Canvas

A little piece of paper on the high-chair tray just didn't do it anymore. This budding artist needed a bigger canvas, so Mommy rigged something else up.
Lots of room on this "canvas" to create a masterpiece.
Smudge thinks this is pretty neat! So do I

Light Up the Night

Friday night we joined about 4,998 other people at the Light Up the Night Celebrations in Almonte, and it was a fabulous, fabulous, fabulous night.

We stood in the crowd of 5000, in the -7 cold night air for two hours, but we were warmed and thrilled right down to our toes.

Here is a short video of the stage at the end of the evening with all the participants joining in for the singing of Christmas in the Valley.




The whole evening was entertaining, but the highlight is always the Fireworks display at the very end. Here is a still picture of this year's show, but AC has a video of last year's show that will give you chills. If you haven't looked at it already, you must go do that RIGHT NOW! You will be glad you did.

A Quiet Moment

The Smudge is one very active little Munchkin, so when we see her sitting quietly reading to a friend it warms the heart and is worth capturing and sharing.


Smudge Lesson for the Week - During this busy time of year be sure to take some time to be still, and relax with a good friend.

Have a good weekend. Talk to you again on Monday

Everything is a toy

My sweater was hanging over the back of a chair the other day, and Little Miss Creative decided to make a tent out of it. I couldn't resist taking a picture of her from my vantage point across the table.

First Christmas Cookie

This was a first for Smudge. Up until the party on the weekend, a cookie has been an arrowroot or other plain biscuit.
She thought this ginger cookie with icing on top was quite wonderful.
Yum!

More Party Fun

Smudge wanted to get her little hands into every box or ornaments we had for the tree. We gave her this box of tissue paper and she had a grand time making a fine mess.
She really concentrated on her work of re-arranging the tissue paper.
Then it was time to model Grandma's necklace with her new dress.

After all that work she had to take a break and read for awhile.

Tree Decorating Party

We were all too sick to stand out in the cold for two hours and attend the Santa Claus Parade this weekend, but we did manage to get together Sunday afternoon to put up the Christmas tree.

After the tree was up and the lights on, Grandpa and Mommy contemplated what to put on after the ribbon...

...and Grandma was called on to fix the star on the top of the tree.
Smudge sure made things interesting and The Tree decorating party was the most memorable one yet. She wanted to get her little fingers right inside the tree and give the decorations a shake.
We distracted her by giving her the Tree Skirt to play with. She put it on like a cape and went right over to her little mirror on the fridge to admire herself.
Cute, cute, cute.

Fun and Games

I was going to save these pictures to post next week but AC posted a couple on his blog this morning so I thought I would put mine up too. So you lucky Smudge fans, you get two posts today.

Smudge does love to spend time at the bathroom sink, standing on her little duck stool, playing in the water, looking at herself in the mirror, playing peek-a-boo, fussing with her hair, and jabbering non-stop. AC shows the stool on his blog, I got her reflection in the mirror. Enjoy!

Shall we have a game of Peek-a-boo?
Always fun to do with a friend...

"Are you taking my picture Grandma?"

"How does my hair look? Is it just about perfect now?

Santa's Little Helper

Look who's all set for the Santa Clause Parade this weekend.
Isn't she the cutest little helper ever?

Hope you all have a frosty and festive weekend too. Talk to you all again on Monday.

Snowy Days and Sick Munchkins

Old Man Winter paid us a blustery visit today, and in spite of Smudge fighting off a nasty cold bug, she wanted to go out and play in the wintry blast. I thought the fresh air would be good for her, so I bravely went to battle putting hat, mitts, boots, coat, scarf and snow pants on old spaghetti legs. Yes, it seems like Smudge's legs and arms turn into over-cooked spaghetti when it comes to putting them inside boots, mitts, snow pants and coats. Sheesh! What a struggle.
She was finally all decked out in her winter finery and toddled off to play in the snow. She had lots of toys out there to play with, but today's one of choice was a plastic pail handle. Go figure! She had a great time brushing the snow off the BBQ with it.

After about half an hour she decided it was time to come in, and let me know by making funny faces at me through the patio door.
What a cutie!

Luna Pie Is having a baby

Cute little Luna Pie is expecting a baby in January, so her friends threw her a surprise shower on the weekend. How neat that we happened to be in Toronto at the same time so were able to attend and give her a big hug, and her tummy a pat or two.
Baby Jinu was pretty quiet though, so he didn't pat back to say hello. I guess he thought that the shower was just a girl thing and he would sleep right through it.

Mommy and Grandma are pretty excited about this baby and this Auntie is too. See the nursery that Grandma Turtlestack created here.

Winter Weekend

Oh, isn't this new look great? Thanks AC!

We are a bit weary, but home safe and sound from our Winter Weekend visit with family in Peterborough and Toronto. The roads were clear and dry for the trip down and back, but we were treated to beautiful winter scenes at my brother's country retreat, as they had lots of snow fall before we got there. The view from every window was fabulous to say the least.

This was taken from the bedroom window just before breakfast. You can't really see it on this picture, but we had been treated to such a heavy frost during the night, all the trees were coated with ice and sparkled in the sunshine. It was quite beautiful. When I walked past the master bedroom I saw cute little new addition to the family all curled up in "mom's" PJ's. It looks like she is settling in nicely and being treated like royalty.
This is my dear brother with his "babies". Star - the new girl - is on his lap, and Oliver is standing guard beside the chair. All three furry beings are cute huh?
We had a nice Winter Weekend, and it looks like we brought the snowy weather home with us. Oh joy! I love the snow, so bring it on I say.

Breakfast with Grandpa

After our weekend away, Smudge seemed very happy to see Grandpa this morning.
She sure brings out the sunshine on a cold frosty morning.

Not quite sure!

I thought Smudge would have fun making footprints in the light dusting of snow on the side deck. Nope! she took a few tentative steps out the door and stood stock still, just looking at the ground. She didn't seem to like the squeaking sound the snow made under foot.

I had to get a shovel and clear a path to the front door of her little house before she would take another step. Once the snow was cleared away, she puttered around on the deck and stayed outside for almost a half hour playing by herself. Oh joy. The fresh air is so good for her, and it is good for her to play on her own too. I didn't get a thing done inside the house though because I was afraid to loose sight of her for any length of time. As long as she was chattering, and banging around I was fine, but when things went silent I had to go to the door to check things out. Needless to say I spent the half hour like a jack-in-the-box, up down, up down, up down, and back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, to the door. It was quite the work-out for both of us.

We are heading off early tomorrow morning for a visit to Toronto, so things will be pretty silent on the blog for the next few days. Will talk to you all when we get back next week. Have a good weekend.

Kitchen Help

It is hard to find good kitchen help these days, but it looks like Grandpa has found the perfect little helper who really gets into her work.
Her particular method of sorting the pots and pans makes for extra washing up though.
Wow, who knew that a hand could look so fascinating when viewed through a splatter screen.

This pot makes your voice sound ever so neat, when you place it over your head just so.
What wonderful new discoveries await one when you have the perfect helper in the ktichen.

Rebels

AC and I went for a walk on Sunday, and we just had to stop and take a picture of these silly geese.
Don't they know that they should have flown south by now? Mother Nature has been trying to talk some sense into them, but they just won't listen. Even the snow storm we had a while ago didn't get her message across.

Winter is coming guys, fly away, fly away, fly away home.

Smile

I know this is not the greatest picture, but it makes me smile so thought I would share it with you too.
The Smudgster hasn't quite mastered the art of smiling naturally for the camera. What a kid!

Just Ducky

Mommy and Grandma went to a craft show on the weekend, and Mommy bought Smudge this cute little step-stool to help her reach the sink in the bathroom.
Smudge thinks it is just Ducky thank you very much!

More PD photos

Just a few more play date photos for you to enjoy.



That girl really like to talk on the phone. Oh my, makes me wonder what awaits us when she enters the teen years?

Jumping Beans/Beings

As you can see, I was busy at a Play Date with Smudge and her best friend Evan yesterday.


Lots of fun was had by all, including Mommies and Grandmas.

Smudge Lesson for the Week - Call a good friend and make a date to have some fun. You will be glad you did.

Snow Walk

These pictures are from last week, but I thought they were still worth sharing with you. Smudge was quite taken with the fluffy white stuff and just had to get her hands into it. Didn't take her long to discover that it was cold and wet and she needed her mittens though.

She seems deep in thought in this picture doesn't she? I wonder what thoughts are going through her little head.
What fun to experience snow for the first time. So glad I am along for the ride and get to share all these firsts with her. It is such a privilege.

Pumpkin Pie?

Halloween is over now and it is time to figure out what to do with the pumpkin. Maybe make a pie?
Or maybe instead of cooking, I will just hang around the kitchen and look cute.

Monday Morning Chores

There is always so much work to do on a Monday morning. One thing Smudge has to learn is that the right foot ware helps you get the job done much faster and in greater comfort.

Grandma's boots were not the answer for speed or comfort today. Fun to play in though. Clomp, clomp, clomp, clomp, clomp. Around and around the kitchen she went having tons of fun. Cute too!

Piglet-Smudge

Look who came knocking at our door last night. A cute little Piglet!
Grandma was sitting out on the porch ready to greet the little Trick-or-Treaters so she was all ready for a visit from Mommy and Smudge-Piglet
After a visit to a couple of the neighbour's houses Smudge decided that it was time to sit down in the driveway and examine her loot.
As you can see from all of these pictures, her favorite "treat" was a pencil one of the neighbours handed out.
While Grandma resumed her duties of handing out treats, Smudge took advantage of the two seconds of free time, and promptly dipped her hand in Grandma's coffee cup making a royal Piglet mess. You can't take your eyes off of her for a minute. She is quick as a Piglet-bunny and is on top of things and into things before you know it. Time to distract her with the goody bowl. She didn't want any of the treats, just liked getting her hands in the bowl.
We started handing out goodies a little before 6pm and before 8pm, 210 treat were gone so we closed up shop.
Busy but fun night.