wishing everyone a merry christmas

This is one of my fave vidoes to remind me of exactly why we celebrate. Enjoy!

a new addition

So, the newest addition to our family is almost 2 weeks old. Addisyn Lydia May Wiens was born at 8:45 am on December 2. This is a good thing and I'm thankful for her safe and healthy arrival.

With her arrival also came some babysitting responsibilities. On the 4th of December my nieces and nephew had a sleepover at our house. We jumped and ran and made blanket tents and made rice krispy squares and watched a movie and ate popcorn and had story time... things were going quite well until...

Berlin and Kaityn wanted to go home. The tears were streaming down their cheeks and they refused to be comforted (for a while). And then Rowan didn't want to sleep in the big bed, he wanted to be in the same room as the girls. Well, an energetic, enthusiastic and dramatic reading of Andrew's Loose Tooth (by yours truly) seemed to settle everyone's spirits and then a short cuddle with some familiar songs sung by yours truly made everyone fall asleep.

I finished tucking the girls in and then moved Rowan back to "his" bed and then I also hit the hay (those kids don't get that saturdays are for sleeping in). Anyhow, when Rowan woke up he told Oma that "I falled asleep in the room with Kaityn and Berlin but I waked up in the special room."

C is for Cookie

So Christmas is almost upon us again. That means I've done a lot of baking already (and boy, it's more than I even planned for).

Mom and I have made Cornflake Cookies, Sachertorte Cookies, Siropskuchen, Peppermint Cookies, Almond Crescents, Snickerdoodles and Starbucks Cookies with various helpers (my sister, cousin, sister-in-law, nieces and nephew).

On my own I've made a couple of batches of Sachertorte Cookies, Almond Crescents, Lunch Munch Cookies, Candy Cane Chocolate Chunk Cookies and Tangerine Blossoms.

With my friends Dave & Mikol, I made 8 different varieties of biscotti (including Chocolate-Cherry Biscotti).


And the baking is not finished yet. It's insane.

But I must admit, I really enjoy it. The cookies are generally smaller than at any other time of year. And they are more work than "normal" cookies are. But the results are so yummy and satisfying.

Tangerine Blossoms were a new one for me this year. The day that I made them, my nephew came over. He right away wanted to try one. So I gave him one and asked if he liked it. His response was "It's yummy, Tante Carolynn! It tastes like macaroni and cheese!"

Just for your reassurance, they do not actually taste like macaroni and cheese, but they are good.
I love Autumn! All of the gorgeous colours. The crisp, juicy apples and hot apple cider. They coyotes howling at the full moon. The sweet, sticky grapes straight off the vine. The honking geese flying south. The buttery, smushy squash. The squirrels racing around to stash their goods. The gentle breezes that rustle the leaves. The crunch under your feet when you walk. Yup, really do I love Autumn.

Today however, is an extremely gusty and blustery day. I almost feel like Piglet - ready to be blown away by the wind. Not quite exactly what I like, but that's ok. And, yeah, I don't need to rake the leaves, so that's fun too :P

school :S

I usually look forward to the end of August with sense of eager anticipation because I know it means school is starting again. Yes, I know what I just said. I am one of those weird people who actually enjoys going to school... well, usually. This year has been a bit different. I am not looking forward to this school year.

The reason is quite simple, this year I've been told I have to repeat a class for the third time. No, this wasn't my choice and I don't have a choice if I want to graduate from my program because it is a mandatory course and I can't take any 4th year courses until this course is complete. This adds a full year to my university course and I'll have to pay for it... AGAIN! But because the school's decision was so late in the summer, I can't get the necessary police check documents on time so that I can do the placement portion of the class.

Talk about frustration! I won't go into details because I'm still quite angry about what's happened, but here's what I think I'll do. I won't be at the university but will register for the French as a Second Language program at the local college. I have wanted to continue my French education for quite some time and this will be useful when I actually start looking for teaching positions (plus the local college is WAY cheaper than the university).

tackle me

Right now my brother, Gary, is roasting a pig for "ManFest" tonight. Wes (my other brother) is also here to help and he brought his 3 kiddies. As I sit here typing, I can hear them through the window. Gary is getting tackled in turn by each of the kids. This has been going on for about 30 minutes already. All I can hear is Gary grunting as the kids impact and then the kids yelling "my turn". Meanwhile Gary is having a conversation with the guys that are helping with the pig. Too funny!

Some quotes from this event (I'm sure there will be more):
"Berlin, you're not supposed to slow down as you get closer, you're supposed to speed up"
"Oh geez, this is gonna be a big one... OOHH!"

I no eye oop Mommy

I LOVE little kids. They make me laugh. My friends, Jim and Tina, have 2 lovely kids named Ella and Austin. Ella just started JK at an all-French school and seems to be enjoying it. Austin is quite the character. I love him to bits. His speech has been delayed. Now he is getting quite verbal, but he doesn't pronounce most of the first consonants when he talks.

Yesterday at supper he announced "I no i oop Mommy". When Tina told me this I laughed. I thought he was talking about poop (he really doesn't like to go poop on the potty). But no, he was expressing that he didn't like soup. They had been having minestrone soup for supper the past few days and he was tired of it. Oh, what a sweet little boy.

why you pokin' my banket?

ok, my nephew is sooooooooooo cute.

on monday my mom picked him up and he told her that his blanket had holes. so she said she'd fix it. a little while later at our house she took out the needle and thread and began to sew the blocks back together and he gives her a worried look. finally he speaks up "oma, why you pokin' my banket?" mom explains that she's sewing it back together. he replied "so you gotta poke my banket to fix it?"

LOL - he makes me smile!
OK, so shame on me. I am not a very consistent blogger :(

So, I'm finally on summer break from university (what a superb feeling!!) and I have been busy with all the things that life throws at you.

Right now my niece and nephew are over and they are playing outside, my mom is busy baking pies (like she does every Friday), and I'm supposed to be cleaning the house before I go babysitting this afternoon and evening.

Let's see, what else has happened:

* I was in Winnipeg for 4 days this month and had a grand time visiting friends from my past.

* Friends of mine are adopting a beautiful baby boy - Kolbalt Alexander Lawrence Nelson-Zahorchak. He is so cute!!!

* I can't wait for a friend of mine to come back from his trip to Europe. I always love to hear about his adventures.

* ummm... I'm sure there's more, but I can't think of it right now and I have to actually go clean so that I'll be able to leave on time for babysitting.

OK then, see you later.

Fun in the Bayou!



This is the theme song of the week.