Halloween

It has taken me a while to write this post. Apparently I am not immune to the bugs over here and have been hit hard with a chest infection and a double bout of gastro. I am learning the the more effective treatment methods involve not only antibiotics but also lots and lots of TV. But also, it has taken me a while to think about how to write about this post.

Halloween.

As an Australian, living in North America, we have been incredibly excited about Halloween. I am aware that a lot of my readers are Australian, and I saw a lot of Australians Hate Halloween posts on FB and  I have been mulling over the term Hate, and what a horrible word that is, and the strong emotion it evokes. I understand that Halloween is not an Australian tradition, but Hate? I guess, for me, with things like that, I just ignore if I don't want to be involved. No one asks you to dress up, buy candy, carve a pumpkin. And if kids in your neighbourhood annoy you with the door knocking, go out for the night.

So, opening myself up for criticism, I am going to state it - we LOVED our Halloween experience. For the past month, as we walk to and from school, and around our neighbourhood, we have delighted in the appearance of scarecrows (to celebrate Harvest) and pumpkins, both carved and uncarved. Squeals of delight and frantically pointed fingers frequently explode from inside the chariot, as both The Eldest and The Youngest point out the pumpkins, the scarecrows and the houses decorated for Halloween.

Some houses were 'scarier' than others. Not to the point of nightmares for my kids, but enough for us to generate a conversation as we walked about what we saw, and what that made us feel and why we might have felt that way. I don't believe for one minute that seeing a witch hanging from a porch railing, or a skull decorating someone's lawn is going to turn my children into pagan devil worshippers. I do believe that it taught the youngest how to overcome a 'scary' situation and choose bravery and courage in facing her fear of touching a headless horseman. Her delighted 'I touched it! I'm not scared', warmed my soul. May she find the strength within her as she grows to continue to face her fears head on - even if it is holding someone else's hand while she does.

I didn't go mad with the 'commercialism' of the event. I bought a $2 ghost for my door, cut out some bats and printed off a sign.

Just like Christmas though, there are people who go all out to make the event special for the spectators.

And we are incredibly proud of our new found pumpkin carving skills and created what we consider the traditional Jack-O-lantern complete with electric candles.

See, in case you didn't know, there is Halloween etiquette. If you welcome trick or treaters to your house, you put a lit up pumpkin out, turn on your porch light and wait for the eager, dressed up youth of the neighbourhood to knock of your door and gleefully accept handfuls of treats.

No light, no pumpkin, no knock.

The Eldest and The Youngest, unfazed by the rainy weather, dressed in their princess dress (The Eldest) and Minnie Mouse dress (the Youngest) and their raincoats, danced along the sidewalk in the dark, excitedly looking out for the houses with the pumpkins and porch lights. Together, they knocked on doors or rang door bells, and with all the bravery their 2 and 4 year old selves could muster, sang out 'trick or treat' clearly to the host of the house, holding out their baskets, scoring a bundle of candy and confidence at each house we visited. It was magical.

So, we may be Australian, but we LOVE Halloween. And if you had seen the sparkle in my girls eyes this month, and the sound of my 2 year old saying trick or treat, you would fall in love with Halloween too.

Jen x

Thanksgivings

This past weekend in Canada was Thanksgiving. Being Australian, we haven't sat down with a turkey in October specifically cooked to enable us to give thanks. But, given that Hubby is the paid worker of the household, we were thankful enough for the long weekend and so I found myself cooking a turkey. 

Last year, when I cooked the turkey for Christmas I was super organised. As per Jamie Oliver's instructions I had made my gravy the week before. I had every possible ingredients. I even found somewhere that sold clementines in Summer. It was a success. 

This turkey cooking event was somewhat more relaxed. Thankfully my oven has a cooking timer on it, so although I did still get up at 5am to put the turkey in the oven, I was up for all of 2 mins.

I was missing a few ingredients and I didn't make the gravy a week before. Thankfully, Jamie Oliver is wrong, and I was not stressed out by making my (packet) gravy 5 mins before serving. It was a success.

Well, the food was. Not so much the company of our littlest child. 

The Youngest had a major 2 year old meltdown just before lunch was served. One of those horrible two year old tantrums they usually reserve for packed public places (maybe the glamour of my meal tricked her into thinking we were in a fancy restaurant??) and it was with a great deal of thanks that we were not out in public, and therefore able to put her to bed and have lunch without her. 

Proud of my (fancy restaurant) table decorations bought for 80% off, a turkey well cooked, crispy baked potatoes, the opportunity to drink red wine at lunchtime, and apple crumble in the oven, we sat down to eat. 

The Eldest, calmly pushing food around her plate, enquires "is this Thanksgiving?"

Us: Yes.  

The Eldest: Ok, well let's do our thanks. Daddy what are your thanks?

Hubby: That your sister is asleep and not screaming anymore. Oh, and that the Eagles got up yesterday. 

The Eldest: Oh. (with a shake of her head - obviously the football comment was being brushed aside). Mummy, what are your thanks?

What are my thanks? I have so many it would be impossible to write them all down. There are the obvious ones: family, friends, health. Right now, I feel pretty darn thankful for everything. But here are a few at the top of my list at this moment...

I am thankful for my Phil and Ted's Double Explorer Stroller and for all of its hard work over the past ten weeks. I appreciated you back in Australia, but my love and appreciation for you has quadrupled over the past few months. You gave me the freedom to leave a 2 bedroom apartment, in a foreign city, catch the bus and get around all while carrying my 2 children, their assorted out and about paraphanalia and my handbag. I could not have gotten The Eldest to school without you, as the service you provide in enabling me to harness the wanderings of The Youngest is invaluable. Do not worry about the new chariot in the garage. When it snows, you will understand why it is taking the children out and about. 

I am thankful for the inventor of penicillin Alexander Fleming, and it's wonderful antibiotic ability to take away horrible horrible tonsillitis and bring me back to functional living. 

I am thankful for my nespresso machine. Before we received a shipment of pods, I was thankful for Starbucks. Really, I am just thankful for coffee in general. I just wish coffee over here was as good as it is at home.

I am thankful for the amazingly generous parents that I have back in Oz and the home they have suddenly had to give to my puppy. I have been so worried about him over the past few weeks, and miss him so much. I am thankful he is in a place with two people who love him and will care for him for the next 22 months. 

I am thankful for the Indian Summer that we are having, and that it is not cold cold cold yet!

I am thankful for my wonderful new friends here in Ottawa, who have made me feel at home here, and who without them, I would feel homesick and lonely. For their wonderful friendship, children and laughs, I am truly truly thankful.

And I am truly thankful for that gorgeous hubby of mine and my two nutbag children. For every and all reasons. 

So many many many other things I could say thankyou for.

My answer to The Eldest? That I am sitting here in Ottawa, eating Thanksgiving dinner with you.

And so the conversation went on. The Eldest dragged a great deal of thanks out of us, as we sat there, wondering where this grown up four old came from, and whatever happened to that little child we birthed 4 years ago.  It was one of those lovely meals, where without the up and down from the table antics of The Youngest, we were able to sit still and talk, thankful indeed that our tantrum throwing 2 year old was blissfully asleep. 

I do have lots of thanks to give, but just now I am going to go and eat apple crumble and say thanks for butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. 

Happy Thanksgiving

Jen xx

The Wonder of Pumpkins

You have to hand it to the Canadians. They know how to celebrate each season as it arrives. The shops here are decked out in fall colours and decorations and everyone is celebrating the pumpkin.
Pumpkins everywhere - pumpkin pie, pumpkin spice, pumpkin spice latte, pumpkin chai. We have bought our lovely big pumpkin and are going to start researching how exactly to carve it for Halloween.

Yep. The mighty pumpkin is well loved over here.

We discovered an event, in its 2nd year, called Pumpkinferno held at historic Upper Canada Village, an hour south of Ottawa.

Upper Canada Village: Pumpkinferno

Now to set the scene - these are not real pumpkins. Real pumpkins would have decayed way before the display was set up. So it was 6,000 realistic, artificial pumpkins that were hand carved by a group of young artists here in Ontario, over the past 15 months.

We arrived at 5pm, thinking we could have a look through the village before Pumpkinferno began at 7pm. We were wrong. However, we were not wrong to arrive that early. We lined up at 6pm, with roughly 30 people in front of us. We entered at 6:45, and by the time we left at 7:45, there would have been a few hundred people lined up to enter, plus another few hundred cars lined up along the highway to enter.

It was pretty wow. I am just glad that we got there early!!
Here are some photos of some of what we saw, plus a video at the end.

Enjoy the wonder of the pumpkin!
Jen x

The Wonder of Apples

So, my little blog has been neglected for the past few weeks. I wish I could say it's because we have living the jetsetting lifestyle: visiting NY City, the Rockies and a quick trip across to Europe.
Alas, it was because of none of those and because I had 3000 words to write for uni. 3000 words that sucked every ounce of the desire to write out of me. I have had uni assignment hangover. That, and the need to catch up on three weeks worth of housework - I reckon I am still 2 weeks short - but at least everyone has clean clothes, folded, and in their wardrobe. I even ironed some of hubby's work shirts!

Even though I was busy with assignments and keeping the household semi ticking over, we have still managed some great family activities.

A couple of weekends ago, we drove out to the Orleans Fruit Farm to do our very own apple picking. Equipped with our own apple picking tool, and a plastic bag, we wandered through the orchard, plucking fresh McIntosh apples off the trees. We managed to load ourselves up with quite a large bag, which has resulted in my learning how to make apple hand pies.

YUM!

Jen xxx