Late Over

While Aspen was at the sisters Birthday Party we invited the brothers over to our house. They informed me that their Mother loves me...something about them not being able to pester all the girls at the party. :) That was my intention.

But I had other reasons too. Having little pre-teen boys at the house is a sure fire way to get rid of too much junk food that seems to accumulate in my house. Add in a little "Star Wars" and every one's happy.

Empty the Dishwasher

Our dishwasher has not been working properly. It's really annoying and eventually the door wouldn't even close. We called the repair guys and after washing dishes by hand for 4 days they finally came. 4 day may not sound like a lot, but when there are 6 people in the house 4 days it a REALLY long time.

So they were only here for about half an hour, but look what they pulled out of my dishwasher. No wonder it wouldn't work. YUCK!

Squirrel!!! I mean...Hamster!!!

"Must hunt Blossum.""Oh Man! She's in that ball again. Why is that ball moving by it's self?"

"Oh...she's taunting me. There's gotta be a way to get her out.""I'll just wait patiently. She's gotta come out sometime."Beaux is the funniest dog ever. He will hunt this poor hamster all day. Eventually though, we have to put her away because he gets too brave and starts knocking her around.

Dad Is Great So We Make Him Chocolate Cake

Aspen is such a sweetheart. She spent the whole of Sacrament designing this beautiful cake for her Daddy. She wanted to keep it a secret so she wouldn't show him her picture, even though he begged her many times.
But in the end Sicily wasn't feeling too well after church, so while I put her to bed Daddy and Aspen got started on Daddy's cake. They mixed it up, cooked it, then stacked it. I helped her make the hot fudge sauce to pour over the top. YUMM-O!!!
Jared was "sweet" enough to let her double the recipe. Needless to say we'll be eating this cake FOREVER. Not that that's a bad thing, I mean look at it! And yes, it does taste as good as it looks.

Pink, Pink, Pink

I try to buy her other colors, but she just keeps going back to the classic. And of all the scarves we own she of course picks out the pink. I love it. Aspen wasn't girlie like this. It actually makes life pretty easy. If it's pink and has Princesses she will love you forever. We love our little Pinkalicious.

Cochrane

I took this shot at 4:00 in the afternoon, and yes it is a sunset shot. Right off my back porch. I know I've been posting a lot about the cold but it comes with some pluses. Mainly the beautiful scenery. Snow is just gorgeous the way it glitters in the sunlight. I love how it muffles sound and you can really hear nature. I do like snow.

Phoenix already made the connection of how cool it would be if snow was warm, and asked too if Texas could come here to warm us up. 6 year olds are funny.

Harry Potter According to Sicily

School's Open

But that doesn't mean it's warm. Phoenix never wants to wear his snow pants. But unless it's more than -20 they still go out for recess. And blue jeans just don't cute it. They all have me wrap their scarves. I'm not sure how they get them off once they get to school, but I know all the kids look this way.

"I can't put my arms down!"

"Put 'em down when you get to school."

How to Shovel Snow

With no school today there was plenty of time to get those chores done that we've been ignoring. Phoenix thought he was big stuff with this big 'ol shovel. And the porch never looked better.

But when you're done you're done. And in -20 weather, as it was while he shoveled, you get a little cold. So he got wrapped up in 2 blankets and put by the fire while he warmed up.

Really I didn't need the porch shoveled. We never go out there, it's much too cold. But the kids all earned a few extra jobs today due to whining.

Thank Heavens for Toddlers

I only get to take advantage of this little sign for a few more months. Sicily goes into school in September and after that I'll have to park a mile away. And it's just too cold to have to walk that far into the grocery store.

No School

When it's cold enough to need to scrape the frost off the inside of the car windows it's apparently too cold to go to school. -30 Fahrenheit is the cancellation temperature. Not much snow really but temperature means a lot.

Frozen

Aspen and London are taking a Jr. Lifeguards course at the local swimming pool. Aspen neglected to bring her swim bag in last night after lessons. This is what we found this morning. Normally it'd still be wet, and in Texas might be growing a bit of mold, but in Canada it's FROZEN solid. Don't think I'd want to put this suit on.

More Cold Shots

When it's -20 you have to really bundle up to go to school. Snow Pants, Boots, Hats, Coats, Gloves and Scarves. And even then it's not enough. Thank goodness the buses have heaters. It's crazy to go from 90 degree weather with 90% humidity, to this. And yes, Phoenix and Aspen have awesome hair, it's Crazy Hair Day at school today. Sicily wanted to take Beaux on a walk with me. So in her little pink Marshmallow outfit we walked a good half mile before the dog started bouncing on his poor little feet. It's definitely cold when you need to get booties for your puppy too.

Cold, Cold, Cold

3:00 in the afternoon is typically the warmest part of the day, right? Wrong!! -19 degrees Fahrenheit is not warm no matter how you look at it. And for the first time in my life I have experienced my nose hairs freezing. Not a comfortable sensation.

4:00 Phoenix just came home from school screaming because his hands were frozen. They really were bright red and like ice. Thank goodness for Hot Chocolate and a gas fire place.

Snow Shoveling

Apparently you're meant to shovel the driveway BEFORE you drive or walk on it. This snow was very wet and now squished down because of walking and driving. Sicily and I had fun all the same shoveling for the first time. And the best part was I didn't need a work out that day because this is NOT an easy job. Sicily was great, she shoveled with the snow shovel, the spade and a rake. What a good helper.

First Day of School

Our first snow was wonderful enough to come on the first day of school. You may be thinking these shots were taken the night before the first day of school, but no these shots were taken at 6:30 am morning of.

So you can't see my house very well in the dark. But I still think it looks so pretty with the snow and our little "Christmas" tree out front.

This snow was not all fun and games. Because we only have 1 car I had to drive Jared to the train station before I took the kids to school. I made him drive there because I was a little freaked out with the snow. But of course I had to drive back on my own. A 15 min drive turned into 25 and I was grateful to be able to follow a snow plow the 2nd half of the way home. It was very scary over all. I've been out of the snow for 10 years, and I'm not too sure mini vans were built for this weather.

As soon as I got home I planned to pack the kids up and run out the door to the school. I could hear them laughing when I came in, but they were no where in sight. This was my clue as to where they were.

Crazy little Texas kids were in all their snow clothes in the back yard having a snow ball fight and making snow angels. So first we stripped down out of the snow stuff. Then got re-dressed in all our school clothes.Then bundled back up for our first day of school photo. Needless to say, we were late. But I was ok with that because everyone had a smile on their face.

Sunday Drive

Jared wanted to take a Sunday Drive out to the Mountains. So, much to the displeasure of the children, we bundled them up and stuffed them and the dog into the car and headed towards Kaninaskis, Alberta. Here's a few things we saw along the way.

So this is obviously not an LDS Church, but wouldn't it be cool if it was. Out in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of a field surrounded by mountains and rivers. So pretty.
I grew up in Utah in the middle of mountains until I was 21 years old. But I have never seen mountains like these. HUGE!!!

GRAND!!!

And Beautiful!!!

While slowing down around a corner we saw a couple playing hockey on a frozen pond. So we stopped to join them and take a walk.

Phoenix had a right fit getting out of the car, he thought he was going to freeze to death right there.

The pond was solid, you could see a good 2 feet down of straight ice. And the man that was skating told us not to worry too much, if you did fall in this particular pond was not too deep, so you'd be just fine. Brrrrrr!

But we were fine. Cold, but fine.

Sicily did keep a firm grip on my hand though, for warmth and so as not to slip and fall on the ice. Next time we'll bring our skates and hockey sticks too.

The couple that was skating had a black lab that Beaux was quick to make friends with. But Beaux soon learned when you go at a dead run on the ice it takes a good 6 feet to stop.

We took a different route home, but it was still just as beautiful. Can you believe these Mountains? Can't wait to go skiing.

Running a Zoo

Our new front room is perfect for our little hamster, Blossum. She can run around to her hearts content with no fear of falling down the stairs. But there is another fear....

Crazy dog Beaux is out to get her. He follows her around the entire time. Hasn't yet gotten into batting her ball with his paw, but that's only a matter of time.
And when his whining and "Point"ing get to annoying we put her back upstairs in her cage. I don't think I want to get the snake involved in this game.

A&W

While living in Australia for 3 1/2 years we went through Root Beer withdrawals, they don't have it there anywhere. And that being the only soda pop I really like it was just a rough 3 1/2 years. :(

We will NOT be having that problem here in Canada. There is an A&W Hamburger chain on every corner, more common than McDonald's. And A&W is my absolute favorite Root Beer.

We had a little pizza and root beer this weekend. And I quickly discovered that not only is Sicily just like here Daddy, when it comes to chocolate, she is also just like me when it comes to root beer. :) And she doesn't even like carbonation!

She didn't actually drink all 4 of those, but she probably made it through 1 1/2.

Swimming in the Cold

How to dress, or not dress, to go swimming in Canada.

My crazy kids thought it best to NOT bring a change of clothes OR wear coats on our way to the indoor swimming pool. Thank goodness, at least, the pool was heated. It was lovely. But I can guarantee the next time we go swimming they will bring their sweats to change into afterwards.

Running

7:00 am, pitch black outside, ice on the sidewalks, crazy wind, 38 degrees and my biggest concern about my morning run is the stinking altitude. I can't breathe here!

Harry and the Fireplace

When Jared was a kid his Grandma used to read to them by the fireplace each night, or whenever they were at her home. Our new house has a beautiful fireplace set with a cumfy couch, throw pillows and blankets. This was the perfect setting (in Jareds opinion) to continue his Grandmothers tradition. But unlike Grandma who read "Where the Red Fern Grows" and other classics, we decided the kids were at the right age to read "Harry Potter."

And so it begins. Each night we've been reading a chapter before the kids go to bed and just enjoying the warmth of the fire in this freezing cold city.

As you can see Sicily enjoyed the fire a little more than the story. :) She was so sleepy, and so cumfy I couldn't blame her. Who knew "Harry Potter" was such a good bedtime story. :)

Phoenix's New Best Friend

With limited people friends in our new town, Phoenix has quickly become bestest buds with Beaux. Don't mind the crazy glare eyes in the photo. Just keep in mind that a boys best friend should be his dog. And mid-afternoon when Sicily's taking a nap, little boys should be at recess in school and dogs are in a playful mood, it's good for Beaux that Phoenix is still on Christmas Vacation because he definitely needed someone to play with today.

This hug was quickly stifled by a tackle from the dog and a throw of the tennis ball down the stairs. Lots of giggling followed by an Ow! and a little bark, then pattering feet chasing back up the stairs. On and on... :)

Thank goodness Sicily's bedroom is up stairs, or she never would have finished her nap today.

Heat Wave

It was so warm today. A whopping 45 degrees!!! Regular heat wave. People were out washing their cars, walking their dogs wearing shorts. Crazy! Canadians are nuts! But honestly, it actually did feel warm compared to the last few days.