The Night Before Christmas...

It's 10:30 and I have a million presents to wrap so I better get moving. I just wanted to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and as my cousin Jennie wished us, a New Year filled with abundance (wine, sleep and something else.. let's say prosperity). We've had a crazy day (as seen in this photo of Will taken this afternoon) and we're expecting to have another crazy one tomorrow (19 people for dinner!). We are blessed to have family and friends share it with us and know that all of those who we won't see or talk to, you are all in our thoughts over the holiday season. Happy Ho Ho!

the boys before bedtime in their new jammies.. we're still loyal to our Leafs!

This is for Lisa.. the Goodbye Song

The other night at the preschool concert, all of our cameras ran out of batteries when Owen M. sang his goodbye song. He was wonderful! I looked through some of my other video from visits to school and found another clip to show Owen's proud Mom. Enjoy.

Prizefighter

It's Christmas Eve. It just wouldn't be Christmas if someone in the family didn't get hurt or sick. Under Poppa's watch ;) Will jumped off the back of a loveseat, thus knocking it over. Unfortunately for Jake, his head was pinned under the couch. Jonathan likens the scene to the Wicked Witch's demise in the Wizard of Oz, with only her legs sticking out from the house on top of her. It really isn't funny. When Pop came upon the scene, it appeared that Jake had broken his arm. Owen and Will were oblivious to Jake's screams as he was pinned underneath, they were both standing on the couch that was on top of his face.

Poor Jake got another tooth knocked out (one that wasn't loose yet). His nose is swollen and he's got a great shiner, not to mention the rug burn all over his face. His one lone top front tooth is hanging by a thread, but there is no chance that Jake is ready to pull that one out. Meanwhile he looks like he just lost a boxing match. He really is lucky he didn't break his nose or require stitches.

Look What They Can Do!

Last week the boys' preschool invited the families to sit in on a 'mock' class one evening. The boys did crafts (wrapped Christmas presents and made cd ornaments), picked their gifts from under the tree and sang songs.

In this video, Zack starts us off by showing us the days of the week with the pointer. Being the proud parents that we are, we wanted to show off Will's amazing skills. His teacher says that when they first introduced the song about the days of the week, after only seeing it demonstrated once, he had the pointer in his hand and immediately knew which day to point out. Will is so cool at it. His memory is amazing and we're certain that he's teaching himself to read.

Our Erin Y. is home for the holidays from Edmonton and Owen was quick to run in for his cuddle.

Owen wasn't feeling very good tonight, as you can see by his red cheeks and unsmiling face. But he was still able to participate in craft making with Tara.

Our attempt at a family photo. I forgot my glasses at home and could hardly see anything.

Owen gets another cuddle with Monique

Despite not feeling well, Owen still participated in all of the events of the evening and made his Mom and Dad proud.

As always when we get to see the boys in action at school, we are impressed by all of the efforts of the staff. Erin works so very hard at adapting all the typical preschool activities into achievable goals for the boys. They are learning so much and doing things we are so amazed at. This year Erin has decided to be the school's full-time teacher (how lucky are we?) and we're also getting the added bonus of having last year's teacher, Monique, to sub for Erin whenever she has other appointments. Melanie, Sherri and Tara do a fantastic job at keeping their cool when the boys cannot and of prompting them to complete the tasks at hand. They're a great team and the boys are lucky to have them. Merry Christmas girls!

A Good Day

There is soooo much to update, but I think I've been in hiding. It's just so hard to put it all into words and it's even harder to find the time to type it.

In the meantime, you'll have to be satisfied with these photos of our good day. The twins' therapy was light and fun today as we come into the holidays. They got to decorate gingerbread cookies with Melanie and Sherri and they did pretty well.

Will and Melanie enjoy tasting their work

Owen's not unhappy, he's just got a mouthful. Notice the icing sugar all over Sherri.

When Jake got home from school, he was presented with a gingerbread cookie that his brothers made for him. There is nothing better than hanging with the boys when they are all happy and loving each other. Admittedly, it's a rare occasion. But that makes it even more special.

Happy Holidays from our Little Elves!

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1241688488

Tooth and Tears

Another milestone for me today. My baby, my firstborn, my little man.. he's one step closer to not being so little anymore. Jacob's had a loose tooth since August. His hanging on to a tooth that has long been ready to let go, is much like his mom's desire to hang on to her little boy's last precious moments of childhood. So what if he gets his drama for me. I love him for it. And my heart broke when he started to bawl his eyes out when that tooth fell out.

Almost got it...

Growing up isn't all it's cut out to be

Jonathan reminded us of early days when Jacob was just an infant with his gummy smile. We told Jake how his Mom and Dad would check his gums everyday with the pad of our thumbs to see if the first tooth was ready to poke its way through. I think Jake got a kick out of hearing how excited we once were just to see a first tooth! It made me realize how quickly the time has gone. So when Jake cried real tears and said "I don't want it to go. I don't want to get bigger. I'm gonna look awful!", I tried to console him like any parent would and tell him that his fears were unfounded. But really I wanted to say "You have every reason to cry! It goes by so fast! Hang on to every minute!"