Kicking Jack Frost in the Snow Balls

What a whollop of snow we got yesterday! Yet today the sun is shining and it's a gorgeous day, nothing like the monstrous gusts and squalls of yesterday.  In all, there's 30 centimeters on the ground, heavy to plow and exhausting to shovel. But Scooby loves it!

Rural Friday Night Fun

Ah, the things the youths come up with to entertain themselves on a cold winter's night ...

The commotion woke us up and we saw the dirty rats in action as they sped off to do in the next mailbox.  Later the OPP said 20 mailboxes on our road were vandalized. Smashed. Demo-ed. 

Boo.

Thoughts of a Brass Monkey

It has been awfully cold these past few days and this morning the temperature is hovering around -18 with a wind chill that takes it even lower!  One of the old windows in our house needs desperately to be replaced.  How do I know?  So glad you asked.  Because it doesn't quite keep Ol' Jack Frost far enough away.  Take a look:

 On a more positive thought, my brilliant grade nine child has created a thing of beauty in shop class. During the session in metal shop, he made this rose. So gorgeous!
I can't wait till he makes me a Subaru Outback in auto shop.

Snowy News

So far this winter has been gorgeous, with lots of snow and not too cold days. Scooby has taken to posing regally at every opportunity, so I can't help but take his picture.

The danger of this glorious snow is that when unplowed, the driveway can be quite slippy. So slippy, in fact, that one's mini-van just might slide slowly and irrevocably into the ditch, as mine did.  But my knight in shining armour came to the rescue (the shining armour was really fleece and thin-sulate) and retrieved said mini-van out of said ditch, and he didn't even laugh at me.  Well, just a little.

Most Sincere Apologies

It has been far, far too long since my last blog post and I am sincerely sorry for the hiatus which was unintentional and entirely unforgivable.  In my defense, these past months have been busy ones.  A visit from relatives in Texas, a trip to the east coast with a gaggle of travel-mates, a week of glorious fun-filled camping, mad preparations for my new (LTO) grade one classroom followed almost immediately by mad preparations for my new core French classroom, which is PERMANENT!  The first weeks of school were crazy: learning how to teach core French in an entirely fresh and engaging way took up 110% of my time, and waking up with a racing heart before the sunrise really took it out of me. If I could sleep past 3 am, I felt somewhat rested ... and ready for the onslaught of the day. Now it is beginning to feel manageable, and my husband suggested I take a look at this long-neglected blog.  Et voila!

Now for pictures!  I will try to post some of the highlights from these past months. Enjoy!

First up: 
P's birthday in early October ... mmm ... cheesecake!

Somewhere in New Brunswick, at a touristy lighthouse that had information on local sights:

In old Quebec City, with the Chateau Frontenac in the background, on a day where the temperature fluctuated between blisteringly hot and unbearably humid: 

At low tide at Hopewell Rocks, New Brunswick, posing quickly before other beach-walkers ruined the picture:

Happy 80th Birthday, Poppa!!!!!!

What a terrific occasion to celebrate! P's dad is eighty years young and grandkids from near and far came to partake in the festivities and cake.  There was also fruit which on a hot and sunny day was a delicious treat.  

These cousins don't get to see each other very often because two of them live in Texas, far, far to the south. This heat wave is nothing for them. In fact, I had to convince them that parkas and Sorels weren't necessary.  


After the birthday cake, the kids sat nicely on the couch and let me take a few photos of them all together.  Thanks for not goofing off, guys!  

Four Score and Twenty Years ... or more accurately One Score Minus 4 Years ...

Today is the birthday of our eldest son, a milestone after which he'll be able to drive a car, become a life guard,save lives. He'll begin to narrow down what he would like to do with his life.  

Perhaps he'll join the rodeo.

 

 Or become a bear hunter.

 Or start to shave.  Oh, right. He's got that one covered.

 

We're looking forward to seeing what exciting adventures will unfold!

Con- grad-ulations!

From a wee four year old lad on his first day of school, our youngest monkey has grown up, acquired heaps of knowledge, matured in ways too many to count, and has conquered grade 8 with confidence and competence.

    

And he has the diploma to prove it.  (I know because I've seen it!)

Congratulations, J!  

School's Out!

As the school year winds to a close, I was the grateful recipient of many home-made cards from students, usually last-minue and hand-made. This one was memorable and is worth sharing.  Am I really the best teacher?  Um, judging by the spelling, no.  But judging by the creative use of phonetics, um, maybe I've had a modicum of impact. 

I love it. 

Almost as much as I love the mall.

The Grass is Always Greener

With so many acres to trim, the grass cutting becomes almost a full-time effort in the summer months, and calling in all the bairns is necessary to get the job done before sunset. We need to buy another mower ... or have more children.