The Post-Christmas Post

 Merry mid-week what day is it? My family has asked this countless times in the past week. Last week Chad & I were trying to figure out what day of the week Boxing day was going to be, and it took us about 10 minutes to pin that one down.  With all the church services, and no school, every day feels like Sunday, or Saturday.... or is it Thursday? My Google now tells me both the date, and the day of the week in my morning routine!

We had a pretty good Christmas.  We are used to not seeing family over the holidays, although the last few years we were close enough to my parents that they'd usually come up for Christmas.  This year it felt weird since we are close enough to see Chad's family, but we weren't allowed to see them. We are doing lots of Zooms instead, which is better than nothing, but we can't wait to get together with family & friends... whenever that will be allowed again.

With Chad being busy with Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, & Sunday church we were still pretty busy.  Because of the tighter restrictions we have to sign up to attend church in person, and I did not remember to do so before all the Christmas services got filled, so we waved Chad off, & watched them from home.  That was definitely a weird feeling!

Then on Christmas day we opened our gifts.  Did I take any pictures? Nope, not a single one.  Asher's first gift was a WaterPik. He said, "This is a terrible present!" (Sums up 2020 pretty well though!)  I told him, "It can only get better from here!"  We got lots of new books to read which  everyone was happy about.

I bought myself some really nice bunny slippers, wrapped them up, and boy, was I delighted to open them! Unfortunately they were too small, so Chancery is happy, and I have cold feet!  Chad said that's what I deserve for buying myself a present.

The kids don't go back to school until Jan 11, so now we will have lots of time to bake, play games, & read.  We're borrowing skates so the kids can take advantage of the ice rink that is just beside our neighbourhood, and we have lots of ski-doing that can be done on the lake. I'm appointing myself the hot chocolate maker so I can stay in the warm house!

We Have a Long Way To Go

I took some pictures to commemorate the First Day of Spring!  Can you feel it?  The warmth of summer that’s just around the corner?  The feeling of sand between your toes as you read a book at the beach?  Nope, neither can I!

I put together a few before & afters.  Will we get from this to the nice green, need to mow your lawn stage by the end of June?

Snow

I don’t know what else to call this post.  I just decided to take pictures of the snow at it’s worst.

This is the side of our garage.  Under all that snow on the right side is my strawberry patch.  It will be interesting to see how my plants fared.  Hopefully we’ll have really big, juicy strawberries from all the extra moisture!

This is the front walkway

 

Peeking from behind all that snow is the top of our front door!

The view of the house across the street from the front door

 

The sidewalk to the back deck.  The tree that the kids climb in is just to the left of the path.  The snow is currently 6 feet up on the tree.

Snow Storm “Neptune”

We have had a lot of snow in the past 2 days… 70cm, (or 27.5”).  They pulled the plows off the roads yesterday at noon, & have already cancelled school & government offices for tomorrow.  Everyone headed outside for a bit this morning.  Chad was busy snow blowing the driveway, while the older boys worked on the back deck.  And while they were outside in the snow, the littles & I were inside defrosting the freezer, or playing with snow inside!

  The car was a bit buried…

It took almost an hour to get one small path down to the road since the drifts are more than twice as high as the blower!

 

This was the back deck this morning…

 

And after the boys got it all shovelled off.  Normally there’s a 4 foot drop to the ground off the deck, but the snow is currently 4 feet taller beside the deck (the poor bushes will be in rough shape when the spring comes!)

 

I got myself stuck in a drift up to my hip & had to crawl out.  Meanwhile Digby was trying to bite my gloves off thinking I was playing a silly game.  Asher got himself stuck in the snow under the lilac tree.  He was standing straight up, the snow was up to his armpits & he could not move.  I had to help dig him out, & he ended up losing a boot, so we had to dig his boot out too!

 

Monday is traditionally Dominoes Pizza night, but unfortunately due to the snow, they are closed!  Now we’ll probably starve.

Snowflake Factory

We’ve been busy making snowflakes here.  Some are being mailed to the Grandparents, but we’re just having a lot of fun figuring out how to make different shapes & designs.  Here Asher demonstrates how to make a snowflake…

Stuck

A few days ago I heard yelling from the front yard.  Apparently Chancery had dropped her backpack off on the front steps & decided to walk through the snow in the front yard (which thankfully is mostly gone now).  Unfortunately, with the warmer temperatures we had that day, she sank right in & couldn’t get her boot back out.  What’s a mother to do in these situations?  Run out & help immediately, or get the camera?

 

Chancery was not impressed that I opted for the latter!

March Break

Well, it’s a good thing the schools call the break “March Break” & not “Spring Break” because so far, we have seen no signs of spring!  Two weeks ago, the kids had a week off school for March break, & while the weather wasn’t terrible, it wasn’t really the kind of weather you send your kids out to play in either.  So, we busied ourselves with cookie baking, farm visiting, & play dates.  Then the kids went back to school (hallelujah!), but it only lasted for 2 days.  Last Wednesday we had a blizzard, we got 21” of snow in a 24 hour period adding to the snow which still has not melted from earlier this year.

 

Due to Wednesday’s blizzard, school was cancelled Thursday & Friday as well.  Saturday & Sunday things went back to normal, but we had snow, ice pellets, rain & freezing rain Sunday afternoon & evening.

 

The kids are home from school again today due to the ice, & we are also under a winter storm advisory again.  We are having more freezing rain, & they are talking about school being cancelled tomorrow too.  More snow is expected tomorrow as well, up to 12”.

So far the city has had 154” (12’10”).  I guess if we’re going to have more snow, we might as well try to go for a new record, eh?  But I am ready for the kids to go back to school!

Snow Fort

We have a had a lot of snow already this winter, & the kids really, really wanted a snow fort, but the snow was not the right kind of snow for snow fort building (try explaining that to kids!).  Well, after awhile we had gotten enough snow that we just dug out under the picnic table, & viola, we had a fort!

 

The kids had a great time playing in the fort, but unfortunately (or fortunately, depending how you look at it), our snow has all melted, & the fort is gone… for now!

 

Snowmen

I recently went through my camera & found the first snowmen of the season hiding there.  It’s fortunate that the kids made these snowmen then since the snow we have had since has not been conducive to snowman building.

 

 

Here is Chancery’s incorporating the twine from the Christmas tree as hair.

 

 

And Asher’s has some dead flowers for hair.  We had carrots for the faces this time & did not need to use broccoli as we did last time, & the kids enjoyed the tortellini eyes!

Snow Days

Sunday we had a big snowstorm in the afternoon that left us with about a foot of snow.  Monday & Tuesday were cold, but nice days, then Wednesday we had another snowstorm that left us with another foot of snow.  The kids had no school, so in the afternoon we sent them out to make a snowfort!

 

It was tough getting around, but we told them that under the picnic table looked like a good spot, so they had to navigate their way up onto the deck.

 

Chancery got there first & decided to decorate the entryway with some mitten prints.

 

“Hello, we have arrived at what will become our fort!”

 

But then Asher became overcome with the urge to belly flop onto the big pile of snow on the top of the picnic table!

 

What fun!

 

It was still salvageable at this point…

 

But then the kids started scraping all the snow off, & it wasn’t much of a fort…

The main idea was to get the kids outside to get some exercise, & in that case, the mission was accomplished!

Experiment Time

A few weeks ago, Asher decided to do an experiment with snow.  He wanted to see how long it would take snow to melt, so he took some snow from outside where the temperature was 4°C.  The temperature inside the house was 20°C.  He took pictures of the snow every 5 minutes.  It took 1 hour & 15 minutes for his chunk of snow to melt completely!  We asked if he wanted up to put the results on Facebook, & he was adamant that we ‘publish’ it!

 

 

What did I expect would happen?

-I expected it to melt in 3 days.

 

What did I like best about this experiment?

-That it melted in only 1 day, & it was easy.

 

What did I learn from it?

- I learned that whenever you take ice in your hand, it would take about half an hour to melt.

 

Anything else you’d like to say?

- When it’s in a cup it takes 1 hour & 15 minutes.  And not half an hour.

Narrowing It Down…

…kind of.  If you have been following my coat conundrum, you will know that I have already purchased 4 coats trying to find a new winter coat that will keep me warm, has a powder skirt, & thumb holes.

I thought I should include a picture of my old coat so you know what I’m working from.  I really like this coat, it has served me well for 10 years, but it is getting ratty looking, & I’m starting to worry about the water-proofness of it.



After getting some feedback, I had narrowed it down to the blue Columbia coat.

(I tried to look happy in all these pictures since people were saying I should not choose certain coats because I looked less happy in the picture)

  






And I checked one more store & found this Liquid (I can’t find the exact one) coat.
  It’s a little longer coat, but it was only available in a Medium…











…so I called the store back & asked if they could order it in in a Small.  They told me the purple wasn’t available, but they could get the pink version in.  (Hello, my name is Sherilyn, & I may have a shopping problem)





I really like the length of this one, & I am confident that it will keep me warm.  I also think it looks nice, so WE HAVE A WINNER!!!
(and I have 5 coats to return)

The Coat Conundrum

Today I decided it was time to look for a new winter coat for myself.  The kids were both in school & I had no plans for the morning, so I set out to find it.  My old winter coat is 10 years old now.  It’s a bit dirty looking, frayed, & quite bulky, as that was how they were made back then.  Now, with new technology in coats, you can be warm, with 1/2 the weight!  That coat has served me well for the past 10 years, & I set out to find another 10 year coat!

I first stopped at Target, bought a purple down 3/4 length coat that happened to be on sale for almost half price, but after thinking about it, I decided it would not work very well for playing in the snow, or skiing, or the like.  So, less than 1/2 an hour after purchasing the purple down coat, I returned it.

 

Next, I headed to SportChek, & found a Firefly coat for 40% off.

 

I like this coat, but it is rather thin, & I was worried that I might not stay warm.  I really, really hate to be cold, & it can get very cold here, so I want a really good coat.

 

 

 

 

PChad told me to go check a few more stores, so off I went to Sporting Intentions.  I asked a lot of questions, & was shown a lot of coats of varying prices & warmth.  Nothing was on sale, so I had to settle for paying full price.  After much deliberation, I chose a Scott Coat.

 

 

I came home with the 3rd coat of the day, but it did not seem to be any thicker than the Firefly coat.  So, I decided to check Google for some comparisons & reviews.  Unfortunately both of the coats I had come home with are new this year, & so there were no reviews.  PChad decided to join me for another trek to SportChek.

 

 

 

We looked around & compared many different brands finally settling on a Columbia coat.  even though it wasn’t on sale, it looked to be a warm coat, & it was a little cheaper than the Scott Coat.

   

 

 

So, after buying 4 coats today, & bringing 3 home, it is time to decide which one to keep.  The key thing for me is being warm, the second concern is the colour of the coat, & how easy it would be to keep clean.  All of the coats have thumb holes, of which I am a big fan, so they are all comparable  in that regard.  So now, dear reader, which coat would you choose?

A Fair Bit o’ Snow

We have been having some fairly good snowstorms here lately.  These pictures were taken a few weeks ago, & we probably have another foot at this point, not to mention the nice piles where the guy who works for the city comes with the giant snowblower & blows all the piles from the plow up into our lawn.

Here Asher demonstrates just how deep the snow is in the yard.  His legs are totally immersed in the snow.

 

Now Asher is standing on the snbowblower pile, which has grown considerably bigger since this picture was taken.

 

I think if Asher had his way we would take pictures like this everyday to document the daily amount of snow in our yard.

The kids have gone out to play in it a few times, but it gets pretty crunchy & difficult to play in quite quickly.  Today the kids are having a day off school despite no new snow & clear roads.  I guess there is a storm moving in sometime today, & they are worried about kids getting stuck at school…  Asher is starting to like being home more than going to school, so I guess it’s time to break out the workbooks & do some learning!

Snow Much Fun!

Over the last bit of Christmas break, we had a good amount of snow.  We had had a storm earlier, but it didn’t leave much for the kids to build anything.  They were pretty excited to go out & make a snowman, so PChad went out & made one with them complete with broccoli eyes, mouth, & buttons.

 

If he seems quite symmetrical it’s because they cheated & used buckets!

 

 

Next Chancery requested a boat.

 

She has been obsessed with building a snow boat for awhile now, & was quite pleased to have one of her very own.

Then Asher wanted a throne…

from which to rule the backyard!

 

 

Chancery was even kind enough to offer the king a ride in her boat!

 

They have had a lot of fun in their snow creations, & with the temperatures staying low, I don’t think we have to worry about them melting away anytime soon!

Oh, Hello!

I’ve been negligent about blogging, but we’ve had a busy Christmas Season!  We’ve had snow, coughs, flu, gifts, & more snow!  While we’ve enjoyed our break from the normal activities, I think we’re about ready to get back to our regularly scheduled program!

 

The kids decided to have a snow picnic after our first major snowfall… yes, they ate snow.

 

This dump truck has remained on our picnic table as a good way to gauge how much snow we have.  Currently it is sitting on a wet, puddly table bereft of snow, but it has been totally covered in the last week.

 

This is the first snowman built after the first snow storm.  We raided the fridge to give him a face, complete with broccoli eyes!

 

Chancery was elated to get a Suggie of her own.  Asher began complaining right away, “Why don’t I get a Snuggie?”

 

…and he did!

 

Asher helped Daddy build the second “Snowperson” of the season…  apparently this one is a woman.

 

Asher figured since PChad did so much of the work that he should have his picture taken too.

 

And that is what we did on our Christmas vacation!