Xmas with Grandma Ann & Grandpa Bern

We spent Christmas Eve day at Grandma Ann & Grandpa Bern's house! It was great to be able to relax there for the day! We opened gifts, had brunch, played with toys, sat in the hot tub, watched movies and had supper!
Mackenzie got a karoke machine from Grandma & Grandma! It didn't take her long and she was singing along with the gang from High School Musical!
Cole got a Smart Cycle from Grandma & Grandpa! It connects to the TV and he can play racing games which are educational!!! The racing part is totally up Cole's alley so hopefully he'll learn something in the process!
Cole 's new mask from his ninja turtle pajamas!
Mackenzie reading the Christmas Story before we started opening gifts!

Those good old Santa boots were filled once again with lots of candy and treats!
The kids were very excited to be able to open up gifts from their cousins! Cole loved his pirate telescope which will be a great addition to his many costumes!
Mackenzie got a Lip Balm kit and a Chia pet from her cousins!

Dashing through the Snow

Last Saturday we headed to Holland for the Friesen gathering and a sleigh ride in the snow! It was an amazing day with snowflakes falling - it was almost picture perfect! The kids were really excited for the sleigh ride!
Cole and his best friend Jeff during one of our stops when we got stuck!
Everybody had to get out and the men pushed the wagon out!
Whoops! This picture should be at the end! After supper Mackenzie was lucky enough to play Uncle John's mandolin!
Checking out the horses with Uncle Bill!

All bundled up and ready for the snow ride - Grandma Ann, Aunty Sharon and Aunty Jane!
Here we go!
Cheers! Beverages were included and passed out by the flight attendants!!! We even sang a rousing song of Jingle Bells!

Dress Up

Playing dress up is a poular past time at our house! This time Mackenzie got a little wild and crazy when she found my old glasses from when I was a kid! Can you guess what she's supposed to be? A school teacher of course!!!
She then got a hold of her little brother and turned him into a fashion diva!!! She's lucky that he still cooperates with her and he will put on pretty much anything she asks him too!!!
Super Cole! One of his friends borrowed this costume to him!!! I don't think he's taken it off since!
Making cream cookies for Christmas!!

Christmas Concerts

Cole's pre-school concert was entertaining!! What else could you expect with 20 or so 4 year olds on stage singing and saying poems. Once again, Cole and Carter found a seat right beside each other!
Mackenzie's Grade 2 Christmas Concert was filled with songs, poems and plays from the different Grade 2 classes! She was very excited to perform for us all!
Her class did two poems on stage.
This poem was about a Christmas Tree!

Christmas is a Comin'

The kids were super excited to put up the tree once again this year! Cole got into the festive season by sporting some fashionable christmas attire - shorts and a tank top!! Mackenzie was our chief decorator and loved putting all of her ornaments and ours on the tree! We could pretty much sit back and let the kids take over!

Mischief is My Middle Name!

This morning Cole decided he was going to comb his own hair after his bath! I went up to take a shower and when I came back downstairs I found Cole in the bathroom combing his hair! However, not only did he comb his hair but he also put several products into his hair to in his words "Make it look cool!" All of those bottles on the counter were put into his hair including mosquito spray, suntan lotion and nail polish remover!! Needless to say we had a little chat! Later that same morning I found him in his room with virtually no clothes on applying tatoos all over his body!!!
And yet that same crazy morning while I was getting his lunch ready he came to tell me that he had made the walls in his room look really cool by decorating them! I asked him what he decorated with - Markers and stickers!!!!
Meanwhile, Mackenzie is quietly playing with the trains in the living room!!! What a great example of boys brains vs girls brains!

Halloween

This year for Halloween, Mackenzie was a glittering, purple witch and Cole was the brave and fierce knight! We actually had a beautiful evening for trick-or-treating and thankfully the wind cooperated and stayed calm for the evening! Here's our guard spider that we made for the front yard!
Halloween wouldn't be complete without a stop at Mrs. Enns' house! This year she was dressed as a spider!
After driving around town to a few places we met up with some friends and trick or treated around the neighbourhood bay. The kids had a blast and came home with bags overflowing with candy!
The two little witches on Halloween!
For some reason I can never seem to upload these pictures in the right order so let's go back a few days before Halloween now! Mackenzie had a great time carving the pumpkins and was right in there taking out all of the goop!

Cole on the other hand wanted nothing to do with it because - you guessed it - "It's too STINKY!" He stayed as far away as he could!
The finished product!
Grandma Ann was able to join Mackenzie at her school for Pumpkin Day! She was so excited to have Grandma there with her. They spent the morning measuring their pumpkins, counting seeds and carving them!
And now we're back to Halloween Night! Carter & Jaxon with Mac & Cole !