From their first words in the morning, they make James and I crack up.

My sleepy Rachel woke up this morning, stretched, I hugged her and asked her if she had a great sleep to which she responded…. Yes mama…..can I go change my clothes now? So funny. She loves getting dressed in the morning. And then again in the afternoon and then again in the evening. If she spills anything…even water… on her shirt, she wants to go change it. So she went and chose her outfit for the day. A red moose tshirt with pink floral pants. And she put on her blue watch as an accessory. She was ready to go at 5:30am! As for Alex she wanted to stay in her cosy flannel pjs. Rachel picked out a blue fishy tshirt for her to wear today and was following her around this morning saying…you want to wear this one today?…..to which Alex would say no….but Rachel kept trying to get her to change.

Also it appears that we have this ant problem in our bathroom. I killed about 4 of them last night and then another 2 this morning. So I went to tell James that we have an ant problem. Right away the girls come running to me (they hear EVERYTHING that goes on in our house…. Even if it seems like they are playing and not listening) to say…it’s OK mama…ants are our friends. Haha…the things Kaili teaches them.

I’m also addicted to So Duko. That new numbers puzzle thing. Have you guys heard of it? I just recently noticed that it was all over the place. So I bought myself So Duko for Dummies and tried it out last night. It was soooo hard for me at first to figure it out. I kept mentioning that it was so hard to which Alex and Rachel would say…. Let me try to help you…that’s OK mama…. See you have to draw a circle….and then they would mark up my page with tons of circles around the numbers. It was pretty hard to concentrate with them doing this so I put it away until they were asleep. Then I actually finished 3 puzzles. Yeah! OK so my new hobby isn’t so thrilling for you guys but I like it.
Today is a special day. It’s Carleen’s Birthday. Happy Birthday Carleen. Hugs & Kisses to you! Hope to see you soon. Even though I’m never invited to your birthday dinners. Hint hint. J Just kidding.

Well hope everyone is having a great day. Have a great Birthday Carleen. Talk to you all later.

March 29th, 2006

Today is Tobi's 7th birthday. I can't believe that he's already 7 years old. Where does the time fly? And it's amazing that it's already Wednesday. It seems like the week just began and it's already half over. I'm feeling tired today and old. Which is weird because the weather was so beautiful today. It's just my mood at the moment.

Luckily I have my two kids to make me laugh. My sister, Susan, from Montreal sent them a package in the mail today. Susan knows exactly what my girls like to play with. Part of their wonderful present today was Pooh bear lip balm. Orange scented. Which they LOVED. They put so much on that there was a shine from the bottom of their nose to the top of their chin, as well as to their cheeks. And when you kiss them, they feel sticky. Such lovely sweet kisses from my girls and big bear hugs. What am I feeling down about? Which reminds me of Kaili's favorite quote...Too Blessed to be Stressed. So true.

Last year when we brought the girls and the bikes to the park, it didn't quite work out as we had hoped. The girls couldn't really peddle very far, couldn't steer and we ended up carrying the bikes while the girls ran around. But today was a different story. The girls rode their bikes all by themselves from one end of the park to the other end. Then when we got to the end of the path, we turned around and they rode all the way back. We were so proud of them. We all had a great time.

Lala Gabor & Rachel Ray

These are the names that we call our kids when we are goofing around at home with them. Rachel has been calling Alex, Lala, ever since she could talk. She calls her Alex now but every once in a while we hear her calling her Lala. And for some strange reason, James added the Gabor at the end of this name. As for Rachel, we've been calling her Rachel Ray for a long time too. I like the real Rachel Ray's cooking show on TV and when the kids were younger I used to watch it religiously. Somehow the name just stuck.

This morning when I came back from walking Tobi, I walked into the house and saw that Alex and Rachel had made a bed in the middle of the family room. Pillows, blankets and all were laid out on the floor. Alex was lying down on this bed and Rachel had Alex's foot in her hand. Giving her a foot massage! So funny. "Mama, I'm giving Lala a foot massage" says Rachel. And Alex responds with "Mama I'm relaxing". How do they come up with these games.

Alex is so sweet and giving to Rachel. Rachel is such a character and usually can convince Alex to give up something that she wants. Like for instance this beautiful 'emerald' with 'diamonds' ring that Carleen gave to Alex this week. Carleen made the ring fit Alex's finger with some masking tape on the backside. Alex LOVES wearing this ring and wears it all day long. You see this is Alex's special ring since Rachel has pigtails and Alex doesn't. Rachel has been begging Alex to wear the ring from day one. To which Alex responds.... no Rachel... you have pigtails and I have ring. So that night once the pigtails were out of her hair, Rachel teary eyed says to Alex, I don't have pigtails AND I don't have a ring. Then big tears flowed from her eyes. Alex thought it over and it seemed pretty reasonable to her I guess because she handed Rachel the ring. But then they had the funniest conversation after that. Alex says to Rachel.... give me a kiss Rachel. So Rachel gives Alex a kiss to which Alex responds.... now we are married. Haha. James and I were laughing so much. James asked them....who did Papa marry. To which they responded...mama. So James continued to ask.... who did Kaili marry.....to which they responded (with a smile on their face).... Phil! (Phil is Shalane's boyfriend). haha. Thanks Carleen for the beautiful ring.

Happy Birthday Kathleen!

Kathleen turned 3 today and Alex and Rachel were invited to her Birthday party. They had a great time. We ate hotdogs, sushi and carrot cake and played with all our little friends.

This is a picture of baby Steven. He's Kathleen's 4 month old younger brother. He's so adorable and he is such a good baby. He was so content just lying in the middle of all the birthday commotion all afternoon long.











And Alex and Rachel were soooo pooped on the way home. Thanks Kathleen for inviting us to your birthday party. It sure was fun. And thanks for the cool watches in the loot bag. Love them.

Easter Eggs

I know, I know, Easter is still weeks away. But ever since we had the kids we have been so excited for each upcoming holiday. We have the Christmas tree up at the beginning of December, we get our pumpkins weeks before Halloween and now with Easter, we have already started to paint Easter Eggs. The paint has a sparkle to it. Also, the paint is glow in the dark. So after we painted them we had to take them into the closet to check out the glow in the dark effect. Very cool. The girls response was....oh....like glow sticks at Kaili's house? (Kaili had gotten them glow sticks to play with at their last sleepover there).

We accidently broke 2 of the eggs while we were painting so after all the hard work we sat down to eat them. I told them... hold on while I take out the yellow part of the egg. To which they responded... oh.... you mean the yolk. I was surprised that they even knew the work yolk. They surprise me all the time. Fun, fun. I can't wait for James to come home from work to see the beautiful eggs.

So dirty!

I came home from work to find my girls rolling around in the dirt in the backyard. I guess for most people this is normal. But I don't think they ever have had dirt on their hands, under their fingernails, and on their clothes before. Since their mama doesn't like bugs, the last place I would put them is on the grass outside. Isn't that where all the bugs live? Alex was busy poking the dirt with a stick. I whispered to Kaili, did she see a W O R M yet? And Kaili said, no, but she's been looking for one. Oh man.... please don't find one and bring it to me one day. I'll probably freak out and be traumatized. I still avoid James' orange fishing box to this day because I remember seeing some worms that he left out after he returned home from fishing one day on top of the orange fishing box.

The girls looked like they were having tons of fun though. Dirty hands and all. But interestingly enough, when they saw me, they asked to have their hands washed up. Kaili laughed and said they are different kids around James and me. Around Kaili they express interest in the spiders they see but when I'm around, they act scared that they see these spiders. I don't know if I will ever be able to act normal around bugs. But thanks to Kaili, they enjoy sitting in the dirt, getting their hands dirty and exploring nature.

Banana Bread


For the longest time, as long as I can remember, Alex and Rachel have been waiting for me to return from work with banana bread. The cafe next to my work makes yummy banana bread. Even when the girls couldn't really talk in full sentences they would ask me when I got back from work.....where their nana bread was? They used to think that my job was to make banana bread at work. We would ask them where Papa worked and what he did. To which they would respond.....dentist....make teeth. And then when we asked them what Mama did for work.... they would answer....make nana bread. But the cafe only makes this yummy nana bread on Wed and Fridays. So I only bring back a slice once or twice a week. But it seems like they still expect it all the time.

The reason I talk about nana bread is that it looks like I will be home making my own banana bread in the near future. I've been really struggling about what I'm going to do when Kaili leaves us to have her beautiful baby. It shouldn't be such a hard decision because I love the girls and who better to look after them than their own mother. BUT it has been a hard decision. I guess I always knew in my heart that I would stay home with them but it took a while to make that final decision. I guess my fear of letting go was purely for selfish reasons. For that damn paycheque! And the 'freedom' that paycheque allows me. I know I sound so selfish but I've never been financially dependent on a man before and it's been a long struggle to just ..... let go.... and let things be. But I feel more at peace with my decision. I did have a very weird dream last night though where I was hugging my boss. I woke up thinking, wow that was a really strange dream. But now that I think about it I guess I am just feeling badly about leaving. It's the whole guilt thing and I'm trying to make it better.

But back to the nana bread. I love making banana bread but never seem to have the time or any ripe bananas around. But now Alex, Rachel and I can be baking up a storm in our new kitchen.

Beautiful Sunny Sunday

Not much to blog about. Just wanted to upload these pictures while blogger would let me. We are all quite pooped, not sure why, since it has been a very relaxing weekend. Looking forward to going to bed early tonight. See ya everyone.

Last night


I had to take these photos of Alex and Rachel at Silvano & Angela's place last night. They had such a good time there. They loved playing with Amanda (Angela's niece) who is almost 5 years old. She was so good at sharing her barbies and books with the girls. They loved playing with the barbies. But were totally scared off by buff Ken. (The Ken doll looks so different from what I remember him to look like).












This is a picture of them having a 'picnic' dinner of pizza and veggies with dip on the ottomon in the living room (that's Amanda of course & Angela's mom in the pic). They played so well with Amanda. They seemed so grown up eating supper without my help last night.











And they had their first taste of an Oreo cookie. Their reaction.... it's black like chocolate with some white inside.....yummy mama.

This is a funny picture. I love their reaction to the Ken doll. The ...no thank you.... look.

And of course the fish tank. They love going over there because of it. And it wasn't any different this time. Silvano let them feed the fish (even though they were already fed that evening). Which the girls were so happy about. Seeing the fish eat up colorful pellets.

Thanks Silvano & Angela for a great time last night. The food was delicious....very impressed with the Osso Buco (am I even spelling that correctly?). And your family was warm and friendly like always.

And I have to share one funny thing that happened yesterday afternoon. Alex had a late nap yesterday so we had to wake her up at 6pm to go out. I put on the light to her room, and Rachel was touching her hands and face softly saying, Wake up Lala, Wake up. But Alex kept on snoozing away. So Rachel turns to me and says....think we need an alarm clock. So funny.

Dad, are you disappointed that Japan beat Korea 6-0 last night? James watched part of the game until it got delayed because of the rain. Oh well, they did really well in the series.

Well, it's so beautiful outside. After lunch we will go outside and enjoy the sunshine. Probably spend the afternoon at the park. Or go bug Kaili or something like that. Hope you guys are having a good weekend.

March 18th, 2006 - Birthday wishes

I want to start the blog off by wishing my nephew, Victor, a Happy Birthday! I wish that I was there to go see the Shaggy movie with you and your buddies and eat some of your delicious birthday cake.

I called him this morning to wish him a great day, and to tell him that I love him and was sending him lots of hugs and kisses. To which he responded, "oh... OK.... do you want to talk to my mom now?" Which I thought was soooooo funny because he is such a cool dude who does NOT like to talk on the phone. Susan, I hope you can get some rest now that the party is over and you have survived bringing 9 kids to the movie theatre and back to your house for cake. I really wish I was there to help you today.

As for my day so far... it's been relaxing. I actually made it to my Pilates class this morning. Yahoo! AND I committed myself to a Pilates Monday evening class that starts at the beginning of April and runs for 6 weeks. Got to get in shape for the spring weather (and justify the fact that I want to buy some lululemon clothing). But I must admit that I suck at Pilates. I just don't get the whole breathing and exhaling, and lengthening of the body. I guess I just have to go more often for all the info to "click". I'm concentrating so much on what the teacher is saying that I lose track of which body part I'm suppose to be focusing on. But I do love it. I love lying there on the mat just focusing on me and my breathing. It's quiet time for me. And I get to see my friend, Monica, (she's taking the class with me) so double bonus.

I also have to admit that I miss my eagle friend. I haven't seen him/her in days. I keep scanning the scenery in search of this wonderful bird. I don't know a lot about birds. I can recognize only a few kinds. Usually the most basic ones that even my kids know. Like pigeon, goose, duck, robin, quail, bald eagle, etc... My brother in law, Daniel, is an avid bird watcher. He loves going out for hours on end to bird watch. I never really understood this hobby and truthfully thought it was a little wacky but look at me now. I'm actually thinking about this eagle friend and early in the morning looking outside with anticipation to see him/her again. Where are you eagle friend? I miss you.

Speaking about Daniel.... it's his birthday today too. Happy Birthday Daniel if you are reading this. (Sorry about the previous wacky comment.) Hope you had a great day with your family.

Tonight we are off to have dinner at Sylvano and Angela's place. The girls love going there because of the beautiful fish tank that they have. Their highlight is if Sylvano lets them feed the fish. I've been thinking about getting a fish tank for the girls and buy some gold fish but then I thought it over and will wait until we are in our own house.

Well sorry that there are no pictures of the girls but blogger isn't allowing me to upload any picture at the moment. Will try again tomorrow. Have a good night everyone.

Chinese Food!



Just before I start ranting and raving about the wonderful crab I ate in Vancouver I thought I would add this picture of the girls and James at the bowling alley.

And here are some photos from our lunch at the Pink Pearl in Vancouver. We only realized after we hungrily dug into the black bean crab that we forgot to take a picture of it. So here is a picture of James, Silvano, Angela and I devouring crab smothered in black bean sauce. Yum yum yum! This is the reason that we drive out to East Hastings to eat at this Chinese restaurant. Delicious!

On the home front, we are all doing well. We are all looking forward to a quiet weekend at home. Alex and Rachel are so funny. They just love their bike helmets so as soon as they see the sun rising they say…. Oh, its sunny… so I can go outside and ride my bike? I can’t believe that already at 2 ½ they want to go outside and play all the time. They love to go to the kitchen and get a minigo and a spoon all by themselves and sit down and eat it together. And usually they have different flavors so I will hear them say…want to try mine?…. nana flavor… and then the other one will respond….sure! And then it continues with the other one offering her flavor, etc….. And the funniest thing I heard this morning was when I was just getting out of the shower and Alex was just waking up in her bedroom. She was calling out, mama… mama…. So Rachel who was already awake runs into the bedroom and shouts out…. Alex…. I’m here to save you! Are you safe now? And Alex responded to her with a yes.. So funny to hear these conversations. They make us laugh all the time.

Alex & Rachel

I thought that mom and dad would be a little disappointed if they only saw a picture of Tobi today so I thought I would add these pics of the girls. It's beautiful and sunny here today. A little chilly but it's weather that makes you want to be outside. When is my family going to finally move to here? If the mountains, the lake and clean fresh air isn't enought to entice you, there's more motivation....we're getting a Winners store next month!

It's usually on Sunday afternoons that I really wished that we all lived closer together. So we can all meet at someone's house and have a huge meal together and have all the cousins run around and play together. Well I really miss you guys and wish you were here. Big hugs and kisses.

TOBI!

Mr. Tobinsky, Tobi Tobilini, The Bobe, Tobe Meister.....and these are just a few of the nick names that we have called Tobi in the past 7 years. He's been a big part of our family since we moved out west. I always said before Alex and Rachel came into our lives that Tobi was the best reason that we ever moved here.

When Tobi was our only 'child' we devoted sooooooo much energy and time into raising him. He was walked a zillion times a day - rain or shine. We would brush his fur, hold him and go to Petcetera to get him treats. I guess looking back he was good practice for us being parents.

But once Alex and Rachel came into our lives, he slowly started getting less and less attention. It's true, our 'son' slowly became JUST the family dog. He barks a lot too when people first come to visit. For the first 5 minutes or so I can't even hear what the other person is saying because Tobi is so excited that we have someone over. That part of Tobi I must admit is annoying. For the past few weeks I've been complaining about Tobi quite a bit. It definitely has to do with the fact that Ed's place is not fenced so we have to keep walking Tobi in the morning, afternoon and night. I've even been toying with the idea of giving Tobi away.

BUT all that has changed since someone actually wants to keep Tobi now. Just the thought of giving him to another home breaks my heart. He's a lot of work but I really can't imagine my life without him. He's always by my side, he follows me to wherever I am in the house, lies down beside me as soon as the kids go to bed, has been there for me when I've been really down and has been a constant companion. I just can't give him away. Just look at those eyes.... they're brown... just like chocolate (as the girls would say). So despite the fact that he's smelly sometimes, and dried leaves get caught in his beard and end up in our house, and he barfs on the carpet... I can't help but love him. Barking and all.

It's a beautiful morning....

Every morning when I wake up and look at this spectacular view I am amazed. And it always looks a little different depending on the weather. The mountains look so different after a snowfall, the water changes so many hues and its either smooth as a mirror or choppy with the wind. I will definitely miss this view.

And I love waking up and not having to rush to work for 6:30am. And it's so fun to wake up to listen and watch the girls play. For the past few days they are really into my shoes. "Bye Bye Mama... give me kiss....me going shopping...." They can play this game for an hour!

Have a good weekend Everyone.

March 9th, 2006

It's Thursday evening and my weekend has already started!! Yeah! I'm off to Vancouver tomorrow morning. Just for a quick one night stay returning on Saturday afternoon. BUT.... I'm acting a little bi-polar about it. I'm excited to go on one hand so that James and I can spend some time alone, go shopping and eat some good Chinese food. (I can't wait to eat some black bean crab at our favorite Chinese place the Pink Pearl...Joyce do you miss it?) And on the other hand.... I don't want to leave the kids. I really am going to miss them. It's already bothering me and I haven't left home yet. I know they will be very well looked after it's just that I don't like leaving them overnight. I'll be fine but I'm sure I'll be running off the plane on Saturday to see their smiling faces again.

Here are some recent pictures that Kaili took of Alex and Rachel:









She even took a very handsome picture of Tobi. Maybe he's starting to grow on her....

Alex and I went to see a new Naturopath today. The Naturopath is starting Alex on some Chinese herbs to see if that will help stimulate some hair growth. She didn't have any on hand so we will have to pick the herbs up next week. I really hope that it helps. I know that she is a beautiful girl with or without hair but as a parent I feel a lot of stress about it. Alex and Rachel both got stickers and vitamins when Alex's appointment was over. I swear they both love going to see doctors because they always get some stickers.

Well, better go clean up dinner dishes and pack for my trip.
Bye,
Audrey