Sledding!!!

We finally got to go sledding. That was one thing we wanted to do during our holidays so on Wednesday we went to Elkwater Park and looked for a tubing or sledding hill. We couldn't find anything that looked reasonable and we couldn't go on the skiing hills, of course. Then Daddy went into the Tourist Information Centre and they said that they did have a sledding hill. We went and looked and sure enough, it was exactly what we had been looking for. Nobody else was there, so we ran around there a bit and took some pictures.

Bianca and Leandro

Mama really likes these pictures

Can you believe these were taken with a phone?

My princess and I

The boys at the bottom of the steep hill.

Our sweet Mama. This is one of the best pictures we have of her.

On Thursday morning, we left to go sledding. We had pumped up the tubes that we got in Great Falls and we loaded those and a few other sleds into the trailer. We had to drive for an hour and a half. We hardly have any snow in Bow Island here, but there they have 6 inches or more. Rudolf + Nancy and Adolf + Annie came too. We had lots of fun. There was one hill that was very steep. I went down there and I couldn't remember ever being so scared. Once I was down, it was fun, but I don't know if I even breathed on my way down. Maybe I did. The other hill wasn't so steep but we still went down very fast. It was a hard climb up. There were (or are) lots of weeds on that hill so 2-3 of the tubes have holes in them. Uncle Adolf went down the steep hill with one of their tubes and stopped abruptly at the bottom because it popped on him. Uncle Rudolf went down with the Krazy Karpet and it was crazy. He came speeding down and Daddy, who was on his way up, said that his face had just gotten whiter and whiter. Daddy thought that it was very funny, and it did look funny from the top too.

Imelda and Serena

Bianca, Elfrieda, and Mckenzie struggling
up the hill. They had to take many breaks.

Samuel Resting

Uncle Rudolf (carrying Jaden), Edgar, and Daddy
(carrying Leandro) in the background.

  One time when I was coming down, I bumped into Mama who was also on her way down. I was going quite fast, and backwards, and so I gave Leandro and her a lot of speed. At the bottom of the hill was a creek and, because I was going backward, I couldn't see it. All of a sudden, I felt my head hit something hard and my legs came flying over me. The creek wasn't frozen yet so I had hit my head hard on a rock. If  I hadn't gotten hurt, then I think that everyone who saw it, would have laughed and laughed. You see it had looked so funny when my legs just came slowly over my head and I did a backflip. Now I have a bump on my head and a few scratches on my cheek.
 We had so much fun! We left early because we thought that it would take a long time to get out of Elkwater. We thought that the roads would be bad as it was snowing and blowing quite hard. But guess what, as soon as we were out of the park, the roads were dry. We came home quite tired and wet. But it was worth a few ripped tubes, wet socks, and sore muscles. Here are some more individual pictures.
I hope you enjoyed this post,
                 

Sincerely,
         Yesenia

Edgar,

Samuel,

Elfrieda,

and Leandro. I love this picture.

Ping-Pong Table!!!!

Yes we 'got' one. Actually we built one. We aren't doing school this week, so one of our projects for this week. On Monday, Daddy and Edgar went to Horizon's shop in Grassy Lake to cut the pieces to the correct sizes. When they came home, we started putting it together. Daddy's an Unger and he did not want a wobbly table. It is a very sturdy table. You can run into it and it won't move. That also means that it's very heavy. On Tuesday, Mama, Daddy, and some of the children painted the whole thing white. Then, on Wednesday when we went shopping, we bought dark green paint, a net, paddles, and balls. We gave it one coat of green on Wednesday, another one yesterday, and hopefully another one today. After today, then it will be done. We still need to stick white electrical tape around the edges and down the middle, but we children will still play. Yesterday, we had visitors and the boys played ping-pong almost all evening. We have played a lot today already as well.
I will leave you with a few pictures and captions,
                                                                            Yesenia

The frame

Leandro. Watching.

Can you guess who that would be?
No, he wasn't hiding from the camera.

Two 'top plates' are on.

Screwin' it on

This is one of my favourites of Elfie.

The top part is done.

First leg.

Those pieces of plywood are there to make it more sturdy.

Daddy had to sand down a little ridge.

Sure looks like he's ready for almost anything.

Can you see me?

Rolling, Rolling, and Rolling.

Now we're up to the green part.

Yes, I helped too.

                                                                            Yesenia

Tips, tips, tips, and more tips (cont'd part 3)

Surprise! I still have tips. Here is part three of my series of tips:
1. To clean bathrooms drains of hair and kitchen drains of grease, pour 1 cup baking soda into drain, then 1 cup vinegar. When it starts to foam, flush the drain with hot waters.
2. When washing windows, pour a little vinegar into a pail of warm water. The glass will clean brighter and you won't have streaks.
3. To keep spiders out of your house, take a tomato plant at the end of the season and hang it in your basement. Let it dry there. The spiders should retreat.
4. One way to keep plastic cups and dishes from getting knocked around in the dishwasher is to use rubber bands to tie down anything light.
5. To remove lime deposits from jars, glasses, vases, etc., soak in a solution of vinegar and water. Lime deposits will float away. Soak longer for stubborn stains.
6. Badly discolored aluminum pans can be brightened by boiling apple parings in them for a short time.
7. Black scuff marks on a floor are instantly wiped away with a small amount of baby oil or petroleum jelly on a cleaning rag. Afterward, be sure to wipe the floor thoroughly with a spray cleaner, or it will have a slippery spot.
8. Clean up slivers of shattered glass without cutting yourself by pressing a slice of fresh lightly over the area, then immediately disposing of it.
9. If you scorch a saucepan, just fill it halfway with water and add 1/4 cup baking soda. Boil until the burned material loosens and floats to the top.
10. Keep your stainless steel flatware looking shiny and new by soaking it in warm soapy water with bleach added. After a half hour or so, remove, rinse thoroughly, and dry.
11. The easiest and best way to shine stainless steel or chrome-like the faucets on your sink- is to use a soft dry cloth sprayed with WD-40 (the lubricant). The metal will shine like a mirror.
12. When washing corduroy garments, add 1/2 cup of vinegar to the rinse water. The fabric will be bright and lint-free.
13. Candle wax can be removed from table linens by rubbing the spots with a generous amount of vegetable oil. Wipe off excess oil with a paper towel, and then wash as you normally would.
14. If you run out of fabric softener liquid or sheets, substitute hair conditioner. For a full laundry load, try 1/4 to 1/2 cup.
15. Use baking soda to polish the chrome fixtures in your bathroom. Put a small amount on a wet cloth, rub the fixtures and dry with a soft cloth. They'll look like new.
16. When ants are a problem, sprinkle powdered chilli pepper, paprika, dried peppermint, damp coffee grounds or borax where the ants are coming in. Lemon juice works well too.
17. For a carpet cleaner, combine 1 Tbsp. vinegar with 1 Tbsp. cornstarch. Work into the spot with a soft cloth and leave it for 2 days, then vacuum.
18. When leaving on a trip, place houseplants in the bathtub with about 2 inches of water. That way, there's no need to ask someone to water them while you're gone.
19. To cut a pie into five equal pieces, slice a "Y" into the pie and then divide the two large pieces in half.
20. When going camping, put each egg in a small plastic bag and then put them all back into the carton. If one egg should break, it will be contained in its bag and can be scrambled later.

What We Did on the Last Few Days and Some Funny Comments

Hello Blog Readers,
Are you missing me? Huh? I can't hear you. Well, if you don't answer me, I'll keep on writing.
We children really enjoyed watching Horizon Contractors building a garage for our neighbour. It's our uncles working so we children play on the site. On Thursday morning there was a concrete pad and on Friday evening there was a garage ready for shingles and siding. They were really quick. Here are some pictures:

Joshua, Do you miss this?

Edgar really enjoyed being 'on the job'.

So did Samuel.

Can anybody find a level on this picture.

Today we cleaned up the garage. It was one big mess and we worked all day. We have to sort the screws yet and clean up three or few shelves. It was lots of messy fun.

Here are the 'funny comments' that I wrote about in the title. The other day, Edgar was reading the sticker on the garlic salt. He read, "Use on salads............and 'poetry' (poultry). The next day, I think it was, Bianca was upstairs doing schoolwork. She overheard Elfrieda telling Leandro that, "When bears stand on their 'high heels' (hind legs), they are taller than Daddy." Today, at the supper table, Leandro was trying to eat the last of his bread. He had eaten all of the peanut butter off of the top and could hardly get it  down. Finally he sighed and half whispered, "When I am big, I won't eat the peanut butter first."

 Here are some pictures that I should have posted earlier but I thought that you would still enjoy them.
                                                                                                                         -Yesenia-

Here is Daddy with his birthday cake.

Here's an upside-down close-up.

This is Samuel's gift to Daddy.

Here is Anthony holding his little sister.

He just didn't want to let her go.

Proud Sister

Isn't that just pure love.

Samuel and Delano with the snow pile.

Edgar doing embroidery.