Annual Visit with Jolly Old Saint Nick!

Meg was pretty excited when I told her Santa was coming to the mall to meet with kids. She woke up Sunday morning really wanting to go. She got all dressed up in her Christmas outfit to go see him and talked to me the whole way there in the car about what she was going to tell him.
She said she wasn't sure what she wanted for Christmas but maybe a bat girl or a super girl. When I told her I am not sure those are made she said "Yes they are. Santa's elves can just make them when I tell him." Well I have never seen either in the store so I tried to persuade her to ask for something else...at least something we could find!!!
When we got there I was happy to see there wasn't a huge line. She took off her coat and straightened out her dress to look perfect for the big guy. When it was her turn she walked right up to him and stood in front of him. He picked her up and put her on his lap. She smiled for the picture and that was it. She didn't say a word!! She completely froze but unlike last year at least she smiled.
She insists that she told him she wants a baby Princess for Christmas. Well done Meg! Santa can definitely bring you that :)

How time flies...hard to believe Meg is 4...almost!

I remember everyone saying to us when Meg was a baby that it goes by fast. Now that she is 3 sleeps away from being 4 I know what they meant! Where has the time gone!? Meg had her 4th birthday party today - a Halloween themed party with 9 of her little friends. It was a fun-filled celebration with Erick Traplin playing music for the kids. I think the bubble machine was probably the highlight for all :)
Meg dressed up as Dorothy from The Wizard of Oz. Ever since Grandma Kathi took us to see the play in Toronto this summer, Meg has loved everything Oz. We think she made an adorable little Dorothy.We followed suit with dressing up as the Wicked Witch and Nathan the Scarecrow.
Here are some pictures of the big party...enjoy!

Meg at age 4 - this sign sums everything up about Meg at this age

Family shot before the party began

"Spider Woman" Grandma and Meg

Thank you Grandma McLaughlin for the amazing cake and cupcakes!!!

Meg and Zoe pose for a shot - Dorothy and Zoe the Witch

Meg and her buddy Sara King as Belle

Claire the Pumpkin/Princess and her mom Jen; Avery the Fairy Princess in the corner

Louise and her little Smurf William

Bubble machine fun! I think Chloe the Cat is actually in mid-air in this shot.
Avery and Chloe were definitely the biggest dancers at the party

Erick Traplin made the Birthday girl a special birthday hat and everyone sang Happy Birthday to her

Lunch time!

Claire, Meg and Sara enjoying cake

Fall Fun

I have always loved Fall and loved everything that comes with it - cooler weather, getting sweaters and boots out again, the leaves changing color, and of course the pumpkins! Yesterday Meg and I visited a pumpkin patch and came home with WAY more pumpkins than I was planning on but she just loved so many of them. There was also an incident where she was pointing to a pumpkin she liked with her foot, then stepped on it only to find out it was rotten and her whole leg went into the pumpkin right up to her knee! She was a great sport about it though and we still had a lot of fun. 
Here are some pictures of our visit.

This big guy now rests on our front porch. It is a gorgeous pumpkin and a great choice by Meg!

She ran around the entire pumpkin patch checking out every possible option. She insisted on picking some up and broke one along the way. Luckily the farm owners were very nice!

These are only two of the pumpkins we bought, however they are by far the biggest of the bunch. Meg got to ride all the way up by the car in the trailer.

First Day of School Photo Shoot

Meg was supposed to go to JK this September but we decided against it for a variety of reasons. Our plan up until last week was to keep her at her preschool another year, and then the Montessori school called and said they had a spot for her! We were very excited because it offers the best of both worlds - more focus on learning in a classroom environment, combined with the security/safety we loved of her preschool.
Montessori follows the school calendar so she had her first day on Tuesday. She was excited and nervous but she did REALLY well. There were no tears, just her looking out the window as we drove away. Mom had a few tears after leaving because it really made me realize our little girl is growing up! 
We were anxious to pick her up. When we got there she came running and jumped right into daddy's arms. She told us all about it and was very excited. She said she didn't want to go back to preschool again. She was very excited to have a new friend, Avery, who lives right behind us. 
All in all, a good start to a new school year.
Below is our some pics of our photo shoot the morning of her first day.

Big smile, wearing her new outfit and new backpack! 

Model pose

Silly pose

Getting out of the car when we got there

Summer Fun!

I have not been great at updating Meg's blog over the summer, so I decided to share a variety of pictures with you from throughout the summer. We have had lots of fun! Most of our fun times this summer included Maxx. It was great to have him here for 6 weeks, we miss him already!

We started off the summer in mid June with a trip to Bissell Hideaway in Niagara

Meg and Claire having fun at Bissell's. The water was quite cold so they were freezing when they got out

The older kids having "quiet time" in the afternoon while at Bissell's Hideaway

Canada Day weekend we have the Delorey's and the Turner's over for a BBQ. Claire, Meg and Evelyn enjoyed the Canada Day cupcakes!

The day we picked Maxx up from Camp Wabanaki we surprised him with a visit from Grandpa Gibby!

Meg and Maxx at the African Lion Safari water park 

Grandpa Gibby & Maxx 

Maxx, Grandma Kathi, Uncle Zacc and Meg enjoying pizza at Great Wolf Lodge!

Meg and Maxx had bunkbeds and their own private room at Great Wolf Lodge, although somehow I ended up sleeping on the top bunk!

Meg and Maxx in the outside pool at Great Wolf Lodge

Meg and Maxx posing with their new wizarding wands

A nice shot of Meg and Maxx before we left Great Wolf Lodge for another year

Meg loves Uncle Zacc's dog Monster who also came for a visit

Maxx's masterpiece dessert!

Meg's First Day at the Spa

Lucky little Meg went to the spa today with her grandma Kathi! 

Grandma picked her up at 10am from pre-school and they went for a manicure, pedicure and then out for lunch. Meg was so excited leading up to this day. She had her dress picked out the night before and was very excited about having a "Fancy Nancy" day. 

Grandma said she was a perfect angel at the spa and that she fell asleep in the car on the ride home. Pampering can be exhausting :)

Meg getting ready for her pedicure

Drying time!

She picked the brightest pink they had!!!

Thank you Meg and daddy!

Yesterday was my birthday and Meg and daddy not only made me surprise brownies, they made me a video birthday card in the process. 
It was the best birthday present ever and I wanted to share it with you. 
I am keeping the brownies for myself :) 

Meg Goes to the Dentist

Meg had her first dentist appointment today! A kid-friendly dentist opened in town and I thought we would give it a try. The office had Meg at the lobby - full indoor play park, Treehouse on, toys and an interactive video game on the floor where she was part of the game. I have never seen anything like it. After 30 minutes in the lobby the 'dentist' part seemed like a breeze to her. Even with all the scary dentist equipment...

The dentist was really patient in showing Meg all the tools she would be using and played games with her

This was the scariest part - the machine that rotated her head to take pictures of her mouth.
She was fine at this point and then..

...it started moving. She was a trooper and made it through the whole thing.

Finally the dental examination - all clear! No cavities, need to start flossing at the back and all the spaces in her front teeth means NO BRACES later in life :) Mommy and daddy are happy about that!

BC Fun

We just got back from a great trip to BC visiting family and friends. We spent part of the time in Vancouver and part of the time in Whistler. The weather was beautiful and it was a nice change to be able to enjoy the sunshine and be outside. Meg had a great time visiting with her cousins, aunt Marnie, uncle Zacc and Tyler/Melissa as well as Grandpa Gibby and Grandma Row. She did an amazing job skiing and says that was her favorite part of the trip.

We woke up this morning, back at home, and Meg was playing with her stuffed animals. I heard her talking to them and she said they were all going on the plane back to "Bancouver" - I think that means she had fun :)

Family shot on the drive up to Whistler

Story time with Harper, Regan and our friend Molly

Meg and D on the way up the gondola

Meg and mommy on the mountain

Our little skier did so great! Mommy and daddy were impressed and very proud of her.

Meg at the ocean

Easter Morning at Auntie Marnie's house. She was so excited to see her new Buzz Lightyear lunchbox! And the Easter Bunny actually made an appearance....unfortunately David missed it...

Good Friday - Easter morning

Playing Old Maid with grandpa Gibby

Running at the beach

Enjoying the sunshine with Grandma Row