A new niece!

My brother and his wife welcomed their newest last night. My sister-in-law is my hero for having the baby med free at home.

Welcome to the world Sophia Joy! I can't wait to meet you!

Things I love about Canada

• The summers- We spent hours outside every day over the summer. Something we could never do in Texas. There is no humidity, so even when it gets hot, it doesn't feel as hot as what we're used to.
• The politics- Being very liberal in a state that is very conservative can be very frustrating at times. Up here, virtually everyone is on the same page as me. It's nice.
• The people- At home, there is racism and discrimination everywhere. I haven't witnessed any here. And there are people from everywhere here, as much a melting pot as the US, but here everyone coexists in harmony. It's a nice change.
• Our neighborhood- we have kids next door and behind us and our back yard is like a community yard where everyone goes from one yard to another. This is the feeling of community that was lacking in our last neighborhood.
• The school- It's close enough to walk to and we have walked every single day this year, which I love. It's small and all the kids know each other and all the teachers know all the kids. The test scores are excellent.
• Basements- This is something we miss out on in TX. It is so much easier to keep the house clean when we have unlimited storage downstairs. It's also a place for the kids to be able to run around during the winter when we're cooped up inside for so long.

Next time... things I miss about TX. :)

I voted!

I mailed my ballot today. Everyone who reads this blog already knows that I was voting for Obama, so this will come as no surprise:

And my newest addiction...

is Facebook. I just signed up yesterday and I have already gotten in touch with so many people I haven't heard from in years. It's crazy. Between Wii and Facebook, it's gonna be hard for me to get anything done. It's a good thing I don't have a social life! Ha!

Actually, Doug and I left the kids with a sitter last night and went out to dinner. It was great to have a meal where we could converse without interruption. Too bad it's so expensive to go out up here. The night out cost us $100+!

Hi, my name is Larissa...

and I'm a Wii-aholic. :)

I'm addicted to Guitar Hero. Seriously. I'm embarassed at how much time I spent playing it today. Doug's addicted to it now too and he's already better than me. I've never been better than him at a video game, but I thought since this game is a musical one, I had a chance. No such luck. He's played it less than me, but he's better. Oh well, we're both having a blast, which is all that really matters, right?

Look what we woke up to yesterday...

The front yard melted yesterday, but the back still has snow on the deck and a little in the yard close to the house. Time to pull in the toys I guess...

Weekend fun

It's a long weekend here as today is Thanksgiving.

We've been hanging out here mostly, having a grand time.

Gracie built a tower out of our foam letters on Sat.


Bradley decided he didn't want to sit in his booster seat anymore, so he's graduated to a big boy chair (and sitting on his knees).


Sat, we bought a Wii!!!!!
The kids were excited watching Daddy set up everyone's Miis.


Gracie trying out the Aerosmith guitar.


The boys playing MarioCart.


Gracie is already getting a lot better.


A rare shot of mom... playing guitar hero.


Today we ordered the NES version of Super Mario Brothers. Doug and I feel like we've been transported back in time. Gracie is already hooked too.


I will say that we might have gone a little crazy with the Wii yesterday, but we have already explained to Gracie and Bradley that our time will be limited every day. She wants to play all the time, but that's not going to happen. She will have a set amount to play each day and only after all her homework is done.

First snow

Ack!

It snowed today. It didn't stick, but it still stinks that we already got snow. Tomorrow's high will be 44. Yuck. I'm not ready for winter.

Autumn fun

This weekend, we picked up leaves out of the yard.

The kids both helped.


And then had fun jumping into the piles.




Gracie made it her job to save as many ladybugs from the trash bags as possible. She saved quite a few:


Here they are in the grass after she set them free.

Thank you Dodgers!

The Cubs were swept in the first round tonight.

Sweet justice.

:)

Like my new shirt?

I took a picture with my face too, but it was terrible, so you just get to see the shirt up close. ;)

I wore this shirt yesterday and got many (all positive) comments on it. That is one thing I love about living up here. Almost everyone thinks the way I do. For a girl who is used to being surrounded by conservatives, it's nice not to be in the minority for a while.







Before the conventions, I was still considering myself undecided. After the Democrats' convention, I was 100% on board with Obama. After McCain named Palin his running mate and I watched the RNC, I was even more excited about Obama. The McCain/Palin ticket scares the crap out of me. And while I admit I'm a little nervous about Obama's lack of experience, the bigger fear is having Republicans in the White House for four more years.

And Doug and I were thrilled to find our offical Texas ballots in the mail yesterday. Doug is still undecided, so I only have a couple more weeks to work on him...
:)