Trunk-or-treat

Trunk or Treat!

Tonight Ryan and I took N&E to a local church party (my two brothers and their families attend here). Everyone parks their cars in the lot, opens up the trunk and decorates them, then the children go trick-or-treating from car to car. People go all out - music, fog machines, spooky decorations, games and contests and more. I think there were probably 75-100 cars there - sounded a little weird, but ended up being a great Halloween activity. After we 'trunk-or-treated' we headed inside the church for a party, inlcuding dinner and a dj. N&E had such a wonderful time, especially with the dancing. Emerson was CRAZED and dancing around like a little monkey maniac. Norah met lots of girls and invited/forced them to dance with her - she even learned the Monster Mash. At one point I turned around and saw Ryan do a little jig with her. I am pretty sure the last time Ryan danced was at our wedding!

Happy Halloween!

Halloween with the Great g'rents

G&G had a big Halloween party today and we invited ourselves. :-) It was great! Pianist, band, endless treats - N&E danced and played, keeping everyone entertained. Can't wait for next year!

Ballet-Tink

Norah REALLY wanted to wear her Halloween costume to ballet today. We comprimised - dress - yes, wings - no!

Pre-school Halloween

Emerson and I were invited to attend Norah's pre-school Halloween party. The kids paraded around the high school and stopped at various places to trick or treat. Norah was a blur - I had a hard time catching any photos of her! Emerson soon figured out how it all worked and would walk up and say 'treat', then sign thank you when he received candy. Most people thought he was blowing kisses, but good enough!

Norah, next to Hadley with Emerson right behind.

Heading in the school...

Double Trouble

Miss Josie spent the day with us - we loved having her! J and Emerson were all over the place, pestering Norah, finding creative new ways to play with toys, and jsut generally enjoying themselves. Josie came with us to Norah's ballet/tap class, where she found herself a pair of tapshoes and an empty studio and began dancing. She really kept us all entertained!

N&E's first Halloween Party

Tonight Norah and Emerson hosted their first Halloween party! We bobbed for apples, made Halloween picture frames, played games and ate yummy treats. It was so much fun, we'll have to do it again next year!

Boo Norsk

Tonight we enjoyed the first of our Halloween parties for the holiday - Boo Norsk, at the Norse Hall. We met Ryan after work, then carved mini-pumpkins and played lots of games. Fun times! Tink and her pumpkin

Emerson was not ito wearing his costume (James, from Thomas the Tank Engine), so he ran around as Emerson.

Norah and the Norse Hall Troll

Tumbling Time

Emerson and I have had so much fun in our parent-tot tumbling class! E is so independent, he refuses to let me hold his hand or help with anything. But he really loves the mini-obstacle course and trampoline, and by week 5 he has finally decided to participate in the warm up session (in the past he would warm up for a few seconds, then run off to an interesting piece of equipment). Last week we invited my sister-in-law, Dannelle, and little Josie to join us. Josie was too cute to watch - and Dannelle was really cute too, of course... :-)

Emerson and Josie, heading down the slide

While E and I are in our class, Norah is taking her gymnastics class. Its like playtime on steroids, with all the fun things to do there!

Pumpkin "Carving"

I must have been feeling a little Scrooge-ish very early in the year... Instead of ripping open our pumpkins and doing full on carving, I laid a blanket down on the carpet and got out the washable markers. The kids still had lots of fun and clean up was very easy. :-)Norah and Emerson had very different techniques, as you can see...



But both ended up with the same messy hands!

Oliver's Annual Update

Since Oliver's mom doesn't love him enough to blog for him, I will...

Is he cute, or what?!!

And...Happy 10th Anniversary!

Pumpkin Patch 2008

One of my fave activities with Norah and Emerson - the pumpkin patch! This year we found a patch near home. During the rest of the year its a great veggie stand attached to a local family farm -when we went to pick out pumpkins I didn't realize it would be such big deal. They had pony rides, pumpkin slingshots (E loved these), animals, hay maze, hay pyramid, apple cider press, tractors galore - and of course the requisite hay ride and pumpkin patch. We had a great time!

Emerson had to hug his pumpkins - those that he didn't hug he was giving gentle pets too. Of course, then he would pick them up and drop them....

Playing at Kimmie's school

Aunt Katie and Kim - look at Katie go!

Kimmie's 6th Birthday Party

Guns in the Classroom

Norah with her craft in one hand and gun in the other.

As Norah comes running up to me after school today, holding tightly to her teacher's hand, she yells "MAMA, I BROUGHT A GUN TO SCHOOL"!

Being the good and responsible (read - humiliated and confused) mom I am, I immediately tried to shush her and scoot her away from the teacher. After inspection, it seems my little monkey packed Emerson's pirate gun into her backpack before school today. Of all the toys! I would have guessed an extra purse packed with little fairies, pieces of her jewelry, perhaps a stuffed animal friend? The standard favorites! Nope. She went for a gun, a toy she hardly ever touches.

And so ends our first week of pre-school!

Norah's First Day of Preschool (aka, How to Make Mama Cry Like a Baby)

Today was Norah's first day of preschool! She picked out her outfit and backpack with much care.

Emerson had to get in on the photo action!
Whoa, that flag is really far up there.
Our big girl, all ready to go! I lifted her out of the car, turned to close the door, turned back as I heard her say, Bye Mom! Apparently she wasn't too upset to have us leave her there without us. Too bad for her, we had to come in and take a peek. :-)
Norah and Hadley. Yes! Hadley is enrolled at the same school, great news for these best friends. It looks like Norah already has the sorority photo pose mastered. ;-)

Katie and Hadley

After I picked Norah up from school I was trying to help her put her backpack on. She told me to leave it slung over one shoulder, she was wearing it that way because thats how dad wears his to work.
Lining up to head into the classroom

Listening to her teacher - a good sign. We left after she settled in for story time. Sad for me, so happy for her!

Emerson and I enjoyed some one-on-one time while Norah was at school. Since we had to go to the store (lame activity for him) I let him ride in the super duper back seat, which is so fun because it is usually a big no-no. As you can see, he made the most of it.
E reads this book over and over in the car - I can't believe its held his attention for so long!

Happy Anniversary to us.......!

Our 8th Anniversary

Monday is our 8th anniversary - and Ryan surprised me when he arrived home from work on Friday, with fun presents and plans in hand for a weekend visit to The Heathman Lodge. Its a rustic style luxury hotel, here in Vancouver. We enjoyed a romantic dinner in the restaurant, near a blazing fireplace, and lots of peaceful alone time.
I stole this off the Heathman's website... Replaced the random other peeps with Ry and me on our balcony (in case you thought we are part of their online advertising). :-)

I was fascinated with this lamp
View from the balcony, looking in. It was a perfect, romantic getaway!

More, More, More, Zoo, Zoo, Zoo

Spur of the moment trip to the Zoo today, with cousin Hadley in tow. Emerson was great - I let him walk for most of the time (as opposed to sitting in the stroller) and he stayed close by. He has a history of running away like a crazed child, so this was a nice change of pace. :-) There is a temporary interactive frog exhibit - I think they liked climbing on the statue outside the most, however. E is really fascinated with frogs now-a-days and this captured his interest.
The little statue garden is always a fave!

Norah told me this bear is her favorite mom...I asked her what about me...and she said I can be her favorite aunt. :-)