Twice the trouble, twice the fun

Since we had Brooke & Bailey this weekend & Robb & Michele were going to be coming over today I was hoping to be able to get a picture of my two sets of twin nieces. However, Brooke &Bailey (sorry, "Bailee" as she now likes to spell it) were just heading out the door when the Taylor 5 arrived. So, again no picture.

I told the girls this weekend that people often find it interesting that each of our brothers had twin girls, but Brad & I were "spared". I advised Brooke & Bailey that we love to have them stay with us & that they always make me laugh, but we also get the joy of shipping them home & not dealing with all the work that ultimately comes with having twins.

Getting a good picture of Gracie & Maddy together can be tricky, so I am settling for individual shots.

October/November in Review

Same story, no posting...so here are some shots from the last month.

Another Taylor turns 40....

Pumpkin Hike
Went for a hike at night where the trail was only lit by jack-o-lanterns that Mac students had carved with some public school students. It was pretty neat, but a rather tricky trail at night with very little light to lead your way! Afterwards they also had activities for the kids which in theory were great, but there just was not enough light to make it work very well.

Halloween
Bringing out the power tools to help design the pumpkins was a first for us. I think Brad was inspired by some of the creations at the pumpkin hike.

The kids enjoyed smashing the house on Halloween. Hardly needed all that chocolate though before going out to collect even more candy. After trick-or-treating Sydney didn't even want anything because her belly was too full from the house still.

Gracie & Maddy were cute, but walking in their costumes presented a bit of an issue. Eventually Mommy & Daddy Graham Wafer needed to take the marshmallows back to our house.

Free models
My sister-in-law works for Parks Canada part-time at the Haida & we were their free models for the day. Not sure how the pictures turned out, but we will see if we ever get published.


Early Birthday for Brooke & Bailey
The girls were with us this weekend & since we will not see them until after Christmas & their birthdays are before then...they got gifts early. I made them a cake too & Brad decorated it with the kids, however I would not put 9 candles for them each to blow out as I was afraid it would be bad luck so soon before their birthday. Apparently the shirts I picked were a good choice, because Lisa too picked the same shirts & now has some returning to do.


Santa Claus Parade
After seeing 3 parades last year, this year we will limit to one & our parade was last night. I thought it was pretty good, but getting 8 kids dressed and out the door quickly makes for some harried time.

Best babysitting service ever...

This afternoon Brad & I went to see Social Network (which was a very entertaining movie) and Mom watched the kids for us. She wanted to make Haunted Houses with the kids, so we left her to it & went to see a movie.

What a deal for us for the following reasons:

• she watches our kids & does not charge
  
• she does a very involved activity with them that we did not need to be a part of
• the result of that activity leaves us with 2 chocolate houses (Sydney will take one to Sparks & we get to eat Jason's)

I was thinking that the hours that Brad put into fixing her computer over the last week made it a pretty fair trade of services, however she did need a drink by the end so maybe it wasn't as fair is we thought. :)

Notice Sydney's face?
I think there was a lot of sampling during her creative process.

Dear Bisbees...

This is Baby Ella & she has been missing for about 6 weeks now. Which coincidentally is the same time that we went apple picking with....your family!

We have searched our home high & low looking for Baby Ella, so if your children (or likely Matthew since he hid her in Elefun that day) happen to remember the really cool place that they found to hide her- it would be appreciated if they could share that spot with us. We really miss her!

Update...

Just received a call from my friend who was in at the school this morning to let me know that she got Jason to his class safely. She met Sydney & Jason in the hall & Sydney said she was taking Jason to class, but Kelly offered to instead. Thanks Kelly. She said that Jason looked a little overwhelmed, but not scared. Not surprising, the halls at school are crazy in the morning!

Sydney told me that the bus gets her to school late, which did lead me to fear that there was no way Mrs. Mackey would be able to greet the bus. I asked Sydney to be sure Jason got to class & the good girl that she is was doing her part...but where was the teacher that was supposed to meet the bus??? I don't want Sydney to get in trouble for being late for class, but I also don't want Jason aimlessly wandering the halls. I think I will need to speak with the teacher when I pick him up.

Jason's First Day of School

Well, the baby left the nest this morning & he did great through the whole experience. When we asked him if he was excited for school he said yes & when we asked him why his answer was that he liked his teacher. That is good news for us & makes this whole experience easier. We met with his teacher, Mrs. Mackey, last spring in an open house type of setting & again last week in a one-on-one setting. From everything I have heard from other parents she is a wonderful teacher & I am so thankful that she is the one to introduce Jason to a formal school setting.

Last week she gave Jason a packet of magic sparkles that he was to put under his pillow last night & included a poem that told him that these sparkles would help him get a good night's sleep so that he was ready for school the next day. It also said that she was excited about school so she too would sprinkle some under her pillow so that she too would get a good night sleep.

Magic sparkles
Sydney too is very excited for his first day
Miss Carrie greets Jason & directs him where to sit, not that he listened to her.
She was also happy that he has a big sister with him.

Inviting Fall...

This weekend we were going to go camping which was my idea, but with the weather last week my camping desire definitely diminished, so instead we went apple picking which was a much better way to spend the day.

I too had a birthday last week, next year is the 'big' one.

I have some time to figure out how I would like to mark it;)

Six years old + a day...

I tried to do Sydney's birthday post last night, but Blogger was down so alas here it is a day late.

You are very adamant that I no longer call you my "little girl", but I have to tell you that it will possibly be forever that I think of you has my little girl. It doesn't matter that you are growing into a girl with your own opinions, thoughts, and dreams...you will always be my "little girl". However, in recognition of your "grown up" self we are making some changes that are appropriate for a grown up girl. You are now expected to make your own bed or at least have a large part in helping & you also like to get your own snacks from the cupboard. Within reason, I like giving you the freedom to choose what you would like to have & get it for yourself. The line is still drawn at using the stool to get anything out of the fridge. It isn't that you can't do it, but more that we don't want our energy bills to skyrocket because the fridge is open for so long.

The largest part of your free time is still spent doing crafts & you protest HUGELY whenever asked to clean up your craft table. You make the mess, you clean it up. I like that crafting is your favoured activity, but I don't like the mess you often leave behind. You have also grown an interest in dinosaurs, not as intense as your brother, mind you, but you do seem interested & you will play with him & his bucket full of dinosaurs.

This summer you played soccer & you really enjoyed it. There was a big improvement over last summer & I am sure that you will want to play again next year. You also learned how to ride your bike without training wheels this summer which is great! You LOVE the monkey bars, you are quite the climber! On holidays you were able to get yourself all the way across their flat monkey bars which you were very proud of. You tend to also climb/jump on us, which is often not one of our favourite activities.

Next week you start ballet which you are very excited about. I think your Dad & I are on the fence about this dance stuff, but if you like it that is what we are focused on. You decided not to take swimming lessons this fall, so we will maybe wait until after Christmas or March Break to start that again. You love the water & are a little fish, so we will give you the break. I think ballet & Sparks will be enough to keep you busy this fall, especially with me starting as your Sparks leader.

Your teacher this year has already told me that you are a "model student", so let's hope that continues. You were a little hesitant about going into Grade 1 because you did not want to go to school for the whole day. I am sure by next week you will be having so much fun at school that you will forget you were hesitant about school. I am sure you are looking forward to recess & more opportunity to play with Max who is still your favourite person in the world.

You are still pretty sensitive and easily brought to tears, but hopefully this sensitivity will always mean that you are sweet and kind to others.

You are still definitely a "Daddy's Girl"

I think you had fun at your birthday. Your brother went to play with his friends & came back for cake, so again Max was your token male at the party.
Rachel, Evelyn & Max were the first ones done. We didn't make Max do a Tinkerbell pillowcase, he got a specially made Pikachoo (sp?) one to colour

First Day of School 2010

Today Sydney went off to school on the bus for her first day of Grade One. She was looking forward to it & was bubbly with anticipation, but not too over the top excited. This year she is back to taking a bus & due to the construction there is very limited parking so I am tickled to avoid going there at "rush" times as much as possible. I am hoping to get Jason courtesy transportation ASAP!

These two really can melt my heart.

She made it home safe & sound

You will see from the pictures below that their new school is currently under construction at the other end of their school yard. So in addition to no parking near the school, it also means very little outdoor play area for the kids. I am truly hoping that the rewards of them going to a brand new school will make the pain of this coming year a distant memory.

To build in this town, you need to blast away a lot of rock.
I am sure the kids today were dreaming of climbing & playing on this rock pile.

Tomorrow we go meet with Jason's teacher & his first big day is next week...stay tuned. :)

It's a blur

I cannot believe the summer is gone. I have not blogged, heck I have barely edited the pictures that we took. However, there are some moments that I definitely want to be sure to capture. Here is some of what we've been up to...

Camping with the Bisbees
We went to Bronte Provincial Park to test out the tent we got for Christmas. We had fun, but it was an interesting weather weekend. We had blue skies, lots of wind, black clouds & hail. Neat to be able to "get away" close to home, but they really need to fix the fact that to do anything at Bronte you need to leave the camping section, travel the QEW to get to the day park where the activities are...don't really feel like you are "getting away" when you need to go on the highway.

waiting out the hail & rain
the hail was no joke...
what can I say???
snug as a bug

Soccer
As stated, Jason didn't really embrace soccer this year, but Sydney really seemed to enjoy it.


Bisbee North
We had a great weekend with the Bisbees & it brought a close to celebrating Jason's birthday for almost a week. We always appreciate their hospitality & like to see how much fun the kids have together. This year Sydney informed us that she was going to marry Matthew. However, Matthew says he's "not ready yet". :)

I joked that they were discussing which finger the ring will go on.

Visiting Cousins
We had a full house for a few days when Regan, Brooke & Bailey came for a visit. Sydney returned home with them for a day & was devastated to leave the fun that she has with her cousins.

Jason finally started putting his head under water, willingly.

Camping at The Pinery with Robb, Mich, & MGM
There are two words that describe this week. Hot & dirty. The first night was interesting with Maddie being the last one to go to sleep. Tent sleeping was a bit of a challenge with the twins. The other noteworthy happening was that Jason finally embraced peeing standing up. Apparently all it took was the opportunity to pee in the woods to finally move him to this stage in life. Gracie liked to accompany him on each of his journeys.

Jason loved chasing the seagulls

The are apparently supposed to be a 5-headed monster. The guy in the background clearly thinks they are nuts.

Sydney found a new jumping board

Camp Fisherman
Mom joined us for a few days at the cottage & was really nice to have her there. She got to see the results of Sydney's first day on two wheels, no more training wheels for her! This kids loved that she took them for ice cream & we loved that kids played so well together for the week. I was a little worried when they had spent the week before with the company of their cousins. By the end of the week Sydney was sad that when she goes to school all day she will miss playing with Jason all day...ah. Our week was a little cool, but we had plenty of time to enjoy Sandy Lake, the trampoline (the kids favourite), Peterborough Zoo & thanks to Mom Brad & I had a date night.

The biggest change for this vacation was Jason's love of the water. He was typically the last one out of the water & at the splash pad he played while Sydney sat out for most of it.

Sydney is a swinging, climbing machine

Hanging out with friends
When we finished our weeks of holidays we connected again with friends and found a new place to play in Hamilton. There really are some nice spots and they just are not "advertised" enough.