Sydneys Baptism

What an amazing day we had today. I was totally overwhelmed with it all, in a good way. Today Sydney was baptized, a decision that she made on her own. She was baptized here in Airdrie by Ryan and a great little program. She had to ask the people that she wanted to speak at her baptism herself and she decided with an amazing friend up here in Airdrie to talk on Baptism and Grandma to give a talk on the Holy Ghost. Both talks were perfect and will stay close to my heart. Sydney was baptized surrounded by her so many people who love her, it was incredibly touching to see all the support. All our family who made the trip and all the amazing people who have made their way into our hearts since we moved up to the Calgary/Airdrie area.

After the baptism those that could stay were invited back to our house for some dinner and to hang out and mingle. I was so excited for our family to meet the great people we've been blessed to get to know and that have made Airdrie our home. It was a perfect day and I am humbled with how loved our Sydney is. Thank you to everyone who made this day so special for her! I was so overwhelmed I didn't even get a picture of her in her beautiful white dress. Boo.

8 = Earring! Finally!

I can't even believe it. Our beautiful girl Sydney turned 8 years old today. Why is time going so fast, I need it to slow down so I can catch up.
For Sydneys birthday today she got earrings and the holes put in her ears to be able to wear them. I had done a little bit of research of where I should go to do this. I had wanted to have hoops in her ears so the backs of them wouldn't stab her and so they would be able to clean and care for. A friend of mine had mentioned doing this with her daughter and having it done at a tattoo/piercing parlour. I was a little nervous about doing that but after reading a few articles I decided that it would be the best decision. They don't use those plastic guns with a metal needle but a metal road that pushes right through the lobe and actually removes a little bit of skin. The bonus to that is that because the only piece that they use is metal they can sanitize it at a much higher temperature then they can the guns. Not only is that a great thing but if you've never been inside a tattoo parlour you would never have noticed how clean and sterile they are. Way cleaner then Claire's in the mall (no offense), plus I thought it would be so cool for the kids to see that type of environment, then they know.
We went in and were greeted by our piercer who immediately made Sydney feel like a princess as she took us all back to her working table. On the way back to her little room we passed two things Brayden noticed. The first was a guy getting a tattoo and how a needle is required to do that and how that needle needed to be put in the skin numerous times. He also saw a man working on a tattoo in the design stages. Hanging on his art table was a simple sketch, beside that one that had a lot more detail on it and then on the table being worked on was a final stage picture. Brayden commented on how you have to be a very talented artist to be able to do tattoos and I loved that he noticed that.
Once we were all standing in the piercers 'office' she explained everything to all of us and how she was going to get these holes in Sydney's ears and exactly what each piece of equipment did. Sydney picked out her hoops with great consideration (as she does with most things) and once she settled on the ones she wanted we were ready to go.
Sydney did so great! She was so tough and the earrings looked so pretty in her ears! She loves them.

My Masterpiece

I think it was about 2 months ago when both Brayden and Sydney started coming home from school with these bracelets made from colourful elastic bands. I asked about it and they just shrugged and told me it was Rainbow Loom and that their friends made them for them at school. Sydney even went on to explain that she had joined a Rainbow Loom club at school that met every Monday at lunch and they made different styles of elastics. Madison had got one of these looms for her birthday a few weeks ago and since then I have been finding these little elastics everywhere on my floor. Everywhere. Today I decided that Madison and I were going to sit down and actually make something cool so we watched a few YouTube videos before settling on an octopus. Holy crap, it was tough and I'm pretty sure I used all the patience I had to finish it with the amount of times I had to start something over. So 2 hours later I had this cute pink octopus competed for Madison and she liked it a lot ... for maybe 2 hours then it was forgotten. Hmmm. Brayden and Sydney both seemed impressed by it when they got home from school so that helped boost up my self esteem.

It's Been A Long Winter

You know it's been a VERY long winter when you come across this! I wonder what other secrets treasures are waiting to be found!?

We Have a Five Year Old In The House

This little girl turned 5 today! It gets a litter harder every time she reaches a new milestone. I can't really say that she's my baby anymore, she's the youngest and she's getting older. With each year older all these new doors open for us as a family and we can do so many different things that we wouldn't be able to do if we still had a baby, diaper bags and nap times to work around and it's so exciting to be reaching these new stages but at the same time sometimes it's hard. Thankfully to make up for the fact that we are loosing our baby we are gaining an amazing young girl. She is always willing to share her last of anything if it means it will make someone else happy. Madison loves to make others laugh and makes the best goofy faces to achieve that. She loves to learn and is very excited to be old enough to start kindergarten in the fall and she is always willing to give me a hug when I need one!
We had a pretty fun time celebrating Madison today with her friends. I rented the church building for the evening and had some of her friends and their families meet us there for a night of nerf gun wars and cupcakes! We all met in the gym, went over the rules and then let the kids go wild with their bullets and when they got tired or needed a break they could hang out in the gym and eat, drink and be merry.

I'm pretty sure that everyone that came had a great time no matter how old they were. My kids got a taste of good old church nerf wars a few weeks ago and so they were ready to go. It worked out great that so many of Maddys' friends have siblings Brayden and Sydneys' age so everyone had people to hunt with.

Thanks for the party Madison! I hope that you'll enjoy everyday of being five! It's a pretty big number.

Merry Christmas!

This year for Christmas each set of grandparents had a full day. That way we weren't rushing around and trying to fit everyone in when others would be there and for this year it worked. Christmas Eve we spent at Ryan's folks place with everyone. We played games, the kids ran around with all their cousins like crazy people and loved it. We had a potluck dinner with an international theme so Ryan and I made some sushi rolls to share with everyone and they were supper yummy, success.
Christmas day we spent at my dad and Peggy's. Kait & Matthew were there and all Peggys' boys came as well. It was so relaxing and I think the first Christmas we've had in Canada where we weren't trying to be at more then one place at once. The kids got to open their presents and then actually have time to play with them! It was awesome. Dinner was amazing as it always is at dads and it was nice to have everyone there.

That night Madison started to act off and felt a little warm but I had assumed it was because of all the excitement. I was wrong. It was because she had the flu and was up puking all night. The really sucky thing was that she puked all over her PJ's and I had only brought one pair. I had to change her into clothes and then she puked all over those as well. I was running out of options and she was not impressed at the thought of sleeping in jeans. Maybe next time she'll try a little harder to get everything into the toilet and not all down her person. Blah.
Boxing Day morning we were off to my mom and Brians house. Madison only puked once that day ... at the 7-11 in the parking lot on the way to my moms house. GROSS. Moms house was great and of course we consumed loads of good food, my family sure can cook! There was SO much food and my family relies on Ryan to finish a lot of it up with his 3rd and 4th helpings but today he was no help at all... why you ask? He spent the afternoon puking out whatever flu it was that Madison had the night before. While Ryan napped the boys went to the school gym and flew remote control helicopters they got for Christmas (Brayden and Brian) and us girls played with our new toys.
This year was so relaxing, I loved spending so much time at each place and being able to let the kids not only open up gifts, but let them play with them and enjoy them before scooping everything up and moving onto the next house. Spending so much time with family was way better, it was a good Christmas!

Sammy Day 25: Until Next Year

Wow, another season of finding Sammy has come and gone. I can't believe he leaves for the North Pole tonight with Santa and we won't see him until next Christmas. Christmas is tomorrow! How did that sneak up on me?
Sammy left the kids each a present as his goodbye. Like last year they were some PJ's and the kids had kind of assumed as much. Hopefully leaving them gifts and not coal means that Santa will do the same.

Sammy Day 24: Like A Wrecking Ball

The kids could not find Sammy this morning. They were freaking out because the day before he hadn't moved and then today it was like he had vanished. Maybe this was it for Sammy!? Maybe he went back to Santa a few days early because he had been fondled too close to Christmas, maybe he didn't love us anymore?
Nope, none of the above. Sammy was just in such an unexpected place no one thought to look for him there. He was above our kitchen table swinging on the light like he was riding a wrecking ball. This is probably the best thing to come of the song by Miley Cyrus.... Our Sammy, making me proud.

Sammy Day 23: I've Lost The Magic

With only a few days left until Christmas it was a little alarming to wake up and find Sammy in the exact same position he was in yesterday because he had been fondled the day before. Yikes. I really hope that he's left alone today, we don't want Santa thinking the kids are misbehaving so close to Christmas.

Sammy Day 22: Looking For Love In All The Wrong Places

It looks like Sammy loved snuggling with Brayden the other night so much that he's looking for love in other places now. This guy is hanging from our fridge and it's a long way down but at least he's finding things that are his size. Hopefully he doesn't fall.

Sammy Day 21: We Can Always Use More Angels

It appears that Sammy thinks our nativity could use more angels but I don't see his wings?

Sammy Day 20: Nobody Steals My Lucky Charms

So I guess Sammy wanted to see what he looked like as a leprechaun instead of an Elf for a day. What do you think?

Sammy Day 19: Sleep Tight

When we woke up this morning to find Sammy looking at something on my camera. The kids went to check it out and found pictures of themselves with Sammy. They were taken while they were sleeping and I'm not too sure if Sammy had a friend come and take them for him or if he used his magic but the kids LOVED that Sammy had gone and seen them during the night. It looks like Brayden is super cuddly when he's sleeping!

Sammy Day 18: Stay Away

Sammy was a little difficult to find today. He wasn't really up to mischief like usually or out in the open. It's a little strange for our Sammy to be hiding, I think he likes all the attention the kids give him when he's doing his silly stuff.
After checking all the rooms in the house and even venturing into the basement (a place Sammy has yet to go) we found him hiding in the blinds. The kids have been getting pretty bold with Sammy and trying to play around with the things they find him with each day. I think he was trying to give them a message: Leave me alone or I will loose my magic. Thankfully, no one will be able to reach him up there.