Merry Christmas!

We had a great Christmas at home with the boys. We had both Joanne and Paul with us for the day and my parents and Sarah joined us for a big turkey dinner. Jack and Rory got spoiled rotten and have been having a blast with their new toys ever since!

We are heading to Ayer's Cliff later for the week and are looking forward to that as well. Jack and Ben got skis for Christmas so I'm sure they will be hitting the slopes sooner than later!

Wishing everyone a happy holiday and a joyful new year.

Maggie's initial attempts at respectable German Shepherd ears.

Not quite there yet!




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And in happier news....

Introducing....

Miss Maggie Britton.

The house was just too quiet. We couldn't take it.

Maggie is a 9.5 week old German Shepherd puppy. She is very sweet, and yes, she will be enormous!

Remembering Riley

Riley passed away tonight. He has been a beloved member of our family for over 11 years and will be forever missed.

Riley was a gentle giant. I never once worried about him being around the kids or the cats.

We went to the General Dynamics Christmas party for kids today. Rory was brave enough for face painting this year!



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Visit with Santa.

A little something to get you in the spirit of the holiday season...

'Tis the season to be jolly!

Update on Rory

Rory had his surgery yesterday.  Not a big deal- that's the line the ENT gave me. And walking around CHEO, I felt guilty in my worrying- and I did worry. This whole week has been stressful. Although walking past the neonatal intensive care unit, the cardiology and oncology units... we are fortunate that our kids have been as healthy as they have.

Rory has had so many troubles with ear infections so the specialist decided it was time for tubes in his ears. The procedure itself is no big deal, but they had to put him under general anesthetic- which was traumatic for him (and for me!).  He really hated the feeling of coming out of the general anesthetic though, and cried for a full hour and a half after waking up. That part was horrible. He was not himself at all and was inconsolable.  He settled down pretty much as soon as we started driving home, though. He was beside himself one minute and then the next thing we knew, he said "I all better now" and has been doing great ever since! I think he was just overwhelmed and confused with the whole situation but was fine when we got back to familiar surroundings.

He's such a trooper.

Happy Halloween from the Brittons!

We had a great Halloween! This was the first year that Rory *really* went trick-or-treating, and let me tell you... he's a pro! I think that Jack approached the whole thing with a bit more trepidation when he was first starting out, but not Rory! He thought this was a great idea! I'm sure he's wondering why we don't do this every day!

We started out at our house.

My little goblins.

Then we went over to visit Grandma and Grandpa with our Halloween pillow cases.

We even saw Super Grandma at Aunt Nancy's house and got to see Auntie Kristen and Cousin Addisson!

Getting ready for Halloween!

Our Jack-o-lantern. Or Rory-o-lantern, depending on who you ask.


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Carp Fair

We had a fun morning at the Carp Fair!

Thoughts from the bottom of a beanstalk...

Once upon a time, there was a little boy named Jack who was about to climb his very first beanstalk.  He had a fresh new haircut and a brand-new backpack.  Even though his friends in the neighbourhood had climbed this very same beanstalk almost every day last year, this was Jack’s first day and he was a little nervous.  So was his mother.

Early in the morning she brought him to the foot of the beanstalk.  She talked encouragingly to Jack about all the fun he would have that day, and how nice his giant would be.  She reassured him that she would be back to pick him up at the end of the day.  For a moment they stood together, silently holding hands, gazing up at the beanstalk.  To Jack it seemed much bigger than when his mother had pointed it out on the way to the store last week.  His mother thought it looked big, too.  She swallowed.  Maybe she should have kept Jack home a year….

Jack’s mother straightened his shirt one last time, patted his shoulder and smiled down at him.  She promised to stay and wave while he started climbing.  Jack didn’t say a word.  He walked forward, grabbed a low-growing stem and slowly pulled himself up to the first leaf.  He balanced there for a moment and then climbed more eagerly to the second leaf, then to the third and soon he had vanished into a high tangle of leaves and stems with never a backward glance at his mother.

She stood alone at the bottom of the beanstalk, gazing up at the spot where Jack had disappeared.  There was no rustle, no movement, and no sound to indicate that he was anywhere up there.  “Sometimes,” she thought, “it’s harder to be the one who waves good-bye than it is to be the one who climbs the beanstalk.”

She wondered how Jack would do.  Would he miss her? How would he behave? Did his giant understand that little boys sometimes acted silly when they felt unsure? She fought down the urge to spring up the stalk after Jack and maybe duck behind a bean to take a peek at how he was doing.

“I’d better not.  What if he saw me?” She knew Jack was really old enough to handle this on his own.  She reminded herself that, after all, this was thought to be an excellent beanstalk and that everyone said his giant was not only kind but had excellent qualifications.  “It’s not so much that I’m worried about him,” she thought, rubbing the back of her neck.  “It’s just that he’s growing up and I’m going to miss him.”

Jack’s mother turned to leave.  “Jack’s going to have lots of bigger beanstalks to climb in his life,” she told herself.  “Today’s the day he starts practicing for them… And today’s the day I start practicing something too; cheering him on and waving good-bye.”

 The boys getting ready for the day with their new backpacks. (Thanks Grandma!)

With my big kid.



Having second thoughts...



"Nah-It's gonna be fine!"



Leader of the pack.



And off he went for the day. 

Annual backyard camping trip

Ben and Jack went on their annual overnighter in the backyard the other night. Very impromptu- Ben came home from work with all of the ingredients for 'smores and off they went. I'm not sure how much sleep they ended up getting, but they had fun!

We had such a great time on our trip. The weather was quite a bit cooler than last summer, but apprently it was ridiculously hot in Ottawa and so we really can't complain about our sea breezes! We had lots of beach time, went on a few hikes, ate good food, and had lots of quiet time to read and relax. The drive there and back home was long, but well worth it.

Granny Joanne was such a trooper... she travelled the ENTIRE way, there and back, between the two car seats! She made a pretty good pillow at naptime too.

Glenora Distillery

Joanne watched the boys for the afternoon while Ben and I went and had lunch and a tour of the Glenora Distillery near Inverness. Glenora is Canada's only single malt whisky distillery, where they make Glen Breton Rare. Interestingly, they were sued by Scotland all the way to the Supreme Court of Canada because they used the name "Glen" in their product. Apparently Scotland is very particular about who uses the name "Glen". I have several uncles who should really take note. Incidentally, Scotland lost the court case and Glen Breton reigns supreme in Cape Breton and across many parts of North America.

Live music playing over lunch. The little girl on the fiddle was hilarious... she was so talented and could play any celtic song as well as I've heard, but between tunes she would check for texts on her phone! She reminded me of my students.

This is the Mash House. I'm a little unclear, but I think it has something to do with adding the barley and the yeast. (Can you tell I'm not much of a whisky drinker?)

Something to do with fermentation.

The stills that take out the water from the concoction and increase the alcohol content.

Whale watching in Pleasant Bay, Nova Scotia

We went for a drive on the Cabot Trail today and ended up in Pleasant Bay, where we caught up with the whales that we first met last year. This year, in addition to the pilot whales, we saw a minke whale, which is more rare.

Scouting for whales!

Pretty spectacular backdrop.

The whales came right up to the boat.

The captain asked if Jack would like to take us back into the harbour!

Hiking at Uisge Ban Falls

We went for a hike today near Baddeck at Uisge Ban Falls.

Jack showing us which way to go.

Jack looking at the tall trees.