What's going down...

Congratulations goes out to my brother Steve and his wife Colleen on the birth of their sweet baby girl, Avary Faith - February 21, 2007 - 10 lbs. 2 oz.! WoW! So big (for a newborn) yet so small amongst the other children!! We thank God that all went well and both mother and babe are doing fine. Millionaire's family...2 boys, 2 girls!!

The oldest and youngest (grandbabies (sp.?)) meet

Keegan quite thrilled...with both the baby and the ring pop

Cousin Katie surprised the kids on the weekend with some spoils from the toy "factory" (she's unwrapping Bella Dancerella shoes above) Thanks Kate, they are all truly grateful. Next time you're coming down let me know 'cuz there'll be some chocolate chip cookies heading your way--this time don't let your dad eat them all before you leave!! Oh, and thanks Aunt Mare (& Kate) for the nice Sunday lunch and (entire) afternoon. The laughter therapy was much needed and enjoyed by all of us!

Monday morning Mags and Trent were finally able to build their long awaited snowman. The temperatures have been so cold that the snow wouldn't pack! The temp. hovered around the "0" mark today and was ideal for snowman making! YIPPEE!

Little helpers making cinnamon buns after an outdoor jaunt

Connor's handmade and self-designed Kub Kar for the Cadetorama - sweet huh?

Kelsey earned a cake decorating badge at GEMS tonight! Way to go Kels, does this mean my birthday cake decorating days are numbered?

The kids experimenting with one of the toys Kate gave them...I-Tattoo. Washable airbrush tattoo maker. Kelsey performing the art of tattooing on Connor. Lots of fun and a real hit!

Happy with the outcome, yup Bri and I have a few tattoos as well!

You all have a great week now eh?

Sunday - YAY! IT'S -9 TODAY!!

We were expecting a thaw on Sunday and awoke to a frigid morning, crazily enough we were all happy! One more day to enjoy the backyard rink. The sun came out and since the pond is situated in a low spot, the wind blew right over our heads and we were able to skate/shovel without hats and mitts! I think we even got a bit of color from the sun--mind you when the sun went behind the clouds we all pulled on our winter gear mighty quick!

Cousin Meg joined Kels, Mags and Trent on the "skating" end, while Connor & his friend Josh joined up with some neighbourhood guys on the "hockey" end and played some 3 on 3.

After 2 1/2 hours of fresh air, they warmed up with some hot chocolate and snacks

Maggie ended up with the inevitable...frozen coat zipper stuck to lip :(, after the blood and tears, she was bound and bent to have a bandaid on her lip...some things aren't worth arguing over. Above is the traumatized child...the bandaid stuck for oh...maybe 5 minutes max. lol

Kelsey posing with her new outfit for church/school, she and I went shopping Saturday night (just the TWO of US!!) checked out all the girlie stores...clothes, earrings, shoes...it was fun. It's mind boggling to think she'll be 12 this year! Wow, she's alot of fun and is even starting to babysit for us for small amounts of time! Where is the time going???????

Valentines & Snow

Valentine's Day was also a snow day here, the kids weren't too distraught when they heard that school was cancelled for the day, they were quite content to celebrate their parties at school a day late. Connor wasn't even prepared, he finished his valentine cards the night of the 14th! I hope he is a bit more enthusiastic about it when he shows some interest in girls...he doesn't even want to hear about that at the moment. It took "us" 2 hours to shovel the driveway, there was so much snow! So after all that fresh air, we wined and dined by candlelight on leftovers. The kids thought it was pretty cool, they loved their "wine" (gingerale + fruit punch) and Mags constantly would request, "More wine please!" Bri brought home a lovely bouquet of flowers and he in turn received some Captain Black's sweets, wine (which I'm finishing up as I type) and a card.

CHEERS!

Trent came up with a real good one the other day out of the blue...(maybe it was after his "wine")

T - "Mom if we didn't have legs we couldn't walk"

L - " You're right buddy." A few moments of pondering by Trent....

T - "Mom, then we would have to roll around on our face."

Where do they come up with these thoughts????

Anyways, hope you all had an enjoyable week. As much as I look forward to the warmer weather I will be kinda sad to see the snow go, the kids have been having a ball in it as well as on the pond, hoping to get one more day of skating in tomorrow (Sunday) before the thaw. Everybody's welcome, we've got the club pack of hot chocolate, whipped cream and chocolate shavings...so come on over and strap your blades on!

Our week in a nutshell...

Connor's crazy about Jaden!

Well, to start off my Dad moved last Tuesday, and everything went relatively smooth, except for the temperature...-15 I believe! However, Brian's mom and dad graciously came down (with a large pot of chili & garlic bread in tow) to watch Mags, Trent, Ashleigh and Jaden while Carol and I helped Aunt Mare clean the old house and organize the new house. Thanks Oma and Opa! You both are so thoughtful and willing to help out! Carole offered to stay for the rest of the week to help Dad get settled and we were privileged to host her and her sweet children for a few nights. Mags and Trent were elated to have their cousins stay with us as were Kels and Connor. We had a very productive week at the new house and an enjoyable week of bonding...talking into the wee hours of the night when all the kids were sound asleep. Thanks so much Carole for all your help and good company...you're welcome anytime!!

Yawn, get on to the good stuff Ash...

The kids played for hours with very few "tiffs", we ended the week with some good old fashioned sledding, hope you aren't too sore Kev, worked up a good appetite outside and headed to King's Buffet for a delicious meal.

On Sunday Steve, Colleen and their kids joined Kev, Carole, Mom, Dad, Nicole and our crew for a spaghetti/lasagna dinner at Dad's new place. Afterwards we headed over to our place (around the corner now) so the kids could go skating and play for the evening. Trent and Keegan got into the tickle trunk (dress up trunk) and put on a little show. Cute huh?

Welcome Old Man Winter...

Yes, I know that we are enduring frigid weather but the general consensus around here is YAY!! SNOW + ICE = FUN, hours of it I might add. Ev and the kids joined us on their P.D. Day last Friday on the pond behind our house. Courtney, Kelsey, Matthew and Connor cleared off about 6 inches of snow and when the rink was ready we braved the elements.

Aunt Ev and the girls

Some shinny

Mags giving it a try, I think she thought she was going to hit the ice and speed around the rink like crazy...she was sorely disappointed...IT' S TOO HARD she said lol! As you can see she opted for the sled ride 10 minutes into her skating lesson....

Some nice pics of the kids enjoying the great outdoors and eachother's company...