Jinxing it

Today is January 22 and, honestly, our winter- although we had a few snowstorms- hasn't really begun yet. Don't get me wrong: I am very happy! I also know that this will not last and our February might totally suck..... and March might be worse.... and April might be sad.... So far, asides from a few cold days, we have had temperatures that hover between -5C and 5C. It has been more wet and grey (sounds familiar to my Scandinavian friends?) than cold. We actually have green around our house (!!!???!!!), which keeps my winter blues at bay. The air and light almost feels spring-like (really... not just the wine speaking!). Like I said, I have lived here most of my 46+ years so I am not being naive but, considering that we just missed one month of winter, I will take it!

On another note, I am still trying to figure out where the weekend went to! Bang, all of a sudden, it is Sunday! Enjoy what little is left ;)

xox

The view beside my house :)

The snow fort

Every Canadian kid loves a good snow fort. The bigger, the better! The best forts are ones that go on and on forever. They have to be strategic so that bigger kids cannot break it or smaller kids cannot invade it. Good snow forts have the perfect snow to ice ratio. It also helps to have pretend sofas and refrigerators in it ;) A steady supply of snow food is good too. If you have a snow fort, you have to spend all recess, lunch time and after school hours to make it perfect. Actually, it is in a constant state of fixing and improving. It is always renovation time when it melts or gets buried by a snow or ice storm. Another rule is that you have to always protect your snow fort. Also, if you don't contribute to the building of a snow fort, you are not allowed in it unless you have special permission. The best thing about a good snow fort is, when the owners are not around, you can explore- even if you are not a part of it. This afternoon, while we were waiting for Nicka to come outside, Oliver got to sit in his brother's snow fort. How cool! Then he showed me his.... ice carving station and all ;)

xox

Oliver hanging out in Nicka's snow fort.... He looks blurry because he wouldn't stay still for the photo!

It is always cool to hang out in someone else's snow fort!

Oliver at his ice carving station ;)

Bad Canadian mother (otherwise known as skating with boys)

I know, I know.... I have carried a heavy guilt over the past 2 years or so.... It breaks my heart. I should have my passport taken away from me. My citizenship should be revoked. I am a bad mother. I am a bad Canadian mother.... Why, you ask? I will be honest and confess: Oliver does not know how to skate. Alexander and Nicklas can.... but they have problems stopping.... AND their skates don't even fit!!!! Ugh!
OK... If you are Canadian, you will get this. If you come from almost every other country, you must think that I am a nutbar ;) The thing is that skating is a Canadian birthright. We come pretty close to being born with skates on. Heck, hockey is a religion which surpasses football/soccer (shocking for everyone else on the planet... this will be another post- I promise). I grew up at the local outdoor rink, where we spent every minute, every winter. We went when the ice was melting, when it was -20C, when it was snowing (with a shovel, of course) and whenever we had a spare minute. Unfortunately, those kind of rinks are not as common anymore. Now, the hockey players are desperately trying to get to the same ice. Now, many of the parks don't even have rinks anymore. Sad.
Anyway, getting back to the boys: Over Christmas, I decided to teach Oliver how to skate. I also vowed to get the other boys back on their skates again. I decided to buy them skates that fit and were ready to go. Problem was that, over the holidays, it went from +14C to 40cm of snow so my idea was in the toilet! Change of plans: I was going to get them skating this spring break. So, when I found out that our local arena had free family skate times this week, I made up my mind. We were going to do this!
We had fun.... Oliver can now stand up on his skates (which is 1000000000000000 times better than when we first got there), Nicklas can stop and Alexander can skate backwards (a little bit). We are going back on Thursday :)

Now for the spam!

Glimpses of Tuesday and a little lesson about being Canadian

It felt so nice yesterday to drive in with the window down*. Nice, warm air... ahhhh... I got home early so I made a coffee and sat outside in the sun for a while. It is SUCH a pleasure to be able to endure the outside again ;) More to come today...

* For non-Canadians, here is a little lesson: when the weather starts to get "nice" (ie: above 0C), Canadians are known to over exaggerate the temperature. For example, most sane people would not drive on the highway with their windows down when it is 2C. We do. I saw it everywhere. There were people actually wearing shorts... with their boots. One of them was even my friend... a relatively sane man. Even by our standards, however, it is not sandal weather yet. The snow crytals hurt, in a sand/small rock kind of way, when they get in between your toes ;) Most kids in the playground have taken their jackets off in temperatures that make most non-Canadian mothers shudder... It is not because we are particularly tough or anything.... just desperate ;)

Have a good day! XOX

Yes, I was in non-moving traffic ;)

My "new" Nespresso... that will be another post ;)

Please note: this is an actual sidewalk, sans snow ;)

Beautiful sky

My coffee....

Almost barefoot outside ;)