Bummer :(

This was not on Alvar's list of things to do today - filing a police report, calling insurance and finding auto body shops that fix broken windows and broken steering columns...

They didn't even take the $20 of change we had in the ashtray (pretty dumb criminals if you ask me!) - oh well, at least we still have our Church money for tomorrow!!
They didn't manage to drive away with our van (or the one from down our street either - we weren't the only ones hit) - but what a waste of a Saturday!

Have You Kissed Your Cousin Today?

Besides having the most cutest outfits on the other day (thanks to our cousin Karen!!)- Sara and her cousin Caidence had some bonding time this past Thanksgiving Day.

Just hanging out together

So far so good - seem to like each other just fine

Then the kisses began (I mean, who wouldn't want to kiss Sara!)

Oh, how about one more kiss...

Just one last kiss here...I think the bonding went well!

A Double Pot of Gold at the End of the Rainbow

Sweet Hair Anna!!

Trampolines are great for some "hair-raising" fun!

Just Hanging Around

Sara's Preferred Way of Transportation

This is Sara's favourite way of getting around lately.

Can't blame her, looks pretty comfy to me!

Poffertjes

When Alvar and I went to Holland last year, we enjoyed a lovely Holland food called Poffertjes. Basically they are mini pancakes, but instead of putting the "toppings" on top, you simply dip the hot poffertje in margarine (or butter) and then in sugar. I prefer using the powder sugar, whereas Alvar likes using regular granulated sugar. Either way, we both enjoyed them immensely!

We recently received a poffertjes pan from Alvar's parents - and have used it several times already, much to the kid's enjoyment!
Just a couple pictures of our lovely supper the other night...

How to Impress Sara...Bring Flowers!!

It's always neat to look thru the world with a baby's eyes - everything is new and exciting - everyday things to us are fascinating for Sara to look at. A while back Alvar had bought me some beautiful sunflowers, and these became a mesmerizing thing for Sara to look at while having her diaper changed. Well, the sunflowers have been long gone, but fortunately for Sara, Danielle came over the other day with a very interesting flower - and has been captivated by it ever since (I even caught her cooing and smiling at it today!).

Mini Family Outing

Last Saturday we enjoyed a little outing at the Hamilton Museum of Steam and Technology (and I mean little because we were there for under an hour!). The Hamilton Public Library has a pass available for a family of 4 to go to various museums around the Hamilton area - so we decided to take advantage of that and see what the steam museum was all about. The nice thing about the tour we had was that we were the only ones there! So, the kids got all the attention and we had "front row seats" for looking at everything!

Outside of the Museum

Smoke Tower

Little door to get into the smoke tower...little meant that children (around the age of 12) were meant to do that work (cleaning the tower) - Esther was pretty impressed that this was the age of working (novelty...I'm sure all the 12 year olds that worked there weren't all that enthused!)

Part of the tunnel to get to the tower

Various steam machines

Caleb getting a close look at the steam machine

HUGE wheel for the steam engine

Back in the day it was manually started (all 20,000 pounds!) - the kids all got to give it a go - with a little help from the guide, they were able to turn the wheel

The "drip" hat - hot oil would land on the paper hat rather then the top of the workers' heads as they worked around the engine

Toys in the gift shop were a hit - hands on is always a good thing!

Mom #2

Anna is quite enjoying life at home now. It was a huge adjustment for her to have another sibling in the house - especially one who seems to take up all of Mom's attention!! But since things have settled down a bit, she really enjoys the days that Caleb is at school and it's just the "girls" at home. She likes to talk to Sara and is asking to hold her all the time (usually lasts a whole 30 seconds, but that's ok, it keeps Anna happy that she's involved with watching Sara too!). The other day Anna asked to carry Sara in the snuggli - unfortunately she's a tad short to be carrying her around in there...so she had to be happy with using a doll instead. She is becoming quite the little Mom around here :)