Turkey Fry 2009

We celebrated Thanksgiving with our dear friend
Viki (aka "my wife").
We tried something new with the turkey this year and had our first
TURKEY FRY.
It was tasty, Baba and Moto-Moto were picking at the crispy skin while carving it and thought they could just fill their plate with that.

The rest of us enjoyed a few other things:

Garlic Herb Mashed Potatoes
Honey Glazed Garden Carrots
Oriental Salad
Roasted Mixed Veggies
&
Fried Turkey

CJ helped make a yummy banana chocolate crepe dish AND we had
one of Viki's famous cheesecakes...
Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake with Gingerbread Crumb Crust!

We spent the rest of the evening playing, visiting and being thankful for our great family and wonderful friends! Thanks Viki!

Halloween Charm Party

I spent yesterday afternoon with a great group of crafty ladies.
Saucy & Sassy hosted a Halloween Charm Swap which was
"spook-tacular"!!

Look at all the goodies on this bracelet!! I made the Michael Jackson Thriller album cover shrink art and the little bones (made from dollar store candy) following Saucy's tutorial found here.

No Saucy event would be compete without cupcakes:

These little test tubes were embellished with rub-ons and filled
with Halloween sprinkles for our hostesses
(and one extra for a give away.)
Saucy always has prizes!

Can't wait until the next time we all get together!
You can read more about our party on Saucy's blog.
Thanks again ladies!
My bracelet is "BOO-TIFUL"!

Clay Work at Studio 13

CJ was so lucky to have her first lesson in clay work at
Studio 13 with Sassy!

Look at these works of art!!



Sassy packaged them up with ribbons & sweet little notes of praise
and inspiration on each one!
Sassy was so patient and kind as always!
CJ had so much fun and can't wait for her next creative session with Sassy!
We are so fortunate to have such a great (crafty) friend!

Our Prize

Thanks to a give away by our friend Sassy we were the winners of some
personalized stickers from Delightdesignsbiz.
They were delivered at a perfect time;
the girls and I had just finished harvesting the berries on
our chokecherry tree and made them into jelly.
The stickers fit perfectly on the tops of our jars!!

Unfortunately it didn't set so well.
It didn't stop us from putting it on some fresh bread.

Though I think a better solution is using it for a thick waffle syrup.

You just never know who will receive a little "sweet treat".

Silly Supper Saturday

While I was playing with my new Kitchenaid Mixer, I set the girls to work sticking whole wheat spaghetti noodles through small slices of weiners.
Yes, Parent of the Year award in the category of Least Nutritious Meal goes to ...

me.

But....

it kept them busy and I was able to get a few other things finished around here.


Can you see how focused they were on their task?!

Moto-Moto didn't know how we pulled it off and CJ was very eager to let him in on the "magic." Certainly not my best example of a kid's meal but it was a big silly hit with the girls!

Back to School

CJ was ready to start back to school with a backpack full of new school supplies, new runners, a cute outfit and a new haircut. She picks out all her own outfits and usually some of mine as well!

It is hard to believe how quickly time has gone by!! She's in school full-time and spends a lot of her day with her peers now. Moto-Moto and I hope we've done a good job raising her and given her some good words of advice to make it through her days. I'm one of those parents who can't wait to pick her up at the end of the day and give her a big hug! I miss her already and it's just the first week!! We love you and know you'll do great!!

xoxo

Happy Birthday ... Me!

It started the night before, teehee. Saucy had us over for some treats and a visit. (Sassy, I picked up that cheese and it is already 1/2 gone!! CJ loves it!) I only planned on staying a little while BUT we had so much fun and laughed so hard!! (Ask KAGS she'll tell you!) Next thing I knew it was 1:45 AM!! Yikes! So much fun, thanks Saucy!!


My family treated me to a very special day!
Moto-Moto asked what I wanted for my birthday ~ Michael Buble to sing me Happy Birthday and a salad from Moxies. First thing in the morning (after I was woken by my princesses) I heard that incredible voice singing to me... well to someone names "Emily" but close enough. (Michael did sing to my cousin while she worked at the Auditorium. She is so lucky!)



Then breakfast of fresh carrot muffins, fruit salad, cheeses and
oj with LOTS of pulp was waiting for me.

Moto-Moto thought it funny to give me this card...


I'm not THAT old! If you notice he cut it in half!!! Very clever!

My dear friend Viki (aka my wife) made me my favourite soup,
her potatoe dill! SO GOOD!



We spent the day visiting and playing, receiving my birthday wishes from near and far.
More food! Supper was a delicious medium rare steak, butternut squash,
fresh multigrain bread and a fancy salad.



The girls were waiting for dessert, chocolate brownie with Turtle ice cream. MMMM

OH, the gifts. The girls got me memory cards for my camera
and a clip on light for the craft room.
Moto-Moto wants to spoil me with this mixer



or this HP netbook.


I don't know... I think it's way too much!!! Any suggestions??

Good Clean Fun

My friend who teaches kindergarten gave me this idea...


spread a whole bunch of shaving cream on the table and let the kids go wild.
We used the cheapest yet most unscented stuff we could find.
HINT: make sure you smell the stuff first ~ there is some really terrible "old-man-cologne" stuff out there.

It is such a great activity for the girls outside in the summer.
They can make words in it on the picnic table, little soft sculptures OR

use it as lotion which CD does a lot of.

It is super easy to clean up with the garden hose and the table always comes out super clean afterwards.

Family Holiday

We spent a weekend enjoying a little bit of Alberta.
We took the girls to Drumheller to the dinosaur museum since CJ learned all about them. CD didn't really enjoy it so much, "Mama, 'saur tare(scare) me! Roar." It was a lot to take in! We also stopped to see the World's Largest Dinosaur in downtown and had a look at the Hoodoos.






In Calgary we spent a day at the zoo. It was incredible!! I love the eyelashes on the giraffes! And being from the Canadian Prairies I had no idea how big hippos were... they are HUGE!
We saw a baby gorilla ~ C.U.T.E!!!!


The next morning before heading home we went to Telus World of Science. It was amazing! The girls had so much fun! They had some digital pond that would make ripples when you walked on it, a floor you could walk on and make musical sounds, a virtual plane to fly, a theatre where you could put on a play, change your costumes, control the lighting, change the set ~ it was great. Moto-Moto and I had lots of fun there.
Lots of science experiments. Physics problems and experiments. A toddler room with busy-beavers water play, a climbing structure, a store to play in.
An interactive Robert Munsch diplay.
That place was SO much fun!! We went right in the morning when it opened and had the whole place to ourselves!! It was super! OH, Moto-Moto and I even tried to lay on a bed of nails!! Too cool!

Bubble Tea

Thanks to Mae and Edna we went to Bubble Mania in Calgary.
Mmmmm, it was so good! CJ ordered the Shooting Star Blended Drink & Moto-Moto had a Mint Chocolate Milkshake, both with pearls. CD really enjoyed them and asked "more, more chewies!"
What I wasn't told was how energizing they were! The cafe is only open 5pm-1am so we enjoyed them later in the evening. The girls were jacked-up and didn't go to bed until 11pm!! (They are usually in bed by 8:30!)


A must have if you are in Calgary.
Auntie Viki and I are going to try Bubble Tea here though Mae said the best ones are in Calgary at Bubble Mania