Happy Holidays!

Revy wearing his handsome hoodie

 Christmas Eve we went to my Mom's for dinner and gifts.  The kids were thrilled to wish Grandma and Ken a happy Christmas and open a pile of presents. 

Grandma and Caylie having a snuggle

Playing Go Fish while waiting for supper

 Christmas morning we stayed in our jammies most of the morning opening, playing with, putting together, and cleaning up after the gifts.  Then Grandma and Ken came to our house for dinner.

Kent opening Kai's gift

Kent opening Madison's gift

Revy and Caylie playing with Revy's new tuggie toy

Christmas dessert!

Our first Christmas in our house and we feel blessed with love, family, food, and fun.  We look forward to many more wonderful holidays here!  For the rest of the holiday break we plan to take it slow and easy, sleep as much as possible, do a few fun outings with the kids and dog, and rest up.  I hope you and your family had a superb holiday!

Christmas Decorations

Kids with the Christmas tree

Scratch snowflakes

Christmas cactus with every bud blossoming!

Stockings hung by the bookcase with care?

Scratch ornament a Le Petit Prince

Hanging string globes

Parade!

 The Santa Claus Parade was fun this year!  Not only were the temperatures more liveable than some years, but also we met up with some friends and had a lovely chat while the kids waved and scored candy.  Everyone was there, from the dance troop and their fire batons to the seniors in their bus, to the big guy himself; and we cheered and clapped and waved for them all!

After the parade was over and our toes needed thawing, we met up at Denny's for a big party dinner.  The kids all got to sit together while the Dads chatted at one table and the Moms refereed from another table.  What fun!  The only damper was that the children's meals were not served until the parents had all eaten, and they were starved.  Good thing it was "kids eat free" night.
  

Madison cheering for the kids on the floats

 Caylie and Grandma both thought there should be more candy

What I Wore On Wednesday

What I wore on Wednesday is a fun little blogging group posting their outfits every week.  The idea is to show your stuff and  get out of your yoga pants for at least one out of seven days.  I liked the concept because I love to dress up but so often the only ones who see me in my carefully planned outfit are my children - and they only notice my nice skirt or dress to wipe their noses on. 

Here is the first outfit:

Aubergine dress: Urban Behaviour (Value Village)
Black tights: (the drug store)
Blue denim jacket:  Crazy World (hand-me-down)
Black boots: Aldo (full price)
Purple/brown/grey scarf: (the dollar store)

With the jacket

With the scarf

I found it difficult to take pics of myself with the camera on automatic, so maybe next time I'll figure out a better way.  Also the poses seem pretty wooden, so maybe some dancing and laughing next time.  What do the other ladies do for settings/camera angles/poses?

Check out the Pleated Poppy for more interesting outfits!

http://thepleatedpoppy.com/blog/

Craft: String Balloon Orbs

 Mom brought over all the ingredients to make these amazing string balloon globes.  First you massage the balloons with Vaseline. 

Then you wrap the balloons with string that has been soaked in the glue paste mixture.  Then hang to dry overnight.  When they are dry and hard, pop the balloon inside and remove it.  Then spraypaint and adorn the string globes. 

Window Crayons.

Kai with his dragons

Madison shows her dogs

Caylie's pretty drawings

Proud Posing

Showing off their medals at the TKD tourney

Salmon

I accompanied Kai's grade 2 class to observe the salmon in Oliver.  This little fishery collects the eggs, performs various tests and experiments on the selected salmon, and sends the results on to the hatchery.  We got to see the salmon eggs pouring out, fish brains being sectioned, and fish bodies being dissected in gory detail.  Kai and his friends were delighted.

My little group lagging behind the rest

Peering over the bank to see the struggling salmon

Fascinating salmon parts

Pumpkins on parade

This year's jack o' lanterns.  Madison carved one of her own by herself this time (bottom left).  She requested butterflies for her other one (top left).  Kai chose some template options (middle left and right).  Caylie wanted a buffalo -again- (bottom right) and I surprised her with Hello Kitty (top right). 

I have GOT to take more pictures...

Halloween came and went, and I've been planning to write a post about it someday.  Then I was reminded that some people are waiting to see pictures of the kids in their costumes, and I realized that I hadn't taken any!  OMG!  Not only that, but I haven't really had the camera out much at all lately and we are sorely lacking photo mementos of our last few months.  Gack! 

So I am starting NOW to make a conscious effort to digitally chronicle our family's cute moments more regularly.  Sorry.  And hopefully someone caught a snap of us dressed up this halloween - I'll post if they did.  

That Darned Dog!

Revy the Goldendoodle is now 7 months.  He has a busy daily schedule of causing trouble, mischief making, and refusing to be trained.  I understand from other dog owners that dogs' brains don't function properly until they are well over a year, and in some cases as long as five years.  Greeeaaaaat. 

Revy has explored as many methods as possible to drive me crazy on a daily basis.  He has stolen all manner of shoes and items of laundry.  He has chewed slippers, underwear, toys, and more.  He has eaten food that was not his on many occasions.  He has destroyed papers of all kinds; from magazines to homework to important documents.  He even ate almost an entire batch of muffins he pilfered while they were cooling on the counter.

If I have a treat in my hand, however, he is the best behaved dog ever documented.  He has incredible self control when commanded, and he is very smart when learning new commands.  I guess I'll have to have a pocket full of treats for training every minute of our day! 

A lot of my time and energy is spent on Revy-related things.  I have to take him on two or more walks per day or he whips into a frenzy.  Feeding and snacking is very important to him.  I brush him almost daily, bathe  him monthly, and have committed to grooming him (haircuts) regularly.  Also, I have to spend a certain amount of time training him per day.  Whew!  Who knew a dog would be so much work?  And let's not forget cleaning up messes  he makes - both from things destroyed, and things previously digested by him. 

Slurping up remnants of our first experience with Bannock

Out for a walk at the Japanese gardens after the beach

Looking so dapper after his professional grooming

Enjoying the spray park

Playing with Caylie

Demonstrating a spectacular "sit" and cheering for Kent on his race

The children are enjoying having a dog, and he does show his affection for us through slobbering on us and licking us.  And we still cling to the hope that someday he will be a well trained, well behaved, loving member of our family.  Fingers crossed. 

Soup Galore

Our October Farm Bag arrived on Wednesday - a cornucopia of autumn bounty from local farms.  Lots of veggies and fruits to keep us going in the crisper temps.  So I started making soups for supper:  Borscht, Squash & Carrot, Leek & Potato, Turkey, Beef & Barley.  All on the agenda for the next week or so!   I love the warm, soothing feel of a hearty soup meal - and extra for the freezer. 

Now, what to do with all the pears in the farm bag?  Pear cake?  Muffins?  Preserves? 

Kai gave Caylie a "shoulder-back ride" at Peachfest this summer

Happy Belated Birthday to Kai and Keigan!

 Kai's birthday was last month, but we put off the party until the end of September so that he could get settled into his new school and maybe make some friends in his new class before we decided whom to invite to the festivities.  However, I discovered that September is a full, overscheduled, barely-keeping-our-heads-above-water kind of month and adding birthday party planning to the mix wasn't as welcome as it would have been in August.  So the "theme" for this year's birthday was the Quick and Easy Low Effort Party.  Even better, Kai's buddy Keigan was in the same birthday party boat, so they had a double birthday together!

Kai doing a shy shine

We decided to host the party at Springer's Gymnastics this time.  The gymnastics coach leads all the guests in a super fun time of games, trampoline, climbing wall, foam pit, rope swinging, trapeze rings, parallel bars, and more! 

Caylie bouncing on the trampoline

Kai and Daddy enjoying the foam pit

Madison:  Shine!

After they'd worked up an appetite in the gym, they sat down for some snacks and drinks at the table.  Lots of yummy munchies to sample, and then cupcakes - of course! 

The guys all set for some serious snacking

Blue and green "mosaic" cupcakes

Each of our guests left with a helium balloon weighted with a candy bag from Sweets 4 My Sweetie, and a smile!  Kai had lots of fun, enjoyed playing with his friends, and collected loads of great food and donations for the Penticton Food Bank!  Thanks to Keigan and his awesome parents (co-party planners) for the great time! 

A wild game of foam block tag

Madison and Chaydyn giggling at the rope

Chaydyn and her Daddy stick a parallel landing on the parallel bars

Keigan swinging on the trapeze rings - He's flying!

Birthday candles in birthday cupcakes.  Boys waiting for the singing to be over so they can dig in!

First Day of School

Madison is starting grade four, Kai is in grade two, and Caylie is making her elementary school debut in Kindergarten. Fortunately they all are going to the same school where Kent works, and are so excited!

With some new clothes, new supplies, and lunch bags in hand, they all made a splash on the first "real" day of classes. Happy September!