Saturday, November 29, 2014

Father Goose and the gosslings on a rainy morning.

November is clipping right along and sunny mornings are few and far between.  Sigh!  

On mornings like this, Buppa aka "Father Goose" and the gosslings wait in the garage for the school bus. 
Thankfully I am still in the house in my jammies while Father Goose takes the kids to the bus stop.

Friday, November 21, 2014

My most amazing sister Part III

I enjoyed a quick visit with my sister a week ago, and had a chance to get my hands on her journal once again.  I took the opportunity to snap a few more pictures of her amazing artwork and thought you might like to see some more of it too. 
Isn't this a beauty?   Elisa's turtle named Slow
This is a picture of Elisa.  She died at the age of 5 in 1993.  These were the pages of my sister's journal during the week celebrating Elisa's birthday.  
Another unbelievably creative and beautiful page.
And the amazing artwork just keeps coming.





Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Soaking up the November sunshine

After the Remembrance Day parade, we stopped at Tim's, picked up a coffee, and headed for the park. It was such a glorious warm day, we decided to soak up some more sunshine down by the water.

AC put his camera on a rock across the path from us, set the timer and ran back to the bench to get a pic of both of us sitting in the sunshine.  He barely made it back to the bench before the camera clicked.  What a hoot!
Beautiful huh?
I am so glad we enjoyed that day while we could, as the temps soon dropped, and now the landscape is covered in snow and the bitter cold winds are howling around us.  Winter has arrived!  Keep warm.

Tuesday, November 18, 2014

Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day was a sunny warm day in our neck of the woods.  Very unusual indeed.  Last year we just about froze standing out in the cold.  This year I bundled up, and was more than a tad toasty waiting for the parade to start.  
AC took this picture of our reflection in a store window across the street from where we were standing.  Neat huh?
While we stood on the corner waiting for the parade to start, large groups of school children marched along the street on their way to the Cenotaph.

Here we go.






You can't see it in this picture, but this poor dog was traumatized by the canon shots marking the beginning and ending of the period of silence.  Goodness those canons are LOUD!

We had large crowds for our small town. 

Monday, November 17, 2014

Fun and Games

More fun and games with the kids.  
Danica likes to play Hang-Man with Buppa on school mornings
She is really good at it too.
JJ did a good job with this drawing.
While JJ was at hockey one night last week, Danica stayed with us over the supper hour. She thought a snuggle with Buppa was in order before she went home.
What a pair!

Friday, November 14, 2014

Before school activities

We are slowly but surely getting back into the groove of having the kids come for a visit before and after school, three days a week. I always have supplies at the ready to keep them busy.
JJ does love to do mazes and "spot the difference" puzzles with Buppa

Danica flits from one activity to the other.  She doesn't sit at the table for very long, and I need more creativity to keep her busy.
She wanted to trace a picture, so we taped it to the window, and that helped her with the task.

Monday, November 10, 2014

Glad we made the effort

Monday of last week rolled around, and we had the munchkins come in after school.  We are still getting back into the groove with the kids, after our autumn holiday, so the three days we have the kids are more than a tad tiring.  We were all set to give the kids an early dinner at our house, so Dani would be ready to go the her Brownie meeting soon after Mommy got home from work, then we were looking forward to a quiet dinner, and a relaxing evening to follow.

When Dani was sitting at the kitchen table eating her dinner, she reminded us that it was her induction ceremony at Brownies that evening, and we were invited to the special event.  Oh dear, we had forgotten all about it.  It wasn't that we didn't want to see her become a Brownie, but all her Sparks events have been held in the local high-school cafeteria, that has the most uncomfortable seats ever invented.  The room is over crowded, hot, and has very poor site-lines for pictures.  We REALLY didn't want to go and sit on those hard benches for a couple of hours, with little to no possibility of being able to see what was going on at the front of the room.

When she left with Mommy, we told her that we might not be able to attend, and she was fine with that decision.  We just couldn't settle with it though, so we decided to make the effort, go and sit in the back of the room, take a few pictures if possible, give her a hug, and then leave early. 

We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived at the school to find that the whole Guide troop wouldn't be there that night, just the Brownies.  As a result, the room wasn't crowded at all.  We actually found a bench with a back to sit on instead of the narrow plank benches and tables the kids sit at to eat lunch..  Dani was super pleased to see us, and we could actually see and hear what was going on.  We stayed for her "Flying up" ceremony. took lots of pictures, shared lots of hugs, and were home early, so all in all, we are more than glad we made the effort.

Before the ceremony began she and a friend searched for their diplomas.

Dani found time for a few gymnastic moves while JJ looked on.

This child never stops moving.

Happy to be part of the group singing enthusiastically

Each girl in turn was asked to stand in front of the magic mirror/pond

They were then spun around three times....

...and finally asked to say who she saw in the magic mirror/pond.

She received her Brownie pin and salute from one leader...

Was presented with her Brownie scarf, and given a special salute and handshake from another leader

Then she marched back to the group a very pleased NEW BROWNIE

Time to pose with the Toadstool and Owl that has special meaning for every Brownie.
 I am very glad we made the effort and were able to share this evening with her.

Friday, November 07, 2014

JJ's Sleepover Fun

After Dani's sleepover, it was JJ's turn.   After a trip to the $Store for a sleepover treat, it was time to get into our pj's and settle in for a movie.  JJ's pick was a Star Wars DVD. 
All snuggled in on the rocker with Buppa
Looks comfy huh.
The next day it was time to go for a nature walk.  This looked like an excellent tree for climbing.
The branches were so low, JJ, didn't need our help at all to get up into the tree.
He thought it was great that he could do it all by himself.
What an accomplishment to climb your first tree all by yourself.

After trees there were all sorts of other things for him to climb
Here he is walking over "hot lava".  At least that was what he was doing in his imagination.
If it is there....he has to climb it

Lots of areas to explore
He wants to come back here with his skateboard when he is a bit older.
It was a sunny but cold and very windy day. BRRRRRR!  He kept warm by running along the dirt-bike paths, then it was time to go home for cookies and hot chocolate.