Overheard

Everyday, when Felicity wakes up from her nap, Maria asks her, "Felicity, can you talk to me?" When little sister hasn't slept well, she doesn't answer, and won't talk to Maria for at least 15-20 minutes. Today Felicity woke up happy, and so I just overheard Maria say to her, "Felicity, thank you for not waking up grumpy and for talking to me! Thank you for playing with me so nicely!" Apparently Maria missed her sister during her quiet time:)

A Nice Little Break

Last week Shane and I enjoyed 5 blissful days of child free vacation! We had a wedding in Indiana to attend, and doubling the cost of flights by taking the kids just wasn't an option. So my amazing mother agreed to take them into her home for what was supposed to be 4 days and 3 nights. I was a wreck for a few days preceding our departure - trying to pack our things, as well as the kids' things, and emotionally prepare myself for what would be our longest time away from our children. I may or may not have cried for two days straight. The girls, however, didn't shed a tear. This of course made it much easier and I love the fact that they are excited to stay at my parents' place. So at 4 in the morning we snuck away while the children slept. My heart broke as I imagined them waking up and crying, "where is Mommy?" I don't think that happened, as later in the morning Mom sent me a picture of two very happy girls all ready for school (she had to take them with her to school that day).

At the Rehearsal Dinner

  Our flights on the way down were uneventful, and we arrived in Chicago, picked up our rental car, met my sister and Shane's brother at their hotel, and then drove to South Bend, stopping along the way, of course, to shop. We checked in
at our hotel and then enjoyed two full days of wedding fun, including visiting with lots of friends from Cayman, an amazing rehearsal dinner at a Studebaker car museum, and an even more amazing wedding! The only thing that could have made it a little bit more fun was if I could have taken advantage of the open bar.....

We enjoyed a tour of the Notre Dame campus as well as an exclusive tour of the  locker room and football field, which apparently not many people get to see...

Bern and I at the reception. Can you tell how  amazing everything is?  They even had a  spectacular firework display!

We left from Chicago on Sunday, and were supposed to arrive home that night at 11:30. We missed our connection in Toronto, however, and since there were no more flights to Fredericton until the next day at 2, we stayed the night at the Crowne Plaza. This ended up being not too bad, because we got to see my little sister, Celie and her boyfriend Dan, who live in Toronto. SOOO nice! Then on Monday we slept in, had a leisurely breakfast, went for a swim, tried to keep Shane's mind off of all the classes he was missing, then headed to the airport. Our flight was delayed about half an hour, and I began to worry about not making it back in time to take Maria to swimming lessons. This was a big deal, because I had told her that we would DEFINITELY be back for swimming lessons, and I knew how excited she was. We were in the air about half and hour, when there was announcement that one of the flight attendants was sick, and so we had to return to Toronto, and switch the flight crew. I still don't know quite what was wrong with him, but I guess he must have been pretty darn sick to inconvenience an entire plane of people, not to mention all the extra flight time and fuel, and everything else that goes into getting the aircraft ready to fly, since when we returned to Toronto, we had to deplane and they had to redo everything. Its only a two hour flight, and so we were already a quarter of the way there! ANYWAY....this delayed us three more hours, and so we of course missed the swimming lessons:( Maria was devastated, but when we FINALLY arrived home, she told me that now she was happy, since we were home:) She was adorable, and she stayed up late with me, telling me about everything she did, and wanting to hear about everything we did. Finally she said she was too tired to talk anymore, so I let her go to sleep..haha.

All in all, it was a good time, and an amazing break from every day life. It was nice to spend time with Shane, since he's already back to 12 hour days, to spend time with Bern and Joey before they move far away, and to have an impromptu visit with Cel and Dan! But it is also nice to be home, with my girls, where I belong:)

Kids in Costumes

Every year I have the worst time trying to figure out what the kids will be /wear for Halloween. So this year I was determined to make at least one costume and get it done ahead of time. Did I? Nope. I got too busy, and so ended up making this dress for Maria only four days before. 

                                   

My little princesses 

They of course had a blast trick or treating, although it was a little cold! Maria was also scared of some of the other kids' costumes (especially masks). When we got back home, with way too many treats, we let them have at their stash. Maria took two small treats and then stated that she was done. I even offered her another, which she shared with me with some hesitation. She was very concerned about having too much sugar. I guess I've taught her well? haha...she has a lot more self control than her mother though! 

Today is All Saints' Day! So we attended a little party at the school my mom teaches at. Each child was supposed to give some clues about the saint they were dressed up as, so everyone could guess. I didn't think there was any chance in the world of Maria doing this in front of the whole school, but she surprised me, and stated her clue loud and clear! A HUGE step for my little shy girl.

The girls with some of their saintly friends

St. Margaret of Scotland and St. Rose of Lima

What a fun, but exhausting couple of days!

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a great weekend! We stayed over at my parent's house and visited with my two amazing sisters and their families. We went to the market, played outside (because it was amazing weather!), went apple picking, carved pumpkins, and had a delicious Thanksgiving dinner.

Poor Felicity was not her usual smiling self because she got  stung by a bee:(

Yes, they are in shorts. In October. It felt like summer!

Its always sad to see everyone go, but I am very busy with hat orders now! Speaking of which...I must bid you good night:)

Two Years Old

There's something I love about two year olds. Yes, the newborn stage is adorable and cuddly, and when they start to crawl and walk and say words, it is new and exciting. I do have to say, though, that the one year old stage when they start to walk and get into everything, but aren't capable of listening at all, isn't my favourite. Then they hit two, and I really don't think there is anything terrible about it! They start talking and expressing their own thoughts, and you can really see their personality emerging. They have lots of questions, but a simple answer satisfies them. I'm definitely biased, but I can't get over how unbelievably precious my current two year old is. Her sister was a cute two year old too, but no offense to her ( don't freak out - of course I love her to pieces) I just don't remember being so over the moon in love with her two year old self. Felicity has the most adorable little voice and way of saying things that just makes it impossible to ever be mad at her for more than a few seconds. She is very silly and loves to tell jokes that are just hilarious to the two of them. Usually they are something along the lines of "You should eat my NOSE, Maria!" followed by peals of laughter. And if you could hear her laugh you would at least have to smile too. The one thing that I just can't get over is how loving and sweet she is, especially to her mommy. This is, (big surprise!) my favourite feature of all.  At least half a dozen times a day we have the following conversation. "Mommy?" "Yes dear?" "I love you!" This is accompanied by a loving pat on the back, stroking of my cheek, or a hug and a kiss. If I am not feeling well, which these days is quite frequent, she says to me "It's ok Mommy, I am here for you. I will give you a hug then. Do you feel well now?" Today she came up to me and said, "Thanks, Mommy!" "For what dear?" I replied. "For loving me!" she said with a shy smile. Yes, my heart melted. 

I do have reiterate again how much I also love and adore my Maria. She has some pretty kick ass qualities herself, but I shall save those for another post, another day.........

Apple Gingerbread

I wish you could smell my kitchen right now. Two words: apple. gingerbread. AMAZING. Don't be fooled that this recipe is from a baby food cookbook - it may be a little healthy but its DE-lish. 

Apple Gingerbread  from Better Baby Food

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
2 eggs
1/2 cup light (fancy) molasses
1/3 cup milk
1 3/4 cups grated peeled apple (about 2 medium)

1. In a bowl, combine whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and spices.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter until light and fluffy. Stir in eggs and molasses. Stir in dry ingredients alternately with milk. Fold in apples. Spread into a greased loaf 13 by 9 inch baking pan.
3. Bake in 350 oven for 35 minutes (note: usually takes 45 or 50 for me). Cool on wire rack before cutting.

ENJOY!

Weekend Recap

We had a grand weekend. On Saturday we started the day off right with confession and mass, then headed over to the market for lunch, bought some skates for Maria, spent an hour at 40 days for life, did some errands, and finally warmed up at home with some chili for supper. On Sunday we went to mass, had brunch with friends, and then headed over to the Life Chain.

It was freezing!

Of course, all week it has been summer temperatures, but this weekend it turned cold and rainy. 

Now it is Monday and Husband is back at school. Sigh.