What a busy and incredibly PEOPLE filled weekend I have had! Saturday we first had Ada and Nathan come by for a relaxing afternoon of visiting. The boys were overjoyed to have Uncle Nathan to wrestle with. I think we ate a whole loaf of banana chocolate chip bread! They had not been over since our December Christmas party. They are supposed to join us for a little Chinese New Year celebration on the 14th and again the following weekend for the boys’ joint birthday party.

Caught her chewing but can you see the baby bump!! Hi Baby !!!

Later that afternoon Karyn managed to make it over. Apparently the roads were not very good and LOTS of cars were in the ditch! Once Ken had a brief nap Karyn and I headed out to THE Mall to do a little shopping. Karyn at Sephora and myself at The Body Shop. They brought back the Cocoa Butter Moisturising Stick that is meant for helping avoid stretch marks. A nice and subtle smell.

The next adventure was a new restaurant… new to us and new to the area. Well the second of its kind to the city – the Rice Pad. It was sent in a little strip mall next to stores like Subway and the like… walking in it is DEFINITELY a family run lovely sit down restaurant. They specialize in Chines, Vietnamese and Thai cuisine cooked traditionally. This included my favourite – LEMONGRASS!! We ordered beef and broccoli, Lemongrass chicken and a medium rice with a pepsi for me and a lemon soda for Karyn. All of that before tip was just under 37.00. Very yummy!

Karyn with our yummy meal!!

When we got back from our meal Ken headed out and picked up Sean, his laundry and his computer. Which meant a relatively quiet night leaving Karyn and I to do our individual crafts – her crochet and my cross stitch while the guys played on their computers. Though for some reason when I went to bed late that night… just couldn’t fall asleep. Exhausted but nothing doing!

The next day Karyn and I headed out to check and see if Superstore really carried a brand of cloth diapers with disposable liners called gDiapers. I am finding them harder to find than I thought they would be but am hoping they are comparable in price to disposable as I would really like to give them a try with Baby #5. The one store I called I think has an early version they are liquidating… two more stores – out of stock with varying prices. They are rather interesting diapers… according to the site they have a reusable outer piece and then a liner that you can either get as a disposable one or a reusable. Now if I could just get my hands on some to look at. I am sure the initial investment will be a little but but after that…

We also headed over to Red Robin for a late lunch. I absolutely LOVE their strawberry lemonade. Karyn and I got home in time to meet up with my mom with Harley the not so little puppy in tow. Of course the boys were in heaven – Grandma, the dog AND she brought craft supplies! They stayed well into the afternoon until Mike returned from his visiting and picked them up to go home.

Grandma blowing special doggy friendly bubbles (Zander front)

By the end of all that I have to admit I was more than exhausted. Even today I have felt rather lethargic and worn out. Thankfully the boys have managed to keep busy with toys and crafts and worksheets. Emanuel spent a nice chunk of the afternoon making a snow picture out of construction paper, white glue and pom poms. With a red pom pom rabbit and all!

Crafty Emanuel!

The plan is on Wednesday to head over to visit with another homeschooling family, but with how I feel tonight I am a little concerned about making it. I am really quite surprised about how worn out I am. The previous two pregnancies had me no where NEAR this exhausted and ill at this point. Pretty much taking it one day at a time.

Our big accomplishment of today – pom pom snowmen – though we are still working out how to make little hats for them! Tomorrow we will draw snowflakes using white chalk on coloured paper for the covers on the lapbooks and then hopefully finish off our work on Winter. After all on the 1st (well 2nd since I have an appointment that is an hour away) we start Valentines AND Chinese New Year! It is going to be a busy two weeks!

Snowmen! (Gavin middle)

So life keeps moving and I feel like I am riding along right now but we are speeding up again and feeling good… 2010 is definitely leading to better and bigger things!

Ok just too cute NOT to share!