The ROM

Teacher day at the ROM, what could be better?  Sharing teacher day with the Lim-Andersons that's what!  (And getting to meet sweet Hazel!) When I checked in at the desk and I was asked about the last time I brought a class on a trip to the ROM, I must say, I felt a little guilty... I have gone on field trips to the ROM, but ten years ago?!  Heck, I'm still on leave, but I have the all important OCT card, so I'm in.  We only had to pay for Kate, and we had $4 off her admission, which meant we paid a total of $11 for all of us to go to the ROM - AWESOME!

Once we got our tickets and went in we had a fun surprise - Discovery Corners.  These are theme days geared at entertaining families.  There were costumes, art activities, live birds, snakes - it was great.  All of this was in the area on the main floor just beyond the entrance in Samuel Hall.

Then we were off to the bat cave - I think this is Holden's favourite.  It is not however Alice's favourite!  Poor thing ran screaming from the bat cave at least once, maybe twice.  The kids all had lots of fun playing, touching, exploring, reading... the kids area at the ROM is awesome.

Then it was dinosaur time.  Alice has been doing dinosaur themed stuff at pre-school, so she was pretty excited to see the dinosaurs today.  Fiona thought the rope barriers were a joke, and Kate loved talking to the museum staff.

Emily wanted to go to Egypt and see some Mummies.  So we did.  I must say, I've never been all that keen on ancient Egypt, but listening to Emily explain things to the kids, I was intrigued. 

By this point we were all done, so we made our ways to our cars and we drove to Emily and Jinx's place.  We had hot dogs and hamburgers and the kids played.  Emily took some pictures, we laughed and generally enjoyed ourselves.  Good friends are such a blessing in life.  Such a blessing.  

The Zoo

I will be sad when the girls no longer want to go to the zoo.  Perhaps one of them will be like me and never tire of it?  Who knows!  For now, I will enjoy, enjoy, enjoy. 

Fiona is 17 Months Old

My FIONA!  Words, words and more words.  They are of course still just beginning words - sounds really, but words.  The words that amuse me the most - yes, that, this.  I am most amused by the fact that she says yes - sounds like "ah-ssss", but is clearly yes that she means.  I really can't believe that she says yes, and she doesn't say no.  How is it possible that she doesn't say no?  Considering how much she hears it from everyone, it is amusing to me!  Another funny thing that she started this month, is pulling me around by my pant leg.  She most often takes me to the fridge and demands food.  She doesn't actually eat any more than a bite which is probably why she is continuously asking for food.

And to make her month day even more special, it was also garbage day!  How can you ask for more!

Halloween!

I think Halloween is fun!  It is fun to play dress-up.  It is fun to see other people play dress-up.  It is fun to give out candy.  It is fun to get candy.  It is fun!  I love that we had Halloween fun for a week.  I suppose longer if you consider the outside lights that Ken puts up for decoration.

Here's the girls playing with the lights - after they were put up.  The pictures are from October 6th.

Next up was the Frightfully Fun Family Event in Tottenham - Oct 25th.  We had planned to go to Orangeville for the same sort of thing and the end of the Farmer's Market, but with our friends doing the roof, we decided not to go anywhere.  The girls and I had fun and of course everyone thought my little Minions were adorable. (Kate's hat was a present from her Nana last Christmas, and my friend Melissa made the other two on short notice!  I love them!)

Fiona was so excited to be part of the fun.  She held on to that pumpkin bucket even after she fell asleep.  It was such a beautiful day I let her sleep outside in the stroller.

Next up, pumpkin carving - Oct 27th.  We learned the hard way that carving them four days early, was too early.  Also, if you're going to carve them four days early, you must put them outside.  The girls and Ken did have fun though, and the pumpkins looked cute in our house.  I'm sad I never did take a pic of Ken's though.  I found one of what it looked like on pinterest, and I included it.  Thankfully I was able to dispose of the pumpkins before anything was too ruined!  Next year, we'll do it the night before, like we have in the past!

Parting Shots!  I clipped the parting shot from the Alliston Herald not long after we first moved here.  I've always wanted to have a picture printed in the paper - the parting shot.  I thought my little minions would be the perfect Halloween week parting shot.  I sent in the picture on Tuesday night, and wouldn't you know, Friday morning when we looked at the paper, they printed it!

Halloween should always be on a Friday.  It was perfect.  First, Kate and Alice both had school - so fun for them to experience it all with their class.  Second, it's FRIDAY!  So, Kate and Alice were both ready to go, on time!  I took pictures and everything.  Ken took the girls, I got Fiona ready and then Fiona and I went over to Kate's school for the parade and assembly.  I'm sad I never took a picture of Fiona in the monkey costume she wore most of the day.  (I suppose that's just an excuse to dress her up again!)  Alice was a ladybug, and Kate was a funky fairy.  Kate's class sang two cute Halloween songs, after the parade, in the Character Assembly.  Both the girls had a great Halloween school day.

 

The last three years it has rained.  I can't say that I ever remember it raining on Halloween when I was a kid.  I'm not sure if this is because it never did, or because I chose not to remember the rain.  Either way, I'm tired of the rain.  I really hope next is rain free.  I suppose I should be thankful that it didn't snow!  For the outdoor fun the girls wore their big heavy suits with their coats and layers underneath.  We didn't bother with an umbrella as it was drizzling more than raining.  The girls collected a modest amount of candy and they were so happy.  Another thing I like about Halloween is saying hello to neighbours that you don't otherwise talk to.  Halloween really is a fun holiday! 

The Angels on the Roof

Last winter was bad, really, really bad. The ice storm on Christmas Eve left several inches of ice on our roof all winter.  When that ice finally melted we were left with a leak and some damage.  I had called someone, gotten a rough estimate, that was never turned into a legitimate estimate, and the money set aside was spent on living.  I have recalled Elder Bednar's words from his talk titled "The Windows of Heaven".  He said this: As we live the law of tithing, we often receive significant but subtle blessings that are not always what we expect and easily can be overlooked.  

Today's blessing didn't feel subtle and it certainly wasn't insignificant.  The outside patch job is done and I am so thankful to Aaron Nicholls and Peter Misinchuk for coming today, and working all day.  There are so many good people in this world, and I am blessed to know so many good people.  I kept thanking Aaron for giving up a day with his family to help us out, and he kept saying it was no big deal.  It was a big deal for us.  My heart just swells with gratitude.