Tag Archive | McDonalds

Happy Birthday My 3 Sons

February is ALWAYS a crazy month for us. But never so crazy as it was in 2004 and 2006. It is hard to believe that 13yrs ago on the 5th of February Zander and Gavin were born… 10 weeks early and tiny little peanuts. Here we are, the parents of TEENAGERS! When did I blink and miss that one happening?20170205_114101

11yrs ago and at a much calmer pace we welcomed Emanuel into our family on February 3rd. He was my chubby eternally napping and happy baby. He still loves a good nap and has definitely thinned out! But still, where did the time go?IMG_20170203_091819

We have done the larger parties in the past, but this year we decided to go small. On the 3rd we had a mini celebration just for Emanuel. He got to open the small gifts from us, what Aunty Holly sent him from Canada, and any cards that came in the mail.20170203_164610

A bag for his fossil collection!

A bag for his fossil collection!

We had the dinner he requested – potato soup and dumplings, hung out together and had cupcakes for desert.20170203_204707

On the 5th we did the same for the twins. They chose sausage-strata. A breakfast casserole.20170205_114149

A bag for any metal detector finds (left Zander) and a holder for art supplies.

A bag for any metal detector finds (left Zander) and a holder for art supplies.

As an added gift we took the whole family to McDonald’s for breakfast after Sunday School. A very rare occurrence for this family of 7, eating out at a restaurant, fast food or no.20170205_104542

20170205_105529We also opened the bigger gifts which we the same for each of the boys.20170205_114528

Emanuel had an additional outing he requested – Aidan joined him and Ken to go see the new Lego Batman movie. And to go to McDonald’s for their appropriately themed Happy Meals. I am told it was all great amounts of fun.IMAG0616

IMAG0618IMAG0622image000000And then after when Darcy and Andy came to get him we had MORE presents (so sweet) and hung out for a while.20170211_215425

20170211_215314Nothing hugely fancy, but I think we really felt like we celebrated properly. I love these 3 so much, watching them grow and change has been a great privilege, even with all the ups and downs.20170205_113912

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Barely in our Past For Once… December!

Woo! New year, new start, keeping up… not bad not bad. I don’t do resolutions, just gradually change my patterns. So here’s hoping.

Anyway… December, last month… well… Christmas, of course. Winter, some snow (sort of), busy busy. But now for the actual details of the month…IMG_20161204_22134320161220_101515

We had our traditional paper chain countdown, perler bead Advent chart AND of course, went to Activity Village for their Advent fun. Just a warning – they have gone to membership now, it is a reasonable cost and I have already signed up.

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Early on in the month Shandai and I gave it a go at a Vendor sale and set up a table of my crochet and her knitting pieces. It wasn’t a huge success but it was fun! And hopefully something we can do again!IMG_20161203_115623

A pretty view out the back of the building

A pretty view out the back of the building

We did all sorts of fun crafts at home and at Daycare.IMG_20161206_141613

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You really can make any picture Christmas-y

You really can make any picture Christmas-y

IMG_20161212_145503Practiced our recorders.IMG_20161207_223406

Christmas with the Schwartz family is a yearly much looked forward to tradition. Of course we decorated our small gingerbread houses.20161221_185445

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This is mine, you can see the rest on the overflow post HERE.

This is mine, you can see the rest on the overflow post HERE.

Opened presents and had so much fun.20161221_202237

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Look what the boys got!

Look what the boys got!

Ken and I took the girls to Jeffrey’s Christmas concert. We had Christmas with the Novaks on Christmas Eve. It was so much fun and we were there way past bedtime.FB_IMG_148264998684120161224_211435

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We found Anthony a stuffed appendix and made him up the certificate! He loved it!

We found Anthony a stuffed appendix and made him up the certificate! He loved it!

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Of course we had our Sunday School Christmas pageant. The Schwartz family came to watch.20161211_112307

We had a whole family of angels.IMG_20161211_160721

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We also had dinner out at McDonald’s to celebrate.20161211_120829

We saw Santa a SECOND time (the first was at Macy’s with Nana and Baba HERE) at the YMCA. There was all sorts of fun to be had there. IMG_20161212_014136IMG_20161203_22355220161202_18242020161202_185648

We had our monthly Bookit reading program pizza.20161215_205823

And made cookies. This year we tried out a new gingerbread recipe from the Activity Village site HERE.20161216_193111

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Monster Cookies

Monster Cookies

We had some lovely mail come. 20161220_105902

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Seriously WHO SENT THESE?

Seriously WHO SENT THESE?

IMG_20161224_161050_772And spent plenty of time at the YMCA.

Gavin

Gavin

Little Lotus Yoga pose

Little Lotus Yoga pose

IMG_20161215_202555IMG_20161226_224057_803IMG_20161228_134945_654It was a jolly Christmas. Full of fun and friends and gifts and giving.

From Ken to me

From Ken to me

I got these lovely puzzle pieces for Ken.

I got these lovely puzzle pieces for Ken.

We took full advantage of our new fryer and made FRESH poutine!20161231_182920

We even made it to one of Anthony’s indoor soccer games.IMG_20161210_174921

Skyping family!IMG_20161224_120754_102

For New Years we spent the night at home with a lovely drop by last minute by the Schwartz family for an hour or two.20161231_222352

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Yup quite the month!!! I hope you enjoyed the wander through images!

This entry was posted on 31/01/2017, in Uncategorized. 1 Comment

Grandparents Who Came Down From The Up…

I may just have watched the movie Home a few too many times (referencing the convenience store scene). Anyway…

This was a pretty big deal – a year after Grandpa Mike’s last visit when he buzzed through on the bike and TWO years since Grandma had visited we welcomed them down for a little over 4 days of fun, sun and conversation. It was a GREAT visit. We had out and about things… at home things… AND they brought us CANADIAN things! Which is always a hoot for the whole family (this fall I totally need to model my brand new windbreaker from the college Ken and I attended – thanks again Mike!!!).20160802_134114

FB_IMG_1470336417777We had to cut out YMCA visits since we decided to focus on family while they were here. We did still manage to go Monday and Tuesday to morning club (and Emanuel to his Young Scientists class) and Zander went to BOTH of his track sessions. After all the THURSDAY was his first MEET! Actually, we left the grandparents in charge that night and headed out just the 3 of us to watch him go.IMG_20160804_20232120160804_173658

But first things first – Tuesday. As soon as they got here there was a truck to unload. And boy did they pack in the stuff… the biggest surprise for the kids was the dollhouse mom had kept at her house since the boys were wee things. Along with boxes of accessories. So much fun has already been had with the house and will be had for a long time in the future I do believe.FB_IMG_1470336406868

FB_IMG_147033644883820160802_162424The other hot item was a brand new Monopoly game. Honestly we are cursed when it comes to that game… a board rarely lasts long for one reason or another. This one uses CARDS instead of cash… and the machine makes a very satisfactory series of beeps.FB_IMG_1470336413317

IMG_20160802_230655We ate out that night as Ken and Zander had to head off to Track and Field. McDonald’s for the win – a super treat for our family who rarely go out to eat.20160803_153700

Wednesday we had to do our yearly testing for school. So we had an at home hang out and catch up day followed up with an evening visit to our very favourite beach!!!20160803_173907

20160803_17521320160803_180022IMG_20160803_175143IMG_20160803_180004Thursday I booted the family out to the Como Zoo while I hung out, cleaned, crafted and generally did things one does at home without kids while they slowly went stir crazy! I am told great amounts of fun were had by all!IMG_20160805_221232

Friday was one last at home day with a lovely walk to the park for a nice visit full of sunshine and playing.IMG_20160805_125754

So we had an amazing balance of out and about with home and comfortable. There was laughter and catching up and hugs and GRANDMA HAIR!IMG_20160805_21295820160802_204646

A trim too!

A trim too!

20160803_185215IMG_20160803_191739I know we talked about this visit for a while after with great fondness already. I am so glad we were able to show Grandma and Grandpa Mike around out little neck of the woods some and share with them some of our favourite places. Definitely a visit full of memories.IMG_20160805_221351

This entry was posted on 25/08/2016, in Uncategorized. 2 Comments