Meet the newest member of our family

An about 10-week old kitten joined our family last week. Her name is Moo (yes, like the sound a cow makes) and she's a beautiful calico.

The kids love her already. Mainly because unlike Chloe (our 9-year-old cat) Moo isn't a scardy cat. Moo will happily be played with by them for hours and will curl up on anyone's lap for a quick snooze.

 Oh yeah, and lying on my shoulder while I sit at my computer in my office is one of her favourite places! 

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Happy 4th Birthday Alex!

On Tuesday, Alexandra turned 4! She was super excited about it being her special day ... ALL day. The day started with preschool -- and our little fashionista insisted on dressing up for school and brought cupcakes to share with all her friends.

After school, I took both Austin and Alex to McDonalds for lunch (along with some friends of ours). It was sort of a mini-party. That night, we celebrated, just the four of us, with cupcakes.

Sunday was her party. A Princess Tea Party. So of course, she had to dress like a princess for the special event.

We invited five friends -- so in total there were seven kids including Austin and Alex. Four of them were dressed as princesses. We played musical chairs, had a dance party, did crafts and of course, ate cake and drank 'tea' (apple juice in a tea pot). I made a princess cake (Belle from Beauty and the Beast) for the occasion.

In all a good time -- and Alex declared that she loved her party, except for the part when her friends had to go home.

Happy Birthday Alex!

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March Break Madness

Austin, Alex and mom had a lot of fun over March Break. Ryan had to work, so the three of us did the staycation thing here in Toronto.

On Monday, we met some friends from Austin's school at the Maple Syrup Festival at the Kortright Centre. Suprisingly, it wasn't that crowded (probably because the forecast was calling for rain -- and it did rain, just as we were leaving). We walked down the maple syrup trail, learned how to make maple syrup, went on a wagon ride and watched a magic show. The kids had a blast -- and of course it was more fun to be there with friends.

Tuesday was a beautiful sunny and warm day so the kids I had hit the zoo right after lunch. Since we go to the zoo so often, I decided we should go to the Americas Pavillion because we rarely go there. We saw lots of snakes, birds and lizards as well as the otters. Then we went over to see the spider monkeys and the jaguars before heading back to visit the baby polar bear again (who was again sleeping -- so far, we're 0 for 2.)

On Wednesday, we lay low in the morning and then went to Alex's speech therapy appointment in the afternoon. Afterwards, since it was an even warmer and sunnier day than the day before, we went for a 'hike' through a nearby conservation area. We stuck to the paved trail (hence the quotes around hike) but we were on a mission. The trail followed the DVP and from the highway, the kids have often pointed out a tunnel on that trail that's painted like a rainbow. So, we found it!

Thursday we lay really low all day because we had big evening plans. We went to see Disney On Ice. So, around 4 p.m., the kids and I took the bus and subway downtown (which is a big deal on its own, because they so rarely get to ride the bus and subway) to meet Ryan and auntie Suzie for dinner. Afterwards, we all went to the show (thanks for the tickets auntie Suzie!). The kids had a blast!

On Friday, we went with a friend to the Science Centre -- where it was crazy busy but a lot of fun. We ended up staying for almost 5 hours -- visiting mainly areas that we rarely ever go to and coming home completely exhausted.

To end off, here's a link to the latest slideshow of pictures: https://plus.google.com/photos/107184376695639310597/albums/5724376137465970481?authkey=CPK5m67Kvd-EhgE

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Trip to Montreal

On March 2, Ryan and I headed to Montreal for a long weekend without the kids. We left on Friday afternoon and drove down the 401 to Brockville where the kids stayed with Auntie Krista. After about an hour, we were back on the road and by 8 p.m., we were checking into our hotel in Old Montreal.

To be honest, after a long drive, our Friday evening in Montreal consisted of finding somewhere for dinner and then crashing back at the hotel in front of the TV.

After a sleep that wasn't interupted by children ;-), we met my friend Laura and her husband Matt for brunch at a nearby place. Laura and I have been friends for 25 years, but with life as it is these days, we don't see much of each other anymore. So it was nice to spend a few hours with them.

After that, Ryan and I wandered along St. Catherine's Street for awhile and did some shopping before heading back to the hotel to get ready for the evening. You see, the purpose of our trip was to go to a Habs-Leafs hockey game at the Bell Centre. One of Ryan's sub-contractors sent him and his boss four tickets at Christmas for the two of them (and their wives) to attend the game (with someone from the company, of couse).

We were first taken to dinner at the restaurant in the Bell Centre where, by chance, Henri Richard was also having dinner. And yes, I was one of those people who went up and asked to have my picture taken with him. (Although I at least waited until he finished his dinner!) Henri Richard was one of my father's favourite players growing up and I just had to show him that I met him. He was very nice and very gracious about having his photo taken.

After dinner, we went down to our seats -- which were in the third row! I have never sat that close in my life (and probably never will again) and it certainly is a lot of fun to watch a game from that perspective!

Unfortunately, the Habs losts (or as Ryan would say, fortuntely the Leafs won) but it was still a lot of fun!

The evening ended with drinks at a local bar.

Sunday was the only day we didn't have any set plans so we rolled out of bed in time to have 'breakfast' at Schwartz's at noon! Mmmmmm, smoked meat sandwiches.

After that we decided to go for a drive around Mt. Royal and then, since it was such a nice day (cold, but sunny) we walked around Mt. Royal for awhile.

Later that evening, we had dinner at a restaurant in Old Montreal and then tried to find a bar. But unfortunately, being a Sunday in March meant that most places in Old Montreal were closed. So we grabbed a cab downtown and looked for somewhere to go there. Places were open, but again, being a Sunday in March, meant they were all pretty dead. After about half an hour, we gave up our search, grabbed a bottle of wine from the liquor store (which was still open) and went back to our hotel and watched a movie.

On Monday morning, we hit Schwartz's again for breakfast (and this time it was even before 11 a.m.!), grabbed several dozen bagels from Fairmount and headed home.

We picked up the kids in Brockville and were told that they had a fabulous time. They got to play in the snow and make a snowman (something they haven't been able to do in Toronto this winter); and they went to the Science and Technology museum in Ottawa. Auntie Krista even admitted that although she was exhausted after the weekend, she'd still take them back again for a weekend (phew!)

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Happy 6th Birthday Austin!

On Friday, Austin turned 6! He had a pretty good day -- brought cookies to school to share with his class and then I took the kids to McDonalds for lunch and to play in the playplace.

His party was on Saturday morning at a nearby indoor playground. He invited 7 friends and their younger siblings so in total there were 11 kids (7, 5-6 year old and 4, 3 year olds.) We had a private party at the centre, so the kids had the place to themselves to run around.

They had a blast and barely wanted to stop for pizza and cake.

 Happy Birthday Austin!

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Baby cousin

I was so busy catching up in the last post that I forgot to include the big news: Austin and Alex have a new baby cousin! My sister, Alison, gave birth to a healthy baby boy on January 27. Julian Emmanuel Biggs weighed 7lbs, 3oz and now, almost three weeks later, is growing like a weed.

We've Skyped with them twice since he was born and mom, dad, big brother Theodore and Julian are all doing well.

Here he is, my baby nephew, at two weeks old!

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Just an update on what we've been up to

Yet again, another month has gone by since the last time I wrote. I guess it's been busy around here. Let's see if I can recap what's been going on.

January started out slow -- with the first week of January being part of the school Christmas holidays. The kids and I made the most of our week together -- going to the zoo one day, hitting an indoor playground another day and meeting up with friends on another day. Then it was back to the real world.

Alexandra
Alex is once again in preschool four mornings a week. She's really enjoying it and has made several friends. Next week, I'll be registering her for JK. It's hard to believe she'll be starting Kindergarten this fall. And the school she'll be going to is switching to an all-day Kindergarten school, so unlike Austin who has been in half-day Kindergarten for the last two years, she'll be starting full-day school in September -- at the same time that Austin starts full-day school in Grade 1 (and yes, that means that mommy will suddenly have full days to herself).

In mid-January, Alex went for a speech assessment. Those of you who see her on a regular basis know that she can sometimes be difficult to understand -- at least until you learn to speak Alex! We had had her speech assessed last June, and at the time, she was only slightly delayed so we opted against therapy.

Now that she's almost 4, she's still lagging behind her age bracket and will be starting speech therapy at the end of February.

On another note, she's still taking gymnastics once a week (and will be until the end of June) and we go to swimming lessons once a week. She's enjoying both.

Austin
In mid-January, Auntie Suzie was able to get her hands on two tickets to Monster Jam (thanks Auntie Suzie! And although I don't have any good pictures to share, I also have to thank Auntie Suzie for getting us four extremely last-minute tickets to the Disney Princesses show the week before.). Ryan and Austin went together...and he had a BLAST!

Like Alex, Austin is also taking gymnastics once a week and swimming lessons once a week. And, he's still taking skating lessons once a week. He loves it but seems to only have one speed -- go fast! Ryan and I are just waiting for the day when he tells us he wants to play hockey.

And he's still doing very well at the French Immersion school, and seems to still be enjoying it.

Mom and dad

Nothing really to report on us. Although, in March, we are escaping for a weekend to Montreal without the kids (the kids are taking a vacation at Auntie Krista's). We're looking forward to a weekend away -- and to the Habs vs. Leafs hockey game! (Go Habs!)

That's about it for now, here's a short slideshow to finish up.

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December update

It was a busy December for us this year -- although I guess it always is, isn't it?

On the first Saturday in December, we drove up to Orillia for a family Christmas dinner at Ryan's grandmother's house. We were 20 people for afternoon drinks and dinner and the evening was a lot of fun. And, if did bring about the best line from a five-year-old about a Christmas present. When opening his present from his great-nana, Austin looked at it, and declared 'Why would I want clothes!'.

The next weekend was the PCL Kids' Christmas Party at the Kortright Centre. We decorated cookies, Alex had her face painted, we went on a horse-drawn wagon ride and, of course, we visited with Santa. And for the first time since she was an infant, Alex willingly sat on Santa's lap without needing me to be by her side. Of course Austin went with her -- but it's a start.

The next week was Alex's fall preschool graduations. Because she was in two sessions at the same time (the Monday-Wednesday class and the Tuesday-Thursday class) she had two graduations. That meant two concerts for parents, two certificates and two parties. And she had a great time -- as did Austin who got to go to both parties because I rushed out after each concert to pick him up at school and bring him back to her school (thankfully, the two are around the corner from each other.)

And then, after an unexpected crazy week before Christmas, we had a hectic but fun Christmas week. Christmas Eve was a quiet night at home. And Christmas morning was, as expected, a franticly exciting morning.

A scooter from Santa!

A remote control car for Austin!

After the Christmas morning frenzy, we headed out to my parents house for both lunch and Christmas dinner with my sister, her boyfriend and my grandmother as well. And, of course, there were a few more presents there.

On Boxing Day, we left for London where we spent the day with Ryan's dad, Kirsten and Ryan's sister Jamie and her fiancee, Scott, and his sister Krista. The day was filled with more presents and another turkey Christmas dinner.

The following day it was off to Ryan's mom house to celebrate Christmas with her and Graham and Ryan's sisters (and Scott). Once again, the day was filled with more presents and yet another turkey Christmas dinner. (Sorry, for some reason we never pulled the camera out on this day, so I don`t have any pictures.)

Both were fun days and although hectic, was nice to be able to visit with all of the family.

On Dec. 28 we headed home and spent the next four days doing as little as possible. We took the kids to a movie one afternoon, out for dinner another evening and skating another afternoon. Even on New Year's Eve, we opted to keep it low key -- which was fantastic. We made up a bunch of apps for dinner, had a picnic in the basement with the kids and watched a movie. After the kids went to bed, Ryan and I just relaxed and watched TV until midnight.

So that's about all from me. Happy New Year to you all.

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Merry Christmas from The Evans Family

I think I owe you all an update, but for now, I'll just say: from our house to yours, Merry Christmas and Happy Chanukah!

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Our little singing sensation

Alex had her fall concert at preschool last week -- all the kids parade in and then sing a half dozen songs for the parents before getting a diploma. She actually had two concerts, because she's in two classes -- the Monday-Wednesday class and the Tuesday-Thursday class.

Alex loves singing. She sings around the house, she sings to people on Skype, she sings while we're walking down the street. She doesn't care if she knows the words or not, she just belts out the songs. And, apparently, she's no different at school. This video is from the second concert -- it's not a easily recognizable song (it's teaching the kids the months of the year) but you'll see why I chose to share this one over twinkle twinkle.

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A visit with Santa

On Sunday, we went to the PCL Family Christmas party where we got to visit with Santa. And, for the first time since she was an infant and didn't know any better, Alex willingly (and without mommy) sat on Santa's lap. Which means, this is the first Santa picture in three years where it's just the kids and Santa -- not the kids, mommy and Santa!

(Oh, and in case you're wondering, the blue on Alex's face is the face painting she had done just before seeing Santa.)

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Fall update

I once again have fallen a little behind on updates....actually a lot behind. So here, in a nutshell, is what's going on:

It's been a little over two months since school started and Austin is doing really well in French Immersion. (He just got his first report card this week and it was all positive. And when we went for our parent-teacher interview, his teacher told us that he is basically an A-B student). Every day, he comes home from school and announces the new words he's learned in French -- some of which are new to daddy as well, who doesn't speak much French. He can already count to 30, knows all his colours, can ask simple requests (like 'can I go to the bathroom, please?) and understands simple instructions in French. We really are quite amazed at how quickly he's learning the language.

On the non-school front, he started skating lessons in October and his having a lot of fun just learning how to stand up, glide and avoid falling on his ass. And he's also taking gymnastics once a week which he's having a blast doing.

Alex is also taking gymnastics (at the same place, at the same time as Austin) and is having a lot of fun. And she was taking swimming lessons but we stopped going after the fifth week. Even though she did really well in summer lessons, and seemed to enjoy it, this time around she was not having fun. In fact, she was spending most of each lesson crying. So we've stopped going and will try again in a few months.

In October, Alex started preschool four mornings a week. It's the same preschool as last winter and spring but she's just going more often now. She loves the program and is doing really well. Where last year, the teachers said she was quiet and kept mostly to herself -- this year, she's much more comfortable, is making friends and participates more often in sing-a-long time, etc.

So that means that four mornings a week, I drop both kids off at school and then have two hours to myself -- which to date I've used most of to work. I've been keeping really busy with work lately -- but that's a good thing!

I guess that's about all for now. I'll end with a slide show of pictures from the last few months.

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Happy Halloween!

 Happy Halloween from Optimus Prime...

 ...and Cinderella!

After a day of much anticipation (and dress-up parties at school), the kids had a great time trick or treating.

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Is there anything better than playing in the leaves?

We don't have any trees in our yard. At least none that produce anything more than a teeny tiny pile of leaves. So, thanks to a good friend who had me and the kids come over and play in her yard full of trees. The kids had a blast, and hey, she got her yard raked out of the deal!

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Austin runs his first race

I'm a little late, but better late than never. On September 24, Austin ran his first race -- a 500-metre kids' 'Cub Run' at the Toronto Zoo.

He was inspired to want to sign up because I've been training to run two 10K's this year -- one in May and one at the zoo a couple of hours before his run. But basically, since I ran the 10K at the zoo last year, Austin's been asking to do the Cub Run.

So we signed him up and he ran the 500-metres (without stopping, I might add!) with Ryan while Alex and I (and some friends of ours who were also at the zoo for the 10K earlier in the morning) cheered him on!!

He had a blast!

 Go Austin Go!

Austin and daddy after the race!

Mommy and Austin, tired after our runs (I, by the way, finished my race in 1 hour 15.)

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