Kat has something to show you!!

Finally lost it this morning!!! Steph and I got woken up to Kat running into the room, tooth in hand, screaming that it came out!! So she gets to use her "tooth fairy pillow" tonight and the tooth fairy will be visiting for the first time!! :)

A very Merry Christmas

Things are getting back to normal around here. The livingroom floor has been found, the girls are getting rested again and not so overwhelmed, the ground is still very white, the treats are still being enjoyed, and we are very thankful to have people love the girls so much! :)

The girls enjoyed each and every present that they opened.. we have played board games together, raced on the cars track, watched movies. The girls have played all of their leapster games, put together their puzzle, read some books, cuddled with new animals, worn new clothes, and there is still stuff in packages not yet played with. Dani isn't sleeping in her new bed yet, but she is definitely excited about it.

We had 2 wonderful home cooked dinners. First on Xmas eve - ham, scalloped potatoes, and corn. And then on Boxing day (despite mommy not feeling well) - Turkey, stuffing, carrots, green beans, mashed potatoes, and rolls. Yum Yum!! plus of course, the treats. My famous molasses cookies, sugar cookies decorated by the girls, chocolate chip cookies, fudge (which only really lasted a day), plus many store bought chocolates.

We all missed our families during these holidays, but we had a great time with just the 5 of us. Made everything special. Continued with some traditions (going to look at the Christmas lights on Christmas eve). And started some new traditions (making "Monkey Bread" on Christmas morning). And whether family was with us or not, we got to enjoy the company of my parents and Carole and Dan via Skype while the girls opened their presents from them. So even many miles away, still got some special moments with our families.

Some of the favourites of the girls... hmm.. For Kat, she is in heaven when listening to her MP3 player. She adores cuddling with her WebKinz kitty.. And of course, she LOVES all of her Littlest Pet shop stuff. :) Ellie.. She is enjoying all of the Leapster games (new challenges). She is enjoying her sister's Littlest Pet Shop stuff. They are both really enjoying the cars racing game.
Dani.. she is really enjoying alot.. maybe even everything.. Even the simple things like her new sippy cup she loves. What can I say.. she is easy to please. She loves the inch along ride on thing.. She loves her babies.. She loves her "Freezer" (polar bear), and her Pablo doll. She is quite disappointed of the things that she can't have (mainly - the chocolates). And of course, being the youngest, she loves torturing her sisters by taking all their toys. ;)

And for the first year since we have been together, both Steph and I spoiled each other. Most years, Steph did a wonderful job making me feel special, but me making little or no money, never felt right doing the same back.. But this year.. just had to. So we got to enjoy wonderful gifts as well. :)

I hope everyone else had a wonderful Christmas. :)

And of course : PICTURES :)

Our Christmas

Apologies : the computer just wasn't keeping up for some reason, so i didn't get a chance to rearrange them or flip them.

Meeting Santa

Kat & Santa Ellie & Santa

Dani & Santa

Twas the week before Christmas......

And the children were full of excitement and bouncing off the walls. ;)

First big news : Merry Christmas to us.. And a big congratulations to Steph. His promotion board was on Tuesday Dec 11th.. and although the interview didn't go perfectly, the write ups that his previous boss, and a previous coworker gave him was enough to sway the panel. So as of the date of the interview, Steph got a nice $7000 raise!!! Although it is still conditional, the paper work still needs to go through and everything needs to get finalized, but it will come soon enough.
Both of his trips in December went well.. The first was long and hetic. But the second, although it started on a stressful note (the promotion), was a nice trip for him. He met up with a couple of friends in Ottawa, and got to actually relax a little in the hotel.

On Sunday (16th), we headed to the Tax Centre for a small Christmas party for the federal employees - but it was just for the kids. ;) Food, crafts, big bounce house, and of course the jolly guy himself - riding in his red pick up truck. 2 of the 3 girls liked Santa, but the 3rd - obviously Dani - sat on him, but didn't enjoy it at all!! But they each enjoyed the present that "Santa" brought for them. Kat received a barbie doll with 2 sets of clothes, Ellie a travel Aquadoodle, and Dani got a look and find Backyardigans book. So they were quite happy.

Kat had her first field trip this week with her kindergarten class. They went to Studio 12 (the big movie theatre) and saw "Happy Feet" (in French). She had a blast of course. Though a little bit of worry on Mommy's end when she didn't arrive home on the noon bus, but found out they had missed that bus, and after all the kids were picked up (Kat is the only French Kindergartener to take the bus home), her teacher drove her home (after finding a car he could borrow that had a carseat LOL).

Today, was another big first for Kat. Today was her Christmas concert! All the little kindergarteners were up on the stage and sang i think 6 songs in total - some in english, some in french, and some mixed. She was cute and did a great job. And afterwards, her and a little boy got to present the teachers aid a little present to thank her for all the help in their classes (she was there from September, and today was her last day). Kat adored her, so it's nice that she got to be a presenter.

Friday is the last day of school for Kat until Jan 7th. And it begins the Christmas holiday for us (well almost... Steph is planning on going into work for a half day or so on Monday).

Another big thing has happened around here. Since this week is just full of firsts for Kat's, is it any surprise that she has yet another first.. Tuesday mid morning she came to me and said that her bottom front tooth hurt but it only hurt when she moved it. Yup.. one look and there was no doubt - she has her first loose tooth. :) Boy, when i told her that it was loose, she was bouncing off the walls excited. Asking to eat apples and pears - because you loose your teeth is hard fruits - and looking at the calendar trying to figure out which day she would loose it. As of bedtime tonight (Thursday), she has not lost it, but it's definitely on the way. Part of me really hopes she hangs on to it until Xmas day, because ***shhhhhhh*** she has a tooth fairy pillow in the stocking from my parents (thanks mama and papa!! Perfect Timing!!). So now the question that we are asking ourselves - what is the going rate of the tooth fairy these days? LOL According to Kat it's "5 coins and a present". Where she got that total is beyond me!! LOL

I can't even begin to describe the excitement around here. It's electric! :) The countdown is well on it's way, and we look at the calendar many times each day to see how many days until Christmas.

And yes yes.. I know.. Pictures need to be posted. I am planning on getting a few up tomorrow, but right now, a bunch of presents and a few rolls of wrapping paper is calling my name. (since i can say the children are nestled and snug in their beds). And pictures i can upload at any time, but i can't wrap at any time. ;)

Dec 13th... Really??

This is the view this morning from our Kitchen.. Yup.. the snow is up to Kat's waist!!!

Dani going through the path that I dug out so that Kat could get to the bus. At one point, the back reached her shoulders!

Ellie between the car and the side snow bank. Given, that we had a hill there before the snow, but already, mid december, it's already that high!

And according to averages, January is going to dumping even more snow on us! All I can say is Kat and Ellie are in snow heaven!!! :)

Round 2 has Started

The Girls and I survived the week last week without Daddy, but it definitely had its rough points - sister induced injuries, arguing, yelling, etc. What can I say? They missed him, and they each have their unique ways of showing it. Kat and Ellie get on each others nerves. Kat gets annoyed at everything anyone does. Dani is the calm one and she will just look at pictures of Daddy and give kisses. But despite it all, we did make it through the week, and enjoyed Daddy arriving home late Saturday night. And we enjoyed his company all day Sunday.

But Monday rolls around, and off he goes again. Took off this afternoon for 4 days in Ottawa. He has his Promotion board hearing tomorrow (Tuesday) afternoon, and an unrelated meeting (for his current) job on Thursday. So a definitely laid back trip compared to last week. He will actually be able to rest a little, meet up with some friends in Ottawa, and meet up with some
past coworkers/boss.

So i have my fingers crossed that this week will go better than last week. It's only 4 bedtimes, and then the girls have him back at bedtime on Friday.

On an unrelated matter.. I cut Ellie's hair last night. She has been wanting it cut for a long time now, but i can admit, i was scared to get it cut because i just adore her curls. And since she was more concerned about length, I thought i would just snip a little off.

Before :

and AFTER :
I still have to get a pic with the hair dry. Looks good though. Much fuller. I'm still a little shocked at myself for doing that. It was a complete spur of the moment decision. But she is happy and really that is all that matters!

He's safe

Despite a long trip - over 6 hours on a plane, and a very short layover in Toronto (15 minutes),Steph made it to Ottawa safe - though a little lighter than he arrived. Because of the delay in St. John's and in Halifax, he only had15 minutes to transfer planes in TO, and well, his bags never made that connection. Luckily, it happened at a place where several planes travel between, so it did make it last night, and arrived at the hotel at 1am. *yawn*

But the important thing is that he did make it, and he is headed for a very long day today between the conference and the banquet.

And while me and the girls had a rough start with being just the girls - a couple of sister induced injuries - I hope it was just a one time deal, and today will go better. Of course, we all miss him, and the next 2 weeks will be tough without him, but we are going to keep busy.

Found a new way off.

Steph is headed to Ottawa. A little round about, but he is still getting there today rather than tomorrow. Leaves St. Johns, heads to Halifax, then to Toronto, before touching down in Ottawa. Phew.

Hopefully all the planes are happy, and get him there without too many delays.

No way off the Rock

The weather has thrown us quite the stinger. While Ottawa was enjoying 25-35cm of snow, and upper Ontario was enjoying a nice dump of snow as well, St. John's was hit with some as well. Rumours had told us that usually the snow came after Christmas.. That on a normal year,it was green here until January.

Well Mother Nature had different plans.

Steph was meant to be on a plane at 3pm Sunday. Even though the roads were slick, and the snow / rain was falling, he packed his bags, and headed via taxi to the airport at 2, since the info online said the airport was still running as smoothly as possible. He was back home at 4pm with a new flight scheduled for Monday early morning. Flight was delayed and then outright cancelled. And shortly after, almost all the flights followed suit. And by 8pm, his morning flight had been cancelled. Not a good way to start a conference. After a while of checking the flights online, he started the long wait on hold. Two phones, on hold with two different numbers. By the time he got through almost all the flights were booked solid for Monday. So he got booked on the early Tuesday morning flight. Almost seconds after hanging up, power goes out. We are left in the dark in the basement with no flashlight on this floor, except for the glow from the cell phone. Got the house set up - battery powered night light in the girls room, candles in the bathroom and our bedroom, and we settled in for the long night. The worse of the night was the wind. Crazy 100km/h gusts.

And Daddy being in bed this morning didn't even phase the girls. No questioning looks, no puzzled "why are you still here?". And of course with the clocks flashing, the 2 older girls were up before 7am. And even though the snow / rain continues to fall, all the schools are open, and the buses running, so Kat went to school like normal this morning. Never was a child so excited to go to school. Was it the fact that it was gym day? Or the fact that the snowsuit was put on, and she got to stomp through the inches of sticky snow? Either way, she had a blast while waiting for the bus.

Later this morning, we will head out to try to find the driveway. It is somewhere under that snow. And the camera will be coming out to take pictures of the white sticky stuff that covers everything. There should be some good shots because of the wind blowing while it fell, so it stuck in odd places.

I hope everyone else under a pile of snow is doing well. :) And fingers crossed that Steph will make it to the conference tomorrow with no additional delays in the flights.