Countdown to Christmas!

The Christmas season is upon us!  We have lots of fun things planned for this month and it started with a few fun events put on by our community centre.  Last Friday evening was the lighting of the firehall.  Some places have a big party and the tree in the town square is lit up.  Not here - we have a party at the firehall!  There was pizza, Tim Horton's and Santa.  Sarah slept through most of it but the boys got to have a nice visit with Santa.  They also had fun playing with friends and running around the firehall.  Adam's highlight was getting to use the bathroom in the firehall!  Daniel hated being chased by a bunch of girls from his school.  :)  Unfortunately, none of our pictures from the evening turned out - it was too dark.

On Sunday morning, we went to the community centre for breakfast with Santa.  The kids had a great time!  First, the kids did some colouring and then had a pancake and sausage breakfast.  The boys thoroughly enjoyed the three cups of hot chocolate they each had.

Sarah LOVED the sausages - I think she had three!  This could have been a cute picture of her and James but I think her mouth was full of sausage!

There was some musical entertainment by Tony Prophet, who sings fun kids' rock and roll songs.  Daniel was a little shy about getting up to dance but not Adam!  He was the first to grab a drum and run up on stage.  He rocked out for a long time and looked very serious about it!  Sarah had fun dancing around on stage, too.  This video makes me laugh every time!

There was a big mural on the wall and our two artists got right to work.  They love colouring and drawing so much these days.  They spend hours with paper, pen and crayons, sitting at the kitchen table.

Then it was time to go visit Santa and Mrs. Claus.  We actually got a really great picture of the three of them!

Daniel got a little nervous around Santa and forgot what he wanted for Christmas.

Adam just loved the whole thing.  He wasn't nervous at all.

Sarah, however, wanted nothing to do with Santa.  That first picture wasn't so bad because she didn't have time to realize what was going on.  Once she got a better look at Santa, she freaked out!

Last night, we met up with Auntie Lauren and Uncle Duncan at Metrotown for Lauren's birthday and another shot at visiting Santa.  The boys did great, Daniel remembered what he wanted for Christmas and Sarah screamed her head off!  She wouldn't let go of me and never did sit on Santa's lap.  We did get one family shot with Santa, with me sitting on a bench beside him with a screaming Sarah in my lap.  But she didn't get an individual picture with him - she would have never forgiven me!  The pictures should be ready tomorrow or Friday, so I'll be sure to share them on here!

Snow!

Nothing will convince the boys that Christmas isn't here yet.  They are adament that, because the snow we got last weekend and today, Christmas is here!  (Or, in Adam-ese, "Pwimmis is hoh!")

Last Saturday, we got Daniel all bundled up for his soccer game, since we didn't here anything about it being cancelled.  Adam and James went with him, only to discover that the park was completely empty!  (An email arrived after they had left saying the game was cancelled.)  But they were out and it was sunny and snowy, so they stayed out at the park for about an hour, making snowangels and snowmen.

Today was the big snowfall.  This pictures are especially for James, who is over in Rome at the moment, missing all this white stuff.

Winter wonderland from the front yard.

Winter wonderland from the backyard.

Sarah doing her best Maggie Simpson impression.  She was not impressed with the snow when it was falling.  She didn't mind it on the ground but she didn't like it in her eyes.  She cried and cried all the way to and from the school this morning!

After school, Daniel's buddy Tyler came over for a while.  I put them straight to work, shovelling the sidewalk.  Hey, if James isn't here to do it, I'll find someone else!  (I did end up doing most of the shovelling myself, though.)

Adam helped out, too.

Sarah observed from her little snowdrift.  Once the snow stopped falling in her face, she quite enjoyed herself.

Snow is fun!

It was probably only a one-day snow adventure, though, since I think the rain has already started.  Should be a slushy fun mess to walk to school in tomorrow!

Halloween!

A little late, but here are a few Halloween pictures.  The kids had a great time trick-or-treating - they were out for over an hour.

Here are our pirate and skeleton.

 And our cute little pumpkin. 

(Sorry, I'm having issues with adding pictures tonight.  Please bear with me!  And keep reading because there are a few new posts below.)

Our rough week

It's been quite a week in our house! Daniel had soccer practice on Monday evening and, during the practice, complained that his tummy hurt. I thought it was just because he was running around so much after just eating dinner. But, by 3am on Tuesday morning, he was throwing up. And it continued for the next 56 hours! It was horrible! The poor little guy was so weak, he didn't move for three days. You've never seen Daniel so lethargic and mellow - he's usually such an energetic and happy guy. By Thursday morning, having been up 6 times the night before, I finally took him into the ER at Children's Hospital. Unfortunately, there wasn't much they could do for the vomitting and, luckily, he wasn't dehydrated. The doctor suggested giving him Pedialyte but Daniel didn't like the flavour (too salty) so we tried Gatorade. He tolerated that because it's what athletes drink! By Friday, he was feeling better but was so weak and gaunt. I'm sure he lost a few pounds - he looked so thin! By Saturday, he was pretty much back to his old self, arguing with his little brother and trying to sneak Halloween candy.


Meanwhile, Sarah came down with a fever on Tuesday. She stayed home with Leah and Daniel that day. Fortunately, the fever didn't last long, but she was just generally irritable for a few days. On Thursday, we noticed that her chin was really red and raw but assumed it was from all the drooling she's been doing, due to her molars coming in. Then, on Saturday evening, Adam burst into tears at the dinner table, complaining, "I not like to be tired!" He felt quite warm and fell asleep at 6:15pm. He then slept for the next 13 hours! We were afraid that he was coming down with what Daniel had. By morning, however, he was much better - except for the red sores all around his mouth. He was also limping around the house. When I asked what was wrong, he said, "I is a pirate. I have a peg leg." :) No peg leg, but he did have some sores on the bottom of his feet. It could only be Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease. We're experts with this one, since both boys had it the week before Sarah was born and Daniel had it when he was about 18 months. Luckily, it seems that Adam and Sarah have relatively mild cases. Their appetite has been affected a bit and they've been a little more fussy but nothing too terrible.

But we're ready to be healthy! We've all been battling colds since school started and now this! I think we've paid our dues for a while. We don't want any more illnesses for a while, thank you!

For a less whiny, more upbeat post, continue reading below. It's sure to make you smile. :)

Our rough week

It's been quite a week in our house!  Daniel had soccer practice on Monday evening and, during the practice, complained that his tummy hurt.  I thought it was just because he was running around so much after just eating dinner.  But, by 3am on Tuesday morning, he was throwing up.  And it continued for the next 56 hours!  It was horrible!  The poor little guy was so weak, he didn't move for three days.  You've never seen Daniel so lethargic and mellow - he's usually such an energetic and happy guy.  By Thursday morning, having been up 6 times the night before, I finally took him into the ER at Children's Hospital.  Unfortunately, there wasn't much they could do for the vomitting and, luckily, he wasn't dehydrated.  The doctor suggested giving him Pedialyte but Daniel didn't like the flavour (too salty) so we tried Gatorade.  He tolerated that because it's what athletes drink!  By Friday, he was feeling better but was so weak and gaunt.  I'm sure he lost a few pounds - he looked so thin!  By Saturday, he was pretty much back to his old self, arguing with his little brother and trying to sneak Halloween candy. 

Meanwhile, Sarah came down with a fever on Tuesday.  She stayed home with Leah and Daniel that day.  Fortunately, the fever didn't last long, but she was just generally irritable for a few days.  On Thursday, we noticed that her chin was really red and raw but assumed it was from all the drooling she's been doing, due to her molars coming in.  Then, on Saturday evening, Adam burst into tears at the dinner table, complaining, "I not like to be tired!"  He felt quite warm and fell asleep at 6:15pm.  He then slept for the next 13 hours!  We were afraid that he was coming down with what Daniel had.  By morning, however, he was much better - except for the red sores all around his mouth.  He was also limping around the house.  When I asked what was wrong, he said, "I is a pirate.  I have a peg leg."  :)  No peg leg, but he did have some sores on the bottom of his feet.  It could only be Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease.  We're experts with this one, since both boys had it the week before Sarah was born and Daniel had it when he was about 18 months.  Luckily, it seems that Adam and Sarah have relatively mild cases.  Their appetite has been affected a bit and they've been a little more fussy but nothing too terrible.

But we're ready to be healthy!  We've all been battling colds since school started and now this!  I think we've paid our dues for a while.  We don't want any more illnesses for a while, thank you!

For a less whiny, more upbeat post, continue reading below.  It's sure to make you smile.  :)

Our budding artists!

The boys have been so interested in writing and drawing these days.  Daniel is doing such a great job at Kindergarten.  His teacher, Mrs. Grewal, says that he is such a precise worker - she didn't realize how seriously he'd take his work and what a perfectionist he'd be.  :)  Here are a few samples of Daniel's work.

He made this on the first day of Kindergarten, after the class read a story called "The Kissing Hand."



A little funny-faced guy.

His new favourite thing to draw - robots.

Adam has really been surprising us with his drawings and printing.  I know we may be a little biased, but he seems to be quite advanced!  He'll sit for hours and draw in his little sketch book  It's so fun to see his imagination and the little stories he tells about his drawings.

Adam says this one " this guy falled down on the road on Tuesday and hurt his head."

Three guys climbing up ladders.

 A pirate.

A whole bunch of friends.  (It must be really hot there with two suns!)

These guys are all riding skateboards.

And here's how Adam prints his name.  Pretty good for a three year old, don't you think?

Halloween at school

Halloween started early when we went up to the school on Friday.  In the morning, Daniel did a Pumpkin Run around the school while I took Adam and Sarah to Strong Start (their preschool) for a Halloween party.  They had fun playing in the classroom and the gym.

Next, it was time for the party to begin!  Strong Start is a parent participation preschool for 0-5 year olds and it is really popular.  On most days, there are at least 30-40 kids plus their parent in the room.  I think everyone showed up for the party.  Since it was a potluck, there was a lot of food!

After Strong Start, Adam, Sarah and I went to visit Daniel's class and my Kindergarten students to see their costumes.  At 1:00, we went into the gym to watch the costume parade.  All the students walked around the gym to show off their costumes.  I think Daniel might have been a little overwhelmed by all the people in the gym because he forgot to put on his skeleton mask!

It was a fun day and a good way to start our Halloween weekend!

Updates on the kids

Well, we certainly have been keeping busy!  Between work, school, sports, lessons, birthdays and just everyday stuff, there hasn't been much time to give to the blog.  So I thought I would do a quick update on each of the kids, to let you know what they've been up to.  And it's been a lot!

DANIEL

• Daniel is loving Kindergarten.  He is having so much fun, making so many new friends.  He is Mr. Popularity in his class, always being chosen to accompany kids to the office to take in the attendance, sitting at at a table full of girls at lunchtime.  His new best friend is Tyler, who is also on his soccer team.  It's also really fun having him at school with me.  He really likes hanging out in my classroom, helping me get stuff ready.  It's really neat being able to walk to school together and listening to his day.
• Daniel is also really enjoying soccer.  He's not an aggressive player by any means.  In fact, if an opposing player gets the ball, Daniel just stands back and let's him have a turn!  But he looks good out there and you can't tell that he didn't play last year while the other boys did.

ADAM

• Adam is getting quite the funny, quirky sense of humour.  He tells the funniest stories and has a really vivid imagination.  Now that he's not with Daniel all the time, he's been able to show his personality a bit more. 
• He is so keen to learn new things these days.  Linda has been doing a preschool program with him at daycare and he is so excited about it.  He loves to write and draw.  He'll sit and draw cute little people for hours.  He can kind of spell his name now (he can say the letters but writes it as HOHM - his As don't join at the top and his D is a little round :)).  He also LOVES to count and will count everything around him - he even falls asleep counting!
• Adam is doing really well in his swimming lessons.  No more parent and tot lessons for him - he's on his own!  He was a little nervous at first - always looking close to tears although never crying.  Now he's trying to blow bubbles under water and putting his mouth and nose in the water (not his eyes, though).  His teacher says he probably won't pass this session, but he's made huge improvements!

SARAH

• Sarah is developing such a fun personality.  She is Little Miss Happy - very rarely do you see her without a smile on her face. 
• Our little girl isn't so little anymore!  She's a chubby little thing!  Last doctor's appointment she weighed 22.5 pounds.  She goes again next week so we'll see if she's gained any more.
• She is an expert walker now so she's graduated to climbing.  Watch out!  She loves to go up stairs or climb on top of boxes and stand up on them.  She's our little daredevil!
• She also loves to get into mischief.  She gets into everything - baskets of laundry, piles of papers and especially the garbage can and the toilet.  If she sees the bathroom door is open, she runs at top speed to go play in the toilet!
• Sarah is our little musician.  She loves dancing to music, especially her stuffed animals and dolls that play songs.  She claps her hands and bops to the beat - it's so cute!

Thanksgiving!

Family tradition - time to head up to the Okanagan for Thanksgiving!  Again, it was a quick trip full of lots of visiting and lots of food.  We took Daniel out of school at noon and headed out as soon as we were ready.  Unfortunately, it still took a long time to get there - long weekend traffic and construction around Hope didn't help.  But we arrived at Grandma and Grandpa's around 9pm.  The boys were fast asleep but Sarah woke up as we arrived and visited for a bit.

Saturday morning was spent playing and working - the boys played and Grandpa and Uncle Duncan worked on installing a fan above the stove.  Fun!  Great-Grandma and Grandpa C came over for Thanksgiving dinner #1.  James and I popped over to their house to see all the work they've done on their kitchen - it looks great!  The kids had so much fun with the cool toys they brought - a helicopter and rescue truck for the boys and a cute singing cow for Sarah.  Dinner was delicious and it was so nice sitting down at the table with the entire family.

Sunday was, of course, the apple squish.  The boys were so excited!  They had so much fun picking apples, squishing apples, eating apples and making apple juice.  There was also roasting hot dogs and marshmallows, throwing apples for dogs to fetch, playing on tractors and running around the orchard.  Sarah had a great time wandering around the legs of everyone there, eating her first hot dog and munching on apples that kept falling in grass and dirt!  She looked so cute in her apple vest from Auntie Lauren and her fancy boots that bugged her a lot, since she couldn't move to well in them!

Dinner followed at the hall in Summerland - so much good food and yummy desserts!  There weren't many kids there this year - just our two and cousin Nicholas, plus some much older second/third cousins.  But the little ones (and Grandma and Grandpa!) had a lot of fun in the multipurpose room, playing soccer and riding on big exercise mats!  The kids weren't overly thrilled with Thanksgiving dinner but they had a good time anyway.  (We actually found a food that Sarah doesn't like - turkey.  It's probably only the third food I've found that she doesn't like!)  What a special tradition!  Grandma gave us our copy of Canadian Living magazine with an article about the apple squish back in 1986.  It was so fun (and funny!) to look back at everyone 25 years ago - what a souvenir to have!

Monday morning was spent eating french toast and packing up for the trip home.  The trip home was not one of our better ones - it took us almost 8 hours to get home!  We started out OK but got stuck at Hope - construction, accidents and bad traffic meant that it took us 3 hours from there!  We were a little late for dinner with Leah's family.  Luckily, they were nice enough to wait for us and we had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner #3.  By the time we got home, though, we were exhausted!  We threw everything on the floor and collapsed right into bed.  :)

Sarah is one year old!

It's hard to believe but Sarah is a year old!  Time certainly does fly!  Our little baby is now a smiling, walking, happy little girl.  You couldn't meet a more easy-going and fun-loving kid.  She's tough, because she's lived with two active big brothers, but she's sweet and cuddly, too.  Happy Birthday Sarah!

Lucky Sarah had three birthday parties.  You can see pictures (as well as some others from September), at

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=223154&id=581855950&l=3057c9be97 .  For now, here are some pictures taken every month so you can see just how much she's grown.  (The first picture is one week, the rest are taken monthly.)