Autumn surprises

Autumn really is my favourite season and I think the boys feel the same. They love it when the fallen leaves stick to the windscreen on the van, then squel with delight when they flutter off as we are driving along! Their other favourite game lately has been catching the falling leaves and/or throwing them up and catching them.

It keeps them entertained all afternoon.
But alas, look what we started to see on our trip to Kelowna this weekend.....snow minged in with the glorius Autumn colours.

And then yesterday it happened.....we got our first snow fall. Sam came running in to the kitchen, face beaming and said "Mum, it is real snowing now. I am so happy!!!" and turned and ran back to the window. So I guess winter is Sam's favourite season now.

The kids were eager to have their 1st play and 1st snow ball fight for the season. I had my 1st fall down the icy stairs this morning so my 1st hasn't been a good one. I am however looking forward to all our winter activites, and going skiing as a whole family.

I think for now I am going to take my weary tush and sit in my comfy knitting chair and finish a scarf I started almost 7 years ago with my beautiful grandmother. There is only a few rows to go and it will be lovely to give it to Harry. I started it before he was born and he will get it just before his 6th birthday. I sure hope my other projects won't take that long!!!!

Happy snowy days.

My latest sewing project

I was very excited to make this birthday banner for my niece for her 2nd birthday. The pattern is from Amanda Blake Soule's book "The Creative Family". I loved making them and I am looking forward to making some for the boys now too. They are a great project to learn to sew on and there is things that I will do differently next time of course, but that is all part of the learning experience!

I made a little bag too for her to keep her banner in. I made it a triangle shape to remind them of what is inside. I had a lot of fun making it especially as I got some help from Kevin's grandma. It is so nice to spend time with her and even nicer when we have a project to work on.

Happy 2nd Birthday Arwynn...

Tradition and a strong family bond

I would like to introduce to you Grumpy Guy.....

While he may be a strange looking fellow he is a very much loved part of our family. He originally belonged to my husbands grandfather. When he sadly passed in early 1999 Kevin and his cousin Jodi both expressed interest in becoming Grumpy Guy's new owners. Kevin decided that as he would be travelling overseas for a few years that he would send Grumpy Guy to Jodi with a note, offering to share him. They would each have the pleasure of his company for a couple of years and then send him back. This has been going on ever since and we just received Grumpy Guy back in our home. He still contains the original note Kevin sent Jodi, a photo of the two family's from 1988 and a new note that Jodi composed updating Grumpy Guy on the past 10 years.

I love that they started this tradition, that their family love is strong and unlike most family's, instead of feuding over a piece of memorabilia, came up with a new, fun family tradition. The best part is that the kids were interested in the story and it sparked some lovely conversations between us all. I think it is a great way to bond and I would love to hear what traditions you have in your families. So I will leave you with this beautiful image of my niece Arwynn doing her Grumpy Guy impression.....priceless!

Welcome to the 'cottage' and.....

Firstly, thank you so much to everyone who sent emails or left comments during my absence. It was so lovely to read your well wishes in such a trying time. We are through the worst of it now and I feel content with how things have worked out. They are still not how we had hoped but at least we have a roof over our heads and are all together, warm for the winter.

Here is where our plans went a little sideways. We are unable to get into our new home just for the moment so we have had to rent a house, no lets call it a cottage so it feels more like a holiday! It is a gorgeous, old 'cottage' on the hill just outside our little town.

At present (before the snow flies) we are parking on level ground to the house, just near the garden shed. However when it snows, we will be parking down here.......

Yup, down the bottom of this flight of stairs. I can just see me now with bags of groceries, crying kids and snow covered stairs!!!! Are you laughing yet?

Lets cheer things up a little and go inside.....first stop, the living room.

A small but cosy space. I can see myself snuggled on my chair knitting the winter away.

My new 'nook' in the kitchen where I can work and oversee the kids at the same time.

Upstairs there is 3 bedrooms, a bathroom and laundry. The boys keep asking why did they build that bathroom upstairs but it does comes in handy in the middle of the night. We have had to store most of our belongings and just kept the bare essentials here. It will certainly be an adventure this winter and boy will the kids have a blast toboganning down these hills!

I also wanted to share some very wonderful news indeed. My niece was born on October the 9th, beautiful Iris Tierra. Well done Melanie and Ron. I know you will cherish this precious little bundle.

Time to move

Today is the day we start moving! Of course things haven't quite gone to plan but I am really excited about 'moving' forward. We are one our way to our new house via a rental for awhile. Moving twice in 6 months may sound crazy to some but I am trying to keep it all in perspective. At least I have a house to keep warm for the winter, and we own a house that we will move into in the next 6 months. Some people are not so lucky. I read on someones facebook comment the other day, "If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's,We would grab ours back!" I am grateful for the things in our life right now and I look forward to what is to come. (Please remind me of this tomorrow when I am pulling my hair out packing and unpacking boxes!!!)
So I will be distracted with moving for the next few days but I am so excited to return to writing here real soon. In all the chaos I have been working on a few projects and I am excited to share. Have a happy weekend and I will catch up with you all soon.

Golfing bliss

With another busy week behind us, it is so nice to have the opportunity to look back and reflect on it. Our time has been full, working, packing, cleaning, birthday parties, get togethers, and welcoming the cooler weather.
I work at the local golf course and when we took the boys there last week the golf pro noticed that the kids didn't have their own kid size clubs. His kids are older now and he graciously brought their old clubs for my boys. We were all thrilled to bits and so grateful. As we weren't able to make it back out to the golf course the kids turned the front yard into their own driving range and what fun they had! They spent hours seeing how far they could each hit the plastic balls, trying to hit them into cups and around other obstacles.

We were also spending the morning with my beautiful niece Arwynn. She happily played on the sidelines and occasionally gathered up balls for the boys. Then after they were all golfed out, it was time for the sand pit. Meanwhile, I managed to finish off a dishcloth I was knitting, sitting in the warm sum watching over the little ones. It was lovely.

The dads went for a mountain bike ride.....

We bought a utility trailer for all our trailering needs

Sunday I was called to arms early in the morning to go for a horse ride to Rossland. Well, of course I said sleepily and pack up the kids and headed off. Daddy was spending the morning golfing with friends. The boys played with Alex and we were off.....happy days.

The perfect Sunday combination: Betty and the morning sun!

Finding My Feet

"I'm finding my feet. I'm finding my toes.

Toes are good for balance you know.

I'm finding my feet. I'm finding my toes.

As on this journey, forward I go."

I find myself this week, finding my feet, so to speak. We are in the process of preparing to move. In the process of dealing with banks, Realtors, tenants, landlords and a whole mix of paperwork, deadlines, hope and disappointment. Sometimes even the most carefully laid plans come, well, unstuck. The direction seemed so straight and clear but we have found we are on a short detour. Life is all in how we handle it right? So I am trying to enjoy the new view.

This past week Harrison started grade one at Glenmerry Elementary.

How exciting! I wish I could say I took a picture of him off to his first day, or his first week even, but it didn't quite happen. I feel like all the emotion of the first day of school, I did when we were in Australia. I was really proud and happy to see how excited he was to return to full days. I did not see any fears or worries from him at all. So today on his first day of his second week and the first day he braved the corridors on his own, I took a picture. And what a handsome very grown up 5 year old I have.

He has a lovely teacher, Mrs Partridge. He is also in a split class with 11 grade one students and 9 grade two students. He is enjoying himself and loves his new friends, "I just don't seem able to remember their names mum!"

Sam being the very big 3 year old he is had his first day of nursery school today. He will attend Monday and Wednesday afternoons from 12 - 2:30pm. A nice little break from mummy and some welcome noise and activity to help fill the void Harry left when he started school. Sam painted and crafted and played the afternoon away. I am so glad he likes it there.

I took a well deserved break on Sunday and headed to the Garlic Festival in New Denver with my dear friend Krista ( I know I am talking about New Denver again!!!) As you can imagine there was heaps of garlic to see. I didn't realise how many different varieties there are. It was pretty amazing. There were lots of colourful market stalls and it was lovely to walk around and take in the different sights and smells. I picked up some garlic of course, some garlic sauce that was originally developed as a cold tonic but doubles as a cooking sauce!! I found a cute shirt and a beautiful woven basket. I have wanted one of these baskets for a long, long time. I thought it was about time to treat myself. What about the shirt you say? Well clothing is a necessity you know!

On Friday we decided to catch up with some friends at the local golf course where I work. We thought we would introduce the kids to golf by playing on the putting green and driving range. It was a lovely evening finished off with a lovely dinner. The kids and adults a like had a great time. I highly recommend it to you to try with the little ones. I think next time though I will try to find some kids size clubs!

Sam eager for this new adventure

Arwynn Darwin Sweetheart helping Sam get the balls out of the "oh hole"

Here comes another one Arwynn!

Harry lining one up and......

Cracks it! Wohoo!!!

Sam struggling with his over sized club!