mini tornado

My sister and her kids came for a visit today. I was so glad because Keira really needs someone her age to play with. Also, because I'm seriously pooped out trying to keep up with her Energizer Bunny energy! How the heck does she keep going and going and going and going and...

I tell ya, I'm so lucky to have my sister. She even brings the food! I think she knows how much I hate loathe to cook. Also, she doesn't have much confidence in my cooking either. : ) No problem with me. I now have leftovers! woot woot!

Check out all the toys they dumped on the bed... I didn't take a pic of the rest of the house. oy!

Can you believe these 3 innocent little tykes can create total havoc in the house? It looked like a tornado hit my house. But I must admit, it makes me really happy to see these kids go wild and have fun, no reserve.

Now we wait for more friends to arrive. Hopefully, we'll all head out to the slopes!

pucca is...

hello kitty

Our new Hello Kitty mouse and mouse pad from my wonderful friend Sayuri in Tokyo. Goes great with my new desk! The mouse track actually works very well and the smaller size is perfect for Keira small hands. She loves to  "draw" on the computer. Plus the fact that it's pink and all glittery... it's perfect for the both of us!

boxing day

Me, my sis and our kids.

This year's 26th family get together was different. We usually all head out to my Ko parents home. They're my second set of parents as they took care of my sister and I when we were younger, along with my "brothers". We pretty much grew up together.

Sadly, my Ko-mom is going through chemo treatments. She has cancer. It was a big hush-hush for the entire summer but now that she can't go to any social event, she's tired of answering all the questions and it's out now. I'm glad. I want her to have as much support as she can get. She's a tough woman but extremely realistic (she has the medical background, she was a surgical nurse). She's in the middle of her treatments and is unable to greet and meet too many people, her immune system is way down. I was able to see her Christmas Eve (I wanted to drop off all the kids gifts) and spend some time with her. This is not a curable cancer so the inevitable will happen. We just don't know when. God is kind, God is good and I pray that she stays strong and positive. We're all there for her.

So this Boxing Day, we headed out to my sister's place. It was a nice quiet family affair. The kids, of course, had alot of fun. But you know, when it's only a trio of kids, it's hard for the last kid. He's always the odd man out. Ah well... great food, good times.

Did Keira eat anything? Nope. She's partied out.

Doing her best Barbie pose

Was it wrong of me to give Lego as gifts to the boys? All those crazy tiny pieces?!

Kamsahabnida Halmoni!

Doing their best Ken Dryden pose. Not bad!

This was like an episode of Survivor. Caleb.. about to be booted out of their snow fort. Poor buddy.

Always the odd man out.

Yep, about to be thrown out by his older brother. lol. Does he look like he cares? Uh, no.

Trying to get back in. It got icy out there! Total trio wipeout.

christmas 2009

Another Christmas come and gone. Whew.
Our Christmas day was spent setting up my new desk (my xmas gift from Mr C) and I'm really happy about it because as soon as we unscrewed the old desk, it pretty much crumbled to the floor. My biggest fear was that old mdf desk collapsing on one of the kids.

Lucky for us, the xmas party at the in-laws was at my MiL's place. Which is a 2 minute walk away. Or pretty much. It was a relief to get there and have Keira distracted by her tante Loulou. A relief for me. lol. Keira's been sleeping later and later each day all eager for family & friends. And I've loved being with her but with all the preparations, wrapping of gifts and hearing "MOMMMEEEEEE!! Wanna play? Mommeee! Tickle monster! Mommee mommee mommeee..", I needed a break.

Keira got to see her cousins (they're all pretty much 10 years apart). The first 2 set of cousins are in their late 20's early 30's, the next set (the twins) are 15 and then there's Keira. Now there's also the baby (one of the cousin's first child). She's a cutie! 2 more years and she and Keira will play together. Right now, it's pretty much Keira trying to engage. But the baby's only about a year and a half.

Greeting Santa at the door!

Santa even came to visit! I could not believe the amount of gifts under the tree. Can you believe that the majority of the gifts were for Keira?! The older kids got gift cards and $ because.. you know, they're not kids anymore. And the rest of the gifts were for Keira and baby Florence. I tell you, I can open a toy store now. The gifts are home but I haven't even been through all of them yet.

The biggest hit for Keira was the crafts box (filled with glue sticks, paper, scissors with funny edges, etc etc) and the toy baby buggy. She also loves the kiddie camera she got, minus the batteries to make it work. Go figure. To be honest, it was excess in excess. I've piled all the toys in a corner upstairs and will put some away to give away.

Keira showing Florence her new camera

Turkey, stuffing, wine, cheese... and it was great to be able to walk home. Really an excellent relaxing time with family.

p.s. Wouldn't you know that Keira knew it was her Uncle Pierre who was Santa? I asked her what gave him away and she said his glasses! They were the same. This kid is extremely observant. Plus she said he walked through the door and not down the fireplace. huh

Keira et son oncle Richard. Wearing her new jammies she got from him. They love to joke around.

happy holidays everyone!

Happy Holidays everyone! 

Another year come & gone. Thanks for coming by, reading, laughing and letting us share our experiences with you.
Wishing you all a warm, safe and happy holidays. Get ready for the Year of the Tiger!

smoked meat & other keira-isms

Rock on pink girl, rock on!

So last week, we decided to have a smoked-meat supper night. Lester's smoked meat (I only wish we could've gone to Schwartz's on the Main!), rye bread, Moishe's deli potato salad, the works. I waited all day to get home and eat this meal. Keira being a ham-lover that she is, I thought would love this meal.

We tell her eagerly it's a smoked meat night! She gets all excited, bounces around and shouts "yay! smoked meat! smoked meat! smoked meat!". We sit her down.. she waits eagerly and patiently I may add. We put the dish in front of her. She takes one look, looks puzzled then says, "mais, y'est où mon smoked meat?" (where's my smoked meat?). We tell her, "there! in front of you!".

She seriously thinks we're crazy cuz she points and says, "that not smoked meat" and then proceeds with hand gestures what she's expecting. Anyways, 5 minutes of hand gesturing and us trying to tell her THAT's smoked meat led to much pouting and eventually her pushing her plate away in disgust.

Smoked meat to Keira? Ah yes... meat on the barbeque, smoking away.. You know? Steak. Medium rare. Doh!

I've also been preparing all the christmas gifts for Keira's teacher & daycare ppl at school (does anyone know if I'm supposed to do that?!). I tell ya, there are alot of ppl to give gifts for! Or am I being crazy giving gifts to the daycare peeps?? What's the general rule of thumb? Anyone? Anyone?

Anyways, Keira keeps mentioning this Madame Carignan. We have to give something to a Madame Carignan. Now, I know occasionally there is an extra person (to the extra person already helping her teacher - oy!) who helps out so I thought that that who this person is... Until I found out today that Madame Carignan is the lunch lady! The lunch lady who serves the 3/4 year old classes (the preschoolers have meals prepared at school). How the heck does Keira care so much about the lunch lady?! She barely eats and when she does, like a bird! I am baffled. And the lunch lady gets a gift. huh.

Santa's pic 2009

Finally! Keira's Santa pic 2009. I think this is the 3rd year we've gone to see the same Santa at the mall near our place. We are really late this year! For a fast impromptu pic, it turned out really well this year. Even the photographer was like, wow. This Santa was fed up with a little boy in front of us who after much cajoling still wouldn't go and take a pic with Santa. So he told the little kid, think it over, move aside and let the other girl through.

Now I've got to make copies for the 2 halmonis. hehe.

ikea breakfast!

The potatoes are really good! But Keira only eats the sausages..

Yes, our Ikea breakfasts with friends are always always fun and looked forward to. Seriously, it's cheap, good and fun. Our good friends, well, they're more like family, introduced us to Ikea food (I had never even wandered into the cafeteria before) and I was really surprised. In a good way!

I'm so glad we got together before Christmas. I so wanted to give them their gifts. Plus, we missed each other's kids birthdays so... Plus my sister and her kids joined in the fun.

Just what we needed this weekend. A chance to be with friends & family.

Princess fairy Ella & Princess Fairy Keira!

They were trying to show me they could "fly". lol.

"I help you with your wings"

Okay, is this the cutest little dude with the greatest smile or what?!

Yes, once upon a time, they were babies... Ella, Adam & Keira

Tried to recreate the scene with Caleb standing in for his big brother Adam.

cure for morning after a big party

What's a cure for a late-night party morning after?? Why, a glass of milk and some mini oreo cookies!

Is it just my kid or are there more girls out there who love to wear boy briefs?

We bought more today and I customized them with Barbie, Transformers & Thumbelina images ironed on them. Yeah baby, yeah.

sunday brunch

A sunday brunch with Mr C's karate club, the annual christmas get together. I hadn't seen this group in ages! And saw some wonderful friends I hadn't seen in over 5 years, it was amazing to see their kids all grown up now. The last time I saw them, they were Keira's age! Wow, time flies..

I'm not a big fan of Old Montreal but it was nice to just walk around and get to the Vieux Port Restaurant. Their Sunday brunch buffet is actually quite good. I only wish they'd only have charged us for 2 plates instead of 3. What did Keira eat but 1 mini breakfast sausage, a couple of spoonfuls of chocolate mousse and a glass of water! And that's equal to a whole plate??

Yummy dessert!

Ah well, it was great to see everyone again. All of them wondering when Keira will join Mr C in karate classes.. hehe, not for another 2 years peeps!

early christmas party

We were invited to a xmas party at a friend's house and only decided we would really go the day of. Keira developed a cold and I didn't know if she'd be up to a party at night and didn't want to pass on the germs either! It's amazing what a nice warm bath, clean hair and a good night's rest can do for a little body.

Once we got to our friend's place, Keira got introduced to the other girls there and off she went! She spent the first hour just tagging along with the other girls but once the music started in the room upstairs, that was it. She also quickly found a friend & spent the entire party with her. Nice nice!

It's K & K!

the olympic flame!

I love the Vancouver 2010 Olympic graphics. Everything looks amazing from the cute mascots to the amazing website.

Got off work early today because the Olympic flame torch relay was in our city! The last time I saw the flame, I was in highschool and was so blasé about it. But it passed right in front of my school bus... and it was so cool.

Waiting for the flame...

Picked up Keira from school, made her put her full winter gear on (so cold today!) and we headed to our city hall and met up with Keira's Papa. Someone was giving out small paper olympic flags and we waited (not so patiently by Miss K btw!). So after some fishy crackers, some chips and alot of "y'est où la flamme???", a bus stopped by and it was the next relay runner! I have absolutely no idea who she was but she looked pyched!

Awesome..

And a few minutes after that, the mobile posse went by along with endless cop cars and then... the relay runner with the olympic flame! Wow, so cool. I'm so glad Keira got this experience... On to Vancouver 2010!

The flame bearer! On his way to City Hall..

From one torch to the other...