Halloween Parties

On Sunday, Nana and Grampy had to head back to Victoria. We had a great visit with them and we were all sad to see them go. Ethan has been talking about how he misses them for the past couple of days. On Monday morning he was calling for his Nana and Grampy to get him out of his room (as his Nana had been getting him up when she was here).

After they dropped Nana and Grampy at the airport, Scott, Ethan and Olivia came to watch me run my 10 km race. Although the wind was absolutely brutual, I managed to complete the run in just under an hour. For some crazy reason, I am now considering running the half marathon in Victoria next October.

Later on Sunday afternoon we went to our friends the Thornton's house for a little pre-Halloween get together. Ethan, Christine, Olivia and Truman all got dressed up in their Halloween costumes. It was a fun afternoon with good food and great company. Olivia's flower costume turned out to be a little too short for her. As a result, she had a lot of trouble sitting up because her legs are too long!!

Today we had some friends over for a Halloween lunch. We ordered pizza and had some yummy desserts to celebrate Halloween and my friend Dana's birthday. Our friends Beth, Gareth and Tessa came down from London, which was great because we hadn't seen them in a couple of months. Ethan loves playing with Gareth. It was pretty hectic with six adults and eleven kids, but we had fun.

Tonight Ethan went trick or treating with Aidan. They went up and down our street with Scott and Jeff and then I took him back out to a couple other houses. He had a great time, saying trick or treat to everyone. His was great at using his manners and thanked everyone once he got his candy. He is very excited about all his candy. Very different from last year when he didn't really know what chocolate and chips were all about!!! Now the trick is going to be getting him to eat something other than his Halloween candy!

Pre-Birthday Celebrations

Tonight we had Kirk and Joanne over for a pre-Wendy Birthday Celebration. Kirk and Joanne brought over Indian food for dinner. It was delicious. With it we had lots of red wine (for Steve, Kirk and Scott), pecan pie and birthday cake. Kirk has been over for most of the week working with Steve on finishing the basement. Things are going along well, time for carpet soon.

Scott helped them tonight when he got home from work and almost got himself electrocuted. Luckily for him (and Ethan, Olivia and I), Kirk and Steve were able to save him for certain harm!! Here are some pictures of Olivia and Ethan with their Nana and Grampy and one of Olivia in her high chair after her favourite meal - sweet potatoes and apples.

Ethan, Olivia and I had a playdate with our friends Suzanne, Madelyn and Claire at the indoor playground this morning. They had a new climber, which Ethan liked. Olivia discovered some new toys to stand/walk around and had fun playing with Claire.

Yesterday Wendy and Ethan had fun playing in the garden pulling out all the flowers which have died since the cold weather arrived. Ethan discovered that playing with worms was fun. He also showed off his biking skills to Steve and Wendy.

Olivia has been taking after her grampy and sleeping in late all week. Normally I have to wake her up around 9:00 a.m. each morning to take Ethan to school, so I never knew how late she would actually sleep uninterrupted until this week. Today she got up at 10:00 a.m. and that was only after I started drying my hair in the bathroom. As a result of her late morning risings we had to miss library group and mother goose this week. Once Steve and Wendy are gone next week, she's going to have to start getting up earlier again!!!

Olivia's Christening

Yesterday Olivia was christened at St. Denis Church in St. Catharines. Olivia's two favourite aunts are her godmothers.
After the christening, we all went back to Papa's house for a very night dinner. Everyone had a great time and Olivia was an angel, not a peep all day!!! This was very unlike her brother's christening, when Ethan cried for almost the entire service!!! Ethan didn't have very much of a nap, so he was a little bit tired, but he had a great time playing with Carly, Courtney, Caitlyn, Bailey and Casey.

Steve and Wendy arrived on Wednesday for an almost two week visit. Ethan and Olivia have had lots of fun playing with both of them. Since they have been here, time is flying by. Ethan had pictures at his Montessori school on Friday, so I finally had to buy him a uniform, he looks really cute (see picture).

Olivia didn't wake up today until 10:20 a.m. (she went to sleep around 9:15 a.m.), I think she must have been worn out from yesterday. This afternoon Kirk amd Joanne came over for a visit. Kirk worked downstairs with Steve trying to finish the basement and Wendy, Joanne, Olivia and I stayed upstairs and had lots of girl/women talk!!! It wasn't a very productive afternoon, but a lot of fun.

Choice of Halloween Costume

We went shopping yesterday and came home with two potential Halloween costumes for Ethan. One is Buzz Lightyear and the other is a dragon. Ethan tried both of them on. As you can see from the pictures, he looks adorable in both of them, so Scott wanted me to post them on the blog so that everyone could vote for their choice. I have to warn you that Ethan's vote is for Buzz Lightyear!!! We are going to keep Olivia's costume a secret until Halloween!!

Here's a picture of Olivia playing with Ethan's train set. It's just the right height to allow her to stand and play at the same time!! I have to figure out how to include the picture by the appropriate description....

P.S. - Turns out the hat part of the Buzz Lightyear costume was missing when we bought it, so the Buzz Lightyear costume also comes with a blue hoody thing for his head. We thought something was missing....

Happy Thanksgiving

Some highlights from our last week...


On the weekend, we went to Springridge Farms, Ethan really wanted to get some pumpkins. He had lots of fun playing in the corn mazes, painting pumpkins and going on a pony ride. Here are some pictures from our day!

We had my family over on Monday for a big Thanksgiving dinner and also to celebrate Papa's belated birthday. Ethan had a blast, everyone took turns playing with him. At the end of the night, after a lot of running alot and jumping on the beds, he went to bed without a peep. Here's a picture of Ethan helping Papa open his birthday presents!!

Olivia is doing really well. Over the past couple of weeks, she has learned to pull herself up on the Step and Play Piano and can stand on her own. The Step and Play Piano was also what Ethan first used when he started pulling up on things. She also likes feeding herself animal crackers. She is babbling a ton and says "mom" very clearly now. On Sunday she either said "baa baa" or "da da", not sure which one. As you can see from the picture of her standing, she has so much hair that she needs a barette. It looks really cute!!

Ethan and Olivia are very excited to have Michelle staying with us (a couple days a week). Although it looks like it won't be very long, as Michelle and Kevin bought a house in St. Catharines on the weekend. Very exciting news for Michelle and Kevin!!!

Last Friday, Ethan got his pictures taken at his daycare. He looked adorable and smiled great for the camera, can't wait to see the pictures. The photographer took a couple with Ethan and Olivia, but Ethan was too busy kissing and squishing Olivia, so I don't know if they will turn out. After the pictures, Ethan had a playdate with Shelby and Charlotte at the park. They had lots of fun feeding animal crackers to a pond full of ducks.

The Library

Today we went to the library for a playdate with Shelby. They had fun playing with the many toys, especially the train set. The only problem was they didn't like to share the trains!! Olivia got in on the action playing with the trains on the track and trying to take other kids trains as they passed her!!!

This morning while Ethan was at school, Olivia and I went to Gymboree Music. The theme this week was rock and roll and we did lots of shaking with the shakers to Elvis songs. It was fun. Olivia didn't wake up until 9:00 (it starts at 9:15), so she was still a little bit sleepy!!

Last weekend we went to the Grape and Wine Festival Parade in St. Catharines with Nana, Michelle, Mrs. Toward and Carly. Ethan really liked the parade, he says that his favourite part was the cars. He had a great nap at Nana's house and then we headed to Carolyn and Harry's for a quick dinner before heading back to Oakville. There is a picture of Ethan and Carly at Nana's house before the parade.

On Sunday we went to my friend Rebecca's house for a get together with my law school friends to meet Truman and also Nicola's finace (this doesn't have spell check!!). We had a fun time and Ethan got to play with my friends George and Di's two year old son named Dean. I am including a picture of Olivia and Scott at Rebecca's house.

On Monday, Olivia and I went to library group. She had a lot of fun and was very interested in everything that was going on around her. The teacher Sue is great and Olivia loved watching her and the other kids move around. Olivia and I spent the rest of the day playing together and getting some household stuff done. I am finally after nine months getting on top of the cleaning, laundry and cooking!!!

Yesterday we went to McDonald's for lunch with my friends Lynn and Suzanne and their kids. Ethan loved the chicken nuggets and fries (surprise, surprise) and after lunch they played in the play area, which is really a bunch of climbers and slides. Ethan was very sweaty when he was done, but had a great time!!

The last picture of one of Ethan and Olivia laughing together. Ethan can always get her to laugh, especially first thing in the morning when they are both just waking up!!