Merry Christmas

I couldn't stand it!!! I didn't enjoy the process. The picture wasn't up to Jenna's standards. I even managed to leave them behind in the shopping cart in Kingston at Costco. It took everything in me to send them out. I apologize. It won't happen again. Homemade cards from now on.

To make myself feel better I made some cards. Here is a look at what you should have
received :)














Card making is an outlet for me. I just have this need to create and to plan events. I feel much better now.

Thanks to everyone who tracked down our new address and sent us Christmas cards this year. Truly it is a highlight to come home and race to the mailbox to see which cards arrived that day. All cards are loved (please don't think I don't love the photo cards, I do!).

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Christmas Party

Rockin' Good Christmas Party

On Friday night, we hosted my staff Christmas Party. We had originally expected a small gathering, but it turned out to be a great crowd and a lot of fun! I am glad so many people were able to make it and that everyone seemed to have a great time. Thanks for the shooters Bill!

Here are some highlights from the night:

Santa Claus is Coming to Town.... (so you better not pout

Last night we hurried down after nap to visit with Santa, Mrs. Claus and the (real) reindeer. These two are the real thing. They were super friendly, worked really hard for me to get a picture and looked great! Owen loved seeing Rudolph and even wanted to give him a kiss.

So far, Christmas has been a blast this year. Owen completely understands the concept and realizes that Santa is watching and he better be good. Rudolph is a hit as far as he is concerned. He carries around a Rudolph doll, have watched the movie a million times, and now had a real life meeting with him. Griffin loves the candy in his advent calendar every day when we get home. He can't get his coat off fast enough to go get his surprise. He also loves pointing to the tree and saying "tree", and giving the snowman a kiss and putting on a santa hat and saying "ho ho ho".

Tonight we are planning on building a gingerbread house. Should be fun!

Candy Land

We went to Candy Land last weekend when we were home in Cambridge. What a neat event put on by the city. It is rated 5th out of all Christmas festivities in the province.

There many activities for the children to do; snow mountain to climb, merry go round, train ride, pictures with Santa, candy games, and even free cinnamelts and coffee from McDonalds.

Delaney

A good friend of mine has been given the news that her little girl has leukemia. My mind doesn't drift very far from thinking and praying for Delaney. I can't even imagine what the family is going through right now. All I want to do is help in some way. Here is the link for the prayer group: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=36801959535&ref=nf.

Delaney you are in my thoughts and prayers.

Visit with Santa

Weeks of planning, outfit coordinating, cameras charged, fingers crossed, all for a successful visit with Santa. And by successful, I mean a good picture!!

Off we went on Tuesday to visit Santa. Owen immediately went to visit with Santa's dog, Griffin immediately went into head down on the ground crying position. As luck would have it, our bribing payed off. Owen actually sat on Santa's knee and smiled for the camera. The lady was really good and let all of us have our picture taken with Santa, so that Griffin could be in the picture and not on Santa's knee. She was also really good at trying to wake Santa up for the picture. All this planning and we get the fill in Santa, who is "special" and playing Santa was his life's dream. Seriously, Santa never said a word to Owen. Tony tried to prompt him to say things to Owen, but he was overheated and more than ready for a break. The fact that we got a very good picture of Owen on his knee and the family picture is nothing more than a miracle.
HO HO HO!!

The Pout

Griffin recently, has the pout mastered!! Check out this face. Along with it came the word NO.
Is it really possible that I have two toddlers at once? What was I thinking????























P.S. but isn't it the cutest little pout you ever did see!

Girls on the Go

Nothing like leaving it to the last minute.....
My girlfriends and I decided to prepare meals to share with each based on the book "Girls on the Go". We each chose a different recipe, made enough for each of us and are getting together tomorrow evening to swap meals, chat and enjoy some time together.

I made a chicken macaroni dish and if I say so myself it turned out well! I'm looking forward to having some new dishes that are prepared to have on hand in the freezer for those night you just don't know what to cook or just don't feel like cookin' at all.

Although Tony is certain all of this is an excuse to get together and "eat desserts", I am sure he will "eat his words" when he actually has something good to eat!

Tis' the Season

Hazards of moving so often: Loss of Christmas cards
Prevention: New address gladly given out for Christmas cards upon request!!
hint hint nudge nudge!

I just returned home from the Santa Claus Parade and I came across these comments on Ali Edwards blog regarding the rush of the holidays:

"cut back - cut back - cut back...that is my hope this year - cut back on my expectations, cut back on how much I try to cram in, cut back on money spending, cut back on doing what I think everyone else wants and focus on my family and the joy of Christmas!"

"My philosophy is that ten years down the road, my son won't remember the super cool video game we bought him - but he will remember the fun family things we did together and the traditions that we pass down to him. Which is the best gift of all, right?"

I think I am going to make both of these goals for the upcoming years. I really do love traditions and want to concentrate more on making memories for my children than anything else.

For me, the holidays mean decorating my home, sending Christmas cards, writing letters to Santa, baking Christmas cookies, preparing for Rudolph's visit and planning festive parties for friends. I actually love the build up to Christmas more than anything else..... and it is just beginning!

Dear Santa

Last night, Owen and I sat down to write Santa a letter. We had to have it done in time for the Santa Claus Parade on Friday Night. Owen is really excited about Christmas this year. He is already wishing people a Merry Christmas everywhere he goes. But more importantly, he now understands that Santa is "magical" and see him even when he is sleeping :)

Did you know that Santa didn't come to Owen's daddy's house one year, because daddy wasn't a good boy that year???? (this might be going a bit far, but so far so good!!!)

Next we're looking forward to having pancakes with Rudolph!!!

A Night in Paris

A "Night in Paris" dinner party seemed fitting for the love birds who would be attending and as Tony has been quoted saying he absolutely "loves love"!!! (thats for you Marffy).

The dinner table was set with Eiffel Towers, black and pink napkins and candle light cuisine.
We feasted on Shirazamataz steaks, shrimp skewers, honey green beans with pecans and cranberries, and Goat cheese mashed potatos. Yummy!

There were gifts for the guests. For the newly in love, PDA's Jeff and Marci we had matching hats, to go with their other collection of matching hats ( see what I mean!!!).















and for Tyler and Liz, the newly engaged, we had a t-shirt for Tyler that couldn't be more appropriate and said " Big Mistake"!!!













the only thing missing was our french neighbour serving us....next time Paul!!!

Look at those eyes......



























they explain the rapid growth and amount of my gray hair coming in.













they also hold an incredible spell over my heart. One look at them and I melt. Owen is beautiful, goofy, bossy, funny, bright, strong spirited, more than a handful, and more than I could have ever asked for.

Today Owen and his best buddy Zachy went to see Madagascar 2. Owen had been very excited for the last month waiting for the movie to come.

They both loved the movie....especially during the song "move it move it"! Owen couldn't contain himself and had to get up and dance. I did feel a little bad for the people sitting around us, Owen just couldn't understand that there were other people there which meant you couldn't talk loudly. (Honestly, this child doesn't understand volume control what so ever!! )

BUT every shhhhh...... was worth it to see the smile on his face when Marty, Alex, Melman and Gloria appeared on the screen! The movie was worth the wait!

Girlfriends on the go

Tonight I got together with some girlfriends who had decided to make and share pre-made meals for each other. Tonight was our first get together to decide who wanted to make what, and all of those necessary details. The concept is very cool. Everyone is busy and finds themselves constantly trying to come up with new meal ideas so why not share some good recipes with good friends. For our first trail, we all chose a recipe right from the book "Girlfriends on the Go". It was hard to chose, so many looked good!

Next time we meet, we will all come with a meal prepared from the selected recipe for each girlfriend. All the work will be done, so we can sit around and enjoy some good conversation and perhaps a glass of wine and go home with five frozen meals. Could a girl really ask for anything more????

Halloween

I absolutely love Halloween. As most of you know, I am a very themey party planning kinda gal. So Halloween is right up my alley. Honestly, I remember dressing as a ghost in highschool so I could still go trick or treating and people wouldn't know how old I was.....pathetic I know!!

This was the year.....Owen loved Halloween. For the whole month prior, he had been putting on his costume practicing his lines, and getting PUMPED for the big day. It was very exciting watching him run door to door, getting his treats and moving on to the next. Being with his best friend Zach made it even just that much better! And if I do say so myself, he was the cutest little Zebra I ever did see :)

Griffy was a hoot! He is not a sharer like his brother, and for good reason. He is always having to fight his big brother who tries to swipe stuff from him. Halloween was no exception. There was absolutely no convincing Griffy to put his Halloween treats in his bucket. He insisted on carrying every last piece. It was too cute.....running from door to door trying to hold his candy in his arms, and not losing any of it! Smarties were his favourite :)


It's hard to say who had the most fun..... but one thing is for sure, we are all looking forward to next year!

Campbell's Orchard

It just isn't Autumn without a visit to Campbell's Orchards. I love this place. And so do the kids. The pig is a hit. The stacks of hay are fun to play in. The apples are a delicious treat. But the highlight was the wagon ride to pick our own pumpkin. Correction, Owen would tell you the candy apple was his favourite!

I love coming home with the treats we bought at the store, apple cider, pumpkin muffins, and of course empire apples.

Another highlight of the trip is the friends we meet. It never fails that we meet a couple friends out for a visit with the same idea.

Applechino's are now my favourite: warm apple cider, whip cream topped with caramel drizzle. Yummy!

Please note: Owen's new put on a smile face for mom

Pumpkinfest

We headed to the County on Saturday morning for Pumpkinfest! We arrived in time to see the Pumpkin Parade. You can't even imagine the size of the pumpkins, I believe the winning pumpkin weighed over 1300lbs!!!

Owen like his grandfather loves a parade. I think it might be the candy that they throw at you. The boys fit right in with their pumpkin hats, everybody wore one. There were other events going on all around town, but non more exciting for Owen than the pumpkin muffin he just had to have. Check it out:http://www.pec.on.ca/pumpkinfest/

Thanksgiving Weekend

Have I ever mentioned how much I love a good fair.........

The Rockton Fair is the fair of all fairs!! I look forward every fall to going to this fair on Thanksgiving weekend and what a beautiful weekend to be at a fair. The weather was unbelievable.

The fair also proved to be a huge milestone for Owen. He tends to be leery of new things and needs time to warm up to new ideas. One really can't be sure on which way he will go, but this fair seemed to be up his alley. We sat and watched a show with Cindy Day from Polka Dot Door and she kept asking kids to go up on stage and Owen never wanted to. Just before it was over he decided to go up and participate. He danced, did the Hokey Pokey and had a great time!

Soon afterwards he went on a carnival ride all by HIMSELF!! We were so proud as was he. Right after on to a pony he went. He had a blast was was very pleased with himself.

On our way home on Monday, we left early and stopped at the Big Apple. I have driven by it a million times, but have never stopped. It was fun! Train ride, mini putt, bouncy castle, big apple and of course a petting zoo!



















Happy Thanksgiving!