Raising the Bar

Darren reached two milestones in his law career over the weekend. First, we travelled to Vancouver, BC were he was sworn in as a member of the Bar in that province. We took all the kids with us - we thought it would be good for them to get a little insight into what their Dad actually does for work. Darren wore his legal robes to the ceremony - just like all the other lawyers. The girls were saying - dad's wearing a dress today. They sat very patiently through the ceremony and when it was time to clap - Chelsea joined in and started cheering - "Dad won! He won!" It was a very formal ceremony - he had to bow to the judge whom they call "My Lord" here in Canada, take an oath and sign something. (I'm sure this has a name but you'll have to google if you really want to know it) Then we went back to the hotel so Darren and the girls could change out of their dresses. Darren was checking his email and found out that back in Calgary - he's been invited to be a partner at the law firm he works for. Even Darren was excited. Vancouver was great - it's good to be home to get ready for Christmas. We'd been home about and hour when Cala started asking - "What are we going to do fun today." Ummmm - we did it.

Photo review

Darren and I went on a date. The firm Christmas party. It was the best one we've been to - most of them are pure torture for the non-lawyers. (sorry honey but the inside jokes are lost on me) I was laughing at myself becaues I got ready in 25 minutes flat. I'm pretty sure it used to take me 1 1/2 hours to get ready for a big event like a HS dance or something. anyway, we cleaned up good and had fun.



Then on Sunday night Grandma Byram came for a visit and we spent the next few days having fun and Christmas shopping. She brought the girls their Christmas dresses... which CC was beginning to worry about. As I pulled out decorations she would as me where her dress was. Here's how cute they're going to look for the family photo we have GOT to take.(sorry rotation thing doesn't work on the mac.)



On Wed. Grandma left (she was too cold) and it warmed up enought for the girls to try out the new snow. the took the sleds to the back yard where we have a little hill and spent the next hour sledding. You'll notice the mud - at least it was frozen. I'm glad they had a good time considering it takes 15 minutes to get dressed to go sledding. I laughed and laughed watching them from the window. Sturggling to get up the hill, keeping the sled from zooming down without any passengers, and of course wearing the snow right on the hillside - it all kept me in stitches.



Um... ran out of snow.



Connor stayed warm watching from a distance. He's teething so he had his chewing to focus on.

Funny Kids

CC has been a little attached to me these days. She doesn't want to go to her friends house, have anyone over or actually leave the house. We've never had a clingy kid. I asked her if she wanted to go with mye and a few of my friends to lunch last week to celebrate my b-day. She said, "Will there be rice?" Ummmm, where did that come from? I assured her there probably would be rice - so she agreed. How random is that?

Cala is forever debating me about the nutritional value of lunchables. They are just about the worst thing a kid could eat - loaded with preservatives, fat, salt - you name it - it's artery clogging and probably stunts growth. She says, everyone in her class has had one for lunch at least once - and I mean every kid. I told her I care more about here than the other kids. She burst into tears and said, "the only thing you care about is my health." Like that's a bad thing.

Tonight while putting the girls to bed I was reminding them that Santa is going to start checking to see if they're good or bad. I explained they have to be good all the time or Santa won't give them a present. CC said, "Well, how about I be a lot good and just a little bit bad." It's hard not to laugh when they're so serious about what they've just said.


CC had her last day of gymtastics today. (Thankfully, I'm sick of driving) Darren left work and Grandma Marilyn even came. We had fun playing on all the equiptment and watching CC show us her stuff. The teacher was reminding the class about the slide safety rules. She said, "Class what do we slide down on?" Everyone says, "You're bum." But, CC said, "The slide." She's so blonde and adorable.



Connor 5 months stats. This is how he spends most of his time - putting anything reachable in his mouth. The poor kid is teething again - he's got his 2 bottom and now, 2 of his side top teeth have poked through. I hate that my kids start teething at birth. We've already been through one bottle of Tylenol and have one perscription for codine on hand in case things get really bad. He's now just over 5 months. He laughs, rolls over (it's quite the sight considering his stature) He's 21.5 pounds, in the big kid car seat, and in the 110th percentile for everything. They don't get bigger than this folks. He also is now in a size 18 - 24 months, but it has to be a baggy fit. He also has his mother wrapped perfectly around his little fat finger.

Punishment

I am being punished. I decided to start Christmas decorating since I don't have American Thanksgiving as a starting point for Christmas - why not enjoy the decorations a little longer. I have never broken this cardinal rule of sacred American worship and decided I could live with the guilt. I have spent the last 2 days buing Wal-Mart (a store I hate) out of replacement light bulbs. We had some sort of random power surge that toasted every single light on my pre-lit tree. So far, I have replaced 250 individual light bulbs - covering only the bottom portion of a 3 tier tree. Even all those aren't working but, I could live with that. Replacing the bulbs is a detailed process. First, you have to remove the bulb with the base from the tree, then you have to remove the bulb from the base, next you have to thread the new bulb through the base - and finally, put it back on the tree. When Darren came home last night at 9 pm he started helping me. That lasted 5 minutes and he was immediatly on the computer shopping for another tree. I have now devleoped a sick addiction to this process and am not willing to give up on my tree. I'm hoping to return to Wal-Mart where they have hopefully restocked the replacement bulbs. (I bought them out) and spend a few more days replacing the bulbs. I think I can get it to work. Next year, I might not be so anxious to get my Christmas tree up.

We have a 4 year-old

Happy Birthday Chelsea Colleen. We had a fun day in constant ceebration. Chelsea got to open a present at breakfast then had to wait until 11 am for her birthday party where she greeted the guests asking, "Did you bring me a present?" we had to constantly tell her that present time came at the end and to try and enjoy the party. She made her pizza in 3 seconds and asked,"Do I get to open my presents now?" We moved the group to the great room for games and then she asked, "Are we opening presents now?" The guests didn't like the game and preferred to just go downstairs and play in the toy room. (we gave up after making them all come back upstairs to the party 4 times) Everyone just played and then we called them upstairs to eat, blow out the candles and yes, open presents. The party wrapped up around 1 and we spent the rest of the day letting CC play with her new toys. At one point during the day she said, "I didn't get that Emma doll I asked for." Luckily, we saved one present until bedtime. And what do you think it was, yup. The Emma doll.


This is our 4 year-old after a very fun day... sleeping with her Emma doll.

Here they are on Halloween. I think it's pretty obvious what they each are. I was happy to have a break from the princess theme this year. The traditional Halloween costume was a good break. We took them to under 20 houses and they were in bed by 8:30 pm. I'm sure this is the last year we'll be able to pull that one over on them. The treats they were most excited about - chips. Who knew.

Here's Cala. Our most serious Halloweener.

Our cool cat - CC. Who's been sick all week but pulled it together for the occasion.

And Connor. It was touch and go weather or not his costume would fit. The girls both wore this when they were babies. Keep in mind Cala was 9 months old - CC 1 year old. He's 5 months in a week. It was a size 18 months. Seriously - no candy for him.

Okay - the full body shot is more flattering.

Award winning pumpkin

Tonight Darren and the kids tackled the task of carving our pumpkin. I am impressed. Darren opted for a carving theme this year and free handed a cat. I knew something was up when they started asking for pipe cleaners. End result - pretty good. Major points for creativity and way to go Cala and CC for getting your hands right into it. They did a great job of cleaning out the pumpkin. The girls were very excited about pumpkin carving and harrassed me for days to do it. We made the misteak of doing it too early last year and it went rotten. Hopefully holding off a few days will work this year. Happy Halloween.