Funny Story...

My father LOVES to spoil! He loves to surprise, take us out for supper and send flowers. He always uses the same flower shop in the area and they have come to know him well since we've lived here (I get a lot of flowers!) My friendMichelle works there and she filled me in on a funny conversation her and the boss had.

Michelle: My friend Chantal received her Master's this past weekend.

Boss: Hmm...I'm surprised her father didn't order flowers.

Michelle: No he got her a BMW instead.

Boss: (choking) Oh I guess that's a good gift too! LOL!

Here's me and my graduation gift! Keys were inside my Congratulations on graduating card on the day of my convocation! AMAZING!! Thank you to my fabulous parents! xoxo

Mount Ste Vincent University Alumni!

DONE! I am done, done, done AND done!

Feels so wonderful to not have assignments looming over my head. When I wasn't doing school work, I was feeling guilty about NOT doing school work. It was all consuming! But now that I'm done and I can look back on it...it really wasn't so bad!
It was so nice for me that Abbey and Michael got to see me graduate. It was a beautiful day in Halifax (crazy sunny) so we were able to take pictures outside. My Masters was officially in Curriculum Studies but it was centred around Technology Integration. I graduated from a university that I had never been to. I had never even set foot on the campus until convocation day. Crazy! The internet is a wonderful thing... and doing my Masters through a cohort was the best decision for me and my family.

Here's my happy, supportive family!

It was extra special for me that my parents could be there to see me graduate as well. My father has his Masters of Education and I have always admired it in his office. Now I have a framed Masters degree too…in my slightly smaller office! :-) They cancelled their annual trip to South Carolina to be in attendance. Such amazingly supportive parents!

Here's me and my proud Daddy!

Halloween 2011

Halloween is such an exciting time for our kiddies! They just love dressing up...and of course getting all the candy!!! Michael wanted to be a storm trooper this year and Abbey a cowgirl. They looked so fantastic and the weather was great for trick-or-treating!

Check out the pink cowboy boots...and the pose!!!

Steve was away again this year and my "back-up door answerer" Donna (see previous post where she helped out on Halloween by clicking here) was busy in Fredericton becoming a first time Grammie, so my neighbour's son, Cody, came over to answer the door and give out candy while I went door-to-door with friends. Here are Abbey, Michael, Luke, Ethan and Eva all ready to head out trick-or-treating! FUN!

Here are our awesome pumpkin carving skills for 2011!

Pumpkin Launch!

One of our friends has CF and he created an awesome fundraiser in support of this awful disease. It was a Let's Squash CF Pumpkin Launch! We had such a blast launching pumpkins at targets. Here's a picture of Michael, Abbey and I getting in on the action!

SQN Family Day!

Family Day is always exciting for our family because it gives us the opportunity to fly with Steve as our pilot. Unfortunately this year the Herc they had planned on using was out of commission that day. They couldn't use one because it was reserved for the stand by crew in case of a call out and the other was reserved for Steve and his crew leaving for Russia the next day. So...we didn't get to fly with Steve but we did fly in the helicopter with Scott.

He flew us all around the province but I was most excited to fly over our house and snap a few pictures. We are the sixth house from the top on the far right side.

Not sure why the colouring is off on this one but this is the back view. Too bad so many of the leaves had been blown off the trees because you could have really appreciated how beautiful the view in our backyard really is. I love our lot and our house!

Dentist Visit!

Our family loves going to the dentist! Abbey and Michael get so excited to get their teeth ooh-ed and ahh-ed over! The dentist always says they have perfect little teeth! No cavities either! (touch wood)

Now dentist' offices have changed since I was a kid! (now that I'm so old! lol) Each room has a TV where the kids can choose what they want to watch. They get to choose fluoride flavours. They get cool glasses to wear during the procedure. AND they get stickers, toothbrushes and floss as they leave! Of course it's fun!

Michael MAX RELAX in the chair watching some cartoons!

Abbey sporting the cool shades using the fun "spit sucker"!

NO FEAR!

Abbey has No Fear! She is up for anything...whether it be a roller-coaster, Steve throwing

her up in the air into the pool, or this...SO FUN!

Fall Traditions...

No Thanksgiving would be complete without a trip to Evan's Family Corn Maze!

Abbey and I a little lost in the corn! So much for following the six year old! ha!ha!

Success! We got all the stamps!!! Yay!

Fall In The Valley

There's nothing better than Fall in the Valley! So much to do for our little outdoorsy family!

Here we are at Dempsey's Corner Orchard! Such a fun place!

Here we are picking HoneyCrisp apples...our favourite!

Steve and the kiddies!

Great day on the farm! We picked apples, plums, blueberries, and peaches! Yum!

Summer 2011

Blogging is one of those things that if you don't keep up with it...too much time passes and you feel bogged down by things you want to blog about but haven't and don't know how to skip it! I haven't blogged in a while. I do love blogging and I love the idea that my children will have records of the things we did as a family but sometimes there's just no time. We were away ALL summer! Which was fantastic! Busy but FANTASTIC!

Steve and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary July 20th. TEN YEARS!!! Where did the time go?! We spoiled ourselves with an adults only trip to a Sandals resort in St. Lucia! It was amazing!

After our blissful trip we spent awesome time with family and friends in Ontario. Abbey and Michael got to meet their new little cousin Wyatt which was very exciting and they always love hanging out with Henry! We did Canada's Wonderland, waterparks, Clip and Climb and lots of fun day trips around Ottawa. We are so lucky to have such wonderful family who take such good care of us!

In August we went on a "bonus" trip to Vegas with our neighbours Scott and Judy. We had a blast...as you know...I do LOVE Vegas!!! :-) Third time didn't disappoint!

Then it was back to reality and work and routines! Super fun relaxing summer!

Now...that's done! Let's move on to more recent stuff...

Chalk Art!

We love using chalk on the driveway! We have a blast tracing each other and writing messages!

Here's Abbey's replica!

And Michael's!

Florida 2011

Siesta Key picture with the grandparents 2011 edition!

Hockey IP2

A few pictures of Michael's hockey tournament. #5 for the team but #1 in our hearts!

Here's Michael is skating his little heart out and with everyone close on his tail.

I love that they make the players shake hands after a game. Great sportsmanship is important!

Valentine's Day 2011

Steve and I always make a big deal about Valentine's day! We buy little gifts for each other, as well as Abbey and Michael, as a special way to celebrate our love! Here's Abbey opening her presents with Steve!

Michael was so excited about his present that he is drooling! lol!

We've always used these heart shaped flutes for milk for our Valentine's Day meal. They are just Dollar Store plastic glasses but Abbey and Michael think they are so fancy! When they are old enough I'm sure we'll switch to our good crystal glasses but these are worry (and break) -free so they will do until then!

Happy Valentine's Day xoxo

SWEETNESS!

Abbey wrote me a letter this week! How sweet is this?!?

I am so happy that she knows how loved she is!

Martock Take Two!

Our first skiing adventure went so well that we were ready to try it again! We had another wonderful time at Ski Martock! This time Abbey and Michael were so independent! I was a little scared at first...you go from holding them up and skiing with them between your legs, to trying to keep up with them while frantically screaming SNOWPLOW behind them!

Here's my little princess at the top of the "big" hill. So freaking CUTE!

Here's Michael and Steve heading up the T-bar. Michael was a real pro and Steve such a trooper since sharing the bar with a 6 year old while on a snowboard is VERY challenging! :-)

Here we ALL are riding up the chairlift together! You have no idea how happy these pictures make me! Reminds me of all the great times I had on the slopes at Mont Cascades with my parents. It's such an awesome family sport! One I'm looking to doing together for years to come!

The drive between the hill and the cabin is no more than 10 minutes. This is what Abbey and Michael looked like three minutes after being strapped into their car seats!!! Out for the count! A great day on the slopes indeed!

A little video of Abbey and Michael (with Steve close by on his snowboard!)

Quinzee!

I know you're wondering so here it is...

A quinzee is a shelter made by hollowing out a pile of snow. An igloo in made from blocks of hard snow. It had to be explained to me too?!?

Steve made a quinzee for the kids in the backyard. It was huge! What a fun Dad!

The construction underway...

TONS of room inside! All the neighbourhood kids loved it!

Every weekend our neighbour Scott, takes out his quad and pulls the kids around on sleds. It is just so much fun, and the adults, as well as the kids have a blast. We attach the sleds together and make a big convoy around the track. Here's Eva, Michael and Abbey getting towed!

Here's a close-up of Michael. Could he be having more fun!?!

LOVE that huge smile and those rosy, red cheeks!

Grand-maman and Grand-papa were here for one of our weekend rides. My Mom hopped on the tube and off she went. Here's a side view picture...

Here's the front view ha!ha!ha! Do you think she's enjoying herself as much as the kids!?!

What a great sport!

For The Love Of....

Grandchildren!!! There's nothing my Mom won't do for Michael and Abbey. During her winter visit, we had a big snowfall and built tunnels in the front yard! Abbey and Michael LOVE making tunnels and playing in them! They got such a kick out of Grand-maman going through the tunnels too! Quelle merveilleuse grand-maman! xo

Ski Martock!

Over the Christmas holidays, we decided to try Abbey and Michael on skis for the first time. Our neighbours, The Tromp Family, and us rented two cottages at the Falls Lake Cabins resort. We had such a blast! Abbey and Michael were amazing! Michael caught on super quick and actually rode the chairlift all the way up on his first day. Abbey did awesome as well but was a little more timid to venture off the bunny hills on her first day.

Here are my little skiers!!!

Abbey and I at the top of the bunny hill and Michael doing the rope tow on his own with Steve and Abbey close behind.

Here's a video I took of Michael after just a few times up the hill. He was awesome! Fearless, which is scary, but awesome!

After a great day on the slopes, we returned back to the cabins for some much deserved "apres-ski". A great day was had by all! Skiing is such a great family sport and it brings back so many memories of skiing with my family as a child. Good times!

This is the view from our Cabin. So beautiful! Great way to wake up...especially when you are VERY sore from helping six year olds learn how to ski!

P.S. Special Merci! to Denyse for getting my blogging groove back.