Fun in the snow................

Lloyd and I on the quad bikes this afternoon....it has been snowing for much of the day....big fluffy floaty snow flakes that have since turned into heavy heavy snow that we can't see through......

It was fun slidng around in the snow and going through the woods and everything......Lloyd had great fun spinning everywhere.......I wasn't as keen on the wheel spinning thing lol but it was great fun and so nice being out while it was snowing! Decent gloves really make a difference......

We are now inside for the night...the fire is lit and we have the Christmas lights on outside which looks lovely against the snowy night..............its very warm and cozy......

Halloween stash.............

Here are the children with their stash of candy each.................we go home and they tip it out for a picture...then they sort out all the gum, then they pick their favourites and then everything else is thrown in a huge box to share.................the pics are in our yucky basement...........

Halloween pics...

Yuck!!!

I am still ill...its gone to my sinuses now.......not pleasant...I won't describe the thick green sludge that is pouring down my throat and blocking my nose.........and the catahry taste I have constantly and the pain my head feels when I cough up all the phlegm..............no, I won't describe that (lol!!!!!!)

Needless to say I am not well. Sam is not well either.......surprisngly everyone else is well.

Lloyd decided I should get out of the house so he bundled me up and took me into town to Starbucks, where I sat huddled over my Maple Macchiato and felt like death.......

I did manage to stroll around Michaels long enough to choose some supplies for our Christmas cards crafting session...................but then it was all too much for me and I collapsed in the passenger seat of Lloyds car exhausted.......

We drove home the long way and called in to see the developments of Aspen Woods and Habitat Acres before heading down the range roads home.

I soaked in a bath with the bubble bath we bought in Shoppers - I was craving Lockets but they don't sell them here :( and then after my bath Lloyd made us soup for lunch...........I have been reading the free issue of the Journal we got in town (Susan there is an article about how Turmeric in the diet can help arthritis....)

I have rested up and drugged myself up and when Lloyd comes in from the workshop we are going for a walk in the snow with the dogs...through the woods to take some pictures............

Yesterday Susannah and Sam made Get Well Soon cards for me! Susannahs said 'To Mom, hope you feel better soon, Love Susie...she does her signature with a little heart at the end of the e.

Her letter is in the pic above! It made me feel better :) Just wish I was able to sled with them today!

Pig in the house.....

Its funny having a little pig walking around the house......she (and it is most definitely a she!!) comes in to the house to play.......she's very cute........makes the cutest noises and sounds as though she is tapdancing on the flooring!!!

But someone tell Lloyd to STOP feeding her fig rolls!!! She will get FAT!!!!

Every now and then Lloyd looks at me with this crazy look and says 'WHY do we have a pig??????' but I know he loves that we do :) he just won't admit it...he has told everyone at work its another of my crazy ideas ;) but he's just as sappy as me over the chickens and dogs and cat....and now the pig!!!!

Friday blahs!!!

Its Friday......and I am still ill :(

Lloyd can't stay home today :( hopefully he will be home early though.

Thankfully tomorrows clients have agreed to postpone their shoot until next weekend. I WILL be better then!!!

I am so behind with laundry and house chores and stuff....and WORK!!!

I just want to feel better :(

Lloyd says I am a little pathetic (well ok he says I am a LOT pathetic) when I have a cold......secretly though I think he likes to be needed and look after me :) he's very good at looking after me :)

Axel!!!!

I just want to say Get Well Soon to Abigails friend Axel!!!!

Hurry and get well so you can come over and play!

convalescing...................

I didn't sleep well last night........and today don't feel any better......I stayed in bed until 2pm and then repositioned myself on my big chair downstairs which I have been in until now at 5pm......I am so bored with daytime tv...I am not a big fan of tv at any time but have to say that daytime tv is the WORST!!!!! But my head can't cope with reading right now and just lying there staring at the ceiling is dull dull dull............Lloyd played a couple of games of Boggle with me but even that hurt my head :(

Lloyd came home at 11:30am to look after me...he brought me coffee and a hot water bottle and lots of medicines for colds.......

Yes, I am a total MAN when I am ill...a big BIG baby who wallows in self pity and seriously thinks she is dying from some weird bug........I HATE colds.......

My head hurts, I ache, my sinuses hurt, I have no appetite (typical when I have a house full of candy!!)

Lloyd has just taken Sam into town to get some bread, some treats, some magazines and something for dinner...we are a week late in getting to Costco and I am a little bit like Old Mother Hubbard....we have nothing here.....except candy ;) Needless to say the kids are happy!

I have two new bookings today for photo sessions......thats always a good thing :) I have kind of put getting bookings onto the back burner while I wor on other things in getting the business going...I really should get started on my plans for post-Christmas sessions......

Kathy - I owe you an email...bear with me and I will reply....just sitting att he computer is hurting my head :(

Debbie.....when I want to look up colouring pages I simply google them on the normal search page.....type in the subject and coloring pages (I tend to use the US spelling for more results) so for Guy Fawkes I just did - Guy Fawkes + coloring pages and then I hit search........I do thyis for anything I am searching for and always getr esults....ie Guy Fawkes + worksheets or Guy Fawkes + printables.....or Remembrance Day + colouring pages etc etc........

HTH

First sunset of November.....................

Tonights sunset which is occuring behind me as I type!

Its snowing.........

Its snowing again........

Laurie and susie are outside sledding...its all they ever do :)

Roses.............

Lloyd came home early today and brought me a beautiful bouquet of roses to cheer me up because I feel so ill.....aren't they just sooooo pretty? I love you Lloyd! I especially love that you came home early today :) and brought apple pie!!!!!! ;)

sorry for myself...

I am feeling very sorry for myself today...I didn't sleep well last night...couldn't breathe and then my nose was running constantly and my head hurt.......I think I kept Lloyd awake too :(

I hate colds :(

Today the kids have started their Guy Fawkes projects.......Chris is writing an essay discussing whether Guy Fawkes was good or bad......Laurence is pretending to be a newspaper reporter of the day writing an article on Guy Fawkes capture.......he has to remember the 5 W's of journalism - he then has to take a photograph of Guy Fawkes capture (using siblings to pose) and then print the article.......Susannah is writing an essay about why we celebrate Guy Fawkes Day that has to contain 10 facts. And Abigail is colouring pictures of Guy Fawkes and copying words......

Candy stash

This is HALF of our candy from Halloween.....this doesn't include all the gum that was removed...or the chips and cans of pop...or the special candy that the children picked to keep for themselves.............. this is a 15 quart (pint) container!

Danica asked why I don't allow gum in this house......I have three reasons:

1. I can't stand hearing people chew gum - its nasty and disgusting IMO

2. I can't stand seeing people chewing gum - it looks nasty and 'common' (lol the snob in me comes out!)

3. I got fed up with finding gum stuck to bedside lamps and garbage cans and even the outside of the house outside of bedroom windows........so yes gum is banned here...............

(pics will be added later as blogger not working!)

Halloween pics.......

My younger 4 last night.............................

Survival..................

I survived.......I feel close to death but I survived Halloween evening........my nose is soooo sore and my head is pounding but I made it :) I am so glad we went even though I feel so ill...we can rest tomorrow and relax at home......

We went to the mall and did some trick or treating for a while....basically we do a loop of the stores and then head back to the car....................a lot of people hate going to the mall for trick or treating but with two little ones it is a good way for them to enjoy Halloween and get some candy without getting cold....

For those of you not in Canada, basically you are guaranteed to get a heap of snow arrive just before Halloween...tonight the wind chill was about -15........not much fun for little ones to go trick or treating.......so the malls open up for two hours and give out candy and the children can go from store to store and collect it :)

So yes we went to the mall and then we headed to Tims drive thru for some supper and then drove to Festival PLace and sat in the parking lot and ate while we waited for Chris.....I ordered Chilli and they didn't give me a spoon or anything to eat it with!!!! So I ended up creating a spoon our of part of the lid......I actually felt a bit like Christie ;) I thought 'Mmmm what would Christie do in this situation'? .......actually it was Christies pee thing that made me think of her lol...she creates contraptions to help women/ girls pee in the woods!!! So creative is she!!!! So I knew if I thought like her I could figure something out!!! ;)

There is now a stupid one way system around Festival Place so you can't get to the main doors again from the parking lot.......so instead of making me walk from the car to the theatre Lloyd drove around the whole one way system again so he could stop by the main doors and Chris could see us.......I thought that was so sweet of him!

I am sad that Festival Place is no longer such a focal point in Sherwood Park....it used to really stand out on the skyline but now they are building the 'Centre in the Park' and the theatre is 'lost' amidst the apartment buildings..........

I am rambling.......

Chris came out of work at 7pm...he had volunteered for Parents Place at the penny carnival during the Fred Penner concert there.......he came out with treat bags for all his siblings which was sweet of him......

Chris wanted to do a little trick or treating so we headed to a local subdivision and they went to a few houses....and then because of the cold we headed home....

We live far too far from any houses to get trick or treaters at our door........

Our little pig gets up and wags its tail when you arrive home...actually pleased to see you :) how sweet is that????

I feel so ill...can you die from a common cold???? I'm sure I could!!!! I'm sure I get them 100X worse than anyone else!!!! :(

When we got home we tipped out all the candy as we do every year and took pictures of each child with their 'stash'....and then we sort it....gum goes into one bag (I don't allow gum so Lloyd takes that to work) chips go into another for the pantry....the kids can choose their 10 favourite candy items and have a labelled bag for them...everything else goes into a huge box for everyone to share........after a while (several days maybe) I get rid of most of it.......

Am I a mean Mom????? Chris thinks so!!! He thinks he should get to keep all of his for him and in his room.......ah well...he can be nicer to his kids when he has them :)

Now the children are all asleep already....Abigail was exhausted - in fact she was dragging her bag of goodies on the floor by the end as she was so tired...shes still not well though :(

I wish I was in bed asleep :( I think I need my cold fx and a nice cup of tea!!!