New Babies!

There is nothing better then be reminded of just how little my babies used to be. How quickly that time flies. I was fortunate to spend a morning some friends from grade school. You know the ones you vowed to never lose touch with. Between the bunch of us we have all maintained some connections! It is so hard to believe that between the 6 of us there are a total of 11 children so far.

This Girl

Amazes me with her enthusiasm, sincerity, thoughtfulness, humor...she is just so much fun!

She and S did a little performance for us again tonight. It involved Fred Penner, dancing and a lot of giggling! S had the idea and was all ready to perform on his own, but couldn't do it...so she picked right up and began to encourage him to do his act and then started herself giving him the confidence to join in. Here is a shot following their performance. :)

I'm sure I posted about R and how she is not interested in walking, but she now has those feet moving and will walk for short distances if we hold her hands. These feet will soon be pitter-pattering around the house, running in the grass and playing at school (I'm going to miss this stage).

Extending Christmas!

The same day S got his dinosaur dig in the mail we also got a game from Uncle Trevor! The kids have been practicing a steady hand with Operation. They love the game and ask everyone to play it with them. Grandpa had a quick game with T before he brought S to school this morning. Thank goodness for Gramps with the 60km/hour wind I really didn't want to take little R out on the toboggan in this weather. R is getting around despite her gross motor challenges :) She is just not interested in walking so she scored very low in her gross motor skills at her immunization. I'm certainly not concerned...she is just content to do the army crawl. She is curious and gets around, climbs into things and love playing peek-a-boo.
S has been working on his dinosaur and now has two coats of paint on it...next is the white and it should be complete!

I'm off to play Operation :) T has it all set up!

Digging for a dinosaur

S got a nice little gift from Aunt Robyn and Uncle Dave. It was a lot of fun but wow, did it ever make a mess! There were little pieces of gravel across our kitchen, into the living room and down the hall.



It has been a quiet weekend. We went out for some drinks with friends on Friday night. Did some practicing for my photography course yesterday and today it is off to see Veggie Tales. S is concerned about how noisy it is in the theater and did not want to go until we suggested ear plugs. We will see how it works! Happy Sunday.

Embrace

So I have finally chosen a word for the year - Embrace. This word has been such a great reminder to me. When I have been feeling negative, frustrated and overwhelmed I remind myself to embrace the moment for I will not get it back.

Right in the realms of embracing Preston and I have decided to dedicate an evening a week to read through and work on the Raising your spirited child workbook by Mary Sheedy Kurcinka http://www.parentchildhelp.com/. We had our first "session" this week and how insightful for both of us! We spent a good couple of hours and made it through only a couple of pages. I want to embrace each of my children's differences and work with them - I really think this book is going to help!

And I am going to Embrace the opportunity I have found in running my own business. I am in such a busy stage of my life and know the business can overwhelm me but there are changes coming. One will be a move to the mall. Keep posted for more details to come!

Today I have been watching my children playing together. Using their imaginations, being kind and helpful to one another - what an amazingly easy day to embrace! Here they are playing having dinner by candlelight!



Sorry for the overuse of the word but I'm sure you will hear A LOT of it in 2008!

Beautiful!

What an amazing winter day for us Manitobans! All I can say is WOW! I did not hear what the actual temperature ended up at but I know the forecasted high was +3! We spent the afternoon at the snow hill tobogganing, and then the two guys went skating at the outdoor rink near our house.

Tomorrow we start back into our routine of school and preschool. Which reminds me I need to go make a lunch for S. First full day of school and then back into Creative Movement tomorrow evening. I'm sure he will be wiped!

Some new pics of baby R.

My Baby is One!

It is hard to believe a whole year has passed. Last night was a tough night for me knowing my baby was leaving babyhood (one always is marker for me). She is such a sweet little girl. So content and easy to please. She is learning things so quickly she was even holding up one finger today when asked how old she was.

We had a little party with family tonight. She looked a little unsure when we were all singing and holding a cake with a candle in front of her. She slowly touched the cake as she looked to us for permission. Gradually her fingers got deeper and deeper into her cake and before long like any type of food placed in front of her she ate the WHOLE thing!

What a perfect age and stage. I love all the ways she reminds me of what is important in life. I am looking forward to watching who she will become but also not interested in rushing the process. She is my baby and may always be...I want to savor each moment. Such a privilege to have her in my life!