Preview of 2014 calendar

I wasn't planning on making a calendar this year because we are trying to be more frugal as a family since I don't have a job… However, your Toronto grandparents were asking me last week to make one and I know your Vancouver grandparents will also be disappointed if we don't do one this year. So, I gathered all the photos I took of you guys (not too many this year sadly…) in the past week and here's a sneak peek of what's to come. Isn't the cover so cute?

First snowstorm

You knee-deep in the snow after school today.

It is not easy doing the pick-ups and drop-offs when you have more than 1 child. And make that 10X worse when you live in a cold climate. 

We had our first major snowstorm yesterday. It snowed all day and I had shovel 3 times. I woke up with body aches this morning :-(

Because parking is nearly impossible by the school, I usually park at my friend's house who lives right by the school or I walk over with Kendall in the stroller. Yesterday, I was going to leave Kendall at home in the morning while she was still sleeping to take you to school since the weather was so bad. I knew that Kendall wouldn't wake up while I stepped out for 15 minutes. However, my friend Jenn (the one that lives near the school) wouldn't allow me to do that. She got her husband to walk over with a sled to pick you up. She also picked you up from school and dropped you off. That was so helpful. 

However, I decided to go out today with Kendall to walk you over to school since the snow had stopped falling. BAD MISTAKE! The sidewalks were still not plowed and I got stuck several times with the umbrella stroller. By the time I got to school, I was a sweaty mess. Luckily, daddy came home early from work so I didn't have to bring Kendall with me to pick you up.

That was yesterday after my 2nd time shovelling.

Walking home from school this afternoon. You can see that the sidewalk is still covered in snow :-(

The classic kissing sibling shots

I think every family has a shot where the parents took photos of their kids kissing each other. I know I  have one where my mom dressed me up as the 'girl' and dressed my sister, Jessica, as the 'boy'. It's actually a pretty twisted shoot because Jessica is wearing our dad's army jacket and aviator sunglasses and I'm wearing a pretty dress with a flower in my hand. We are actually kissing like we are 2 lovers in love!

I didn't go as far as dressing you up as lovers, but I thought it would be cute to shoot some shots of you guys kissing. 99% of the time you guys are fighting, but there's that 1% when you are actually pretty sweet together. 

An apple a day keeps the doctor away

We've been having an unusually warm fall. It felt almost like Summer today. I hope it never ends!

We took the opportunity to go check out an apple orchard not too far from where we live- Country Apple Orchard. It was the first time we had gone to an orchard so we didn't really know what to expect. Turns out that everyone else had the same thing on their mind because it was packed with people! However, I was able to get some great shots of you guys and I think you guys really enjoyed it. That's all that matters.

The orchard had many different varieties of apples. I wasn't able to find any that I love to eat, but I thought
this sign was super cute. 

It was near the end of the season because most of the trees were picked over.
The house far in the distance is the family house. It was gorgeous.

We got a bag to pick our own apples. 

Kendall was so excited to go outside. I feel bad for her because we don't really go out much with her since
she is a lot harder to take care of than when you were her age.

One of my favourite shots. You look so adorbs!

I spy with my little eyes… something that is RED!

All the fallen apples. Such a waste…

My sunshine boy.

And my princess.

Polo girl

Your Vancouver grandma had asked me to take some pictures of you wearing this yellow and white Polo dress so that she can send the pictures to her friend that bought this dress for you. I wasn't sure if I would be able to capture any good shots because you are notorious for not staying still. I was pleasantly surprised when you actually posed for me. Mission accomplished!

This is what an S/K (Senior Kindergarten) looks like

How is it possible that you are entering Senior Kindergarten?? It seemed like yesterday when we were dropping you off for your first day of Junior Kindergarten. How time flies…

You were so excited to start school. Although you have been going to daycare every day in the Summer, I think you were bored. You really love learning so I think you were excited to finally start the school year. And now that kindergarten is full time, I imagine that you will learn so much.

So long Summer

I can't believe August is already over… And you start SK tomorrow! Where has the Summer gone?

I haven't taken photos of you too in so long so I busted out my camera and took some quick snapshots of you guys. Daddy wanted to get in on the action so he grabbed both of you and asked me to take one of you together. So cute, right?

I asked you to make your "Ee-pun-ee" face. It's translated from Korean as "pretty" face.
You are doing it right, but Kendall's is looking not so pretty… haha.

I die!

I took some portrait shots of you two. I can't believe how big you guys have grown. It boggles my mind…

Kendall is such a girly girl. I put her in an outfit I bought her a few weeks ago and she was walking around
like a little super model.

Trying to show me your coolest ninja moves. Lately you've been obsessed with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

This just made my day!

Today, your daycare class moved back into their regular space. The school has been renovating all summer so it was nice to finally get back to your original classrooms. Kendall has been adjusting really well at her new daycare (your current daycare). She cried for about a week straight so I was really worried, but for some reason something clicked and she was amazing this week. She even waved goodbye to me. I think it helped that I got you to hold Kendall's hand before entering the daycare. I think she is comforted that you are with her. What made it even better? I found these snapshots of you and Kendall taken at her new daycare in her cubby. It really looks like you guys love each other even though most of the time you guys want to claw each others eyes out!

"For the strong, silent type"

I have a weird obsession of loving watching kids eat french fries. I think it's the way their little hands hold the fries. Every time I watch you eating your fries when you are eating your Happy Meal, I pause and just stare. Am I a freak or what?

Maybe I started my obsession when I saw this 1987 McCain french fries commercial?

Today was Nate's birthday party. He turned 4 this year. We were invited for the celebration at 4pm so we decided to walk over. Too bad it poured as soon as we left the house and we got drenched!

Your cool rain gear outfit.

And guess who made a special appearance? Spiderman! 

Look how cute you guys are. I think you will be the best of friends when you are older.

Guess who's allergic to fish?

As if it couldn't get any worse, I discovered today that you are allergic to salmon and trout. The allergist said you may be allergic to white fish, but that I should still try giving it to you as the test results didn't come out 100% positive. On a positive note, you were actually amazing at the doctor's office today. You didn't cry and you were in such a good mood (as seen in the photos above). I also saw the most current issue of Best Health Magazine in the waiting room!

Mommy's magazine at the doctor's office.

Is this the lip balm?

Just a week ago, I've been teaching you how to recognize familiar things and expressing it with your words. I find that you are slower in your verbal skills than Aidan. I want to teach you how to use your words to communicate with me. 

Every evening, when I get you ready for bed, I put lip balm on your lips after washing/brushing and putting lotion on your face. It's the same routine we do every day. I use a pretty distinctive looking lip balm- the EOS lip balm that is in the shape of an egg. I started asking you, "Is this the lip balm?" while pulling out random things from my bathroom drawer wherein you will say, "no." Eventually I will pull out the lip balm and you will recognize it as your lip balm and break into a big smile and shout, "Yeah!" 

I have a good system going

I was so fearful of doing the sole drop-offs in the morning. I was so used to dropping just Aidan off. And he was pretty easy. All I had to do was wake him up, brush his teeth, change him and turn on his morning show while I got ready. You, on the other hand, can't sit for long periods of time watching TV.  I worried that mornings were going to be absolute chaos and I would go to work frazzled and unkempt. It was definitely a looming task that I wasn't looking forward to.

To my delight, it's been actually pretty good. I even get to sleep in a bit later! I used to wake up at 6:10am when daddy dropped you off. I would first wake up, brush up and then I would wake you up around 6:35am after getting your daycare bag ready. You would have your morning milk and then I would send you off with daddy around 6:55am. Then I would wake Aidan up and get him ready, etc. etc. Now, I wake up at 6:35am. I still get myself ready before either of you wake up. Usually Aidan wakes up first around 7:15am. I sometimes brush him up first before I wake you up, but I find that you usually wake up around the same time that Aidan wakes up. After getting both of you ready, I bring you two downstairs and give you both milk and cheese (you guys usually have breakfast at daycare). Surprisingly, you will sit on the couch with Aidan while I go back upstairs to change and grab my bag. Then we head out. This photo is just before we headed out the door. 

Lazy Sunday

What a hot, hot day today…

I missed church this morning because I woke up late, so we went out to a park in the morning to get you guys out of the house and play. It was just unbearably hot…

We treated you guys to some Freezies at a local convenience store afterwards.

More interested in digging for gold

Daddy and I have been trying to teach you to go pee in the potty. We keep hearing that girls are faster than boys when it comes to potty training so we thought it would be a good time to start now. Aidan was potty trained at 3 1/2 years so he was pretty late…

However, you were more interested in picking your nose than going pee. *Sigh*