Gingerbread Train

Matthew, Michael and I spent the afternoon putting together this great Gingerbread Train kit that Nana and Papa gave them. The boys ate a ton of candy, but still managed to cover the whole train. Michael ate all the candy canes. Matthew was ok with that though as he does not like them. I wonder if the train will last to the weekend I had to do a lot of convincing to get them not to start eating the train for dessert tonight.

Karate Classes

Matthew attended his first karate class this week. He loved it, so at the end of the class we bought him a uniform (which comes with one free month of classes).
The classes focus on self-discipline, strength building, safety, memory skills and lots of fun!

See and download the full gallery on posterous

Happy 70th Birthday Uncle Jack!

We had a great time at Uncle Jack's birthday party this afternoon. The boys got to eat cake and other goodies, play with  Joey and Logan, and see lots of other family including Grandma and Grandpa and  Auntie Sammy.
Matthew is looking forward to visiting Uncle Jack soon and playing some Wii with him.

Happy Halloween!

It has been a full weekend of Halloween fun. Friday we went to the Fall Fun Fest at school. Lots of games, a crawling maze, a cake walk, and lots of Matthew's kindergarten friends. Saturday we carved pumpkins and practiced wearing our costumes. Finally Sunday - TRICK-OR-TREATING! The rain held long enough for my monsters to run around our neighbourhood until they were too tired to keep going (about 7:45pm). Matthew dressed as Sully from Monsters Inc. and Michael was Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc. Such adorable monsters!

Birds of Prey

It has been a LONG time since I posted. Since my last post Matthew has started kindergarten, I have a new teaching position and Michael turned 2! Matthew's new kindergarten teacher is amazing! I am lucky enough to volunterr in the class most Tuesdays. They have been studying crows and birds of prey. They even had a Harris Hawk and a North American Kestrel come visit their class.

Matthew was a little scared to stand so close to the screeching birds.

Go CANADA!

Today was a day full of Olympic sights. Just shortly after breakfast we saw the torch run past our house.

Then I took Matthew to school with me. Our whole school walked to Burnaby Village Museum to see the torch pass through there.

Finally we had Dale Walters (Bronze medal winner - Boxing Bantam weight in the 80's and dad of one of the Gilpin students) and Shawn O'Sullivan (Gold Medal winner for boxing in the 80's) visit our school.

Matthew and I even had a chance to hold a torch that was part of the relay on Wed. Feb 10th.

Michael also got to hold a torch (they were handing them out in the morning when we saw the torch in the dark.) Every time he holds it up high he cheers like he heard everyone cheer this morning. Too cute.

I can't wait to see the Opening Ceremonies now. One more day!

Using the Potty!

Well, we have had a busy holiday season and it doesn't seem to be slowing down. But in the midst of all the bustle Michael has decided to potty train. Out of the blue he pulled me into the bathroom, said "Pee." Then when I out him on the toilet he actually peed and poohed! Yeah, Michael! Since that first occassion he has asked 2 more times with results both times. Could we be diaper free before two?

Santa's haircut

This whole Santa business can get tricky - and Matthew is only 4! We were sitting admiring our new Santa photo when Matthew asks me why Santa's beard was so short this year and more grey than silver. I claimed that I didn't notice any difference, so he went a got last year's photo to show me. Sure enough, last year Santa had a (fake) long, luxurious silver beard. This year Santa's beard was grey, shorter and much coarser (and real!)

I quickly explained to Matthew that just like everyone else, Santa needs to trim his hair and he must have done it recently. As for the silver/grey discrepancy I think he forgot about it while we were discussing Santa's haircut. Good thing too because I'm not sure what I would say.

If you have any suggestions let me know - the topic is likel to come up again knowing Matthew.

I forgot to tell Santa what I want for Christmas!!!

This was my last day off before Christmas break begins and the malls really get crazy, so I thought I would take them to see Santa. We were the first people in line to see the Big Guy and only two other families were waiting. Great! Matthew immediately sat on Santa's lap, Michael too. Within a second though Michael was screaming and reaching for me. We tried to calm him down - no luck. So I resigned myself to the idea of a photo of Matthew only with Santa. They took the photos. Then Santa was chatting with Matthew and gave him a candy cane. Santa also offered a candy cane to Michael. All of a sudden Santa was Michael's best friend! The VERY kind ladies at Santa's workshop noticed and suggested we quickly try to take a photo of Santa with both boys. It worked out beautifully (if you look closely Michael has a candy cane in each hand).
I was so thrilled we were there at such a quiet time as I am sure they would not have so patiently allowed us to sit with Santa for so long if it was a crazy shopping day.

I was thrilled with their photo and thought we had somehow managed to have a relatively stress free trip to see Santa, until we were in the van on the way home and Matthew blurts out "I forgot to tell Santa what I want for Christmas!!"

We decided to write Santa a letter instead of returning to the mall.

SNOW!!!!

This Sunday we got a bit of snow. Starting first thing in the morning Matthew was asking to go sledding (the snow wasn't even sticky to the ground). But by the afternoon there was a bit sticking to the ground so away we went. There was a whole crew of boys from the complex that went over to the school hill. They had a blast. Some of the bigger kids took turns going downhill with the little ones or pulling them on the sled. Michael liked to lie down on the sled either way.
(Michael is not falling off - he is purposely laing down and dragging his arms through the snow.)

Matthew learned from the bigger boys how to run, dive and slide head first down the hill.

Only one injury, when Matthew and Joel flipped the sled and snowplowed through the thin layer of snow and right into the gravel - with his face. Road rash! But he got up and kept on playing (after a minute of tears). Not too serious though.

With VERY rosy cheeks (we spent nearly 3 hours out in the snow), we all headed indoors for some hot chocolate and marshmallows. What a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon!

Christmas Concert

Matthew had his first stage performance today. He played Frosty the snowman in his preschool performance. I was impressed that he did not get stage fright as the Terry Fox Theatre in PoCo was packed with parents and grandparents to see the production.

I unfortunately had to edit the video because it was too large to upload, but you still get to see most of the performance ( I just cut the beginning where he is supposed to be standing still).

We were very proud of our little snowman. (In case you didn't recognize him he was the one in the red scarf.)

He had a long wait before his part of the show. The boy next to him kept him entertained. At one point he even tried to eat Matthew's carrot nose - too cute.

They spotted Santa up on the balcony of the theatre and were a lile distracted. They even started waving at him.

This was Matthew as he sat on the stage and started to see the theatre fill up with people - just a little stunned, but he survived.

First Skating Lessons

This Saturday was Matthew's first skating lesson. His instructor Anthony is a fun guy. To get the kids out on the ice he skated each one out and plopped them on the ice. Then they spent a lot of time crawling around on the ice, laying on their tummies, and trying to stand up.

Once Anthony got them up on their fee he had them practice stomping their feet to make ice shavings. That's when most of them lost their balance and fell. No wonder they all have to wear snowsuits and full face helmets.

Despite spending most of the time sitting or crawling on the ice Matthew had a great time and can' wait to go back next week. Maybe he'll actually stand up on his own next week.

Hockey Gear

Matthew is getting ready for his first skating lessons. He is so excited to learn so he can start hockey lessons.

Happy Halloween!

What a perfect night! The weather was warm and dry - we couldn't ask for anything better. There was even a nearly full moon which made for a bright evening. The boys had comfortable, cute costumes and a gang of friends to trick-or-treat with. We went out with Joel & Cooper, Marcus & Victoria, and Tristan.

Matthew is a very handsome Batman - Dark Knight. Everyone LOVED Michael's little monkey suit. The banana in the back pocket was a cute finishing touch. The way he waddled he truly looked like a little monkey.
Matthew of course knew what Halloween was all about, but Michael caught on quite quickly. He was running up to doors with the big kids, pushing his way to the front and then reaching into the bowls of candy and helping himself. Everyone thought he was so adorable they let him take as much as he wanted. He either really likes the colour orange or he loves peanut butter because he seemed to grab alot of reeses peanut butter cups and reeses pieces.

After we finished trick or treating in our complex I dropped Michael off at home with John so Matthew and I could continue trick-or-treating with the big kids. We also got Matthew a new bag since his was getting so heavy. At the end of the night we came home for a hot drink and
Matthew got to eat some of his treats. We dumped all of his goodies out on the table (no this doesn't not include all the candies Michael got!) and he sorted through it all. When we said it was time to go to bed he actually asked if he could have another minute to look at all his candy. He was in heaven.


Matthew thinks he has enough treats to last him until NEXT HALLOWEEN!

A day at the PNE

We have had a fun-filled summer, which I will likely not get around to blogging. Sorry. But as we start to think about returning to school and work I will hopefully be better at regularly updating the blog again.

Yesterday we had a fabulous big kids day at the PNE. My friend,Lauretta, and I took Katie and Matthew for a day of junk food and rides - without the little siblings. It was a big treat for us all.

Apparently Matthew thinks we live in Britain - every car ride today he chose the right hand drive.

The kids rode all the junior rides. Matthew was aching to try the big kid rides too - he'll have to wait a few years unfortunately.

This look of joy was permanently etched on Matthew's face during
the roller coaster ride.

The cotton candy was a big hit too!

Both kids bravely stuck their heads in the lion's mouth
as well.

Happy Birthday, Michael!

Although Michael won't officially be one year old until the 30th, we celebrated this past Sunday with Nana, Papa, Grandma & Grandpa Dixon and Aunty Sammy. Aunty Heather and Uncle Corey were in Europe on their honeymoon, so they missed the festivities.

Michael was beaming as we all sang to him, and he did make an attempt at blowing out his candles, but Matthew beat him to it. What a helpful big brother!

As soon as the cake was set down within Michael's reach he grabbed a fist full of blue icing! What a monkey.
We offered him a piece of cake, but he really didn't seem to like it. We have noticed that Michael doesn't have much of a sweet tooth. He did enjoy squashing it though and rubbing it all over his body.

Once everyone had a piece of cake Michael was ready to join the blueman group, so we gave him a speedy bath so he could open his gifts with out recoloring the living room.

This is a shot of the birthday gang. Michael will have to get used to sharing his birthday with the rest of the family (not to mention many friends with birthdays at the end of June too). Papa (June 29th), Aunty Sammy (June 24th), Grandpa (June 26th).Michael knew just what to do with all the gifts too. He grabbed envelopes first, let Matthew open everything, and then settled down to play with a few things while I unwrapped things like clothing and cards.

Once everyone had gone home Michael had a nap. In the evening we took a nice picnic dinner to Harrier Park and let the boys play in the evening sun.

It was a wonderful day to bring to an end Michael's First Fabulous Year.