Christmas 2013!

Oh what fun Christmas was this year! Grayson 'got it' much more & understood that it was something to be excited about :) The top toys of the list this year were a Nintendo wii with Mario Kart game & Star Wars game, remote control excavator (Owen), Beyblade Warriors (Noah) and jake and the Neverland Pirates toys (Grayson). So happy that Santa was able to complete these wish lists with little trouble!

The weeks before Christmas were fun too. I'd bought Owen & Noah the lego advent calendars & they both LOVED them! not sure they were a wise decision, as I just know they are going to want them every year now - but they had so much fun building up the city lego scene each morning! It's a bit pricey for the calendar, but luckily I'd had a gift card and found a sale on-line. Overall, the joy they got out of it & considering the cost of each figure if purchased separately, it was well worth it!

Frosted Flake made his appearance again this year & while he wasn't as mischievous as the previous year, the kids enjoyed looking for him each morning. The photo below is probably one of Frosted Flakes most exciting nights.

Christmas Eve, we picked up some hot chocolate and took a drive to see some Christmas lights. The boys put out some cookies and egg nog for Santa and carrots for the reindeer then it was off to bed! Luckily, they were fast asleep by 9pm despite the excitement & that meant Santa could come to our house early!

I love this photo of Noah :) so happy he got his beyblade warriors. Hopefully he's always so easy please :)

If it's construction and remote control my boy is in-love!

Noah had asked Santa for the Lego Star Wars wii game - he wanted the same game that his cousin has at his house :)

Grayson was excited to have a truck of his own! not one that has been previously loved by his brothers.

For some reason Noah's umbrellas always break - Santa remembered he needed a replacement!

Stocking time!

This year the boys spent their own money and bought each other gifts. They chose names, so Owen bought for Noah, Noah for Grayson & Grayson for Owen. The limit was ten dollars and they were to find something that they thought their brother would like. Grayson received a batman monster truck from Noah, Noah received a skylanders poster from Owen (he loved it), and Owen received a robot fish from Grayson :)

Darth Vader shoes! they are so cool :) the light up & make noise! when I saw these in the store I was so thankful that one of my kids needed new shoes lol!

enjoying the wii! we've had lot's of fun family game time with the wii. Even I've played it more than I expected to. They ahve been warned that the wii isn't for week day morning or during daycare hours:)

We forgot to take our annual Christmas morning photo in PJ's so we quickly snapped this one before we headed out the door to my sisters for Christmas afternoon and dinner. We were so thankful to have such a relaxed morning with each other and Christmas at my sisters is always so laid back and fun :)

We had so much fun visiting with my parents, sister, brother-in-law, niece, Uncle and cousins...I forgot to take any photos! of course the kids came home with a load of gifts from family :) here is a Christmas dinner photo - we all squished around the same table, but it was nice to be able to visit everyone. 

More Christmas fun with Gavin's side of the family was had on Boxing day! fun fun fun :) the kids really love their cousins and they are close enough in age to really get along well & have the same interests. We hosted Christmas this year for Gavin's side and while we were a bit cramped for space and the turkey took far too long to cook - we still had a great day!

During dinner the snowplough decided to come by & everyone got a ticket for 'blocking the plough' despite trying to move cars out of the way... all of our guests were hit with a hefty fine! we joked that it would have to be the last year we hosted Christmas dinner - too expensive to eat at our place lol. Anyways, everyone was good about it & it made for an interesting evening.

What a great holiday with family! we are so blessed :) Hoping that the year 2014 brings good things for all of our friends and family!

1st Goal!

My little hockey player scored his first goal on Saturday Dec.7th! They only play games every other saturday & for the first while, every time on the ice was a practice. I think this was maybe the 3rd game in total & he was quite proud to get a goal! he is blending in with his team mates quite nicely & there is no way anyone would know that it's his first year playing :) I'm amazed at the progress they all make weekly & how confident Owen is on skates now. He really is quite fast & is picking things up quickly. He loves playing hockey which is a welcomed change from the first time on the ice when he realized everyone else had played before. I'm so glad he stuck with it & his determination is proven with how well he's doing already! Those little 6 year olds really are exciting to watch play & the games are getting so fun! It's nice to hear the parents cheering on their kids & I am already getting caught up in being a 'hockey mom' it's hard not to, especially when you see progress every week. YAY for the first goal Owen! I'm so proud of my little guy.

Lost His First Tooth!

When Owen 'graduated' kindergarten, his goal for grade 1 was to loose his first tooth! I'm happy he finally got his wish & the wiggly tooth came out last evening :) He'd been wiggling & working on that tooth since the first hint of it being loose, and that was in September! he was the last of his friends with a full set of pearly whites & now he fits in with the rest of the toothless crew! The first baby tooth to come out was the first one that came in while we were in Vietnam! Oh how I remember those first few days as a family when he was teething, grieving & battling a bad case of bronchitis & an ear infection. I  realized then how tough my little man was :) 

That tooth was hanging on by a tiny thread & mommy helped pull it out. It was bothering him wiggling in his mouth while he ate & he is much more comfortable with it gone. I must admit, I'm happy to not see him constantly wiggling the tooth around too :)

still so cute! the tooth fairy brought $5 for the first tooth, Owen had been wishing for $50 bucks he told me- that boy always aims high :)

I love his toothless grin :)

1st 'Real' Homework Assignment

Besides reading in the evenings, Owen hasn't really had any homework to complete. I'm happy about that :) our evenings are typically so pressed for time, I have no idea how we'll fit in homework once it does start.

His class does however have a star leader for the week. The assignment is to make a poster sharing some of the child's favourite things etc. He was quite excited when it was his turn to make a poster :) he chose the green poster board at school (his favourite colour is green) and had lot's of ideas for things he could share with the class.

Here is the finished product :)

We had to go to the dollar store to buy some sparkly embellishments - apparently the 2 leaders before him had sparkly names - so he needed the same :) early in the week I mentioned to him that he should think about adding something about Vietnam on his poster. He did not want to mention being adopted on his poster & I didn't push the subject. Later in the week he told me he thought he could mention he was born in Vietnam! that works - & I was so happy he felt comfortable enough to share that on his poster. Personally, I feel his poster will be the best in his class :) Owen was happy after he presented his favourite things to his class & told me his teacher thought his baby picture was 'so cute' I'd have to agree. Great job on your first assignment Owen!

Halloween

Now that Grayson is getting a little older, I was really looking forward to him experiencing some holiday fun! Turns out he didn't enjoy the pumpkin carving, he stuck the spoon in the pumpkin only long enough to declare it as "yucky" hopped down from the chair & he was done for the night! Luckily, my other two bigger boys were really into it!

Both Owen & Noah went to the pumpkin farm with their class on a field trip. They each brought home good sized pumpkins and wanted to carve them themselves. Noah, is still a bit young & lacks the hand strength anyways, so he had quite a bit of help - but he did clear out most of the pumpkin goo by himself.

Besides cutting the top off of the pumpkin - Owen did his pumpkin completely by himself :) so grown up now!

This was the pumpkin Owen chose at the farm. I had to laugh at the shape of it & wondered why he ever would have chosen it lol. My guess is it was one of the bigger ones :) After we cut the top off & scooped out the pumpkin, we realized we actually cut off the bottom lol. Given the shape of the pumpkin it was best we did it the way we did - it never would've been able to sit up on it's own :)

The finished kids pumpkins!

Owen wanted to be a race car driver. He had his hopes set to get a battery operated car to drive around trick-or-treating, but that was never going to happen. He gave it a good try though.

Grayson wore an old navy dragon costume that both Owen and Noah had wore previous halloweens. It's fun to see things reappear :)

Noah borrowed a power ranger costume from a friend & we were thankful that it fit! He had his heart set on being a power ranger. His backup plan was to be a hamburger (a costume we already have) and he wasn't too keen on that. Just prior to going trick-or-treating he ditched the mask because it wasn't comfortable.

My 3 cuties!

Our front porch with all of our pumpkins. We decorated some with daycare, carved some & Noah won the big one at school :) he was pretty proud of himself for winning it. It would've been a challenge to get it home, but we found another mom at the school that offered to drive it home for us :)

Hannah came for our annual trick-or-treating adventure :) 

This creepy blow up decoration kept Noah & Hannah from going up to the house for candy, but surprisingly it didn't deter Owen.

Grayson went to the houses on our street & was dropped off early - so the bigger kids could go on to get more candy. I was surprised by how much candy my youngest got from just a handful of houses. I think they have enough candy to last the entire year! Happy Halloween!

Disney Day 1

The kids were beyond excited to go to Disney this past September! they must've watched our previous Disney vacation on dvd, what seemed like a 100 times. With Owen's Canadian citizenship, we were able to get passports & fly this time! The road trip to Disney went well the first trip, but we knew flying would be sooo much easier.

The flight went so well & the boys loved it! It was a bonus that Grayson slept most of the flight & was well rested when we arrived in Florida. Owen loved the window seat & Noah coloured for most of the trip. Easy!

YAY! we are here :) We stayed at the Disney Port Orleans Riverside. It was nice and the rooms were a little bigger than where we stayed before. There were a couple of things about this resort the kids liked - one being an arcade in the resort and the other being able to take the boat to Disney Port Orleans French Quarter resort and use the great pool there :)

Here are a few photos of the resort

We arrived at the resort around 7:30. After a lengthy check-in (despite checking in on-line) finding our room on the 2nd floor (with no elevators) a quick swim in the pool, and the last of our luggage to arrive just after midnight - we were finally ready to get some sleep! we had a busy day planned for Magic Kingdom the next day & needed as much rest as possible. Although, I don't think rest and vacationing go hand in hand for my family :) we like to be busy!! We made the choice to switch rooms in the morning, we knew the no elevator thing would be irritating when coming home with 3 sleepy kids late every night - So happy we made the switch!

The resort was definitely pretty. We also liked that it wasn't a busy time of year and waits at the parks etc. were very short :) The kids are already asking about when we can go back. 

First Day Of School 2013

The first day Owen started back full day grade 1 and Noah had kindergarten orientation (1 hr parented). Noah didn't need to be there until 10am, but we got the boys ready together in the morning so we could get some back to school photos of them together. Grayson couldn't wait to put on his batman backpack & join in the excitement. I'm now trying to figure out how to deal with 'quiet' during the day with my bigger two gone. It's a transition period for all of us. I do LOVE routine though & the entire family thrives on it, I know we'll find our new normal in no time.

Grade 1 for Owen! it's definitely a big adjustment (for both Mommy & Owen) leaving the safety of the Kindergarten area and venturing off into the 'big kid' part of the school and yard. He was so brave starting back to school & excited to see his friends again. Luckily, he is in class with two close friends and they have been able to find the rest of their crew at recess to play together.

Owen has a new teacher this year (new to the school) and we are hoping they build a good relationship & he enjoys grade 1!. So far, while he doesn't complain about going to school, he seems indifferent to it. After the first day he told me that there were no toys & nothing to do but work. He is excited that he gets his own desk (they are in groups of four and he sits beside a friend of his) and can keep his pencil case at school :) the first day the best part about grade 1 for him was eating lunch. Day 2 was recess (I considered this a step in the right direction) and by Day 3 he was giggling about some story that involved his friend at recess. Sounded like an interesting day based on the details :) Haven't heard too much about what happens 'inside' the class but little bits are coming out here & there. There is a classroom behaviour chart - goes from green to red & then phone call home :) he's happy to have remained in the green.

Meet the teacher evening is next week and I can hardly wait until I can meet his teacher (besides saying hello in the morning) & check out his new classroom for myself.

I hope you have a great year in grade 1 Owen! you are growing up so fast. I can't wait to see how much you learn this year - I know it's going to be a lot :)

Waiting in line - ready for grade 1 :)

Noah started JK (Junior Kindergarten) he seemed so excited about it & didn't appear the least bit nervous :) When we arrived at the school with Noah, we were escorted to the gym where they had a short liturgy & welcome song for the JK's. Then we went to see Noah's classroom. He didn't get the same kindergarten teacher that Owen had & we were a bit disappointed, but so far Noah is loving his teacher, ECE & going to school. That's all that matters to me :)

Look how cute my little one is! all ready for a great day.

His orientation day involved going to different stations around the classroom to become familiar with the classroom. We found his cubby, used the bathroom, visited the religion, house, creative, science, math and language stations. At each station Noah received a sticker for his 'JK passport' and a little gift from the teachers welcoming him to JK. His teachers went around meeting the families and then there was a short circle time and that was it! he was ready to come back the next day for the full day. His school is full day monday to friday kindergarten and boy if he tired in the evening! I think it's just so much for him to absorb all day - he is having a great time at school though & I'm super proud at how confidant he has been.

I was happy that it was only an hour that morning, my nerves were already jumpy from dropping Owen off for his first day!

Wednesday was Noah's first Full day of kindergarten & my nerves were a mess! I was so anxious about the first day - no specific reason, just an overall uneasy feeling. I dropped off my daycare kids where they needed to be, sent Owen over to line up with his class ( we were a little pushed for time) and went to take Noah to his Kindergarten pen area. I love how the little kids are separated from the big kids but now it means this mommy can't be in two spots at once. I'm so used to watching Owen play with his friends in the morning, but now that I have two at school - I can't be everywhere at once. I didn't realize how much this would affect me.

A quick goodbye kiss and he was off to line up. He looked a little nervous and was really quiet, but no tears :)

Some of the kids were crying and needed extra encouragement form the teachers -I love how warm the kindergarten teachers are at their school, they are all so wonderful with the kids :)

The first day was a success! despite the anxiousness I felt all day long, I didn't have any tears :) had Noah cried it may have been a different story -but I wasn't expecting him to have any difficulty. A couple of surprising things about his first couple of days - Noah happily puts his backpack in line and runs off to find some kids to play with/around. I was expecting him to shy away and stand by himself in the mornings. Or at least stay near the entrance of his classroom, but no he's off venturing all over the yard. He also, has been bringing his extra set of clothes and indoor shoes home - when I asked why he didn't leave them in his cubby at school, he told me he was "scared they'd get lost" lol - not a worry I ever expected Noah to have :) He ate all of his lunch and snack on first day, and ate absolutely nothing (beside 1 nibble of a cucumber slice) the 2nd day. When he came home yesterday he was starving & scarfed down his entire lunch and 2 snack in ten minutes of being home. I have my fingers crossed he eats a bit more today. Other than that he is really having a great time at Kindergarten!