Margaret's First Jack O' Lantern

This morning the family braved one of the scariest places on Earth - Superstore on a Saturday morning - fittingly to prepare ourselves for Halloween. I know that Frances is excited this year, as Teresa keeps telling her the joys of the candy. Their excitement is further stoked by having attended Boo at the Zoo, which although freaking Teresa out a bit, she loved the rides and in the end declared it was great.

Anyhow, back to the main story As the girls picked their pumpkins they decided that Margaret should get one too, so we got her her first Jack o' Lantern.

So Saturday morning was dedicated to emptying and carving pumpkins. Teresa drew the face (Rapunzel if IIrC) for her pumpkin and then she helped Frances. This though was a day of firsts as I finally convinced Teresa to stick her hands in the goop and pull some out. Frances of course had no such compunction and was making a mess of herself.

I asked Teresa what type of Face my pumpkin should have and she told me Larry Boy, which I had completely forgotten I had done last year. That girl has a stellar memory. I convinced her to think of something else and we settled on a snowman, so I went out and picked up another pumpkin.

So here they are, our pumpkins awaiting Monday evening, a day important enough for our curling team to forfeit and instead enjoy our families...

Teresa showing Frances how to re-cap her pumpkin.

Teresa gutting her pumpkin

Frances with her pumpkin

Both girls working hard...

To be continued...

Let's Try Something New

So at long last I have found a free Blogger app so I'll test it out and see how well it works. If I have learned anything from my 6 months with an iPhone, this can only lead to more bad grammar / typos / weird auto-corrects. That said, it might just make this blog more used again as I have been keeping those off Twitter and Facebook out of the loop of cuteness. So here goes. Margaret is a month old and chunking up like crazy.

My girls :).

Grandma Yost enjoying a visit.

Our little chunker

Stories with Grandpa

More chunker...

Awake Margaret!

Margaret Suzanne Yost

Margaret Suzanne Yost has finally made her way out and we are ecstatic. She was born September 16th, 2011 and was 7 pounds, 11 ounces and she is beautiful.

The name was chosen in honour of St. Margaret d'Youville, founder of the Grey Nuns and Suzanne is Cara's sister's little name.

Because our our internet situation (iPhone & tethering) pictures are hard to upload to Blogger, so some have been uploaded to Facebook. It is public, so an account should not be required. Check them out here.

Teresa is now at Kindergarten...

It seems utterly impossible that Teresa has already been with us for long enough that she is going to kindergarten.

9:00 a.m. Friday, September 9^th 2011.
Every day until noon.
Until June 29^th.

She will graduate somewhere between June 24-28, 2024.

Anyhow, Cara, Teresa and Frances will be walking down the street to Robert Browning tomorrow morning where they will line up in front of the number 4 and have a picture taken as a class. We had the opportunity to meet with Mme. DeSouza her teacher on Wednesday. Sadly, I will be unable to attend as we have yet to vote on our new contract and be able the personal day we will soon receive...

I don't know how many people know me as a sentimental type, I think I tend to hide it from most, but this thought makes me sentimental tonight. With a newborn waiting to show up (late, again!), it just reminds me how we waited for Teresa in the first weeks of school five years ago and now she is going to school, seemingly a blink of an eye later.

Well, Teresa my love, I pray that you make many new friends and love learning. I hope you don't lose that love for school you have now. I want you to be come home and tell me about everything. I want you to keep the inquisitiveness you have now.  I want so many things for you...  I know this is a foolhardy hope that this joyful attitude towards school, learning and your parents will last forever, but I am a sentimental old fool and I will keep that hope in my heart.

Day 1.

Teresa's first experience of a classroom.  Slinkys are fun after all.

Day 1 of 3 year-old pre-school.  I am unsure why she was so unhappy.

Running to pre-school.

Day 1 of 4-year old pre-school.

Posing in front of her school

Leaving pre-school...

And as one last treat, a little slideshow of moments in Teresa's life to now...  I tried to include as many educational moments as possible.  You know reading, museums, looking at flowers, Narcisse, pulling Rowdy's fur, pre-school field trips...