Christmas Season...

I realize that it has been a long time since I last wrote...In fact, in the interim the seasons have changed and I am no longer hearing the swishing of leaves under my feet but snow and ice!!! We have also moved from the Halloween holiday to the Xmas holidays...

Its been awhile, in part, because free time has been at a minimum lately. Between fighting a flu that dragged on much longer that I would have liked (it's finally gone!) and being increasing pregnant, my fatique levels were up and I often crashed as soon as the kids were in their beds!

But, all is well in our household. I am now 8 months pregnant and the countdown is on! I finish work next week and will leave with mixed feelings: relieved to not have to trudge my way through snowstorms with two kids to school,daycare, and work in the morning (did I mention that being 8 months pregnant and taking public transportation do not go together!!!) but sad to leave a work environment and collegues that I enjoy so much.

The boys are doing well. Mathieu came with us to see the ultrasound last month and was excited to see his little brother. He also gets a laugh out of feeling his baby brother's kicks and punches...

Gabriel has been showing little signs of jealously lately so we are hoping that the transition won't be too difficult for him...

As you can see from the pictures, we are still very much enjoying our cottage and try to make it out there as much as possible. Mathieu finished his swimming lessons in town and will begin ski lessons after Xmas. Gabriel is still too small but is going to start next year...

We are definately going to miss being in Winnipeg for Christmas this year but are looking forward to spending some quiet time together as a family. We will be in Quebec city for the 24th and 25th and then we will head to our cottage for a few days. After that, we will be staying close to home and awaiting the arrival of number 3....

So much to say, so little time!!! First off, we spent another wonderful weekend at our cottage. Because we are north of Montreal in the mountains the temperature at the cottage is always a couple of degrees below that of Montreal. On, Saturday morning we woke up to a lovely winter wonderland! The boys were so excited and ran out to touch the snow with their bare feet On Saturday afternoon, our good friends Tanissa and Ryan came out to the cottage with their little Christian and baby Élodie. We had a wonderful lunch together and the kids had fun playing outside...(The "big" boys too!!!). Coincidentally, Tanissa's mother used to have a cottage very close to ours so Tanissa and I made a little trip to visit her old place. As it turns out, it is 10 minutes of walking from our place. Tanissa said she really regrets now not buying it from her mom when she had the chance because we would have been neighbours!!

We came straight home from the cottage after Mathieu's swimming class yesterday in order to be home on time for Halloween in the city. Once again, I am reminded what a kid I am at heart because I get genuinely excited about these kinds of holidays!! I love having kids in part because I get to enjoy these kinds of things and experience their excitement. I also particularly love Halloween on the Plateau because it is really a great ambiance. The air is usually nice and crisp this time of year and the sidewalks are usually covered with leaves so you hear this "swish, swish" sound as you walk. Our neighborhood also has a lot of little kids that come out that night. Also, alot of the houses really go all out and the decorations are amazing!!! I just think there is something special about a holiday where neighbours open their doors to greet one another (and my voyeur side loves to peak in other people's places!)

Mathieu decided close to the last minute that he did not want to wear his dinosaur costume so I made a trip to the Dollar store and gave him a few options to choose from and we put the Dracula costume together. It took lots of gel and fake blood (which 6 year boys seem to find fascinating!) but we pulled it off. Gabriel, as you can see, was cute as a button. You should of heard how enthusiastically he said "Merci!!!" every time someone gave him candy. What a concept for a three year old...free candy!!! Too precious!!! He was just so happy and so adorable....Croquant!!!

I am now 7 months pregnant and all is going well and baby is kicking stonger and stronger every day. The boys give my tummy kisses daily and Mathieu is excited to meet his new baby brother. Gabriel seems to understand the concept that there is a baby in my tummy but I am not sure to what point he realizes that it is going to come out one day!!! It might be a bit of a suprise. He has gotten so much bigger lately and is really becoming a "big boy". He's been full of "I love you's" and hugs and kisses lately. He and Mathieu have also been playing a lot more together (check out the video!!) and sometimes are a bit of a "tag team" which is great but can sometimes be challenging when it is late and you`re trying to get two boys to bed who are just egging eachother on and think every burp and animal noise etc. is genuinely hilarious....!
Burping has become a popular sport at our house and I think I just have to accept that it comes with the territory of being outnumbered by boys!!!

Priceless...

Quote of the week from Mathieu:

"Papa, how come you teach my how to do legos but you don't teach me more to be a man?"


Needless to say, an interesting and amusing conversation followed....

Thanksgiving...

It was Thanksgiving weekend recently and, once again, I felt so grateful to have so many thingss to be thankful for...

We had the opportunity to have Vincent's family over at our cottage. As usual, it was a marathon meal...We started eating at about 1:00 and got up from the table at about 7:00...

It was nice for everyone to be able to see our new place and for us to enjoy the fresh air and sunshine. I got a chance to take Yuko for her first canoe trip ever! It was very windy and the canoe was loaded down with 4 people but we made it back...We also got a chance to play a little pétanque in our yard...

Yuko also got a chance to share some wonderful news with us. She is pregnant and I am happy that our little boy will have a cousin who will be very close in age! We are happy for them both!

The next day, we met up with them at the Tremblant village where they were staying and the whole family, minus Odette, decided to take a luge ride down the mountain. Mathieu was also very happy to go rock climbing and, as you can see from the pictures, managed to get quite high.

We also had a chance to go up to the top of the mountain again and the boys and I did a little hike to the look out point. It was a beautiful, sunny day and the views were amazing.

We are definately enjoying our cottage and all the outdoor sports it has to offer. I always find it a little hard to go back to the city on Sunday night...At the same time, I enjoy the contrast of city life and everything it has to offer. The best of both worlds!!!

The joys of nature...

We spent a lovely long weekend at our cottage. We have had some hot days lately so the water was still quite warm and we were able to take advantage of yet another weekend of swimming.

On Sunday we drove to Mont Tremblant which is only a half an hour drive away from our cottage. There, we spent the day in Mont Tremblant village which is a lovely little "town" of shops and restaurants at the bottom of the ski slopes. It really is quite something to see and Mathieu said it looked like a "fairy tale village". We all enjoyed take a luge ride down the mountain and Mathieu was very excited. Vincent went with Mathieu and I went with Gabriel (I had the breaks on most of the way down and ended up arriving a good 5 minutes after Vincent who was a bit braver!!!!!)

We also took a scenic gondola ride up to the top of the mountain where the temp. dropped about 10 degrees. As you can see from the picture, Gabriel loved it as did Mathieu!!! Vincent was also happy that day because it was the weekend where the boutiques were having a blitz sale on their ski equipment. So, Vincent ended up getting new skis and a new jacket and is now officially ready for winter. We actually passed the ski centre where Mathieu will begin lessons this winter. It is very convenient since it is 15 minutes away from our cottage. And, it will also be good for me because, though Gabriel and I will not be skiing this winter - (he too young, me too round!!!) there is a pool and an indoor play center that we can go to while we wait.

On Monday, we did a morning of biking with the kids on le petit train du nord. It was somewhat down hill in one direction so we worked quite hard to come back the other way! Needless to say, everyone was hungry for lunch when we got back so Vincent made a fire and the boys roasted hot dogs and marshmallows.