Twelve days until Christmas (day 6)

Okay, so this technically isn't a photo, it's a scan. And there's more than one. But it's quite Christmassy and I'm just such a proud mommy. This story was invented by Matthew (age 3 1/2). I wrote down exactly what he said. He also chose all the images from old Christmas cards.

My favourite parts are when they were all at the "North end" (instead of the North Pole) and when the mom yells so loud that the house falls down.

Twelve days until Christmas (days 8 and 7)

Sorry for the delay in photos (sick kid).

This one is from Monday. Our Christmas tree :) We had so much fun decorating it this year and I'm really liking all the red balls (I bought them on sale after last Christmas) I have quite a collection of ornaments (especially teacher ones).

And for today, here's one of my favourite decorations. A little photo of Matthew that I hung up on his first Christmas. He's grown up so much (but he hasn't outgrown getting sick every year around Christmas)
The baby pool is still on!

Twelve days until Christmas (day 9)

What kind of cookies do you think are inside our cookie jar?

Chocolate chip, homemade oreos, pilsbury snowman cookies... yum, yum.

(the baby pool is still below)

Twelve days until Christmas (day 10)

I'm a little late, but I really did take this photo on Saturday.
Joy was born on Christmas morn.

If you're looking for some fun, check out the baby pool!

Twelve days until Christmas (day 11)

Lite-Brite, makin' things with light.
Outtasite, makin' things with Lite Brite

Matthew's new favourite toy (that used to belong to me). First Grandma brought over Uncle Mark's old Tinker Toys and now it's the Lite Brite. So much fun, but we have to take a picture of each one before we start a new one so we can remember the old one. This morning, it was a house. And the skier is almost done.

Don't forget about the baby pool. See you tomorrow!

Twelve days until Christmas (day 12)

I'm going to give this photo a day until Christmas thing a try (inspired by Marie, Susie and Missy). This lovely bow was sewn by my mother. It hangs on my door every year and makes me feel so Christmassy every time I go through the front door (which will be a bit more often since our garage door is broken again) You can't really see, because I ran outside to quickly take this picture and I didn't have my jacket or shoes on, but there are some little bells on there too.

Don't forget to enter the baby pool for Faye :) See you tomorrow!

fun! fun! fun! a baby pool

My sister, Faye is having a baby! Everyone is so excited for her and we want to share that fun and excitement with you. Here comes the fun part...

It's a baby pool.

All you have to do is guess the baby's:

• sex
• birthdate
• weight

and post it here in the comments for a chance to win a super duper Canadian prize package*.

Rules and Regulations:

The player with the highest score wins the pool. Each player starts with 1000 points.

Wrong sex: -15 points

Wrong date: -1 point per day

Wrong weight: -0.5 points per ounce

In the event of a tie, the player with the highest score who entered their guess first will be declared the winner.

BONUS QUESTION: Guess the baby's name, just for fun!

No purchase necessary :)

Here are some facts and a photo which may or may not help in making an educated guess. Her due date is January 7, 2007. Here is a recent photo of her, for those of you who can tell something by the way she is carrying the baby. If you have any other questions, feel free to ask them here and we'll try to answer them. (would you like her to spin her wedding ring over her belly and tell you what happens?)

*special thanks to Mrs. R. (our mom) for sponsoring this event :)

This is all for fun, so what do you have to lose? C'mon play along with us!

ps. If you're a lurker, now would be a great time to introduce yourself :)

how to go on a twinkle tour

Tonight was our annual twinkle tour. In case you have never been on a twinkle tour, this is how you do it:

• put boys in their pajamas (in case they fall asleep, which they didn't)
• bundle everyone up and load them up in the car
• start playing some Christmas music on the cd player (we like Raffi)
• drive around the neighbourhood looking at pretty Christmas lights and decorations
• offer kids drinks and snacks (Matthew doesn't like hot chocolate so we call chocolate milk cold chocolate in situations like this)
• keep looking out the window at Christmas lights, big blow up Santas, penguins wearing santa hats and lit up reindeer
• say "bye bye" as you pass them
• sing "deck the halls, fa-la-la-la" as requested by your three year old
• come home and put boys to sleep

And that's how you can have your very own twinkle tour. You should try it sometime. It's fun!

off the naughty list

Well, Jenny L. is now officially on Santa's "nice" list. I checked out the link she found for me and ended up ordering Rosie online. She'll cost a bit more and hopefully she'll get here on time. But if not, Santa could always leave a note about how he ran out of pink paint at the workshop and Rosie could be delivered a bit later...

Thanks Jenny (and Katy too)

santa's helper

Santa needs your help, if you happen to be going to Toys R Us in the next few days.

A little boy that I know (who has been very good all year) asked Santa for Rosie, a new engine from Thomas and friends.

Rosie is feisty, fun and very free spirited. Rosie is a tomboy tank engine, despite the fact that she's pink! (yes, my little boy wants a pink engine)

She is apparently exclusive to Toys R Us (in Canada, anyway) and is not in our store or available online anymore. If you could help Santa out, he would gladly pay any shipping costs and definitely take your name off the "naughty" list and put you on the "nice" one.

My husband thinks we should start "managing expectations" (which basically means have him think of something else that he wants instead and make him forget he ever met Rosie). I'm also keeping my eye on e-bay, but I don't have too much experience in that area.

ten on tuesday

1. The garage door is fixed. Hooray! When the guy was here fixing it Matthew made me open the door so he could see his face. Just curious, I guess.

2. It's not quite so cold anymore. But that's just my opinion. YOU might think it was freezing cold if you were here. Depends on how tough you are.

3. Tonight we all bundled up and went outside to play. It was 7PM and very dark, but we had so much fun. Toboggan ride in the backyard, snow angels and hot chocolate to warm up afterwards.

4. I had a nice long chat on the phone with my little sister who is having a baby soon and I'm so, so, SO excited for her!

5. Everyday that Matthew goes to preschool I need to write him a note telling him that I love him and that I'll pick him up at 11:15. He now needs his note to be attached to the drawstring on his sweatpants so that he can see it at all times during school. But at least he doesn't cry when I drop him off. :)

6. Caleb is talking more and more and is amazing us with how smart he is. (insert proud mommy face) He calls all letters "A", but when he sees letters he'll say "A, A" and then go get some magnetic letters off the fridge. He quite enjoys the book Chicka Chicka Boom Boom.

7. We have a library book that we can't find. Have you seen it anywhere? We'll just keep looking, I guess. Good thing I don't have to pay late fees on children's books.

8. My Christmas shopping is getting done a little bit at a time. Today I ran to Toys R Us after work to pick up a few things. How is your shopping coming along?

9. We are so blessed to be having some really nice Advent prayer times together as a family each night. We light the candle on the Advent wreath and pray together as a family. It's been really nice.

10. Matthew is not really very good at blowing out the Advent candle. He's such a silly guy. The only way we can get him to blow it out is if he accidentally coughs on it! Hee hee.

time for an update

Hi!
It's time for a quick update:

• I had parent-teacher interviews this week at school.
• I was the helper at Matthew's preschool. His teacher is so awesome!
• It's very cold here.
• Our garage door won't go up or down so we have to park outside (in the very cold weather)
• My class went to the museum yesterday.
• We've just started to do some Christmas decorating around our house.
• I love my new Advent wreath and Caleb is doing a good job of just looking at it (not touching it or pulling out the candles)
• When it's really cold, fashion goes out the window and I find myself loving these big clunky boots.
• Matthew loves to shovel. A few times this week, he went to help shovel right after waking up in the morning (and was wearing his pj's under his snowsuit!).

Stay warm, everyone!

saying goodbye

When I was saying goodbye before I went to work, this afternoon, Matthew got sad. I asked why he was sad and he said,

" I love you too much."

i always tell them...

if you have a brother, you'll always have a friend.



(cozy sweaters made with love by Great Auntie Anne-Marie)

ten on tuesday {the caleb edition}

Ten things about Caleb on this Tuesday morning

1. He is in the middle of a "language explosion" and learning new words everyday.

2. His two new words this morning 1) pear 2) backpack.

3. He is totally in love with Sesame Street and particularly the dvd What's the Name of that Song (which we all refer to as "La dee da dee da")

4. He has begun throwing little temper tantrums.

5. He loves wearing silly hats around the house, but is not too crazy about wearing his toque outside.

6. (I'm almost afraid to write this because I don't want to jinx it) He is sleeping through the night almost every night.

7. He likes to play trucks and cars. When he plays trains with Matthew, his favourite train is Percy (we had to buy an extra one to avoid conflicts)

8. It is pretty much the cutest thing ever to see him hug his big brother.

9. He is the same age that Matthew was at his birth(20 months).

10. He is getting to be such a big boy, but is still a snuggler, a hugger, a kisser and a mommy's boy (and a daddy's boy, grandma's boy and grandpa's boy too!)

Some silly hat pictures:

ten on tuesday

1. I got my hair cut and colored today and everyone keeps telling me how dark it is. I hope I don't look too "goth". Nobody likes a goth kindergarten teacher.

2. Caleb's favourite word is bum.

3. I bought a beautiful new coat last week.

4. Matthew went back to preschool today (after being sick last week). They are learning about dinosaurs this week.

5. We haven't been sleeping too well lately.

6. I cleaned off my scrapbooking table on Saturday and it's already messy again.

7. It's kind of nice out today.

8. I have a meeting during noon hour tomorrow.

9. I also have a meeting after school tomorrow.

10. We need to go lamp shopping and mattress shopping on Friday. What kind of lamps are "in style"? How do you buy a good mattress?

best friend

This is Matthew's best friend, Simon.

I just love this picture, because it really shows how much Matthew likes his little buddy. I love the big smile and Simon's red hair.

(ps. He drew it on the back of 12X12 scrapbook paper, so I had to photo stitch the scan together-it's huge and it looks so cute on our fridge!)

"sick" or treat

The boys were sick on Halloween. Actually, they're still sick, but the big news is that they were sick yesterday for Halloween. Matthew stayed home from preschool with a nasty cough and Caleb is coughing and sneezing all over the place. Thankfully, Matthew was not too upset about missing the Halloween party at his preschool. He was content to stay at home and make Halloween drawings and construction paper "costumes".

And of course they went trick or treating.

Before I tell you about that, let me show you the picture that I took from my car on my way home from work.

Yes, that's snow. It stopped snowing when it was time to trick or treat. But it was still cold.

Here's my silly little clown. Recognize the costume? ;)

And here's the little tiger.

Can you see the winter jacket under there? For him, it was all about the candies.

And did I dress up for Halloween? Of course, I did. Did you?

(obviously, I couldn't wear my Snow White costume outside in the snow)

pumpkin maze

Yesterday, the boys and I went to the pumpkin maze and we had so much fun!

Caleb was so excited to
#1. be out of the house.
#2. see some real pumpkins.

Matthew enjoyed sitting at the colouring table and posed nicely for pictures. But then when he started going through the maze, he really started having a blast. He totally got into it. I think he's a great age for this. He was small enough to not be able to see over the straw bales and yet smart enough to try to figure a way out. And we found our way out, but it wasn't easy.

But Matthew wasn't the only one who had fun in the maze.

When we got to the end of the maze, there was this big inflatable pumpkin with a witch and some ghosts inside.

Caleb was a little spooked. But not too much, don't worry.

We chose a pumpkin to buy (Matthew's convinced we won the pumpkin for making it through the maze!) and then met our Grandma for lunch.

My cute little pumpkin munchkins :)

spooky stuff...

Flashback Friday

Halloween 1986 (I think)

If you are one of the people who think clowns are scary, I am now warning you to look away.

The following photo has me wearing the same clown costume that I wore in 1980, only 6 years later it comes down to my knees so I wore stripey knee-high socks with it and added some hair around the hat. The little clown is my cutie pie little brother. Unless you think clowns are scary, then he would be my spooky little brother :)

Have a happy and safe Halloween!

our weekend

• a Sunday afternoon playdate was just what the doctor ordered
• bought some new Halloween decorations from the dollar store
• had one good night's sleep
• had one bad night's sleep
• spent our mornings in pj's
• cleaned up a bit, but not too much ;)
• played hide and seek tonight
• hoping that Matthew is not getting sick (even though he's coughing a bit)
• a trip to the museum for Daddy and Matt
• a nap for Mommy and Cale
• learned that Church is really not as much fun if we're not sitting with Grandma
• a lazy weekend, now that I think of it :)

But that's okay.

flashback friday

I realize that I am a day late :)

Halloween 1980

Just when you stopped having nightmares about the scary Cinderella costume of 1979, along comes a Halloween photo from 1980!
Hee hee. That's my dad wearing the afghan and the Cinderella mask. But just look at the adorable little clown costumes that my mom made for us. I'm the clown on the table and Faye's the little clown on the chair. A huge improvement from the year before, don't you think?

Stay tuned for next week's Halloween flashback. If you dare!

mmmmmuffins

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

1/2 cup margarine
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup ripe bananas-mashed
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp hot water
1 tsp vanilla
chocolate chips (the recipe doesn't actually call for them, but I always add some)

Cream margarine and sugar. Add eggs and bananas. Mix well. Stir in flour and nutmeg. Dissolve soda in hot water, add to banana mixture. Stir in vanilla. Add the chocolate chips, if you wish (I usually put about 1/2 cup or more) Fill greased or paper lined muffin tin half full. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until golden brown.


Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

4 eggs well beaten
2 cups sugar
1 1/2 cups cooking oil
3 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
3 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 cups pumpkin purée
1/2 cup chocolate chips -or more :)

Beat together eggs, sugar and oil. Add flour, soda, cinnamon, baking powder and salt, alternating with pumpkin. Blend all together and then add chocolate chips. Pour into muffin cups. Bake muffins 350 for 20 minutes.


One point weight watchers muffins
3 cups All Bran original cereal
3 cups water
1 tsp baking soda
1 pkg Betty Crocker cookie mix

Mix bran cereal and water. Add baking soda. Let sit for five minutes, until soggy and mushy. Add cookie mix and blend together. Makes 24 muffins. Bake for 25 minutes at 375.

These muffins helped me to lose 19.2 pounds. Very high in fibre. Don't eat more than two a day! (kids only get one a day)

ten on tuesday

1. The other night, Matthew had a dream that there was a raccoon in his room. He was quite frightened. When I showed him that the raccoon was not hiding behind his pillow, he told his dad "Just joking", but is now convinced the raccoon was outside.

2. Yesterday we went to Chapters, just to play with the train table.

3. I bought God Gave us Christmas by Lisa Tawn Bergren at Chapters yesterday.

4. God Gave us You by Lisa Tawn Bergren is one of my favourite children's books.

5. I almost broke the laminator at school yesterday.

6. We have a bit of snow already. Just a bit.

7. It feels very, very cold.

8. I bought a bunch of clothes for the boys at The Children's Place on the weekend. Big big sale.

9. I have been a muffin-making machine lately. Coincidentally, I have also been a muffin-eating machine. :)

10. Caleb looks so cute and cozy in turtleneck onesies. He has about 5 of them and I think he might wear a different one every day this week. If that's okay with you...

Happy Tuesday!

behind my back

I've never been published in a scrapbooking magazine. I've never even submitted a layout for publication. I've lurked around the twopeas pub, but I don't think I've ever posted anything there (besides maybe a happy birthday shoutout or something like that).

So, imagine my surprise when I did a search for my name on the pub board last night(it's kinda like googling yourself, only for scrapbookers!) and this is what I found.

POTD

I'm very honoured and quite surprised. And a little sad that I missed my big day. Where was I? I'm not really sure what the POTD is supposed to do exactly, but I don't think I did it on September 5th. According to my records, I guess I was taking Matthew to his first day of preschool and working. All important stuff, I suppose.

I wonder what other good things have happened to me behind my back :)

helper

I was the helper at Matthew's preschool today. And, boy, did she keep me busy!

- cutting out scarecrows (good thing I'm a professional cutter)
- helping with craft (the aforementioned scarecrows)
- measuring kids (she measures them at the beginning, middle and end of year-or, I guess the helper does-hee hee)
- writing names on paintings
- serving the snack (which I brought- letter pretzels, cheese and crackers, banana chocolate chip muffins, pumpkin chocolate chip muffins and milk)
- cleaning up from snack
- setting out funsheets and backpacks
- washing the cups
- washing the tables
- cleaning the sinks

Phew!

Matthew had some helper duties too:
- sitting on the red chair
- handing out napkins
- finding the number for the pumpkin calendar
- eating on a placemat (only the helper gets a placemat, everyone else just uses a napkin)
- taking home the Franklin backpack (which he is super excited about)

It was a busy, but very fun morning. I had to rush home and doll myself up for work, because today (of all days) was picture day at my school. Hopefully, I don't look too frazzled in my class photo. Hee hee.

thankful

We had such a nice Thanksgiving weekend.

I am thankful for:

• our families
• visits with my sister and her husband
• yummy appetizers
• baby kisses
• Aunties and Uncles who play hide and seek
• guys who go to Rolling Stones concerts
• crustless pumpkin pie
• Grandpas who jump on trampolines
• kareoke singers
• birthday cakes and candles
• extra hands to help at Church
• a new baby niece or nephew on the way
• three year olds who say grace
• one year olds who play shy
• getting the giggles

Of course, I had so much fun that I didn't take nearly enough photos...

cinderella visits Canada

Halloween 1979 (age 5)
Is it too early for a Halloween flashback Friday?

When I said I wanted to be Cinderella for Halloween, I don't know if I envisioned myself looking like this...

Hee hee.

More Halloween Flashback Fridays in the weeks to come... stay tuned :)

(Don't worry the costumes get better.)

it's after 11 PM...

It's after 11 PM and I just cut out 20 construction paper turkeys for school tomorrow.

It only took me 11 minutes. Have I impressed you with my scissor skills?

Gobble gobble.

(I think it's time for bed)

there is something so cute

There is something so cute about a little boy in overalls.


Don't you think?

and just one more...

This just in...

Matthew: Mom I have a whack.
Mom: What's a whack, honey?
Matthew: Well, some people have lots of whacks (wax) in their ears, but I just have one.

Hee hee hee!
:D

three funny things they say...

ONE
Matt(while playing musical instruments) : We're having jam.
Mom: Do you mean a jam session?
Matt: Yeah.

TWO
Cale(the little boy who hardly talks) : Bum!

*this was said to the librarian, clear as a bell, with a big goofy grin*

THREE
Matt: The ferret went pee in the glitter box.

*not our ferret, by the way, yuck*

this was his idea...

The next preschool day, Matthew insisted that I write him a note for school.

So I did:

Dear Matthew,
Here is a kissing hand for you. Remember that Mommy loves you.

(then I traced my hand, drew a heart inside and kissed it while wearing lipstick!)

I'll pick you up at 11:15.

Love,
Mommy

*And it worked! We put it in his pocket and said goodbye. When I picked him up, the teacher said he held the note in his hand for half the morning. When I asked him about it he said when he started to get tears he just rubbed the kissing hand against his cheek and he was okay.*

I love this book:

I should also add that everytime I leave for work now, he needs to make me a kissing hand note that he kisses while wearing his Bob the Builder chapstick!

he cried

He cried when I dropped him off at preschool this morning.

We did so well on the first few days, but now I guess the reality of it has set in.

It actually started about five minutes before we were about to leave. He started crying at home, for no apparent reason. We regrouped, snuggled and decided to bring a book to show his teacher.

I got him into the car. And into the school.

I assured him that I'd be back at 11:15 and gave him a kiss in his hand (have you ever read The Kissing Hand?) and a kiss on his cheek too. He was trying so hard to be brave, but he looked quite sad as I walked away. I tried not to look back, but I heard his wonderful teacher ask him to see the book that he had brought to show her. And I peeked in the window after I shut the door and I could see him on her lap looking at the book, still looking sad.

But I know that he's in good hands.

And it's already 10:08. So I can go pick him up in an hour.

something so cute

This little guy here:
has started doing something so cute.

It first started when he saw this guy here:

on tv.

But now he does it everytime, we count or say numbers.

Want to know what he does?

He laughs just like the count, "AH! AH! AH!"

Here are some examples:

Matthew (counting pictures in a book) : one, two, three, four...
Caleb: AH! AH! AH!

or

Mommy (dropping the boys off at grandma's house) : Caleb's been awake since six...
Caleb: AH! AH! AH!

It's so cute.

snack attack

I love snacking. Don't you? But I'm really trying hard to eat more healthy foods. Are you? Here are some of my latest finds:

I love popcorn and this Orville Redenbacher Smart Pop (I actually get the mini-bags) is quite good. I can eat the whole (mini) bag and it fills me up and I don't feel guilty at all. Well, I might feel a bit guilty that I didn't share any with my husband.


And while munching on my popcorn, I usually get quite thirsty. I've started drinking Nestle Pure Life Flavored Water. It's yummy and refreshing and just a little bit tastier than water. I have all the flavours :)

Oh and here's another yummy treat (am I saying 'yummy' too much?) This yogurt is so tasty, you wouldn't even believe it's good for you. They call these flavours the "dessert selections", but they also taste good for breakfast and snacks. My mom and I can't get enough of the chocolate cherry fondue flavour.

What are your favourite (healthy) snacks? I'd love to know.

Well, now I think I'd better go get a snack. Hee hee. Is anybody else hungry?

weekend

- I fell asleep at 9:00 on Friday night.
- We went to the museum this morning.
- We ran out of hotdogs for lunch.
- Matthew and Rick rode their bikes to the end of the block and back.
- I made fajitas for supper.
- We went to Church tonight.
- I scrapbooked a bit.

Nothing too exciting, but I just thought I should update :)

first day of school (2006)

Yesterday was Matthew's first day of preschool. He was so excited to meet his teacher and he had such a good time. It was actually just an open house and I stayed with him, but he seems very ready to try it out on his own tomorrow.
His proud younger brother:

And imagine how happy he was when he found some trains in his classroom!

I am so proud of my big boy!

first day of school

Flashback Friday

My first day of kindergarten - Sept. 1979


This year, I find myself thinking about the first day of school more than usual. Maybe it's because I've been repeating the first day of school this week for each new group of Kindergarten students that comes (reminds me of the movie Groundhog Day). Or maybe it's because next week, Matthew has his very first day of preschool.

Whatever the reason, I am finding myself becoming very sentimental about the first day of school. Here is a picture of me on my very first day of Kindergarten. Did anybody else wear their Holly Hobby school bags like a necklace around their necks? Hee hee.

stuff to tell you

Hello, here is some stuff that I have to tell you:
(whoever "you" may be)

- My email doesn't seem to be working that great today, so if you sent me an email I may not have received it. So that's why I haven't replied, probably. If you haven't sent me an email, you really should :)

- The first day of school went really well. Thanks for all your kind words. I only had 7 students today and tomorrow I'll have 6 different ones and then the last 6 on Friday. Then all 19 of them will come next Tuesday. It's called staggered entry and it seems to work well.

- Today, I almost started crying when I told my students to give their moms and dads a kiss and hug good-bye. I kind of wanted them all to be able to stay.

- Matthew's preschool teacher wrote him a letter and sent a supply list. She told us to remind our kids that their school supplies will be left at school. It sounds silly, but I realized today that it's a pretty good idea. I had about 3 of my students try to take home their pencil boxes today. They figure that their supplies belong with them, at all times. It kind of makes me giggle to think about it though.

- I've been so tired lately, sometimes I go to bed earlier than Matthew. If Matthew takes a nap he stays up really late, so we try not to let him nap during the afternoon. But sometimes he does. One morning, I asked Matthew "What time did you and Daddy go to bed last night?" He said "We went to bed at ten, but I wanted to stay up until one hundred." Hee hee! One hundred is the biggest number he knows.

- Caleb still doesn't talk too much, but he's getting really good at letting us know what he wants with his body language and sounds. And he really is just one of the cutest little dancers I have ever seen (although I have to admit, Elizabeth's kids are pretty cute too)

first day, hooray

Today is the first day of school for my kindergarten class. I am having mixed feelings about going back to work, but I am excited to meet my new students.

I've always loved the first day of school. I enjoy the nice, clean school, seeing the kids in their back-to-school clothes, new packs of crayons and the fresh attitude of the staff.

I can't wait!