Clara's Baptism - Niagara-on-the-lake

Well, it seems just a few months ago we celebrated William's baptism. Wait a sec...it was just a few months ago. Thankfully, I didn't have to do the baptism course again.  For Clara, we decided to have her baptism in NOTL.  We wanted to have all 3 baptized there, but because I was on bed rest, we couldn't travel to have William's there.

We rented a cottage for the weekend of the baptism. It made life much easier the last time we were there for Olivia's baptism, and having 2 more little ones we needed the space. The cottage we rented was perfect for the family, and grandmama and grandpapa were able to stay with us too. It had lots of room for the kids to move around and the location was amazing.

The cottage also had this huge porch were the kids could run around outside but still be somewhat be enclosed. We took the upstairs loft which had 2 queen beds and an ensuite. The first night Olivia and William slept together in the bed. This was a first. Much to papa's dismay, there were lots of talking and giggles when the lights went out.  They finally settled (close to midnight). hahaha. Somewhere in the middle of night though, William fell out and landed in between the 2 beds. We just heard a loud thug, but no crying. Martin turned over and saw William on the floors still sleeping! hahahahah. It was hilarious. So instead of waking him up, papa threw a blanket down and there he stayed until morning. He didn't budge till the morning. Boys...they sleep through anything. I wish the girls were the same.

The next day, we explored NOTL.  We absolutely love this place. When we are here, we feel so relaxed and at peace. We ended up going to the little park that had a play structure and wading pool. The kids were so good with just dipping their feet in the water. They were dying to jump right in.  We finally gave in and off went the clothes.  They had a blast. I don't know how they did it because the water was FRIGID.

Later that afternoon, grandmaman and grandpapa arrived after a gruelling drive. Damn Toronto traffic. All went well after we had a lovely dinner on the porch with a good glass of wine.

Sunday, June 30th was Clara's baptism day. We had a private ceremony with just very close family and friends. Not the big hoopla Olivia and William had. It was much more intimate and that made it very special. Ninang Michica and the family came up early to be with us. The all kids had a great time just playing around on the porch and walking along the lake. While Clara napped in the morning, the men took the kids for a walk while we rested and got ready for church. Lola and gang came up in morning too.We had an awesome pizza lunch from the best pizza place ever.

After lunch it was time to get ready for church. Clara wore Melodie's baptism outfit and she looked absolutely adorable in it. Merci Nadine for lending it to us.

Clara was awesome during the whole ceremony and so were the kids. There was enough kids to be entertained during the prayers and blessing. hahahah

The awesome godparents.

After the ceremony, we headed to the NOTL Golf Course and Country Club for a late lunch. I thought Clara would have passed out, but she did great. She changed into another outfit (we were so fortunate that the cottage was across the street from the country club), and was awake for the entire lunch. It was a perfect day.  Another thing to check off the list. :0)

The next day was Canada Day. We really didn't do much except put on special outfits for the kids. We said good-bye to NOTL and drove back to Brampton for a week long visit with the family.  It's always great to be home at Niagara-on-the-lake, our second home. Great fond memories for everyone.

Father's Day

This year we celebrated Father's day in Ste Sauveur. Papa did a Prostate Cancer race in the area so we all went down with him.  Very fortunate to have spent the day with Papa AND grandpapa. 

End of the School Year - Bye Montessori!

Sigh. Sad to see it end, but Olivia is now going off to Kindergarten in the public school system. I get teary-eyed just thinking about it. When searching for daycare for Olivia, we spent so much time to be careful to see what was the perfect fit for her. We found this gem of a school, which was first off of Maitland in an old school. We feel in love with the warmth the school had, the teachers who cared for the school, the large classrooms with big windows. Most importantly, the huge gym where Olivia could run around. At 18 months, we enrolled her in Rainbow Montessori and she has flourished ever since.

Over the years, Olivia has participated not only in the Montessori curriculum, but Kindermusic, gymnastics, martial arts, and swimming. All activities tapped into her needs and she has been so fortunate to have been exposed to these activities in a school setting. Below is her final swim of the year, in which we were allowed to join them for some pool time. Clara decided to join in too (which was her first time in a pool).

Not only did Olivia benefit from the Montessori program, William had a year in the toddler class. He spent a lot of time in the principals office however hahhhaha. He really enjoyed music class and was always a star during concerts.  Beside him is his BFF (love-hate relationship) Mya.  She's the only girl who could put him in his place. It was a tough year for William, new routines and baby at home. But he  still flourished under the Montessori program. The only thing I regret about taking him out now is that they were going to toilet-train him. Sigh. I guess I will have to do it. :0)

For Olivia's last concert she sang "Tomorrow" from Annie. Such a fitting song for the end of school.
I hope she has memories of her first school and remembers her teachers that cared and nurtured her. It was a special school, but on to new things.

Olivia Turns 4

Can't believe that our little girl is now 4. Olivia was very fortunate to celebrate her birthday at school with her favorite teachers. Ms. Seungyung did a special tradition in her class. She made Oliva walk around the carpet circling the sun on the mat while holding a small globe. Olivia had to circle the sun 4 times, the same number of years that she has celebrated her birthday. Olivia was over the moon as it was finally her time to do this tradition in her class.

This again we went to Valleyview Little Farm. We had such a great time last year, that Olivia wanted to go back to the farm again this year. Again, the weather was very similar to last year. Note the rain coats and boots the kids are wearing. hahahah  

Something new this year was the train ride. The party took up most of the seats on the train ride (that was all of 5 minutes).  They still loved it though. Funny it doesn't take much.

After the train ride, we headed into the party room for some pizza lunches and cake.  A special treat this year though was some new guests. First of all, grandmaman and grandpapa and  Audrey came down for the party. Then of course, the newest Savard addition. Clara didn't know what was going on, but she had a great time people watching. Crazy to think that this time last year, I was on bed rest and sitting in the car (actually lying down in the car) because I didn't want to miss Olivia's birthday.

My little monkey.

My 3 little monkeys.

Mother's Day (yes, posting In July)

Sigh..who knew having 3 kids would be this busy. Of course I knew, and my faithful readers assumed that this was the case.  I just wanted to make a short blog about my special Mother's day. We were very lucky to have out-of-town guests visit. My cousin from the Philippines and his wife made it to Ottawa despite their very schedule.  The kids were happy with the chaos in the home. hahahha  I was quite pleased that I could spend it with my "mommy" too. :0)

Because they had never been to Ottawa before, we did the tourist thing.  Actually doing the parliament and market with Olivia was quite fun. She enjoyed the Tulip festival and doing the sites with us. The Saturday evening, when the kids were all down the adults (minus the grandparents) stepped out to a pub for some catch-up time. That was pretty exciting.

The next day was Mother's Day. I had big ambitions to make this day about the kids and not just me. I chose a brunch at a hotel that had a KIDZONE (play area and pool). The idea was to have brunch with the family and then enjoy the hotel amneties. However in the end, we didn't quite have the energy to swim with the kiddos. hahahah. We played in the KIDZONE for a bit and then we noticed the kids were fading. It was too much excitement for a morning.

Wow, last year I celebrated William's first Mother's Day with us. It was a crazy time as I was bed rest carrying Clara. This year, we are celebrating Mother's day with Clara. How time flies. I have grateful and feeling blessed that I am a mother to these wonderful monkeys. Becoming a mother has been the greatest gift that life has offered.  

Easter 2013

Yes, I am posting a month later, but it's been quite hectic. For Easter this year, we went to Brampton.
Papa had a race to do in Hamilton, so we decided to make it into an extra long road trip. So we drove up the weekend before Easter.  Looking back, it was a really looonnng week. hahahaha. It was great for the kids to spend time with the family, but a long time to be away from the comforts of home and routines. To think this time last year, we hid an ultrasound picture of Clara in a plastic egg to share our news.  Craziness.

We arrived Friday evening and by Monday, I knew that I needed to get things planned for the week. So we searched the web for different things to do with the kids ie. INDOOR PLAY AREAS. Surprisingly, there were many in Brampton.  We planned different outings every morning, then come home for naps, and then outdoor play. I was exhausted, but the kids had a blast.

The next day, Lola and Lolo planned a bus trip. Whooa boy!  The kids were excited to ride the city bus to the mall. Clara and I drove to the mall and met them there. When they arrived we went to visit the Easter bunny and took photos with him.  They weren't afraid at all. Then we went for some dimsum and met up with Tita Jen. Later that night, Papa arrived. Boy we missed him!

We planned some awesome play dates with Bella, Jake, and Ethan and Abrielle. For our first play date with Bella and Jake, we went to the park close by. They had a blast. We came home and ordered some pizza and the trio became a quad when Ethan dropped by. The kids were going cuckcoo. ahhahahha

Then next day was Good Friday - which meant everything was closed. So we took the kids to Woodbine Fantasy Fair. We met up with Bella and Jake again and had a blast doing the rides. I was actually surprised Olivia did well with the rides. The last time we took her on a ride was SeaWorld and that didn't end too well. It ended with the ride having to stop mid way to let Papa and screaming Olivia off. Sigh. William also did well on the rides, but there were some that he was too small to go on. So Papa did his best to distract him while the "older" kids got to go the flying airplanes.

The kids got along so well. Bella and Olivia were kept holding hands everywhere they went. The last "ride" they went on was a HUGE play area for the kids to run around. It was a jungle with slides and crevices for children to hide and run around. It was INSANO!  Thank god there was 1:1 supervision between us.  It was to the point where I was managing the kids at the top of the slide and Tita Michica was wayyyyy on the other side to meet them when they came down the slide. It was starting to go really busy before lunch, so we decided to end our fair affair.  For lunch we went to Mandarin and ate a ton.  I was totally pooped and I'm sure the kids were just as exhausted. Actually, as soon as we got in the car to go home, William passed out. hahahha.  Olivia hung in there (like we knew she would).  It really was a good Friday. Clara, on the other hand, was hanging in there. She didn't like to miss all the fun, and really really missed maman. Well...a body part of maman we think. :0)

Saturday was a rest day. Just kidding. Off to the farm we went for a great Easter Egg hunt.  All 5 of us, packed into the car and drove to farm for some Easter family activities.  It cost a fortune to get in, but it was well worth it for the kids.  The only down side was, it was MUDDY!!!! Nothing like a spring thaw out in the farm. The only person who was nice and tidy was Clara because Papa had her in the carrier for the whole morning.  It was fun because not only did the kids have the egg hunt to do, they also had face painting and crafts.  The "egg hunt" really was a timed activity where the kids would line up behind a piece of rope and watch helpers throw out plastic eggs in the field.  Then when Farmer Fred said go, the children would run and collect as many eggs as they could. Once collected, they would them back to a girl who would trade it for Easter treats. Great idea!  After the build up of racing for the eggs, we thought it was time to go. Clara woke up from her nap, William was starting to whine, and Olivia was itching to eat her chocolate before lunch.  On our way out, we stopped to get our face painted and did decorated a styrofoam egg for Lola. :0)

Sunday - Easter Sunday. The kids woke up later than we expected and miss the 8:30 mass. Actually it was a blessing in disguise, because as soon as the kids were going down the stairs they knew something looked a bit different. There on the stair steps were coloured plastic eggs!  The Easter bunny had arrived and hid easter eggs all over Lola and Lolo's house. They were on a mission to run around the house searching for eggs. Thankfully, the Easter bunny just left 40 eggs and they were very visible. After the hunt, the kids were able to open their Easter treats. Spolied again.

After a very crowded mass, we had lunch planned at CLARENCE. "Clarence" as everyone affectionately calls it (because it housed the first filipinos that came to Brampton through the kindness of my aunt Tita Letty) - now lives my cousin and his family. Tita B invited the family over for Easter brunch. I was super excited because it was a chance to see all/most of the cousins. It has been awhile. More importantly it was an opportunity for everyone to see the kids as well. A house once filled with kids, again is filled with tiny feet and giggles. It was such a great feeling. I could feel Tita Letty and Lola Nene's presence and love. It was a feeling of nostalgia and I miss them greatly.  

We had a great lunch. I ate tons because this time I didn't have to run around and feed the kids. There were so many family members in their faces that I didn't have to watch them. hahahaha.  The only time I held Clara was to feed her and they took her away once she was done. The kids had a great time because they got to run around and not have maman and papa hover over them. Sadly, it was time to go and we said our goodbyes and headed home.  Then next day we would have to travel back to Ottawa. We had been in Brampton for over a week, I hated to say it but it was time to go. The excitement and being in a new place was all too exhausting for everyone even though we loved our time there. 

The "end-of-the-day-I-am-done" mug shot.:0)

Would I do this trip all over again?  For family...definitely.