Sunday 31 May 2009

Not long now!


Soon Jean-Paul will be an uncle, Alex and Zach will be FIRST cousins and I'll be an AUNT! Auntie? Haven't decided on that one yet (and I likely won't be the one to decide anyway on my title....). Anyway, ahem. Yes, Jean-Paul's baby sister (and her hubby) are about to have their little bundle of pain-in-the-ass, I mean joy. Joy. Yes, I meant joy. Not pain. Babies are fun. Really. Enjoy!

Seriously, though. This baby is putting poor Michelle through quite a bit already! Give Mommy a break!! Nana and Grandpa are headed over to Jolly 'Ol England for the birth, so the baby has a certain window in which he/she needs to appear. They do have return tickets, you know!

I can't wait to hear this little one start speaking. Babes with British accents are SO CUTE!!

Wednesday 27 May 2009

Maybe we need to up the ante on the time outs...

Our "discipline method" of choice with Zach (and Alex, too, if she needs it) is the "time out". I'm beginning to wonder about the effectiveness of said discipline technique, however. Yesterday Zachary hit his big sis, then proceeded to toddle over to the stairs and give HIMSELF a time out!!

As a friend pointed out, maybe we've just done a very good job parenting if Zach's already doing a cost-benefit analysis. He just figured the pleasure he would get out of whacking his sibling would outweigh the downtime he would incur as a result of said whacking.

Tuesday 26 May 2009

Enjoying their blurb books :)


Alex reading to Zachary from her book - and pointing him out in the picture.
Very proud of her book :)

They like reading the others' book just as much :)

Friday 22 May 2009

Excited for SOCCER!!

We signed Alex up for soccer :) She's so excited! I'll post pictures once we get going - and more detail once the season is over. Don't want too much info on here.

It seems like yesterday she was just a little baby - and now she's playing sports! (You should see how little, teeny, tiny and CUTE her cleats are!!) :)

Wednesday 20 May 2009

A bad news day....

This morning I heard the news that there had been two arrests in the Tori Stafford case. (The little girl who has been missing from Woodstock for a gut-wrenching 6 weeks). I knew this probably wasn't a good sign and felt a bit sad, but went about my day. When I was driving home from work today however, I heard the news story in a bit more detail. They said a man had been arrested for first degree murder and abduction and a woman for abduction and accessory after the fact (I think). Then the newscaster said the words that just set me off. The police had said, "We will not stop until we find Tori's body." Body. That hit me like a ton of bricks. Tears just started streaming down my face and all I wanted to do was get home as fast as I could and hug my children so tightly.

I hope you're resting in peace, Tori. And I pray for the family, especially Tori's big brother and hope he can get over the guilt of not walking her home from school that day. I can't even imagine....

Hold your dear ones close. And thank God, or the Universe, or whatever higher power, that you and your family are not the ones making headlines... Not like this.

I'm off to hugs my kids one more time before they fall asleep.

Monday 18 May 2009

Our Wordle

I put our blog's URL into http://www.wordle.net/ and this is what it came up with:

And from the "Blessings" post:


Cool, huh?

I Ran (So Far Away)

This is what Zachary looked like when he woke up from his nap today. No joke. The one-hit wonder special we watched yesterday had Flock of Seagulls and their hit "I Ran (So Far Away)". It must have really sunk in!

Just in case anyone needs a comparison - Mike Score, the lead singer, is second from the left:

Retro girl

I have some video of the dance, too. We were watching Retro on MuchMoreMusic and Alex got right into it. :) Full on air guitar and air drums, too. She sat there for Michael Jackson and Puff Daddy, but got up for Bryan Adams' Cuts Like a Knife.

One person's junk....

We hit the New Dundee Victoria Day celebrations today. We got to ride in a hot air balloon (tethered to the ground, but still very cool). Kids thought it was very neat! No door in the basket, though. Mommy have to vault over the side. Haven't had to do anything like that in a long time! I'll scaled fences and such before, but not for a LONG time!!
They had fun on the bouncers (jumping castle, big slide and such) and "fishing" (had to do that one twice). We brought home some really cheap, crappy prizes that the kids think are way cool.
There was also a town-wide yard sale going on and we all came back with a few treasures. Guess what Zach picked? Hmmmmm. MONSTER TRUCK! 50 cents. Alex picked out a jumping spider. Go figure.

Did we mention he likes monster trucks?.....

Everything is MONSTER TRUCKS lately!! He LOVES them. On YouTube, books, toys, SPEED network... You name it. He picked all monster truck stuff with his birthday money.
Too bad we missed all the monster truck events around here until next year. That's what it looks like, anyway.
(Notice the book and the toy in his hand.)

Sunday 17 May 2009

Revisiting a post from last year...

I really should just count my blessings

Her driving has improved a bit...

Remember her driving skills from last year? We were at Ontario Place and she got to drive the Barbie Cadillac (with a bit of help - ok, she was escorted). She has improved since then. Check out this video taken last weekend at the Children's Safety Village at the police services open house:

Wednesday 13 May 2009

What a way to start the day :)

Zachary was in our room while I was getting dressed and I put on a skirt (very rare) and he said, "Mommy's a princess." And then proceeded to play around with the skirt. So cute. I smile a big smile every time I think of that.

Friday 8 May 2009

I'm..... older!

Zach was having a bit of trouble getting just two fingers up to say "I'm two!", so he just decided to stop fumbling and said, "I'm... older!" Too cute!! :)

Here are some shots from Mr. Big Stuff's birthday celebrations. (The "cupcake" celebration was on his actual birthday. The party was on the following Sunday.)
And apparently it's just wired right into us from birth. Girls just all go to the bathroom together...

Like, seriously

Really. How hard is it to clean up a teeny bit when you're done making stuff? Is it too much to ask that crap gets wiped up before it dries and hardens and STAINS things?! This is what I woke up to Saturday morning - and I was being nice and letting my loving husband sleep in. So, already I was up with the kids while he was snuggled in bed. And then I came into the kitchen and, voila! Popcorn popper still out - as was the popcorn container. Kernels - popped and not - in various locales. Kernel shells all over. Butter rings on the counter. I mean, really. Seriously! ARRRRRRGH!! (The pictures really don't do the mess justice.)