Thursday 31 December 2009

Seeing Out 2009

With the family together on New Year's Eve, it was a nice way to say goodbye to the year. The younger children had all woken up at 3:00am this morning, so they had to go to bed at their normal time rather than staying up late for the New Year, but I snuck some photos of them asleep in their beds anyway.

So here are some of the last photos taken in our family in 2009.

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New Years Eve 2009

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(Incidentally, the shirt I am wearing in this photo is one designed by Angelica and can be bought here in a variety of colors.)

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Thursday 24 December 2009

Merry Christmas (tomorrow)!

Here's hoping everyone has a magical Christmas tomorrow! I know I will, because children always make Christmas magical!

Cameron Christmas Eve 2009

Stories About The Old Days

Today, we all had our first visit with our dentist. We recently bought dental insurance, and we had to get registered with our new dentist by having the first visit.

On the walk over there, the children were slipping and sliding all over the place because the path was covered in ice. Kayla and I held onto Isabella’s hand to keep her from falling, and Robert held onto Gabby’s hand to keep her from slipping.

As they walked, Robert talked to Gabby about friends he had when he was a kid and things that he liked to do when he was young. She listened and asked questions and was really interested in what he had to say.

Suddenly, she said, “I can’t wait until I have children of my own! Because then I can tell them about the olden days when I was a kid too!”

Sometimes I really adore the things that my children say.

Walking With Gabby

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Today, while Robert and I were walking with the girls, the ground was covered in ice and very slippery. Because of this, Gabby held her daddy's hand to keep from slipping and Isabella held mine.

While we walked, Robert chatted with Gabby, telling her about his childhood and some of the adventures he had with his brother.

After a while, I heard Gabby say, "I can't wait to have children of my own! Then I can tell them all about the old days too. You know, like when I was seven!" (She is seven now.)

These kids never stop being wonderful and making me laugh!

Thursday 10 December 2009

I Almost Passed Out!

My doctor thinks I might be anemic.

Yesterday, still not feeling well, I walked the 3/4-mile to go pick Connor up from school while pushing Cameron in the stoller. We were out of diapers and formula, so, on the way home, I had to stop at the shops. My stomach kept cramping up badly, but I was doing okay, if moving a bit slowly. I got to the shops and went to the ATM to draw some money out. That's where everything went screwy on me.

Everything started to spin and go dark on me. I felt my legs giving way under me, but I fought it. (I had both small boys with me, so I COULD NOT pass out!) I grabbed onto the ledge at the bottom of the ATM machine to hold myself up thinking I just have to get home, then I can collapse. I turned around, leaning my back on the machine and gripping onto the stroller to hold myself up, but it was a losing battle. I couldn't see anything as everything was swirling around in front of me.

Some ladies walking towards me noticed something was wrong, asked if I was okay, and I answered "no." They helped me inside (one of the shop employees came out to help too, because I could barely stand up). One of them pushed the stroller inside and made sure Connor came in with us too. The must have gotten me a chair because, just as they let go of me and I thought I was falling, I felt a chair underneath me. I could feel sweat on my face and I was breathing hard, but I didn't feel like I was having any trouble breathing.

After about ten minutes or so of sitting, everything started to clear up. By then, the paramedics had arrived. They were going to call an ambulance, but I became steady enough to get up and walk again. Robert, because he's been home sick, came to the shops and brought our teenager who was also at home sick. She took the little ones and went to pick up my other two girls from their school. Robert stayed with me.

As my condition was improving, the paramedics agreed to let me go home. They drove me home, and did some more tests while I was there. Both at the shops and at home, my blood pressure was really, really low. Other than that, everything was fine. No fever. Blood sugars were normal and so on. They called and spoke to one of the doctors at my practice, and got me an appointment to be seen at 5:00pm (an hour later). I took a taxi there and back. My blood pressure had returned to a normal range, if still a tad on the low side. The doctor thinks I'm anemic, so I have to go in for more blood tests later this month.

Because my 1 year old and 3 year old were with me, that was one of the scariest moments I've been through. And it was so sudden!

I pretty much slept from getting home from the doctor appointment until about 6:30am this morning. Other than a splitting headache and the same tummy troubles, I feel okay today.

Sunday 29 November 2009

Captain Mac A. Roni "The Greatest Treasure" Review by Bella & Gabby

I was sent a free copy of the DVD "Captain Mac A. Roni - The Greatest Treasure" to review.

First off, I have to say that it is not like a Disney or Pixar movie in that it does not pull an adult's interest in, but it was created with kids in mind and attempts to teach kids about the value of love and sharing. It's a cute and simple cartoon video, and as it is aimed at children, I decided that it would only be appropriate to let my kids review it themselves.

With that in mind, I have this video to share with you. My 7 year old daughter Gabby and 4 year old daughter Bella watched the video this morning. They both enjoyed the video, but Bella had a case of shyness when I videoed her to ask what she thought of it.

Take a look at the video and listen to what they thought of it and decide for yourself whether or not it would be a good Christmas gift for your own kids. You can buy the Captain Mac.A.Roni Children's DVD here.



*I received a product for this review on behalf of the company. All opinions are solely my own. Others who may use this product or service may have different opinions.*

Monday 9 November 2009

Standing

Cameron has been letting go and standing on his own today. Gabby mentioned yesterday that she saw him do it too.

It happens too sporadically for me to get a photo of it yet, but as soon as I'm able to, I'll share a picture of him standing on his own.

Being my youngest, I am in no rush for him to reach all these new stages of development. I am perfectly happy for him to take his time, but he seems to have other ideas.

Sunday 8 November 2009

Superboy

Why yes, it is the dog's costume. Why do you ask?

Superboy Connor 08 Nov 2009

Thursday 5 November 2009

Connor Shares His Jack-O-Lantern With Us

Connor wanted to show everyone his "pinkin" and why he thinks it's so great.

Tuesday 3 November 2009

Connor & His Pumpkin

Connor has become attached to a plastic jack-o-lantern that we had amongst our Halloween decorations. From the moment we got the decorations out (the day before Halloween), he has carried that jack-o-lantern around with him everywhere. He calls it, "my punkin."

Today, Robert caught Connor chatting with his jack-o-lantern. Then Connor put a blanket over the jack-o-lantern and pulled it off again saying, "Peek-a-boo!"

He adores it, and I have no idea how he's going to take it when we pack it away with the other Halloween decorations.

Saturday 31 October 2009

Happy Halloween 2009

The kids had a great Halloween, but we didn't have very many children come trick-or-treating. We all dressed up for Halloween, even the dog and cat. My camera battery went dead before I got a photo of the cat though, so I'll have to try taking a photo of him in his costume at a later time.

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Friday 30 October 2009

The Reason For My Typos

This is what happens when I try to type on my laptop.

Patty Cake

Gabriella, Isabella and Connor all sang "Patty Cake" to Cameron because he loves it when people sing the "Patty Cake" song. (He looks a bit serious at the end, but you can hear him laughing during the singing.)

Our Clever Dog

For about a week, I've been trying to teach our dog Mercury to "shake." I try about once a day, but he's very quick to pick up on things, and a couple of days ago, he started to do it every time he was given the command. So today, I videoed him doing his new trick. (Angelica is the one telling him to "shake" and giving him his treat.)

Tuesday 27 October 2009

Jack-o-lanterns

Gabriella and Isabella wanted to carve pumpkins for Halloween today. Their daddy let them draw pictures of the jack-o-lantern faces they wanted, and then he carved their drawings into the pumpkins.

Some of the pumpkin got onto their drawings making them a little messy, but I took pictures of them anyway.

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Isabellas Jackolantern 27 Oct 2009
Gabbys jackolantern 27 Oct 2009
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Candy Corn Chocolate Chip Cookies

Candy Corn Chocolate Chip Cookies
I had some chocolate chip cookie dough for Gabby and Bella to make cookies. Robert surprised me yesterday by buying a bag of candy corn, because until recently, there was nowhere you could buy candy corn here in our area of England. Gabby told me she wanted to make "candy corn cookies," so they each put a piece of candy corn on each of the balls of chocolate chip cookie dough today and came up with candy corn chocolate chip cookies. They cooked well, looked good and the kids loved them! It turned out to be a terrific idea for Halloween baking!
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Monday 26 October 2009

Bra

I was in the shower today, and my clothes were hanging on the inside of the bathroom door. Well, as anyone who is a mom knows, we moms rarely get to take a shower without interruptions and today was no exception.

Isabella, my four year old daughter, came into the bathroom. From the other side of the shower curtain, I could hear her talking.

"Oh! I see your underwear! And your booby-thing! But it's not a booby thing, it's a bra! I know it's a bra and not a booby-thing. Do you know how I know it's called a bra? I had a dream about seeing one, and in my dream I called it a bra. That's how I learned not to call it a booby-thing and to call it a bra." (Emphasis on the word bra is hers.)

When she left the bathroom, I allowed myself a giggle over the conversation and decided to share the new term she learned with you.

Wednesday 21 October 2009

Harvest Day!

Today is Harvest Day and Gabby's school put on a production for the parents. Apparently, some fo the kids wrote poems about Harvest Day and out of all of the children, two had their poems chosen to be read during the production. Gabriella had her poem chosen, as did her friend Adam (who's been her friend since preschool). They got to read their poems out loud during the Harvest Day production.

You can read Gabby's poem on the Imaginative Minds: Writing By Children blog.

And, as a special treat, you can even see her reading it to the audience in this video clip.

Thursday 8 October 2009

No Training Wheels!

Gabby has not had a bike that fit her for a couple of years now and because of this, she never learned to ride a bike without training wheels. For her recent birthday, her daddy and I bought her a bicycle.

Today, her daddy took her to the park to learn to ride her bike without training wheels. He noticed that she was overly nervous about falling while trying to ride on the pavement, so he told her to ride on the grass. Once on the grass, she took off with no problem at all (except for figuring out how to stop).



As well as learning how to ride her bike without training wheels for the first time, she achieved her 5 meter badge in swimming at school! She is learning new things in leaps and bounds this year!

Wednesday 7 October 2009

Being Silly

Cameron was being a little silly today.

Tuesday 6 October 2009

"Daaahh-deeee!"

Cameron said his first really clear word today: "Daaahh-deeee!"

Saturday 3 October 2009

Happy 7th Birthday, Gabriella!

Today was Gabby 7th Birthday!

She had a wonderful day that began with opening presents from family, moved on to going to the movies with Daddy and two friends and then coming home to having her pictures taken at the park and ended with birthday cake and a visit from her godfather Pete.

Gabby opening gifts on 7th birthday

Gabby 7th Birthday

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