Hockey Night in Canada!

We swore we wouldn't be a hockey family but with Matt instilling a love for hockey (and the Pittsburgh Penguins) and Simon learning how to skate we were doomed. Simon requested hockey as his winter activity so we signed him up for an Intro to Hockey session. The hockey is for ages 4 to 7, so Simon was on the younger side. I think this was ideal for him because he does not like to be last so he was really pushing himself to keep up. They worked those kids hard and by the end of it, Simon was sweaty and a lot better of a skater than when he hit the ice. We hoping he's as enthusiatic for the remainder of the session since we signed him up for the spring session too!

Simon dressed and ready to hit the ice.


Finally a stick - sadly no puck though.


Hockey swagger and style already.

Rocking the Dentist

Simon has been to the Dentist many times now and has always impressed me with how cooperative he is. I wasn't expecting the same from Miles. I didn't even think that he would open his mouth. His favourite part was definitely the self-serve water. He filled and refilled that cup over and over, and for good measure flooded the floor. They managed an exam and a polish! Here are Miles and Simon rocking the exam.

Gearing Up

Simon is so excited to start hockey. We borrowed some gear from a friend and Simon now insists on wearing full gear for mini-sticks in the basement. Even Miles got in on the action.

The Lego Solution

I am obsessed with storage, after the influx of LEGO from Christmas, I needed to come up with the perfect play space and storage before it got out of hand. I spent a lot of time searching blogs for what other people had used to rein in the chaos and came across a great option at IKEA Hackers. It transformed some standard IKEA units into the perfect play space with lots of storage. Matt got to work assembling things and then we headed out to Home Depot for the remaining supplies to finish off the time. I still haven't gotten around to organizing the LEGO so it's all scattered about the table but the table is a huge hit. Simon is always sitting down and playing with his beloved Star Wars characters. I expect we'll be spending many any evening over the next number of years creating masterpieces. Now to find the perfect resting spot.

Ringing in the New Year

Bed time at our place is between 7:30 and 8:00pm - definitely not conducive to ringing in the New Year - but since babysitters are hard to come by (and expensive) on New Year's, we thought we would just see how far we could push off bed time. We had a great time with friends and though the adults peaked at about 10:30pm (I was trying to get everyone to celebrate a Newfie new year) the kids made it until midnight. I think Miles managed the extra hour after shocking his system with an impromtu, fully clothed shower at 11:00pm :) We missed the ball drop and we were all lame and left shortly after the stroke of midnight but enjoyed the evening out with friends. Sadly we didn't get any pictures....