Our first fall fair

This weekend we went to our first fall fair/Charles’ birthday weekend.  As usual, get the cousins together and fun was had by all.  The fact that the kick off parade supplied ample candy may have helped things get off to a cracker jack start.  Now let me explain the reason that most pictures are of Elspeth.  Katrine spent large chunks of the day with her cousins – on big kid rides, admiring their entries, looking at animals or playing at the park.   Elspeth got to hang with us – little kid rides, kids zone, park.  Family time and smiles.  After seeing all of their cousins’ entries (2 firsts to boot! whoot! whoot!) the girls got even more excited about their own entries for our up coming fair.

Of course the girls loved the pink tractor....
Of course the girls loved the pink tractor….
...and the pink and purple hot rod.
…and the pink and purple hot rod.
Walking back to their house we passed this amazing display.  Happy fall!
Walking back to their house we passed this amazing display. Happy fall!
Elspeth found some wheat and then turned it into a wheat family by breaking it apart.
Elspeth found some wheat and then turned it into a wheat family by breaking it apart.
"He, he mommy.  A pumpkin on the potty."
“He, he mommy. A pumpkin on the potty.”

IMG_3318 IMG_3314 IMG_3310

Look at how tall they both are!
Look at how tall they both are!

 

Sweet Water Festival

It is that time of year again…maple sirop time.  In other words, time to head up north to my parents and celebrate that the sap is running.  It is always a fun time and the girls always have big smiles. (and they learn something too).

Pancake breakfast

Getting our names burned into wood for necklaces.

It was a perfect day for listening to the presentation in the sugar shack while sucking on maple taffy.  This year’s batch was super delicious.

To top it off, all of the kids got to help their grandfather collect the sap from a many trees.  They were so excited.

The morning finished up with face painting, crafts, a wagon ride and some bannock making.  Smiles were worn by all.

(Masks were the craft.)

My mom’s birthday is this week and Katrine’s is shortly thereafter so we did some present time in the afternoon.  Katrine loved the earrings she got from her aunt, uncle and cousins while mom rather enjoyed her strawberry shortcake.

Wound update

Well, I can now say that I recommend opting for stitches over glue when given the chance.  Elspeth seemed okay until Saturday morning.  That is when there was some blood on cleaning.  Again today.  She is being a trooper but it hurts as her hair is caught in the tape.  Guess we are heading back to the doctor’s.  Sigh.  On Wednesday she wrote a note to her teacher explaining what had happened.  It is very cute.  Makes me smile.

In amidst all of the drama there have been good things as well.  Yesterday the whole family went to see the pantomime Peter Pan.  It was hilarious for both the kids and adults.  Top that off with time spent with cousins, uncle, aunt and grandparents and you have a great time. A great early Christmas gift.

Still smiling over all.

 

This afternoon was the annual Advent Craft Dinner at church.  The girls LOVE it!  They spend time doing crafts and being part of the church community.  Top that off with dinner, ample dessert and a family centered worship service and it is a sure fire success.  A great way to kick off advent…well, that and their Playmobile calendars.

Hard at work crafting

The evenings work…aside from the cookies which disappeared in a flash.

Thanksgiving Birthday Weekend

Yup, we combined many fun things this weekend.  It was busy and lots of fun.

We started the weekend with some leaf fun.  It is really nice that my parents get so many leaves at their house because we don’t have that many at our place.  Plus my parents got free labour as the kids raked and raked…of course all of it was for nothing after they started jumping into their pile.  Fun!

That evening was our family Thanksgiving dinner.  Mmmm, turkey and all the fixings meant full tummies.  The next day we took the kids to the Marsh so that they could work off the previous evening’s dinner as well as work up an appetite for more food.  You see, October is a double birthday month for our family with Elspeth turning 4 and my sister in law 40.  We finished the weekend with dinner with Glenn’s brother and sister in law where there was more cake and a brand new calico house which is being used with the new sweetie cart, train and rowboat also received over the past few days.

Here is how the sugar shack looks without all of the snow.

More leaf time and some net fishing with her uncle.  All any of the kids caught was weeds.

Pre-dinner gifts.

My mom had made up some adorable cupcakes.  Coupled with the 4 candle we had one delighted kidlet on our hands.
Okay,  random cuteness to end it all.

Elspeth made a Thankful tree at After School Care.  Apparently she is thankful for us and candy. (Hence the sweetie cart for her calicos)

Plus, Katrine landed her double toe which meant a trip out for frozen yogurt.

Glencoe Fair

I just realized that I am behind in my posts so it is time to catch up. (I was sick this past week and acutally had to take a day off of work!  Guess that I no longer have a school grade immune system.)

Last weekend was the family’s weekend to celebrate Charles’ birthday.  That meant that Saturday monring saw us climbing into the car and off to Glencoe.  One big difference this year was that I was able to join the family in getting Tims as they now carry a gluten free option (Yippee!!!).

We arrived just in time for the parade.  Both kids were thrilled.  Elspeth was once again blown away by the size of some of the tractors.

After lunch we went to visit an egg farm much to the girl’s delight.  We are big egg eaters.  Well, all except for me that is.  Elspeth learned  the word silo and “big machine” while Katrine got a chance to ask every possible question about the machinery carrying the eggs along.  There were fresh eggs to top it off too.

Then it was off to the fair itself.  Sarah’s pies looked as tasty as usual and she did pretty darn well.  This year’s theme was the Fifties.  One category was a decorated pumpkin.  My particular favourite was the Elvis pumpkin.  I thought it was smashing.  We decided to save the rides until Sunday as it had poured and the following day was suppose to have nice weather.  Well the forecast was wrong.  It rained Sunday so we missed the demolition derby and the rides.  Instead we spent a little while longer with the family.

Overall a great outing.

 

Canada Day and a Family Reunion

What a weekend! We began by driving up to my parents bright and early on Saturday morning so that we could get things set up before the parade.  We got done just in time and enjoyed the parade with family.  My dad and his group the Loyal Order of the Pumpkin were back in the parade.  The girls were super pleased to cheer on their grandpa.  And as you can see in the photo, he was thrilled to have so much family support for his efforts.  Oh, and did you notice my nails?

This is the second time that Elspeth has celebrated Canada Day but the first time that she has done so as a citizen.  We went all out to celebrate these two occassions at once.

As the parade and community barbeque were over, we headed back to my parents’ house to welcome even more family.  The last time that we got together as a group was about 7 years ago and that was without our family from Florida.  This weekend, however, saw all of us (minus 3 second cousins and spouses and their 4 children) together.  I love my family.  We are an entertaining bunch.  When I think back on my childhood, Christmas eve comes to mind.  Driving in a car squished between my Nana and brother driving to a family party.  As soon as we walked in there was my great aunt and uncle to greet us along with the rest of the family.  I remember visiting another great uncle and dancing for him while being scared of his yapping dog.  I remember funerals, weddings, birthdays and showers.  At each one I felt safe, loved and happy.  I wanted that to gift that sense of belonging to my two so when my cousin suggested a reunion I jumped on the band wagon (Thank you Gil).  I am so very glad I did.

While I visited and organized (because no reunion is without it’s hiccups), the girls ran around with family.  They played fight the zombies, tag, frisbie, bury our cousin in the sand…pretty much, you name it and it was played.  Most importantly they smiled and laughed.  This afternoon after we got home and had unpacked Elspeth asked where her friends were.

Elspeth was lucky enough to find people who were willing to let her “tie” their shoes.  She never got it quite right but boy was she focused.   

Today? Actual Canada Day? After a bit more playtime and some clean up we headed home amidst the traffic. Neither girl wanted to leave. However, their sadness was short lived as once we had unpacked there was a knock on the door. The girls were invited to go just down the street to a friend’s house to pick cherries. Even though we didn’t make it to the fireworks tonight, cherry picking ended the day on a high note.

Meow!

There is not a lot that our girls truly need for their birthdays.  We have been blessed with a lot of hand me downs from our older cousins – both clothes and toys.  Sooo, what do you get a nine year old for her birthday when she has a lot?  This year the family went in on theater tickets for her birthday and then did the same for mom and my niece. 

Cats is the perfect first trip to the theater.  It is fun and lively with beautiful music/singing, fabulous dancing, fun stage decorations and great costumes.  The fact that it was my first musical might also have affected the decision.  Well, both girls had a wonderful time and throughly enjoyed the whole experience.  My mom and I were honoured to share the experience with them.  Oh, and to make that little bit better the girls got to go up on stage and meet Old Deuteronomy during intermission.

While we were at the theater my dad, brother and family went swimming.  Elspeth and Glenn decided to take advantage of the sunny afternoon and go for an extended playdate at the park.  Of course she had to take her stroller with her.

 

Christmas Eve Catch-up

Just realised how far behind I was in updating so here goes:

Elspeth’s nursery school hosted a ‘Cocoa Party’ one afternoon last week.  The girls were quite happy to decorate a cookie (Katrine ate all of hers while Elspeth just picked off the candies), drink hot chocolate (Elspeth actually just poked at the floating marshmallows and giggled) and eat treats.  Me?  I was thrilled to get a photo of all of us together!

We celebrated Christmas at my brother and sister in laws two weeks ago and it was a blast -yummy food, great company, and decorated sheep.  I suppose everyone loves to be festively dressed on special occassions.

For said celebration I was asked to bring dessert.  My mom had mentioned seeing a photo of cupcakes in mason jars in a magazine.  Well , I figured that I should do something creative and designed a mental picture of a beautifully stacked red, white and green cupcake jar of yumminess.  Hmmm.  Didn’t work out quite as I had invisioned.  Funny thing is, just saw on the cover of a magazine while waiting at the check out that they had instructions for making….red, white and green cupcakes in jars!  The featured cupcakes looked just like my vision.  Sigh.

Although Katrine is taking a break from the ice, I had Elspeth out the skating trail this past week.  One time her beloved blanket sheep had to accompany us and skate.

Yesterday we went to celebrate Christmas with Glenn’s extended family.  It was fabulous.  The girls have been blessed with a great group of cousins once removed (?)/second cousins (?).  Anyways, for five hours there was laughter, play and smiles.  Plus, Glenn and I got to partake in adult conversation and get caught up.

Today we will be cleaning and doing some last minute prep before heading out to church.  Then it is set up for Santa which is a big deal for me as I know that Katrine’s days of believing in Santa are quickly ticking away so I want to treasure it while I still can.  Then tomorrow and the next day will be Christmas present chaos.  Then Thursday is the big day with the neurologist.

That pretty much brings you up to date.  Have a great Christmas if you are celebrating and if not, enjoy the little bit of snow that we actually have thus far.

A 10th Birthday and a Fall Fair

Every year we go to my brother’s for the weekend to celebrate my nephews birthday.  For the last few years (with the exception of last year where Elspeth was not really ready to do crowds) we have helped him celebrate at the local fall fair by checking out the displays, the baking (my sister in law and neice both won prizes this year!!!!), the rides, parade and demolition derby.  This year we added lawn tractor racing to the itinerary.  Aside from being FREEZING we had a wonderful time as a family.

Displays that stuck out to me:

This hula pumpkin may not have won the ribbon but I thought that it was adorable.
One of the children's categories was to make an ear of corn. Can you believe that some child was patient enough to string together this ear of corn entirely out of beads?

Cuteness:

As you can tell from the last photo, it was really quite chilly as we were taking in the entertainment:

Both Elspeth and Katrine really enjoyed these races.

 

The demolition derby was more my speed but a little confusing for Elspeth while Katrine once again spent the entire time worrying about the drivers. (Glad she missed the car which threatened to go up in flames while she was at the bathroom with Grandma).

 

 

A Mother’s Day Christening

When we were in Nanchang, one of the things that we did was arranged to have articles of clothing sewn specifically for the christening.  Katrine got to chose the material for each item with the one stipulation that it all had to be red (the colour of celebration and good luck).  She did a bang up job and we ended up looking quite smashing for the christening.  So eye catching that a little girl in the pew infront of us turned around, eyed us all and ernestly asked “Are you Chinese?” Hmmmm, well let’s see two of us are blonde.  Hmmm, she must be thinking that we had to be Chinese to wear those clothes.  She is about 7, how to answer, how to answer. Katrine pipes up, “Only me and my sister are.” Little girl nods as if that has cleared the matter up and then turns back around.  Almost as funny as the time that my mom and I picked Katrine up at Chinese class and the kids looked at the pair of us in confusion before turning to her and asking if her grandmother spoke Chinese.  “Nope, just Scottish.”  Isn’t it interesting how they try to make sense of their world?

Anyways, back to the christening.  We usually sit upstairs at our church where there are less people but yesterday that was out and we sat right up at the front.  Man did Elspeth’s eyes get big like saucers when she looked over her shoulder at the rows of people.  You could tell that she was already getting a bit stressed.

When we met with the minister in April, we had warned her that Elspeth doesn’t really like getting water put on her head and she should be prepared for some noise.  Well, up we go to the front with Karen, Glenn’s sister aka Godmother, and Scott, my brother aka Godfather (thanks guys).  Katrine is super excited that she can pour the water into the baptismal font.  We repeat our promises to guide Elspeth in the path of Christ and approach the minister who takes Elspeth and begins the placing the water on her head.  HOWL!!!! TEARS!!!  Okay, return said child to mom as soon as possible.  I think the passion of Elspeth’s howls surprised the minister.  She was really protesting.

Once back in my arms she wimpered and then went into shut down which lasted until we could escape the sanctuary and go into the nursery which is her normal routine.  Poor baby.  At least once she was okay, she was okay.  She was happy to pose for photos once the service was complete. Thrilled to eat the cupcakes made by Auntie Heather (thank you) and open all of her gifts.  It was actually a nice way to spend a Mother’s Day morning….aside from the howling and shut down portions.

Our girls before the service:

The prayer shawl that was given to Elspeth in honour of her christening:

The scrumptious looking cupcakes:

 

Doesn’t Elspeth look even more angelic now?