March brings SPRING!!

Hurray! Spring is here. Well, last week felt more like summer. We had a 7-day record of high temperatures. One day it went up to 28. It felt like July! For some reason, I have been more sick than usual this year. I'm blaming the mild winter, for not being cold enough to kill all the virus's. I was happy Ava had gone without any sickness from September when she started daycare, until the last week in January ( 5 months). February was a rough month for all of us. We all had bad colds and coughs. Ava was fevered, then the next day I got called to come and pick Anthony up from school. I missed a week of work to be home with them. Then, that bad cold I had seemed to almost leave me, and suddenly got worse. I ended up with bronchitis (for the first time in my life). My back ached from coughing so much. It was nasty. Then just last week, I had the norwalk for a few days :( That God the kids were fine.

The week before March Break the weather was beautiful, so we headed to pick up our maple syrup that Ed bought on wagjag from McLachlan farms. We decided to stay and enjoy the pancake brunch and horse drawn wagon ride. We all enjoyed it! Little Ava, was eating so much and saying "yummy" after each bite. She is definately going through a growth spurt with the amount she has been eating. I love seeing it, especially since her big brother has always been a fussy eater. Anthony loved it too, and even asked for more pancakes at dinner time. It was a great family outing!

Sunday was a nice Girls day. My niece Emma turned 3 in January, and I had bought her a Build-a-Bear. We took it to get stuffed and picked out an outfit for it. She named her bear "Emily". I love seeing Emma and Ava interacting more and more. Ava was so excited to she her older cousin. Ed and his brother David took Anthony to a Car show at the Western fair. He liked seeing the batmobile the best.

Ava's birthday falls on Easter Sunday this year. She is growing so much, and saying more and more. I love this age. She is getting more stubborn about what she wears though. She say's "mo", (meaning no) if I put a shirt on that she doesn't like. I never understood this, when my friends that had girls would say that.  Anthony never cared what I put him in. Now, I get it!

Happy New Year 2012

Man, does time fly! 2012 already! It's been too long since my last post. Most evenings after work I was too tired to go online much. Two hours of getting dinner ready, bath, stories, practice letters and piano, and I'm whopped. So I hope I will make up for it now. Lots has happened since September. First the good news, Ed got a new job in November at John Bellone's Music Store. He is the guitar guy. He was getting so tired of his Building manager job, it was pretty thankless, and there was way too many on-call shifts. He seems much happier with his new job. His goal was always to make all his money from music. So at least selling musical instruments in a guaranteed pay cheque for when the good paying gigs aren't always there. All the people that work there are professional musicians. The owner is very flexible with the hours, if Ed has a gig or tribute show then he will give him time off. The only downfall was that we lost his medical benefits. We stocked up for now and since I just got a raise at work, I will be setting aside the extra money each pay into a "diabetes supplies" account. We might look into paying for our own plan through CAA (manulife or Sunlife).

We hope to buy a home in the next year, once his new employment is more stable. I hate the thought of paying regular rent for our apartment, it's $1220/mth. Even though Ed worked here for 5 yrs and we lived in another Old Oak building as tenants before for 4 years, the company would not give us a break. We are paying what a regular tenant would pay just moving in. Lots to think about.

Christmas morning was my favourite part of the season this year. It's so much fun having little ones this time of year. Anthony was the most excited he's every been to see what Santa gave him. His favourite gift is the Spiderman web shooter. He's into the superhero stuff this year. I wish I had the video camera on to capture Ava's excitement. She's not even two yet, so I was thinking that she wouldn't be too excited. I guess she saw her older brother's reaction. She got a "Baby Alive" doll, and as soon as she spotted it, she was screaming baby, baby, moving her arms up and down and running on the spot. It was priceless.

Ed's mom had a medical issue and had to go to the hospital a few days before Christmas. Her Alzheimer's is getting worse, and his sister and brother decided that she is best in a long term care facility. She wasn't taking her pills and forgetting to eat some days. Her usual routines were gone. She couldn't remember how to phone people or do her hair and make-up. It is quite sad to see. She knows her children, but doesn't remember their names anymore. She knows Ed is the baby, that's all. She is close by, and the place is really nice. She seems to be adjusting okay, but still asking when she goes home. I guess that will never end, from what I remember from my grandparents. She likes the meals they serve and some of the ladies she has met. She is a very social person, so I think this will benefit her a lot.

Some picture from Christmas 2011:

 Big brother hugging his sister. This doesn't happen very often. This is nice to see.

 Christmas morning, Daddy helping get the web ready for Spidey aka Anthony

 Mommy and Ava, 20 months old

 At Aunt Joyce's with her new doll and stroller.

Ava and "Granpapa"

All seven cousins together, ranging in age 20mths- 21 years old

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.