Joyeux Noel! Happy Christmas! Feliz Navidad!

Emma's dance recital - part deux

Emma's first dance recital

Emma's first dance recital. She is the one in the green bodysuit next to the little girl dressed all in black.

Happy 2nd birthday my beautiful baby boy Xavier!

Bella and Beast

Xavier and Beast


Emma and Bella

Kittens

Today we are set to receive two kittens from my brother's farm. The kids know they are getting these cats, they just don't know it's today. I think they'll be extremely excited when my brother drops by with the two little critters. I just have to make sure to have the room where their litter box is going all set up for them. A long time ago Emma decided to name the female "Bella", a very good choice. Richard decided that "Beast" is a good name for the male. (I would have preferred Edward, hehehe).
Now, since they are male and female, I will have to find a vet and get a check up set up for them, not to mention the good old snip, snip.
I still haven't found my camera since the move, I'll post some pictures of our new furry friends as soon as I can.

Wiggles

Went with the kids the other night to go see a Wiggles concert. It was actually pretty good, I was as entertained as the kids. The kids really enjoyed it, Emma was singing and dancing.
I will post a few pictures when I have a chance to upload them.

Baby on board

Happy birthday to my dad!

Emma the superstar :)

The big move!

Well we have are all moved in to our new house. Of course there are some renovations that will need to take place, but it's all good.
Before we moved in, I tripped in a parking lot hurting my left knee and right ankle. Feeling better now, still a little sore, but it's okay.
Richard did most of the work, poor guy. He had his good friend Tomo who helped him a lot. My dad and brother helped as well. MinKi and Aleks came in the afternoon and helped as much as they could.
Very happy :)

Married

Okay, so it's been already more than a week since our wedding. It almost seems unreal. Well, I guess after more than 4 years, two kids, two cars and a mortgage, the wedding really was just a formality :)
The day was practically perfect in every way.
The day for us girls started with getting our hair day at Aura hairstyles in Kildonan Place. I had a fabulous hairstylist and Emma was a super trouper! She had such a good time getting her hair done with the girls, what a sweetheart.
We then came home to have some lunch, get our make up on and get dressed for the big day.
The ceremony was perfectly as planned. My uncle Addy and cousin Simone did a great job with the singing and music, just beautiful. Both kids behaved perfectly during the ceremony. Xavier came to join us a few times, but he was quiet and a little cutie.
My only chagrins for the day, was a miscommunication for the photos. Richard's uncle and sister went to the hotel instead of the park for the photos, but it was okay, we took photos with my family at the park and with Richard's at the hotel. The other one was with the hotel. The event coordinator gave me an incorrect floor plan for the way the tables were to be arranged, so my seating plan was wrong. My mom's brothers were stuck in a corner instead of right behind her. Oh well.
The food was great and the music couldn't have been perfect! What a night!

Wedding photo

More details to follow....

Happenings

We went to a baseball game on Tuesday. The kids had a great time, despite the fact that our local team lost 7-5 in the first game (and 8-0 in second as it was a double header). We only stayed for a little bit of the first inning of the second game. It was getting late. The kids enjoyed playing on the seats and switching laps (my sister came and so did some people from Dayspring).
The favourite part for the kids was most likely the food, they ate mini donuts and popcorn provided by my sister. They also got new batting helmet's and soft toy baseballs.
Today I found them covered head to toe in mud when I went to pick them up after work. They looked cute and hilarious. Had to clean them though to get them in the van.
Have a lot of little details to work out right now.

New Moon!

Please help a Winnipeg woman find her children

Beauty and the Beast

On Monday I had the privilege to bring the kids to see the Rainbow Stage's performance of "Beauty and the Beast". The show was absolutely spectacular. Everybody did a really good job, although I could have done without Maurice's singing. There were a few little misses, like a ribbon or a piece of log left behind, however the show we saw was their very first dress rehearsal, so I'm sure they have all the kinks out and have the show to absolutely perfection by now.
I do encourage you if you have a chance to definitely go and check out the show for yourself! Both Emma and Xavier were enthralled!

Crazy little life

Things have been a little hectic lately.
Our GM quit a couple weeks ago, which has made things a little chaotic. I did receive a minor promotion, but that also means more responsibilities. All in all it's good. In one week the new GM and I have together scored, so far, 5 new move-ins and possibly one more, we'll know for sure by tomorrow, that's a pretty good record. The best part of it all, is we only we 1 move-in that's a studio, the other 4 are one bedrooms!
I'm very excited about all this.
We're trying to streamline things, to make things run more smoothly, it just means a lot of work right now until what we're working on is implemented. I feel good about it though.
One little item I'm very happy about, I no longer need to wear the uniform! I get to wear my own clothes, feels so much better and the residents seem to like it too.
I will try to post more often, I've been a very bad blogger lately, but I hope to change that soon.

Take me out to the ballgame...

Yesterday the kids and I enjoyed a Goldeyes game with Ross (from L'Arche) as company. I had received some free tickets from CanadInns for the skysuite.
It was an interesting experience being in the skysuite. Too many things for the kids to get into trouble with, however a nicer place to change diapers and no line-ups to order food. Emma really seemed to enjoy it, especially the fireworks at the end, which also amazed Xavier.
Next time I would prefer an afternoon game.

Playtime

from fall (bulb) to spring (bloom)

Wordless wednesday

Scarface

Yesterday evening, after supper, Xavier was very excited to go outside. Emma was already playing. Apparently Xavier forgot that there are two steps at the end of the deck and took quite a header. Fortunately our sidewalk is made of gravel and not cement. Otherwise he probably would have cracked his skull open. He still, however, has quite the nasty scrapes on the right side of his face.

Wordless Wednesday

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

Hello from winterland

Okay, I've been a bad blogger, I admit it. I must say that since the last time I've posted I've been working 9-10 hour days as the Acting Manager at my work while the General Manager is away from holidays. She gets back next week after more than 1 month away. Needless to say, I haven't had much time to blog.
So the river got to about 24 feet high and caused some significant damage to the north. Although the river has fallen a little, it's still pretty high, however, we shouldn't be in any more danger.
The weather here is very frightful lately. We had a few days that were nice and people were excited that Spring had finally come after such a hard winter, but alas, it was not be. Seems as though fall has decided to come instead, we had snow this morning.
This place is so bloody depressing!!

Red River Rising

Since this photo that we took over the weekend, most of the ice has gone and the river has risen A LOT. In fact, the pathway you see in the photo is now completely under water. We are still okay, however the city has issued a state of emergency for all low-lying properties. It's now being said that this years flood is the 2nd worst flood in over 100 years. Lucky us we had the floodway built after the flood in the 1950's.
I'll try to get some more photos when the river crests

Happy Easter!

Being dutiful Catholics, I attempted going to the Chrism Mass this past Wednesday, and I do mean attempted. We arrived at the St-Boniface Basilica on time, even though we had to park down the street. I decided to sit as close to the back as possible, to avoid any possible disturbances from the little ones. Since my dad is a Deacon, he also was at the mass, but would not be able to sit with us because he would be with the other Deacon's and Priests.
When the kids saw him in the procession, I had to hold them both back as they wanted to walk along side their Pepere! After successfully keeping the kids back, Xavier made his great escape, ran all the way to the front and ran right into one of the priests in the procession! Luckily it was one of the priests I know and he thought it was funny. After 45 minutes into the 2+ hour ceremony and running after an escaped Xavier about 5-7 times, I decided it was time to go. We skipped the remainder of the Holy week masses (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Pascal Vigil) and made it to church this morning for the Easter Sunday mass, with two very hyper kids!

Here are a few Easter fun pics for you to enjoy!

Views of the river

We took these photos of the river in front of our house today.

Officially domesticated

We've taken the plunge and have purchased a mini-van, that's right, a mini-van. It's just much more practical and actually safer than a 1997 Cavalier. I just need to open one side of the van and both kids can walk in and go to their seats. One waits inside while I buckle the other. Very practical at malls or when you're parked on the street. We are now driving a 2009 Uplander. We were initially looking at getting a used one, but a really good sale came along and we got our 2009 for the same price as a used one. score!

:)

Nutella rocks!

Anybody who knows me knows that I LOVE Nutella! I grew eating Nutella as an afternoon snack and carried on my love for Nutella with Emma and Xavier. Last year there was a sticker on one of the containers of Nutella we purchased and info about different soccer positions. Loving Nutella and soccer Emma signed up on the Nutella Soccer website. We entered a contest where you could win small prizes leading up to a grand prize. Last year Emma won one of the small prizes, an official Nutella soccer ball which is awesome. Today Emma was awarded with the GRAND PRIZE!! Ready for what the grand prize is..... drum roll please..... A FOOSBALL TABLE!!!
Get out there and eat your Nutella! It's so worth it!
Happy dance, happy dance, happy dance!!!

New Job

It's been two weeks now that I have been working at my new and am really liking it. Basically I'm the Assistant Manager/Activities director/marketing/volunteer coordinator. LOL! It's all good. I like that it's not all business and computers. I get to set up for bowling, do exercises, call out bingo, play games, plan movie nights. It's fun. I also get to take people on tours and show then our place, and since we are not full yet, convince them that this is the best place to retire.
I think people out here are still trying to get used to the ideal of what a retirement community is. Most people think it's just a fancy nursing home, so that's one obstacle we need to overcome. We're not a nursing home, it's independent living with everything provided for you. Plain and simple.
The staff I work with is really friendly and cool to work with. I will try to find time to post more often, but that's going to be harder now that I work full time. As is right now, both kids were interested in watching a cartoon, so I took the opportunity to jump on the computer and now they are both next to me and Xavier's trying to tug me away. LOL!

Once upon a time a beautiful Princess was born...

...it was 1h42 in morning of February 28, 2006 and the first cries of Emma were heard. Today this beautiful Princess who has giving us so much joy, laughter and hugs turns 3 years old.
We love you so much our beautiful girl!

Zoo and conservatory

Last week we spent some time at the Assiniboine Zoo and the conservatory.
I really like going to the Zoo this time of year. For one it's not boiling hot and there are no crowds! One other good thing is that because it's not hot, more animals are out and quite active and because there are no crowds you seem to get some extra attention and possibly a show from some of the animals (like the monkeys).
It was really a nice day and quite enjoyed it.
We finished off the day by going to the conservatory to look at the beautiful flowers and plant life, which is always great to see in the middle of a cold Canadian winter :)

Happy Louis Riel day!!!

So get out there and enjoy Le Festival du Voyageur!!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Hope you all have a very happy Valentine's.
Since my little valentine's are sweet enough, instead of chocolate, Emma received a Cinderella electric toothbrush by Oral B and Xavier received these crayola crayons made for especially for little ones.

Have a great weekend.

Wordless Wednesday

Wordless Wednesday

Learning sometimes the hard way

When Emma was a baby I did not believe that setting her fall asleep while breastfeeding would be harmful, nor did I think that letting her fall asleep, later on, with a sippy cup with water and juice could harm her teeth. I did not think that young children could get tooth decay this way. I thought tooth decay only came from letting your child eat too many sweets and not brushing their teeth.
Emma brushes her teeth twice a day, always has, and she enjoys it. We keep sweets to a bare minimum, they really are treats in our house.
Emma had a chipped tooth, we brought her to our dentist and he said she had some minor tooth decay, but it was not worth doing anything with her tooth because she was so young. He said just to make sure to keep brushing it and watching it. He said to stop giving her juice, even watered down at night. So, now Emma drinks water and flavoured water for her juice. We buy Nestle PureLife, which is flavoured using Splenda and not aspertame. Of course the kids still get real juice, usually orange juice, but just in the morning at breakfast.
As time went on, I didn't like the look of Emma's broken tooth and the advice to do nothing because of her age.
We decided to get a second opinion, this time we went to a dentist who specializes with children. He didn't like Emma's front teeth at all and knew right away it was from the dreaded sippy cup at night. He wanted to pull Emma's tooth and cap the other three front teeth and two more in the back, all affected by the sippy cup.
Since Emma is not even 3 years old, he suggested that Emma undergo general anesthesia instead of coming to the dental office and getting the procedure done under a local. Getting this type of procedure down at the dental office proves to be too traumatic for little ones.
On January 19, the day after I came back from Montreal, Emma and I headed to the Misericordia Hospital at 6:30 am. Emma had not eaten and drunk anything since 8:30 pm the night before. The only thing that bothered her was not having anything to drink. Emma's dental procedure took about 45 minutes and she did really well.