Fun fall activities

I love FALL! It's probably my favorite season of the year and I love the colors, smells, weather change and cool crisp days. I also love the ability to get out and do some fun family stuff together before the weather turns and we are stuck inside for what seems like months on end!

Here are just a few of the fun things we did in September.

Toopy & Binoo trip to Comox with Andra, Tyanna and Conor

 

Dinner at Boston Pizza

Everyone must CHEERS with James

Can't even tell you how much I love this picture of my oldest niece coloring with my son! I remember her so vividly when she was little that it amazes me that she is about to turn 19 years old! 

Apple picking/peeling/cutting at Nana and Papa's

Heading to to Willingdon Beach playground and trail

Fall Fair with Mommy, Daddy, Nana and Papa

Saturday morning mini golfing and ice cream 

Hole in ONE!!

In Loving Memory of
Jody Nicole Rodonets
May 21, 1981 - October 5, 2002

We can't believe that it's been 10 years already
Since Heaven gained an angel who is so very pretty.

Her beauty was shown in her friendships, love and grace,
The first thing most saw was the big smile on her face.

She dealt with so much adversity and every curve ball she was thrown.
She truly was the strongest person most of us have ever known.

The day she died, we all knew we would never be the same,
Our memories of her are what we have left, of the laughter, fun and games.

We know she is watching over us, blessing our lives in many ways
She will never be forgotten, her spirit lives on like the sun's shining rays.

Love Kim, Melanie, Theresa, Tina, Joanne, Crista, Rachele, Kim, and Holly.



















The ad that appeared in the Weekend Shopper today. I love it so much and am happy with how it was created.

Too much cuteness to handle...

Lately James has been saying and doing the cutest, funniest things I have ever seen from a toddler. I will admit that my toddler experience had been limited to my nieces and nephews and of course would be very different than having my own living, breathing, 24-7 toddler in my home. But I had no idea even a little bit how funny my kid would be.

First of all, this past weekend I was playing on the computer and he walks up to me ever so calmly and says "Hey big fella, what ya doing?" I literally burst out laughing at him and he just grinned at me and walked away. I asked him who calls him that he just said "me". I looked to Jim and he was laughing too and had never ever heard him say it, or ever heard it on any of his shows either. He said it a few more times since then and yet I have no idea where he heard it. Today I take him to the sitters and ask her and it turns out her husband calls him it all the time. Why he chose that exact moment to call me it and to pair it with his new favorite question of what ya doing, I have no idea, but it is definitely a memory I won't soon forget.

Tonight after supper he was on his way upstairs to his bath when he heard Jim drop something in the kitchen, he all of a sudden gasps and yells "Daddy, you okay?" so concerned. Not only that but he came tearing down the stairs to make sure he was okay too. He walked into the kitchen and saw that everything was fine, but of course had to double check and ask Daddy again to make sure everything was okay. He is such a caring and concerned little guy, and I love that about him.

This kid can melt my heart with just a single look, a great big hug, a huge cheeta (cheek squeezer kiss), an ooossooo (the old I love you) or a more recent I uve you. I had no idea before becoming a mommy how much fun I would have and how much I would fall in love with this little creature that is so much like me and Jim it blows my mind. But I do know how fortunate I am to have him and thank my lucky stars every single day that I've been blessed with him.

Here is one kind of recent, but blurry Ipod photo of little man from a few weeks back. This is the last picture taken of him in his high chair, he is officially now a big boy sitting at the table with Mommy & Daddy!

And here is one of us snuggling in Nana's chair this weekend while we were housesitting. He will only snuggle like this if one of his shows or movies or if he's being read a book, but hey, I'll take them while I can!!

Family photos

We had our family photos taken this year by a new photographer that I've seen on Facebook. He is a guy that grew up here in PR but now lives in the city. I loved some photos of his that I saw on his group's FB page and wondered whether he would be coming to town in the fall for a family session. Two emails later we had a confirmed date for just over a week later and I was so excited. Then we were hit with horrible colds and I wondered if the shoot would happen, but luckily by the time 5 pm on Saturday rolled around we were all almost healthy and certainly ready for our time to shine. James was sufficiently bribed with many many Timbits if he smiled big for Richard and we were off for a fun and not super posed photo shoot. James was an absolute trooper and did so well. It could be because I've been pushing the camera in his face since he was just hours old! :o)

Here are some of my favorites from the shoot! I will post the whole album, with comments, on my FB page.

And now it is actually really FINISHED!

And I'm talking about James's Big Boy Room! We had a weekend a few weeks back where Nana and Papa kept James for the weekend and instead of doing nothing as we expected to we ended up spending most of the day working on getting his room finished. I couldn't wait for him to see it and the look on his face was worth every minute we spent doing it.

For a link to the previous post with the original photos, click here Big Boy Room Photos.

Now here's the last of the photos, with the new white bookshelf and the awesome space themed wall decals. I am so happy with how the room came out and I think it's a theme that he can keep for a long time, until he's old enough to tell us he wants something different!

Trip down memory lane...

When I took a recent picture of Jim and James together I realized I had almost the same photo taken just under two years ago, so today the search was on to find it among the THOUSANDS of images I've taken since James was born...and luckily I did find it. 

Jim couldn't wait when James was a baby to start showering with him and I'm thankful he pushed me to be good with it because nowadays James will usually prefer to shower rather than bath and has never had a fear of the water on his face or anything like that.

Here are my two cuties loving their special shower time together. This picture really shows how much he's changed and how much our once little baby has definitely turned into a big boy now! :o)

August 2010

May 2012

Like Father, like Son!

Everyone who knows my hubby knows how much he loves his burgers. Homemade especially but Burger King Whoppers are a pretty close second. He will eat McDonalds and A&W when necessary but prefers not to. Well, having a child who turns up his nose at meat had me wondering whether James would indeed fall in love with burgers like his Daddy did.

Well this picture is proof that yes he did! 

James and I traveled to the island last week and got Jim six Whoppers from Burger King. He ate them in his lunch on Wed & Thurs and then the below photo was taken after supper on Thursday when Jim decided to eat one, and James decided he wanted to share with Daddy! He had one more burger left and I told James that night that Daddy would share the last burger with him on Friday morning, so what did James tell Jim at 6:30am the next morning, "Daddy, Whopper morning". And yes he absolutely helped his Daddy polish off the last Whopper, cold, straight from the fridge! YUCK, YUCK, YUCK! Apparently my kid is going to have garbage guts like his Daddy after all!

And here's a picture from 7 years ago of Jim enjoying a burger at one of our family BBQ's in Nanaimo. I definitely see the resemblance, do you?! :o)

Wow, two whole months have passed since I posted....

Surprise surprise, life happened again and I have again neglected the blog! I am hoping over the fall and winter it will become more of a habit for me and then by the time next summer comes around I'll be a pro and will just be in the groove of posting regularly!

So much fun stuff happened this summer that I will fill you all in over a series of posts over the next few weeks.

Today I leave you with a 2 new pictures, one of Jim and me and one of us with our friends the Slacks and Tassells. These were taken last weekend when my parents took James for 2 WHOLE NIGHTS and DAYS so we could just spend some fun couple time together. We went for dinner with our friends and then played games, stayed up late, slept in late and then spent all day finishing up his big boy room after months of procrastination!

Will be back over the weekend with some more new posts!

A new favorite show...

James is now in love with a brand new kids TV show on Treehouse called The Bubble Guppies. My little niece Olivia who is just 8 months older than James has loved this show since last Christmas when they stayed with us. Back then James was still totally in love with The Doodlebops, Poko and Lunar Jim. But fast forward to about 2 weeks ago when we are laying in bed ridiculously early and the Bubble Guppies came onto the screen, and HE LOVED IT! He is fascinated by the colors, songs, dancing and the characters and asks to watch them ALL THE TIME. He repeatedly tells me their names, and that they are dancing and going outside. They are just coming up with a a book series at the end of July and I will be buying the short movie for our vacation in a few weeks. It really is such a cute show that I recommend to all parents!!