Time to put up the Christmas lights!!!!  I always insist that this is a job for the Big Guy. I do the inside stuff...he gets to do the outside stuff. With my input of course! And this year he had help. Papa Bear was around to be the minion....I mean help. And if I recall last year, I was the minion and he picked the coldest day of the year to put the lights up. This year it was beautiful and much much warmer.

So warm in fact, they had a supervisor. But only one. The other one was napping. Which really was for the best. He still has not gotten used to being immobilized in winter wrappings. But as you can see, the supervisor was not really into supervising. She rallied herself and created a few snow angels...

But even that activity only lasted so long.

So she moved on to better things....like riding her bike up and down the sidewalk. Might as well since the sidewalks were clear for the time being. Besides, she had to show Papa Bear how well she could ride her bike.

A visit from Papa Bear

Papa Bear came up last weekend. Shocked the be-jeezus out of us. He figured he'd better come up while the getting was good. Clear roads, temperature above zero, no snow forcasted until later in the week. Yep, so his pipes shouldn't freeze while he was gone on holi-days.....

He arrived on the Saturday evening...got lost coming into town (ended up WAAAAAY opposite end and kitty-corner side of town from us....) and the Big Guy had to go rescue him. And he left Tuesday morning. Bright and early to beat the supposed snow flurries that were supposed to hit later that evening. Ah well...at  least he made it into town and actually came for a visit...all kidding aside. And he didn't beat the snow flurries home. In fact about half way home he hit a snow storm and got derailed for 3 hours while rescue workers pulled a semi truck and pick up truck out of the ditch/road. Yuck. But, while he was here, we enjoyed him. Lil' Miss put on many dancing shows (Nickelback...Grey Cup halftime show), and Mr.Mister showed off his golfball handling skillz (using up to 3-4-5 balls at a time!!!)

So we showed him the sights around town....

 Ok, not really. We went shopping to Costco and he pushed the kiddos around in the cart while we looked at Christmas decorations.

 Then we went to Lowe's (my first time there!) and looked at more Christmas decorations. By the way...GRAMMA....I think you've started something with the modeling of decorative chapeau's while shopping...

 But for the most part we just relaxed at home and enjoyed the antics of the children. Oh Mr.Mister..you're so easily amused!

And yes, Lil' Miss can get ANYONE to colour with her, yessiree Bob!

Everyone was up bright and early to bid Papa Bear farewell Tuesday morning. He made it home safe and sound...and no pipes froze!

Santa Visits T-Town

At the end of November every year, the local church puts on a snowy fun-day function in the park by our house. It includes sleigh rides (or one year there was NO snow, so it was just a 'hay ride'...), hot chocolate, cookies, campfires, socializing, and of course Santa. How lucky are we that we live just up the street from this park that hosts so many T-Town functions. Yes, definately lucky. Anyhow we all rolled up into our festive gear (assorted santa hats....although Mr.Mister's didn't fit...his head was too big!) and walked down to the park before it got really busy. I have learned in years and events past, that it's best to get there right when it starts as the line ups to see santa and to ride on the sleigh gets really really long. And such is not the best when you have younger kids (or if it's freezing out! Although this year was not bad). Not only is my attention span not that long, theirs is even shorter. Bet let's not state the obvious here.

 We're ready to rock and get ourselves in line for a sleigh ride! Note that the lil' man isn't crying. Actually he wasn't saying too much. He had just gotten up from his nap prior to departure and I think he was still half asleep as I dressed him and drug him out to the winter festivities. After we did the sleigh ride, Lil' Miss was insistant that we go and stand in line to see Santa. So we did. Line up wasn't long so we didn't have to wait. But.....

 As you can see, only Mr.Mister made it onto Santa's lap. As soon as it was our turn, Lil' Miss froze and refused to visit Santa. Even the lure of a candy cane was not enough to get her to move forward. So I just plunked Mr.Mister on Santa with the hopes that Lil' Miss would follow suit. Yeah...no. Didn't happen. So I went and sat on Santa's lap, thinking she would follow.

 Ok, so she came and stood beside me, who was between her and Santa. Close enough I guess!!! (Note that Mr.Mister is still in shock from being shoved into his snow suit. At this point he still hasn't offered up any complaints of any form.) Ok, two most important activities done. Now onto hot chocolate and cookies....and apparently roasted marshmellows. Dad brought our sticks and a large bag of marshmellows and had himself a following of little people at one of the campfires. A whole lotta marshmellow roastin' going on.

And so ended  our winter festivity for the day! Fa la la la laaa la laa laaaaa....BEDTIME!

Ok, so that post that is dated the 30th of November? That was supposed to be dated Dec.1.  Geez. Already I'm being bamboozled!

Out with the Halloween and onto Christmas! Gramma was so kind to supply us with decorations for our windows...in a multitude of different holidays. So that was today's project. Take the old Halloween decals off the window and refresh with Christmas decals. Yes, this is a very exciting process.

 A neat thing about the decals is if you don't like how you've originally placed them, you can rearrange to suit your liking. And the next day if you're still not satisfied, peel 'em off and create a new scene.

 It's always good to stand back and admire your work.

 Then of course, have your picture taken with your accomplishment.

 Aaaand start the process all over again.

And you wonder why my windows are filled with little fingerprints.
Little fingerprints and festive and creative cheer!

Be prepared....to be wowed...by my ability, prowness AND dedication to posting EVERY SINGLE DAY IN DECEMBER! Every heard of the December Daily. Well it shall be here. Right on this blog. Starting Thursday (holy smokes!!!). I will try. Even if it is just a picture with a few words....I shall post.*
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.........stay tuned..........

Dear Mommy,
It's tough being a little guy. My leggies aren't long, I don't know how to walk yet, and even though I'm super speedy, I'm not super speedy when you dress me like a marshmellow. Look at me...I can't move. This outfit has me rolled over like a turtle on it's back. I'm going NOWHERE! Even though I've stolen your keys right from under your nose and now I'm NOT giving them back!

Bulky dress makes for almost impossible manuverability. I mean really mom. You've got to appreciate my situation here. Not only does the added fluff make for immovable joints, but with this slippery 'winter' fabric my duds are made of, I might as well be a front wheel drive car with summer tires on. I'm steering...but I'm not getting anywhere!

 YOU might think it's a good idea to go out and get some 'fresh air'. But us little guys? We're not so up for the challenge. Ok, you might have twisted my arm a bit by letting me ride on the sled.

 I'm not going to show it....but I'm having fun.....Keep pulling! And don't slow down. Oh wait....my sister wants to go to the park? Yeah, mom, I don't think so. What am I supposed to do there?!?!?!? I CAN'T MOVE!

Yes, MOM. I am going to sit here and cry. This is not fun anymore!!!! Please take me home.

 Ok, I like this too. Swings are fun. And you don't have to worry about your inability to escape if zombies are attacking. Or big sisters come and try giving you a monster hug, but really end up just pushing you over in the snow and I can't move so I can't get up and run away or even recover with my dignity because I need you to come and save me from this face full of snow that is now melting all over my face....and  *sniffle sniffle*. Just keep pushing me on the swing please! I'll knock all attackers over with my inflated feet!

 Yes. I'm ready to go home. NOW PLEASE! Take me somewhere where this torture suit won't torture me any longer! Or at lease take me for a spin around in this toboggan. I kind of liked that.

A trip to Dawson Creek

Waaaay back in the middle of October, when the leaves were kind of still on the trees and there was no snow on the ground (that's my only official welcome to winter) the kids and I took a trip to DC. It's about 8 hours with kiddos. Our only stop on the way up was in Grande Prairie, where we spent an hour and a half at the Walmart store (lunch, leg stretching and dvd purchasing). I'm not a big fan of Walmart, and especially not the GP one (currently under renovation, both store and parking lot. You can only imagine what it was like on a saturday....lord help me....wasn't one of my greatest decisions....), but we had to stop and that was my executive decision. I've now fired that portion of my brain. Anyhow, the kids were good during the stop, but Lil' Miss had her fair share of tantrums on the way in the truck, and the Mr.Mister was as good as gold! Totallly didn't expect that. Anyhow I bought Lil' Miss a princess dvd to watch on the rest of the way to DC. That part of my brain still has it's job (check!).

The whole goal of this trip was to visit Grandpa T and Grandma J. And soak up some farm experience. Even though it was terribly windy the whole time and Lil' Miss fell asleep on the 4-wheeler twice...makes for tough steering with one hand over rough terrain. But it was a good trip nonetheless. So, you say, what does a citified almost 3-year-old do when she visits the farm?

 Climb alot of fences. Climb the same fence multiple times. Find different ways of climbing the same fence. But when the ball goes on the other side of the fence, refuse to crawl through the fence to get it. And that's 3-year-old logic for you.

 Survey the kingdom.Saying taken from Auntie B.

 Ride your bike down 'the hill' over and over again because your mom makes you do it because you really need to burn off some energy.. 'The hill' being the slight incline on the road (or decline, whatever).

 Do alot of jumping. Look out Louie! As well as jump, roll down the grassy knoll by the house....over and over and over again.

 Help Grandma J bake. Even though the best part includes licking the beaters. Yum!

 Help Grandpa T haul wood. This is a staple when you live on a farm. You'd better learn how to haul and stack firewood. It's just the way of life. So start them early. Really helps when you have your own wheelbarrow.

 Make Grandpa T colour with you.

And leave your little brother behind in the dust. Better learn to speed up buddy, Lil' Miss is really FAST!

*This post was writtten a looooong time ago. I kind of forgot about it. So we'll just publish it now and get it out of the way!*

So Papa Bear's b-day came and went. I had spent the day making a cake for another little girl's birthday, so he didn't actually get a cake for his birthday. BUT he did get cupcakes and from the way they disappeared, I'm assuming they were TAST-TEE! I sampled them myself a couple times and I'd have to say that I've got a nice chocolate blackforesty cupcake to add to my collection.

I'm happy with this cupcake business instead of birthday cake. I do better kids b-day cakes anyhow. And it was less cake for us to eat in the end.

Take note of the ponies sitting beside the cupcakes. Not quite sure how they ended up there......

Okee dokee. We all know that yesterday was a very special day for Lil' Miss. And I know you're all dying to know just what she did to celebrate that special day. Well, it started out a little rough. But we got over that rough spot and moved on to more celebratory activities. Nothing big, but exciting enough. First things first. She dressed herself that morning. Of course I said that today was her birthday and she should wear a party dress for the special occasion. Well she was gone like and shot and upstairs in her room. Did I dare follow her? No, I had another little person to manage so I threw caution to the wind. A short time later she came back downstairs twirling and showing off her birthday duds.

Please take note that she is wearing a pretty sundress (with a white t-shirt on underneath...something I would totally make her do since it is so cool out now), yellow tights, striped socks...and a skirt. Yeah, that's alot of bottom layers. But she wore them all day and well into the night and that was just that. Next came an afternoon trip to a very good friend's house to indulge in some tastee cupcakes. I didn't go all out on a cake for her this year. She will be having a birthday party with a couple of friends later on in the month and we're saving the special cake for that. Instead I made orange creamsicle cupcakes and we took them over to our friend's place to eat them. Of course after we ate cupcakes, it was time to dress up like a princess and dance....

 After the girls wore off all that sugar it was time to hit Chuck E Cheese's. I had never been to this place before, but Dad had taken Lil' Miss there a long time ago. I think I was working nights or something. Anyhow he took her and vowed to me when I got home that he would never take her there again. Just for the record...he suggested we take her there for her birthday. Sure! I don't mind, I've never been to the place. And Lil' Miss was instantly ecstatic that we were going there. Ok. Our good friend also brought her family and joined Lil' Miss on her birthday supper.

When Dad finally showed up at the restaurant, he came with a beautiful new tiara for the birthday girl to wear. Let's get this straight now...that's a FANCY NANCY tiara peoples! She wore it all night.

 Of course after you indulge in some cardboard pizza (the food was really bad. But kids don't care!) it was time to hit the games! Nothing like a spin on the marshmellow ride with your friend!

 And when you're done with the games, how about 'cuttin a rug' on the dance floor? Alot of time was spent on that dance floor....

 Some new moves were learned.....

 And alot of twirling was a'going on!

 Then when you're tired of burning up the dance floor, head 'er on back to the games! Nothing like riding the same ride or playing the same game over and over and over again!

 And to end the night....cake! To celebrate the turning of 3 years old! Can you believe it? I'm not sure I can. When 9 pm hit, the Mr.Mister was melting down (waaaaay past his bedtime) and Dad was in a coma from attempting to eat the bad food (yeah, it really was bad) so it was time to hit the trail home. Little did the Lil' Miss know, but there was still one last thing to do at home. Open PRESENTS!!!!

 I want to thank everyone who gave her a present. She carefully opened and analyzed every single gift. Big smiles for everything....and she even opened and looked at the cards! What kid opens the card before they rip open the present???? This one does! As you can see she got a noisy pink guitar (from Daddy), books, colouring books, stickers, a new outfit...a new lolly dolly.....

Pretty good haul if I do say so myself. And so ends that birthday for another year.

Halloween Par-Tay Day 3.

Holy smokes Halloween came and went and now it's over. Time to take down all decorations and move on to the next holiday....Lil' Miss's birthday! But let's not get too ahead of ourselves here. Time to show off some pumpkin action! We did 4 pumpkins this year. Simple pumpkins, but effective I would say. We did try a new technique. Painting. Although it wasn't that hard to do, it's still something that I haven't done on a pumpkin before. I'm a bit of a traditionalist. As much as I like new techniques, I always have one pumpkin carved in the traditional, old school pumpkin face. Let's let the pictures do the talking...shall we?????

 BOO!

 Traditional.

 Pumpkin face and a black kitty cat! Nifty, huh?

Ooooh, it's that nice witch again. Only she doesn't appear to be dressed in her costume!!
So last night we were ready to rock. Candy ready....

 I know you laugh at the large amount of candy here....but after last year I needed to be prepared!

 The nice witch ready to hit the streets to trick or treat. Ok mostly treat.

Heading down the block with a full bucket ALREADY! We really didn't end up going to far. We wanted to be back in time to see the fireworks at 8 pm. And we didn't get out the door until 630 pm. We were in such a flustery rush to get going that I made her race out the door without shoes on. Good grief. We were heading down the sidewalk and I got "Mommy, I don't have my shoes on!" Yeesh. So back through the throngs of trick or treaters to get into the house for shoes. Then we were set. We went around the block, emptied the bucket at home, then went down one more street. So 2 full buckets of candy later and that was enough. We were out for just over an hour and Lil' Miss wanted to help Dad give out candy anyhow. Our neighborhood really gets into the swing of Halloween. Lots of houses dressed up and even a couple of haunted houses with loud noises, strobe lights, fog machines, large scary monsters and tons of cobwebs! It was spectacular. No wonder kids come by the carloads to trick or treat this area! I don't think we got as many kids as last year, but my estimation is about 350 kids from about 545pm until 800pm. After the fireworks were over, we shut 'er down. Still have some candy left, but Dad was sweating giving out the candy and he was done. And the Lil' Moose (Mr.Mister) really needed to go to bed. He stayed home to help out Dad, but proceeded to really just try to escape out the front door every time it opened....which was constantly. So that was that. And now it's over for another year.