7/52

Skating at the Governor General's house - the first half was totally clear, and then big fat wet snowflakes began falling down, and it was total magic:-)

Skating on our lake, wishing we could do this every day......

I've been studying birds with Ry's class, and it's such a joy to spend this time with him.  He always greets me with a great big hug (as do quite a few of the other kids!), is enthusiastic with our various projects, and it is such a joy watching him help others and ensuring that everyone gets a turn.  On this day, we were creating bird houses......

First skate on our lake......

We've been skiing and running down this road for years, right past this little lake of ours.  But we've never tried skiing on it before.  However, with this crazy winter we've had, there's been very little snow so far and then there was a big freeze - so we decided to tromp down with all our gear.  (side note, I decided to bring a lense I haven't used in ages and it turns out it is TOTALLY broken and I was so frustrated - it wouldn't focus, and would slide out then get stuck, often wouldn't take the shot when I wanted it.  Gah!!!!  But I did get a few shots I really like, before I chucked it across the ice!)

We first tried to access the ice from the end of the road, but quickly realized this was too much of a slog, so we retraced our steps and climbed down the hill at the beginning of the road.  Spirits were low and moods were grumpy, but we kept on keeping on, and in the end had a fabulous time:-)

I'm so impressed with Tiegan's hockey skating these days, she's improving so much - 

And Ryland can practice hockey skills over and over again, love seeing his determination.....

This is Jamie in his element - 

Tiegan set up a few obstacle courses for them all, where they practiced skating quickly, stopping quickly and jumping over many hockey sticks in a row.  I gave it a try too, but I'm definitely not nearly as sturdy on my skates as the kids are:-)

They were also trying to teach me how to skate backwards better - I can move, but far too slowly then they'd like AND I'm sure with an odd hip tango shake that they found HILARIOUS!!!!

I love that everyone tends to be happiest when we're all outside.  It might take a lot of energy to get us all out the door, but once we get there, we come alive!

6/52

Tiegan had been throwing up the night before, so both of the kids stayed home from school and Ry and I went on a fun little adventure down to the lake.  We put our skis on, created new trails through the woods, finally made it down to the lake and started to put our skates on.  It was at this moment that Ryland declared that he was too cold and he just wanted to go home - and there was NO WAY I was going to skip skating after all that hard work to get there:-)  Thankfully I'd smartly packed a whole bunch of extra warm clothes, so I wrapped him up as warmly as possible, and we enjoyed a lovely skate and then ski home again for some hot chocolate........

Tiegan had her regional competition for cheerleading this past weekend, and was so nervous and excited and spent hours doing her hair and make-up!  They did an awesome job, and won first place......

And as I search for a photo of Kea, I'm realizing just how few I've been taking of her lately.  Crazy, I'll have to rectify that:-)  Here is a shot from yesterday, where she is completely wiped out after skiing down to the lake, creating her own trail by shovelling lots of snow, and skating around the tracks a few times......and then she was DONE!  

I'll also include this shot of her Valentine's Day gift to Keean, though the photos didn't turn out as well as I'd have like:-(  She gifted him a lock to put on the Sommerset Bridge over the Rideau Canal - and she put K squared on it:-)  Ahhhhh, young love. 

5/52

We've discovered how incredibly perfect our local lake is for outdoor skating, and have been trying to make it down there as much as possible.......the kids are having a blast practicing their hockey skills and working on their skating......

The kids have become experts at clearing off the cars each winter, which is so handy - they get all dressed up and head out ten minutes early, giving me quiet time to finish getting ready and then I arrive at a car all cleared off:-)  Ahhhhhhh, it's moments like this that I remember WHY we had kids!

And a shot of Ms Kea as we hike out of the lake - through a marsh that is frozen in some places and not super frozen in others so we often get a surprise soaker while trudging through here.  We've learned to bring extra socks along with us:-)

4/52

The kids joined our neighbours for a costume skating party.  Kea always LOVES to dress up, and this time she opted to go as Pop Art.  Where does she get these ideas????!!!  It was kind of lost on the Lanark crowd, but they definitely recognized the effort as she won first prize for most creative costume:-)

Tiegan's class held a bake sale to raise money for their upcoming Ecole de Neige......I'm so glad she's now at the age where she can tackle much of the baking, bake sales are one of my nemesis/ :-)

This guy has been playing so hard, doing cross country skiing at school, hockey, skating, sledding - every night he comes home drenched in sweat, and I FINALLY convinced him to soak in a cleansing bubble bath while I washed his snowsuit:-)  Clean for a few minutes anyways......

3/52

Jamie is determined to cut his hair at home, but usually runs into situations where that's too tricky.  Since past experiences have taught me that me trying to cut his hair does not end well, emotionally and literally, but we've discovered that Kea and Jamie seems to be a good combo - so she's working on her barber skills these days:-)

Tiegan has decided that she wants to learn hockey this winter, so for now she is just joining Jamie and Ry on Saturday mornings.  Which works perfectly as she loves being out on the ice with her dad, and she's learning some great hockey skills out there!

And although this isn't a fabulous portrait of Ry per se, I love the moment between him and his dad - Jamie's been revisiting many of his favourite samurai movies, and is here showing Ry some new moves.  Ry is LOVING it, laughing at Jamie's goofiness, and asking for more and more moves to try in his various sword fights with friends.......

2/52

Jamie found some rollerblades at the dump this summer, and the kids have loved practicing their skills in the house.  Kea's the most nervous on them, and insists on wearing a helmet - and would probably pile on the padding if we had that too:-)  She cracks me up!

Tiegan spends tonnes of time here in her little loft these days.  She loves to write in her journal, colour, craft, and listen to music.  And I suspect that you'll be seeing an assortment of fun facial expressions from her over this project - that definitely seems to be her go-to these days:-)

And this guy is all gung ho to FINALLY have snow - sledding, fort building and skiing!!!!  He used to whine and complain whenever we dragged him out for a cross country ski, but then this year he came home with a notice that he'd signed up for the school's cross country ski team.....so we've been out practicing and I'm curious to see how the season will go:-)