Bison Stampede!

As we were driving out of the park we drove b y a small stampede of bison! No idea what they were running from, but they were running through the bison loop from or to something! They were kicking up the snow and looked so mean and angry! I wouldn't have wanted to get in their way THATS for sure! Pretty cool to see!

Don't forget you can click on the pictures to see them larger!

Snapshots from Elk....

Sat here...

...eating apple sauce waiting for the roast beef to finish cooking in the oven and the roast potatoes and the swede and the brussel sprouts.....yumeroonie.....

It was a gorgeous 10c today and we spent the afternoon at Elk Island park for a walk in the sunshine. I worked up an appetite and wanted a snack before my dinner so here I am with my applesauce....it'll do until I get my roast beef.....which I plan to have yummy horseradish sauce with :)

We were going to go to Ice on Whyte but decided to delay until later in the week or next weekend when its colder - we saw on the news last night that they had closed the Ice castle there for safety reasons - it has been so warm here that it has started melting and the ice blocks have come unsteady!!! I can't imagine going and NOT going inside the ice castle!!! So we will wait until next weekend! Elk Island was gorgeous and it was wonderful to be back - it seems like ages since we were last there!

Home....

waiting on my ovaltine...

and catching up...

Yesterday Stacey came over for the afternoon and her husband Brian was able to come with her - I'd heard lots about him before and seen pictures but never actually met him, so it was great to finally meet him at last! Val also came over with her little guy too and got to meet Staceys family as well!

Abigail and Sam had spent the morning driving me crazy with their excitement to see their friends...asking how soon everyone would be here.

Once Kylie and Taylor were here we went outside to see Charlie, and went sledding for a while. The girls quickly gave in with the sledding, but Sam and Taylor stuck with it for a while. In fact it was us adults who persuaded them to come in because our feet were cold! I loved watching Val push her little guy down the hill on his sled - I really thought he was going to go flying off the sled but he stayed on and got to the bottom before turning and looking up at us with a huge grin!!! Sooooooo cute!

Once inside the kids warmed up with hot chocolate and cookies and then disappeared and played all over the house while us grown ups finished up the cookies with tea and coffee and chatted the afternoon away....

It was nice to see everyone, get outside even for a little while and enjoy the warmer weather and see the little ones on the sledding hill - the boys had fun!!! Thanks for coming over everyone!

I'm loving this.....

Happy Birthday to my wonderful friend!

Just popping on to wish my lovely friend Val a VERY Happy Birthday for today! I hope you have a wonderful weekend of celebrating with James and the rest of your family! It was nice to have breakfast with you this week and see you yesterday too!

Have a great day!

Jane
xxxxxxxx
xxxxx
xxxx
xx
x

Week one round up...

Some of our plans didn't happen....BUT our schoolwork routine has happened EVERY day which has been really good. Abigail has been writing her journal every day. She seems to enjoy this and actually reminds me about doing it and choose to do this even on days (like today) when I say she doesn't have to.

She's worked in her printing book, done her math, Language Power (a program I think I will continue and try and get hold of when she finishes this book) She's had time on the computer, reading.....colouring and crafts, we went to the local restaurant and had breakfast with friends and saw Grace - our waitress (and friend) who is Chinese and is heading back to Hong Kong for Chinese New Year next week. Talking about Chinese New Year with Grace started us planning a project for next week to celebrate the New Year. Sam and Abigail both want to make things and learn about China and again - we did that two years ago including making a Kitchen God that we burned on the fire outside after smearing its mouth with jam. We also made dragon puppets that year and I gave them each money in red envelopes. I shall have a look and see what I can come up with this time....

Today we had friends come over to play and go sledding. That was fun and Abby wanted to write about it in her journal as soon as her friends left!

This week we covered antonyms and synonyms amongst other things. Still covering parts of a paragraph. Her sentences are great now and her printing is soooooo much better than it was even a couple of months ago.

That said, She IS now in grade one, as I have registered her for grade one. And we have decided NOT to register Sam for kindergarten this year but will have him in preK for another year. We do NOT plan to make the same mistake with Sam as we did for Abby.

Grayson relaxing on my bed today....

A sad anniversary.....

A year ago today this world lost a great man, and a little girl lost her Daddy. My old school friend Paul Hendrich was killed on his way to work in London when his bicycle was hit by a truck. I often think of his Wife Sasha, and wonder how she is doing.

www.thisislondon.co.uk/standard/article-23434442-details/Every+time+he+rode+his+bike+I+feared+for+his+life,+says+widow/article.do

More heart...

I made three more hearts this morning....to add to my Valentine tree. I gave a few of last years away and my tree was looking a little bare, so this morning I started to sew some more and I made three. I need to make a few more yet before the tree looks finished but I also have to leave some branches clear to hang the candies on.

Reading to Sam...

Reading to Sam this morning.....Walter the farting dog...

Hammer pictures

Basic but fun, Abby and Sam worked together to sort the shapes into their colour sets and then design a picture of a house with a tree in the garden and a moon and bird in the sky. Then they hammered the pieces into the board to make the picture.

Invisible snowmobile.....

Happy :)

Today is set to be +7c and the next 4 days at least are going to be around that temperature, with Sunday set to be +10c - YES, double digits!!!!!! OMG!!!

This makes me HAPPY :)

Needless to say, we have plenty of plans to be outside over the next few days :)