It Seems We Have Finally Arrived!

Well, it's finally here! The city inspection passed and our occupancy permit was issued this morning.

The keys should be released to us within the hour. The house is finally going to be ours!

The walk through yesterday went very well. There were a number of outstanding issues that were being taken care of later yesterday or early today. They ordered us the wrong shower door, so we may have to wait a few days on that. Some of the screens needed to be put into the windows. Paint needed touching up, and the garage floor needed to be poured.

Those things aside, the house is amazing. I'm feeling more excited, and less resentful of what a horrible experience the build was. We will never build with Reid Homes again, nor will we recommend them to anyone we know, but at the end of the day the house is pretty much exactly what we wanted.

I took some photos at the walk through yesterday, and I promise more photos of the painting this weekend and next week. Click on any image to see it larger:

Master Bedroom


Master Ensuite Shower


Master Ensuite Bathtub


Master Ensuite


Kitchen


Family Room


Dining Room


Basement


Basement Bathroom


Kitchen Back Splash


Counter Top


Dining Room Floor


Carpet (It's really like a honey color)


Main Floor Tile (Also in out ensuite)


I hope you enjoy the photos! Sarah and I are hoping to start taping this afternoon and tomorrow, and then begin the painting tomorrow evening and continue through the weekend. It's going to be very nice to have her help with this project, and in exchange, I am going to help her tile her bathroom and re-paint some of her apartment. Seems like a great trade off for both of us.

Lincoln is home from school today with a bit of a cold, but I didn't think it would matter much if we took them to the new place for a bit. I'll plan to take the portable DVD player perhaps, so that they can watch movies while we haul in the paint supplies and the light fixtures.

The builder was supposed to put up the light fixtures we purchased on our own, but no one called us to bring them over and then they claimed that was our responsibility. So, I picked up a book on basic wiring at the hardware store, and I'm going to put them up myself. None of them are ceiling fans, so it should be pretty simple. Two connections and a ground, nothing complicated. Our site supervisor showed me where the master breaker switch is, which kills power to the entire house, so that way I don't have to worry about isolating specific switches. We will just shut off the entire house and do all of the fixtures in one swoop during daylight.

Tomorrow morning the water softener people are coming to install our water softener and reverse osmosis system in the house. Jay is certainly looking forward to that, since the seriously hard water in the rental here has caused his eczema to flare up like crazy. I think it's gotten so bad he might start driving over to the new place to shower in the morning before work (OK not seriously, but I know he can't wait to move).

I think I'll just be happy to get out of this cramped little townhouse and back into a space large enough for us to actually unpack more than a few boxes.

The phone call should be coming any time now, so I'm going to get the kids rounded up so we can go over and pick up the keys immediately! Wish me luck this weekend with the painting. I'll try to get updated photos posted early next week :)

We've Just About Made It!

This evening Jay and the kids and I drove into Toronto to sign all of the papers with the lawyer in regards to taking possession of the new house. The transaction will be completed on Thursday, after we do a walk-through tomorrow and the house has been deemed complete (or close enough to it that a permit of occupancy can be issued). As long as everything is taken care of, the funds will be released to the builder on Thursday, and they will turn over the keys to us.

Quite a thing really, the whole process.

One of my friends at the gym asked me if I was excited, and you know, I think I am just too tired of all the waiting and of the arguing with the builder. I mean, don't get me wrong, part of me is excited. I'll be relieved on Thursday, once it's all said and done and we can just put this horrid building experience behind us.

I bought paint for the main floor, the kids rooms, and our room this week. I'm actually really looking forward to painting, and my friend Sarah has offered to help me as much as possible. We're going to get started this weekend, and I'm hopeful we can get the main floor finished before Monday.

I'm going to take my camera to the walk-through tomorrow, so that I can update the pictures here and also to document anything that needs to be fixed/changed. I'll also take photos again as the new paint is going on, and after it's all finished!

We are really looking forward to my Mum and Grandma coming out next week. The kids have been excited and asking every day how many more sleeps until they visit. It will be lovely to have time to visit, and to have help with he kids while I finish anything that needs to be done at the new place and then packing stuff up over here at the townhouse.

In many ways, it's been such a long process that it's difficult to believe we're right down to the wire. Only 2 more sleeps until the house is ours.

A Little Of A, A Little Of B

You know, I really wouldn’t win any awards for consistency when it comes to this website. I want to apologise for the long absence. Jay and the kids and I are all wonderful, perhaps so much so, that I haven't had much time or inclination for writing.

January felt like a blur. We got home from our trip and it seems as though I didn't have time to catch my breath before February was upon us. Jay and I celebrated 6 years of marriage on January 19th. Sarah babysat the children so that he and I could go for sushi in Milton. We found an excellent sushi bar that also has some kid friendly options, so we ended up there last night for supper as it were, and the kids loved it. Who knew that they would be so fond of green tea and pork dumplings?

We had a pile of snow last month. I can't even tell you how many times we dug out of it. So much different than the winters we were used to in Calgary.

At the beginning of February we made a weekend trip up to Bobcaygeon to visit Jay's Aunt Vera and Uncle Elmer. They have a cabin in the country, near the lake, and it had snowed a whole bunch the days before we arrived. We spent most of the weekend outdoors, sledding and building snowmen!





























It was a lot of fun spending the weekend up there, and we're looking forward to going back sometime soon. Hopefully we'll be able to go boating and fishing up there this summer with the kiddos. I think they would really like that!

We're on the count down to the house being finished. We are still on for February 28th closing date. They've sure been working on it steady, often through the weekends and there were even people there yesterday (which was Family Day here).

Only 9 days to go! I can hardly believe they will be done by then. I was in there over the weekend and took some photos:























March is going to be a very busy month! My mum and grandma are coming out to stay with us from the 5th to the 12th, to help with packing and to play with the kids while I do some painting at the new place. It will be really nice to have them out for a week, I am sure there will be time for some good visiting too.

Jay's mum and dad are coming out for Easter and staying for just about 2 weeks. We will do the remainder of the moving and begin the unpacking while they are here. It's going to be a lot, but I can hardly wait to have space again!

We had to cancel the trip to Ottawa we had planned for this past weekend. The forecast was for snow and rain, so we decided we would be smarter to wait until after we settle into the house. Perhaps in April or May we'll make it out to visit Tina again, and see more of Ottawa.

I've been going to the gym regularly again. Sarah and I have decided to be workout buddies, and so we do classes together 4 times a week. It feels good to be getting back into shape and I've already lost a few pounds! It's really nice to have someone to go with, and also since I know she is counting on me to show up, I don't skip going. The kids really like going to the childminding as well, since they get to play with all the other kids, so everyone is happy!

This post wasn't as thorough as I'd planned, but I have to dash off to pick up Lincoln and getting all of those photos sorted and put up took longer than I had anticipated. I promise it won't be long before the next update!

I hope all of you are healthy and happy! Keep your fingers crossed that the house is done on the closing day, with no outstanding issues!

Happy 2008!!!

Happy New Year!!! Another year behind us, a fresh new one laid out ahead, full of new possibilities and adventures.

Our trip to Alberta was wonderful, filled with family and friends. We spent our time in Edmonton and Rocky Mountain House, visiting and eating and getting caught up on all of the happenings. It was relaxing and laid back, which was just what I needed after the craziness of the house and Christmas and all that sort of thing. The kids adored all of the time they got to spend with grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins.

Jay and I got some much-needed time away from the kiddos, which we appreciated a great deal (Thank You SO much Mum & Dad D and Mum G).

Sydnie, who had a touch of the flu when we left, made a quick recovery. Her fever broke just after we boarded the plane to leave for Edmonton. She seemed right as rain from then on.

I had a bit of excitement while I was away. The photo I mentioned in this post, which was being considered for that Ottawa travel guide, was chosen for use. No, I won't make any money from it, but it's exciting none the less!

The gym where I volunteer also offered me a paid position there as the coordinator of the child minding. Basically the same job I was doing in Airdrie. As flattering as it was to get the offer, I decided to say no. I would have to take on more shifts, and I don't want the hassle of struggling to cover those when I need to take trips away. Also I enjoy the free time I have, and I don't enjoy working at the gym here as much as I did the one in Airdrie due to the fact that I am the only staff down there during my shift.

Yesterday the kids and I embarked on The Great Hamster Hunt Of '08. They were begging me all morning to do something about the empty cage sitting there, just waiting for a furry critter to occupy it. Finally I relented, loaded them up in the van, and headed to PetSmart. We were there for half an hour, waiting for someone to help us with hamster purchase. After having one of the clerks page twice, I was annoyed enough to leave a cart full of litter, hay, and toys and walk out with the kids. Off to a second location, not far away, in the hopes of more useful staff.

The second store was much better, the service was fast and friendly. Unfortunately they only had ONE hamster left, and it wasn't what we wanted (we were looking for a teddy bear hamster, since they are the friendliest). The older woman who was helping us felt bad, and quickly offered to call another store, to see if they had hamsters. They did, and off we went, now quite frustrated, but hell-bent on bringing home a pet regardless.

Finally, at the third store, a nice young man was quick to assist me in picking out, packaging, and purchasing an adorable little girl hamster. We were in and out in less than 20 minutes, our new addition scratching away in the cardboard carrier.

Lincoln wanted to name her Charlie, and who was I to argue? She is all kinds of cute, and has provided us much entertainment already. Although she's still a baby, and still pretty wild, she's good natured. She hasn't at all attempted to bite, despite me handling her quite a bit. The kids are in love with her, even though she's not quiet enough for them to hold her yet.

Jay and I have an anniversary coming up on January 19th. We will be married 6 years, which seems incredible, considering all that has happened in that time. I've asked Sarah to babysit for us that evening, so that we can go out to a movie or for food or something. We are looking forward to that.

We are also planning a trip to Ottawa in February, for the Family Day long weekend. It will be great to see Tina again, and it will be something to distract us from the lag of the house building.

Speaking of the house, it seems that they were insulating in our absence. We are going to take a peek inside it this weekend, and I'll take my camera. I'm looking forward to moving in there eventually, and doing my very best to avoid getting frustrated.

2008 is going to be a great year, I can just feel it!

All I Want For Christmas...Is A Hamster

Christmas is over for another year for most people, but for us, we're still in the thick of it, as tomorrow we fly out to Edmonton and do Christmas at two more houses!

I have some video of Lincoln's Christmas Concert, but I am having some trouble uploading it, so you will have to wait for that I am afraid. I also have an audio clip of him singing his song all by himself, so I will work on getting those posted here once I figure out the problem.

We took quite a few photos of the two rugrats on Christmas morning. Naturally the little rotters were spoiled. The four of us totally enjoyed the day together, playing games and eating treats, and trying out our new presents! It ended up that we did not have guests for dinner, which was just as well, even though I cooked for 15 people (as always). I think I made enough stuffing to fill half a dozen birds. Tonight I am portioning it all out into homemade TV dinners for freezing and eating later on.

Here is a slide show of the photos from Christmas Day. Just click on the arrow button to view:

Tomorrow night our flight leaves for Edmonton, and the kids are looking forward to that very much. Unfortunately, Sydnie seems to be coming down with some sort of flu. This evening she was running a bit of a temperature, seemed lethargic, and got a bit sick at supper. We put her to bed with a shot of children's Tylenol for the fever, and hopefully she feels better in the morning. It could be a very long flight tomorrow night at any rate. Please keep your fingers crossed that she gets better and not worse.

Despite that, we are sure excited to see a bunch of you. We fly into Edmonton and will be staying at Mum and Dad's there until January 2nd. We head down to Rocky Mountain House that day and stay with Mum and Rayna (Dad will probably be away for work during our visit) until the 7th, when we drive back to Edmonton and catch a flight home. Not nearly enough travel this trip, as compared to our last one in October, which is nice although we won't see as many people.

For those of you we miss this time, we are planning a very lengthy trip out in July. It will be just the kids and I for the first half, and then Jay will join us for the second half. Not too many details on that just yet, but I'll keep you posted.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas and we wish you all an excellent New Year as well!

No More Monkeys Jumping On The Bed

Well, we are hurtling towards Christmas at record speed this year. Things seem to just keep happening one right after the other, so I apologise for the lack of updates here.

Earlier this week we received some very unfortunate news. Jays grandmother passed away, peacefully in her sleep, at the age of 100 years. Despite the fact that she was long lived and it had been expected for some time, it's still been very difficult for him, and for me. The kids are too young to understand yet, which is probably just as well.

Due to the timing, I'm not going to be able to go with him to the funeral this Friday. It's in Regina, and since we've already booked tickets for Alberta on the 28th, it seemed ridiculous for us to all trek out to Saskatchewan, then come back, just to fly back out a few days later. Also, most flights are sold out and it was hard enough to get a ticket for just Jay, let alone the kids and I. Admittedly I am rather upset at having to miss it. We have no one to watch the kids though, since everyone is trying to get ready for Christmas. Jay was asked to be a pallbearer, and his Aunt Reta and mum and dad and Brian are going to be there, so I am sure he will manage.

He will get back very late on Saturday night, so I intend to distract myself with the last minute Christmas baking and grocery shopping while he is away. I have also been entrusted with checking on the pets of a friend I made recently through the gym while she is away at her parents for a week. She and I became friends a couple of months ago and she has a couple of cats and rabbits and small rodents. The kids and I get to go over and feed and water them twice a day, which they are really excited about. I don't mind helping her at all since she was able to watch the kids for us the other morning, on last minute notice, while we did our first walk-through of the house.

Speaking of the house, they are actually working on it at a fairly good pace these days. We got a new site supervisor (I think our third or fourth since the house got started) and he doesn't waste any time. As I mentioned above, we did a walk-through with the electrician last week, and everything seemed to be going well.

We have another walk-through tomorrow morning, and I am going to ask Sarah (my new friend with the pets) if she would be able to come over and hang out with the kids again while we do that. Apparently there was an inspection of the framing this week and our house failed. I kid you not. The site supervisor claims it was just a few minor things that needed fixing, but it doesn't give me a lot of good feelings about our builder.

They want to start insulating and so forth next week, so I suppose that's good. I am starting to believe we actually might make it in by January 31st as they promised. More pictures are coming.

On an additional note about pictures, you may have noticed something about My Daily Photo on the side of the page there. I decided to create a separate page on which to post my photos not related to family/house/etc. Every day I put up a new picture I have taken, so I hope you will take a look. Yesterday I received a bit of an exciting e-mail in regards to one of my photos. It seems that a picture I took of the Peace Keeping Monument in Ottawa is being considered for part of an online guide to Ottawa. The photo will include credit to me and will be linked back to my collection of photos on Flickr (the photo hosting service I use online).

Here is the photo in question, snapped in August during our visit to see Tina over the summer:

I won't get paid for the use of my photo, but it's still very flattering, and who knows what other opportunities might come about as a result.

Tomorrow is Lincoln's school Christmas concert. He is playing a lamb apparently. I will be taking the camera, and I will attempt at least a few clips of video. He has been very secretive about it all, which is very cute.

Last weekend we picked up their final gift, which I have to say I might be more excited about then they will be. We decided (or rather I decided and then prodded Jay into agreement, HA HA) to get them a hamster from Santa. Since we are going to be going away right after Christmas, I went and got the cage and food and all the hamster related stuff one needs, and Santa will leave it under the tree with a note about picking out the hamster themselves with Mommy and Daddy. That way we don't have to worry about having someone look after it while we are out west. I know they are going to be thrilled.

Most of you heard about the big dump of snow we got last weekend. Jay figures just over a foot of it fell here, and it seems to be staying, which means we will have a white Christmas. The kids are quite enjoying having snow to play in, and I'll admit that as much as I dislike the cold, I prefer to have snow for Christmas than dead grass or slush.

I can hardly believe that Christmas is only 6 more sleeps away. Where has the year gone?

Counting Down To Christmas

15 more sleeps until Christmas!

We are sure excited around here :D The kids especially. Jay and I are pretty much finished up our Christmas shopping, which is a great feeling. Most of the gifts are already wrapped and under the tree.

Over the weekend we all took a trip to IKEA to get a filing cabinet (which will eventually go into the den in the new house). While we were there we found a few extra odds and ends for the new place. Bathroom hard wear for one (the builder only had one option for us, really cheap white plastic stuff, so we just removed that from the plan) and some light fixtures for the kitchen (we have two spots for light fixtures going into the kitchen). I found these product images on the IKEA website to show you guys!

Or Kitchen Light Fixtures


Toilet Paper Holders For Each Bathroom


Towel Bars For The Bathrooms With Showers/Tubs

I really like the towel bars we found because they have the double rods. You can hang the bath towels in the back and the hand towels on the front.

Also, the lighting fixtures are actually three rods, with two flexible connector sections between, so you can make them into different arrangements, like 'Z' or 'U' (as shown) and all of the light holders themselves are movable, so you can point the lights the direction you want. I think that will provide a lot of light in the kitchen.

The filing cabinet we got is actually quite attractive looking. I found an image of something similar, except the one that we bought is only two drawers high, not three.



In the future den we plan to have two cabinets like this, one for filing (the one we already have) and another with doors on the front like this, to hold our printers, scanner, etc.



There are also some really nice wall cabinets that go along with it that we are going to put up in the den, for office supplies, books, binders, etc.



All very exciting, ha ha. We got rid of our big old corner desk before we moved, so for a work surface we are just getting a small table type thing.



Can you tell that we really like stuff from IKEA? I think that the espresso brown furniture will go really nice with the golden yellow paint I have picked out for the den.

Enough about that, I don't want to bore you all to sleep!

The kids are getting super excited about Christmas. Every morning the first thing they want to do is open a new door on their chocolate Christmas calendars. Generally I make them wait until after breakfast at least, hee hee.

This coming weekend Jay and the kids and I are going up to visit Uncle Elmer and Aunty Vera at their place in Bobcaygeon. They live within walking distance of the lake and I'm looking forward to visiting with them. I'm going to take my camera too, so I promise photos once we get home.

I also plan to take a lot of photos, and maybe some video clips of the kids on Christmas morning for everyone. I've figured out how to post video online, so I'll do my best to get some put up here for you guys.

There are some pictures of the inside of the house I'll be posting within this week, so check back for that.

Just Call Me Picasso

I just wanted to do a quick update because I finally got around to taking some pics of the paint colors I've chosen for the new house. You can check them out full-sized by clicking on them:

The Living Room, Kitchen, Dining Room Color


The Main Floor Bathroom Color


The Den Color


Sydnie's Room Color


Lincoln's Room Color


The Second Floor Bathroom Colors
(I'll explain them later)


Guest Bedroom Color


Second Guest Bedroom Color


Craft Room Color


Our Bedroom Color


I still haven't settled on a color for the ensuite bathroom. I want something soothing and relaxing, so I'll get that posted when I pick it out.

Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow...

Greetings from the snowy lands of southern Ontario!

We are just enjoying some hot chocolate, after playing outside in the snow with the kids, and I wanted to share some of our recent photos.

In case you hadn't heard, we've gotten a bit of snow here in Guelph. Oddly, we are enjoying it rather than grumbling about it. The kids had a great time playing outside this afternoon, helping Daddy shovel and making snow angels.

Click on all of them to see the full-sized version.

The house is coming along, although they still aren't done the shingles. They put in temporary stairs so we could check out the upstairs. The kids really enjoyed taking a look around, and they both got to check out the beginnings of their new rooms.

It's looking good inside so far, we haven't taken too many photos of the inside because it really won't make much sense until the dry wall is up. Hard to really visualize much.

Here's a front shot though:



The Kitchen, With Pipes



The kids are getting soooooo excited for Christmas! Jay bought us some really cute stockings, even though there is no fireplace/mantle.

None the less, I hung them up. The kids get the two big ones, and the smaller ones are for Jay and I:





We've gotten most of the Christmas shopping done, which is one less thing to do this month. Lincoln has a bit of a Christmas concert coming up on the 22nd, and I promise to take photos and maybe some video of that.

It looks like we are going to have a few guests for Christmas dinner on the 25th. We invited some of Jay's co-workers over, who came from Calgary as well, and who aren't going home for Christmas either. I'm looking forward to cooking a turkey and all of the trimmings.

We are hoping to have our sitter, Shay, come and watch the kids one more time before it gets too close to Christmas. His company isn't having a Christmas party this year, so we wanted to get in one more night out together before the holidays and then our trip back to Alberta and all of that. I'd like for us to see a movie, or maybe go out for pub food or sushi.

Our last night out, we had dinner at The Aberfoyle Mill, and it was amazing. It was the best dinner I'd had out in a long time. The atmosphere was rustic and festive, the service was impeccable, and the food was absolutely delicious. We plan to go back there again sometime, maybe for our anniversary in January.

The kids keep asking for Shay, and when we got home after dinner at the mill they told us all about the games she played with them, and showed us all of the pictures they had colored together. We are so lucky to have such a wonderful sitter for the kids, so that Jay and I are still able to spend some time with each other out of the house.

This week we have our brief parent-teacher interview with Lincoln's teacher. Also the food drive starts at his school and I am going to have the kids help me bag up some donations with me to drop off there. They are also collecting some items for a group home here in Guelph, and I want to donate to that as well.

We are all counting down to Christmas here. The kids have those chocolate Christmas calendars, and Lincoln brought home an Advent Chain from school, which is made out of paper and ever night before bed he gets to take one of the rings of the chain off. Of course Sydnie wants one too, so I will help her make one this afternoon.

I hope everyone enjoyed the photos :)

This, That, And The Other Thing

A bit of an update on the house and life in general. We are enjoying a bit of a 'day in' since the roads are a little slick with recent ice and snow fall. I decided it would be a great opportunity to upload photos, write a blog update, and maybe get my Christmas cards done!

I don't have any recently house photos unfortunately. The guys have been working on the house almost every day (even through last weekend) and I feel weird snapping pictures while they are mucking about on the roof or having coffee out front of the place.

At any rate, the shingles are getting done. Last time I checked, they were almost done, and I hope they finished yesterday because last night something very odd started to fall from the sky. It was like rain drops, except frozen. Nothing like snow, or hail, but literally rain drops that frozen solid on the way down. All of the school buses in the county were cancelled today, although most schools remained open.

Speaking of school, today I got to observe Lincoln in class for an hour. It's part of the parent-teacher interview process for the younger children. Parents are given the chance to spend some time in class watching how their child is doing, and then a very short feedback session is scheduled with the teacher in the following weeks.

Lincoln was SO excited that I was going to be in his class today. His teacher said he was just about beside himself all morning. I really enjoyed getting to watch him in class. They learned a new letter and did an activity while I was there and I was very impressed with both him and the teacher. He sure has good listening skills, although I think I was distracting for him because he had a bit of a hard time paying attention to the teacher while he was smiling and waving at me.

His teacher told me that she just loves Lincoln and that he is always so polite and sincere. She remarked that his writing (especially his name) and his coloring skills have vastly improved since the beginning of the year. He certainly is better at staying inside of the lines and his printing is really coming along. All in all, very good.

We've also had much excitement around here with Sydnie, who is finally totally potty trained. At the beginning of the week we ran out of diapers, and so I just told her "We don't have any diapers, I guess you'll just have to wear your big girl underwear" and she hasn't had a single accident since then. She doesn't even wear pull-ups at night or anything. We're very proud of her, and she's really good about letting us know when she has to go. Hooray! No more changing of diapers for me :)

5 years and 20,000 diapers later...

This week we have been gearing up for Christmas. Since all of our Christmas decorations are in storage, we decided this year was as good as any to buy a new tree. Jay took yesterday, today, and tomorrow off of work to get the Christmas shopping and preparations done.

Perhaps we have the tree up a bit early, but I figure the kids love it and I'd rather have it up early instead of late.

Sydnie even got a tiny tree of her very own:



Our New Tree







The kids are getting very excited for Christmas, and they were really pleased to see snow on the ground this morning. It's amusing how thrilled they are to be able to wear their winter boots.

Hmmmm... I thought I had more to say, but it seems I've either forgotten or I'm less wordy than usual. I hope everyone is having a good Thursday, and hopefully I'll have more updates over the weekend or early next week.

Really, We've Seen Enough Now

Since there is no real progress on the house to report, and the kids and adults of the household are all well and fine, I thought I would dazzle you with another of my food posts.

Oh the excitement. I can feel how thrilled you are to read that!

In an effort to try new things, I picked up a couple of pepper squash the other day, to have with supper. Right on the label for said squash I found some simple instructions for cooking it that sounded appetizing enough:

"Cut in half, scoop out seeds, fill with brown sugar and butter, bake until tender"

Well, ok, they were a little more detailed than that, but you get the idea.

I present to you now, a photo series about the squash. I know, there is no end to my coolness.

They certainly looked delicious. Sadly, that's about the best part of the story. Jay and I each had a half, and the more of it one ate, the worse it seemed to taste. Perhaps because once you get beyond the part that is saturated in butter and sugar, it just tastes like...squash.

Not our favorite thing, by any means, but it was good to try it at any rate. Squash is cheap so I didn't feel especially bad about not liking it.

Unlike the dragon fruit.

Lincoln had picked out this bright pink, fabulous looking fruit on a trip to the grocery store. I've had it before, and it's really not the tastiest thing in the world, but it's not terrible either. It tastes very much like a really mild melon. Think honeydew, but with next to no flavour. I had a feeling the children would not like it one bit, but I did say they could pick out whatever they wanted.

Since no food post is complete without photos, here we go.







After cutting it up, I was not the least bit surprised that both kids rejected it with horror after their first taste. Since I didn't want to waste it, nor did I want to eat the whole thing myself, I decided to attempt to salvage the fruit and make it more appealing to the minions.

Since even squash tastes good with butter and brown sugar, I decided to try that with the dragon fruit. I mean, it couldn't possibly taste any more boring.



After caramelizing it in a pan with the butter and sugar, the kids were more than happy to eat the remaining fruit, so at least it wasn't wasted.

On our last grocery store tour Sydnie got her starfruit and Lincoln wanted some of those really miniature bananas, so I'll inflict those experiences on you sometime in the near future.

House Plans? Finally?

Ok, we're going to try this out :) I managed to save all of the house plans as images, but in doing so, the quality was decreased somewhat. Still, the names of each room is legible, as long as you view each plan in the largest size.

So, what you need to do is click on each of the smaller images below. They will open up larger in a new window. Above the image should be a small grey magnifying glass that says "All Sizes" beside it. Click on that, and you will then be able to select the Original Size option (again, it's above the image).

Basement Floor Plan



Main Floor Plan



Second Floor Plan



Loft/Master Suite Floor Plan



Let me know if you have any trouble with them. Hopefully this helps everyone to visualize it all better.

Who Lives In A Pineapple Under The Sea?

Many good updates today! Time to grab a cup of coffee and get down to writing it all.

On the weekend we stopped by the new house to take some inside photos and show the kids around. They were sure excited, and ran through each room asking "What is this going to be?" over and over.

Mac and Wesley and their parents moved into their new house a couple of doors down from us. The kids can hardly wait for us to move too so that we can all be neighbours again.

I took some photos of the inside of the main floor (there aren't any stairs yet, so no basement/upstairs pictures). I will try to explain what each photo is of:

Jay's Future Office



The Kitchen



Main Floor Bathroom



Living Room



Dining Room, 'Library Area' and Front Door



From The Front Door, Looking In Towards The Dining Room, Kitchen, And Living Room



Back Yard



Sydnie And Daddy, Checking It Out



Lincoln And Sydnie Approved!




We got a letter last week informing us that our new closing date has been set for January 31st. I guess that's better than the end of February, but we remain unimpressed with Reid Homes overall. I certainly would not recommend anyone else build with them.

That aside, we are looking forward to moving in eventually. We don't plan to move in immediately after we close on the house. Since we will have to pay rent for February anyway, I plan to get as much of the painting done as possible before we have to start hauling in furniture. Yes, I am crazy, and I plan to do quite a bit of interior painting myself again.

The kids both want their rooms to be painted similarly to the old place, so I am going to do that. Also, our room will be black again (we got quite attached to that color in the last place) and the bathrooms are going to have to be painted as well. The painter just uses that cheap construction-grade matte paint that cannot be washed or wiped of spots. If we want to upgrade the finish to sometime just slightly less crappy, it'll cost us 25 cents per square foot. Not money I am willing to spend when I can do it myself, especially since I actually quite enjoy painting.

The painter is still going to be painting the whole house with a grey color that I will leave on the walls in the basement, hallways, closets, etc. That way if I don't get everything done before moving day, there will still be something on the walls at any rate.

Jay and I really enjoyed a few hours out on Saturday night! The babysitter (Shay) was great. The kids were still up when we left and she had no trouble putting them to bed. Jay and I went to this little pub called The Penny Whistle and had a pint of beer and some nachos. They serve pub food and Indian food of all things. It was really tasty, and apparently on Thursday nights they have a curry buffet, so we are going to see about try that sometime soon. We had a really good time, and talked a lot about our plans for the new house. Being kid-free for just a few hours was wonderful.

We were really impressed with the sitter, and the kids adore her. Sydnie was upset in the morning that Shay had gone home, so I don't worry about leaving them as much. Clearly both Lincoln and Sydnie like having her over (they hardly even cared when Jay and I left) and she does a great job playing with them and listening to all their stories. How fortunate for us to have found her!

Yesterday we took the kids to see Bee Movie after lunch. They sure enjoyed that, and so did we. They both behaved so well and sat through the entire movie without having to go to the bathroom or making any noise. What a cute movie! Now that they are old enough to get into movies more we are hoping to take them to the theater once in a while for a treat. There aren't always good kids movies out, so I doubt it'll be too often, but it was a great way to spend the afternoon. Especially now that the weather is cooler and they don't want to be outside as much.

Jay has a couple of days off coming up here later in the month and we plan to do all of our Christmas shopping then. With the Canadian dollar being so good, we were thinking of driving down to Buffalo, NY to do some shopping. Apparently they have outlet malls there like you wouldn't believe! It's only a little over and hours drive to get down there, so it might be a fun day trip.

Speaking of Christmas shopping, I wanted to mention a few things in regards to gift giving when it comes to the kids. I know we've already talked about it with pretty much everyone, but now that we have to fly back and forth, we cannot possibly handle the amount of stuff that the kids usually receive. I really hate to restrict what people can buy for them, but realistically, we'll have to leave some of it behind or spend money to ship it out here if everyone gives them a lot of bulky gifts.

So, we are requesting politely that everyone try to keep it to something small, and then if you want to give something additional, a gift card would be ideal. They both need clothes (long pants, sweaters, long sleeved shirts) and Lincoln especially likes having new clothes for school.

Lincoln wears size 5, or even size 6, or else youth small. He really likes all superheros and Transformers stuff. Sydnie just started wearing size 4, and she really likes anything with horses, puppies, kitties, or butterflies on it.

Books are ok as well, if you don't want to give clothes. Also gift cards from pretty much anywhere are fantastic, especially if they can put it towards stuff for their new rooms (they are both getting new beds and will need new bedding, pictures for their walls, etc). Since the move has been difficult for them, we are letting them choose as much of their own stuff as possible (they both picked out their own paint colors already).

I really hope that doesn't seem too restrictive, however, with the luggage limits and all the stuff we have to bring just to visit everyone for 10 days, we just can't haul much back with us.

The birthday party that Lincoln went to on Saturday was a lot of fun. He didn't want to roller skate because there was a huge play area in the Rollerama, which kept all the kids well entertained. The owners of the Rollerama (which is in Cambridge, another city near to us) are building one here in Guelph as well. It's just like an old roller rink. They have special nights where they play music from the 60's and 70's as well, which I think is really neat. Jay and I are thinking we will all have to go as a family sometime in the spring. I might have to go by myself a few times to learn how to roller skate though, or I'll be falling over more than the kids, HA HA.

Lincoln is already talking about plans for his birthday party next summer. I am just hoping they get the sod in before then so that we can have something in the back yard. Honestly, I'm not holding out much hope, but you never know. If not, we can throw a party in the house, since we'll have the big basement and such.

We hope everyone had a good weekend! Keep your fingers crossed that they get the shingles on the house this week. I'll post another update if there is more progress.

Actual Conversation (Act 3)

Apparently, saying:

"Lincoln, I don't want to hear any more about Hot Wheels for the rest of the day!"

actually means:

"PLEASE TALK ABOUT NOTHING BUT HOT WHEELS FOR THE NEXT 45 MINUTES, UNTIL MY EARS START TO BLEED!!!"

Whatever You Do! Don't!

I promised more updates on the house! They are getting ready to shingle, but it snowed here all day so they had to postpone. However, the doors and windows are in, so you can take a look below. As always, click images to see them full-sized.

Jay figures that one the shingles are on, it'll be 6-8 weeks before we move in. So, hopefully mid-January if they keep up the pace.

Today we had our first snowfall (as you can see in the photos) but it didn't really hang around. By the time Jay got home from work he couldn't even tell that it had snowed.

I took a few photos at the gym the other day (no, NOT the locker rooms, ha ha) so that you can see what our Childminding Room looks like.











Lincoln is enjoying school. He's doing really well with his numbers, and we're still working on learning his letters (identifying them by sight and knowing what sounds they make). I also got his school picture order form this week. He looks so cute! We ordered a larger package so that everyone who wants a photo can have one.

Recently, in order to help them behave at the grocery store, I've started letting them each pick out an item from the produce section that they have never tried before. During the last trip, Sydnie picked out a pomegranate, and Lincoln picked out a dragon fruit. They really enjoy this little 'tradition' of ours, and Sydnie informs me that her next choice is going to be a star fruit.

The other day I cut the pomegranate open and cleaned out all the seeds into a bowl for them. They were fascinated by it, which was quite adorable. You'd think Christmas had arrived, they were so excited. I didn't really expect them to like it so much, but they ate the entire bowl full.

I think it's good to encourage them to try new things, food-wise. Letting them pick the items themselves makes it more appealing because it's not like us forcing them to eat something they aren't sure about.

They wanted me to take a picture of it, and so I did.



This weekend we are having the sitter over for a few hours on Saturday evening. I am having her come at the time when the kids go to bed so that I can show her their routine in case we ever have her watch them at a time she will have to put them to bed. She'll stay after they are sleeping so that Jay and I can go to a movie, or to the pub for wings and beer. I'm looking forward to that.

Lincoln also has his first classmate Birthday Party to go to on Saturday. A girl from his class sent home an invitation last week, and he said he wanted to go. The party is being held at Rollerama, which could be interesting. If Lincoln ends up on roller skates, I will take pictures to show everyone.

We booked our flights this week, for our trip out in Dec/Jan. I'll write out our itinerary closer to the date, so that people who are able to visit us, can coordinate times/places.

Hopefully everyone had a good week!

Beneath A Shelter Built By Many Hands

More pictures of the house! I'm starting to feel a little more optimistic that we'll actually be in before the end of February. Click on the images to see them full-sized.

Now that they are actually working on it again, I will post more regular updates of the progress.

A couple of weeks ago I taught myself how to crochet. It's nice to have a hobby that I can take with me to the gym (when I am volunteering there, sometimes it's really slow and I have lots of opportunity to crochet) or while watching the kids, etc.

I've made two projects thus far, basically to experiment and get some practice in before I attempt anything more difficult. Sydnie and Lincoln have already requested that I make them hats, so those are next on the list.

So Spooooooooky!

I promised Halloween photos! Here they are :) Lincoln went as Spiderman, and Sydnie went as a kitty. They both had a blast, and got so much candy that we had to stop at home and unload half-way through our walk in the neighbourhood.

We had quite a few kids at our house. Seems that the row of townhouses is a popular stretch. We had just over 60 kids (Jay kept count) which was actually a nice change from Airdrie where we only got 10-15. A lot of the kids commented on our pumpkin, which we had lit up with a red glowstick inside (much safer than a candle). They seemed to like that a lot. Usually I light my pumpkins with a string of mini lights tucked inside, but all of our Christmas stuff is in storage.

Luckily, everyone was done Trick Or Treating when the rain hit. Our pumpkins looked really neat in the rain, glowing away on the steps. Those glowsticks last a long time.

I have updates to post on the house as well, so check back for those after the weekend.

Not For A Month Of Sundays

I apologise for the lack of updates! I've been procrastinating about it, which just won't do.

Anyway, everything seems to have settled back into our semi-chaotic routine after returning from our trip. Lincoln continues to enjoy school, and he had picture day last week, so whoever wants a school photo of him, get in touch!

Sydnie has adapted well to being without him during the day. We generally keep ourselves busy, some days we have so many things to do we are running around the whole time he is at school. I think she enjoys being my special helper, especially on Tuesdays when we volunteer at the gym.

I've also taken to attending an aerobics class on Thursday mornings, and she loves going to the child minding, while I work out. It took me almost half an hour to get her to leave with me yesterday. She gets a chance to play with other kids while her brother isn't around.

They are both getting very excited for Halloween. Lincoln wants to be the Bumblebee Transformer, but he may have to settle for SpiderMan if we can't find him a costume. Sydnie wants to be a puppy, which I know will be SO cute. I promise to post photos here of them in their costumes.

Progress on the house has been slower than we would like, but it's moving forward at any rate, so I guess we can't complain. I drove by today and they were laying the floor for the loft. I didn't get a photo, but the ones below are fairly current anyway, since they hadn't touched it in some days (prior to today).

Click on any of the following images to see the full-sized version. I make them smaller here so that they fit on the page better.

I'll take some more updated photos once the roof is on. We also went to the plumber supply to pick out the bath tub for the Master Ensuite. You can see the product details if you click here. Because of where the tub will be situated we were able to chose a square one, which I think we will like better over the corner tub we had before.

We've decided to upgrade some of our faucets as well:


This is the primary kitchen faucet we chose




Due to the water softener, we will also have a separate line/tap for drinking water at the kitchen sink. This will be our beverage faucet




The bathroom faucets will all look like this:




Our ensuite tub filler looks like this:



Jay and I recently did a short 'test run' with a babysitter for the kids. I met her through the gym, as she is a volunteer there as well. She's 17 and seems very responsible. She has current CPR/First Aid training and was really fantastic with the children at the child minding. We left the kids in her care for about 4 hours last weekend, and they have been asking me when she can come and watch them again! That is a really good sign, and Lincoln tells me that she played games with them and cooked them pizza (she also did the dishes after supper, which I appreciated). Being so far from family, it's such a blessing to find someone we can trust with the kids for a few hours.

Her family seems nice and her mother or fat