What's "normal" at our house

UNCLE MARC
We love having uncle Marc visit us every week and as the girls get older, they are enjoying their super uncle more and more. He makes the best jungle gym and is a great horsie.
Lots of fun was had by all.

My brother was keeping the girls out of trouble as I was finishing up supper. I think Marc definitely earned his meal.

Down Katie goes, laughing all the way...

... and back up she goes. Thank you Marc for being such a special uncle to them.

TEA PARTY Katie and Maya both love having tea parties with this mini!!!! teaset Katie got for Christmas. My parents came to our house to practice the alphorns with me so I sequestered (sp??) the girls to their room

Maya was trying to be the host

Good thing they only served water, as the cup was tipped as much as the pot.

Of course we can't have my parents over without a coffee time!! Those of you who know my family know how true that is! As you might guess from the perspective, Katie was the photographer. She loves using the camera and often goes on totally unpredictable photo scavenger hunts in the house.

While we were still having coffee, Maya was trying out the alphorns and Katie caught her in the act.

NORMAL MORNING This morning the girls played together quite nicely. Hey set up their house under the table and spent a good hour reading books and playing with their dolls and whatever toys they dragged under there.

Then Katie went off with the camera again. I think she did a great job taking Maya's pic

Katie's view of our fishtank with one lonely surviver (we started out with 5)

Posing for the budding photographer as I'm busy cleaning up the kitchen.

Things that capture a 4 year olds attention!?!

Well I don't know if I'll get another post in before we head for Cuba!!!! I'll be sure to post some pics when we get back.

And for those of you who are wondering, I'm sure I'll miss the girls but I am so excited to have some time with just Jeff, sleep whenever - without interruption, read without feeling guilty and just soaking up the sun!!

Swamp skating

We still don't have any snow worth talking about, but the last few days have been cold and ablsolutely gorgoeous to be outside. We have a couple of skating ponds that Jeff and a couple from our missionary training program (they are at the Liebenzell Center for some time away from the city) have cleared for the group that was here this weekend. After they were done they ventured further into our flooded swamp (I guess there's one good thing about all the rain we got in the fall and beginning of the winter). It turned out that they could skate through the swamp a long way, dodging trees, little islands and lots of downed branches along the way. So both on Saturday and Sunday afternoon the whole family got bundled up and we went swamp skating. It is sooo much fun!! Check out the pics to get a bit of an idea.
Jeff is doing donuts with Maya.

Katie and Maya were just out there in their boots, but still had lots of fun.

Doing piruetts (spelling??) and doing a great job staying upright. Better than I would do I'm sure.

Maya also did a great job wandering about, though she spent most of the time in the little sled being pulled along. We tried, but the girls only tolerated the double load long enough to take a picture, barely.

I didn't put on my skates for most of the afternoon but had tons of fun (and exercise) clearing paths through the tangled mess of branches for the skaters to whip through. Maya was quite content to just sit there and getting pulled sloooowly as I worked.

My wonderful (and handsome!!) hubby getting ready for some ice time.

you can get a bit of a picture of what the swamp looks like. It would be perfect to play tag with all the little trails, paths and occasional larger areas.

Jeff and Maya exploring uncharted territory.

Maya loved leaning back in the sled and looking at the trees and the beautiful blue sky. Both days we were out on the ice for a good 2 hours and both girls did awesome the entire time. No fussing, no whining, just enjoying the outdoors.

The girls examining something. I couldn't make out what they were looking at. some stick or rock or something??

Rosy cheeks and big smile. She was like that the entire time.

Katie didn't want to pose for me so I asked her to show me a big smile for cousing Nate. So Nate, here you go!

Trying to break the "tree". I think in the end the tree won!!

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the tour of of our swamp skating. We hope the weather will hold. (and I'm thinking it would be even more fun if there's a couple of feet of snow on either side of the little trails. It would give me the workout for a lifetime I'm sure. Probably won't have as many trails, but it might be worth the effort. Anyway... we first need snow!!

I wish you all a wonderful week!

Ahoy there Mate!

Last Saturday Katie and Maya transformed a Fisher Price garden/workshop table into a Pirate ship. Add all the other toys and chairs around it and voila. You get hours of fun!
Katie with her spotting scope, Maya has her pirate hat and I got to use my eye patch.

Lots of fun was had by all. I was thrilled by their imaginative play, but even more so by their co-operative play!!!

Check out the fish and duck in the "water". Katie played with the pirate ship all day!! Maya jumped ship after about an hour or so and went about her own business...

...until she found my eye patch and wanted back into the game.

Meanwhile I was trying to fold some laundry. As usual I got interrupted and ended up leaving some of my folded laundry on the table in my work room (used to be dining room just off the kitchen).





After supper, I could hear Katie exclaim about how beautiful she looked. Maya totally agreed. When I checked what they got into I had to laugh out loud and run for the camera.

Yup, she was wearing Daddy's boxers as a skirt, a necklace and a shawl.

Anyway, I hope you are having a wonderful week. Till next time.

Christmas Eve - New Year

I guess if I don't post more often, I'll always end up with long posts. So grab a cup of coffee as I share some pics about our holidays.
Our church had a nice Christmas Eve service for families at 4:30 p.m. We came home and fed the girls supper. Then they got to open their Christmas Eve present.

They got matching new PJs and an ornament (tradition Jeff grew up with and we adopted for our kids) When they are all grown up and leave home they'll have a box full of christmas ornaments for their own tree.

After the girls were settled Jeff and I had a romantic cheese fondue in front of our Christmas tree.

CHRISTMAS DAY

Our girls don't know about getting up early and opening presents at an ungodly hour!! They came and snuggled with us until about 7:30 and then we slowly made our way to the waiting tree with all the gifts. But even so, they posed for a picture before we got to opening the gifts.

"Snow Princess" PJs

Katie picked Max and Ruby dolls at a consignment shop for Maya. Maya loved them!! Katie's favorite present was a tiny tea set in a picnic basket.

Both girls got puzzles and we enjoyed playing with them together

Katie took the picture of Daddy, Rabbit and Strawberry shortcake having another tea party.

BOXING DAY

From the 26 -28th Jeff's parents joined us for some family fun.

We had rabbit, potatoes, cerery root salad and beans from our garden for our Christmas dinner.

On the 27th we went to our annual shopping trip to Vaugh Mills Mall. As usual Jeff and Dad only left Bass Pro to come and join us for lunch at the food court. Katie stayed with the guys and Maya came with Mom and I. Both girls did AWESOME even in the crowded mall!

On Wed morning we actually had some snow and decided we better take advantage of it. The wind was pretty cold, but we were bundled up and had lots of fun

Our very little "hill" behind the washroom building. Not much of a run, but that also means not much of a hike back up the hill and it was out of the wind.

We love our light weight, family size toboggan.

Everyone had fun! The small and the big kids.

AT THE FARM

From the 30th to the 1st we went to my parents.

Christmas #3. Both girls got wonderfully cute farm pillows. Grosvati picked the fabric and Grosi did the sewing.

Maya was also very interested in opening gifts. We were all blessed again by the generosity of our families.

Maya loved the gifts, but the paper and ribbons still hold a lot of fun, especially when you can wrap up Grosvati.

Katie loves her beautiful dress up jewelley, purse and shoes from cousin Nate.

Grosi and Maya were studying the Wilson "yearbook". I create a digital photo album of our family every year since Katie was born. It makes a great present to myself and both sets of grandparents.

We had our traditional Christmas dinner for New Year's Eve this year. The girls were in bed and the adults indulged in way too much fondue Chinoise and homegrown french fries.

Katie sporting her new PJs while watching the new Strawberry Shortcake show.

Maya's PJs are very cute, especially when paired with Katies' slippers:)

We had a wonderful Christmas holiday and we are so blessed to have such a wonderful family, even though we are spread all over the world. We missed seeing Uncle Ian, Aunt Brenda, Alex and Steven, Uncle Chris and Auntie Mel with Nate, and Uncle Rudy and Tante Sarah with Danae and Andre. Maybe some day we'll celebrate Christmas together again, at least some of us.

We wish you all a wonderful 2012 and may God bless you in all you endeavour.