Lost the camera

We misplaced it over the weekend so we had to rely on a friend to get photos of Big C's final 'nastics class.





He had a great time and has really improved over the session. I don't know that we'll put him in again. At almost $20 per 45 minute session I am just not sure that we can keep it going. Plus, by the time he has swimming on one day and then 'nastics on the other, it really starts to eat into his weekend (and ours).

He and daddy had a good time at the final class.

The lights are here! The lights are here!

As many of you know the City of Ottawa will take strands of your old-school incandescent Christmas lights and replace them with new LED lights. Last year they were able to do a 1-for-1 exchange, however due to the popularity of the program last year, this year they are using a 2-for-1 system. I took a few sets of old lights into a nearby school, so that the school actually gets the proceeds from the recycled copper, and patiently awaited my new lights.

Today is the day!

Here's a picture of what the beautiful new lights will look like when illuminated!

Monkey will be soooo pleased at all the beautiful colours!

While the boys are away, the adults will play

I had a birthday several months ago and my parents offered to give us a weekend without the kids as a present. We booked a bunch of fun stuff for this weekend. Among those things was 4 wheeling in Mallorytown with http://www.vanridgeatvtrails.com/. IT WAS SO MUCH FUN!!!! We went out for an hour with the friendliest guide I have ever met. His name is Paul and he was great.
Dave is in the blue jacket and I am in the teal green and purple jacket (that is so out of fashion that I think it might just be coming back in!!).
Dave's ATV got stuck in the muck twice. This time they had to use the winch to get him out-so cool!!!

Dave and I loved ripping around the backwoods on these things!!! If I didn't think that my neighbours would have kittens over the whole thing, I would get myself one!!

Helpful Older Brother

Monkey is a truly fantastic older brother. He likes to help Big C and Big C totally looks up to his big brother. The other day I sewed on the train badges that Grandpa scored for them at the train show. They both wear their vests almost daily so it made sense to put the badges there.

Once Big C's was done he wanted to put his vest on but he still can't zip it up on his own.

Enter Monkey, more than eagar to save the day. The vests are a HUGE hit. Thanks grandpa!!

SInging in the Rain

Yesterday Monkey suddenly came up to me and asked if he could go outside. It wasn't even pouring rain at the time, though that would come later, so the answer was a very quick 'of course!'. The boys suited up from head to toe and then were off. Monkey spent much of his time blowing his whistle and Big C was really interested in sweeping the rain from the bottom of the slide, but both had a great time.
Here are some shots of the shananigans:

The week that was

Wow - what a busy week. Well, more than a week actually. It was really rather a blur of days flying by.
Monkey has been doing really, really well. He had a 'perfect' week getting all 15 stickers and really impressing everyone in his life. This was certainly an outstanding accomplishment given that he was sick last weekend and mommy spent a lot of time and energy with him in recovery mode. Mommy's awesome that way. He's really a wonderful boy and I think that it took daddy staying with him all day Monday just hanging out with him to realize that he's a phenomenal little boy and a real pleasure be with.
Big C had an eventful week as well. We worked on a new plan in terms of his sleep - listening to the music CD's that used to put Monkey to sleep and having 15 minutes of playtime in his room before an official transition to sleep. It seems to have helped him turn a corner, or at least see the corner and get started towards it. Daddy realized that he needs to help his little guy out by being consistent and setting clear limits for his behaviour. He had a super time at pre-school on Camp Day - sleeping in a sleeping bag for naps and having Smores!
Mommy had a busy week at work. All is well and she should be proud of herself. I know that we all are.
Daddy had an outstanding leadership weekend. The kids were great. The organization flowed really smoothly. There were no big hiccups (there is usually at least one per year, if not 2 or 3). Everyone had a super time and the kids/staff are still talking about it in the hallways. It was nice to get some praise from the boss too.
Mimi had a good week at school with a couple of tests and lots of things on the go. She's really enjoying her dance class. She's also looking forward to the arrival of the Aussie's in the neighbourhood tonight. Our good friends will be hosting one of them, Penny, meaning that she'll have a teenager at hand everytime we get together with them.
We're all looking forward to a fun week ahead. I hope that it's a little less adventurous but just as much fun!

dog kisses-daily quote

Today we are over at a friend's house making cookies. They have a VERY friendly dog who likes the give out kisses, especially to children who are laying on the floor unable to defend themselves.

We got to the messy part of the cookie making and pulled off Monkey's shirt. I couldn't help myself with all of that skin, I just had to kiss him. He looked down and said "oh good, I'm glad you're not the dog"

Ottawa 67s Game

We all went to the Ottawa 67's game on the weekend to watch the Ottawa Mascots battle it out. Mimi had a lot of fun. I hear that there are car wash photos somewhere but I have not seen them...
Aunt Heather was Monkey's permanent seat.
Here's Mimi, still getting over the thrill of going through the car wash...
The mascots duelling it out. We have Dover Cat, the Killer Puck, the Ottawa Senators raccoon (???) and Gat the Cat

Big C peed on the potty to get popcorn
What would you guess was captivating this child's attention so completely? Hockey? Heck NO!
The intermissions have a ZAMBONI!!!!!

More smackdown...CHEO Bear was getting the Giant Tiger in the one while Gat lays it down on the killer puck.
And in the final Gat takes out CHEO Bear and a winner is declared!!