Just Hanging Around

These cold winter months keep us inside mostly. After the New Year - we got quite a cold snap, so we have been indoors more and more. We also have a big renovation project going on in our home (before and after shots of that project are coming soon), so our 'normal' has been a little out of whack. The kids have been busy with school, trying to stay healthy, swim lessons (for the older two) and playing with friends (whenever possible). Maddy has grown into quite the two year old even though she isn't two until May. She is practicing her Diva ways as well as practicing her tantrums. And let me tell you, she's quite good at it. My mom likes to say she's "spirited" which is a great understatement. Cute as a button and sharp as a knife though. And wonderful to snuggle with.

LET'S PLAY HOCKEY!

Cowgirl Maddy - they were trying on Halloween costumes.

Andrew in his chef dress up stuff. Andrew and Cailin like to run a restaurant out of our kitchen on cold days. They like to wait on us. They even offer to bring us 'a beer and bon-bons'.

Maddy LOVES to read. Just like her big brother and sister! And she's beginning to want to sit long enough to even finish a book. The 20 month old attention span is still quite short.

Maddy and Andrew. Madeline loves both of her siblings, but seems to just light up when Andrew is around. These two love to joke around, run and play together.

Cailin in her chef 'dress-up' gear.

All three kids!

Cute....

Just because she is cute.....

I wanted to post this.

Halloween 2012

Halloween this year was fun for everyone! The kids carved pumpkins

And all three kids went trick or treating this year. Madeline was a kitty, Andrew was an Ice Ninja (whatever that is) and Cailin was most appropriately an Angel. I told her she should ACT like an angel all the time. We'll see. They got boatloads of candy and had a great time!

All Three

Clean and ready for bed!

Cousin Time!

The cousin, Michael Matthew came in town last week and the cousins got to spend a lot of time playing together.

We played in the backyard.

We took a trip to the park.

And we just enjoyed playing together!

Apple Orchard

We visited the apple orchard this past weekend and had a wonderful time. The weather was perfect, warm and sunny.

The kids tried posing for a few pictures, but it was nearly impossible to get all three looking at the camera and smile at the same time.

So this is as close as we got.

And we had a blast playing as well!

First Day of School

The two older kids recently started school. Andrew began 1st Grade and Cailin began in 2nd Grade.

Both were VERY excited on the first day.

It still is very surreal to put your kids on a bus with a driver you've never met and send them on their way. They came home with the very same smiles.

And we had a wonderful dinner out (our first day of school family tradition) before heading early to bed.

Helping in the Garden

I usually have a few helpers when I'm working in the garden. One little one likes to eat anything I pull out of the garden. Especially tomatoes. This is my only child that eats raw tomatoes.

However, that's good because she really likes them and we have lots of them. Andrew comes out and helps as well. But he would rather play and talk to me and dig and spray the hose and fun stuff like that.

Cailin sometimes comes out to help. But she would much prefer to play on the iPad, the iPod, the iPhone or the iTouch. Or anything beginning with an "i".

"PRETTY!"

Well, when she says it, it sounds more like "PITY". But she is "pity" or pretty - either way, she's pretty cute!

Kamp Dels 2012

We did our annual trip to Kamp Dels this year and spent a nice long, hot week there. Having it hot was perfect. We spent most of the day, every day at the pool. We had rain overnight one night, but otherwise, it was toasty warm and sunny the whole week.

We had originally planned to go solo (just our family) but then our friends, the Frasers surprised us and ended up joining us for the week. And it was awesome because they were right next to us as well! The kids love to play together so it was a really fun suprise. Maddy loved roaming around the campsite.

The kids did bike rides.

We played at the playground.

Saw some cool animals at their 'farms'.

They rode ponies (the older two, Maddy wasn't quite old enough).

And of course, we played in the pool. A Lot!

And Mike even seemed to enjoy himself a wee little bit. Evenings after the kids went to bed, the four adults hung out by the campfire and visited while enjoying cocktails. It was a fantastic week!! We are already counting the days until our next trip, and who knows, we may stay even longer!! :)