Heather...

did you forget your Blogger password? :P

30 seconds

is all it takes for Nick to perfect a new skill (scaling his change table), empty the diaper basket, and be super proud of himself! And this, my friends, is why my work is never done...

Christmas tree 2009

Here it is! Our 2009 Christmas tree! We brought it in and put the lights on on Wednesday evening, and then finished up the decorating last night.

Family pictures by the tree: Dylan, Haley, and Patience.

Dylan and Haley.

Nick decides that Haley is a useful adult.

Haley teaches Patience how to play Guitar Hero on the DS.

Dylan, Haley, and Nick.

Miss Jordyn.

Dylan, Haley, and the girlies.

Daddy and Nick.

This is why we don't actually light the candles.

Now this grandma can dance!

Here is a great video for your viewing pleasure...just make sure you don't give up after the first minute! This 80-year-old woman is dancing with her grandson.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dkHvRCp3z5A

Naps

This afternoon after a long play in the sunshine with the kids, the dogs retired to their shared bed for a little rest. I was able to snap this from our back door without disturbing them too much.

Dylan and Haley meet Harley

Blog fodder : )

So far we're all enjoying the newest addition to the family...

Meet Harley

Here is how insane we are: we woke up this morning with no intention of buying a puppy, but we now have this adorable female Bernaise Mountain Dog! A family walked in to buy a Christmas tree with their last puppy from their litter of 10. Don and I were smitten pretty much immediately and we decided that it was divine intervention that brought that family in with a puppy to sell. : )

The Bernaise Mountain Dog, although one of the largest dogs you can get, make excellent family pets. They are gentle and prefer to be outisde (yeah!) and she'll make a good "security" dog just in case we ever get to the point where Storm can't do that job anymore.

Just to make sure I wasn't being rash, I called my sister to get her canine advice. She recommended that we get her : )

Morning snuggles

One good thing about our house is that there is always a child available to snuggle with in the morning! They come in small, medium, and large : )

Dylan and Haley

Here's another reason I love Haley...look how photogenic she is! Okay, Dylan's not so bad, either.

Here is Haley's crazy side. After her shyness wears off, this is what you see : )

Dylan flips over Haley.

Not to be outdone...

You know what they say about the couple that plays together...

Happy December!

I tried to copy the entire week's weather forecast but was only able to go day-by-day. No matter...the entire week looks like this:

Cold and clear...the perfect winter weather : )

This morning Patience held Nick while he had his milk. I can't believe how little size difference there is between them. Remember this? This was last year almost to the day... It won't be long before Nick is holding Patience!

Today both girls had school, so I took advantage of the shortage of children by getting my Christmas cards sent out. Are you jealous? When I picked them up I let them play on the playground until the bell (that's when the big kids come out for recess) and then we all ran a few errands...the bank and the post office at Otter Co-op. When we got home Nick was exhausted so he went right down for a nap.

Tonight is busy: Don is delivering trees into Vancouver, Dylan is playing and singing at Chapters, and Sean has cadets. And I'm starting to get a little worried about Christmas shopping. So far only Nathan and Dylan are done.

Cheers!

Jordyn and Megan

Here is Jordyn and her best friend, Megan. Megan has an older brother, Justin, in Patience's kindergarten class and a younger sister, Katie, who will be in Nick's class! Jordyn and Megan attend preschool together. Today Megan is over playing and eating peanut butter/M&M cookies : )

Kindergarten Christmas tree

This morning Don took a little Christmas tree into Patience's kindergarten class : ) The timing was perfect...she was just up in the front of the class, for show and tell, telling the class that she was bringing in a tree, and in he walked! She started bobbing up and down with an ear-to-ear grin : )

Last week Don made Mrs. Niddery some Christmas tree "cookies," whick are thin slices off the trunk of a tree. He drilled a hole in them for string so they can be hung on a tree as an ornament. It'll be interesting to see how she has the kids decorate them...

Christmas is underway!

Toy box

Nick likes to play with these Duplo blocks. Frequently he'll just climb into the box and play in there!

Christmas candy calendars

Our family's tradition lives on! Ever since I can remember, the kids have always made a "candy calendar" on Thanksgiving to help them count down the days until Christmas. This weekend we carried on the tradition for all the kids except for Nick : (

Dylan and Haley are sharing a calendar. Dylan decided that since she's the more responsible one, the calendar will live at her house and she'll bring him a piece of candy each day : )


Sean was out working while we made the calendars, so I did his for him. Don't worry, he wasn't disappointed!

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

An update to the update...

The boys brought home very nice progress reports from school yesterday. Dylan's grades ranged from 90-96 in all his courses; Sean had a couple of B's on his but had the honor of bringing home the highest grade...a 97 in English. So all in all they're doing well and we're very pleased.

Last night Dylan had a concert for the Kwantlen Wind Ensemble so Haley and I went. It was really good (again). After the concert Haley and I went to the grocery store for a few items while the musicians did some cleaning up, and then we met Dylan and some others at Dairy Queen for a little frozen celebration.

This morning Don and the boys were up and out the door by 8 to go cut and bale trees down at Radnai's. They put in an 8-hour day. While they were gone I watched small children, did 10 loads of laundry, and cleaned Dylan and Sean's room as the smell was beginning to get to me. I love Febreeze.

Cheers!
Cathi