The boys are growing like crazy. Quinn is now 6-and-a-half, and Jake is almost 1-and-a-half! Both are very busy with their respective activities and developments... Quinn has just been enrolled in the next level of Jiu-Jitsu, known as the Black Belt Club. This next level will last about 3 years as he works toward his Black Belt. With this new level, he trades in his original white gi (tunic and pants) and Yellow belt, for a dashing new red gi which comes embroidered with his name on the upper right chest and Orange belt! This will be Quinn's year-round activity, along with the less-physical and more-creative Beavers. Starting right after Christmas, Quinn will begin his fourth year of downhill skiing — this year in the racing program! He’ll be on the hill all day, one day a week, for 10 weeks. He is so excited to get started. We just received Quinn’s first report card of Grade One — superb! He received As and Bs throughout, sprinkled with many words of praise and pride from his teachers. Strengths to date seem to be math, art and science... alas, “the boy who is interested in everything!”
Jake is thriving, thanks I’m sure to his three days a week at daycare. He spends his time there with two other little ones who are 2 and 3 years of age. A nice collection of ages for Pattie. While he has been talking for months, he is finally starting to speak English. Words include Mama, Dida (Daddy), Bayyyyy (Bye!), Haaa (Hi!), dittee (dirty), Go! Go! Go!, mooo, and everybody’s favourite Co-ca?, which we can only interpret as meaning “Mommy, may I please have a snack?” Hilarious!
I am as busy as ever, with many things — not the least of which is housework, homework and general Momminess... For those of you who are unaware, I joined Signature HomeStyles in June, as an Independent Representative for their line of home décor accessories and storage solutions. Yes, home parties and catalogue sales. I never thought I would be in sales of any kind (except maybe Saturn cars or Macintosh computers), never mind being a home party rep. I used to cringe at those other party invitations, but I went anyway, with my fifty bucks in hand, scrambling to find something I thought was worth that fifty! So, why Signature HomeStyles? Simply, I am addicted to home décor... you know that. I’ve often thought about opening a store, but with two kids, I have neither the time or the money I would need to invest in something that ambitious. I had never heard of SHS before, but kept coming across the name while searching the web. I inquired, and the opportunity literally jumped up and bit me — a gorgeous catalogue, 70% of it priced below $35, 90-day money-back guarantee, new to Canada, but established in the US since 1971. My better business sense told me to jump now. Only 5 months and 20 shows later, I am heading a team of 12 reps in Ottawa (I was the only rep in Ottawa until October when these girls came to me!), have achieved Top Three sales in all of Ontario (150 reps), and hold the #3 show average for all of Canada! Needless to say, I am loving this new adventure. Lesson: You never know, until you try.
Andrew is very busy working for the Federal government in his role as Project Leader. He is expecting to be made indeterminate before Christmas. He’s in for the long haul, looking forward (wayyyy forward) to a nice pension and enjoying the long-term benefits that come with being a public servant. In November, we said goodbye to his beloved ‘94 Honda Accord. A great car, but it (she) deserved to be driven, not cooped up in the garage.
And as always this time of year, our thoughts turn to Christmas and the New Year ahead. As was our wish last year, we hope to see more of you in 2008 than we did in 2007, and we would rather you all spent a little more time on us, instead of your money.
As promised, here are some pictures and a brand new 7-minute video just crafted this morning, called “Mostly Jake”... Enjoy!
Captions, in order: Jake-in-a-pan | Jake the Lion | Captain Quinn
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