A Weekend of Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is my favourite holiday of the year.  Sure Christmas and birthdays are pretty awesome, but for me, they will always come in second place.

First of all, Thanksgiving means the return of turkey dinner after months of nothing but BBQ's and salads.  Mmmmm . . . . I love turkey, stuffing, cranberries, mashed potatoes smothered in gravy, mom's squash casserole, and lots of pie and other yummy desserts.

Second of all, Thanksgiving brings the first long weekend of the new school year, and to celebrate, I decided to lay in bed extra late reading a book, while my boys spread mayhem throughout the house.  Bliss!  Then, Mr. Level-Headed suggested we go to St. Martin's for the day.  Double Bliss!  And with the phenomenal weather we had this weekend, we couldn't have picked a better day. 

The sun was shining, the leaves were falling, and the kids were filled with shenanigans.

They have titled this one "Epic Awesomeness"!

Elliot trying to catch the scent of our car.  Okay, so I kind of lead us in the wrong direction . . . oops!

Elliot exploring his inner monkey.

Who am I kidding . . . I was filled with it too.

But in all seriousness, though, my number one reason for placing Thanksgiving above all the other holidays is that on a Thanksgiving weekend twenty years ago, I met this guy:

And even though our story is not that unique:

we met, fell in love, got married, bought some dogs, had some kids

(maybe not in that exact order . . . oops!),

it's been pretty amazing, and I look forward to seeing what the next twenty years bring.

I love you, Mr. Level-Headed!

Even if you do not appreciate my public displays of affection . . .

tee hee!

The Group of Two

With all the rain we have had lately, I thought this would be a perfect time to share a few photos from one of our recent outdoor art classes.  Since September, we have been studying Canada, and I have tried to incorporate a Canadian theme into our art lessons.  So, it goes without saying we have spent a couple of weeks studying the Group of Seven.  Much to my surprise, the boys are loving art class!  Sure, it pales in comparison to our weekly skates at the Qplex, bikes rides, swimming, and our soccer and football games, but, nonetheless, they seem to really enjoy painting, drawing, and working with clay.  This thrills me to no end because it adds an additional layer, perhaps a more sensitive layer to the always wrestling, refusing-to-change-their-underwear, rough and tumble boys I deal with everyday.

Here they are quietly studying the "Canadian landscape".  Oh, and yes, in case you have forgotten, it is sunshine that is lighting this picture up and warming their little bodies so they do not have to wear a jacket . . . tee hee!

They started with viewfinders to help them narrow down the area they wanted to concentrate on.

They sat here for forty-five minutes drinking in their surroundings and drawing what they saw.  Needless to say, I was shocked!

While they drew, I talked to them about drawing what they saw rather than what they think things look like, and I was happy to see what they came up with.

Avery's

Elliot's (our neighbour's house on the water)

Then we headed back into the house to transform their drawings into paintings (the tricky part).

Elliot found this particularly challenging:

But he stuck with it, and I am glad he did because his painting turned out awesome.

Elliot's

 Avery's

And just for a while I thought, maybe, just maybe these boys have more Skov-Nielsen in them than just their looks; however, this thought quickly diminished as soon as they started their plans for a monthly art sale held at our house, where their priceless treasures could be auctioned off at top dollar . . . tee hee!

Yep, they're Websters through and through (with just a sprinkling of Skov-Nielsen).

Oh, and before you go and think: "Wow! That Krista is doing some amazing things with her boys", (cuz I know that's what you're thinking . . . tee hee!), here was today's art lesson:

Maple Leaf Foxes!

(Maple Leaf = Canadian, so we are good, eh?)

Meet Bling Bling Fox (Avery's):

And Phoenix the Fox, whom I am told by Elliot is a little crazy, which is indicated by his "crazy" eyes:

They are so cute!!  I have my awesome sister, Hilary, to thank for this great craft idea.

So, yeah.  I haven't been blogging much lately, but, as you can see, we've been pretty busy around here and up to lots of shenanigans. 

I'll keep you posted on our upcoming art auction.  I'm guessing Phoenix will go for big bucks! 

Tee hee!

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