Christmas Eve

We were all ready for Christmas.

The tree was decorated.



We took time to read Christmas stories.



So we drove to Banff to spend Christmas Eve in the mountains.



There was a candy Banff Springs Hotel...



and the girls were two sizes too small.



We skated on the pond




and then came home to leave cookies for Santa (and oats and carrots for the reindeer.)

Happy Birthday, Sarah!

In an exciting and busy day, Sarah got to wear her pyjamas to school for pyjama day, she brought in chocolate brownies for the class, Daddy picked her and Alison up for lunch at Nick's, and they did art projects all afternoon. After she got home and dressed for skating, Mom got home to take her to the rink, and we were surprised with 15 bonus ice minutes! Yay! Free skating time!

Once we got back home, we had a wonderful dinner - lamb chops with potatoes and as a special treat picked out by Alison, artichokes! Then there were presents, and plenty of them, followed by ice cream cake.

It was quite a day. Mom crashed while reading Alison's story and couldn't even post a blog about it until the next day.

Here's the birthday girl in all her present-opening glory:

Birthday Party!

We celebrated Sarah's 9th birthday a bit early. We went to a rec centre where there was a skating rink, a wave pool and a party room. It was lots of fun. We'll see if turning 9 for real on Friday will be a bit of a let-down after the big party...

Soaring through the air

Sarah's skating coach strapped her into a harness at skating today to practice her waltz jump. Check this out!

Birthday Party

For Alison's birthday we had a Hawaiian luau party.

There were friends....



ice-cream cake...



and best of all, Gramma came to visit.



What a great way to celebrate!

Now she is six

When I was One,
I had just begun.

When I was Two,
I was nearly new.

When I was Three,
I was hardly Me.

When I was Four,
I was not much more.

When I was Five,
I was just alive.

But now I am Six, I'm as clever as clever.
So I think I'll be six now for ever and ever.

A.A. Milne



Happy Birthday Alison!!

No more using one hand to state her age

Alison will be six tomorrow. She's going to look great on her birthday.

Tooth Update

I have been slack at updating the tooth loss tales of Rustle's girls. About a week before Halloween, Alison lost another bottom tooth, leaving an enormous gap in her mouth. She developed a temporary lisp due to the absence of so many teeth. I asked her if it was hard to talk without any teeth, and she said, "No, it's just hard to make some sounds."

Sarah is wiggling another tooth too. When this one goes, it will be the twelfth lost tooth, a tally about which we are all expected to be impressed.

Rustle's mom goes back to work

It's been a tough week for Rustle. Not only is the big guy gone all day, the little tail-pullers taking off on the big yellow box with wheels, but now the mom disappears for most of the day. What's a dog to do?

Apparently, he will sleep all day and then exuberantly wag his tail when she gets home.

Happy Halloween

On a cold and snowy Halloween, our pumpkins froze and our decorations were hidden in the white stuff. But did that deter trick or treaters? Well, yes, there were about half of the number we got last year. But NO, it did not deter Rustle's beautiful girls.

Here we have Ms. Mulan, the princess who doesn't need a prince and can take care of herself....




Here we have a rodeo clown, the most original costume winner of the night!