Poppie's apprentice

Brynne gets a bird's eye view and first cooking lesson from Poppie on how to cook a delicious bacon & egg breakfast.... naturally, she required her very own spatula.

Brynne's 1st Christmas - quick clip

Andy filmed and edited this short clip.

Christmas images 2010

Age old truth

The wonder of Christmas is best seen through the eyes of a child.

Guess who's coming to Nana & Poppie's house for Christmas?

just three more sleeps to go!!

Christmas Chandelier

Andy threaded each of these ornaments with fishing line and passed them to me; I then suspended each of them from the dining room chandelier to add a little extra festive cheer. In keeping with our family tradition, the Christmas tree will remain ornament free until the kids arrive. It's mom and dad's job to put the tree up and affix the lights; the kid decorate the tree ... even if that means waiting until December 23rd this year ... no messing with Christmas traditions!!

Mmmm.... Butter Tarts

My mom and I made butter tarts today: 53 of them, to be precise. I've yet to meet anyone who doesn't love a butter tart, have you? Butter tarts are the quintessential Canadian dessert. In fact, as Canadian writer and icon Peter Gzowski said: “They're part of who we are.” From the research I've done, the butter tart's history traces back to the arrival of the filles de marier (marriageable girls) who emigrated from France to Canada in the mid-1600s. The imported brides had to improvise with whatever they could find, ie: maple syrup or sugar, farm-fresh butter and raisins. Butter tarts soon became a staple of pioneer Canadian cooking, and they remain to be identified as a Canadian pastry. In fact, did you know the butter tart is considered one of only a few recipes of genuinely Canadian origin?

P.S. My mom brought these tart liners over today. Because I am not a big pastry person (my mom mixed this batch of pastry up from scratch), I had no idea these liners existed ... but I can tell you they make for easy clean up!! Just line them up on a cookie sheet and away you go!

Norman is rockin' the Santa suit!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas! The countdown is on ... just 8 more sleeps until we Rachel, Tyler and Brynne come home!

Singin' the sling blues...

ok, it's been a week since I had my arthroscopic shoulder surgery ... a week to adjust to not having the use of my right arm, a week of wearing the "Slingshot 2" and immobilizer 24/7. The only time it comes off is to shower, or when I do my exercises. The sad news is I have 5 more weeks of sling wearing until it can be banished!

A week is sufficient time to compile a Top 10 list of the things I hate about wearing a sling 24/7:

1. I can't pick up & cuddle my grandbaby Brynne (even when she comes home at Christmas);

2. keyboarding with one hand (it's slow and tedious);

3. sleeping on my back;

4. not being able to use 2 hands to wash my hair in the shower;

5. not being able to style my hair without assistance (Andy holds the hair dryer, I work the round brush with my able hand);

6. not being able to use a knife to: spread butter, cut my food, chop veggies;

7. not being able to drive;

8. wearing only button up shirts (of which I only own 3);

9. not being able to do anything crafty (scrapbooking, sewing, card making, or playing with photoshop) or decorate the house for Christmas; and

10. not being able to cook or bake anything that requires separating eggs, peeling, use of a can opener, rolling pin, or scraping of any kind. No rolled & decorated Christmas cookies this year!

*sigh* ... I have been trying really hard to make peace with this sling ...

to S-L-O-W down. Who knows? I may even read the book "In Praise of Slow" Rachel read this summer, and left with me to read. It still sits on my bedside table. Looks as though I'll have the time to read it now!

All tuckered out

Saturday night ... after a busy day running errands with her mommy and visiting with Tyler's extended family, Brynne finally gives in. I love how she snuggles in with the Cat in the Hat, tenderly laying her right hand on his face, before drifting off to sleep. How adorable.

Rachel and Brynne flew home early Sunday morning, much to Tyler's delight. While I couldn't pick Brynne up with my arm in a sling, she was just the "get well" tonic I needed and kept me amused with her fake cough and all manner of exaggerated noises. The upside: I'll see the whole family in less than a month @ Christmas!

Brynne's "safe place"

Cushioned on all sides, and surrounded by all manner of teething toys. Pure happiness at Nana and Poppie's house.

P-P-P is for Piglet!

Description: Brynne in her Piglet (a very timid pink pig, about 10 inches tall) inspired clothing
Piglet’s Style: Likes to wear a long striped shirt
Piglet’s Original Address: lives at Trespassers Will, 100 Aker Wood S.W., In a Beech Tree, South of Pooh's House
Brynne’s Current Address: lives in a land far, far away from Pooh’s House
Piglet's Best Friend: Winnie-the-Pooh
Brynne's Best Friends: Wallace, her green croc and Alphonso, her pink rabbit
Piglet’s Favorite Food: Haycorns
Brynne’s Favorite Food: Milk, milk & more milk!
Piglet’s Favorite Things to Do: Adventures with Pooh
Brynne’s Favorite Things to Do: Play with daddy, making gurgling/yelling noises reminiscent of a baby Chewbacca, jumping in her jolly jumper and swinging in her swing!
Brynne's Other Favorite Things: Enjoys having books read to her, and just like Piglet, she loves bright colors and balloons.
What She Does Every week: Hangs out at the Starbucks with her mommy and spends quality time with her friends Sauyen, Matthew and Renata.

David's 50th Birthday Mosaic

All the siblings were on hand to celebrate David's birthday together - a good time was had by all!

MMMM.... homemade mini donuts!!

We are hosting David's 50th birthday party tonight with a pig roast. We wanted to give the extended family an opportunity to re-live Erin & Lyden's wedding rehearsal pig roast with all the fixin's, but this time, without the turkey and Andy's mate's turkey fryer. We served yam fries at the rehearsal dinner, but without the turkey fryer, we were thinking we'd have to break down and buy a deep fryer, but then Erin told us her workmate had one and was looking to give it away, so we volunteered to take it off her hands. After spending some time last night cleaning the fryer, it was ready to go! I decided to try my hand at making donuts ... something I had always wanted to try my hand at, so I looked up a recipe and made some mini donuts as a little treat for people to enjoy as they turn up for the pig roast. Because I'm always looking for ways to incorporate more fibre into my recipes (and the recipe said I could), I used 1/2 whole wheat flour and 1/2 regular white enriched flour ... and they were delicious, especially hot from the fryer, but I suspect using all white flour would undoubtedly make these little gems a bit more tender, a melt in your mouth experience. What was I thinking using 1/2 whole wheat flour?

Another Wedding Mosaic

...created from some of the professional wedding photos.

Brynne watches Rubber Ducky on You Tube

Poppie selected Sesame Street's all time classic, Ernie singing "Rubber Ducky" for Brynne, which she thoroughly enjoyed! At only 4 months old, she is being entertained and amused in front of a laptop screen. How times have changed!

{Note: I tried uploading a short 18 second video clip but for whatever reason, it wouldn't upload, and I get a message to try again later, which I did, to no avail. *sigh* You know the saying "If at first you don't succeed .... " maybe I'll have success later!}

Thanksgiving Weekend Mosaic

We had what seems like a quick visit with Rachel, Tyler and Brynne this past Thanksgiving weekend. Brynne had certainly grown a lot since we last saw her. We had a big breakfast on Saturday morning and Sunday enjoyed the traditional turkey dinner. Monday was rather low key, Erin and Lyden came over in the afternoon and we played a few games of Wizard (what else?!) and then it was time to take the kids back to the airport for their return trip to Vancouver.

Enjoying the fruits of our labour

Picked these beauties today from our humble garden ... nothing tastes better than home grown organic vegetables!

Enjoying the 4th day of Autumn

What an absolutely glorious afternoon! Andy and I spent about 1.5 hours walking down by the river today, capturing these images. The only problem with autumn in Calgary is that days like these, are short lived. All too soon the leaves will drop leaving the trees bare; a constant reminder that winter will soon be here. *sigh*

Car Seat Cutie - Then and Now

Brynne, asleep in her car seat, 6 days old, and a current photo of her at 3.5 months .. she's growing like a weed!

A note from the past...

Andy found this note and photograph while tidying up the storage area yesterday, amongst a box filled with my grandmother's photographs and memorabilia. What's odd about this note & photo is that I have no idea who the children are in the photograph, or what their relationship might have been to my grandmother, or why she would have kept the letter/photo carefully preserved with her memorabilia. The letter is addressed to "Terry", and reads as follows:

"Dear Terry,

     We enjoy problem corner very much. Mr. Hanson marvels at your knowledge of housekeeping. I hear quite often people asking about stains on carpets. I clean house for different people who have wall to wall carpets. I use two tablespoons of vinegar, two of detergent. Rub it over the stains with a clean cloth. This does not sound a large amount, but goes a long way. I have found it to get stains such as tar and crayon off. Trust this finds you all well.

          Mrs. Erick Hanson"

Even more amusing is the handwriting (not in my grandmother's hand) on the back of the photo which reads: "Mary Ann and Terry (a smile would crack her face) Sun. Sept 18, 1938".

Missing moments like this ...

In this clip, Poppie entertains Brynne assuming the role of the "kissing helicopter" ... and I'm missing moments like these even moreso NOW, after learning that Brynne started giggling this past weekend! I can only imagine all the ways Poppie will have Brynne giggling when we next see her. Can't wait!

Country Yard Sale

Went for a drive south and west of Calgary and came upon a big "yard" sale ... not so much a yard sale as a barn sale, filled with all manner of cowboy/horse gear, including the board game "Horse-Opoly"!

Bye-bye Brynne

Our sweet little Brynne headed home today to Vancouver. We sure enjoyed having her (and her mommy & daddy) with us for the past 8 weeks! We've gone from having 9 people in the house, to just Andy and me. We are officially empty nesters!

Exploring the mountains

The day after the wedding, we headed off to the mountains with Teresa, Sarah and Danny, spending one night in Jasper. On our return trip to Calgary, we spotted a bear, just off the highway. A hike @ Heart Creek rounded off the final week of holidays.

Erin & Lyden's Wedding Mosaic

What a beautiful day it was!

Double Chocolate Fudge Cups ....yummm

decadent, and delicious, especially when served with fresh strawberries and whip cream!

My Special Girls

update from this.

Royal Tyrrell Museum Mosaic

Christine joined our family outing to Drumheller today and a good time was had, by all!

Lovely day for a ride down by the river

I just love, Love, LOVE this sweet face!

Baby & Wedding Shower Mosaics!

August 21 - Erin's wedding shower held at Erin's maid of honour's home. (The big photo is the beautiful bride to be, and her proud mother, Marg.)

August 15 - Bynne's baby shower - both events were timed a week within each other so that Teresa and Sarah wouldn't miss out!

The Calgary Zoo & Prehistoric Park!

Danny reads Curious George to Brynne

Brynne kicked her feet and waved her arms through the entire book of Curious George! She LOVES it when people read to her!

Sarah, Danny & Teresa help pick Saskatoon Berries!

Day 3 and we went berry picking, and within hours the berries were converted into jam!

Sarah's first S'More!

To round off day 2 in Canada, we had a backyard fire, roasting marshmallows and Sarah was initiated into the Price family tradition of making delicious s'mores.

The English have arrived!

Teresa (Andy's mom), nephew Danny and niece Sarah arrived on Saturday...and Teresa finally got the opportunity to hold her first great Canadian grandchild.

Sunday ... their first full day in Canada was a busy one. Brynne's baby shower was today. I woke up early (6:15) to bake a banana loaf before breakfast for the baby shower. Upon rising, I noticed there was a puddle of water in the guest bathroom, a result of the the toilet overflowing! Not a great way to start the day... but the problem was soon resolved, thanks to some fine plunger action! After baking the banana bread, I whipped up a batch of homemade buttermilk pancakes (Martha Stewart's awesome recipe) for breakfast, served with home-made saskatoon berry syrup and of course, the regular standby, pancake syrup! After breakfast, it was off to church.

Above: The watermelon "baby carriage" filled with fruit salad and other goodies for the baby shower.

While the shower was happening, the boys went to the Calgary Archery Range and timed their return perfectly with the end of the shower, returning just in time to make dinner!

Andy enlisted some help from Danny and Sarah who acted as his "sous-chefs" in the kitchen, seen here, ready to whip up a huge batch of meatballs!

Nanking Cherry Jelly

Last night I picked these cherries at my friend Lori's house, with a whole lot of help from her, her daughter Amanda and 3 of Amanda's friends. After having picked 8 litres of wild saskatoon berries, picking these cherries was a breeze! These ruby red delicacies are somewhat tart and make absolutely delicious jelly. Tasting the remnants of the jelly clinging to the pot brought back many happy memories of jelly making from the Nanking Cherry trees in our yard of our Mountview home ... 13 years ago! Thanks Lori!

Morning Play Time with Nana

photo taken this morning.

The big day will soon be here!!

just two weeks to the big event!