HEY.....Christmas Card Teaser!

I was THE worst at sending out Christmas Cards this year...seriously I sent them out on the 20th...of DECEMBER!  The worst.  Anyway here is a little teaser from the photo shoot that we did here at home, can you guess what the theme of the card might be? 

This was one of my favourite pictures from the whole shoot

Four and Two....PART ONE

Since I have been working so much the last few weeks, I neglected to blog about TWO VERY IMPORTANT DAYS - sorry for yelling, I just wanted to emphasize how important these days were, and the only other way I can think of to draw attention to these days is to make...yep, you guessed it...♥♥...and I am pretty sure everyone has had enough of those, am I right?

ANYWAY, birthdays...the M & M's are another year older - (sniff, sniff)

♥October 31 - Big Mack turns 4!♥

 Pumpkin carving...it was Halloween

 Is it just me, or from the angle of this picture does this look like the most unsafe activity you have EVER seen!  Yep, that's what it looks like alright ;)

Mario...he did not stand a chance with the M & M's, they loved him so much, the decapitated him within 24 hours of opening the package...poor Mario.

 Got a Leapster from Nana & Bampi - very cool.  for some reason he called it his "kiki" for the first 2 days - it was weird.  He calls it a leapster now :)

 Getting a little overwhelmed with all the picture taking and hull-a-ba-loo!
Now you would think (given who his MAMA is) that Mackenzie would LOVE the spotlight, just the opposite, he is pretty low key, when things get too crazy, he retreats...RETREATS!

 Only Uncle Jer could make a magnifying glass WAAAAY more fun than it actually is :)

 Playing the Leapster with Bampi

 Blowing out the candles!!!!  Big Mack's favourite part!
And yes i made that cake, I know it looks like it came from a store, but i made it to look that way, okay?

 So pumped

 Uncle jer having a bit too much frun with the magnifying glass :)

 Uncle Jer is a giant, when he was looking for trick or treaters I thought this was a hilarious picture!

 Matea and Bob made it into costumes....Big Mack, not so much.
He stayed true to his initial costume idea...he wanted to be "A Mackenzie"

 Uncle Jer and Matea having a little cuddle

Okay so in between writing this post I also chatted on the phone, sent a few emails, found ANOTHER COOL blog, chatted with Mack, made muffins...etc.
So now there will be a PART TWO hopefully later tonight, the real reason....Miss. Matea is up from her nap, and she requires a great deal of attention sometimes, she is TWO now after all.

My heart just melted a little bit :)

This week was a pretty big week at the Schurman house.  Big Mack's soccer pictures arrived...

His first trading card - is that what they are called?

It really doesn't matter...how cute is he in this picture?

and drum roll...check out our giant!

and his team....they love him even though he goes camping in the net sometimes.

At the last game one of the other coaches approached our coach (not Bob, lucky for the other coach) and started pointing at Big Mack, and saying "oh that ones a trouble maker, right?  He is rotten."

--apparently Mack had stepped on his jacket the week before.--

ANYWAY

Our coach replied - "he is the kindest boy you will ever meet, he would never hurt anyone", and walked away.

I teared up when I heard that story the first time....

He's totally crying in this picture...poor baby :)

I ♥ Bob-a-licious + Banff

okay I am proud of myself, I learned how to make the little ♥ sign, ♥♥♥ - I can't stop!  Okay seriously though, back to the blogging business.....

We went to Banff this weekend, and it was AMAZING!  First off let me tell you, Bob has been trying to get me to go to Banff for like the last TWO years, and i have always said no because I was worried about how the kids would do, and where would they sleep, and what if they were up all night and then we ended up spending the whole night up with them, yadda, yadda, yadda - I'm a party pooper.

Bob decided that we were going this year (he put his foot down)!  We picked a date right after my report cards were finished, and he whisked all of us out of town last Friday - it was awesome!

We stayed at the Douglas Fir Resort & Chalets http://www.douglasfir.com/

If you have kids or if you are young at heart (like someone I know who's name rhymes with cob) you will love it.  There are two pools, water slides, and an indoor playground!

Enough with the writing, right?  You just want to see the pictures.....

Big Mack on the super steep steps that led up to the loft - I know the decor is a little "dated" but when you have little people - dated doesn't matter, but an indoor play park sure does!

 Scaring Mommy on the super steep steps

 Walking from our room to the play park after we got to Banff

 Ta-Da!

 Daddy and Miss. Matea going down the slide

 Climb, climb, climb

 Action shots!

 This was Matea's room, now the second part of our M &M's does not sleep in a bed...yet.  I am going to be totally honest, I like that she is contained in the night - it's like the only time that she actually is.  ANYWAY, you may also notice that my little people are small giants, so while your two year old might be able to go a few nights in a pack n' play - mine out grew theirs when they were about one!  So my darling husband (reason # 4567 why I ♥ him) macgyver-ed a little toddler area for her to sleep safely.

And yes, my son jumps on the bed, I know it's dangerous - don't email me and tell me what a rotten Mother I am....I know it...I embrace it....and I also believe in natural consequences, that's all I'm going to say about THAT!

 Miss. Matea cleaning up her bath toys

 Bob getting ready to make some breakfast in the morning - the hotel stocked out fridge with bacon, eggs, milk, toast - I think Bob was most excited about that!

If you are an avid reader of this blog then you know we enjoy our "Pancake Saturdays/Sundays"....ALOT!

 Evidence that my "almost two" year old is.....crazy.

She looks sweet....

 

What is going on here?  Looks pretty intense....

 Oh nothing....just a little blanket attack!

Like I said....crazy.

 Big Mack LOVED all the mountains....loved them.

 
Sweet baby girl...we had just gotten back from swimming

 Awwww...Banff 2010 Memories...Matea looks a little crazy in this picture, but like a cute crazy, right?

The only thing I didn't get a picture that I wanted was out fridge.  One more thing I love about Bob - he packs for an Apocalypse - seriously, he does.  He packed EVERYTHING!  You know those coolers you get that (before you have kids) you are sooo pumped because they hold like 50 cans of beer?  Then after you have kids, they are useful for packing food for the end of the world - we were gone for 48 hours, but we easily had enough for like a week.  Of course while I am making fun of him, in our little "end of the world" cooler, he remembered to pack my favourite raspberry jam, cheddar cheese, and salsa in case we wanted to have nachos, and my favourite drinks (alcoholic and non)

I ♥ Bob

Where in the world?!?

I think this has honestly been the longest time I have neglected my blog - sorry.  Worst Blogger Ever!  The reason: I got a job.  I have been teaching grade 8 Language Arts for the last month and a half!  Craziness...it has been busy, busy, busy around the Schurman house, and while trying to juggle everything else...the blog got lost in the shuffle.

But I have good news...#1...the school year is almost over...#2...I have some AWESOME M & M stories, there are truly too many...starting with what I like to call....

THE SUPERSTAR STORY

So just like everyone else we have been busy getting ready to Christmas, buying presents, decorating the house, putting up the Christmas tree - but this year Big Mack LOVES Christmas (finally)!  This year, whenever he sees Christmas lights (like ANYTIME...) he always say "ohhh look, Christmas lights!  Merry Christmas to you Mom/Dad/Matea!" one of us ALWAYS gets a shout out!

We have also been watching alot of Christmas shows (hey they are on Treehouse, don't act like you haven't seen them) and they all tell a little Christmas story. 

So Big Mack had been examining the Christmas tree VERY closely all day Friday.

Finally he says to us..."our Christmas tree is supposed to have a star on top..where is our star?"

to which Bob-a-licious responds --

"We do have a star on top, actually we have a SUPERSTAR!"

Yep...Larry Bird

I think it was one of Bob's proudest moments as a father...seriously.

Afterwards Mack says "ohhhhh Larry Bird....our superstar"

Merry Schurman Christmas.

A Life For Lexx

Last month I had the chance to go to the SECOND ANNUAL "A Life For Lexx" Fundraiser...Bob-a-licious there too, and so were our friends Rick & Hedwig - fun night!  

ANYWAY I was asked to take some photo's of the evening, and I did my best, but to be honest I was being a BAD PHOTOGRAPHER and enjoying myself too much (silent auction items, poker tournament, roulette) but I did get a few pictures that I liked.....

Check out Melissa's Blog,

read her family's story...they are amazing, and I still wish they lived next door :(

My fave next door neighbours!

 okay LOVE this pic with the Mah girls and their Dad.

 Tim's Horton's gift basket - this was a HOT item...Melissa looks like she is holding on pretty tight :)

 Lexx and his cousin Taye hanging out before the "big event"

 Smooches from Auntie Elizabeth



Some "pre-flu" Dancing

My Kids LOVE that "americano" song...if you are not sure which song I am talking about, you aren't missing out.  It's basically the world's most annoying song - of course they love it.

The camera is a little crazy, like it might make you nauseous...but it is worth it

Happy Saturday Night....