Saturday Sledging

We had a really lazy Saturday morning.  Small watched Star Wars, Smallest and I drew and coloured, Moo unpacked boxes and Huffle became Mr Fix-it again.

More pen on his face than on the paper, but loving every minute of it

Huffle very smug with his hanging work

Moo delving in the boxes like a hungry hobo

Smallest decided he wanted to do different 'thank yous' this year.  So he made a Christmas decoration for his friend back home.  Then we drew a thank you picture for Grandma and Grandad.  And then another one for Aunt & Unc Pear and Pest and HB.  I can't show you fully because they might be reading!  Then Small started as well - he drew a lovely picture for Grandma and Grandad too.

The concentration!

We stayed in our PJ's most of the morning, then had a light lunch and got our snow gear on and went off in search of hills to sledge down.

We were recommend a place which was gentle hills and slopes and great for kids.  Only  $2 each and we stayed their for over two hours.  Great fun.  The kids loved it - to be fair so did Huffle, Moo and I.

Moo and Smallest sledging - extreme!

Small waiting to sledge

Huffle and Smallest sledging.

A quick snicnic break again (we ate the Chappos chocolate - thanks)

Whheeeeeeeeeee - Moo whizzing down the hill

Smallest was going down on his own.  On his front, back to front - he didn't care, he just went for it.  Every time he got to the end bit he rolled off, in a very dramatic way.

It was very tiring trudging up that hill all the time.

Moo had a wetness problem - senior moment?

We had a quick trip to a supermarket, came back for dinner, bath, couple of games and then Moo put the kids to bed.

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

Now it's our turn.  The wine is open, a cheeky little red 14%.  The cards are shuffled.  The brownies are warming and the ice cream is chilling.  Ahhhhhhhhhh.

Happy New Year to all my readers and all the best for 2012.

 

Health, Food and more snow

On our list of things to do today was:  winter tyres for Huffle's car, bank for Credit Cards, Health Cards.  

Huffle took his car to the garage and walked back.  After a leisurely breakfast we went to our local town to get our health cards and stood in line with everyone else, produced all our documents, only to be told we needed to be somewhere else, half an hour away.  We went to the bank to get a credit card.  We have been trying to apply for credit cards since we have been in Canada but they keep declining us because we have no credit history here (good rating in UK but nothing here unfortunately).  So the only way we can get one is to take some money from our account and buy a Visa Gift Card.  Use the Visa as a credit card but only up to the limit we have put by.  Doesn't make an awful lot of sense but it does allow us to get a credit history here, so one day they may allow us a proper grown up credit card.

The boys playing on the IPad whilst waiting for us (Moo's shoes next to them keeping a watchful eye)

Off we went to Newmarket and sorted the cards.  A bit long winded but a friendly helpful person sorted us out.  We should get them in February, in the meantime Huffle's work is sorting us with temporary ones.

We had lunch at the Pickle Barrell.  We had a booth all to ourselves.

Moo and I in our booth 

Huffle and Small doing a wordsearch

Moo had soup and bruschetta shaped like a tee pee!  (the Bruschetta not the soup).

Smallest had bacon and eggs with toast and it looked like a face!

Smallest's cheeky looking dinner

It has been a very foggy day today.  No more snow (after a good sprinkling last night) and quite mild.

Foggy snowy fields

Then we came home and played in the snow.  We sledged, snowballed, snowboarded and ran around like idiots who hadn't seen snow before.

Huffle pulling sledge with the boys on

Looks like they are being nice to each other but that can’t be right - that never happens!

Moo sledging - a bit blurry but I had to add this one - I think I am laughing alot

We got the snowboards out - Huffle and I used to snowboard before the boys were born so we were a bit wary.  Huffle had no problems.  I was a bit shakey but not too bad.  It wasn't much of a slope though.

Smallest's first attempt at snowboarding - not bad, no fear but a tumble at the end

Small's first attempt - good, don't think it will take him long to master it.

Huffle looking thoughtfully into the distance - oh and I managed a bit of a tree too

now, remember I said that Huffle was now Mr Fixit?  Well this is he trying to fix the satellite dish, and yes , that is a snowball in his hand and not a hammer!!

Tired boys dragging the sledge back

Action shot of Smallest being pulled by Huffle - they were going very fast.

Moo waving - I was lying in the snow to get that shot

Ooh another tree.  Lovely

A caring shot of Smallest, looking after the stone duck.  This was on the ground but Moo picked him up cos she thought he might be cold (yes the stone duck!) and Small wanted to cuddle him (almost!).

I skyped LizzieDotDot this evening.  She is looking very well (not at all like someone who has just had a baby).  Both doing well.  Ahhh it was nice to see her and chat just like we used to (only a bit further away!).

Handy Man

A little bit more snow in the night, but just a dusting.  Huffle had to scrape my car again and I caught him starting to shovel the drive but then gave up.  

Huffle scraping

View from front window

We went to a Mall mid morning as the boys had some money they wanted to spend.  They were very well behaved so Moo bought them (and us) an ice cream.

We had cookie dough, chocolate caramel swirl, coconut grove 

and Jamaica almond doodah (Moo's of course)

Huffle bought a drill and a plane (not an aeroplane but a small wood plane to make the door on my bathroom close (as I pulled it off its hinges on the day the toilet got blocked........ Long story, not readable).  Anyway he did a fantastic job, except now he thinks he's Mr Fixit and he's looking at things around the house in a strange glazed way - he even wants to put a shelf up somewhere, oh no Frank Spencer, please don't, else I will have to tell everyone about the time he made a bedside table that turned into a barbecue holder that......... Oh no, leave it!!!!!

Just a little bit off there and a bit more, whoops!!

It is rubbish day tomorrow so we collected all the boxes, tied them up neatly and put them out on the path ready for the morning.  Hope they take them all.  Hope Mr. Raccoon leaves it all alone, else there'll be trouble.

For our dinner we had a soup made out of left overs from Christmas (not the meat part as Moo and I are vegetarians).  Sound awful but it was lovely.  Very wholesome, parp says I.

Shovelling, Snicnic and Sledging

We had tons of snow last night. 

View from front door first thing

View from Small's room looking into back garden

View from landing window looking North

Where does Moo think she's going?  Antarctic?

Once we had our breakfast we put on all our thermals, snow pants, gloves, hats, scarves and rushed outside.  The snow was really deep in places.

Small can't understand my fascination with tree photography!

Looking back towards the house from the bottom of the garden 

Snowballs were thrown, the start of a snowman was made, faces drawn in the snow, sledging up and down the garden.

Me pulling Smallest along the garden in the new sledge from Grandma and Grandad

Small shovelling, Huffle pulling sledge and Smallest and Moo trying to take photos

Small's snow picture of a face

Me and Small

Then it was down to hard work.  Shovelling the snow off the drive.  We didn't think we had a long drive but when it's full of snow, it's certainly long enough.

Smallest and Huffle scraping the snow and ice off my car

While we were clearing the drive, the post man arrived.  Smallest went and waited till he got out, hoping that he would deliver some post to our mailbox.  Bless him, there wasn't any.  It wasn't till later that we realised it was the parcel man and the postman arrived later with some mail and a parcel from our wonderful friends the Chappos, who had sent us a letter and some Cadbury's chocs to hang on our tree.  Thanks Chappos.  There was also some post from the DotDots.  A Christmas card, a new home card, a mask for Smallest from his mate Art and a card for Small from his best friend Bomberdill.  Thanks DotDots.

When it was time for a break we had a little 'snicnic' a snowy picnic.  Moo made flasks of coffee and hot chocolate and we had a choccy bar from our Christmas supplies.

We had 'make do' chairs which we made out of my summer tyres.

The boys look like little old men drinking their tea!  They had hot Choc.

Where do you want this tyre chair?

A lovely -7 (with a windchill making it feel like -17) snow picnic.

Whoops Smallest fell in!

It started snowing again.

We messed about a bit more and then went in to get warm.

This afternoon we had a walk (well the boys were pulled on their sledges) to the garage.  Normally this would take only 15-20 minutes, but with the snow piled up and the pulling the sledges it took considerably longer.  The wind was behind us on the way there so it was fairly pleasant but on the way back it was biting.

I insisted that Smallest walk a bit of the way so he would be tired out and not go loopy around the house when we got back but he was having none of it and decided to cry most of the way home till I gave in and let him ride on the sledge part of the way.  His hands had got wet and cold and he couldn't warm them up.  Then I stopped to speak to a neighbour and Small started pummelling me with snowballs in my face while I was talking so when she stopped I got him back, then he cried all the way home too.  That was a fun walk!!

More boxes have been opened and sorted and Huffle found my knitting box.  Hurrah.  I can finish Small's scarf and my friends Christmas present and whatever else I had started but forgotten about.