The Natural Predator of the Moose: Tigers!

The Northern Tiger slowly stalks his prey... the Yukon Moose:

The moose is in his sight. The tiger prepares to attack the unsuspecting moose!
Attack begins!
Mmmmmm Moose is delicious! Nom nom nom!
Oh crap... I have been spotted!
Retreat! Retreat! The tiger will have to wait for another opportunity to fill his tummy.

Cute picture of the day

Brothers

Enjoying My Second Favorite Season

The snow is here to stay and as I look out my window this afternoon, the mountains are disappearing into a white haze that is bringing more snow to town. I love winter, second only to hunting season. Yes, hunting is one of the seasons. Here in the Yukon the seasons are as follows:

• Winter
• More Winter
• Where The Heck Is Spring
• Mud
• Bugs
• Hunting

Hunting has always been my favorite season. I never miss being home with family for Christmas, but when they all get together for hunting I find myself rather homesick. Especially since I have stayed home with the babies for the last few hunting seasons. Next year though, I should be able to enjoy my favorite season full force! We will find a sitter and head out on our own. I will be dreaming of it throughout the rest of the seasons. What I really look forward to is when the boys are just a little bit bigger so they can join us for the extended quad rides into the mountains during hunting season. Now that will be some great family fun!

I really do enjoy the first season of Winter. The other two, I find myself antsy to get out and about and I dream of mud for my quad. But as soon as the snow starts falling I begin planning all of the sewing projects I want to do and purchase the leather and furs for those projects. The kitchen is full of delicious smells as those hearty, warm-you-up kind of meals are cooked. And I get to bring out my caribou kamiiks for keeping my toes toasty for another year.

The kids seem to be immune to the cold. Hunter begs to go outside and throws a fit when it is time to come in. Rarely will he walk into the house on his own. Usually we have him thrown over our shoulder, like a bag of potatoes, kicking and screaming the whole way. The baby seems to be following in his footsteps and loves long walks in his stroller in the chilly weather. Pretty soon I will be breaking out my amouti so I can amaaq (carry) him for our outside time. Winter never holds us back from enjoying the outdoors with the kids.

Winter is a time when the community comes together again. During the Mud, Bug and Hunting seasons it is every person for themselves as they are out camping, traveling, fishing, etc. But during the Winter season there are numerous community events, potlucks, crafting nights, movie nights, kids playgroups, exercise groups and the list goes on and on! It is the time to pop over for tea and cookies and catch up on the events last few seasons. Although, by the time Where The Heck Is Spring comes around, everyone is so sick of each other they start to get back into the every person for themselves mode.

So bring on the snow! I am excited and ready to enjoy the season!

Vacation: As Told By Cavan

So I went on a trip. I have no clue where they took me, but the airline attendants all said I was quite handsome!

I was received quite well when I got there!

Scarecrows creep me out.

My brother spent a lot of time teaching me how to say cheese. I don't know why... milk is so much better!
I was bathed in a beer tub. I would have prefered the beer.
I rarely had to sleep in a bed.

They fed me mush.
But this is what I really wanted!

I saw my first ocean!
Mmmmm duck a la ronge....
Llamas also creep me out.
So how do I eat these things?
I hammed it up for lots of cameras!
And I pestered a lot of other passengers!
I think I will go back one day!

Making Our Family Proud

Up until recently the war in Afghanistan was just in the news. I am not a fan of the war and hope our politicians bring the military back home when they say they will. So many men and woman, some so young I want to call them boys and girls, have been lost over the years to this war.

Now this war feels like it is on my doorstep. My cousin, only twenty years old, is there. A member of the First Canadian Scottish Reserves from Vancouver Island is embedded with the Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry. He is part of operation Athena. His unit is Kandek3, Team 3 and he is with OMLT - Operational Mentor Liaison Training. They support the Afghan National Army.

Even though I do not support this war, I most definitely support our troops. I am thinking of my cousin over there doing his job. I think of his parents and girlfriend who are missing him so much. When I think of my cousin, I think of him as that little kid I used to visit in the summers. It is hard to picture him now all grown up facing war head on.

Please support our troops. Right now until early January you can send them mail and parcels for free through Canada Post. Take a little time out of your day and do something special for the men and women who are deployed right now. Let them know you really do care.

And Garrett- we are thinking about you often. Stay safe and we all hope that these coming months pass quickly.

My cousin Garrett on the left. His younger brother Brennan, also a Reservist, on the right.

**Thank you Fawn for your comment! Here is a link for anyone looking to suport the troops through correspondence, parcels, or other donations:
http://www.dnd.ca/site/commun/message/addresses-2-eng.asp

Vacation: As Told By Hunter

On my visit to Cape Breton I had so much fun!

We fed ducks, pigeons and seagulls.

I tried to keep all my ducks in a row, but it was hard work.
Pops let me hold his racing pigeons. They fly home when I let them go.

My Pops is a pretty cool guy! A little corny at times...

Sand is not fun. Period.

Holy fark! They just rolled Dad in that tube! I'm getting outta here!

I love you so much caterpillar. Will you come home with me? My mom says it's okay. Honest.
I kissed a girl and I liked it!

Where I at Pop? Come find me!

Driving like I stole it!

Thank you Dad for having an uncle who drives big rig. This is awesome!

When I get big enough to reach the pedals, or teach Cavan how to push them for me, I am buying one of these!

Never too young to start my plans for world domination!

But Mom, I know how to fly. Honest. Just let me out of my seatbelt and I will show you!
Calgary airport is the best! Can we take this home?
What a great trip. Can't wait for the next time!

It's Here!

My husband just got home from Whitehorse tonight with my Christmas present- a new fridge. Thanks to my folks, in-laws, and husband who all pitched in! Yep, I got it early and I am so giddy about it! Finally... room for all of my groceries! I am actually keeping the old fridge because I like to only head to town once every two months to buy groceries. Now I can cram heaps of goodies into these glorious appliances. I am so excited to have a new fridge!

For Sale

I have for sale a brand new with tags NorthFace Goose Down Summit Series Mens winter coat in black, size 3X. Tag says $519, asking $300.

Email me at: kara underscore went at hotmail dot com if you are interested!

Crazy Random Happenstance

I love our small little world!

While in Whitehorse before we left for Cape Breton (oh hey... did I mention on here how I screwed up reading our tickets and we actually were leaving a day after I thought we were so we went to town anyways and just hung out for the extra day since the house was already clean and the truck was packed before I read the ticket... heheheh)

Okay... back on track here! So we are walking around downtown Whitehorse in the morning and we stop to talk to this lovely older couple who were out with their dog. Super nice folks and they let Hunter pet their dog, so of course Hunter was in love! They said they were up visiting their daughter and her husband who had recently moved to Watson Lake. We had a lovely chat and then continued on our way. A few weeks later I get an email from a blogger that I follow, but have never met, saying she thinks we ran into her parents!! Turns out, yep, we were chatting to this bloggers parents and she was able to figure out it was us from her parents description and what she knew from our blog. So neat!

Now this one I really love... I got a message from that Motherly Matron of Northern Blogs (I believe that is what she is now called!), the amazing Indigo. If you have a northern blog, or frequent the comment sections of them, you know who I am talking about. In this message, she says that her husband was in an airport and ran into a woman who knows me! Now, I have never met Indigo in person, or her husband. And I have not seen this friend in ages! But somehow Indigo's husband and my awesome friend Trish got to talking and found a nifty connection. How odd is all of that! Trish and I went to University together for a couple of years nearly 10 years ago, but we have seen each other a couple of times since then.

So as Trish said to me this is all crazy random happenstance. And I love it!

Matt Crawls Through a Tube

While we were on vacation, we went to a little place called Hanks Family Farm. They sold veggies, had a corn maze, a petting zoo and a kids play area. In this play area was a long black tube- almost like a plastic culvert. My father-in-law climbed through it, and then Matt went through as well. They were all trying to convince Hunter to give it a go. While Matt went through the tube, my father-in-law decided it would be great fun to roll it!! I found this to be so damn funny that I laughed until I nearly yakked. My insane giggle is nearly as funny as Matt in the video! And I laugh nearly as hard every time I watch it. Make sure to listen to Matt just before he climbs out of the tube.... naughty word alert!

Six Months Old!

Six months has passed since the chaos level in our house went up exponentially! Our little tank is now about 20lbs and wearing twelve month clothing. He also has six teeth (four on top and two on bottom). The latest entertainment is eating porridge and learning how to vocalize. So far he says a lot of blah blah blah and dadada. Pretty cute, except when it is going on at four in the morning because he hasn't quite adapted back to our time zone yet! His eyes are still blue, so I think they might stay that way although Hunter's changed around this time from blue to hazel. Cavan is a super friendly baby and is pretty content most of the time! Six months in and I cannot imagine life without him.

His roots are in Cape Breton for sure!

He has great "crazy eyes":

Look at those eyes! I am going to have to beat the girls off of him with a stick one day.

Now if only he had a bit of hair!

Thanks To Strangers

I found this trip to be an especially long haul. Two kids, four hour time change, luggage, snow, rain, teething.... It was physically and mentally exhausting. But completely worth the effort when I saw the kids playing with their grandparents.

The hand written thank yous have all been sent out, but there are other people I would love to thank, but sadly I don't know their names or addresses! Our country is still filled with wonderful people who are happy to give you a hand when you need it. I am always filled with joy when I come across folks like this. Not only because they helped me out, but because it reinforces that society is not going to hell in a handbasket as the media would have you believe. There is a lot of good out there.

So thank you to:

• every flight attendant on each of the six planes we took on this trip. You all took time out to help us get seats together even though they were booked apart, to hold the baby while we got settled, to let us roam the plane with the baby to get him to sleep, and to smile each and every time you walked by us. And beat this- we flew Air Canada!
• the cashier at ExtraFoods in Whitehorse who nabbed us brand new boxes, scissors and packing tape so we could pack up our groceries since we had forgotten our rubbermaids at home.
• the beautiful woman who told me not to worry when both kids were throwing a fit in ExtraFoods while we tried to pack our groceries. Then she pushed one of our shopping carts out to the parking lot for us.
• the ticket agents (again for AirCanada) that put a priority tag on our luggage so it was there on the luggage carousel by the time we got there. Seriously- ours was the only luggage going around- nothing was there for anyone else!
• all the little old people who pinched the cheeks of our boys and told us how adorable our boys were. I am sure each one made a point to instill in us that this time with kids goes by way to quickly so we must make sure to enjoy it!
  
• the train engineer who waved and blew the train horn every time he saw Hunter waiting at the tracks while we were staying at the cabin in the country.
• to every person who held doors while we ran in carrying the kids.
  
• the woman behind me in the line up to get on the plane in Toronto who offered to help us carry our stuff onto the plane.
• all the people who gave us the "been there, done that, don't worry it will get better" look when the kids had screaming fits on the plane.
• everyone on the plane who would wave and talk to the kids through the seats to make them laugh.
• the gaggle of school girls visiting from Japan who all had to touch and talk to the boys as we walked off the plane together. The boys loved that.

Thank you so much to all of those random people who helped make our trip so wonderful!

Teeth!!

I will be home in a week and will blog more about the vacation then, but I just had to share!

Cavan is teething like a mad man!!! He has had those two bottom teeth for a while (over a month), but the top are coming in fast and furious. The right central incisor and the right lateral incisor are out! So now he looks a bit like a jack-o-lantern with the offset teeth. But it won't be that way for long! The left central and lateral incisors will be out within a week I think. The bottom lateral incisors will be through soon after that.

So my kid will be six months old with at least six teeth, if not eight! My boobs are starting to cry already. I stopped breastfeeding with Hunter at 8 months'ish because he would not stop biting me when I fed him. It was so bad my poor nipples were bleeding. Owwiieeee! I am hoping Cavan does not go that way because formula is wicked expensive and boobing is just so damn easy.

Cape Breton Fun

Our holidays so far have been wonderful. The weather finally cooled off and the hardwood trees are starting to turn their astounding autumn colours.

I have been getting those harassing emails and facebook messages asking for pictures! So here are a few. I just downloaded the camera onto my mother-in-law's computer today and these are some of the highlights.

Waiting for the train to come out in the country! Don't worry, we moved him off the tracks in time. :)

Cavan being towed around the country side by his big brother:

Cavan and I on the shore of the Bras d'or Lakes. We own 10 acres of our own out here, but it is a lot above the waterfront lots. We have deeded access to get down to the water. Matt's folks have the 5 acres adjoining ours and that is where they have built their little cabin. We spent all of last week out there relaxing.

Hunter practicing his favorite pastime:

My Super Sherpa!

Hunter picked up this fuzzy caterpillar and was in love with it! This is definitely my child, no fear of bugs at all (now I just have to never tell him I am petrified of moths!)

Relaxing in the cabin:

Hunter and his Pop touring around Baddeck. I love the look on his face in this picture:

Have a bath in the beer tub at the cabin:

Having fun with Nanny Gillis: