and the winner is.....

drum roll please....BILLY !!!

Today was Billy's 1st Tae Kwon Do tournament and was he excited! It took place in Kitchener (about an hour from Toronto) and we had to be there at 8:30am. NOT what the rest of the loudamericans wanted to do on a Saturday morning, but we did. Billy has supported every one of Jimmys games and Kay has her 1st gymnastics tournament and since its the right thing to do... all 5 of us were up at 7:00am today and out the door before 7:30. Yikes!

The tourney was at a university campus with a gym on one side of the field house and hockey rink on the other. Its was big and thats when Billy got nervous. I think he expected something similar to our dojo, small and intimate.

We checked in, scouted our seats and settled in. Luckily, I sat by some veterans and they gave me the whole run down. 1st up? their patterns - with scores given by 3 judges with a top score of 10 (which I was promptly informed, no one ever gets).  Then, sparring, which is a tournament style, you keep sparring until you are out or the winner.

They call the kids by age and belt color and then the chaos begins, it took 30 min's to get the kids lined up and paired up properly.  Billy was a trooped but I cant say as much for the other 2.

We got the hang of watching the competition by watching the 5-6 yr old black belts. Yikes, one girl was serciously intense and she won both the pattern and sparring. I wouldnt want to mess with her in a few years. Jimmy was mightily impressed.

Then, Billy was up (yellow belt since he just got his yellow belt with green stripe). He bowed, stood up straight, started his pattern and promptly forgot what he was doing. It was super cute. He stopped, scratched his head, figured out what he was suppose to be doing and started again. judges call? 6-6-6. Not too bad for 1st time nerves.

Then, the long wait to sparring, after a bit of side line practicing, getting geared up in his pads and a pep talk from Master Jeon, he was ready.

Round 1 - Billy was on fire!!! bouncing on his toes, moving fast, fly like a butterfly, sting like a bee... you know the drill. Before we knew it, he was dominating at 11 to 2 (you get points for kicking the other person in the chest pad). Jimmy, Kay, our new friends next to us and I were going nuts!  He did a little fist pumped and looked up at us with a big grin.

Round 2 - The opponent was agressive! coming in tough, taking kicks, knocked Billy over, but Billy didnt back down. He got some good strategic kicks in and played smart, not fast.  final score 4 to 2 - Billy wins again and the crowd goes nuts!!   

Then, a bit of confusion, does he spar again or not?  As he starts to talk with his coach and take off his pads we realize...he won! He won 1st place in sparring in his 1st tournament! Amazing!!

Parents arent allowed on the floor unless your kid has won and is on the podium (photos only please) so Jimmy Kay and I ran down. Billy was over the moon when they announced his name. He jumped up on the podium, started pumping his arms, huge smile and when all 4 winners were on the podium, he started doing the gangum style dance. Everyone cracked up. Hes a star!

Guess who cant wait for his next tournament?

Winning is addictive.

 We are so proud of you Billy! next up, the Canada Open in May - we'll keep you posted on our future Olympic athelete:)  

You must be Jimmy's Parent's

This week is March Break and with that upon us last week was filled with getting our act together for March Break.

The schools here tend to have some type of fanfare before each of the breaks and for the most part the events are explained to the students with the understanding that the student will inform their parents of what is happening at school, right. So it came as no surprise when Jimmy came home last week and announced that there was an all school assembly and that some of the kids in the school received awards. Jim won the Health and Physical Education Award which is no real shock. So when we asked him about the assembly and why we did not know there was going to be one he replied Oh, I forgot, to which I through the baloney flag! The reason he didn't mention anything about this is because he was not sure of he was going to get an award and didn't want us around! So when further quarried about what the other awards were, it was revealed they were mostly academic in nature, Honor Roll, Science, Math and the like you know the things as a parent you want you kid to excel in, not that the physical education is not important, don't get me wrong! So apparently you could win more than 1 award however with further in depth interviewing ( pulling teeth) it was revealed that only 1 girl and 1 boy from each class won the Health and  Physical Education Award, that was awesome. When we ask Jimmy about getting another award in like say, Math or Science he said " Hey don't ruin my moment at least I won an award!" Convicted, no never convicted!
Keep up the good work Jimmy!

Kay has been gearing up for her first competitive gymnastics event coming in early May. She has spent most of the past few weeks bending over backwards, walking on her hands twirling and contorting in ways that make my head hurt. She has been doing great at school  but for the past few days has been focused on her up coming Spring Break camp, which is a week long cooking camp for kids. She came to visit Tom at cooking school and was so inspired she wrote this recipe:
Family Pie:
Ingredients:
1 cup caring, 2 cups kindness, 4 cups forgiveness, 1/3 cup honesty, 1 cup teamwork, fairness and intelligence.
Whisk ingredients together in a bowl and pour into 2 pies pans.
Bake in the oven at 400 degrees until a yellow color forms.
Let stand.
Sprinkle on honesty, fairness and intelligence berries. Serve with empathy whipped cream and taste the fairness and forgiveness.

Not sure what she did, or what she is telling us either way a very insightful recipe!

Ol' Bill continues on his merry way, with his dog, firm grasp on his Lego's and not a care on the world, Oh to be able to get up each day and honestly ask, what day is today? Do I have anything? How many days till I get my next Lego magazine? In that vain Bill and i headed off to the flight simulator, one of Billy's Christmas presents. I hour in the cockpit flying a plane, too cool. He decided he would be the pilot and I would be the co-pilot, so after about 2 minutes of instructions we took off and promptly crashed, not a good beginning. Bill powered up the engines and we were off and a couple of tense moments we were airborne and heading toward the airport and to make a landing, which we did not do! Alas Bill was not swayed and we were off again as co-pilot i said to the Pilot, Let,s try to land this time to which the Pilot responded " Good Plan" and sure enough we did. The whole experience was awesome and the time flew by, pun intended, and Billy and I had a blast.
As soon as we were in the car  on the way home Billy wanted to know how many days till we can do this again! Billy and his class won the Dance a Thon competition this year and were rewarded with a Pizza party and Billy was ecstatic!








Tom and Tracy are a bit worried about this new class Tom is in at school titled, Brunch below you will see why:

I was getting ready too head off to the gym because of the aformentioned class and worries when the door bell rang. There was some random stranger standing there all dressed up and she handed me her business card stating she was in realestate and wanted to let me know that if I was planning on moving anytime soon to give her a call. I politely responded that we are not the home owners and are just living here on a temporary basis, which did not deter her. She said no worries she lived in the neighborhood and when we were ready to buy to let her know. I then went into the elevator speech I keep handy for these situations, telling her that we are here for my wife's job and then would be returning back to the US. She responded where in the US are you from, and I replied, Minnesota to which she said: " Oh,then you must be Jimmy's parents!"

Next up March Break........

Billy kicks butt - literally!

Billy is now a yellow with green stripe belt! Yeah! 

He tested for the next level of Tae Kwon Do yesterday and did an amazing job. He started sparring this winter and he's gotten really good. Part of the test was sparing and it was really fun to see. The kids wear a ton of pads, can barely move but manage to kick the snot out of each other and love it!

Up next?! His 1st competition in 2 weeks.  We'll head to Kitchner for the day and see how Billy does against his "adversaries".  We are super proud of how hard he works at TKD and how much he loves it.  GO Billy GO!!  check out the video, billy is in the blue helmet ...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRQAacQIuUA 

 

 

In other Billy news, he's pretty much got it made.  He and Tracy were cuddling and talking after she had a long day at work...  

 

Billy "I'm sorry you had a hard day"

Tracy "Do you ever have hard days?"

Billy " Umm.... no not really"

Tracy "Really?! Never?"

Billy "Well, maybe one or two"

Tracy "Wow, you have a great life, only 1 or 2 bad days in your whole 8 years?!"

Billy "Yeah, I like being a kid"

Billy "What do you like about being a grown up?"

Tracy "Having kids"

Billy "Not that...not every grown up has kids, whats one thing all grown ups like about being grown ups?"

Tracy "being able to work and buy the people we love things and presents, what do you think you'll like about being a grown up"

Billy "I dont know, I dont really know much about grownups"

Tracy "What about Daddy and I?"

Billy "I really dont have any idea what you do when I'm not around"

 

We should all be so content and happy with our lot in life.  It was a super good life lesson for Tracy and made a hard day great....

LOVE YOU BILLY!!

 

 

   

It's Miller Time- YAHOOO

Wade, Angel, Caden and Wyatt arrived last Thursday in a sort of planes trains and automobile type fashion, well  planes and automobiles, Holy Sh** data downloading in Canada is expensive, sort of way .

Friday morning, no school for the Loudamericans, found Tracy and Tom at a parent teacher conferences, not three. Seems in the Winter the teacher call the shots and decide if they want to see the parents or not ( see previous blog). Jimmy's teacher was happy to call us in and have a complete review of the previous 5 years of reports cards.

That behind us, we headed to the Science Museum along with the rest of Toronto. It was not quite as packed as we thought it would be and the kids had a blast. There is this interactive creative zone for the kids. It really is a place where the museum dumps most of it's recyclable trash ~  Popsicle sticks, paper cups, paper, and glue and allows the youth's in attendance to create birdhouses and the like to take home so there parents can actually recycle the stuff.  Big cost savings to the Museum, happy to help. The kids were just happy to hang together and play. Back home we just hung out until the 2 "kid sitters" showed up. Wade, Angela, Tracy and I headed out for a much needed date night and catching up session. We are very proud of Angela she was offered and accepted a new job, we will miss her at being at Target but she's still an important part of our our daily lives! Wade is doing great with his consulting gig and we realized how much we miss our monthly family sleep overs and play dates.

Saturday found Angela and Tracy at the spa, well Angela getting a hair cut, and Tracy offering support. She went from shoulder length to short short, its really cute!

Wade and I hit the subway with the kids and headed out to the Hockey Hall of Fame!
It was more than I thought and the interactive broadcasting booth kept the kids ( mostly Jimmy) entertained for hours. Tracy and Angela met up with us in a nick of time as the kids needed to eat. That done back too the HHF, for more one on one with the simulator and guarding the goal. Saturday night after Tracy and Angela returned from a pedicure, found us enjoying some nice wine, the kids had roasted chicken and the adults feasted on Beef Wellington, a new favorite of Chef Tom's.

Sunday Kay went off to gymnastics, Jimmy and Caden to football, Tom and Wade to the gym and Tracy and Angela took Nikki for a long walk to wear off the Wellington, Then it was off to Niagara Falls. As we entered the town, Jimmy proclaimed "Its just like Gatlinburg!! so much to do!! "  I would say...it is definitely a once in a lifetime experience (meaning, something you only want to do once....)  It was the first time we had been to the falls as a family and the first time any of us had been there in the Winter. The falls is a must see place, I suggest the winter as most of the tourist traps, I mean destinations, are outside and therefore closed. That way you can focus on the main attraction, the falls. The Imax theater show is worth going to just to see all the morons, I mean daredevils, who made history going over the falls in a friggin barrel, there are lots of them. The theater comes with an option to view the daredevil memorabilia, totally worth it. One of the highlights is all the "inspirational items" the daredevils took with them. Not to ruin the experience for you but one guy went over the falls in a barrel with antacids and a case of beer, survivor or not? you will have to go to find out!

All good things must come to an end and sadly Monday afternoon the Murphy's headed towards Toronto and the Millers toward Buffalo and their flight home. It was great to see everyone clicking along as always and to re-connect. Thanks for the hugs, laughs and new stories!
We love you we bless you and we are glad you are in our lives.

More to come....

report card time (again)

Its that time again, report cards! Given the teacher union situation up here (see previous blog) we werent sure what to expect on the mid winter report cards. We were pleasantly surprised...

Jimmy - doing really well in science, music, gym and French (B+ to A-) and needs some work on attention to detail in Language and Math (C+ to B-). Overall his behavior is getting better, he's interrupting less and is encouraging kids in gym vs getting frustrated. He's still a little too social and I'm not sure his teacher appreciates when he tries to negotiate for a better grade but...he was given high marks on wanting to do well, completing homework, being engaged and sticking to it until he understands. Hes a hands on learner and isnt afraid to ask questions.  

Kay - an "enthusiastic" learner and got her best report card ever! She has only missed about 3 spelling words all year, is kicking butt in math and loves science because she gets to do experiments. Her pronouciation in French is good and shes friends with everyone. Her grades were all in the B+ or higher range and she is also not afraid to ask questions and put herself out there. She is good in groups but sometimes rolls right over people and could use a little work on collaboration (who couldnt?!). Her gym teacher is mightly impressed with her hand eye coordination, speed and strength. She is a natural athelete. She needs to work on neatness and staying organized. (you should see her room - oy!)           

Billy - LOVES science and figuring out how stuff works. He's a natural in math and is a very engaged reader. He fits into the class dynamics nicely and could use a little work on  staying on task when hes in self directed work time. He is also easily distracted by others but doesnt cause trouble, is just social (squirrel). He doesnt seem to put in much effort and easily gets B's or higher. If he even applied himself a bit more, he'd be an easy A student. He adores his teacher and I suspect he's an easy kid to have in class.

So, there you go. Print these off and bring them to their 1st annual review when they are adults and establishing their careers. I swear we have the same conference/report for each of them each year. You are who you area...right?! :)

We are very proud of how they are doing but...more importantly, they were happy with their grades and proud of their accomplishments. They are very self motivated to do well...love it! and them :)

Kays creation - a good way to spend 4 hours

Its winter, its cold out, you have a box of cake mix and some frosting? Is there a better way to spend 4 hours? !  Kay doesnt think so:)

Mr. & Mrs. James Fellows

What a nice saying and it has a great ring to it!

The Loudamericans headed back to Minneapolis, well Woodbury, this past weekend to be part of Jim and Jens wedding. The beginning of the trip was quite painful as we waited at the airport for several hours for a plane to show up and fly us back home. The old saying " The road to a friends house is never long" was ringing in our ears and finally we were in the car with Uncle Jim.  Tracy was there before us (went in a day early for work) and was already at the hotel, testing the mattress to make sure we could get a good night's sleep, so Jim came to get the rest of us.

Friday was spent running errands and getting ready for the rehearsal dinner. Tux, check, well not really the shoes fit but the rest needed to be changed and we had to wait overnight as the tux parts came from Houston, really?, why is there even a need ahead of time to get measured, just go in the day before try on some random tux, it doesn't fit?, OK we'll send in the real one over night from Houston be here tomorrow to get it...

The rehearsal was fun we all did great well except for one crabby Deacon who shall remain nameless and Tracy who had to read this particularly difficult version of the intentions. Well Tracy did fine it was the wording and giggling that set off the aforementioned Deacon. The rehearsal behind us, the adults headed over to Jim and Jens for some extremely awesome Mexican food and the kids headed elsewhere for pizza. The adults had a blast sharing stories and getting to know each other and Tracy, Tom, Jim and Jen got a kick out of the Groundhog cake and the situation leading up to it. It is and will remain an inside joke but rest assured there were tears of joy and laughter pains shared by all.

Saturday, Ground Hogs Day, and for a moment let me just say that Ground Hog's Day, above all others is Jim's favorite day, so it is fitting that he creates this day into a lifelong memorial day. The wedding party gathered at the church for photo's and more stories and bonding until the time came to turn serious. I will say that standing in the church and seeing the pure joy & happiness that was radiating from both Jim and Jen brought a tear to my eyes. Jim was busy running from here to there but when it was time to walk down the aisle he was more than present. The ceremony was awesome and at one point Jim got up to play guitar with the band ( or I guess you say choir in a church setting) and he did fabulous.

Everyone hit their marks, new their lines and looked wonderful. The Deacon that married them, had them write love letters to each other and then read them to the whole congregation, it was really touching and a great personal, intimate touch to the ceremony.

After the great event, the was more socializing, hugging, photos and kid craziness.  Jim & Jen hosted an incredible meal of the family and wedding party at Bucca and we even had our own room. The kids loved it and the wine flowed:)  Toasts were made, food was shared and the music blared... a great celebration to end an amazing day and start of a new life together.

The newly weds were eager to get home and crash so that they'd be ready for their honeymoon the next day. so.. we all packed it up and headed home.

Sunday was a bit of a slow start, even the kids were hung over from a weekend of partys and people.
Jimmy ended up with a touch of bug and all I'll say is...thank god for the barf bags in your airline seat....

JIm and Jen - Many happy returns of the day, all the best, love each other, be an example of peace in the world and KNOW that you are loved:)

getting back into a routine

Post the holidays and into the new year, its all about getting back into a routine. The kids need to get used to homework, school and practicing piano, drums etc.  So, we dont have anything new to report. 

Jimmy is in the next section of basketball and football winter training camp starts in 2 weeks. Hes got a ton of school projects (movie poster as a book report, a stand up presentation on explorers and a science experiment to create a catapult).

Kay added another 3 hours of gymnastics practice in order to get ready for her (1st) competitions this spring (she's up to 9 hours of practice a week and shes ripped. Didnt know a 9 yr old could have a 6 pack).   

Billy has started sparring in Tae Kwon Do and is loving 'taking kids down'.

Tom started his next chef class - sauces and marinades and in 2 weeks has knife skills class. So...he'll be in class 2x week for a few weeks.

Tracy has been working unbelievable hours, including nights and weekends, but we know its "just" for 2013. Part of what we signed up for.... On the silver lining side, she started her drum lessons that we got her for Christmas and is realizing how hard it really is. Jimmy does his best not to roll his eyes, which is thoughtful.  Its intimidating being a beginner when there is a pro in the house...

Nikki is loving the cold weather and has started just sitting in the back yard and staring at the house. We have a big picture window in the kitchen and she just sits and watches us. Must be like doggy tv. yesterday she did that for 2 hours. It was 5 degrees out...

So...thats it, regular, suburban family life in full swing.

Keep posted for the next post...itll be a dozy ... All I have to say is...wedding, groundhogs day, pasta and MPLS..... 

Photos from vacation

Kay in ski school

Georgia with charades

Billy in ski school

SKIING!

The boys cuddling

Happy New Year!

Ice skating and exploring

Sledding Sleeping Bear

Sledding the dunes

Go Herbie Go - check out that hill!

Knit one Pearl two

mid way up Sleeping Bear

View of Glen Lake from Sleeping Bear

Winter Vacation - the Michigan way!

We are experiencing some technical difficulties and can not post any photo's, please check back as we will resolve this operator error issue soon.....

This year, we traveled to the northern part of lower Michigan for a winter vacation fest!  Tracy's parents have a cottage at the base of Sleeping Bear Dunes on Little Glen Lake about an hour outside of Traverse City. It is pure heaven and gorgeous in the summer but we have never been up there in the winter. This was the year! We were getting together to celebrate Grandma Bunny and Grandpa Jim's 70th birthdays. The only bummer, Julie and her boys as well as Sue weren't able to join us. They were in Costa Rica as its a really busy time of year for Julies massage business. They were missed but I also know they had a great time together.

Tracy's sister Tammy and we rented the house/cabin next door to our parents place and we had a blast!  The Sleeping Bear Dunes area is gorgeous year round and there is a TON of fun stuff to do...

We all arrived on Saturday and got a lay of the land. The kids fell right back into their friendships with their cousins and Grandma made chalupas, a family tradition.

Another tradition? football!  We have a Lions, Packer, Vikings and Patriots fan all in the family and given the TV football line up that week, we had plenty of entertainment (the best being the inter-family rivalry:)) 

Grandpa also had a 1/2 court basketball court installed last summer and their were some mean games of HORSE and 2 on 2 including a few free throw contests (Grandpa is still the standing winner).  Jimmy was out there every chance he got in short sleeves in the snow and 20 degree weather (he doesn't get cold)

The girls commanded Grandmas time and soon there were cupcakes and knitting lessons going on. Kay was in hog heaven and I think Grandma was too.

Sunday we gave sledding at the gravel pit across the road a try and even ice skated on Little Glen. That was harder than it looked since the ice was pretty bumpy but the kids had a great time anyway (don't they always?!)  Grandma also cooked a big traditional Christmas meal and we played charades. Its was pretty darn cute watching the kids act out and guess their "Place, Team, Book or Movie". We definitely have some future actors in the crowd.

Monday was our 1st real attempt at skiing as well as New Years Eve and Georgia's 10th birthday. We have been skiing in the past with the kids, but this time, the kids were in ski school as a Christmas gift from Grandma and Grandpa (THANK YOU!!)  This gave Tom and I time to ski together, something we haven't done in over 10 years (Thanks again Mom and Dad). The kids did great! Jimmy, despite his fear of heights, got on the chair lift and they were all doing blue's by the end of the day. We were really proud of them!  We had a really long day and kept dinner simple, Tammy made pasta and we toasted in the new year with sparkling grape juice and wine. Everyone fell into bed happy but exhausted at "midnight". (Tom and Jeff had the great idea to set all the clocks ahead 2 hours, so we counted down with the kids and still managed to get them into bed at a decent hour, shhh...its our little secret!!)

Tuesday was our chance to give Sleeping Bear Dunes a try and SLEDDING!  Now, we have been sledding a million times but Sleeping Bear Dunes is another story. Its a massive sand dunes that borders Lake Michigan and Little Glen Lake. In the summer, its a 30 min hike to the top and then another 2 hour hike to Lake Michigan. This gives you a bit of a sense of the scale, its a MASSIVE hill. I will admit, climbing the dunes in the winter is much easier than in the summer but its WAY colder. The wind comes off Lake Michigan and its a steep steep  hill. Of course, the kids loved every minute but I think Tammy was going to have an ulcer at how fast they were going down hill without helmets. We did see a couple people hit the jumps at the end of the hill and hurt themselves. It was crazy!  We recouped with a hamburger bratwurst meal and reintroduced the kids to the movie
The Princess Bride. Its a classic and even Grandma and Grandpa loved it. ....As you wish:)

Wednesday was Georgia's birthday "party", we headed the hour into Traverse City and spent the day at an indoor water park. It was a gas. Grandpa and Tracy played a couple games of 2 on 2 water basketball with Jimmy and Joey, Grandpa also went down the water slides with Herbie and Billy and Grandma even got her hair wet (a rarity) and went down the water slides multiple times with all the grand kids. We raced on the watersides, hung out in the whirlpool, swam in all the pools and played in the splash park. AND...the best part, it was probably the cleanest indoor water park we have ever been to so Tracy didn't have to douse the kids with antibacterial wash when they were done:)  Dinner was suppose to be Georgia's choice (lobster) but, go figure, northern Michigan didn't have any the day after New Years. We had to "settle" for steak and shrimp. Poor us.  After the kids were in bed Jeff challenged Tammy, Tom and Tracy to a game of hearts. We forgot how much fun that game is and how its the perfect cabin game. We kept the game going 3 days and I think Jeff was the only one to shoot the moon but I think in the end Tracy still won (at least that's our story and we are sticking to it!)

Thursday was another day of skiing and ski school. The kids now knew what to expect and practically ran out of the car.  Tracy and Tom were able to explore another part of the ski hill and Tom even got a few Black Diamond runs in. They were making snow on the hill and it was noticeably less crowded than on New Years Eve.  We spent all afternoon skiing together and the kids are now addicted. They kept asking the whole way home "when can we go again?! Can we get skis?!" We went to dinner in Frankfurter at Grandma's favorite restaurant Fusion. Its a really nice and tasty Asian place that specializes in Thai but also has Korean and Chinese. The best part? They put us in our own room! Yeah!  It was nice to relax and not worry about cooking for 1 night. Kay, of course, took a bet from Jimmy/Grandma and ate a whole spoonful of wasabi. The look on her face was priceless - she didn't react to the heat at all, but gave a look of total diva-ness. Then, she promptly ran to the bathroom and threw up. As Jimmy put it, a good "life lesson".  Back at the ranch, we got a killer game of Uno going with the kids. Its full combat Uno with 6 kids.  The decibel level was out of control.

Friday was our last "down" day. We hit the slope at Sleep Bear Dunes again, but this time with helmets.  Jeff and Tom even got in a few runs. We also read books, played cards, shot hoops and lazed around. Tom made a killer meal of broasted chicken and we watched Prep and Landing (a series of short animated films about Christmas). We all headed outside in our pajamas right before bed to look at the stars. It was so dark and so clear it was an amazing sight. Really beautiful and peaceful and awe inspiring (nothing better than standing in the snow, in your boots and pj's looking at stars. everyone should have that memory.....)

Saturday came and it was time to pack up an go. Grandma/pa headed back to South Carolina, Tammy/Jeff back to Grand Haven and the Loudamericans were driving back to Toronto. We were in a bit of a game of beat the clock as the Viking/Packer game was at 8pm and we had a goal to be home in time for kick off. I happen to know that all 3 families were gathered around their TV's in their respective homes, tired, glad to be home and cheering on their team. (Grandpa and Joey, Jimmy and Tom owe you a hamburger:))

It was an awesome vacation. Tons of family time, outdoor time, reading, playing, cards, food, a fire in the fireplace every night, etc. Notice, we didn't watch TV, read the paper, check email or even turn on our phone?!  The dogs also loved it and got a daily walk and played in the snow with the kids.  Having 2 houses next door to each other was perfect too. Grandma/pa got their "alone" time without the blare of kids and the kids got to do 1 big week long sleep over. Tammy/Jeff/Tracy/Tom also had some good adult bonding time over hearts and wine after the kids passed out.

We are already planning next year but are hoping Julie, Ced, Solomon and Sue will join us. There is plenty of room and plenty of fun and love to go around! Plus, we suspect Ced and Solomon will kill everyone on the ski hill with their snowboard skills given how good they are at surfing and skateboarding....

So, a wonderful loving, relaxing, fun way to start 2013.  A good omen for the year to come:)           

Merry Christmas!!

What a great Christmas! I hope you all had as wonderful a holiday as we did!

1st up - cocktails and appetisers at our friends Peggy and Rod for Christmas Eve. Tom made his famous Gorgonzola venison roll and there was enough food/drinks for an army. We met even more neighbors, including "the originals". He's 90, she's 88 and they have lived in their house 50+ years. They were super cute and it was fun to here about the neighborhood and Toronto before it was a big city. The kids had a blast too playing pinball and causing general mayhem. Jimmy got the troops going and declared a family sleep over in Billy's room so that they could all wake up and head down to the tree together on Christmas morning. We also skyped with friends over a glass of wine and fell into bed excited for the next day.


Christmas day was a joy. The kids loved all their presents, were nice to each other and there was really limited fighting so...I got my Christmas wish:)  Kays letter to Santa was classic.."Dear Santa, bring me what I like...Love, Kay"

Highlights included:
Billy - Wii and Skylanders starter kit, in fact, his arm hurt the next day from too much Wii:)
Kay - TONs of make up and cooking/baking sets, we even gave Kay a drawer of her own in the kitchen. Watch out!
Jimmy - an alarm clock that projects on his ceiling (go figure, that was his favorite present) and a basketball hoop. (Took Tom and I 2 days to put together the damn hoop, 1st attempt was about 95% done when we realized it was put together backwards. Have you tried to do this in 30 degree weather?!)
Tom - Bruce Springsteen autobiography and new fondue pot
Tracy - DRUM LESSONS and sticks/practice pad - yep, I'm going to give Jimmy a run for his money, I cant wait! Jimmy, of course, is mortified:)
We lazed around all day, played Wii (Dance Disney and Resorts are our personal favorite right now), ate, read books, and oh...put together a basketball hoop. We were able to chat with all our family and it was nice to at least connect virtually.

Then, Tom got busy with a major FEAST for dinner. Smoked turkey, beef wellington, homemade greek/olive break stuffing, mashed potatoes, beans, salad, dessert, etc etc...  Tom, Danica and their 2 kids (Isaac -8 and Nora -6) along with our neighbors Peter and Wendy and their 2 kids (Isaac -2 and Miles - 8 weeks) ate like kings. It was so so yummy! The kids watched Christmas movies, played Wii and everyone cried when it was time to go home.  Ahhh....



Yesterday was our 1st Boxing Day experience (think Black Friday) and I ventured out with the kids as their Christmas money/gift cards were burning a hole in their pockets.  Holy cow, the stores were wreaked!  It was a mob scene but the kids got what they wanted (Billy = more skylanders, Kay = more make up, Jimmy = Madden 13 for his PS3).  I made homemade turkey soup and Tom did a mean fish fry then we all headed downstairs for a dance competition on Dance Disney Wii. Lets just say Billy's got "the moves like Jagger" and handily beat us all!


Then...it snowed!! YEAH!!! We got about 6 inches of snow and its just gorgeous. Feels like winter break:). The kids went sledding with the neighbors in a ravine behind the school and had a blast.















Then it was off to the Sound of Music Sing-a-long, what a hoot. The theatre was packed and everyone was way into it, there were people in costumes. The best costumes won prizes, Mr. Maria and a nun with a beard!We all received a bag of props and let's just say that we will never view the movie the same again!

It was an interactive experience, including ...booing at Nazis, cheering Maria, quacking when Nun's are on the screen, waving a swatch of fabric and yelling "look behind you!" when she is in her bedroom asking the Captain for curtains...you get the picture. Super fun and as JImmy said "I didnt know The Sound of Music was so funny!"  Might become our new holiday tradition while in Toronto...








Tomorrow we are heading to Michigan to hook up with my parents and my sister/her family at my parents cottage. We have 2 days of ski school planned and a birthday party for Georgia at an indoor water park on the schedule. Layer on top of that football, skating, snowshoeing, ice skating and sledding and we have a  really fun winter vacation ahead of us.                 






Until next year!! Hope you ALL were with loved ones, enjoying each other and taking care of yourselves.
Peace, love and Happy New Year:)