Still On Holiday ....

Having a great time with family ....
Our internet is on and off here ... cause we're 'borrowing', so there likely won't be updates til we're back.
Up and coming topics:
Santa Photos
P & P
The Drive(s)
Santa!!!!!!!
Family Festivities

Check back soon!

Hectic Times ...

Things have been busy and I have been trying to find a few moments to update ... it's been hard!

SNOW

We had our second significant snowfall last week and Cadence took it all in stride!

Making a snow angel:

Helping dad clear the driveway:

Ain't she proud!:

"If all the snowflakes were gumdrops and lollipops ...":


CHRISTMAS EVENTS

Cadence was able to attend both events at our schools ... A charity event at mine and an Advent evening at Sean's. She is all about dressing for the occasions ... too bad mom is so scattered these days that the camera is not making the events!
We've also had our annual dinner and Christmas gift exchange with the GBs and attended the second annual open house with the GF's. It's go, go, go .... Yes, it's beginning to look and feel a LOT like Christmas! Tomorrow we are finally getting out to see the man in red himself ... not sure how that will go!

COMPUTER

Cadence is completely independent on the computer. I can actually set her up on her 'site' while it's loading and let her go. This will often give me time to apply makeup, dry and straighten my hair AND get dressed. Yesterday, she came to me in the middle of my 'grooming' routine to tell me she did a calendar and to 'come and see'. She showed me her printed version ... yeah, the kid knows how to print now ... we are doomed ... do you know how $$$$$ the ink is???

BEDDING, BEDDING ....

I have been washing a lot of bedding this week. Cadence has had her cough ... repeat from last year ... that has ended up in puking. I washed her bedding one night and then had to shut down 'Wine Club' early 2 nights later for more 'special stuff' ... a shower down and bedding change. Last night we were up trying to calm her cough and keep her upright. The usual remedies (humidifier, expectorant) weren't working so we sucked it up this evening, put the To Do list on hold and headed to the clinic. The good news was her chest was clear, the bad news ... sinus stuff and nasal drip. We've started a regime of nasal spray and antibiotics and hope we'll all be able to sleep better in the next couple of days before we head out for the holidays. As for right now, I'm heading out to the hottub ...

NOW You Tell Me!

I was finished toy shopping for Cadence weeks ago ....
Apparently not! She says, "All I want is a polar bear."
I've been on the hunt, poor choice of word me thinks, and have come up empty!
She's getting the whole Santa thing ... what am I to do?

Pick Up

I booted out of work right at the bell yesterday to run a couple of errands for school tomorrow and then drove back to pick Cadence up. I pulled right up to the curb and went in to get her.

When we came out she was in no hurry, apparently, to get into the truck...

Me: Come on Cadence let's get going.

Cadence: I just wanna stay here for a minute.

Me: But honey, it's raining.

Cadence: I like it.

Me: But I'm getting wet.

Cadence: But I'm not.

Me: Honey, my hair is getting all wet.

Cadence: So you get in then!

SERENITY NOW!

What a Weekend!

We ALL had a very busy, festive weekend!
Sean and I were hosting his staff for their Christmas party and Cadence was taking a maiden voyage ... a sleepover at Auntie Marnie's!
Her bag was packed with all of the necessary unmentionables as well as, 3 stuffies, peacock, her 'makeup' (Lypsol), a fake tea light candle and some princess chocolates for her cousins. She was really excited:

I didn't anticipate any problems until she asked, 15 minutes prior to departure, "Where's your suitcase mommy?". I gave a truthful answer and she seemed okay with that.
Once she was on her way, I took care of those last minute preparations:

The party was a success, despite the small fire that was ignited in the great room ... it was quickly extinguished and no one got hurt!
Cadence's sleepover was reportedly VERY successful too ... phew! I hope her aunt and uncle weren't embellishing anything. I'm thinking they likely weren't ... a favourable report will undoubtedly mean MORE sleepovers!!!!

There were some exciting envelopes that came in the mail for us this weekend. A birthday card and cash:

A big thank you ... you know who you are!!! I also got my Christmas cards back ... the ones from my previous post! New mystery for the end of today's though ...

AND on Saturday, we had another staff party to attend. Not only did we get C's favourite babysitter ... Madison even took Cadence to the theatre to see a little play. And Madison's mommy was our designated driver for the night. Madison and M, you girls ROCK!!!

Today, we pulled out the Gingerbread House kit and got down to it! Cadence had a ball and took this picture herself:


The only downer of the weekend ... I went to gather my 'returns' and realized that half the stuff on one of my receipts was nowhere to be found! I know the bag made it into my friend's vehicle, but from there ... it is truly a mystery! I am ticked. I had GREAT stuffers, and a couple of gifts that made me, officially finished. Guess I'm not ... and guess I'm out about 70 some odd dollars according to my calculations. CRAP!

Multi-tasking Gone Bad

As I have shared previously, I am notorious for my lists ...
I have had a few items on my 'list' for quite some time ... years actually! And of course, as we prepare to host a Christmas party, I decide it is time to tackle some of those items once and for all!!! This has meant daily lists, running around, accounting for every last minute ... and still trying to manage the general day to day stuff. We are, I am happy to say, almost there ... almost!
But in the process there have been just a couple of 'issues' ... nothing major, but noteworthy nonetheless.
Case in point, two days ago I was leaving the school and having a lovely chat with a colleague on the way out, when I realized I had forgotten something ... Cadence! It likely wouldn't have been much of a catastrophe given that we live approximately 400 metres from the school ... but still! And today I spent time, time I didn't have, scouring every spot I've been, looking for a handful of Christmas cards I was planning to hand deliver. I've come up with the only possible theory ... they got mailed, without stamps or addresses (and in some cases, without last names) with the pile to be mailed! I know these are not earthshattering events in the least, but they do remind me that I need to RELAX a little, slow down and focus on one task at a time. Maybe I should be giving up my girls' night? ... Nah, I don't think so!

Time Out!

At dinner last night, Cadence informed me that she had a time out at school ... she had to sit in the naughty chair.
I asked her why and she told me she 'didn't want to talk about it!' Was it her cheeky attitude perhaps?????
Even today, she wouldn't give it up. Part of me wants to 'celebrate' her spunky attitude ... then I remember, I don't want to
be one of THOSE parents. I guess I'll just have to accept that she's pretty darn typical ... I like that!

Christmas Photos ...

... that DIDN'T make the cut for the annual Christmas card:





Be patient, they were mailed out tonight ....

Bed Time Routine?

Yes, I suppose it is part of the routine ... not MY routine ... the princess made this one up all on her own!
We try to start around 7 ... you'll understand why!
Storytime is first on the agenda, but I have had to limit it to one, maybe 2 stories because once I've read, Cadence then gets a turn and trust me ... she drags it out! Then it's hugs and kisses and lights out. Within less than a minute, she's "very thirsty" and "needs a little drink of water". Soon she's out again, this time "needing" some cream somewhere for her excema. Then I'm asked to remove an article from the room that "makes her a little bit frightened". After several of these indulgences, they are ready for a group photo ... in the hallway of course:

Two nights ago, I tried the "Santa's watching you" line, but Cadence clearly shared that he can't see her! Honestly!
Despite all of this, Cadence is usually down somewhere around 7:30 ... although these last couple of nights have set us back to about 8:30. We have to get tough ... we know ... we're thinking about it!

Practise Run ...

More like a wardrobe practise! I had Cadence try on a couple of dresses for her 3 year/Christmas photo shoot:

I think she got the hang of it:

Dang she sure is adorable:

I'll be going through the REAL photos tomorrow and perhaps giving you a sneak preview.
Just for the record, neither of these dresses made the cut!

Magicadabra!

This was 'princess' the morning after her birthday a couple of weeks ago. She spent the morning turning us into all kinds of things. Unfortunately, once I brought the camera out, 'princess' brought out the attitude!

PS: Hotmail Alert!

I have had someone 'hack' into my Hotmail account (at least twice) to send spam types of emails to all of my contacts (contacts from the last 6 years!). I apologize for that! Whomever is the culprit also deleted all the remaining messages in my inbox. If I didn't respond to an email, it may be because I never saw it. In any event, I have changed my password to see if that has an impact, cleared out my contact list and even created a whole new account. In the panic and process I may have lost your email address. At this point, please continue to use my regular email address ...

Birthdays and Football and Christmas ... Oh My!!!

This weekend Cadence attended a birthday party for Gwen ... 14 squealing little girls ... it was lovely!

There were pajamas, princesses, pedicures and popcorn. No photos ... you know the rules ... what happens at the party, stays at the party!

All dressed and raring to go!

On Sunday, daddy went to Buffalo for a football game, so we girls had a day of shopping, lunch and finishing up our Christmas decorations ... all done, except for the tree ... that will be a full family affair next weekend!


Gosh, Mondays come so quickly don't they .... ?

Twinkle Toes!

Cadence finished her first 'solo' dance class. She was a real trooper and despite her young age (not 3 til the last class) she kept up with the big girls!





Just a few more gymnastics sessions with mom and then she's goin solo there too! Exciting stuff ... kind of ... she's growing up ... WAY too fast!

Why Didn't I Think of That?

I haven't shared any funny conversations with Cadence lately .... not that she hasn't mad us laugh, I just forget to do it. She really made me chuckle today though!

I was doubled over by a cramp while preparing dinner with her.

Cadence: Mom, what happened?
Me: I got a pain in my tummy honey.
Cadence: Well, mom, why don't you get it out?!

She's so smart ... now why didn't I think of that?

Cadence has been enjoying her birthday gifts immensely! We have put the princess puzzle together a dozen times and have races now to see who can 'find' the pictures first. We've seen Up as well as 2 Dora Christmas videos and it's not even December ... yet! We've made loads of bead jewelry and drawn a lot of pictures.
We've played ALL of the games on this:


We've made 2 out of the 8 of these fun little crafts:

We've done ALL that AND put some $$$ in the bank!
Great choices everyone ... THANKS!

She's Squeezing Me Out!

She's barely three and already she's squeezing me out of the closets!

There isn't enough room for both our coats, not to mention shoes and boots.

I'm not coping!!!! What am I to do when she's 8, 12, 16? Help ....

I'm getting squeezed out of the king too, but you've heard enough of that

for the time being right?!

The Song ...

In case there hasn't been ENOUGH birthday stuff, here's the official song:

The Good, The Bad and ... the Ugly

Friday night, we were literally about 5 - 10 minutes away from bed, when the phone rang. It was my brother, who RARELY calls, so I took advantage of the chance to catch up. This pushed snack and bed back a bit. Snack was given at the breakfast bar while I continued with my conversation. My squirmy girl ended up slipping off the barstool and ... there was blood EVERYWHERE! After a couple of moments of panic, I was able to determine I was only dealing with a bit lip ... THANK GOODNESS! That was the bad ... the fat lip was the ugly!!! Although, I have to say, it wasn't as bad as I think it could have been!
The good was the rest of the weekend ... beautiful weather, good food and great friends and family!
We had a lovely dinner party to celebrate Cadence's birthday ... the main entre, compliments of Uncle Mike! There were presents, loot bags, games, crafts and a movie to quiet things down.





Thanks everyone for coming, especially Jody and Rui who travelled to be here ... Cadence (and mommy and daddy) are very grateful to you for that!
Now it's time to prepare for Christmas ....

Party Time!

It was non-stop fun from morning to night!
We started the morning with opening a present from Aunt Maureen. Perhaps we should have waited until AFTER breakfast!



After a check up and a photo session we met Auntie Karen for lunch and a yummy Shirley Temple:

Dad brought home the pink princess cake, complete with a tiara and wand ... it was hard to keep little fingers off!

Shortly after, Granny Ann stopped by with a bag FULL of awesome crafts and a beautiful bunny from cousin Sara whom she's yet to meet ... someday!!!! Pictures to come of Fluffy and the crafts!
AND then it was off to the very busy Moose place where we enjoyed drawing, face painting, dinner, cake and presents! The kids were GREAT and the atmosphere festive AND it was a kids eat free day ... what more could a girl want?!





Afterwards we went home to open more presents, listen to birthday messages AND we HAD to play about 5 rounds of Hungry Hippo before we wrangled an exhausted 3 year old to bed!
Thanks to everyone who was a part of her big day ... so far ... more party to come, stay tuned!!!!!

It's a Special Day for a Special Girl!

We enjoyed more good weather this weekend! As much as it allows us to get ready for the holidays, it doesn't do much for promoting the true spirit of the season ... jump rope ... not exactly a traditional Christmas activity.

'Story' of the weekend ...

Cadence woke up on Saturday morning around 5 or 6 to tell me her underwear were wet. In a sleepy daze I grabbed her a new pair and we went back to sleep. When we were finally awake I made mention of the underwear and what I believed to be the 'cause'. Cadence was very quick to declare that Winston made them wet* ... yeah ... right!!!! Ohhhh she's sharp! I began to push the issue a bit, but she was downright upset and continued to maintain her innocence ... what a stinker!~

Even funnier ... Cadence's imitation of Sean snoring! Now if only I could get THAT on film!

*Winston has this weird thing where he licks blankets, pillows, sheets and leaves a wet spot. Can't explain it ...

Fantabulous Weekend!!!!

Last weekend, and the past few days, have been unbelievably amazing!!!! The sky has been blue, the sun shining brightly ... it did wonders for lifting the November spirits!
We spent a lot of time outdoors ... it was a good thing too ... we came to realize we didn't do alot of the fall yard work this year! For the most part I'd say we got everything done .... almost! The rest can wait til spring!
Speaking of rests ... here are two of my 'helpers' taking a load off their weary feet:

Cadence chose to wear this ridiculous hat that is miles too big ... I don't think MY head even fits it! Oh well, she looks dang cute anyway (except for the extra 'stuff' in her nose):

She enjoyed what was likely the last of the bubbles for the season:

After 70 shots, I finally managed to click a picture with actual bubbles in it ... you have no idea how difficult that can be!

And of course the weather gave us a good opportunity to get ready for the upcoming season:

Bring it on....