week 14

Week 14 and the final gnome picture of 2010. Kaedo is a little blurry. That's what happens when I get Craig to take the picture! Ha!

Stan and Shirley left today so that was sad. We had a wonderful visit with all the Klassen's and were so happy that Stan and Shirley opted to spend a few more days with us. Now it is back to the four of us. Craig is on holidays for another few days and the boys don't go back until late next week. It is only me having to go back this week and I wish I was spending time with the men in my life. Oh well, what can you do?

Christmas Morning

We got up around 7:45 and the boys were anxious to open their stockings. Even though they don't believe, we still did stocking for them. Yes, I know - we're suckers. The big gifts this year, a laptop for Sterling and an XBox 360 for Kaedo were the hits of the day. So glad we don't have to give Santa credit any longer. The boys received many wonderful gifts. Computer accessories, pajamas, clothes, video games, money and many other things. The best part of it all was that we had a traditional family Christmas. We had a turkey supper with all the fixings, all different kinds of pies, family around to laugh and joke with and just a wonderful day had by all. I myself was quite blessed this year. Craig gave me a twin size heating blanket for my side of the bed. It is wonderful. I am always cold, so this was perfect. He also bought me a spa package and a lot of lotions from Bath and Body Works. I was thrilled. As always mom and dad were very generous and we are contemplating a day at Tar-jay to spend out Christmas money. Stan and Shirley were so generous with the boys and they got a lot of great presents. Kelly and Tica gave the boys video games they had been coveting and Anti gave them snuggies among other things.

We got the chance to speak with mom and dad and Jessica and my sweet Em and finished off the night travelling to Bowmanville to see the Christmas lights. It truly was a great day.

I hope you had a wonderful day and wish you all the best.

Christmas

Christmas eve was filled with fun here at our house. We had a chocolate 'fundue', opened our Secret Santa gifts and sprinkled our reindeer food. We had a lot of laughs and just a wonderful time all together. The little ones were just so much fun. We laughed and played with them and taught Jacob how to become Ketchup's best friend (pizza crust and milk bones).

Circa 2008

Christmas 2008 - two long haired hippie kids AND a long haired hippie husband!

The Klassen's arrive today. We are anxiously waiting to see them. The boys can't wait and either can we. We are as ready as we'll ever be! Bring on Christmas!

week 13 and my new favourite picture!

Week 13 and the second last gnome picture of 2010. I can't believe it. The boys are still loving doing this and have never whined once in the 65 weeks we have been doing this. 65 weeks! Now if only I could stick with a diet the way I have stuck with this!

My new favourite picture. My 3 best guys celebrating Craig's birthday. This was taken right after he blew out his candles. Man, I love them.

Craig had a nice birthday (or so he says). We finished our Christmas shopping, got everything wrapped, went out for lunch and supper (oh my!), watched football, had chocolate sour cream cake, got lots of calls and great gifts and got lots of hugs and kisses from the three of us. I loved spending the day with him (a birthday gift for me even though it wasn't my birthday!) and we had a lot of laughs and a great time. Now I know why we are not just husband and wife but great friends as well. Once again, happy birthday my love! I love you!

Circa 2007

Christmas 2007. Kaedo was into WebKinz, and got 10 of them, I think. Sterling was into bowling and got his own bowling balls. I can't believe how young they look. My beautiful boys. Soon we will be making Christmas 2010 memories. I can't believe it!

Happy 38!

Today my gorgeous husband is 38. Happy birthday to a sweet, kind and wonderful man. You are such a bright spot in my life and I love you so much. You are the best dad to the boys, you are a great husband, you're sweet and good and plain old awesome! I look forward to spending the day with you and having time to just be with you for the day and celebrate you. I love you!

overwhelmed

Seriously, I am overwhelmed. To the point of crying. Pitiful, really. My poor husband. Everything is fine and will be fine but with the countdown to Christmas and everything that needs to be done for that I feel like I am sinking. We are anxiously awaiting our family who are coming to spend the holidays with us but as we have never hosted a Christmas in the 15 years we have been married, we are a little out of our element.
At the beginning of the month we bought Kaedo's big gift - an XBOX 360 Kinect. He will be over the moon. We were anxious to purchase it as we thought it may be "the gift" this year and as it was the only thing on his wish list, we had to get it. Check that off my list. As of Friday we had yet to buy Sterling's gift - a laptop. My Visa is still whimpering. That was a given as it was the only thing on his wish list. We have added all the accessories for both the laptop and the XBOX and Stan and Shirley and Jessica have kindly just handed over the money they wanted to spend and allowed us to purchase what we thought would be best.
So, Friday I was overwhelmed, Sterling had had his last appt with his therapist (maternity leave), I had 5 gingerbread houses to make for Sterling's class, Craig's cake, shopping for his birthday (LOVE what I got him), 2 more days of work this week, shopping to be done and I was getting a cold. By 9:45am I was in tears and by 7pm I was insisting that Craig and I go out and get our shopping finished. I think the capper on the day was Craig saying "stop freaking out". Needless to say there were a few tense moments in the car.
So now Sunday has come. I have two days off, Craig made the gingerbread (all I have to do is get it rolled out, cut and cooked), MOST of the shopping is done, the cake will get made and Craig is on holidays so much of the cleaning and organizing will be left in his capable hands. So, a sigh of relief, a thank you that I have 4 more days of work then four days off, and the season is upon us and I need to be merry.

Sorry I have not been posting but this week will be filled with posts - I promise!

week 12

Week 12! Oh My! Was a little late in getting the photo this week as Kaedo has been home sick for two days and it's been really cold out. I didn't want him outside yesterday to get the picture. This morning everyone was feeling good so we got the picture before school.

The boys are anxiously awaiting Christmas and the advent calendar is slowly showing more opened boxes than closed ones. We are awaiting the arrival of the gang and the boys are so excited to have everyone here. I can't believe Christmas is next week already. This year sure has flown by.

Circa 2006

For Christmas 2006 we decided to surprise the boys with a trip to Great Wolf Lodge. We got up and opened our gifts then presented them each with an envelope with money inside and a brochure. Within the hour we were on our way. We spent three days playing in the water park, visiting the Falls, sightseeing and having a blast. It was a wonderful Christmas and great surprise for them. They had been bugging us to go so I was so happy we were able to do it. I think it cost about the same as going to Disney but it was worth it.

Sicko

My baby is sick at home today. He has a running nose and a cough and I am certain he picked it up from Craig. Craig never seems to get sick but over the last few weeks has been attacked by a cold and the flu. I think Kaedo might have picked it up that way. Today being my day off Kaedo and I had the opportunity to lie in our bed and watch TV all morning. Handy Manny, MickeyMouse TreeHouse, Little Bear, Suite Life, etc etc etc. We snuggled and giggled and hung out and it was awesome. He is picking up now and is downstairs playing Wii. I had a list a mile long of things to accomplish today but being with my boy became number one on my list. So here I am completing what I can and later will get out and finish up what needs to be done today before the work week starts tomorrow.

Window Shopping

Saturdays are spent with my boys. The three of us usually end up at the mall, looking around and hanging out. With Craig playing football on Saturday mornings, this is my opportunity to be with them and have some fun. Today we are heading to Pickering Towne Centre (remember that mall, mom, Jessica?). They have never been and I thought it would be fun to go and see the decorations and something different than OC. Sterling still has his secret Santa to buy for and we are looking for things for Craig. We may only window shop but one things for sure - the kids will convince me that nothing tastes better than mall food. So much for my diet!

2 years

Boy has time flown by. It is two years today that I started with the bank. Can you believe it?
I remember the shock of being downsized from my previous job and being so scared that we wouldn't be able to make it. Craig said he had heard they were hiring at the bank and kindly helped me write my resume which he delivered to a friend who had an in with the hiring dept.
He dropped off my resume on the Wednesday and Wednesday afternoon I got a call to set up an appointment for a phone interview. On Thursday I had my phone interview. On Friday I had the practical testing - (can you answer the phone and chew gum at the same time kind of thing) and Monday I had a face to face interview. I got a call Monday saying I got the job and Tuesday I started.
We were so scared. The boys were going to have to take the bus, I was going to be working every night, Craig was going to have to be responsible for suppers, showers, bedtime, homework. Would we be able to handle it??
Two years later, what started off as a part time job, has turned into a full time career and while I don't always love my job I am happy to have one that keeps me busy, brings money into the house and I am home to spend time with my family in the evenings.
The kids no longer have to take the bus and Craig is no longer responsible for supper and we have made it as a unit because we love each other and can make anything work.

Here's to many more years!

week 11

Week 11 - I know I always say it, but man, are those some handsome boys. All decked out in their winter gear as the snow and cold has come to us. It's only about -3, so we can't complain but I would be happier at +3. Monday we ended up going to get gloves, boots for Sterling, insoles for last years boots for Kaedo and a toque that covers Sterling's ears. Man are adult boots expensive. I almost choked.
The Christmas season is upon us and the gifts are starting to show up under the tree. The boys are almost finished their shopping and I have barely begun. I keep telling myself I still have lots of time. Ha! Only two weeks before the boys are done school for the holidays. This year their holidays start on a Thursday and they go back on the Thursday. Don't' know what made the school board set up that but whatever. They are looking forward to their holidays, Christmas, having all the Klassens come to visit.

Circa 2005

This weeks flashback is Christmas 2005. The boys look so young. The gifts look so big! You know you have a tweenager and a teenager when their toys don't make squawking sounds unless they are plugged into a TV. Neither the dinosaur or the car was used much and years later we sold them in a garage sale. Craig and I were talking about the best gift we ever gave them and hands down it is the iPods they got in 2008. To this day they always carry them, take them to school, play with them in bed. Sterling doesn't leave home without it.

O' Christmas Tree

Well, Sunday was or annual tree decorating and as you can see our tree looks as eclectic as ever. A fine mix of new and old, bought and handmade, beautiful and comical... perfect for us. Mother Nature decided it was Christmas as well and decided to provide a healthy dose of snow to accompany us. Our angel which has served as our tree topper ever since Sterling made it in pre-school has survived yet another Christmas and will continue the tradition even though Kaedo wanted to use a different one... has the kid no sense of tradition?

We thought Winter was coming as so many people told us about all their snow and cold weather. We have been blessed with a beautiful Fall, but on Wednesday the snow came. Big, beautiful flakes cascaded down and I thought a blizzard may be coming. It lasted about an hour and within about 15 minutes of it stopping all the sidewalks and driveways were clear and no shoveling was necessary. Let me tell you I was glad about that. I still hadn't broken it to the boys that shoveling was going to become their chore this winter. Kaedo took full advantage of the soft sticky snow to get outside and build a mini fort and snowman. Our first of the year. I love it.

Now there is a little skiff of snow that has turned crunchy but I was still able to wear my sandals with no socks today. Don't think that will last too much longer. I am hoping for a minimal snow year as I am not one of those people that has to see the white stuff to get into the season. Who knows, maybe Stan and Shirley will bring their crappy weather with them. They better not or they'll be getting coal for Christmas.

Hockey Night in Canada

Craig and Kaedo were lucky enough to have the opportunity to take in the Leafs vs Oilers game last night at the ACC. They had a blast. The Oilers won - much to Craig's delight and Kaedo's disappointment, but Kaedo was quick to say this morning that it was "fantastic". One thing Kaedo was adamant about in going to the game was that he was going to have a pretzel. So they pigged out on junk food, watched the game, cheered on their teams and had a blast. They got home about 11:30pm and were up this morning heading to school and work just like normal.

Craig said the tickets were awesome, Row 16 at the blue line. That probably makes sense to you, not me. Now each of the boys can claim they have been to an NHL game - although they have both been to two. Sterling when he was about 16 months and Kaedo while I was pregnant with him.

Hope your Friday finds you well and you have a great weekend. We have football, work, soccer and tree decorating and are looking forward to spending some time together as a family. I'll post pictures of the tree Sunday or Monday. Happy Weekend.

Week 10

Week 10 and the weather is rainy. The boys are wearing their ski jackets but mostly for the waterproof fabric. Kaedo decided G-Nome should have his Santa hat on ("tis the season, mom"). I really like this picture, especially of Sterling. My guys sure are handsome.

Our Christmas tree is going up this weekend and the boys are very excited. I'm going to have to pull out my pictures from last year to see who put the angel up. Love our angel - toilet paper roll with wings. Very special.

The boys actually play soccer back to back this week. Out of 26 weeks I think this only happens twice. I can't decide which is worse - two hours in a row in the arena or having to go back and forth twice. Oh well, as long as they love it.

And so it begins...

With Christmas just around the corner - or so it seems, it is time for our first tradition to be brought out. Years ago I made this advent calendar for the boys and today being December 1st, we got started. Aside from Kaedo's Santa hat this is the first sign of the Christmas season. While many advent calendars are filled with candy or little toys, I put money in ours. They don't need the little toys or the candy and the money is a good way for them to have a little extra as they purchase their Christmas gifts. I'm sure it goes against the reason for an Advent Calendar but it works for us and the kids love it (duh).