Going with the flow.

We had a lazy day today. The kind of day that just happens as it does. The kids and I kicked off the morning blowing bubbles outside but the cold crept into our bones real quick so we moved inside to the bath to continue in the bubbly splendor.
This afternoon my Grandpa stopped by to do a little wood filler surgery on our new piano. Hopefully soon the damage endured in the moving process will be camouflaged. Thanks Grandpa! He is so nifty, he can fix anything, all he needs is duct tape, solder or glue. It is amazing how he can extend the life of some old cast off. He even once made an old broken touch lamp a regular lamp just be rewiring it and adding a switch, what a smarty pants!

Tonight we headed down to our neighbourhood children's boutique store Crocus and Ivy for their Christmas kick off. I picked up Emily and Phil on the way....which is really out of the way but totally beside the point. Anyway, Mrs. Clause was there handing out awesome chocolate and candy cane coated marshmallows on sticks. (Emily is holding them in the photo above)
What a great idea for a Christmas craft project, I just might have to come up with a fun giveaway with all the cool ideas I am collecting. I will work on this one for a bit and closer to Christmas will announce it. It will be fun and exciting and shipped to your door if you win!

There was also a sleigh ride which almost didn't happen. It was supposed to start at 6 and go till 8. We arrived at 7:00 and figured we would probably catch the last ride. Turns out the horse trailer had a flat and it finally rolled in just around 7:45. Then they had forgotten the reigns and had to have a farm hand bring them in.
So we waited and waited and felt super sorry for the parents and kids who had been waiting since 6. Then since it was so late the rides were shortened to around 8 mins and involved going around the block twice. Now I really felt bad for those who had waited for hours.

We almost left a few times but managed to stay warm by going in and out and in and out of the store. In we would go all shivery then out we would go sweating since we had all these layers on. I am sure the multiple temperature changes couldn't have been good for us, but it worked at the time. The kids passed the time by eating their treats and getting into all the fun (and somewhat overpriced) stuff in the store.

For example they have these cute little magnet books--just two pages and the price is $10.00, I wouldn't think it was terrible or anything, but they have the same one at the dollar store for a buck. There was also this cute little 12x8 inch pillow with Ethan's name on it--simple and blue, nothing special for 40 or 50 smackers! Why so much?

Of course there are good deals on some things, but for the most part you could just go on line and shop and have it shipped for half the price. But then of course there is that part of me that wants to support little local joints and so I buy the occasional thing, eases the conscience.

Emily loved the horses and the ride, she was glowing and even ran up and petted one, who in return snorted warm breath in her face. She was so excited! It blew a kiss! Even thought the ride was short and it was cold it was totally worth the wait. Just seeing the glee on Emily's face, priceless!


In other news, Ethan is talking! He has now said....Dora, Dad, Mom, Thank you, tic-tac, Philip and up mom. For a little guy who is so quiet it is so neat when a word or two pops out.