holiday brothers

The boys are loving each other. So much easy fun to be had in Cowichan Bay. We all just declared that we want to stay on holiday forever.

cutest 100 year old

We visited Grandma Pellerin this afternoon. She is an awesome woman and we are so lucky to know her. I am particularly glad that my boys have met her.

Bob is dead

Our beta fish of 3.5 years (!) died on the weekend. Seeing fish are relatively low maintenance, we replaced him the next day with a new Bob. The kids are very happy. And yes, elliott's shirt says, mom rocks.

by far...

 the best holiday ever with both boys.

Today elliott ran around the indoor track at the TCC 6 times!!!

The boys taking their jelly beans very seriously!

quick nap

Finn fell asleep in his sled this morning. He seemed pretty settled until glen accidentally tipped the sled and finn rolled onto his face! He did wake up but was too sleepy to know what had happened.

christm morning

I do love Christmas with the kids- so much going on, so much excitement. But I couldn't help but feeling relief last night that it was over and I did it!!!!  and beyond a meltdown yesterday, the kids loved it. Onward! A few days at home before a holiday.

merry christmas eve!

A little early morning baking to get us going

on a busy, fun day!

day 1 of holiday

You might wonder what has gotten into me for the next 2 weeks, but I have a little more time now that we are on holiday for 2 weeks!!!

We all went sledding this morning after we said good bye to my parents. They head to Calgary for Christmas with my brother.

busy weeks

So for example, I needed to make some adjustment to my Google account so that I could once again blog from my phone. Well the 10 minutes needed has eluded me for a month. Getting ready for Christmas on top of everything else is almost too much. Might seem whimpy butlife feels hectic these days.

Nevertheless, I had an amazing break in absolutely luxury last weekend (what am I whining about;) with my mom. We were at Sparkling Hills for a couple of nights and it was so nice to break from the routine.

too bad they are so cute...

Very high risk for getting stolen :).

halloween prep

I've never really been into Halloween, but kids are great lubricants. A few prep photos from this evening.

fiiiiinn!

This is a common sight at home. Finn takes off down the sidewalk whenever he can. Glen has secretly followed him and he went 2 blocks before sitting in the middle of the side street. Awesome. But Mr cautious Elliott always runs after him for me and tries to lure him back home. This doesn't work but holds him off until I get there. Oh Finny. I am learning how to parent a risk-taker.

first leaf fall

So far Fall, my favorite time of year, has been so beautiful here. We all raked leafs this afternoon. Elliott actually contributing to family productivity for his first leaf-fall.  Something to look forward to for the future.

charlie bit my finger

this video never fails to impress.  post-thanksgiving laugh-a-thon.  

finn's first trip

We re-newed our membership to the wildlife park today. Good decision - both boys loved it. For $100 a year, I can't think of a better deal.  

On the train. Finn fascinated.

Goats!  

Their were some extra's today, including a dj. Elliott joined in on "hands up, baby hands up."

Art Festival

Another great kids event in kamloops. Elliott really loved making art this year and Finn was right in there for the clown act. Finn in orange, ej in blue.

surviving

We are all doing well actually. Elliott finished his first full week at school, and me at work, and Finny at daycare. So we celebrated with an ice cream in the park after dinner. Finny ended up eating most of his- thanks heavens the river was close for a clean-up afterwards.

penny

Phew- THAT was a challenging week and I am so glad that it is over. One of the curve-balls was that our cat Penny died suddenly on Thursday morning. We held off telling Elliott knowing that he would be upset. Last night we buried her in our backyard.  It was raining, elliott wailed and we sang songs. Penny was so awesome with our kids and we so loved her for that.

'twas the night before kindergarten...

And my elliott is so scared. "Not even a little bit mom" he said. New situations are his nemesis. He'll be great by the end of the week. We tried to distract him with fun stuff today. Like paper airplanes just before bath.

lollipop

I can't imagine a person ever enjoying a lollipop more than finn does. He sucks that think and only very occasionally does he take it out to stare at it. Sometimes I give them to him on car trips... they keep him very quiet for 30 min. These photos capture how serious he takes it.