learning can be fun

today is a perfect rainy day.

i may send the kids outside later to see how wet they can actually get. time will tell how adventurous i will be!

a few months ago, one of our neighbours introduced us to an old 80's band that now has children. you could say their music has changed a bit?

check out They Might Be Giants.





i know Kristian will make comments about their lyrics not being completely correct. since he is the Materials Engineer with the Masters Degree we let him have his opinions. for the rest of us we quite enjoy learning the "not entirely accurate" information! okay, he's not that critical. just don't start quoting TMBG on your university science essays and expect to do well.


if you have young children such as mine, you may hear the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse theme song a few times each week. performed by TMBG. can you sing the Hot Dog song as well as your kids? also performed by TMBG.

free gift!

this one is only good for a short time....

go HERE and download some free MP3 Christmas songs!

{thanks Wilna for posting this super info!}

can it really be

Sunday ?


a long week for our family. a very long week. in like a lion and out like a lamb. oh wait that phrase belongs to the month of March! not anymore.



Friday was Kristians last day of work with the "super-secret-company". he worked A LOT of hours and we missed him very much. and apparently he missed us. tantrums and all! Aidan is still in shock that Daddy has been staying home with us all day and we keep telling him that tomorrow will be the same. at this point you are saying....but Roxy....that is only three days.... and my response? exactly. crazy, huh? he has a couple of weeks before he starts work with a different company. so we are on holiday mode. love it because it will be a year before he gets to take advantage of his holiday time. so this is it for awhile. we are looking at the bright side as much as we can. we will be together for 95% of evenings and weekends. who knew that would be a bonus?! feels like a holiday just given that change.



HALLELUJAH! (i think this song says it enough times....and these 4 guys are all Norwegian....Kurt Nilsen won the World Idol a few years ago)




yesterday the sun was out and there was no icy wind. yup it seemed miraculous to me too. a fun day for everyone. the "outgrown it" sales have started again. and i came out very well on this second round. not so much for Aidan. but Kiara will be one well dressed young lady. even in her "sand box" clothes! while i was away they had a visit from uncle Cam and cousin Kai. then Aidan and i took off for a birthday party while Kiara napped and Daddy got some peace. Connor turned 4 and there was some pirate booty to be had. can you believe i forgot to take my camera? yeah. at least i remembered the gift! and my son. haha. so no photos of the little pirates. so have you guessed the party theme yet? what a great day it was. we spent a long time outside. a record for 2008. soooooooo glad Kristian built the sandbox and play area. aside from some rocks finding new homes in the grass, it has afforded us with some peace while the kids hang out together. then a walk to pick up pizza. the stroller was handy to carry the pizza, since the kids both decided to walk. even Kiara walked several blocks. (it was also a lucky day for Aidan and i to have pizza for both meals!)




and today has had sun and cloud. but a wind came out of nowhere. not great. the "boys" have gone to help uncle John work on his house. they are putting the siding on. Aidan was thrilled to be a part of the action. and i think Kris was happy to have some company on the drive. the house has really taken a great deal of John's time the past 10 months-- built it himself, with help from his dad and friends. i'll have to post, or link to photos. that is when it pays to be a carpenter and know what you are doing. it shows. cool to have control over how some of the details are put together. and us "girls"? we're holding down the home place. Kiara had another great nap. while i got to do some scrapbooking and watch a movie. undisturbed. the next part of our plan is to take a walk and get some more sunshine. and of course continue our bonding. does she ever like to giggle! every day her language skills improve. kind of crazy. seems like a new word each day. and it has been fun for her to play on her own. like right now while i type. sometimes she and Aidan have differences of how their play should go...and who should get what toy...typical kid stuff. love the company of each other ...mostly. she does love to play with his race track. but doesn't know how to play without pulling it apart. i still remember Aidan destroying other kids stuff at this age. we are amazed at his tolerance level for her. except for his race track. and his lego.




okay and that is just a summary of the last 3 days of our lives. there is still so much that is not being said. scary to think!

yeah. it has been an adventure.

we are working on the plans for the next few weeks. i can not wait. i was teasing Kristian that it will just be more scrapbooking time for me.



and tomorrow is my weekly dose of Jon and Kate plus 8. i just read that they have a book coming out soon.


this is from the amazon site. have no idea if i'm allowed to do this. but i didn't see a copyright. and i figured the photo is not going to hinder sales!

i was bummed because i missed their appearance on Oprah a few months ago. so i wait for the re-run.

they do talk about the challenge of their life. but it is cool to see their acceptance of this crazy life too. hats off to them!

well....off to end the day. still...has it only been three days?

love is...

rockin' with the kids!

actually i love watching them rock. these headphones are as big as they are....

just love mornings like this.
still not sure why Kiara is the only one in real clothes

already on this morning in particular.

busy busy day for us. and no pictures to prove it! or perhaps that does prove it....hmmmm

Aidan was thrilled with the valentine party at playschool. until this week we have been having huge difficulties with getting him out the door in the mornings. today he was ready and waiting at the door for us. he was sooo excited about the party Mrs. O had planned. they were sure busy little people today. they made bags to hold all their valentines, iced and decorated their own cookies.

for me the craziest part was when they handed out their valentines. picture 10 three year olds who think they know what they're doing. yes. and this was with 3 adults supervising them!

at swimming i was told that Aidan was ready for the next level. that caught me off guard. (since i couldn't seem to ever get out of level 1 when i was a kid!) and i was thrilled until i tried to register him in the next level. i called 2 pools today and both were completely full. i did sweat over this situation for awhile and then realized that we could always just spend the next 8 weeks splashing around at various pools in the city. now that is a unique idea! lol we can always get in on the next set. January to May is when i have the kids registered in stuff....too cold or wet or muddy to enjoy being outdoors for long and nothing else is going on (like halloween or Christmas). it can get kind of hectic for me though, so maybe this will be a nice break. the part i'm also mourning is that both of the kids have an incredible swim instructor. we will so miss her in the next few weeks.

i think i've mentioned that Aidan is a water boy. never really minded getting wet.

Kiara enjoys the water....but can be a drama queen when she gets dunked. the look on her face after i've plunged her under the water always makes me giggle. today she wanted to stand and jump into the water (usually they get in from a sitting position). so maybe there is hope for her yet!

Aidan is really excited about our airplane trip coming up. he keeps telling me how fun it will be, but we had better hold on really tight. yup! 5 more sleeps