More winter

Sunday after shoveling...
Sarah: I think I'm getting tired of winter.
Alex: That's just because you haven't been doing anything! You need to get out and play in the snow.
Sarah: That's crazy talk.



Wednesday during a break from working at home, snowshoeing around the trails connecting the blue house neighborhood to the near by neighborhoods....
Sarah: I love winter! I can't tell Alex he was right...

Sarah: ...maybe I should take my glove off before taking more pictures... oh hi horse!

Sarah: I could get used to this :o)

Rar

Rar - no time to blog. Must post long video of m instead :o)

Reading

We finally checked the mail today and found m's baby bug magazine had arrived. We handed it to her, and then a couple of minutes later realized that she had disappeared.

Here's where we found her:

Hey at least it's better than her reading posture from later in the evening :o)

Baby bull riding

On a way lighter note.....

...m is starting training for the Oakley rodeo.

Time marches on

C got a Spiderman poster for Christmas. A great present since she continues to be obsessed with all things Spiderman, and she was thrilled when she opened it.

And then we came home, and it went into her closet. She'd ask from time to time, and I'd have some sort of excuse about why we weren't hanging it up.

And then I finally figured out why I was resisting.

See this is what her wall looked like:

A sweet print that the Pytels got for her when she was born that's a Whinnie the Pooh quote. The same print that's been up on her wall through every room she's ever lived in. A quote that talks about inner strength, but in an innocent way. It's a print that I love, and one little thing that I was clinging to as a constant when we're going through SO much change.

However, poor c shouldn't have to be stuck in nursery mode if she's ready to move on. So we made a compromise.  Interior decorating rules be damned, the wall now has both :o)

orange lining

It was a tough week here at the Provan house. The girls are going through some kind of phase that involves more yelling that normal, runny noses, and poor sleeping - delightful across the board.

But we survived and made it to the weekend, hurrah. And even made it home from school yesterday in time to get out on the balcony...

... in time to catch the sunset (aka this week's orange lining)

Playroom!

So the biggest project I managed to tackle at the house over the break was cleaning out/organizing the basement and setting it up to better function as a "burn off energy" zone while it's cold and dark outside. 

The front room continues to function as my work out area, but is now up a new mini-hoop.

There's a mostly clear runway for bike/scooter/car riding.

And the coolest part - the house! Now set up and ready for playing next to the biggest windows.

The girls have been having way fun in the new open space.

Jingle bells

The Monday after Christmas we had the awesome opportunity to join in on an honest to goodness sleigh ride. It's wasn't a "one horse open sleigh" as we had the pleasure of being pulled by both Alice and Albert the Clydesdales, but the views were speculator and the girls had great fun.

Christmas!

So coming upstairs to a new toy is a pretty good feeling. A new house even more so...

Norm and Jean got the girls a playhouse for Christmas, and needless to say they love it.

Most of the day was spent with at least one adult (and dog) playing either near

or in the house.

We left it up until we went home on Saturday, and luckily it's since been reassembled at our house. More on that to come.

Christmas Eve

Continuing with tradition, the big event of Christmas week was the standing rib roast. We were in the kitchen most of the afternoon/evening, but luckily we did have time to spiff up a bit.

The dinner was delicious

But the after dinner entertainment was the highlight of the evening for the girls.

Christmas eve eve

On the 23rd the Christmas party began with a lovely dinner up at Norm and Jeans. Both girls even got into dresses to celebrate!

The adults took a more casual approach

Which resulted in some slightly imbalanced

if very fun family pictures :o)

Max remains unimpressed

Happy New Year!

...from a bunch friendly mountain people

We had a lovely Christmas up at the ranch, and a fantastic news year eve tucked in at home after going out for a quick slice.

Hoping to use this week as catch up, so please pardon the writing :o)