Winter? Spring? Winter? Spring?

Two days ago vs. this morning...

Tyler's Love for Trains Continues

Wherever there are trains, Tyler is bound to be found. Playgroup is no exception. Even though there are tons of toys and things to play with at playgroup, Tyler still picks the train set to be his main source of entertainment. This morning he spent a good part of his open play time with Thomas. He decided to expand the track, so we moved it away from the wall and we let him have a great time adding more track. Once he had his fill of trains, he decided to play with the cars at the garage. However it wasn't long before another boy came along and started picking up the track and Tyler was disappointed his hard work was destroyed in seconds. Luckily we have the cooler electric version of Thomas at home that he can play with anytime!

Skating Party

This afternoon we were invited to attend a free skating party hosted by Sarah's credit union that she works for. Sarah and her boyfriend, Mark, were the characters for the party. Along with the characters, they had free Tim Horton's hot chocolate...mmm! The party was held at the rink in town. It had been quite a long time since I've been to that arena, which is newer than the one we were going to. Mom and I welcomed the warmth compared to the freezing temperatures at the other rink. It had been a few weeks since the last time Tyler had been on the ice, so it was wonderful to get him back on skates. Unfortunately, skating for preschoolers has ended as of last week. Today was the last day Tyler will be skating for awhile. Tyler progressed beautifully with his skating and we are so proud that he can skate by himself now. Hopefully he will keep up this sport in the future. Here is video of his last skating for this year:

Ta-ta Tiny Tots!

This was the last day of the Tiny Tots program. We are sad that it is finally over. Tyler thoroughly enjoyed himself there as it let him do all sorts of fun things to burn off some of that incredible energy that he has. It was also a great chance for him to get together with some of his friends. We will surely miss our Saturday morning trips to the gym, but we look forward to new adventures that may come our way!

Self Dressing Dude

Lately Tyler has expressed an interest in dressing himself. He does a good job at it too. His pants usually go on without a problem; he mastered the pant legs fairly well. The shirts are another story. Of course, he has no problem with getting his head through, but he usually has to ask for help getting his arms in the right holes. Everyday he becoming more self sufficient and doesn't need my help as much. This makes me kind of sad.

Bubble Bath Blast

Happy Birthday, Chellee!!! Hope you have a fabulous day.

These photos were taken on Steve's recent field trip west of Baghdad. He went with Navy Riverines to gather news stories on the training of Iraqi forces. He is currently waiting for a flight back to his office in Baghdad. 54 days left his deployment in Iraq~

Spring is Here?

The playgroup craft for today was this fun tree to celebrate the beginning of spring. The children were taught that with the new season, the leaves grow on the trees and the grass begins to grow again. However you wouldn't know it was spring here because we woke up with snow falling on the ground. Thank goodness it melted before too long, though tomorrow the forecast is calling for more of the white stuff.

Tyler Says the Darndest Things

The other day we were on our way to go get an ice cream. Tyler was all excited! Then all of a sudden he says "I don't want a big ice cream, I want a little baby ice cream." I asked why he didn't want a big one, not that I was going to buy him a big one, but I was still surprised he to hear this because he loves ice cream so much. His reply was "because a little baby ice cream fits."

Bouncin' Buddies

Andrew and Tyler have been bouncing up some fun during the past two Saturdays. Last weekend, the mall sponsored a fundraiser for the IWK Children's Hospital by offering bouncy tents supplied by Klutzy the Clown. The fundraiser was so successful that they actually extended the bouncy tents at the mall for an extra three days. So Tyler and I went back for some more bouncing fun last Tuesday. Then today Tyler met up again with his good buddy, Andrew, for Klutzy's March Break Party at a church hall for some more bouncing. This time profits were going to the autism society. The boys had a blast. There were a total of eight bouncy tents. Andrew's favourite was the bouncy slide, while Tyler's was the bouncy maze. This adorable photo was taken by Andrew's mom today. We can't wait until the warmer weather so we can get our boys together more often.

Afternoon at the Movies

Nanny finally got to take her grandson to see a movie. She has been saying for awhile now that she has been wanting to take him. This week is March Break (Spring Break) for the kids here, so the movie theatre is having Toonie Matinees. For anyone who may not know, a "toonie" here in Canada is a two dollar coin. Today we saw 'Tale of Despereaux'. Tyler did very well; he stayed in his seat and seemed interested throughout the movie. However there were some parts of the movie where he covered his eyes and ears because he found it a little scary. This was Tyler's first real movie in the theatre. We went to see a Mommy & Me movie, but the movie was more for the mommies and he wasn't as interested in it. Now that I know he has good attention span and can sit and watch an entire movie in the theatre, I can't wait to take him to see another one!

See You Soon

This afternoon Christine brought Maia over to Nanny's house so that we could say our goodbyes to each other. Yes, three weeks went by already! I really enjoyed having Christine and Maia home. We are really going to miss them. Christine and I got to do a lot together during her time home. We joined a yoga class, went to see some girl movies, went out to eat a few times, and got to do some fun things with the kids like take them to the bouncy tents and meet SpongeBob. Having Christine home really helped make the time go by faster for me. Fortunately, Christine and Maia are returning back here in Cape Breton in May before Christine has to return back to work after her maternity leave is finished. We are really looking forward to seeing them again and we wish them a safe flight back to Alberta.

Veggie Tales Party

We missed skating today, but we had a good excuse. Instead of skating, we attended a Veggie Tales party organized by a local church. The party started by a showing of the Veggie Tales "Abe and the Amazing Promise". At first Tyler noticed that the veggies all had faces and he said that the vegetables at Nanny's house didn't have eyes, ears, mouth or nose. He thought that was funny and enjoyed the rest of the video. After the presentation was over, we all went down stairs and the kids made Veggie Tales crafts. They had their choice of which character they wanted to make and I thought for sure Tyler would pick the tomato, but instead he wanted to make Laura the Carrot. She turned out really cute looking. Then the kids did some Veggie Tales colouring. The fun wasn't over yet. The party continued with a lunch, which was good because all this talk of food was really making us hungry! Overall, we had a fantastic time. This was the first time the church hosted a Veggie Tales party and I'm sure it won't be their last. They had a really good turnout and all the children really enjoyed themselves. It was a wonderful way to spend the morning, learning about God's teachings and having some fun.

St. Patrick's Day Morning

Save Money. Live Better. Meet SpongeBob.

Our excitement for the day was going to Wal-Mart and meeting the big celebrity in town! It was a good thing we left early to wait in line because soon after we arrived a mob showed up. Luckily we were third in line. Christine and Maia met us there too! After passing out a few treats to the kids, they brought the big guy out. Tyler was a little timid of SpongeBob and so he felt more comfortable on Mommy's lap. This was actually the second time for me meeting the sponge. Steve and I originally met him at Universal Studios in Florida in 2002 shortly after we got married. SpongeBob is currently on his Cross Canada Bus Tour.

A Day At The Office

It's been quite a while since I have posted on the blog. So, here's the latest Iraq news. I no longer direct press conferences. I have taken over the assignments editor job. My responsibilities are to make sure we have enough news events to cover and arrange all the transportation for them. It's a tough and stressful job at times. From today, I have 65 more days until I'm back in Washington D.C. Here's a photo of me at my desk in our trailer-office.

Photo Shoot

The other day we received a phone call from Wal-Mart saying I won a free photo enhancement. Today we went down for the photo session. It was sooo much fun!!! Tyler was a natural and did all the poses so well. The girl was so pleased with him. We could have stayed there all day taking photos, he was an awesome model. Anyway, here are some of my favourites. We ordered lots of prints. Let me know which ones you like the best.

Tyler Says the Darndest Things

Today Tyler was me telling that Winnie isn't real because he can't talk and he is a stuffed animal. So being curious, I asked him what Winnie was stuffed with. Tyler replied, "Winnie is stuffed with popcorn, some jelly, and lots of pickles". LOL

Today's Skating

Special Treats

We've been having good weeks and not so good weeks when it comes to Tyler's potty training, however lately he's been doing a super duper job! So to award him last night Tyler and I finally used the "potty treat cake mix" that our friend Simone gave us for Christmas. Of course, the mix isn't really called that but it has M&M's which Tyler calls "potty treats" because he often gets a Smartie (similar to an M&M). Nanny was also very proud of his accomplishment so she wanted to treat him to an ice cream today. Tyler does very good at home using the potty with some reminding. However he was afraid of the public restrooms because of the size of the toilet and noise when flushing, however lately he is overcoming his fear.

Take the Roof Off Winter

The winter has been seriously slowing down our caching, however today I had the opportunity to get back out and grab a few more caches. This afternoon, Christine and I attended the 'Take the Roof Off Winter' cache event held at the Dominion Boardwalk. It was the perfect day to get outside for a little hiking with some local cachers; the snow fell during the entire event which made for a beautiful winter walk. In the distance, it sounded like thunder however it was the sound of the ice breaking up in the water surrounding us. This was the first time I had ever heard this and I was completely amazed! After our walk and all our caches found, we met at Tim Horton's for some warm beverages. What a terrific time! Can't wait for the warmer weather to start caching again!

Hoops Tyler

Five Little Monkeys

For a fun way to spend the afternoon, we got out one of Tyler's new games he got for his birthday. This was the first time we played the game called 'Five Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed'. And oh my goodness, what a blast we had! I definitely recommend this game to anyone who has a toddler. After each persons turn, the player is required to push one of the bedposts to see if the bed pops up. The bed doesn't pop up every time, so it's a total surprise when it does. Each time it would pop up some of the monkeys go flying off the bed and Tyler, Nanny, and I would laugh so hard. As we were playing the game, I kept thinking to myself that there was something very familiar about it. Then I figured it out. By a weird coincidence, we are currently reading the book 'Five Little Monkeys With Nothing To Do' by Eileen Christelow which is part of a series of other 'Five Little Monkeys' books. Turns out that the game is based on her monkey books!

Lucky Mom

The quality of the photo is rather lacking, however the level of sweetness totally makes up for it. On our way to bed tonight, Tyler stopped along the way and starting hugging and kissing my shadow, at the same time he was saying "awww...Mommy" so lovingly. Tyler is so affectionate! He totally melts my heart~

Tyler Says the Darndest Things

This story actually took place on his birthday after the party. Mom and I decided to go through the McDonald's drive thru after cleaning up since we didn't have much of a chance to eat during the party. As we were stopped waiting for our order to be processed, Tyler said to us "Look at the moon over there! It has letters on it!!!". It's been awhile since we've taken him out after dark, and he was quite tired from his party...LOL. This is the "moon with the letters" he was referring to:

Dinner Guest

Tonight we were joined by a special guest for dinner. We are always happy to see Sarah and be able to spend time with her. She is more like family to us. Before dinner, Sarah and Tyler had a great time playing with the balloons he received at his buddy's, Dawsyn, 5th birthday party yesterday. Tyler just absolutely adores her. Sarah is usually joined by her boyfriend, Mark, however he was feeling under the weather today. Sarah wasn't feeling well herself. We are wishing them both good health and we hope to see them both soon!