Recent Happenings

This post will be in backwards chronological order, beginning today and going until it seems like I've rambled for long enough to send most of you into a comatose state...

Wow, December is speeding by! I can't believe it's the 14th already! The 14th was always an exciting day growing up, not so much because it's my Dad's birthday (sorry Dad! also, Happy Birthday!) but because it's the day we'd put up the Christmas tree, and once the tree is up, it's almost CHRISTMAS!!

Side note: because December is crazy I never manage to post even a card to my Dad, never mind a present, so as usual, this year, he got this...

And as a special treat this year he even got this!

Not initially included on Flickr, but now available as a bonus feature is this... the outtakes!

She's so cooperative!

Fiona loves all the Christmas decorations and lights on the houses, but doesn't seem to get the concept of asking Santa for presents yet. Or even who Santa is really. And to be fair, it's an odd concept. At bedtime tonight she was asking for a flashlight, and I told her she should ask Santa for one and she might get one for Christmas. She looked at me like I was nuts... Santa? Ok Mum, whatever...

I am almost completely done shopping, which is a minor miracle. I did almost all of it online, which was a lot of fun (more fun than battling the maniacs at the Mall) and now I have the added excitement of getting all kinds of mail. I still need to get something for the girls... I was going to get Fiona a trampoline, but we think it might take up too much space, so maybe I'll just get her a flashlight... and a lot of batteries.

On Sunday we went out to the Mall for a little while, just to get out of the house. If you're not there to shop, it's fun to visit :-) Fiona went on some rides and had fun seeing her cousins and eating ice cream. We got home, and it was bedtime, so I went to the basement to get their pyjamas from the dryer and smelled gas. Our hot water heater had not been working well, so we assumed that was the culprit and turned it off, then I called the gas company to see if we should do anything else. I was not prepared for her instructions... we had to leave the house immediately and wait in the car outside for the gas inspector to come and make sure there was not a leak and we were safe. So at almost 9pm we dragged our tired children out in 0 degree weather (that's -17C), loaded them in the car and sat outside for an hour, making occasional trips round the block to try to keep them asleep/entertained. I unearthed some toys in the bottom of the backpack, and Grrr and Fwroar had an exciting battle, but that only lasted so long...

Of course almost as soon as we're in the car Fiona starts crying that she needs to go potty. Luckily she had her night time diaper on so it was not an emergency but she did not want to go in the diaper, and was really upset. I told her I'd change her if she needed me to, and after a little while she insisted on having a new diaper. After some very awkward maneuvering I got her old diaper off, only to find that it was STILL DRY! You tricksy toddler, you!!

Luckily, Adele slept the whole time, so that helped.

Anyway, it turned out that the vents for the hot water heater were clogged with snow (more on that next) and once we cleared them off, it was back to business as usual.

Last weekend we had an epic snow storm, and although they did a great job of clearing the roads off, it's still kind of scary if you are one of those people who drives like an old lady, hunched over the steering wheel, sweating even though according to the car thermometer it's -15. Not that I am that kind of driver of course... Um. Anyway... there was so much snow that it even brought down the roof of the metrodome. Which is a big deal, I know, but come on people, it's not like it was a real roof! It was some kind of fabric tent and was held up by AIR!

Here's a picture of some snow, and Ben shoveling. We got almost 20 inches. And no, I did not even go outside to take pictures!

The last time it snowed Fiona loved playing outside, but it's been too cold recently. Here's a picture of her having fun back when it was warmer...

Those loose threads are... um... a style choice. Nothing to do with laziness at all...

I think this has dragged on long enough, so I'll leave you with a picture of the mug cosy I made for the playgroup secret santa. I have never made one before - it was fun! It's so cold here that even hot drinks need sweaters to keep them warm...