Skating

Alison continues with the skating lessons. I was unsuccessful in capturing a lot of "WOW" moments, but I suppose that becoming a good skater requires a lot of skill-building and drills. Here's evidence of Alison getting down to some not-so-exciting work:

Happy 8th Birthday Alison

Alison turned 8 today and celebrated with a sleepover and an old-fashioned party at home. Alison and several friends played lots of games, made a craft, devoured some ice-cream cake, and had a lot of fun together.


Alison was rather excited about the whole birthday thing.


Happy Birthday, Sweet Girl!

Outdoor School

Sarah went with her school to Outdoor School in Kananaskis the last week of October. The weather was lovely, but most of her pictures are blurry. She must have been to busy having fun to focus.

Here's a couple of snaps. I'll see if she wants to share some stories....

Halloween Retrospective

A selection of some of the costumes through the years....

Costumes

This year's Halloween costumes are complete. A sneak-peak, so you won't be afraid should these guys come to your door on Friday night.....

Making cookies

Sarah and her dad are off hiking at Lake Louise today for dryland (not exactly dry!) training. I thought I'd have a nice, relaxing day, but Alison has put me to work.

Job #1 - Make a Bismarck for breakfast. Yummy, yes, but requires lots of Mommy assistance.

Job#2 - Get to work on that Halloween costume. I tried to persuade her that a store-bought costume would not only be less work for me but also cheaper, but she insisted. "Your homemade costumes are better." Sigh. Can't really argue with that one.

Job #3 - Make chocolate chip cookies. And lots of them. So if anyone would like a snack, the chef has prepared a delightful one.....

Rustle's Hat

For anyone who has had an opportunity to play with Rustle over the past year or so, you would know that his favourite toy is an old fleece hat he dug out of the winter clothing basket. He carries this silly purple hat around everywhere. It is even labeled inside because he takes it with him to the kennel. He loves his hat.

Rustle's girls certainly know how much he loves his hat. Lately, they've taken to running about the house, playing keep-away with Rustle and his hat. It really tires him out and produces the kind of giggling that fills my heart with joy.

It also produces new ways to be silly. Here is Rustle subjected to wearing his hat. Being the good, compliant dog he is, the hat remains on his head for at least 10 seconds before he paws it off and tries to find a refuge where he can hold his hat in his mouth in peace.

And so it begins...

Yesterday was Alison's first skating lesson of the year. Sarah has opted out of skating this year; she will be skiing 4 times a week and will just be too tired to skate twice a week as well. So for now, she's doing homework and babysitting at the arena. Not so bad, for one day.

Guitar Hero

Go Flames!

Sarah and Alison went to their first ever hockey game this week. The Flames lost 3-2 to Florida in their first pre-season game, but not because of a lack of support from their sweetest fans.