Christmas Vacation Crafts

The boys were a little bored over the holidays so we decided to make a paper mache volcano.  It took a few days of course as we had to cover the paper and then paint it.  The boys were not happy having to wait 24 hours for it to dry.

 Although we painted it black, the 'paste' combined with the paint turned everything the grey color.  Then the instructions told us to add food colouring and dish soap to the vinegar and baking soda.  I had never added dish soap and love the 'thick' lava that ensued.

 As you can tell, Nathan loved it!

The Hutterite boy and the jumping bean...

We went to Calgary the weekend after Carson's birthday.  Grandma and Grandpa had bought Carson a cowboy shirt for his birthday.  He was so excited to put it on that he put it on for the drive home and we had left straight from church.  Hence, the Hutterite boy!

As for the sink... I was working and Nathan was off school.  He thought it would be fun to take a bath in the kitchen sink and Rose didn't think it was a concern.  As the story goes, Nathan stated to jump up and down.  The seal on the sink gave way and it went crashing down.  Thankfully the bottles of soap, etc. under the sink kept the pipes from breaking at least!  I tried to prop it up so we could at least use it until Clarke came home and we could get it fixed.

Carson's Birthday

Carson as we were getting ready to sing to him!

 

Cutting his cake.

Opening his card from Fiona 

Fiona always buys the boys a book (or two) and now that Carson can read by himself he gets excited to see what she sends.

Lemonade Stand in early spring

The boys were bored over Easter break and with temperatures in the 20's they thought it was a good time for a lemonade stand!

Easter Cookies

So, the boys have been watching a little too much Ice Age.  For Easter they wanted to make some cookies.  So, we have the T-rex and her eggs!

Eeyore goes to the hospital

Nathan instructed me that Eeyore needed to go to work at the hospital today.  He thought he would have lots of fun.

Eeyore answering the phone on LDR.

A minor procedure in the OR - when we sent this picture to Nathan he got very upset and wanted Eeyore home right away

Eeyore, fully recovered from surgery, handing out at the Maternity Clinic.

February Break - Seeley Lake and Snowmobiling adventures

We went down to Seeley Lake,  Montana, for a week of snowmobiling.  Or at least that was the plan.

We told the boys to go to the bathroom before we left.  2/3 used the bathroom.  One choose the tree!

The Eeyores joined us on our trip.  This is the big Eeyore so he got to ride up front.

We got to our condo late on Friday so all we did was settle in for the night with plans to go sledding first things on Saturday.  Clarke had bought a 'new' sled the night before we left.  We hauled it all the way to Seeley to have the engine cease and it never left the parking lot at the top of the trail head.  Because the boys are bigger, we need a second sled so we packed up and drove to Missoula, to the arctic cat dealer, to buy another sled.

The lineup of sled trailers at the trailhead.

Just off the side of the road outside Missoula.

Nathan got sick on Saturday night.  It was easiest to sleep in the bathroom, right next to the toilet.  The nice thing is the bathroom has a heater in it so we cranked up the heat and he managed to sleep for a few hours, nice and toasty.  Then Jay got sick.  We missed church and  I stayed with the boys as well while Clarke and Carson went out on a ride.

Clarke unloading the sleds.

Monday we finally got to go out as a family and go sledding.  The weather was great.  We went sledding that morning and then on Tuesday for most of the day.  We had to go back in to Missoula to pick up the sled covers and the boys wanted to go swimming and to see the Lego Movie.

Wildlife that we saw on the side of the road.

Some more of the herd...

We went to Famous Dave's BBQ:

Our fist visit to Famous Dave's BBQ.  Somebody is happy!

Wilbur the Pig!

Clarke chopping with the minions watching.

Trail cleared!

We had to stop for a few downed trees.

Getting stuck!

The snow here was a good 3-4 feet deep.  The boys were sitting on my sled while Clarke tried to pack down the snow where we were so we could get out of where we were.

Finally turned around and ready to head back.

Stuck at the border trying to get the sled across the border.  The boys plugged the computer in and watched a movie on the floor of the rest stop building to kill time.

Always be prepared...

 Apparently it is always a good idea to be prepared... full head protection is necessary to watch Curious George on Netflix on the iPad!

Making Salad

The boys decided to make supper for Patches, the guinea pig.

You can see how full the bowl is!  

Nathan's first time skating

 Nathan has always somehow managed to escape putting on ice skates.  We have taken him with us when we have gone skating but he always wanted to just run around in his boots.  Skating is an activity though that they do at school here as the arena is within walking distance.

The arena provides these great supports for the kids to grab onto and skate.

Nathan was actually doing really well but was sad that some of his classmates could skate better than he can. 

After skating - sweaty and grumpy.

Nathan actually did really well for having never been on skates but he says he is never going skating again!