Smith Scrapbook Moments

2009-05-30T20:40:00.001-03:00

http://smith-let-them-be-little.blogspot.com

2009-05-10T13:26:00.002-03:00

I need to know how many tickets to get ASAP as we only get 4 and then are put on a waiting list

(the dance school does know that we may have family travelling)

DANCE RECITAL TICKETS GO ON SALE MONDAY....

$5.00 EACH X 3 SHOWS

HERE IS THE SCHEDULE

Saturday June6th @ 2pm...Kohl and Trin's junior plus her solo

Sunday June 7th @ 2pm....Blake, Trin's 2 troupe dances

Sunday June 7th @ 7pm...Trinity's intermediate, 2 troupe dances plus solo

2009-04-29T16:38:00.004-03:00

Dance pictures are now posted on other family blog...

don't forget to email for new link!

I WILL BE A FEW MORE DAYS BEFORE I GET AN UPDATE ON THE BLOG....

THIS BLOG HAS RUN OUT OF SPACE THEREFORE.....

I WILL BE STARTING UP A NEW ONE WITH PRETTY MUCH THE SAME LOOK.

I WILL LET YOU KNOW WHEN IT'S FINISHED.

SEND ME AN EMAIL IF YOU WANT THE NEW BLOG ADDRESS AND I WILL SEND IT TO

YOU...

carmat@eastlink.ca

DAY 4....DANCE COMPETITION

2009-04-24T23:24:00.009-03:00

7 DANCES DOWN....3 MORE TO GO!

It was another early morning but we managed once again to get to the competition on time!

Today Trinity performed in 6 dances all with great results.

*2 RUBY (bronze)

*2 SAPHIRE (silver)

*2 DIAMOND (gold)

Blake and Brooklyn did fantastic sitting and watching the dances ALL day. It started at 7:30am and went (for us) until suppertime. Lucky for me Blake fell asleep just after 2 o'clock and slept 2 hours!

PLAYTIME AT McDONALD'S

After the dancing was finished for the day we headed back to the hotel for a swim. The kids were excited and in much need of the fun break. They had a blast!

Blake was getting impatient waiting his turn on the water slide and kept cutting in line (over and over again) so I took the water slide priviledge away from him so he then turned to the hot tub.

It wasn't long after he went back to the pool and again didn't want to listen and was getting careless with jumping in the pool (over crowded). He then jumped on Trinity's head getting her in the eye...lucky for her no black eye!

Doesn't she look impressed....?

He wasn't long leaving the pool, getting showered and put on time out while waiting for Trinity and Brooklyn to finish their swim.

Sitting on time out while waiting for everyone else to get ready.

(I'm sure he will be on his bestest behavior at the pool tomorrow! He did apologize to his sister)

After the kids got settled into their pj's we took them out for Pizza! MMM

Now everyone is tucked into bed and I am going next!

***early morning wake up call at 5:30am***

It stopped raining long enough too......

2009-04-24T15:27:00.004-03:00

Finally it stopped raining long enough we could finally get outside and do some yard work. I hope this was the right tree that was supposed to come down...hee...hee. Kohl and I got the saws out and took down this tree that was full of thorns and always banged against the dining room window. We also chopped out a section of the dead tree in the front. The bad part, now I can see how bad of shape the dining room window was really in...yick.

Jay and Breigh joined us after the trees limbs were all down, as you can see Breigh found a stick she liked just fine and Jay and Kohl had some fun stomping and chopping the fallen limbs.

Jay is off to bowling and than we are heading to Dragon Ball Evolution at the Theatre.

THURSDAY NIGHT BLAST PARTY!

2009-04-23T22:15:00.000-03:00

This afternoon Trinity took part in a dance workshop that was taught by Melissa from "So you think you can dance Canada". She got Melissa's autograph and a picture then had fun learning some new choreography. It was a busy morning then afternoon but more excitement was about to happen.......

TRINITY GOT MELISSA'S AUTOGRAPH

BEFORE THE AUTOGRAPH.....

JENNIFER AND TRINITY

JENNIFER, TRINITY, BRENNA AND ERIN

JENNIFER, ERIN, MELISSA, TRINITY AND BRENNA

GROUP PHOTO (12 & UNDER WORKSHOP)

What a night! We performed our parent/child dance in front of the audience today and what a time we had! Blake was definitely the talk of the show and not only during our performance but later during the after party dance. Blake danced it up with all the dancers and again put himself in the spotlight. He got to dance with the radio announcers for 101.3 that attended the show and he even ended up winning himself a radio tshirt for his amazing dancing (he decided to give the shirt to Trinity). Trinity was off dancing the night away with her friends.

OFF TO THE BLAST PARTY!

Blake got to dance with the Radio announcer (blue and black jacket)

He was awarded a blue t shirt for his awesome dancing!

check out my shirt!

GO BLAKIE....GO BLAKIE...GO BLAKIE....

(and that is all you heard most of the night...he was not shy and I think he dance with groups from the entire competition!

We are now back at the hotel, the kids are in bed and I am heading there when I'm finished here.

Tomorrow is Trinity's busiest day. She will compete in 6 dances throughout the day and it starts once again with an early morning wake up call around 5:45am.

I will update again tomorrow!

Boy I am exhausted but we are having a great time!

DAY 3....DANCE COMPETITON

2009-04-23T13:32:00.005-03:00

SHE WON......

RUBY!

(which is a Bronze)

What tough competition she had but she did amazing!

It was an early morning with Trinity starting with her solo this morning at 7:30am. I got her up at 6:45am (had her hair done the night before) then we got Blake and Brooklyn up as we were going out the door. We had time when we got to the sportsplex to get the organzied and fed before all the dancing started.

Trinity just before leaving for competition. She was so excited and definitely sparkling!

I did her hair last night to make things easier this morning....Everyone loved her hair and it looked amazing on stage along with her costume!

Trinity wearing her new dance sweat shirt from Nana!

below is her RUBY pin (M.D.F)

DAY 2...HALIFAX DANCE COMPETITION

2009-04-22T22:53:00.007-03:00

SHOPPING.....SHOPPING.....SHOPPING!

then we had lunch followed by a loonie ride....

Back for a dip in the pool!

and we're off!

After the pool it was time to head back to the room for a quiet time...

(Blake drying his hair with the hand dryer)

Trinity posing for the camera...

Snack and quiet time with movie.

After a good rest we headed to the sportsplex to finally watch some dancing.

It was a late night but the kids were fantastic watching the lyrical solos.

We picked up McDonalds on our way back then got them tucked into bed.

Since Trinity has her solo at 7:30 in the morning I thought I would get a head start on her hair. It will be an early morning!

SMILE.....

So far she isn't nervous....just excited!

SWEET DREAMS!

Kohl's new bed

2009-04-21T22:28:00.002-03:00

We are trying to update Kohl's room a little bit and this will be his new bed, it is finally ordered and will arrive next Wednesday the 29th. Kohl is now saving his pennies because he wants the headboard that goes with the bed and a new army comforter, 1 step at a time buddy.

2009-04-21T20:46:00.002-03:00

BBall time

2009-04-21T19:46:00.003-03:00

Kohl picked out a new B.Ball today, one a bit more his size and we got a replacement net for Jay's Rim. Jay got his new Glow in the Dark B.Ball on the weekend, it's pretty cool after dark. We had a little game of 2 on 1 tonight after supper and are settled in now watching a movie...Mummy 2.

2009-04-21T19:31:00.002-03:00

MATT, WE ARE BACK AT THE HOTEL.....CELL PHONE NEEDS CHARGED.....WE ARE GOING TO THE POOL FOR A BIT.....TRY US LATER, IF NO ANSWER, TRY TRY AGAIN!
(it's now 7:30pm)

A surprise for Blakie

2009-04-21T18:50:00.004-03:00

While Kohl was hanging out with me at work today (Jay had Badminton Practice) we found this cool new Transformer to go with Blakes collection, we couldn't leave it behind so we picked it up. We thought it would be fun to tease Blake with it from home with this video, sorry buddy, Soundwave is really cool and he's waiting in your room, oh and by the way he is a Decepticon which we have never seen in these toys

2009-04-21T15:03:00.004-03:00

WE HAVE ARRIVED!

The kids got a ride on the troller after we unpacked all the luggage. We have things settled into the room and are heading to the grocery store then back for a swim. I will poste more pictures later !

Matt you can call us @ 468-8888 (I think this is the number?) room 306

TRINITY'S DRESS REHERSAL FOR HALIFAX!

2009-04-19T08:47:00.009-03:00

LYRICAL PRODUCTION

(SEASONS)

Trinity is in the green dress starting on your right in the middle.....

LYRICAL

(TRUE COLORS)

(Trinity has the dark blue around her dress on your right)

BALLET

(Trinity is in the front on the left side)

TAP

(ITTY BITTY PRETTY ONE)

(Trinity is in the middle second back....I missed the first few seconds of this dance)

JAZZ

(5..6..7..8)

(Trinity is in the front on your right)

TRINITY'S SOLO

(SHAKE IT)

New Dance Jackets

2009-04-18T22:52:00.002-03:00

The boys were excited today when I arrived home with their new Dance Jackets. They have been waiting all year and it was even better because Trinity got her's about a month ago so they have been waiting patiently. The jackets arrived just in time to go off to competetion with so the kids will be looking their best on and off stage. Go get em boys.

2009-04-12T13:22:00.011-03:00

Easter got of to an early start with the younger boys but we were able to convince them to watch an episode of Power Rangers before waking everyone else up. As soon as it was over they were off collecting eggs. We don't go crazy with gifts and treats for Easter but they did get some goodies, a new DVD (Bedtime Stories) and a little something to play with while we got lunch ready.

Unfortunately the weather is miserable with heavy, heavy rain but I guess it is better than the snow that some of you are getting. So needless to say, the kids will be spending the day inside.

Here are some pictures of the kids to enjoy!

Yes, there is Jay sneaking all the eggs on the kids...

Blake loves his chocolate...can't you tell!

Trin off to a good start with her egg hunt...

Trin's new skipping rope

Blake and Kohl starting to fill their bowls\

taking aim at the fireplace...

The boys playing with their new nerf guns...
Trinity and Breigh after the egg hunt

Breigh was wondering where all her treats were?

Here comes Peter cotton tail.....

Blake's dance class had some fun at the end of their class time.

Bunny freeze tag!

GOOD FRIDAY WITH THE SMITHS!

2009-04-10T17:03:00.004-03:00

THE 3D EXPERIENCE!

What a beautiful day it was! We decided this morning that we would take the kids to the movie theatre to see

"MONSTERS VS. ALIENS" in 3D

What a fun movie and the kids (and us) and a great time!

The kids while waiting for their popcorn, excited to see their first 3D movie in theatre!

I'm not sure who this nerd is....but he showed up in our kitchen not long after we got home...LOL!

When we got home we got the boys 4 wheelers out (battery operated) and with much surprise they still had lots of charge after sitting for most of last summer and all winter.

Trinity got a hoola hoop for her birthday and thought she would give it a try. Now if only I could move my hips like she does LOL....yeah, maybe someday?????

You go girl!!!!

Kohl on his bike....

Blake on his bike.... oh and Jay is patiently (impatiently) waiting to get the driveway back to shoot some hoops...it's hard sometimes taking turns isn't it :0(

May by the end of the summer we will be able to make the driveway larger to make room for all the kids...that will be a project.

The chase is on.... I got my toes ran over a few times keeping them in the driveway and Breigh got in the way a time or two. One thing about these bikes is that they are NOT quiet at all...what a racket!

Well, that is it for now, ???We had hot turkey sandwiches and fries for supper MMM and will have turkey dinner on Sunday. The kids are getting cleaned up for the night (I forgot how dirty they can get playing outside...what a mess!)

Trinity is off to a birthday party sleep over later on ( a night at the spa with facials, pedicures and vegetarian snacks, what fun) and I am heading to work for 6pm (no big deal lots of extra money tonight!) So that will leave the boys to have a boys night!

Must run I have to get to work!

I'll keep in touch

2009-04-10T17:00:00.000-03:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR DESTINY....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

2009-04-05T23:30:00.002-03:00

Here's wishing Matt Wilson a very Happy Birthday

Happy Birthday to you,
Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday, Happy Birthday
Happy Birhtday to You!

Getting in Costume

2009-04-05T20:36:00.002-03:00

While Carrie and Trin were off at Dance Competition today I had to get Blake ready for his practice of his dance he will be doing in the parent/children Blast show down in Halifax. Part of the dance is done in Hawaian theme so I thought it would be fun to get him into a Hawaian shirt(Kohl's) and found some red hair gel we had to spike him up and make him wild. He was definetly a hit today at practice and everyone loved the outfit. I hope they all have fun down in Halifax and I wish I could go with them. At least I will get to see this performed here at the year end show in June. Go get them gang.

Here comes the tooth fairy

2009-04-05T20:30:00.003-03:00

Today Kohl came to me(Matt) and said his tooth was getting very sore and that his new tooth was growing in a weird spot. He had one of his front teeth getting loose for a while but aparently it wasn't loosening up fast enough as the new one started to grow out behind it. I figured we better get the tooth out as soon as possible so I showed him some tips on how to loosen it up first and he worked on it all morning. After lunch we decided to give it another try and as he was laughing/crying at the same time we got it to pop out. He was very excited to have it out and over and is now looking forward to a visit from the tooth fairy.

Parent Bowling Day

2009-04-04T18:45:00.003-03:00

Today was Jays parent day bowling tournament, as Carrie was away at competition with Trin I had the pleasure of playing with Jay. We got off to a fast start and were leading after the 1st string. I was quite surprised as I haven't bowled in years. We got into the 2nd string and started ok but had a rough spell around the middle and had to settle for 4th place. We were a little disapointed with ourselves but had a good time anyway. Carrie & Trin arrived in time to be our cheer leaders and Blake and Kohl got filled up on treats from Lucy. We'll go get them next year.

2009-04-04T15:29:00.003-03:00

This information is for anyone who is planning on coming to

watch the kids DANCE RECITAL!

***there has been a change in date. It will now be held on

Saturday May 30th and Sunday May 31st***

Mom and dad I know this might have messed up your plans

with booking vacation, I hope you can still make it!

(mom I will call you later or you can give me a call, I work tonight)

ANOTHER BIRTHDAY PARTY...

2009-04-03T22:20:00.011-03:00

HEY, HEY, THE GANGS ALL HERE!

Trinity finally got her birthday cake with whipped cream icing!"

and then came another surprise....

The track suit that she has been wanting since she started dancing 4 years ago. Now that we are at a new school and almost finished her second year here I thought it was time! She is going to wear it tomorrow when we go into Sydney to watch the dance competition. She isn't competing in this one...

It took me all day to get this suit finished for her but finally at 4:30pm I picked it up!

I think it turned out great!

While the girls were painting their picture frames the boys made some fun animal crafts.

Jay didn't hang around for the party...right after bowling he went to his friends house and played poker... he made it home in time for cake!

Kohl had his friend Trey over during the party. The boys had a great time and are hilarious together!

Now you didn't think that the night went off without any injuries did you...LOL.

Blake ended up closing his door on his fingers...lucky for him for the FIRST time he didn't slam his door shut!

We finally found a night for Trinity to have some friends over to celebrate her birthday! We had 12 extra kids in the house. 1 was Kohl's friends and the rest were here for Trinity. It was a very loud party but everyone had a great time. I ended up buying wooden picture frames from the craft store for the kids to paint. I took pictures of each of them individually with Trinity for their frames then got a copy of the group picture for them to take home. They turned out great!

Here are some videos...

First is Trinity dancing.... I promised my good friend Jenn that I would get one posted of Trin's solo...

JAZZ..."SHAKE IT"

(2weeks and a couple of days until competition)

this next video is hilarious!

Trinity on a sugar high from all the icing on the cake!

(oh, and a new use for my treadmill lol)

What a DIVA she is!

(warning....it's a bit long, but I love it LOL)

2009-03-30T13:12:00.004-03:00

The wind is blowing...

It's raining...

and freezing rain...

The snow is falling....

No just kidding....

This is what it looked like outside at noon when school got canceled. So I have the kids home early. Now I am just waiting and wondering when the messy weather will start?!

UPDATE...

So here it is now 3:15pm and the snow is just starting to fall...Jay had a great time outside playing street hockey and basketball and didn't come in until the ground was covered with snow!

And this is what we got at 5:00pm....lots more snow. I am hoping that it doesn't get too bad come 1am when I have to come home from work...I might get Matt to drive me tonight?

HERE ARE SOME DANCE VIDEOS OF THE BOYS...

Blake's jazz dance Saturday morning...

They are just learning their dance for the recital in June.

I can't wait to see his costume... I think he has a red bow tie? to match the girls dresses

This is Blake's tap dance....

they just got started and Saturday the kids had a replacement teacher so they really weren't sure what they were doing lol

This is Kohl's hip hop dance. I know I posted this dance before but they now have an ending.

I usually don't stay for his classes but he had a fill in teacher Saturday so I hung around.

at first they look a bit lost but they aren't long catching on...I think Kohl got a bit shy when I moved to the front of the room where he could see me...

Watch towards the end....Kohl has a solo part! I think he did a great job :0)

This is Kohl's jazz dance. I don't think I posted a video of this one yet. This are just learning this one and I think it is coming along pretty good! again he is shy for the camera...

I don't have any new videos of miss Trinity. She will be doing her solo again on Tuesday so I will try to remember to take the camera....I think she needs to see it on video so that she can see what needs fixed....She is doing really well but just needs to have fun and smile.(she's too serious)...I'm sure this will all happen on stage and she loves to perform!

WEIGHT LOSS JOURNAL DAY 4

2009-03-29T12:30:00.000-03:00

What a beautiful day. It is now feeling like spring is in the air and another sign that spring is here is that ice in the harbor! This picture of the harbor was taken the other day, the night before it was all water, it's amazing at how fast the ice came in.

We had dance today to get ready for the Blast that we will take part in at the dance competition in April. I will be dancing with Trinity and Blake....we are having fun! Unfortunately with the way the day went I didn't get out for a walk and to make matters worse I didn't even get on the treadmill, so I guess the dancing was my exercise for the day. (better than nothing)

FOOD

breakfast: pear

lunch: 1 hotdog and salad

supper: ham, potatoes, and veggies (diet pepsi)

snack (at work): multi grain cheerioes

WATER

glasses 2

EXERCISE

1 hour of dancing

WEIGHT LOSS JOURNAL DAY 3

2009-03-28T17:33:00.000-03:00

EXERCISE

treadmill: 30 minutes

leg magic: 50 reps x 4

FOOD

breakfast: multi grain cheerios

lunch: 2 slices of pizza

snack: pear

supper: 2 slices of pizza

snack (work): 1 slice pizza (it's now gone!)

1 cup of multi grain Cheerios (munchie food to get me through the night)

WATER

glasses: 3

What a day...Matt went in to work early this morning so I got the boys off to dance classes. That kept me going until 1pm.....We made it home for a quick lunch then we were off once again. (Trinity had fundraising) So while she was at the grocery store I took the boys to the pet store to see the puppies, they had lots. There was an English Bulldog and they wanted $5000.00 for it, yeah, I don't think so but it did make the puggle ($1200.00) sound a bit cheaper! Anyway we made it back home just after 4pm and by then I was exhausted. Matt was already home from work so he had spaghetti made! While they ate I took a quick nap before going to work.

So the exercise seems to be going ok and my legs are definitely feeling it! Now as for the food intake, I guess we shouldn't have bought the pizza last night (I think I ended up eating all but one slice :0( but it was sooooo gooooooood! Now that it is gone I will get focused once again.

Well that 's it for now!

2009-03-27T21:52:00.000-03:00

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY CAILYN!

MARCH BREAK 2009

2009-03-27T19:08:00.021-03:00

HAPPY 9TH BIRTHDAY TRINITY!

"Thank you everyone for coming to my party!"

Trinity taking a moment to make her wish...
then she huffed and puffed and blew her candles out!

I can't believe she is 9 years old.

How fast they grow!

Happy Birthday Trinity!

Kohl and Jay coloring their craft

Trinity and Jazlyn

Even Breigh joined the party

Kohl found a use for the stuffed toys by taking a moment to relax!

Blake trying to figure out which one he will take home...

I ended up finding the dogs bag filled with these toys when I was packing to come home LOL

Breigh is always ready for the camera...

she is curled up on a pile of stuff toys from Nana

Matt, Jay and Kohl after winning their game in lazer tag

look out boys, here she comes!

and off they go to another ride

Kohl's favorite ride was the swings....

this year he was officially tall enough to go on...

last year he stretched for all he was worth and I think he was a bit on his tip toes...

Matt and Blake on roller coaster

Trinity and Kohl on the roller coaster

Princess Pirate Matt and Captain Blake

look out...Jay means business, don't get in his way

If only they were like this all the time!

Blake in the jungle gym play park...

he looks like a little caged monkey!

Trinity and Blake on the Merry-go-round!

a moment of putt putt...

we thought this would be a good spot to start after lunch!

Jay on the swings...

Kohl and Matt on the bumper thingys????

Matt and Blake....

I think this was on their way back from a "P" break

Trinity on the swings

The kids (us too) had a great day at Crystal Palace. We ended up going back the next day to play the games and also watch a movie at the theatre (Ink Heart). We got some visiting done but not all that I wanted to do.

We ended up staying an extra day in Moncton due to the fact that we had to get the right wheel bearing replaced on our van so Sunday night we took the kids (not Jay he stayed with Bird) to see another movie since it was Trin's Bday (Race to Witch Mountain).

Monday was an early morning, but the van got fixed then we headed towards home. We had a quick visit with Grandma and Grandpa in Amherst then back on the road so that I could get to work for 6pm....yep I made it but 10 minutes late.

WEIGHT LOSS JOURNAL DAY 2

2009-03-27T18:54:00.003-03:00

So far so good! I did manage to get on the treadmill this morning, things were a bit on the busy side today but I managed. Kohl had an eye exam this morning so he stayed home from school...great news, Kohl does not need glasses and will go back for another exam in 2 years. With him being home I decided to make the day a bit special and took him and Blake to playland McDonalds for lunch. Blake was so excited to have his brother spend the day with him. While we were out I picked up 2 of Trinity's dance costumes (the most expensive ones). They are beautiful especially the one for the lyrical dance to "True colors". I promise when I get a chance I will get some pictures of all her costumes!

The weather was beautiful today and I (we) walked up to the school to get Trinity this afternoon. The boys had a great time outside and I managed to get the truck washed and the inside cleaned out!

Now for my journal....

EXERCISE

treadmill: 20 minutes + 40 minutes
leg magic: 50 reps x5
walking: 30 minutes

FOOD

breakfast: banana
lunch: 2 chicken fajitas, sm fries and bottle water
supper:salad and 1/2 chicken breast

snack: pear (while on treadmill)

snack: sm bowl of cheerios

WATER
glasses: 4

I had a pretty good day today until later on when Matt got home from work. He worked from 8 this morning until 9:30 this evening and didn't have much to eat, so that along with my craving for Kenny's pizza we broke down and had a cheat night. Now I'm not going to totally kick myself in the behind yet. I only had one piece instead of 3, one small piece of garlic fingers and water...we didn't even open the bottle of pop!

So I guess that means I am back to salad, veggies and fruit tomorrow.

WEIGHT LOSS JOURNAL DAY 1

2009-03-26T08:46:00.002-03:00

It's now time to get focused on losing weight and making healthier eating habits. I can't wait for the warmer weather so that I can get out walking but for now I will have to disipline myself to get on the treadmill everyday.

So what I am going to do to help me through my weight lose journey is to log my progress everyday.

EXERCISE

treadmill: 1 hour
leg magice: 50 reps x4

FOOD

breakfast: banana
lunch: 1/2 pc chicken breast (sprinkle of mrs.dash) and salad
snack:veggies and dip
supper:bistro pocket (brocolli and cheese)
snack:strawbery and banana yogurt

snack (work): veggies and dip .....2 cups popcorn

WATER

glasses: 4 ( this is something I need to drink more of)

Well I must say that I didn't get into to much junk food today, the plus side for today is no take out!

2009-03-25T13:50:00.003-03:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JUDY!

We are home from a very busy March Break! The kids had a great time and are now trying to get adjusted to being back. The next month is going to be very busy for us as dance is going to take up much of our time getting ready for dance competitions. Trinity will now have at least 2 solo classes a week to get ready, costumes still need to be paid for and then ready and organized for the trip.

My training class for yesterday and today were canceled which sucks because I don't know when I will be able to train again during the day, with any luck they will offer night training(fingers crossed) There is a new posting at work for a lead agent which would be great but I don't feel that I have been there long enough to take on that responsibility yet as I am still learning the accounts, maybe next time?????

Matt goes back to work tomorrow so we will probably have a quiet night with a movie (August Rush) Matt has wanted to see this moving for some time now so we bought the DVD yesterday.

Trinity has her troupe dance class tonight so I should go get some house cleaning done!

take care :0)

****MOM, DON'T FORGET TO LOOK FOR TRINITY'S BLACK AND YELLOW DANCE COSTUME TOP*****I WILL LOOK AROUND HERE AGAIN AND IN THE VAN , I WILL LET YOU KNOW IF I FIND IT.

***NEVER MIND MOM, TRINITY FOUND HER TOP IN HER ROOM :0)***

Happy Birthday Carrie!

2009-03-23T22:03:00.002-03:00

Here's a change,

I'm wishing Carrie a very happy birthday!
Seeing as she takes all the pictures it's hard to find one of her but I found this one I took last summer at the beach. I love this picture!

Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday to You,
Happy Birthday Dear Carrie,
Happy Birthday to You!

Love you dear,

Matt and the Kiddies (JTKB)

MARCH BREAK!

2009-03-16T10:04:00.002-03:00

Well here it is.....MARCH BREAK!

The kids are home this week enjoying some time off! NO SCHOOL, NO DANCING, NO BASKETBALL AND BOWLING! It's great :0) Ok so that is all great for them but they are more excited about our trip home to visit and a day or two at Crystal Palace.

We still aren't sure what were are going to do with Breigh???? We have considered leaving her with the vet for 20.00 a day so that we don't have to worry about her while at Crystal Palace. At the vet she would be taken care of , walked 3 times a day and get a bit of training especially with going for walks. This probably would be the best decision to make but again we will be looking to around 100.00. I mentioned this to Matt so I'm just waiting to see what he decides to do???? I will be hard to leave her behind :0(

As for Breigh and her surgery, she is doing better and starting to jump up on the beds to sleep with the kids. She is taking it one day at a time.

We will be leaving Wednesday but we aren't sure at what time. Trinity is scheduled in from 10:30-11:30 for her dance solo but this is something she can do when we get back so we will probably be leaving early in the morning.

I guess that is all the news for now, We have 2 more days to work then we will get to enjoy our time off as well.

SEE YOU SOON!

SORRY FOR THE UPDATE DELAY....

2009-03-13T14:29:00.008-03:00

We are all running out of steam and need to catch up on some sleep (if that is possible)...

Well, someone is getting some sleep!

Oh my what a week we had (what else is new). So last update was Jay's basketball tournament last weekend. The boys went back to play on Sunday for 3rd place but unfortunately they lost the game and ended up winning 4th. They have nothing to be disappointed with as they all played their best and have come a long way since the first of the season. That ended the basketball season! So Jay's schedule is slowing down and as for Air Cadets I think he is done going as the interest just isn't there. Oh well at least he gave it a try!

The boys were great considering the long hours at the tournament. The first game they kept entertained with their games..not long after I had to buy them some chips. I had the easy part of the tournament. Poor Matt had the kids in Glace bay from 1:30 (after a morning of dancing) until 10:00pm before they got home and in bed.

I think Jay was glad to finally have that busy weekend behind him :0)

So what else has been happening around here????

Trinity finally got her new glasses! Having benefits from work made that possible :0)

I didn't have to pay a penny!

She got them on Monday and there is lots of room to grow so between her 2 pairs she should be good for 2 years. One of her dance classes came to an end so now she will have more time to focus on her dances for competition in April. We had just started choreography with the dancers and parents for the show in April. I made it through the first class and we will see how much I will remember on Sunday LOL in the end we will all have fun. Trinity is excited to be going to Halifax and is hoping that Nana will be able to come along with us! (Oh and Blake is coming along for the trip because Matt has to stay behind to work...Jay will help out with Kohl)

Work has been a bit on the slow side for me and my schedule has been all over the place making it hard to get to my shift on time. Thankfully they finally worked things out and gave me a set schedule working 5 nights a week from 6-1am. This will make things so much easier :0) oh and will give me guaranteed hours! Matt and I are both off tonight so we will try to get Blake's room finished. Matt bought the moldings last night so we don't have to do any shopping tonight.

Jay is off to a great start to his final report card in June. He finished his science fair project just last week that is worth 30% of his science mark. He finally got his mark the other day... 100%! He did a great job :0) And, not only did he get a good mark on his project he brought home 4 "Gotcha's" that his Social Studies teacher gave him during class. "Gotcha's" are little rewards from a teacher letting the students know that their hard work and help is appreciated! I am so proud of Jay and all his hard work so far this year!

So now for the highlight of our week!

Breigh's surgery...

Yesterday we dropped Breigh off at the vet in the morning for her surgery (surgeries...) that's right, there will be no puppies in this house and along with that Breigh no longer has her outy belly button. We got a call yesterday afternoon saying that her surgery is over and was resting. We picked her up just after 3:30 and brought her home. She wasn't too happy with us yesterday and wasn't feel all to good but what she wanted most was to curl up in bed with the kids. Matt said she kept going up to Blake's room whining so Matt decided to bring Blake down to our room so that Breigh could sleep with him. That is where I found her when I got home from work!

Finally Breigh got comfortable curled up with Blake!

Today she is feeling a bit better. She wanted to curl up with me this morning in bed but she could get up so I managed to pick her up and put her on the bed. She stayed there most of the morning until the mailman knocked at the door. Poor thing she took a leap off the bed and did a bit of yelping. I bet she won't do that for a while. Anyway she is resting in her kennel right now but I can see she desperately wants out to curl up with Jay now that he is curled up with a blanket on the floor. Hopefully she will be back to her old self real soon!

Kohl and Blake having fun the other day playing pirates!

Well I think that is it for now. The kids are home from school and are excited to start their March Break!

Player of the Game Part 2

2009-03-07T22:01:00.003-04:00

Well the 2nd weekend in a row we had basketball tournament and after all was said and done and the boys played their 3rd game today we had another surprise. The boys played super hard the 3rd game they were playing a really strong team with all good players, Jay played the game of his life the 2nd half and honestly I would say almost won the game for the boys, they were down by 10 with only the last shift to play and Jay scored 6 while the "D" kept the other team scoreless. They tied it up after 2 free throws and a basket from J. It was truly exciting and everyone on both sides were into the game. In the end the boys lost by 3 but they played a great game, you know when all the parents from all the teams not only the 2 playing but others come up and tell you how hard they played and how good J did. He won player of the game for the second weekend in a row, I was really proud of him for playing that hard, we even hugged after the game, infront of the teams, you know he was proud of himself and emotional for that to happen. It was too bad that Carrie had to leave for work after the 2nd game because she missed a good one. We had back tommorrow afternoon for the bronze medal game, good luck guys.

2009-03-02T17:21:00.002-04:00

I am still not feeling well so took off another day from work. I sure they will survive without me LOL or maybe they won't...It's hard being in that situation but there is nothing I can do about that. Matt will be home soon and I will go curl up in bed. I'm sure I will be feeling better tomorrow after another good night sleep.

So what do I have on my schedule for tomorrow??? Well Breigh has an appointment at the Vet to get caught up on her needles and have her bulging belly button looked at, then in a couple of weeks she will go back to have her "I'm not having puppies" surgery! I'm not sure how she will handle her visit to the vet but we will no that tomorrow.

The kids got another snow day today so it has been pretty busy here today but all is quiet at the moment...Not sure what they are up to but I am enjoy the quiet!!!! The weather is still messy out, I think it is just raining now but looks very icy.

Got to run, Matt just got home!

BIRTHDAY...BASKETBALL..AND SICKNESS

2009-03-01T23:18:00.004-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR MOM/GRANDMA....

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

Jay's basketball team participated in a tournament this weekend. They lost their first game but ended up kicking butt in the next two! I was able to go watch his last game today and I am glad I was their to see it....what a game it was! Jay played his butt of but is paid off as he ended up getting "player of the game"! He was some happy to have been picked but it was obvious with how hard he played!

Other than the game today was pretty uneventful (for once lol) Jay spent the rest of the day finishing his science fair project, the kids built craft (I think?) with Matt. I am sick :0( so I slept all afternoon (4pm-9:30pm). I made arrangements at work to use a sick day and hopefully I will be back to work tomorrow night! I am feeling better now so hopefully that is a good sign!

Well that's it for today, Matt just came home with pizza..maybe I will try a slice????

2009-02-27T20:54:00.005-04:00

Yesterday Trinity and Kohl came home from school with their report cards and I am happy to say that they have both improved as well this term! :0) All 3 kids have been working very hard this year and are looking forward to their time off in March. We are planning on taking them to Crystal Palace ( amusement park) when home visiting in a few weeks, everyone is getting exciting. Also while we are home we will plan on having a birthday party for Trinity, I can 't believe she is turning 9 years old.

The kids had the day off from school due to parent teacher interviews....Matt had the joy of spending the day with the kids as I had another training class for another account, now I only have 2 other accounts to train for! Anyway is was a very long day for myself and I'm sure for Matt as well, he is at work now and should be home shortly. This week has been very very exhausting for us but I'm sure things will slow down soon but unfortunately not until the weekend is over.......

Tomorrow morning Matt goes to work, the boys have dance classes which will keep us busy until 1pm then Trinity sells calenders at the mall for her dance fundraising (anyone want one let me know they are $2! I will bring some when we come to visit) While Trinity is at the mall I will have to keep an eye on her plus keep the boys entertained (God help me ) No break for me tomorrow. Fundraising will go until 4pm which is great because Matt is off at 4 and I have to be at work for 3:45pm until 1am. Now in between all this I forgot to mention that Jay has a basketball tournament Sat at 3 and again at 5:00, so with any luck Matt will be able to find the school in Westmount to watch at least one of his games and then depending on how well they play tomorrow will depend on what time they play tomorrow. I am tired just thinking of everything we have to do this weekend. EEEEEKKKKS!

Ok enough about all that....With my hours cut back at work (don't worry with this training class I took today it put my hours back up to 35 or so...) but last night I didn't work until 8:45 until 12:45am so I was able to spend the evening watching Trinity dance. I have to say I don't know how this kid can find the energy to get through the night??????! I got some videos of the 3 dances I miss just before Christmas. It is hard to believe that in just 5-6 weeks it will be competition time.

So most of you know that Trinity is doing a lot of dances this year. She has moved up to more advanced classed but has still been dancing with her junior class as a senior dancer! The next 2 jazz videos you will notice the difference between the two levels. She seems so much happier (and having more fun) in the intermediate class! (second video).

This video is Trinity's Junior Jazz class.

(here she is toward the front wearing a black shirt which probably won't help because they seem to be all wearing black in the front...she is the only one with her hair in a bun and wearing glasses...I'm sure you will be able to find her)

This video is Trinity Intermediate Jass class.

This is only their second week working on the choreography so things are still a bit messy but they are doing great and I'm sure when it's all said and done and they have their cute pink and white cowboy costumes (from last year) it will be fantastic!

Trinity is in the front row wearing a pink tank top.

Ok so if you're not to tired after watching that dance then check out her ballet. She again is wearing a pink tank top and if you are wondering what they are doing with their arms in the air in the beginning then try to picture the girls holding on the half a hoola hoop covered in pink, white and purple flowers that will match their ballet costume. It is going to be very pretty!

BALLET

Honor Student

2009-02-24T19:56:00.005-04:00

It arrived home today, Jay's 2nd term report card and we were very excited to see more improvement in his marks overall. He has done well with his marks and we are very proud to have an honor boy in the house. We will be waiting to see how the 3rd term marks will turn out and are also watching for Trin and Kohl's report cards that should come home in the next day or two.

2009-02-23T13:33:00.007-04:00

With my hours at work cut back for a while I thought I would take some time to keep this blog updated. Yesterday we spent the day home (extra day off for me....) we got lots of cleaning done and a bit of painting done in Blake's room. His Transformers wall mural is almost finished and we still have the moulding to put around his door. Jay, Trin and Kohl got a good clean out of their rooms and the laundry is now caught up. I wasn't a lot of help considering I could barely move but I was able to sweep the floors.

Jay was suppose to have a basketball game yesterday but again it was cancelled so the team had a practice instead. I was a bit disappointed considering I was off and was able to finally watch his game. We had an early supper before Jay's practice.....shake and bake chicken, potatoes, corn, peas, broccoli and Jay's favorite, bacon wrapped scallops! (Thanks for the scallops Grandpa). The kids were all in bed early and that was the end of yesterday for us.....

This morning the kids woke up to a snow day...I'm not sure when the snow started but when I looked out the window around 5ish it wasn't snowing or raining at that point but by 7:30 the ground was covered with that white stuff.....so I had the kids home all day with me. The mornings always go well when they are home but come afternoon they drive me crazy LOL. Right now things are quiet....

Jay is playing Call of Duty on the Wii,

Trinity and Kohl are playing Disney Monopoly,

Blake is in his room watching Open Season 2 and eating popcorn!

And of course we can't forget about Breigh....she is curled up with me on the couch!

I have a few things to get done then it's off to work...I got called in early so that means less time to get things organized...

JAYS ANNUAL SKI DAY!

2009-02-21T18:13:00.007-04:00

Today was the day that Jay has been waiting for since last February. We went skiing with the Church Youth Group! The weather was great and we had lots of fun (7 hours) on the hills. We braved the chair lift this year and gave the real hills a try. LOL!!!! For a moment I didn't think I was going to survive the trip down.... Jay was in front of me and took a tumble, I then went to sit down to see if he was ok and that is when I ran into trouble....my skies kept going straight with my butt dragging between them, then both my wrist and thumbs got bent back then down went my elbows.....ouch and this is how I was going down the hill.... it felt like my arms were being ripped off at the shoulders and yes it did feel as bad as it sounds if not worse.....finally I came to a stop thanks to my ski falling off. Jay was fine....he took a few rolls down the hill as his skies flew off LOL what a sight we must have been!!!! This fall didn't stop us from skiing we got our skies back on and continued (very slow) down the hill and gave it another try...this time with success!

We left the ski hill at 5pm and we are now home safe and both very sore but had an awesome day! Looking forward to next year and maybe...just maybe we will take everyone else along to ski on the bunny hill....got to start somewhere!

Jay just getting started on the bunny hill waiting for the ok to move onto the hills....

Up the bunny hill he goes....

Jay on his way up the pallet to the smaller hills... he fell off this lift the first time around...the lift bar caught him between the legs and knocked him flat... lol it was too funny!

Finally made it to the top of lower redtail!

around 1:00 we took a break for lunch...chicken strip platter with poutine MMMM!

And then...FINALLY... after lunch Jay wanted to go up the chair lift and try out the bigger hills...oh yeah, he didn't have good luck with this lift for the first time either...he fell getting off and the little guy Ryan that was with us fell with him...Jay said he got Ryan's ski in the butt LOL. What a time we had!

The view from the chair lift as we got closer to the top...it was a 5 minute lift...

Jay just before we left...he was just taking it easy and enjoying one of his last runs.

The Social Butterfly

2009-02-17T21:01:00.002-04:00

What a busy night Jay had tonight, he returned home from Cadets very excited as he was promoted to "Lead Air Cadet", sounds pretty impressive now doesn't it. He also brought papers home tonight for a camp next summer for a week with the cadets. He will be having a very busy week as he has a basket ball game Friday and Sunday. Not only that but he is planning on going to a school dance Friday night and Skiing with the Youth Group on Saturday. If it wasn't for the skiing he would have been going on a field trip with Cadets and a Cadet dance Saturday night. To be an almost Teenager again, what a social butterfly. Good luck buddy, I'm guessing you will be tired by Sunday Night.

WALKING THE DOG....

2009-02-13T15:32:00.004-04:00

HOW DO YOU WALK YOUR DOG?????

With all the cold, messy, icy weather we haven't been able to get out to walk the dog. So what have we been doing recently to burn off all her pent up energy??? Well she is putting the treadmill to use. We only started this a few days ago but she really seems to enjoy it! I just had her on it for a little of 30 minutes and I think she is wanting back on, I will try her again later. Now if only I could get back on the treadmill GRRRRRR I'm sure once the warm weather gets here I will get motivated!

MAKING PROGRESS ON BLAKE'S WALL...

2009-02-12T17:16:00.003-04:00

TRANSFORMERS WALL MURAL

OPTIMUS PRIME

This is where is was Tuesday evening when I went to work.... no idea what I was going to do next?????

Wednesday I spent most of the day getting into the paint...the building was a pain to paint but it's done! Well at least for now anyway... I finally put things away and went to bed just before 1am.

And this is where I am now....even though I took the kids skating with their school I still managed to find time to get some more painting done! Looking pretty good! Blake is super excited!

Well that's it for me....I have the sitter coming here for 6pm, Trinity is off to dance classes, Jay has a Basketball game at 6:30pm and Matt should be home from Halifax around 7pm....
I am off to work...

KIDS....I'M COMING HOME TODAY!

2009-02-12T07:41:00.001-04:00

Your last scavenger hunt!

see you soon

I am excited to see you all tonight, I am missing you a lot. I hope you have fun skating today, and Kohl don't forget to take your speech book to class with you today, ok!I am hoping to be home by 7pm so I will see you all then, except Trinity as you will be at dance and Mom you will be at work.

Today's riddle might be hard for you all to figure out but that's part of the fun I guess. If one of you find the treat of the day, it is to be shared with everyone!

Look around the house and think of something that is coming up this weekend that you said you wanted to watch with me (Kohl and Trin said this so they will have a better chance)

When you figure out what this go to where these things will be in the house.

Peek around them and you will find a little something for you

2 each so share with everyone.

I'll see you tonight,
Love Dad,

PS, Carrie, I will have a little surprise for you tonight when you get home. :0)

KIDS...GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!

2009-02-11T08:17:00.001-04:00

SCAVENGER HUNT #2

Know I'm missing you all very much, not being able to tuck you all in and kiss you good night (you especially Bear) is not much fun for me. I hope you are all having a good time and know that I love you all very much. I am looking forward to coming home tommorrow night and can't wait to see you all!Today I will make you work harder for your surprise.

I'm a dark place that only sees light when you open me.

Normally you do this every morning and if you do your chores every night too.

There are lot's of different colors in me

Sometimes my friends get lost in the dryer but eventually most of them match up eventually if Breigh doesn't eat them first that is LOL.

If you figured out my riddle go check where you think it would be and see what I left hiding for you, look hard I hid them good.Love you lot's DADXOXO

KIDS....MISS YOU ALREADY!

2009-02-10T20:11:00.000-04:00

SCAVENGER HUNT $1

While I'm away I thought I would still play a little game with you so check this out for some surprises. Here's a little scavenger hunt for you, as it's only the first day that I'm away I won't make it very hard for you to find this one.

This is a place you visit every night,

It keeps you comfy at night and you head just right.

You can fluff it but whatever you do don't throw it,

if you figured out what it is than go check under yours for a little surprise. Know I'm thinking of you all and love you very much.Love,DADXOXO

BLAKE'S BEDROOM RENOVATIONS...

2009-02-10T20:00:00.003-04:00

We started his room off with a new door which Blake helped with. Then it was time to get the old wallpaper off the stairway. So what are we doing with his room???? Well it's all about Transformers! Since Matt is in Halifax for a few days I took some time this afternoon and started to draw optimus prime on his wall. I still have a lot more to do before it will be done but Blake just loves it all ready, I can't wait to see his reaction when it's finished!

his favorite...OPTIMUS PRIME!

2009-02-09T16:05:00.000-04:00

MISS YOU ALL!

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAYS....

2009-02-06T15:09:00.004-04:00

Happy Birthday Jazlyn

She turned 4, Feb. 4th!

Happy Birthday Jenn

She also celebrated her birthday on Feb 4th!

She is one of the bestest blogging friends ever!

ENJOYING THE SNOW...

2009-02-02T15:47:00.005-04:00

Kohl and Trinity at the bottom of the hill...

Blake was hilarous and flew down the hill, no fear in this child!

Blake being as silly as always!

Trinity hated walking back up the hill...

Kohl having fun...

Blake and Matt heading back up the hill for another run...

Kohl showing off his new sled...

and down she goes...

then down goes Blake...

Sunday morning we woke up to a bit of fresh snow so the kids were out playing early while Matt cleared out the driveway. When I looked out the window the kids were sliding down a small hill in the yard, I guess the small hill was better than nothing. Since the weather was so nice and the sun was shining I got dressed and we took the kids down the road to the big snow hill. We stayed for almost an hour and everyone had a great time....well maybe not Jay, he didn't call to check in Sunday morning from his friends house so we assumed that they were still sleeping (they always sleep in late). Jay will have his day of fun in the snow on the 21st when we go skiing!!!! Jay is really looking forward to this day :0) and so am I!

After our fun on the hill we decided to take the kids to McDonalds for lunch but first had to make a pit stop back home because everyone had their pj's under their snow pants, which worked out great, I then called Jay and he was ready to come home so we picked him up on our way by and he got to have lunch with us!

The day came to an end with Jay's basketball game at 4:00pm then I was off to work for 4:30pm. What a day and what a long night it was at work....

Update for Monday!......

My baby boy is now registered for school in September! I tell you it was some hard to fill out the paper work but Blake is excited and definitely ready to head off to school.

JAYS SNAP SHOTS...

2009-01-30T21:28:00.002-04:00

When we were home visiting over the Christmas holiday mom (nana) had given Jay his very own digital camera. I wasn't sure how much he would really use it but to my surprise he is using it. Quite often he brings me his camera to show me the pictures he has been taking....most (all) of his pictures has been of the puppy! (Surprise, Surprise) Breigh found a new comfort spot on the back of Jays couch in his room when his blind is pulled open. Unfortunately for Breigh, we took the couch out yesterday to make room for a desk. Jay loves the new layout to his room and Breigh misses the couch :0(

When it comes right down to bonding....Jay and Breigh find time for the playstation LOL

(lesson #1....how to use the controller!)

Thanks, Nana for my camera! Jay

IT'S OFFICIAL......

2009-01-23T18:42:00.002-04:00

MY NEW WHEELS!

2006 Pontiac Torrent

That is right! I got my new wheels around 5pm today :0) and it is now sitting in our driveway! It was a pretty long morning trying to make this decision but we got a great deal and lots of warranty (oh yeah and new tires)! Now hopefully things will get a bit easier around here with running around and maybe Matt will get to bed earlier now that he doesn't have to pick me up at 1am! The kids are excited especially Blake, now he doesn't have to worry about spending his time out shopping for cars LOL poor little guy but he was great and cooperated most of the time.

WHAT A DAY.......

2009-01-21T15:00:00.005-04:00

.......AND IT'S NOT GETTING ANY BETTER.

Ok so again we spent the morning looking for a car/van/SUV, whatever, you get the point. We thought we had narrowed our choices down to getting another van the same as what we already have. We came across a 2008 burgundy van with pretty much the same features as our van only is it was only "fully loaded" not "fully spoiled" like our van. Anyway after taking it for a test drive we weren't overly happy with it, not that there was anything wrong with it, just that we kept comparing it to our van and it just didn't feel right to buy at the time. We took Blake to McDonald's for lunch (that is another story) while we talked over our options again and came to the decision (well at least for now) that since we are buying a second vehicle and already have enough space for everyone in the van, that we will reconsidering the Pontiac Torrent! Yes this is a good thing and we are now both happy to be looking into purchasing a vehicle once again. So hopefully things work out for us in the next couple of weeks and I get my new car, ok not brand new but new to me!

So that was a pretty stressful morning trying to make a pretty important decision. The weather is pretty nice here right now and not too cold so I took advantage of the sun and warmer temperature and cleaned out and vacuumed the van (it really needed it). When I went to the basement to get the shop vac to clean it out, I almost died, I'm not kidding here LOL ( ok I can laugh about it now) as I turned the corner in the dark basement there is was staring me in the face. Last night Matt had hung the life size skeleton from the ceiling. I was not impressed! Anyway I soon got over my scare and headed outside to get the cleaning done and as I reach my hand under the back row seats to clean out the garbage, what did I grab????????? Blake's toy snake. It looked and felt so real. Well that was it for me LOL I cleaned up my things and headed back into the house.

Now let's get back to the McDonald's story.....

Blake has been collecting the Happy Meal toys from "Hotel for Dogs" He HAD the dogs, Friday, Lenny and Juliet. Well Friday has gone missing (found pieces so we know that the dog ate it) and Lenny has run away (not sure it the dog got this one...no evidence to prove her guilty) and Juliet is safe on top of the TV (for now) Today he got Henry and Cooper. While having lunch at the play land McD's Blake was waiting for his lunch and was off playing, he was the only one there so things were quiet! Well what happened. He sent the dogs down the slide but only one came all the way down. When I sent him back through the play park to look for poor Henry he hit his forehead and took a tumble down some stairs. What a BUMP on his head, anyway he is ok now just a nasty goose egg. One of the workers had come in the room to check to make sure it was clean when she saw his head, we explained what had happened and took us to get him another dog. Well lucky for him it was a different dog "Shep" and after he got over the fear of going back into tunnels and slides he ended up finding "Henry" so he ended up with 3 dogs and a bump on the head. What a day!

I think that while the kids are quietly watching Iron Man I am going to stretch out on my bed and have a few minutes to myself before heading out to Trinity's dance class and on the bright side of things..........

I DON'T WORK TONIGHT!

The Results are....

2009-01-20T18:30:00.005-04:00

Trinity returned home with her dance exam report tonight, we knew she did pretty good but were pleasently surprised by her mark as she skipped Junior 2 Jazz level and moved into Junior 3 with the older girls 9-12years old. Her marks came back as commended and actually only 1 student got a higher mark of commended+. She is very excited and relieved to have this behind her so she can focus on getting ready for her year end shows and competitions. We are expecting Kohl's exam results on Saturday...stay tuned!

A FULL AND BUSY SATURDAY!

2009-01-18T11:27:00.007-04:00

Yesterday started off as our usually Saturday morning, Blake had dance class at 9:45am until 10:30 and this week Trinity took her junior 3 jazz exam at the same time, which was great because it saved us an extra trip. Blake had fun as usual and Trinity got through her dance exam( results should be in by thursday), I know she passed but not expecting the awesome mark that she got last year considering she skipped her level junior 2 exam, but she did great and I was told she had lots of spark!

After the morning run of dance, I then had to return with Kohl to do his regular dance classes from 11:30am until 1:00. Blake wanted to stay home with Jay and Trin so I gave him a chance to show that he could be well behaved to them, (which he was!) I got home with Kohl just in time to take Jay to his youth group bowling event, when we got there Mary Lynn the youth leader invited the other kids to stay for some fun and hotdogs and fun they had! We got home just in time to get Kohl ready and off to his dance exam. He took his junior 1 jazz and did great! Being the only boy yesterday taking a dance exam was pretty exciting for the examiner that we flew in from Toronto, Kohl should get his results later this week as well. Now I did have a moment of panic during the kids dance exams. When I walked through the door at 4:30 for Kohl's exam I see the other 3 little girls getting their hair put up into a bun, I stopped and froze for a moment thinking that as I rushed out of the house I forgot to do the bun........LOL then I quickly realized that I was there for Kohl not Trinity!

Ok so at this point my day is far from over.... I didn't get home until almost 6:30pm from Kohl's exam and I still had to make the kids supper and get Blake off to bed fast so that I could get to work considering I was suppose to be there at 4:30pm (they already knew that I would be late) Anyway I made it there for 8:30pm and it ended up that they really didn't need me there so I worked until Matt got off from work and headed home at 10pm. It wasn't long before I was off to bed!

Matt works again today and I will be going in for 5:30pm. Trinity has to be at her other dance school for 3:45pm to go over their troupe choreography with Mr. Foley (same gentleman from Toronto). So yes it's been a very busy weekend but it would have been a bit easier if my sitter was availble to babysit.....I think it's time to look into a back up sitter!

Well that's it for now, Hope you all had a great weekend :0)

A SNOW DAY FOR THE KIDS!

2009-01-14T20:34:00.005-04:00

GETTING THE JOB DONE!

What a messy day we had! We woke up to a fair amount of snow which turned to heavy rain not long after we got up. The kids got the day off from school and had a very busy day. They went outside with Matt this morning (only had to be at work for noon) and helped shovel the driveway. It was heavy from all the rain but they got the job done. When they finished Matt took them (and the dog) to the backyard to work on their snow fort (the kids have been waiting for good packy snow!) They had a blast and got totally soaked :0) I got them to come in to dry off and warm up with some hot chocolate then Matt was off to work.

THE SNOW FORT!

We had a quiet afternoon with movies but then we were dressed and back outside! At least this time it wasn't raining :0) We got the walls to the snow fort finished and hoping that with the really cold temperatures ahead the walls will freeze and be good and strong! It is starting to get really cold and windy here now and the roads look like a sheet of ice :0( Matt should be home in a little bit , hopefully they get the roads salted in the meantime!

HUMMY, HOT CHOCOLATE!

BOWLING!

Sunday, Kohl went to his friend Jenah's birthday party! It was held at the bowling alley right up the street from us. Kohl was really excited to go, he has been wanting to go bowling for quite some time now and all he talked about from the day he got the invitation until Sunday afternoon as we were going out the door was this bowling party. He had a great time and turns out to be a pretty good little bowler!

Sorry Dear

2009-01-11T22:21:00.002-04:00

One of the things we really wanted to get for Blake for Christmas was a tranformer chair for his bedroom. We found this at Sears but kept putting off ordering it for some reason, not sure why, anyway once we went to order it it was out of stock and they didn't think they would be getting any more in...very disapointed as we are re-doing his room to Transformers and he kept taking the catalogue out looking at the Transformer stuff. Every once in a while I would go back and check to see if by some chance it was back and by my surprise tonight I found it again on the website, I guessed it was out of stock but to my surprise it was available and yes dear I broke down and ordered it without checking with you first,( I guess you shouldn't have gone into work tonight, LOL ) it will be in on the 15th and Blake should be excited.
Matt

LOTS OF CATCHING UP TO DO....

2009-01-09T14:47:00.007-04:00

I think we are finally getting things back on track and some what organized over the last week! The kids went back to school on Monday and Thursday had their first snow day off from school.

I still have lots of pictures to share from New Years so I may as well get them posted now that I have some time. Work is keeping us busy along with the dancing but that is to be expected :0)

NEW YEARS EVE!

HAPPY ANNIVERSARY MOM AND DAD SMITH!

Grandpa and his 2 favorite puppies! Breigh is the pup up in Grandpa's face and Bel is curled up beside him!

Bel taking it easy...probably after her and Breigh were chasing each other around the house! It was great to see these two finally getting along.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN...

We spent New Year's Eve spending time with Matt's parents and friends. There was a good crowd of people and the kids were excited to be part of the celebration this year! We had three tables set up so there was a variety of things to do....Jay and Trin joined in at the Domino table with the adults, they weren't into playing cards at Grandpa's table and Matt and I entertained Kohl and Blake with some game that Grandma got Blake for Christmas. Everyone had fun, ate LOTS of food and celebrated the New Year together!

STORMED IN.... NEW YEARS DAY!

Late New Year's Eve we were visited by a blizzard which ended up keeping us stranded for an extra day in Amherst, not complaining any it was nice to be able to spend the extra day visiting with nowhere to go! The kids got out to play but it was cold and they had to face the blowing snow and snow drifts!

Breigh enjoyed being out in the snow, although she didn't stay out long until the kids went out to play! Poor little thing, I thought she was going to blow away LOL!

Blake and Breigh tackling the snow drift!!!!! Although I think it looks more like Breigh (puppy) tackling Blake! :0)

Jay, Trinity and Kohl took shelter from the wind along the side of Grandma and Grandpa's house!

Matt and Kohl digging shelter from the storm, Jay is out there someone probably hiding in his cave!

Blake had enough and came in shortly after going out!

PICTURES FROM TRINITY'S CAMERA!

Kohl and Trinity had show and tell this week at school so Kohl took in his big D-Rex dinosaur to show the class. Everyone loved it and couldn't wait to have their turn playing with it! Trinity of course took her new pink camera and got lots of pictures. I will share some of her pictures that she has taken over the Christmas Break!

Jay striking a pose LOL, what a kid!

Trinity and some of her friends from her class!

Trinity, Rebecca, Jessica and Allisa

Ignore the green eyes on Breigh, I didn't have time to fix them..... What a day we had with her on Wednesday. Everything was going wrong this day including sitter arrangements so that I could get to work on time. Anyway, this is some of the mess I found when I got back from picking the kids up at school. She had only been home alone for 30 minutes but she sure kept herself busy. She had garbage spread right through the house , what a mess but when I walked through the door I knew that something was up by her behaviour. She quickly ran and hid under the stool in the kitchen and wouldn't come out. Later she chewed a hole in Kohl's comforter, then "P'd" on the floor right by the door and the list goes on. Before I went to work at 8pm I had grounded the pup to her leash. She didn't complain and curled up and slept most of the night! I think maybe she learned a lesson. Yeah right, I think not!

That's it for now I have to go get Miss Trinity ready for another dance class. Yep a new class. This one is a lyrical production called "SEASONS" She is really excited!

2009-01-07T09:27:00.002-04:00

THIS IS FOR GRANDPA!

To access the games try going into...

*the start menu

*then clicking on accessories

*then look for games, then click

If you can't find it then try...

*the start menu

*then clicking on programs

*then look for games, then click

If this doesn't work let me know and I will give you a call! Good luck! :0)

HOME AT LAST!

2009-01-04T18:09:00.003-04:00

WINTER STORM...NEW YEAR'S DAY!

We finally made it home. The roads were snow covered so it was a long drive home but we made it home and that is all that matters. Matt dropped me and Trinity off to her fundraising event then he headed home with the boys and got things unpacked, showered,ready for work then dropped Blake off with me. It was a long afternoon and we finally returned home just before 8pm. The worst part was that I had to get up and go back into Sydney to pay our New York payment then Trinity ended doing another hour or so doing more fundraising then I had to be at work for 3:30pm, so needless to say I didn't get very much done around the house.

Today (Sunday, I have the day off from work, so we got groceries and picked up a few things at Home Depot....yep, that's right, we are slowly going to get a few more projects done around here!

Anyway must go for now, The kids have to get ready for school tomorrow and I have to find out when Jay is coming home from his friends house!

Keep in touch!

HEADING HOME!

2009-01-02T12:20:00.002-04:00

We are well on our way home! The roads are snow covered and we've seen quite a few cars off the road. We have now made it as far as Antigonish for a bite to eat for lunch at McDonalds so I am taking advantage of the free wireless Internet!!!!! :0) There is flurries in the air but I checked the forecast for home and it looks good. Matt will take Trinity and I right to Sobeys for Trinity fundraising then pick up up in time for Matt to make it into work. Well for I now I must go quiet the kids and the dog but I will check in with everyone when we get home!

MERRY CHRISTMAS!

2009-01-01T16:13:00.007-04:00

CHRISTMAS EVE!

What a busy time it has been for all of us. We enjoyed our Christmas Eve this year with a family movie night at home along with some delicious donairs and garlic fingers. The kids got to open one gift before heading off to bed, leave milk and cookies for Santa then to sleep they went!

CHRISTMAS MORNING!

As always the kids started their morning off reading the letter that Santa had left for them. Then it was off to open the stocking! To Jay's surprise he found his old "chocolate bear" (that he has had since he was 2 years old) sticking out of his stocking. This poor old bear had been sitting on the kitchen counter for almost 2 weeks waiting to have it's head stitched back onto its body. I guess Santa felt bad for his bear and got it all fixed up for him. Although Jay is 12 years old he was still pretty happy that he had his bear back!

LETTER FROM SANTA!

TIME FOR THE GIFTS!!!!

Ok so the kids got a good amount of gifts and I'm not going to list a picture of them all so I took one picture of each of the kids with most of their gifts......I know with everyone living long distance, no one was coming for a visit so this way you all can feel that you got to visit with us over Christmas and see the kids gifts!

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THE GIFTS!

LOVE FROM BLAKE

Blake got lots of new clothes, lots of goodies in his stocking, some treats, the Diego Dino rescue center with jeep that he really wanted! He also got lots of new movies, lots of games(and leapster games), he got a new fisher price camera, Transformer bedding from Grandma and Grandpa just to name a few things!

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THE GIFTS

LOVE FROM KOHL!

Kohl got lots of great gifts and pretty much got everything he was looking for under the tree~ Santa brought him his D-Rex Dinosaur (he is holding), we got him the v-smile motion with some games, he got his nerf gun that glows in the dark, lots of goodies and treats in his stocking, new clothes and pj's which he really needed! :0) he got a new DS case for his games, moon sand and lots of new movies! I'm sure when we get home he will have fun building with his new lego set!

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR THE GIFTS

LOVE FROM TRINITY!

Trinity's picture looks filled with pink and purple....and I'm sure you see lots of Hannah Montana gifts! She got a hair coloring thingy and scrapbook kit from her Grandma and Grandpa, new dance bag from Nana and Papa, she got her pink camera from Santa, of course, lots of new clothes and pj's, goodies and treats in her stocking, lots of new movies, pet shops, bratz and of course I would have to say her favorite gift.......her purple laptop from mom and dad!

THANK YOU FOR THE GIFTS

LOVE FROM JAY!

Jay got the surprise of a life time. We got him a blue laptop and he wasn't even expecting it! I think it makes a gift that much better when the kids aren't asking and expecting it! Santa brought him a new stereo with CD, lots of new movies, PlayStation and Wii games. He got a nerf gun, DS case, lego, goodies and treats in his stocking, lots of new clothes and pj's, new fleece sheets from Nana and papa (super soft) and new bedding for his bedroom which will be done in army theme. He was one happy young man Christmas morning!

Breigh also got some gifts. A box full of treats, balls, new blanket (that she is curled up on) from nana and papa! She was great and stayed out of trouble while the gifts were being unwrapped. This blanket was her favorite spot Christmas day!

After all the hustle and bustle of opening the gifts We had to make some changes to our plans and get Christmas dinner ready earlier so that we could catch the movie at the theatre! All went well, dinner was great, the apple pie was delicious and everyone had a full belly. We relaxed (yeah right!!!!) The kids played with their toys while Matt and I cleaned up some of the mess and got ready and took the kids to see "BEDTIME STORIES" at the theatre. I was a good movie from beginning to the end and we all had a great time together and I don't remember how many times we refilled the popcorn bags but it was goooooooood LOL.

Boxing day was a day of cleaning for us as the kids continued playing with their toys / laptops! By the end of the day off the gifts were put into the kids room and the house was looking cleaning and somewhat organized! During the afternoon we took the kids back to the theatre to see another movie "MARLEY AND ME" which was also a good movie but had it's sad moments. We ended the night off by putting the kids to bed early and got some packing done for our trip home to be with family!

What an exciting end to Boxing Day! Kohl lost his first tooth and got it under his pillow just in time for his first visit from the tooth fairy!

We had a safe trip to be with my parents but the drive seemed to take forever, but we eventually made it! We got to see a lot of my family, Matt and I got out for a couple of hours for a Chinese feast MMMMM then back to my parents house. The time went by fast but at least we got to be together over the holiday! Our next stop is to visit with Matt's parents before heading back home!

PARENT DAY AT THE DANCE SCHOOL

2008-12-22T14:21:00.009-04:00

PRE SCHOOL DANCE CLASS WITH SANTA!

(Blake dance from 9:45-10:30am on Saturdays)

Blake had a blast on Saturday during his dance class, He is always a ball of energy and had some fun with his class by wearing his little santa suit :0)

(Kohl dances from 11:30-1pm on Saturdays)

CROCODILE ROCK!!!!

"Lets get tapping"

Kohl is really coming a long way in his dancing he is certainly the center of attention and he loves it.

ALVIN AND THE CHIPMUNKS GO HIP HOP!

Kohl's class has been working on this hip hop dance for quite some time and it is finally getting close to being finished. It is turning out great and everyone is having fun!

MUSIC BOX DANCER!

Kohl is doing great with his ballet class, I must say that this is my favorite dance of all so far!

(Trinity dances in tap, jazz1, jazz2, ballet1, ballet2 and lyrical

on Thursdays from 5-8pm)

CIRCUS BALLET

Trinity is in 2 ballet classes, this video his her beginner ballet, where she is now a senior and this will be her last year with these girls. Last year I beleive there were only 8 girls now there is a room full! Unfortunately I forgot to video her advanced ballet class :0(

Junior level Jazz class...

Trinity is also taking 2 jazz classes, but they haven't started their jazz2 dance yet and I can't find her jazz1 video anywhere on my laptop??? Her jazz classes are also going through exams right after the new year!

This next video is her lyrical dance to the music "True Colors" She really missed doing lyrical dance and was excited when it was offered to her advanced class!

Last but not least, Trinity's tap dance!

ITY BITY PRETTY ONE!

The funny thing with this song is that this is the third time she is dancing to this song.....the best part about it is that she knows the beat :0) I love watching her tap and next year she might start taking a class in step dancing!

OUR PAST COUPLE OF WEEKS IN REVIEW!

2008-12-21T13:16:00.010-04:00

The kids got to enjoy some munchie foods Friday afternoon when school got out at Matt's work. He treated his staff to lunch to help get everyone into the Christmas spirit! His staff of great with the kids and we call them our family away from family! They are truly great people and the kids love them!

Check out his tie!

Miss Trinity is enjoy lunch with the staff and if I am right on this....everyone is watching Blake make a clown of himself. LOL

And sure enough I was right....and it only gets better in the video below!

Jay doesn't normally come with us but he couldn't resist the thought of food. He had fun and the staff got to see Jay, some didn't even realize that we had 4 kids, that is how often he goes into his father work LOL. I'm glad he came with us!

Even Breigh our puppy is getting in on all the Christmas fun!

The other day we took a lunch break from shopping and ended up at Pizza Delight. Lately when we go there Blake has been ending our lunch with story time! What a great father /son moment!

CHRISTMAS CONCERT (Dec 10th)

2008-12-21T13:04:00.003-04:00

CONCERT NIGHT!

Trinity took a night off from dancing (only because her dance teacher told her to attend her school concert due to her perfect attendance!) and her and Kohl enjoyed their night performing in their school's Christmas concert. They looked sooooo cute all dressed and they had lots of fun! Luckily it was my night off and both Matt and I were able to attend the concert.

Kohl looking all proud and handsome with his Christmas outfit (unfortunately it is getting too small). His class sang a couple of songs and he performed in one of the tradition dances each class had worked on!

Blake wasn't able to watch the concert due to a high number of people so they set the cafeteria up for childcare. He was excited to get to be with the other kids and had lots of fun! Look how grown up he's getting!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD / PAPA!

2008-12-11T14:18:00.002-04:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU....

HAPPY BIRHTDAY DEAR, DAD / PAPA!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Love always from Carrie, Matt, Jay , Trinity, Kohl and Blake!

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS....

2008-12-08T09:48:00.005-04:00

HAPPY BE-LATED BIRTHDAY TRACIE!

Yesterday (Sunday) Matt and Steve (manager from the other zellers store) had to present a check to Christmas Daddy's telethon. Trinity and Kohl got to present the check on TV as well. Trinity was excited to be on TV but I'm not sure Kohl knew what was going on.?????

During and after the check presentation the kids had fun making Christmas crafts! I think they made at least 4 crafts each!

WAKING UP TO SNOW!

As the kids were getting ready for school, I noticed that it had just starting to snow. Everyone was excited to finally see the white fluffy stuff and Blake was jumping up and down. He can't wait to make snow angels but he will have to wait until more snow falls.

Breigh went out for her morning "P" but wasn't to sure what to think of the snow. It took her a while to do her business but....... ......... ......... ......... .........

...... ........ ........ .........once she braved the snow I couldn't get her to come in!

Zellers Skating Party

2008-12-06T21:57:00.007-04:00

With Jay off to his dance and Carrie at work the rest of us ventured off to the Zellers Skate Party. The skating was fun, although Blake only made it about 1/2 way through, he did skate a litte bit on his own. He provided comic relief for some of the staff up in the stands while we waited for the skate to finish.

After the skate came the pizza end and while the pizza was about 20 minutes late I don't think the kids noticed as they were having a blast hanging out with the other kids.

Than came the surprise guest, the jolly old elf made a surprise trip to the rink and deliverd some early treat bags to the kids, they were all excited with their treats and new stuffed animals *(A Zellers Skate party tradition)*

All in all we survived the night fully intact, no injuries and all kids accounted for on my end, just waiting for Jay to get back from his dance.

I'm off to the Ball

2008-12-06T18:28:00.004-04:00

Jay is ready to head off to his first big ball, he's pretty giddy to go (and yes Carrie I see I took the picture without his new sneakers on) He does have his new casual outfit as they were told not to go dressy for the ball. It should be exciting for him and we can't wait for him to arrive home after midnight(late night for the young man).

THANK GOD ITS FRIDAY.....

2008-12-05T19:29:00.012-04:00

......BUT THAT DOESN'T MEAN WE HAVE THE WEEKEND OFF......

What a week this has ended up being. I ended up picking up some extra hours at work this week and that on top of everything else is starting to take its toll on me and I'm sure on Matt as well. But I'm sure after Christmas things will slow down a bit so we will hang in there until then.

The cookie dough order is in and most of it is delivered. Mine is still in the fridge but we are having fun baking cookies, just not the easy way LOL! Wednesday morning I had some fun with Blake baking shortbread cookies but we didn't get them finished...we didn't have all the ingredients needed to make the icing but they got done Thursday before going to work and they were good, the ones I took to work didn't last long at all.

Tonight the boys and Trinity watch the Shrek Christmas movie while I spent some time with Jay baking chocolate chip cookies from his recipe from cooking class at school. They turned out really good and I have to admit that they were better than the ones he made at school. We used milk chocolate chips! :0)

My next day off (or morning off) I will have to get into the fundraising cookie dough with Trinity and Kohl.

Tomorrow evening I work so Matt will be taking Trinity, Kohl and Blake to his staff kids skating and pizza party where they will then have a special visit from Santa! I'm sure Matt will be fine getting the kids ready and that they will have a lot of fun. Now you are probably wondering where Jay will be tomorrow night since I didn't mention him going skating right?????? Well.........................................................................................................................................................

Jay is going out for the evening! Yep he's going out, Matt will drop him off at the Junior high school at 6:45pm, he will then get on the bus with the cadets and will be going to a BALL! You read that right! Jay is going to his first ball with all the other air, sea, and army cadets. They don't have to dress up but they aren't allowed to wear jeans so I bought him a new outfit and think he is going to look some handsome....reminder to self....Jay needs a hair cut LOL anyway I will get some pictures before he leaves tomorrow. Now from what I heard...apparently a girl from cadets asked him to go with her, lucky for me he isn't into dating yet so they will all be going as friends (thank god for that )!!!!!!!!!!! I can't believe how fast he is growing up!

Ok now that I have just mentioned how fast Jay is growing up here is a funny little thing that happened this afternoon. I wasn't home at lunch time when Jay and Matthew got here but to there surprise I came home not long before they had to be back to school. I figured I would catch them watching the price is right or on the computer but nope, you would never guess?????? The two of them were playing with the kids kitchen center LOL OMG it was too funny, I thought that they would have been embarrassed but they told me all about what they were doing, Jay had his own key the restaurant LOL a drive through window but they had mentioned that there wasn't a lot of food or dishes to use. I mentioned to the boys that Blake had the rest of the kitchen stuff in his toy room and off went Matthew to get some more supplies. After that it hit me that maybe my little Jay isn't growing up too fast at all and that there is still a little boy inside that adult size body LOL

Well that is my week in a nutshell, Hope you all had a great week!

Cadet Jay Reporting for Duty

2008-12-02T17:52:00.005-04:00

Well tonight was Jay's first night at Cadets with his uniform, he was feeling quite uncomfortable getting into it, the first time he has ever had to really dress up. We made it through with just enough time for me to rush back to dance and pick up Trinity, if I leave right now that is.

L'il Helper

2008-12-01T09:33:00.002-04:00

Well after supper tonight Trinity wanted to make dessert, I was expecting to hear that she wanted something junky but she wanted a fruit tray. She went off and cut up the banana, peeled the orange and got the pineapple ready. She was very proud of herself and the tray was very tasty.

FAMILY PICTURES

2008-12-01T09:32:00.009-04:00

We had a great visit with mom and dad over the weekend. They came late Thursday night and headed back home yesterday (Sunday). We got a lot of shopping done, wrapping done and visiting. The kids were excited to have everyone here to visit, a lot of late nights but a lot of fun.

Christmas is approaching fast but we are ALMOST ready. I have a few gifts left to wrap and a few things left to buy but I did realize that I am a bit behind on getting the Christmas cards ready for the mail and with that being said I didn't even have time to get our family pictures taken until yesterday afternoon. The weather wasn't too bad but after being out in the cold without jackets for a while we all got a bit chilly but we got the pictures taken and we had fun at the same time.

I am undecided on some of the pictures of the kids.... (Kohl and Trinity) let me know which one you like the best!

Grandpa's Birthday

2008-11-27T11:30:00.001-04:00

Happy Birthday to Grandpa, we hope you had a great day, wish we were there.

ANOTHER BUSY WEEK!

2008-11-22T11:12:00.009-04:00

Free Christmas Countdown

What a night it was, the winds were really high throughout the night and come morning they were even higher. It sounded really bad outside and I was scared to look out to see a big snow storm. Now usually I am waiting and wishing for a big storm but until my parents come to visit next weekend I don't want to see any snow! No snow just lots of rain and of course the winds, The trampoline stayed but this time and our lawn swing is still tied to the fence. I am hoping that it gets nice for this afternoons Santa Claus parade but I don't think it will. The rain has stopped but still very windy. If it is really miserable outside we can watch the parade from the upstairs bedroom window! :0)

Yesterday Jay's basketball team played the first game of the weekend tournament. This was also the first time I got to see the players on the team and two little guys I swear are no bigger than Kohl and the players on the other team were twice the size of Jay and at least a foot taller. So did they win their game. Not a chance that literally got their "rear end" whipped to put it nicely. The team had another game that started today at 12:30pm so I am hoping that they have better luck today. They got new uniforms this year being black and white with the top also reversible to white so that when they play against the navy teams it will be easier to tell the teams apart. This turned out to be a great idea and they did need to reverse their jerseys at yesterdays game. Oh and guess what number Jay is this year???? Of course his favorite number "6"!

Warm up before their first big game...

Uniform reversed...

Blake had dance this morning and did super as always and I am just getting ready to take Kohl this his classes. These two boys along with Miss Trinity are definitely the talk of the dance school. They are all doing really, really well so I guess it's worth every penny. Last week I took some videos of two of Kohl's dances...

KOHL--TAP--CROCODILE ROCK!

KOHL--BALLET--MUSIC BOX DANCER!

Breigh is finding more and more freedom everyday with roaming around the house. At nights we are still finding her curled up in one of the kids beds. Usually will be found with Blake because he is the closest to our room. Breigh and Trinity were curled up on the couch this afternoon while watching a movie and when it was time to pick Kohl up at dance class neither one of them wanted to move!

We finally found a tasty treat that Breigh enjoys. At least this one last a few hours and it's a lot better than her eating her blankets.

Blake enjoyed his morning out with us on Wednesday and we noticed that the kids happy meal toy was from Madagascar2 so we treated him to lunch at McDonald's for behaving so well while shopping. He even got an extra special surprise and got to play the air hockey table.

So I guess that is all the excitement for this week. Trinity is still under the weather and is trying to get over a bad cough but has been getting lots of rest and hopefully by Monday she will be feeling a lot better!

2008-11-20T09:10:00.002-04:00

Free Christmas Countdown

I think it is going to start getting cold. Today was the first day that I told the kids to put on their winter jackets. It's after 9:00am and Trinity is still in bed sleeping. She has been complaining of a sore throat and she was up a few times last night. Her throat doesn't look too bad so I gave her some medicine and a throat lozenge and she went back to sleep. I told her to stay in bed and get some rest. The kids don't have school tomorrow due to parent teacher interviews so she will now have a four day weekend to get back on her feet. Unfortunately she has her 3 hour dance class tonight but we will wait to see how she feels. I don't expect her to dance but she will probably want to be there to learn the rest of the choreography.

Matt has his district manager in today so you can imagine how quickly he would like today to go by. I work tonight at 8pm then off again tomorrow and I am still waiting to hear if I got Saturday off (with pay :0) for Matt's staff party!

Well with things pretty quiet here in the house I think I will take advantage and get some house cleaning done then I might go lie down for a bit while Blake watches his movie.

I guess that is it for now, oh yeah and NO SNOW HERE....yet! Moncton I know that this morning you had snow down, I saw it Breakfast television :0) DRIVE SAFE!

MORE REPORT CARDS AND.....

2008-11-19T20:17:00.002-04:00

.......LET THE COUNTDOWN CONTINUE.....

Trinity and Kohl brought home their report cards this afternoon. Well I must say that I am really surprised at how well Kohl did for this first term. He has adjusted great to grade 1 and he's doing well with his speech therapy (done through school), making good progress and now being able to pronounce his "s" sounds! So how did he do on his report card????Here it is! He got 7 "A's" and 2 "B's". Trinity's report card could have been better. She did well however I know how much better she can do. She got 2 "A's", 6 "B's", and 1 "C". For her social development and work habits she got too many "usually demonstrates" rather than her usual "consistently demonstrates". She knows what she can do at and will work harder and be less chatty during class time and knows to ask questions if she doesn't understand. Trinity found the transition to grade 3 harder for some reason but I'm sure she will do much better next term. So that is that until March!

Trinity had Dance Power tonight and for the first time they were taught step dancing for their dance choreography to "Dance of Call" I think that is the name of the song, something along that line. The steps are FAST but the dance is going to look great on stage. Their recital the end of May is going to be one that you won't want to miss. I will be ordering a video when the time comes,. look at me getting ahead of myself. LOL Anyway this is definitely and exciting dance year!

JAY'S REPORT CARD....

2008-11-18T14:52:00.004-04:00

Jay has been working hard for his first term of Junior High School. I am so proud at all he has accomplished so far this year. He has great marks on top of his basketball, bowling, lego club and with me not being home in the evenings to help with homework. He has become a very responsible young man. I am proud of you Jay!

HONOR STUDENT

FRENCH 93 a pleasure to teach

MATH 93 excellent work habits

ENGLISH 95 pleasure to teach

ART 94 excellent student

S. STUDIES 93 excellent student

PHYS ED 99 pleasure to teach

HEALTH 90 excellent work habits

SCIENCE 85 talkative in class :0(

2008-11-18T00:00:00.001-04:00

The countdown continues....I hope everyone is getting closer to being ready for Christmas????as you can see it is getting close!

I am hoping to get Saturday off for the Santa Claus parade with the kids then Matt's staff Christmas party. I am suppose to work 4:15-8:15pm but work owes me a day off with pay for working Remembrance day so I will see what happens?!

Well I guess that is it for now I have to go get ready for work. I have ANOTHER training class for ANOTHER account at 3:30.

2008-11-17T09:31:00.004-04:00

The days are going by soooooo fast and we have lots of things to get done and shopping is one thing on the list. I'm not going to stress over it, I know it will get done. I just need some ideas for Mom and day W and Mom and dad S. Anything you need??? let us know :0)

My hours at work are slowly picking up and the last 2 weeks I have managed to pick up 5 extra hours! Every hour will help. No word yet on a permanent full time position but it's looking good and I feel confident that things will all work out. Saturday is Matt's staff Christmas party, I work but only until 8:00 so I will meet up with him after their dinner.

We made it through the high winds last night with a few things blown around the backyard and Jay's basketball net blew over...not sure how it was tied to the fence and well secured so we thought?????anyway lots to get cleaned up around the yard but it warm outside so it won't be that bad.

Trinity is doing great with selling chocolate bars for "DANCE POWER" She went to Zellers with Matt and sold 4 cases on Saturday then yesterday she spent the morning counting pop bottles. She has $27 so far from work, then our recycling totalling $55 and mom has $60 I believe from recycling in Moncton. Thank you everyone who is helping Trinity with her fundraising. It is very much appreciated! :0)

Matt and Trinity counting pop bottles (Moncton)

Yesterday, counting pop bottles from work!

This is where and how we have been finding Breigh lately, she loves to curl up and cuddle with everyone. When she goes missing at night we just have to check the kids beds...there she will be curled up with one of them. This picture was taken yesterday during our afternoon movie time while Matt and Trinity were off selling bars. Kohl loves it when Breigh cuddles with him. Best Buds!

And this is Breigh when she's on the go. Always getting into some kind of trouble. She is ALWAYS chewing on "HER" blankets or bed. She found herself in a bit of trouble last night night when she chewed a hole in her bed and then got stuck in the hole in the middle of it. LOL it was too funny. This is her bed from the time she was a tiny little puppy and believe it or not she will still curl up in it to sleep . What a big baby :0)

LET THE COUNTDOWN BEGIN...

2008-11-16T10:25:00.000-04:00

2008-11-12T09:08:00.002-04:00

Yesterday we took the kids to see Madagascar 2 at the theatre! It was a great movie which had us laughing the whole time ;0) It was great to finally find some time together as a family but our time was short because I had to work at 3:30pm. Matt had the day off so he spent the rest of the evening with the kids then got them off to bed early!

Jay had basketball practice yesterday after supper and he seems to be enjoying himself, I will have to find out when his first game will be.

I have the day off and have lots of things to get ready for dance tonight. The cookie dough fundraising is now finished and will be turned in tonight! She did awesome with the cookie dough with selling over 50 tubs with a profit of $281 and I might still buy another one from her :0) then I will be picking up 10 cases of chocolate bars! I can't get over how great everyone at work is....my team have been giving me their empty pop bottles when I'm at work and when I'm off they save them for me for my next shift, well last night my supervisor came to me and told me that for the next 2 weeks I can take the pop bottles from the centers recycling bin to help Trinity! Now if the bags are as full as they were last night she will make some good money for her trip.

Work is going great and it is looking like I will be getting a permanent position with the company by Christmas time, Fingers crossed. Upsource is a great place to work and offer great incentives! Besides the extra $1 an hour for making all shifts they are really generous with handing out gift cards for hard work. Last Monday along with getting employee of the month I received $20 movie cards and $5 Tim Horton cert and then last night I was handed a $10 Sobeys card. What could be better than that...ok ok my permanent position, but it's coming!

well that's it for now, Matt should be back soon so I should go get ready!

HARD WORK PAYS OFF!

2008-11-04T12:03:00.005-04:00

After a rough Thursday at work I was looking forward to my time off. I had a great 3 days off from work over the weekend and didn't have to go into work last night until 6:45pm for a 4 hour shift! As I was walking to my cubical all I kept hearing was "congratulations, way to go, here's your special leather computer chair.....etc...." I was puzzled and had no idea what was going on????? Then Travis took me over and showed me the certificate on the wall that said EMPLOYEE OF THE MONTH! First of all this isn't something I would have expected because I had never heard of our team having this award, I mean a couple of weeks ago Joey got employee of the week! So I was shocked, surprised and proud of what I have accomplished in the first month since I have been working. I have gone through a lot of hard work and a lot of EXTRA training on other accounts and all the hard work paid off!

"Carrie is a Newbie to the team who has displayed excellence in her phone calls. She has excellent attendance and adheres to Upsource's policies. She is extremely helpful to her fellow employees and it is a pleasure to have her as part of our team!"

HAPPY 4TH BIRTHDAY LAINEE!

2008-11-04T00:00:00.007-04:00

LOOK WHO'S 4!

IT'S LAINEE

Lainee had her birthday party at the Super 8 Motel on Sunday with lots of fun in the pool with water slide. We were late as usual but when we are away it's hard to get anywhere on time LOL. The kids still had lots of time to join the party in the pool and everyone had lots of fun! I couldn't believe it when Blake went down the water slide! He is full of surprises lately, I guess that's all part of growing up ;0) After their swim Chad and Kerri had pizza and cake for the kids then they played with balloons before heading back to their house for the gifts. It was a busy day but I am glad we got to see Connor and Lainee before he headed home. It was a fun party!

POOL PARTY!

Trinity and cousin Lainee

Kohl and Jay

Blake...all smiles!

PIZZA PARTY AND CAKE

MMM

LAINEE WE HOPE YOU HAVE A GREAT BIRTHDAY!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR LAINEE!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!

A ROUGH START TO THE WEEK....

2008-11-03T14:14:00.003-04:00

A ROUGH START TO THE WEEK

OUCH....

Today when I picked Kohl up at school he didn't quit look himself. His big bright smile wasn't there today and as he gets into the van he says to me " Mom, do you see something different with me?" It took me a minute but as he moved to his seat in the back of the van I noticed the mark beside his eye. Apparently he took a tumble over his friends foot and the sneaker rubbed against his face. He's not looking too happy but he says he's fine, it only hurts when he blinks :0(

Hopefully his week will only get better.

I work tonight at 6:45pm and Matt will be putting the kids to bed early so hopefully everyone will get caught up on some sleep. I still have a lot of unpacking and cleaning to get done so I guess that's all for now!

WE MADE IT HOME SAFE......

2008-11-03T11:42:00.003-04:00

......WITH LOTS OF UNEXPECTED SNOW.

After having a great supper with Grandma and Grandpa and having a little party for Blake, we got the kids changed into their pj's for our long drive home. We got on the road around 5pm, the kids were watching movies and cuddled in with their pillows and Breigh was curled up with her pillow bed sleeping. All was well then as it got dark I had noticed that there was snow on the ground, next thing I am seeing snow flakes in the light beams ahead. Nothing to worry about only a few flurries and it is only the first of November....right?! Well that all changed when we hit Cape Breton, we entered into a hail storm and I mean big hail balls pounding at the windshield, the roads were snow covered and very slippery and not long after we passed 2 cars that had gone off the side of the road with one car looking a bit wrecked, then just minutes later we approached another accident with 2 cars off the road. Well by this time we were a bit uncomfortable with the road conditions and were very cautious of the other cars. To make matters worse the van was out of windshield washer fluid so the windows were a mess :0(

Matt did stop at the first gas station to buy windshield washer !

The window does look worse in the picture....

By this time I had called dad to let him know what kind of mess we were in just in case they didn't here from us later that night. Do you think it ended there?...nope,

HIT OR MISS?

As we were driving (no double lane) we noticed a transport truck with a line of cars following, then the car in front of us put on it's signal light to pull off the road. (I don't know, could have been uneasy with the oncoming traffic?) As the car was pulling off the road we were getting ready to pass it then it swerved back onto the road, slipping and sliding in front of us. Luckily every kept control of the vehicles and we continued on our way but we left a lot of space between us and that car! By the time we got home the snow had stopped and the roads were clear. I tell you we were some glad to be home!

BIRTHDAY PARTY WITH GRANDMA AND GRANDPA!

2008-11-03T11:32:00.002-04:00

MAKE A WISH!

Look at the excitement on his face! Thank you Grandma and Grandpa for my new outfit and Wall-e leapter game :0)

Jay and Breigh

Grandpa and his puppies...
Breigh (left) and Bel ...mom(right)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BLAKE

2008-11-03T11:05:00.007-04:00

I CAN'T BELIEVE HE'S ALREADY 4!

PIZZA!

CAKE!

NOW THE GIFTS!

dinosaur from Destiny, Jazlyn and Alexis! Thanks

passing daddy a card...

optimus prime transformer from Aunt Judy! Thanks

Blakie says thank you to everyone who came to his party and thank you so much for the wonderful gifts!

It was a great party and I love having and seeing all the cousins and family together. Unfortunately it doesn't happen enough but it's hard with us living so far away. We make the most of it when we are home visiting. Thank you for sharing this day with us celebrating Blake's birthday!

Papa, Kohl and Blake spending some quality rough play time together while I was packing the van Sunday morning!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

2008-11-03T09:48:00.009-04:00

Friday we got up early, packed the van and headed to visit with our family for the weekend. We stopped in Amherst to have lunch with Grandma and Grandpa at McDonald's then it was back on the road. We got to Nana and Papa's house in time to carve the pumpkin then get dressed into costumes! The fun was about to begin.....

PUMPKIN CARVING!

Trin, Kohl and Blake were washing the pumpkin getting ready to carve the face. This year I passed along the job of designing the pumpkin face off to Jay. Now this will be his Halloween tradition to come up with a spookiest face for the pumpkin!

digging in and getting messy...

Great job Jay!

The pumpkin didn't get named this year but it turned out really good.

Great job kids!

NOW FOR THE COSTUMES!

Papa and Trinity getting ready. Love the yellow and green hair!

Matt dressed up and used Papa's yellow hair to go with his clown hair! I didn't dress up until later when I heard someone was giving out candy apples. I wasn't long turning into a green dinosaur! LOL

Jay (army dude), Kohl (cat in the hat), Matt (clown), Trinity (witch), Blake (optimus prime, transformer), and Robin (rock star)

VISITING THE HAUNTED HOUSE!

This was the first time that we had ever gone to this haunted house. My mom had told me about it last year and it sounded really neat so I made sure that we got the kids there to see it. Now I didn't know what to expect or how the kids would take it but they were great. Sure they were scared but still it was fun! Blake had the most fun of all! He made friends with each live creature there was and he had to be pulled away when it was time to go.

It was amazing to see all the work that had gone into this Haunted House!

There were monsters, skeletons, zombies, etc...walking around the yard and jumping out!

At first we just thought that the Hulk was decoration that he jumped up behind up as we were going up the walkway to the house. Blake was amazed with the Hulk. I would have to say he was Blake's favorite!

We were greeted as we entered through the front door!

This creature didn't move for the longest time...then when the kids turned around it would stand up. Blake finally caught onto this and started having fun with the creature. Anything for a can of pop LOL!

Ok. so he handled the spook of this creature pretty good but not Trinity. Before Blake caught onto what was happening Trinity got bored with the creature just sitting there and turned around to see how they had the piano decorated and when she turned around the creature was standing right there looking at her. well it didnt take her long to start crying!

She was ok, she didn't leave the haunted house!

Outside with Hulk is where we spent most of our time. Blake was having fun with Hulk. Blake thought that he had magic powers, everytime Blake made fist and punched his head, chest, knees, etc....the Hulk copied him. So too see if he (blake) really did have magic powers he started wiggling his butt to see if the Hulk would copy. Sure enough the Hulk copied. It was hilarious and we all had a great time watching but i'm sure the Hulk was glad to see us leave lol!

After trick or treating was over Jay went and spent the night at Bird's (my aunt), then the kids dumped out all the treats and sorted through them. They got 3 times less than last year but that is perfectly fine with me and we all had fun and that is all that matters!

SCHOOL SKATING

2008-11-03T09:23:00.006-04:00

On Wednesday the kids went skating with their school and as always I find the time to take Blake along for the fun. Kohl got to use his new skates and we quickly realized that Blake is in need of bigger skates so we will see, maybe he will get new ones next pay! Kohl got a bit frustrated at first when he kept falling, he was blaming it on us getting his skates sharpened LOL once he got the hang of being on skates again he was fine and had fun! Blake did awesome and was even skating without his little red helper :0) I didn't see to much of Miss Trinity as she was off with her friends but she did come around from time to time for pictures.

It was warm that day but raining so they were late getting on the ice so they had extended their skating time which was great for the kids but I wasn't prepared for Blake and after the first hour he was tired, his feet were sore, he wanted something to eat and drink (which I didn't have). He was just plain miserable and just me taking a picture of him set him into a tantrum crying.

Once we were finished I got Trinity and Kohl settled back at school and brought Blake home for a nap. Yes he did sleep and was in a much better mood when he got up which was great for me because I had the night off and we had to take Trinity into her dance troupe class. What a day that was!

above/below: Trinity with her friend(s)!

Kohl hanging on an taking a break!

Kohl and his friend Logan after skating!

Blake " I AM WARNING YOU ...DON'T TAKE MY PICTURE"

Blake crying " I TOLD YOU NOT TO TAKE IT "

2008-10-27T11:59:00.004-03:00

Last week was a busy week and by the looks of our schedules this week will be no different. I guess this is just how life is going to be from now on with me working but the kids are adjusting well so that is all that matters! Tomorrow I have ANOTHER training class and I can't wait to put that one behind me and get back into a comfort stage (which won't last long before I go back to training again). Matt took most of the day off tomorrow to watch Blake which is a big help (no sitter) and we are ALL looking forward to our trip home to celebrate Blake's birthday!

Jay had an awesome weekend away with Air Cadets. They went camping and the weather was great. He got to shoot an air rifle and was pretty proud of how close he came to the bulls eye :0) not long after he got home yesterday he was off to more basketball tryouts. It is some pretty tough competition for the A team but he will probably end up on the B team, he is ok with that, as long as he gets to play b-ball!

Trinity is working hard with all her dancing and now that the

New York Trip deposit is paid she knows that we are going to New York next summer and she is some excited about that! She (me and matt) is keeping busy with all her fundraising and it looks like I won't have to pay any money out of my pay check this month for her monthly payment for NY! Thank you to everyone who is helping her with her fundraising! ADVANCE WARNING...... SHE WILL BE SELLING COOKIE DOUGH WHEN WE ARE HOME VISITING! :0) Grandma and Grandpa we already got you! Kohl and Blake are still doing awesome with their dancing and I am so excited to finally see them perform on stage, what a show that will be. I get a sneak peak of Kohl every week doing his ballet and what a charmer he is, the girls are just loving having him in their class.

Breigh is growing fast and is getting better every day! She doesn't sleep all night but she's house trained and is off her leash a little more every day while in the house. Yesterday Blake had a sore foot so he curled up on the couch for a rest and like always Breigh was there to enjoy his cozy blanket. The new rule in this house is...."if you don't want a cuddle from the pup then don't sit down"! She loves to cuddle :0)

ON MY OWN WITH THE KIDS!

2008-10-20T15:15:00.004-03:00

This week is going to be a bit more challenging for me! Matt just left for the airport and won't be back until later Wednesday evening which leaves me alone with the kids and trying to get Trinity to dance classes and me to work ON TIME! I have the new sitter coming tonight at 5pm so that I can go to work for 5:30pm and as soon as Blake falls asleep she can go home and Jay will take over for me until I get home at midnight. He should be ok with everything since the kids will all be sleeping and he can sleep in my room closer to Blake and have the monitor on for the other 2 upstairs. It will be a long night at work worrying about the kids but if there is a problem I will come right home. Tomorrow is a short shift for me (4-8pm) so that will be easier, but I have no idea how Trinity will get to and from dance class????and I'm off on Wednesday...thank God!

Well I guess I should go get ready, make supper for the kids and get their pj's on them before Jessica gets here!

GREAT NEWS! I FOUND A DRIVE TO AND FROM DANCE FOR TRINITY TOMORROW!

2008-10-18T15:05:00.002-03:00

This week has been pretty busy and hectic. My schedule at work got changed this week due to a couple of new training class for me at work. Wednesday Blake spent the morning at my friend Jacqui's house with her 2 girls and Thursday Matt took the day off and watched Blake while I did my other training class. So for now I am done training again but will have more work and phone calls during my shifts. I now will take calls for 3 different accounts, Gump's catalogue orders, Doctors Without Borders donation forms and AMC (Appalachian Mountain Club) memberships. That should help make the time go by faster. With any luck all this extra training will secure me a permanent position after Christmas!

Jay is still enjoy Air Cadets on Tuesdays and the lego robotics after school on Mondays and Thursdays. This Sunday is the school basketball tryouts so he will be there tomorrow at 4:00pm. Good Luck Jay!

Trinity is doing her usual, DANCING! Although she spent the entire morning singing along with videos off "Youtube" :0)

The boys had their dance classes this morning. I can't wait to see them on stage at their recital the end of May. It will be an amazing show! After their classes we drove into Westmount to Trin's other dance school that she does her troupe dancing at and paid the deposit for our trip to New York. $700 down and lots more to go.....

I have lasagna in the oven for Matt and the kids for supper tonight since I will be at work. Hopefully they will save me a piece because it is looking good!

Well I guess if I want to show to work on time I should go get ready. Matt will be waiting to switch off with the kids.

Have a great weekend!

Don't know what to say!

2008-10-14T20:18:00.002-03:00

The kids were using their imagination yesterday when they came parading in with the grocery bags on, their comments were they were farmers(not quite sure on that one) anyway they went off to play for a while and when they returned they were giggling and commenting that now they were turkey's, stuffed turkey's what a laugh I had so I had to share this with you.

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

2008-10-13T18:01:00.001-03:00

Here's hoping everyone has a great Thanksgiving Day, wishing we were able to visit but hoping to be able to get home for Halloween/Blake's B'day so keep your fingers crossed.

Thanksgiving at the park

2008-10-13T17:55:00.004-03:00

It was a very nice day today so after dropping Mom off at work the kids wanted to go down to the park. Now the park they wanted to go to was down on the beach and let me tell you it was definetly freezing down there with the wind off the water. It was a good thing I had my new sweater jacket that Carrie bought for me yesterday or I would have froze. The kids didn't mind as they were running around like ninny's, we stayed for about an hour and than when to Shoppers to get a box of popcorn for the evening snack.

Movie Night

2008-10-12T18:58:00.002-03:00

Well with Jay and Carrie gone for the night I put the kids to work cleaning up the house, they did a good job so I decided to reward them with a new movie out of the movie stash, sorry dear. The kids were excited that this movie came on the DVD player, I surprised them so they had their improvised movie snack(cupboards getting low) Cheese, crackers and grapes not your typical movie snack but I don't think they cared.