Sam's take on kindness...

In November Sam's class made a "Kindness Quilt". They each had to say what kindness meant to them. I saw the display on the wall when I went for parent-teacher interviews at the end of November. Most of them said things like "kindness is helping my mom" or "kindness is when I help my mom clean the house"...(lots of 'helping mom' definitions. When I got to Sam's, I was quite surprised and thrilled to read his response....




It says "kindness is help(ing) kids with cancer by donating money to cancer".

Now...how can that not make a mother proud?? My sweet boy. :)

A 'Christmas-y' birthday weekend

Jonah rounded out our flurry of fall birthday celebrations this weekend. He turned 9 years old on Sunday!! But before we got to that, we did some fun Christmas-y things that we haven't done this early in December since before Jonah was born.

Usually on December 7th our house is still full of balloons and streamers and bright colorful table cloths....but since we had his 'friend' party last weekend AND since it's only 2 weeks until we leave for Manitoba, we started Christmas early this year :D.

On Saturday, we spent the first couple of HOURS...yes, it took, literally, hours to clean up Jonah and Sam's room. And I ended up with about 1/2 a garbage bag full of stuff. It's amazing how much stuff they can accumulate under their beds, in little containers, on their shelves etc. Wow...that was a job. But their room is now organized (let's hope it stays that way for at least a couple of days ;) ). Anyway...later that day we made our traditional white cookies that the boys LOVE to help with.










We took the boys to Wendy's for supper and then while I iced the cookies Trev and the boys went and got us a Christmas tree. And I have to say this is the prettiest tree I think we've ever had. I love it!! It's the perfect size and shape and it's just beautiful. Yes...I'm excited about a tree :P. We set it up and let it thaw over night and when I was getting Jude ready for bed I asked him if he liked the Christmas tree and he said "yeah"...but then also said "scawy". LOL! He didn't act scared...I think it was just a little strange for him to have a tree in our house.

On Sunday we woke up to a huge thick snowfall...and it kept up all day. We got 16 cm in one day!! I think that's what made the weekend feel so Christmas-y as well...it was an absolutly beautiful winter wonderland outside. In the afternoon we decorated our tree...and the boys had to be VERY patient while Trev and I put on the lights and I did the garlands and ribbons...then FINALLY they could help with the ornaments. They did really good this year....I sure can tell they're growing up.





And my finished tree!!



After that Jonah and Sam headed outside and spent a long time playing in the fresh fluffy snow



And FINALLY...Jonah's birthday evening. We had Colleen and Jerrie over for finger foods and chocolate cake.

He was pretty excited about the 'Mars Mission' lego he got from us. He also got a pig webkin from Colleen and Jerrie and a personalized DVD from Jeremy and Matthew. Jeremy has made a DVD for each of the boys and they are sooooo cool.



I have a nice picture of Jonah with his cake but I thought I'd post the kooky one :D.



And this is about as nice a picture as I could get of the 4 of them. Jude kept blowing (more like spitting) at Jonah's candles...and actually managed to get a few...much to Jonah's frustration. It was pretty funny though.



So that was our weekend. Birthdays are done again and Christmas will be here in the blink of an eye.

One more picture before I sign off. This was the three boys this morning before school...all dressed in red sweatshirts and santa hats. How could I resist taking a picture?!?

Gearing down...and then up again...

The boys extra-curricular activities and birthdays are slowly gearing down and coming to an end. Seth had his last basketball day this Tuesday and Sam has 1 or 2 more gymnastics classes and then they're done. So, of course, I've been busy quickly snapping some pictures before it's too late ;).

















So now the boys are very excited to be able to start going to "Boys Brigade" again...and just in time for rocket building. After Christmas we'll keep things pretty quiet and just do some swimming lessons until baseball season starts up again.

Anyway...as that part of life slows down...Christmas is quickly approaching. Although I can't complain...as busy as December is, I love ALL things Christmas. Yesterday I spent the day baking, wrapping presents and putting up my garlands. This weekend we hope to get a Christmas tree...the boys are very excited. And then it's only 2 more weeks of school and we head out to Manitoba...yikes!! Sometimes I think...it would be so nice to have just a quiet Christmas here again...but in truth, I'm really excited to spend the holidays with family and loved ones. And the boys CAN'T WAIT for Camp Arnes!! :D

Jonah and Samuel's birthday party

On Saturday we had Jonah and Samuel's birthday party. We combined their parties this year and had it at Mountain Shadows Gym. It's the same place where Sam takes gymnastics. We had a total of 16 boys including my 4. Wow...that's a bunch of boys!! Having it at the gym was so perfect...they spent almost an hour and a half playing and being as wild and loud as they wanted.

There were tramplines, climbing ropes, balance beams etc but the favourite was definitely the foam pit. They did flips and dives and jumps into there...very fun. Even Jude went diving in. They also played hide n seek in the dark. They LOVED it!! That's the way to throw a party. All I had to do was serve some snacks and cake and manage the present opening. But wow...put fourteen 6-9 year olds into one small party room and you've got a lot of noise. It was a great night....the boys loved their party and loved all their new toys.

I'm posting a little "scrapbook" of their party. (Just so you know...the individual pictures will enlarge if you click on them.)

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Jonah's birthday is actually this Sunday but since we've already done a party we'll keep it pretty low-key. We'll probably invite Colleen and Jerrie over for some snacks and cake. I guess since I'm posting it here I should probably give her a call and actually invite her :D.

Seth's 11th Birthday

For Seth's birthday this year he just wanted to invite a couple of buddies, go see a movie and have a sleepover. That was easy enough for me!! ;) So last Friday, Trev took Seth and his friends, Euan and Jonathan to see Madagascar 2 and then they came back here where they watched some more movies, played Wii and X-box and ate junk food until 7:30 in the morning. They had a great time!!

That afternoon Trev took Seth, Jonah and Sam to the Stamps game and then we had company for dinner...needless to say by Sunday Seth was downright exhausted. That'll teach him for staying up all night! ;)

Then on Monday, I had my mom over here to show me (and help me) how to make perogies. It was a lot of work but they turned out great and tasted mmmmmlicious. I invited Colleen and Jerrie over for dinner and we celebrated Seth's birthday again. And THIS time....as long as Trev held Jude, he was ok with the candles on the cake...lol.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Jonah's Baptism

This past Sunday Jonah, Felisha, and Ashley got baptized. It was a very special day...and very neat for the 3 of them to be able to do it together. My mom and sister Lucille even flew out on Saturday to see the baptism. Here are some pictures from the service.







This is Jonah's cousin Felisha....the girls had their dad baptize them:



Ashley:


This is the slide show of Jonah that we had playing on the screen while Jonah was being baptized. There's music with the video so pause the blog's music if you're watching it.



Lucille stayed at our house while she was here and it was sooooo fun. She left this morning and I miss her already. We had a great time...we spent all of Sunday at Colleen and Jerrie's, Monday night we went to see a movie with Colleen and mom and went for coffee after, and Tuesday we all went out for dinner. I have to say I'm liking all of these evenings out...I'm getting spoiled ;).

Here's Lucy and Jude

Leaves, Pumpkins, and Costumes

Can you believe it's already November?!?! I'm so amazed how quickly the past 2 months have flown by!! November means.....BIRTHDAY SEASON!!!! HELP!! Actually, it won't be that bad this year. Seth just wants to go to the movies with a couple of friends and have a sleepover. And I'm combining Jonah and Sam's birthdays this year...I booked it at Mountain Shadows Gymnastics. They do activities with the kids for as long as you want....yay!! All I have to do is the food. I figure I have to take advantage of them being willing to share a party while I can.

So last week was halloween and with that came a busy week of activities and excitement. The boys were so excited about Halloween this year...maybe because I finally made sure they all had decent costumes this time ;). Well..it wasn't TOO busy to start off with...the boys had Monday and Tuesday off so I took advantage of that and had them help me clean up the leaves in the back yard. Which really means that I raked up the leaves into a pile and they jumped in them and scattered them back all over the yard...then we repeated this over and over. With all the re-raking I probably raked the yard about 10 times...no wonder my back was so sore ;).








On Thursday Seth and Jonah both had Halloween "pumpkin" activities. So I went and watched Jonah in the morning and then came back for Seth in the afternoon...all the while chasing Jude all over the school...and across the schoolyard as he escaped outside...sigh...how many more months until he's three???? ;)







Seth and his best friend Euan...doing what boys do...








And yes..that's Jude lying in the boot racks...



On Friday the boys had the costume carnival. They did this last year as well...all the kids dress up and they go around to activity stations all over the school. The kids love it. Siblings are invited too...so I dressed Jude up and joined them.

Sam was 'Black Spiderman'




This is Sam with his two best buddies. He is ticked off with me because I made him let someone go in front of him so he could stand by his friends for a picture. Bad mom ;).



Seth was 'Indiana Jones'.



Jonah was a very freaky looking "Black Skull Warrior".





Here is Seth with some of his girl "friends"...see the look on his face...heehee...I think that's priceless!!



My little tiger...pretty scary with his 'soodoo' in his mouth huh?? ;)



Everyone in Sam's class got an "award" for their costume...so cute!





A little bit of picture overload today...but just a few more. This year we handed out candy and the boys went trick-or-treating. Actually Seth went with a friend this year...made me a little sad. The tradition is that Daddy takes them trick-or-treating...Seth's growing up :(.









And this week I'm getting ready for my mom and Lucille's visit. They're flying out on Saturday!!! YAY!!! I'm so excited to see them. They're actually coming for Jonah's baptism on Sunday. That will be soooo special to have them here.