Disney...

All I can say is that we miss Disney already.  I can't stop thinking about all the fun times we had and how magical that place really was.  In future posts I will write in more detail about the actual trip but a quick browse of the photo's makes me quickly remember the fun and magic that was in the air but also makes me realize just how many firsts the boys had......

Let's start with the basic...of course it was the first time they say what they refer to as "the mickey mouse castle".  Yeah technically it's called the Cinderella castle but hey if calling it the mickey mouse castle makes the boys happy that's what we go with :)

It was the first time that the twins met their super heroes.....Mattie was so excited he was speechless.....and for anyone who knows Mathew, we know that doesn't happen often.

It was the first time the boys ever participated in hula lessons.....and as this picture shows...the first time they have ever participated in a race where you push a coconut with a broom.  (Not something we can do in the north often especially during the winter because we don't have palm trees and the 6 feet of snow would get in the way hahaha)

Not only did we realize that the boys would sit through an entire meal at a restaurant, we learned that they actually enjoy it now....yiipppeee more evenings out for dinner now :)  They ate everything that we were served everywhere and loved it!  Who would have known that the boys are more proficient at eating with chopsticks than mommy is :) 

It was their first time to use 3-D glasses.  Let me tell you perhaps I am totally out of the loop because I have not been to 3-D movies for quite some time but wow has Disney outdone themselves in this area.  During this particular big movie water squirts out at you, the bugs try to exterminate you with some type of smoke and they pretend to let bugs loose in the theater and there are things that feel like bugs moving along the back and bottom of your seat.  This is also a warning to anyone who is going to Disney....this one is quite scary hahahaha :)

The boys justly enjoyed each others company and often discussed the neat things they were seeing.   So nice to see them becoming even better and better friends :)

Overall it was just a great family trip!

Oh yeah and the last first.....the twins have always been fantastic sleepers....they sleep through loud noise....sleep in the car....at other people's houses.....still to this day in the stroller.....but I will admit  that this is the first time one has ever been so exhausted that they curled up and slept through dinner on their chair in a restaurant hahaha

So much to tell....so little time :)

Well I am officially back!  We had an amazing family vacation at the Disney World.  Great company, perfect weather and the happiest kids in the world could not even begin to describe our trip.  It was way better then we could have hoped for.  The travel bug must have been born in the kids as well as it was just great......ahhh.....it's great to be able to experience new parts of the world with them.  I will say Mickey was great, the parks were fantastic, those Disney people sure keep you super fed and happy...but the best part of the trip was watching the kids experience Disney world.  I will post further pics and descriptions of the trip in upcoming posts.  After the family vacation I attended the HIMSS 11 conference (all about the newest IT inventions and progressions in healthcare).  All I can say is wow.....there are so many people out there trying to make this world a better and healthier place.  The future holds great things in the health realm :)  The final keynote speaker was Micheal J Fox and I was blown away with how great of a presenter he was.  He had me laughing in my seat and realizing just how much a great attitude and the drive to help others can really make a difference.  A million things to do here right now....including prep for teaching a chemistry course this week arggh.....so much to do so little time :)  Who can talk about Disney without at least a little sneak peak....here's a video from the starting of the vacation....and let me just add....things just got better from there if you can believe it :)

Does every kid?

Hahaha since the twins were born the amount of caffeine that Jason and I consume has skyrocketed.  So a little funny movie to share ....on the way home from skating last night we went though the drive though.....

The Video says it all.....

This would be one of those sayings....you know you are the parents of twins when 3 year olds know exactly what to order :)

Travel

Pre-kids Jason and I travelled all the time.  We  moved to Europe literally one week after we got married and travelled as much as we could until the twins came.  Our travelling slowed down but we definitely still travelled our fair share with two infants.  When we moved back to Canada, our travel came to a screeching halt.  We moved into a brand new house.....we finished the basement.....Jason went on course for almost 4 months......we finished the backyard...etc. etc.  We did a lot of travel around Ontario but not any real "big" trips.  Jason and I went away to Mexico to attend my cousin's wedding in December......and we realized just how much we have missed travelling.  We have been watching the TV show departures......for anyone who loves travel it's a show about two Canadians who travel around the world.  I love it....inspires me to see more of the world and experience more cultures.  We have dusted our book "1000 places to see before you die" off our shelf and often skim through the dog eared pages.  I have started my "travel wish list" again.  Before moving to Europe, Jason and I both physically wrote a list of places that we both wanted to visit the most while we were there.  We then compared the two lists and places that were ranked high on both lists became our next travel destinations.  We work with goals in mind........with a everyday life I find that if we don't physically make lists and set goals the days quickly pass by and before we know it a month/season or even year has passed with making it to any of the travel destinations we have planned on going.  If anyone out there has suggestions of places they have been that they loved we would love to hear about it and maybe add them to our list :) 

Sooo....as one of trips to take the family on this year is DisneyWorld.  As I start making lists of what to bring I cannot believe how much our packing has changed in such a short time.  Pre kids....we would often just take a carry on and hop on flights without even checking a bag......and then the twins.......oh wow....there were play pens.....bottles.....diapers.....millions of clothes.....hahaha  Making this new list is bittersweet, we still need a stroller and clothes....but the diapers, bottles, playpens are all long gone.  I guess we aren't travelling with the babies anymore.....but boy it's a lot lighter to travel with toddlers.




Flashback....this is a picture of us after the twins first trip back to Canada and their first flight.  After 28 hours of travel we made it to the North Bay airport safe and sound.  Overall the trip went way better then we could have expected....24 diaper changes......1 poop explosion on mommy's shirt.....18 bottles that needed to be made and warmed.....but we only had less then 5 minutes total of crying woohooo :)

It's warming up :)

I am laughing to myself after just writing that title.  Two years ago, when we lived in Germany, it rarely got below 0 C......and yesterday the temperature was only -5C (that's 23F for my american friends)....so our family was outside enjoying the "nice" weather.  I know it's hard to believe that I would consider -5 the nice weather but when you are used to -20 to -30 the low negatives has everyone with little kids running outside to take advantage of the "warm" weather hahaha.  The skating rink beside my parents had at least 5 other preschoolers there (sigh....I have to get used to using the word preschoolers instead of toddlers hahaha).  The twins were in heaven playing hockey and had a blast trying out their new ski's.

Daddy and Papa teaching the twins how to pass.....





The look on his face says it all........

Grandma and Mattie taking a spin!

Time to try out these ski's!

5 years ago today!

It was exactly 5 years ago today that my best friend and I joined with our closest family and friends to become husband and wife.  I just wanted all those family and friends to know that we were thinking about you today as we celebrate our fifth anniversary.

Spare time....

I know this is the last thing that most of my friends would have thought I use as a title.....spare time....I'm actually quite a busy person....and yet lately I seem to have more spare time.  Until the twins were about 2.5 I rarely had any time to do anything other then look after them....and yet lately as they are getting older I seem to be having more time where they don't need me.  In the last few months I have been finding extra hobbies to take up to be able to do "me" stuff in that time.  I took a photography course, which I loved and yet it happened to be the same night as the twins skating lessons ....so many weeks I was soo tiered before I even got to the night class.  I purchased a gym membership....again love it and love after I go but many days after a long work day, rushing to get the kids and having supper I just want to hang out at home.  More time to spend with the kids right......and yet they seem to want to play just the two of them more and more.  They still get into squabbles so I am always in the family room with them so I have had more time to browse blogs and do what I want.  Browsing several blogs I became inspired to attempt to try and make a quilt.  I needed something that could easily be interrupted and could be put away if I just didn't have the time.  I was inspired by http://www.goddessinprogressblog.com/quilts/2011/01/triangle-madness-but-for-some-solid/ and thought this would be the perfect project......short little jobs that do not require a huge of concentration.....and best of all.....can be interrupted.  Perfect!  I continued to read through more blogs and found http://quiltstory.blogspot.com/2011/02/hst-kit.html  it was the perfect thing for me to start with......She even goes into detail with tutorials that tell you to do each step of the way!  Perfect. 

 And soo in the spirit of upcoming spring.....(and the fact that I must be realistic and will never have this done before spring anyways)  I chose this super "happy" looking fabric and I am starting a quilt :) 

Changes......

The boys have been attending full time daycare since I returned to work right after their second birthday.  They love it there; they have so many friends, do so many fun things and rarely complain about going.  I drop them off every morning with a quick hug and kiss....a million waves and off I go....no problem.  So as we welcomed 2011 our entire family started talking about the upcoming school year for the twins.  We started to watch some movies about what you do in school, talked about school buses and tried to start getting them ready.  They had their open house two weeks ago and the kids stayed downstairs while the parents went up to their information session.  Zach was truly in his element the moment he walked into the classroom....he ran to the letters and numbers on the wall and rubbed them in amazement.  It was the cutest thing ever....poor little book worm was in heaven.  Mattie, who is usually our outgoing one, surprised me when his bottom lip started to shake.  I quickly bent down told him about all the fun things he was going to be doing and told him to hang on to Zach’s hand until he felt that he wanted to play on his own.  Jason had to encourage me as I stood in the hall, there was no tears from the boys and we saw them quickly integrate with the other kids.....but that was the first time I really realized they were ready for school but mommy may be the one shedding tears in the fall.  It seems so odd, they go to daycare everyday and yet this seemed different.  After the session I rushed down to see them and they were both playing away happy as can be and it was nice to see that they will do fine.  The teacher commented on how well behaved they were and how much they helped.  I swear Zach’s favourite part of the night was the never-ending snacks they provided.  Mathew said he used the potty there but he was too little to reach the soap so he had to ask a big boy who was 4 to help him (hahaha sometimes I have to try and reflect on how they see the world and how they think a 4 year old is “big”).    I’m glad they had a good time.....here’s hoping Mathew has a growth spurt and grows out of his 18month or 24 month pants before school starts! 

The groundhog says.......an early spring....hip hip hooray!  Here’s hoping that those groundhogs are right! 

Winter I must admit we have had some good times this year.....but an early spring....bikes back out.....and an entire new set of adventures....Bring it on!!

The little things

Yesterday a hectic day was nearing an end as I rushed to make it to the twins skating lessons.  My work day had been extremely busy as many mondays at work are but surprisingly enjoyable as well.  I was running a few minutes late and kept picturing two little dudes pacing back and fourth with daddy watching the clock for me to get there....but to my surprise they were out on the ice having a great time.  As I raced to tie up my skates I was worried they were going to be upset that I was not there when I promised.....but to my surprise they both skated over as fast as they could (which still is not that fast hahaha) to give me a big hug and to show me the activity.  The big smiles on their faces and excitement to see me should be a sign to us adults that these little wee guys are not thinking about holding grudges......and are able to just enjoy the moment.  Both boys earned another ribbon last night....they were able to skate backwards.  It was amazing to see an entire ice full of toddlers/preschoolers trying their hardest to wiggle their bums and learn a new skill.  As you watch you can't help but chuckle.  As they crossed the blue line their coaches brought them over a ribbon.  My work day had been filled with contracts, statistics, calculations, and preparations......it had been a great day for my coworkers and myself....and yet the looks of joy on all the little skaters faces by far surpassed any I had witnessed all day.  I guess the kids were teaching me lessons today instead of the other way around......sometimes the best moments come when you least expect them :)