Skating with the star

Rob took Evy skating today - first time ever! I think it's safe to say we have our future olympic figure skater here. (I'd say hockey player, but I'm not sure she has the build for it!).

They had a great time. Gotta love Millbrook - it's a free skate for the community during the afternoon and there was only Evy and one other girl there. At least she has lots of room to practice her moves.

I'm so proud of her, and proud of Rob, who always seems to find the most exciting activities for them to do. He went and bought her the new (old) skates on the weekend in the smallest size they make - pretty darn cute!

Here she is, gearing up for a triple salchow (yes, I had to look up how to spell that):

Pretty happy with the new cam

35 was a banner birthday-gift year for this gal, who got a shiny new camera from the hubs. And the best part is, the lenses from our old school SLR's fit, so not only do I have a new camera, but I also have three different lenses. Sweet, non?

Am still mastering the art, but am very happy with it so far. And Evy hasn't realized it's a camera yet, so, she hasn't tried to rip it out of my hands and take pictures of her kneecaps. I'm sure it's only a matter of time.

Speaking of devil, here's my favourite (only) model, hamming it up:





Anyhoo, I'm no Ansel Adams (yet!) but just give me time! From your local happy shutterbug!

Big Al's Big Birthday

We had a very fun party here on Saturday for Mrs Alice's 60th birthday, which is November 29th. (I know, she doesn't look a day over 59!). It was great fun, and only somewhat insanely loud and chaotic. (I blame the crazy kids).

A good time was had by all:

Can't go wrong with carrot cake!

A motley, yet jolly, crew

Uh oh, the senility has started already

Ah, the religious church cookbook. What every 60 year old gal needs.
(Now where's that recipe for Lamb o' Gawd pot pie?)

So an early happy birthday to my mammy. Hope you enjoyed your party - and don't worry, we won't do another one until you're 80.

Ho ho ho

A certain someone has mega Christmas Fever. I don't know where she's getting her intel from, because I come from a family that prides itself on the non-materialistic celebration of Christmas, but, she's two years old. 'Nuff said.

For the past week, ten times a day she says, "I wanna goooo seee Chrisssstmassss!!". Again, not sure who her informant is, but I've tried to explain that we can't go 'see' Christmas, and that Christmas comes to us. We've also talked about the word 'patience' and how we have to just wait for Santa. She informed me today that Santa is her favourite (Rob and I don't even make the top 10).

So, because she's been ROCKING the recently imposed no-soother state, and has been such a good girl about it, we hopped in to car to take Evy to go 'see' Christmas this afternoon. (This entailed a drive to the local mall, where Santa is in residence every day between now and Dec 25th from 10 until 6).

Of course, we got there, and she sat on his knee and froze. In a grimacey mask kind of way. Not good for photo ops. Finally, after much cajoling, we managed to get a semblance of smile from her.



We said our fairwells to Jolly St Nick, and headed off into the mall. Approximately 23 seconds later later, Evy said, "I want to goooo seeeeee Santaaaaaa!" Sigh. Tis going to be a long month.

What a great birthday present!

What a lovely birthday present - I got to leave work early and head out to an ultrasound to meet the tiny parasite that's been kicking me lately. Total thumbsucker in the first couple of shots.





Then I found out that because I'm giving birth after the age of 35, I'm considered a geriatric pregnancy. Seriously. They'll probably put me in the Alzheimer's ward at the hospital and wrap the baby in Depends. Sheesh. Don't people know that 35 is the new 22?

Off to go and drink some Malox and complain about my sciatica.

Portrait of a 35 year old

At some point over the past 5 years, I passed into the age where you stop caring about birthdays. (Maybe for some people, that happened decades ago, but I was actually excited about my 30th and since then have not given the big b-days much thought).

But, in honour of turing 35, I thought it time to take a long hard look in the mirror. Literally. (Click the image to see it larger).



So, considering that birthday's aren't that exciting anymore, I shall take this opportunity to thank my dear old mammy for birthing me. See, wasn't I worth that blood transfusion? And to Rob for making the past 9 of my 35 years so darn exciting. And to Evy for making me feel like 102 when I'm actually still only a young whipper snapper. And to little unborn Jackson, for making me almost need adult diapers. Sigh, ain't life grand?

Bad Hair and Balloons

Has been a busy few days in the HiggJax household. After Tuesday night's shenanigans, I've gone all tough love with Evy. Soothers? Gone! Bottles? On the way out! I figured if I was going to be miserable, I'd might as well make it productive in terms of her dental health. So, I hid the soothers and steeled myself for the worst.

But I forgot I was dealing with a two year old (definition: contrary). She slept like a log all night and went to bed again tonight without making a fuss about the soother loss. Yay! That said, she did ask if she could bring her balloon to bed with her. Not sure that the American Pediatric Society recommends letting your kid sleep with a balloon - must go google Dr Sears.

Preparations are underway for a big party here on Saturday, to celebrate all the Higginson (and Jones) November birthdays! Thus, I had to buy a selection of awesome balloons and Evy's been testing them out. This was as soon as she came downstairs this morning - serious balloon love:

Notice the bad hair due to her scrubbing her head with a bar of soap at bathtime last night and me neglecting to rinse very well. But that was just the beginning of the bad hair, as we taught madam about the magic of static electricity during our kitchen dance party after dinner:

(Balloon is looking enviously at the hair... so covetous!)

(Those aren't bolts coming out of her neck, I swear. They are drawer handles)

So, wish us luck as we continue to work on Project 'Don'tPayTheOrthodontist'. Next on the list, toilet training!! (God, my world is so so small, isn't it?).