Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny played a little trick on the kids this year. He usually hides everything in the living room, but this year he went in the basement! The kids woke up bright and early, grabbed their buckets and headed into the living room.
After a second Mark says: "There's no chocolate!"
Me: "Have you been bad?!?!"
Then....the heart freezing moment.....
Mark: "Where'd you hide it MOM?"
I gave him the 'wide eyed you better be quiet' look all the while feeling Jade's questioning look burning into me. I was saved from explanation by his immediate realization that the goods were in the basement.

Jade had 2 Caramilk bars and Mark only had 1 so he knew there was one hidden somewhere and he could not find it to save his life. I took this pic because he was standing right beside it. It was hidden in the VHS slot in the front of the tv. You can see the bit of gold wrapper in the pic.

Jade did question the Easter Bunny when we found some plastic eggs outside our house (thanks to the EB down the street, aka Heather!) I asked Jade to think about it really hard: "Would your mother really give you THAT much junk food?" Sadly, it will never be the same for her though as the doubt will always be there.

We took the trailer to the park for the first time this year. It was 2 weeks too early. We froze!! Actually, I froze. Mark just had a sweatshirt on and told me he was hot. I had on a tshirt, polar fleece and a winter coat, was sitting by the fire and still shivering. I did manage to read a good chunk of my book while the family was on a treasure hunt with the metal detector. They found some pennies and a piece of a broken lawn chair! Good times.....

Christmas 2008

The tree after Santa's visit:

Mark and Jade waiting for the word to go into the living room. Mike likes to torture them by finding a bunch of bizarre excuses to keep them waiting longer and longer. This year he told them he was going to refinish the living room floor before they could come in.

• There were way too many gifts. But here a couple of their favs:

• After opening presents and a hearty (lazy) breakfast of Pillsbury Cinnamon Rolls, Mark skated the afternoon away with the neighbour kids.
  
  This year was a Christmas of a lot of firsts: It was the first year with Tammy joining us for Christmas dinner, it was the first year with Ryan too, it was the first year without my dad which means it was the first year without having to listen to Stompin' Tom. Ok, I may have missed it for a second just for the sentimental value but that was it...just one second! It was the first year we had a kids table for dinner AND it was the first year that I made the gravy which was delicious if I do say so myself!
  
  


• The kids table with their cracker paper hats on!
  
  

Craig was at the table with all the adults and he did not want to be with us at all. So Mike moved his chair to the kids table and was thrilled to pieces.

• An after dinner snooze for Mike and Ryan.
  
  
  

Candy Crusher

After trick or treating Mike and I had to check the candy before we let Jade dig in. She dumped her bag on the kitchen table and immediately peeked Craig's curiosity. He was grabbing whatever he could get his little hands on. Eventually he made his way right into the center of the loot and started kicking his legs and sending candy flying all over the place. He would scoot over to do it again and again. Listen carefully for Jade's comment. You will hear some sibling love!

Halloween Night

This was the first year that Mark did not Trick or Treat with us :(

He went with 4 of his friends in a different neighbourhood. We always trick or treat with our good friends down the street and we ALL noticed that he was missing.

Mark was going to dress up as a girl (and he looked so pretty in his costume!) but changed his mind and was what he was last year....a zombie. He had such a good time with his friends that they have decided to make this a new tradition. He did ask if we had fun and if Colin found someone trick or treat with him. When I said no I could tell he felt a little bit guilty for leaving us.

Jade wanted to be a mermaid, but not Ariel. She really wanted blond hair with a blue stripe, like Aquamarine, but was happy with the blue wig we found instead.

The trick or treaters. Little Adam was so cute. He was a dinosaur with a big belly. His little legs kept up with the big kids for a good hour and a half when all of a sudden he just pooped right out.

When Jade and I came home there was another little dinosaur visiting my house! Craig was so cute in his sweet costume.

Jack o Lanterns.

Halloween day was also a PD Day so we had plenty of time in the morning to do our Jack - o - Lanterns.

Jade made a cute little kitty cat one. She carved all of it except for the cat's whiskers.

Mark made a creepy face one. He worked so hard on it.

Marlene, who works for Mike, carved these babies for the kids. She did a great job!

Thanksgiving Weekend

Saturday started off with Mark's hockey game which was edge of your seat excitement. It ended up being a tie game...the ref blew the whistle to end the game at exactly 10:30am with 52 seconds left on the clock, Mark standing right in front of the net and the puck coming right at him. He threw his arms up in disbelief and shook his head a number of times. He would have broken the tie I'm sure. The coach is very proud of him. He has himself a nickname now "Wheels" because he's pretty fast on his skates. After the game we headed to the trailer and enjoyed very, very warm weather.

• Jade just loves her Grandpa. After pushing her on the swing for hours, he listened to her read Dr. Seuss books to him. Jade's teacher's favourite author is Dr. Seuss so Jade has been reading all of our books again. She picked 10 of them to put in her backpack to take to the trailer. Do you know how heavy 10 Dr. Seuss books are?!?!

• On Thanksgiving weekend 2 years ago I didn't go with Mike and the kids up north because my cousin was getting married. Because the mean ol' mom was away, fun loving dad bought a pellet gun. It's really not dangerous, but a gun is a gun, right? So, you will find me nowhere near this when they pull it out to shoot at empty cans.
  
  

• We all went for a long hike in the woods. Jade found a grasshopper and put him in a jar and we all had to take turns carrying him. Jade also lost a tooth while we were away. She was quite shocked that the tooth fairy left Canadian money because we were in the states.
  
  

• Mark wanted some exercise, so we let him run behind the truck! I took this shot from inside the truck with the back opened. Jade and I were cheering him on and he did run a lot farther than I ever dreamed he would....and farther than I ever could run!

• Sometimes it's fun to light the fire the old fashioned way with a stone and a flint.

I hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I know I'm early but we are heading up north after Mark's hockey game tomorrow. We are all looking forward to the 80 degree weather that's in the forecast.

Enjoy your time with your friends and family. Be thankful for all you have because you just never know when you won't have it anymore.

Happy Mother's Day!

I was a L.a.z.y. mom today. It rained all day, Mark was at Brandon's and Jade was playing with Emily so I watched movies all afternoon! Toonces sat on my lap and we lazed away.....nice.....

Of course I spent the day thinking about my own mom and how I have never spent a Mother's Day with her with me being a mom. I thought how hard to believe it's my 10th Mother's day. I thought about MJ who is up north and I couldn't say Happy Mother's Day to her. I thought about all the blogger moms who I feel connected to in a special blogger way. I thought about all the moms who are waiting for their babies to come home. I thought of sisters who are moms. I thought of my close friends and aunts and cousins who are moms to people I love. I thought how lucky I am that I get homemade gifts from my babies that I can cherish forever and ever. Along with the special hugs and kisses that came my way today.

April Fool's Day

Poor Mark! Mike got him sooooo good this morning.

Mike handed Mark this brochure to "Chore Camp" and told him that he was spending the weekend there. Mark was horrified and fell for the joke hook, line and sinker!
He sure wasn't happy at the time of the joke, but was laughing when he was telling Colin and Lyndsey about it before they left for school.

Click on the brochure if you want to read what they offer at this fabulous (but fake) camp!


Mike also signed a permission slip for a field trip for the kids.....to outer space! AND, there's more, he put up a contaminated sign from the health department on Jade's bedroom door. Those 2 jokes got a laugh out of the kids!

But Mike better watch out......after he left for work Jade hid a rubber frog, spider and other creepy creatures in his underwear drawer!

Happy Easter!

♥ Happy Easter!! ♥

The Easter Bunny came to our house sometime during the night and hid chocolate and other fun things all over the house. He brought some spring outdoor activities that we hope can be used soon, some books, craft projects and (too much) chocolate.





I do not know what that Easter Bunny is thinking, but every year he puts eggs on top of all our pictures. Jade said she is going to write him a note next year to remind him that they can't reach that high! Mike and Jade are standing on the furniture to reach this stash!


I hope everyone has a wonderful holiday today, full of family and friends and of course, chocolate!

Easter Eggs

Mark has been wanting to decorate the Easter Eggs all week long. Today, finally, he was able to decorate all the eggs that he wanted! In the end he decorated 1 egg and was involved in the activity for a total of maybe a half an hour. Oh the other hand, Jade was totally engrossed and decorated a dozen eggs all herself!

• Writing a love note on her egg before putting it in the dye. It said "I LOVE YOU"
  

• Good thing I got this shot when I did! We wouldn't have one picture of him decorating eggs if I had of missed it!
  

Here she is:

The Birthday Girl!!

We hope all your wishes come true Jade!

I guess she is still going to put stuff on her head while she's 7!

This year Jade was able to read each and every card she received.

Jade's birthday was on Tues but she had Sparks in the evening so she had her family celebration last night. It was so nice that everyone was able to join us for dinner, cake and ice cream. Everyone was very generous with their gifts and she appreciates them all. She really appreciated the opportunity that Tammy gave her to use her new makeup. Tammy looked fabulous when Jade was done with her...

Thank you to everyone who celebrated with Jade!