Happy 14th Birthday William

William had an amazing B-day weekend. He had his two friends come and visit from out of town. They spent the time just hanging out playing video games and just doing the boy thing. They arrived Friday the 26th of March evening and William B. left Sunday morning and Austin left Monday evening. I didn't take pictures but the boys went bowling which they mostly sucked at. William B. got the hightest score and sadly the birthday boy had the lowest. They also went to see the movie How to Train your Dragon which they said was awesome.

It was awesome hanging out with his buds. And now with summer coming they will be able to get together more often. It's hard to believe that he is 14 already the time is going so fast. William is a great kid who loves to read and play video games all day if I'd let him. Sadly I'm a mean mom. He's very keen on these Keva planks that we played with in San Diego so I'm ordering him some. Check'em out!!

Random Things

How great that it is now Spring. The snow has disappeared and left the ground bare and yellow and the trees naked waiting for spring buds. This past weekend we have enjoyed such warm weather that we know that summer is on its way. We are all filled with hope.
As I looked through my pictures that were downloaded I just couldn't help noticing the silly ones that Olivia and William often take. I wanted to share some of them with you hoping to bring you a chuckle or at least a smile.




The Epic Doll

I had the most amazing time in California. It was such a gift to be with my little sister Cheryl. It seemed that we went some where different everyday. The weather was wonderful especially because we were coming from snowy Montreal. For two weeks I got to wear capris and flip flops in February!!! I can never thank my mom and Jasmine enough for this time we had to be together. They were there for the first week with us as we crazily visited all these places. We were able to stay for another week and still Gary and Cheryl had us doing so many things. I was just happy to be able to be with them especially Madison, Sydney, Thys and Kendall. These have to be the most adorable kids. Madison so sweet and motherly, welcomed her cousins with open arms. Sydney she's so crazy and she loved William - a little too much. Thys always has a smile on his face weather he's behaving or up to no good. I just wanted to squeeze Kendall she's so adorable and loves her mom so much. Kendall gave me more than hugs though because I came back to Montreal I brought her cold. So here are some more pictures of our time in California.
The San Diego Temple was so beautiful. Families are forever!

Then we visited this amazing Children's Science museum in San Diego where the children could actually participate in the experiments.


On both days we visited the Disney parks we wore our Canadian Olympic t-shirts. The Olympics were happening right then. It was so cool we stuck out and a lot of people commented positively. It was also great because we could see each other really easily.

As you can see in this next photo I need a better camera. This is grandma Snyder in Minnie or Mickey's house. She's eyeing all their cleaning supplies and thinking about how she can get her next job to be in Toontown.

How exciting to pick our own oranges. If you look back in our blog you will see that we went apple picking not too long ago. How cool is this!


One of the best places we visited was Newport beach. Again the weather was perfect and because it was February there were not the crowds.


And then after a walk on the pier we had some ice cold Lemonade. Thanks Uncle Gary it was delish!


I am so blessed to have such wonderful family that live in these great places to visit. I love making memories like this. I'm so looking forward to having Cheryl and Gary bring their family to Quebec and visit us. I really miss them. Thanks Grandma and Jasmine. We love you.

Olivia's Day at Disneyland

Disneyland was awesome. It was better than any amusement park I've ever been to. My favorite ride was probably Indiana Jones and Autotopia. In Indiana Jones it looks like a big boulder is going to crush you and just when you think you might go backwards the ride takes you right for the boulder. In the last second you go under and barely miss being flattened. Autotopia you get to drive your own car. Jasmine came with me but let me drive. I wasn't very good at first but then I got the hang of it. It's a good thing I have to wait six years to get my learners permit. William on the other hand didn't even know you had to steer and he was bumping all over the place. It looked so funny to see us all driving.



I liked downtown Disney with all its stores. I got a Mickey ears hat with my name stitched on it. We stayed all day until it closed and our feet were so sore from walking and waiting in lines. But at the end of the day just before leaving we ran into Mickey and Minnie and I got their autographs. I would love to visit Disneyland again and this time bring my Dad.


Another great thing that we did on this Californian vacation was go and visit the American Girl store. Thank you Aunty Cheryl for driving all us girls to LA to see this store. I have the Samantha doll and even though they no longer carry this doll I was able to get her some great new clothes. Grandma bought Sydney, Madison and I AG t-shirts with matching doll shirts. The store is huge and it even has a doll hair salon and restaurant where you can eat with your doll. I'll always have fond memories of visiting the American Girls store with my cousins.

William's CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE 2010

The day after we arrived in California. We went to "California Adventure". It was awesome. We were there with our cousins and Jasmine and Grandma Snyder. All day we went on ride after ride. The weather was perfect and the line ups weren't that bad. Some of my favorite rides were the new Toy Story, California Souring,and Tower of Terror. I also went on the roller coaster "California Screamin" it was intense. There was no slow start your roller car was rocketed from the very beginning. My mom even went on it even though she had her eyes closed most of the way. Olivia, Madison and I went on it twice.





California Adventure and Disney were so incredible because of the detail in all the areas and rides it really is a world of its own. Thank you Aunty Cheryl and Uncle Gary for taking us to these great places and letting us stay at your home and also for introducing me to O'Hanna. You have to go there for me - I miss it sooooo much. I also want to thank my sister Jasmine and Grandma Snyder for this great adventure.

Halloween

So I have a few minutes right now. I do have a zillion things to do but I really want to share these pictures. I can't believe it is already November 11th.
Happy Remembrance Day everyone.
I am grateful for those who have served our country in past wars and for those soldiers who serve today. Olivia, William and I have been studying world history for the last four years and we are now reaching modern times and soon will begin to study WW1. The kids hate war and through our studies they have learned how wars have touched every continent and nation in the world. It seems, us humans can't learn. So I'm just saying thank you especially to the ones who gave their all - their lives.

Let's talk about our Halloween. About two day's before Halloween I had the children carve their pumpkins. It's a tradition in our house that all the kids carve their own. We go online and choose a free pattern from the many sites. Then it's upstairs to the dinning room table to carve. The gross part is cleaning out the pumpkin. I was nice and cleaned out Derek's.


The carving was not easy and took patience and some skill. They have been doing this for a few years now so they are all professionals.

And finally we see that their hard work has paid off. Perfect Pumpkins!

Amazing Pumpkins ready for Halloween night.

Olivia's design

William's creation

Derek remembers Pousse (Puss)
Derek's pattern was the simplest but it was an important one for our family and our neighbors. Their cat Pousse had gone missing and still has not been found. Pousse and Cola were always over at our house trying to get in - especially Pousse. Derek decided to dedicate his pumpkin to the memory of Pousse. The neighbor was touched and later that week brought Derek a beautiful poster of Pousse and it is now on his bedroom wall. We don't have any animals so the kids love to borrow the neighbors or friends. Derek was often called upon to watch the cats when the neighbors went out of town. So he loved that little Pousse.

I hope everyone's Halloween was great. We had a quiet evening and really not very many children were out. Olivia is the only one that went out trick or treating from our family. She was a Hula Dancer with a turtle neck on because it was a bit chilly and hey! we live in Canada. She looked adorable and she was happy. It's funny because Olivia was a hula girl and the next day Jasmine flew to Hawaii (from Victoria) for a week. More on that later. William stayed home and gave out candy to the trick or treaters. Olivia and I went out with the neighbor kids. Brandon, Thomas, and Dayna were adorable in their costumes and eager to collect candy. We just walked around the block and everyone's bag was full. It was windy and cool so we had Hot Chocolate when we came home. Of course the candy was poured out on the floor and sorted into the "I love it pile" and the "I hate it pile". The latter was given to her brothers. So everyone was happy!

Olivia all ready for Trick or Treating

Dayna, Olivia, Brandon, Thomas


We are all so jealous of Jasmine. Hawaii is so beautiful, sunny, warm and it has Cousin Deb!!! She is a blast to be with because she always makes you laugh. Jasmine had an amazing time and I'm sure she is already planning a return trip. I am happy for Jasmine that she is able to travel now and see a little of the world. She's home now so I'm sure we will be able to see her pictures on her facebook page. So that's all for today everyone. It took me too long and now I have to figure out what to have for dinner. I know grandma and Jasmine are having my veggie enchiladas because they phoned for the recipe. Hmm, that sounds like a plan maybe something mexican would be good.

Fun Hair do

A few weeks back I found this great blog about doing girls hair in fun styles. The instructions were great and included awesome photographs. We tried a few of the styles but now Olivia doesn't seem that interested in doing them anymore. I really wanted to practice a little more but she says that she wants to cut her hair now. Oh well, what can you do? Here are a few pictures taken of one of the styles we did.



Isn't she a beauty. It's hard to believe but Olivia will be turning 10 in December.

Stay tuned for the coming Halloween and Pumpkin pictures. I'll be posting them as soon as I get Steve to download the pics from our camera. I so love being able to share these pics with you all. Please leave a comment because the kids love to read them. It lets us know that someone is reading our blog. We love you family!!!!!