the best gift

Time for an update :) (sorry-we've been sick)

Can you guess the best gift we got this year?

Was it Matthew's big Buzz Lightyear (just like the one Andy has in the movie)?

Was it Caleb's Superman delivered by Santa?Was it Matthew's donkey cookie?

Or maybe Caleb's Shrek cookie? Maybe it was Daddy's new ski pants (Caleb never could keep a secret)? Was it Caleb's new spiderman pj's (mask sold separately)?Maybe the best gift was the tuque, mitts and scarf that Grandma D. knit for the boys?Was it Matthew's magician's kit?Or Maya's first lego set? Was it Grandpa R.'s new Roughrider shirt?Could it be Caleb's playmobil pirate set?

Or his silly Shrek toy?

Well, actually, this is my best gift...

Confused? Well, this is the box that carried a nice warm Christmas dinner from my parent's house to mine. Matthew was too sick to go out. Caleb and Rick went to his parent's for their Christmas meal and I stayed home with Matthew. My dad dropped off this box full of turkey, stuffing, gravy, Faye's favourite salad, turnip puff, brussel sprouts, mashed potatoes and cheesecake. This wasn't even their leftovers (which would have been yummy enough). This was a piping hot meal. They hadn't even eaten yet.

I call it my box full of love :)

So thank you very much for the sweaters, the toys and the chocolates. I'll take a box full of love anyday.

have you?

Have you ever woken up with a broken blood vessel in your eye?

Have you ever felt super self-conscious about it (because it lasts for longer than a week)?

Have you ever seen this website (scrumdilly-do!)?

Have you ever washed cheese off of a cheeseburger because somebody wants a hamburger without cheese?

Have you ever told a two and a half year old a secret? (I don't recommend it)

Have you ever gone curling?

Have you ever stayed up too late for too many nights in a row?

I have :) Have you?

evidence that santa claus is coming to town

- It all started two Sundays ago, after Church. Father Ken sang "Santa Claus is coming to town" to the boys.

- Caleb has been dressing up in his santa hat, giving presents to anyone who will play with him. And if you see him stomping around and ask him what he's doing, he'll tell you that he's "coming to town".

- On Thursday, this letter arrived in the mail. We were all pretty excited about it!

- The boys took a trip to the mall and met the jolly old fellow. -Today after swimming lessons, we caught a glimpse of him, but didn't feel it was necessary to stop and talk, since they had just seen him a few days ago.

- But he must have followed us to Grandma and Grandpa D's because we heard a knocking and then some sleigh bells. But when we went to the door, nobody was there. We found two stockings full of books, trucks, gingerbread boys and candy canes. That Santa, left us some early Christmas gifts....

- Yep, he's definitely coming :)

why?

Why do I stay up so late? When will I learn?

Oh well, at least I made some cute Christmas-y coasters:

ten on tuesday

the "where have I been?" edition

1. I've been taking care of two sick kids.

2. I've been evaluating my students.

3. I've been having parent-teacher interviews with 20 sets of parents.

4. I've been watching the Riders win the Grey Cup!

5. I've been making construction paper hats for Caleb (like, probably 15 of them!)

6. I've been making large lists of things for Matthew to do.

7. I've been playing scrabulous blitz. It's highly addictive.

8. I've been shopping here and there for some clothes for myself.

9. I've been wrapping a few Christmas presents.

10. I've been busy, but I've been thinking about all of you. I hope you are well :)

He loves me

He tells everyone his is "two and a half" (even if they don't ask)


He is much less shy than he was a few months ago.


He loves to pretend and dress up (and not just on Halloween). He likes to be Captain Hook, Shrek, Puss in Boots, a knight, a firefighter... the list goes on.

He says the cutest things.

He goes to storytime at the library every Thursday morning.

He is cautious on the play structure at the ymca and prefers if Mommy goes down the big slide with him.

He has stopped taking an afternoon nap most days. And goes to bed much better at bedtime.

He is pretty much potty trained. He loves it when Grandpa sings "He's a big boy now!"

He likes to laugh and be silly (and chew with his mouth open, apparently)

He told me that he loves me last week (and not just after I told him, he was the one who said it first!)

He loves me :D And I love him!

monday night challenge

If anyone is up for a scrapbooking challenge...Faye and I were scrapbooking last night and we created a challenge.

Find a scrapbooking magazine (you know you have one!) and open it up randomly to any page. You must scraplift a layout (or an ad) from that page. And finish it by Thursday morning, if you can.

Ready, set, go!

We're already done :)

I scrapbooked!

A layout about Matthew's first day of preschool (last year). It's a scraplift of a Jamie Waters layout and I needed to stamp on it somewhere. I was so proud that I used two stamps!

Thanks Jenny for the fun challenge! I can't wait to see your layout(s)!

congratulations elizabeth *edited to add faye!*

Hooray! Elizabeth's book is coming out today! Hooray!

I decided to wave the sign over my head, just to show you how excited I am for you, Elizabeth!

See...

I'm so excited for you, congratulations!

And Faye is excited too!

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!