - the nights are cooling down, the vegetables are ripening up and I'm scouring the internet for deals on snowsuits already... One cannot be too prepared when September is around the corner! And besides, if I don't get started now, the procrastination gene will kick in and voila! Winter will be here and I'll have missed every possible snowsuit that might have fit my kids and I'll have to buy something leaky, cold and ill-fitting.. (well, that's my neuroses anyhoo)... Luckily, I also have the 'preparedness' gene (from my mother's side of the family, I think) and it can often cancel out the procrastinator gene if given the right environment.

I digress.. Today I thought I'd jot a few more good memories down of our summer thus far. We've had plenty of water, waterparks, swimming holes and lakes to keep everyone waterlogged and towels loading the washing machine. Oddly enough I don't remember that many days of sunshine but they must have been there cuz Noelle's suit is actually wearing through in the butt.. Also, the garden is producing lots of yummy veg this year and here's a prize winning fennel if I ever saw one!
Let's see..hmm. We had a big wasp issue this summer (and seem to continue to have one - argh!). So far the grand total of wasp's nests exterminated has grown to (drum roll) THREE! Which is a full 200% over last year.. And they seem to be nesting in the ground this time. Very interestink... Below is a pic of the Waspinator at work with a pot of boiling water.. It took 3 trips from the kettle and 1/2 a can of BrakeKleen to wipe out the little buggers. Out of shear contempt, we've yet to dispose of the empty nest - just letting it lay there as a warning to the other wasps...

Camping was another big thing this summer.. we truly enjoyed the trailer as much as we could without actually taking a holiday. And my joy is to wake up before the kids, tip-toe around quietly perking a pot of coffee, taking the dog for a pee and basking in the glory of a sleeping child.. I really should just carry around a picture of my sleeping children (instead of the smiling, mocking picture I have) since the sleepy child is much more 'warm fuzzy' inducing and would serve a great reminder to not actually run from the house screaming when the mood strikes.. See? I've got those warm fuzzies already.. I just want to run upstairs and touch their little chubby faces, smell their sweet breath and gaze at their motionless cuteness now.. Sigh... It can be so easy to forgot the tantrum fits, the bashing of toys against one another's bodies, the purposeful spilling of drinks, horribly smelly diapers and the perpetual bruises. oops. Moment is ruined...

Anyway, I'll just drive off into the sunset and enjoy the scenery in my roadtrip memories instead.

The Open Prairies.. love'em

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Sisters are the B-E-S-T!

Bad Dog!!

Well, it finally happened - she let me know that she's been feeling ignored.. She even made Kyra cry over her toy sponge. I barked at her once, we cleaned up the scattered shrapnel and then took the poor puppy for a walk. Live & learn...