holiday snippets....thus far!

We are still very involved in a lot of Christmasing in these parts.  We are taking it easy, enjoying time with friends, and most importantly, enjoying the holidays with our family.  I thought I would pop in and say a quick hello in the midst of gearing up for "round two" of Christmas...Grandpa and Grandma Werkman arrive this evening, and once again it kinda feels like Christmas Eve!!

ginger snap cookies for Santa / tracking the jolly old elf via NORAD/ winner #1 of our Christmas Eve light tour / winner #2

traditional Christmas Eve story/and to all a good night/Christmas morning smiles/let the building begin

....be back soon with a holiday recap! 

Have the Merriest of all Holidays!

Wishing everyone the merriest of the holiday season and all the best for a fantastic new year! 
From our family to your's, have a very Merry Christmas!

oh snowy day!

So once again a mere trace of snow that was forecasted turned into the most amazing winter wonderland today.  About six inches of that pure "white gold" fell today, blanketing everything in that perfect just-before-Christmas-get-into-the-holiday-spirit-now kinda snow.  Know what I mean? 
It was over lunch today, that I mentioned how perfect it would be to head out for our first snowshoe....and guess who immediately jumped at the chance?   Aidan!
So.....off we went.  Destination - nearby Fish Creek Park.

It was, as you can see, the most picturesque of days as we made our way through the trails.  We rambled off the beat and path, giving our legs a workout in some of the deeper pockets of untouched snow. 

It was quiet.  

We did run into a few people all of whom were grinning ear to ear, grateful to be outside and enjoying this winter weather. 

All I can say is wow!  A perfect day.  Good company.  Outdoors.  And amazing snow!
Here's to gettin' into that holiday spirit!

a splendid day...

What do we love about our little gal who turned "5" (yes, five!) today?

We love how she can just pick up a sketch book and start creating, unprompted, and the results are fantastic!
We love how she is so very eager to learn and share what she does, both at home and school.
We love her free spirit personality...well, most of the time.

We love that she is an amazing big sister to Bree and Jenna, and a fabulous little sister to Aidan...again, most of the time!

We love how she always wants to cuddle up and read a story under as many blankets as possible.

We love how she can find humour in things and giggle at almost everything, and I mean everything!

We love how she always wants to be a princess, yet she is the first one to discover the mud puddle.

But most of all...we love that she is who she is.  A person, a daughter, a sibling, a friend, who we are so very proud of.  Thank you Maelle for filling up our daily lives with your "sparkle". 
Happy 5th Birthday Sweetheart!

the first snow storm

From this...

and a little bit of this...

to a lot of this....

Ahhh yes, laundry and wet clothes.  But....alas, good fun was had by all.  Our first snowstorm of the year always gets everyone in the holiday spirit.  Today was no different.

too much fun!

SUPERCALIFRAGILISTICEXPIALIDOCIOUS!!!

A rather appropriate word that can only begin to describe how much fun Aidan and I had in Ontario last week.  We maximized our time with as much as we could cram into five short days, and boy, was it worth it!  

To kick things off, we hit a Broadway show at Toronto's famous Princess of Wales theatre.  We saw Mary Poppins (enter shriek here!) and I still have goosebumps!  It was fabulous!  Aidan was in awe!

Aidan found a new love...pool!  With some careful instruction from Grandpa Werkman, he is now officially hooked.  I do see a pool table in our midst one day! 

We were lucky enough to join Grandpa Snider at the Brant Curling Club to watch a tournament featuring many top world curlers, including Alberta's own Kevin Martin!

New friendships were made at a family dinner, where we caught up with cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents.  Thank you again to everyone for making the trip and spending time with Aidan and I!

We introduced Grandpa and Grandma Snider to the art of Geocaching. 

We played glow-in-the-dark mini golf at a local "putt-putt"!

We spent all day Monday at the Ontario Science Centre, where we built dams, played with a HUGE marble run, conducted experiments, tested our knowledge, and constructed everything from ball tracks to houses. 

Phew!  And those were just some of the things we did!  Crazy! 
After the Science Centre, it was back on the plane to head home.  We have been slowly getting back into routine here after a fantastic trip.  Aidan is still talking all about it, both here at home, and at school.  So much so, that his music teacher has had the class singing a few show tunes from Mary Poppins!  How awesome is that? 
A huge thank you to everyone who made this trip so enjoyable and so very memorable for Aidan and I.  Your thoughtfulness is greatly appreciated. 
Thank you.

Happy Birthday

How did it happen?  How on earth is Aidan seven?  Seven years old.  Wow. 
We celebrated a birthday today.  Complete with breakfast pancakes, the birthday seat at the table, birthday goodies, a favourite dinner, and of course cake - all chosen by the birthday boy himself.

The thing that impressed me the most today...both Aidan and Maelle wore their poppies proudly in honour of Remembrance Day.  Oh...and the special occasion "white shirt"!

Some birthday treats for friends who spent the morning hanging out with the birthday boy.

The request: a Lego "dude" cake, with sparklers.  Of course.  He wouldn't have it any other way!

All in all a fantastic birthday for one fantastic little - ok, not so little - guy. 
Aidan...you make our lives entertaining.  You fill this house with energy.  You make us laugh.  You amaze us everyday.  Thank you for being you.  For being who you are...special in every way.
We are so very proud of you. 
Happy Birthday sweetie!

a visit

A big thank you to Grandma and Grandpa Snider for a fantastic visit over the past few days.  Thank you for the goodies, the "hall hockey", the stories & games, and thank you for the cuddles!  Needless to say that the kids had a blast spending time hanging out and having fun. 

Aidan and Grandpa have a game of checkers before heading off to bed.

There were lots of stories, both ones that were read to the kids, and ones that the kids read to Grandma and Grandpa!

Thanks again for a great visit! 

Happy Halloween!

...from our family to yours!

Boy we had a fun night!  Halloween music cranked, Bree and Jenna handing out candy wishing everyone a "Happy Halloween", Aidan and Maelle trick-or-treating, lots of silly dancing, and a whole lot of giggles. 
Hope your Halloween was a lot of spooky good fun too!

Halloween Eve

As tradition holds, every year we venture out a few days or so before Halloween and do a very impromptu photo shoot of the kids in their costumes.  It's always fun to grab a few cute pics, but it's also a whole lot of fun to let the kids run around and play in their costumes.  Each year, our photo shoot seems to get harder as the kids get older, and well, crazier too.   So, I have learned to let go of expectations and just "go with it".  Here's how we did:

Truth be told, it was a lot of fun.  I mean how can you not have fun dressed up, outside on a gorgeous day, and not have a mom nattering at you about where you should be and what you should be doing.  Just go with it I tell ya.  Just go with it!

Family Pumpkin Carving

A HUGE thank you to Brent (aka The Cat In The Hat) for taking all (yes, all) of these munchkins to the school's Halloween event yesterday evening.  I was sad to miss it, but it looked as though everyone had a fantastic time!  Thanks Brent!

Thing One & Thing Two...

...pop in to say "how do you do?"

Tomato Soup

The kids and I made this homemade tomato soup recipe today, and let me tell ya....it was yummy!  It was so good that I decided I needed to share it with everyone! 
And yes, those are cheddar Goldfish floating in my bowl....gotta keep it kid friendly now right!
This was a recipe from "Giada's Family Dinner's, a cookbook that I rediscovered over the weekend and now am hooked on!  I made a few alterations from the original and that is what's below.  Enjoy!

Tomato Soup

1 tbsp olive oil
4-6 slices of bacon, chopped
1/2 medium onion, chopped
3-4 slices of bread cubed (I used sourdough)
5 cups reduced sodium chicken broth
1 28oz can of diced tomatoes in juice
1/4 cup coarsely chopped fresh basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp crushed rep pepper flakes (optional)
salt and freshly ground black pepper
sour cream

-heat oil in large pot, add bacon and saute until crispy
-add the onion and saute until tender
-add bread cubes and toss to coat with drippings, toast until golden
-add broth, tomatoes, basil, oregano, and pepper flakes.
-bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium-low, simmer uncovered about 20 minutes or so
-season with salt and pepper
*I pureed mine so the kids didn't see all the chunks of tomatoes and basil and such.  The bread helps to thicken it up too.  I was a bit skeptical about the bread being in the soup, but it's totally worth it in the end.

You can dollop a bit of sour cream on top which makes it even more creamy and delicious.  Helps to cool it down quicker for the wee lads as well.  We also made some Parmesan cheese crisps to go with it!  Yum!

Oh, and don't forget the Goldfish!

farm day

A glorious albeit chilly afternoon to spend at Kayben Farms today.  I really do hope to get in a few more visits to this place before the snow flies, but just incase, this is how we spent our sunny Friday afternoon.

The corn maze was a HUGE hit.  I mean how could you not have fun running through passages in a corn field trying to scare each other and giggling non-stop?  Actually...I honestly think Aidan and Maelle tried to loose me, but I am much to quick for that.  Ha ha!

There was a lot of jumping today....both at the Straw Jump,

and on the air trampoline.

Then "the boys" got involved with the air gun, shooting plastic balls at my clan of bouncin' gals.  Sheesh....boys!

Bree had a go with "cowboy croquet" or hockey as she called it.

Such a fun afternoon!  It always amazes me how fast you can loose track of time when you are out doing something so totally fun.  After seeing how much fun Aidan and Maelle had in the corn maze, I am thinking about taking them to a larger one not too far from our home.  Apparently they have a flashlight one you can do at night!  That is, if they don't try to loose me again.