Monday - Samlol turns 8 :)

Samuel (who has now changed his name to Samlol) celebrated his 8th birthday on Monday.  He was up in time to open his gifts before Laurence left for school - although I had already taken Susannah.  

He is so happy to be 8.  He can now get the grown up wrist band at the swimming pool and doesn't have to stay with me the whole time :)  

He finally got the rock tumbler that he had wanted for a long while:

And he got the pogo stick he was excited to have :)  

One very happy boy!  

He got play foam too and we sat and made shapes together for a while.  Abigail didn't sleep well, so she went back to bed for a sleep until lunch time - which gave me a whole morning to play with Sam:

Sam got to choose where we went for dinner - at first he picked soda jerks - and then at the last minute he decided he just wanted to go to Boston Pizza - so that is what we did:

When it was time for dessert, the servers all came out singing to Sam - he loved it:

During the day we went to the library and Abby picked these books as she is currently obsessed with making things for her doll:

Abby got herself a new hat too:

Mondays bedtime story:

I think he had a fun birthday - and his party is on Saturday with all his friends :)  

Last day of 7 :)

Today was Sams last day of being 7.  Tomorrow my youngest will turn 8 years old.

We had a lovely relaxing day, I finally got the last of the Christmas decorations put away and the house is back to normal - I will miss sitting in the glow of the Christmas lights, but it is nice to have so much space again :)  

We had a big roast dinner tonight, with Christmas crackers (used up the last ones) and Christmas pudding.  Then afterwards Sam roasted marshmallows on the fire while we all watched three episodes of Greys Anatomy :)  

It snowed this morning, but not too much - just enough to need to shovel - but it was easy and quick to do - Laurence did half and I did he other half - and Rosie stayed outside with us and played in the snow while we shovelled :)  

Back to school tomorrow - and back to French for Abigail.  I get my birthday boy for 2 hours to myself - and then tomorrow evening we have supper out at Sams choice of restaurant - his party is on Saturday.   

Saturday...

Abby and Sam went for a playdate at their friends house today.  Sam and his friend C spent a while outside digging and building in the snow - my friend J posted this on FB - love how the boys are so engrossed in their work:

While they were gone, Susannah and I did a few things around town for Sams birthday on Monday.  He is going to be eight!!  We also took all the cardboard from moving house/ Christmas to the recycle centre.  Then a quick trip to Best Buy and Walmart.  

Sam was a bit tired when he got back so he curled up with Lily:

Lily also kept me company for a bit while I was in the bath:

I hda a wonderful confetti bubble bath using the confetti my Mom and Dad sent over for Christmas:

This evening the children and I watched Mrs Doubtfire.  They hadn't seen it before.

There was a lot of laughing, so I am guessing they enjoyed it :)  

Art day with friends...

Yesterday (Friday) I had some friends over for a playdate/ art day.  I set up tables in the family room and people could work on their own projects or art journal...or just have fun creating using my art supplies.  Everyone brought snacks to share and the kids had a blast playing - and heading outside for ice skating and playing in the snow.  

It was a great day and I am planning on doing this once or twice a month - the next one is a Chinese New Year themed craft day to go with some of the Chinese themed field trips I have planned!  

In the evening, Abigail continued with the art theme - and she made some miniature pencils for her dolls.  She has since made a backpack from duct tape following an online tutorial - and a pencil case, laptop, candy bar and miniature copy of Twilight!  :)  So proud :)  

I packed away all the Christmas decorations - still have to get them to the basement but one step closer :)  

What a wonderful day!!! :)

Today we headed to the library to meet a lot of our friends - for coffee, to chat, catch up after Christmas, and to go for a walk by the lake and to the ice slide :)  

This Beauty won't be around for two weeks, so we really wanted to see her and spend time with her and her children before they disappeared!!  It was so nice to catch up with my crazies and see all the kids together again :)  

After an hour or so at the library we headed over to the ice slide for a while - the kids LOVED it and we ran in to even more friends there - including Abigails penpal!!!  :)  

It was such a gorgeous day +3c and sooo sunny :)  Just lovely :)  

We took a group pic before we headed home - although a few friends had left before we took this - so 4 at least were missing :(  

I took a picture of 'my' bench - remembering all the Summer afternoons I sat here drawing and art journaling last year...a little too cold for that right now - but still beautiful and peaceful :)  

Abby with her penpal:

A picture of the sun through the crazy 3d glasses:

Abigail went home with her friend G, and Sam and I went home to get Susannah.  As it was so warm we cleared all the snow and ice off of our driveway - and a neighbour came over to say hi which was really nice.  Sam played in his fort with Rosie, and Susannah folded up all the old moving boxes in the garage so we can take them to the recycle centre tomorrow.  Then we headed to the farmers market for a look around before picking Abigail up from her friends.  Then off to Michaels for a few supplies for our art day tomorrow, and Staples for ink.  Finally, FINALLY we headed home by 7:30pm and made supper!!  Spring Rolls and rice.  

We prepped the room for tomorrow and watched some of the Good Luck Charlie marathon, and Sam played outside in the snow for a while longer.  

Now bed time for me - FINALLY :)