Daniel Takes Swimming Lessons

Daniel and the rest of his grade 5 class finished up their swimming lessons last week. Daniel was registered in Swim Kids 4 and we are still waiting to hear if he has moved on to Swim Kids 5!


This is a picture of Daniel doing a stupendous belly flop from the diving board!

Bull

I decided that when I started this blogger thingy that I would put up pictures of every foster dog that we had come to stay with us. We had Bull (racing name Shut Down) come about a month ago. He was an absolute joy to have in our home and we miss him. He has moved on to his forever family and will be heading to his forever home in Montreal on the 6th of November. Congratulations Bull!!

Alberta Goose Hunting

Since we returned from Manitoba in September from goose hunting there, Curtis and Daniel have been hunting every once in awhile here in Alberta. This picture is from a hunt about three weeks ago, but better late than never! They have been out, just the two of them and Curtis has also been out on one hunt with some of the local guys.

Claire's Mini Report

Claire did not want me to post her Mini Report on the blog, but I told her that since I had posted Daniel's I at least had to write something.  The report was not what Claire expected and after a chat with her teacher, she, I and Mrs. Beringer have decided that she will work harder and Mrs. Beringer will continue to challenge her.  Enough said.

Chester and His Chair

These are just cute pictures of Chester taking a nap in his chair. He loves this chair and it will be interesting to see what he looks like sleeping in it when he is full grown.

Enjoy and feel free to AAAWWWWWW!

Daniel's Mini Report

Today Daniel came home with his Mini Report Card. As you can see he is doing really well and settling in nicely at Onoway Elementary School (OES).

Daniel's 10th Birthday

Yesterday, October 22nd, was Daniel's 10th birthday. He had his new friends, Bryce and Joel, over for cake and chicken hunting (with plastic swords). He received money from his Baba and Gedo and Auntie Mee Mee and Uncle Aaron and a Club Penguin membership and a new sweater from Nana and Papa. Claire gave him 20 pokemon figurines (still to arrive from ebay) and Curtis and I are taking him to a hockey game on November 1st.



This is the dragon that Daniel bought with the money that Auntie Mee Mee and Uncle Aaron gave him. It is called the Sentinel of Fire and Fury and it sits on top of a box that holds a red gem inside! Very Fabulous!


This is the awesome sweater that Nana made him.

The Latest Visitor to our Country Home

Curtis beat us home Monday night and was filling the stove with wood and saw a chicken just outside the fence teasing him and strutting his stuff! He didn't get a chance to shoot that one, but did manage to bag one out in the pasture about 1/2 an hour later. Once it was dark he came back to the house to see that there was another teasing chicken sitting on the deck! He took the time to get the camera and took these pictures in total darkness with flash! To get the last picture, he is about 10 feet away from the chicken and it still did not fly away when Flashed by the camera!

Chickens are truly not the smartest bird. Curtis, Daniel and Claire went chicken hunting tonight in the pasture and came home with one and Curtis showed Daniel how to gutt it by standing on the wings and pulling the feet. Totally cool!

A Visitor in the Pasture

Tuesday morning started out kind of rough.  Daniel was sure I was just being mean spirited waking him up in the dark, but after some negotiating, he made it upstairs for some Special K and he and Claire were on the bus on time.  
I was checking my email and got up refill my coffee cup shortly after 8:00 am and saw out the big diningroom window that we had a visitor by the garbage can.  I took these shots as he ventured back out to the pasture, around the pond and away up the hill.  Very exciting and now Curtis says he needs a new gun (sigh).

Our Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a very exciting Thanksgiving weekend at our house.  We started with Friday off from school which gave everyone some time to relax before the craziness started.
Saturday we were up bright and early and heading to Red Deer for the 2007 Canada Cup Karate Tournament.  Daniel competed in the 9 and 10 year old blue-black division and won a silver medal for kata and a silver medal for point  sparring.  The black belt that was in charge of judging his division made a mistake when she was conducting the point sparring rounds and Daniel did not get to fight in the gold/silver match that he should have so he was awarded the silver medal as a "sorry we screwed up" prize.  Oh well, next time he can fight for gold.
You can see his silver medal kata on youtube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7apOdn-tdRQ If that doesn't work, you can just go to www.youtube.com and then search 2007 Canada Cup.


These are pics of Daniel with his medals.


Sunday we slept in and then headed to Kickakoo Park and recreation area for the annual Edmonton Greyhound Walking Club Thanksgiving Greyhound Walk.  Now, I was misled that this was going to be a walk.  It was not, it was an 8 km trek up and down hills and through the woods.  My cute fashion sneekers did not cut it and I was afraid they were going to have to carry both me and Sidney back to the parking lot.  We made it alright in the end, but Sidney and I both took it very easy for the rest of the day and evening.

This is our group waiting to start.

This is Bull, our new foster, pulling me along.



Monday was spent cleaning out the monsterous perennial beds around the yard and then we had Thanksgiving Dinner.  Just before dinner was served, Curtis decided that the geese flying over the house were being just too cocky for his liking so, he camoed up and headed out through the pasture with his gun.  Just a few minutes behind him was his trusty garage cat, Tracker.  It was like he was saying "wait for me!"  Curtis said that he caught up to him and he never flinched, not even when he fired the three shots that he did manage to get off.  No geese were harmed this day, but a new hunting partner may have been discovered!  Can you get a hunting vest for a large orange tabby?

Curtis heading out to get those damn geese!


This is our Thanksgiving table complete with good china! Daniel looks upset because he is! He thought that the milk smelled "wierd" and he was NOT drinking it (sigh).


Hope everyone had as great a weekend as we did!

Tipper Photo Shoot

While the boys were hunting geese and basically anything that had the unfortunate luck of flying by them first thing in the morning, I took my camera and went for a couple of walks. Since the kids didn't want to go, my only subject was Tipper (Chester and Sidney stayed in Alberta). Here are some awesome pics I took of Tipper.





The following pictures are my favorite's that I took. She is just too cute!

Introducing Sage

Hello everyone! I hope you are all enjoying a nice fall day, like I am. Curtis locked me out of the garage this morning so I am in the house cleaning up and doing laundry. The trip to town will have to wait until tomorrow.

Anyway, this beautiful greyhound lives just near Fort Qu'Appelle in Saskatchewan which is about 1/2 an hour from Regina. She is beautiful and the best part is that she is CHESTER'S SISTER!!!! Just thought I would share her pic with everyone. She lives with my friend Maureen and her retired racer brothers, Roman and Walter, along with a Austrailian Shepherd and Bermice Mountain Dog puppy.