Merry Christmas!

Sooooooo Big!!!!!

It's a miracle that he even put the hat on!
Cookies and Egg Nog for Santa and a couple of apples for the Reindeer!
Ashley's new chair. I think she likes it!

We hope everyone had a great Christmas!

Gingerbread hopeful!

Okay, so this is our attempt at a Gingerbread House. I feel kind of guilty because I didn't bake my own gingerbread. We bought a kit at Safeway that came with everything. I haven't tasted it yet, but man, it smells great! Charlie was totally into it! I remember when I was young and watching my mom cut her pattern and bake her gingerbread. I loved tasting the icing and nibbling on all the "decorations". Anyway, it was so fun to watch Charlie's excitement. Everytime I look over, there he is picking away at the icing. He can't leave it alone. Does anybody from my family remember when dad won that huge big gingerbread house? It was more like a ranch and it took up the whole coffeec table. Jason's got to remember - he ate most of it!:) It's so funny how little things can spark a memory.

NO SNOW FOR US!

So, we just got back from a quick trip to Arizona to visit Peter's parents. I have to say that it was so nice to get away from the snow. It's really great down there. I love it. Peter got to play a little golf, I shopped a bit (too much), the kids got to swim and play with grandma and grandpa. Charlie got to boss around Peter's dad. Grandpa Doug played golf and tennis with Charlie and Grandma Wilda took Charlie for lots of "loops" on her cart. He loved every minute! I got to see my friend Kathy and her kids. She looks amazing and her kids are so cute!
Charlie got to try out his brand new putter from Grandma and Grandpa Allen. He was very excited!

This was an attempt at a self-taken family picture. In the back-ground is the cactus that Doug and Wilda drape with Christmas lights every year, but you can't see it that well.

I hope everyone is having a good December! Less than two weeks till Christmas! Yay!

Madamme Butterfly

I just thought I'd post some pics of Ash in her room. I put her in her crib to do some laundry and when I came back, she was standing up. That's all she wants to do. You have to break her at the waist if you want her to sit down. I dont think that she will be really happy until she's movin.

Breeder's Cup

Peter just got back from a weekend in Kentucky. He went down to watch the Breeder's Cup and stayed with his friend who breed's horses. This is Hill 'n' Dale Farm, his friend John owns.
The famous racehorse, Seattle Slew is buried right there on his farm. I've been to this place years ago, and it's amazing!
A lovely shot of the driveway up to the farm
This is where Peter stayed
Across from where John's farm is this other farm. Sharon Stone filmed the movie "Sympatico" there a few years back.And this is also a part of John's farm. This is called the "Stallion Complex". Pretty nice digs for the horses!

Happy Halloween!

Well, it certainly was a cold one. Charlie wanted to go as Spiderman, but it wasn't warm enough, so we pulled out "ol' faithful" - the hockey player costume!! And Ashley just had her nose painted! We only went to a couple housed, but it was fun. Charlie went to the first house and the lady was asking him about his costume, he interrupted her and said "Um, I'm going to need you to give me some candy!" Okay then! I hope you all had a fun and safe Halloween! Now we all get to pick through the loot and steal the good stuff! :)

Ca-na-da..... Ca-na-da......TONIGHT!!!!!

Doesn't Peter look smashing? Well, we had a Halloween Party to go to Friday night (I came down with something and didn't go), but Peter went as a.....Young Canadian of the Calgary Stampede!!!! He teases me all the time about my days in YC's, but secretly, I think he really loves it! Look at the joy in his face, you just can't fake that!

Somebody at the Party asked if he was a gay cowboy. I'm so proud!

Field Trip!!!

So, Charlie's pre-school class went on a field trip yesterday to Butterfield Acres to go on a pumpkin hunt. The kids had a great time and this was the "finished" product. Over-all, I think he did a really good job!

Charlie jumped off the wagon to go look for his special pumpkin. It was so hard to not want to show him all of the "hidden" pumpkins. They were so obvious. He loved it. The pumpkins were pretty small in size, but it was so funny watching all of the kids trying to pick them up
This is Charlie's best buddy Alex. They have so much fun together.

Butterfield Acres has horses and lambs, goats, ostrich....you name it...but the highlight of the whole afternoon was, of course, the tractor!!!!

Gobble, Gobble!!!

Mom and Dad and all of the Grandkids. Check out Jeff in the back! ha ha ha! What Chaos eh? Over-all, Thanksgiving turned out great. The weather was kind to us, a little crisp, but nice. Thanks to Nena and Caitlin for the awesome pumpkin desserts. Yummmmm. I had dreams about them both!
Sorry about the puke on your shirt Susie! I'll pay for the dry-cleaning :)

Here is an action shot of Jeff getting buried in leaves! He was totally covered, then Carson dove right on top. Dog pile!!!!!

Brooklyn was so cute running around. I couldn't get a good picture of her standing still, but this was a good action shot!

Thanks again, Mom and Dad for having a great dinner and to everyone that brought stuff. I can't believe how big our family is getting and how crazy it is to get everyone together. That's what makes it fun though. Jeff and Rick, thank you so much for blessing little Ashley. It really means a lot to Peter and I.

Falling in love with Fall!

Here is Peter with the "other woman" in his life! She's a beauty and she absolutely adores Peter. She hates me. She gives me dirty looks all day. Is it wrong to feel intimidated by your own dog? Anyway, we went for a walk at North Glenmore park the other day and it was so beautiful. The colors are so amazing right now. I haven't visited this park much before and I'm wondering why. It's so nice there, very peaceful. It's not great for dogs though, actually, I'm not even sure they're allowed. It was all we could do to keep her out of the water. On our way out of the park we tried to distract Charlie attention away from the playground, but nothing gets past him. We had to bribe him with a Dairy Queen ice-cream cone to get him to leave, but not before Peter and I had a little fun too.

Ashley loved the swing, she was totally laughing. I have her dressed like it's 40 below, but it was actually really nice. Mom's paranoia is rubbing off on me.....Can you hear her? (Use your mom voice while reading this) - "She's going to catch her death out there! Put a hat on her!!"

The Heart of a Dancer!!!

(Scroll down to see my blog. For some reason, every time I post, there is a huge space either before or after my post. Does anyone know why?)

Yes, this is a very proud moment for Peter. Charlie loves to wear my shoes (and my makeup, and my nail polish etc....) It totally cracks me up.


Here are some recent pics of Ashley. She's just starting to move around a little bit more and rocks back and forth on her hands and knees. I love it. I can't believe she's alread doing this. Charlie did nothing until he was almost one.
And here is Charlie in his new favorite outfit. His Spidey suit! He reminds me of Carson when he went through that phase, shooting webs and striking poses. It's hilarious.

Back to the Zoo!

Ashley's 1st snow cone. I love this photo

Charlie and his ice cream mustach
This was the first time at the zoo when we could see the hippos so well.
Mom and I took the kids back to the zoo on Friday. It was crazy busy, but it was such an awesome day. I love our zoo. I just thought that I would post a couple of pictures from the day. Doesn't Mom look good?

Growing up!

I just thought that I'd post a couple pics of Ashley. She's getting so big. I can't believe that she's almost 6months already! It's crazy how time goes by so quickly. We're still waiting on teeth. I thought that she had started a couple months ago, but not a sign. Charlie had 4 teeth at 4 months, but not Ashley. It's so fun to see the differences between the two kids. They certainly have their own personalities. She's also rolling around a ton, I really need to stop leaving her on the change table. At least there's a little lip on the table....it would at least slow her down a bit.....okay mom, I'll stop!