updates...

There has been quite a bit of excitement around here lately. As you can see my sweet girl has been moonlighting as a wreastler.My baby is growing up way too fast, he's now offically sitting up, without squishing his tummy.

I think I just might cry.

How cute are those dark little eyes?

We've also been busy making Christmas crafts to enter into the Festivel de Noel here in Plamondon. The kids have been working on their gingerbread houses and I've been creating some fun Christmas decor items along with an advent calendar for the kids. I'll be posting pictures of our entries from the festival.

Playing blog catch up

Ethan's birthday was way back in October and I'm just getting around to posting. How bad of a mom am I? We did a couple of "events" just because getting people's schedules to jive is hard. On his offical birthday we had some family over and went swimming and had some presents. When Grandma H. came back from work she mad a wonderful Captain Underpants birthday cake for him.

gotta love kids' expressions when they blow out candles :)
Owen *loved* the cake and so wanted to get at it. It'll be fun when he had his birthday in May.

Some of the fun presents...we picked him up a Nintendo DS because after all you only turn 10 once. He's offically in the double digits club now ;)

Muppet Show DVDs season 1 from Grandma and Grandpa Bourassa. My Ethan with his quirky sense of humor loves these shows! Munuma Na!

I can't get over how big he is already!!

Dad's Birthday Celebrations

The weekend of Nov. 15th we had a birthday party at my house for my dad who turned 60. It was so great, crowded but fun with all his siblings, except 1 that were able to be there. Even my uncle Charlie who came down from Yellowknife. I made the cake, decorations and all. This is only th 2nd time that I've ever iced a cake and I'm sure this will end up on the cake wrecks blog ;) However it tasted wonderful so it balances out.

A week later we (my immediate family) met at my sister's place to go out for lobster. Here's my sweet sister introducing my poor baby to lemons for the first time. Unfortunately she didn't get the reaction that she wanted. Owen didn't seem to mind the lemon. Must take after his Uncle Matthew.

I felt sorry for the waitress as we were such a big group. 13 of us including 5 grandkids, who by the way did awesome. My very adventurous eaters ordered mac n cheese and chicken fingers. At Red Lobster. Crazy kids. You can't see it in this picture but my very gorgeous sister in law is 5 months pg with their first baby, she looks so amazing! I'll post photos of her when I get permission ;) I'm also thrilled with the fact that the baby weight is finally starting to come off quicker for me. After gaining 60lbs with Owen I've got about 25 left to go...and no that's my arm down on my lap. Darn black shirt, lol!

wondering if

it is considered cheating if I'm drinking a yummy coffee and thinking about drinking a Chai Tea latte? ;)

Happy 60th Birthday Dad!

Believe it or not my dad turned 60 today! Here he is doing what he loves...getting ready to go quadding. This picture was taken just before they (Dad, Ron and Jonathan) went up to the Richardson Sanddunes for the first time. Dad and Owen the day he came home...

My dad and 2 of his brothers...he's the one in the red hat.

Have a great day Dad!!

scrapbooky stuff...

Just a little layout to share. I submitted this one for publication and its been a few months so I'm assuming it didn't get picked up. But I absolutely love it so I don't care :) Other news...

I'm so excited...I just prepaid for a 3 month scrapbook kit subscription to this place ttp://memoryworkshop.ca/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=30

I've been checking out their kits and they seem like a really great deal plus they are in Canada. Whoohoo! No exchange rate to deal with. Hopefully the shipping will be quick, its pretty reasonable for $8.25. And I've been wanting these Daisy Bucket papers for a while. I opted for the prepaid option because who doesn't have a hard time spending $99 on scrapbooking supplies at one shot? This way I've got new stuff coming for 3 months without having to pay every month. I'm going to check it out for 3 months then we'll see if I continue. I'll post a review later.

So instead of cleaning yesterday...

I was taking pictures of Owen :) way more fun if you ask me. How cute is this little monkey?

plus the little stinker is sitting up already, well kind of. He's only 5 months!! I'm not ready for him to grow up yet.

humm this color combination would be great for a scrapbook page...;)

Oh where oh where did October go?

Yeesh! It seems like just yesterday that it was the beginning of October! Where did the time go? I've been busy planning birthday parties and family get togethers, hardly had a time to take any pictures. That is a crime definately...

The kids are in full swing at school, already having enjoyed their first 4 day long weekend. Ethan starts swimming lessons again next week and Sunday is his birthday. Can't believe my "baby" is going to be 10!! Eek! I'm not too far off of having a teenager 8) Abby and Owen are doing great, my little one is going to be 5 months old tomorrow!!

Fall pictures

The annual fall family shoot. My boys love it, well not really. Poor Ethan either is doing something goofy or looks like he's infront of a firing squad. Then there is Abby who is posing like some model, oi! And Owen, well what do you expect from a 4 month old? Any comments as to the favorite family picture please let me know. I need to pick one for the family Christmas cards. As long as I don't look like Dolly. Gotta love nursing :P

I think this one is my favorite...

You tell me if Owen doesn't have that "Ranny" look down pat.

First day of school

This was one happy day!! Seriously. Abby was thrilled to start school and Ethan kept himself to a reserved grin. He's been through this first day thing so many times that I think he's just used to it.
My little monkeys who aren't so little anymore. Ethan is starting Grade 5 and Abby is in Grade 1. Where the time when I have no idea.
Surprisingly enough they love going on the bus. I'm fortunate that they are the last ones picked up and the first ones dropped off. They are on the bus for such a short period of time that its still fun.
Lucky mommy got to spend the whole day with this little sweetie.

What a crazy 2 weeks!

So the weekend before school started we decided to go visit Matt and Nicki and take the kids to the zoo. We hadn't gone since Abby was 2 so she doesn't really remember anything, except for what she sees in pictures. The kids had a great time. Abby was running and exploring everything, I swear she is part mountian goat, climbing on rocks and hills. But she loved every minute of it.

The kids and Auntie Nicki taking a break by the elephants...
Mr Owen stretching out at Matt and Nicki's. The little stinker is rolling over all the time now. Big surprise because he started doing it at 3 months. He'll be crawling before I know it. Ron got this awesome shot of me and the kids. Love it to pieces because I'm always behind the camera. Plus with Owen in front I don't look so rolly ;) Only another 32lbs to go before I'm back to the pre-pregnancy weight. Slowly but surely.

Back to school pictures coming soon...

why yes I *am* alive!

So life with 3 kids is interesting to put it mildly. We've had such an odd summer with July dragging by at a snail's pace due to a certian duo of kids bickering and whining that they were bored. Then poof August goes like lightening. We were so busy that the passage of time just slipped away. The most noteworthy being our 10 year anniversary being celebrated (and the subsequent party) and Ron and I having our birthdays.

Funny how nice it was to have no routine for the kids at first, just unwinding from the school year and now I'm craving that regularness of school. Oh don't get me wrong I'm dreading the morning race with lunches/breakfast/combing hair stuff/homework struggles but I'm looking forward to not having to mediate for a few hours at least. It will be nice just Owen and I for a bit.

Speaking of Owen the little monkey rolled over for the first time on Saturday. From back to tummy! Silly boy had just turned 3 months old. I'm so not ready for him to grow up!

I promise as soon as the kids are in school I'll be posting more regularly:)

Round 2...

of thrush. Ugghh! I thought and had hoped that we wouldn't have to deal with this again but here we are back on meds. Thankfully I was able to get into the dr. and get a Rx, not my regular doctor but the man had the power to give me a Rx so it was all good. Owen is already clearing up and not so fussy, poor little man. Me, well let's just say that tylenol is my friend for at least a couple more days.

Tomorrow Owen goes for his very first immunization, can't believe that he is 2 months old already. Time sure flies. He smiles all the time, has rolled over twice and figured out his bouncy chair. He also loves his bath, much like Grandpa Bourassa and certain noises make him jump just like Grandpa Hilligas :) He also loves to be swaddled after supper and being outside at anytime of the day is pure contentment for him, just like his daddy.

Big Smiles!!

Owen has been smiling since he was 7 days old but this is the first one I caught on camera :)

New favorite picture :)

I think this one needs to be enlarged and framed :)