~ The Cream Soda ~

On our trip into Prince George this Monday, we bought Lennah her first bicycle. Not another trike, but a big girl bike! Behold, the Cream Soda. It literally is cream soda pink, with sparkly streamers at the handlebars, the all important bell and a hand brake. She adores it! I hope to have more pictures tomorrow with Charley on her trike for the first time as well.

~

~ Early Spring in McBride ~

Lennah and her friends, Amelia and Sydney

Spinning Charley

Wheeeee!

Lennah and Lucas

Spring has come early in McBride this year. We've been heading to the park most days lately.

~

Charley's first time on the ice "skating", with a little help from her big sister.

This was probably Lennah's last time on the ice this season. Hockey ended today with hardly a bang. I'm glad Lennah had a good time on Wednesday at the mom and tot skate. It was so exciting to see Charley on the ice for the first time. Can't wait to get some skates on her this fall!

~

~ Figure Skating/Hockey 2009/10 ~

Halloween Party for Lennah's figure skating group. Lennah dressed up as Rapunzel.

Lennah's first day of hockey and Daddy's first day coaching.

I added this one just for fun, Lennah flaked out one afternoon. But, this was not the norm!

The official figure skating portrait.

Her medal from the Winter Carnival.


The official hockey portrait.

Lennah's first Jamboree, jersey and medal.

It's not been without a lot of tears; Lennah, me, Daddy too if he wasn't such a daddy! But, we've persevered. We spent much of the winter at the hockey arena, at times 4 to 5 times a week. Lennah was probably a little young to have been thrown into both hockey and figure skating, but she's done great. Lennah finished figure skating in late December and hockey is over next month. Looking forward to a much needed break before soccer starts in the late spring!

~

~ My Obsession ~

It's been an awful long while since I've posted any new updates or photos. It's been a busy couple of months. We were spending 4 days a week at the ice arena for Lennah's figure skating and hockey. Christmas came up so quickly and we spent some time at the coast with our families. And, next thing you know - it's the end of January! Not to mention my newest obsession, er hobby - KNITTING!

~

So, I'm going to be selfish and have my first post back about my knitting! The projects I completed for Christmas and for my ETSY shop.

The dishcloths.

The grey scarf for Auntie Julia and the pink scarf for Addison. I used the same pink yarn that my Mom used in Addison's afghan.

My "easy care" cactus' that I hope to be completing and listing in my ETSY shop! I've got to mount them in their terra cotta pots with gravel yet.

These scarves are my passion right now. Sari silk yarn, purchased from a seller: http://www.northcottwilson.etsy.com/ on ETSY. The sari silk yarn comes out of a women's collective in Nepal. It's fair trade with the money going back to the women who work there. They take sari scraps and make yarn. I've combined it with a mercanized cotton. My first one was with bamboo. I'm working on my 4th one now, the first one I haven't given away. I'm hoping to generate some interest in my ETSY shop with it!

You can see some of the beautiful jewel tones that just pop out with the combination of the black cotton.

That doesn't include the 2 lucky hunting toques I made for Nathan and Uncle Dan. Which proved lucky when Nathan got his first deer of the season the first day he wore it! The three scarves I made for birthday gifts for three local children. I've also made a couple of other scarves, for me and to sell. The need to create has become overwhelming! More on that later.

So, that's some of the new news with us. We have virtually no more snow, here in McBride. It's almost spring-like! Figure skating is over, I have some great photos and video of Lennah and the winter carnival to come. Hockey is almost over, with 2 tournaments left before we finish in March. I'm sad to say, I'll be happy to see it end for this year. More photos of hockey to come, too. Christmas was great, if not a little rushed and short on the visits with family - we'll see everyone soon, I promise. And we should have some more exciting family news to post in the next month! Stay tuned!!!

~

~ Halloween 2009 ~

The Evolution of our Pumpkin!

I thought Lennah would enjoy carving her first pumpkin - I was mistaken. I thought she would love to stick her little mitts inside and pull out all those pumpkin seeds - wrong! After making sure her fairy wings were on, she proceeded to draw the faces she wanted me to carve. I think she was surprised at the "eau du pumpkin", that seemed to seal the deal. She was having none of this messy job! It was now all up to me. I think with Lennah's direction, our pumpkin turned out okay!

~

Here are the kids in their respective costumes. Lennah as Rapunzel Fairy, Charley as our monarch butterfly, and my bad boy biker, Nathan

~

We had a great Halloween weekend, full of many firsts for both the girls. Lennah attended her first Halloween party at figure skating. She carved her first pumpkin. Both the girls trick or treated for the first time, and saw their first fireworks show. I found myself (and I think Nathan too) getting right into the holiday and enjoyed myself immensely.

~ Toilet Paper ~

I know I've been deliquent to the nth degree when it comes to my blog. But, here are a couple of photos of the girls to tide everyone over. I still have my sister's visit and Jasper camping trip to post, as well as Lennah's hockey saga, which continues. Keep checking, I'll some more for everyone soon enough!

~

Doesn't she look so innocent? NOT! We happened upon Charley after she'd disappeared for some time. This is the perfect example of why we've come to putting the toilet paper way, way up high where little "Corns" can't reach it. But she had fun, and we're almost finished using that brand new roll up!

~

~ Mom's Visit to McBride ~

I finally got a chance to give Mom a tour of McBride on Monday. First stop, the Whistle Stop Gallery and Beanery coffee shop. As we walked out of the train station this is what we viewed. I have never seen an entire rainbow! We witnessed not just one end, but both. Sadly, we were unable to see the pot of gold!

Next stop, Dunster. This is Mom outside the train station.

Then we were off to the West Twin Old Growth Recreation Trail. It's a 1.5km trail through an old growth forest. It was amazing and so beautiful. Hard to believe it was just along the side of the highway.

Next on our tour was Horseshoe Lake, with it's birdwatching gazebo.

My Mom came for her first of many visits (hint, hint) to McBride this August. She made it up on the 22nd, just in time for Lennah's 3rd Birthday party, that post to follow. We had a very busy 4 day visit. After the birthday on Saturday, I hosted a very successful Undercover Wear party - you're welcome Mom! Then, as you can see from the photos, we kept ourselves busy touring around the immediate area. I didn't even mention that the whole household came down with a cold while Mom was here - sorry 'bout that! We're so glad you could make it up to visit us Grandma.

~