Whew!

There!  I think I'm caught up on blogging our news over the holidays!

The only thing left to share are Connor's swim videos and those are being edited slowly by my editor, a.k.a. hubby!  Here's a montage of Connor's races from the Sarnia meet:


December 6, 2009

This weekend is a free weekend, which is rare around here!  Gary is having poker night here so once the kidlets are in bed, I'm scrapping!! I haven't touched any of my scrapbooking stuff since early December and I'm having withdrawals!  Hopefully, I'll have something scrapping to share!

And check back because I'm going to be giving away another RAK for February - I missed January so maybe I'll give out two... ;)

Santa Claus Came To Town!

Or should I say, WENT to town!? LOL!

Actually, this year, we didn't really go overboard with gifts for the kids.  We talked to them about the less fortunate, and how Christmas is really a season for giving.  The school had sent home a World Vision catalogue earlier in the month and after flipping through it with them, and discussing how lucky we are to be living in a country where we often take our basic needs for granted, we all agreed that the kids would each forfeit a few gifts and we would use the proceeds to donate to World Vision.

It was heartwarming to see the two of them, bent over the catalogue, discussing whether they would rather buy a couple of goats or stock a medical clinic...

As I said yesterday, Christmas morning was a subdued affair at our place.  With Aili getting sick so often throughout the night, Gary and I were both exhausted.  We skipped our traditional big Christmas breakfast, as no one really had much of an appetite, either.  We got up early with Connor and let him open his stocking gifts and then we all went back to our bed and slept until Aili woke up.

As you can see, she was very pale and lethargic about opening presents.  And you can see the ever-present "puke" bucket on the left... :(  And I don't know what those white spots are - maybe a dirty lens?

Anyhow, what she lacked in spirit, Connor made up for in enthusiasm!  I love the look on his face that I captured when he opened their gift from Santa - a Nintendo Wii!!

Once Connor explained what it was, she showed slightly more enthusiasm:

But only slightly.

She then vomited and went back to bed, the poor peanut!

We special ordered a WEST team swim bag for Connor for Christmas this year:

Santa also brought something for Gary and Connor to enjoy together... remote controlled helicopters!

Star Wars, even!  Gary's been wanting a RC heli for I can't remember HOW long - I'm glad Santa finally listened!

Santa also brought Gary and I the Wii Fit Balance Board and the Biggest Loser game for the Wii!  Perfect for our NY resolution to live a healthier and more active 2010!

Once the presents were open, we spent a relaxing day, trying out our new Wii and napping.  We were supposed to go to my sister's for Christmas, but with Aili feeling under the weather, we didn't want to expose anyone to this virus.

Hope everyone enjoyed their holidays - was Santa good to you?!

Our Family at Christmas

This year, we were actually ready AHEAD of schedule, before heading to my dad's to celebrate Christmas Eve with my family, and since the kids were so cute in their matching outfits, I just had to snap a few photos!

Connor looked so handsome in his sweater vest!  And so grown up, too!  I can't believe he's already TEN!

I picked up Aili's outfit from The Children's Place.  It's a gorgeous taffeta skirt with a tulle underskirt, and it has these gorgeous beaded poinsettias all over it.  The sweater is a soft angora one with beading on the neck and sleeves.  She couldn't stop twirling, "like a princess" and begged me to wear lipstick.  I compromised and gave her a sheer lipgloss.

Gary, again with the extra long arms, snapped this family photo of us - I think it may be the first half decent one in a long time!

We had a late dinner at my dad's.  Sarah, my niece, surprised us and flew back from England for the holidays!  We hung out, pigged out on great food, and opened our presents.  We even had our annual Secret Santa exchange with the adults - I ended up with a Dr. Scholl's Back Cushion Massager and Gary won a Tim Horton's card!  There were alot of good gifts this year!

The only slight on our holiday was the 'flu that everyone got, present company included!  Luckily, it was extremely short lived - 24 hours for all, save Aili.  She felt a general malaise for a few days.  We were all as good as new for New Years', which we celebrated by going to the Windsor Spitfires game and then dinner at Kelseys.  We all came home and had a nap for a few hours and then headed over to the neighbours' place for appetizers while watching the ball drop.  Connor had spent the night before at Liam's and they had had a late night, so he stayed home and slept!  We woke him up when we got home to wish him a Happy New Year and he went right back to bed until morning!

I still can't believe he's 10 already and old enough to stay on his own...  Just like I can't believe that he's almost as tall as I am...

Yikes.  If you need me, I'll be the one in the corner, crying and wondering where the last 10 years went...

Baked Caramel Corn

(recipe taken from Cookbook for College Kids by Sheila McDougall)

I don't have a photo of my caramel corn (maybe, just maybe because I finished baking it about 20 minutes before we had to leave for th SK Christmas party... What?  Me?  Last minute?? Never...) so I borrowed this beautiful one from the Buns in My Oven blog.  Isn't that the greatest name for a cooking blog?  And look at that goregous shallow depth of field... which happens to be the challenge topic this month over on the Canadian Scrapbooker Hands On! photography blog! Only 5 more days to submit your photo!  Make this recipe and then send me a photo of YOUR caramel corn! :D

But I digress... Here's the recipe!

Baked Caramel Corn
Ingredients:
1 c. (250 mL) butter
2. c (500 mL) brown sugar
1/2 c. (125 mL) corn syrup
1 tsp. (5 mL) salt
1/2 tsp. (2 mL) baking soda
1 tsp (5 mL) vanilla
6 quarts (6 L) popped corn (I used air popped)

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 250*F (120*C).

 Melt butter in a medium saucepan.  Stir in brown sugar, corn syrup and salt.  Bring to a boil and boil for 5 minutes.  DO NOT STIR.  Remove from heat and add baking soda and vanilla.

Put popped corn in a well-greased roaster..  Gradually pour syrup over, stir well and bake 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes.  Happy munching!

A few comments or tips...
- the baking soda will cause your sugar mixture to foam up considerably so make sure you use a large enough saucepan!
- I added my syrup in small amounts, tossing before adding more, to make sure it was covering all of the popcorn evenly
- keep your popped corn in your  buttered oven roaster in your oven, warming, while you make the caramel sauce to make sugar coating it easier!

And lastly, if you want to double the batch, make two separate batches, or decrease your sugar slightly.  I make a double batch and found it very sweet - too sweet, almost!

And be forewarned... you're going to need more than one batch!

Enjoy!

Diagnosis

A quick trip to the clinic yesterday confirmed Connor's shoulder injury as tendonitis.  The remedy?  Ice, ibuprofin and plenty of rest.  2 to 3 weeks, as per the doctor's suggestion.

Which sucks, since Regionals is in 2 weeks.

Connor's so disappointed - he was really looking forward to Regionals.  However, after talking to his coach tonight, he feels a bit better... In his experience, the coach says that most injuries clear up in a week or so.  We don't want him to re-injure himself so we will just have to play it by ear!  His coach said that they see it often in the younger swimmers who compete in the butterfly races - they tend to use their arms more than their legs.  He will assess Connor once he's back in the pool, to prevent further injury.

Keep your fingers crossed for him!

SK Christmas Concert 2009

Aili's Senior Kindergarten (SK) class performed for their families at their Christmas concert in December.  To protect her classmates' privacy, I took a page from the National Enquirer's book and masked out their eyes - although I don't really understand how that protects them?  Oh well.  Hopefully, this is okay for everyone - if your child is in this photo and you'd prefer that I obscure their face even more, please let me know!

Madame Barcic is Aili's favourite person in the world, next to me, so she tells me.  I think Daddy and even Connor may rate above as well, but at her age, she still lives in the moment so when I ask her the question after spending a day with Mme. Barcic, she inevitably places high on the list!

And for good reason.  This group, with the exception of one or two children, is the same group that Aili had for Junior Kindergarten (JK).  Mme. Barcic so thoroughly enjoyed her JK class that for the 2009/10 school year, she requested to teach SK - and not just any SK class, but the same kids she had last year!  Of course, I had spent all summer, preparing Aili for a new teacher and new friends... for no reason, apparently!

After their mini-concert, in which they entertained the group by singing 3 french Christmas songs, there were various craft stations in which we could participate.  Gary grabbed the camera, while I was nominated for craft duty! :) And for the record, I wasn't angry in this photo - just concentrating on helping Aili frost her cookie!

You can see  in this photo how short my hair is now!  A far cry from before - I scrounged around and the only half-decent photo I could find that showed most of the length of my hair was this blurry one from Christmas 2008 - at the time of cutting in Aug'09, it was probably about 4-6 inches longer!

But I digress...

I love when Gary takes the camera, because he has super long arms and is famous for taking these arms-length sort of photos:

And I love when Gary takes the camera, because at 5'1", I can never get views like this - unless I stand on a ladder!

Aili was so excited for this concert!  I sent her to school in her chosen outfit, with her hair pulled back with jewelled red barrettes:

They did not look like this when she left the house! LOL!  She informed me, when I asked if she re-did her barrettes, that her hat made them "crooked" so naturally, she had to fix them...

For the potluck, I made Baked Caramel Corn, trying out a new recipe.  I saw Mme. Barcic a few days later at one of Aili's classmates' birthday party and she begged for the recipe!  I made so much that she brought the leftovers into the staffroom (rather than inflict any more sugar on the kids!) - she said that everyone (office staff, teachers, even janitors!) kept coming back for more!

I'll share the recipe tomorrow!

Monday's Smile

Here's your smile for Monday morning!  Enjoy!

Seal #4 Meet (Windsor): 2010.01.06

Today (2010.01.24), we were in Etobicoke for yet another swim meet.  As we watched Connor warm-up, I pondered whether it was better to be sitting there in the humid heat of the pool area, or freezing my butt off in an arena at 5am for hockey practice or a game...

I decided this was much more fun.

I thought I was going to have alot of photos to share from today - Nikon Canada sent me a new D90 SLR camera and AF-S VR Zoom-Nikkor 70-300mm lens to play with, while my camera is being serviced - and I was looking forward to having fun, playing!

It was not to be, however - Connor injured his shoulder and we ended up withdrawing from his races today.  It was disappointing, as I was looking forward to seeing him race, but of course, his health comes first!  We're off to the doctor tomorrow to check it out to make sure it's okay for next month.

Why, you ask?  What's next month?

Well, I'm very proud to announce that Connor has been invited by his coach to participate in REGIONALS on Feb. 5th-7th in London!  We're all pretty excited that - what a great opportunity for him!  Hopefully, his shoulder will be healed and he will be in top form!  Because this is just his first year in competition, there are no expections of Connor - we simply want him to have fun and try his best! 

Since we don't have any news from today's meet, I will share some news from Connor's swim meet in Windsor last week.  And yes, it will be only news, as I didn't snap ANY photos this time, having left my camera at home! :(  This was his first swim meet in the 10-11 age category and while he was freshly turned 10, most of the other kids were already 11, turning 12 this year.

Because it was a Seal Meet, Connor's races were chosen for him, by his coaches.  He was also chosen to run anchor for his 200m Freestyle relay for the 10-11 Mixed age category!  They came in second, with a time of 2:13.16s, to their WEST teammates' relay team - and considering that the starter for that team had broken or set most of the swim club's records for 2009, I was quite proud of him!

Here are his results in the 10-11 age category...top 10 finishes for all of his races!
100m IM:  1:34.04s - 7th place (-14.14s)
50m Fly:  48.68s - 9th place (-0.17s)
50m Back:  47.5s (-1.35s)
50m Breast:  53.17s (-7.49s)
100m Free:  1:31.31s (-0.86)

Way to go, Connor - so proud of you for shaving seconds off of ALL of your times!

Dash for Cash (Guelph): 2009.12.11 - 2009.12.13

One of Connor's 9 events during the Dash for Cash Swim Meet was the 50 Butterfly.   I didn't take many photos that weekend - I'm not happy with the quality that my D70 is churning out - but here are a few:

It was great because this facility had an electronic timing system so we could see his times right away!  These are the results from his 50 Fly - he was in Lane 3:

It was held at the University of Guelph and they had two pools - this one was where the timed finals were, and next to it (on the other side of the wall on the right) was a slightly smaller warm up pool.

Which was good, because when there are over 300 kids trying to warm up in the same pool, it can get ugly.  I overheard some of the parents talking and there were reports of kids being scratched and kicked in the face during warm-ups, just from the sheer volume of kids in the pool!  Connor prefered to use the warm-up pool, but the disadvantage was that there were no starting blocks so he didn't practice his starts as much as he should have.  He did well overall, but had a couple of shaky starts:

10 & Under: {Race: Time - Place (time change)}
25m Free: 17.74s - 2nd place (--)
100m Back: 1:47.61s - 13th place (--)
50m Breast: 1:00.66s - 14th place (--)
200m Free: 3:19.8s - 8th place (--)
50m Free: 42.00s - 19th place (+1.8s)
200m Back: 3:49.71s - 12th place (--)
50m Fly: 48.85s - 11th place (--)
50m Back: 48.22s - 5th place (-3.87s)
100m Free: 1:32.17s - 12th place (-4.12s)

As you can tell, Connor tried alot of new races, as indicated by the lack of changes in his times.  Way to go, Connor!

Birthday Celebration

In December, Connor competed in the Dash for Cash meet in Guelph, Ontario - just 25-30 minutes away from his grandparents' home.  This was his first 3 day event - and the last one that he would be competing in the 9 and Under age category!  On the last day of the event, he turned 10!

On the Saturday after his swims, we, along with Gary's family and our friends, Holly, Stephen and crew, went to Swiss Chalet for a birthday celebratory dinner.  It was a noisy affair and we had to wait too long for our food, but the kids were well behaved and had fun!

I snapped this photo of Connor and Aili, entertaining themselves while waiting for the other kids to arrive.  I know I may complain how they are spirited and fiesty, but overall, I am thankful that we are blessed with good kids!

Note the writing on Connor's arm - it's a standard for the kids to write their event and lane numbers on their arms so they can keep track of their events - their coaches do not babysit them at all, making them responsible to get to the marshalling in time.  Marshalling is when they call an event number (i.e. Marshalling for event #54, 9 and Under 100m IM) and all kids in that event head over to the marshalling area.  They then have officials that call out the kids by heat number, then lane number so that when it's time to race, they just cycle them through - like cattle! LOL!  It's a well-oiled machine and needs to be, especially when there are 300-400 kids all there to swim in an 8-lane, 25m pool!

Scott, Gary's younger brother, came down for the weekend to watch Connor swim and to celebrate his birthday with us.  The kids adore Uncle Scott, as he always rolls up his sleeves and plays with them, or just makes these goofy faces...  God love 'im, - must be the actor in him... :D

I'm not really happy with any the quality of the following photos, since I only had my little Coolpix on me - and I turned the flash off because I was sitting in front of the window!  Holly, if you got any good photos, please send me some!  Thank goodness, my Nikon D70 is going in for servicing at the end of the month - and maybe I will have to officially retire it!

Here, the partners in crime pose - I'm not sure who they are looking at?  Maybe Holly?  (L to R: Aili, Connor, Evan, Vanessa and Alicia)

I KNOW, I know - it's blurry!!  And he moved his hand up so I missed the reaction on his face... but here is Connor opening his gift from Gary and I - a new Nintendo DSi!!

He's been asking for a DS for the last 3 Christmases - and since it's usually a LONG time in between swims at the meets, everyone and their brother has them at all the meets!!

This smile was worth the price tag.

And I managed to snag one from work and use all of my points so it was basically FREE!  Love Shoppers Optimum points...

As an aside, did you know that the Shoppers Optimum logo was what inspired this stamp set??

Once we got home after dinner, it was late - nearly 9:30pm, but Gary's parents had cake and presents for Connor and since we were going to be out the door early the next day for his swim meet, and then heading home directly after, we let the kids stay up a bit later.

Grandma and Granddad gave Connor some new Lego:

And the much coveted MarioCart for his new DSi!

Scott works for Chapters, downtown Toronto, so for an avid 10 year old reader, this means some pretty awesome gifts, like Book Five in the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series:

Or a t-shirt and autographed copy of the latest Diary of a Wimpy Kid book, Dog Days:

Hmm... this photo reminds me of another photo.... Oh!  Now I remember...

Seal Meet #3 (Sarnia): 2009.12.06

Sarnia Lambton YMCA

The Sarnia Seal meet was scheduled to start warm-ups at 8am on Dec. 6th, 2009.

Have I mentioned that it was the DAY AFTER my Shoppers Drug Mart Christmas Party?

Connor and Gary head out to this meet by themselves - Aili had developed some allergy symptoms the day before so I decided to stay home with her.  It was an early morning for them - they had to leave by 5:30am to make it there by 7:45am in time for warmups.  It didn't help that it snowed the night before!

Connor managed to sleep a bit on the way up, but still looked tired:

(I love this look from him - hands on hips, swim cap on, goggles up, still dripping from the last race...)

Connor swam really well at this meet.  He came in second and managed to shave over 12 seconds off of his 100m IM time from the Leamington Seal meet, where he was disqualified for an improper turn!  IM, in case you're wondering, stands for Individual Medly - the swimmers use all four strokes (Butterfly, Breast, Back and Freestyle).  So for the 100m, they complete one length (25m) of each.  (Similarly, for a 200m IM, they complete 2 laps per stroke).

Here are the rest of his times (and the difference in time from last record), in the 9 amd Under category:
100 IM:  1:48.18s - 2nd place (-12.11 sec)
25 Fly: 24.39s - 3rd place (+2.1 sec)
25 Back: 23.03s - 3rd place (--)
25 Breast: 26.13s - 4th place (--)
50 Free: 40.20s - 2nd place (-1.09 sec)

His coach also put him on the relay team, in third place, in the 9 and Under Mixed Relay - 100m Free.  His team came in 2nd place with a time of 1:22.56s!

Once Gary gets the videos captured and posted online, I'll post some video of some of his swims!

Cheltenham Badlands

My wonderful friend, Holly, and her family recently purchased a beautiful new home, in Belfountain, which is right around the corner from my in-laws' place in Erin.  We made plans to meet up during our visit there in Thanksgiving and after tossing around a couple of ideas, we decided to take the kids out for a hike to the Cheltenham Badlands in Caledon.

We got there and the kids took off running!

It was busy but not overly crazy and it was a beautiful, sunny, fall day.  The colours were gorgeous, and the hills definitely tired the kids out for the ride home!

Here, Evan and Connor post at the top of a hill - notice Aili, trailing up the right side, right behind the boys!

Before we rounded the next part of the trail, we managed to wrangle the kids all into a group photo!  Left to right:  Vanessa, Connor, Aili, Evan and Alicia

The combination of the blue sky, red earth and blazing colours of the leaves was astounding!

In our hike, I found this tree off to the side - the perfect photo opportunity!  Connor was already way ahead at that point, but I plopped Aili on for a quick pic!

Oh I love the colours of fall!  With orange being my favourite colour, how could I not!

Happy (belated) Birthday, Connor!!

It's hard to believe that 10 years have passed since you came into our lives.  We have watched you grow from a tiny 5lb 9oz baby to a strapping young man in what seems like the blink of an eye!

You entered our lives, 3 weeks early, on December 13th at 5:38pm.  Ironically, you chose to make your appearance in the same manner that you react to life, today - quick, impatience, eager to get at things.  The intense pain from back labour was quickly forgotten when they placed you in my arms.

All red and squirmy, our hearts melted on sight and were lost forever.

In this photo, you were a day old, but still so red, with that dark black hair.  We were so busy video taping that we didn't get any photos of you, fresh out of the oven, so to speak.  I blame this on the fact that I didn't start scrapbooking for another five weeks! ;)

Hard to believe what a difference 10 years can make:
Dec 24, 1999:

December 24, 2009:

You are a kind, happy child with a beautiful soul - We love you!

Thanksgiving traditions

I know we're going back but I just realized that I posted my traditional What I'm Thankful For post, but didn't touch on any of our annual traditions!

Every year, with the exception of my mom's last one, we celebrate Thanksgiving in Erin with Gary's family.  We follow several traditions each year: 

* my mother-in-law makes her famous brussel sprout soup (the best evah!)

* walks on the Bruce Trail

* Erin Fall Fair

Ever year, Erin celebrates Thanksgiving with the Erin Fall Fair.  Each year, we bundle up (unless it's raining) and head to the fair to spend ridiculous amounts of cash on ride tickets, clear out our sinuses with the offending stench of farm animals and stuff ourselves silly with carnival food, including but not limited to caramel corn, cotton candy, caramel apples and slushies.

This year, Aili was disappointed as she was not tall enough to go on any of the "big kids" rides and she was limited to the dragon mini-coaster.  As you can see, her spirits are just crushed... *rolls eyes*

This year, Connor braved the Free Fall - I was supposed to go on it with him but at the last minute, decided to take photos instead.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

If you've never heard of Free Fall, it's a tall structure with a circular setting of seats around the base.  You're strapped in and cables pull you up...

to the very top/

And then.... it drops you!  You free fall for about 4 or 5 seconds, until uber-magnets kick in and grab onto your seats and slow it down.

Connor loved it!  Well, maybe not LOVED - tolerated, without losing his lunch, may be a better term.

On the walk home, I snapped this fun photo of the kids:

Connor looks so cool and handsome in his shades.  Aili's out of focus, but I love her expression of glee!

Here I is!!

Lordy, it's been a whirlwind the last few weeks!!

Okay, months.

And of course, I have to run out shortly to get the kids off the bus, but I wanted to let you know that I have finished editing all sorts of photos, dating all the way back to Thanksgiving and will be updating over the next few days...

Gonna leave you with these snaps of my crazy diva, just for today's giggle...

She comes by those luscious lips, honestly...

Pussycat Doll, eat your hearts out!

40 lbs of flesh and bone, 100 lbs of attitude!

More pics to follow!