What's up with Glenn, Heather, Katrine, and Elspeth
I am going to do something different and just let the photos do the talking. Happy day full of great memories for us.
9 years ago in Nanning:
Now:
Someone asked how Katrine feels about this anniversary. This picture she drew a few years ago sums it up nicely.
Elspeth acutally made it to Club comp this year – no concussions, and she had a great time. Here is her experience in pictures. Oh, and the headband was in her loot bag.
While we were at Club Comp, Glenn and Katrine were at the COS StarSkate championships. Katrine popped out a jumbo double salchow at the start of her program and couldn’t hold the landing. That threw her off for the rest of the program. Nevertheless, we are proud of her 10th place finish in her flight.
When she and Glenn got home, we all climbed into the car and headed up to my parents. We spent yesterday introducing the cousins to the joys of cross country skiing. Elspeth did much better but became frustrated that she still couln’t keep up. We may need to look into another option that will allow us to ski as a family.
The kids also enjoyed the huge mounds of snow at my parents. They had a blast on their tobboggans and the weather was mild enough that the grown ups weren’t freezing.
Elspeth really wanted to climb this snowbank.
We have been really enjoying the Olympics and Valentines Day has been no exception. What a treat it was to watch the men’s long program. I even did not do my traditional Valentine’s nails because of the Olympics. Feeling really proud of the atheletes.
Enough about that. Time for some valentines. The day began with a nice breakfast. My favourite part were the heart shaped eggs. I found the pan tucked away at the back of the cupboard last month and today provided the perfect opportunity to use it. The girls informed me that I am to now make heart shaped eggs each year. They both loved their pillows. We almost couldn’t get Elspeth to leave hers at home when it was time to head out the door. Yup, no candy on the table for them. They seem to get plenty at school either during class or after care parties or with Valentines. The last thing they need is even more.
When I picked up the girls we headed out for groceries. We were planning on having chocolate fondue for dessert and I wanted the fruit to be nice and fresh. Apparently, celebrating Valentines Day can be hard work. As you can see, Elspeth had to lay down in the cart.
Katrine contributed a special decoration to our dinner table. She had made a small beeswax candle at school. Of course we had to light it because “it makes it more romantic” (giggle, giggle).
Neither girl could believe that they were going to be allowed to shove their fruit into a pot of warm chocolate. Elspeth, of course, ended up with chocolate everywhere. It looked like she had fingerpainted with brown paint. Unfortunately I didn’t get a picture before we cleaned her up. I did manage to get a picture of Katrine fishing a strawberry out of the chocolate. She had some difficulty keeping the fruit on the fork…not that she was complaining about having to eat a piece of fruit dripping with chocolatey goodness.
And lastly some random cuteness. Elspeth’s aftercare has been learning about space. They have made a few different solar systems and have a simple telescope for the kids to play with in the drama corner. They also made an astronaut cut out. I couldn’t resist. Here is Elspeth the Astronaut.
Happy Valentines Day!
It is that wonderful time of year again fondly known in our house as the Winter Olympics. It is a time where the kids get to eat in front of the tv and watch as much sports as they can handle. This year’s Olympics have also provided us with the excuse to pull out a favourite skating dress.
In December 2009, the Olympic torch passed through town. At that time, my Grandma sent money over and we bought Katrine a red skating dress…her first new dress in fact. She wore that dress when she skated in the celebration show commerating the torch relay.
This past weekend, the skating club had a red and white day in honour of our atheletes in Sochi. It was time to break out the red dress. It was too wide around and too long on the sleeves but Little One was super proud of her stylish dress. Contined good luck to our atheletes.
After a fabulous Chinese New Year party with Katrine’s China family we came home to more snow. Needless to say, the girls are thrilled. Here is just a glimpse of what they got up to. (The skating pictures are from the party.)
Glenn and I? Where are we? Shoveling of course.
It has been a delightful day. A yummy dinner with lots of treats. Mostly gluten free.
Happy New Year!
Katrine has been hibernating a bit this past weekend so no realy pictures of her in action in the snow. Elspeth is a different story. She had us outside with her a lot this past weekend. Good thing too with how cold it has gotten.
Still loving her polar bear hat.
Okay, I have been hard at work crafting a set of Elspeth sized tenor drum sticks and I must say that I am quite pleased with the results. So here they are, presenting the pink duck tape (with leopard and cupcake accents) My Little Pony tenor drumsticks.
Notice the different ponies. This pleased said daughter greatly.
Now she is ready for some twirly practise…and she needs some work but makes up for it in enthusiasm.
Yup, I am officially in my 4th decade with Glenn to follow soon enough. It has been a wonderful birthday too. I got to sleep in (mainly because I slept through the alarm but that is a minor detail) and still made it to work on time! Waiting for me in my mailbox was a can of coke (my caffeine of choice) and a pink flamingo hat. So, all day I was walking around school with a flamingo on my head…and the kids loved it! I shared treats with my SSC students as well as those in my prep coverage classes. I think that I smiled all through the day. To top it off, it was a fairly smooth day at work.
I picked Katrine and Elspeth up and we met Glenn for dinner. We chose to go to B*ston Pizza because they had GF items that I can eat as well as meals that the girls enjoy. Glenn made the meal extra special by finding out if the bacon wrapped steak bites were GF. They were!! And they were also delicious (we got them without the onions or dip) A perfect way to change an ordinary meal into something special. After a delightful dinner it was back home for dessert and gifts. Glenn and the girls had baked a GF chocolate cake with chocolate icing and then topped it with 40 candles. It took 3 puffs for me to blow them out. Man that is a lot of candles. Topped it all off with cuddles from my girls, a glass of wine and a roaring fire. What did I get? Lots of stuff but one of the best things is a new dishwasher from Glenn. Doesn’t sound special? Well it is when it means that the broken one is replaced and dishes no longer have to be done by hand. Now that put a smile on my face.
Saturday was a reasonably quiet day that involved some sleeping in and more relaxing. Today was the official end of the celebrations which were marked by the arrival of a visit with a dear friend and her family who brought me some beautiful roses that are now brightening up our kitchen and mantel. Then it was off to the local skating trail for some family fun with friends. It was a wonderful day to be skating – cool but not cold and with only a slight breeze. Plus, Elspeth is improving leaps and bounds so she was going at quite a good pace which meant that Glenn and I got some actual skating in. We ended the afternoon with dinner at home with those friends marked by great conversation and watching all four girls consume mounds of cake pops.
Thank you to everyone who helped to make this birthday special for me. I have had a weekend full of love and it has made me feel special. My twenties saw me married, my thrities the arrival of our girls, so I can only hope that my forties are half as good as either decade.
😎
Elspeth thought this was a great lark. Kept asking her uncle to dump her. Good thing that the snow was nice and soft.
Rebuilt the snowfort.
Driveway wipe out!
Putting my little minion to work. Then she brought in reinforcements.
Breaktime!
We got some snow markers just before Christmas. They were a bit pricey but I really wanted the squeeze bottle that closed and was small enough that Elspeth could squeeze. We emptied them Christmas week but they work just as well with food colouring and water.
Can you see the word? Three letters. Bathroom humour? Elspeth was thrilled when she realised that she had spelled poo. And so is the humour of a four year old.