Chickadee Manor

(pretty, happy, funny, real)

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

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{pretty}

This was my view as I waited in the clubhouse for the kids to come back from their Jack Rabbits ski on Saturday afternoon.  Only six kids showed up and the two coaches.  It was about -46C with the windchill but the kids still desperately wanted to ski.  The Jack Rabbits coaches are a hardy bunch and it is never cancelled.  The ski might be shorter than usual but someone is always there, willing to take out whomever shows up!  In fact, on Saturday, one of the coaches cut a trail through the forest so that they could join up to the return portion of the trail more quickly.  Everyone was bundled up with extra layers and face protection and they all came back happy and without frostbite!

 

I was also loving the colours in this print on the clubhouse wall.

 

{happy}

This guy when it comes to his math!  He loves the Life of Fred books!  How often can you say that your child looks forward to doing their math and chuckles through the lesson?  (This was a serious pose he adopted because he saw me taking a photo!)  I'm sure I've mentioned this before but it is still true.  If we miss it I will often hear, "But, Mom!  I want to do my math!"

 

{funny}

So this is what happens lately when my phone is left unattended for any length of time...

 

The older three were drawing comics a while back and Dwayne discovered this one the other day...it took him a moment or two to compose himself again.

 

{real}

What our living room looks like most days - doll tea parties, Thomas & Friends engines and track set ups, an assortment of drawing materials, books, and blankets.  This is actually a less chaotic morning look!

 

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

 

 

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, at Like Mother, Like Daughter!  

Click over to see the link up for more everday contentment.

 

{pretty}

This little lady is appreciating the pretty a lot lately.  There are lot more frills, ballerina outfits, and princess dresses.  She's loving setting up little play areas for herself and toting all of her treasures around the house with her.  There are regular "picnics" and requests for bananas to be opened so they look like flowers.

 

{happy}

My parents gave the kids a crokinole/chess/checkers board for Christmas.  They are enjoying it SO much!  Many hours are spent sitting around the table discussing strategy and practicing being gracious winners/losers.  

 

{funny}

This little guy LOVES his engines.  If left to his own devices, he will get as physically close to the screen as possible.  The bigger kids have been helping him with track set ups lately and he has been quite appreciative, logging many minutes of the day playing with the trains.  

 

{real}

The Christmas decorations are still out.  I took them down early last week after Judah pulled the tree over.  My plan was/is to organize them and photograph them before they get put away in the big blue bin so that I can easily reference what we have without having to dig through the bin.  Well, the ornaments have been piled in assorted containers for over a week (with the giant bin as a centrepiece on the dining room table to keep the littlest hands from pilfering).  It's time.  I'm debating on whether or not to leave the little light-up trees in the living room for a bit longer as there are still so many dark hours of the day in January.

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

~ Capturing the context of contentment in everyday life ~

Every Thursday, at Like Mother, Like Daughter!

 

{pretty}

This last week marked what is likely the last of fall weather.  (There is now a dusting of snow on the ground.)  We stopped at the river lookout on our way home from church on Sunday to have a look at all of the new rocky islands that have appeared.  The water level is so low right now, perhaps its all time recorded low.  Directly in the middle of the photo are one of four major sets of rapids near us.  This set is called "The Rapids of the Drowned".  Cheerful, no?  I wish I had some close up photos for you because they are both pretty and magnificent!  Those rapids are so wild that they never freeze over completely, not even after weeks of 40 below!  I can actually hear them in bed as I'm falling asleep.

 

{happy}

This week we celebrated my dad's birthday.  I won't say how old he is or anything... ;)  

Happy birthday to my amazing dad!

 

{funny}

It's funny the things that stick and become part of family lore or traditions.  For example, once upon a long time ago, I opened up a new jar of peanut butter and, on a whim, wrote each of the children's names in the peanut butter with a knife.  Well, now every time we open a jar of peanut butter, I am expected to write in it.  The rules have relaxed some as Hendrik's name no longer has to be present as he doesn't like peanut butter.  We haven't added Judah's yet but I'm sure that will happen with the next jar!

 

{real}

The girls were all very excited to dress up for Halloween.  We really don't make a big deal about it.  Usually they wear costumes we already own from the dress up stash and Dwayne takes them to a few houses of friends and family for trick or treating.  The last couple of years I have stayed home with Judah and Hendrik to hand out candy to whomever happens to turn up at our door.  Last year I think we had three kids show up.  This year we had two!  TWO!  We have lots of leftover candy, or rather we had lots of leftover candy.  It has been disappearing and Dwayne and I have been expanding at the same time.  Mysterious...

Here are Riley and Abby as bats and Emma as a princess!

 

{pretty, happy, funny, real}

{pretty}

Of all the bedrooms, Hendrik's has the showiest view in autumn. The trees outside his window turn marvellous colours and also have berries. There are also climbing vines just below his window that come back each year (I still haven't got to that flower bed yet!). There are hops and morning glories.

 

{happy}

My lovely friend Rosie came to visit and brought me some of her homemade Pumpkin Spice Syrup.  So delicious!  Combine it with whipped cream and I am in coffee heaven.

 

{funny}

Judah has mastered the art of lounging.  Whether it be couch, crib, or bed, he knows how to be comfortable and slouches *just so*.  Last night he decided to actually wiggle in under the covers and get cozy.  It was so funny to watch!

 

{real}

 A new hairstyling trick.  A trick seems funny for the real section, no?  My real amount of hair twisted into a bun looks like this:

I can't even hide the bobby pins because they stick out on the other side of the bun.  The curse of fine hair!

My hair + hair donut looks like this:

I bought some in smaller sizes for the girls too (their are blonde in colour, mine are brown) so that we can all look a little bit more like ballerinas (or Princess Leia!). :)  I will snap a photo later on the girls with their hair-dos.  2 out of 3 have wet hair as they've just got out of the tub!

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Bonus entry - Accidental Otters

One or two {pretty, happy, funny, real} posts ago I mentioned how I was sleep deprived.  Well, further proof of that arrived in the mail today.  A few weeks ago, I ordered some school supplies.  I fell in love with an otter that I saw on the same website.  I had been fiddling around with my cart a lot, adding and taking things out, trying to find the optimum shipping sweet spot.  We live in a remote area and so sometimes dropping a heavier item or taking a couple of things is enough to get the shipping down by a signifcant amount.  I placed an the order late one night after I had been up with a teething Judah and dreaming Emma.  I didn't think much of it after that but the next day I placed an order for the otter I had been debating about.  The box arrived about a week later with the school supplies and the otter.  I figured that they had just combined my two orders into one box because they were placed so close together.  That was almost two weeks ago.  Today another box arrived in the mail with just a single otter in it.  I ordered the otter twice!  The kids thought this was not only funny but actually better because now Dwayne and I can each have an otter.  I found them posed in front of the dishwasher like this: 

Moral of the story - don't shop when you are ridiculously tired and not likely to remember what you bought in the morning.  Unless you don't mind multiple otters!