Happy New Year!!

Happy New Year everyone!!! We wish you all the best in 2010! We were trying to explain to Rebekah tonight how it will be a new year tomorrow, a concept a 5 year-old just can't grasp.

We had a great day! We took the girls to Noon Year's Eve at the Science Center in Regina. In Saskatchewan, we don't tend to have New Year's Eve celebrations outside. It was -26 here today. Consequently, we find warmer alternatives!

We arrived at about 1:30, and, of course, there were many people. We watched a juggler. We explored different types of germs, which is the special exhibit at the moment. There was a Paramecium replica larger than the girls. We headed upstairs and indulged in Cotton Candy, which was Chloe's favourite part, of course. We were able to see it made, and they explained the Chemistry behind it.

Rebekah's favourite part was the Chemistry shows. We watched one on Cryogenics, using liquid nitrogen. I love watching her face when she sees things that are so new to her understanding. Her eyes light up, and she has this huge look of wonder on her face. Liquid nitrogen, when poured into a beaker boils at room temperature, and when dumped out, turns to a gas before it hits the floor. Rebekah was amazed.

We also watched the Big Bang finale. We saw a gummie bear dropped into Potassium Chlorate. Definitely worth a watch on youtube. This is an experiment we performed in my Chemistry 20 class a couple of weeks ago. Finally, the big finale came. We had to plug our ears as they ignited a balloon filled with hydrogen & oxygen. Again, if you don't know what happens, youtube can help you out. A huge bang, upon which hundreds of balloons & streamers dropped from the ceiling. Rebekah's response, "I've wanted to do this my entire life!" Who knew? Driving to my parents for dinner afterward, Rebekah stated that today was the best day of her life. So it was definitely a success.

Tonight, when we arrived home, Chloe went straight to bed. It was well past her bedtime, and she fell asleep on the ride home. With Rebekah we were able to light sparklers & sing Happy New Year to you! It was a great day. Then, we spent a quiet evening at home.

I finished the last lab for my Chemistry class that I've been taking through Athabasca. All I have left is to write the final in January. And Glynn watched a James Bond movie. He received the entire DVD set for Christmas, so we've been working our way through them.

Now, it's time to hang a new calendar and make some resolutions!! Best wishes from our family for 2010.

Slowly...

Slowly time moves forward to the end of the year. This week between Christmas and New Year's always seems a bit odd. Christmas is done, but the new year, the next big celebration is a week away. I'm the type of person who can't wait to get on with it. The new planner. The new calendar. New resolutions. A new year full of opportunity. And so for a week, I wait.

Slowly we work our way through all of the newly acquired gifts. Today we tested out the new toboggan the girls received from their grandparents. A great gift. It was -8, so we donned all of our winter gear, coats, snowpants, toques, mitts, boots, and headed out to the small hill by the soccer field. When you're 2 and 5, it's a huge hill. And so our girl's bounded down it with glee. Every time Chloe reached the bottom, she'd simply say, "do it again!" And we did. Over and over again. It was a great afternoon for exercise and fresh air. The girls also received a puppet theatre for Christmas, so tomorrow, we'll likely set it up and watch a performance or two.

Christmas morning we were able to sleep in, which is rare in our house. I was actually the first one up. Rebekah finally came in about 8:30. We opened stockings and gifts. The girls are at the age that every present is a great one. They just love opening them to see what is inside & can hardly contain themselves. One of Rebekah's favourite was the Littlest Pet Shop that she's been wanting for a very long time. Chloe received a stringing bead set that she loves. After opening gifts, we had brunch and then got ready to head to my parents for the day. We were able to spend Christmas with my family. Bek's and Chloe loved playing with their cousin Ariel, who is 3. Of course, we had the standard turkey dinner.

Tomorrow the weather is supposed to be as nice as today, so we're planning on taking the girls tobogganing again tomorrow. We may also take them skating again. For New Year's Eve, we're planning on taking the girls to the Science Center in Regina. They're having a big New Year's party for families with cotton candy demos & treats, special exhibits & science shows, jugglers etc. Bek's & Chloe love the Science Centre. Bek's in particular loves anything scientific, which I try to encourage, since I teach Chemistry. She received a Volcano making kit from Santa that we'll probably put together this week as well.

Slowly, we begin to look back on the year, and all we have to be thankful for. Thank-you to our friends and family who gave Christmas gifts to our family. They are much appreciated. Also, thank-you to those of you who bought World Vision gifts as a gift to us. We love to hear about what has been bought, and we love telling our kids how others are being helped because of your generosity. For those of you who sent money to pool to donate to charity, this year we're going to spend it to buy socks, mitts & underwear to donate to the families at the Multicultural Center in Moose Jaw. Some of you may not know that MJ is one of the locations across Canada where new immigrants are sent to begin to learn English & job skills, and begin their integration into Canadian society. Some are refugees fleeing terrible situations. They survive on very little, and often do not have many things you and I consider necessities. Consequently, to buy these things can cause financial difficulty. One of the things they often need are socks, mitts & underwear. So we will join our money with yours, and buy as many as we can! Thank you for your kindness.

Three days before Christmas...

Three days before Christmas...I can't believe how quickly the time has gone. Yesterday I had a Chemistry mid-term to write. I'm glad to have that out of the way, so that I can enjoy Christmas. Yesterday afternoon, we took the girls to see Santa. Rebekah was so excited. Chloe I don't think understood, until she saw him. Her eyes almost bugged out of her head! Rebekah, has always loved Santa and never been afraid to go see him. However, Chloe, last year, just admired from afar. This year was different. As soon as she saw him, she jumped down from papa's arms, walked through a group of girls, straight towards him. She stopped about 5 feet away from him, and simply gazed at him. Mostly in wonder, I think. She had no problem going to see him and sitting on his knee. I think she may have even smiled for her picture, although she didn't tell him what she wanted for Christmas. At this point when you ask her, she says candy. I'm not sure she knows there are other options. Rebekah, on the otherhand, requested Littlest Pet shop.

We have a few full days ahead of us. I wouldn't say busy, but there are things to be done, as I think there always is at Christmas.

This morning Glynn took the girls to town with him to finish Christmas shopping. I stayed home and started our Christmas baking and wrapping presents. It was nice to have the house to myself. The quiet stillness and Christmas carols in the background. I made butter tarts, a family favourite, and ginger cookies. Tomorrow morning we're going to make Almond Roca, which tastes exactly like Skor bar, some sugar cookies and short bread. I also have to make our dessert for Christmas Eve; this year it's Toblerone Caramel Cheesecake. Yum!

Tonight we made a gingerbread house. This is an annual tradition we have. Last year Glynn tried to put it together and it all fell apart. So this year, I constructed the house. You have to be patient when making gingerbread houses. Icing is not like nails. Then, the kids decorated it. I have to admit, I long for an orderly, beautiful gingerbread house, like the one in the picture on the box. Alas, it will be many years, until we have one like that. Instead, Chloe mostly ate the candy and became the usual sticky mess that happens when any type of sugar is present. Rebekah randomly adhered various types of candy all over the place. Glynn, however, was slightly more sequential. I say slightly only to mean he made his side all one colour.

Tomorrow Glynn & I are going to head into town and leave the girls with a sitter. She's a good family friend, and Rebekah is incredibly excited. We have a few odds & ends to pick up, and the perishable Christmas Eve dinner groceries to buy. But before that, we're going to go serve at Riverside, a soup kitchen that opened in MJ earlier this year. It's the only soup kitchen the city has and it serves the homeless, and very poor of the city. I've served dinner there before, but this will be Glynn's first time. For me, it was a life altering experience. Tomorrow we'll be serving a Christmas dinner and handing out Christmas gifts that some of us have put together.

After Riverside, we're going to drop off Christmas dinner & presents to the family we adopted for Christmas. And we have a few more gifts to ring and run. I know that tomorrow will probably be the most meaningful of the season, and I am really looking forward to it.

Christmas Eve day we'll likely go for a walk and deliver the last of our Christmas cards, do some puzzles, and maybe play the wii. We'll spend the afternoon cooking Christmas Eve dinner, which this year, consists of glazed ham, hashbrown casserole, creamy green beans, brussel sprouts, a couple of appetizers & a salad. This meal is always one of the highlights of the year. Christmas Eve, we'll be heading to the service being held at our church, here in town. I'm really looking forward to that too.

These next couple of days are probably my favourite of the year. The anticipation. The preparation. And finally, the actuality of what has been waited for, deeply rich with God embued meaning. It doesn't get much better than that.

Twas the week before Christmas...

We've had a busy week. For a season that is supposed to be marked with solace and reflection, this week has not been that. Of course we had the wrap-up of school, and Glynn is finished work. He will be off until the beginning of January, when he'll return to school. So for both of us it was a bit hectic. Glynn's company Christmas party was also Friday evening.


Rebekah had her first elementary Christmas concert. She'd been practicing for weeks. We'd hear the odd stray bar or three of Christmas carols floating from her room. So it was little surprise as to what she was singing. But we still savored every note she sang, every bell she rung and every leap & smile. Her class sang the Christmas hokey-pokey. Rebekah's part included ringing the bells. And she did a great job. Of course, my parental bias is probably tainting my opinion.

Yesterday, we took our kids shopping to purchase Christmas dinner and gifts for our adopt-a-family, a program run by the Salvation Army, to provide Christmas for families who may otherwise not be able to afford it. Great program. This is the second time we've been part of it. We went to Moose Jaw early, hoping to avoid frenzied Christmas shoppers, and for the most part we did.


We knew the trip would be exhausting, and it was. However, the truths we are trying to teach them are that important. I think it will get easier as they get older. We had the girls help us choose gifts for each of the children. This was somewhat difficult for Rebekah because the kids that we are helping are about twice as old as her. Consequently, her suggestions weren't always relevant. Most 11 year-olds wouldn't appreciate Pet Shop Mall Madness quite to the extent Rebekah does. But it's the thought that counts. Not all of it was joyful either, there were numerous inquiries into "how many more things do we need to buy", but we endured.

After buying all of the gifts and food, including our own groceries at the same time, which created the need for two carts, we were glad to be done. Originally we were planning to go see Santa as well, however by this point we were too tired and the kids were whiney. So we came home to wrap the gifts that we bought. We had the girls help with that as well. Glynn wrapped and Rebekah and Chloe stuck on bows and tags. I think tomorrow we will deliver the Christmas bounty.

This afternoon we are planning on going skating. Rebekah has been taking lessons for the past couple months, so she does fine by herself. However, this will be Chloe's first adventure on the ice. I've been told if she can walk, she can learn how to skate. I guess we'll see!

Party Time

Well, it's all over for another year, but it was a great party. After 10 hours of drawing, painting, and baking, and 3 hours of set-up, Candyland was ready to go. We rented a building here in Caronport to have Bek's party because we created a life-size version of the Candyland boardgame, which was more than our house could hold. Glynn spent the morning setting up with the two girls, while I created Bek's cake, which was a Candyland boardgame made of candy.

At 2:00, five giggling girls arrived, ready to see what the afternoon would hold. We began with a number of rounds of twister, which is interesting when playing with people who do not yet know their left from their right. We then, moved onto life-sized Candyland,which was a huge hit. The girl's played three separate games, before we moved on to cake and presents, which to Rebekah was the most exciting part of all.

She loved her cake. She declared it to be, "the best ever." In fact, she was so excited about it, Glynn had to stop her from blowing out the candles before the cake even arrived. Once it did, she blew out the candles with great gusto, and cake and pop was served to all. It was the size of a sheet cake, so one half was vanill and the other chocolate. Then we moved on to presents.

Her first gift was a bag of craft supplies, which really, is the best gift in the world for Bek's. Then she opened up a Cinderella playset, which is a lot like Polly Pockets. It has different clothes to dress Cinderella in. She then received a Magic School Bus storybook. The Magic School Bus is one of Rebekah's favourite shows. She doesn't watch a lot of TV, but we try to catch the MSB every morning, since she loves science. She also received a playdoh set and large 3 foot high princess colouring book. After all of this, who needs Christmas presents.

We finished off the day making miniature gingerbread houses. I had constructed the houses ahead of time, and the girls spent almost 45 minutes decorating them. Some of them ate more candy than was put on the house, but that's what birthdays are for. Finally, we played one more game of Candyland before they went home.

It was a great day. One that Rebekah will not soon forget, even if it was -45. Nobody noticed :)

Birthday Celebration -- Part I

Today Rebekah is 5. A milestone for her. As one of the youngest in her class, she has been waiting a long time for this moment to arrive. At some point in the night, she crawled in to bed with us and went back to sleep.

At about 5:00 in the morning she said, "Mommy, am I 5?" I replied,"Yes, you are." She then said, "Okay, I'm having a great sleep." And went back to sleep. Apparently, once she'd established the occassion had arrived, all was well.

This morning we took her ornament cupcakes to Kindergarten, to celebrate with her classmates. It took 2 1/2 hours to decorate 18 of them. I'm glad I don't have to do that again anytime soon! But I remember my mom always making really great cakes for my birthday, and I want my kids to have that too, which is why tonight I'll be making a Candyland cake.

Rebekah could hardly wait for cake and presents at home. From school she got to pick a present from the birthday box, and, of course, she picked craft stuff. She loves making crafts more than anything else. She loved the puzzles from granny. We sometimes do puzzles in the evening, now that the girls are getting old enough. Although Chloe mostly destroys them. She also received some books, which we also read in the evening, a Barbie, and some Polly Pockets from my parents, which she's been wanting for about 2 years! Family friends also sent over a gift bag of Disney Princess stuff.

After presents, we had cake. Rebekah blew out all of the candles. Tonight we had a store bought cake with Blackberries and lots of whipcream. Chloe's favourite food group is sugar, so she's pretty excited whenever cake is present, regardless of the occassion.

All-in-all Rebekah had a great day. She's excited to be 5, and she's looking forward to her first party tomorrow.

Preparation Central

Christmas is only 2 1/2 weeks away. Rebekah's birthday 3 days, so for us, it's a busy time. The Christmas presents are bought, so are Rebekah's. It's great to be done that part! Now, we're preparing for the party. This weekend will be Rebekah's first birthday party with 5 giggling little girls, so we want it to be memorable.

We are having a Candyland birthday, all based around the Candyland board game. We are creating a life-size version of the game for the girls to play. Currently, Glynn is drawing the characters and signs. We created Candyland invitations that went out last week. The girls will also be decorating their own miniature gingerbread houses to take home with them in their treat bags.

Tomorrow night we will be baking cupcakes for Rebekah to take to school on Friday. Thursday night we will be decorating them. Using coloured decorating sugar, licorice, and red and green m&m's we're going to make cupcakes that look like Christmas ornaments. Rebekah loves the idea! Friday night we will have to bake the cakes. Her cake is going to be a replica of the candyland board game, built out of various candy pieces. The path tiles will be made out of startburst candies. Then Saturday morning, I will decorate it.

So, as you can see, our week will be pretty busy, but well worth it for the memories that Rebekah will have. After this week, we will solely focus on slowing down for Christmas, helping others, and spending lots of time as a family.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Today was a great day! Glynn & I spent the day shopping in Regina, while Rebekah & Chloe visited with Grandpa & Grandma. We began our adventures at Toys'r'us, which, to be honest, I have never seen so busy in my life. Apparently, there was a big sale. Who knew? But we braved the crowds, and were able to complete most of our Christmas shopping. The lines at the tills were shockingly long. There were 20-30 people in each line, but everyone was in good spirits, and we managed to make it through. We are three gifts away from being finished, and I can order those on-line. Woo hoo!!!

The other great stop we had was at 10,000 Villages, a fair trade store that has stores all across Canada. This year is the first year we haven't had Starbucks Christmas blend for our coffee. Every year, for the past 7 years, we've had the tradition of brewing the Christmas blend starting December 1st. However, during the past year we've learned much about the coffee business and the unsavoury practices of Starbucks. Consequently, we decided to forego buying our usual holiday treat. But today, at 10,000 villages, we found a fair trade Holiday Blend coffee, and chocolate covered mints, much like after eights. It is incredibly exciting to know that we can now continue this treasured tradition.

On Tuesday, we had our first real snowfall. Snow that will stay the season. So much snow, actually, that I stayed home from work on Wednesday, and Glynn got off work early. Rebekah was at Sparks, and so, the three of us spent an hour outside playing and shovelling. Chloe loved the snow. I think her favourite thing was eating it off the pine tree branches.

This week we started our Advent traditions. Every night we read the Christmas story and add a piece to our manger scene. We light our Advent wreath at supper, and after supper we read a bible passage and the girls create pictures for their Jesse Tree. Of course, we have the usual chocolate Advent calendar, which I've learned never to buy at the dollar store again! The girls also each have a Christmas countdown garland that has little baby stockings on it. Actually, most of them are their baby socks. Each morning there is a little gift waiting, and the stocking is then removed.

Tis the Season!

This weekend might be called the official kick-off to our Christmas. It's the first Sunday of Advent, and so we light the first candle in our advent wreath. This morning, at church our family did the first Advent reading and lit the first purple candle. This Advent, feels much more reflective and peaceful than years past.

Last night, we took the girls into Moose Jaw to see the Santa Claus parade. We arrived about 30 minutes early. This year, we had really great weather for it, hovering around -2. In years past, we've almost frozen watching the parade. The girls had a hard time waiting for the parade to start, which is pretty normal for how young they are. But once the lights started flashing, they were fine. Chloe is quite aware who Santa is, so they were both very excited to see him.

Afterwards, we headed to the Alliance church, which, for the past couple of years, has put on Bethlehem live. It's basically a live version of the nativity. It starts in the church sanctuary. As visitors arrive, you are put into one of the 12 families of Israel. Then you wait for your family to be called by the Roman guards to journey to Bethlehem. There are a few twists and turns throughout the dark halls of the church; then you head outside, into the cold, dark night. I'm not sure Chloe quite knew what was happening. But Rebekah was excited to be on our search to find the newborn baby Jesus.

We wound our way through campfires hosted by weary travellers, Roman guards. We were accosted by bandits and saved by soldiers on horse back. We journeyed through the marketplace where we were offered chickens and goats, and finally we arrived to pay our taxes to Caesar. After all of this, we arrived at the inn, but, of course, there was no room. And so we headed to the lowly stable, where we found Jesus, lying in a manger. Afterwards, we headed inside and had chocolate, goodies, and were able to catch up with friends that we haven't seen in several years.

This afternoon, after Chloe's nap, we cooked up appetizers and other goodies, and began our annual tradition of trimming the tree. Chloe absolutely loved hanging ornaments. Last year, I don't think she really put that many on, but this year she discovered the joy of tree decorating. Papa sat and handed the ornaments out, and I put the ones on the top of the tree. Glynn had the joyful task of putting on the lights last night.

Most of the ornaments ended up on the same three branches, which afterwards needed to be adjusted. We added our new ornaments that were bought at Christmas in October. Chloe and Rebekah both decorated their little trees that go in their room. There are a few decorations that still need to be put up, which we'll get to over the coming week. But for the most part, we're done!

A time to prepare

Christmas will be in full swing for our family in two weeks. However, until then, it is a time to evaluate and ponder. What matters to us most this Christmas season? How do we want to spend the days of Advent. There will likely be several parties and get togethers with friends. We'll be planning several and have several others to attend. Rebekah's birthday and our anniversary are in there as well, which makes for a busy season.

And yet, we don't want to miss what matters most. The birth of Christ, time with our family, and helping others. So now is the time for us to ponder, what should the next four weeks look like? What can we give up to help alleviate the suffering of others? How best do we help our children learn about what truly matters and their responsibility to others on this planet? None of these are simple questions.

One of the ways we seek to do this is through the Advent Conspiracy. We will buy less and give more. Our church leadership announced this morning that we will be participating in this venture throughout Advent. The money raised will go towards a project through Compassion Canada. Personally, we're World Vision people, so I'm helping to head up a campaign at our school, in which every classroom will choose, and fundraise, towards something in the WV catalogue. We will also seek to help those in our community. Glynn & I are also hoping to serve Christmas dinner at Riverside Mission in Moose Jaw.

So this season we may make gifts, instead of buying all of them, and forego buying others, all in the pursuit of a saner, more sustainable Christmas.

Catching up...whew!

Halloween has come and gone. It's hard to believe the next holiday is Christmas! For Halloween, we participated in a number of activities. In the afternoon, we went to the mall in Moose Jaw. Each store was giving out candy. The girls loved it, and the sales people loved our costumes.

We have a tradition of dressing up as a family. Each year we have a different theme, and each of us dress as a member. This year was the Wizard of Oz. Rebekah, of course, was Dorothy, Chloe the cowardly lion, Glynn the tin man, and I was the scarecrow. We hope this will become a memory that our kids will cherish. After the mall, we picked up pizza, which is another yearly tradition. It's actually about the only time of year we order pizza.

After supper, we headed out to do some trick or treating. Rebekah seemed to be wearing down quickly, and after about a street and a half she had had enough. Rebekah had a fever.

Rebekah was sick all of last week with the flu. We're not sure if it was H1N1. Chloe received her immunization for it last week. Rebekah couldn't because she was sick. However, she'll be getting her immunization this week. Chloe was also sick lastweek, as was I. I missed work Tuesday and Wednesday, which is difficult when you teach chemistry. This week is midterm week, and next week report cards.

We're finally back on top of the housework. On the weekend Glynn made a beautiful window seat storage center for our family room. There are benefits to being married to a carpenter! So he could work, I took the girls to Regina for the day. They got to enjoy a day at grandma's house, and I spent the day Christmas shopping.

All Hallow's Eve Eve

Twas the night before Halloween and all through the house, the Wright's were making last minute preparations, and thank goodness there was no mouse. The pumpkins were carved with the greatest of care, in hopes they would bring delight, or maybe a scare!

Tonight we carved our pumpkins. Actually the master carver is still working away, burning himself occasionally. We have four pumpkins this year. One that is the largest we've ever had. Three are from our garden. Chloe was not very impressed with the pumpkin carving, especially the insides! Rebekah and I made pumpkin seeds. We also made ruby slippers tonight for Bek's. She's incredibly excited; she's going as Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz. My mom made her dress. Chloe's going to be the cowardly lion. Her costume we just bought. I'm not convinced she's going to keep the suit on. She's tentative with the idea at best. Hopefully once she realizes that she receives candy because of the get up, she'll fully embrace the part.

Tonight Rebekah had her first skating lesson. She loves watching the figure skaters, and has decided she would like to be one when she grows up. This is a change from wanting to be a musketeer :) Chloe also wanted to go skating. She tried desperately to get out onto the ice. She hates it when she can't do what her older sister is doing. So we're going to see if we can find her a pair of skates. The coach says if she can walk, she's old enough to skate! Personally, I think Chloe is independent and stubborn enough to pull it off! Happy Halloween!!!!

Christmas in October

Today, was the kick-off for Christmas in our house. Now don't get me wrong, we're not like the crazy Christmas people who start decorating in October. But we do start planning and buying. We partook in the annual Moose Jaw tradition, Christmas in October. For us, it's an annual tradition as well. We've been attending the past five or six years. All of the boutique type stores, located in downtown Moose Jaw, are decked out in their Christmas finery. The pinnacle of these being Yvette Moore's gallery. It also provides the first chance for the girls to find their special Christmas ornament. Rebekah was able to find hers, a beautiful crystal butterfly.

At this point in our lives, taking the girls to this event is hectic and even frustrating at times. It's hard for them to go places with so many beautiful things and not touch. However, Rebekah, for the most part, did really well. Chloe was hauled out of a few stores by her father. It's hard when you don't have a nap. I feel that way sometimes too :) Even though it's difficult at this stage, we know that the time is worth it. Eventually, this will be a tradition that our girls come to love and will look forward to every year.

Yesterday, we spent the day at home. We, originally, were planning on heading to the pumpkin farm; however, it was rainy and cold. Glynn took Rebekah to the doctor in the afternoon. She has an ear infection and needed medication. I got to spend the afternoon scrapbooking. Last night, even though she didn't feel great, Rebekah still wanted to see Cornerstone's production of Little Women. She's been waiting for weeks. She went to her first musical last year, when we saw Annie and absolutely loved it. However, she declared this years, "the best ever".

Changes

Changes are all around us. The seasons. The leaves. This week has been an eventful one at our house. Last weekend, we had a couple of centimetres of snow. The ice it created was enough for us to spend our first Thanksgiving at home, without going to Regina. We had a great time though. We enjoyed baking cookies, a Santa Claus movie marathon, and playing the wii and guitar hero.

Chloe became Houdini. She managed the great escape from her crib, which is something Rebekah never did. So, at 8:30 at night, Glynn took apart the crib, and Chloe was moved into her toddler bed. She was so excited, she climbed into it and went to sleep! She loves being a big girl like Rebekah.

Rebekah got her first pair of glasses. Actually two! So every morning, she's able choose which pair she wants to wear for the day.

Today, we were able to spend outdoors at the pumpkin festival, in Lumsden. More than anything, we deeply enjoy being outside as a family. The girls were able to play & have pictures taken among the pumpkins, as well as have their faces painted. We picked out our family pumpkin, which weighs in at a whopping 22lbs. This afternoon, we were able to stop in Regina, and have a late Thanksgiving. Rebekah & Chloe loved playing with their cousin Ariel.

Fall has arrived

Well, two important things happened this weekend. The first, was the true arrival of fall. After more than three weeks of balmy 30 degree weather, the temperature has finally dropped to the seasonal average. With this, of course, the leaves have begun to fall. Rebekah & Chloe were able to indulge in their first leaf jumping of the season. Rebekah & Papa took great care in raking up the leaves. Chloe, however, just dove headlong into them!

Overnight, on Saturday, we experienced winds up to 65 km/h, which continued most of Sunday. This, however, did not hamper celebrating Chloe's birthday. My mom and dad were able to join us for the day. I think the highlight of Chloe's day was having cake, again! This time a Winnie the Pooh cupcake cake, which consists of 24 cupcakes, iced over like a regular cake. However, that wasn't the important thing for Chloe. The only essential thing was the presence of sugar!

Birthday Bash

Today is Chloe's 2nd Birthday! This morning when Chloe woke up, she didn't know what a birthday was. Now, if you ask her whose birthday it is, she replies, "Chloe's Birthday." So cute. Birthdays are a chance to reminisce about the past year. It's incredible to see how much she has grown. During this past year she's learned to walk and talk, no small feat. She's discovered she has a nose and ten toes, has learned to give hugs and kisses. And loves her cat, named Cheeto.

Chloe's cake was a white chocolate truffle cake. She especially enjoyed putting her fingers into the icing. I wasn't sure how she would react to the sparklers and candles. But she seemed to deeply enjoy the pyrotechnic spectacle in front of her. With a little prompting from papa, she figured out how to blow out her candles. Then, after a bath, it was on to the presents.

It turns out that Chloe is pretty adept at opening gifts, which was a vast improvement over last Christmas. Furthermore, she finally cared about the contents! She received some playdoh, baby dress-up stuff, and a Dora bathtime mermaid. All personal favourites. The biggest hit, of course, was Dora. With her second birthday wrapped up, I can say that today was full of deep satisfaction. The celebration of the year that has passed, as well as looking forward to the year to come.