Merry Christmas 2013

What a wonderful time of the year this is and we have so much to be thankful for.  We had a fun Christmas - Spending Christmas Eve with the Long and Sardo Family and then Christmas Day was another wonderful Italian Feast at Dad and Mom's.  Christmas morning was spent with the kids opening up all the gifts, giving Brett and I lots and lots of hugs and huge "Thank You's".  It was fun to see what they surprised us with from the school store- Mom got new jewelry, Dad got a "Worlds Greatest Dad" magnet.  Joshua was excited for his Metal Detector, Matthew his Telescope and Brenna her new horse and doll toys.  They also opened up Lego sets, rockets, nerf guns, GI Joe guys and gifts from the cousins.  I was totally spoiled by Brett and the kids with a new ski jacket, beautiful scarf, gloves and hat and recipe reader.  Brett got some new upland bird hunting clothing and a old-school saftety razor set - such smooth cheeks!!  Then Dad and Mom DeSutter came into town for a trip to Toronto and lots of hanging out time and playing games.  What a fun busy week it has been!

Matthew's Year to Top the Tree with our Snowman

Merry Christmas Morning

Aladin - A fun fun day.

Nana and Josh - Handshake after a great Monopoly Game - can you guess the winner?

Matthew trying out his new bike!

Joshua with one of his gifts - Electric Circuit Board

Matthew with his new telescope.

The Backyard Shed

As our family has grown..the space in the garage has shrunk!  We found ourselves with the need to finally have a shed put in the backyard this fall.  We decided to have an 

Amish family build it at their farm and then transport it to our home.  

Brenna with the concrete pad just after it was poured.

Here is the back yard as we were getting ready to dig a 18inch deep trench for electrical.

The shed arrived one pretty fall day almost fully assembled except the roof.

Here is is the day after the Amish family finished.

Electrical is finally hooked up just in time for the ice storm.

Finished!! Next spring comes the landscaping - but we will let the snow melt and ground thaw for that!

Buried

So this is what happens when you have 2 older brothers!!

HURRAY SNOW

After last years total disappointment of basically no snow we finally have some this year before Christmas!  It was a grey snowy day and the kids were out and in and then back out again till they were so cold their fingers hurt and their cheeks were rosy.  After dinner tonight, we got out the toboggan and because the street was so full of snow, we could just pull then down the center.  Then they all ganged up on Brett and tried their best to get him flat on the ground.

Joshua's "Long House"

Joshua has worked really hard the last 2 weeks on a Long House replica.  This is what the Iroquois  Indians, who are native to our area, would have lived in years ago.  He had to research how they lived, hunted, traveled and survived and then make a Long House.  Of course we actually have ancient wood at our house so him and daddy got some pieces and he drew a design and they got to building. It was a lot of fun and he had his class presentation today!  We think he did a great job.

Canal Side Ships

A few weeks ago we went down to Canal Side to go on the naval ships with the kids.  Brett had not been on the ships since his Papa had taken him years ago.  It was a beautiful breezy fall day and we had so much fun.  I think the boys could have played sailor for hours and hours!

Mighty Niagara Half Marathon

A few weeks ago Brett and I 

ran the Mighty Niagara Half Marathon together.  

It was a very rainy and cool day but that did not detour all the runners that morning.  It turned out to be such a fun race - totally soaked and all!!

The Girls Join The Fight

The girls have finally gotten tired of being taken prisoner one to many times.  They have been chased, hunted down and even tied to trees (all in good fun... I promise)!  Today they donned some army clothes and formed their own militia.  The battle is taking place out in the woods as I type this.  Wonder who will prevail?

1st Day of Preschool

Finally it was Brenna's turn to start Preschool this week.  Boy was she excited!  She has been talking about this for months and could not wait till it was time to go.  She is attending the same Church Preschool that both boys went to at age 4.  It will be a fun year for her and we are sure amazed how much she has grown up.

Brenna and Best Friend Sophia

Daddy driving Brenna to school at the end of her 1st week.