Family Day

Since Family Day was on Monday, which is Nathan's preschool day, the four preschool families decided to have a field trip together.

We went to the park behind our house, where the local Optimist Club was hosting a Winter Fun Day.

Luckily, it snowed on Sunday night. So there was plenty of fresh white snow - untouched, and ready for family fun.

There were horse and wagon rides, games, snow-sculpting contests, sledding races, hot chocolate and more.

It was a lot of fun and the kids were really good sports... but after a few hours they were ready to get out of the cold.

We came home to warm baths, warm food, and a warm fireplace.

Samantha stayed a little bit longer with her friends, and ended up winning one of the sledding races.

After Bath Time

Nathan and Clara love to have baths.

And after they get out, they love to stay wrapped up in their towels for a while.

They pretend to hide.

Surprise...!

They make faces.

Clara likes to find her own belly button.

And finally, when they are good and dry, they put on some clothes.

Samantha's Project

Samantha did a project comparing the Governments of Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece.

She went to the library and got some books. She found photos and did additional research on the internet.

She made a poster of her findings with text and pictures.

She made a sculpture out of clay showing the red and white crowns that symbolized Upper and Lower Egypt.

But what impressed me the most was that she did it all en francais.

Since most of the research was done in English, she had to translate it into French for her project. And she did a great job!

Time-out

I really don't like giving Clara time-outs.

But they seem to work well for her.

When she has this look on her face, we know she is ready to say sorry and get off.

In Clara's words... "Soooowwwy".

Pantry Makeover

Our pantry was getting way too full and disorganized, so I decided it was time to clean it out.

Here it is before:


And after:

Everything that we don't use often went downstairs to the cold room.

I found some clear glass jars for rice, oatmeal and flour at Home Sense.

I have a separate baking cupboard for sugar, vanilla, baking powder, soda, chocolate chips, etc. but I wanted extra large jars for things we use lots of.

The clear plastic containers have pasta, quinoa, cornmeal, croutons, raisins, nuts, etc. They all have seals for freshness. They are also from Home Sense and they range in price from $4 to $8.

The big baskets are great for organizing all of the smaller items such as fruit cups, granola bars, crackers, etc.

The one on the top shelf has plastic utensils, plates, napkins, etc.

The baskets were a steal at Canadian Tire for 75% off. I think they came out to around $3 each. I'm kicking myself for not getting a few extra.

These Rubbermaid cereal bins are great because the jumbo sized cereal boxes don't fit on these lower shelves - they're too tall - but these containers fit perfectly. I like to have the cereal right at my kids level so they can serve themselves breakfast. I picked them up at Costco last summer.

The organizer in me wanted to label everything, but I decided not to because I have a tendency to change my mind every once in a while. Okay, all the time. And I want to be free to switch things around.

I also put a holder on the wall for the broom so it no longer falls out on you when you open the door.

So much better...

Some More Photos of the 2011 National Championships

Although the four photos I snapped on my iphone this weekend were better than nothing, fortunately there were people at our event with really nice cameras and some photography skills.

Here are the links to Dave Bukach's Galleries:

Day 1

Day 2

Yes, the final games were played in pouring rain. So were the semi and quarter finals. And the Celebrity Game.

I love the last photo on Day 2. What a great shot.

Victoria

We had a great weekend at Nationals!

Scott and I stayed at the lovely Empress hotel.


I loved getting these cards on my pillow each night with the next day's weather forecast and a historical fact about the hotel.



Scott - all ready to play in the Celebrity Game on Saturday.




The Parliament building is stunning at night - this is right on the street where 3 of our 6 rinks were set up.



We found this fun and delicious seafood restaurant for our last dinner in Victoria. Really great food. Best seafood chowder ever.

- Posted from my iPhone

Play On! Nationals this Weekend

This week is a Play On! week for us. In a couple of days we will be holding the National Championship Event in Victoria, BC.

The event is part of Hockey Day in Canada, and parts of it will be broadcast live on Saturday, February 12. Fifty teams from across the country will travel to the west coast to compete for the Redwood Cup.

I am excited to return to beautiful Victoria, where we will get to enjoy warmer weather (although currently, rain is forecasted for the weekend), get to see some family, and enjoy what has always been a very fun event.

Scott and I leave early Thursday morning, and his parents have offered to come watch our kids, bless their hearts.

I've been spending the past couple of days working non-stop on preparations for the event.

I am very grateful for kind friends who have helped out with the kids while I've been working, and for our favourite pizza place that delivers outside of the city.

Here's a clip with some history of the event.

I'm a Proud Aunt (times two)

My sister and Scott's brother both had babies at the end of last year.

(Well, technically our sister-in-law had the baby, of course.)

It's so fun to have a new niece and nephew in the family.

Scott and I were able to go out west to see our nephew the weekend of his baby blessing, thanks to Jeff and Lindsey for watching our crew.

Seriously, how cute is he?

Zara was just blessed this past weekend. She was born on Christmas Day.

My sister lives in Singapore right now, so I'm not sure when I'll get to meet my niece.

Hopefully before she goes off to college.

Because if she's anything like Samantha, I will blink and she'll be in Grade 5, getting her ears pierced and going to the bus stop by herself, telling me I no longer need to cut her toast into four little squares, and counting down the months until she will be babysitting.

While I sit here wondering where in the world the past 10 years went.

Reading Buddies

One of the days Brett was home sick, he spent the day on the couch reading.

Clara decided to join in with her board books.



I love that our older three can read to the little ones. It's so sweet. Sometimes Brett will put Nathan to bed at night by reading him a few books and tucking him in.

Brett has traditionally been into non-fiction books, but recently has found a series that he enjoys called Beast Quest.

I am just finishing up book three in The Hunger Games trilogy and will be looking for something to read next.

Any suggestions?

Update: Saturday

This morning I left the house to run errands, hoping to be back in a couple short hours. But it was not to be.

Apparently the day before the Superbowl merits crowds and lines comparable to Christmas Eve.

Plus it has been snowing again and the roads were pretty bad.

Scott was super Dad at home with the kids all day, plowing through homework, reading logs, piano practice, frozen pizza, and a little Super Mario here and there.

Then Brett was off to a birthday party, I had a good long chat with my little sister, and made some preparations for a potluck we are going to tomorrow.

Pretty soon it was time for JD's hockey game. I had asked some friends to watch Nathan and Clara so I could go to the game.

I don't often attend JD's games, because I end up spending the majority of the time chasing the little ones around the arena while they complain of being bored, cold, and hungry.

Not hungry for the good snacks in the diaper bag, just for the candy and pop in the vending machines.

But tonight I was ready with my video camera and no kids.

When we arrived at the arena, we learned that the team we were scheduled to play (from out of town) had canceled due to the bad driving conditions.

The coaches quickly split our team into two, and they had their own game instead, against each other.

It was a surprisingly good game, and afterward JD said that it was his most fun game yet.

Maybe because he got his very first goal of the season. Way to go, JD!

Even Princesses Get Dirty

In some ways Clara is pretty girly.

She loves pink. She likes dolls, barbies and princesses. Especially Ariel. Ariel is her very favourite.

She loves wearing dresses, bracelets, and headbands. And she often tells us how much she "loves being a princess".

Well, actually, she just sings the song.

And she often says that she is, "Trying so hard to become a true princess so that she can wake up sleeping Boots".

Yes, my children have watched a lot of Dora and Backyardigans.

Why do you ask?

However, when it comes to getting dirty, Clara is a pro. She doesn't like to be dirty, as she is constantly asking for me to wash her hands.

But she seems to be very good at getting dirty.



She has also decided that eating utensils are overrated. She goes into her meals with good intentions, but very quickly abandons her spoon or fork.

Yogurt, oatmeal, spaghetti, lasagna... all finger foods in Clara's book.