October 2013 – Attwood Family

Halloween Skating

Here is your first set of Halloween photos. On Monday, Katrine celebrated Halloween at skating. With us getting home late and me forgetting to have her put it on her to do list, all that was dug up on Monday morning was a pair of devil’s horns in the dress up box. Well her coach came to the rescue with these cute ladybug accesories. Katrine had a lot of fun and came home the proud owner of clapper hands (yeah, not candy!!).

Elspeth’s Halloween skate was this evening. She was super excited to wear her penguin (also known as Mimi which I still don’t understand) costume. She thought it was fun that her coach was dressed up as a piece of bread and jam. “Like a snack.”

Even pretended to eat her.

Happy Bar Mitzvah Elan!

You won’t get any photos of the birthday dude but sending him birthday wishes anyways. He did a fabulous job and we are super proud of him. So very neat to have watched him grow up over the last 13 years. It was also great to bask in his parents pride as he performed the religious aspects. Rightly so as he did amazingly.

In addition to celebrating a momentous occasion with good friends, Glenn and I were able to sneak in a weekend away together…you see, the bar mitzvah was in Winnipeg! The girls got quality grandparent time while we flew out west to relax, eat, drink and dance with friends who we haven’t seen in far to long. The fact that the beds at the Fort Garry were beyond comfortable really aided in the relaxation aspect of the trip.

Before flying home on the Sunday, we went for a walk at the Forks where the Red and Assinaboine Rivers meet. It was a bit chilly but nice to stretch our legs before the plane ride home.

The hotel was built in 1912 near the railroad tracks. It even has a resident ghost who we gladly did not meet.

Some photos from the Forks.

The mall’s ode to Winnie the Pooh of literary fame who was named after Winnipeg.

We saw this big guy at the airport and I had to get a photo with him.

Thanksgiving Birthday Weekend

Yup, we combined many fun things this weekend. It was busy and lots of fun.

We started the weekend with some leaf fun. It is really nice that my parents get so many leaves at their house because we don’t have that many at our place. Plus my parents got free labour as the kids raked and raked…of course all of it was for nothing after they started jumping into their pile. Fun!

That evening was our family Thanksgiving dinner. Mmmm, turkey and all the fixings meant full tummies. The next day we took the kids to the Marsh so that they could work off the previous evening’s dinner as well as work up an appetite for more food. You see, October is a double birthday month for our family with Elspeth turning 4 and my sister in law 40. We finished the weekend with dinner with Glenn’s brother and sister in law where there was more cake and a brand new calico house which is being used with the new sweetie cart, train and rowboat also received over the past few days.

Here is how the sugar shack looks without all of the snow.

More leaf time and some net fishing with her uncle. All any of the kids caught was weeds.

Pre-dinner gifts.

My mom had made up some adorable cupcakes. Coupled with the 4 candle we had one delighted kidlet on our hands.
Okay, random cuteness to end it all.

Elspeth made a Thankful tree at After School Care. Apparently she is thankful for us and candy. (Hence the sweetie cart for her calicos)

Plus, Katrine landed her double toe which meant a trip out for frozen yogurt.

4th Birthday Party

With Elspeth’s 4th birthday falling on Thanksgiving Sunday we decided to hold her party a week earyl. Now this has confused her in that she can not understand how she is still three if she has had the cake and presents. 🙂 This year’s theme was Ponies…as in My Little Pony. There were ponies everywhere. We used books, toys and printed pictures to decorate. The only item we had to buy was the Pin the Cutie Mark on the Pony game. I guess it pays to keep all of the elder daughter’s stuff sometimes.

The kids started by making headbands. A month ago our littlest could not print her name. Now, she is a pro….well except for the spider E. All of the kids got in on the action. They even made hats for Glenn and I!

Then there was the game, running around like crazy, playing with balloons and toys, talking, dressing up and making bookmarks. I don’t think that Elspeth stopped smiling once and Katrine was a great big sister. She tried to make sure everyone was having fun while also having fun herself. The fact that some of Elspeth’s China family were able to join us for the celebration made it extra special for both girls.

The party wrapped up with the gift unwrapping. It is hilarious to watch three year olds exchange gifts. They all want to help the birthday girl unwrap what they brought so more often than not there were at least two sets of hands on a present at any given time. We do have one photo of her unwrapping a gift by herself so it did happen. That said, Elspeth couldn’t care less if someone was helping or not. She was over the moon to simply be getting presents from her friends and family.

Can you believe that in 7 days she will be 4?

Richmond Hill Fire Department Open House

We had a great Saturday morning. The rain held off and there was a nice fall feel to the air (aka nicely cool). So we headed off to the community event at the local fire station. It was a lot of fun. There was a really cool train set up beside the train safety booth. Free popcorn and cotton candy. Sparky the mascot who Elspeth eagerly waved at but would not so much as take a single step towards. Add in balloon animals, games and of course fire trucks and it was a winning combination for both girls.

I really enjoyed seeing each of them use a hose to put out a pretend fire. Of course, they both had help from an actual fire fighter (especially Elspeth who is still tiny). Huge smiles on their faces. Katrine played a fishing game and became the proud owner of a bingo set while Elspeth got to ride on a battery powered bike. She could actually reach the pedals! AND, to top it off she wasn’t half bad at steering.

Post lunch was spent getting ready for the next day’s birthday part with cake icing and a trip to Longo’s for fancy cheese. (That is where the pumpkin photo is from. Outside of the Longos).