At long last...

It has been a long time since I had last blogged...there just doesn't seem to be enough time! Where to start??

We had a Happy Thanksgiving at Papa's house. Papa and Margaret have a kitten - both Troy and Ethan wanted to take it home with us!

Ethan recently lost his first tooth. His was very excited, especially about the $5.00 the tooth fairy left for him.

Meet the newest addition to the Loewen family - Chloe. She is super cute. Ethan and Troy love her!

Ethan and Troy love playing together. Ethan is enjoying his role as big brother - even if he often gets a little bossy with Troy. He gets so worried if Troy runs ahead anywhere - he doesn't want him to get lost! I am often having to remind him that it is my job to discipline Troy. Last night before bed he told me that he was going to be a strict parent one day and that the mom (i.e.: his wife) would likely be the nice one! This is Troy and Ethan at African Lion Safari - it's hard to believe that less than a month ago it was that warm!

Looking at this picture reminds me of how much I miss summer! Ethan keeps telling me it can't be this cold, it's only October! Olivia had lots of fun in the summer swimming. Here she is at the Topolski pool - Jerry was very worried that she would drown (despite the water wings).

In September, we celebrated a number of birthdays. Here is Paola - her birthday is the day after Troy's.

Here is my little boy on his second birthday. We celebrated by going to Boston Pizza for lunch. I can't believe he is 2 already! Where has the time gone? He is enjoying going to preschool and no longer cries when I drop him off (although I often get the sad eyes). He is starting to not want to nap in the afternoon, which is sad for different reasons - nap time is the best time of the day!!! Today I put him in Olivia's crib to sleep and about 20 minutes later I heard some noise - he had somehow managed to climb out of the crib and come downstairs - yikes!!

Ethan is liking his new SK class. He has started playing hockey - he is still not a great skater but he is enjoying going to play each week. He also started Beavers - which is likes.

Ethan's obsession of the moment is (or was when this picture was taken) Harry Potter. His obsessions change so frequently - he is no longer interested in Star Wars of Bakugans and now likes Transformers and Harry Potter.

We went to a number of petting zoos and farms during the summer -Troy liked feeding the animals.

Troy also lives doing crafts. One of his favourite activities is playing with these foam stickers, making pictures and colouring.

Ethan and Olivia took swimming lessons this summer - Troy liked to help out by cleaning the pool!

Olivia loved the swimming lessons and is getting close to swimming on her own. Hopefully by next summer. she will master it!

Ethan is now a natural in the water and loves diving in and jumping off diving boards.

In August, we enjoyed a short visit from Auntie Jen. She wasn't feeling very well during her visit (she is expecting), so Ethan made her a feel better card! Ethan is looking forward to having a little cousin next March.

Olivia is her same old happy self. She is doing well and is almost completely potty trained!

Some pictures from our visit to the Toronto Zoo..

Here we are celebrating my mom's birthday in late July...

Troy discovered his love of chocolate pudding!! At his two year check up, he weighed 34 pounds and was almost 3 feet - he is a lot bigger than Ethan was at this age. He seems to love chocolate, pasta and bread! He is also my only child to like Timbits and know nows when he drive by a Tim Horton's.

That's it for now, I swear I will try to post again before Christmas. I am hoping that work will quiet down in a couple weeks....