The Birthday Fun Continues...

Finn enjoyed his Spongebob cupcakes we decorated together. We did them on his actual birthday, but he asked me why I made Spongebob, because he likes Patrick more! You can never please them!

Pooped from the party...

We knew Finn was not quite himself when he didn't eat any cake at the party, but when he went straight to bed afterwards, it was a sign that a bug was affecting him. Hopefully it's short-lived and none of the partygoers end up sick...but if they do, we're sorry!

Scooting around the gym...

The kids had a blast scooting around on these trolleys. A great way to get them to burn some energy!

Big wish....

Make a wish....what a lucky boy.

First time and last time?

The older girls came to this party, but I suspect we won't allow that to happen as time goes on! Nicole and Olivia had as much fun as the little kids did.

Hockey fanatic

Apparently Findlay has aspirations to be a goalie. He was just thrilled to get the gear. My nerves won't be able to take it.

Lots of gifts...

Finn was thrilled to open the presents, but he had a hard time staying focused on just one gift!

Three-legged race partners

Findlay was thrilled to be partners with Daddy for the three-legged race. He started to fade as the partying went on though.

Birthday Boy

It's hard to imagine that Findlay is four years old now. I'm definitely enjoying four a lot more than two or three! He's constantly making great progress with his speech and has a real interest in learning his letters, which puts him well-ahead of the girls at the same stage!

Low n slow

The rear view of Ramone.

Ramone from Cars

Finn's Cars themed birthday cake. This is Ramone, one of the characters from the movie. He's the one who paints himself a different colour every day. Finn was thrilled, but I'd say this was my most challenging cake yet. It's always a treat to just make a plain cake these days!

Status Report...

I can't believe so much time goes by at such a great rate. I remember in my teens (pre-driver's license) wishing time away. I couldn't wait to be able to drive, or stay out late, etc. It's so cliche that the cliche "youth is wasted on the young" actually applies!

All is well for us around here. We've been going to the rink as usual, but Olivia's team has finished their run this season. We managed to pull off a win in the Championship for the B Banner. The kids were pumped. Olivia loved it, but because she won a medal last season (the C Banner), it was all old-hat for her.

Meredith's ringette is over too, but the girls still have a drama class and their voice lessons. Our challenge is fitting in the time to practice for these activities when something else always seems to get in the way. It's not until the day before the class that we realize no practice happened! I remember not practicing much for my piano or saxophone, so it's hard to instill those habits when I never had them I guess.

Findlay will be turning four years old at the end of the month. It's definitely the end of an era for us. We recently sold our stroller/bike trailer that served us so well with the three kids and their two cousins. He was sad to see it go, as was I, but space is a commodity around here and the stroller took up too much space for how little it was used.

Our plans for this summer are already taking shape. The girls are registered for some tennis classes in the spring and then Meredith will play soccer and Olivia will be joining the local summer swim team. Olivia wasn't interested in soccer this season and we knew it wasn't her favourite last year, so we would rather see her try a different activity. Time will tell how she likes it, but many of her buddies from ringette will be there too.

The girls will also go to Church camp this summer as they have the last two summers and at the end of the season we'll sign them up for Ringette camp. Findlay will get to do a morning soccer camp this summer, so hopefully he won't notice that the girls seem to have many more activities than he does. So far he doesn't complain, because he seems to have as much fun on the sidelines.

Must get going and consider the beginning of that spring cleaning I was referring to. We have a "craft" room in our basement that is affectionately known as the "crap room" for all of the junk that lands in it. We usually sort through it when something goes missing and I can't find my colours and tints for icing....a mandatory item in the buildup to Findlay's birthday!

As Finn likes to say....peace out.

Happy Birthday Andrew....almost 40!

Andrew had an enjoyable dinner with an order of his favourite Chinese food and a special order of Peking Duck. Very tasty and the cake as always was a hit. I think Findlay was enjoying practicing for his birthday party on the weekend. Since Christmas he's known that his birthday is "a-per Daddy's", so now the birthday hype is in full swing!

My little superstar. Meredith had a great season of ringette this year, and although she was ready to be in the next age level, she had a lot of fun with her friends in this group. She often got to play with Olivia's team when they were short players, and she loved the challenge, but she felt more comfortable with the Bunnies. Hopefully she doesn't aspire to be a goalie and I don't think my nerves could take it! Every time Olivia went into the net this season I found it hard to watch...and I'm the coach!

Me and the Bunnies...

We had a ringette roundup on the weekend. All of our youngest players (the Bunnies) played teams from around the area. For this group the event's success is measured in the quality of the loot bag...and ours was a great one! The kids had a great time and I was exhausted by the end of the day. I still prefer playing the game over my refereeing and coaching activities, so I guess the time to retire will be determined by when I'd rather be doing something else!

The Long Island Express...

Alayne transports Findlay and Molly during a visit to Molly's aunt's house. A very relaxing weekend and a nice change of pace for us from the usual rink time. Andrew got to do some lobster fishing and I spent some quality time with Alayne and Molly.

Finn in his glory...

The other fancy paws...

From February and ...

Meredith's manicure

What a mug...

From February and ...

This was Finn needing a snack. He wanted to use the crazy carpets exclusively and not let the girls use them. A banana brought him around.

Meredith's manicure...

From February and ...

Meredith was equally pleased with her fancy nails. It seems wrong for them to put their ringette gloves on so often over the weekend with such fancy nails underneath!

A close-up of the princess nails...

From February and ...

The bejewelled nails. Now they'll never want a regular manicure again!

Nails for a princess...

From February and ...

Olivia is proud of her fancy manicure. Aunt Shelly took both girls to get their nails done. I think it was quite an experience for them. The end result was very fancy.

Snow day, on a Saturday

From February and ...

We finally got a storm...on a Friday night. The kids enjoyed the snow, but the mild temperatures made them pretty soggy. You can see Findlay glisten in the sun. It was a bit of a non-winter this year...thank goodness for Dance Dance Revolution, or the kids would have gone completely stir-crazy.

Like father, like son...

From February and ...

Findlay is already addicted to Andrew's car racing rally game on the computer. Is it genetic? Hard to say, but he loves it.