24 more days till christmas!

So I was watching the news today, and was informed that we have the coldest winter in 15 years heading our way. I am now accepting all donations towards my treadmill fund!
Here are a few pictures of the house. The dining room and living room are pretty much complete and they have come a long way from there original state. The dining room had an entire mirrored wall which is now gone. Cassidy was sad to see her dancing room become a dining room!

Our leather furniture we picked up for an amazing deal. We are pleased with them but I don't recommend furniture shopping with three children, although it defiantly helps you make up your mind fast!

Thie week again was another busy week. I have been trying to get some christmas baking done and We also created this beautiful gingerbread house. It is missing a load of candy off of it right now because I have a little 2 year old boy who has been sneaking it. Steve had a bright idea to make the kids a small skating rink. He has been faithfully pouring water on it every night, trying to make it perfect. I hope this will help the kids be more comfortable on there skates. The picture is terrible. I took it through Cassidy's bedroom window because it was cold and I was a wimp and didn't want to leave my warm pjs!

COLD!!

Today I went running this morning with the tempature (with wind chill) reaching a chilly -30. What was I thinking? Well, I am determined to go through the winter and we don't have a treadmill...I guess if we didn't go and buy new furniture, new bed and a zillion other things on the house, we could have bought one. on the other hand, I am not a huge treadmill fan. I get bored with the fact you don't get anywhere and if I am outside, I love the fact I can leave my kids for that time period and not have to listen to them. I don't really want to go to the gym. I am limited for time.
Our life still has continued to fly by. Last week we kept busy again with school, ballet and other activities. The weather defiantly makes it more challenging to get from one place to another and is an adjustment. Over the weekend the kids had fun at there cousins birthday party, and we went and picked up our new coffee tables and end tables, and a new mattress set. We were in real need of a new bed and I must say the money was well spent. I was blown away with how expensive mattresses are though and didn't realize we would have to spend so much.

Sunday was the grey cup and we had a house full to celebrate this Canadian holiday. It was good to put all our space to good use.
We have already been busy getting ready for christmas. We have been busy baking christmas cookies already. The kids have had fun decorating several batches of sugar cookies already, plus we had to bake for Aidan's school's craft sale. Today I hope to make a gingerbread house with them all.
I am done the christmas shopping and have all the presents organized and wrapped in my closet to avoid any snoopers.
Aidan gets his first report card this week. His teacher also phoned to update us on his progress. He is excelling in math and science, not a surprise. He can count to 100 and can subract and add like a pro. obviously he gets his math skills from his daddy. He is struggling with his letters and speech and will be taking some speech therapy. This also is no surprise to us. Socially, he is doing great and his teacher tells us he is a good listener and helper (what?? is this the same boy??) It is hard to believe we are going to be at Christmas break so soon already.

Other then that, things are all pretty normal here. I still can't believe it is December on saturday. Christmas will be here before we know it and then after I have to think about Aidan's birthday, which falls so close after.

It is almost the middle of November already. This means Christmas is right around the corner. I usually am one to love the season but this year we were a little overwhelmed with how the whole christmas thing was going to work.

You see, Christmas is the busiest time at Steve's work, so we are in for a long December, with long days and him working some weekends. Yes, the extra money is nice but it just adds to the business of this already busy household.

Christmas is supposed to be about Joy, peace and all that stuff. But honestly, I was rather dreading the season. Steve will have christmas day off, that is probably it. So how to we fit our christmas and two other gatherings into that one day? Thankfully, we have worked it all out and we will be haveing my side of the family Christmas at our house the weekend before.

My tree went up 11 days late this year. It is usually up on November 1st, but I fell behind because of all the other stuff that was being done.

But it is up and because of the position in the house, i had to decorate all the way around, so I had to get more decorations. The kids also decorated there own tree in the basement. That way I don't feel guilty for not letting them touch mine.

Steve went back to work today. Today is a holiday for him but he decided to work double time and since he has been off for two weeks it isn't so bad.

He has finished painting most of the house. Last week he hung christmas lights up outside. he also fixed two of the bedrooms walls because they had water damage from the windows and they are now ready to paint.

We have acomplished what we wanted to do now but still have lots more we want to do. We want to do as much as we can afford to do in winter so by spring we can focus on the outside.

As for the kids, they are still fighting awful colds. I haven't brought them to the doctor yet. I hate sitting in a clinic for hours waiting to see a doctor who will tell me to give them some over the counter medicine.

Aidan is back to school today. He loves school, I love that. I am also so impressed with the stuff he comes home that he is soaking in. I love that they memorize bible verses and he gets excited about bible stories. Aidan defiantly is very difficult though. I think alot of it is he has so much energy and he needs to learn how to focus his energy on the right things. Currently, Aidan's favorite things are barns and tornadoes, or actually any natural disaster. He has requested a tornadoe cake for his birthday.

Cassidy is loving her preschool as well. She is doing well socially which I thought may be an issue but she has really opened up and isn't as shy as she used to be. She is currently loving her ballet as well. But, she is still the princess of the house and knows how to use her cuteness to her advantage. She is lately into anything princesses and polly pockets.

Liam is trouble. Really he is. I think he is the hardest two year old I have every had. His energy and excitment is almost uncontrolable. When he doesn't get his way he gets upset. One thing though is he loves to cuddle and I hope that doesn't change. Liam loves anything with dinosaurs.

Since it has been almost a week and I have had people telling me I have been terrible at updated my blog, I knew it was time to write something.
Sunday night again, why do i feel this past week just started and now it is over, which means half of Steve's holidays are complete.
So this week was a rather crazy week. We had our floors refinished on tuesday and wensday. We tried to stay away from the house because of the terrible stench from the floors. Everything stank, even my towels in the bathroom and some of the stuff in the fridge! We slept in the basement and thursday were finally able to make our way back upstairs.
Monday I chaparoned Aidan's field trip to the firehall. I felt old being the 'parent!'

Tuesday morning we took to the entire family furniture shopping. Nothing I would recommend. Thankgoodness nothing was broken by the kids in any stores and we were able to find an excellent deal on a three piece leather set for the living room. They are being delivered this week.
Wensday we went to friends to trick or treat with them, again because of the stench of the house. Here are are kiddos all dressed up.
Our friends Troy and Andrea live in the same townhouses we lived in while we renovated our first Winnipeg home. The kids always have a blast going here and were able to trick or treat at the one we stay in for those few months. Here are the boys, and Cass.


Steve also painted the entire living room, dining room, and hallway. We hung new curtains, new light and he is currently working on painting my red dining room wall. Pictures will come when it is all complete.
As for more good news, our house money arrived this week! So exciting to see such a big check, too bad we have places for the money to go! It would be fun to go shopping!
Other then renos, our kids have all been getting over colds. Liam is still pretty congested and coughing like crazy, as much as i really hate going to the doctor, I think I may have to tomorow to kick this cold.