IT'S OFFICIAL!

The tickets are booked...the arrangements are made... From February 7 - 14, this is where we will be:

http://www.granventanahotel.com/

I can't wait! It's so cold here right now, I just can't imagine sitting on a beach sipping a cocktail! But I will be! In two weeks!!!!
Sorry, I'll try to keep it down, it's just that we've never been anywhere exotic like this. I will miss my kids like crazy, I wish we could take them all, but I'm sure we'll have fun nonetheless. Deanna's already got quite a list of things she wants me to bring back... a picture of a dolphin, sea shells from the beach, a sand dollar, a picture of a jellyfish (?)... I'll do my best!
I'm hoping I can figure out how to update from there, at least then the kids can read about what we're up to. Pictures will have to wait until we're back.

14 MORE SLEEPS!!!

Now, what to pack?? I might have to go shopping.....

Twin Day Etc.

Today I took my camera to CCS to record the goings on for School Spirit Afternoon (the first of four)! It was Twin Day (as mentioned previously) and fun afternoon, where the whole school was split into 4 groups to play various games, including Scattergories and Animal Whack! I took pictures of all the "twins" or "triplets", even a couple groups of "quadruplets" (including the staff) and will display them at the school next week. Here are all our twins:

And the staff:

On special days like these, the entire school has lunch together, which I think is great, and the kids love it too! There are usually lots of jokes being told, and I think today Mr. Meinen had a special twin story.

Here's a few more photos for the etc. part of the blog:

Natalie came and asked me to wash her hands. This is the face I saw when I turned around. She went straight into the tub. Good thing they were Crayola!

Allison very comfy on the couch. Yes, she is actually reading that book!

Enjoy your weekend, all!

Second Post of the Year! (no, I won't do this all year....)

Well! I'm sure there are dozens of people waiting with bated breath to hear what is new in our lives.... or at least one or two???
It has been really busy around here lately. I'm not sure why - just life accelerated somehow! Must be the new year..
Momentous news:
Last year Art broke $1,000,000 in sales (quite an accomplishment!) and the company rewarded him with a travel voucher!! Which means.... WE ARE GOING ON A VACATION!! SOMEWHERE WARM AND SUNNY WITH A BEACH!! WITH NO KIDS!!! So that's pretty momentous, isn't it?? Deanna is quite put out that we would do that and leave them here in the cold. I said well, that's too bad, sometimes life is like that. Ha Ha Ha. Right now the Dominican Republic is looking very very nice!
First things first, we had to apply for passports, since we've never gone anywhere outside of Canada. With all the horror stories and panic lately with the United States tightening their borders, we were a little concerned that they would not arrive in time, but mine came today. So at least I am going away...
We are going with another couple, and are looking at dates in February. The good part is that we can get some good last minute deals, so we will have some "voucher" left over to do something special with the kids in the March Break. Niagara Falls.... Great Wolf Lodge.... or even just a hotel with a pool somewhere.

Any other news seems rather humdrum after all that, doesn't it? Tomorrow is Twin Day at CCS. Everyone wanted to know what Allison and Amanda were going to be. I wanted to dress them as total opposites. They are, after all, twins every other day of the year. This day they could be the anti-twins. However, they are 6 and don't understand irony, so they will be.... princesses. Are you surprised? Me neither.

And now, bedtime. I was informed by my doctor today that my thyroid is too low and I must up my meds. This may explain why I've been tired lately. So ... good night....

First Post of the Year!

And so, another year has bit the dust! Doesn't it seem that the older we get, the faster time passes? I can't believe it's 2008 already, it seems we just celebrated the millenium...

Today, the kids are back to school after an enjoyable 2 week break, so as I am on hold with OHIP (15 minutes and counting...) I thought I would ramble on here for a while..

It was nice to have an extra few days off after the New Year to recuperate, undecorate the house and just relax, but I think everyone will be glad for things to get back to normal routine again!

We didn't do too much special over the holidays. Tim and Deanna ended up with a stomach bug that kept me up doing laundry for a couple of nights, but thankfully it didn't go through the whole family! Unfortunately, it meant we had to miss out on our Harsevoort Sinterklaas, which was too bad. I did take the "healthy" kids skating at the arena around the corner (thanks to Tim Hortons free skate!) which was fun. It had been years since I had worn my skates, but I still remembered how to do it! Good thing too, as I had to hold onto both Allison and Amanda! New Years Eve was spent at home with friends, it was a lot of fun. A last minute kind of party, those are always great! J & H brought their fondue and gourmetten that they had planned to do at home (before their intended guests got sick!). The kids had fun cooking with oil after midnight! Deanna was so excited to see the ball drop (on TV) she could hardly keep her feet on the ground!

A few pictures (cuz a post without pictures is boring):

Fondue - yum!

Watching a movie (Natalie was supposed to be in bed...)

She stayed up til 1:00 a.m.! You can see she is getting a little tired here.

So, here's hoping we all have a happy, healthy and blessed 2008!