...nearly 3!

Just a couple of days away until Max is officially 3 years old. He waited patiently all week for The Party and we had fun getting ready for the festivities. Max decided that he wanted a Rainbow Cake and fortunately, I had come across the 6 layer rainbow cake that has been appearing in blogs and also Martha Stewart. It looks daunting but actually it was a lot of fun to make.



The balloons were a hit - Carmon and I put them out when Max was in bed last night, when he came downstairs this morning and saw them he was so excited. "I LOVE my balloons!!" he squealed.


Take-out nuggets and fries for the kids...a good way to keep kids interested and the food contained!

Birthday weekend

Really? Another year older?! It was my 32nd on Monday. We celebrated by taking a mini vacation in Canmore and signed ourselves up for a Dog sledding trip while we were there. It took Max some time to 'warm up' to the idea. He was not thrilled at all as we stood in the cold for 1/2 an hour getting a bit of a tutorial on how to operate the sleds, commands for the dogs etc...I only half listened, trying to keep him entertained/warm and somewhat enthusiastic about getting in a cold sled and being pulled through the bush.

"This is NOT going to be fun", "I want to go home" oh and, "I want to go play in the sand!" were a few memorable quotes before we got going.

Once the lesson was over, we got bundled in our sled and he was much happier...no squeals of delight or anything like that, but when we finished he said he wanted to go again. We hit the pool in the afternoon, found a good spot for dinner and were all in bed by 7:30!

Halloween Fun

Halloween was so FUN this year!! Max had it all figured out, loved that he could ring stranger's doorbells and get...CANDY!

After each house, Max would say with excitement "...and now we get to go to another house!!"

Thanksgiving Weekend

We had an awesome weekend! Besides buying a house, and a second vehicle (all in one day) we were able to fit in a morning at Heritage Park on Sunday. It was really cool when we arrived, but we warmed up in Gunn's Dairy Barn with a pancake breakfast and then hopped on the steam train for a ride around the village. This is an excellent place to be with kids, especially if you have a train, boat and tractor lovin' little boy!

Impulse Buy?

So we bought a house yesterday! We have been on the hunt since our visit to Calgary in July and it had been pretty underwhelming so far. We were thisclose to cancelling our Saturday bookings with our agent, as we were feeling rather gloomy about the whole house hunting process. Good thing we didn't. This little lady came on the market earlier this week, it is located in an area called Bridgeland in the inner city's NE. It is a great area, lots of redevelopment going on, a few good spots to eat and there is a Starbucks! I know I sound like a total weirdo city person but seriously...would you turn down a Sunday morning pumpkin spice latte if it's a block and a half away?
We walked in and instantly had a good feeling about the place, the layout on the main floor is almost identical to our last house in Toronto, which made it very easy for us to visualize living there. It has a sweet little front porch, nice high ceilings, it is light filled and bright, it has squeaky original hardwood and cozy bedrooms. So we put in an offer immediately and learned a few hours later that somebody else had also put in an offer - we were now in a bidding war. WHAT??! I thought that only happened in Toronto! We improved our offer and waited at a park nearby while the deal went down. I guess they liked that we were able to move in asap and that helped us in the end...So it's ours on November 8! I feel inspired again! Can't wait to start planning some projects and settling in. This is really going to help us feel at home in our new city. So here it is!

The Move

There is something to be said about having movers...everything was packed up and out of our house over 2 days, our car was put on the train and there we were, left with a few suitcases and an empty house. Our little house was just a shell and I kept wondering if the people who bought it would be disappointed when they moved in...it just looked so different once everything was packed up. We had a full week of saying Good-bye to all of our dear friends, it was very tough but we were excited about reconnecting with our family and friends in the West.
We've been here for 3 weeks now, but in different places. I am settling in with my new job and Carmon and Max have been working hard on the farm. Max is loving every minute of it. I miss them, it's been too long now and I am ready for us to be together and to start exploring this new city. So far I like it though - it feels great to be back.

Cracking Up

Max cracking up to Toy Story out-takes.