A Slimy Evening ...

February 25, 2017

After our delicious Greek dinner ... we headed back to the house with all the craft supplies ...

Ella really wanted to make homemade slim ... yuk ... !!!

Nathan and Alana ... helped out with this craft ...

A generous amount of pink and blue Elmer's Glue with sparkles ... was poured into a tubs ... 

Then a small amount of Borax was dissolved in a cup of water ...

 small amounts of the water was mixed in with the glue ...

 mixing it until it started to smooth gel ... it sure was sticky ...

 The kids mixed up some other colours of slim ... 

using  food colouring and mixing in sparkles ... they continued to knead and stretch the slim ...

 Craig was busy ... in his room ... working on his R/C truck ... 

He could here all of us out in the kitchen laughing and making weird sounds with 

handling the slim ...

Grandpa and Nathan checked in on Craig ... to see how things were going ...

Alana was having a fun time ... playing with the slim ...

she found some straws and started to blow into the slim blob ...

The kids were laughing so hard ... they wanted to try it ... 

Craig even came out of his room ... to see what all the commotion was about ...

James had blown the largest bubble ... it was massive ... !!!

They were having so much fun ...

The table was cleared of all the slim ingredients ... for Nathan to work on his (old) R/C car ...

He has had that car for years ... and since the boys were working on theirs ... 

he wanted to get his car up and running ...

It wasn't long before Nathan's car was working ... "it lives again" ...

the guys decided to go outside and race ...

It was getting late and dark out ... but that didn't matter ... the race was on ...

Nathan was surprised at how well his old car drove ...

against Craig's new R/C truck ...

While the guys were working and playing ...

Alana and Ella sat on the couch ... (with "Holly" the cat nearby) ... 

colouring in their Zen Colouring books ...

together ... sharing all the colouring pencils ...

I think Holly was feeling left out ... and decided to join them ... 

right in the middle of the pencil packages ...

Alana was playing with her ... and Ella laughing as Holly was clawing at the pencil ...

It defiantly was a full day of activities ... 

It was nice to spend the weekend with them ...

before we left for our holidays ... to Arizona and Houston ...

Last of the Baking ...

December 13, 2016

 

The cookies were rolled out and cut out with the gingerbread cookie cutter ...

then baked and left to cool ...

It was nice to see the elk by the fence again ...

 

December 14, 2016

The cookies were going to be iced ... and finished today ...

as they needed to be packed and sent to Daigen ...

The last batch of cookies to be made were the spritz cookies ...

This batch was going to be shortbread cookies ... with sprinkles for decoration ...

These are another favorite of mine ...

Shortbread made with cream cheese ... orange rind and a pinch of cinnamon...

pressed out as a flower and a little piece of candied cherry added to the Centre ...

These cookies melt in your mouth ...

mmmmmmmm

Daigen's box of Gluten Free Gingerbread men were packed ...

Ian ... Kendall and Nixon ... were getting an assortment of my Christmas cookies ...

The card that Ella created and the small packages of Smarties (the boys love Smarties ... they cannot get them in the USA) ...

were packaged up ...

All of these items and more were put into a large box to be sent to Texas ...

for Christmas ...

 

 

So Much To Do ...

November 21 & 22, 2015

After Oma's birthday dinner ... we went back to the house ...

to sit back and relax ...

James was so excited ... he had an experiment he wanted to show us ...

He had put an egg in vinegar for a couple days ...

then wanted us to see what was inside the egg ... with a soft shell ...

the only part left was the outer membrane ... inside it was still the raw egg ...

He had told me it was going to be messy ...

so I was prepared putting a cookie sheet underneath his hands ...

The next day ... the guys went outside to site in a rifle ...

and the kids helped Grandpa drive "Old Blue" ... out into the field ...

Ella and I had some "Girl Time" with the paper doll cut-outs ...

that I received from my friend Dagmar ...

I love that she shares these little crafting ideas ... !!!

Ella loved playing with the paper dolls ...

dressed them up and took all the pictures herself ...

Grandma did help with cutting out some of the smaller items on the sheet ...

Grateful to have them on file so that I can print out more at any time ... !!!

The guys came in from outside ...

and while they waited for lunch to be served ...

the boys wanted to whoop Grandpa's butt at Foosball ... !!!

After lunch ... Craig started to climb up on the logs ...

he was able to pull himself up and wrap his legs around it ...

Then ... of course ... daddy had to come along and show him how it was done ...

In Nathan's younger days ... he would pull himself around and sit on top of the logs ...

This used to be a contest with all the guys ...

when they came out for a visit ...

Before it was time to head back to Alberta ...

the kids wanted to go in the hot tub ...

Craig at one point was getting to warm and needed to cool off ...

and since the snow had disappeared from the ground ...

he decided that hugging the snowman would cool him off ...

After that they all went into the pool and quickly cooled off ...

sliding around on the ice ... than hopping back in the hot tub ...

to warm again ... !!!

Crazy Kids ... !!!

 

Houston Gang ...

It was delightful to receive all these pictures ...

the kids having a great time ... at the car show with mom and dad ...

Nixon being silly with his Daniel Boone Hat ...

and Daigen having fun at a friends birthday party ...

Daigen working on his iPad while wearing his arm compression bands ...

I love getting pictures of the grandchildren's artwork ...

here there are fish ... monkeys ... horses and cows ...

amazing what can be created with your hands dipped in paint ...

 

 

Celebrating Ella's Birthday ...

September 9, 2015

Ella wore her new outfit to school ...

that

she received for her birthday ...

She loved it ... !!!

Before heading to school ...

the boys gave Ella a big hug and kiss ... plus opening a few other little gifts ...

James gave Ella the Pokemon card ...

that she really wanted ...

After school ... Ella wanted to help decorate her cake ...

putting on lots of sprinkles ...

We had spagetti for dinner ... then it was time for Birthday cake ...

we lit the candles ... sang "Happy Birthday" and waited for Ella ...

to blow out the candles ...

Ella then opened up a couple cards that were delivered to the house ...

One happy little girl ... !!!

It had been a few busy nights for the grandchildren ...

so it was perfect to stay home ...

and do some new crafting ...

Once again my dear friend Dagmar ...

shared this craft of making Paracord Bracelets ...

At first the grandchildren were wondering how the heck...

were we going to make these ...

With a few instructions ...

they were on there way ... creating these bracelets ... !!!

(This kits give you the full instructions ... using the box as a guide for length ...

paracord and buckles ... to make eight bracelets ...)

They were in a creating frenzy ...

they loved it ...

I must say it was a very enjoyable ... quiet evening ...

with helping them with any issues that arose ...

Craig made the orange, red and green paracord bracelets ...

James was creative and made a multicolour bracelet ...

While the children were in school ...

it was my time to try and make a Paracord bracelet ...

I was amazed at how easy it was ...

I was ready to show them how to make them ... !!!

Craig, James and Ella are all into creating ...

with Perler Beads as well ...

Making designs on a grid ...

then covering them with parchment paper ...

for me to use the iron ...

to melt them ...

making sure all the beads were sealed together ...

We had a lovely evening crafting together ... !!!

 

Ella's First Knitting Project ...

December 27, 2014

Ella has been asking me to teach her how to knit ...

 I found this knitting kit for beginners ... with video instructions included ...

and gave it to her for Christmas ...

I was amazed at how quickly she was able to grasp the art of knitting ...

in just a few minutes ...

I was thrilled to find her sitting by herself ...

and knitting away ... 

saying the little rhyme ...

"In the front door ... around the back ... peek thru the window ...

and off jumps Jack "

Hoping she will continue knitting ... 

and finish making the scarf ... !!!

Proud of you Ella for learning how to knit ... !!!

Time to Experiment ....

December 28, 2014

James wanted Grandpa to help him with a few experiments ...

from his new Christmas gift ...

gathering the materials and then mixing it up ...

everyone excited ... watching the toilet overflow ...!!!

Well done James ... 

Craig was building his water contraption ... 

that transferred water from one container to another making a wheel turn ...

He also built a Pinball game ... the boys had fun playing with it ... !!!

Craig loves Lego ...

and this is what he built ... complete with working gears ... 

now he would like to get the motor to run the accessories ... great job building Craig ... !!!

We decided to go out for Chinese dinner ...

as nobody wanted to cook ... !!!

After getting back to the house ... from a delicious dinner ...

it was time to go to work ...

Nathan had deer meat that needed to be ground up ...

he wanted to make Pepperoni and Jerky ...

After placing the curing ingredients into the ground meat ...

using the new kitchen gadget for making sausage ... pepperoni and jerky ...

we had the job done in no time ...

The next day ... Nathan fired up the smoker ...

(that we brought from home)

and proceeded to smoke the first batch of pepperoni  ...

 he then continued to prepare the jerky batch ... !!!

We would have to wait to try some ...

as we were heading back home ... !!!

Crafting with Friends ...

Daigen ... Nixon and the Jennings Family ...

creating masks ... getting psyched up for Halloween ...

Then sitting on the diving board enjoying a snack ...

after swimming ...

They had a fun day playing ... !!!

Thank you Kendall ...

for sending these pictures ... !!!

Turn Table Playing ...

July 18, 2014

After the new flooring was installed ... we still had stuff to put away ...

All these albums (vinyl discs) were stored in the wardrobe in the living room ...

the kids howled when they saw them ... they had no idea of what they were or did ...

so Grandpa took the kids downstairs where we still have the old record player ...

he put on our boys Disney's  Children Favourite Music ...

James and Ella were laughing and singing to all the old tunes ...

Grandpa joined in to dance to the Hokey Pokey ...

putting his left foot in ... what a hoot ... !!!

The guys were outside in the shop ...

so Ella came in and helped me ice a chocolate cake ...

Craig was helping Grandpa with the VW ...

they needed to lift the body off the chassis ...

and then move the chassis outside ...

in order for Grandpa to back the trailer in to haul the VW body away ... 

"Hooray"  Craig said ... "We did it" ... !!! 

I was so hot outside ...

the kids decided to do some crafting ...

in the basement ...

It was nice and cool down there ...

um ... looks like Craig went a little stamp crazy ... !!!

After dinner ... the kids went out to ride their bikes and quads ...

Grandpa needed a hand ...

pushing the VW ... back into the shop ...

Great job you guys ... !!! 

A Faire Day ...

July 5 & 6, 2014

It was a great weekend ...

going to see Dagmar ... at the Kootenay Vintage Faire ...

in Nelson, BC

There were many beautiful and interesting displays ...

I was so pleased to see Dagmar ...

it had been almost a year since I had travelled to Kelowna for a visit ...

I finally had the pleasure of meeting ... in person... her dear friend Cindy ...

The two of them had shared this booth ...

to sell some of their treasures ...

I had looked around at quite a few things of interest ...

and saw this Pancake dispenser ...

I thought it would be perfect for our outdoor grill to make pancakes ...

for the gang ...

I had not noticed these little Corn Skewers until someone had picked them up ...

as there wasn't a price on it ... Dagmar needed to contact Cindy ...

the lady interested in them was going to come back the next day ...

in the meantime ... I had mentioned that I would love to have them ...

apparently the lady did not show up ... so Cindy was so kind to save them for me ...

I also mentioned that I once had a little rolling pin as well ... in conversation ... 

was so delighted when Dagmar sent me the picture of the skewers and the rolling pin ...

from Cindy ...

to be delivered to in August when Dagmar travels east for a visit ...

Thank you both Dagmar and Cindy ... I love them ... !!!

It was an extremely hot ... humid day ...

so while the girls were busy at the Faire ...

I decided to head down to Kootenay Lake ... for a walk by the water ...

dipping in my feet to cool off ...

a beautiful place to relax ...

Dagmar was surprised to see her sister Caroline and her husband ... 

travelling over for a visit ... 

Dagmar and I spent some time with them at their campsite ...

I had the pleasure of staying with Dagmar ...

at Cindy's little cabin and Cabana on the lake ...

we sat out on the deck in the early morning ...

with our coffees ... enjoying the quietness and the beautiful view ... 

After our breakfast and visit ...

it was time to head home ...

I decided to take the Balfour Ferry across the lake ... instead of the Kootenay Pass again ...

as I drove ahead to the line-up at the Ferry terminal ...

I was surprised to see Caroline and Larry ...

parked right in front of me ...

we had a great visit ... enjoying a cup of coffee and fresh Cinnamon Buns ...

before we were off ...

sailing across the beautiful lake ...

I had an awesome weekend ... !!!!