Only Two Days???

This morning the kids woke up and weren't as energetic as they were slowly getting ready.  They had looked outside and the only snow left is the bottoms of snowmen . . . their heads and bodies had melted.  The couldn't believe it!  Then I checked the weather for today - it was already +4 degrees Celsius -  and is supposed to hit +10 this afternoon and +11 this weekend!!!  

Where oh where did our winter snow go????  Why have we only had 2 days of snow and it's already November 25th???  This doesn't make for happy kids you know.

 

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas . . ."  looks like we'll have to go to Saskatchewan if we're wanting to see more of the white stuff.  Good thing we're heading that way for Christmas this year!!!

It's Beginning to Look a lot like Christmas!!!

And it FINALLY came . . . our first snow!!!  The kids have been waiting and waiting and waiting for this, so when they woke up this morning and couldn't see grass, well . . . I haven't seen the kids get ready so fast in such a long time!  They were ready and out the door 20 minutes ahead of time, just so they could play in it for a few minutes before they had to go to school!!!

Kaleb was just really happy that it was a bit sticky so that he could start on his first (of many) snowman of the year.

Emma's been taking Navia to the bus the last little bit and this morning I actually had to get out there because first snow means the bus is running late and there is no way that Emma and Kaleb could wait around for the bus and then walk to school.  So, I got in on the first snow too - and I have no idea how long it took Emma and Kaleb to get to school because I'm pretty sure they were stopping along the way to play in the new fluffy white stuff!

Kaleb's New Mouth

A few months ago Kaleb had a mouth xray that showed he had molars that had moved forward and there were teeth that were going to come down right on top of them.  To fix this we needed to cement an appliance in his mouth that would pull his molars out of the way of the new ones coming down.

So, after 2 weeks of Kaleb having a rubber spacer in his mouth, this morning he went in for his appliance to be permanently 'installed' in his mouth - for at least one year!!!  I can't say that he's over-joyed at not being able to eat anything icky, sticky, gooey or hard for that long - especially with Halloween candy still sitting in his bag.  

Here's our 8 year old son, growing up way too fast!  The only side effect right now . . . his speech!  He needs to re-learn how to say his s's and other sounds that he needs to touch the roof of his mouth, as the roof now has a piece of plastic on it :)

Kaleb before the appliance

The little 'bug like' appliance that is cemented in his mouth.  The rings go around his molars and holds the appliance in place.

He thought this was funny as he started doing lip exercises, with it moving around like crazy!

And ta-da . . . the finished product . . . if you look closely you can see the pink at the top of his mouth and the rings around his teeth with the wires all there.  He doesn't look any different though from the front - same ol' Kaleb!

Russia and Hockey

Last Thursday Braden took the kids and a friend of Emma`s to a hockey game that Brade had really been looking forward to.  Because we have season weekend passes we got great prices and the kids had a blast!!!  They were on the big screen 8 times (according to Kaleb who counted each time), they almost won a dance competition and Navia had a fun time with one of the cheerleaders in which they switched pom-poms and Navia did some cheerleading cheers with them all.  The kids had their faces all painted and were loud as can be.  Oh, and the OHL did win . . . they've never lost a game to Russia so why start now???  10 - 7 this time!

June to October in Pictures

Braden is the Account Director at his job and his client is McDonald's Europe.  This means that he is going overseas usually once a month for a few days.  This is a photo of June in Paris.

The kids love baseball so Braden took them to an Ottawa Fat Cat's game and they LOVED it - I have a feeling more will happen next week.

Our anniversary wknd - kids to "The Landing", first time eating calamari for the kids (Emma didn't like it - hehehe!) then to a Medieval Festival to see sword fights, try stilts, catapults and so much more.  Oh, and the kids locked Daddy and Kaleb up and threw water sponges at them - so much fun!!!

The kids love it when Brade reads to them.  He had a trip to Russia so this was his last night before he left for the week.

While he was gone Gramma McGifford came to look after all of us - seeing that I wasn't up for looking after the kids by myself yet.  We had a lot of fun and she kept the kids soooooo busy - camping in the backyard, picking raspberries, feeding ducks and more. (oh and weedings - hours and hours of weeding!!!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 (i had to put this one in - sorry mom, but it was just hilarious when a boat's waves started knocking the little dock around mom tried to get the ground fast, but i think the rocking dock helped her there faster than she anticipated - and i laughed - yep - laughed and laughed and laughed!!!   hmmmm..... i guess i'm not that sorry for putting the picture in!!!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Here are a few pictures that Braden took while in St. Petersburg, Russia for the week. 

When he came home we got to still have Gramma for a few more days - which meant family pictures :)

The kids were stuck outside in the rain and put a tarp over the playhouse so that they wouldn't get wet - creative children!!! 

They also decided to have a lemonade stand outside our house - selling freshly squeezed lemonade and homemade chocolate cookies.  The neighbor kids came over to help too and they actually made a bit of money - they even had a car stop to purchase - so funny!  Their advertising . . . signs on the little brother and sister - hmmmmm.

Our neighbours were moving so let us have the pool for a weekend, in-between them leaving and the new neighbours moving in - the kids loved it!

  

Hockey season starting in September and we have weekend passes for the Ottawa 67's (OHL).  The kids are loving it and have so far been to 5 games with many more to come!

  

First day of school came after Labour Day weekend in September.  Emma is in Grade 5, Kaleb in Grade 3 and Navia in Senior Kindergarten.

Great Gramma McGifford came up for the weekend so we got to hang out with her and had a lot of fun.  Even took her to 'The Landing' for ice cream - yummy!

Emma was in Cross Country again this year - but this time had to run 2.2 kms.  She did well and is wearing the blue tank top number 3 with maroon t-shirt under it.  She came in 47 out of approx 140 grade 5 girls.

October started with Navia's first field trip of the year - to Valleyview Little Animal Farm with all her friends!

Grampa Bailey came up for a week in October and Emma was really excited because she'd finally have someone besides us cheering her on.  Emma made the Jr. Girls Soccer team and had an all-day tournament that they came in 3rd.  She played hard and they only lost after an extra inning, regular shoot out and then a final to-the-death shoot out.  She loved that Braden took the day off work to see her play, along with Grampa and even Kaleb got the afternoon off of school!

Grampa spent a couple of days at Braden's work, just seeing what he was doing and checking out the local record shops - which I guess are pretty good around his work.

We did McDonald's breakfast - as the tradition has been set - and then went to find the perfect pumpkins!

The kids had a hard time with him leaving, but are glad that we're going to Saskatchewan for Christmas! Yay!!!

Emma's class did a haunted house and Emma's spooky short story was the idea behind the entire event.  She had a lot of fun reading the story to each class as they came to see it - 900 students in all!!!

Then it was Halloween time - the kids carved pumpkins (and Braden dremelled them as the designs were a bit intricate.)  We had a cowgirl, black ninja and Princess Belle.

And now I am officially caught up - and you are officially tired of looking at waaaaaay toooooo many pictures - hehehe!  Hopefully I'll be going back to regular posts now!