So cute....

Senior Kindergarten

An early glimpse of Santa

Today we went to the Hamilton Santa Claus parade. I've never gone to it before, but the company Brad works for (I originally wrote "we", I guess TU is isn't quite out of my blood yet) was entering a float for the first time. I was skeptical since I remember being told one year that the local Waste Management company put in their truck & did not clean it first. There was a garbage truck in again this year, but it was painted pink & had support breast cancer fund raising information posted on it & it was also sparkling clean & smelling fresh. All in all, it was a pretty good parade.

It moved fast & had quite a few bands (which are my favourite part). The fact that it was over 13 degrees today didn't hurt either. Kim & Pete are visiting mom this weekend to get some Christmas shopping done, so Mom & Regan came along for the fun too. It sure beat the cold that Mom & I stood in last year during the Burlington parade.

My winner for best float

"City of Waterfalls", not typically one's first thought about Hamilton

The "Save the Greyhound" participants came up close for a personal touch.

Super Stinger Award

At Sydney's school they have a monthly citizenship award called the "Super Stinger" & each month a different attribute is recognized. The first one was for caring & Sydney & a little boy in her class were selected by the teacher.

When describing why Sydney was chosen, Sydney's teacher stated that she:

• always take care of her work area
• always volunteer to help Mme. Locke
• regularly shows care for her stuff and the classroom
• never speaks when someone else is speaking

Although each month a different child is selected & by the end of the year each child will have an award...and although I think the main reason Sydney was selected was because I was there the day before & the teacher could tell me to come the next day to see her get her award- I still have pride about seeing her get her bee pin. Because at the end of the day, the way Mme. Locke described Sydney was true.

Halloween, all day

Since Halloween fell on a Saturday this year, we thought that we would have a brunch in the morning so that the kids could enjoy their costumes...all day. This way too, playing in the morning should wear them out good so that they nap well & can stay up later in the evening. So, last Saturday we welcomed 16 kids into our home with their parents to celebrate Halloween. We had the tables set up so that we could eat in 2 shifts. Kids first, then parents. I wish I had gotten a picture of all 18 kids sitting & eating because it was really neat, but I was too busy flipping pancakes. I made WAY TOO MUCH FOOD! We had leftovers for supper that night (even invited my Mom to help us), breakfast & lunch the next day & even some left over for Monday. In addition, I have a complete 9x13 pan of baked apple french toast in the freezer because clearly one was more than enough. Guess what we are having on Xmas morning?

I am missing 3 kids, not sure where they went.

We have wonderful neighbours & some of them agreed to receive trick or treaters early. I learned that night that one of my neighbours was hoping we would come down there. I didn't think it was right for us to just go out & start knocking on neighbours doors at noon, but I will remember her next time! It was crazy madness for a couple of hours, but it was a lot of fun for the kids & I think the adults enjoyed themselves too. I would definitely do it again, but by the time Halloween falls on a Saturday again, the kids will be into completely different things. I guess next time it might need to be a supper party rather than a breakfast party.


Our evening of trick or treating was much calmer. After doing our street, Jason was ready to go home. Sydney & her dad finished the block, but as expected our neighbourhood was pretty quiet. We had a total of 11 kids.


In the summer Sydney told me that she wanted to be a butterfly & we bought her wings pretty early. The week before Halloween she switched to wanting to be a fairy because she wanted to use the wand that came with her costume. Thank goodness that she at least stayed within the theme of her existing costumer & didn't change to want to be something completely different. Of course when it came time to actually use the wand that came with her costume, it was nowhere to be found & is still missing- sure to arrive some day. Sydney says that it really was a magic wand & disappeared on its own. Thank goodness we had a backup.


Brad is appalled by Jason's costume. He thinks it is the most ridiculous costume. Jason told us he wanted to be a dinosaur & when I found a dinosaur that was his favourite colour I bought it immediately. I told Brad that he needed to be quiet, this was probably the last year that I would be able to dress him up in something cute & suitable for a little boy because next year he would be in school & likely wanting to dress up as some superhero.

Sydney, Max, Maddie, Gracie, & Jason

Max Invasion

I have been terrible at posting lately for a couple of reasons. I don't seem to spend too much time on the computer & it has been really busy. The last couple of weeks were even busier than normal for 2 reasons. (1) we had Max with us for 8 days while Robb & Michele went to Cuba to celebrate their 10th anniversary & (2) I was preparing for a Halloween party- more on that later.

Having Max was a blast for the kids & pretty fun for us too. However, the following lessons were learned during the Max Invasion:

• getting anywhere with 3 kids takes longer than getting there with 2
• even one more child changes the volume level a great deal (& that volume level seems to stay even though the 3rd child has gone home again)
• since Sydney & Jason love to play "baby", Max taught them wonderful ways to make a crib (i.e. taking the cushions off the couch & placing them as walls, so now our cushions are forever lying around the basement)

Aside from moments involved in those lessons, it was pretty fun to have him here. I wonder what he truly thought of it. First, Brad & I are very different than Robb & Michele, so the experience definitely could not have been much like home. Second, Max is VERY attached to his mom & I was worried about how homesick he would be for her, but aside from the first night he did really well. Poor Robb, Max kept counting down the days until his mom came home & occasionally included his dad in the countdown. I know Max was happy to see his dad on their return, but it was his mom that he was itching to see.


The sleeping arrangements involved him sharing a room with Sydney. We knew better than to put them both to bed together, especially when Max needed to get to school every morning so the giggling before bed needed to be kept to a minimum. Sydney claimed that Max did not understand how you sleep with another person because she claimed that she laid straight & he took up more room by curling in a ball. But the photo below shows that Sydney got in Max's personal space too. Sydney claims that her dad put her arm around Max, but that is not true. The last night that Max was here I went to check on them & Max had an arm on Sydney's shoulder & the other on top of her head. By the time I got back with the camera, Sydney had moved so I missed the photo- but it was pretty cute.


Oh & the other lesson I learned is that you can never assume that all kids like to shower. I think I scarred Max for life by having him take a shower one morning. I felt like I was exposing him to a torture chamber. He did tell his mom about it, so I was right in my interpretation that he definitely did not like it.

Family game night involved playing "Life" because Brad thought that the kids would like spinning the wheel. Although that was true, it was a bit of a painful experience even though we played a VERY simplified version of the game. Note that this game if from our childhood & does not accurately represent a salary of today.