Retirement Privileges

This retirement business is working out well for us! Grammie drops in often and came by after school this week to get another lesson from Honey on how to use her new iPad mini and help Sweetie with some homework while Lovey & I were busy in the kitchen getting supper.

Come on back now, ya hear???

H.I. Guy Returns!

 

Remember that van mirror incident I mentioned from Christmas eve? The duct tape fix  held up remarkably well through all the rain and mild weather since then. Dreading a $400 autobody fix, Murray scoured the internet and found a replacement mirror and had it shipped to us. It turns out that a neighbour works in the autobody department of a local dealership and offered to paint it for us to match! Once we got it back, Murray found a youtube video on how to replace/install it and voila, we're back in business for less than $60!

Three cheers for Home Improvement Guy! (ok so it's a vehicle, not the house but it makes the residents of the house happier!)

Hockey Woes

Honey isn't always loving hockey! Lovey on the other hand is always ready and raring to go and needs no prompting, cajoling, begging or even flat out ordering around. Honey had a particularly rough day when practice got moved from the usual day to the same day as dance class. She wanted no part of practice that day!  From the time I picked them up from school and all the way to the rink she asked if she HAD to go. 

In order to keep my "hockey mom fail" record going, I managed to forget their sticks!!!Apparently you need those everrrrrrrrrrrrrry time??? Oops! So we left school and went home to get them (it's austerity month, I wasn't dropping $40 on new sticks we didn't need!) We got to the rink with just a few minutes to spare but others were still arriving too.  Honey had texted her dad on the way asking if he was going to make her go to practice. He said she had to do it. (mostly because she'd been awarded the golden jersey at the previous game, wouldn't be right for the golden girl to just not feel like playing!) She asked me if I was going to make her but after the tearful drive, I had no interest in wrestling her into her gear and skates so I said I wasn't but that her father wanted her to play and she had to decide what she was going to do. She was afraid of what "he'd do" to her if she didn't but he wasn't actually onsite to force her and I wasn't going to physically make her so she pondered that dilemma and decided she was more worried about the consequences (and Murray's wrath?!?!?! LOL) and eventually suited up. Lovey was long gone, which was a first so it was just us in the dressing room. By the time she got on the ice she was 10-15 minutes late and I had to pull them off 15 minutes early in order to get to Lovey's violin lesson on time.

I felt bad for Honey, she'd had gym last thing at school and had no interest in more exercise before going to her 75 minute dance class. Having that practice in there was just too much but someone who can't remember hockey sticks really isn't much of an authority in the hockey department! Despite being very unhappy about it, she did join her team on the ice until we had to go.

It was a rough night, she quit dance class early, had to eat snacks in the car for her supper and didn't have time to finish all her homework! Hopefully hockey practice stays on its proper day from here on out!

Accomplishment???

The kids each brought home one of these certificates today. Wow! Junior Achievement! and you got a certificate! What did you do????

Their "accomplishment" was sitting and listening to a presentation about the JA program. Everyone in the class got one. The girls thought the papers were dumb. They said "Mum, even the kids who didn't participate got one! even the kids who didn't answer any questions got one! annnnnd kids who weren't even there today got one!!!"

What a waste of paper! I'm surprised that a group whose whole purpose is teaching young people how to achieve things would even give out these false accomplishment certificates!

Tennis Date

The school was having a movie night for the kids so Murray and I thought we'd sneak off for a tennis date while we had some cheap childcare! Since January is austerity month, extra expenses are avoided at all costs so it was a bonus when I called to book the court and found out they were offering a free trial to first time visitors.

Things changed quickly once the girls got wind of our plans. Suddenly no one wanted to go to the movie and everyone wanted to crash our date! We decided to take advantage of their interest in hanging out with us over their friends. Surely it won't happen for much longer!

The courts were great, once they got us on the correct one (sorry tennis match players, they told us court 5 honest!). We played for an hour and no one fussed or asked to leave. They got thirsty but other than that, they were content! We even managed to keep our balls on our own court for the most part.  I hope to get back a few times over the winter (come on February!!!) so I'm not too rusty when summer comes!

With the tennis being free, we were able to dip into some mad money we had stashed in a jar and grab some fro yo on the way home. It's a fun place and we love the flavour & topping selections but it's a rare treat!

Snow Day

Remember the excitement of waking up on a school day and tuning in hopefully to the radio on a messy weather day, hoping against hope that school would be cancelled and you could just roll over and go back to bed? 

Well that would have been a good idea this week! If only I'd known we were expecting a storm. Except we weren't! They were calling for some possible snow later in the day, maybe some rain. With already snow packed roads, a nice coating of rain can turn the bus route into a skating rink. I wouldn't recommend driving 70+ kids in those conditions!

Not knowing the forecast was calling for anything, I got everybody up, started breakfast and we were half an hour away from going out to the bus stop when I happened to see a Facebook post mentioning an extra day off. Wondering what holiday they had planned, I read further and found out school was cancelled IN CASE the weather turned later in the day and made the roads messy.

The kids thought they'd go back to bed but they never fell asleep, they were too busy on their iPods to shut their eyes! After a few hours of that (and some Rainbow looming), I told them Checkers needed a walk. He actually is fine for exercise but telling them I just want to go for a walk or telling them they should get outside to play is an undertaking I didn't want to fight out. When it's for the dog, they're much more willing. I go with whatever works!

We spent an hour following the paths to find the beaver pond and dam and home again. We used to go for walks in the woods all the time and they talked about things they remembered from when they were "little". It was cute to hear them recall details and stories. They kept asking for pictures which made me sorry I hadn't brought my real camera! If I'd known they'd be willing to work the photo ops for me.... Oh well! The best camera is the one you have with you!

Underneath that snow is a huge rock. It seemed much bigger to them when they were 2 & 3 and needed a boost to get up on it. They call it "Rocky Mountain" because it was sooooooooo large and hard to climb back then!

Voila le beaver dam!

and what's an event without a selfie?!?!? I love the rosy cheeks and big smiles :)))

 

When we got home, everyone was tired and hungry so Honey got to work and whipped up grilled cheese sandwiches for her sisters and herself.

In the celebratory spirit of the snow day, we ate lunch in front of the TV and I introduced them to some of my old faves, Bewitched and Diff'rent Strokes. Honey wasn't impressed that Bewitched was in black and white and complained until I changed shows. We all howled at the antics of Willis and Arnold and watched as many shows as we could before Teena & Boo came to visit. I have them hooked now and we'll be watching lots of episodes! We're loving our Apple TV!!!

Ooh la la!

Shooter Shelley needed my help recently (I've been slowly brainwashing her over the years and have her now trained to believe I am indispensible on shoots, muahahahaha!!!) She was prepping on Thursday, getting the sets put together, figuring out shot sequences etc and then had 3 high school seniors coming for makeovers and the shoot on Friday.  It was all for marketing materials and not actual paid shoots so I volunteered since January is slow for me and we always have so much fun working together and talking shop!

As a special treat for me, she got the MakeUp Artist to give me a quick going over and some fake eyeleashes too! I thought spending a couple of days with her was fun in itself but this was sweet of her to arrange for me! She and the MUA were somewhat horrified to hear that my new face was going to play tennis and not out for a big night on the town.

Oh well, I enjoyed it while it lasted and had the best eyes on the court that night! hahaha!

Frozen... Or maybe not...

I decided to venture out for some snowshoeing on my own the other day. I'd been out the previous week with Tabby and it was so soft she sank through and got a soaker in one spot. With the recent cold snap, things were looking more solid so off I went with my good buddy!

We went all through the woods and then started heading back across the beaver pond, it looked great! I sent Murray the picture of Checkers so he could see the solid surface of the pond in case he wanted to try it later on his outing. I was most of the way across when I felt the surface start to give and heard the telltale craaaaaaaaaaaaaack! I launched myself at the nearest patch of grass I could see and narrowly avoided going for a dip! So much for that nice solid surface! Ahhh  the excitement of country living! Checkers wisely avoided the whole thing! Hopefully there won't be any other sort of outdoor swims til we get the pool opened back up!

Sleep Forker

Recently, one night after FINAL hug & kiss, tuck in, drink requests etc, I went downstairs to relax. It didn't seem like too much after I got down there that I heard heavy clomping out to the kitchen and back. I figured it was someone getting one last drink of water and since they didn't dilly dally or involve me, I ignored it.

The next morning after I woke the girls for school, I heard Lovey exclaim "Mum! There's a FORK in my bed!!!"

I broke into laughter instantly realizing what must have happened. I went in to see for myself and sure enough, there was a fork in there! I told her what I'd heard and she cracked up immediately and between giggles said "oh yeah, that must have been me!" and we all had a good laugh.

She's got no problem enjoying a joke, even if she's the main character. She appreciates a good story and a good laugh. I think this will serve her well!

Birthday Girl

Our very own Old Nanny reached a special milestone recently and we got to go to the party! To see her clicking around in her high heels, you'd never know she's 80! She's the youngest, coolest octogenarian I know! I hope I have half as much get up and go as she does. Who am I kidding she's got more at her age than I do at my own now!

It was a nice party and an impressive turnout. She's a popular lady, not surprisingly! The buffet was a hit with the kids and they got to play pool and air hockey too so lots of fun for all! They were desperate to clean up the leftover food so we went home with 5 plates of goodies (woohoo, no cooking supper that night!)

Thanks for including us in your special day Old Nanny!

Chefs in Training

I've been trying to get back in the habit of getting the girls in the kitchen making meals each week. Some evenings just aren't possible due to activity schedules but usually Sweetie and I are on our own each Monday night so she likes to cook on that day. It's a good time as we don't get interrupted and can chat as she gets things ready. Last night she made plum chicken and curry noodles. It's one of Murray's favourites so she was excited to show him when they got home from hockey practice. She remembered part way through the preparations that she didn't actually like the meat but she loves the smell of curry so the noodle part was ok!

Murray was excited and impressed when he got in and let out one of his trademark "whoohoo!" shouts when he saw what she'd made!

I helped her find ingredients but she did all measuring, mixing, pouring and baking while I made a dessert and the salad. They're learning lots and tell me in astonished tones "nobody in my class can make supper!" or "so and so only knows how to make Kraft Dinner!"

It's a slower process but they've gotten so much better and love serving their meal. It's funny to see their annoyed expressions if someone complains about the food!

Trekkers

Murray was about to head out for a walk in the woods with Checkers when I suggested that Sweetie go with him. He gets to spend quite a bit of time with Lovey & Honey at hockey so we try and even it out with some Sweetie time when we get a chance. She's not always keen on outdoor pursuits but she does love having one on one and jumped on this opportunity!

They were gone quite a while and came home with rosy cheeks!