Happy Birthday Mom, and Happy New to All!

So one of the reasons we moved here to the Okanagan is that I was told that "it hardly ever snows here, really. No worries about shoveling the snow."
Hm yeah ok, right.


This is a photo of my Dad crawling into the igloo that he and the kids built. No snow my behind. Or his rather.

In other news, a very special birthday wish goes out tonight.
Happy 49th birthday Mom, hope you are enjoying your special day!

Xmas is so OVER

.....for another year anyways.

This is my living room after the Christmas Bomb went off in there. It looked so nice and festively tidy in there before and then, what happened? Yep, the fat guy comes down the chimney and then it's all over.

We got to host the turkey dinner this year for the family. I am sure glad the Butterball didn't burn. All in all this was a very fun day for everyone.

Are you ready?

For the big event? This little scene, called Winter Wanderland was done entirely by my daughter in Paintshop. She even saved it with the wanderland name. She is better than me at the program!
Hope everyone is all ready for the big guy to come to town.

Gingerbread

One of the great gifts that my daughter got for her birthday was gingerbread house kit and here are the results.

The kids made it at my parent's place while they were at the sleepover on the weekend then it stayed there to dry for a day or two. They did a fabulous job I must say. Mom said they pretty much did it all on their own, except for a few little details.

Front and side view.

Back of house.
If anyone looking is trying to find some inspiration for their own gingerbread house design, there is no place else to look other than the Flickr set devoted to the Gingerbreadhouse. It is utterly amazing.

Sunday of a big weekend

This was a HUGE weekend for us here. The princess' Birthday turned into a weekend long event. Sushi dinner on the big day Friday, sleepover at Pops and Nana's house Saturday and then to a movie with some of her little friends on Sunday. This is the cake that my Mom picked up at the bakery and I'll just say that it did not last very long. MMMMMmmmm a big hit.

I did manage to get a few of these gifts done for other recipients. Two more tissue holders done with lots more cutout and ready to be sewn up.

So yeah, a busy weekend it was. A very busy week ahead of us too.

Busy Friday

This is what I am working on for today and probably most of the weekend. I can't believe my daughter is 7 years old already. It feels like just yesterday that I brought her home, a little bundle of pink in a blanket. You forget how small they once were as the days turn into years. We've been through a lot of stuff, finally things are actually resembling how I had pictured them. We are a happy little family, just the three of us, with so many things to be thankful for, family and friends especially.

Busy Busy Making Gifts

We have lots of people on our list that we need to thank for all their hard work this fall. The Girl Guide Leaders (my daughter is a Brownie) are getting these little gifts.


A new and improved diva cozy for one of the ladies like the one above. (And if you are a certain person who asked me to send you one in Vancouver, it's now in the mail!)

And the other 2 are getting one of these lovelies each; cute little tissue holders. (I don't think either of them have time for coffee!)

The holidays get to be so busy, and add to that the princess' Birthday on Friday; I've got to get that all figured out somehow. We are going to go see Bee Movie on the weekend with a few of her friends.

Last night I went with my Mom to see Quartetto Gelato at the local theatre. It was a great show, not your typical quartet (I would imagine, only because I don't think I have ever really seen another quartet live!) It had quite a variety on the set and all the musicians were very talented. A great gig all in all, except for the fact that I think I was one of maybe 5 in the audience who were not of the grey-haired vintage. The show ended at 9:30 and let's just say the folks were obviously all out way past their bedtimes because the house emptied in I'd say less than five minutes.

It was a nice time and a little different for me to see something of the cultural variety.

Snowy Return

A frozen grey Heron in the bay.

So my visit to Vancouver was very inspiring, albeit short. Way too short. Not nearly enough time to get everything done that I wanted to do but a very productive few days nonetheless. This is the scene that I came back to, still snow everywhere but it is supposed to melt away in the next few days.

This is the yacht club all covered in the white stuff. It's funny how the snow makes everything look nice and clean even on a dreary day.