Our Saturday....

Our day didn't quite go to plan yesterday - our daytime plans didn't happen....long story of miss-copied directions, distance from gas stations and eventually giving up lol!  But all worked out in the end and we spent a relaxing day for the most part at home in the warm enjoying the snowfall and the fire.

Abby made herself Kraft dinner, and I had some of that with leftover hashbrown casserold, which ended up tasting soooooo good that I might actually make it with the kraft dinner IN it next time!  It doesn't look too appetising but I promise you it tasted AMAZING!  

I really shouldn't have eaten so much as I KNEW we were having a big turkey dinner later!

We opened one of the boxes of chocolates that Kevin brought over - it didn't last long as the kids all loved them:

Late afternoon we headed to T's house for a pot luck supper with friends!  Laurence was working, so Kevin came with us, but he was welcomed by everyone and I think he enjoyed it!  

We sat out by the fire for a while which was actually my favourite part - it was lovely out there!  We got to snoop through T's albums and yearbooks from the 80's and early 90's which were sooooo funny!  

The girls were busy doing crafts and playing, and the boys were gaming I think...all in all we were there over 6 hours and I barely saw my two!!  I love that all the children play so well together for sooo long!!

While the children played, so did the adults....games of Spot It and Trigger tend to get VERY heated when the Royal Order compete against each other :)  

I sneaked out of the party for a couple of hours to take Kevin to the Haunted Hike.  The line up had been too long yesterday, and last night was his last chance to go.  Susannah came too.  It was MUCH better than Friday night and we did a lot of screaming.  Susannah cried twice but was giggling like crazy...it was soooo much fun :)  

We got home late BUT I still read a bedtime story to Sam.  We read Meg and Mog which I had as a little girl too :)  I remember the story of Meg and Mog going to the moon :)  

So very true :)

Friday fun....

Yesterday our trip to the science centre was postponed until Tuesday, so we were able to go and meet our friends at the cheap theatre to see 'Brave'.  I had wanted to see it when it was in the main theatres but we didn't find the time -so it was a good chance to see it.  At 1pm in the afternoon the cheap theatre is EMPTY too :)  

The movie was fabulous - based in Scotland and a lovely story!!!  

Last nights sunset for you....

Sam went to his dads for the evening, and Abigail asked if she could stay with us as we were heading to the Haunted Hike.  We took Susannahs friend J with us.  You have to 'park and ride' on the bus now as it got too popular and they couldn't cope with all the traffic - but the bus ride actually made it fun!!

Waiting in line for the bus...

The Haunted Hike is a 'donation only' fundraiser for the Stollery Childrens Hospital.

It is a half mile walk through the woods that are filled with all kinds of scary scenes and hundreds of scary characters who jump out at you, follow you, make loud noises and generally scare the cr*p out of you lol!

There was the 'Class of 2012' Prom scene where the limousine had been in an accident and all the girls in their dresses were dead or injured...

They had a circus tent with scary clowns:

An ambulance scene but while you are looking at the body the people in the ambulance start slamming their hands on the windows loudly!

It was great fun but over too quick as we ran screaming and giggling the whole time!  

Afterwards we went to one of the Halloween stores in town.  It is really good with all kinds of buttons to press and things to stand on that make characters jump out at you or move....it was fun:

My beautiful Daughter:

We stopped off for hot chocolates before heading home and I got this CUTE Halloween box for the timbits:

Such a fun filled day :)  

Thursday night on Whyte Ave...

After heading home for a while from the farmers market, we got everyone ready and headed to Whyte Avenue for a bit.  We had planned to go with Laurence, and he and Kevin could have gone off by themselves for a while to look around...but as Laurence had to work, we just planned to do a few things together.  Unfortunately both the British Import store AND Coney Island Candy Store were closed - even though the sign on the candy store said it was open until 9pm!!  

We did go to Fuss Cupcakes though and had a cupcake each and I had a yummy latte.

After Whyte Ave we drove downtown and went by the Legislature building which was all lit up - but sadly it had scaffolding all around it so it wasn't too attractive!  

We stopped by the Muttart pyramids and walked through the trees to tae pictures of the skyline, before heading home.

Not quite the evening we had planned, but we had a nice evening out and got to show Kevin Downtown at night!

Farmers market....

Last night Susannah and I met friends at the farmers market for a stroll round...it was so much fun...Susannah bought some Tzatziki after trying a sample, I bought some fudge to send back to Germany with Kevin - pumpkin pie flavoured as they have never had that before!!  

We also had a quick look around the Christmas store...unfortunately Laurence called half way through and said he had been called in to work...so our evening plans had to be changed.  We headed home earlier than planned!!

Quiet day at home...

We had a very rare quiet day at home yesterday.  It was lovely to catch our breath and REST!!  Sam and I did some art...

Today I....

Today I went - to Kidz Quarterz with friends 

Today I hoped - I wouldn't be late to this mornings lesson (I wasn't) and that I wouldn't get a migraine from rushing about (I didn't).

Today I dreamed - of owning horses :)

Today I forgot - where I had put my keys again and we searched for a good ten minutes before we found them!

Today I heard - 'Thank you' in Ethiopian and 'porcupine' in German :)

Today I said - thank you to Trina for making Abigail so happy :)

Today I read - several sentences on a translation app - and also a web page about seal flipper pie :)

Today I watched - Abigail gain confidence on her horse during her first riding lesson :)

Today I believed - that my house would smell amazing when I got home and it did :)

Today I felt - tired from lack of sleep due to last nights wind storm

Today I wondered - how things would go in a certain meeting today.

Today I ate - two bowls of my fabulous beef stew from the crockpot.

Today I bought - coffees at Kidz Quarterz

Today I cleaned - the kitchen.  I wasn't home to do much more but DID clean a lot yesterday.

Today I was me :)

First horse riding lesson

Abigail started horse riding lessons this morning at a local stable.  The classes were set up by a fellow homeschooling Mom.  I think there are 4 people in the class - only three today as one couldn't make it - but it's a lovely small class.  The teacher was fabulous - kind but strict - and teachers them EVERYTHING - even things they aren't quite ready to do but need to know - like cleaning out the feet before riding - and she taught them the types of horses and colours etc etc....how they are measured...

It was a great class and lasted almost two hours!  They groomed their horses before riding and walked with the horses...then rode them for a long while, before dismounting, removing the bit and washing it, then taking the saddle off and putting it back in the tack room properly - and then taking the horses outside to feed them and groom them again.  

I think I had as much fun watching Abigail as she had riding!

Sam didn't want lessons as he wants to do other things, but he sat and watched and cuddled the stable cats the whole time :)  

We can't wait until next week!!

My Tuesday....

We overslept this morning.....or rather Abby and Sam did!  They didn't want to get out of bed!!!  They DID however want to go to gymnastics though, so we finally got going and made it there for most of the session!  As always they had a GREAT time and I got to spend time with my crazy friends too....crazy AWESOME friends I might add - I mean not many people have friends as great as mine - they brought me coffee in a travel mug AND coupons for money off coffee from my favourite coffee place!!  Which I am going to use tomorrow by the way!!!  :)  

Abigail kept trying until she managed to do a cartwheel on the beam!!  I caught it on video too!!  Her friend Miss G also managed it too - they were so proud of themselves :)  

We were supposed to go to homeschool club this afternoon at the library, but after gymnastics Sam was quite upset by a bad headache.  He said he might feel better if he ate and asked if he could have chinese from the mall.  It worked out well as I had to get pants for Abby for horseriding, and rubber boots for me.  They had a really good sale on at Please Mom, so I got Sam some pants too...so happy to get some for Abby as she has real issues with finding pants she will wear because of tactile issues and ocd's , but we got about 5 pairs today :)  It's getting too cold for her to wear skirts and capris now and those are the only things she has been happy to wear lately.

Tonight sam went to Lloyds house for the evening, and I took everyone else to Brits, so we could introduce Kevin to British fish and chips :)  He seemed to really enjoy them!  So he has been able to experience our British culture AND Canadian culture while staying here :)  

Abigail wanted to try a deep fried Mars bar, but she wasn't too impressed.  Kevin couldn't believe they even make them - he thought the idea was crazy!  Hahaha!!

We stopped off at the grocery store and then headed home....Abigail and Kevin played Uno and then then all of us except Laurence played a few rounds of Spot It which was fun :)  

Laurence headed to bed and then so did I - leaving the others down stairs playing on the computer.

Sam came home and we read a Winnie The Pooh story before he went to sleep...another day is over..and now I am sitting here listening to the wind blowing outside and wondering what tomorrow will bring...

A few more snapshots from the last few days....

Learning about nodding donkeys and oil rigs at Crossiron Mills Mall:

Face painting at Bass Pro store:

Cuddle with our neighbours kitty:

Doodling last night: