Love the Library

London has a lot of libraries. It's wonderful, especially now with computers, we can go online and look up books we want and place holds on them. I get emailed when they arrive at my closest library. When it's time to return them, I get a reminder email 3 days prior, or a renew them. We mostly go to the downtown one. It has a large children's section, and we love the ladies that do story time, with music too. We also go to our local one, Cherryhill. The staff are really nice and friendly. They are great with Anthony, and let him use his card. He is good at finding books he likes. Lately, it's been non-fiction ones about transportation. One visit recently, he spotted the New Cars 2 book, on the top shelf. I think I'll buy that one, since he loves it so much. It has all the characters names and where they're from, and what they can do. I thought they were all race cars. No, he set me straight. lol. Videos are great too, well some are scratched and don't work well, but still good that our taxes are paying for them. We just need to remember to return them after a week, or renew them. It's $1/day fine for them.

Today, Anthony was suppose to start JK. Unfortunately, he has had a fever the past two days. I called to let them know he wouldn't be there. We were both bummed out, he was so excited to go. I hope Monday will still be a memorable first day for him. I'm proud to know that he will be starting school already enjoying books. One milestone he had this year, is repeating the book I read to him back to me. Sometimes, even the first time we've read it. Ava likes looking at the animal books. She loves the dog pictures best.

Catch Up Time

It's been a while since I posted. Partly, my laziness and just busy trying to pack in as much fun as possible, before work and school starts..ahh! Here's my niece Emma enjoying the hammock with me. Actually, we were both laughing pretty good here. I was having a hard time fitting my butt on without crawling on top of her.

 Ed's brother, David let us use his house in the Bend for a couple days, while he was away. Nice weather and lots of pool time. Bonus, after the kids fell asleep, we got to hop in the hot tub. It is so peaceful there, in the middle of the woods. I love that Anthony is getting so confident in the water. I think by next summer, he might be able to take the water wings off.

 Port Franks Beach. I think we managed to get three beach days in this summer. It's been  great summer weather. Anthony and Ava both like the beach and the water. This is the first summer in a long time, I remember going right in. Normally, it's too cold for me.

 This sing-along book "Ba Ba Black Sheep" was a favourite from the library. I renewed it 3 times.LOL. She would grab it and sit on our lap a few times a day.

 This is my 16 mth old singing "Twinkle twinkle little star" Or "Ba Ba Black Sheep"!! I think she has daddy's musical genes passed down. I have been trying to video tape her, with my camera, and she gets distracted and says "EESS" (cheese)...I think I will need Ed's help with a it.

 She's getting so big, near the end of August.

 First visit to the new Thames Pool. We LOVED it! It is like a beach, without sand! Anthony was at Bible Camp this week, so Ava and I met a mommy friend there for a play date. It was nice having some one on one time with my girl. Another day, I took Anthony. I knew he loved the pool, and maybe the slide. He was just tall enough to go down. He had fun, and didn't want to go home.

We met Joan and her girls for a little play date in the park. Ava and Rylie are two months apart.

Is Anthony ready for a Triathlon?

Since last fall, our niece Lauren taught Anthony swimming lessons once a week. It was handy for her to come to our building and take him for a half-hour each week. We really noticed a difference in his confidence since last summer. He now jumps in on his own, with water wings. The best thing is that he is enjoying it!! With the heat wave we have now, we have been in the pool almost every day.


First kiddie trot race for my lil man! We headed downtown Friday evening, after a friend told us her little girl was going in it. Anthony's in the red shirt and he loves to run! But with all the people I wasn't sure if he'd go on his own. His friend is only 3, and she did it, but wanted her mom beside her.
He made it! It was funny, I told him to stop at the big blue thing, and wait for mommy and Ava to get him. He literally stopped right on the finish line. He had fun and told his dad all about it, once we got home. He got a #1 ribbon, and a free kid's meal from Kelsey's.


Trying out his new bike. He's doing pretty good. He asks to go on it, so that is a good thing. Before he just wanted to sit on it. My Dad gave me a picture of myself on my bike around the same age. When I showed Anthony, the first thing he said was "mommy, you aren't wearing a helmet". Haha. He will grow up knowing helmets are normal.

Good ole fashion water fight

We spent a weekend at Grandma and Grandpa's. Anthony enjoyed having a water fight with my Dad. I'm glad Dad was a good sport- even though he didn't remember to put his bathing suit on. Anthony got him pretty good! I think my dad enjoys having a grandson, after raising three girls.


Ava enjoying her brand new lawn chair. Perfect size, and even has a cup holder- sippy cup, that is- still too young for beer.

I like how this picture turned out. We were next to Mom's garden pond. I don't have too many of just Ava and I.

Proudly Canadian

We were invited to join my sister Corey and her husband and 2.5 year old daughter on a Camping Weekend at the Country View Park in Reece's Corners. We stayed in a decent size trailer that Craig's parents own. I love when Canada Day is on a Friday, so Ed is off for a long weekend. My sister had everything organized, from the kiddie pool to stuff to make smores, I hardly brought anything. The first night Craig bbq'd chicken and ribs, and Corey made a delicious potato salad. The dads then took Anthony and Emma on the hayride through the park, and out for ice cream. I was wishing I bought a Canada flag for Anthony to wave. He remembered from last year, and was asking for it. Once the kids settled down for the night, we had a campfire and a few drinks.

Saturday, was another hot day. We took turns napping in the morning, from staying up late. The kids loved playing at the park with the others. The kiddie pool was great fun for little Ava and Emma. Anthony was interacting with his sister and cousin pretty for the most part. Anthony went to the big pool and was showing his dad how he could jump in all by himself. His swimming has improved a lot since last summer. Thanks to his lifeguard cousin Lauren for teaching him.

The most exciting thing of the weekend happened Saturday around 6:45pm, when Ed was ready to take the steaks off the bbq. I was in the trailer finishing the caesar salad, and getting the plates ready to put on the picnic table. Ava was still playing in the kiddie pool, it was still pretty hot out, and she was content in there. All of a sudden the sky turns grey and the wind picked up. We didn't have the radio or tv on, so we had to rely on other campers. It looked like a big storm was coming and fast. We quickly brought the food in to the trailer, while the guys were busy putting all the lawn chairs, toys, games, stroller away, and the awning rolled in.
I was being calm for the kids, but my heart was beating pretty hard for a while. I actual like a good thunderstorm, just not being stuck in a trailer with 3 little kids.

It thundered for a good while and it was windy, but not as bad as some warnings were letting on. Thank God. We had heard reports of possible hail and funnel clouds. Afterwards, the fireworks went off at 10pm as scheduled (not sure why they chose Sat Jul 2 instead). Anthony was tired, but we convinced him to stay up to watch them. This was the first year, he liked them. We had a great weekend, and all the kids were good little campers. We would take them again sometime. Two nights was perfect for us.

Anthony opened his birthday gift from his Auntie, Uncle and Emma. He wanted to wear his new spidey shirt all week. And he loved his spidey goggles and back pack too.

Emma and Anthony with the Dads holding them up for us to see!

During the storm, I think this must be once we realized it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Judging from Corey's face- she gets pretty nervous when it storms.

While we were packing up on Sunday, Ava enjoyed a little pool play. All smiles here:)

O'Shea's Farm Fun

The end of June we visited O'Shea's farm with our playgroup friends. It was about a 25 mins drive outside London. We had a great time, looking at animals, picking strawberries and a picnic with our friends.
Somehow these don't look as cheesy with a cute 14 month olds face. It was natural for her to put her face in the hole. Anthony was the strawberry.

I threw this one in, but it was another day at the wading pool at springbank park. Ava posed like this for a good while.
Strawberry fields. It rained the week before, so we were a little late, but managed to pick some good ones., and eat a bunch.

Final day at Nursery School

June 15th was Anthony's last day at Grosvenor Nursery School. It was a very enjoyable and rewarding year! I'm so glad I registered him while I was off work with Ava. He made a nice card for his teachers and gave them both hugs and one even a big kiss! I hope his JK teacher is as patient and nurturing as these two teachers were. He made some new friends and so did I.

First Piano piece

On Anthony's 4th birthday he performed in the Year end Yamaha Music Concert. We were proud of him for following his teacher Ms. Kate's lead and pushing the right keys at the right time (only two keys). He came a long way from when he started in September. Normally his class has 7 children, but for the concert only Anthony and Zain made it.

He seemed to really blossom as the year went on and looked forward to each class. Grandma Greene gave next year's lessons to him again for his birthday gift.

Anthony turns 4!!

I'm late posting pictures because since summer has been here, we've been extra busy, enjoying the nice weather. This was on Sunday June 12th, after Anthony's music concert. We walked outside our building and noticed the farmer had plowed his field.
Saturday we had all three grandparents over for a little pizza and cupcake party.
Sitting on the rock in front of our place reminds me of the first days home from the hospital and the shrub was blooming beautifully. Yes, I like the little things in life.
Daddy and his big boy on his 4th birthday:)
We gave him a new bike!! What a surprise. My dad tried to get him to look up after he sat on it, but he was in awe, all he did was sit on it and stare at it. He says it's a "transformer" bike- but it's not. I guess he has a big imagination.

First Beach Day of 2011

Sunday, June 5th was the perfect 25 degree beach day. We packed up and headed to Grand Bend for the day. Ava loved the sand and was content to play and crawl around a bit. We ended up staying for 4 hours. Everyone was happy and had fun! We left at 3:30, and both kids slept on the drive home.

Beach momma and beach baby!

Ava was quite the social butterfly. She was crawling to other people, and especially liked the university students laying in front of us. She crawled to their volleyball. They were nice and let her play with it.
It was also an extra special day, as our little Ava took her first steps (well more than 2 in a row). Daddy was there to see it this time! So, for the baby book she is almost 14 months old, and her brother was 14.5 months.

Special springtime moments

Ava warmed right up to Uncle David's dog Bentley. He is the sweetest, most gentle dog I've met. I know he's still an animal, and you can't 100% trust him around little children, but he was so good with our kids. He is a 3 year old Schnoodle. A great hypo-allergic dog, that has hair, not fur, therefore he doesn't shed either! I was scared of big dogs when I was younger, and I want our children to be comfortable with animals. I got a kick out of seeing little Ava crawl towards Bentley saying "Baba" and petting him. I think the feeling was mutual.
Spontaneously playing together and having FUN!!! This was a proud moment for me to see my big boy wanting to play with his little sister. He had such a rough start when she arrived, it really made my day to see them having so much fun together!

6am May sunrise on our balcony. I've been getting up before the kids some days to go for a run.

I planned a picnic play date with my sister and two cousins. We met up at Pinafore Park in St. Thomas, with our kids. We spent 3 hours there, it was such a nice time.

I didn't manage to get them all sitting down at the same time. But in total the children were, Hewson-4, Claire- 11 mths, Emma- 2, Brody- 20mths, Anthony- almost 4, Ava- 14mths. My cousin Stacey is expecting her second baby in the fall.

Then and Now

~Sisters 1982~

I am holding baby Brooke aka Bertie, Brookie, Squirt! Corey is 2.5 here.

~Easter 2011~

Shelley (Ava), Corey, Brooke

My youngest sister Brooke came home for the first time in over a year (since X-mas 09). It was great to see her in person. Although, I think having skype helps make the time apart easier.

This was her first time meeting our little Ava. She just turned ONE, and she was making strange quite a bit. She wasn't sure what to make of her. Plus, I think having the whole family for Easter Dinner made her more anxious.

I kept asking Brooke what gift she would like for her graduation. Everything I suggested, she said she didn't need or wouldn't use. The things that she did like were above my and Corey's combined budget. So, I decided to treat her to a pedicure! Corey and I got one too! It was a fun sister's time out. The three of us don't get a chance to hang out much, and it was nice. We all love each other, and enjoy the time we spend together. We all have some similarities in our personalities, but overall, I think we are three very different people. It's amazing how we can come from the same two people. I think now that we are grown up, our life experience has shaped us into who we are today. It is not necessarily good or bad, just different- which makes things interesting.

Anthony and my niece Emma enjoyed playing with Brooke. She brought them some German made toys, which was nice. Anthony got some wide-up tin cars and Ava got a spinning top - she enjoys it! Even a week after Brooke's visit, Anthony was still saying "I really like Auntie Brookie".

Our pretty toes after our pedicures. Now, bring on the sandal weather!

Mine are pink, Corey chose orange and Brooke picked torquoise.

Keepsakes

I ordered this from Amazon for Ava's 1st Birthday. I love the idea of printing a few pictures from her 1st birthday until her 18th and then wrapping it up and giving it to her. There are pages with interview questions and pockets to keep invitations, cards.

I've always LOVED baby's feet. They are so tiny and sweet. This is from Anthony's baby book. His newborn foot and a year later.

Now, little Ava's newborn footprint and at ONE YEAR OLD!!! Wow, how they grow!

Ava's First Birthday!!!

Ava getting ready for her first birthday party!

On Friday we gave her a basketball net for her gift. She loves playing "ball".

Anthony thought it'd be a good idea to set her net up in front of his bigger net.

Anthony is giving his sister a hug here. He's come a long way since last year and now they are playing nicely most of the time.