flashback friday

little michelle (age 3)

okay, now cover up my hair and my mouth with your fingers

don't I look alot like matthew?

now wipe the fingerprints off your monitor (sorry about that)

have you noticed?

Have you noticed that alot of the women's Halloween costumes out there are quite revealing? Dare I say, risqué? Not alot of selection for a Kindergarten teacher looking for a Halloween costume.

The other day, a flyer with photos of Halloween costumes came in the mail. We were looking through it and I mentioned that I didn't think any of the costumes would be appropriate for me to wear to school. Rick was joking around and pointed to one of the costumes and asked Matthew if Mommy should get this costume.

Matthew said "No way. Then everyone will be in love with her!"

:) Hee hee.

Spooky Sleepover

by Matthew (age 4)

(inspired by the characters from Monsters Inc)

George had more fingers.

At home, Sully and Mike were feeling bored.

Sully and Mike needed to think because they were still bored. Then they heard their phone ring.Mike answered the phone.It was George. He was inviting them to sleepover.

(this page required a fold out page for the words)

Boo! It was an 8 finger monster with horns and eyes between the horns. He turned Mike pink.

Then there was a small monster that didn't have any eyes. He made Sully's face a bunch of different colours.

Then Sully and Mike looked at each other and said "Aaa!"

Then they woke up and said "Aaa!"

Then George woke up too.

And then they never wanted to go for a sleepover again.

ten on tuesday

1. I have a headache tonight :(

2. I bought Caleb some new pirate bedding but I'm not sure if I'm going to keep it.

3. I also got a bit of Christmas shopping done today.

4. It's Education Week. We are having parents come in as guest readers and also having a book swap. It's busy, but fun.

5. The boys are going crazy over Mr. Potato Head lately. And thanks to Grandma, they now quite an extensive collection of accessories.

6. You should hear Caleb say "accessories". It's so cute!

7. Caleb helped feed the bunnies outside of Matthew's preschool and almost got a lesson on "the birds and the bunnies". If you know what I mean...

8. I still have a headache. :(

9. I was sure had more stuff to say and now I can't think of anything else.

10. I'm off to bed. Have a great week!

thankful

I'm so thankful for

all of them:

and them:

and us:

and you too :)
{insert your own photo here, or just look in a mirror}

Happy Thanksgiving!

playing with legos - 1980

flashback friday


Just because my boys are doing the exact same thing right now (probably with the exact same legos)...

And also because I love the fact that we're wearing pants under our dresses.

speaking of fall

It's definitely fall around here. We are enjoying some nice weather for this time of year and hoping it will last a bit longer (we are always happy if the snow stays away until after Halloween)

Speaking of Halloween, the boys have their costumes already.

Please note, these are not my children. I just found them on the internet. But the costumes, we found at Superstore. Caleb was a bit disappointed that his Woody costume didn't come with real cowboy boots. Whenever we go to the store, he looks at the Woody costumes to see if perhaps the Walmart Woody comes with real cowboy boots.

Speaking of Caleb, we are potty training him right now! It's going well. We were stuck last week, when he started to refuse to sit on the potty. But a trip to dollarama with my potty training assistant (Matthew) helped solve the potty training problems. Now when I ask if he has to go potty, he says "great idea" and starts pulling down his pants before he even gets there. And then, he gets to open a present. Yay Caleb! Now if we could just get him to wear underwear...

Speaking of potty training assistants, Rick and I think that Matthew will be able to put potty training on his resume. He's being so helpful and supportive for Caleb, not jealous at all of the extra attention that he is getting. We're so proud of them both.

Speaking of the both of them, they both started swimming lessons on Sunday. Matthew is in the Floaters class and goes by himself. Caleb is a Bubbler and he gets to take his mommy with him. Caleb had a blast. He kept saying "This is fun!" and "I'm swimming!" and he had the biggest smile I've ever seen. And Matthew was such a big boy on his own.

And that's what's going on around here this fall - lots of growing up :)

a post with no photos :(

I have having some trouble with my camera, so this will be a post with no photos.

Matthew started back at preschool yesterday. It is amazing what a difference a year makes. He is just so much more confident and excited than he was last year.

I also whipped up a few sewing projects. I made a home for my cell phone (thanks susanna). I also tried a reversible journal cover, which turned out kind of neat. (this is where some photos would be nice...)

I got my haircut on Monday. You'll just have to imagine what it looks like. :)

Faye and Maya fly in tonight for a nice little visit. We can't wait to see them again!

And that's the latest around here.

to infinity and beyond!

We are in the middle of a Toy Story craze around here. It's a pleasant break from the Thomas craze that went on for 2 years :)




It all started when the boys went to visit my friend's kids in Calgary. Caleb became quite attached to their Buzz and Woody toys and had trouble dealing with the fact that they could not come home with him. I'll let you imagine the rest of that story...


When we got back from our trip, we borrowed Toy Story and Toy Story 2 from the library. We have coloured pictures of all the characters, we have bought some of the figurines, we have dressed in cowboy hats and pretended to be Woody. We find ourselves quoting them at strange times "Not today, sir" and of course, "To infinity and beyond!"

Or as Caleb says "A beauty and ye-yond!"

Buzz Lightyear drawing (Matthew-August 2007-age 4)

more sewing projects

The simple tote from Bend the Rules Sewing:
Here's the striped side

Here's the polka dot side

And here's the tea towel apron

Special thanks to my assistant photographer, Matthew :)

learned

These are the things I've learned in the last little bit:

- I learned how to wind a bobbin.

- I learned how to thread my sewing machine.

- I learned how to make this cute drawstring bag.

- I learned not to take two boys to the fabric store right before suppertime.

- I learned how to make this headband!

for Susie :)

You just have to jump on your birthday!

And Faye got in on it too!

Thirty Three on Thursday

Thirty three "make me happy" things :)

1. a clean scrapbooking table


2. emails to read


3. a new simple scrapbooks magazine to read


4. out of town friends popping in


5. kids giggling while mommies visit


6. fussy boys eating well at others peoples' houses


7. chicken caesar pizza


8. crystal lite


9. flavoured water


10. watching Matthew catch butterflies


11. pretending to be pirates/shrek/buzz lightyear


12. baby cousins


13. a new haircut


14. praying with kids


15. being on summer holidays


16. a big fat zucchini from my mom's garden


17. a new bottle of cherry sauce (because I ate my last bottle in a week)


18. a bouquet of fresh flowers on my kitchen table


19. new clothes


20. a new nightgown


21. hugs


22. kisses


23. i love yous


24. being served eggs for breakfast


25. some new scrapbooking supplies


26. a new sewing machine

27. a new book to read


28. a four year old's great idea to have a picnic lunch in the backyard


29. having a picnic lunch with butterflies


30. water balloons


31. chicken salad sandwiches


32. naptime


33. birthdays

(and all this before noon)

buffalo days

Our fair is called Buffalo Days. Really. It is. What's your fair called?

So here are a few more details and photos from our trip to the fair.

We hadn't been to fair for at least 6 years, so we parked at the wrong end and had to walk all the way to the other side of the fairgrounds to get to the kiddie rides. We bought 22 tickets for the rides and each ride took four tickets so we (they) had to choose wisely.

The first ride they chose was the cars. We weren't sure if Caleb would be brave enough to go on a ride without his mom, but he was. And he had a great time. They both did. :)

Next ride, the helicopters. They were the first ones on so they got to sit in it for quite awhile while they were waiting for the other kids to get buckled in. They enjoyed the pre-ride almost as much as the actual ride! Hee hee. But of course, it is pretty cool to actually fly up, up, up in a helicopter.Then, with only 6 tickets left, we decided to take a little break from the rides and go see a show. We went to the Little Ray's Reptile Zoo show. The boys got a bit tired of the show (although it was very educational, just not suited to a two year old's attention span) so we went and looked at the alligators and snakes in the cages.

Afterwards, we walked over to the petting farm and saw a calf, some sheep, a goat that was trying to eat a girl's mini-donuts and some llamas. We then sanitized our hands (hee hee) and went back to the rides.

We bought two more tickets and told each boy that they could chose one more ride. Caleb chose the horsey merry-go-round (I was hoping he would). And I got to go with him (I was hoping I would). Up and down he went. Each time we went around we would smile and wave at Matthew and Daddy watching us.

My adventurous (yet cautious) Matthew chose this "ride". Or as he calls it, an obstacle course. Rick could have gone with him, but he said he wanted to go by himself. There were some tense moments when he didn't know which way to go and we had to coach him from the ground. And also when he got nervous on the swaying bridge. But he made it through it on his own. And he was so proud of himself!

We started walking back to our car, stopping of course for the cotton candy. And there you have it. A wonderful first experience of Buffalo Days :)

fun stuff

Maybe it's because I realized that summer is half over... but we've been doing a ton of fun stuff this week. Maybe it's just because it's summer :)

Sunday night we went out for ice cream. You should see the boys polish of a strawberry sundae. Especially Caleb. He sits right up on his knees and just digs right in!

On Tuesday, we went to the Art Gallery. There was an exhibit about architecture and it was fun to teach Matthew a bit about that (not that I know very much about architecture, but I guess enough to give a beginner's course to a 4 year old).

On Tuesday afternoon, we decided to bake a cake. For no reason (and from a mix, of course).

Wednesday morning, the boys and I went out to the Farmer's Market downtown. We bought some cherry sauce (that is so yummy on waffles, pancakes or ice cream), some rhubarb (I'm going to attempt a rhubarb crisp), some cookies and a banana bread. We also played at the playground.

And Wednesday, Rick came home from work early and we spent a few hours at the fair. This was the first time we had ever taken either of the boys to the fair. They had lots of fun.

great grandpa

We're back from a visit to small town Saskatchewan. And we had a great time.

The boys had fun visiting great Auntie's farm. They laughed hysterically when my cousin's daughter chased the chickens around the chicken coop. They loved to pet the little baby pups. They were amazed that they were allowed to "drive" the tractor.

It was so nice for them to visit with their great grandpa and extended family.

we love you

(if you click on it, it should get bigger)

we're back!

We're back from a fun holiday to visit our Auntie Faye, Uncle Andrew and cousin Maya. We had a great time.

Here are some highlights:

Playing with sweet Maya and seeing how much she's grown. She can sit up now and thinks her cousins are just hilarious when they juggle for her and entertain her.

Playgrounds:

We played at the playground at Burger King, the playground in Medicine Hat, the playground close to Auntie's house in Calgary and also the playground at the zoo.

Swimming:

Swimming and watersliding at the hotel on the way (and on the way back), swimming at the Hot Springs in Radium and even swimming in the backyard with Maya. It was very hot while we were there so it was great to be able to cool off.

The cabin:

They have the most amazing cabin and we had such a great time. The boys saw the mountains for the first time.

The zoo:

Gorillas, zebras, giraffes, lions, kangaroos, hippos, turtles, ostriches...

And now we're back, but we look forward to seeing them again next week when they come to visit us!

family time

It's sooooo nice to be on summer holidays, to feel more relaxed at the end of the day, to have time for some fun family times in the evening.

Like last evening....