February 2012

Wow did February ever speed by me fast!! I cannot believe how quickly the month went!

It has been quite the month for us. We have temporarily added another member to our family!! Tomas is an exchange student who has joined our family until the summer! He is 13 years old, he is from Columbia and we are both excited and nervous to have him!! This is our first student so we are learning as we go and hopefully giving Tomas a great Canadian experience while he is here!!


We found out on a Thursday that Tomas would be arriving on Monday so our weekend turned into building a wall and making a bedroom in our basement for him!! Thank you Dad for all your advice and help on building the wall! My Dad, my husband and my daughter all did a great job!! Abby and Jesse were the supervisors but they were busy playing with toys too!!!:0) My Mom and I did the shopping and organizing of his room!!
Here is a before picture - no wall yet!!
A wall (just needs a little paint) and a door!!!!
We hope he enjoys his new room!!!!
The kids were so excited, they each drew him a welcome to our home picture!!!
A little walk down memory lane: Valentine's Day 2010
Valentine's Day 2011
Valentine's Day 2012!
I borrowed the paper heart and red cloth from the Kindergarten teacher I work with!! I loved her idea so much that I brought it home for my children!! Thank you Monique!!
Emma's valentine's for her friends at school were hand made fortune cookies!! She got the idea from her American girl magazine and they turned out super cute!! The 'cookie' part is made out of coloured felt and each one had a separate funny fortune inside!!

Abby made these adorable bookmarks for her class friends!! Easy to make and they turned out great!!

Jesse's valentine's for his Kindergarten friends were lollipops tuned superhero!! The cape says "Have a SUPER Valentine's Day" and Jesse wrote his friends names on the back!! Fun fun fun!
The girls have both been asking us to get their ears pierced so I figured now would be a good time! This way their ears are healed before summer and maybe they can change them by the fall! Emma had her ears pierced when she was six, but one ear kept getting infected and the hole was way too low!!

Here is the before picture:
Here is the after:
Poor Emma was trying to be so brave but it hurt a lot more the second time round!!! She was trying to be tough for her sister, Abby was smiles all around though!! I am loving it this time too, because the girls help each other out and clean each others ears!! Yippieeee!!
Jesse is 100 days smarter!! He has been in school for 100 days!!!
Emma lost another tooth this month! Bottom right side of her mouth! The tooth fairy brought two dollars for this tooth!!
This is probably the last time you will see Jesse in a pink shirt! He got the shirt from his big cousin Christian and wore it to school for anti-bully day! He ended up crying after school because one of the girls in his class kept telling him it was a girls shirt!!Poor guy:0(
Everyone decked out in their pink gear for school!
Well February was sure a busy month for us!! Looking forward to all the things March brings us and especially spring break!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:0)

February - Looking Back

I am a few days behind on my February post - the end of the month came and went too quickly for me. Anyway when I was looking back on old pictures I wanted to post a few from the 2010 Winter Olympics that Vancouver hosted!! I did not expect it to be such a fun and thrilling experience! A memory we will talk about for a long time! Canada is a wonderful country to live in. In the picture below are our three munchkins dressed in red and white, carrying their Olympic mascots and ready to cheer "Go Canada Go!"
On my Dad's 65th birthday we all took the sky train downtown to check out the festivities. It was my dad's first time on the sky train. My Mom and Dad are in the picture below along with my sister Shawna and niece Kendra. My hubby Roy and kiddo's too!!

A family picture in front of the Olympic flame!!
One of my favorite memories of the Olympics was seeing everyone dressed in their Canada red and white, and how happy and friendly everyone was! We would be walking down the street and someone would just start singing "Oh Canada" It was an atmosphere filled with excitement and pride!!
Another great memory was when both the women and men's hockey teams won the gold medal!!!! The men's game was sure a nail biter but what an amazing end!!!
The picture below shows the sea of red!! The Olympics were fantastic and we are proud to say we are Canadian!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Starting Again!!

Yes I am back into the blogging world and I am so excited!! I feel like I am re-learning how to do everything!

I am a Mom of three amazing children and this is the story of our lives. Now that I am back, I am setting small goals for myself and plan to blog once a month about the adventures of our family! Two years ago when my blog froze due to an overload of pictures, I was overwhelmed when I got too far behind! I really did miss blogging so now I am back! I may post things from the past two years just for me to be able to look back on all our memories!! I am not sure if anyone will read this except my own family but if you do stop by - enjoy and feel free to comment!!

Here we go........

January 2012

Happy New Year 2012!

This year our family rung in the New Year by blowing horns, hooting and hollering and toasting with apple juice in wine glasses!! It was the first year we let all three kids stay up until midnight and they all made it! Every New Year's Eve we order in pizza, play games, watch a movie and then cheer for the new year!! This year we played a new game called 'Headbandz' which ended up being really fun! We also managed to have time for Monopoly which is the kids favorite family game!!

Here is a little peek down memory lane.....2011 & 2010

---------------------------------------------------------
Roller blades was the big present for Christmas this year and boy have they been anxious to try them out!! Luckily we have had a few days with no rain and no snow in January so the kids got to roll, roll, roll!!!

Even Dad got in on the fun!! I prefer taking the pictures!!:0)

Here they come!
I Love how Jesse is watching his Dad in this picture, and they are both having a blast!

------------------------------------------------------------

The snow has arrived!! Saturday January 14th we woke up to peaceful whiteness!! I love the snow as long as I do not have to drive in it!! If I can play in it with the kids then come inside and snuggle under a warm blanket by the fire with hot chocolate - that is a good day!!

A little child labour doesn't hurt right? Especially when they WANT to shovel, I say put them to work!!:0)
???? Jesse's path was a little crooked!!!
Of course after work... It.Is.PLAYTIME!!!




This was Emma's favorite sled!!
Abby will always be known as our 'snow eater'!!
Jesse was so brave, he was even trying the jumps!!
Snow-filled, exhausted and ready for some hot chocolate!!
Our backyard!
On the left side of the picture is where our boat sandbox is, but can you see it under all that white?!!
A quick summary of our January looks like this:
-Getting Christmas decorations put away
-Playing with all our new gifts
-Getting back into routine of school and activities
-A week of fun in the snow + 2 snow days!!:0)
-A few dinners with friends and family
-The cold and flu bug hit the smallest two!:0(
-I am trying to figuring out pinterest
-Starting my blog again!!

October 2009 Abby turns FIVE!

Abigail Paige Marie, my baby girl, my Pumpkin!! Has it really been five years since you joined our growing little family!! You were born on a Monday evening and you must have been snug as a bug in Mom's tummy because you were four days late! This must explain your laid back personality and the reason we sometimes call you a turtle!! You like to do things at your own pace!! You did not surprise us by being born early, but you did surprise us and our doctor with your birth weight! Coming into this world at a whopping nine pounds, the nurses put size one diapers on you - but Mommy still squished your chubby little legs into the newborn diapers!!! We were overjoyed to have you in our family but I think the most excited was your big sister Emma! She loved you the minute she saw you and wanted to hold you all the time. As you grew bigger you also grew to adore your big sister and she was the one to get the biggest smiles and the best giggles out of you!! Being a sister myself, I was so excited to see you two bond and I only pray that you two will always look out for each other and be the best of friends!! I love you so much, Abby. Oh how I eagerly anticipated your first smile, looked forward to when you would learn to say your big sister's name(which was your first word!). I beamed with pride as you took your first steps, and have enjoyed putting ponytails in your hair and watching you grow into a little lady!

Which one is Baby Abby?

2005 - One year old and you have the most contagious smile and sparkling personality!! Always such a happy little toddler! For your first birthday we had an Elmo birthday as he was your favorite!!

I tried to put your soother into your very own little pumpkin , but you kept stealing it back!! Still our precious pumpkin at age one! At 17 months old you became a big sister to your brother Jesse! When he was born I am pretty sure you thought of him as just another doll but you have never had any jealousy and as you both have grown, you have shown us what a wonderful big sister you are!

2006 - Two years old! We had your birthday at a pumpkin patch which was lots of fun but for some reason the pictures on my camera disappeared into computer space!! It still saddens me today - luckily Grandma was able to give me some pictures from the birthday party. Two years old and you did not have much hair, but still carried a smile that could melt our hearts or capture a conversation of anyone nearby!! You are my child who loves to explore the world and sometimes found yourself getting into trouble!! Also our little social butterfly you would chatter to anyone or anything that wanted to listen to you!

2007 - Three years old and finally enough hair to have ponytails!!!! At your birthday you were overjoyed to have everyone sing you happy birthday!! You also love to sing and dance yourself!! You had the traditional train cake for your third birthday, but you also requested a dinosaur themed party - not real ones though!:0) This is why there are a few dinosaurs on and around your birthday cake!

2008 - Four years old! Becoming our little pumpkin princess!! You love dresses but you also love to play in the dirt! A firecracker for sure! You can capture every ones attention when you enter a room and leave everyone with a smile on their own face!! You have such an easy going personality and you are pretty happy with anything!! One of the only times you cry on a regular basis is if we are visiting and it is time to go! We tell you it is time to go and then on the count of three laugh when you start to cry!! It sounds mean that we laugh, but when you are so predictable with the tears it makes us giggle!!

October 18 2009 - Five Years Old!!! You wanted a Tinkerbell birthday this year and I had many sleepless nights getting prepared for your party!! When I put you to bed the night of your party it was all worth the effort when you told me "Thank you Mommy -That was the greatest birthday ever!" Look how you have grown, I still have trouble comprehending that you are in kindergarten! I am so glad I still have you home with me for half the day but love hearing about all your school adventures too! You are a macaroni girl, and still do not like meat or milk, but make up for it with peanut butter, cheese and yogurt! You are content playing with any toys, but still love to dress up like a princess. You enjoy your Polly pockets, pet shop, barbies and playhouse. You still love the princesses, Tinkerbell and snow white being your favorites at the moment. You love to play outside or in, love play dough and art projects especially when it involves siccors or paint!!! You still like being read to and I am sure will learn to read very soon.

I love waking you up in the morning and watching you stretch then greet me with a great big smile. I love your sweet and loving personality. I love that you give hugs and kisses for no reason at all. I love to hear your sweet angelic voice say "I love you Mommy." I love to watch you dance and love to hear you sing. I love watching you play with your big sister and your little brother. I love that you all still give each other hugs before bed. I love that you still love to wear dresses and I love to watch you when you twirl in them. I love watching you explore the world around you. I love that you love to swim. I love hearing you learn to play piano. I love that you still make us laugh even when you cry at the drop of a hat, yet can smile just as quickly! I love that you are still our social butterfly and you enjoy talking to anyone who will listen. I love hearing about your days at school and all your sweet stories. I love your art work. I love that you still let me takes hundreds of pictures of you and you still smile and now pose for me! I love your worry when one of your siblings is hurt - it shows you have a caring heart! I love that you will play with anyone in kindergarten and that you are kind to your friends. I love that you are happy with anything and so easy going. I love that you are a picky eater because it reminds me of myself and I know as you get older you will learn to love many more different foods. I love that you get distracted easily although sometimes I need you to hurry up, I know this is who you are! I love the fact that you have no problem telling people you would rather get a ride than walk - I realize you do not like to walk but I think it is good exercise and I do not want you to become lazy however I don't think you are ever going to enjoy walking as much as I try!:0) I love that your smile can turn a bad day into a good one and that your presence is like sunshine brightening a room!! I love your honesty. I love that you can still make me laugh every day with things you say. I love YOU for being you!

Abby we are so proud to have you as our daughter and could not imagine life without you!

But to be honest, if I could bottle you up right now, I would in a beat of my heart. That way I would be able to savor the sweet smell of your head forever. Feel your warm breath on my cheek as I hug you. Run my fingers through your baby soft blond hair. Feel a closeness to you like nothing else as I cradle you in my arms. Gaze forever into your beautiful blue eyes. Rock you as we gaze into the moonlight together. Sing quiet lullabies to you as your eyelids flutter and close. I love you so much, Abby, and I am very sad that you won't be my baby girl forever. Sad, in a way, that you are already growing up. These five years have gone much too fast.Of course, you'll always be my baby girl. Grow up you must, grow up you will, and I will find joy and happiness in that journey. But I will, I will cherish these fleeting moments with you, Abby. I will enter your childhood with you with no regrets about your short young days. I vow still to leave no kiss unkissed and no cuddle uncuddled, no matter what the hour of day or night. I know too well now, my dear sweet baby girl, how precious and momentary sweet childhood is. Since I cannot keep you little forever, I will make the sweetest, deepest memories that I can, now while you are still young. I am excited to see what the future holds, what memories we will make, what paths we will explore, what mountains we will climb and what adventures will come our way. I will always be here for you weather I am standing next to you cheering you on or away but still encouraging you with all my heart I love you Abby!