Dec 31 - out with the old

It was another busy day.  David was sledding with the girls at the side of the cottage - the kitchen side.  I pulled Zoe and then Zoe and Emma on the sled around the cottage.  Jeffrey took Matty out.  Matthew initially didn't like it but then cried when Jeffrey took him back out; after that he was all smiles.  Go figure. 

I made bead necklaces with Lauren, Emma and Zoe with stuff that I'd picked up from Walmart a couple of years ago for just such an occasion.  I've got enough containers of beads to do this ... oh ... a couple of dozen more times. 

Cassie ate some small beads that hit the floor so she'll be pooping those this morning, I would expect.  I see that Obama has banned microbeads; these would be small, not micro :).

Kylie, Lauren and Emma went snowshoeing.  Eventually I went out to see what was happening as they'd been out for quite a while and found that the trail was now packed enough for me and Cassie to walk.  I found them back in the woods making their way out.  The snowshoes kept coming off Emma and she wasn't as fast as the other two.

Once Zoe and Matthew had eaten dinner and were put down for the night, it was time for fondue.  Great as always, I've probably eaten enough protein for a week, maybe two.  Later we had salad.  Even later we had chocolate fondue.  Even later we watched the ball drop -- yup, all of us were awake.  I had a half-hour snooze with my phone alarm set.  Cassie probably wondered why we kept her up so long.  She got up this a.m. and is sleeping again on her pillow in the kitchen.

My part of dinner was done the day before with the beef and before that, with the pork.  Sandy prepped the shrimp, which amounted to de-icing and removing tails.  They were excellent, probably my favorite but of course you can't beat that beef marinade.  There are some leftovers in the freezer, but not shrimp, for a stir-fry that will wait until Spring.  Likewise we'll have some leftover chili ... likely ... unless the gang gets into that.

Sandy also did all the prep for the chocolate fondue and of course she made the salad.  Clementine, banana, pineapple and strawberry were consumed with the chocolate by all the girls.  Jeffrey had a snooze; David watched TV, I had a couple of pieces of fruit.  I've never been a fruit person.

The temperature hovered just under freezing all day and today looks like more of the same with the current temp at 28F.  There is colder weather coming, but not today.

Today, the 1st, is when I normally pack up the Christmas tree.  I'll probably leave that for tomorrow or Sunday.  It looks so nice and hasn't been up there very long.  That won't be an easy task.

There's always more, if I think hard enough about it and wander around to see the remnants.  For example, I see a couple of dead sparklers out on the barbecue ... Lauren and Emma ran around on the deck in the dark.  There is some ice out front but not nearly thick enough to walk on.  I also gave them a couple of those glowing bracelets.  David and Jeffrey played Foosball in the basement for a while.  Many other toys, both new and old, got some use, like a fishing game that even David got into.

Kylie, in her downtime, was knitting something for Chris -- must be socks.  Sara commented that he must have huge feet and skinny legs. 

We've gone through some wine, some beer and some Scotch.  I've stuck to wine.  However, the icewine and champagne that were in the fridge downstairs are still there.  We can't pretend that we're party animals !

I guess that's about it.   It looks like we'll likely get a few flurries today and tomorrow before the temperature drops.  That temperature drop is predicted for Sudbury and Parry Sound so we're surrounded.  I see some precipitation on the Doppler but the heavier stuff is north of us.  I will head to Britt for Mass this morning.  I'll also go to Mass on Sunday and need to make one trip into Loring for mail before we leave.  That will probably be on Monday, since the post office is closed today, Saturday and Sunday :).  The only thing that I'm expecting, hoping for, is our replacement TD Visa cards which expire shortly. 

Onward ?