The time has come. After years of wavering, we've made the plunge and added a feline friend to our family. We adopted an adorable 2 year old cat who Caleb has named Coral. She's the boy's first pet and she is fitting in very well to our family. Coral has a great personality. She cuddles, purrs and alternates which bed she wants to sleep in most nights, much to the delight of Caleb and Odin. She is incredibly tolerant of Odin, even when he puts his face right up against hers. She'll gently rub into him before quickly skirting away when she's had enough. I think we picked a great one!
The first day we had Coral home, she hid among Alan's record collection for a good hour before Caleb was the one to finally coax her out. This is when he was rewarded with his first Coral cuddles. The look on his face is pure bliss! After this picture we decided to give the cat a break and head to the grocery store. When we came home, we couldn't find her for 2 whole hours, which is one downside to our big old house- too many nooks and crannies! Turns out she was hiding inside one of Alan's amplifiers...the one place I definitely did not look. She no longer hides, and we can always find her curled up in bed or on a comfy chair somewhere.
Coral seems to love Odin's crib and happily jumps in to cuddle with him at bedtime. He can hardly believe the 'kitty cat' is in his bed. We've had to remove Coral a couple of times when Odin just couldn't fall asleep due to all the excitement!
In other exciting news - the Patriots did it again! Superbowl LI champs after a stunning come from behind win. I, of course, did a quick photo shoot before the game and some of Odin's poses captured my range of feelings during the game!
Not even Tom Brady can pull this come back off....can he?!?
Holy moly, they are doing it!!
Trying to hold it together during overtime (and no, he was not still awake!)
Finally, we've been experiencing a week full of crazy snow storms and blizzard-like conditions.Thankfully we've been able to stay safe, warm and at home most of the time. Alan and I have become extremely fit due to the relentless shoveling, but we've also managed to build some pretty epic forts, caves and sliding hills. It's been fun, but next year we will be purchasing a snowblower.
Photo credit goes to my friend Marissa!
After snowstorm #1. We've since added another 50 +cm!
Caleb turned 7 on Jan 29, and because he is such an incredibly kind, thoughtful, inquisitive, generous, caring and amazing little fella we dedicated 4 full days in his honour. To kick things off, the family joined me on a work trip to Halifax which means a day full of big city fun! A stayed in a hotel room on the 15th floor, swam in the pool, made a mandatory visit to Caleb's favourite candy store, the Freak Lunchbox, ran through a network of skywalks and ended up at the waterfront playground, visited a giant indoor playground, AND had an amazing birthday dinner party with Lydia and family. And that was all in the first 8 hours of arriving!
Saturday was our official birthday party day. We rented out the local gym so the kids could raid the equipment room and fun free for an hour before heading back to our place for snacks and a double layered strawberry cake (Caleb's special request). Caleb had long ago asked for an 'Earth Rangers' themed party and wanted his friends to donate some money to the environmental conservation campaign of this choice instead of receiving gifts. He was ecstatic to raise $75 to protect Pine Marten habitat and I think we really impressed the kids with our version of Pin the Tail on the Pine Marten! Birthday party night was capped off with an hour long candlelit glow stick-filled bath which was a real hit for both kids. Thanks Pinterest!
By Sunday, we had to dig a bit deeper to make sure his *actual* birthday topped all the excitement of the previous few days. We started out with presents, a birthday breakfast where he could choose any items off of our special menu. Banana pancakes, bacon, fruit salads and orange juice all around! Caleb and I hit our local theatre for a showing of the movie Sing in the afternoon and ended things off with a make your own pizza party. Whew! It was a lot, but it was very worth it to make Caleb feel extra special, because he is truly an incredible person and it's been an honour being his mom for the past 7 years.
Photos and Birthday video below!!
Party #1 with the Fudge/Billingsley clan!
A room on the 15th floor overlooking the police station - what more could two boys ask for!
Hop! Skip! Jump! received two thumbs up from Odin and Cale!
Party at our place!
Birthday breakfast!
7 year old laughter during birthday dinner
Some of the money Caleb received was specially allotted towards a birthday shopping spree where a new bball net was purchased.
And now for Caleb's annual birthday video. He wasn't in the best mood to be recorded at the start, but once Odin jumped in, the genuine smiles came out!
Here is a true story written by Caleb that tells the tale of some unexpected Christmas Day excitement! I've left most of the original spelling in!
The Christmas Mouse (by Caleb Jeffries)
On December 25, 2016, my brother Odin was SCREMING! It wasint untl somwon wint up that we notist a mouse in his room!!!!
He said 'Odin say hi mouse.'
So we took him out. When we wok up he said 'Wars (wheres) Odies mouse go?'
We didn't take him vary far.
We don't know if he cam back or we had 2 mise.
But we fawnd (found) a mouse agane (again)!!!!
We acsadintly chast it into a wall and codint get it owt! (We accidently chased it into a wall and couldn't get it out)
Evrytime that we sat a mouse trap it got the food off it and it didn't close.
We didn't find him aftr that!
The End
Update: This story didn't capture the moment when Caleb, Odin and Linda were all huddled screaming on my bed as Alan and Greg chased the mouse around the room! We did catch him a few days later, but another one was spotted a few days after. Time for a cat, I think!!
Our Christmas festivities kicked off with a Santa visit at daycare. Party #1 of the season.
We were so happy that Greggy and Linda came to spend the big day with us!
Christmas eve cheese and chocolate fondue!
Christmas dinner made by Alan!
Stocking time!
Paw Patrol Christmas pjs got this guy in the spirit!
Lining up some of the new cars and trucks for a Christmas Day race!
Best shot I could get of the Jeffries boys in front of our tree!
Gift of the year - we surprised Alan with a 1965 Gibson, a gift from us, my folks and Alan's folks. He was speechless! I was proud of Caleb for keeping the secret for 2 whole months. He was so excited to give this wonderful gift.
Christmas concerts all around!
Board games and building toys for days!
Caleb received so many amazing kits to build - like this solar system mobile. The lucky boy also received a rocket (that shoots 1000 ft), lego, kinex, and more!
My parents asked once again for a photo with the grandkids, while Adam and I longingly looked on!
We spent a wonderful weekend in Fredericton celebrating the holidays with family. Odin and I returned home yesterday to Alan who was patiently waiting to see us after being away for the past few weeks. The fire was on, supper was cooking, the tree was lit and it felt great to have my husband back! Caleb stayed in Fredericton for a few extra days and will come home on Thursday, along with my parents, who will be spending Christmas with us in our new home this year. We are so excited for our family vacation to begin!
Caleb and I took a vacation day together last week to get our tree, finish up our shopping and spend some quality time with each other. It was wonderful, and you've got to love those 6 year old smiles!!
Fredericton was wonderful, as always. We had a great time with the Jeffries family for a pizza party and cousin play date. Caleb was busy writing Santa's 'Naughty' and 'Nice' lists. I nearly fell off my chair laughing when he read off, in all seriousness, the naughty list which mostly included made up names, but also one Mr. Donald Trump. That's my boy!
Ice cream party!
We also joined my family for their annual Kings Landing supper, which was a night filled with great food, company and music. Odin was in love with the musicians and jumped out of his seat to sing a dance for everyone in attendance. We returned home to perhaps the greatest gift of all. While we were on our way to dinner, my brother stopped by my parents' house and set up a full sized 'leg lamp' on display in their front window (an exact replica from the one in the classic movie Christmas Story). It was a hilarious sight to return home to and made for a great story for us to tell for years to come!!
Glorious! Or at least my dad thinks so, my mom quickly moved this from the FRONT window, to a more discreet location!
Odin stealing the show!
All the kids joined in for this carol
With his buddy, Aunt Colleen!
Christmas spirit!
Odin has been pulling out this ridiculous pose quite often - turns out it is his Grinch impression!
It's that time of year again! Meeting Santa at the annual Annapolis Royal Tree Lighting ceremony.
We awoke to our first light dusting of snow this morning and it has got me feeling a lot like Christmas! I've done most of my holiday shopping, we've started our annual advent calendar tradition, we've decorated the house, written our letters to Santa....but now that we have some snow - I'm ready to fully embrace the holiday season. This year will be a special one. Odin is fully on board with all things Christmas. He is singing carols, talking about Santa, watching the Grinch (who has become his new favourite character, along with his beloved Gruffalo) and admiring the wonderful trees and lights around town.
Odin knows he'll be getting some presents and when asked what he would like Santa to bring him, he excitedly says 'An excavator and a cookie!'. Caleb would like 'anything that uses electricity that he can build himself and will move, like a rocket'! A pretty good representation of our lives in 2016. I'm planning a 'mom and Caleb' day on Friday for us to finalize our shopping, get our tree, and spend a fun day together. I can't wait to decorate the tree with the boys and add a little more Christmas magic to our home. When Alan returns home from tour on the 18th, he'll be greeted by a winter wonderland.
Getting out some decorations!
Our friend's hosted a Christmas party and candy cane hunt. Odie found one and proceeded to sit down and eat it - the hunt was over for him!
We watched some friends last weekend while their parents were out of town. They ran into some snow on the drive home and didn't get back until later than expected. All 4 kids fell asleep together by the fire, and my heart grew three sizes!
It has become clear that we are raising two very different little boys. Completely different beasts, actually. Caleb has always been a very agreeable, easy-going guy. Odin, on the other hand, is proving to be very stubborn, strong-willed and often unwilling to budge on even the smallest things. I'm sure much of this is typical for a two year old who is just learning to assert himself and have some control over the world around him, but wow...we are quickly learning to adjust our parenting styles to handle our second little fella.
It started a few months ago when his sweet litte 'No thank yous' turned into 'No, Odie no like that'. At first, those words seemed quite innocent and kind of adorable, but now when I hear those words, I begin to brace myself for some serious negotiations - and the stakes are high! He usually states these dreaded words at meal time. Often before he even gets a peek of what is being served on coming on his plate - it could be a plate full of cake and candy for all he knows - he will let us know he does not like the supper option and will refuse to eat. To deal with this, we either have to send him to time out for a few minutes until he agrees to return and eat without any problems, or we somehow find ourselves playing an ever-evolving game of 'open your mouth for the airplane'. It turns out that he loves this game. So much so that it has expanded to Odin saying which vehicle it should be (no, not a plane - a backhoe!...a helicopter.... an excavator!) and the exact sound the vehicle needs to make (no, a race car says 'Zoooooom' not 'Brooooom').
His strong opinions have recently extended into clothing choices. Not once has Caleb ever given a second thought about what I've asked him to wear. Odin, on the other hand, has a lot to say about his wardrobe. He has a particular affection for his robot shirt, and often asks (or demands) to wear it. His fashion choices became a real issue when I presented him his new winter coat one morning. We were rushing to get out the door to meet Caleb's bus when I tried to get him into his new red coat . Well, he absolutely refused. "No! Odie no like red coat. Odie like blue coat' (his now too small spring coat). I tried and tried, until I realized we were going to miss the bus. So I threw on the old blue coat and off we went. I began to understand how serious he was about this battle when he went up to the first adult he saw at the bus stop and proudly said 'Odie no like red coat. Odie like blue coat.'. The mom looked at me empathetically, and gave me a knowing nod. She knew the kind of morning we'd been having. We went back home and I once again was unsuccessful in getting him to wear his new coat to day care.
That night I was telling my parents this story over Skype, and I showed them the red checkered 'mackinaw' print jacket. My dad immediately left for a minute, only to return wearing his fleece mackinaw jacket. Well, that changed everything. Suddenly, Odin's red jacket was not only acceptable, but completely cool. He now wears only that jacket, which I can totally deal with - at least until Spring time comes.
Although Odie keeps us on his toes, he also continually makes us laugh, makes us smile and certainly makes our world a much more interesting place!
