Life is certainly never dull in this house. Today it was the electricity. Apparently in this area due to the cold and houses with old wiring transmitters have not been sending the right amount of voltage. This meant that once Ken got our dryer going, tv for the kids and the microwave all of a sudden… they weren’t. This occurred a couple times with the breakers blowing. The final time, I had turned on the printer to print something for Gavin, printed it out and THEN the power went out AGAIN.

So we spent a nice chunk of our day in the living room where the light is the best, working on workbooks… puzzles and games.

Zander and his new math workbook

Gavin and Emanuel curled up on Emanuel’s bed and read books together, warm and snug by the light of the window.

Storytime with Gavin

Poor Echo has not done as well today, she has eaten well but ended up in the evening with a fever. Such a warm little body Ken and I had to pass her back and forth since she was in no way interested in sleeping on her own.

Sleepy baby

I did get a new barrette done – this is absolutely adorable. Ribbon snowmen. I found the instructions here. They take quite a bit of ribbon and are a bit of work but I love how they turned out!!

Snowmen

So we got news of the van… and not the good news we were hoping. Our mechanic figures the frame could be bent. Two years ago Ken hit an ice patch and we had to replace the front axle, and then we had to replace it again in Minnesota last year… now when the mechanic took a closer look the axle looks worn down again. This seems to indicate that there was some frame damage that with driving over time increased. So the end of it is if this IS the issue, well the mechanic knows someone who could purchase it for parts… that money would go to the mechanic for labour, then hopefully a portion to buy a used vehicle (probably off of Kijiji) and the rest back onto the loan. What a pain. This has us discussing rentals and whether or not we could do a week or two (perhaps there will be an affordable longer term deal) to get the kids to shots appointments, my mom’s for Christmas Eve and the kids’ pageant on the 19th (and then to the conservatory for their winter program)… so if anyone knows of deals in Alberta on rentals SHARE!

Tonight we have Sean and Ted and their laptops/netbooks over for some gaming and visiting. I am hoping to get started on the last portion of my nephew’s stocking. If I can finish it before Ken takes mom’s car back to her I can send it with him for her to complete and send his way.

Oh! We have a new cell phone number… just one though, so if you need it and only have our old numbers please send me an email or leave a message here and I will get it to you.

And the kids’ day 2 Advent ornaments laminated and all. Again check out the UK site!!

Kids and their stars (Gavin left)

So tonight I sew, colour, cut and possibly laminate. I should get on that!!!

Winnie the Pooh