Blessings to be counted...

February 26

I thought I would put up a couple of pictures and videos from Gabriel's play group at the Carrefour. I have been going to the Carrefour since Mathieu was a baby so it has been a weekly ritual for a few years and the songs are permanently imprinted on my brain! Last year, Gabriel got to tag along (usually carried in the front pack as Mathieu and I did our thing). But this year, it is his turn to be the star!! So, I find myself singing the same songs but still getting a kick out of seeing how Gabriel reacts to it all!!

Last weekend, we got a chance to go visit my good friend Joyce and her family in their new country house in St. Gregoire. Mathieu and Jacob are 5 days apart and have known each other since they were both in our bellies so it was fun to see them play together. It was also nice to get out of the city for the day.

If all goes well this weekend and everyone is flu free we planning a trip to Ottawa for the day to visit the Musee de la civilasation which is supposed to have an amazing children's section. We will keep you updated!!!

February 10

Wow...A day of reprieve. It was an incredible plus 8 today in Montreal. No mittens, no scarf and the ice melting around me. I was able to take Gabriel to the park where he played on the play structure. It was a joy to see him squealing with delight as he climbed up the steps and made his way down the slide. Those are the moments...so simple and yet so incredibly precious. I am so grateful to be a part of it all...

February 14.We had a great day today. Vincent invited 2 of his really good friends and their partners for brunch and we ended up talking and eating around the table for 5 hours straight. The kids were really good sitting around the table with us but, of course, at some point Mathieu got bored so he was excused to watch cartoons. Gabriel, on his side, got excused to have a nap!!!

Gabriel has been quite the little parrot lately and seems to be picking up new words everyday. At this point, he is mixing up his french and his english a little bit( e.g. "pain please") but mostly seems to be starting to make the distinction between the two of us. With Mathieu's help I put together a list of words that he knows so that I can compare how much the list has changed in the future:

mama, papa, grandpapa ,grandmama, no, caca, do do, tatieu (Mathieu), Gabriel ,Gaby, baby, Hello, Hi, Allo, Bonjour,Bye Bye, Au revoir, lait , l'eau, bain, apple, wawa (water), jus, cookie, pain, cracker, cheese, cake, shito (prosciutto), apple, pizza, nana (banana), beaucoup, encore, boots, bijoux, bravo, yeah, petit (bon appetit) , choo choo , more, toes ,shoes, bedon, oreilles, ca (cat) ,chat, gog (dog), chien,tweet tweet (bird), tan kou (thank you) ,tiens, gotta go, snow, ball, book, car, monkey , panda , peeze (please), Doodlebops, papa a wor (papa's at work)

Last weekend, we went down to Quebec city to visit with Odette and to go to the Carnival. Fortunately, the weather was beautiful both days. Mathieu had a great time but was disappointed to have not seen the Bonhomme Carnival! We also got the wonderful news that Michel is getting married to Yuko this spring. There will be a ceremony in Japan in the summer so Vincent and I are working on plans to go.

Odette is doing much better and is now walking with the cane. The winter has been long though so she has been feeling a little housebound as she is not able to get out and about on her own. Hopefully, spring will make its way here soon!

This morning, Vincent is taking Mathieu to Kung Fu class and then I am going with him to the Doodlebops concert. We have had it marked on our calendar for weeks and Mathieu has been counting down the days.

On my side, I have been doing a little bit of job hunting in my field. It has been tricky since most of the postings are full time but I am not in a big hurry. In terms of the fitness, I did my exam last week and it went very well so I am also going to start working on teaching a few classes here and there. I am going to send my CV to Cardio Plein Air today.

The JOYS of Winter

Hello Again,

Well the title of this blog is both sincere and sarcastic. It has been a bit of a challenging winter this year so far. We've had some days of extreme cold and some days of snow storms. So, between that and a family bout of gastro (we politely took turns...we like to share everything, even germs!!) we've been a bit more housebound lately but have made the most of it by turning the living room into a play room on some days and having friends over for play dates. We also had a play date to meet friends in the park the other day but when we got there we realised that the snow in the park was up to the kids waist! On the bright side, I think I may have come up with a new weight-loss aerobics craze and could possibly make millions. Forget Tai Bo, forget step aerobics, I think the next work out craze could be Snow Stroller aerobics. Its easy, just take some snowstorms, no car, and then the next day try pushing two kids through the snow in a stroller to try to get them to Judo or play group or wherever. It will have you huffing and puffing in no time and sweating in -20 weather guaranteed!!!

But, cursing and sweating aside, we have had a couple of more mild days in which to enjoy the joys of winter! Yesterday, we take a long walk down to the library and stopped at the park along the way. Today, we had a great morning with our friends Tanissa, Ryan and baby Christian sledding and then a nice long lunch at our place.

Anyway, I thought I would put some pictures for you and a grainy video of Mathieu at Judo class

Enjoy!

Stephanie

The little moments

Fun at the gym

Hi,

This is our first attempt at putting videos on our blog! So far so good so this should be first of many!
As you can see from the video and pictures, we took the kids back to the gym yesterday where they had lots of fun. Its a great activity on a cold winter day.

Last night, we had a babysitter and Vincent and I got to go out for a long, leisurely dinner at one of our favourite restaurants that is very close to our house. We had a great bottle of wine and enjoyed taking our time and not being interupted by our kids!! That being said, a lot of our conversation revolved around how lucky we are to have such healthy and happy kids so there you go!

I am slowly starting the process of job hunting (usually during nap times!). I am going to take my time to find a good match since I am looking for something part time.

At the same time, I hope to take my exam for the aerobics instructor at the beginning of February (I better start practicing!!) so I hope to eventually teach that a few hours a week as well. The company that I would ideal like to work for is Cardio Plein Air.

The boys are off to their Sunday morning ritual of going to Patrick's bakery for croissants and espresso (the espresso obviously being for Vincent!). This afternoon Vincent is taking Mathieu to friend's house to celebrate la Fete des rois...I am sick with the flu today so I am staying home with Gabriel so I can nap this afternoon. Anyways, thats all for now!

Vacation

We have been having a wonderful time with Vincent on vacation. We've made trips to the planetarium, China town, the library, and the movies with Mathieu. On Thursday, we went down to Quebec city to have a New Year's day dinner with Grandmama Odette, Michel, Yuko and the kids. There was lots of chocolate to be had!!! Yesterday, we also had a chance to visit with Francois and Isabelle.
Today we took the kids to club gymnix, an open area gymnastics complexe for kids. Unfortunately, I forgot my camera or I would have posted great pictures of Mathieu jumping on the trampoline, climbing the climbing wall, swinging from ropes and walking on the balance beam etc. Gabriel also had fun throwing himself on the big mattresses and crawling through the tubes. When Mathieu saw the gym, he asked me "mama, can we come here everyday?!". Afterwards, we went for lunch at one of our favourite places in Montreal...Marche Jean-Talon! There is nothing like their barbecue chicken sandwiches cooked on the spit in the middle of winter!

Mathieu is excited because he knows that there is only one more dodo before we go to the Winne the Pooh concert tomorrow. Life is quite exciting when you're 4!