Hello 2011

Well, here we are...January 2011. Who would have thought we would have made it, but we did. Most of you already know what kind of a year 2010 was, so I don't have to rehash it, and I can't tell you how happy I am to see it go. We survived. But now, 2011 is a time to start thinking about rebuilding. I'm not sure where this will take us, but with all the transitions that we have gone through and all the support we have received from family and friends, it can only be onward to better places. I just want to thank you all for seeing us through...truly you have all made the difference. I hope this year brings all of us some goodness and light.....happy new year everyone.

Can You Believe Rowan Is 3!!

Rowan's third birthday party was spent having a luncheon and playtime with Jackson, Makaila, Kate and Colin. Of course, Cath, Lena and Ellen were present as well. Rowan truly thinks she is a little princess, and as such, Cath provided this wonderful castle cake! A good time was had by all, and despite the cake (sugar) rush, we even managed to get them down for a bit of a sleep afterwards, allowing Lena and I some welcome downtime! I can hardly believe that she is now truly a toddler/pre-schooler, and I gotta tell ya, 3 isn't looking good for me! Don't get me wrong, I'm glad I didn't have to deal with the terrible 2's on top of everything else last year, but I guess this will be a year of all new challenges for both of us!

Santa Made It!!

Of course he did, and tell me this isn't a ridiculous amount of things under our little tree! The kids had a great time opening their presents and it wasn't even a free-for-all that I feared. They would each open something and then scuttle off to play with it for a bit, then make their way back for something else. This made it great for Cath and I to enjoy our coffee and baileys and keep on top of the mess. Brad came by before he was off to work again, and of course Grandma Puff was over as well. All in all, it was a really nice morning spent together.

Finally, Christmas Eve!

So for Christmas Eve the Finlayson Clan joined us at home to share in some evening festivities, which included opening the Christmas Eve jammies. Cath had also prepared some letters from Santa (of course she did!) and all the kids received a personal email from Santa as well!! Since Brad was working, Cath and the kids had their first sleepover here. The kids were all so excited and it was no problem at all to get them to bed....finally a nice glass of wine in the quietness of the house....

Pre-Christmas Activities

As could be expected, Rowan was very excited about Christmas this year starting around, umm, November 1st! Everyday I was asked, "Is it christmastime yet?" To appease her and keep her in the spirit we did some christmas crafts and let her decorate her gingerbread house. And Nana was up for a visit in early November and spent some time making cookies for Santa.....I'm not much of a baker, so that's going to be one of those 'Nana things'.