And So It Begins...

...the first purchase for the baby on the way. After having suffered through strollers that refused to cooperate for the last two kids, we decided to splurge on the newest addition to the family. Strollers and car seats have come a long way in the last 5-8 years, and we were willing to pay to allow transfer of a sleeping child to stroller. The car seat locks in place on the stroller, and it comes with a base to keep in the van, allowing for very quick ins and outs. The shoulder straps also adjust with the pull of a strap - no more flipping the car seat over and adjusting the straps from behind. That was most annoying in spring and fall when some days you needed to bundle up and others you did not. "Favorite Baby" tested it out for us to make sure it worked. The 5 point harness is also much nicer than the old 3 point - no more up-and-over the heads of sleeping children. The stroller has a 5 point harness, too. It comes with lots of storage compartments and, best of all after the last stroller we had, it collapses with the twist of the handle. Should be happy travelling days ahead of us - now we just need to wait another 12 weeks or so for the newcomer to arrive.

Webkinz

Wondering what to get our girls for birthday or Christmas? Webkinz are all the rage these days. These are the ones they have, though seldom are they stacked so neatly!

Have You Ever Wondered How Many Leaves Fall The Last Week Of October?

One or two. Yes, this big pile of leaves was all from leaves that fell in one week in our back yard.

The girls came out just in time to help me push them over the edge of the drop off. They wanted to jump in them, but the leaves were wet and we weren't exactly sure where the edge of the cliff was, so it wasn't exactly safe for jumping.

The drop off doesn't look nearly so steep with all those leaves in it!

At least our view of Mission has improved over the last few weeks.

Trick or Treat

It's the day all teachers love... Halloween - when all the kids are already reacting to the sugar high they know they're going to get tonight! Yesterday Kaitlyn's teacher asked me if I could bring 24 undecorated cupcakes for their Halloween party today. Being the Super-Mom that I am, I said No Problem. So Kaitlyn and I made cupcakes that afternoon before we went to get Rachael from school.

Then - wouldn't you know it - afer school Rachael said her class was having a party today too, and she needed to bring cupcakes. So we went and made more cupcakes! But these ones needed to be decorated. After all that (not to mention the field trip I went on with Rachael before lunch and the trip to Superstore to get more icing) I was exhausted. I know it doesn't really sound like a whole lot (don't forget about driving to school and back 3 times and making lunch and supper!), but the baby-making thing really wears me out these days. So Daddy made orange icing for Rachael's cupcakes. Then after supper I found the last few remnants of energy and iced the cupcakes to look like pumpkins. Being so pregnant-brained these days I didn't notice it was gel icing I'd got for the faces, but it still worked out ok. I almost didn't take a picture, after seeing all those beautiful cakes on other blogs (you know who you are!) but whatever. The kids don't care and this icing actually tastes good!

I was with Kaitlyn's class all morning today along with several other Moms. Between the French and English kindergarten classes we had about 15 centres set up for all the kids to go to - from face painting (where I was stationed) to cupcake decorating; jellybean pattern-making (and getting to eat them after) to oreo cookie spider-making; mask and hat crafts to pumpkin seed math and playdough. Plus a few others. It was go go go all morning, and the kids loved it! Then after lunch we carved the pumpkin Kaitlyn got from the pumpkin patch on her field trip a few weeks ago. She wanted it to just be a face this year. I don't remember the last time I made just a face, but it was so easy!

And now Daddy's off with the girls trick-or-treating and I'm home handing out candy. Kaitlyn finally decided to be a lion. I think it's because I painted the nose and whiskers on at school this morning. And Rachael dressed up like a bat. I've only had about 5 groups of kids so far, but it's still early. Though I think we'll have a lot of left overs. Candy anyone?

Can You Believe...

Can you believe we raked leaves just four days ago?

You can hardly see any grass out there! And look how many are still left on the trees! 'Tis the season, I guess.

The girls are excited about trick-or-treating on Friday. Rachael is dressing up like a bat and Kaitlyn's latest is she's going to be a bunny - though that's the fourth costume idea she's had in the last two weeks, so we'll see what she actually ends up wearing!

Family Pictures - More Pictures Added!

Gord came over today and took some family pictures of us. Here's a small sample of what he took:

Here's some more. Gord edited them for us to give it the "professional" look. Sure is nice having a photographer in the family!

Fall

The leaves have certainly started to fall on our back yard. I don't know how many times we've raked already, and the trees are still loaded! But instead of wasting such nice-looking leaves I decided to put them to good use.

Maybe this weekend we'll try and get a nice family picutre back there.

Rachael had her eyes closed in the pic of the two of them, so I photoshoped these two pictures together!

Her head was just not angled the same way to try and paste the eyes from this picture onto the other one.

Is Gramps Growing Chickens or Dinosaurs?

Check out the size of this egg!

We couldn't even close the egg carton lid!

Are you sure you aren't growing dinosaurs over there, Gramps?

Kaitlyn's First Field Trip

Kaitlyn went on her first field trip yesterday to The Apple Barn, and we didn't get rained on! After Monday's downpour we were a little worried. Mommy got to go along and be a helper. After we got off the bus the first thing we did was take a hay ride to the pumpkin field. The kids got to pick out their own pumpkin (as long as they could carry it!) and bring it back to school where they're going to be doing some things with it next week. After that we went in the store and saw some bees and how they make the apples; then we saw how they take those apples and make them into juice. We even got samples of apples and apple juice. Yummy! We also learned about pumpkins and how they grow, and then we got to go to the petting zoo. They had the cutest little baby goats there Rachael would have fallen in love with, but I couldn't for the life of me get Kaitlyn to stand beside an animal for a picture! Oh well. We still had lots of fun on our first field trip.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Kaitlyn made this apple turkey with Mommy at school on Friday. She also made this turkey hat, and another turkey made by tracing hands that had to stay at school to decorate the classroom. Fun times in Kindergarten! Mommy's been Super School Mom this week - on Tuesday she went to help out in Rachael's class; Thursday she helped in Kaitlyn's class; Friday was Apple Turkey day and all the parents got invited to come, so I was there again; Monday is no school; and Tuesday Kaitlyn's class is going on a field trip to the Apple Barn, so Mommy will be going to school with Kaitlyn then, too!

Woah! It's Big!

Finally putting up with all those evenings and weekends of hubby working (Ok, there really haven't been that many) have paid off! I got paid for doing nothing!

Unfortunately, this will all go to help pay off the debt for building the house, so it's not like it's "fun" money or anything, but it sure does help!

Here's Looking At You, Kid

We got to see the baby today. Fun as it is to see the baby, if I never have to have another ultrasound again I'll be happy. That full bladder for over an hour is NOT fun! (This is the baby's head looking straight at you. The top of the head is on the left, and you can see the eye sockets and the mouth. We could also see the baby's heart beating - 145bpm) So everything was looking good during the exam, but the baby was lying face up and the tech couldn't see the baby's spine. So I had to go back out to the waiting room to wait for 5 more minutes, then the four of us got to come back to the room to see the baby. (These are the legs that have been kicking me!) Fortunately in those 5 minutes the baby had moved enough for the tech to find the spine and take her measurements. (This is a profile shot of the baby's head. You can see the ear and nose and a bit of the spine at the bottom.) And everything looks good! The baby waved to us and we saw him/her (no, we didn't find out which) suck a thumb and wiggle around. (Profile of the head with an arm and hand waving at us!) We're half way done! I guess we'd better figure out some names one of these days.

First Day Of School

Today I sent both girls off to school. *sniff* Kaitlyn was super excited to go to her first day of kindergarten. She loved it, especially since Mommy got to come with her. In her class there are lots of similar sounding names. Along with Kaitlyn there is Caitlin and Kailin (with no "t") as well as lots of other names that sound alike. Could be an interesting first few days and weeks for Teacher! Kaitlyn's teacher seemed very nice and I think Kaitlyn will really enjoy being in her class. Rachael's class was a bit mixed up as all first days are. The whole school (except kindergarten kids) met in the gym, then got sent off by grade (french and english mixed) to various classrooms that are probably not going to be their real classrooms or teachers. Rachael found her best friend, and the were together with an english teacher for today, but by the end of tomorrow things should be sorted out and kids should be in their right classrooms.

Disney World

No, we didnt' got to Disney World, but Auntie Kendra did and she brought back goodies for the whole family. She came over yesterday and started handing out presents, starting with the youngest. Well, that's not Kaitlyn anymore! Yes, even the baby (17 weeks now) got a present! This cute little Pooh Bear and friends shirt and a bib with the seagulls from Finding Nemo, with every toddlers favorit word (or maybe second favorite after "no") "MINE!"

Rachael and Kaitlyn are big into Webkins, and since Disney doesn't make Webkins, Auntie Kendra found some clothes that would fit Webkins! She bought all kinds of cool outfits, right down to socks, shoes, underwear and hairbrushes! The girls were in heaven!

She bought me a nice Minnie Mouse apron, since my kitchen was decidedly lacking an apron,

and she brought that Star Wars-loving brother of hers a Star Wars Mr. Potato Head named Spuda Fett.

Thanks Auntie Kendra! We love you!

I Finally...

...convinced the girls to hold their new little cousin Johnathan! It's good practice for when our baby comes!

Johnathan was dedicated at his church today and we were invited to be there. After church we all went to Andree's parents' place for lunch.

And of course, I had to hold my only nephew for a bit, too. I'm out of practice!

Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!

Hi Grandma, thanks for these new clothes. We really like them. I especially like how my new "Daddy's Girl" shirt is sooo sparkly! I got sparkles all over the house when I tried it on. That was fun! But then Mommy washed it when I was in bed so it wouldn't do that any more. And I like these capris, too - pink is the best! And they fit me just right.

Hi Grandma, thanks for my new clothes, too! I like Strawberry Shortcake, and I like these clothes! They even have built-in shorts under this skirt so I can still play hard! They fit me just right, too! We can't wait to see you soon!

Swing Low...

...or swing high! Daddy finally found the right equipment to get the swings up and running - I mean, swinging! Auntie Kendra bought them for the girls as a house warming present. Rachael is used to swinging by herself from playing at school, but Kaitlyn will catch on pretty soon. It's a little on the noisy side, what with metal rubbing against metal, but it's a small price to pay for hours of entertainment.