Family Life – Page 4 – a hippie with a minivan

Halloween 2012

Some pictures from Halloween…

Xavier was a Creeper from the popular computer game Minecraft… and Colin was Iron Man… both of the costumes were made from boxes, covered in paper and held all covered in 3 rolls of packing tape…

Khéna was a UN Peace keeper and Wilhelmina was a rainbow fairy one day and a blue fairy the next…

Over the weekend we went to our friend Jody’s house for their annual Halloween party which was great as usual. The kids played in and out and expored he haunted graveyard in the back yard… it is great!

We were wondering along with many if we would be able to go out on Halloween this year and luckily for us we had warmer then usual (very humid) temperatures with only slight periods of drizzle. We also had two coughing kids and one kid that was feeling under the weather so we made the evening shorter then usual. All was fine though and the kids were getting tired and at the end of their energy by the time we arrived home.

Wilhelmina had no hesitation at all going up to the houses all by herself, we didn’t go up to a door with them at all… It was adorable, she would head up to the door and say “Trick or Treat” and then say thank you and then flutter away shouting out “Happy Halloween!” and then come show us what she got. Khéna was on double speed the whole evening… he would be the first one at the door and the first one back and ready for the next. Colin was a bit under the weather and was lagging behind most of the time and was ready to be home by the fifth door we went to. Xavier had some costume issues… even with his head off he couldn’t see the stairs and twice fell down… Luckily the box was also great padding and he would just joke and laugh because he couldn’t get up again…

We got home and dumped all of the candy on the table. Xavier meticulously read all of the ingredients and we all sorted the candy into two piles… a very large “what we can’t eat” and a very reasonable pile of what we can which ended up being mostly only chocolate and chips… we handed out some of the “what we can’t eat” to some late trick or treaters and then closed up for the night and everyone fell asleep quickly and soundly…

Eight..

My Colin turned 8 on the 2nd.

He is such a joy to be around. He is energetic and always moving. He always doing acrobatics and can jump from heights that make people squeamish.

He loves to cuddle and he is thoughtful and empathetic and he has deep thoughts about life. His questions at times surprise me.

He loves to draw and create and pretend.

He is always laughing and trying to get others to laugh.

This year for his birthday, he wanted the same cake as last year. A Two Tier, 4 layer Neapolitan cake. He loved it….

It is a bit strange to think that his whole life has been outlined on this blog. He was just a baby when I stared writing here and now he is an amazing 8-year-old… time goes by way too fast.

Happy Birthday Colin! I love you!

Ten!

Wow… I am really late on this post.
On July 16th my first born, my oldest son, turned ten. TEN! I have a kid in the double digits now!

Ten years ago I was a brand new mom, just getting used to breastfeeding and having this little baby to take care of.

(Here he is at 20 hours old… wow! feels like a lifetime ago)

He loves video games, bounce parties on the trampoline, swimming, biking and being a big brother.

Like every year, we went out for his birthday and he chose his gifts. We had a last-minute change of plans because the hospital had scheduled an ultra-sound and check-up for Wilhelmina so we had to head to Montreal bright and early. While I was at the hospital with Willa (we got good news and everything is looking great), the boys and Simon went out for breakfast and then met up with us after. Xavier had already gotten a new watch and a book and then chose two Halo Mega Blocks sets as his gifts and then we went out for a late lunch and headed back home and had cake.
His choice this year was my White (Butter Cookie) Cake with Vanilla bean buttercream frosting and strawberries on top.

Happy Birthday Xavier… You are growing up into an amazing little man…

It's July!

And it is 6 days into it at that!

If you know me, you know that slow down my writing int the summer… so I thought I should write a catch up post to just share what has been happening. The boys started summer camp two weeks ago. It is the second year that they go but the first time that Khéna has gone. It is a century old summer camp that is about 7 minutes drive from our house and the kids are in the basic program which is 3 days a week from 9-3 and the counsellors are great. It think that the hardest thing is getting lunches ready everyday. I have to say, it is not something that I enjoy all that much. Though I do love surprising them with treats…

Sandwich, juice, carrot sticks, a pear, fishes and marshmallows.

I got these amazing lunch boxes last year and they have held up so well. They are from Goodbyn and they come with fun stickers to personalize. I love that there is no hassle, nothing can get lost and there is nothing to throw out. The kids love them too…

Because of their ages, they are all in different groups. I think they find it strange to be apart but good at the same time and they love to see each other when they finish the day. Colin and Khéna may be the younger of the two, but they have no problem jumping in and talking to everyone and being part of all the activities. Xavier though is the guy who needs to observe and stay back without being pushed, and then will jump in when he is ready. The counsellors are very respectful of the kids and from what I observed he was able to be himself and observe and then participate just as much as he was comfortable with, and then yesterday he finally jumped in.

They look so tired at the end of the day which is great! And looking at this picture, I need to give the middle one a haircut and isn’t amazing how big Xavier is now! He will be 10 in just 10 days!

While they are at camp, Wilhelmina and I hang around together, go in the pool, go to the park and just do stuff around the house. I have to say that having one kid is sometimes much more challenging than having four. When the boys are here, she is always with them but When we are alone, she is looking for things to do and she gets into so much mischief. The boys were energetic and loud when they were little but wow, she is into everything. Did I just forget what about what having a toddler is like? I do know one thing, the boys never changed their clothes every few minutes in the day.

See this dress? It is one of her favourites. I had never shared it, though I had meant to. I made the pattern and sewed it around Easter with the matching doll dress…

On the days that the boys are home we hang out in the yard and pool, drink many smoothies and just relax in the heat…

What is summer without drinking from the sprinkler?

or doing handstand on the lawn…

How is your summer? If you blog… so you have a normal slowing down period too?

a little update…

Willa’s fever is gone and has been since last night! yay!!!

Her urologist sent an order for a urine sample to the local hospital and I brought in a sample in the afternoon. The results will be sent directly to him, so if it was an infection we will know one way or another.

Today was good though, it felt so good to see her be in a good mood and getting into her normal mischief, even though her normal mischief completely drives me crazy!

ahh… little ones… pieces of our heart are truly walking around in each of our children. We are so vulnerable when it comes to them.

what a sigh of relief…