Friday, October 30, 2015

Night Before Halloween

One might think now that I'm working less that I would have more time to write blog posts.  That would definitely sound logical but it doesn't seem to be working out that way.  Any hoo... we're gearing up to do some hard core trick or treating tomorrow.  Saturday Halloween's always feel a little bit weird. The kids whooped it up at school today so I figure we could just wrap it up for another year...but then I wouldn't have any treat bags to sneak treats from after the girls go to bed.  And then I wouldn't have to hide a mountain of candy wrappers in the garbage can.  Because really, one full size chocolate bar is at least 20 of those small ones, right?

At least little sister will have one less tooth to brush after all the chocolate bars she plans to eat tomorrow.




Little sister has been working so hard at her school work.  Spelling word, sight word. home reading, adding, counting up, Annie Apple, Bouncing Ben...you name it, sisters got it covered.  She even has her own work station set up in the kitchen.  And to top it off, she's started piano lessons this week. Grade 1 is pretty intense!  

Homework looks a little different when you're in grade 3.  Callie's busy creating a Voki to send to her teacher. She types in what she wants to say in French and the computer reads it out loud for her to hear the pronunciation.  She writes stories and then shares them with her class.  Isn't that cool!  Before you know it, there'll be a man on the moon!



Nana's piano, dated 1902, has finally made it's way to it's new home in our living room. It's all tuned up and ready to make beautiful music!  I don't know much about music but the sound of this piano compared to the keyboard is unbelievable.  For one thing, it's definitely a lot louder.  I'll have to let you know if that's a good thing or not!  

Out of the blue, some retired football players from the Blue Bombers showed up at our school with the Grey Cup.  I think the cup is on tour because the big game is in our province this year.  I can't say that my girls, like their mama, are die hard football fans.  They didn't know what the Grey Cup was until we heard it was coming to our school.  Their dad filled them in with the details.  Callie said, "so it's like the Stanley Cup of football?  Pretty much.  Despite not being huge football fans, it was still pretty cool to get to touch the cup!


A little circus came to town.  We watched it from the front row.  It was VERY close to us.  After the Culture Days juggling and plate spinning I'm worried my girls may think joining the circus is a good idea.

It's that time of the year again! It's time to say good bye to our snow birds with an early Christmas celebration.  Early Christmas is like an appetizer.  Just a little taste of all the joy that is to come.





The girls loved the first course of gifts.  They had no idea why Nana had traced their foot a few weeks ago and then they forgot all about it.  And what would a Christmas party be without asking Suri crazy questions and laughing hysterically with your cousins and her answers.



 We've had the girls' favorite house guest last week.  If Ozzy only knew how much he was loved.  The girls love him so much he has to hide from them.  They run home from school to see him.  He gets to sleep wherever he wants.  He is the King.  I guess he is kinda cute...









 ...and yes, even Ozzy has a Halloween costume for tomorrow.


Monday, October 12, 2015

Thanking and Loving

It's Thanksgiving Day.  All weekend I've been making a mental list of all my blessings.  I've scrolled through my newsfeed a few times today.  I've sent wishes, I've received wishes and I've  liked everyone's pumpkin patch, corn maze and turkey dinner photos.  And then I came upon one of those quote thingys that made me think...

And if I asked you to name all the things that you love, how long would it take to name yourself?

I can honestly say that I hadn't put myself on that list of things I'm thankful for but I will. And I will start this post with a selfie I took on Friday because it was a beautiful fall day, my reduced work hours allowed for my healthy body to take me for a 5km run, I had a refrigerator full of food for my family and here I was performing  my newest mom duty ...waiting for my girls to get home on the school bus.  While I was standing there in the sunshine, all was good in the world.  




There is so much to be thankful for.  When little sister brought home her grade one Thanksgiving book from school, there it was, on the last page...I am thankful for mom. When Callie read it she said, "Hey, what about me and dad?"  I just wonder what the teacher would have thought if she had wrote I am thankful for myself, as that quote thingy suggests?





When I was in the stores on Saturday, I had trouble deciding if it was Thanksgiving, Halloween or Christmas that we were celebrating this weekend.  And then I thought about how great these next few months will be. Being thankful, getting cozy, family time, costumes, decorations, candle light and all that good stuff.    







We really do have everything we need.  Including lots of leaves to rake, jump in and throw up into the air!  And if this big girl has the most amazing family it's because she's a part of it!  
Happy Thanksgiving.  
Count your blessings and love yourself. 
I think we can do both.

Monday, October 5, 2015

Life's Details

I still haven't made any homemade soup yet but I've kept it on my imaginary to-do list for another week.  I was thinking about soup for Thanksgiving dinner.  It might not be traditional but I think it sounds like a great idea.  

On another note, my camera is broken.  It's been down for a while now.  Figuring out what's wrong with it is on that same to-do list as the homemade soup. Until I get that figured out, all I've got for you is some low quality phone photos. The thing I like about phone photos is that they capture the fine details in life.  The details that are happening when you haven't lugged your heavy DSLR camera and lenses with you.  

Let's take a look at some of life's finest details.

We've celebrated a few birthdays...




If the sun is shining, you may see me pounding my feet on the awesome, newly widened shoulders of the highway.  If you do see me, honk because I'm not looking at you.  I'm generally looking just a few feet ahead or admiring the beauty of the fall foliage.  You may even see me with my little running buddy...


We spent some time taking in the Culture Days activities.  I sat back and soaked up the fall sunshine as I watched my girls prepare for a life in the circus...






My favorite place to be on a sun glistening fall day is on the other side of the fence enjoying my mid-morning coffee watching little sister master the art of rolling on two wheels!...


As  much as I want fall to keep on keepin on, I know what is coming is unavoidable.  We've had a few mitten and toque mornings already and some windy days have been taking care of business by ensuring the leaves make it to the ground...


And there you have it.  Just a few of life's details courtesy of the iPhone.