Sinterklaas...the adult version!

Sinterklaas for the adults!!

After the kids were asleep in bed, we started our own Sinterklaas tradition...

We pull names every year and make a rhyme and a craft for that person, accompanied by a small gift. The results were as follows....

Kara had Paps, she made him an IPOD, complete with sudsy insides(shaving cream) and a little Mexican tune when you opened it! A Starbucks gift card and Tiesto CD for a gift!

I had Scott this year, and I made him a ping pong table, since that became his past time on his course in Banff in October for 2 weeks, and all he kept saying was that he wanted one!
A Timmy's coffee mug and some dress socks as a gift!

Scott had Mams, he made her a walker...since she always seems to be in pain with her bad knee and back. A little help getting around is always nice!!! It was complete with a basket on the front, deflective flag, and of course a dutch licence plate! A Tommy shirt and nail accesories were her gift!

Wow, does she ever look like her sister Jose in this picture!



Mams had me, and since we will be trying to sell our house in the new year to move into our newly built one, and the market is not exactly a sellers market... Mams thought we could use a little help.... so here's a mini of our house with the whole family pitching in to help sell it!
Even Kara and her baby belly are giving their best on the front lawn!
Some fuzzy ear muffs from Holt Renfrew were a nice warm gift!


Paps had Ralph, and made him a nice......portable sh#@*r ! This will come in handy for camping!! It was complete with sh#@ ! (That will have to come out and be cleaned) Of course it was not real, but Ralphie had to fish through it to find a note of where his gift was hidden. His bonus prize...a snow shovel!!


Ralph had Kara, he made her a giant pot of belly butter, (which Kara lavishly puts on every night before going to bed to keep her beautiful pregnant belly well greased) and she had to also dig for her clue (it was ALL JELL-O). She got a mini dipper crock pot and DVD.


All in all, we have a very fun evening, Sinterklaas has come and and gone, but we all look forward to it again next year!!

Sinterklaas!!!!!!

Every year the Dutch Canadian Club puts on a Sinterklaas party for the kids. It's nice to keep the tradition for our little dutch ones. Taylor, Hayden and Brody had a blast! They watched a magic show, sang some dutch Sinterklaas songs, ran around like animals and had a visit with Sinterklaas and 2 Zwarte Piet's who gave them all a little gift with chocolate and candies!

Sleepover at Oma and Opa's

Last weekend Scott had his Christmas Party so the kids stayed at Oma and Opa's Ralph and Kara went to the hockey game the same night, so Hayden joined Brody and Sienna as well and Oma and Opa had there hands full! The boys were awesome and Sienna was good too, she just keeps Oma a little busier!! It is SOOOO nice to have Oma and Opa close for times like this!!

Rub a dub dub, three grandkids in the tub!!

Oma and Sienna both in their jammies!!

Some Boy time! And Opa making funny faces as usual!!

In and Around the House

I love spending my days with Brody and Sienna, but every day flies by like nothing! Lots happens in a day, and before you know it the week is gone. Some fun moments:

Sienna has been rolling over now for a few weeks, only from front to back.

Every time she is still surprised at what she just did.

She is always smiling in her swing, usually because her brother Brody is making silly faces or just being a clown to try to get her to laugh for him!

Like a good brother and sister they are already there for eachother...
here Sienna is moral support for Brody as he is using his potty!

Brody had to put his potty and her bumbo side by side before he could sit down to pee!

Potty training is fun....especially when Brody figures it involoves playing in his bare bum!
We just started this week and he likes to keep his pants off until he pees so they don't get wet!

Brody's 2nd Birthday already!!!

I can't believe our little man is 2 already.......2!!!! He is such a great little dude. Every day I laugh at something he says and he always comes up with something new. Here's a taste of 10 minutes in our life:

We leave the house to run a few errands after supper. Brody steps outside and I follow with Sienna in her carseat. Brody stops dead in his tracks and looks around in amazement (it's dark outside) and says to me "Mommy, where sun go?" So I simply explain the sun is gone and it's dark now so the moon is out. He says "Oh...ok!" and walks to the car completely satisfied. Then we get to Superstore parking lot and he sees tons of cars and headlights everywhere (it's friday night, super busy) and while we are driving he screams as loud as he can "Holy cow, maaannn!!" (i think that one might be courtesy of daddy?) As we are driving back into Citadel we come up the street at which on the the end there are dozens of lit up trees and as soon as Brody sees it he excitedly says "Oh mommy...I see Christmas!!" gotta love our innocent little children and how they make you smile from ear to ear!!

Well here are some pics from his birthday party...he had a blast!! He was singing Happy Birthday Brody for 2 weeks until his birthday!!

Halloween 2008

Max always gets in on the action!!

This Halloween was fun!! Brody really understood what was going on after a few houses and was on his own going to the door, saying "Trick Treat" and holding out his little bucket. He was the cutest little horsie ever! Sienna slept through most of it in the Snugli with Scott. But she was a very cute sleeping ladybug! It was a fun family night. We had the bonus of Scott's mom still being here so she handed out candy at our house! We had a little visit after trick or treating with the fam for some coffee and halloween cupcakes and Hayden definitely made a very cute little Train Conductor!! Now all has been put away until next year....

P.S. The purple hair is for Halloween and just washes out!!!!

The last sunny and warm day at the Zoo?

Brody reading Sienna a naptime story

Canadian Baby Photoshoot

Sienna had her first photoshoot on August 11th...with Canadian Baby Photographers. Nick's photos are by far the best, but these are pretty cute too!

"Sooder Bwoken"

We decided Saturday was D-DAY...we went to Calaway Park with Ralph, Kara, and Hayden and didn't get home for Brody's nap until 2:30pm. Scott and I devised our plan of taking away Brody's beloved soother. We figured we would cut the tip off and show him the remaining half and tell him it was broken. We figured he would be tired enough from the day that he probably wouldn't put up much of a fight. We were right. The conversation went something like this:

Brody: "Daddy, get sooder"

Daddy: "Uh-Oh Brody, you're soother's broken, look..."

Brody: "Uh-Oh Bwoken (while analyzing it thoroughly and after a few moments...)

"Daddy Fix It"

Daddy: "Daddy can't fix it, buddy"

Brody: "Ummmm.....sooder bwoken....YEP"

Daddy: "Night night Brody, see you in a bit"

Brody: "Bye-bye Daddy"

And then Scott and I listened through the monitor as Brody convinced himself that his soother was in fact broken and 'daddy no fix it' for a few minutes. Then he fell asleep and Scott and I gave eachother high-five. The evening went the same and so did Sunday. Monday's nap was not a problem either, although he always reminds me that it is broken, maybe just in case it magically fixes itself one day :) Last night however he had it tough...he cried on and off for over an hour and had a really hard time falling asleep. We were in and out of his room making sure he was okay and eventually he did go to sleep. I am assuming he is now realizing it isn't coming back....I feel bad as a mom to take his "security blanket" away, but it had to be done eventually... Sometimes these moments are harder for us as parents than for him, because you feel like you are hurting him. I am sure within a week the soother will be long forgotten and he will have graduated further into Big-Boy status. Next: big boy bed and potty training!!