Birthday Girl

This past Thursday was Mia's birthday. She turned 7.  I can't believe how fast time flies.  Seems like just yesterday I was snuggling her in our bed minutes after she was born.  She may be much bigger then that day 7 years ago, but she'll always be my little "pinky".

Mia decided that she wanted to have a bowling party this year, so we planned it for Saturday at the New Hamburg Riverside Lanes.  It's a really reasonable party and they provide the pizza, drinks and ice cream.  The kids bowl for an hour (it's 5-pin, so the balls are nice and small) and they they get to be in the party room for an hour.  Everyone had a great time, and the boys and Ryan stayed for a bit and bowled a game too.

I made her cake again this year.  She wanted chocolate with chocolate icing.  Turns out that all the kids were too full from the pizza and ice cream so nobody ate any of my cake.  Ethan was really happy with this though because now he gets to eat it at home.

Mia got some really cool presents, and everything was things that she loved and/or wanted.  I gave her my (very) old iPod Touch and she's quite happy with that. (And really, how can I NOT be happy since that means that I get a new iPhone at the end of the month!)

Fresh From Garden

We planted a garden this year and we finally got something good from it!

You see, in May and June, we got so much rain that half of the plants and seeds drowned.  Then we got the heat wave, and the things that survived the rainy season, fried in the heat.  My cucumbers and peas never were any good.

I did get 2 nice cauliflowers! One I gave to my Grandma and the other one to Cindy.  I also have Kale, TONS of Kale.  We like it cooked slightly and mixed in with mashed potatoes and sausage in a Dutch food that I can't spell, but love to eat.  I have so much that I think I'm going to start blanching it and freezing it for the winter time.

I also have some broccoli still growing and some carrots that I think are still growing.

But today I got my first pepper!  It was just a little guy, but it tasted really good!

I will definately plant another garden next year, but I've learned from this year.  I won't plant nearly as much kale and more peppers.  I will NOT plant any lettuce.

Happy harvesting!

Mia's 5!

Mia turned 5 on Dec 8....I can't believe how fast time flies...

I made her cake this year...the first time I've ever made one too.  I was going to make pink frosting, but at the last second she decided that she wanted purple...thank goodness Anne has loaned me red AND blue food colour!

Opening presents while her cousin looks on....

This picture I just thought was really really cute...

My Ballerina

In August, we signed Mia up for Dance Camp at the new Premier Dance Academy in Waterloo. She got to try Jazz , Tap and Ballet...but she really liked and was good at the Ballet. She begged her dad to sign her up, so we did. She goes once a week and she's loving it!

This is her full little Ballerina outfit...you can't really tell, but the tights and shoes are pink and the rest is white....she's sooo cute!

Sick Days

My poor little Mia is not feeling good today, so she climbed into bed beside me. I couldn't resist taking this picture!


At the same time as Mia is sleeping in my bed, I'm trying to relax, but Lewis is driving me bonkers. I remembered that I had bought him some really big raw hide sticks purposfully for this week so that they could occupy him when I needed it. So I gave him one. I can't believe how big it is compared to him.

Daddy and His Girls

It's a rare moment when either of us get to sit and snuggle with the kids, so I just had to take this picture of Ryan and the girls watching the Leaf game the other night.