Cousin Owen....

loves coming to our house so he can wear all things pink and princessy! 

Cross Country Skiing

 
 
 Sedona had her first of 8 weeks of cross country ski lessons today. She had a lot of fun and is already starting to pick it up. We were unsure whether or not there would be snow because it's been so warm, but the white fluffy stuff was there!
 

What my class has been up to

Greetings. Chris here. I am providing a link to my school blog. This week students embarked on a massive fundraising mission for Haiti. Here is the link for my class blog to update yourself.



Needless to say I am very proud of how my students took up the challenge and raised $500. to donate to the Canadian Red Cross. It has been a busy week with lots of running around, phone calls and thank-you emails etc..And of course teaching, marking and family life on top of that!

As mentioned in class blog, the kids really lap up comments so any shout outs to them would be great:)

chris. Still reveling the stunning comeback by the Canucks over the maplelaffs tonight!

Baking

 The girls did a great job of making rice krispie squares the other day (in their little aprons from Grandma Lou).

Photo Booth

 We were laughing so hard tonight while doing this! 

January Thaw!

 

We have been embracing the warm weather we've had the last couple of weeks and spent much of today outside. Sedona has been asking every weekend to roast marshmallows, so today she got her chance!

 
 
 

It may look like cuddles with Dad on the trampoline, but it was really Wrestlemania 5!

Aja on the phone.

These boots are made for walking!

Sechelt Firehall Visit

 As part of Family Literacy Week, the Sechelt Fire Department had a storytime/tour today. The kids got to check out all the trucks and each got their own hat at the end. Chief Bill was an excellent tour guide.

Sleepover in Vancouver

Chris has a 2 day conference in Vancouver so he had a hotel booked for 2 nights. We decided to join him last night. Our trip started with me picking the girls up from preschool. They were so excited (they love going anywhere different) that they ran to greet me, backpacks on and all. Well Aja tripped over her boots and got a bloody lip! Things looked up after that though. We picked Chris up and rushed to the ferry. We got to our hotel and walked to look for food. Of course, with the girls, we had to go for Sushi. I had a hankering for Thai, but they had their hearts set on Sushi. We had an amazing feast at a restaurant called "Samurai" on Davie Street before heading back to the hotel to tuck in for the night. This morning Chris was off to his conference and the girls and I went swimming at the hotel pool before heading off to do a Costco run, go to the aquarium and home. Tonight Chris decided to treat himself to a Canucks game!

Aja on Real Skates

 
 The last two times we went skating, Aja didn't want to wear skates, but this time she asked for them. So we tried them (the first picture) and she could hardly stand and my back was killing after five minutes from bending down and trying to hold her up. So then we got the ones with the double blades that strap onto her boots and she could do it by herself.

Bug Catching in our Leisure Suits...

 
 from our cousins in Washington.

Dress-Up

 The girls are really getting good at entertaining each other- they chase each other around the house playing games. Today Sedona was a fairy for a good hour while Aja was trying to catch her. She created a whole fairy home with treasures, books etc. and invited us in for dinner eventually. The girls got a kick out of this. Then Sedona experimneted with Aja's hair and added Grandma Lou's reading glasses to spice up the accessories.
 
 

I Can see Clearly Now, the Clouds have Gone...

We never take advantage of the beauty morning sunrises we get at this time of year! Oh yeah- this picture reminds me- I still have to cook that pumpkin!!!

Birthday Pancake

The girls always get birthday pancakes in the shape of their first letter, so here's Sedona's "S."

A New Kind of Bath

 

Tinkerbelle

 Sedona did this Tinkerbelle mosaic craft project and it turned out really well. For all those parents out there- if you see these mosaic projects by Crayola, snap one up. It's easy, fun and looks great!

Aja's Run Bike

Up until now, Aja has not been interested in Sedona's old run bike. However, she has asked the last three days to go out on it, so here we are tonight, in the dark, going for a little cruise. I know it's a little dark, but cute nonetheless!

Sedona's Present

As promised, here is a picture of Sedona's birthday present. She got her ears pierced! She was very brave- hopefully she will heal as well as she handled the ear piercing!

"Make a Funny Face"

 said the photographer Sedona!

The Nutcracker

Yesterday Nana, the girls and I went to see The Nutcracker ballet. It was a live performance filmed in London, England and we saw it on the big screen here. The girls enjoyed it; next time we'll have to go see the real thing in Vancouver! I still have such vivid memories of going as a child and being convinced that my ballet teacher was up on stage! All the music and numbers came back like it was just yesterday that I went with my Mom, friend Erin and her Mom Judy.

Sedona's Birthday Party

Today was Sedona's fifth birthday party. She asked for a "unicorn" theme, so we played "pass the unicorn" with her new unicorn from uncle Paul, pin the horn on the unicorn, had a unicorn pinata and I made a unicorn cake. It was a lovely group of kids and Sedona was very happy with her party. Another thing we did this year which is now going to be a future tradition is in lieu of gifts, we aksed everyone to bring two toonies: one for Sedona to choose a gift and 1 for a charity. We chose to send the money to "Canucks Place" which is a Vancouver Canukcs charity to help terminally ill children and their families. Sedona chose to get a Disney princess laptop (which we topped up). I have to say that this was a nice alternative to the birthday present opening craziness and excess toys that often go unused! Tomorrow Sedona's going to make a card to send along with the money to Canucks Place. A few more days until Sedona's real birthday! I'll post in a few days what her present from us is. She already knows, but I'll wait until I have pictures to show you!

P.S. Auntie Irene- the "Cheetah Girls" outfits were very popular today!