Tadhg and Sadhbh welcome 2013

Monday was the last day of 2012. Tadhg, Sadhbh, mom and dad started the end of year celebrations in baba and papas house. Baba had some party hats and noise makers which everyone enjoyed. The Irish new year (5 hours before the Canadian New Year) was celebrated with some gutso back home. Tadhg enjoyed watching the party back home in Dublin and Sadhbh enjoyed dancing and wearing her party tiara.

After celebrating the Irish New year, Tadhg and Sadhbh went to bed so mom and dad celebrated the Canadian New Year by themselves by opening a bottle of bubbly. Roll on 2013!

Tadhg and Sadhbh's Christmas!

Tadhg woke up at 5:30am on Christmas morning as per usual. Once he remembered what day it was he led dad down the stairs to see if Santa had arrived. First stop was under the Christmas tree to find it surrounded by presents. Then he ran to the fireplace to check if the Christmas stockings were full, and they were! Tadhg had to wait to open his presents until Sadhbh and mom came down so he was satisfied with looking in his stocking first. He was delighted to find a Pokemon video and some other treats.

Sadhbh woke up soon after her brother and came down like it was a normal morning. Tadhg tried to show his sister that Santa had arrived but Sadhbh didn't understand. Finally she saw the Dora the Explorer chair that Santa had left for her and she ran over to sit in it. She was so delighted with her Dora chair that she didn't notice the other presents Santa had left. Tadhg was excited that he could open the rest of his presents now and was thrilled to see a Nintendo DS and a Pokemon game as well as new Pokemon cards! He wasn't too interested in non-Pokemon presents.

After the present opening everyone sat down to a Christmas breakfast of pancakes and maple syrup. Tadhg and dad went to Christmas mass in the parish church while Sadhbh had a nap and then it was off to Auntie Kay's house for Christmas dinner and more present opening. Tadhg and Sadhbh were excited to be with their cousins and to get even more presents. Mom and dad were happy to put their little Christmas monkeys to bed and relax after a wonderful day.

Tadhg and Sadhbh's night before Christmas

Christmas Eve was surprisingly mild in St Catharines, Tadhg and Sadhbh were very excited about Santa's pending arrival. Tadhg couldn't wait for Christmas morning and eagerly left out some cookies and milk for Santa and carrots for the reindeer. 

After a final look up into the night sky looking for the magical trail of Santa's sleigh, Tadhg and Sadhbh changed into their Christmas pyjamas and snuggled up with dad to read "The Night Before Christmas" and munch on some Christmas cookies. Finally it was time for bed. All that was left was to wait for Santa's arrival....

Tadhg meets Max and Ruby

Max and Ruby is one of the first TV shows that Tadhg ever watched. Dad downloaded a couple of episodes when Tadhg lived in Prague. They hadn't heard about them before but the shows looked fun. Tadhg was hooked straight away. Imagine his delight when he moved to Canada and could watch them every day! Since then Tadhg has watched practically every episode and Sadhbh is even developing an appreciation for the bunny siblings.

Mom and dad bought Tadhg a special Christmas treat - 2 tickets to see the Max and Ruby live show in Hamilton! It was a bit late for Sadhbh so Tadhg and dad went by themselves. Mom had gotten VIP tickets which meant Tadhg was able to go to the VIP room before the show and actually meet the bunnies. There was a big queue to get a photo taken and Tadhg was a bit distracted when he finally made it to the front. The show itself was lot's of fun - Max and Ruby's take on the Nutcracker Suite. Tadhg had a great time but is probably outgrowing these characters. Next time Sadhbh will be interested in Max and Ruby and Tadhg will be looking for Pokemon shows!

Tadhg and Sadhbh meet Santa again

Dad's work Christmas party was on Sunday. It was a long drive to get there so Tadhg skipped his normal swim lesson and everyone hopped in the car early for the trip. Tadhg and Sadhbh were both tired and had a nap on the way. Tadhg was a bit sceptical when he arrived at the venue and said "there's no party on here!". He quickly changed his tune when he walked into the party room and saw the bouncy castle.

Tadhg and Sadhbh had a great time on the bouncy castle, inflatable run, games and activities. Tadhg had some baubles painted on his face and Sadhbh asked for a Santa face on her hand. After lunch, Santa arrived to loud applause and Tadhg rushed up to be first in the queue to meet the big man. It was another great Christmas party with more presents for Tadhg and Sadhbh.

After another nap on the drive home, it was time to put up the Christmas tree. Tadhg was a great help putting up the decorations but Sadhbh was more interested in taking them down! The house looks very Christmassy now.

Tadhg and Sadhbh's Christmas tree

As Christmas is fast approaching, mom and dad decided to pick up their Christmas tree. Tadhg and Sadhbh wrapped up in their winter wear and went to the same Christmas tree farm as last year where they got their beautiful Austrian pine. Unfortunately they didn't find any nice Austrian pines this year but Tadhg picked out a perfect tree. Dad chopped it down much easier than last year with Tadhg's help.

Tadhg and dad dragged the tree back to the car with Sadhbh and mom leading the way. After securing the tree to the car, they made it safely home and left the tree in the garage to dry out overnight. Everyone is looking forward to putting it up and decorating it for Christmas!

Tadhg's Christmas concert

Tadhg had been practising for weeks in  preparation for the school Christmas concert. Baba and papa came over on Thursday so they could see their little grandson in action. Papa stayed behind to mind Sadhbh as the show was on after her bedtime while Tadhg, mom, baba and dad went to the school for the show. After dropping Tadhg off to prepare, everyone took their seats in the packed auditorium. The kindergarten kids looked so cute walking onto the stage and put on a great show singing 3 Christmas carols. Tadhg was confident on stage as always and belted out the songs.

After the show, mom, baba and dad picked up Tadhg from his classroom and were able to check out his cubby hole.Tadhg was nonchalant about his performance but was happy to still have the bell around his neck which he rang for jingle bells. Mom, dad and baba were so proud of their little performer.

Tadhg and Sadhbh meet Santa!

The Welland Croatian National Home kid's Christmas party was held on Sunday. Baba organises the party every year so Tadhg, Sadhbh, mom and dad were excited to go. After Tadhg's swim lesson in the morning (Tadhg can swim widths now!) everyone piled into the car for the trip to the party. Unfortunately the weather wasn't very festive and it rained the whole way there. The party started with some lunch and entertainment from the Smudge Fundaes band who had reformed their original line-up for the special day. Tadhg and Sadhbh enjoyed the show along with their cousins and the other kids at the party.

At the end of the music all of the kids screamed at the top of their voices and it must have worked as Santa heard them and landed his sleigh to meet everyone. The kids were thrilled to see Santa in the flesh and Tadhg was especially keen to tell Santa his wish list. When it was Tadhg's turn to sit on Santa's lap he had enough time to tell Santa his number 1 Christmas wish and get a big present.

Sadhbh was delighted to sit on Santa's lap too and gave a big smile when it was her turn. She kept pointing at the jolly old elf saying "Santa". Sadhbh looked like a little elf herself in her Christmas dress. Santa didn't want to let her go! 

After the present giving there was time for a quick family photo with Santa before he had to shoot off to another party. Tadhg, Sadhbh, mom and dad stayed to help clean up the hall before they could go home and play with their new presents. After a long day full of Christmas cheer, presents and candy, everyone was tired and quickly fell asleep to dream snowy, Christmas dreams.

Tadhg and Sadhbh watch Santa's parade

Winter's chilly fingers have wrapped themselves around the weather recently and on Sunday the first snowflakes of the season fell. Everyone was happy to see these first wafts of snow especially on the day of the St Catharines' Santa Claus parade! It looked very Christmassy indeed when Tadhg, Sadhbh, mom and dad staked out their spot on the parade route. Sadhbh was snuggled up in her winter muff but Tadhg, mom and dad had to make do with snuggling together on camp chairs while they waited.

Luckily they didn't have to wait long as the parade started soon after they set-up their seats when the town crier wandered past ringing his bell. Tadhg and Sadhbh stared agog as the marching bands, cheerleaders, inflatable Santas, dressed up dogs, sports mascots, stilt walkers, a locked up Grinch and even reindeer rolled past. A highlight for Tadhg was seeing his dance instructors putting on a show for the crowd.

Many of the floats handed out Christmas candy and it wasn't long before Sadhbh tasted her first lollipop. Sadhbh's mouth closed around it as soon as it went in and didn't open again until all of the sugary goodness was sucked away. Mom and dad reckon she might have a sweet tooth like her brother! 

The real highlight of the parade came at the very end when Santa and Mrs. Claus arrived in a horse drawn carriage. They arrived with little fanfare and were gone so quick Tadhg and Sadhbh hardly noticed them. The cold was starting to seep in at the parade's end so everyone was happy to head back to their warm home for some tea and Christmas cookies.

Tadhg and Sadhbh see some fantastic sea monsters!

On Saturday after dance class and lunch, Tadhg, Sadhbh, mom and dad visited the Fantastic Sea Monsters!! exhibit at the St Catharines museum. Tadhg had high expectations of the exhibit and looked forward to seeing some real sea monsters ("Do sea monsters really exist daddy?"). Sadhbh was happy to be going on a trip with her family. The museum had set-up some cool arts & crafts activities for the kids where they could get dressed up as sea monsters (Tadhg was a giant octopus and Sadhbh wanted to be a mermaid but was a bit small for the costume).

After playing dress-up everyone got stuck into making their own monster and colouring it in. Sadhbh enjoyed the colouring and Tadhg was happy with the end product. The actual exhibit itself was full of pictures and descriptions of sea monsters as well as some life size models of sharks. Mom and dad found it interesting but Tadhg was a bit disappointed that there were no actual sea monsters on display. Sadhbh was happy to wander around by herself.

Tadhg's 2012 school photo

Tadhg's 2012/2013 school photo arrived today. Tadhg tried to make silly faces at the photographer during the photo shoot but she managed to get a great one all the same. Mom and dad are so proud of their little student.

Tadhg and Sadhbh wish mom Happy Birthday!

 

Thursday was mom's actual birthday. Tadhg and Sadhbh started the day by wishing mom a cute "Happy Birthday!". Tadhg gave mom her birthday bag with the special birthday card he had made for her. Mom loved the card and gave it pride of place in her birthday card collection. Tadhg was proud of the card he had made. Sadhbh learned how to say "Birthday mommy" and enjoyed saying it to mom around the house.

After a special, if somewhat normal day together, mom brought out her birthday cake after dinner. Tadhg helped mom blow out the candle. He wasn't so keen on the chocolate covered cheesecake though which left more for mom and dad to enjoy! After putting the kids to bed, mom and dad celebrated with some bubbly. Happy Birthday mom!!

Tadhg and Sadhbh celebrate mom's birthday

Monday marked the start of mom's birthday week. As baba and papa could not make it on Thursday for mom's actual birthday, they came over to celebrate on Tuesday at the family's traditional birthday restaurant, Montanas. Tadhg enjoyed going to his favourite restaurant as always and Sadhbh is starting to enjoy it as well as she can draw with the free crayons and lead mom and dad on a merry chase around the tables and chairs. The staff came over as always to give mom the birthday hat and sing the birthday song. Tadhg and Sadhbh loved seeing mom celebrate her birthday with baba and papa. Happy Birthday mom!

Tadhg and Sadhbh prepare their house for Halloween

On Sunday, Tadhg and Sadhbh helped mom and dad decorate their house for Halloween. First they unpacked all of the Halloween decorations and lights from last year. Then they went through the new decorations they received from mom's family. Sadhbh enjoyed decorating the garden with the Frankenstein and witch posters and then inspecting them in her bat costume. 

Tadhg was excited to put up the bat and spider lights around the front porch and the inflatable witch beside the door. He was a bit nervous about the witch hanging from the inside landing and after some complaining dad had to take it down because it was "too scary". 

Tadhg and Sadhbh visit a pumpkin farm

Sunday dawned bright and sunny so the family decided it was high time they visited a pumpkin farm and picked out a pumpkin for Halloween. After some research mom decided the Howells family pumpkin farm was the place to go. Tadhg and Sadhbh were not disappointed when they arrived to see a field full of giant pumpkins awaiting them!

The farm was full of Halloween-tastic activities. There was a haunted barn (which Tadhg wanted to try but then shied away when he saw the animatronic ghosts at the door!), dragon and cow wagon rides, a pumpkin slingshot, a hay-bale castle, a giant bouncy thing, a forest walk, a corn maze, a skeleton band and many, many more spooky rides.

While Tadhg and dad got lost in the corn maze, Sadhbh and mom checked out the pig races. Mom and dad felt very rural sitting on hay bales watching pigs run around a race track.

At the end of their trip it was time to pick a pumpkin to bring home. Tadhg found a giant inflatable one but dad didn't think it would fit in the car. Eventually they settled on a decent sized pumpkin and brought it home for carving. Everyone was in a Halloween mood after their day out.

Tadhg's 5th birthday party!!

Tadhg has been eagerly waiting for his birthday for weeks because he gets to have a party in Cheeky Monkey's playland with all of his friends. After counting the days down Tadhg excitedly asked over breakfast if today was the day he gets to have his party! After the usual Saturday morning routine of dance class and play it was finally time to go to Cheeky Monkey's for the big party.

Tadhg arrived early so he could try out the play equipment first and greet all of friends. Tadhg had invited all of his friends from school and his soccer team and they all arrived to excited screams and giddy running around the playland. Mom and dad were happy to have the Cheeky Monkey's staff around to help control the mayhem which ensued. The kids chased each other up and down the slides, through the tunnels and down the scary "dark slide"! 

Somehow they managed to squeeze in some lunch, cake and presents in a brief lull from the running and screaming. Everyone had a great time and Tadhg didn't want to leave after his party had ended. Even Sadhbh had fun at the all boy's party.

Tadhg and Sadhbh say bye to Grandma and Granddad

Thursday was Grandma ad Grandad's last day in Canada on this trip. It was a beautiful sunny day so everyone enjoyed some play time in the garden and playground before they had to leave. It was great having them stay in Tadhg and Sadhbh's house and the basement seemed empty after they left.

Sadhbh loved seeing her Grandma as she usually only sees her on Skype and Tadhg enjoyed his Granddad laughing at all of his silly jokes ad antics. After a final photo call, dad drove his parents to the airport and wished them a safe trip home.

Tadhg and Sadhbh celebrate Dad's birthday

Monday was dad's official birthday. Following the birthday custom since moving to Canada everyone celebrated with a birthday meal at Montanas. Dad wore his new Ireland jersey birthday present and got to wear the Montanas birthday horn hat (which is not the best for head hygiene!).

Tadhg and Sadhbh had a great time as always and were happy to celebrate with their Irish grandparents. It was great to have them in Canada around birthday time for a change.

Tadhg and dad celebrate their birthdays

As granny and granddad happened to be in Canada around the time of Tadhg and dad's birthdays, mom and dad decided to throw a party to celebrate. Initially it was a joint party but it ended up mainly being a party for Tadhg. As well as granny and granddad all of Tadhg's Canadian family came over and a few friends as well. Tadhg and Sadhbh were very excited to have so many people in their house. Baba made a special Batman birthday cake which Tadhg loved blowing out (with a little help from dad).

After lunch and cake, Tadhg got to the best part of the day - opening presents! Tadhg got lots of cool presents and cards and had a great time reading the cards and opening the presents in front of everyone. 

Even Sadhbh got a present - her first baby doll and buggy! Sadhbh loved her baby and happily strolled around the house with her. It was a great day and especially so having granny and granddad over for the birthday celebrations.

Tadhg and Sadhbh's Grandma and Granddad arrive

Tadhg and Sadhbh's Grandma and Granddad arrived in Canada for a week log visit. Tadhg and Sadhbh were delighted to have their Irish grandparents staying in their house for a whole week! Tadhg and Sadhbh decided to show Grandma the Port Dalhousie Carousel and how much fun it can be.

Tadhg also gave his grandma an iPad lesson.

Sadhbh is Batgirl

Sadhbh has been exposed to superheroes from a young age thanks to her elder brother. She is especially fond of Batman and frequently sits on the sofa in the basement requesting Batman videos on the TV. When Tadhg isn't looking, she sneaks on his Batman suit and laughs at herself in the mirror.

Tadhg's first day in SK

The Summer holidays ended and Tadhg started back to school on Monday. It was his second year in St. Ann's school and his first day in SK (Senior Kindergarten). This year Tadhg would be taking the bus to and from school and everyone was excited to see him off. Mom, Sadhbh and dad all came out to wait for the bus....and wait....and wait. Eventually they decided the bus wasn't coming and dad drove Tadhg to school with mom and Sadhbh along for the ride. Tadhg was excited to see all of his school friends again but will have to wait for another morning to experience the bus ride in.

Tadhg and Sadhbh celebrate baba and papa's 50th anniversary

Saturday was baba and papa's 50th wedding anniversary and a big party was planned at Auntie Kay's house. Unfortunately Tadhg also had his end-of-season football (soccer) tournament on the same day. As dad is Tadhg's soccer coach, it was hard not to go to the tournament. So on Saturday morning, mom and dad went to Auntie Kay's house early to help get ready for the party while Tadhg and dad packed their car with soccer balls and jersey's and went to the tournament. Tadhg had a great time at the tournament playing some soccer and lot's of games with his friends. As soon as the last match was over and the trophies handed out, Tadhg and dad hopped in to dad's car and made their way to the party.

Mom and Sadhbh helped setup a beautiful marquee in Auntie Kay's garden covered in photos from baba and papa's wedding. It was a beautiful day at the lake and everyone was impressed with the layout, the food and the wonderful service. It was great to be able to celebrate baba and papa's special day with all of their family and friends. After the party finished Tadhg and Sadhbh were zipped back home to bed while mom and dad relaxed after their hectic day. Congratulations baba and papa!