Happy Valentine's Day!

I wish every day could start out so wonderful! the kids woke up excited about the day, happy loving and cuddly :) much different morning than the one we had yesterday. I made Owen a special Valentine's day lunch with everything red and heart shaped :) I didn't get a photo because Grayson was crying and needed to be fed, and we were already running a little late - but I'm sure he'll love his special lunch, especially the little treat and Valentine's day card I included.

After seeing a Valentine's day card on Pinterest that I loved, I was really excited to make a similar one for Owen's classmates. I wasn't sure how well it would turn out as he wasn't in the most co-operative mood that day, but I love it! He was excited to share his Valentine's with his teachers and class today and he couldn't get over how "the card looks like I'm giving the kids a lollipop and I really am!" too funny.


Happy Valentine's Day!

4th Forever Family Day

We celebrated our 4th "Forever Family" day this past tuesday January 17th! Can you believe we've had Owen for four years now? crazy how fast time goes! I just love my little boy and can't begin to imagine life without him, our lives sure changed forever that day in January. Such a frightened little baby he was, yet he opened his heart to us and is such an amazing kid! I get teary whenever I think about our time in Vietnam, and can't wait for a return trip someday!

My mom helped me take the kids out for lunch on Tuesday. Owen was excited to leave school for an hour and have a "date" with mom :) we went to McDonalds for something fast and easy with the kids, but it was still special for Owen. Later, we met up with Gavin at Chuck e Cheese for some family fun and dinner! Owen loved it - now he wants to have his birthday party there! oops.








The kids were excited every time they won "tickets" and ran from game to game wanting to play everything :) What a fun night! Happy 4th Forever Family Day Owen! We love you soooo much!

Christmas Day

Grayson was the first to wake up Christmas morning and the three of us lounged in bed while we waited for the other two sleepy heads to wake up. Noah woke up and joined us for some cuddles, and finally Owen woke up around 7:30 and came rushing in to announce it was Christmas morning :) I really don't think Noah knew what was going on. We waited while Gavin went downstairs and put the lights on the tree and got the video camera ready.


We didn't have to be at my sister's house until 3pm so we had a good part of the day to enjoy our time together, open gifts, play our new toys and have a yummy breakfast.

Our Christmas Tree













We attempted to get some cute "first Christmas" photos - and while they are cute, not all of them are happy :)




Family photo in front of the tree


The boys playing the "drums" at Maegan and Bill's


We had a great Christmas with family!

Christmas Part 3

On Christmas Eve we enjoyed getting together with Gavin's sister Meggie and her boyfriend Liam. They were hosting an open house and joked that we are always their "earliest" guests, arriving in the morning hours all the time :) Just a reminder of how different our lives have been since having kids - oh well, we wouldn't change a thing!

I love this photo of Noah and his Aunt Meggie! you can just feel the love!


The kids attacking Liam :) what a good sport he is!


More gift opening! The biggest play doh gift pack ever! the kids loved playing with it once we got home :) They also received a Mr. Men story collection - how fun! who else remembers those awesome books? they were my favourite growing up :)


A cute photo of Noah just before leaving for Aunt Meggie's!


After visiting we went home and played with the new presents, made pizza and attended Christmas Mass. The kids were so well behaved during church this time! we really need to make an effort to go more often. I've found that the times we attempt sitting in the pews as opposed to going immediately to the 'crying room' things always turn out better! I think the kids sense that they should behave, when we are in the 'crying room' with other kids things can get a little crazy! Afterwards we stopped home to pick up some hot chocolate and cookies for our annual Christmas Eve Christmas light drive!

Our favourite decorated house - a little blurry


Someday I hope to live here...lol! I can just picture the shiny marble floors now :)


After setting out the cookies and eggnog for Santa, and some carrots for the reindeer the kids were fast asleep after our busy day! dreaming of Christmas morning I'm sure!

They Still Love Swimming!

A few weeks ago we we're invited for a swim at Aunt Meggie's. The boys were excited about swimming "inside Meggie's house" and decided that it wasn't a good idea for us to have a pool inside our house because the carpet would get wet :) smart boys they are. We invited ourselves for lunch, so after swimming we enjoyed Liam's perfected grilled cheese sandwiches. Yummy!

At first Noah was a little timid, but he soon remembered his love for the pool. Owen just continued to jump over and over - he was exhausted on the ride home :)

Meet Frosted Flake!

This year we started the Elf on the Shelf family tradition and the boys love it! Owen named our elf 'Frosted Flake' and I think the name is a perfect choice considering he is from the North Pole:) Each morning they race downstairs to find our elf doing something silly. Sometimes he's just hiding in a silly spot and other times he's up to no good! The first night Frosted Flake took Owen's digger for a spin, another time he got into the halloween candy and some popcorn, and yesterday morning we found him sitting on the couch with the remote control watching the Swiss Chalet channel!



I love the family memories we are creating!

Thanksgiving monday turned out to be the perfect day for our annual trip to the pumpkin farm! just mentioning the word farm sends my kids into excitement mode:) The weather on monday was great and we were sure that everyone would have the same idea and the place would be packed. We went early to avoid most of the crowd and much to our surprise it wasn't really that busy!




























Again no photos of Grayson :( that boy slept the entire time we were there and I wasn't interested in waking him just for a photo op. Obviously sleep is very important to me these days :) The big boys had a great time and enjoyed the wagon ride, tractors, farm animals and searching for the biggest pumpkin in the field.

Maegan and Bill's Wedding

We were thrilled to be asked to be in Maegan and Bill's wedding party! Owen remembered the last wedding he was in and was so excited about this one! he picked out the song he wanted to dance to and all year would mention dancing at Maegan's wedding whenever he heard the song :)

The weather threatened to be cold and rainy all week but when the day came the weather was perfect. It was actually hot and sunny all day!

I was a little stressed trying to figure out how we would manage getting us all ready for the wedding and having a 6 week old baby, but it all worked out! Luckily we have great family members that helped - Jeff and Theresa babysat Grayson for the evening and came back later to pick the boys up after they enjoyed some of the dance. Thanks so much for your help!

I had Grayson with me while I joined the other bridesmaids getting ready and for photos. Gavin had the other boys back at Jeff's getting ready. Here they are fooling around before leaving for the ceremony.


Uncle Bill waiting anxiously for Maegan to walk down the aisle. The wedding ceremony and reception took place at Bill's parents farm and they did such a great job getting everything ready for the wedding. They transformed a barn into a beautiful reception hall and the decorations were fantastic!


Here are my two handsome ring bearers! They did an awesome job and even Noah was brave enough to go down the aisle. This picture makes me laugh it shows their personalities perfectly :) Owen holding the pillow perfectly and doing things exactly as he should and Noah holding his pillow by the string and swinging it around like he could care less about the wedding :) so funny these two are!


Maegan and Dad- Gavin wasn't able to get many photos because Grayson started fussing as the ceremony began.


Owen looking handsome in his tuxedo


Noah looking handsome in his tuxedo - he looks so much older to me in this picture.


My sweet little neice! look at how adorable she is :)



Isn't this how everyone eats cheesecake?


Noah being silly :)


There was an awesome fireworks show- everyone loved it especially the kids. Such a great idea and not something that you see at every wedding:)


Handsome daddy and Noah


I really need to make an effort to take more family photos - sadly, this is the only photo of the five of us :(


Maegan and Bill's first dance.


No pictures of Grayson all dressed up, we were in such a rush to get to the ceremony on time :(

Last wednesday we took the kids to the CNE, I was worried about how Grayson would do but it turned out to be a great outing. We stopped by Gavin's work to show off the kids and to pick our tickets up :) and finally made it to the CNE by lunch. It started to rain just as we got there and Grayson also needed to be fed, so we waited out the rain while I fed him in the car :)

First stop was to get lunch. It seems that having another baby puts us behind schedule a little :) Then it was time for the kids to go on some rides. This year there were lots of rides that both kids could go on together so we didn't bother buying extra ride tickets for an adult to ride with them.

Owen and Noah loved this Mickey Mouse Bounce Castle


A favourite ride was the dump trucks - Owen took the job seriously while Noah sat casually with his arm out the window.




When asking for volunteers to be in the "backyard circus" both Owen and Noah put up their hands to volunteer. Owen didn't care what part he got chosen for and kept his hand up the entire time until he was finally chosen to play a tiger. Noah wasn't chosen because he was a little too young, but I think he would have done fine. At one point while they were choosing butterflies for the play Noah went up on stage. He was quickly booted off by the people organizing the play - but I think he would have been a great butterfly :)



After the play Noah was able to put on a tiger costume as well and pose for a picture.


Grayson was perfect the entire day! he woke to nurse and then went back to sleep. I was worried he wouldn't sleep that night but he slept as usual. I think the fresh air made him exhausted. Check out his cute little pose :)


Owen and Noah were so cute holding hands while waiting in line for a ride. The "love" didn't last long though, as soon as the ride was over Owen got himself off the ride and left Noah behind! Gavin was on his way to help the boys off of the ride but for a short while Noah looked pretty scared stuck on the ride by himself!


Owen was a little freaked out by the talking and walking tree.


Daddy caved and both boys were able to choose one treat before we went home. I think Owen was disappointed with his decision to buy a candy apple but he wouldn't admit it. Noah loved his huge lollipop and I couldn't believe how big of a mess he could make with it! This picture makes me laugh - so many photos of the two of them turn out like this :)