Week off

We had fun at the Science Centre and the zoo, going boxing day shopping and playing with all our new toys in the house. Misty is now 'cone-free' and I even got a few jobs done around the house.

Look carefully and you will see my daughters face up in bubbles.

Are we spoiled? 2006

You be the judge.

Christmas Part 3

We had Sharon's family over here for Christmas day dinner. The lolly-pops were a great success, as everyone had fun making them and eating them. The turkey turned out really good, and a great time was had.

Christmas Part 2

Santa came to house, as was proven by my son's cozy tigger doll and my daughter's barbie doll. Other highlights included cozy pajamas all around.

Christmas Part 1

Everyone had a good time at my brothers on Christmas eve. The food was great. My kids liked their croks, backpacks and games. My nephew seemed to like his Marshmellow Blaster. So it was a great day.

Last Minute Preparations

Christmas Rice Krispie snow men are all made (some of them melted), presents are wrapped, reindeer food is spread on the lawn, stockings are hung, milk and cookies are out, and we are all ready for Christmas.

Music box dancer

It was parents day at my daughter's ballet school, so we got to go in and watch. It was great to see her having so much fun. She really enjoys it and wants to keep going next week with the class. And she is actually becoming quite graceful (for a 4 year old).

Space-dog

Our poor cone-headed Misty!! She had to go for an operation on her ear, and now she has to wear a cone for nearly two weeks. She is crashing into everything, knocking stuff over, and knocking all the fridge magnets off the fridge. When she gets an itchy ear (which is quite often) she scratches, but all she hits is the cone. She is going to have the cone of over Christmas. I plan to put garland around it.

Not a creature was stirring, not even a...

My daughter was in her school's Christmas concert last night. We really enjoyed it. She was a mouse in the Night Before Christmas, and sang Jingle Mice (but I doubt anyone heard it). It was great to watch and all the kids were really cute.

The band is shown below:

Trim up the Tree Times Two

It really starts to feel like Christmas when we get the tree up. The kids all helped out. Misty kept trying to chew the pine cone ornaments and the plastic apple ornaments, so we had to move them up high. The kids all had favourite ornaments that they liked to place. Sharon had to do some fine tuning when everything was done, as all the ornaments were on the lower branches of the tree.

And then on Monday, when Misty knocked the tree flying and all the ornaments fell off, we got to do it all again.

My son liked his Christmas stocking, and, as always was a bit of a clown.

Beaver Tails

I had noticed what looked like a beaver lodge near our house when I walked Misty in the morning (sounds like a song), and had wanted to check it out with the kids. After much coaxing, we eventually headed out on Sunday afternoon. We were thrilled not only to find the lodge, but to find the beaver, chowing down on some sticks. He is a big one. The kids thought is was really neat.

Ginger bread houses

Another annual tradition is the decorating of the ginger bread houses. My son and daughter each did one, although I think my son ate more goodies than ended up on his house. If you look at the houses you should be able to see a chimney, a patio door, Santa looking out the window, a candy cane tree, a sidewalk, a doorknob and Christmas lights on the roof.

Stoufville Parade

We made the trip to Stoufville on Saturday with some friends of Sharon's to watch the Stouffville Santa Claus parade. They really gave out a lot of candy canes and other goodies. The kids enjoyed the penguin float. I enjoyed the hillbilly float, with the bathtub car. It was a nice day.

Landfill Presentation

I had to give a presention at the Solid Waste Expo in Mississauga this week. The presentation went well, as I spoke about landfill management to about 40 professional landfill managers.

My presentation can be seen here.

At least it wasn't a Peanut Butter Sandwich

That was what Sharon said when she picked a bunch of my sons toys out of the VCR.

Geo-christmas

We had a lot of fun on the weekend setting up a Christmas tree geocache. We hiked into the woods, found a tree in the middle of no-where and decorated it. We are hoping other geocachers will come out and add some ornaments. The kids thought it was fun.

House decorations

We had a nice warm weekend, so we put up the Christmas lights and decorated the outside of the house. We have the low energy LED lights this year. The house looks great and the kids enjoy turning the lights on each evening.

Star

My daughter was the Star at school. Each student gets a turn and they bring in some things for show and tell. They are the teacher's helper and get to sit in the Star chair. My daughter has been excited about this for days and had trouble getting to sleep last night. It was a very big day and she really enjoyed it. My son is going to have a Star day at home this weekend and my daughter is setting things up based on what happens at school.

Zoo day

We went on a members only zoo tour on Sunday. I think this is the best time to go to the zoo, as the animals were all very active. The crowds a less and the weather is a little cooler, so they seem to be up and around more. I liked to watch the Grizzly Bears playing.

Santa Claus Parade

We all enjoyed the Santa Claus parade today. The kids favourite float was, (of course) Santa's. The weather was nice and we say a few bands, a few floats, Ernie and Bert, and got lots of treats. Christmas season is finally here.

Hike in the woods

We hiked into the location were we went tree planting in the spring, to see how our trees are doing. Misty got to run around, and the kids liked to see their seedlings sprouting up. It is great, but they seem to be growing.

Royal Agricultural Winter Fair

I took the day off and took the kids to the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair last Friday. We watched the milking demonstration, horse show, saw a talk by a member of the mounted police unit, saw the animals and had a full day. The kids enjoyed the butter carvings, and the petting zoo. We got lots of free receipes, and lots of colouring pages and other crafts. It was also fun to show the kids Toronto, and let them see the various sites. We were all pretty tired at the end of the day.

Baa, baa, black sheep have you any wool?

The Graduate

Misty has completed her beginner dog obedience classes, and she passed. It is hard to believe, but she is actually learning a few manners. She has calmed down a lot in the past two months, but still needs a lot of work.

Yard work

I like to write up a quick post on what I did on the weekend. This weekend was garden work. We raked leaves, drained rainbarrels, and trimmed trees. The kids helped, but mostly just wanted to play. Who can blame them?

Halloween

Dad got dressed up too, and took the kids out Trick or treating. My daughter was princess Barbie, and my son was Barnie. Barnie got tired (or scared) after a few houses and decided to hand out candies with mom, but Princess Barbie kept going for about an hour and a half. She got tonnes of candies.

We ended up with about 72 kids at our door. The weather was great, and even Misty enjoyed watching all the kids.