Happy New Year!

Wow, it's been a loooooong time since I last posted. So long that I don't really know where to start!

First off, I want to wish everyone a very Happy New Year! I hope you all enjoyed the Christmas holidays. We sure did! The boys were very excited about Christmas this year, and of course about Santa. On Christmas morning, Dylan received a lot of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle toys, along with an Angry Birds game, a movie, and a keyboard. He is pretty excited about everything from Santa! Darwin also got his number 1 item on his wish list - a large craft centre/desk, stocked with tons of craft supplies! He also got a few games, movies, and a Ninja turtle, too! One of the best parts of Christmas morning for Darwin was opening his stocking. For Dylan - it was eating all the treats in the stocking :)

The boys (as well as M and I) were spoiled by all of our family, too. I am still trying to organize and file all the gifts away. We are so thankful for all the gifts and love we received this holiday season! We had 6 separate Christmas celebrations this year, including a big turkey and ham dinner at our house. The holiday season is always so busy and thus, always goes by way too quickly. It's a bittersweet feeling when it's all over. Today M is back to work, and in a few days, Big D will be back in school. He's been out for an extra week, as both boys (and myself) were pretty sick the week before Christmas. I think he's looking forward to getting back to his friends and routine.

So what else is new with us at the start of this year? We are still under renovations. Our front entrance is getting closer to being done. It looks great so far, and I am really looking forward to having it done. A few weeks ago we had a new gas fireplace installed downstairs. M worked his butt off to build a surround for it, including book shelves on either side and a solid walnut mantle. The mantle went in at 5:00 on Christmas Eve - just in time to hang up our stockings! It looks amazing, and I am totally in love with his workmanship AGAIN! We have a few other rooms/areas in the house that we would like to see re-done, but all in good time.....Oh - and we put in our rink again this year. M worked everyday during the break to get it ready. The weather cooperated enough to allow us to skate new year's eve and day!

Updates for Dylan include him losing his first 2 teeth this month, playing a few "rep team" hockey games (in addition to his tyke team), ever increasing his reading word lists, and more. His strongest subjects in school (according to his progress report) are math and art. He is looking more and more like a big boy, and not so much like a little guy. I can't believe his is 6 years old already!

Darwin is enjoying his alone time with Mommy each day. He loves to play school, and is trying really hard to learn all his letters and sounds so he can read, too! His favourite thing in the world right now is acorns. He is all about collecting them and making crafts with them. Craft time is definitely his favourite time of the day. This year marks Darwin's first year of tyke hockey. It was a rocky start (lots of tears), but now he loves playing and looks forward to his practices each week. We just love watching both boys play! Darwin is also growing before our eyes. It's crazy that our "baby" is 4!

Brook and Cedar are doing well. Brooker will be 10 on the 11th, and Cedar turns 9 in February. They are showing their age now and then, but still going strong. Both girls just adore the boys and are constantly playing with them. The 4 of them have a lot of fun together. I just can't imagine a house without dogs!

Well, I think that about sums up some of the "new" things in our lives. We are all looking forward to a Happy and Healthy new year, and wish the same for all of you! I hope to update more often. Cheers for now!