SqzieCox

Long time, no blog...

It's been so long since my last post - sorry! It's been a busy summer and start to fall around here. We had a great, hot summer with a wonderful trip to Whistler with some of our TO family - six kids 5 and under!! Ethan has started French immersion kintergarten and absolutely loves it! Ella has started preschool with a few of her friends. She's excited too but is still having some issues with potty training. Nate turned one at the end of July and is now walking and getting into all sorts of trouble - but he's so cute so we can't get mad. It's been a good start to the school year - we just have to try and avoid this nasty H1N1 flu bug and we'll be great!

Summer Fun!

  Enjoying this amazing weather we've been having. We spent a day down at Stanley Park enjoying the water park. We also set up the pool in our yard. Nate was having some trouble with the "big" kid pool so we put him in a tupperware box - perfect!

2009 Dance Recital

 

This year, both Ethan and Ella danced in the Precision Dance Academy year-end dance recital. Ella was so excited to be a pink, blue and purple ballerina, and Ethan received an awesome raincoast and umbrella for his tap dance "Singing In The Rain". They has two wonderful shows and really enjoyed being on stage. Way to go kids!

Splish Splash!

Nate is getting big! He's almost a year now and climbing up on everything! He's a very good crawler but started pulling himself up on the water table we keep on our deck. He absolutely loves slashing around in it.

Disneyland!

On April 18th to the 21st, Ethan and I went on a little mother-son trip down to Disneyland! We went with a good friend from playgroup and her mom, and Kellie!! We had a blast! Ethan was a little overwhelmed by it all but he loved the rides. We managed to arrive in LA right in the middle of a heat-wave - it was 102+ almost everyday, which meant we had to have a good swim in the pool and a serious nap in the middle of each day so we could play at Disneyland all night!

Happy Birthday Ethan!

My big boy turned five on the 21st - I can't believe he's five! We had a wonderful birthday party with all his friends at one of the local community centres. It was a "be your own superhero" party. They all received a superhero cape and made masks. We had lots of fun. Even Nate!

First Fairy Princess Cake

   

Ok, so I agreed to make a fairy princess doll cake for one of Ethan's friend's birthday party today. I'm sure you've all seen these cakes before - a big dome with usually a Barbie doll stuck into the middle of it - only the birthday girl really wanted a Thumbelina doll in hers, the latest doll from Matel. I did some research on the internet and found that I really liked the look of the dolls covered in fondant rather than plain icing so I decided to give it a try. You can buy pre-made fondant from the cake store but it tends to taste like chemicals, so I decided that if I was going to use fondant then I would have to make it from scratch. I found a wonderful recipe that was very easy to prepare and work with, and my cake turned out very nice - and the birthday girl loved it! I also made a bunch of cupcakes to go with the cake. The theme of the party was "Pirates and Princesses".
I really enjoyed making these - perhaps I will be a baker when I grow up.

Easter at Preschool

On Thursday, Ethan's preschool had an Easter party and egg hunt. I made these cute little bunnies for all the kids - I think they turned out very nice.

New member of the family - and a new blanket!

My new niece Claire was born at the beginning of February - it's been awhile since I've posted anything on this blog. Anyways, she's a beautiful, cute little girl and I can't wait to meet her! Ben has had the opportunity to meet Claire on a business trip earlier this month, and he brought this little lap blanket that I made for her. I used those yummy fabrics that I found a few months ago. I think it turned out great and it looks like Claire likes it too!

Happy 65th Bapa!

On March 2nd my dad celebrated his 65th birthday! We celebrated with a wonderful dinner at my parents' house followed by a chocolate raspberry cake - made by me! I love watching all those cake decorating shows on the food channel, and I dream of someday making huge, beautiful cakes. For now I'll just stick to the two-layered kind - they are difficult enough for me!