The Homestretch

A view of the bathroom - shower is on the left - sink will be straight ahead.

The floor tile - I LOVE it!

Looking at the pool table room. Sub floor is in, light is hung, first coat of paint on the wall.

View from the pool table area to the tv area - note the trim is starting to go up around the window!

Tuesday = complete sub floor, final coat of paint, door frames hung

Wednesday = carpet installed

Thursday = trim and hang doors

Bathroom.... hopefully before the end of the month!

20 Months!

Our baby girl is 20 months. Some of her latest accomplishments include:
Sing's 'ABCD', 'Twinke Twinkle', 'No More Monkeys Jumping on the Bed'
Loves to say 'dancing' and dance around - she has sweet moves like her mom (oh ohh)
Maddy loves to get dressed up. When going out she picks out her own boots, hat, mittens and jacket and brings them to us to help her get ready.
On Sunday Maddy sat in the chair next to her Dad - pointed at the football game and yelled 'Go Go Go!'. When Dustind came down in his 'Jet's' jersey she pointed and said 'Jet's' - I don't think that Carl ever had a prouder moment

Story Time

Now that Dustind is starting to spell and write... he writes, and writes and writes...

Snow Birds

For my family in Florida... this is what I get to wake up to in the a.m.!

Nana and papa spoiled the kids with some great new clothes at Christmas - I wanted to post some for Nana to see how sweet her babies look! Thanks Nana - we feel like we are dressed to the 9's every day!

and for those of you wondering... yes I still have my garland up on my railings... unfortuanately with the basement renovation I can't get into the cellar to store them until I can clear out what is in there to move to the rest of the basement

Pre-primer

Tape and Mud is done! The team was quick, tidy and minimal dust!

Stand by for pictures of the walls with primer... sub floor in and progress on the bathroom!

Drywall Hung

Looking at closet - carl had an outlet installed and the fridge for drinks will go in here. Shelves above. Room behind is going to hold the pool table and kids play area.













The TV / Wii area













A different perspective of the pool table / kids play area - can see in to Carl's future wine cellar where all building materials are currently stored














Door on the left leads to the work room. Door on the right into the bathroom

Our little cowboy

We have been pretty busy lately running errands and making decisions about the basement.
We couldn't resit taking this one at the design store where we purchased our flooring!

Basement Renovation

It is a minor miracle that we were able to clear out the basement - We hardly recognize it at all.
here is our framing stage...

Back work room / washroom














View from the 'pool table' room to the 'den'













View from the washroom looking over to the 'wine cellar' and the pool table area:














Looking from the 'bathroom' throught the furnace to the 'den'

This was prior to Christmas... stand by for completed drywall pictures soon!

We have:

- ordered our carpet

- picked our paint colour

- selected our tiles for the bathroom

All that is left is bathroom vanity, toilet, taps and bathroom fixtures....

We hope for full completion by mid- February to early March!

Week at the Cottage

Once we got to the cottage the relaxing began! One week in a winter wonderland. 10 minutes door to door from the ski hill. We woke up each morning and ate breakfast on Nana's new stools at the breakfast bar - we loved it! 10 minutes after getting in the car - we were at the ski hill. Dustind entered Green Gliders and did a fabulous job skiing all week. No hesitation - he took off at the top of the hill and stopped only once he got to the bottom. Way to go kiddo -you make your Mommy so proud of you!

We had friends over one night after skiing. Mom wondered why things were so quiet and found Dustind and Emma snuggled up in Nana's bed... uh oh!

Another morning at the breakfast bar!

New Years eve at Uncle Stu's cottage - more snugging in bed - this time Tanner, Maya, Zach, Declan, Dustind and Maddy. Poor Mommy was so sick new years eve - she fell asleep early - woke to ring in teh new year and back to bed again. Even Maddy loved the party this year and was chasing all the kids and 'dancing' all night long!

Nana and Papa's House

After opening presents all morning - we did a quick clean up of breakfast, worked on packing the car for our week long trip to the cottage - ate some lunch and then went up to Orillia for the afternoon and evening.
Thanks to Nana and Papa - Dustind and Maddy have all new clothes for the winter!
Dutind was thrilled to get the Nurf Blaster that he had been asking for since the summer time.
We had another delicious dinner with Nana, Papa, Guncle and Annie (Diesel and Barchleigh as well). After full bellies we all managed to find sleeping places and cuddled in for the night.
Boxing Day Papa took of for Florida at 7:30 a.m. with Guncle and Annie and Diesel. Maddy and Mom got to say good-buy to them and wish them a safe trip. Due to poor weather - the trip took one day longer than expected but we were happy to hear they made it to Sarasota safe and sound and are warm at last! We miss you Papa!!!

Dustind proudly showing off his Nurf Blaster in front of Nana's nutcracker colection (Dustind's favourite decoration at Christmas)













Maddy found a quiet little corner - and tried to stay awake after feating on cheese and crackers all afternoon!

Christmas Morning

8:30 a.m. and Mom and Dad decided it was time to wake the kids up!
Dustind was thrilled that Santa arrived at last! He brought an Imperial Walker and lot's of Star Wars men to play in it.

Our traditional pancake, bacon fruit salad and mamosa's (for mom and dad).

New ski boots and ski's from Mom and Dad.

It didn't take long for Maddy to figure out that Santa = gifts! What a great morning playing with all new toys!

Christmas Eve continued

Given that Dustind fell asleep on the way home... mom took it upon herself to execute Dustind's annual rituals to ensure that Sanat and the reindeer didn't miss out
1. Make Reindeer food
2. Sprinkle it in an accessible area - i.e. the front lawn
3. Leave Santa a snack - he specifically requested fruit so Mom was sure to grant his wishes this year

Then Mom snuck down in the middle of the night to see if Santa had arrived - he had - she didn't tell anyone - just took a picture of the stockings hung with care and the cool gifts (Imperial Walker for Dustind and shopping cart full of food for Maddy) and then snuck off to bed again to wait for morning light!

Christmas Eve

Christmas eve was spent at G and Papa's house. The last Christmas on McCowan before they move to their new home in the spring.
Maddy had a blast opening the presents and caught on right away. Poor Dustind was fighting a either a cold or flu throught the evening but managed to get through the night before passing out in the car on the way home. As always G cooked a fantastic Christmas meal with a 'Round the Bend' turkey and all the trimmings!

Twas the week before Christmas

We were as busy as bee's!!
Dustind played 'Franz' in his Montessori school play 'The Nutcracker' - he remembered all of his lines!! He is the only one in red and white polka dot p.j's on the stage!!!
Mom was so proud and has lot's of video footage... still need to figure out how to post it!



























Dustind and Maddy were really patient throughout the month of December. Dustind was really concerned if he made Santa's good list or not. There were several discussions about his 'naughty' moments over the past four months and weather or not the good ones would weigh out the bad.
Finally Santa sent Dustind a video to tell him he was on the 'good' list about a week before Christmas. I've never seen a child so excited! Later that night he declared that when Santa puts you on the good list he puts your name in permanent marker - therefore he can't rub you out!