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!

October 2009

October is always a busy month for us filled with pumpkin patches, corn mazes, Abby's birthday and Halloween!! We went to The Maze again this year and all rode in the can train! It is a fast and bumpy ride but it was sure fun! We also managed to go to the Chilliwack maze, Laity Pumpkin Patch, and the Apple Barn!

Thank goodness for Daddy, he figured out the map and got us through the corn maze a lot faster than last year!!

Emma looks to be about four feet tall this fall!

Abby about three and a half feet tall this fall!

Jesse is approximately three feet tall this fall!

One of many Halloween outfits the kids have - I love this time of year!!!

TINKERBELL PARTY TO CELEBRATE ABBY TURNING 5!!

October 18th Abby turned five. She wanted a Tinkerbell party, so Tinkerbell she got along with a pirate theme from Peter Pan. The girls got Tinkerbell and the boys got pirate things!!

I told the children that Captain Hook had stolen their loot bags so they needed to go on a treasure hunt to find them! The first clue led them to the sand table which I mixed with gems and sea shells. The second clue was to a bug cave where I had plastic insects everywhere, then they were sent to a large bin filled with water. Here I put the clue in a plastic bottle in the water with lots of plastic fish. Next they were sent to a mermaid cove which was Abby's bed on the bottom bunk! We hung white lights from the top and I hung rainbow coloured streamers then had flowers and mermaids on her bed. Finally they were sent into the garage where I had all their goodie bags in a big trunk with a huge X on top. We had Abby open the trunk and I had also put helium balloons inside so when she opened the lid the balloons floated up!!

Abby also requested spider cookies for her birthday, so I did my best!! While on the treasure hunt at each station was also some sort of candy goodie for each child to take. Of course the spider cookies were found at the bug cave!!

You can not have a Tinkerbell/pirate party without a pirate ship!! I took a box we had, painted it and turned it into a pirate ship. I even had a small treasure chest inside filled with the dollar store necklaces and some play jewellery we have. I found pirate flags, eye patches and hooks at the dollar store too!! We even had some wood that I put on the floor so the children could pretend to walk the plank!! It took a whole lot of preparation but it was all worth it at the end of the day!! The kids had a blast but most importantly so did the birthday girl!!

We started a new tradition a few years ago where my parents look after the other two children for the day and the birthday girl gets lots of attention from Mom and Dad on her special day! Abby chose to go for lunch, a movie and play at the park. We took her to Red Robin then we went to see the movie Cloudy with a chance of meatballs! The most fun was the part of the day that was free - playing at the park!! Abby also wore her birthday princess crown the whole day!!:0)

Who knew - a leaf angel?!

For Halloween Jesse was a chef for preschool!! Love this costume!!

Here he is playing pirates with our pirate pumpkin!!!

Our pumpkin family this year!

Our traditional family photo with our pumpkins!

Yup, we can be silly too!!!!:0) This picture just cracks me up and puts a smile on my face!

For school Abby was a purple dinosaur and Emma was a panda bear. Jesse wanted to dress up too so he put on his Robin costume which he calls "red robin".

They all got a lot of loot on Halloween and Abby was the one who turned in early to rest her feet!! Jesse did great too and walked most of the night. When someone would ask who he was, his reply was "I am Lightening McQueen but my name is Jesse!!" Too funny!

Happy Halloween from our princess, our witch and our Lightening McQueen!!!!

New Year = New Blog!

I guess the first day of 2010 is as good as any day to start up my blog again!! I am still having a few issues with pictures but at least I have figured out how to add pictures again and I have a blogging friend who has offered some much needed help!! Let me just be perfectly honest - computers drive me CRAZY!! I get so frustrated!!!! Anyway, I am now the proud owner of a pretty cool book of my blog which I might not otherwise have done if these picture problems had not come up!!(yes I try to look at the positive in every problem!)
For my own purposes I am now playing catch up on my blog, so the next bunch of posts will cover September to December 2009! Then hopefully I will be back on track again!!!

SEPTEMBER 2009

Back to school again and thanks to Grandma the kids all have new gear! New backpacks, lunch bags and clothes!!

Emma is in second grade this year and she has two teachers Mrs.Lepine and Mrs.Johnson. So far loving both teachers which equals loving school which also makes for one happy Mama!!

Abby is in morning kindergarten and she got Mrs. Walker. The same teacher Emma had in kindergarten who is absolutely wonderful and she makes starting school a real blessing!!!

Jesse started preschool this year! He goes on Tuesdays and Thursdays and he has two teachers - teacher Monica and teacher Trixie!! Again amazing teachers and Jesse loves going!! In fact he is so excited when he gets to preschool that he drops his jacket right on the floor at the door and is ready to play!! No separation anxiety here! I stayed one day a little longer than usual and Jesse said to me "Aren't you going yet Mommy?" - I think it is Mom with separation issues!!!!:0)

Back to the routine of school and sports activities. Dancing also started up. Emma is taking the same as last year musical theater and tap. Abby is taking ballet again and trying out musical theater for the first time!As much as we do not always like to admit it Roy and I both grew up bowling in the youth bowling program and we finally caved and let Emma join up this year. So she is officially a YBC bowler and she is loving it!!!

Abby and Jesse both tried out indoor soccer and had a blast! Jesse also started a Sportball group on Saturdays which is for Dad's and their children. Each week they learn a new sport! Emma's school also offered a new free reading program!! A teacher reads a few stories, they do a craft then hit the gym for a few games!! It is a wonderful program and as an added bonus we get a free book each week!!! Just because we are not busy enough, both girls are also taking piano!! It is Abby's first year and she loves it! Emma likes piano too, but not always the practicing part!!

Emma lost her second top tooth in September!! We can now sing "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth!" She looks cute with her missing teeth - she talks a little funny now and I am afraid what the adult teeth will look like!!!!Yikes!!!

Jesse's favorite cartoon on TV is the Backyardigans, and they came to our city so we bought tickets for Daddy and Jesse to have a boys day out!!

Roy said Jesse just sat with a stunned look on his face during most of the performance, but he sure had lots to tell us when he got home!! He was so excited that he got to see the 'REAL' backyardigans!!;0)

We love our local zoo and for Father's Day we bought Roy a half day experience with the Birds of Prey. He had a gorgeous September day working with hawks, owls and he got to hold the eagle!! Amazing!!!

He had a great day!!

Emma Abby and Jesse got to watch Daddy in the show then had their picture taken with Benson the barn owl!!

I am very happy to be back to blogging, lets hope I can find the time to keep up with it!!