Winter Cycling

With the mild weather I have been able to cycle commute on far more days than last year. I rode everyday until the last two weeks of school before Christmas - that's when the wintry weather hit. This picture is from one of the two days I rode after that. We had a big thaw mid-January and so I've ridden every day for the last two weeks. It's hard to believe the difference, especially when I look at the pictures of our almost impassable street from last year at this time.

New Years 2003 vs. New Years 2009

As I was writing the last post some pictures popped up on my screen from New Years at the cottage when Luke was a baby. He would be 8 months then, so a few months younger than Grace is now. He is huge! He was about 26 pounds! I remember making those party hats with Liam. He used to and still does, love making crafty things like that. Check out the rosy cheeks from staying out in the cold a little too long last week.

Happy New Year!

I can't believe a decade has past since our Y2K party at our apartment on Yonge Street. Lots of changes have happened: two houses, three kids, two sister-in-laws, a niece and two nephews, my parents moving to Edmonton and a new teaching career are among the highlights.

For New Years, we spent four quiet days up north where there was lots of snow. Grace mastered climbing the stairs and kept saying "No, no, no" to the fireplace! She is also blowing people kisses which is really cute. Grace is saying so many words these days along with cruising along the furniture and trying to open cupboards. I should write her words down before I forget. Some of them are: baby, book, milk, nose, head, hat, clap, Miam (Liam), Mama, Dadda, up, nap, night-night and NO! And her favourite sentence is "No night-night!" Yes, we are still working on that. She did not enjoy sleeping in the Pack and Play at the cottage. In fact, I am pretty sure she cried each and every time, including for naps. Well, I guess we were bound to have one child who is a difficult sleeper. I keep saying one of the reasons we have 3 kids is because Luke was such an angel baby (Liam was sweet too but Luke really was an angel).

Luke is a different kind of angel now and he sure is funny even when he doesn't realize it. On our long journey home from the cottage (snowstorm) Dan pointed out some wild turkeys at the side of the road. Luke exclaimed "Oh, those are the turkeys that survived Thanksgiving!"

Happy New Year and all the best for 2010!

Merry Christmas!

Here is the Merry Christmas post I started on Christmas! Merry Belated Christmas - as Luke would say...

The boys were super excited and were spoiled as usual. They got a Wii which was really the only item on their minds the last few months. It seems to be less addictive than the D.S. (so far) and we have played lots of family games: bowling, dancing, cycling, archery, ping pong and Toy Story. In fact, with the boys having to "earn" their Wii time by practicing, doing homework and exercising etc. - they actually seem to do more of that with less of a fuss, which is nice for us.

Grace, of course, knew something was different and exciting and had a great time playing with the wrapping paper and with her new toys. She also enjoyed a full turkey dinner with a Christmas cracker crown and all.

Here are some photos. The first one is of Liam doing his Dance Revolution moves with Dad as Luke (chilling out) and Grace watch. It is just like Guitar Hero but with dance moves. Very fun and a pretty good workout for a -20 day when you don't want to go outside for a walk. The bottom photo is of the kids with the beautiful stockings Aunt Kathy made. Luke is putting on a camera face...pretending he is not excited for Santa to come.

Photos with Santa

I have lots of half written posts that I've started and have yet to finish... I am in major sleep deprivation mode - kind of like how a brand new Mom should be. We were lucky that Grace started out as a fairly good sleeper but she has continuously become worse except for the odd night once or twice a month when she sleeps through...We've been trying to do the cry it out method but it really is terrible. Between Luke's school and hockey issues and less than 25 hours of sleep in the last 5 days (yes, I counted!) I feel headed towards a little - or big - meltdown. At least in a week Dan will be home for the holidays. He does have a paper to write though...

Grace took to Santa the way I expected (though she did love the Merry-go-round). I remember Liam having the same reaction...

On the move!

Off she goes! Looking so grown up too! 10 months has flown by. Grace in her princess dress and "babylegs" that I made...they sure do help protect crawling knees!

Luke's Baking

Luke has always enjoyed baking with us. I should find that adorable picture of him cooking in the buff with the Naked Chef cookbook...

He insisted on finding a cookbook specifically for children when we were at the library the other day. Then when Liam was at choir he started getting everything ready to make mini chocolate souffles. They did turn out well and were a delicious Monday night treat.

Christmas Photo Shoot

Grace modelled one of her three Christmas outfits in a photo shoot this afternoon - despite her red eyes and runny nose (from her most recent cold). She enjoyed rocking along with the music from the snow globe, playing peek-a-boo with the tissue paper and was very cute as she kept calling the nutcracker "baby."

We will attempt to get the three kids in a holiday photo this weekend. I like to use the front porch so no flash is necessary. Here is a sneak peak for any blog readers we may have out there!

We're still here!

Yes, I am really behind on blogging. I have to write about our trip to Edmonton, about our busy boys (hockey, choir, violin), about all the knitting, sewing and hair accessories I've been making (and housework I have thus been neglecting) and of course, Grace crawling. I am also thinking about a cloth diaper post for a contest : ) I read about. It is for moms who wear their babies, cloth diaper and breastfeed. Sounds like us!

For now, here's something funny I saw when I was flipping the other night. It's time to start getting pumped up for the Olympics! Enjoy!

Grace's New Trick

Grace loves to play peek-a-boo with any blanket, towel or piece of clothing. The other day I was busy typing and realized she had been waiting to play peek-a-boo with me. Too funny!