Bunny Day 2015

Robin and Gaëlle decided we needed Chocolate Cake Waffles with whip cream. I'm not sure why but they saw a picture and decided this was a "MUST TRY" recipe. 

The final creation. It was good. After all, what's not to love about warm chocolate and whip cream? 

Peter has several volleyball tournaments this spring. Last Saturday we were in Truro for the first one. His team had enough players to enter 2 teams. One team came in 2nd and the other team came in 4th. 

Peter seems tall to us but all of the teams had a couple of tall players. He does well at the net blocking the ball and really enjoys volleyball. It's fun to watch which is good, because we'll be watching a lot more in the coming weeks. 

Today is Bunny Day. There is still so much snow on the ground so I made clues and sent the kids around the house. Only 10 clues and they were apparently easy.

 It didn't take the kids long and when they struggled, I gave more clues and they were quickly on their way. 

The final clue led to a basket of candy. Bunny Day 2015 is over again. 

Snowy Travels

Josh turned 26 this week. How does this happen? How do the years fly by so fast? Emily posted this picture of the 2 of them at a wedding last June at Catons Island. This summer Josh hopes to be at Family Camp at Beulah. I can't wait!!!

Last weekend Robin and I traveled to Fort Fairfield, Maine to present at the church there. I used the time in the car to get some writing done and some planning. We were able to have lunch with Kaylin on our way and then spent Saturday night with Dean & Carol Stephenson and really enjoyed our time together.

Sunday morning it was snowing a little, because that's what it does around here on Sunday. It snows. But let's just say New Brunswick has the coolest snowplows. We couldn't tell if the back end of the truck was being swept around by the wind. 

As we passed it we could see that it was angled to plow one complete lane of traffic and the shoulder all at the same time. 

Robin's mom grew up in Fort Fairfield and so before we headed home, we tried to find the home she grew up in. Robin is positive this is the house. 

We had a great time at the church there. It's a small congregation but they were friendly and hosted a soup social afterwards so we were able to talk with some of the people more. 

Our drive home was a bit of an adventure. Once we passed Moncton, the blowing snow became an issue. We would drive along and it would be perfectly clear, and then we would have to slow down to almost nothing as it became white out conditions. We could hear on the news that there were a couple of multi vehicle crashes that afternoon. And when we were at Stewiacke, a vehicle spun around and went off the road right in front of us. 

But we made it home and then wouldn't you know it, school was cancelled on Monday. The kids were staying with friends for the weekend so that worked out well for all of us. We are so thankful for their support and help. And so thankful for churches to invite us to come and share with them. 

It's March Madness

On Robin's last day of work, his co-worker took him out for ribs. Robin has huge respect for the people he works with and will miss the camaraderie, but so far is not missing the job at all.

Robin's cooking interest is coming out a bit. He got a craving for his mom's gingerbread cake. So he made some. Unfortunately, it was not quite like moms. I think he over beat it and it was too dense. He'll try again. 

March is birthday month around here. Kaylin got Peter a shirt that just made her laugh. Peter loves it. 

I tried a new cake for Kaylin's birthday and that's what Peter requested for his birthday cake. For the past few years I think we've had the lemon meringue cake. This year it is Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake. It is like a giant cookie. 

It is currently March Break for the kids. No school. Robin is off so on Tuesday, he took the kids bowling. He got a picture of Gaëlle in her eclectic dress style. She loves skirts with leggings under them. 

The big story of March is our snow. On Sunday we had a storm that shut a lot of things down. In fact a lot of churches, including ours, had services on Saturday night. Then Wednesday morning we woke up to another blizzard. We knew it was coming but we ended up with twice as much snow as we thought we would get. And it was windy. All day long. 

We haven't worried too much about the snow on the back deck, but during Wednesday's storm, Robin decided he should clear it off. So he climbed a ladder and went to work. 

After lunch we all went outside and had a go at it. 

This is the view from the road to our house. The black car is pretty much covered. 

I don't know if you can tell but Peter and Robin are standing on snow trying to dig down. 

Robin and Peter were outside for 3 solid hours. Whew. 

This was a good afternoon to be inside playing games. I haven't played the Bazaar game in a long time and had forgotten how great it is. It's from Discovery Toys and one of the games my mom got at a garage sale. I just have to say that I have loved all of the games and puzzles we have had from Discovery Toys. Good times.

The Girls Come and Go

While Emily was home she went through some of the work from our homeschooling years I had saved. It was so interesting to hear her comments and observations. She has not only survived but flourished in her 4 years of university and now in her masters program. I was actually impressed with how organized I was during out schooling at home. At the end of every year I compiled a summary of what we used for the year and the concepts covered. Interesting. 

I think Emily and Kaylin and Josh would make great speakers at homeschooling events because they all have interesting perspectives due to their current situations. 

One thing Emily said, was how much she hated math at home. And yet, when she got to public school she realized how strong she was in math. So, as I reflect, was there anything I could do to make it a more positive experience? I don't know. 

It's also interesting to hear Peter's perspective on social studies/history in a traditional class. He is not a fan. And when I observe how it has been taught in his last 5 years, I agree with him. Boring. And yet Emily would say it is something we did well at home. So, there you go. It was easy to learn history and social studies in a home setting and seems to be difficult to do well in a traditional class. 

Emily also took the chance to try out some of her Speech Language Pathology skills on us. She said it was so she could see normal. So there you go. One normal girl.

One normal mom. 

Kaylin was so busy with school and work while Emily was here, so the plan was for Emily to drive to Moncton on her last Friday here and spend the night, coming home on Saturday. Wouldn't you know it? We were hit with so many storms while Emily was here and Friday was no exception. The winds were too high on the Tantramar Marsh Highway between Nova Scotia and New Brunswick so Emily was stuck in Amherst before she decided to come home. 

New Plan. Robin drove Emily to Moncton early Saturday morning so she wouldn't be too tired during the drive. The girls spent the day together and then Robin and Emily drove home at night. 

Flexibility cannot be overrated. I think it's a skill we will need in Haiti so we might as well embrace change of plans.  

Emily left Sunday morning and was able to fly out without any issues. It was so good to see her. She is working so hard and doing so well. I can't believe all that she is learning. It's all fascinating. 

Kaylin came home on the bus Wednesday. Just in time for her 21st birthday. It's always so nice to have her home. She was busy studying for most of it, but it's just nice to have her presence. 

Gaëlle and I made a Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake. It was different but pretty good. After all, how can you go wrong with peanut butter and chocolate? 

Halifax has been having a crazy time with snow and ice build up. There have been 4 schools in the city that have been closed all week because of issues with their roofs. Friday Kaylin called me at work because Peter's bus didn't show up. We didn't even think to look. But it turns out the roof on his school is now leaking. So... he got a day off. He spent some of it drawing. He does so well. 

It's been a quick time with Kaylin. She goes back to Moncton today so that she can work tonight. But it's been great to have her and Emily during February. We are so thankful. 

Holiday Monday

For Black History month, Nova Scotia Symphony put on a free family concert called "Black is Beautiful" featuring composers of colour. The concert was held at the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. It was very well done. 

I don't know if you can tell but there were a few pieces that encouraged the audience to participate. 

The conductor made sure to share the history of the piece or type of music throughout the concert so I learned quite a bit. There was a ragtime piece by Scott Joplin and a jazz selection from Miles Davis and even a song by an Afro-French composer called Le Chevalier de Saint-George who lived at the time of Mozart. It was a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

When we left the concert, we could see part of the movie set from a period piece being filmed in Halifax. 

We always have fun deciding what to do for Valentine's Day. Gaëlle and I looked through some of the ideas online and she decided to make candy kabobs for her class. She would have been happy for me to do the card part for her, but I encouraged her to do the whole thing.... so she did. She was thrilled with the outcome and I was pleased with her effort.

It's often a topic of conversation of what we will take to Haiti with us. It's been suggested that we take the waffle maker. So for our Valentine's Day meal, we had chocolate chip or blueberry waffles. Always a hit. 

Emily is home!!! She arrived Thursday night and we were all so happy to see her. Peter invited her to draw with him so the three of them say down on Saturday and spent some time drawing. Love this. 

On Saturday night our church hosted a Valentine's Day meal as a fundraiser for their upcoming Haiti missions trip. So Robin invited Emily and the 2 of them went. They both had a great time and Emily was able to see some of her friends which was also nice. 

We have had nothing but snow around here for the past 2 days. So all churches in Halifax were cancelled on Sunday. So we stayed home. We played a Bible Trivia game. Some of the questions were hard and some were easy. 

Then I took a song by Christian artist Jamie Grace called "Do Life Big" that was based on the verse John 10:10. We discussed the life of Jamie Grace briefly. Then we talked about the lyrics and what it means to "Do Life Big". It was nice to have Emily with us to aid in our conversation. 

Emily is taking a class which discusses the impact of literacy in language. So she wanted to go through the kids books and take some back with her. Her pile was getting bigger and bigger and Gaëlle was getting bit stressed at times to think of all the books Emily wanted. Emily hasn't made her final decisions but I had a lot of fun going through the books with her. I kept thinking my mom would have loved to be doing this with her also. 

Here is Emily reliving her childhood and loving every minute of it. 

Sleeping Beauty

Well the past 2 weeks have been filled with the flu. Every single one of us has had it at some point. We all had different sleeping spots. Robin and Gaëlle tend to camp out on the couch and fall asleep. Peter would go downstairs and promptly fall asleep. I'm the only normal one who would go to bed for my naps. Fortunately we are all on the mend. Still coughing. Still a bit tired, but getting better. 

Robin decided to shave his hair off. He is now going for the smooth bald look. Everybody wants to know what I think. Well, I'm getting used to it. 

Snickers has held onto one stuffed animal for a while now. Whenever we come home, she runs to find her toy and joyfully comes to greet us. Well, the mastodon was losing it's stuffing beads, so we are letting her choose between a frog and a dog. She's trying them both out here. We haven't seen her carry them yet, but we do find the dog in different spots. So I think she will soon greet us with her new friend. 

The purging continues. I went through the kitchen cupboards a few weekends ago and put aside anything I can't see myself using in the next 6 months. It was easy to let it go. Well, most of it. I have great memories of all of the checkerboard cakes I made, but it's time to let the cake pans go and all of the other kitchen items that are not used on a regular basis. My cupboards are much neater and cleaner. One step closer to putting the house on the market.

Post Christmas Fun

One of the Christmas food traditions I never forgot to do is making Peanut Butter Cups. I bought the mold at the "Shop of the Christmas Elves" in Yarmouth the first year I was married. And I used the recipe they gave out. I have made them every year since then and they are definitely a family favourite. This was the last one of 2014.

One afternoon, the 5 of us headed out to Peggys Cove for a winters walk. It was a great day but a bit brisk. 

There was a bit of posing. Father - son.

More posing. Husband - wife.

Windy posing. Mother - daughters.

Father - daughter smiles.

We stopped at the bakery on the way home. NS does have some colourful buildings and this is just one of may.

Robin took the kids to the oval one afternoon when I had a project I was working on. Gaëlle did a great job with the skating even though this was the first time this year.

Halifax has a new library in the downtown area. It is great. Another afternoon we took the kids there so they could have some fun.

Robin and I brought our "Beyond the Fence" To Do List and got some work done. Again, notice the colours. NS loves colour. 

Last Sunday morning we had a snow/ice morning. Robin managed to get Kaylin back to the bus for Moncton, but we decided to stay put for church. So I put together a Bible Verse Scavenger Hunt. We had our devotions and hated to miss church but had a great morning together.

Over the holidays we managed to play a few games. Ratuki is a new game to our family but Vashti introduced it to Robin and Peter last year when they were in Haiti. They loved it. It is a fast paced game but an easy one to teach others and fun to play.

On New Years' Eve our church hosted a games night. Quite a few families showed up and we all had a great time together.

On New Years Day we used the "Holiday" Dishes for the last time. After our meal, I packed them all up in a box for storage. We will store them until Kaylin is ready to use them. We don't plan on being here next year to use them. A bittersweet moment.

It was so nice to have Carol and Rob with us on New Years Day for our Soup Joumou. Carol's smile may just rival Gaëlle's. 

We did play a few rounds of Ratuki with them. 

And we pulled out the Scum cards for even more fun. Scum is another one of those constants in our lives. We were introduced to the game when we lived in St Andrews and it's just a good fun game to play.