As promised I am going to try and catch up a bit in the photo department with the important events that have occurred over the last few months.




Here is my sweet Paigie-Pie, the night she got enrolled in Sparks.



Paige is in her first year of ballet and this picture was taken on one of the very rare occasions that parents get to have a peek at what the children are learning. Ballet is one of Paige's favourite things!




Here's one of all three kids on one of our last hikes before it got cold. This was probably taken around Thanksgiving if memory serves.


Next came little Miss Lucy who was an unexpected but pleasant surprise. We had tentatively adopted another adult cat who was in need of a home but when I took him to our vet - she told me that he had some health issues, and that we had been through enough and she wanted me to take him back. That very morning in the vets, at the front desk in a crate was this very sweet, very tiny black and orange tortoiseshell kitten. She was in need of a home, and I was in need of a happy ending involving a feline, and they gave her to me. After a bit of a scare in the very beginning where I had to force feed her for a few days (she was really very young), she now rules the roost - and thinks that her mother is a Standard Poodle. In fact Lucy doesn't know she is a cat and will come when called - jumping right up into my arms. She is growing like a weed, and is really growing into a very lovely cat. She has picked me as her person which is kind of nice since it has been a very long time since we had a cat that I could claim I belonged to.





She has more than tripled in size since this was taken. When this was taken she weighed 2 lbs 3 oz!!!!!! Teeny tiny!

Next was Miss Morgan's birthday. Eight years old!!! The time is really flying.


For Morgan's birthday this year she got two gerbils. The one in the first picture is named Peppermint.


This one is called Oreo. Oreo is quite the escape artist and has been on exploring expeditions of the kitchen twice now. Luckily she was safely recaptured before Lucy could catch her - much to the kittens dismay!



Christmas was very quiet this year, which was really nice. Ella really understood what was happening this year, and we all had so much fun having her help us to open every gift!



Here is the gingerbread sleigh that they made with Dad on Christmas Eve day.


As promised here are some pictures from Miss Ella's birthday. No longer a baby, but turning into such a lovely little girl!!!!!!


Ashty made her a chocolate pink flower cake as per Ella's request, and it turned out beautifully. We had a very small gathering for Ella's birthday though because we were ALL sick, and nobody wanted to share our germs.




A very rare picture of me, with my birthday girl.

That's all for now - I have two kids to throw into the shower and another one needing pj's.
xoxoxox to all. More to follow soon, as I get back into the groove of things.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MISS ELLA BEAN!!!!!!!
I promise to post pictures from your birthday soon, but we are all sick in this house. It has been going on for two weeks - and not leaving!!!!
I cannot believe that today you are three years old! The time has flown, and you are turning into such a grown up beautiful young lady!!!! Today was Family Day - so we got to all be home together, and you had a great party yesterday with family.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

Well.....I think it just might be high time to start blogging again. The time from October to February has just flown by, without enough hours in the day for blogging. I will try to get some pictures up soon, and some sort of an update as to what has been going on in the last few months.
In the meantime, love to everyone.
xoxoxoxox

Miss Maggie May

March 2000- October 7, 2008.

I'm very sad to say that on Tuesday of this week we had to make the very difficult decision to put Maggie to sleep. She suddenly became ill a couple of weeks ago, and our vet thought initially something treatable. However when she wasn't respondng to treatment, there was further investigation, and it became apparent that she had a tumor of some sort. There was no doubt in our minds what needed to be done, and I was there with her.

Maggie came to us in January of 2001, when my old Tabby cat passed at the ripe old age of 14 1/2 . Our house has mice, so we obviously needed to get another cat. We got Maggie at the SPCA, and right from the first her person was Morgan ( who was only 6 weeks old at the time!). Maggie loved all the kids though, especially when they were babies. She is snuggling there in the playpen with Ella. At that point she was bigger than the baby!

Maggie loved when there were babies in the house and could always be found sleeping in a car seat, or playpen. I even saw her in the highchair a couple of times.

Every night at bedtime Maggie would go up on the top bunk with Morgan, and would stay there until she was asleep.
She was a very gentle kitty, and never used her claws or teeth on any of the kids, although there were times when you couldn't have blamed her if she had.


We loved her very much, and she will be very missed.

X-country run

Morgan completed her first cross-country run yesterday. She really enjoyed herself, and came in 66th out of about 120-150 kids!

Here she is pre-race:


The starting line (although I don't think she is actually in that picture - I can't pick her out anyway):


Coming towards the finish line, and in true Morgan fashion slowing down to wave at me:


Into the "cattle run" to get her number:


Right after her race!

I'm so glad she enjoyed herself, and she can't wait to do it again next year!

First day of school

Here are the girls on the first day of school this year. Morgan has started grade three and Paige is in Sk and her first year of French which she is loving. Both girls had front and back views taken so that you could see their new back-packs!

Soccer trophies

Paige with her trophy!


Miss Morgan.


Poor Ella should have been given a trophy for being dragged to the field three nights a week!


The three musketeers!

Wow! I think this is the longest I have EVER gone without posting anything. Partly I have been very uninspired, and partly I have NO time! It is crazy busy around here, and during the school year everything I do, has to be done in two hour time blocks because of school pick-ups......

We had a great summer. Morgan and Paige loved playing soccer, and Paige especially can't wait for spring so she can play again. We did our annual trip to "The Island", and went on our first family camping trip. Also lots of hiking and trips to the park.
Here are some pics:
These are from a trip we took to a butterfly conservatory. We all had a great time, but getting a picture of all the girls was quite a challenge!

A butterfly landed on Morgan's hand and she was absolutely thrilled!

Snuggles!


Miss "I am two" !


Campfire on our camping trip. We only went for one night this year, just to see how it would go. It went so well that we will most definitely do two nights next year.

The big girls on the beach where we were camping. I think they could have played in the sand all day long!


Outside of our tent.


Nobody believes how high the dog jumps when I come home after being out, so Kevin thought he would catch her in action. This is the wind-up....


I couldn't believe how high she got!

Today we went for a hike with friends to feed the chipmunks, and then went for a picnic. We all had a great time!




The squirrels were eating right out of the kids hands!!!









We will definitely be going back there again, what a great way to spend a morning; and for blowing off excess energy!

On Canada Day we went to visit a naval gun ship that is docked here in our city as a monument and important part of Canadian history. We also went to visit the Marine Discovery Centre. Here are somes pics from a great day!