Experts Tasting

This past Saturday David was a volunteer for the Annual Cuvee Experts Tasting at Brock. They pour wine for wine writers and "experts." David loves this event especially because he gets to take home some wine at the end.

Calvin is 4 Months!

Hard to believe that Calvin is 4 months today! Wow, how time goes by. I'll post more later (probably next week). Just wanted to get this post up today.

Cuvee Gala 2010

Yesterday evening we attended the Cuvee Wine Gala in Niagara Falls. We put the kids to bed just before our baby-sitter arrived for the evening, then we were off for the evening. The Cuvee Gala is an annual event that showcases the wines in the Niagara region, specifically the award winning wines. We tried lots of different wines. I'm learning that I have started to prefer bold flavoured red wines over the lighter white varieties (which is what I used to prefer). I especially like the wines from South America.

You may remember a post I wrote last year about visiting a winery (Tawse), along with David and his classmates. The Pinot Noir that we tried out of the barrel (and loved) actually won first place for Pinot's at the gala. That was pretty neat. I'm going to have to get David to write a post of some of his favourite wine pics one of these days. He's all about finiding great tasting wines on or around $15 a bottle. There are some amazing ones out there!

There are also many gourmet restaurants that come out to serve food for you to try. As expected, I'm not too into gourmet food, especially the fishy kinds. I had some amazing tasting rabbit, butternut squash risotto, tried some cauliflower cheesecake, cheese and melon jelly, duck sausage, chicken and lamb terrines, etc. We all loved the squash creme brulle, amazingly good! I loved the hand made gelatos, raspberry lemon balm, lavender and honey, sheep's milk and hickory, blueberry and something. I wasn't quite brave enough to try the fishy varieties.

Eating gelato, yum!

David and Nick.

We had a great evening trying food and drinks and just getting out. I was amazed how many people David knew there! He was definitely in his element! On a very positive note, he was chatting with the winemaker and people from a local winery and vineyard that he would love to work out. Their assistant winemaker will be going on maternity leave in the next few months and he's first in line for a position; so proud of him! This is so exciting, especially since David needs to figure out where he's going to do his co op placement, which is May-November. Therefore once he's finished this semester he doesn't actually go back to school until January 2011.

In the Galleria of the Fallsview Casino, where the event was held. I realized I didn't even get a photo of my dress, boo. Oh well, looks like we're going to have to get dressed up again sometime soon!

Sibling Love

I had to post this cute pic from this morning. I just finished changing Sarah's diaper so
I went to put it in the bathroom, when I got back 2 sec later Sarah was laying like this beside Calvin. Love it!

Tonight is the big Gala, woohoo! The baby sitter gets here at 7:15, 15 minutes after bedtime, the plan is to be out the door at about 7:25. We'll see how the whole getting ready with kids at bedtime goes.

AND to make this weekend even better, Jon and Laura arrive on Sunday. It's David's reading break so he'll be off the whole week as well. Fun times are a comin'

The Problem with Having a Big Sister is...

-she claims all my new toys for her own before I'm even big enough to play with them myself
-she lays in my bouncy chair (even if I'm in it)
-she sometimes hits me or throws things at me (thankfully she's getting better)
-when she tries to bath me she often gets water on my face
-she screeches really loud and it makes me cry (I'm a sensitive little guy)
-I can never enjoy a meal in peace
-my meals often end before I'm totally done since my mom has to stop her from being naughty
-she hardly ever lets me lay on my moms lap alone
-sometimes her loud noises wake me up from my nap
-when my parents are giving me attention she always wants to come and steal the show
-she does love to kiss me and hug me but sometimes she's really rough and it hurts, so I cry
-she climbs on top of me when I go in my exersaucer
-she sometimes tries to feed me play dough or put things in mouth
-she likes to put her fingers in my ears and mouth
-When I'm in my swing she tries to climb on me or pull me out
-I will probably never be able to use the jolly jumper because of her

Thank goodness she loves her afternoon nap! I can always have some time alone with mommy and enjoy my toys in peace and quiet! I do love Sarah, she can make me smile and giggle.

-Calvin (if he could talk and type)

Sorry little man, you're going to have to get used it. I'm afraid, this is just the way things are. Siblings can drive you crazy, thankfully they're pretty great too! I know that I'm sure thankful for all of mine!

Lots of Play Dough

These days we play a lot of play dough. Sarah loves it! I pretty much roll it out, flatten it, cut it out, etc and then she mushes it up and wrecks it. Oh well, she enjoys it so I suppose that's all that matters. She does cut it up with her plastic knife now, so that's a start. I love having her little table in the livingroom, it gets so much use there. When she wants me (or anyone) to come and sit with her she just looks at you and taps the other chair, pretty cute.

Today she decided to involve Calvin in our tea party. Since it was play dough/ tea party time so much today, Calvin had to be there for part of it. She would put the little cup up to his mouth and make the drinking sound and chuckle. She did try to feed him some play dough as well, but thankfully didn't try to cram it down his mouth. I'm just happy that her jelously seems to be decreasing or at least we know how to curb it.

So many funny expressions from this kid.

My First Newspaper Ad

Just for fun, I thought I would post the newspaper ad that I designed for a local church in the area. I actually designed a set of postcards, posters and the ad. I never set out to do this sort of thing but somehow several of these sorts of "jobs" have found me. I have approached them with hesitation, but have actually been happy with the results.

This past week David has been really busy studying and working on school stuff. So I decided to use my evening time to work on new designs for my website. It's amazing how a few new fonts, patterns, etc can inspire! I am amazed how many designs I was able to add to my site in the last 10 days (thanks to some long naps and wide open evenings).

This week I am featured on two American wedding blogs (Brenda's Wedding Blog and Bride on a Budget). So I've been busy working on my wedding design galleries to get ready for my new site visitors. After MANY hours, I think I'm finally happy with that part of my site (at least for now). This week I've had a couple of wedding invitation orders which have been a little challenging yet enjoyable and rewarding. This is not my "normal" area yet somehow I think it may become that way.

I'm having fun, what can I say.

Sarah Bakes Valentine Cookies with Mommy

Yesterday I started what I would like to be a new tradition for me and the kids, baking Valentine cookies. Perhaps, one day when they're older we'll have a special little tea party too. This was the first time that I have intentionally baked with Sarah. I was amazed how pleasant the experience was. She was so keen to help in every action. It was a lot of fun!



Sarah enjoyed taking her turn rolling out the dough and patting it down.

She loved putting her little hands on the cookie cutters and pressing down with me. She would look up at me and giggle each time.

Sitting with our little heart cookies (I iced them and she taste tested).

My proud little girl! So fun!

Happy Valentines Day!

Just had to post a little photo love from our kiddies! We had a great day, hope you did too!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Tomorrow is Chinese New Year, but since it's also Valentines Day I thought I would post this today. This evening we got some Chinese take out for dinner, yum. We put the kids to bed and enjoyed our Chinese New Year meal while watching the recorded Olympic opening ceremonies. Wow, what a show, we both really enjoyed it!

These photos were taken this past Sunday. I just love Sarah's little Chinese dress that she wore at Michael and Rebecca's wedding, so cute! She's wearing black tights and little black boots, also so... adorable (thanks Noelle!). These days it seems almost impossible to get a good photo of Sarah, she just can't stop moving!

Anyways, we wish you a very happy Chinese New Year!

Blast from my long ago Past

Yesterday afternoon we had a visit from my grade one friend, Karen. Just so you get how crazy this is, I haven't seen her or talked to her since grade one. She found me on good old facebook about a year and a half ago. We "chatted" a couple of times on facebook but that was about it.

When she messaged me a few weeks ago to tell me that she was coming out to St. Catharines (she lives in Ottawa) and wanted to see if I wanted to get together I figured why not.

We actually had a great visit. Even though we really don't know each other at all it kind of felt like we did. Thanks for the visit Karen, it was great to see you again!

Another Day with the Munchkins

Since my days seem to revolve around our little munchkins all I could think of posting was some pics and thoughts from today. These days we have been taking more walks to the Early Years Centre in the mornings. There's lots of ride on toys and areas for kids to play. Sarah loves being with the other kids and playing in the different play areas. I find that going out for an hour or so in the morning also helps pass the time more quickly. We've also been playing a lot of Play Dough these days. Sarah loves it and it's a good intentional way to play and use vocabulary. I'm really enjoying her age right now! It's much easier to play with her and so enjoyable to see her learning so much! It's great to be able to spend some quality time alone with her every morning while Calvin is sleeping.

After a long adjustment time Sarah is finally down to one nap a day. She had a hard time giving up that morning nap and so her nap schedule was a litte off for awhile. She now eats her lunch at 11:45 and then goes straight to bed. She sleeps for about 3-3.5 hours most days, which is so... nice for me.

During the past couple of weeks I have also been working on Calvin's new napping schedule. He's past the newborn napping stage and is up for longer periods of time and needs to be fed less often (thank goodness). So Calvin is now having two good naps a day (about 2 hr each, one overlapping with Sarah) and sometimes has a little cat nap around dinner time. He's also only been waking up once in the 12 hour night (usually around 3 am). I'm thrilled with this; we have an evening without kids and I'm getting my sleep. All in all, I'm feeling really good about the kids schedules. Sarah is also eating much better, making meal times much less frustrating.

Sarah loves these little Ritz crackers with the cheese in the middle. She likes to pull them apart and eat one cracker at a time. I guess this is also how she'll like to eat oreo's one day.

So happy with herself!

He had to Learn the Hard Way: I just have to share a tid bit from tonight's experience with the kids. David has often tried to give Sarah a bit of his hot sauce or hot food to try. I am constantly telling him that it's too hot for her and that she won't like it. Tonight, there was 5 minutes until the lovely 7 pm bedtime. Both kids were ready for bed. I went to put Calvin in his crib and returned to the living room to find that Sarah had thrown up all over the carpet.

What happened?? David told me that he gave Sarah some of his hot as in spicy soup to try. As soon as it entered her mouth she projectile threw up. I just shook my head and left the room. Without questions or comments David worked to clean up the carpet. No offer of help from me on this one. So I'm hoping that a lesson has been learned.

Happy Kids

Calvin is such a happy little guy! He seems to always be smiling, however it's so difficult to get good photos of him smiling. As soon as I get behind the camera his smile goes away. Today David was smiling at him, hence the smiles back..and voila, finally smiling photos! Now I have to try to get those adorable giggles on video!

Despite moments of jelousy, Sarah adores her baby brother. We're always having to watch her to make sure she doesn't hurt him (intentionally or not). Amazingly, Calvin doesn't seem to mind when she pretty much lays on him or is right in his face. In fact it seems to make him happy a lot of the time. Second kids sure learn to me more tolerant early on.

We just love this little guy!

Raccoon Girl

We have been blessed with an amazing amount of second hand baby boy clothes for little Calvin, thank you to two very generous people. When Matt and Libby came out for Christmas they brought one of two suitcases of clothes from an old friend in Abby (thanks Kat!). When my mom came out she brought the second suitcase of clothes for Calvin. Anyways, this little raccoon hat was in the last suitcase. Sarah thought it was pretty great and enjoyed wearing it around the house the other day.

Fun with Oma

We had a great time with my mom this past week. She went back to Abbotsford on Wednesday evening so it was a pretty short visit, but still totally worthwhile. As always she enjoyed time with the kids, and they enjoyed their time with her. I just love the above photo of my mom and Sarah!

Wine Media Event 2010

Ever wonder how/ when wine writers get to review wines? Well, they're invited to media events such as this one. On Wednesday David spent the day in Toronto pouring wine for the wine writers/ reviewers. He loves this event and the reason is pretty simple..he gets free wine at the end of it. Since they have to open up a ton of different varieties, they are left with a ton of open bottles of wine. So now our basement table is full of wine bottles.

I suppose the question for me this week is what am I going to cook that has wine in it? Hmm..

A view from the building the event was held in.

Meeting Norm

We spent this past weekend with my mom and her boyfriend, Norm. He was already in Toronto for business for the week, so he picked up my mom from the airport on Friday and joined us for the weekend.

They have been dating for 6 months, so it was great to finally have the opportunity to meet Norm. We had a great time with the two of them. On Saturday Sarah stayed home with a baby-sitter and the four of us (& Calvin) went out for lunch, had a quick stop at the falls, visited a winery and stopped in at Brock Univ. We enjoyed being able to spend some quality time with the two of them. It was kind of like going on a double date with my mom, how funny...yet really comfortable and enjoyable. We're thrilled for the two of them!

On Sunday we relaxed at home, played some more Blokus and visited. Norm headed back to Toronto in the evening. David and I thought we would take advantage of having "Oma" around and went to care group without the kids and then out to see Avatar. Wow, an amazing movie indeed!

We had a great weekend! My mom is staying with us until Wednesday, then she flys back to Abbotsford with Norm. Thanks for the visit Norm, we had a great time getting to know you!
My mom and little Calvin