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!