Welcome 2010

Well, we have had a fabulous holiday season... I could post pics, but they are the typical shots of present opening, huge smiles, large tables set with food and the like, you get the idea!

The girls are happily engaged in new games (suduko jr, feed the kitty, uno, topple, hoppers, and more), new toys (playmobil, fur real chipmunk and puppy, and webkinz babies) and new clothes (pj's and sweaters, snugly socks and sparkly belts!)
and a few others; new skates, audio books on cd, binders, toothbrushes... etc.

We are jumping into 2010 feeling very fortunate indeed!
Looking back, we have had a really great year this past year... everything we had hoped for for the home renovations have been done (and we got our first significantly reduced heat bill! Woohoo!), we have been healthy, the girls have been wonderful, all in all we have had everything we could ask for!

So , what will the new year bring? In past years, this is the time of year I launch into new schedules, new plans, new learning styles and far reaching goals..., well, this year, I am not falling into the hype!
Aside from printing off the next 6 months of the calendar (my annual free milk calendar didn't arrive this year!?!), and filling in some of the fun events we have planned, we are keeping things pretty steady.
The one thing we did start the year off with was a short family meeting, where we chatted about how great our family has been doing, some fun events upcoming, and how to fit in more of them..., and to encourage the girls and each other into staying motivated with our current workload... continuing to share in the responsibilities of the household.

Our only change will be for Aislinn. We chatted about how she is quickly approaching 7, and how her day needs to start doing a subtle switch from straight play to play with a bit of skill work thrown in. We talked to her about how we may be requesting that she spend a bit more of her time practising reading and writing and doing more math related activities.
We discussed with her how she would have the freedom to choose when they are done, and that it would still include lots of fun options, like games, baking, word puzzles, etc.
She seems pretty good with it, and while Tara was thrilled that she is still "off the hook", she has joined in on all the activities thus far!

As always, we will keep you posted :) and on that note, we wish you all a happy, healthy, relaxed New Year!


(Best of friends or two-headed monster?)