Snow Day

We had a really good snowfall two weeks ago. It was the second snow of the season but was the first powdery, heavy fall so it was perfect to play in. Maya claims we've never built a snowman before (even though I'm sure we have at some point in her life) so we built this guy. We didn't make arms for him, but he's still pretty cute.

The dogs LOVE playing in the snow. Often when we let them out of their area (on the west side of the house) they go bolting around the back and up to the other side of the house and then back again. With the snow on the ground they kept on doing that over and over. It so cute to see them enjoy running through the snow.

 I love this picture of Lucy skidding and sending snow spraying as she rounded the corner.

Halloween

Maya, dressed as Elizabeth Swann from Pirates of the Caribbean, went trick-or-treating with Luke (AKA Harry Potter) and Annabelle (AKA Hermione) this year. They had a lot of fun together and thought it was extra exciting that Maya got to be in charge for part of the time and they could go without an adult.

Keeping with the pirate theme, Maya carved a pirate pumpkin with an eye patch and I decided to go for a spooky looking Jack-o-lantern. Maya chose the largest pumpkin she could find - this guy is about the size of a large beach ball. We were a little unorganized for Halloween this year so Josh didn't manage to get his pumpkin carved.

My favourites are the 4 little pumpkins that Maya drew faces on and named after her 4 favourite characters from the Books of Bayern series that she is reading.

Later in the evening we went to trick-or-treat at Mum's house and were surprised to run into Batman there. Really, not every day I see my Dad dressed up!

We also ran into Kate and a couple of Maya's friends so Maya went out with them for about another hour. She got in a lot of candy collecting time this year! The funny thing is she doesn't like a lot of the candy and she wants to be healthier so she's only eaten a very small amount of her stash. And - believe it or not - I haven't eaten any of her candy either!

Cupcake Decorator

Maya recently became very interested in decorating cupcakes. She watched several You Tube videos on cute cupcake ideas and has a list of them she wants to make for different events throughout the year. She could use some better decorating equipment, but these sunflower cupcakes are the first design she made.

 

Mum's 64th Birthday

We had the pleasure of Mum and Dad's company for dinner on Mum's 64th birthday. Isn't she beautiful? I am very blessed to have such a wonderful mother who is willing to do anything for anyone. I love you, Mum!

Josh's 30th Birthday

Our Josh is growing up. He celebrated his 30th birthday this year. Maya made him a "Candy Card." She chose the candy and message herself. It says: You may be a nerd, but I still think that you should be in New York on Broadway. Hugs and Kisses, Maya.

When Corinne was in Australia the last time she took some beautiful photos of Australian landmarks and scenery. Josh loves them and she gave us some of the prints so for Josh's birthday I got them all framed. We have yet to actually get them on the walls, but I think that's on the to-do list today! Our house is kind of a shrine for Australia, but I guess that's okay - we do love our Aus!

We celebrated the end of Josh's roaring 20's by having a "How to Host a Murder" party set in the 20's. It was a lot of fun dressing up and having some friends over. I won't tell you who the murderer was, but you better be careful when you come to our house in the future! Josh was a gambler and bootlegger and he won the Oscar for best performance.

Maya and Kate didn't have a role in the night, but they dressed up and helped out with serving dinner. They spent the rest of the evening having their own little party downstairs. I bought the red, red lipstick that the girls are wearing to go along with my costume but after Maya borrowed it she lost it and I didn't get to use it! It showed up a few days later but I don't see myself having a lot of use for it in the near future.

Our jazz/illegal bootleg club:

Maya's New Bike

It was time for Maya to get a full-sized bike this summer. She spotted one that she loved (blue - her favourite color) when we were shopping for a new washing machine at RC Willey. The only problem was that we had to put it together and the instructions were terrible. Maya was rather skeptical of Josh's ability but we got there in the end and only had to ask Mark for help with one thing!