Slip Sliding Aaaaaaaaaaaawaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay

most of the time, Sweetie was a straight shooter, she only had a couple of wipe outs, once when I tried to "help" redirect her back into the main section of the path, and another time when she tried out Boo's sled and did a faceplant. She immediately popped up & said "Do it AGAIN???"

Teena was supposed to drop Dale & Boo off, then go run errands but she wasn't able to tear herself away from all the fun & stayed with us the whole time. As a fellow mum, I know how precious 'free time' is so for her to give it up to hang out with us is pretty darn flattering!

Sweetie recovered quickly from her faceplant & was ready for more!

Lovey hitting some of the speed bumps. I think these ones actually made you go faster instead of slowing you down!

Boo quickly decided that the wooden sleds are the way to go so they took turns for awhile but they all wanted to go all the time so eventually we started doubling up. I overheard Boo tell Sweetie, as they were launching off, "we're really gonna have fun now!"

Kelly & Teena & the kids.... oh wait a minute, what's wrong with this picture? Who are those two jokers in there?!?!?!

Wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!



5-4-3-2-1... Blast Off!

Murray hates to be left out...

We took the girls sliding this afternoon and was it EVER a big hit. Lovey & Honey were a little hesitant about going down on their own and wanted Murray to run alongside them holding the tow rope. Sweetie, on the other hand, hopped on her toboggan, pushed off & never looked back. One run each for the other two & they were converted.

The weather was perfect, a bit of sun & not too cold. Murray & I were plenty warm pulling those kids up the hill time after time. Sometimes Murray pulled 2 at a time. I tried that once & only got about 3 feet. Things really picked up when Teena, Dale & Boo joined us. The girls were thrilled to see their buddy arrive!

This was a fast flying hill & many unexpected twists and turns. It was hard to gauge where those sleds were going to end up. We unfortunately guessed incorrectly once & ended up with a 3 sled pile up which resulted in some damages. One sled ended up with a detached rail on one side which made hanging on a little tricky but Sweetie managed well! The damage is repairable, we just have to get around to doing it or hope that Nanny comes to visit soon! ; ))))) I think those rails are meant to come off once the kids get bigger anyway, but we weren't planning to do it quite this way.

Tonight my cousin came to hang out with the kids & spend the night. After my choir gig, he & I watched Ocean's 13.

It's beginning to look a lot like...

Got our first major snowfall this week! Sweetie phoned her Grammie that morning and asked "does it look like CHRISTMAS at YOUR house????" They've been very keen to play out in in the fluffy white stuff. An igloo is in progress and we've been making trails all over the field.

Yesterday, I was digging a hole, minding my own business while they wokred on their igloo. Lovey saw what I was doing and told me not to do that. I decided she wasn't the boss of me and kept working away. She looked at me and said "Mumma, if you do that, I'm NOT going to play with you anymore!" She's a tough negotiator!

Although they can still get their feet into last year's boots, I think they need new ones that are taller or snowsuits that are longer maybe... The pant legs keep riding up over the short boot & they fill up with snow. The first day we were out there awhile before I noticed the strip of bare skin peeking out and boy was it red! Since then I've been tucking their pants into their socks before putting the skipants on so that the bares skin doesnt' get exposed. At the fall clothing sale, I found a wonderful Columbia one piece snowsuit, it's really lightweight, not all that bulk and they can jump into it themselves and zip up, leaving me one less to dress! BUT this one is the worst offender for not staying down. Is that just the way it is with a one piece? everytime they lift their arms, the legs come up? if I had a larger size, would that solve the problem? I have a feeling these aren't cheap suits but they are nice & so much easier for them to move around in & get in and out of. It'd probably be cheaper just to buy new boots though so maybe I'll try that first : )))

2 more for Teena

as my cousin Shawn once said (yes, he really did!): "Hot Teena!"

Monday Highlight!!!!

Although the housework thing was a bit of a bummer today, there was something good going on here! Teena & Boo came to visit!!! The girls were just about jumping out of their skin when they saw the car pull in. They were instantly wound into a shrieking, spinning, dancing tizzy. They were so excited, they didn't know what to do, they ran up & down the hall squealing the news that Teena & Boo were here, the car was here, hurray, wheeeee etc They zipped from window to window trying to get a peek of her getting out of the car. It reminded me of when the Queen comes to visit (well not here here of course!) and everyone jostles for position, trying to get the best view of the arrival.

For one reason or another, Teena & I got out of our usual Monday visiting routine and I have definitely missed it! The girls all play pretty well together now, the occasional squabble over a toy but definitely better than it used to be. Teena commented today "remember when they were 8 months old & we used to say 'wait til they can just run around and play together'.. well, we're HERE!!!!!!!" Soooooo true! Sometimes we got together just for our own sakes back then, how much socialization does an 8 month old need anyway?? It was a great comfort for me at the time, to just have here there to commiserate with a glance, since we couldn't really talk over the crying & fussing of all those babies. I remember many times saying 'whaaaaaat???? I can't HEAR you!" and she was almost sitting right next to me! So now we can sit back, relax, eat bon bons and chat while the children play happily in my neat & tidy house (well I can dream a bit can't I???)

The girls kept pretty busy playing for awhile but about every 3 minutes, Honey would come ask if it was time to go out to play in the snow yet. After a snack (thanks Teena!) and a bit more play time, we finally decided to venture out. They made snow angels, they played tag, they went on the swings & slide & had an overall great time out in our new winter wonderland.

It's such a process to get them ready to go out but once we get there, we all enjoy it. Boo was having such a great time that she had a hard time leaving. "I'm not DONE PLAYING yet!!!!!!!" were her exact words I think. Very flattering when kids freak out because they don't want to leave your place! I take that as high praise, although it's probably her 3 little friends that are the real draw.

How neat is it for them to have someone that they're going to know their whole lives (assuming Teena & I don't break up of course!), that they've known from birth??? They will never remember a time that they didn't know Boo, she'll just always have been there! I'm sure there will be upsets over the years, girlfriends are tricky business! But hopefully they'll have some great stories & memories along the way!

It looks like somebody THREW UP in here!

ahhhhhh childhood memories! wait. what do you mean you've never heard that before? Your mother didn't tell you this on a regular basis?????? My parents are neat & tidy people, they like things orderly, dust & clutter free. Three cataglogues piled onto the buffet was enough to prompt the above quote from my mum. I distinctly remember my father forcing me as a teenager to reorganize the inside of a cupboard that I had in my bedroom that was apparently in enough of a state to cause him great distress. So as you can see, I wasn't raised to live in a pig sty! I don't enjoy mess & disorder, it just seems to follow me everywhere! Today I got three loads of washing & drying done (done, but not put away mind you), cleaned the upstairs bathroom, baked a banana bread and a coffee cake. The living room is still somewhat orderly from my cleaning fit & carpet shampooing session last week. The rest of the place had clearly gone to he!! in a handbasket. How does this happen?????? I'll tell you how, between all 6 other beings that inhabit this house with me, I figure at least 4 of them are working against me at any given time. : ))))

The girls like to change their clothes at least 2 or 3 times a day EACH. And they don't bother to put in a request, they just run into their room, fling open the closet door, reef with all their 36-38lbs of might on the garment on the hanger, hoping against all hope that it will snap under pressure. They manage to free the desired item from it's plastic prison about 95% of the time, discard the hanger & boring 2 hr old outfit, scatter all pieces of it to the four corners of the earth and be back out to play in about 30 seconds flat. They're like freaking wardrobe Houdinis. I turn my head for a few seconds and their clothes are completely different...

I manage to make headway in one area of the house and then as soon as I walk into another room, I'm totally disgusted. One night Murray & I spent close to 2 hours each, siding things up, putting away toys, gathering laundry etc with almost no noticeable improvement. I'm considering re joining Fly Lady but the last time I did it I got really annoyed. If she'd told me one more time to shine my sinks I thought I was going to track her down and shine HER. (to the MOON!).

Anyway, that's my rant for today! : ))) and if you come over and the place is a disaster, it's not my parents' fault. They did teach me better than that and can't be held responsible.