Nap? What nap?

So Mommy decides to go shopping for the day and Daddy is home with the three kids. They're laughing, playing and having a grand 'ol time when all of a sudden Daddy realizes he forgot to put Samara in bed for her morning nap. Here's what happens when Samara misses her morning nap. She's trying so hard to eat her lunch . . .





When lunch/highchair nap was finished, she somehow found some energy to climb by herself into the exersaucer and . . .



A little more sleeping. Too funny!

Playdate at Zoe's

We finally got together with Samara's Foshan Nanhai crib neighbour and her fantastic parents on Sunday. We had such a fun time and it was so good to see them again. They only live about 15 minutes away from us but life gets so busy and we don't see them nearly enough. The kids had a great time playing with Zoe (and her toys) and it was neat to see Zoe and Samara together. They're both in the same stage where they love to kiss all the time. And they have so many similarities in the sounds they make and even some of their mannerisms. I guess that's what happens when you live together for the first 11 months of your life. Are they ever cute! Thank you Andre, Michelle and Zoe for your hospitality - hope to see you again soon.

Carmody family update . . . finally

Ok, so what has been happening in the Carmody household over the past month or two? Not much really. Just busy, busy, busy. Victoria and Austin are into the swing of things at school. Austin is enjoying JK (two mornings a week) and Victoria is starting to get used to going to school full-time in grade one. She loves school but is finding it very tiring to be there everyday all day. Here's a picture of Austin on his first day of school. All grown up going to JK!


Here's what I witness every Tuesday and Thursday morning when Victoria and Austin get on the bus together. How cute is that??




Samara wishes she could get right on that bus too . . . not for another couple of years - but I'm sure that will be here before we know it too. I'm finding Tuesday and Thursday mornings very quiet around the house. With Victoria and Austin at school and Samara still taking her morning nap I actually have some time to myself. Here is Samara near the end of one of her naps.


Thanksgiving weekend was spent in Keene with Grandma and Grandpa Carmody. The kids love going there and always have a lot of fun. It's become a tradition to paint pumpkins with Grandma and it's something they look forward to. Samara even got involved in the messy paint this year.






Thanksgiving also means it's Daddy's birthday - which just adds to the excitement for the kids. They couldn't wait to give him the gifts they had picked out (at the Dollar Store!). He got all sorts of goodies including rope, work masks, bungee cords, etc. You know . . . Daddy stuff. Don't worry, he also got his traditional Elvis gift - a DVD set of eight Elvis movies. Sigh . . . does that mean I have to sit through these movies too? :)

Somewhere in all this busyness, I've managed to keep up the running. I just love it and am so glad I decided to start running. I feel so much better in so many ways. I finally feel like I'm somewhat in shape again. I participated in another 5k run and this time it was officially timed with a chip. I ran this one with my brother. Ok, that's not exactly true. We both ran the same race. He finished it in 22:04 and my time was 29:11. We started the race together and that was about it. I was quite happy with my time though since it was my personal best and I never ever thought I'd be able to run a 5k in under 30 minutes. The run took place at McMaster University and halfway through, I passed the kids who were there cheering me on. There's nothing quite like running a race and hearing these little voices in the crowd "go Mommy go!" It totally pumped me up and kept me going.




Well, that's about it. I'll leave you with a scrapbook page that Deb created for us. She does such a good job.