We've Moved

So, here they are - the much-awaited pictures of the new house. (This pic isn't the best - we're getting a new roof and there's all the shingles up on the roof!)
The kitchen is small. Not much cupboard space and in desperate need of new countertops, cupboards and flooring. But not too bad. At least it's not all grungy like some we saw!
This is the living room. It's kind of an akward shape but it has nice big windows and a vaulted ceiling.
There are three bedrooms upstairs. The girls are sharing a room and the other room is the office. This is a (not very good) picture of the all-important craft room downstairs! (I'm excited :-)
And the girls love having a huge playroom downstairs, too. Complete with a little fort behind the wall of boxes.

It seems like a good house and we're happy here. Quiet street, double car garage, covered deck, fenced back yard and a front entry that's got room for more than one person!!! (Those of you with cathedral-entranced homes will know what I'm talking about! :-p )

So stop by and see us one day!

Egg-celent Cookies!

Auntie Kendra made great big egg-shaped cookies for everyone to decorate and seven or eight fun colored icings!There were some very creative (and tasty) eggs made.
A finger-licking good time!

Hoppy Easter!

We had a big turn out for Auntie Kendra's annual Easter Egg Hunt. We had great weather for it, too! We were forced indoors the last two years so it was great to be back in the great outdoors again.This year the hunt was held at Auntie Milena's house. There were so many great hiding places that not all the eggs were found! I guess their dog will be finding the rest!
Lots of goodies - lots of fun!

Lots of Lambs

Every year, since the day she was born, Rachael gets a lamb from Auntie Kendra on her birthday. That's because "Rachael" means "Little Lamb." This is the birthday collection.

Somebody's Six!

Somebody's six? Oh, my goodness, that's WAY too big! But, you can't change the fact that Rachael IS six. She had her first "friends" birthday party and it was a crafty one! These are the people that were there:
They made foamy Princess crowns, played some games, opened presents, made cute pompom animals and of course ate birthday cake. Once again Auntie Kendra pulled through and made an amazing birthday cake! But, then, we expected no less! It's Liz the lizard from Magic School Bus, with VeggieTales balloons! How cute is that!
Thanks Kendra for all your help with the crafts!

Fun times were had by all.

Worms and Dirt! Yummy!

Rachael wanted Worms and Dirt for her "pretend" birthday at Gramps and Gram's house. We even added a frog or two to the mess.
Auntie Kendra is making her a "Liz" (from Magic School Bus) the lizard cake for her real birthday. I'm noticing a reptile/amphibian trend here. This not normal for a 6 year old girl! Oh, well, at least she's not asking for any as pets!
Gramps and Gram gave Rachael exactly what she always wanted! A puppy that came with a travel cage and - most importantly - Doctor tools! Now she can be a vet, just like she wants to be when she grows up!

Leapin Lizards!

Now that we're done with being sick (cross your fingers!) we can actually have some fun this second week of Spring Break!.

At the mall "Safari Jeff and Shannon" had an Animal Kingdom show and brought out all kinds of reptiles and

amphibians. At the end of the show they brought out some of the animals to touch!





Rachael and Kaitlyn both touched an albino snake of some long variety and Rachael touched a big lizard. Then they brought out a baby crocodile that we could only look at.
Rachael loved it, and Kaitlyn tolerated it as long as Mom wasn't too far away.

It's finally Spring!

I get to enjoy at least some of the flowers I planted in my garden before we move!

Yesterday was so sunny and warm it made me forget all about the snow we had a week ago! Hopefully we'll have some of that nice sunny weather for Spring Break the next two weeks!

Dino Lego

Rachael was reading one of her favorite books: Magic School Bus. On this adventure the students went back in time and saw real dinosaurs. Then they came back to class and made pictures of

"Real Dinosaurs We'd Like To See": They are Bananasaurus Rex, Sockosaur, Potosaurus and Frizzeratops. Daddy thought they could make those dinsoaurs out of Duplo and Lego and here are their creations:
Daddy made the yellow Bananasaurus Rex, Rachael made the green Sockosaur and Kaitlyn made the blue Potosaurus. Nobody attempted the Frizzeratops.

"I'm all Decorated!"

Ok, how cute is this...

Yesterday Kaitlyn was playing with her "Jewelry" and she put it all on.

She had on 3 necklaces, 2 bracelets and at least half a dozen rings.

When she was all decked out she said,

"Look, Mommy, I'm all decorated!"

Seeing Stars...

Kaitlyn and Mommy made part of her Christmas present from Auntie Kendra today while Rachael was at school - star shaped cupcakes! Then when Rachael came home we decorated them! A very fun Christmas present - tasty, too!

Merry Christmas!

Once again it's Christmas morning!

Kaitlyn was much more excited this year, now that she's three. She was even able to keep secrets about what the presents were. "It's a surprise," she would whisper.

We had a busy week. Christmas Eve we were with Darcy's sisters for fondu, then we were back there again Christmas Day. We had the not-so-traditional dinner of "worlds best noodles!" (aka Vereniki - Rachael decided that was too hard a word to say so she decided they should be called World Best Noodles)

Boxing Day we spent with Sharon's family (ham was on the menu here), and the next day we had turkey with her extended family. So we had a well-rounded Christmas menu.

The newlyweds Brian and Andree got back from their honeymoon just in time to join us for Christmas. (Their plane got in at 3a.m. Christmas Day.)And of course the girls loved opening presents! They got too many to mention, but they loved them all!

Hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and best wishes in the New Year!

Something's Fishy...

So we've had our first pet. Past tense. Uncle Brian and Auntie Andree had fish as centre pieces for their wedding reception and we got to take one home to keep. Rachael and Kaitlyn named him (or her, I guess) Bubbles. That was Saturday. So Sunday we went out and bought some fish food for it. Then Monday morning I noticed the fish was "swimming" vertically. Not a good sign. So we had to have a little toilet-flushing ceremony. Oh, well. The girls weren't too upset. I had just finished telling them that he probably wouldn't live for very long - though I had anticipated a life span a little bit long than this!

Here Comes The... Flower Girls!

Rachael and Kaitlyn got to be flower girls for Uncle Brian and Auntie Andree's wedding and they did an awesome job!

They were very brave walking down the aisle.

(Unfortunately the camera wasn't cooperating, so no picture of that :-(
They said that it wasn't even too scary. Mommy and Daddy were in the front pew and Uncle Brian had candy for them so there was no where else to go!
The girls sure do love their new Auntie Andree!
Lots of twirling in those beautiful dresses Gram made! And Auntie Andree even bought them little tiaras, so this was really Princess Day!
Can't pass up an opportunity for a family photo when everyone is all dressed up!

O Christmas Tree

Once again there was snow on the ground when we got our Christmas Tree! Two years in a row! Rachael and Kaitlyn helped Mommy decorate.

Curious George Party!

Kaitlyn had a Curious George Birthday Party for her third birthday. And once again Auntie Kendra made an awesome birthday cake! She's amazing! (To see the creation of this cake visit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/4walls/sets/72157594404100297/ )And Auntie Shannon brought Curious George balloons, plates and napkins. And, most importantly, Mommy found Curious George scrapbook paper for her scrapbook!

Lots of presents!
Lots of fun!

Somebody's Birthday Today!

Guess who's 3 today!

It's Kaitlyn!

Today is her real birthday and on Saturday we're having her "pretend" birthday party.

Auntie Kendra is going to make her a Curious George birthday cake!
Bringing Rachael to school everyday gets a little soggy sometimes so Kaitlyn got her very own umbrella - a Ducky one even! Though instead of rain like usual here on the Wet Coast we have snow. It snowed on Kaitlyn's 1st birthday; it snowed on Kaitlyn's 2nd birthday; it snowed on Kaitlyn's 3rd birthday. This may not sound unusual, but around here... this is very strange!