December 29, 2015

Finally, FINALLY today we woke up to a big dumping of snow.  Hallelujah:-)  There's some happy, happy boys outside, creating new runs and trying out every single one of their sleds:-)  Winter has arrived, at last......

December 28, 2015

And on this fourth day of Christmas, we celebrated this girl's TWELFTH birthday by burning off tonnes of sugar and conquering various fears of height.  We also have so much fun at this place:-)

December 27, 2015

On this third day of Christmas, we all curled up in our corners and escaped into our own little worlds.  Went for a long walk, ate more leftovers, had a nap and worked on a few projects.  But enjoyed spending an inordinate amount of time just hanging out on the couch.  I think we need more days just like this:-)

December 26, 2015

On the second day of Christmas I finally took a deep breath and sat down to catch up on some things. Like eating cookies, reading books in bed, and downloading photos from my camera........and then uploading some of said photos onto the blog:-)

Christmas Eve was a crazy warm day here, but also super windy and our power went out around 10 and didn't come back until around 3:30.  At first we assumed it would just be an hour or so, so we spent time crafting and hanging out.  But then it still wasn't coming on, and we couldn't cook or bake or vacuum or sew last minute gifts......so opted instead to go for a hike:-)  We've been meaning to check out Blueberry Mountain for ages, and this seemed like the perfect opportunity - 

They've installed all sorts of signs all along the trail, so interesting to read!

The sun was super bright, making photos hard to take, but oh-so-lovely to spend a sunny day in the woods:-)  And once we made it to the top, we enjoyed fabulous views, and a VERY windy lunch!

I know that our family looks fairly idyllic through photos on my blog.  But what you can't see is the bickering and whining all the way up (specifically by the youngest of the lot) - and the ONLY reason I can EVER convince all three of them to go hiking with me is the usage of BRIBES - on this occasion it was the promise of candy canes once they made it to the top:-)

Super cool seed head we discovered on one of the trees - I've never seen this before.....

My love:-)

Loved Kea's hair shining in the light!

Goofball girl!

The kids earned themselves certificates - and were told that if they return after they turn 80, they can get another certificate for that:-)

And here's a couple of photos from Christmas Eve, after the power had returned and Nana Heather had arrived with new pyjamas for all.  I asked all the kids to line up for a photo, and smile nicely at the camera.  They all looked anywhere else, got all these goofy expressions, and Ry ran off to get headphones to match his pj top.  Oy.  Herding crazy sheep, I tell you.......

This is the best I could get - five kooky cousins, all super wired and hyped on sugar, and excited for Christmas morning:-)

December 25, 2015

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!!!!

Hope everyone had a wonderful day today, this first day of Christmas......

December 24, 2015

Crazy windy day here for Christmas Eve Day, leaving us with no power for 5-6 hours!!!!  At first, we assumed it would only be for an hour or so, so we popped a Christmas CD into my laptop and since we had to stop sewing and baking and watching holiday movies, we opted to work on some old fashioned crafting......

Then, when it became obvious that this power outage would be lasting a lot longer, we gave up on many of our intentions for the day, and instead went off to hike Blueberry Mountain.  BEST decision ever, what a perfect way to spend the afternoon:-)  We later learned that Bayshore Mall was even closed down due to lack of power.......I hope all of those disappointed last minute shoppers were also able to spend an uplifting afternoon in the woods!

December 23, 2015

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas around here.....and with only 2 more sleeps until Christmas morning, you can find me tied to my sewing machine or living in the kitchen.  No matter how organized I try to be, there's always lots left to do - and lots let go of!!!!  But no matter what, whatever happens is always more than enough:-)

Ry is SUPER excited.  Can't sleep at night, high with crazy energy all day.  Thank goodness for his older sister:-)