Babysitting in -25 C. temperatures –piece of cake!

I've always held that outdoor play is good for both kids and adults. It was quite shocking when the school boards began keeping kids indoors for recess on cold days below a certain temperature. It took the kids 10 minutes to get their winter clothes on, it was good exercise in and of itself. The kids who were not dressed for it were sent to the lost and found where they were suitably attired. Often kids weren't dressed for rain. That's another story.

 As a teacher, I ensured I was dressed for it, as I enjoyed being outdoors. Some teachers like to choose to have their outdoors duties all on one day. I remember acting as a supply teacher for a teacher who regularly booked off sick on the day she had 3 outdoor yard duties. That really ticked me off! 

Well, that is behind me. I'm really happy to be retired, other than the nightmares about teaching. This morning, it was dreaming I was in university, and we couldn't find enough shower rooms to get up for the day. I've never been in residence. I lived at home while I was going to school, taking the subway to Ryerson. Then I was taking a course in personal defense for women.

 Anyway, here is our three-day, two night adventure on this, our Ontario Family Day!

First, set-up. She is her mother's daughter! When Caitlin would come home between semesters, if she didn't have a co-op placement, she would re-organize the tupperware drawer, or redo the linen cupboard! She has her M. Sc., you see. I'm very proud of her. We call her 'Mom' and work hard to clean up before they arrive.
 

Grampa and Izzy went out for a walk, after he checked out his deer. Grampa had spotted 18 deer in the yard last night. He loves his deer friends.


Grampa bought us dessert!


Sadly, Isabelle forgot her backpack of clothes at home. She had diligently packed her things. Her great-grampa's sweatshirt worked as a housecoat!


It was a cold start to the day. Josee had indoor play, and we watched some DVDs after breakfast.


Mommy and Grampa went into the Giant Wild Cat store and bought some undies and a top and sweat pants.


Grampa always buys some 'Close Eyes' for the girls. This time: a dinosaur that roared and a lovely necklace.


How else did we spend out time? Isabelle asked me to set up the craft table, and we coloured in some mermaids, and a unicorn. The cats were content to sleep in the sun. Grapa liked out work.


"How about going outside, Gramma Jenn?" We found field mouse tracks in the snow. We played hide and seek.


The cut logs (too big for the fireplace) make great drums! Next, it was off to the wetland. She always picks up a stick. This time, she whacked away at the dried bulrushes, then flung herself onto the piles of snowy leaves. They make a lovely rustling sound. The fallen conifer was quite intriguing to her.



Along the way, we found a spot where the deer had bedded down overnight. Isabelle tried out the beds. They were pretty cold!


Back indoors, to play school. Izzy drew a Valentine tree. Dasiy approved. There were several pretend phone calls, including one from Mommy telling us we had to go to the doctor for a Flu Shot. Izzy had to do a sign for the doctor's office, in the other room. She realized that the arrow pointed the wrong way. She determined that we could put it upside down and still read the sign.
 

We watched some movies and had a TV dinner. Pizza!


Mommy and Papa came back for lunch the next day. Mommy made some soup, while they played outside. Of course, they did a science experiment before lunch.

Steamy water from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Off they went to a surprise birthday party, and all that was left was a slider!

My latest videos: kids, forest, doves!

The girls hauled in their stuff for a two-day, one night stay! That's why they call it LUG-gage! They sure lugged it. This was Dec. 25/26, 2015. Isabelle is amazingly strong!

 


Monday, Dec. 28th no snow... geese flying overhead. Signs of winter?



Tuesday, Dec. 29th: 4" and still falling!
All hunkered down, in the boughs of the evergreen, with large snowflakes falling softly down.
Mourning doves from Jennifer Jilks on Vimeo.

Thanksgiving and Hallowe'en

What a wonderful time we had. After many years being in Muskoka, and far away from family, we would have quiet times and simply enjoy the day. Now, not having a 5-hour drive, only one-hour, we have been having some more traditional celebrations. In fact, Grampa dressed for dinner!
Caitlin did gravy and stuffing, despite having hosted the same the day before for her mother-in-law and brother-in-law!

Thankfully, we have lots of opportunities to share photos.
This I posted on iCloud for them!New placemats for the girls. They have 3 pocket for the utensils, which was fun. I posted the menu, to remind Caitlin what we were having.

Then the table was set, the turkey cooked, gravy made.



 A present we bought for the girls in summer was a wand for both of them. We bought the wands at Herbfest, we hadn't been in a couple of years. Here is Ian McCormick  holding Isabelle's wand! I showed her the photo of him HOLDING HER WAND! She was thrilled! We were chatting about them and she was commenting on how it was so straight and she likes the carving in them.

Turns out, Caitlin made costumes for Hallowe'en for the girls. Isabelle is Harry Potter and Josephine is Hermione. They are up to book five in this series and act it out all the time. The ties and badges Caitlin ordered by mail. She knitted the scarf, and sewed the capes. Then, white shirts.

The broom we bought from the shop Radiance of the Ordinary. He makes brooms and other things!
After all this, they went downstairs and pretended to be at Hogwarts school, learning spells. Gosh, it was fun.

Papa was down there with them, in the playroom, as we worked on the turkey dinner. For a Geeky Engineer and federal Green Party candidate, he sure is creative when he has fun with them!
We don't get into the city for Hallowe'en, and I always wonder what they will wear.


We went to vote last Friday, then we were going clothes shopping and accidentally ended up in Westport, rather than Balderson (don't ask!). I bought myself a couple of new tops. It was a lovely drive.


It was a wonderful 2-day, overnighter! There were other 'Close Eyes!' Tracers for Isabelle and a fingerprint art kit for Josee. You'll notice Isabelle is wearing her new skirt! How heart-warming! She wanted a photo of each tracer!

One of my regular art units of study was fingerprint art. It lends itself to some creativity. I loathed the art where all the final products looked the same! It was unusually warm, and would could do art on the back deck.

Isn't she cute?!

At the end of it, Josephine said goodbye to her precious Annabelle, they packed up into the car, we did some selfies, and off they went home!

We have another week of electioneering. Jean-Luc's sign on the car for another week. (It's magnetic!) He's been doing really well in debates and has a good reputation in the community. This is his 2nd election.