Merry Christmas !

Merry Christmas to Everyone and All the Best for 2012!

This Christmas season has been jam-packed. It started with the Toronto Santa Claus parade. Of course, Aidan and his cousins were excited to be interviewed (even briefly) on TV. Then came decorating the house for Christmas and our holiday party. Following that we took the kids to the Bradley Museum for their photo with Santa in the old log cabin. This time Maya wasn't scared and we got a decent photo. Then came an early Christmas celebration at my sister's with the cousins, Aidan's end of year play, and then Christmas Eve at TEMC - they have the best pageant in the city - complete with live animals - including a camel!!!

Finally, Christmas morning came. Aidan and Maya were so excited! They were thrilled with their gifts - Aidan particularly liked his Meccano set from Santa and Maya loved her Rock and Roll Elmo and her almost life-size Minnie Mouse.

The following are some highlights from the season....

Santa Arrives - the Toronto Santa Claus Parade

Decorating the Tree
A Visit With Santa - Bradley Museum
An Early Christmas Celebration with the Cousins
Aidan stars as the Evil Sheriff in the School Play
The Christmas Pageant at TEMC - Complete with Camel!
Meccano from Santa!
Rock and Roll Elmo Rocks!
The Kids with Minnie Mouse (who is huge)
Digging into some turkey

What the Kids Have Been Up To

Thought I'd provide a brief update on what the kids have been up to this Fall. Maya is talking a mile a minute. I am always amazed at how articulate she is for her age and the kind of conversations we can have already. She enjoys books and can count things. At 2 3/4, she is still working on her letters and colours. She has recently learned how to somersault. And loves to do it on our bed - so worried she is going to fly right off! She is participating more at Early Years and loves to sing and dance.

Aidan is enjoying Grade 4. He is just finishing up a big project on Nunavut. He is taking piano again this year along with swimming (he just passed Swimmer 4) and he is loving being a Cub Scout. He lastest passion is playing chess. He has a few friends that like to play and he's getting quite good - easily beats me and Mike. I'm glad there are others who enjoy playing as chess is not always so popular ;). I am just happy to see him playing something other than video games.

Maya and Aidan continue to get along so well. Here is a photo I took this morning that will go on our Christmas card this year:

Aidan's 2 seconds of fame

Aidan was at the Santa Claus Parade with his cousins, Dexter and Justin, and was interviewed by CP24. His 2 seconds of fame occur about 1 min and 45 seconds in.

click here

Name Change Challenges

Hi, We have having challenges with Maya's name change. Maya is a Canadian citizen and has a Canadian passport. however, they rejected our application because she did not have a citizenship card. Have others had the same problem? Why would we need a citizenship card if we already had a passport? We live in Ontario.

Trick_or_Treat

Halloween_Fun

What I'm Thankful For

My two amazing children

My wonderful husband

That Aidan seems to have recently outgrown his milk and wheat allergies

That we have enough money to help pay for all the extra help we need for my mom right now.