First day of school 2010

Grade 2 and grade 4. Little J was actually really excited though there was no way he was going to smile for me...

Gappy

After being loose for more than 4 weeks it finally came out. It had to be 'helped' a bit, we had corn on the cob for dinner and he was wincing every time he took a bite because the tooth was so loose it was stabbing his gum... so he let me pull it for him.

He has been a slow teether his entire life. His baby teeth were slow to come in, they've been even slower to come out (he's 7 and this is baby tooth #4 to come out). His big brother was the same way though.

Heat Wave

We're really appreciating the pool right now in this heat wave, but at 85F it's almost bathwater-like. What a difference from last summer's weather!

Seven

My last baby is 7 today. Wow does time fly! He was a wee babe when I started blogging (on a different blog than this one), my earliest entries were about breastfeeding issues and sleep deprivation. How the times have changed! Now he's finishing first grade, reading, making friends. He has a very strong personality this little man of mine, he's opinionated and stubborn but oh so sensitive! He's loving and funny and quirky. He is a complete joy.

Happy birthday little J.

Bowling Queen

She won a trophy (a big one), best team in their age group. She was some pleased! :)

9 years

This precious little girl has now spent 9 years on this planet. How the time flies!! In many ways it feels like yesterday she was born with a full head of long dark hair, yet I can hardly remember life before her.

Happy birthday my princess!

Snow fun

Katie was at Brownie camp and C was working so little J and I had an only child day. Puzzles, boardgames, bowling, doughnuts and chocolate milk at Tim Hortons, and building a snowman. Snow was perfect, nice and sticky, and the temperature was pretty pleasant too.

Love this little guy...

Happy Hallowe'en

A quiet Hallowe'en around these parts. The rain stopped and the evening was quite pleasant, but the kids were tired and barely did a block before they just wanted to come home. And that's just fine by me :) They still got a decent amount of loot even so...

Journée du drapeau franco-ontarien

While I was away in Mississauga the kids' school celebrated Journée du drapeau franco-ontarien, which meant my poor long-suffering C had to play craft-mama and help the bits create crazy hats in the colours of the franco-ontarien flag (green and white) for the crazy hat parade at school.

I think he did an amazing job, and he even picked up perfect green shirts to complete their outfits.

Back to school 2009

The school bus was late (and I mean LATE) but they're gone, first day at their new school. Princess immediately found little friends on the bus. Wookie blew kisses and tried to hide his tears. My stoic little guy.

Why my daughter is cooler than I am

The kids were invited to a birthday party that featured a visit from Little Ray's Reptiles. Wookie didn't care much (there was a trampoline in the yard!) but Princess LOVED it! She patted or held every gross creepy slimy squirmy thing they brought!

That alligator thingy (a cayman apparently) tried to make a break for it. Instead of saving my daughter (front and centre of course) I took off across the yard like a bat out of hell. Mother of the year, here I come...

You're beautiful it's true...

I know I'm a teensy bit biased but really, my children are the most beautiful children on the planet...

Stretching her wings

Off she goes to sleepaway camp. She comes home weekends (camp runs from Sunday evening to Friday afternoon) but that's still 5 sleeps away from us. It's hard, especially in this day and age where it feels more and more difficult to keep our kids safe. I miss her already.

Summertime... at least for today

A reprieve from the cold, wet weather we've had nearly my entire vacation, today was hot and sunny. A perfect day to enjoy the pool. Oh the pool water is pretty cold still (noooooo sun will do that!) but we spent 5 hours in there anyway :)

Then, when dusk fell, a bonfire and s'mores.

Can you imagine a more perfect day?

Strawberries

It's an annual tradition, our trip to the strawberry farm to pick our own strawberries. I was really worried we wouldn't get to go this year, a late frost delayed the crop and more than a week of heavy rain has threatened to rot the ripe berries on the plant. Today the sun peeked out and away we went...

They were certainly smaller than in past years, but sweet and yummy and there were lots. The kids had their fill and we brought two baskets home :)

Another step closer to adulthood

My last baby lost his first baby tooth today (and really lost, we think he probably swallowed it though he swears the cat stole it!) His new smile is SO CUTE! I keep chasing him with the camera, asking him to smile :)

Rainbow cupcakes

Rainbow cupcakes to celebrate Wookie's official birthday today. 6 years old. I used the tutorial here and while it was time consuming I think it was worth it. He was pleased.

Easter

Spent Easter at my parents' place, they always put on a grand spread and this was no exception, more food than 13 armies could eat, and more than 150 candy-filled plastic eggs for the kids (and my sister-in-law) to search for in the yard. A lovely weekend.

Birthday Princess

I can't believe she's 8, I swear she was just born yesterday. She's just so grown up, she asked for (and got) an MP3 player for her birthday, and now it's loaded up with Jonas Brothers songs. She has tastes and preferences not just different than mine but for things I don't even know about. She's growing and changing so fast, becoming so independent. It's exciting, exhilarating and terrifying.

"Winter Carnival"

Today there was a little winter carnival in the bump on a donkey trail village we call home. It was actually pretty lame (a village so close to Ottawa, home of the world's best winter carnival, just can't hope to measure up) but we had fun anyway roasting hot dogs over the fire, throwing rubber chickens at hula hoops (I kid you not) and finishing with a spaghetti dinner.

Speed Demons

I'm amazed by how quickly the bits have picked up skating. This is really Wookie's first year on skates (he had bobskates before, but those don't count) and only Princess's second, she didn't skate much last year, and this is only her 3rd time on the blades this year, but both are whizzing around the little rink at our community centre like speed demons!

C got them hockey sticks too, perhaps I have a little Alex Ovechkin and Hayley Wickenheiser in the making?

T'was the day of the night before Christmas

Daycare was closed today, so I brought the bits first to my office, where there were crafts and snacks set up in the boardroom (and even a visit from one of Santa's elves with some little presents for the good kids, but none for the bad employees :) ) We left there around 11:30 and headed for C's work. He couldn't leave until 12:30, but there were tons of things for the kids to do at his office complex while we waited - balloon animal making clowns, face painting elves, crafts, juggling demos and a very nice looking Santa (who we didn't visit, but I got a huge laugh at the kids with full spiderman face paintings sitting on his lap for a nice portrait!). The kids had a blast getting small designs painted on their cheeks, playing with their balloon animals, and learning to balance on boards over top of cylinders (be still my heart).

Christmas card outtake

Big J won't pose for our Christmas card picture this year (having had his wisdom teeth taken out 3 days ago *might* be a contributing factor) but the little ones, and kittens, obliged. This is one of the 'outtakes' since I don't want to display the chosen shot just yet :)

The Polar Express

We travelled to North Conway to take the bits on a magical train ride on The Polar Express (based on the book, and movie, of the same name). We've been looking forward to this trip since we booked it back in August, but hadn't told the bits anything about it until we actually got here. It was magical. We spent the day enjoying the amenities at the resort, then doing a little shopping at the huge outlet malls in North Conway.


Then after a lovely dinner, we boarded the train (dressed in our pajamas), destination:
North Pole.

Christmas carols were sung, hot chocolate and nougat filled chocolates were served by waiters in white coats and hats. Arriving at the North Pole, we were guided along a path, up a hill by dozens of red coated elves. Inside a dome the elves put on a little show and then the big man himself, Santa Claus, took a few minutes from his schedule to give the first gift of Christmas.


On the ride back to NH, each person aboard was given a magical bell from Santa's sleigh, so we would all have our own souvenir of our trip to the North Pole. The kids loved every minute of it!

The (snowy) silver lining

A day with no electricity (and therefore no heat or flushing toilets) and 15+ cm of snow would seem to be the definition of a craptacular day... but not for these two. A day home with mama and papa, lots of snow to play in, grilled cheese sandwiches with the help of a generator, they were in heaven.

Hallowe'en sneak preview

Got the bits into their Hallowe'en costumes for a little photo shoot (cheating, maybe, but by the time we get home from school/work on Hallowe'en, get dinner and get dressed it'll be dark and all of my pictures will look like 'Revenge of the Red Eye Zombies'.)

You know you want cookies!

Princess has already sold almost an entire case of Girl Guide cookies based on this picture - how can you say no to such a sweet little face!

All this and a 5 1/2 hour ER visit...

I'm being extremely kind and posting the gauze-covered 'before' shot of J-man's latest boo-boo. I did take the 'during shot' (oh yes I did!) with his chin split open like an eyelid and the subcutaneous fat layer visible, and I've even subjected some of my friends and family to it, but I'll refrain from posting it here. Knowing it exists should be enough :)

He was swinging between two tables in his kindergarten class when he lost his grip or something like that and hit the floor face first. All told he's really lucky, nothing broken except skin, no lost teeth, etc. The teacher didn't seem to realize how bad it was but the office ladies did and called me in from work. Of course, they didn't bother telling me he'd need stitches, just that he 'needed me'. Yeah, me and a doctor anyway. He did earn both a frozen fruit popsicle AND dinner at McDonald's for his suffering. And a nice manly soon-to-be-scar.

Down at the Copa...

Resourceful little bits that they are - they built their own poolside cabana!