The "Kitchen Sink" Post

I cannot believe that tonight is the last night of November 2010.  Where did November go?  Holy doodle!
From the looks of my iPhoto collection, I certainly had my camera in hand this month and I did have some fun with my girls, but with looming assignments all month long my posts have been fewer and further between.

In the culinary world, anything made "Kitchen Sink" style is simply a thrown in of everything left over to create something.  That is what this post is.  Its the end of November, I've got extra photos with no words attached to them, I'm throwing them all in

Tonight its my "Kitchen Sink" post....

....starting with Kamille the Cat.
During her quiet time, she took it upon herself to attempt to recreate her Halloween look with a navy blue marker.  She totally did a great job, I thought.  However, it was her next idea that had me a bit heated.

She completely covered a piece of paper with navy blue marker.  Right to the edge and all over the carpet.  So unfortunately I had to put an end to it and while I relied on my amazing stain removal spray to work its magic I asked her what she was making it all blue for.   She responded that it was a sign to put on her bedroom door to indicate that ONLY black cats were allowed in her room.  (She was seeing it as black and not navy).  So she figured that if she filled the entire paper, it meant ONLY black cats.  She had made one for Karis' door that had a bunch of different colours on it, meaning Karis and not black cats.  So awesome.  I just love the way that kids think!

More drawing, but with Crayola's Window writers.   These are a great rainy day thing to do.  They are fun to work with and although they take a bit of effort to get off, its a great excuse to really get those windows clean.

Karis has got new skills...and its so exciting for me!  There was a time when I thought this toy was waaaaayyy beyond her.  Now she LOVES it!  So awesome watching her work it out all on her own!  

Vern our trailer has been in a storage location for a couple months now, but with the winter approaching Kevin was wanting to build him a winter home.  Back in September he and a buddy "test" built this crazy big structure on our front lawn.  It looked like a barn and I'm sure out neighbours were fearing the worst when they saw it.  What the heck is this guy building!???!!??  It was huge on our tiny lawn, but in its new location its the perfect home for Vern.   The girls came along, but weren't interested in the "work," so together they watched some DVDs in the car.  

The Goaty Oatys were there to greet us, and soon after our Trailer Happy friends were there too to get their Lola ready for hibernation as well.  Kamille and Gus had a great time in the mud.  It was pretty muddy for our little princess.

Here he is.  Kevin standing proud in his why-buy-it-when-you-can-build-it structure.  Vern has been protected from all of our wind, rain and snow thus far!  Way to go Kevin!  You are one handy dude.

Our home got a new piece of furniture this month, and with that, the girls got a new vehicle made from the box that our cabinet came in.  Our handsome handyman of a Daddy rigged up this swanky car for the girls.  It provided hours of entertainment for them both!

Who doesn't love a spagetti face?

And although Karis hasn't taken to walking just yet, she has figured out how to prop her butt up against walls or furniture to do some squats.  So cute!

 On this bath night we also found out that Karis is terrified of Cookie Monster.  He was banished to the sink.

Daddy got an iPod this month and Kamille has found her new obsession.  She could play games all day if we let her!  Yikes!  So cute to watch her play like a big girl though.  

Have I mentioned just how amazing the relationship between Kevin and Kamille is?  They are soooo tight.  Kamille just loves him to bits.  One Saturday afternoon when Kevin came home from a work trip, he wanted to have a bit of a nap by the fire place.  Kamille wanted to play with him so badly, but understood his need to have a quick snooze.  She decided that she would wait for him.  

 Going......

Going...... 

 and she's out.  These two are so cute!  

Little bits of Christmas cheer have been popping into our days.  This was my must-make-it-so-I-can-eat-it" impulsive snack.  And for the first time, I melted everything down by stove-top and not by microwave - so much better!

And I think that's all from my "sink."
I can't believe December is here.  Sooooo much to look forward to.  A break from school and 100% family fun!  I am beyond excited!

Snow Day!

The snow line has been creeping down the mountains over the past couple weeks.  The temperature has been dropping, the fire place has been doing its job and we're staying warm inside!  We've had a couple big windstorms that swept away any remaining leaves, leaving bare trees swaying in the wind, some even falling.  After a couple days spent in the minus', its was starting to feel like winter is here.

And it feels like it was only yesterday that I was gazing at the colours of fall.  

Early yesterday morning (after being up until 1:30am working on a paper), I was woken by Kamille who whispered in my sleeping ear, "Mom, there is snow outside."  I was shocked as I didn't see it coming before I climbed into bed.  But with a turn of my head to look outside, I pulled myself up and out of bed with excitement!  SNOW!  Not a lot, but enough to cover everything and give my view a big bright white appearance!

Its been a while since we experienced snow. Last year it snowed on the day we left to go to Ontario for Christmas.  When we got to Ontario, fully expecting a white Christmas, it was a disappointing grey and brown scene.  We never did get any more snow out here last year.  I heard that what we did get didn't stay long either.

However, yesterday it was snowing and it continued to snow ALL DAY LONG!  So much snow.  By the end of Karis' afternoon nap, I had my camera ready and I was ready to go!  Kamille had picked out a carrot from the produce bin in the fridge and we had layed out ALL the winter wear that we would need to stay warm!

Twenty minutes later, we were all bundled up and ready to play.  Can you believe that I forgot all about asking Kamille if she needed to pee first!  Thankfully she had already taken care of business herself.  Such a great girl!

karis: "i can't but my arms down!"

Since we don't have a snow suit for Karis just yet, we had to improvise with major clothing layers, her rainsuit, Kamille's old rainboots and her own winter coat.  We also found a baby balaclava that I had once bought for Kamille but she never wore.  Karis didn't seem to mind it, but she didn't love the fact that we could have bounced her out the door with all the puff she had going on!  Poor gal!

Kamille was super thrilled, Karis was intrigued but also a bit skeptical.  She preferred to sit back and watch than get in.

she fell over and of course, couldn't get herself up! 

We shovelled the driveway, made a couple snow angels and took some great photos.  It wasn't packing snow so there was no chance of making the snowman we had hoped to.  However,  I loved watching my big girl trudge through it all on her own.  She's a kid that loves snow!  Yay!  

Soon it started to get dark and dinner plans were awaiting so we had to leave our afternoon of fun to warm up inside.

Although our precious white blanket isn't going to last long and has been weighted down by some cold rain today, it does give me hope that we could quite possibly have a white Christmas this year!  So exciting!

The Christmas music came out today, (Sarah McLachlan's Wintersong album and song is my fav!) and we borrowed a couple Christmas DVD's from the library, of which Kamille laughed her way through A Charlie Brown Christmas and it made me smile!

Snow is magical ya know!

My Little Ballerina!

Yesterday was "Parents Can Watch" day at Kamille's ballet class.  So so so exciting for me to watch my big girl creatively express herself!  She was delicious.  And although slightly uncoordinated, going right when everyone went left, sometimes two steps behind and easily distracted, she had a smile on her face the whole time!  *Love*

great pointy feet from my big girl!  xoxo

creative dancing with a scarf.  she managed dripping snot from her nose the whole time too!  

 I just love this girl!