The Nutcracker

We did our first family Christmas activity of the season last Friday night.  We watched the National Ballet perform The Nutcracker at the Four Seasons Performing Arts Centre.  Everyone in Josh's class got free tickets because one of the moms works at the National ballet.  We thought that we would attempt to go and see how long the boys lasted.  Since the tickets were free, it wouldn't be too much of a lose if we had to leave early. We were awestruck and amazed by the talent and aside from a 20 minute break that Mike took with Owen, we were all able to stay the entire time!

(before the show started, the boys were entranced by the orchestra rehearsing)

The best part was when during one confusing scene (I have always found The Nutcracker a bit confusing!), the mom behind me said 'I don't get it' and her 5 year old daughter replied 'oh, I can explain it to you'.  Yes, please enlighten us!
Josh was totally into it and as soon as it ended, he immediately said 'can we watch it again?'.
It was definitely a memorable way to start the Christmas season!

(Josh helping Owen find his seat)

(it was the perfect opportunity for the boys to wear their beautiful new sweaters handknit by Grandma C)

Trying to start a tradition

The great thing about it being so cold here is that there are outdoor skating rinks everywhere and we are lucky enough to have one just a few blocks from us.  I thought it would be so wonderful to start a mother-son tradition with Josh of going iceskating together.  Last Saturday, I suggested the idea to Josh and explained how it was such a great idea since we both have our own iceskates.  I even tried to sell it up by suggesting that we take the streetcar there and go to Starbucks for some hot chocolate afterwards!  Come on, who could resist that offer?  Well, apparently Josh could.  He politely told me 'no, thank you' and suggested that I take Owen instead.  A few hours later, when Josh was heading out the door with Mike (to play basketball), he casually said 'have fun with Owen iceskating, make sure to hold his hand'.
I decided to leave it for the day and maybe work on convincing him during the week.  On Tuesday, I brought up my wonderful idea again of going iceskating together.  Josh said he couldn't go because he was going to be busy on Saturday.  I asked him what he had to do and he said he had homework.  When I asked him what he had for homework, he realized that I wasn't buying it so he quickly changed his story to a more believable one that he had a project, a big colouring project that he had to work on.  Okay, fine I get the hint.
Josh did try to appease me somewhat by offering to walk to the skating rink with me and watch the other skaters.  I guess I will take what I can get.  And maybe I will start the mother-son iceskating tradition with Owen because I am sure he would be all over it!

The next Steve Nash(es)

If you ask Josh what his favourite thing about Toronto is, he’ll probably tell you it’s the basketball courts across the streets.  He’s obsessed with basketball in every way.  He loves to go over and ‘shoot hoops’ with daddy – he’s even gone at 7am in his pyjamas.  If he had the chance, he would play every single day.  He and I also have fun going together to shoot hoops (according to him, I am really good at basketball and daddy’s not very good so maybe I can teach daddy how to play!).

Even Owen is becoming obsessed with the game.  He hasn’t realized that there is actually a hoop at the top of the pole so he excitedly runs over to the hoop and throws the ball at the pole and thinks he has scored! He also likes to randomly play dead on the basketball court.

We wondered what we would do once the daylight hours shortened and the weather got colder and wetter.  We decided to take the game inside!  We have our own little indoor basketball court and the boys can play basketball rain or shine, day or night.  Owen now realizes there is a net but he knows that there’s no hope that he is going to sink the basket so he often will stand at the hoop and just line up his shot for 5 minutes.  It’s the cutest thing.

Next time these two boys challenge you to a game of 2 on 2, you better bring you’re A game – they’ve already got some pretty wicked skill!

Rumour has it

Just before Owen turned 1 and had started walking, Josh decided that he was no longer a baby and therefore, it was time to have another baby.  This was the conversation: 'mommy, since Owen isn't a baby anymore, we should have another baby.  I want a baby sister and I need another player for my basketball team.  Oh, and when she's not a baby anymore, we can have another one and then another one'. So, is this how the family on TLC has 19 kids?  My response was 'I agree, we should have another baby but you will have to talk to daddy!'. 
What I thought would be over with that one conversation, has been an obsession ever since.  Atleast once a week, Josh asks me when is he going to have a baby sister. The other week, he asked me when I was going to grow a baby in my tummy.  I told him not for a while and he said 'oh, so by Christmas, will I have a baby sister?'.  Mmm, maybe next Christmas?  He actually wants lots of baby sisters and told me that he would help me take care of them and showed me how he was going to rearrange the furniture in the living room to fit all of their cribs.  He is also going to teach Owen how to change diapers so that he can help.  Wait a minute, if Josh knows how to change diapers, I should be getting him to change Owen's.
The other week when at a completely random time, he told me he wanted a baby sister, I asked him that if we do decide to have another baby, what if it isn't a girl?  His response was 'no, it has to be a girl because I want a baby sister. I want lots and lots of baby sisters'.  Oh yeah, and last week, he told Mike that he is going to name her Sophia.
So, it seems like a very cute story but here is where the trouble lies.  Since Josh thinks that one day he is going to have a baby sister, he has started telling people that 'I am going to have a baby sister'.  A few weeks ago, his teacher told me that Josh told her that he is having a baby sister.  No, I am not pregnant.  Last week when skyping with Grandma, he told her that he is going to have a baby sister.  No, I am not pregnant.
So, if people start asking me when I am due, I'll try not to be offended.  I will just assume that my 3 year old told them that he is going to have a baby sister.

Missing Home

Maybe it's because I've started listening to Christmas music and it makes me think about not being able to go Christmas shopping with my mom (or mom-in-law) this year or getting to sit at my piano to play Christmas carols while Mike and Josh sing along.  Maybe it's because we had my brother visit and it makes me realize how much I miss everyone.  Maybe it's the fear of the unbearably cold winter that this wimpy westcoast girl is scared of!  Maybe it's that whenever I tell someone that I just moved from Vancouver, their response is always 'but why, Vancouver is so beautiful'.  Whatever it is, I miss home!
I must admit that I am enjoying living in Toronto more than I thought I would.  To be honest, I thought I would be crying everyday but surprisingly, there have been no tears (yet).  The other week, before we came inside, Josh stomped his feet and said 'I don't like living in Toronto, I want to go back to my house at Burnaby Lake'.  My heart broke a little bit for him and I wanted to say, 'sometimes I feel like stomping my feet and saying the same thing'. 
Ten years ago, when Mike and I started this journey, we would have never guessed that we would have packed up our family and moved across the country to live in a little highrise in downtown Toronto!  And even though I am missing home, I have never felt more sure that this is where God wants us to call home for the time being (however long that time may be).  Maybe we will have to take a break from some of the traditions we have come to cherish, but in the meantime, we can start new ones like getting to build a snowman in the winter, iceskating on an outdoor rink and taking the train to Montreal or driving to Florida for spring break (hey, I can dream)! 
And while we begin new traditions, we can always cherish the memories with family and friends that we have been so lucky to have and reminisce about all the great fun we had in the summer before starting this new chapter in the book called 'Our Life'!

Our first overnight guest!

We were lucky enough to have my brother, Dan stay with us this past weekend.  Although he tacked his visit on to his business trip, it still counted for us as a special trip!
Josh woke up at 6am on Saturday morning because he was so excited that Uncle Dan was coming!  He had been counting down the days until his arrival.
We had a wonderful time.  The boys loved getting to play with their uncle, Mike enjoyed getting out to see a 'guy' movie and Mike and I had fun checking out the Distillery district, all by ourselves!

Thanks for coming and making our weekend special, Dan!

(cuddles with my uncle!)

(I think adults enjoy colouring just as much, or maybe even more than kids do)

(da boyz)

Mike and I had the luxury of going on a date while Uncle Dan babysat.  We checked out the Distillery District.  It's a historic little area with neat restaurants, cool (overpriced) shops and funky galleries.  The architecture inside the stores is pretty magnificient because it has the bones of the original buildings.

(This is taken from the second level of a coffee shop - the coolest coffee shop I have ever been in!)

(Mom, this one's for you - this pic. is made completely out of spools of thread)

Happy Halloween

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Here are a few pics of our Junior Firefighter Josh and his firedog (dalmation) Owen. 

High Park

We had the chance to enjoy an unseasonably warm autumn day at High Park.  High Park is a huge park right in the middle of the city.  It kind of takes the idea of Stanley Park, but obviously in a much smaller scale with no ocean or mountains!  Our consensus though is it's one of the best parks that we've been to and it definitely wins the award for most amazing playground, ever!

When we arrived at the park, we were planning on walking around and just exploring the park.  However, there was a train that went around the park and it was just coming to the stop near us so we thought we would hop on board!
The train ride is about 45 minutes roundtrip but the great thing is there are different stops throughout the park and you can get off and on the train.

(our attempt at a Christmas card photo!)

We decided to make our first stop where there was a good playground and a big field with lots of trees and freshly fallen leaves to run around in.  I absolutely love the sound of the crunching of leaves underfoot.

After fun in the leaves and lots of playing at the park, we hopped back on the train.

The train took us for a lovely scenic tour through ruggid trails and past a huge pond.

We then got off at our starting point to check out the playground there.  Well, we have never seen a playground like it.  It is basically a huge medieval castle with tunnels and lookout towers.  It is the most amazing playground we have ever seen. 

Thankfully, Owen decided to have a nap when we got there because the playground isn't really suited for those younger than 2 (it would have definitely been a gong show with him trying to jump from every tower).

We finished off our day by walking over to the 'petting zoo'.  I'm not sure why it's called a petting zoo when all of the animals are behind chained link fences and aren't accessible for petting.  It was more of a 'looking zoo' which was good for us because Josh wouldn't have petted any of the animals anyways.  There were some very cool animals, including bison and wallabes (can you believe it!). 
Overall, it was one of the most fun family days that we have had in TO!

The Beaches

Although I am aching for the sight of some mountains, having this just a stones throw away definitely helps with the homesickness!

We took advantage of the beautiful sunshine yesterday and checked out the popular 'Beaches' area.  It kind of reminded us of Kits with the beautiful beach, gorgeous homes and trendy shops.  We had a wonderful afternoon, walking along the boardwalk and playing at the playground. 

As you can see though, we spent most of our time digging in the sand.

The best part was that as the boys contently played in the sand together, Mike and I got to just sit watching them as we actually had a moment to enjoy each others company.

Firetrucks & Wagon rides, oh my!

We thought we would celebrate autumn with a trip to the pumpkin patch.  We decided to check one out in Richmond Hill, about 45 min. north of here (if you watch 'Property Virgins', you've probably heard of Richmond Hill bc Sandra often takes her clients out of the city to check out places there).  Anyways, we were driving along the road almost at our destination when I spotted an open house at the fire station!  Well, the pumpkin patch could wait for a stop at the fire hall.

 Josh is obsessed with firetrucks.  Ever since he watched a 'Fireman Sam' dvd with his cousins in the spring, it's all about firemen, ladder trucks and every little detail that firefighting ensues.  He is Fireman Sam and Owen and daddy are also Fireman Sams (I on the other hand get to be a policewoman because all girls are policewoman - I am not going to argue with that!).  He had been asking me atleast once a week if we could go to the firestation so his dream had finally come true!

There were several different firetrucks on display that we could go in.  Josh was actually brave enough to go inside them.



They also got the attention of the adults by doing a demo of taking a car apart with all of their tools, including the Jaws of Life.  It was incredibly fascinating to watch.

After we got our firehall fill, we continued on to the pumpkin patch.  Of course it was no comparison to the Applebarn in Abbotsford and Josh really wanted to go to the Applebarn with R like we did last year but it was still fun.

We got to go on a hay ride which was definitely the highlight.  The boys also had fun being pulled around in the wagon, although Owen was mainly making it his mission to jump out!  Josh also picked out a perfect little pumpkin for himself.