Heavy Snow...

We received another seven inches (17.5 cm) of dry fluffy snow on Monday, 15th February. This was added to the two+ inches that had fallen the previous week. It was the deepest snow that we've had in quite some years, and certainly the heaviest snow since we moved to this house over two years ago. It was beautiful! :)

The road is there somewhere!

Our back garden.

The storm drain surrounded by deep snow.

The coloured ice balls on the stoep.

Rusty made a heart shape with his paws.

View from the corner.

Someone lost track of the road.

Our vehicles were pretty-well snowed in!

But Candace and I cleared the driveway later in the afternoon! :)

Snow and Ice Experiments...

We have done various winter experiments in the cold weather recently. We have filled balloons up with water and frozen them outside, added food colouring to the water and made coloured ice balls, and taken boiling water in a pot and thrown it outside and watched it instantly crystalise in the icy air. The children have loved it! :)

 

 

Colourful water balloons lined up to freeze in the icy temperatures.

Frozen ice balls.

They also froze toys inside some of the water balloons.

We then watched the toys slowly emerge over the course of an afternoon.

Coloured ice balls.

Boiling water in a pot...

And most of it instantly crystalised because of the temperature difference!

The Red Cross Knight...

Riaan has been enjoying Saint George and the Dragon recently. This book was a gift to him for his birthday last year. He loves living these great adventures, and so we built a cardboard dragon for cardboard construction a week or two ago. He then transformed into The Red Cross Knight and defeated this fearsome creature! 

Saint George and the Dragon, one of his favourite books lately.

The fearsome dragon!

The Brave Knight with his enemy.

The Red Cross Knight about to attack the dragon! :)

Eliza's Third Birthday...

Eliza turned three on the 8th February. We spent the day celebrating our sweet girl with a delicious Victoria Sponge Cake that Candace had baked. Her perceptive concern for others - along with genuine empathy - have really come to the fore this past year. Here is how much she has changed since her previous birthday.

Birthday banner made by Candace!

Eliza with her birthday card from Granny and Grandad in Cape Town.

With some of her presents.

 

The amazing cake made by Candace.

Nothing like some coffee and cake in the morning! :)

My 37th Birthday...

I celebrated my 37th birthday on Friday, 5th February. I was off work that day and so spent an enjoyable day at home with the family. The two older children and I even went out to the Cherry Ghost Coffee House to watch a live music event featuring a friend of ours in the evening. Unfortunately, Anya was out of sorts and so Candace stayed home with her, but it was an enjoyable evening nonetheless! Here's to another year of exciting adventures!

 

Candace made a delicious carrot cake - yum! :)

Judah Maley put on a great evening's entertainment!

With Riaan at the Cherry Ghost. :)

Real Snow Day...

We had our first real snow day on Wednesday, 27th January. We loved watching the snowflakes fall to the ground, and the kiddos couldn't wait to get outside and play in the white stuff! We had snowball fights and even built a couple of snowmen! :) I measured it as being a shade under three inches (75 mm) of snow. This snowfall was followed up with more snow last Monday, and there is a winter storm warning in effect for this coming Monday. We could get some really heavy snow then, so it should be an interesting week ahead!

 

Riaan was very excited...

 

As was Eliza!

The kiddos built a snowman with Candace and I.

Candace with Anya wrapped up warmly. :)

My little South African snowman. :)

My pretty Candace!

The snow was heavy on top of this small evergreen bush.

The view of our house.

Snow - even a small amount - can make roads treacherous.

Icy Morning...

We had some minor sleet and ice on the night of Saturday, 23rd January. The ice was clinging to our yard signs, trees and our swing out back the next morning. It was quite beautiful - although a lot more of it and it would have been rather dangerous, especially for motorists on the roads. It had all melted away by midday!

 

Ice dripping off the stand of our swing out back.

The ice was really pretty hanging off our yard signs.

Boys' Day at Home...

Riaan and I had a lovely boys' day at home while Candace and the girls went to a sewing/quilting day recently. We played Lego, Riaan drew friendly ghosts, and we did various crafts - including making this amazing stormtrooper helmet out of a couple of milk jugs! It was even mild enough that we ventured outside and had a bonfire a little later in the day. We wrapped up the day with pizza and wings and watched Wall-E together. It was a great day! :)

Riaan's friendly ghosts! :) They're super-cute!

Bonfire fun.

Yummy pizza and wings for supper!

After watching Wall-E, Riaan drew these amazing drawings of Eve and Wall-E!

Working on the Star Wars Stormtrooper helmet.

 

The completed Stormtrooper helmet!

Riaan was very happy with the finished product! :)