Most Dedicated!

Owen received an award yesterday for 'Most Dedicated' on his hockey team! We are soooo proud of his achievement :) he worked hard all year long and really tried his best each and every game or practice. I was happy to see that the coaches thought he did a great job as well! It was a well deserved award.

There was a year end hockey party at a gymnastics club and there were 3 awards to be given out. The awards were for most dedicated, most improvement, and most sportsmanlike. Owen's name was called first to receive his award & Gavin said he could tell that Owen was so proud to be called! he had a big smile on his face.

Way to go Owen!!

Video of Grayson Talking -20 Months Old

I found this old video of Grayson on Gavin's phone!. Grayson was about 20 months old at the time and it's a reminder of how silly he was.  Ignore the spaghetti face mess, and the fact that we all were sick with colds etc. it's a cute video of my Grayson repeating his 'words'. I remember that Owen and Noah would get a kick out of having Grayson say silly words :)

growing up so fast - now he can easily say any word and he is still a parrot, repeating absolutely everything he hears!

Noah's Learn to Skate

We signed Noah up for a 'learn to skate' program that is offered in our area. I wasn't sure how he'd like it as the class is for kids age 5-11 and he wasn't quite five at the time. I was wondering if maybe he'd get frustrated easily and want to give up, but he surprised me (as he usually does) and did quite well.

Here is a video of his very first time on skates. We have a great little pond not too far from our place, he tried his skates out there just before his lessons.

Some photos from his skating lessons. Noah looked so tiny compared to some of the older kids on the ice! what a cutie!

Noah gained lot's of confidence over the eight or so weeks. I was very proud of how well he did. Here is a video of his learn to skate lessons. I love how he gets distracted by the camera and stops skating lol. I also love how he'd skate around a bit, stop and wave. He is so sweet :) The beginning of the video is his first lesson & the end of the video is one of his last lessons.

                                                                               

Noah's 5th Birthday

How is my little guy 5 already?? still so itty bitty at less than the 10th percentile in weight (32lbs),50th percentile for height, but man is he tough! I'm not sure if it's because he's the 'middle child' but he doesn't back down to his big bro anymore :) I'm proud to say he is getting a mind of his own these days. People have also mentioned lately that he doesn't seem as shy, & is more social with friends etc.

Noah has become quite the artist lately. He has always loved colouring, and he does a great job at it, he pretty much stays in the lines and really enjoys it. Just recently though, he's taken to drawing & he actually seems to have a talent for it...If I do say so myself. Must get that creative side from his daddy :)

Here is a recent photo of a race car he drew - not too bad for just turning 5.

This year the party of choice was Beyblades. His party was held February 16th, but I'm just now finding the time to finish up some posts. It was the first year he really 'chose' the theme of the party & he was really excited about it! he wanted some of his friends from school to be invited as well as his cousins.

We planned a beyblade tournament but the kids had so much fun with the practice run that we just went with that. No 'losing' beybladers and everyone was happy. Every kid got to take home the beyblade they used at the party as well as a few other little trinkets in their goodie bags :) I happened to find beyblades on clearance at our local grocery store and cleared the shelf of them! gotta love a sale, especially with 12 kids at the party. 

we had 3 arenas so all the kids could play at once. 

There was a craft station and the kids made their own beyblade for the craft. I'd cut a paper plates in beyblade shape and cut a variety of shapes to glue on top. They could decorate with stickers etc. at the end. Easy & it was all organized and labeled 'step 1' etc. no help needed by the parents. perfect :)

The beyblade cake! I really wanted to make an arena cake but those lovely ones on pinterest really seemed a little out of my league! instead I cheated a bit & bought a 10" round chocolate cake from the grocery store, covered it in fondant and added the fondant detail :) it turned out well & much less stress for me. In the past round cakes and I don't seem to get along. I was happy with how this cake turned out! looks sort of beybladish I think. 

Gifts! we bought Noah the skylanders swap force starter pack. He's loved playing it.

Lot's and lot's of lego this year from his little friends. Must have gotten 5 lego sets to add to his growing collection. He sure loves lego!

Noah has such a great little group of friends! four out of five of his friends from class live in the neighborhood within walking distance! so nice to have gotten to know the kids a bit better :) I missed getting a photo of his friends together. I really must get better at remembering to do things like that :( 

Immediately after his 'friends' party we continued partying with our family. Grandma, Grandpa, Aunts, Uncles and more cousins arrived to celebrate! we missed a few friends and family due to illness, but caught up with them the next weekend. Thanks to everyone for helping make Noah's 5th birthday so much fun! What a great day.

We sang 'Happy Birthday' twice to Noah that day. Once with his friends, he blew the candles out on his cake & then we served cupcakes. The cake was saved for the family party.

Happy 5th birthday Noah! Mommy sure loves you!

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!