Zach the cleaning machine!

Zach likes to make the mess, but like every other kid he hates to clean it up! When the camera came out he was all smiles and quick to pick up...untill the camera was turned back off!

Dancing Nathan!

Nathan did a little dance for the camera, what a little ham!!!

Its a little late, but.....

Hey Alli, this post is for you!!! Its you on your very 1st birthday with dear 'ol Uncle Joe helping you open your gift...note that even on your first birthday your gifts were wrapped in Christmas paper! Poor you, but its better than news papers!

Happy 28th Sis!!!

Video Test.

If this is successful, there will be a short video of Phoenix eating his first meal of ... you guessed it...prunes!

The past few days.

The past few days have been busy busy busy! We had Christmas Eve at the Crosier place (Eddies parents ) and Christmas day/dinner here st Alli's place with 15 people around the table. Hike and Eddie cooked up an amazing dinner and Alli mom and I had the entire kitchen cleaned and both tables cleared off in under 45 min with lots of help from Zach! Mom, Alli, the boys and I went to the Zoo yesterday and had a great time, we heard the Lions roar and saw the frisky baby Giraffe running and jumping around. Hike went Boxing day shopping yesterday and got a few deals and I went to bed last night sick. I developed a really sore throat and fever last night and woke up with it not feeling much better today. Hopefully it's feel much better by the end of the day!
Hope everyone had a wonderful Holiday and that you are safe in your travels to and from New Years parties!

Funny story.

Ok, so Hike, Alli, FeFe, Nathan, Zach and I all went shopping yesterday at the mall. We were not there long, we knew what we were after and so were in and out in under an hour, but it was so crowded that we thought we had all better take a kid and that way it would be easier to manage them in the crowd. I was pushing the stroler while we were leaving the mall and both older kids had a hold of one of each of Alli's hands while Hike carried all the bags for us and cleared a path through all the shoppers as we made our way to the exit. All of a sudden Alli stopes dead in her tracks and turnes white as a ghose. She looks at he and says " Oh my God, where's Nathan?" She stared at Hike for a second and yelled "Where is Nathan?" then she started to look all around her shouting out his name right in the middle of the crowded mall, and Hike and I were staring at her trying so hard not to laugh our heads off at her as she panicked about what she thought was her lost kid. She turned left and right, looking all around her and the entire time, she was holding onto his hand and he was walking around with her as she looked for him. She had been holding both his and Zachs hands the entire time, and Nathan was staring up at her while she searched for him in a panick. It was good for a laugh that we relayed that night to Mom and Eddie around the dinner table, and I'm sure it will be laughed about for a long time to come. We would not have been laughing at all if he really had been missing, but because she had been holding his hand the entire time...well, anyway. You get the picture!

A little puzzle...

I always liked brain teaser puzzles, and here is one of my favorites! I thought I'd share it with everyone! Post a comment if you thing you have the answer and I'll post he answer n a future up date.

There is a room that has no windows and only one door. The door is closed and you can not see into the room through any cracks under the door or in the walls/roof or through a key hole. Inside the room is a single light bulb, and out side the room is a panel with 3 light switches on the panel. You need to know which one of these switches turns on the light inside the room. You are allowed to open the door, but only once! How do you know which switch turns on the single light inside?

Good luck!

6 Weird things about Me...

I don't know what is considered weird, but here goes...

1) I hate to have my feet covered. I hate socks and shoes so much I ware sandals all summer and part of the spring and fall. At night I always kick the covers off my feet and growing up when Alli and I shared a bedroom, she would often get up at night and cover my feet. As soon as she was back in bed, I'd poke my feet out again.
2) I can usually get a baby to stop crying in under 1 min. Honestly. As a teenage baby sitter I got into the habit of placing a baby on my left shoulder while rocking/burping/comforting etc. and after I had my pacemaker implanted I tried to shift babies over to the right hand side to avoid pain. Well, Zach was almost a year old at the time and refused the change, but we noticed that he would put his head on my pacemaker and fall instantly to sleep! I don't know why, maybe they can feel the device when it kicks in, but my nephews, friends babies and even customers babies will stop crying and often fall asleep when I hold them with their head resting on my left shoulder.
3) I am terrified of chickens. when I was about 5 years old my Nanny Sample had me help her gather chicken eggs one summer form the chicken coop in her back yard. I was scared they would peck me so I didn't want to help. She thought she'd cure me of my fear by locking me in the coop with the chickens. Needless to say, I am still scared of chickens 24 years later!
4) I have some strange sort of ESP. Sometimes I'll pass the phone to Hike before it rings and say "So-and-So is gonna call" and he'll roll his eyes and go about his business. The phone rings 30 seconds later and it is who ever I predicted would call. And sometimes I'll just say something for no reason at all like "we're going to cross a wooden bridge around that corner" when we are someplace neither of us has ever been down before while on a road trip, and when we round the corner, we drive across a wooden bridge. Oh yes, and best of all, I called Alli one day and said to her out of the blue "You're pregnant". She responded with "F*** - *ff" and then called me 3 weeks later to say she was 6 weeks pregnant.
5) Sometimes when we dine out, I'll order dessert first in place of an appetiser. Have to make sure I have enough room in my tummy for dessert! Besides, its easier to bring home the diner you couldn't finish and re -heat for lunch the next day than it is to bring home dessert!
6) I LOVE cereal in milk. Its like an addiction for me! I have it for breakfast every morning before work and most nights as a snack while watching TV. I love all types, Corn Flakes, Rice Krispies, Honey Combs, Oatmeal with brown sugar, Frosted Flakes...really, in my perfect world, cereal would be a food group all on its own!

So there you have it, 6 weird things about me. This was a lot harder to do than I thought it would be!
I do have some pics to post here (with luck that will happen tomorrow ) of the damage in my neighbourhood done by the wind storm last Thursday. There is ( was?) a big fence around the out door pool at my building, but the wind flattened it not to mention that it snapped a few very tall trees in half! Pics to follow later I hope!
Oh yes, and Congrats again to my cousin Heather on the arrival of her new baby boy Jonathan!

What a Week!

Its only Tuesday and already its been a very long week! The week end was spent trying to figure out some last min details before our trip home for Christmas. Monday night was the Gastown Christmas dinner, tonight I am in a mad rush to get done one more stocking ( Did I mention that I am quilting new Christmas Stockings for the entire family? Nice big ones at Hikes request!), tomorrow night is the End of the Year Party for my work ( not everyone in my company celebrates Christmas, so we call it the year end party ), Thursday night will be spent trying to get that last stocking finished, Friday is a dinner Party for Franks Birthday ( well, his birthday is actually December 24th, but I'll be away then so we decided to have it Friday the 15th so that Hike can attend as well ), Saturday will be house cleaning and as much laundry as we can get done, then packing Hike up, Sunday we take Hike to the air port and then I leave on Wednesday. Its a VERY hectic week to come, and already I am tired. Thankfully I'll have a few days to relax before my flight before the hectic pace picks back up again with the 3 kids! Hope everyone else is having a quieter week!

Christmas Village.

Every year I add to my Christmas Village. I have been painting pieces since I was 14 years old and my Mom has kept them all, and when I moved to BC I started my own little Village, so far, this is what I have. The pics are really not very clear ( still playing with this mini digital camera ) but you get the jist.

Spreading Christmas Joy.

Tonight Frank and I went to visit an elderly friend of ours. She has been living in an assisted living facility since November 1st and though she seems to be pretty happy there she has seemed a bit lonely. When we arrived with a small arm load of Christmas gifts she had tears in her eyes, she was so grateful that we had thought of her and that we had thought to stop and visit. We stayed for about an hour and a half chatting and telling stories of Christmases past, and she loves to hear about how my mom is doing ( she met my mom last summer and they spoke about lots of things, but when she heard mom was born in Quebec, she was thrilled to pieces as she was born and raised in Gasp Bay herself ). She is a very sweet grandmotherly woman and I was so happy that I was able to make her smile.
I also picked a name from a tree at one of the local malls. Each year I stop at the Charity Tree and pick a name. The charity host/ess gives you the specifics about that child such as gender and age, and tells you what they are in need of ( ie shoes or cloths or outer ware and the correct sizes, special toys they may be interested in or habbies they have like reading or arts and crafts ) and then you purchas items you would like to give them and bring the items back to the Tree where they are gift wrapped and labled for that needy child. When they wake up on Christmas morning, they will have something under the tree where maybe they wouldn't have had anything otherwise. It makes me sad to think about it, but I do remember how tough it was growing up with a single parent who had to provide for 3 kids all on her own, no dad to help out. But, we all turned out just fine! I know I can't help all the kids out there, but I can help one!

Fudgey Chocolate Mints...

Auntie Berta, this post is for you! I was going to send it to your e-mail but thought this was better, who ever wants it can use it. It seems to be an all time favorite from my kitchen and I've been making them for years! Papa adored them.....

1 cup Milk choc. chips
2 cups Semisweet choc. chips
1 can ( 11oz.) Sweetened condensed milk
2 tbs. Hard margarine ( or butter )
1 tsp. Vanilla
1/8 tsp peppermint flavoring

Combine all 6 ingredients in a heavy 2 litre sauce pan and heat over medium-low heat stirring often until mixture is melted and smooth. pour mixture into a 9x9 inch pan and set aside to cool. Makes approx 2 lbs and cuts into about 144 pieces.
*** NOTES***
I always add a lot more peppermint than the recipe calls for because I find the recommended amount is not enough. I start with 1 tsp and add from there ( till it tastes minty enough for your own tastes really ). And I find that if you heat the mixture closer to low than mediun heat, it takes a bit longer, but it gets smoother and won't burn to the bottom of the pot.

Let me know if you try the recipe out and if you liked them!

Baking success.

Well, today was a success. Sara ( Franks niece ) and I made a double batch of mini Pineapple/banana loafs, that gave us 8 mini loaves in total. We also made the Truffles I make every Christmas, they seem to be a favorite because they disappear fast, and we made Rice Krispie squares but we used cookie cutters to cut them into Christmas shapes. Oh yes, and the ever famous fudge mint squares. one batch makes over 100 mints, and you have to cut them pretty small because they are so rich, but people seem to love them. And the best part? All the recipes are VERY easy to make! I love that, especially since I usually have to do Holiday baking a few times in order to have enough for the people I want to give them to in place of a gift ( ie co-workers ) as well as all the friends who tend to drop by and help them selves to a few treats!
So, the baking is done, all my Christmas shopping is done and all gifts are wrapped and either under the tree ( Hikes, Sara's and Franks ) or packed up to be shipped out later this week ( gifts for everyone in Ontario and Papa ).
It feels good to be done!

Photos to share.

This is the view I had as soon as I left the front door of my building to go to work after the snow storm had ended, nice huh?

This photo was taken on my way to work after the big snow storm. I walk to work every morning ( only about a 15 - 20 min walk ) and it was such a pretty day I had to bring the camera along that morning!

This is Hike in the costume I made him for his Halloween party last month. He told me he needed me to make him a costume the day of his party and I had already made plans for the day so we rushed to the fabric store and purchased some things he wanted and when I got home we had about 45 min to throw something together, and this is what we came up with! Not too bad for such a rush job!

Now, if anyone can tell me how to get the photos and corresponding text to appear in the order I tried to put them on here I would love to know! I actually had to do this all backwards. I first put on the pic of Hike, then the middle shot, and last was the pic that shows up first. I can't seem to change this around!

Thanks!