Ready or Not ... Here I am!

Playing Hide & Seek with Scott cracks me up.

Not only does he provide a running commentary on his location, he has a real tendency to hide in the open -- usually in a familiar place:

On his bed.

On the couch.

(Note the "baby sister" doll that he has been learning to hold "gently" for the last little while.)

Peppernuts!

My Gramma W is first class all the way. In addition to having impeccable taste in literature and cinema (she is credited with introducing us to the Marx Brothers), she is a top-notch chef. Everything she makes in her magical kitchen in Aberdeen, Idaho, defines the term "homemade." So when that box arrives in the mail each Christmas with the Idaho postmark, I just go crazy.

Inside are Peppernuts!

True to the name, these little cookies have a hint of spice in them (perhaps anise?) and they are just the right size to pop in your mouth. I had never heard of them anywhere else, but after we were married R got to try them and said that they taste a lot like a cookie recipe that has come down through her family several generations on her dad's side. Apparently, the name 'peppernuts' is a literal translation from the German Pfeffernusse, and they are traditionally Christmas cookies in Germany and Denmark. That makes some sense, since that side of the family is from that part of the world if you go way back. I don't know the lineage of the peppernuts on my side of the family.

Really, it doesn't matter to me whether they originally came from Germany, Denmark, or whatever -- what matters is that these little wonders keep landing in my mailbox.


We love you Gramma W!!

Igloo vs Igloo vs Quinzee

Almost every winter since I was 12 I have been winter camping. Strangely, I have never slept the night in a snow shelter, although I've come pretty close. As a young Scout I slept in a refrigerator box, half-buried in the snow (I'm too big to do that now). As a Venture, I was buried while digging out a quinzee (snow cave) and dragged out by my heels. Every other time I have slept in a tent -- except for one night when the whole troop sought refuge from -35C temperatures in the heated bathrooms. One other night started out with me in a tent alone and finished with me in the driver's seat of a car (I blame my leaky air mattress for soaking my sleeping bag. Since that unfortunate night behind the wheel I have been interested in finding a better way.

I think igloos are the answer. In my opinion, igloos are better than quinzees.

If you did not come up through the Scout program in a four-season zone like Canada, you may not know much about igloos or quinzees. This is from Wikipedia:

A quinzhee or quinzee (pronounced /ˈkwɪnzi/) is a shelter made by hollowing out a pile of settled snow. This is in contrast to an igloo, which is made from blocks of snow.
Differences between a quinzhee and an igloo
Quinzhees are not usually meant as a form of permanent shelter, while igloos can be used for seasonal and year round habitation. The construction of a quinzhee is slightly easier than the construction of an igloo, although the overall result is somewhat less sturdy and more prone to collapsing in harsh weather conditions. Quinzhees are normally constructed in times of necessity, usually as an instrument of survival, so aesthetic and long-term dwelling considerations are normally exchanged for economy of time and materials.

I did some research and procured two different types of igloo-building kits in the fall, which we tested last night on the church lawn -- along with some quinzees dug out of the snowbank. Here are the results:

1. Classic Quinzee (dugout cave)



The boys were pretty enthusiastic about digging out these caves, and pretty soon they had bored 4 sizable holes into the snow bank. In fact, some of them kept digging for a good 40 minutes after the activity was over -- foregoing their hot chocolate and donuts to keep at it. They were completely covered in snow by the end.
Verdict: Quinzees are pretty quick and simple to build, but you pretty much get soaked doing it.



2. Eskimold Igloo Kit (interlocking blocks)



We used these 2 plastic bucket-like forms to make interlocking blocks for the igloo wall. Unfortunately, the snow was dry and not very sticky, so it was pretty tough going. The boys had to stand on the snow in the molds to pack them tightly enough that they would stay. I think if we had better snow or if we had more molds, this method would have been more successful.
Verdict: Not a bad way to build an igloo if the conditions are good.


3. Ice Box Igloo Kit (continuous form)



This next one had me really excited. There are some igloo enthusiasts out in Colorado (including one guy with a big shaggy beard) that have been building these things for years and they developed their own equipment to make an igloo, combining elements of true Inuit technique with modern technology. The result is that you can build a decent igloo with nearly any quality of snow in a matter of a few hours. Of course, we only had about 75 minutes to work with, so our first crack at it only got into the second row. You make continuous blocks with this 3-side cube, which rotates around the center of the igloo at the end of a rod that is staked into the ground.
Verdict: Awesome.


From what I've read, the interior of a tent will be about 10 degree warmer than the outside air on a winter camp -- so if you've got to cope with -25C inside if it's -35C outside (ouch). On the other hand, the interior of an igloo can be at about the freezing mark, regardless what the outside temperature is.


And although you work longer building an igloo compared to a quinzee, building the quinzee is a whole lot wetter.


Igloo wins.


[Note: We camped in an Ice Box igloo in Kananaskis in February: Link]

This Train is Heading to February

Our new 2010 calendar has pictures of CP Rail trains for each month. The January image is a fairly non-descript passenger car, so Scott is fairly anxious about getting on to the next page, where he has seen a picture of a gleaming red diesel locomotive -- much like the one that we rode last year on that fortunate morning. We have had to explain to him that each box represents a day, and that there are a lot of boxes between today and the last line of the page, when we can finally turn the page to February and the red train. I think he still struggles with the notion of months and years. For example, his way of saying "in the future" is "next week".

 

I think we are also anxious about turning the page to February, but not because of the shiny red engine. We can already see it down there, on the bottom row of the calendar, where the boxes turn gray. The second gray box says, "Baby Due Date". We can count the boxes without having to turn the page.

 

Next stop, Family of Four.

Sledding: The Hill at Hawkwood School

Christmas Morn 2009

Stocking: Grandma W (my mom)
Cookies: Scotty
Presents: Santa





The theme this year seems to be Lightning McQueen (from the Disney/Pixar movie "Cars"). Scott was wearing his Cars pajamas and opened quite a number of Cars-related presents.









My particular favourite was this matching curtain and quilt cover sewed by none other than mommy. That was a labour of love, if I've ever seen one.

Chrismas Eve Traditions - Part 2 - Handbells

I'm not really sure where the handbell tradition started, but I love it. At first encounter, it might seem a little juvenile to sit around ringing rainbow-coloured toy bells, but it is always the highlight of the evening for me. Sure, everyone enjoys the mini talent show and trombones and stuff, but with handbells, everyone is a star.

So, before you can play the bells, you have to warm up with some carols.










After a thorough dose of carols, it time for the bells!
My favourite bell is probably the yellow one, because it sees lots of action. For example, Jingle Bells is almost a yellow-bell solo. Of course, you usually get two bells, so it's nice to get a yellow and an orange, or maybe a nice yellow/blue combo.


This year, I picked nearly last and ended up with only one bell -- a red one. Red is a great-looking colour and it appears in plenty of songs. However, I found out as we started to play a song that I didn't have the regular red (Low C), I had the DARK red one (High C). Some songs don't have a single note for the dark red bell (usually I would only play on the final chord), and I didn't have a second bell, so I felt a bit cheated. I know I shouldn't feel that way on Christmas Eve, so I consoled myself by taking extra pictures until it was time to hit a high chord.


(Uncle Terry had a dark red bell too -- that's why he's staring at the ceiling.)

With my free time, I was also able to capture some video of Santa Claus is Coming To Town. This partially captures that inevitable moment following each song when everybody rings their bells willy-nilly and creates a truly deafening cacophony. I pretend to plug my ears, but secretly I love it.

Chrismas Eve Traditions - Part 1 - Tree Decorations

R's family (on her dad's side) mostly live in Calgary, and they get together for Thanksgiving and Christmas without fail. Turkey dinner at Thanksgiving is pretty much self-explanatory, but the Christmas traditions deserve a more fulsome treatment here. The events come in two parts: 1) Christmas Eve Get-Together; and 2) Christmas Dinner

CHRISTMAS EVE
This year everyone came over to R's parents' place for the standard Christmas Eve singing and bell-ringing; however, before everyone else arrived, R's immediate family gathered for dinner and a new tradition, Making tree decorations:

Decorating Wreaths with Stickers





Colouring Wooden Ornaments



Decorating Cookies















Handbells are next!

Hunting Christmas Trees

Scott likes to tell people about his Christmas tree. He tells them that it came from the forest. Sometimes he mentions that we have two trees. I prefer to tell the story a different way.

And I prefer to use pictures.


Last year we didn't even have a tree. This is not because we are scroogesque villains -- it's because we went away for nearly two weeks for Christmas and we didn't want to come home to a dead tree and a host of dead needles. We couldn't live with the guilt... or the mess.


However, this year we heard that R's sister J and her family were going out to forest to hunt wild trees, so we went along. Wrapped in thick layers of clothing and toting plastic sleds, our hunting party was prepared for anything winter could throw at us -- except for what we got.

It's much harder to pull a sled across dirt than across snow.


We found a good tree for our living room, and nearby we found a good tree for Scotty's room. Once I cut his little tree down, he told us that it wasn't the one he wanted. I hid the tree from view while I propped it up somewhere else and then asked him what he thought of it -- hoping that I could win his approval without cutting down another tree.

He wasn't fooled, but I think he appreciated the gesture and he allowed us to load the little tree into his cousin's blue plastic sled. This actually turned out to be an unfortunate move, since the sled constantly caught on various fallen logs or low-hanging branches. However, Scott's determination/stubbornness knew no bounds.


This was one of seven patches of snow observed that day.


Roof rack in action.


Trees that seem smaller in the forest look a lot bigger once you get them home. I had to cut about four feet off of the bottom of this one to make it fit in our living room.


Scott's tree required no such adjustments. In fact, it was so small, we could hardly find a string of lights small enough that it didn't overwhelm the slender branches. In his "Gym & Craft" class at the YMCA, he made two candy canes out of pipe cleaner and coloured beads. I showed him how to hang one on a branch of his tree, then I gave it back to him so he could try. He hung it in exactly the spot I had used, and then he hung the second one right next to it -- so close that they were touching. I guess he'll appreciate a little variety as he gets older.


A little tree doubles as a festive night light.

So, Scott likes to tell people about his Christmas tree. He tells them that it came from the forest. Sometimes he mentions that we have two trees. It is true.

It Came Out Of My Mouth

11/12/09

The other night when I came home from work Scott looked over at me from playing and said, "O my lucky!" I imagine I might have said this around him before, but probably not that recently. Apparently, he said it all day long today.
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Then later that night when he was jumping around on the couch he stopped and shouted, "Hoist the sails!" This is from a pirate book that we read several weeks ago.
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Saturday morning we were in the yard playing with a ball and watching some birds in the big pine tree out front, when R announced that it was time to eat lunch. Scott said he preferred to stay outside and play. I used a favourite technique to try to get him moving.

I said, "Tell the bird that you're going inside to drink some grape juice." Usually, he would do exactly what I suggested, and we would head inside. This time was different.

He turned to me and said, "The bird says 'not quite yet.'"

Clever.
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Probably best of all is this video, where I captured Scotty making one of his many sound effects. I thought it sounded kind of like a car or a train engine, but I was mistaken:



"What makes that sound?"

"Scotty makes that sound.
It came out of my mouth."