Merry Christmas!

And finally... december

It took a little longer for me to get to the month of December but here I am almost at the end with a quick review.

December would not be the same without a visit with Santa at Complexe Desjardins.  This is the day that the girls and I play hooky from school and work.  With our dear friends C and J, we begin our day with a fabulous lunch at Baton Rouge followed by some shopping in the mall while we wait for the crowds to die down.  While the big girls shop, the little girls play in the playground that they set up.  So one mom shops and the other mom keeps an eye out.  And after eight years of doing the same thing, it is quite the well-oiled machine!  And a fantastic tradition that will go on forever I hope  :)

Also a tradition is my Annual Cookie Exchange which is in its fourth year.  Twelve wonderful ladies were present this year and once again an amazing selection of cookies were produced.  I love this party!  It yields such great masterpieces!

The sample cookies.

12 bakers baking.

And yet another tradition!  For the second year in a row, we have been invited to V & J's Vodka and Latke Hanukkah Party.  Lots of vodka and latkes are served at this shindig and there is always some sort of entertainment.  Last year it was Gord with his Olympic torch and this year, their daughter, SQ, cut 10 inches of her hair to donate to Locks of Love.  Great job SQ!

SQ and Cara-Li hugging after the haircut.

Next on tap was our Annual Adoptive Families of Quebec Christmas Party.  It was a little more intimate this year but lots of fun was had by all the children, and adults too!

New this year, Cara-Li has been taking some serious gymnastics lessons on Monday nights.  She is quite talented so we thought that we would try to focus on that.  We were finally allowed to watch them on the last day of class and it is quite evident that she is talented.  Her teacher said that for the next session she would be bumped up to a higher level.  Look at that candle stick...

Also new this was... Alexia's first ballet recital.  Oh my goodness!  Can you say cute?  Unfortunately, my pictures sucked as the room was very dark.  But here's one where she looks just like an angel with her halo on...

And let's not forgot yet another first... Cara-Li's piano recital.  She and 15 or so other children went to a retirement home to play for the residents.  It was Cara-Li's first performance in front of others and she was nervous.  But she did extremely well and it was great practice for the big exam in June...

After the recital, we rushed off to my Italian Christmas party which also is becoming a tradition  :)  This year Cara-Li was asked to dress up as Mother Mary for a little skit they did for the grandparents.  It was very cute...  And so was Joseph  ;)

And Alexia had her gymnastics show.  This is where they get to show the parents what they have been doing throughout the year.  Once again, Alexia was very proud to show us her skills.

And lastly, we were all invited to Alexia's school on their last day for a wonderful Christmas Concert in the church followed by a party with lots of fabulous goodies to munch on.  Somehow, we all forgot to have lunch after that!  And did I mention, Alexia can sing like an angel?  She is too cute and can she ever sing loud.  You can hear her little voice right over everyone else's  :)

And in between all this, we all went to see The Nutcraker and Quidam, Cirque du Soleil.

That's it for now.  see you all soon!

November in Review

November is one of those dark and dismal months, one that I find difficult to get through.  Not much is happening in town nor at the cottage.  You'd think one would take this time to prepare for the upcoming holidays but that would just be the smart thing to do.  Instead, we just hung around and do not much of anything.

I did plan a Fall party for our Italian Association which was a great success.  The girls attended this year and they were definitely the hit of the party!  And they looked extremely cute sporting their new fancy dresses.  Mom and Dad didn't look half bad either...

We were invited to our friends' N and S for an impromptu dinner one Saturday night.  Now this is what November is all about.  Great dinner with great friends!  And their great kids!

In the back alley at work, I ran across this headboard in the garbage.  I walked by it but then quickly came back.  It was a nice, solid headboard that with some sanding and a little paint....

... it could turn it the perfect cottage headboard.  L painted it so I hoped that our other guests like it too!

And then we attended a princess Party for M would turned 4 years old.  Well, officially her birthday is December 24th but her parents choose to celebrate it in November.  Understandably too.  Lots of princess treats and activities were available for all.  Big people too!

And it wouldn't be a Princess Birthday Party without the big fancy cake.  Great job N!  And Happy Birthday M!

October 31st - Halloween and Alexia's 4th Birthday Party

What was I thinking when I agreed to have a Halloween Party for Alexia's birthday ON Halloween Day???  Both events are highly draining... could you imagine both on the same day?  I think I am still recuperating and the reason why I haven't blogged in so long  :)  Alexia said she wanted a Halloween birthday Party and frankly, it was fun!  Lots of scary foods and decorations and well, loot bags, that was super easy and a no brainer!

We carved 24 pumpkins for the event.  Who am I kidding?  We do this every year!  I LOVE pumpkins!

Alexia wanted to be a tooth fairy so out came my sewing box to add a 'tooth' to the fairy dress we already had and a 'tooth' to the star wand.  Voila!  Super easy!

My friend C was reading the Martha Stewart Halloween magazine and decided that our girls would dress up as Jellyfish.  They turned out really, really well.  Anyone want a jellyfish umbrella?  I have two floating around in my garage!

The Jellyfish Girls.  They were the talk of Montreal-West!

My frien L was dressed as an Egyptian while I was a Bat.

Other adults also joined in on the fun by coming in costume as well.  Thanks guys!

We had a Magic Show as entertainment which the kids loved.  Alexia was his assistant and a good one too!

See how intrigued they were.

How did he do that?

For dessert, we had lots of scary stuff PLUS a candy bar.

Alexia with her Ghost cake made by Auntie L.  It was a red velvet cake. Bloody!

Some of her friends waiting for their piece of cake.

And of course, after the party ended, we all hit the streets for a couple of hours of trick-or-treating.  Too bad it didn't rain as the girls were equipped!

After a most tiring but fabulous day, I just wanted to let my little girl know how much I love her.

Alexia, I love you with all my heart and Happy Birthday!

October Review

I know, I know.  I haven't posted in forever!  And I have only our new computer to blame.  I just can't get things to work like they used to.  That will be one of my New Year's resolutions.  Getting my electronic life in order...

But for now, here is what we were up to in October.

We made our usual trip west on the 401 to Guelph, Ontario for Thanksgiving with Gord's family.  Besides eating turkey, which is definitely a highlight of the weekend, we spent lots of times with the girls's younger cousins, C and N.  The weather was beautiful so most of it was spent outdoors.  This year's activities included Strom's Farm and Yee Haw Adventure Farm (extremely hokey but so, so much fun!).  Thanks Uncle D for finding these places!

The Quartet!

Girls Only Club

Rubber Duckie Races.  Who will win?

The annual pumpkin patch pic.

Panning for gold

Sitting around waiting for I don't know what.

Ooo.  Another pumpkin patch!

The kids coming out of the Corn Maze.  Do you know how difficult it is to keep track of 4 kids in a corn maze?

Holy Wall of Fame.

Back at the Holiday Inn for lots of swimming.

Also every October, the cottage needs maintenance.  More specifically, raking up a gazillion leaves.  In the 10 some years we've had this cottage, I've always managed to NOT do any of it.  My poor friend L somehow always manages to do it all with Gord.  But this year, I went out with the girls and guess what?  It was actually fun!

Only in Canada do kids use now shovels to pick up the leaves!

And do we use a child to compact them into a recycling bin!

And do we wheel the bins down the road and dump them into the woods.  What?  It's called composting!  The wind better not blow our way!