Welcome Ellen and May!

Yesterday I started "working" for a 5 month stint. Yup, in the home though and something I can do fairly easily while doing what I am already doing; being a Mom. Now to 5 kids. Ellen and May, both 11 years old (same grade and school as Jade and Sara, but they don't know each other) arrived yesterday from China. They were really tired last night and pretty quiet... but this can all change in a matter of a few days as they get more comfortable and not jet-lagged. Lucky them, arrived to their first experience in Canada with a white blanket of snow on the ground. Out they went... guess we won't have to go to Mt. Seymour this time 'round. :)

Here is Alexa holding the 2 Girls and smiling Luke behind (while we waited for the Student's arrival)

Ellen:

May:

E is for Ellen and M is for May

I made these letters for decor for their room...

Sherry's Yummy Dessert

I have to post this recipe for you... mmmm, it's good and not too bad for you either! :) Gotta like recipes like that.

Bring 1 brick cream cheese (light or regular; light if you are counting calories) to room temperature. Stir into the cream cheese, Butterscotch ice cream Topping. Spread into a shallow dish, like a pie plate. Drizzle with Butterscotch Topping and top with broken Skor Bar (1 or 2 bars, depends how much you want). Use Granny Smith apples to dip into the cream cheese! Mmmm, soooo good! :) Enjoy!

Thanks Sherry for allowing me to post this recipe! (Sherry, this is from memory, it's right, right?)

Robins in the snow

Well, not our friends "the Robins" in Saskatchewan, but about 30-40 (no joke) Robins in our trees in the backyard for the past 20-30 minutes and they are still there, just hanging out! Have no idea why they have flocked to our backyard, but they have and it was really neat to see them all descend here at the same time!crazy, eh?and yes, snow! We've had snow most of the day today and most of the night last night. We had and maybe continue to have (?) a Snowfall Warning. School was cancelled today for Elijah, but most others were open today. I need to get groceries today yet before our 2 Chinese Students

arrival tomorrow... so out in the snow I must go (and to workout of course, next door). :)

Little Friends

On Saturday we went over to Devin and Sherry's for a lovely dinner (thanks!). It was high-time I got a picture of Gabi and Luci together.
Luci is almost 3 months and Gabi is 6.5 months.Samuel and Marayah, 6 months apart

now, this is easier!

Now that Gabi can sit and we pulled out her ring, she has been able to bathe with her brothers! Makes for easier and faster and more baths for Gabi! Yea! The boys love that she can get in there with them.
Alexa said I hadn't updated my blog in a bit, so she didn't feel bad for not updating hers for a bit either... well, now I have some posts to do from pictures still on my camera!

Bob the Builder Party

On Sunday we had Samuel's "friends" party! We did a Bob the Builder theme for him... one of his favourites. We invited over 4 other friends who will be 2 this year (so, born in 2006 too): Marayah, Jessie, Nathan and Marty. It was a good time!

we played:

we snacked:

the cake, simple but fun:

we sang Happy Birthday:

Sammy opened gifts, thank you for the nice gifts everyone:the cute little ones, of course Samuel is the oldest here b/c he is the first birth-day of the year

THANK YOU friends for coming to celebrate with us and for bringing your Mommy or Daddy here with you!

Last week Monday we went to Alexa's for a play time and visit with her and Ainsley, Camille and Meredith. Meredith and Gabi are only about 5 days apart! I had forgotten that Meredith was so close in age to Gabi b/c she just seemed older to me; I was thinking she was one of the few May Babies that I know! Alexa figured out that all three of us have the same GAP dress for our girls, so during this visit we put them all in the dress and had to take a picture! Great idea!
and on Friday night the "girls" went over to Miriam's for a visit, so we put one of the many matching shirts/outfits we have for Erin and Gabi, on and snapped some pictures:
Erin, 4 1/2 months; Gabi 6 months. Erin is about 1inch longer than Gabi!

6 Months

Well, no suprise, but Gabi is a month older this month! 6 months. She's into a new phase; one that is more "child-like" than "baby-like" in how she acts, sits, eats, interacts... we just love it! I weighed her yesterday at the Doctor and she is 13lbs. That's what I thought. She is wearing some 3-6month stuff still, and more and more 6-12month stuff. Her arms seem short though b/c I am always having to roll up the sleeves on shirts, like this one.
Gabriella started something last week, that our friend Kevin in Niagara, would LOVE!!!! She sits and then she rocks. Kevin does this too! We really want to show you a video clip of her doing it, Kev, because everytime she does we think of you! She does it a bit more violently though! At the Watoto Concert the other night I had her on my lap, using my hands as her seatbelt and she just went to town - pounding my chest with her head so hard; the man sitting beside me whispered something about this being the new method of CPR! LOL.
Gabriella now rolls over. She's usually sitting though, but the odd time I have her on her back, she graciously rolls to her stomach. She doesn't like to be on her tummy for long though and I'm not sure if she can roll back onto her back yet or not.
Here she is with her favourite teddy bear. When she is tired, I lay her in her bed and put this bear basically on top of her face. Immediate touch of the bear, when tired, brings her thumb to her mouth and she is off in LaLa Land. So sweet.Her outfit is from two of my friends here... Korinne: do you recognize her shirt? And Julie: the Old Navy skirt and tights?! Thanks girls!

Grandpa and Samuel's Party

This afternoon we went over to Mom and Dad's for dinner for the purpose of celebrating two special Men: Dad/Grandpa and Samuel. Of course Sammy's birthday is Jan 1 and well, Dad's Birthday is January 3rd. I am sure the two of them won't mind sharing the Family Party for years and years to come!

We had a wonderful Roast Beef dinner and a yummy ice cream cake for dessert! Samuel was blessed with lots of love and joy in his honor and wonderful gifts from everyone! Grandpa and Grandma give each child a load of toonies on their birthday which they collected throughout the year - this sum is deposited into a Mutual Fund for future. They also got Samuel a cool Mega Blocks Hauler. Beppe gave him a "Cars" framed print which is already hanging up in his room! Uncle Matt filled a gift bag with a Cars shirt, cars Underwear that are a BIG hit and Madagascar sticker book (another favourite of his and Elijah's). And Uncle Paul and Carla gave Samuel a great "Cars" quilt for his new bed (post to come one of these days)! Thanks so much everyone for all these great gifts for Samuel!
After we had our presents and cake, Matt, Paul, Carla, Elijah, Gabi and I headed over to a local church to see the Watoto Children's Choir perform. Always a treat to hear these children sing and tell their stories:

Company from Caronport!

Mel and her Family were here for Christmas and so we got the pleasure of having her and her beautiful girls come over for a visit! It was lovely to see how much Karissa has grown (last I'd seen her was not long after she was born, nearly 2 years ago) and to meet Baby Chloe! Another Girl born in '07... it's un-canny how many Girls born last year that we know of!
Here are Chloe and Gabriella - 6 weeks apart in age (born same weekend, maybe even same day, as Calleigh)Chloe is quite a bit bigger than Gabi, but then again who isn't?!they were so sweet together... Chloe just pastes on that smile every time the camera is lifted up! Adorable! Gabi is becoming famous for being the "soother-thief"! Here she is pulling on Chloe's and she takes Sammy's out of his mouth too; it's hilarious!Chloe didn't seem to mind:
Then Karissa and Samuel are 11 days apart... so we saved a portion of that "igloo" for a morning birthday treat for the kids. I think they quite enjoyed it!Thanks for the great visit, Mel! Your daughters are precious! Come again!so cute, eh?!

Happy Birthday Samuel!

Well, my middle baby is now two. TWO. Man, where does the time go? He's a little cutey. I just love him to bits. Sammy talks so well; he's been doing 4 word sentences for awhile already... he has taken an interest in going pee on the toilet... he still gets me up at night (LOL)... he loves to play cars... he loves to help out with whatever needs a hand...
this past week he had his second birthday. On Monday we went to Chuck E Cheese as a Family, which he loved and had requested, and to BP for lunch. Of course, his birthday being January 1st is kinda a toughy... so his "friends" party will be coming up this weekend. I always thought (since he was born) that maybe I'd incorporate a birthday party on his half-birthday as he got older... but now I can't! That's basically exactly when Gabriella was born! LOL. Oh well. If I postpone his birthday just a couple weeks, that helps a bit too from being soo and too close to Christmas Festivities. Poor guy.
Excuse this terribly iced cake. Samuel and I baked it together on his birthday, because you can't have a birthday without cake, even if a few more cakes are coming yet! We called this an "igloo" cake - kinda along the lines of that book by Jane Brett, "The Three Snow Bears". Anyway, didn't really matter - he got his candles, his song and to eat some!
Happy Birthday Son!

Finally, I can eat!

Gabriella has been ready for food for a few weeks already; but to tell you the truth, I wasn't! It is much easier to just nurse her and not have to prepare cereal/baby food for her and knowing Christmas busyness was right around the corner, I made Gabi wait. To her enjoyment, she got her first taste of rice cereal on Boxing Day! Hooray! Gabi is thinking, "finally, Mom."
She loved it, as expected!
I gave her sweet potatoe and Baby MumMums since and she has loved both of these as well!
And, what did Daddy give her at Boston Pizza last week? Take a look:she went to town on it actually... then after a bit, the puckering began!

Baby's First Christmas

Gabriella's First Christmas... she had naps during most of the actual gift openings, but also got her own turn too.First real doll from Aunt Josie - thanks!Posing with her stocking gifts, Eve gifts and morning gifts
Santa Baby! On Sunday at my Uncle Will's house:

Christmas Day

At about 11:30, we headed over to Mom and Dad's for Christmas! We had a great day. This year we decorated Gingerbread cookies - more for the sake of the 4 Students we had, but maybe we can start this as a new tradition?! We had a wonderful Ham dinner; opened gifts, played games... it was a wonderful and even a white Christmas.