Ahhh the Christmas season!

Claire is so fun!

Madeline loves to play Rock Band - she's tried out the guitar, drums and mic and she rocks them all!

To kick off the Christmas season...both Ryan and I are sick. Just miserable sick with sore throat, cough, runny nose and general irritability. Not sick enough to put us out of commission but just enough to be super annoying! I'm hoping that by some miracle the girls won't get it, but it seems bound to happen.

It's been a busy while since we returned from our trip. Since we got back on a Sunday night it was straight back to action in the morning. That first week was a shock to the system as both Ryan and I suffered from peeling suntans, fatigue and extreme Mexico withdrawal. Now we're back on schedule and it almost seems like a dream that we were ever there! Good things we have pictures as evidence.

Ryan has been very busy with school projects and has been occupied muchly by church things such as Elder's Quorum meeting and activities, splits and lessons with the missionaries and a missionary cottage meeting. He's also had some fun with friends seeing the new James Bond movie and playing Guitar Hero World Tour and other fun games.Ryan's been doing a lot of great singing/playing with the girls. They love when he breaks out the guitar to play for them.

I am a Twilight fan and I will readily admit it. I was hooked on the books and read them super fast. I was excited for the movie to come out and I have to say...what's not to like? It wasn't as good as the book (movies never seem to be) and some of the parts were cheesy, but I enjoyed it. A lot of people I know were critical of it, but I liked it.

I've been busy trying to get Christmas things done so that once Ryan is done school, we can just do fun family things together. I love teaching piano lessons ,even though I only have one student - she is so much fun! I got asked by my best friend Kathy to be the matron (a.k.a. "old lady"!) of honour at her wedding in August and I'm so excited! It's my first time being in a wedding party and I think it will be a great experience. I've also been occupied by Super Saturday craft days, making our 2009 family calendars on our Mac, slacking at exercise and sorting out various tenant issues in our building.

This seems to be the busiest time of year for me in my church calling - ward music chairperson. I get to organize musical numbers all through December, our ward number for the Stake Christmas concert and the program for the Christmas Sunday sacrament meeting. This can get tricky in our ward because there are a lot of students who visit family over the holiday break and so my numbers to choose from get smaller and smaller. I finally have everything figured out and all the musical numbers underway so now I just have to practice and hope for the best. It always turns out in the end.

We've attended a couple of holiday parties. The CNIB hosted a family holiday party and we met some lovely people there. Madeline had her second exposure to Santa and hated it just as much as last year - but Claire just loved it. Waving goodbye to Santa.

At our ward Christmas dinner we enjoyed some great food and had another Santa experience. I thought Madeline would be into it, but again she freaked out. She softened for a second when Santa handed her a candy cane but it was short-lived.

Claire's playing it cool for Santa. She was more interested in what was going around elsewhere. It was pretty chaotic up on the stage.

Claire's been busy with GRIT. She's getting very good at hitting her Big Mac switch so we're trying to get her to use it to communicate with us. Right now we'll put a big yellow ball on her tray and she loves to knock it off and laughs and laughs. But to get it back, she has to press her switch (we can record a short message on the switch so we set it to say "BALL"). We're trying to help her realize cause and effect and maybe start to recognize words. It's so hard to figure out how she is processing things because she doesn't always give signals that are obvious to us. It's been fun to watch her having a blast knocking the ball off the table though!

Claire will also be moving up to Primary at church in a couple weeks so she's had the chance to sit in on closing exercises. I think she will have a great experience in Primary and I hope that we can work together with the teachers to make it positive for everyone. This is another big step for our inclusive goals for her. This week I meet with her teacher from the GRIT program to plan ahead for next year when Claire will probably be attending a preschool a few times a week. I am just so scared to death about this. We will send her with her GRIT worker but I am scared to make the decision of where to send her. Do all parents get this worried or am I just too overprotective?

Madeline has been very entertaining/frustrating lately. She's started to throw tantrums which include screaming and hitting things. She's got a very strong personality but she is also very kind. She loves babies and will run over to a "baby" (even though they may be older than her!) and give them hugs and kisses. She's always taking things over to Claire and trying to share snacks with her. It warms my heart to see the girls playing together. Maddie has some awesome dances moves. She shakes her little hips anytime she hears a beat. Lately she's been getting some arm actions in too and it's so funny. Maddie's been good in nursery for the past few weeks so we hope that the clingy/crying stage is over!

We had fun out in Wetaskiwin today for Dad's birthday celebrations.

Dad & his "Happy Feet" socks
This is what happens when we try to get Madeline to smile nicely for a picture.

Claire loved Grandma and Grandpa's big tree



We had fun at the Festival of Trees - we like to attend it each year. This year we went on Saturday which was insane. I recommend going on Friday when the crowds aren't so huge. But it was still fun to see all the beautiful trees and listen to the music.

*RANT* - Our apartment building is situated behind a hotel/coffee shop/bar conglomerate which share one recycling bin out the back. The bin gets picked up everyday except on the weekends. So by the time Monday morning rolls around, the bin looks like this:Every Monday our parking lot and side yard are covered with boxes, bottles and newspaper. We've contacted the hotel probably 20 times now and they continue to say that they will look into the problem. They also blame our tenants for filling the bin with their "illegal" recycling materials, stating that they can't tell whose garbage is flying onto our property. It's not that it is hard to pick up garbage, it's just infuriating to watch them pile stuff higher and higher all weekend and hear the sound of boxes migrating into our lot all weekend and have to clean it up every Monday because we can't "prove" that the garbage in our lot comes from their bin.

As I'm typing this, I am on the phone with the Bylaw complaint line....and have been waiting on hold for 20 minutes. I find I have such a lack of faith in our community/government/civic systems that I don't even really expect any change from voicing an official complaint, but it will make me feel better.

I hate managing a lot! Except for the free rent and big apartment.

*RANT OVER*

Meh-he-co (Mexico)

Ryan and I just got back from a week-long trip to Mexico. It's been almost 6 years since we've been away together (last time was...OUR HONEYMOON) so we decided to bite the financial bullet and just go ahead and have a fun trip. I'd like to give a shout out to the folks at VISA who made this trip possible before we actually had the cash. Interest is a major bummer when it's accumulating against you...but it was now or never!

We had a lot of fun together and I don't think Ryan got too sick of being with me 24/7. :) We tried to balance between seeing the sights and having adventures (our first trip to Mexico!) and just relaxing and recharging. I think we had enough time to do both things and we didn't get homesick until the end. There were a lot of things that we saw that made me think "I wish the girls were here with us!" But a lot of the time I was grateful that it was just the two of us. I just realize how hard it is to travel with kids and how it usually isn't a "real" vacation for the parents!

We were lucky that my family was willing and able to look after the girls for us while we were gone. It took two van-loads to get everything out to Wetaskiwin (Claire's equipment sure is bulky!) and they even loaded it all back to our house and had everything back to normal on Sunday when we got home! It was such a blessing to have the girls where I knew they would be loved and kept safe. Madeline now says Mamma & Poppa & Uncle & Auntie and often asks for them!

My family has always had an affinity for signs - welcome home signs, graduation signs, happy birthday signs. No family affair would be complete without signs. It has always made me feel loved!

The guitar was a big hit with both girls

Madeline is figuring out how to use the flute - right now it's mostly a spit tube but every once and awhile she gets a note out

Here is Claire testing out the "shakers" we bought for her

We also had some great friends look after our building (thanks Jeff & Eva) and siblings who also kept a watch on things (thanks Greg & Steph and Steph and Mel).

I've made a couple of albums on Facebook with pictures and explanations of things so I won't write too much here. If you want to see the pictures, here are the links:

Mexico Album 1
Mexico Album 2


Experiences in Mexico:

• That a "loose woman" in Spanish is called mamacita

• That going topless on the beach is a European thing

• That smoking is also a European thing (we probably smoked about a pack each in second hand smoke!)

• That a LOT of European people travel to Mexico (at least this time of year)
  

• That street shop bargaining is kind of fun

• That tipping is an art

• That what people read on the beach can tell you a lot about their personalities

• That you CAN get a sunburn on your earlobes

• That Mexican TV is hilarious

• That the Quebec French accent is quite horrific (Ryan's sentiment)

• That Ryan is a pool shark

• That highways in Mexico have huge speed bumps and no real lane divisions

• That snorkeling is super fun but then you have "suction cup face" afterwards

• That the stress and fatigue from the day of traveling home almost erases all the relaxing done on the beach!

Cool things we saw:

• 2 different rays, a lobster, HUGE dark purple sea urchins, tiny red sea urchins, little swordfish, tons of bright coloured tropical fish (while snorkeling)

• A wedding on the beach at sunset - we were out in the water at the time and watched the bride walk down the aisle. Very romantic

• Beautiful sunsets

• The most hilarious night show ever where these Mexican kids danced to songs from Grease, Saturday Night Fever and Evita whilst lip synching

• Fun towel designs on our bed everyday

• Banana, coconut, aloe vera and chile pepper trees/plants

• The "bidet" statue/fountain (see Mexico Album 2 for pictures)

• Tons of huge lizards everywhere

• Vultures circling overhead as we walked through the jungle (not a very encouraging sight

All in all, this trip was a great break for us but we are glad to be home and I am excitedly preparing for Christmas! My policy is that we have to wait for December 1st to put up the tree and decorations and start up the Christmas music! That way you are not sick of it all by the time Christmas day comes around.

Horses, Halloween, Holidays, Happy Happy Joy Joy

(Linky link blog entry - click on any underlined word for a link to a webpage)

I've found a new hobby - blog hopping. I find it very interesting to read blogs that deal with new recipes, home decorating, photography, saving money and mom-related dialogues. Some of the ladies whose blogs I check regularly are so clever and creative it's a bit daunting to try and write my own blog!

We've had a lot of fun with horses lately. We've put Claire on the waiting list for the Little Bits riding program that allows children with disabilities to take riding lessons. The wait list is almost 2 years though but maybe that will give her more time to be physically ready to sit on a horse. We went to observe a class to see exactly what it was all about. They have three volunteers that help each child - two on either side to provide support/balance and one person leading the horse. It was such a neat atmosphere and everyone was so kind - I'm looking forward to trying it out with Claire. We also had another Hearts and Hooves activity at the CNIB where the girls had a chance to brush and play with ponies. It was great!

(As a side note - I've realized that one of my favourite and probably over-used punctuation marks is the --DASH--I can't get enough of it)

We started with a new GRIT worker in October and she's great. We loved our first lady, but because of back/knee problems, she was having troubles lifting Claire, especially when we would be at play groups/singing groups where we'd have to sit on the floor. Our new girl, Janelle, is very kind and we have enjoyed getting to know her in the past few weeks. We also have had Claire's first IPP meeting with GRIT which was encouraging and attended the annual general meeting and had some great Greek food as part of the bargain.

Ryan hosted a super-fun EQ activity at our place complete with outdoor soccer, Rockband and 10 pizzas. The girls and I spent the day out in Wetaskiwin raking pine needles and cleaning the garage. It was so fun to be outside all day even though it was a bit chilly.

We also had fun at Olivia's Alberta reception. It was fun to get to know Rob a bit more - we like him! Unfortunately we don't have any pictures of the bride and groom since our camera had a little accident and tried to commit suicide by jumping onto the hardwood floor at the Rutherford House. We got a few pictures before that happened though.

Here we are with Lorne and Carrie and Broc - enjoying some chatting and good desserts.

We've had numerous meetings for church things, GRIT things, school things, etc. It seems that we have something going on every single night of the week.

We had a great Halloween. Click here to see some pictures.

Our big news is that Ryan and I are going to Mexico in a week, for a week. We had wanted to go during Spring break in March/April but decided at the last minute to go during Winter break in November. We're staying at the Catalonia Yucatan Beach resort and I'm so excited! We're so lucky to have family who are willing to take the girls so that we can have our first vacation together since our honeymoon almost 6 years ago!

Here are some fun pictures from the past few weeks.

Madeline and her experiments with blue Smarties

Here is Claire wearing her Beetlejuice pants doing some good standing in her standing frame.

Madeline love piling things up and laying on them. Her bed is full of blankets that she lays on top of.

Boxes are the most fun!

Maddie's first shiner. I'm surprised she hasn't hurt herself more because she climbs and jumps off so many things.

Goofy goof

More goofy goofing around

Claire has been so funny lately - this is how she falls asleep every night. No matter how many times we go in and turn her around and flip her over, she isn't comfortable until she is laying like this.

Do you like see-food?

Ah, the joys of managing our apartment building. Raking leaves/garbage/cigarette butts from our side lawn.

Luckily we had lots of help!

Here is Madeline practicing her wrestling moves on me.

Funny bunnies on the floor

Claire's lovely, spontaneous and infectious smile!

Here is the next rockstar drummer. Whenever we are playing, she always wants to hit the drums or the foot pedal. We have to confiscate the drum sticks most of the time though in order to protect our valuables from being smashed.