Christmas!!!!!

This is before:




















And now this is what happened:


(Please excuse the resolution but I wanted to fit a bunch of stuff for people to see.)

Please note that there's a section of the video dedicated to Josh, Heather and Jamie's gift. Michaela spontaneously said "thank you" without even knowing what was inside yet.

Some other highlights include:

- Michaela's astute understanding of where presents actually come from
- All of her "wows" and "ooohs" and "aaahs"
- Her saying "Merry Christmas guys!"
- The sheer excitement displayed at receiving a gift of scissors. I realize now that this would have been the ideal year to get her socks.

Bethel's Christmas Eve Service

Michaela participated in her first Christmas Church service.



Now keep in mind, she is the youngest person up there by two years...

Michaela Playing Computer Games

Last Christmas, Rick and Donna gave Michaela a bunch of computer games. Unfortunately they wouldn't work very well with WinXP but on the laptop they worked very well.

Here's a pic and a clip of Michaela playing the "I Spy Junior" game where she gets to put objects into the right categories.

Decorating the Tree

Michaela's first job was to hang the much anticipated candy canes on the tree....
As proud as she was of her placement skills, the rest of the tree was left pretty bare!

This is just a cool picture of Michaela playing in a grove of old (Spruce?) trees.

Family Fun

A Hunting We will Go

We went on Sunday to cut down our Christmas tree. We went with Rick, Donna, Matthew, Sean and Stephanie. While we were walking from the car to the place, we passed some people leaving with their tree all wrapped up in netting, carrying it on their shoulders. Michaela was very excited and cried out, "Look, Look! They caught one!"

Here we are finally choosing our tree to "Catch". It's the one on the left.

Michaela's Big Girl Room

Michaela just graduated from a toddler bed to a "big girl bed". She also moved into her toy room, wich now serves as her bedroom as well. She's adjusting to these changes (and others) very well, and we're very proud of her.

First Snowfall of the Year

Michaela had her first opportunity to play in the snow this winter. Fun was had by all.

We've also got a video of it here!

America's Funniest Home Videos

Here's a clip of Michaela watching a clip of "America's Funniest Home Videos" cats:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMiaj3UcyI8&mode=related&search=

It's definitely worth the 1min, 35sec:

Movie Night

Friday is again movie night. Lately, Michaela has been attached to the "Wizard of Oz" or as she calls it: "The Lizard of Oz".

She has recently only accepted being referred to as "Darcey" (Dorothy), while Daddy is the "Lion", Carrie (Massey) is the "Tin-Man" and Mommy is the "Scare-Crow".

We keep asking her who Toto is, but she adamant that "Toto" is "Toto".

And It's Official.....

What can I say other then, we're proud of you Jon. Keep up the good work!

Goodbye to Fall

As we beging to settle in for winter and break out our seasonal affective disorder prescription, it's worth taking a look back to warmer days. These pictures are from when Meghan and Aaron visited a little while back.

Remember When #8

Now this is going way back in time! If you didn't guess already, this is Me (Cara) and Josh on Halloween at least 25 years ago. Back then , I understand, you didn't just go to Walmart and pick out a costume for 15 $, you actually went and bought a pattern and material, and made it yourself. My Mom made us these costumes, and I think they are brilliant! In case I don't say it enough, thanks Mom for all the awesome memories!

...Do you remember this Josh?

Remember When #7

Here's Michaela's very first Halloween. She's only 3 months old, and obviously didn't go Trick or Treating, but she did greet all the kids who came to our door with a smile and a giggle. I think the costume is thanks to Tom and Lori (Lulu and the TomCat). It looks like a cow, but I think (knowing uncle Tom and Auntie Lori) that it's actually a spotted cat costume.

Remember When Series #6

Here is Michaela going Trick or Treating for the very first time. She was 15 months old, and she lasted only 4 or 5 houses before she decided she'd had enough. She went out with her cousin Micah in Kingston.

Trick or Treat

So here she is at last, all ready to go out tick or treating. I painted a little red nose and some freckles on her. It really looked cute. Michaela went door to door for over an hour, and even then, she could have gone longer, but Jon decided it was enough. What a trooper!

Story Time

Halloween was on Tuesday this year, and on Tuesdays Michaela has Story Hour at the library. Although the children weren't told to dress up, they all came in costume! I let Michaela choose which costume she wanted to wear, and she chose a red cape and a crown. She said she was a "Queen". She looked very cute.

Pumpkin Day!

Michaela really got into pumpkins this year. This first picture is the pumpkin she decorated at her art class. She did everything herself. I think it looks fantastic!
This is the pumpkin we carved on Halloween. I let Michaela choose a pattern off of the internet, so although I did the carving, she picked the face! She was so excited when we lit the candle in it.

Skating Video

Here's a video of the hour-and-a-half of Michaela skating. I was strongly tempted to make a blooper reel but my conscience kicked in. The sound quality was horrible so we decided to follow Josh's lead and put the video to music. We honestly considered using Tom and Lori's "Copycat" song...

Skating Party

Michaela was invited to a skating Birthday party for two of her friends on Sunday. It was her first time skating and we were so impressed with how well she did. At first Jon pushed her arould while she held onto a cone. Afterwards he told me that she went, "AAAAAAAAA
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA" the whole time. By the end of an hour and 20 min. She was moving, skating and falling all on her own, and having a blast. The whole experience renewed my determination to put her in skating lessons this winter.

What Fun!

Michaela's Grandmaman, Marthe, gave her a Barbie pool for her Birthday. Here's a picture I thought was so cute of Michaela playing with it. She has so much fun with it, and gets water EVERYWHERE! But that's ok. I remember how much fun it was to play like this when I was little.

Michaela was fascinated by the "jungle". She loved searching for all the hidden animals, especially the monkeys!
Family photo. Thanks Auntie Meghan! Too bad that guy didn't take the hint and get out of the way for the picture. Oh well.
The otter was a huge favorite. The kids loved watching him swim back and forth, doing tricks, seemingly for our entertainment.
The other favorite was the huge underwater tank, simulating the waters of the St.Laurence lowlands (I think). There were sting rays and massive sturgeon, and these adorable little birds that would dive down and swim under the water looking for food.

Look Out Biodome....Here We Come!!!!

We drove all the way to the Biodome on Saturday, which was a breeze in our rented Behemoth. Our little monst....I mean Angels! had a wonderful time.

3 Silly-Billies!

Meghan, Aaron, Micah, and Elizabeth came to stay with us for the weeked (talk about a full house!). We decided to rent a car large enough to get us all around. We rented an 8 seater Ford (Explorer?). It was awesome! The kids were all in the last row, able to be silly and loud and have fun together!

Little Trumpet Girl

I was practicing on the trumpet recently. Since Michaela hates missing out on anything that grown-ups do she was begging to get a chance to try it out as well.

It took some explaining on how to use her lips but Michaela was soon able to blurt out a note (I'm not sure which note it was, "E" maybe). The look of sheer pride at her accomplishment was priceless.

Hello Pirate!

On a recent shopping trip to Zellers, we saw and fell in love with this horseback riding costume, which Michaela will most likely wear out for Halloween. It's really cute and Michaela adores it. Jon tried to teach her to say, "Howdy Partner", but for some reason Michaela heard it as, "Hello Pirate!". So now whenever she wears the costume, she runs around saluting, and saying, "hello pirate!" It's really adorable.

Three Cheers for Jon!

Yes, Jonathan has officially put his Master's behind him and is a PhD student. To celebrate this momentous transition we invited all our friends and family out to dinner.
Michaela couldn't resist a cuddle with Jon's Grandmother.
It was great to be able to see friends and family. Thankyou to everyone who came. We had a wonderful time!

Build it up!

Michaela was so proud of this tower she built that she actually asked me to get the camera and take a picture (Usually she runs the other way as soon as the camera comes out!). You can really see the conflicting emotions churning inside of her as she struggles between a proud sense of accomplishment and an almost incontrollable urge to gleefully smash the whole thing down, which, lets face it, is the only real reason to build a tower of blocks. This tower lasted about 5 seconds after the picture was taken. Quite a lot of restraint for a 3 year old!

Ballet Lessons

This one is especially adorable. On friday, Michaela attended her first ballet lesson. Priceless.

Painting

Here's a little video of Michaela and Mommy painting.

Hidden Camera Video

It's hard to catch what Michaela is like when she knows that she is being filmed. This may be a manifestation of the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle. Anyway, it takes some hidden footage to see.

Good Times...Great Friends

Pablo and Victoria have made it down for a visit several times in the last few months, so we've been really spoiled! On Aug. 31, we went out for dessert to celebrate my 29th Birthday.....Wait, no I'm only 26! Please God! Don't let me turn 30! I don't want to be old!!!!.....Ahem...I mean, you're only as old as you feel right? (I still feel 19! Can I be 19 again?)

Michaela get's a real kick out of Pablo.

Lulu and the Tomcat

Michaela and I had a very nice visit from my aunt Lori. Michaela love listening to Tom and Lori's music. Here's Michaela talking to Uncle Tom on Auntie Lori's phone.