Christmas Quotes

I was hunting for some Christmas quotes online and came across this one and thought I'd share:

Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people once a year.- Victor Borge

(Chuckle.) Well, then Christmas is certainly the time to visit then!

Wish Lists

The final lists have been made and mailed out with two weeks to spare. Here they are. Sadly, our kids don't seem to think that Santa has some kind of budget alotment for each kid. Perhaps there should be a new movie/TV special about how Santa handles Christmas in an economic downturn!

Jayden

Still asking for an iPod touch . . . I wonder if Santa has connections with Apple? I'm pretty sure he doesn't have connections with hp!

Jackson

Apart from his jumping castle and ride on car, there is really little he wants. The biggest things he has been asking for are a chess set and wallet.

Avery

Wants every Disney princess doll . . . even the ones that are lost at the bottom of her closet. And a doll house and doll accessories.

Liv

The easiest to please . . . if you can figure out what her picture is of. However, we took them to Toy'r'us the other day to buy presents for each other (big mistake . . . they only found and whined about what they wanted for themselves) and she went crazy over Elmo.

Seeking Sympathy

Jackson has become tired of always being the one who gets into trouble and has started wanting more attention for the wrongs against him.

The other week he came running off the bus . . .

"Mo-om! Jayden was punching me on the bus! Are you going to talk to him?"

"Jayden, why did you punch Jackson? You know that is not acceptable." I questioned Jayden.

"Well, Mom, it was because he was trying to stick a needle in my ear!"

Up here for Remembrance Day/Veteran's Day we pin plastic poppies to our left chest to show our support. Jackson had taken his apart and found creative ways to get attention.

"Jackson!" I exclaimed, "I don't blame Jayden. I would beat you up if you tried to do that to me too."

"But aren't you still going to talk to him??"

Roll eyes.

Halloween

Happy Halloween! (Well, only one day late . . . and since I still haven't posted about my boys' birthdays . . . from two years ago, you could say I'm getting more "timely!")

Just a quick pic of our cute little octopus! She was the hit every where we went . . . totally worth the exuberant price tag for the costume from PBK. (Eek! I think I squirted some ink thinking about that!)

Trick or treating went well for her first "real" trip out . . . it took about two houses before she realized she was getting candy. And then about 8 before she lost interest in the candy and started focusing on people's decorations. Much like her mom, she was scoping out all the goods, admiring the carvings, the lights, the decor . . . only when she found some she liked, she started stuffing them in her treat bag!

Oh, and if you didn't get enough candy, we've got plenty to donate. I have thrown out a couple of bags and still have about THREE reusable grocery bags FULL. Any takers?? Anyone know of a donation candy bank?? Anyone need some candy for an upcoming Santa parade??

Halloween Food

We are hosting the family for Halloween again this year. So, in an effort to get the kids to eat something before heading out and gorging on sugar, we're trying to get some interesting Halloween food ideas.

Here are some things I have come across . . . (Note: if you have a weak stomache, you may want to by-pass this post!)

First up is an appetizer of alien tentacles.

And monster eye balls.

Okay, not so bad, you say?

How about moving on to the main dishes of fleshworm? Complete with oozing guts?

Mice in blood?

Rat on a stick??

And finish things off with some delightful desserts . . .

Thorax cake (7 different cakes and toppings).

Gelatin heart . . . that oozes blood when you cut into the artery.

Not sure any of these will end up on our menu. But, if you want them on your plate, check out this_site.

Sleepless

At 3:30 am. At 4:00 am.

At 2 pm.

2:05 pm.

2:07 pm.

Last night was rough. Between Liv crying . . . and playing . . . and eating (really??) and Avery falling out of bed and finding her way into ours . . . and Guillermo barking at the cyotes roaming through our neighbourhood . . . few people got any sleep in our house.

Little Liv

Little Liv.

Such a bright light in a day of crazy kids. (Today was a PA day, fyi.)

But as she was feeding cereal to her little lamb, I couldn't help but smile and be thankful for my sweet little kids. Or at the very least, for being reminded how sweet they can be (as wild screams and thumps were heard above for most of the day.)

Cousins

Since I am SO behind on blogging these days . . . here is a snipet of what we did this summer!

We had my brother and his family come out to visit.

It was really fun to see them all (it had been over two years since they last visited) and it was neat to see Eve and Avery get along so famously.

Here are a couple of pictures I snapped of them trading secrets and having an afternoon slumber party!

Avery

Taking some pictures yesterday in our backyard.

Granted, the setting wasn't ideal, but the light looked nice, and it had been a while since I took some photos!

Also, trying out some new editing techniques . . . what do you think?

Reading Buddy

All my kids have been into reading. However, none have been quite as excited to hear the word, "book" as Liv is.

She can hardly contain herself and runs to grab one and hops into her reading chair. Often, Guillermo comes in to hear as well.

Lake Fairy

Timeless Family Photos

Well, it's that time of year that as photographers we are busy racking our brains and the web for inspiring new ideas for family photos.

Family photos can be stressful enough, hoping that everyone is in good spirits and that they will smile. It's a pity that clothing choices can add more strain to the already stressed parent. How do make sure that everyone is coordinated without being too matchy? Clothing that has enough interest without being busy or distracting for the real subjects. Trendy but not so much that the photo soon becomes dated? It is a delicate balance that gets further complicated by the addition of more and more family members.

Fear not.

I came across some inspiration for some family photos . . . in case any of you are stuck trying to find a coordinating wardrobe for your next photo. This photographer seemed to have avoided it all and made sure that clothing did not distract--or date--this family photo. Just an idea, for those of you who feel constricted in cotton! ;)

I can't wait to try this out in a session. Any volunteers? (Serioulsy, just kidding!)

Possessions

Sorry, I'm so very behind in blogging these days. Seems life doesn't ever let up for more than a minute.

But, in the few minutes I do have available I stumbled across this commercial and thought it was funny!

possessions

Check out all the other great commercials at kohler.com.

(They seriously have great marketers . . . these commercials make me want to slap down all my pennies, er, thousands if I had them, on their products.)

Extra-Cirricular Activities

For Mom.

Seriously. It is like a full-time job trying to figure out extra-cirricular activity schedules for 3-4 kids . . . and figure out which days of the week we will be eating on the run, which I will be entertaining 3 children while another does their thing . . .

You would have thought I had learned my lesson, bopping around at soccer all summer long.

But, we really feel it is important to keep our kids busy in things, and give them opportunities to learn new skills so they can discover what they are good at.

First up was securing swimming.

I wasn't crazy about the idea . . . swimming in the fall only to forget everything by spring or summer (because I am NOT the mom who takes kids swimming in winter!). But, the kids insisted and I figured that any time (but winter) is a good time to start learning how to swim properly. I asked around for swim school recommendations. There really aren't many out this way, but one happened to be 20 minutes away . . . not bad. The other mom told me how great it was and that she started lining up at 4 am for places.

4 am?? That's crazier than dealing with swim kids in winter!! I was so not going to do that. And, even at 9am (when it ACTUALLY opened for registration) I figured I'd wait a bit more and let the crowds die down. It was my first activity so I could afford to take what I could get.

I headed over at about 1 pm. Three people were still ahead of me and a rush of people came minutes after me. I talked to the owner and he said people were sleeping outside his house, in line, since midnight. Yes, MIDNIGHT.

And apparently it's not just the locals who are drawn in. People from townships and cities two, or three over were lining up.

We were given the choice of Tuesday nights at 7 pm or Friday night at 6 pm. It was a pretty easy choice. The rest of the week was filled with 30 minute classes . . . mostly all full.

I was pretty pleased though that we had a spot at this "great place" . . . until I had to hand over the check. No where on the flyers or the conversations with neighbours mentioned prices.

$750!!

I about died. I could just imagine the conversation I would have to have with Brad later.

However, if you figure that is for three kids to be taught by world class athletes (the owner medalled for South Africa, and his son swims internationally), from mid-September to mid-December . . . it kind of works out. Certainly, it is more expensive than the swim lessons as the rec centers we were used to. But then again, those lessons didn't teach my kids to even FLOAT in water after the 6 weeks were up.

Next up, gymnastics and soccer vs tennis . . .

Life's A Beach

Up in Cottage Country.

We just got back from a sun-filled week at my in-law's cottage with the entire family. Normally, we fit the entire clan in a mere 1200 sq ft . . . but this year a new cottage was built and we had two cottages to spread out in.


We had a fantastic time canoeing and kayaking, games on the beach, cliff jumping, playing on the lilly pad, exploring nearby islands.

And, while the adults relaxed on the beach, the kids spent endless hours finding sea creatures . . . and acting silly. In the evenings, we spent more time on the beach and in boats . . . and of course had campfires with S'mores!