Doing what she loves

round and round she goes

I knew she could,
But part of me was reluctant to let my baby go!

However, the moment I took the training wheels off she didn't stop

She didn't look back to see where I was

It was like she never had them at all.

She could have those wheels off a couple of months ago,

but her Mommy wasn't ready.
~
Now when snow could fall any day and stay for months
I decide to let her have the freedom she wants and is ready for

At the end she even knew her bike had to go in the rack now!
My "big" little girl!

out my window today

safety first?

I'm wondering if anyone else sees what's wrong with this picture?
If any other wife might look out the window a second time and raise their eyebrows?

I have a husband that is well versed in safety.

He operates a company that is "safe-certified".

He uses off-road vehicles, ATV's, generators, saws etc. He knows what to do and not to do. More so, he knows how to do it right!

I am certain that if he happened to be the one looking out the window and I was perched on top of the ladder that things might look a tad different from his perspective.

At least he didn't spend the whole afternoon standing up there. After awhile he got tired of standing and tried sitting in the tree. Worked for a while, but not too long.

This next position seemed to work best. Propped up nice and comfy, a few good branches surrounding him. So that if he did fall, those branches might cushion or at least slow his descent.

Heh! Who needs a ladder anyway! Apparently for some jobs they are just over-rated. But then again it is always good to keep it close by, you just don't know when you might need it.

good morning autumn

I opened the shade on my daughter's window to see that we are truly being greeted by autumn. Her window was covered in condensation, the sky was blue and the colours are changing all around us. I needed to get outside for a moment to feel fall on my face. Have a fresh breath before we start our school day.

I see the changes of the seasons not only in the colours around me, but also in the mountains around us. A few weeks ago there was no snow on the mountains at all. They were still bare from summer heat. Now it seems there is a little more each day. If you look carefully you can see how autumn still hangs on below the clouds.

a sunday hike

Even though it was cloudy the day was so beautiful that we needed to get out and away from home. At first the girls resisted but once they were on the trail, a magical thing happened and their attitudes were transformed. They were laughing, running and chasing our dog. Good things happen outdoors!

Our snow free days really could be numbered. We have gotten snow before Halloween. So there really was no time like the present to venture outdoors.

A stop for some pictures

Play hide and seek And a rest at the top to enjoy the view!

this is fall....

This

is
what
fall

is all about!

Don't you agree?

momma?

We are enjoying fall, the cool mornings, the little bit of schedule again. The final flowers still holding out and surprising us with their beauty. We are also enjoying the harvests of fall such as apples, tomatoes and pears. Our youngest decided to go apple picking on her own. She got an old tin climbed the tree and spent awhile enjoying the fall harvest. Her question to me was "Momma do I have enough now for an apple pie?" I think today I will make sure that she does.

taking a break

We needed a walk today, really bad!

I will tell you more later, as I have to go!

here comes dinner

The boys went fishing the other day and came back very happy. My hubby and his friend along with his son went on an overnight fishing trip.

They had a great time and came back with two sockeye salmon each. Sockeye is really good salmon. I know my mother has her opinion about salmon. It's not her favourite! Just like she isn't crazy about lasagna. But we forgive you because we love you!

To me a good salmon is a really yummy meal. In terms of eating I prefer a sockeye over a spring salmon anytime. All the salmon they caught were silver (very good) and not red (bad)! "Red" salmon at this time of the year have gotten really beaten up by the river and spawning etc and are not a great eating fish.

This year they tried their hand at fly fishing which they hadn't done before. It sounded like a lot of fun. Next year, we really want to make more time for it. Maybe I might even have to get hip waders on and try!?

For now though we can keep hoping for a little more fish!

knitting with wasps & bees

After I had play dates arranged and kids fed, I finally found myself on the deck. On the way I grabbed my knitting bag and an iced tea. I was set to enjoy the waining days of summer. Or maybe I was welcoming the early days of fall. Regardless, it was too nice to be house bound.

I thought that I might be able to have some quiet time to myself, after all the kids were playing with friends and husband was gone fishing. That mostly happened but not entirely because the wasps and bees were delighted by the dying cosmos and straw flower plants on my deck. They were coming a dozen at a time. They were so distracting that I finally finished my iced tea. That way I got rid of them and in essence we made peace for the rest of the afternoon. They got their flowers and I got quiet and knitting. And I almost ALMOST got my project done. Would have, should have but I had to start dropping off and picking up kids and then we went to friends to see the fish the boys caught....more of that tomorrow!

butterfly hike

yesterday we went away on a hike

just niece, sil, bugsy, papaya and i

here the girls look up towards us on the observation deck
only niece and i made it up to the falls because it required a little bit of rock-climbing

here is a picture of the way down

a view from the rest stop

and the butterflies that surrounded us while we rested

there were a couple of them, that kept circling around and landing

on my shoe

on niece, as well as SIL and papaya but i didn't get shots of those!

we took some pictures in the old growth forest

found time to be refreshed! all in all a nice break away!

Sunday hike

We went for a hike the other day. First of all, let me introduce you to those who went!

Complainer

Determined

Prairie Girl

Briber

Since it was a positively gorgeous Sunday afternoon Briber thought it was the perfect day to pack up the girls and the Niece and head out on a hike. We really live in gorgeous country and too often we are stuck doing the day to day and forget about the beauty of God's creation around us. We hiked to the lookout which travels through farmer's fields, along grassy meadows and among sub-alpine forest trees leading up to an old forestry lookout.


Once we started out Briber soon realized that some strategies might need to be implemented in order to ensure a positive and happy afternoon. The bribe from Briber was "if you choose a positive attitude and don't complain, I will get you a slurpee when we get back to town".

For the most part it worked out well. The hike took 55 minutes on the way up with a moderate elevation change at the end. Some cajouling needed to happen to ensure finishing was worth it.And really how can you pass you up this view of our valley?


It really is worth the trip. We spent an hour resting, observing and being refreshed before heading down again. The trip down only took 40 minutes and no one stopped or even remotely complained. I call that success!

So what are you watching or being inspired by today?