Christmas Dance Show!

We went to the girls dance show this weekend! They've been practicing week after week, getting their choreography down. Their costumes were fairly simple but still things we didn't really own! I borrowed one black skirt, found 1 shirt in a bag of clothes someone had given us, got one skirt & shirt at the used shop and had to break down and buy one new shirt at the store yesterday when nothing turned up anywhere else! (don't worry, I didn't pay full price, 30% off sale, chah-ching!)

The girls were quite excited to get ready although we had to push them out the door without dessert to make it there on time. (there goes parents-of-the-year again). They rushed to get their shoes on and were very excited when Lovey's friend TT loaned them each a pair of "bubble socks" to use in the show. She even brought over her sock glue and helped them ensure the socks would stay up during all the jumping and dancing around. She must have done a very good job because those socks didn't budge an inch and we'll be peeling off the glue residue all week! :)))

They did a great job in their show and loved watching the older girls do their numbers. The hard shoe dances were by far the favourites of the day. On the way home I asked if any of them would want to do hard shoe someday. Immediately Honey piped up with "who WOULDN'T want to do hard shoe Mum??!?!??!?" Silly me!

Not Again!!??!?!

More water in the basement this week! I came home from the gym, grabbed some lunch and was headed to check my email when I slipped a bit on something wet. Fearing that Murphy had regurgitated some mess on the floor, I was hesitant to look down. There wasn't as much joy as one might expect upon realizing I hadn't actually stepped in a pile of barf. Instead, it was a couple inches of water on the floor, EVERYWHERE!!!

I phoned Murray, dreading the clean up. He came home in a flash and what had seemed so daunting before, he cleaned up in a little over an hour. Once he manned the shopvac, it didn't seem so intimidating anymore. I started pulling up our foam tile floor and putting furniture on blocks so we could get at everything.

Although it was a nuisance, it in no way compares to the mess we faced last time and I was able to appreciate many bright sides!

-it happened during the day & we didn't have to stay up all night bailing
-we were better prepared with our own powerful shopvac
-we still hadn't replaced our flooring
-the walls didn't have to be dismantled
-nothing was really ruined or had to be discarded
-we didn't need to call in an army to help us tear up a subfloor
-we fixed everything with a shopvac and sweltering  heat

However, we can no longer live in denial, believing that this isn't going to be an ongoing problem. Time to pull our heads out of the sand and figure out a plan of attack! ....after hristmas..... probably...

Road Trip!

We loaded up the van and went to visit Murray's family recently and spent a busy weekend there! As soon as we arrived, the kids immediately started asking where Mr. Bojangles was, when he was coming, how much longer til the got there! They were quite anxious to see their little cousin!

On Friday night we all went to a hockey game (except Lovey & Sweetie who stayed home to bake with Nanny). Honey got to sit with Mr. B so she was happy. It was almost enough to make Sweetie want to go to the game but not even for Mr B could she bring herself to attend (but it was close!).

On Saturday I went to photograph my friend's 10 day old baby boy. He was adorable and Princess Pamela is the very proud grandmother! It was a long session as he wasn't very interested in being a sleepy, easy to pose baby LOL  We worked around that and I have lots of adorable shots to show Alisa when the baby gives her a chance :)

After the shoot, I raced back for a lovely roast beef dinner but had to rush and didn't have time for seconds on my mashed potatoes! As a Christmas gift, we took Andrew, Mandy, Karen & Paul and went to see a comedian, have a few drinks and lots of laughs! It was nice to have time together away from the craziness of the kids and do grown up stuff!

Meanwhile, back at the farm house, Nanny & Grampy had all 4 kids to themselves! Equally exciting for them I'm sure :))) Everyone was very excited about the big sleepover but not so interested in the sleeping part. Mayhem and flying stuffed animals ensued. Eventually they fell asleep because it was pretty quiet by the time we got in.

On Sunday Andrew & Rick had planned a big brunch of eggs, sausage, toast, bacon and it was quite a spread!!! I don't recall seeing either one man the fry pan but we still ate well thanks to Nancy's culinary intervention!

Lovey treated us to a concert while we waited for lunch time and she had an assistant to hold her music for her which she quite enjoyed!

We had a great visit and good weather for driving and you can't ask for more than that! thanks for the royal treatment Nanny & Grampy!

Field Trip!

Lovey`s class went on a field trip a few weeks ago, to check out an old fashioned Christmas. Honey & Sweetie`s classes went the day before so I got to go twice, awesome! They had lots of interesting information and activities for the kids at the house. They were able to make some things and help decorate the home for Christmas. They also pretended it was Christmas Eve and received a stocking when they woke up with an apple, a candy cane and a doughnut man! 

They had a great time and of course, Lovey had her good buddy by her side the whole time. I thought it was cute that her friend wasn`t content just sitting near her, she needed to have her hand in contact with her too. So sweet!! 

It`s been a busy few weeks! I`ve had lots of business for photography jobs so that`s been good but definitely takes more time! I`m almost all caught up now, only have a few images left on a newborn session of Princess Pamela`s sweet grandson and then that`s the end of my 2012 customers I think! Only my own family photo session to do now..... *cringe*

Murray`s back into hockey, their team is doing well probably due to their awesome defenceman and partially to the new hotshot goalie they picked up :)))

No one is sick at the moment but with the holiday craziness coming, it`s only a matter of time I`m sure! We have all just gotten over some bad colds-sore throats so hopefully we get a few days reprieve at least!

PW Update

PW seems to be doing a lot better and hasn`t lost any more of his tail recently! We have to watch Murphy`s food carefully or he will go for it everytime. He`s had a couple more chase-my-tail-and-shriek-like-a-banshee-when-my-teeth-sink-into-my-own-flesh moments but not nearly as often as they were happening. I can usually whistle to him and snap him out of it or even pick him up and pat him til he`s settled and purring. The tail seems to be healing but I think there are some sections at the tip that will be permanently bald!

Murphy`s also doing well and eating nicely. He wants to go for walks every day after the kids get on the bus. He`s fairly slow moving but as long as he`s still going, we`re happy!

Mummy's Little Helper

I have a newborn shoot this weekend and went shopping around for a few props today! Honey helped me practice with them this afternoon. Here she is playing "big sister" for me :))) She was all keen to be my assistant until she heard Sweetie turn the tv on, suddenly she was exhausted from all that work I was putting on her! LOL Ah well, it was good while it lasted!!!

Anticipation

The girls had hoped for school to be cancelled when we had some snow the other day! Unfortunately, it was business as usual! Murphy was anxious for them to get home too! I think I might get this printed and mounted for their bus driver for Christmas. He's had the route on our road for as long as I've been home with the girls. I remember waving to him when I'd have the girls out for walks in the stroller! I usually give him chocolates but that's got to be getting old by now isn't it???