Monday, December 19, 2011

Ready for Christmas

I always get carried away when Christmas time comes. The decorating, baking, the singing of Christmas Carols and of course........The Presents!!!  I just need to start making a list every year and then I won't buy so much!  I got all the decorations up and it makes my home feel more like Christmas!

















I had a lot of fun putting up the decorations.  And with a little help from my dear friend Marisa Smith, my home was turned into a magical Christmas wonderland! 

I wanted to start a new tradition to make Gingerbread houses, so we did one this year.  It wasn't anything spectacular, but it was messy and a lot of fun!  It only lasted a day since McKinley started picking off all the candy as soon as it was applied.  He had fun making it and we will definitely be doing it again next year.

We had our ward Christmas Party a couple of weeks ago and Santa came!  McKinley was so excited, he could hardly enjoy anything else that was going on.  He just kept saying, "Santa coming!!  Santa Clause is coming!"  I don't blame him.  Santa is pretty cool when it comes to getting candy canes!  This Santa that came was really good.  He wore a really nice Santa suite that was tide with a rope instead of a belt and it had a hood on it.  Very authentic!  And McKinley was lucky enough to see Santa when he first came in.  Santa came right up to him and patted his head and McKinley just stared at him with big, huge eyes of curiosity.   Santa then sat in his chair to talk to the kids and McKinley sat down still staring wide eyed at him.  When the kids were called up to see him, McKinley, again, got to see him first.  He went right up there on his own and sat on Santa's lap.  Santa gave him a nice bag of candy.  McKinley was so happy to get it, that he ran up to me to open it for him as soon as possible!  After that, he wouldn't stop talking about how he got to see Santa and the bag of candy!



Oh the joys of Christmas time!  I say this not because I have little ones, but the fact that this year, we decided to do our OWN Christmas with just us four.  It's fun to start our own traditions and make Christmas memories.  And it's also nice not being pulled in all four different directions!  I wanted this Christmas to be stress free and to have a nice, relaxing, Christmas Eve and Day.  If Christmas had a flavour, I would say it tastes like candy canes and toffee.  If Christmas was just a song, I would choose Silent night every time.  If Christmas was just one present, it would be the Saviour's love!  There's a wonderful picture that I stumbled upon while viewing my beloved Pinterest. The saying goes like this, "Santa is the servant, NOT the main event."  And it is so true.  We sometimes get wrapped up in all these Christmas traditions and SHOPPING, (guilty) but we must always remember the CHRIST in Christmas.  I hope we all have a Merry Christmas and to keep the Saviour in our Christmas's.

Sunday, December 4, 2011

Fernandez Family Happingings: Winter Wonderland

Fernandez Family Happingings: Winter Wonderland: The first real dump of snow came and we couldn't of been happier!! McKinley couldn't wait to get outside and start shoveling up the snow. ...

Winter Wonderland

The first real dump of snow came and we couldn't of been happier!!  McKinley couldn't wait to get outside and start shoveling up the snow.  He was more then happy to put on all the winter "deep sea dive" gear just to get deep in the snow!  Gabriella was a little confused at first with having all the gear put on her and then be set down in a big pile of white fluffy snow.  She eventually warmed up and had a ball.  Only downside was she couldn't really crawl around in her snowsuit and did end up doing a face plant into the snow.  Hahaha!!  It was quite funny until she started crying :-(


It was such a beautiful day with the snow everywhere and the snow all gathered on the trees.  This is one of the many things that I love about Christmas!  We then decided to go into the backyard and play on the swings and slide.  It was pretty deep in the backyard but we managed to get there and brush off the snow.  Gabriella loved being in her swing!  All the giggling and smiling made this day even better.  McKinley ventured around the backyard with stomping all over the place, going down a piled up snow slide and doing the superman on the swing.

All and all, it was a fantastic day!  We can't wait for more snow to come.  Next thing to do is get a sled to make winter even better.

Fernandez Family Happingings: Introducing the Fernandez Family

Fernandez Family Happingings: Introducing the Fernandez Family: Well hello everyone! This is the first time we have ever posted our life on a Blog. So I hope we can keep it as current as we can. To sta...

Fernandez Family Happingings: Halloween Adventure

Fernandez Family Happingings: Halloween Adventure: Pumpkin guts!! Whats inside a pumpkin? Halloween was a hit! We started it off with craving the pumpkins. It was McKinley's and...

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Halloween Adventure

Pumpkin guts!!
Whats inside a pumpkin?
 

 Halloween was a hit!  We started it off with craving the pumpkins.  It was McKinley's and Gabriella's first experience with a pumpkin.  McKinley loved pulling out the pumpkin guts and he couldn't stop smiling from ear to ear.  Gabriella was pretty amused herself.  She loved the pumpkin guts as well and even put some in her mouth to taste.  (Yucky!)
Val craved his pumpkin in what McKinley called a "scary pumpkin" and mine was a "happy pumpkin."  I made sure we saved some pumpkin seeds and roasted them for a tasty treat afterwards.  

Its so big!  Orange is my new favourite colour!
Yay for pumpkin carving!
These two had so much fun carving together.  It really turned out to be a fun family activity.
Scary Pumpkin

Happy Pumpkin




McKinley was so excited to be Spider man!  We even got him a Spider man trick or treat bucket.  He had so much fun gathering treats.  When he started to catch on what was going on, he started running to each door with his hands outstretched, waiting for that piece of candy!  It was a hoot watching him.   Gabriella was a quiet observer but she had a lot of fun.  She was adorable as a bumble bee!
I'm a pretty bumble bee
Trick or Treat!
Lets start trick or treating Mom!
We can't wait until next year to go door to door and get more candy!  And Gabriella will be able to go door to door herself next year.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

Introducing the Fernandez Family

Well hello everyone!  This is the first time we have ever posted our life on a Blog.  So I hope we can keep it as current as we can.  To start off, we are a family with two beautiful children and a tiny little cat/dog.  (You'll see why we refer her to a cat/dog later)  We live up in the North, Canada and couldn't be happier living here. (Well, the winter can be pretty brutal sometimes :-S)  No, Canada doesn't stay cold ALL year round.  NO, we don't all live in Igloos and NO, we don't all have to speak French right after we say something in English!  Now that we got that out of the way, here is the family:

Val (Valentin), The husband/father of the house:  Val is a Full time, hard working Account Manager at an Audio Visual Company and puts in a good effort every day.  Sometimes it even takes him out of town every now and again but it's totally worth it!  When Val isn't working, he's a loving father to two wonderful children and an amazing husband.  Val loves his kids soooooo much!  He would do anything for them :) Two of the things he always looks forward to are when he leaves in the morning and gets a great big hug from the toddler and a "I love you" and a kiss goodbye.  The other is when he comes home and gets a warm greeting by the family.  The toddler "Daddy home!" A great big smile from the baby and a kiss from his lovey wife!  (I know, I know, cheesy......but I love it!)  On Val's spare time, he loves to watch Hockey, The Calgary Flames to be exact (when they're doing good....) and playing video games.  Doesn't any guy??  Overall Val is an amazing father and a loving husband who would spend all his time and energy with his family.

Amy (Me) The wife and stay at home mom: Right now I am a stay at home mom full time and love it.  I get to spend my whole day with two out of three of my favourite people! (Obviously my hubby is the other) I love waking up to two happy children that can't wait to start their day and to be with me.  I know that being a stay at home mom isn't always easy and is very challenging at times, e.g. both kids crying at the same time, potty training, sleep schedules, illness, teething, grocery shopping with kids, constantly entertaining the kids with activities and watching Dora The Explorer for the 100th time....I could go on, but I still love them.  I love being there to watch the new stages they go through and getting the hugs and the "I'm sorry's" are just a mother's joy and reward!  When I do find spare time (which is rare at times) I like to scrapbook, view Pinterest (freaking AWESOME website which is my new hobby now) and working out at the gym.  I am working on trying to get my Bachelor of Arts in Dance and am applying for the Fall semester.  I just have to get accepted and make it through the dance auditions in March 2012 and I am off to working on that degree. (Wish me Luck!)  I love my family so much.  I wouldn't trade it for anything else.  They are my greatest accomplishment!

McKinley, The toddler and oldest: McKinley is 2 1/2 years old.  He is one thriving boy.  Just recently has been potty trained and was that ever an adventure.  (For him, not me...) McKinley loves to be the constant centre of attention.  That didn't go over so well with him when his thunder was stolen a bit by his little sister.  Shall we just say, the terrible two's began the day she got home. Ugh! If he's not pulling books off the shelf in the family room, he's in the bathroom dumping water on the floor or flushing all the toilet paper down the "potty."  And if that's not enough, you can find him digging through the fridge grabbing food out and taking two bites, just to end up putting it back in!  I've found many apples bit into or mini yogurts ripped open and put back.  Besides making messes, McKinley loves anything about Spider Man these days.  Spider man pj's, spider man toys, spider man bubble bath, toothbrush, toys, balls, stickers, games and yes...you guessed it, he's going to be Spider Man for Halloween with a spider man trick or treat bucket.  If his costume is anywhere in sight, he demands to have it be put on and wears it around every where!  McKinley also LOVES being outside.  He loves walks, parks, playgrounds and our backyard.  You mention anything about going outside, his shoes and jacket are on in three seconds!  He's favourite thing right now is all the leaves that are on the ground right now.  Grabs them and throws them in the air.  I think he loves fall just as much as me.  McKinley also loves his little sister.  At first he didn't know what to make of her but now they are best friends.  He loves helping with changing diapers and letting me know when she's wake from her naps. He's such a good big brother and a happy little boy!

Gabriella, The new addition: Gabriella is seven months old and is such a joy to our family.  She just sprouted a tooth and more are coming!  She smiles, laughs, sits up on her own and grabs at anything that's in front of her.  Let's just say, don't have her on your lap during mealtime or your plate will end up on the floor!  Gabriella has lately been showing signs of wanting to crawl.  She gets herself into crawling position and rocks back and forth for a bit before going back down on her belly.  Any day now and she'll be mobile!  It seems like yesterday I just had her.  When you have your second, they seem to grow so much faster.  I wish at times she would slow down *sigh*. Gabriella loves FOOD!  I can give her anything and she'll eat it.  Makes my job easier!  She is a very healthy baby and sleeps through the night, which is just wonderful for me!  Gabriella is a very curious, adventuress baby!  She likes to explore everything around her and watches her older brother all the time.  She loves laughing with him and sitting next to him while he reads her stories.  She can't wait to grow up and copy everything he does.

Chiquita, The Family Cat/Dog: Chiquita is a mosque toy terrier.  She's always mistaken for a shiatsu because of her over bite but she's not!  Chiquita was the first member of the family before the kids and now is getting used to having not one but two kids torture her.  When we say she's a cat/dog, she it a very quiet, laid back sleepy animal.  She acts like a cat until you show the leash or throw a ball.  She loves to cuddle and have her belly rubbed.  Now a days she gets her ears, hair and tail pulled and picked up just to be thrown into a toy wagon on mini stroller to be pushed around.  We do our best to teach the kids to be gentle with her but in my opinion I think its good she gets teased a bit so that she only goes and hides away from the toddler instead of biting him or growling.  We love her dearly!

That about sums up our family.  We love spending time together as a family!  Val and I feel so lucky to have our two little cuties and look forward to having more children in the future.