Maybe a scorpion???

I'm off to town to try to find something gross. Last night K let me know that she needed a gift for her Secret Pal today. Oops - we forgot! Each week for the past 3 weeks they were supposed to sneak their Secret Pal a little something without revealing who they were. Today at their Christmas Party they find out who's been giving them gifts. Said Secret Pal has a penchant for snakes, lizards, and similar creepy creatures. She's already given him a squooshy snake and a stretchy rubbery bean bag tarantula. Such lovely gifts. :oP (He loved them.) They were cheap - but K's insisting that today's gift has to be the best yet. I just don't know how I can top the tarantula if I only have time to shop in Altona. We'll see what our bustling metropolis has in the way of creepy crawlies . . .

For the party today her whole class is spending the day at her teacher's house. K's backpack was stuffed with a gallon pail of Puppy Chow (see earlier post), a head of Romaine lettuce (they're making tacos for lunch), gifts for the janitor and secretary at school, and her swimsuit and beach towel because they get to go in the teacher's hot tub. Her backpack would not even zip shut. She was sooo excited.

Okay - gotta run. I'm thinking I may end up buying candy . . . Unless I hit the jackpot and happen across a really cool scorpion or something. I'll keep you posted. :o)

Yay!

J got her braces off today!!!!!

Pictures yet to come . . .

Somebody made it home in the storm

Okay, so we're having this blizzard outside. It's 10:30 p.m. The phone rings. I answer it . . .

me: "Hello?"

caller: (in a loud, friendly, happy voice) "Hello!"

me: (thinking - who is this? sounds kind of like my step-mom, but quite unusual for her to call this late. I'm not committing myself by saying her name, but don't want to come off as rude, because whoever it is is being very friendly, so it must be someone I know.)

me: (friendly) "Hi!" (racking my brain, wondering WHO this could be)

caller: (pause) "We're home now!"

me: (longer pause) "O-kaaay. . . " (pause) "I think you might have the wrong number."

caller: "OH! Is this not Esther?"

me: "No. . . but I'm glad you made it home!"

-45 to -50 windchills

BLIZZARD TONIGHT AND SUNDAY MORNING THEN ENDING SUNDAY AFTERNOON.
ISSUED BY ENVIRONMENT CANADA
AT 9:17 PM CST SATURDAY 13 DECEMBER 2008


AN INTENSE WEATHER SYSTEM MOVING THROUGH THE NORTHERN STATES WAS EXPECTED TO GIVE SNOW AND BLOWING SNOW TO SOUTHERN MANITOBA TODAY AND TONIGHT. THIS SYSTEM HAS TRACKED FURTHER SOUTH AND AS A RESULT NOT MUCH SNOW FELL ACROSS SOUTHERN MANITOBA EXCEPT NEAR THE INTERNATIONAL BORDER. HOWEVER COLD ARCTIC AIR CONTINUES TO FEED SOUTHWARD INTO THE AREA TONIGHT AND SUNDAY. EXTREME WIND CHILL VALUES BETWEEN -45 AND -50 ARE EXPECTED ACROSS MANY PARTS OF SOUTHERN MANITOBA TONIGHT AND SUNDAY. NORTHERLY WINDS OF 40 GUSTING 60 KM/H CAN BE EXPECTED IN THE RED RIVER VALLEY THIS EVENING AND OVERNIGHT. VISIBILITY WILL BE REDUCED IN BLOWING SNOW AND BLIZZARD CONDITIONS ARE EXPECTED TO CONTINUE IN THE RED RIVER VALLEY ESPECIALLY NEAR THE US-CANADA BORDER TONIGHT. CONDITIONS IN THE RED RIVER VALLEY ARE EXPECTED TO IMPROVE OVERNIGHT. HOWEVER EXTREME WIND CHILL VALUES WILL PERSIST THROUGH SUNDAY. TOTAL SNOWFALL AMOUNTS WITH THIS SYSTEM ARE MUCH LESS THAN EARLIER FORECAST AND AS A RESULT VISIBILITIES WILL BE MUCH BETTER. HOWEVER THE EXTREME COLD WILL CONTINUE TONIGHT AND SUNDAY WITH WIND CHILL VALUES OF MINUS 45 TO MINUS 50 EXPECTED IN THE WAKE OF THIS MAJOR WINTER STORM.

FYI, -40 Celcius and -40 Fahrenheit are the same. It's miserable out there!

Saturday crafting

K and I have been working on a wreath and just finished it. I had this plain vine wreath that I got at a craft store a few years back. Every winter it's been whispering to me from the closet - "Remember you were going to make me into something beautiful?"

We added some pine that we cut off one of our trees and some pinecones. Also found some fake berries, etc. at the dollar store.

Yes, I know - the white pinecone at 9:30 sticks out like a sore thumb. Oh, well. It was part of a decoration from the dollar store.

Now - where to hang it . . .

We made Puppy Chow!

No, not the canine variety, but the yummy peanut butter/chocolate snack that does kind of resemble dog food! For the past few years during the pre-Christmas season, the local IGA has put out a stack of Puppy Chow recipes next to all the ingredients needed. This year I thought I'd give it a try. Here's the recipe:

1 box Crispix cereal
1 package chocolate chips
1/2 cup margarine
1 cup peanut butter
2 cups icing sugar

Melt chocolate chips, margarine and peanut butter. Pour over cereal in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Pour the icing sugar into a large brown pager bag and add the cereal. Fold the bag to seal and shake well to coat evenly. Spread on waxed paper to cool and dry.

Sounds easy enough, and it was. K helped me and even A had to give the bag a few shakes. Kind of weird to use a paper bag, but it worked! The icing sugar only seeped out a little during shaking. It's really quite a yummy treat. And of course, if you eat it on the weekend, the calories don't count. ;o) Right?

For J

Ugh - I have really been lax with posting lately! I've been wanting to post some pics of J since she had her 17th birthday the end of October. Yes, she's SEVENTEEN! (gasp! . . .we JUST brought her home from the hospital, didn't we?)

There are next to no pictures here of when she was a toddler - I'll have to dig deeper to find them! I know I took lots!

Here we go:



Bathtime in the kitchen in our apartment in Winnipeg . . .





Visit from Dad & Brenda . . .




Kindergarten . . .




First Grade . . .




Third or fourth grade (don't remember!) . . .




With A R during a visit to Minnesota . . .




With K in their matching dresses that I made them . . .




Ninth birthday . . .




Tenth birthday with K in front, C in back, and A on the right . . .




I don't know what grade this is!(but I'm guessing 5th?) . . .




J helping work on the piano. This is the piano that I learned to play on (somewhat!) when I was a kid. Dad and one of my stepbrothers brought it up to us from Minnesota. We refinished it and then had a piano technician do some work on it, but we did as much as we could ourselves. This step is replacing the stirrups (I think that's what they're called - little straps). We discovered that it was easiest for J to do this part since she had such small nimble fingers. She did a great job. Thanks, J! . . .




On a trip in the van somewhere . . .




J riding a friend's horse, Blackjack (BJ) at 4H. Funny, but we now have BJ in our corral keeping Prince company. He's on loan.




7th or 8th Grade . . .




Graduation photo for junior high . . .




Ninth Grade . . .




Tenth Grade . . .




Eleventh Grade . . .




Twelfth Grade . . .




Where has the time gone? Whoooooosh! We recently found her grad gown - had a fun time shopping in bridal shops in downtown Winnipeg (well, I had a fun day - I didn't have to change a gazillion times!) Now she's got her eye on a car she likes. Today she borrowed our car to go to Winnipeg on her own (with a friend - A) to go to the orthodontist. Soon she gets her braces off. She's pondering her future after high school - considering working a year, and then maybe training in nursing or paramedics or wherever the Lord leads her.

We love you J!

Love,
Mom