Unplugged Family Fun

{Our snow queen safely tucked beneath her umbrella}

Old man winter has been creating havoc around us this week and on Sunday afternoon he hit us with one heck of a windy snowball toppling trees up and down the island, knocking out our power for 23 hours and leaving us with no telephone service or internet for even longer.

But that didn't stop us from having fun *grin*.

Our evening was lit by oil lamp and scented with delicious smells of beeswax candles while our ears were filled with stories, board games, and silly chatter late into the night....

and plenty of outdoor play during the day. Thank goodness for wood heat and hot soup to thaw out our bodies after being frozen in the blustery cold and I'm sure that eating loads of icicles does nothing to keep children warm except it does bring giant smiles to their faces *grin*.

The 'girls' don't seem to be fond of the snow though and for the first couple of days they actually refused to leave the warm straw covered floor of their house :) My oldest ended up stomping down a nice path and area for them to come out to eat fresh scraps and in the end I think that it was stepping in the deep snow that they didn't like because they didn't mind staying on the hard packed snow. As you can see in the photo above though the lure of food would pull them into deeper areas if they thought it was worthwhile enough *grin*.

The falling snow has turned more to rain these last few days though and it is starting to melt our snow reserve but hopefully it won't all go away taking it's bright white beauty with it!

Hugs,
Rosina

Old Man Winter Strikes Again

Old man winter is definitely not done burying us with snow and knocking out our electricity *grin*.

At 6:30 this morning I was awoken to tears as my youngest blubbered that he couldn't see anything. Of course I was half asleep and thought something terribly wrong must have happened but in the end he was just upset that the power was out and he couldn't play with his toys because it was still to dark LOL.

As I made my way to the family room and peered out the window I was greeted by giant mounds of snow. During the night just under a foot of the white stuff had fallen covering everything.

Last night we new a storm was coming our way so I had filled pots and buckets with water so that we could cook and have fresh drinking water and taped the handles of the toilet up so that no one could flush them first thing in the morning *grin*. I know that sounds really funny but when the power goes out our well pump doesn't work and it never fails but one or sometimes all three of the kids flush by mistake and it puts air in our water tank which causes our pump to work twice as hard when it starts up again. So this time I was prepared! LOL

Not quite the flowers that I had envisioned planting in our colored gum boots this spring... oh yeah, it's not spring yet! There goes any hopes I had of digging in the garden just yet *grin*.

Poor Hubby. He was not thrilled that he had to shovel his way to his truck and dig it out so that he could take a quick jaunt to the gas station to pick up the paper and grab a coffee :) He is a serious caffeine junky and thought that it would be easier to run down to the corner to get his fix but by the time he finally got the truck running and left he could have had the water boiled and coffee perked on the woodstove LOL.

This afternoon we thought we'd take a drive and check out what sort of damage the wind storm had done. On the news just now they said that at the peak of the storm more than 52,000 homes were without any power so we weren't the only ones in the dark today :)

Down on Hubby's tug boat as we rocked and rolled quite crazily we listened to the marine weather for updates on the wind and watched the waves crashing against the breakwater. The kids had a great time spinning the big wheel and hanging on tight at the same time as they tried to acquire some sea legs *grin*.

It was a lovely quiet day full of board games and make believe play, tickle fights and read alouds :) The lights have finally come back and we're back to some of our regular routine. Stir fry is sauteing on the stove top, the news is on in the background so that we can see how the rest of the island faired and soon it will be time for goodnight kisses and bedtime songs :)

It's been a good day :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Yarn Along

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}



I just had to make one more pair of these handwarmers *grin*. I just love them so much :) This time I used a combination of Mohair and wool, two strands together and they are so beautifully fuzzy, soft and warm. I really hope my cousin loves them as much as I do. They are a late Christmas present as I was hoping to bump into her during the holidays but into the mail they went yesterday morning so that she can enjoy them before spring arrives!



I was hoping to get a photo of my handwarmers with what we're reading but mother nature just wasn't cooperating with my photo shoot plans *grin*. I'm reading a copy of Waldorf Education ~ A Family Guide and the children and I are enjoying the sweet illustrations and stories of Brambly Hedge Winter Story by Jill Barklem.

The power went out again last night right after dinner so we spent a blissfully silent evening, blanketed in snowflakes and reading by candle light :)

Hugs,
Rosina

A Very Thomas Birthday Party

Yesterday we celebrated my baby's 3rd birthday. I can't believe how fast the years have gone! On Feb.6th my oldest turned 10 and now my cuddly little baby really isn't a baby anymore either :) We surprised him with a Thomas the Train cake and it was so cute. On top of it was a wind up Thomas that zipped around the track while we sang happy birthday to him. His eyes were just about bugging right out of his head when he saw it. LOL.

My sister and her husband were able to travel up for the day and it was really great to see them. I couldn't believe my luck though when I was right in the middle of preparing dinner and the electricity went out!! Not uncommon here in the winter but inconvenient to say the least. Luckily we have a generator so it saved the day :) Above is a photo of M's new favorite toy, a Melissa & Doug wooden shape puzzle set. It is so cute. Each of the puzzle boards is double sided with colorful paintings and different shapes that need to be added. I just love it when I can find toys that aren't plastic :)

~ Rosina