January chills and thrills

This is the coldest January I can remember for most of my life.  When I lived in Montreal for a couple of years we regularly had days with -40C to -50C wind chill in the dead of winter but it isn't the norm here.  We had a record -26.5C at the beginning of the month and it is heading that way again it would seem.

Sophie has been having a great winter so far even though it has been so crazy cold and lots and lots of people have been sick in her school and in our community in general.  Influenza is quite rampant as well as gastro bugs and colds.  Then this weekend Sophie got sick with a cold.  She stayed home from school today and seems to be feeling better than yesterday.  She also had a seizure last week which may have been the start of this bug or it just could have been due to exhaustion.  She had been doing really well in the seizure department for a few months so I hope it was a one off.

We have been keeping busy inside with all the new toys from Christmas.  A week or so ago we had a glow dance party one night, Sophie and Lucas thought it was awesome.  We had on the music and pretty much every glow/light up object we own turned on and Sophie was up dancing in her HOPSA.

The photos are horrible because the kids were moving to the music and it would have totally ruined the effect to have the flash on.  So the photos are more to get the feeling of the night then to see it in any photographic glory.  :)

On the subject of photos, I am happy to report that I have some of my photos in one of the University galleries right now.  They are in a show as part of the photography club that I am a member of.  It is the debut show of our club and I have to say it is exciting even if not many people will see it.  I have been getting great feedback for the four photos I have up though and I am very proud of how they look!

Snow much fun

Last weekend we had a couple big storms like the rest of North America and we got a lot of snow.  That made the perfect opportunity to try out Sophie's new toboggan that my mom and dad got for her for Christmas.  Sophie is very tall now and has grown out of the one we have used with Lucas and her for years.

These first two photos are of Sophie on her first little bunny hill on the front lawn of our old house when she was 2 1/2 years old.  She loved it.  Laughing and cooing and smiling from ear to ear.  We went up and down and ran in big circles and had a grand time.

Sophie is an adventurer at heart and loves all the action she can find.  The faster and the higher the better for this little girl.  Now that Sophie is almost 8 nothing has changed.  Lucas is the same and loves all the big roller coasters and so do I!

Sophie's new toboggan is really nice and long and will last her many years.  I can sit in it with her easily and the little sides keep us in quite nicely.

Who is that sweet angel?

Head first!!

Lucas was a great big brother that day and helped pull Sophie up and down the street.

Sophie and I made a few runs down our front lawn into the road and she loved it.  Of course there are no photos because if it isn't me taking them it generally doesn't happen ;)

Lucas made some pretty good runs right to the other side of the street.  There are definitely advantages to living on little side streets!

This photo isn't great but it shows the little polar booties Sophie has on.  I got them here on clearance and they are awesome.  They are very adjustable with the velcro straps and kept her feet nice and warm.  We have been using them all week to go to school (well, the 3 days that we didn't have no school/snow days) and she has kept them on really well.  They didn't even come off once while tobogganing and she often had her foot outside the toboggan dragging alongside!  Finding boots that stay on her feet is an impossibility most of the time and it has been way too cold for the knit ones that her great-grandma made for her that we love and usually use.  There are lots of options at this store as her feet grow as well.  Because Sophie has a hard time regulating her body temperature and gets cold very easily and very quickly it is a relief to find great products that will keep her safe in the cold!