Christmas is next week. Next. week. I’m not quite sure how it crept on me but somehow it managed to sneak in there between school and work and family time and general business. Sadly, the blogging has been suffering.

Not that you’ve been missing much. As it so happens, winter is my least favourite season for taking photos. I lost my inspiration somewhere between the yellow color cast of indoor lighting and lack of inspiration offered by the four walls of my house. I think we need to get out more.

Just to prove we are not, in fact, hermits, here is a sample of the few photos I have managed to capture over the past weeks.

1. The kids bundled up on the walk to daycare during a brief cold spell. Although I hate how long it takes to get them into all of this gear, I do love the colourful burst of cuteness.

2. The “arctic blast” sent us a teeny tiny sprinkling of snow (apologies to anyone East of the Dakotas), so I walked back through the park to capture a few photos. I was told off by one of the park landscapers for walking on the public grassed area while it was fragile with frost. Apparently even our grass is ultra-sensitive when it comes to the cold. How many months until Summer?

4. I suppose it WAS cold enough to produce icicles in the pond that were large enough to impale a small child. Anyone else frightened by this photo? Just me?

5. We spent a little time searching local secondhand/vintage stores for the perfect side table to use as a docking station in our office. Although we had no luck on the side table front, we did spot this fantastic couch. Would make the perfect addition to a man cave if only we had a finished basement. It even has a built in record player.

6. It also offered us the opportunity to introduce our children to a rotary phone that (gasp!) plugs into a wall. Samuel still needs a little practice.

7. I finished my Christmas shopping and managed to ship a package to Australia before the deadline. Sorry, just had to throw that in there…

8. This man had a birthday. I won’t tell you how old he is except to say that it starts with a three and ends with a nine. Happy birthday sweetheart.