WHOA NELLY

We have been busy as usual. It's funny - I always look forward a few weeks and think, "Oh things will have slowed down then and we'll finally have time to relax." But that never seems to be the case. So here's what we've been doing lately.

Madeline attended Abby's Tinkerbell birthday party and had a blast. The "real" Tinkerbell even made an appearance!

Ryan took his Young Men geocaching and has acquired his own GPS. We're going to plant some caches and do some hunting. It's quite a fun idea.

He's also been busy training for his new job during his winter break from school. He's met some great people and feels like working for Apple will be a lot of fun. I'm excited for him! Next week will be a shock - from having him home to him working two jobs. Such is life though.

I've been quite busy with work as well, transcriptions and other projects at home. I'm very grateful for the opportunities I have to work and to exercise my brain a bit.

Maddie built this tower all by herself. She is proud.

Claire had her first kindergarten field trip! I'm used to going on most school events, but this time the parent volunteer spots filled up very fast. We had to send our big girl on a bus, for her first field trip, all by herself. We watched them load her chair and waved as they drove off. It made me a little sad to not share that with her, but I know I can't go with her everywhere, right? She had a wonderful time with her friends and her helpers at the Royal Alberta Museum.

Cuddling with my happy girls. :)

Ryan took Madeline to run errands at the mall one evening. A lady at a kiosk stopped them and asked if she could curl Madeline's hair. This what she looked like when they came home.

The following morning we were awoken by screams of "THERE'S SOMETHING WRONG WITH MY HAIR." I had neglected to explain to her that curls like that don't last forever. She was quite distraught.

We've been having fun with some old game favourites at home. Red light, green light, What time is it Mr. Wolf and Charades have all become the girls' new fascination.

Madeline and Ryan had an adventure at the World of Science with Rob, Olivia and Cairo.

Here are the big kids making a fort out of all the blocks they could find.

Love it!

There is a cool Lego exhibit on now.

Rob was brave and tried this. We have a bunch of blurry pictures of the action.

The fart piano!

The first thing Maddie said to me when she got home? "I got licked by a giant tongue!" She also has a new fascination with "taste bloods (buds)."

We had a quick visit from the Thompsons which included yummy food, Rock Band, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World and a fun sleepover.

Here is our new acquisition. DRUMS! We are one step closer to taking over the world via a musical revolution of awesomeness.

We attended a lovely Remembrance Day ceremony at Claire's school on Wednesday. Having moments to reflect on those who have fought for us, and still do sacrifice, is very humbling. It makes me proud to be a Canadian.