Traditions

Last week we had a long weekend and went on our 4th annual (well the years we've lived in Ottawa) nature walk along Aviation Parkway. I'll get more to that in a minute.
Friday, the kids were off school, but Len had to work. It seems my kids misbehave when they're all home and daddy's not (or maybe I can handle it better when I have a help mate). Anyway, I admit I was dreading it, and that made me really sad. So on Thursday, I had made some plans to keep us all happy and entertained: bake cookies, play board games, read stories, dance to music, go to the park, and maybe even go shopping for snowsuits. Friday morning arrived and it was POURING down rain. I told the kids that we were all going to do a quick tidy of the house, then we'd get started on our day of fun. It wasn't 2 minutes before all He** broke loose and Kaleb and Noe were screaming at each other over (is it ever anything really important). This is when I lose it. Yes, being the adult I need to stay calm to show them how to properly deal with their emotions, but I'm not perfect either, so away I start yelling too. After the ordeal was over of course I felt terrible and sad for the rest of the day. We did end up making cookies, then we all watched "Annie" together. We missed out on our Ward Family Fun Night, but I just wasn't up to it (all the kids were coughing and had yucky noses too), so we'll just have to make it up next month. I'm reminded by a quote from Pearl S. Buck, "Some are kissing mothers and some are scolding mothers, but it is love just the same, and most mothers kiss and scold together." So I guess I'm normal- tee hee.
On Saturday the big kids played with a classmate and her brothers who live across the street, while the rest of us shopped till we dropped! I think we went to 7 stores. The major purchase was for the snowsuits, boots, and gloves (you can't get away with just coats here- and we had our first flurries 2 days ago- yikes!)
On Sunday we all went to church and afterwards had our Canadian Thanksgiving celebration. Since we'll be doing it again next month we changed it up a bit. We had chicken breasts, stuffing, mashed potatoes & gravy, and of course our green bean and sweet potato casseroles. We finished it off with a yummy (store bought) apple cranberry caramel crisp served ala mode- delish. We also watched our Charlie Brown Thanksgiving specials, so hopefully next month we'll be able to stay awake for Miracle on 34th Street.
Now Monday was technically Thanksgiving, but I have only met one Canadian who had the feast on the Monday while growing up. Everyone else I know has it on the Sunday and some on the Saturday. Since we already had our feast, we drove down Rockcliff Parkway and then took a nice stroll through the tree tunnel that is also known as Aviation Pathway. I love this tradition of ours and hope to do it every year we live here. Now on to the pictures- enjoy!

We noticed these bright red leaves from far back, but when we approached them we discovered they were spray painted, what the?

Kaleb loved his red, yellow, and green maple leaf, while Noe adored her hot pink one.

I love this family of mine. Even though I do scold, I also kiss lots and lots!

I hope my Canadian friends had a great Thanksgiving, and I hope my American friends had a nice Columbus day, and I hope all my friends are having a warm fall!