12 of 25

December 12th: Christmas Party with Friends

Every year we have a Christmas Party with our dear friends and this year the Busby's hosted!
Julie set our kris kringle up last month and I couldn't wait to open my first xmas present of the year!  (well, actually Yasmine was the most excited to open her first christmas presents of the year!...okay to think about it, probably Nathan was most excited out of all of us!)
Anyway, we were looking forward to seeing our friends and celebrating this holiday with them.

This year we had an addition to our growing family...Mr. Brayden Sicat!  Although Brayden stayed with grandma since he wasn't feeling well, we were happy to see his parents open his presents with as much enthusiasm as a Brayden would! 
Next year we will have another addition to the ever growing family....we'll be welcoming Dillon Chin to the clan!

It was so much fun watching the kids open their presents but it was more funnier to watch us open our kris kringle presents!  We all took turns opening  with our "oohh's and awww's" and then time to guess who got us.  It was a blast and suprisingly Clarence didn't get anyone Rated R presents this year!

Merry Christmas Busby, Sicat, Gadsden, and Chin family!  We love you and feel so blessed to have you all in our lives*

Reg took pictures: See link ~ Christmas Party 2009

11 of 25

I especially looked forward to today's activity..."Dine Out, No Cooking Day!" 
It is always such a relief not having to think of what to cook for dinner.  You will never hear me say no to taking home left overs from restaurants or our parent's place.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoy cooking but if I don't have to, it's a-okay by me!

Today Alan gets off work early and I get to have them (Yas and Alan) home 2hrs earlier than usual.  Our plan for the night, Christmas shopping and dinner out!  Yay!

Since we shopped at Eaton Centre that evening we decided to eat there and call our friend Tara to join us for dinner at Mr. Greenjeans located on the 4th floor.  It's not the greatest restaurant but I didn't care cuz I wasn't cooking, aha!! 
We were having a great night chatting and laughing that again I forgot to take pictures.  ~Doh!

*Picture below is Ava's reaction to me being so happy not having to cook! 
PS = this is the infamous hot pink tutu that Ava would wear everyday if I don't hide it from her.

10 of 25

December 10th ~ Family Photo Shoot 2009

I was contemplating going to Sears or the Bay to get our photos done but I knew I wouldn't be happy with the setting/location and so I called upon our dear friend to see if he wouldn't mind taking shoots of us.  Uncle Clarence was our creative photographer for our family photo shoot this year!
We took our photos inside Brookfield Place.  I was relieved that security didn't give us any hassle but was prepared to bat my eyes and ask "pretty please" if I had to.  This was the location I wanted and didn't have a 'plan b' if needed.
Anyway, we had such a fantastic time playing up to the camera!  Ava was sleeping most of the time so she wasn't in top form when we woke her up to get some family pics.
Clarence made it fun and he had a good idea of the types of shots I was looking for.  It's  special to know that the person taking the pictures know you and your family...it definitely makes a difference and definitely shows from the outcome of the night!

No pictures yet...but once I have them I will definitely post them up!  Thanks Uncle Clarence for making "Family Photo Shoot 2009" so much fun!

9 of 25

"Snuggle up Movie Night!" was December 9th's activity*

Dad surprised us and bought Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince!  Yasmine and I were super excited to watch it and know that we can watch it over and over again!  If you don't know already, the Villapando's are very big fans of Harry Potter and can easily watch all of the Harry Potter movies in one sitting. (which we've done on many of rainy days)

I made tea for the 3 of us and prepared a nice warm bottle of milk for Ava.  We got into our pajamas, fought for which blanket we wanted and then curled up at our desiginated seats.

Yas and I saw the movie in August when it was showing in theatres but Alan hasn't seen it yet.  All eyes were on the movie.  We just love this magical world R.K Rowlings gave us to dream in.
We can still remember bringing 6yr old Yasmine to the theatre to watch the 1st Harry Potter and how much we all wanted to be wizards ourselves!...and now Yas is 14 and we're still soo hooked!  It's so amazing how the fans (including parents) get to grown up along side Harry Potter!

We were soo into the movie that I didn't even take any pictures. (Big boo on me)
But none the less...a great night of magic and imagination!

8 0f 25

It's freezing outside but my family (who are such good sports) still went along with the day's activity...."Christmas Pictures around Town!"

After dinner we all got bundled up and walked around town taking pictures infront of outdoor lights around our area. We walked to financial district and took a picture of the largest christmas tree I've ever seen and then ran inside the warm Standard Life building to take another. We all thought it'd be much more pleasent to go through the underground path to get closer to Dundas Square.

We stopped into Eaton Centre to take a quick picture infront of the huge Swarovski Christmas tree and than off to see the lights of Dundas Square!

Our last stop was Berzy Park right behind our Condo. We had soo much fun taking pictures that we forgot how cold it was! I can't wait to take pictures of us in the snow!

19mos old

December 8th turned Ava into a 19 month old girl!  She can do so many things now like brush her teeth, distract me from getting mad at her by saying my name and hugging me..., understand almost everything I ask her to do, and is starting to speak with 2-3 words together (eg. Mama boddle peas =mommy bottle please)

Happy 19th month sugar!!  We love you!

7 of 25

We are almost done with our christmas shopping (yay!) and so the next thing to do is December 7th's advent activity, "Christmas Gift Wrapping!" 

To many it's a tedious job wrapping presents, but I personally enjoy it!  It's definitely the feeling of giving a gift and the whole anticipation of opening a present that i love imagining!  I love how kids feel or shake the box and then start ripping off the wrapping!

We saw the play "Sound of Music" a few months ago and after hearing one of mine and Yasmines' favorite songs I thought to myself, "why don't we get brown paper packages tied up with string?!...cuz THAT would definitely be my favorite thing!"  So this year I've made it my Christmas wrapping theme. 

Everyone will be getting a brown paper (recycled ofcourse) package tied up with string!!!

I love it and it looks so pretty under our Christmas tree!

6 of 25

December 6th was Yasmine's 14th birthday!!!

So, today is "Yasmine Day!"

We started the day off with birthday breakfast and then mass at St. Michael's Cathedral.
We then went out to check off more people on our gift list and enjoy the christmas decorations all around the city. Later we had a late birthday lunch at a sushi restaurant, Yasmine's choice ofcourse!  After a long day of walking around we headed back home to get ready for Yasmine's birthday dinner.
December 6th is not only Yasmine's birthday but also Grampa Louise' too! How special it is to have the same birthday as your grampa!  The night was a celebration of 2 wonderful people!

The 2 families all met up at Yasmine's favorite restaurant...Richtree. We had a wonderful evening filled with food and laughter.  Big sister Yasmine was missing Josephine and baby brother Joshua that night but understand that baby Joshua needs to get better from his cold. Yasmine had so much fun celebrating her birthday with her loved ones.  Thank you to everyone for making this day so much more special than it already is!

"What more can a girl ask for?!" said the birthday girl!!

Happy Birthday 1st Born!!

14 years ago my life completely changed.  14 years ago God blessed me with an angel that brought complete happiness into my life and she alone would teach me the true meaning of what unconditional love is.  14 years ago my beautiful daughter Yasmine was born.

It always brings me to tears when I think of all the reasons why I love this girl.  Through all the bumps that life has thrown at me in the span of her life, Yasmine has given me boundless support and strength to move on.  All I've done, I've done for her.  She is my reason.  She is the reason I am very happy.  She is sweet, compassionate, quirky and loveable.  She is smart and artistic and very much a fashionista! 

She is exactly what I've always wanted in a daughter; and although our journey ahead will have trials and triumphs, I know that no matter what our immense love for eachother will always keep us close.

Darling girl...Happy 14th Birthday!  You are growing into a lovely lady...keep respecting yourself and don't be afraid to shine!  Remember what I've always said to you, ~it's forever you and I.

Love Mommy

5 of 25

The weekend finally arrived and we have such a fun filled weekend planned for us! 
Saturday night Auntie Jamie had a birthday/house warming party and the best part was the theme!(and you KNOW how I love themed parties!)
The theme of the party was "Your best Christmas Sweater". 
Since that was the night's theme I've also made it December 5th's theme!
Since Ava was still recovering from an ear infection the two girls stayed with Lola Penny while Alan and I went to the party.
It was so fun to see all of Auntie Jamie's friends and family get right into the spirit of the theme!

Uncle Reindeer...I mean Uncle Rainier wore a sweater that matched him perfectly and Auntie Jamie had festive tassels dangling from hers!  Tito Jarrold wore the most colourful knitted sweater I've ever seen!...and Tito JayO wore Lala's shirt she gave him last year.  He was a hit with the kids since they loved the truck pictures on his shirt!  There was so many hilarious Christmas sweaters!  ~To think that this was probably what christmas parties looked like in the 80's!

4 of 25

The 4th was a night full of music on our "Family Jam Session" day!  Eariler in the day we found out that little Ava was battling a slight ear infection.  I was so relieved that it wasn't the flu or anything worse.  

It was a nice surprise to see that Yasmine brought her guitar home from school!  Alan dusted off his 6 string and was happy to play along with his "bear"!

To see father and daughter jamming on their guitars together got me all choked up. It was definitely an "awwww" moment!

Ava and I sang back up to our star singer and danced around while they strum on the guitars.
On the playlist ~ First Cut is the Deepest by Sheryl Crow.

It was a "jammin" good time!