Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Give Mommy some space...

We went over to the kid's place to watch the Oscars on the weekend, and the kids got themselves all comfy on the couch to watch the pretty ladies show us their dresses.
Trouble was, both kids wanted to sit ON Mommy, not beside her.

Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Puddle walk

We are enjoying a day full of light fluffy snowfall today, so our streets don't look like this anymore, but last week, JJ and Buppa enjoyed a puddle walk on bare concrete. Total fun for the wee munchkin, and spirit lifting for the old folks, as there seemed to be a touch of spring in the air.

JJ jumped and splashed in every puddle he saw...
and stopped at the drains to check out where the water was going.
He picked up a tree branch to bring home to Amma, but Buppa convinced him it would be happier outside, so after a final check of the drain, he left the tree branch in a snow bank and came in for lunch.

I think he will enjoy helping Buppa shovel snow today, and more puddle walks will have to wait.

Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Dress-up morning

We get to the kid's place about half hour before the bus arrives in the morning, and we just never know what we are going to find when we arrive. Some mornings JJ is still in bed, but other mornings both kids are up and at'em and rare'in to go. On this particular morning they were into the dress-up bin and having fun. JJ sees me with the camera, and...has to strike a pose.
Smudge loves her shoes.
I think JJ's high heeled shoes are pinching his feet as he doesn't look happy in this pic.
Smudge likes her new hair-do...
and JJ is feeling much better now he has taken his high heels off. Don't we all?
Time to gather up our stuff...
and head out to the bigger room...
so we can shake a tail feather....
and dance!
What a fun way to start the day.

Friday, February 17, 2012

Hamming it up...

We have created two monsters. Every time they see a camera now, they have to strike a pose.
Sheesh!

Thursday, February 16, 2012

Calendar Girl

Smudge's latest interest...the calendar. She pestered Mommy until she got a calendar of her own, with all the special dates marked in it.
She refers to it all the time at home, and even carries it around in her backpack, so she can check it when she comes over to Amma and Buppa's for a visit. Here she is sitting at our coffee table going through the calendar with a fine tooth comb.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

The Builders

Good old wooden blocks...some things never get old or out of date.


Tuesday, February 14, 2012

More weekend pictures

Smudge was more than thrilled to find this most unique toy at Auntie Heather's house. And she really enjoyed playing with it before we left for the shower. Can you tell what it is? Nope, it isn't a sand box. It's a dinosaur dig! It came complete with goggles, digging tools, and recovery tools, and it was full of dinosaur bones just waiting to be unearthed. At Christmas it started out as a big block of rock, but it has now been reduced to a few hunks of sand and rock. Smudge still had a blast chipping away at the block to see if she could find more bones. What a fabulous toy.

While the girls were away at the shower, Uncle Brian, was hard at work making dinner for us. Yum! He is looking great after the major surgery he had, and it was sooooo nice to see him and give him big big hugs.
While Brian slaved in the kitchen the rest of us relaxed before dinner, and checked ipads and playbooks for email.
Smudge snuggled up with Auntie Heather and played a stained glass puzzle game with her.
Then she had a go at it herself, but she needed to stretch and wiggled to get the pieces to fit.
Cousin Jinu came over after dinner, and they both played games on the ipad for a while before bed.
Thanks for the hospitality guys, we really enjoyed the visit. See you soon at Riverwood....I hope.

Monday, February 13, 2012

The Baby Shower

Cousin Sarah is expecting a baby next month, and a surprise baby shower was planned for this past weekend in Toronto - a four hour trip from Ottawa. Hmmm, should we try to make such a long trip in February, a month full of unpredictable weather, and attend the shower? We waited until the last minute on Friday to decide, so we could get the most up-to-date weather report. Sunshine and clear skies were called for all weekend, so we set off early Saturday morning to join the festivities. BIG MISTAKE... to trust any weather report in February. We ran into the messiest patches of highway along the 401, and it was a nail biting ride for me. I didn't do any driving, but sometimes being a passenger is very hard on the nerves too. I was pressing that imaginary brake pedal mighty hard on some stretches off the snowy, icy road! We went through gallons of windshield washer, and still could hardly see out of the front window most of the time. Those huge trucks sure do throw up a lot of slush!

Anyway, enough about the harrowing trip. Suffice it to say, we made it to Ajax safe and sound in a little over 4 hours, and once we hit the outskirts of the big city, the roads were not slippery or snow covered, just slushy and dirty. We arrived in Ajax a little after noon for hugs and hellos with my sister then we were on our way to the shower by 1pm.

After the shower we stayed overnight with my sister and headed back to Ottawa the next morning. Wouldn't you know they had the largest snowfall of the winter for Ajax that night and we had to slog through thick snow to pack up the car before heading home around noon. Sheesh! By noon the plows had been out though, and the main roads were clear and dry for most of the trip home. We even saw some sunshine at the end of the trip.

As much as I don't like any kind of highway travel during the month of February, I am glad we made the trip and were able to join in the festivities this weekend. Smudge came along for the trip too, and she had a fabulous time at the shower, and playing with cousin Jinu during and after.

Here are some pictures for the whole family to enjoy...


The photographers gathered anxiously by the door waiting for the honoured guest to arrive.
Surprise!
Mommy, Daddy and big brother Jinu are not quite sure what is going on.
Smudge is anxious for cousin Jinu to take off his coat, and come and play.
Guests gathered round...
and lots of smiles were shared. Enjoy!


Oh, another new baby came to the shower, and Smudge was thrilled to hold her hand.



















One tired munchkin on the ride home.