No, I haven't fallen off the face of the earth....

Here I am! Here I am! We are knee deep in ear infections, Stanley Cup playoffs, additions, new houses, soccer games and VERY bossy little girls. Allow me to explain: Simon has his second ear infection in six months. He shares his fathers low pain threshold, so there is a LOT of crying and whining (which only makes Simon cry more). He is on antibiotics, so we hope there is light at the end of the ear canal soon. Ottawa has had serious Cup fever (not the cup fever that hockey players get from not washing thier protective gear, the fever that couch-coaches get whenever 'their team' makes it to the finals). Everywhere you look cars are sporting flags, uninspiring paint jobs (go sens...Can we really not come up with something better?), on the rare occasion that is has been warm enough to leave the windows open you can hear the score of the hockey game every third night and its ALL PEOPLE TALK ABOUT AT WORK. Well, judging by the way things are going tonight the finals too will have gone the way of the ear infection. We are putting an 1100 square foot addition on our house; Zip will finally have his garage, I will finally have a mudroom with radiant heat floors, and much to my fathers pleasure, we will have a first floor bathroom. Pics to come as more walls go up. We bought another house to renovate; across the street from us. Again, will post pics soon. Nicholas is knee-sock deep in competitive league soccer this summer. Other than it being a serious pain getting him to and from games during rush hour, its great exercise and he is quite good. Elizabeth has reached a new level of bossy. Conversation the other morning: Elizabeth, "mummy, want a bottle milk HOT" Mummy, "I beg your pardon? How would a nice little girl ask for something?" Elizabeth, "MUMMY! WANT. A. BOTTLE. MILK. HOTTT." The fun never ends.

SOLD!

I have finally gotten around to posting some "afters" of the house we renovated ... Below: Third-floor loft ; two huge rooms separated by a three-piece bathroom. Newly carpeted. One of my favorite areas in the house... Remember that kitchen? We replaced the old cupboards and reconfigured the layout to allow for a more open-concept. Zip built this stunning two storey porch - in the summer you can sit on the second floor and be almost completely secluded by the trees. Heaven... Well, the bathroom is still blue, but now its a 4-piece with soaker tub and pedestal sink.

Christmas came a little bit early this year to Sara and Marc; Maya James Christy Theriault came into the world on December 7th, 2006 weighing in at just over seven pounds. Blue eyes and a respectable amount of hair have been reported. Mum and dad are very proud (Marc and Sara, that is, not my mum and dad), although prouder still, Steve Trew has been spotted around town harassing people with photographs of his darling granddaughter. While I am sorry to have posted this nearly a whole month late, it does allow me to report that S&M are doing very well, the baby is very happy and relaxed and people even seem to be getting some sleep at their house. A victory I would say! Congratulations, Sara and Andrew :)