Bi Yearly Update

So yeah it has been a while, I notice I haven't been on here since January.  That is seven months by my account.  Really I think I need to focus a bit more and stop with the weak facebook updates.  We need a real record of what has been going on.  So here it is.

It was a dark winter, it dragged on and on.

We needed fire to keep us warm. (first use of our fire pit)

Then February arrived and our youngest turned four.  Crazy.  He gets more interesting everyday.  No more diapers, no more naps, no more helping him get dressed.  Still needs bathroom help (teeth brushing, etc...) but he really is getting to be a big boy.

Unfortunately our oldest seemed to turn 20.    This was a special evening when we had a friend over and they put on a fashion show.  However, this does not bode well for the future.  More succinctly, "Watch out dad, this is going to be rough."

The middle child found his long lost twin.  There was much rejoicing.  Both of the older kids have grown so much.  The oldest is closing in on mom really fast.  The middle child is making up ground quickly too.  What has happened to our babies.

So winter ended and suddenly spring arrived.  The two oldest started playing soccer.  The youngest wanted nothing to do with his Tots Team so he just wore his shin gaurds and cleats to the others games.  There were wins and losses (not the son's team, undefeated, more craziness) and a giant final play day.

Also in the spring we got to meet two new friends.  Cleopatra and Wil David joined the clan. So great to have more little ones around.  Love the growing number of cousins.  Keep up the good work sisters.  We are officially done having kids.

We also sadly said goodbye to one of our favourite Davids.  He was much loved and is sadly missed.  Sometimes it is hard to believe that he won't turn up for a next visit.  Safe Journeys Uncle Dave.

As spring continued to progress swim meet season overtook us.  The middle child met some unexpected success and took home quite a few medals.

The oldest also had her share of podiums and made huge improvements.  As of August her dad can no longer beat her at any stroke over any distance.  He didn't figure he would be put so firmly in place after only 11 years of having children.  But he was.

The youngest didn't medal but he did learn to swim in the deep end and should have medalled for this amazing Urkle impersonation.

With the school year over the first few weeks of summer were all about Birthday season.
Daughter had a pool party.

 Son had a water slide party.  Both were a great success.

Dad's summer project of putting up a proper fence to keep the deer out of his garden came to fruition.  Next year will be under ground sprinkling and a green lawn.  Just don't hold me to it.

As the summer wrapped up the kids went to the swimming regionals and qualified for the provincial meet.  Provincials were a real eye opener.  We got to see how good the top swimmers in the province are.  We will see how much we can improve by next year.  Hopefully they both make it back.

By the end of the swimming season we were all a little pooped.

 As luck would have it that is the perfect time to spend at home in the garden.

 The zucchini was a neighbour's but the rest of the produce came from our garden.  Thank goodness for the fencing as we had a pretty great crop and no vegetables were harmed by deer (so far)

And lastly, this being a blog about what we eat I had to add a picture of us having Yaki niku.  We don't pull out the Teppan often but we always enjoy it when we do.

School in-service starts on Monday so the summer is pretty much officially over.  The first half of 2013 has been a roller coaster but that is the nature of life.  Lets hope the second half is just as interesting.  And lets hope I can be a little more regular with the blog.

Love out,

Slow cooking Sunday

So last week before we went skiing on Sunday morning I browned up some round ground and threw it in the slow cooker with the other ingredients I would normally use in chili and we left for a day on the slopes.  The aroma we came home to was so awesome. Even better was the realisation that we would not have to do much preparing to have dinner in the table real soon.  I think you can tell by the faces below that the chili was well received.

I also managed to capture one dinner this week.  It was salmon with cheesy mashed potatoes, vegetable soup and a festive summer salad.  The Mrs. has to be careful not to treat us too well or we may get used to the good life and be spoiled for anything else.

I can't recall if I missed this or not but the Mrs and the oldest also made cookies last weekend.  Gotta love people with baking habits.

Finally the tab managed to catch this evenings crock pot sensation(sideways unfortunately).  The Mrs. and the youngest stayed home from the hills today because he was running a fever.  But true to form I managed to get the crock pot stuffed with a Korean ribs recipe before we headed out for another glorious day at the hill.  And as before we arrived back home to the fabulous aroma of dinner almost ready to be served.  Unfortunately we also arrived back home to a hot little tyke.  Well kids get sick and then they get better.  Just part of life eh.  Back to dinner.  The Mrs. put together a cabbage salad which was nice because the ribs were pretty rich.

Finally here are some of the views we are enjoying from the top of the hill.  Hopefully next week we will get some video of the kids in action on the slopes.

Love out,

Friday Night Highlights

Well we got us some good at home Friday night last night.

We managed to stick our heads together with Crazy glue.  This is us trying to pull them apart.

Earlier in the day we got some turns in up at the hill.  It was a beautiful blue sky day with some nice fresh powder.  The youngest had a pretty good day but he can't seem to get the hang of slowing down.  Speeding up we have covered.  So it is a kind of heart in throat adventure.  

We got home just after lunch and had a slow afternoon.  Mine was pretty much wrapped up in spider solitaire.  As the evening progressed it was time for me to get dinner on.  We had kind of a snacky, slow progression on dinner.  We started with some Kettle Chips, good eatin.

We moved onto some Jackons Triggs,  for our unrefined pallets it was some good drinkin.

Then I got down to making the dough for the pizza.  Best part is giving the youngest a small ball of dough to work but setting him up right next to a sink full of soapy dish water. Well or course the ball goes in the drink. We rinsed it and then dried it.  Weird doing that with a ball of dough where you just carefully created the right balance of water and flour.  However, when the dough was all put back together it all worked out well. No harm, no foul.

All of these shots were taken with the Galaxy Tab.  I am still working on the steady hand.  However, which ever of my kids took the picture below they did an amazing job.  Two of my favourite people.

Love out.

Cookies Afternoon

We had a great morning skiing today.  We had a few fresh centimetres last night so the whole family got in on the powder action.  I also used our two new apparatus for kidlet skiing.  An edgie wedgie to keep his skis in line and a harness to keep him in control.  The little guy loved it.  It was a perfect end to our Christmas vacation.


Then this afternoon while I went into work the lovely ladies of the house made cookies.  Yum.

We had some friends over for lunch yesterday.  We had a great time catching up and hanging out.  Burk and Merry send their best to everyone.

After the party ended and our Midway friends went home, some people had a make over session.

Good times.

Sorry no food shots from the afternoon party.  It was a beautiful table.  My Pavlovian response got the better of me.

Colossal Borscht

Today the Mrs. Decided to make borscht.  I decided to try blogging on  the tab.

 In other news we are off to the races with skiing.  The little guy is actually getting it done on his own.  I am loving it.  So is my back.


The other three are doing very well.  The Mrs. seemed to really catch the hang of it today and cruised into the lodge on her final run like a real pro.  The oldest boy has found the feel for speed and basically enjoys going straight down the mountain.  It is nerve wracking but he hasn't killed himself or anyone else yet.  He has had one major public run in with a garbage can but he was right back on the horse. The daughter is doing her best to keep up with her friends who have many years of skiing experience.  After skiing with her I can definitely say she is holding her own.  Family ski passes has been an excellent gift to ourselves this winter break.  We are taking a day off tomorrow but hope to get up one last time on Sunday to finish off the holidays.

Not making any promises that we are back in the blogging game but with all the extra technology you just never know.