Elusive Leprechaun!

 I thought they might be too old for the Leprechaun  hunt this year. I was wrong. They started talking about it earlier in the week. I waited to see if they lost interest. They didn't. Finally, it was Friday and they were still keen on the idea. A-leprechaun-hunting-we-will-go then!

They woke up at 6:30am, ready to get going but I sent them back to bed! Lovey had a violin practice this morning for an upcoming recital so we couldn't go looking then. By the time she got home from that, I had my class at the gym. On the way there, someone hit a patch of ice and swerved in front of me and crashed in the ditch! freaky! (they were fine but a little alarming to see it unfold right in front of your eyes!)

By the time I got home, the kids were in a frenzy to get started! They'd found a letter from the leprechaun in the mailbox and were ready to hit the road!

They ran down to meet Tulip who was also chomping at the bit. It was the first thing all of them thought of when they got up this morning! They raced off and started gathering up loot & clues at the speed of light. The whole thing was over quite quickly and then everyone came back to our house to divide up the treasure.

Sweetie did NOT like her hat and wore it for the picture only under extreme duress! and then several hours later, guess who was running around the house with it on, unprompted???? :eyeroll: crazy kid!

Glamour Posing!

I spent a weekend on a Glamour workshop and learned lots of ways to position and place people for optimal shape and to minimize areas we don't like and enhance stuff we do! It was amazing to watch what this woman can do for you BEFORE she touches anything in Photoshop. I saw her website before and afters and thought she'd done some heavy handed trimming. Then she showed us the images straight off the camera and jaws dropped! The girls who got photographed at the workshop were shocked at how she'd captured them. Of course it helps to have your hair and makeup done professionally but I thought I'd try out one of Sue's moves on myself the other day.

In case you can't tell, I did NOT have the benefit of a professional touch up before or after clicking the shutter. Check out the difference in the width of my face! Cool or what???

Quackless

We were gifted a dozen eggs by Acorn's family on our last visit to the homestead! Earlier this week, I dug into them! Some of the eggs were duck eggs which I've never tried before and was looking forward to sampling. I can't say I enjoyed them much but it really had nothing to do with the fare, and everything to do with the company and running commentary!!!

As soon as the girls saw the eggshell on the counter, everything went downhill.

"HEY!! guys!!!! Mum is eating the DUCK!!!!!"
"oh NOOOOOOOOOOOOO! MUM!!!!!!! we wanted to HATCH that one and have our OWN duck!!!"
"why did you eat our DUCK???"
"no FAIR!"
"ewww, gross. You killed it."
"the poor baby!"

and so it continued all through the meal until I gave up trying to eat it. I tried another a few days later and made sure to dispose of the evidence before the Spanish Inquisition showed up and found it much more enjoyable! It was boiled & sliced up on top of a salad so I didn't notice much of a flavour difference compared to a regular egg but it was a nice size.

Cookies!!!!!

The kids had a day off from school this week so we did some baking. We made cheesecake and smartie cookies! The mixing team may have overdone it and beat the dough to a pulp and the cookies turned out very runny and thin! The good news is that they still taste awesome and are going like hot cakes!

 There was a dance break as we waited for the cookies to come out of the oven. They call this move the "Double Disco". Snazzy huh? Warmth, love & laughter on a winter day, good times in the kitchen. :)))

Spring Training Has Begun!

The girls got talking about the 1km race coming up this summer and asked if they could do a practice run  Even Sweetie decided to give it a try. (could have knocked me over with a feather when she asked if she could practice too).

Of course everyone took off like a shot as soon as they hit the road. Sweetie was gone, almost out of sight in no time. Honey was achey and out of breath in no time. She was so discouraged when she realized how effortlessly Sweetie was zipping along. Lovey had no concerns and no big ambitions. She paused frequently to dance, twirl, flap her ladybug arms and buzz as she ran along, completely content to be out with us and having fun.

Honey had run too hard starting off and quickly had pains in her shins and was taking her "defeat" awfully hard. The kicker? "Sweetie doesn't even care about being fast!!!!!! Not FAIR, NOT FAIR!!! Why is it easy for her? How come her legs aren't hurting? She doesn't even CARE about running!"

She was right. Sweetie was just pleased to fly along enjoying the thrill of the speed. She did feel bad that Honey was so upset  and slowed down for the next 1km run a few minutes later so Honey could pass her for a few minutes but in the end didn't hold back and blazed on ahead. I explained to Honey that Sweetie doesn't want to race but is naturally gifted with good running legs. I told her that Sweetie would be a great help to her while training, that running with someone who is a bit faster would benefit her. She'd be more likely to increase her own speed by having Sweetie run with her. She seemed to like that idea, until Sweetie mentioned that she might actually go in the race too. Instant panic & despair: "I don't WANT Sweetie in the race!!!!!" (she stands to lose her 1st place standing in that age category and now feels quite threatened but wasn't feeling much heat from Lovey apparently!)

 Sweetie checking on her lead.

 Honey should probably ditch the hat, too much drag!

 la la la buzzzzzzzzz, la la la... oh take one like this Mummy!

 The last leg of the 2nd km and Honey takes the lead for awhile!

 The ended up going for a 1km run for a 3rd time that night, although Lovey never completed a full km after the first one. She tires more easily and stops and waits for them to hit the turn around. Once she can see them coming, she turns around and starts walking back. Sweetie was quite concerned and kept yelling as she approached "She didn't go all the way!!! she didn't do it all!!!! Muuuuuuuummmm!!!!!!!!!!" LOL so much for not caring about racing huh Sweetie???

Could be an interesting couple of months! They ran a total of 3 km's each, on two different nights this week. Sweetie asked to go out again last night but we had shovelling to do instead!

Headed for Home

All weekend long, Honey kept disappearing for long stretches and eventually we'd notice (hey, we're good parents like that!) and go looking for her. Each time, she was in the basement, playing with old Star Wars figures! She couldn't get enough of these guys! Every single chance she got, she was down there even when the other kids were off playing other stuff or watching TV.

 Some last minute playtime with Mr. Bojangles before we left!

 Nanny packed us a picnic lunch but when we stopped to eat it was very chilly outside so we suspended our "no eating in the car" rule and snacked as we drove. Murray ordered his very first Tim Horton's coffee (and won a free one!) and found out that he does not know his wife's favourite doughnut! Together since 1996 and he's never noticed that I always get a chocolate dip??? (he generally prefers a chocolate chocolate dip himself :P )

When we got home, we needed to stretch our legs so we went for our first bike ride of 2012. Unfortunately, 3/5 bikers forgot all the biking skills they acquired in 2011. Two out of the three were able to re-learn without much delay. That only left one girl, one stubborn, do it her way, make no progress, start with the wrong pedal up, take no advice girl. Now I don't want to mention any names or anything but ...

(ahem, cough, cough------------>).

There's just no helping some people, they just have to do it for themselves!

Road Trip

We visited Murray's family on the weekend for some early bday celebrating! We made good time on Friday and got there in time for supper. I'd forewarned them of our early arrival and put in a request for "something good!" and Nanny came through with home made fish 'n' chips! Yummm!!!!!!!! Definite crowd pleaser!

The next morning we had to haul our butts to a rink in the boonies to see Mr Bojangles play a game. We made it with no minutes to spare and they were already on the ice but it didn't appear that we'd missed anything yet.

He was so excited to see everyone in the stands that he abandoned his post and skated all the way to the boards in front of us to wave. He wasn't pleased when Coach Daddy made him get his head back in the game! Too cute! He definitely had the biggest cheering section. Everyone in his entire family was there except one uncle who'd had to work through the night!

 And here's the bday girl we went to visit! Having all her grandchildren within arm's reach does wonders for her photogenicity! (totally made that word up... or did I????)

 In the middle of dinner, the littlest hockey player abandoned the table, encouraging his girls to come play with him and the campaign for a sleepover soon ensued. He wasn't long twisting Nanny's rubber arm and the parents never even tried to fight him on it LOL. The kids love seeing each other and since he'd been here recently he told his mom he was lucky to see so much girls! They play really well together and the girls humour him and his game ideas. Their favourite part is that Mr. Bojangles is allowed to watch TV before bed so that was a very exciting finish to a fun day!