Tag Archive | Saskatchewan

A Very Merry Canadian Christmas

Is  what I am told our loved ones had this year! And I lucked out, friends and family were willing to share their pictures!

My brother, my nephew and my Uncle together after Christmas building toys… thanks Holly!

The Bleau kids ready to open their presents on Christmas Day… So cute, thanks Sharon!

Jeff, Sean, Tedd and Darryl on New Years! Good memories of times like this! Thanks Sharon!

Though not pictured, Karyn sent me this picture from her time in Saskatchewan… this is her mom, her sister inlaw and her nephews!!! Oh and a puppy!

And a close up of the puppy, thanks Karyn

The parents to be Kristen and Fydo! Baby is due imminently

Not a picture but equally cool! Here is the video of Ted’s very own Christmas tree… very cool!

I really missed my time with our oldest god daughter and her family. Emanuel was also rather sad to not get his usual hugs and quality time with his god mommy. But I lucked out, the den Otters have a wonderful picture to share with us here! We miss you all so much!

Alex, Isabella and Izaac, thanks for the amazing picture Xinny!

It was super busy this Christmas for our other god daughter Anna… not only does she have a new baby sister but they also moved over the holiday. So here is the picture Ada was able to find for me. So cute! She is just 2 months older than Echo.

Miss Anna, thanks Ada

And of course we must include some images from the She Chris and He Chris Christmas. With Mae as well! You will remember them especially from their wedding!

Note the owl couple! I gave that to them last year

Miss Mae

The puppy

I want to thank everyone who send in their pictures! I am hoping to do this for other major holidays so PLEASE save those Easter pictures as well! 

And So the Week Plays Out

September 26-28

Wednesday was the day of the great pumpkin hunt. We started off with a group photo of the hunters… note the sweaters, fall is here and in the morning the weather is rather cool!

Dressed and ready to start the great hunt

What a great morning of schooling, we had to get to the grocery store, figure out where the produce was, check out the apples and note the varieties (plenty but not cheap enough to do a big pick up) and then head over to the pumpkin/squash display. There was a nice selection including something called a buttercup squash that had Gavin coming up with a bunch of silly reasons as to why it was named that. My favourite was that after you empty it out it would make a perfect cup to drink juice out of! They had a great price on the pie pumpkins – 2 for 4.00. So we picked the nicest two, did the rest of our minor shopping and headed back to the house. 

Successful hunters!

There was a bit of a detour though, with birthday money from other sources Miss Echo finally got her Coup car! This is a favourite toy for her when she visited around but she had never had a chance to play in one in great condition. This brand spanking new model was a dream come true! It took Daddy AND Baba to put it together while the others did their book work. Though she made sure to get involved as well. 

With Baba and Daddy

Proud driver

In fact, after the kids finished their book work they went right in to the sun room to create some absolutely amazing Lego creations!! Gavin made the zoo animals to share and each of the kids had a piece on the table. I love it when they go out of their way to add to a series of pieces that we can then share with everyone. 

LEGO

I have found and joined the email alert for an absolutely AMAZING art for kids site. This is DEFINITELY going on my active links list for homeschooling. We started simple with the pumpkin print out – rather appropriate with our upcoming fall/Halloween season. I gave the sheet to Gavin and a piece of white paper and let him go with it. The steps were absolutely clear and he had a blast creating pumpkins. 

Gavin with his Jack-o-lanterns

Of course we had to go BACK to the site and get MORE print outs… so we basically printed out all of the ones that the site had in pdf form and Gavin sat down and drew. I think he said his favourite was the ninja! 

Note TWO ninjas!

Finally on Friday we ended up with the videos that had more steps and no printouts to follow. I set him up on the computer with a walkthrough on how to pause and rewind the videos and away he went. I was especially impressed by his dinosaur! I cannot wait until they add more!!! 

So the proud artist!

But back to our time line… where was I… oh yes, Thursday. Well, Wednesday night Nana and Baba were out with the cousins and Ken the gaming with the guys so it was rather quiet here (did I mention EARLY BEDTIME???). But on Thursday we had a relatively sunny day and a Baba intent on backyard activity. There is still stumps to remove in the backyard. So I let the kids run in the morning. Before anyone could get out to cut down the stumps the kids put in a couple hours creating this amazing bridge/ramp for Ken’s remote control car to bridge the hole left by the tree removal. It was a tight squeeze but they actually made it work! 

The ramp

And then it was time for the guys and the chainsaw (new acquisition) and all that fun stuff. The kids were a little put out as I would not let them drive the car around while the guys were using power tools but it was interesting all the same. Echo did NOT like the noise the chainsaw made AT ALL. 

Stump removal

An audience

We got a package in the mail that matched an envelope we had received previously! Did I mention, Gammie sent the kids some cash to buy something small and save a little? The boys all decided to save theirs for bigger things but thanks to Target Trinity was able to deck herself out in princess style. 

Workbooks!

Anyway… apparently Gammie was bored and came across some neat stuff to send us – workbooks, colouring books, a shirt for yours truly… and more letters!! We have had some slow responses but it has been great starting our pen pal program. If anyone is interested in adding themselves to our list feel free to contact me! 

look a kitty shirt for ME

After all their book work was done the kids went BACK into the backyard (Baba had a nap so it was free and clear) and made ANOTHER amazing structure. What these kids do with sticks and dirt… I love the teamwork and the ability to consider different mediums to create something new. And they are so proud of it when they are finished! As are we of course.

Back in the backyard

Now Friday was a bit busier. Nana and Baba had to pack up to spend their weekend camping with the cousins and we had to get everyone dressed and motivated to do a round of shopping. There was food items for the great pumpkin pie creation, a coupon to use at Victoria’s Secret… 10.00 off a 12.00 lotion that glitters!!!

New lotion!

A check in at Burlington to see what their coat prices are like (coats and snow pants.. maybe we can get away with all 4 of the bigger kids at 120.00… Echo would go baby and used)… and then home again. Oh don’t forget Michaels! I got a bitty globe for 50 cents and some Hello Kitty stocking stuffers for 25 cents a piece when they are usually like 3.00!!! 

A globe

Get everyone home, get the book work done and then disperse the kids to naps and quiet occupation… Zander and Gavin did their pen pal responses and then puttered around. I am trying to get them to realize that they have things at hand that can be fun, at least the new colouring books are sparking interest.

Keeping those kids busy

Of course we started with the scraping out and then baking of our pie pumpkins. That was about as far as we got, but the boys got their hands dirty and we have pie pumpkin seeds to plant next year! We will continue the pie making later but I have a neat idea (if we can work it out) of how to save the shell of the pumpkin! You can find the instructions we use HERE.

Cleaning pumpkins

We also did a random act of kindness and sent off rainbows to a sick little girl in Saskatchewan who wants a rainbow from everyone all over the world. The kids were quite detailed and we included their name, age and Minnesota, USA on them. I hope they help bring a smile to her face! 

Early morning colouring

Still slightly sleepy

With a weekend of pie making, Novak visiting and family together time to look forward  to I am so glad that Ken is willing to be hands on and present right now! 

Mini pumpkin patch?

This entry was posted on 29/09/2012, in Uncategorized. 1 Comment

Adventuring on a Grand Scale

July 18-19

And here is where I come through on my promise… Wednesday did not only mark the celebration of my nephew’s birthday BUT it is also the beginning of our biggest adventure yet as a family. We are officially on our way south to Minnesota for a 2 year or so stint as permanent residents in the United States of America! Yup, you read that right, we have left the familiarity of Alberta for Ken’s home state of Minnesota. 

This is not a decision we came to lightly or with little thought but after another month of disappointment in the rental search (seriously HUGE places turning us down on the basis of it being “too small” for our family… yah right), a sudden contract issue (no fault of Ken’s or the supervisor but the world happens) and the feeling really that this is the direction we should take led to our finally making the move. The plan was swift to implement as it has been a backup plan since Ken first moved up here and we definitely didn’t tarry. Thus the run to the passport office, the garage sale and downsizing… all the clues were there right?

We started out for the states right from Drumheller after our final good byes at the party. The plan was to drive on through with naps when needed and did we ever! We made AMAZING time. And since we had the iPad that can pick up any and all free Wifi we did periodic check ins from every place we could via Facebook. A good thing as  well before the border our cell stopped working (payfor does not like changing areas of service). As my Aunty Becky joked – the kids must have figured that the drive down to Minnesota simply came down to a string of fast food restaurants! 

Some beautiful Alberta scenery

We did have one scare Wednesday night, a deer decided to attempt suicide using our van as the vehicle of choice. It actually was across the highway when we saw it and started to slow and then decided to turn back around and run AT us! Thankfully we got away with just a dent in our sliding door and a rather adrenaline pumped Kenny. 

Poor van

After Saskatchewan at night and Manitoba in the wee hours of the morning it was the border crossing. It was our simplest border crossing yet with next to no questions and only one car ahead of us! What a relief. I always feel anxiety at border crossings, I swear Ken eggs them on subconsciously. 

Saskatchewan rest stop

Note the van is PARKED

After that it was North Dakota with a hilariously WRONG Canadian bacon related sign…

What, so now we are all pirates??? eh???

A Minnesota rest stop all full of sun, heat and HUMIDITY

And then onto Minnesota and our end destination – Nana and Baba’s and our next two years in sight. We were welcomed by Nana and Baba and our niece Gabriella and nephew Zachary…

Gabriella and Trinity

So starts a brand new page in our life… Minnesota and all the ups and downs that go with it. Note the sad lack of slurpees… but I WILL survive!!! And to end this epic trip… a few of our location marking pictures…

Sunset in Saskatchewan

My last slurpee from Macs in Winnipeg…

Our first meal in the states… Arby’s for lunch

This entry was posted on 26/07/2012, in Uncategorized. 4 Comments