Happy Birthday Jasmine!

Jaz had a lovely birthday yesterday. She received the new bike that she's wanted for ages, and even got the chance to ride it as the sun was back and shined all day long! The arrival of the sun again lifted our spirits and made the world seem beautiful again in spite of the cold. She had breakfast in bed at her request, while she planned her future shopping trip to spend the birthday money she'd acquired! (Heelys at the top of the list!) and then had a fun time chatting to family and friends throughout the morning either on the phone or on the webcam. In the afternoon, we took her new bike for a spin on the road up to the park, then went sledging in the sunshine, before returning home for birthday cake and hot chocolate. We then played card games until dinner time, when we disappeared off to Pizza Hut. She thanked us for a lovely day with super squeezes at bedtime. It was a lovely day!

Christmas is coming!

I can't believe our little girl will be 8 years old tomorrow. It seems like yesterday that we set off for the hospital in Swindon at 4am. Here we are, 8 years later, 4000 miles away where she came into the world. Christmas is just a couple of days away and finally we are beginning to feel more festive. We've watched a couple of Christmas movies which always helps get you in the mood, and the house finally feels more of a home as we now have our bedroom furniture (complete with the bed from heaven - huge and like a cloud!) and sofas in our downstairs sitting room at last! More neighbours have appeared with Christmas goodies, including jars of cakemix - no excuses, I'll have to make them now!
Christmas spirit abounds in Okotoks. There is a feeling of warmth in the air, in spite of the freeeeezing weather (more about that later). Everyone is smiling, full of festive cheer and happiness. It's a lovely place to be. Christmas Canadian style is all about the little things you can do for others, like shovelling snow from someones drive, making them cookies, or giving your time in some way. Charity donations and collections are commonplace, and presents generally consist of homemade goodies. Everyone bakes like crazy and makes beautiful ornaments to decorate the tree. It's all about the people around you - less commercial and less about money - I love it! Landmark Homes, who built our house, delivered us a large hamper of christmas goodies the other day. It was a lovely touch, and we've put it under the tree.
The children finished school at lunchtime on Friday, and came home with backpacks full of special Christmas crafts, including gingerbread, tree ornaments and candy canes. They have been enjoying just chilling out watching movies and playing with all the toys they'd forgotten existed for the last few months.
We are looking forward to our first Christmas as a foursome. It will be strange not to have our families around us, but kind of nice in a different way. It's going to be a relaxed affair with lots of eating, drinking and movies to watch. We also have planned an outdoor walk (and sledge) in the snow on Christmas morning.
The weather continues to be extremely cold, although it is supposed to get slightly warmer in the next few days. We have had a really long spell of extreme weather. There has been a lot of snow, ice and fog, with very little sun (unusual for Alberta!) and very low temperatures for over a fortnight now. The windchill has made it feel boneshatteringly cold - up to minus 38 at times! The average temperature has been down around -25 or so. It is unusual for it to be so cold for such an extended period of time here. You get odd weeks of very cold weather, but this is dragging on and on! There is a bit of blue sky today, and it is a welcome change. Your mood lifts when the sun comes out, the mountains come into view and everything looks beautiful again. We've been plugging the cars in on the coldest nights to stop the engines freezing, and you have to remember to warm up the cars in the morning for a good 15 mins before you go out, otherwise it's freezing in the car!
Neil is applying for part time work to supplement our income while he completes his realtor training. He has his first exam in January. My work has started well and I am really enjoying the work. The hours are ideal, although I have an early start and a long commute time on Tuesdays and Wednesdays as the weather has made traffic bad travelling into Calgary. A half hour drive doubles in the wintertime!
We'll put some Christmas photos on here in the next few days. Meanwhile, Happy Christmas to you all wherever you may be. Have a peaceful, relaxing holiday season xxxx

New jobs and new beginnings

Well, as time is moving on, and the festive period approaches, so do the costs of day to day living and mortgage repayments! Time to look for work then - darn it!
Much as I have loved the last few weeks being a lady of leisure (and frankly think it suited me very well thank you...cup of tea....bit of Jerry Springer.....hoovering....bit of Colin and Justin....cup of tea....lunch.....tidy up a bit and unpack another box....bit of Ty Pennington and Extreme Makeover Home edition...cup of tea...you get the idea) it is time to act a little sensibly and drink a little less tea! I dug out the local paper and decided to look for a job. After a bit of searching I have managed to land a lovely part time job working with pre-school children to help them with their speech and language skills. The two children I am assigned to have some delays with their speech development, and so I get to work with them for a few hours each week to help them practice their skills and have some fun learning through play. Ideal!
I have just completed my first day and loved every minute! I have come home brimming with ideas for topics to start after the Christmas break and am full of enthusiasm for what lies ahead. I met the little girl I will be working with today and she is adorable! She cried when I left and I've promised I'll come back tomorrow to do some painting and playing again. I meet the little boy I'll be working with tomorrrow morning. Even better....it pays the mortgage! Superb!
Neil is busy starting the ball rolling with his training to become a licensed realtor. He's registered with the Calgary Real Estate board today and has applied for the first part of his coursework. Everything is moving along really nicely, and to top it all off, my dishwasher is now plumbed in too! What a great day!

Snow!

Yesterday morning, as I spoke to Mum on the phone, it started to snow a bit....and then didn't stop for the rest of the day. We had 16cm of snow yesterday in Okotoks - the first big fall of the season, and it was fab! As we drove to the skating rink yesterday afternoon, it looked like a winter wonderland. "This is what we came for!" we said.
The children had a blast, sledging for hours on a hill just down the road with their friend Liam. Jaz came back rosy cheeked and with icicles on her eyelashes. They've also enjoyed shovelling the driveway and paths around the house (although after a couple more falls I reckon the novelty will wear off!). Neil even bought them their own shovels....no flies on him!
We need to keep the driveway clear for the removals men today as our furniture arrives in just a few minutes. The children were up bright and early to lend a hand.
Last night there was a knock on the door, and our neighbours were standing there with hot pecan pies and butter biscuits to welcome us to the neighbourhood! How fantastic is that? I truly believe we are living in 'The Trueman Show' sometimes!

Moving in

We took possession of our new home on 4th December at 11am. It was wonderful to have our own space again and more room around us. It's been over 3 months since we last had a home of our own so it was an extra special feeling to get the keys to our own place again. The house feels so spacious and bright and we are thrilled with it.
Since we moved in, Neil and I haven't stopped unpacking, sorting and building and have gone to bed each night exhausted. We haven't got much furniture yet but there has still been plenty to do. I can't believe that we arrived with 5 suitcases a month ago, and ended up moving about 4 carloads of stuff over from the basement apartment where we have been living for the last month!
On Friday, we had to go to Canada Customs in Calgary to clear our container, which had arrived by train the night before. They were very pleasant and helpful, and didn't want to open the container to check things, which saved us time. The removal firm over here are going to deliver our goods on Monday morning first thing, so at least we will have some furniture at last!
Even though we haven't got much furniture at the moment, at least the children have beds to sleep on, and a big TV to watch, so they are happy!
Well, still plenty to do, including installing blinds at the upstairs windows to give us some privacy! We have clear glass in our bathroom window (which seems to be commonplace in Canada) so need to get a blind up pretty quickly!
The children are enjoying the freedom of walking to and from school on their own, and particularly like letting themselves into the garage using keypad entry and the automatic garage door opener! They still seem really happy at school and are doing well. Jake in particular seems much happier now, which is a big relief for us. I'm going in to help out with some of their school Christmas activities next week, which I'm looking forward too - particularly making gingerbread houses!
The next step is job hunting I suppose. Much as I like being a lady of leisure, we need to start earning soon. Time to start scanning the job pages. I can't teach until I'm registered (and I've just sent off my forms - which usually take a while to get approved), so need to look for something else in the meantime. Neil has an appointment with a real estate agency next week to discuss becoming a realtor, but will also need to look for temporary work in the meantime.