Christmas show

Kate and Anna performed for their Christmas show with co-op. It was a first time on stage for both of them, they were so cute and we are so proud!

Kate and Anna waiting before performing

  Kate was up first with their poetry class, I am glad I helped her remember the line with actions, so when she saw me do the actions she remembered her line...So cute.

Jaylee taking up the whole bench...

 Both Kate and Anna took the ballet class, so they got to perform the dance they learned... So Cute! they did so well!

This is the ride home which tells its own story..

Jaylee was grumpy and I wanted to take a photo of her grumpy with reindeer antlers on... Kate and Anna smiled for the photo

Jaylee then saw the photo so for the next one she is all happy, meanwhile Anna found her antlers and was also all happy, Kate could not find her antlers so was refusing to smile and be happy...

 A little while later Kate found her antlers so was all happy again, though Jaylee was asleep by then. But Anna had trouble keeping her eyes open for a photo,

 So Kate kept looking at Anna to see if her eyes were open

 And then they finally got it right...

Anyway it was a fun night!

Thankgiving vacation part 3

Here are some other random moments during our vacation.

playing hockey - just as much fun to watch them playing.

 the kids made to eat on the kitchen floor - I did not notice till I looked at the photos that Jaylee had her boots and a pair of goggles on. lol

 We went for walks...

 I love the water reflecting on Kate's pants.

 It was kinda chilly but very beautiful.

We went and saw the movie Frozen in 3D. It was fantastic and I highly recommend it for anyone.
The girls loved it - and the fact that the movie had a girl named Anna - like we say it. She had blue eyes and brown hair like our Anna. With an older sister with blue eyes and blond hair... movie made for us!

sunrise over the mountain.
And in the morning it was so cold that the fountain gave off steam...

Thanksgiving vacation part 2

One of the big things we did while away was go to Luray Caverns.
The girls had a blast and it was very cool to see, I just love the fact that there is such beauty in places we don't even normally see. - kinda like us ;) All the kids did us proud, walking and they really got into it.

 I love this part, the water was so clear and still that the reflection actually looked like more rock...

 Rowan was supper cute, showing Jaylee everything and pointing out everything she should be looking at. They were really cute together.

You can tell that this was at the end of the tour as the girls did not have many smiles left. But they really did have a great attitude through the whole thing.

Thanksgiving Vacation part 1

We went away for thanksgiving again this year. Was great to go away with family that we don't see very often - namely June, Severin and family. So there are a lot of family photos.

As Isla is the baby in the family she obviously got a lot of attention and photos - but do you blame me, she is so cute and hugable!

Now while we were there Severin had his birthday. So here you see the kids with their jackets on still while we wait to reveal the surprise...

Surprise! we had t-shirts with his face on it - 'smooth baby' was fun and I think he was surprised...
And being very comfy shirts will probably be worn after the fact.

 The whole family together.

 Even Isla sported her daddy's face with pride!

The kiddy table..

 Rowan did us proud with putting up with all the girls in the family...

Thanksgiving tree

This year we made a thanksgiving tree. the girls really got into it and really enjoyed coloring it in. Then our hand prints made the leaves. We wrote on the hands what we were thankful for.
during the month of November we asked family and friends for their leaves.
The one theme through it all seemed to be we are thankful for family.
I think the start of a good tradition - next year for those we did not physically see  we will be asking them to send theirs in. Lets see how full we get it next year!

Hair

I got Jaylee's hair up for the first time - so it turned into a bit of a photo shoot :)

 Also - I am so proud of Herb - he has already caught 3 mice this year... keep up the good work!

Kate is 6! what? When?

I can't believe Kate is now 6... She is getting so big. We had a fun birthday and we are so proud of her! look at her! She is turning into a very sweet  young lady!

 Kate asked for burgers for her birthday dinner - so she got a triple dekker - which she thought was hilarious...

 Pinata time... first time with a 'bat' which the girls loved... the best place to do it was in the unfinished upstairs - it was just too cold and dark for outside.

 Doing a puzzle she got for her birthday - she loves them and does really well. this one is 300 piece.