Easter Greetings ...

Wishing all our families and friends ...
a Happy Easter ...
Enjoy this glorious Day ... hopping around ...
hunting and gathering eggs ... !!!

Let's Colour ... Eggs .. !!!

All ready to colour eggs for Easter ...

Creating using crayons with the boys ... 

Nixon was very possessive with his eggs ... he drew unique designs ... all over them ...

Daigen drew designs and words on his eggs ...
and really enjoyed ...
dropping them into the glasses ...
filled with dye ...

The Easter Bunny ...
will be thrilled to hide these eggs ...
for the children to find them ...
on their Easter egg hunt ...
Sunday morning .... !!!

I enjoyed every minute with the boys ... !!!

Under Construction ...

We were excited to drive up the driveway ...
to see that while we were away ...
the construction crew had started building the lean-to ...
off the shop ...

The metal roof was put on the framing in one day ...
probably another couple of days to finish it up ...
putting up the soffits ...
to prevent the birds from building nest up in the rafters ...

Excited to start cleaning things up ... !!!

Play and Rest ...

It was finally nice enough to go out and play ...
taking the boys for a walk and sledding ...
and it was a good thing we did ...
as the other storm dropped almost 30cm of snow that next day ...

Innocence of a Sleeping Child ...

Nixon was exhausted after playing outside in the fresh air ...
falling fast asleep on the couch ...
Shhhhhhh .... !!!!

Hats ... Shoes ... & Slippers ...

It was cold the last week ...
surprised when Nixon went and took out ...
his brothers' hat from his school backpack ...
doing a happy dance ...
around the ottoman ...
Daigen went to town with his mom ...
leaving Nixon to find the odd treasure ...

Nixon also loves to put on shoes ... slippers or whatever he finds ...
strutting his stuff for grandma ... !!!

Giddy - Up ...

Nixon wanting to go for a ride ...
but there is NO giddy-up and go with Brutus ...
Nixon loves his "puppy" ...
and
"Meatball"  who he calls "Meaty" ...
the dogs are great companions ... and very gentle
with the boys ...

 

Learning and creating time for the boys ...

Daigen putting on his reading DVD ... 

going thru his words and sentences ...

while Nixon is busy colouring ...

continually pulling different colours out of the box ...

Well done boys ... !!!

(Thankful that our wifi service is back...)

Snow ... Snow ... And More Snow ...

This was the beginning ... of the snow falling on Mar. 20th ...

Morning on Mar. 21st ...
roads were closed between Wetaskiwin and Leduc ...
due to 100 car pile-up ...
roads were treacherous ...
we were housebound ... not able to go anywhere ...
quite happy just to stick around the house and play with the grandchildren ... !!!

Morning on Mar. 22nd...
beautiful sunny day ...
the driveway was almost impossible to get out of ...
Kendall's Jeep was scraping the top of the snow ...
tires deep into the tracks ...
and Ian had already ploughed it the day before ...

Mike went out this morning to clean off the truck ...
after the crazy weather conditions ...
the last couple of days ...
We're heading south ... and west for home ...
to milder weather ...
Hoping Spring is further along there ... !!!

Hanging Out ...

 

Craig was hanging out with Grandpa ... 

at the skating carnival ...

He was so patient all weekend .. 

with James at his hockey tournament ...

and Ella with her skating ... !!

All of us ...

went for breakfast after an early morning hockey game ...

on Sunday ...

Ella and daddy snuggling ...

while James and Craig being silly with Grandpa ... !!!

And This Is Spring ... ???

After a couple of days of travelling north to see the kids ...
 thru extreme weather conditions ... of high winds ... snow and fog ...
we arrived at our destination ...
ploughing thru the fresh snow-covered driveway ...
to reach the house ...

 

Hard to believe that this was the first day of Spring ...

Ian having to plough out the road ...

only for the wind to start up again ...

and cover in the driveway ... 

March is definitely going out like a lion ...

in this neck of the woods ... !!

Happy Spring ... nicer weather soon to arrive ... !!!

Skating Carnaval ...

Ella had her skating finale show ...
the same day as ...
James hockey tournament ...
mommy and grandma ...
presented her with a couple of pink roses ...
(the ones that she had been eying out in the concession area)...
Ella was delighted to receive them for her participation of the event ...

 

It was so cute ...

watching all the little ones ... 

with Ella's group skating to the their song ...

"A Hard Days Night" by the Beatles ...

The other groups and soloists ...

from CanSkate to Seniors ...

gave the audience ... 

a night to remember ... !!

Well done ... !!

And He Scored ...

A great weekend ...
at a Hockey Tournament ...
watching James and his team ...
having fun ...
It was thrilling for all of us ...
when James scored his first goal ...

He was so excited ...
and continued to play hard ...
hoping he would score another one ...
and when he didn't ... Grandpa was there ...
and told him he did a great job ...
making sure that the other team wasn't able to score more goals ...
and hence they won their game ... !!!

The Colour Green ...

Ella dressed in green for St. Patrick's Day ...
and wearing her new little scarf ...
made with love ...
from Grandma ...

 

Ian had arrived home ...

 just in time to enjoy ...

a glass of green beer ... 

with his dad ...

Luck of The Day ...

 

May you find your pot of gold ...

whatever that may be ...

waiting at the end of the rainbow ... !!!

Weird Veggies ...

While shopping the other day ...
I stopped by these interesting vegetables ...
or fruit ...
I have always thought of picking a couple up ...
not sure of how they taste ...
was a little reluctant ...
but I think I will go out on a limb and buy them ...
and find a recipe to include them ...

A little information about them:

Bitter melon originated in India, and it was carried toChina in the 14th century.

Bitter melon comes in a variety of shapes and sizes. The Chinese variety is 20–30 cm long, oblong with bluntly tapering ends and pale green in colour, with a gently undulating, warty surface. The bitter melon more typical of India has a narrower shape with pointed ends, and a surface covered with jagged, triangular "teeth" and ridges. It is green to white in colour. Between these two extremes are any number of intermediate forms. Some bear miniature fruit of only 6–10 cm in length, which may be served individually as stuffed vegetables. These miniature fruit are popular in India and elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

Bitter melon is generally consumed cooked in the green or early yellowing stage. The young shoots and leaves of the bitter melon may also be eaten as greens.

Bitter melon is often used in Chinese cooking for its bitter flavor, typically in stir-fries 

(often with pork ) soups, and also in tisanes.

Will let you know what I think of them ... !!!

Oh the Aroma ...

 

 The coffee is on ..

ready for ...

anyone that shows up at our home ...

Come visit and enjoy ... !!!

(Love this little sign in my kitchen)

Lego Picture ...

 

James had sent this from his iPod  ...

a lego picture of his brother ...

Craig ...

I'll have to ask Craig how it was done ...

Quite amazing ... !!!

Seeds Planted ...

 

Yes ... Spring is in the air ...

last of the Cherry tomatoes were picked today ...

from the indoor garden ...

It's time to start the seeds ...

for my outdoor garden ...

in this easy to grow system ...

Grow light ... watering system ... and nutrients  ...

will make for hardly seedlings ... !!!

Blue Skies ...

 

 

Another beautiful ... blue sky ...

sunny day ...

temperature warming up in the afternoon ...

already 18 degrees ...

sitting out on the back deck ...

The snow covered mountains ...

were a brilliant contrast ...

against the blue sky ...

Amazing view ... !!!!