Sunday and the snow is melting

I can't believe how much snow we got over the past couple of days!!! I doubt it will be here past tomorrow as the weather is warming up. Erin was so excited to see the snow on Wednesday it wasn't even funny! When she went outside as we were going to school, she happily exclaimed: "Mummy! It's Christmas!! Santa is coming!! We need to put out cookies and milk for him so he has a snack to eat!" She then proceeded to join in the fun at school with a bunch of the other little ones throwing snowballs and catching snowflakes on their tongues. We had to have another yearly discussion about avoiding snow on the ground, especially if it is yellow!

It was nice to be off this past Friday - it has been a few weeks as work has been very busy for me lately. I really needed it and Erin and I had a great day. We lounged about for a little while before heading out to run our errands. Most important of the days' errands on Friday was the first parent - teacher interview for me. Unfortunately Gord couldn't make it, but Erin and I went in to meet with Ms. Hudson. Of course I want to gush because she spoke wonderfully of Erin and how pleased she is with how much she knows - all of her letters, capitals and lowercase, so many of her numbers, and how artistic she is. Erin will be the first JK in her class to join the independent reading program, as her teacher feels she is more than ready to start reading on her own. I was wearing a proud mum smile all day!! I couldn't wait to call Gord to tell him - he wore the proud dad smile after I told him the glowing report!

The afternoon was fun for us too. We picked up Emma and Erika, then Richinda and headed into Ottawa to the ceramics place we went to last weekend. Richinda and I wanted to pick up our pieces (which turned out great if I do say so!!) and we decided to let the girls paint some ornaments as gifts. Erin created some beautiful pieces and had lots of fun!!

Saturday was a big cleaning day for me. Gord and Erin cleaned the barn for a bit then ran a few errands so I had a bunch of quiet time to clean. Cleaning always feels good when you start and when you finish. Luckily I had a couple of visits to break up the day!!

Today Erin and I had a lazy morning of watching a couple of kids shows, making some more Christmas gifts, and colouring. When Gord came back from the skeet shooting club, he saddled up Charlie and we all went for a long walk. Erin did so well and rode Charlie all by herself (with Gord walking close by of course) for just about the entire walk! We did get a bit of a scare though when we came back up to the house and Charlie decided to take Erin for a little run. So Erin experienced her first run on Charlie and experienced her first fall off a horse. I thought I was going to throw up when Charlie took off, but she was fine and immediately wanted back up on his back. No fear......

Well, back to the routine tomorrow. Erin is excited to be going back to school and I'm trying to figure out where to dig out of my own hole of tasks at work! Can you believe there is only 1 month until Christmas????!!!!

First Snowfall - November 21st

Pony Love!!!

Charlie is now home and loving every minute of it!! He and Addie are getting along fine. Minnie is a bit put out, but I'm sure she will reassume her leading role over the barn soon!! Erin is in heaven and is having a ball. She has been carrying around her picture of Charlie all week!!

I'll sum it up this way... last night she had to go out and say goodnight to Charlie before bed. She came in crying telling me how much she loved Charlie! Gord said she had to go up on his back so she could give him a proper hug goodnight! If that isn't love, I don't know what it!!

Enjoy the pics!!

Meet Charlie

So, as I mentioned earlier, we were going out to Fitzroy Harbour today to meet a pony Anestasia found for Erin. I guess I am going to have to add Charlie to the title of this blog!! He is a cutie! Here are the pics that Anestasia took. We are bringing him home next weekend. Erin took a little tour about on him, led by Daddy and was grinning ear to ear!!

Great Girls Weekend in Quebec City!!

Jo and I got back from our fabulous trip to Quebec City Sunday night. We had an amazing time!! We got on our train early Friday, and got into Quebec City at 3:30pm. We decided to walk to our hotel - the Fairmont Chateau Frontenac.... that was a mistake!!! (My idea!!!!) It has been a very long time since I have been there, and evidently I have forgotten how steep the streets are!!!! It was a good 20 minute hike up hill all the way. To boot, the streets and walkways were mostly cobblestone!!! I have been battling a nasty cough and boy did it show!! I had no lung capacity for that! Oh well, we made it and the day was beautiful. The hotel was amazing!!! There was a big international figure skating event going on and many skaters from all over the world were staying at the hotel. Saturday evening after dinner, Jo and I sat in the hot tub for a while and chatted with an American pairs couple.

I just realized that I started writing this a week ago! Tells you how quickly time gets away on you!!

So, anyway, we had a great time with some great food, great drinks, good shopping, and even better conversation! We also had a terrific couple of hours having a manicure and pedicure at a local spa - it was gorgeous and nice to be pampered!! It is always nice to get away for a couple of days, although we were both missing the kids quite a bit (and Gord and Chris of course!!!)

My battle with my cold continued to the point of finally breaking down and seeing a doctor. The cough still continues, but it is less and less and I have something to help calm the cough at night and help me sleep. Erin has pretty much lost her cough completely, so I am happy of that.

Gord has been off this past week, along with his brothers and his brother-in-law engaging in the annual tradition of the deer hunt. The deer did not fare as well as the moose this year, but 2 is lower than in years past. That being said, we have had some nice dinners with a few folks a couple of days of the week.

Erin continues to long to be in school every day. She is fine when we leave, but she has put on a couple of performances the days she has been in daycare! Again, I am so glad she loves school!!

The weekend has been quiet and uneventful to this point. Sunday we are going to see a horse that Anestasia found that looks to be a good match for Erin. His name is Charlie. We will see if we come home with less money today or not! This is Erin's Christmas present!!! There will be a few things from Santa, but this is from Mummy and Daddy! Needless to say Erin is pretty excited. I think it will be fun to have another animal around too - one that doesn't live in the house!! We also have another fun present for the whole family - as we have decided to get going with a pool. We are going to try to get as much of the work done this fall, so it won't take much time in the spring to get it finished and ready to swim in. Again, all of us are really excited about that too!! So all of our presents this year are outside presents!

Well, I think I am going to try to get a bit more sleep. Erin needed to pee early this morning, so I thought I would take advantage of being awake to get a few things done, including updating the blog.

Enjoy the pics of Quebec City! I'll let everyone know how the pony review goes later!