Santa was busy having his picture taken with people's pets for Stink up Santa's Costume Day or whatever Walmart was promoting when Emily's voice carried over to him from a distance: "Mom, did you know that Santa's here?". Suddenly we hear this robust "HO HO HO! A LION!" echoing through the mall! She waved and he kept going on with the Ho Ho's, straining himself to see her like she was the only kid in the world. Finally, a convincing Santa! As we passed by, he scandalously left his sleigh to reward Emily with a candy-cane. Afterwards, we amused ourselves by letting Tommy have a little forbidden fun for himself.

We couldn't believe our eyes when we opened the blinds on Sunday morning. Just enough snow to make you feel like Christmas is coming and that it's not necessarily a bad thing. Poor Arctic Dreamer Steve, he took one look and just shook his head.

Somehow the snow and the sunshine inspired another early morning trip to Robins. Hardly as interesting as some people's Sunday destinations, but as you can see, we made the most of it. Digital Cameras Rock Period.

Emily has envied her neighbor friend for her lion costume since the day they met. When we returned from Robins, our awesome neighbor kids came to our door bearing her little heart's desire-which has been conveyed more than ever since we started reading the Narnia series. It was probably one of the funniest things I've ever seen. Not like we needed another cat, but anyway.

Steve takes Emily for an art and donut session once or twice every weekend. This time Em's good 'ole pal Cheyenne was invited so they could catch up as they no longer attend the same school. Afterwards, Emily was invited to hang out with Cheyenne's family for a warm, sunny saterday picnic and play time at Willingdon beach. Thanks again Monice!!

When Tommy goes down for the night, we get to have a couple hours with Emily all to ourselves. Last night we went through some craft magazines and made Christmas cards. It doesn't seem like the greatest photo, but it's times like these I'll want to remember.

Tommy's talents extend as far as making sniffing sounds with his wrinkled nose and walking at the same time.

Nothing's better than a yogurt tube right after school.

Mom, this pic is just for you, because I know you love those poofy lips as much as I do, grape yogurt and all!

Okay, another one just for my mom. There they are! All six of them!

At this point, Tommy's life mission couldn't be more simple: Touch the little plant while mommy says "no".

Just up from a long afternoon nap. Tommy loves hanging out by the window to see what the cats are up to, or if the sheep are grazing nearby. Or just to squeal and alert us that there are still a couple of balls sitting on the grass.

Thanks to Steve for capturing me in my happy place.

I was digging through some of the old pics already in my puter files and found this lovely one of my lovely one.

A day in the life...

Emily the Incredible, Tom the Fashion Victim, Ang the stay-at-home-mom-who-likes-it-that-way, Steve the Kaber Toss Champion, Fall Frolics, Pet Snails, A Harvest of Wild Mushrooms and Mouth-watering Tomatoes.

A Sunday at the log cabin. Lesa's and Jildaz's friends from Vancouver bought a property near Powell River at the same time we moved here. After 2 years of painstaking labour and trips back and forth from the city, they've finally settled into their gorgeous new home. This means we have some new pals that don't require a ferry or two to visit.

I hired this exotic beauty to help out around the house so I could watch soaps and check blogs all day.

Poor, poor mannequin...
They can take her body, dress it up in a $4 starting bid nightmare for eBay, they can even take her hands, but they will never take her soul. Even now she maintains a dignified and unsuspecting glance through the window pane. But if not in the eyes, in the hands we can see that somehow she knows her body is being used for wrongful purposes such as seen below...

This weekend Lesa and I will discuss all things pertaining to her wedding. My only hope is I can steer her away from the bridesmaid dress she's chosen. She's very stubborn so wish me luck.

The Lion The Witch and The Wardrobe has filled mine and Emily's heads and hearts for the past 2 weeks. We had almost finished reading the book (thanks to our teachers/gov't for leaving us with nothing better to do, no seriously, thanks!) when Emily had her first sleepover party here with her best pal Cheyenne who brought along the movie! After a fun-filled day of crafts, litebrite, barbies, playing candyland, and a quiet but giggly coloring session at Robin's donuts, the girls were ready to kick back. Suddenly they had their pjs on and cleaned up a bit before sitting down to the junkfood feast they had prepared and displayed in front of the couch earlier in the day. Complete with doilies, hand-crafted decorations all over the walls and little roses everywhere, even in the food, the spread was gorgeous, funny, but gorgeous. Emily even made a cotton ball Aslan to sit proudly atop the tv. I snuggled up on the couch with them to watch the BBC version on screen. I was a little too cozy and fell asleep but was vigorously shaken just in time to see Aslan, or actually, to see Emily see Aslan. It's quite something to be able to tell your impressionable 6 year old that Aslan isn't a character based purely on someone's imagination. With all the stuff they dream up to entice kids into a fantasy world, finding something they can really believe in, that entices them on a far deeper level, is something I fantasize about. We weren't able to finish it that night but it didn't really matter. It is this version that we're waiting for. (I know my expectations are set waaaay too high but if Disney disappoints, I'm suing.)