Happy New Year

crafted by Jozef

The Christmas Story ... Merry Christmas

narrated by children in New Zealand

The night before Christmas and Christmas morning

milk and cookies for Santa

Lego is still a big favourite

there's always something to eat, something to wear, something to read and something for fun!

Christmas Cookies and it's snowing outside today!

The view from my kitchen today!

Baking dozens of cookies at Christmas
continues as a North American tradition!

Gingerbread Cookies

Pulse together in a food processor:

1 1/2 cups flour, 1/2 cup rolled oats, 1/2 cup brown sugar, pinch salt, 1 teaspoon ginger, 1 teaspoon cinnamon and a dash or two of nutmeg.  Pulse in 1/2 cup butter, 2 Tablespoons of molasses and 1 egg.  Chill the dough for 30 minutes and then roll out and bake 10 minutes (until light golden brown).

Growing up in New Zealand my mother often baked ... Traditional Christmas fruit cakes (3-4 per year) including one each for our Birthdays, Belgian biscuits, Anzac biscuits, Afghans, Louise Cake, Ginger crunch, Chocolate coconut slice, Dates loaves, Sultana loaves, Muffins, Melting moments, Kisses, Albert squares with passionfruit icing, Cornflake delights, Date Joys, Cheese cakes ... these are just a few of the goodies that my Mother and my Grandmother baked.

Boo!

Zombi Vampire Bat Costume for Elementary School Age

creating something from items at home;
a vampire/magician cape,
a cut-out heart decorated and stitched to a black shirt,
old black tights to create ears for the bat,
cut out yellow foam eyes with purple pom-pom pupils,
a yellow foam brain (stitched to the side of the hat)

Amazing Autumn in Quebec

on the way home after walking my son to school ...

down by the river with friends

backyard at home

Summer Fun

catching my first trout on my own (all seven of them!)

kayaking

learning to ride on my own

playing at home

zip-lining

having a week of fun at "Fit and Fun" day camp

School's Out

School's out now for a 9 week break.  We'll be meeting friends at our local park for soccer and tennis, reading at our local library, fishing and spending a week at the Fit and Fun English Summer Day Camp which includes a day trip to Circus Training School here in Quebec City.

Yesterday I worked for 4 hours at my son's school as a parent volunteer, monitoring individual classes on the Pirate Ship Bouncy castle.  The last day of school is filled with a course of seven different activities for all ages.  It was exhausting work, but also a good opportunity to practice my french by repeatedly using the same phrases.

J going down the fire pole as the school bell rings!

Line up for start of school ... the bell has just rung

end of school year elebration!

New Clothing Store for Children, Cap-Rouge, Quebec City

Mlle-et-Coco 

Boutique pour maman et tout-petits.

Friperie haut de gamme 0-10 ans.

Accessoires créés par des artisans québécois. 

Au 4184 côte de Cap-Rouge Quebec-City

http://mlleetcoco.com/

My son and I visited the store this week and were delighted to purchase a pair of summer sandals size 12-13 for $12.00 (second hand and in good condition).  Commission to the seller is around 30%, and there's a reward system for the purchaser. 

I suggest phoning ahead to check if they have items in the size of clothing or shoes you're looking for.

100 days' project at school

100 days of school, 100 objects and learning to count to 100!

presenting to a group of older students

Skating at School

Living in a very cold climate provides wonderful opportunities for children to learn to skate, cross-country ski, snow shoe and toboggan!  J gets to skate at school every Tuesday afternoon.  This particular day it was probably around -17 degrees celsius.

Birthday Celebration

It was a significant Birthday. "Cabosse" the leopard arrived home from school in J's backpack and joined the party. For homework we took photos and wrote about the weekend Cabosse came to stay.  This project, for the first year at school, helps children delineate school life from home life.

Freezing temperatures in Quebec, January 2015

It's -31 degrees celsius outside!
(inside at 6:52am on a school morning, and that's the moon)

YES, we walked to school and with the windchill factor 

it felt like -40 degrees celsius!

What's New: Quebec City writer publishes "Daisy and the Donkey Church"

Daisy and the Donkey Church is available for $15.00 

at La Maison Anglaise and features real life animals who live at the Holy Trinity Cathedral in Old Quebec!