i love Ikea!

Today we went to Ikea to celebrate my eldest and my daughter passing their ice dance tests.

We were going to Ikea anyway... as Oatie has been looking forward to the Swedish Meatballs and fries for a while. It's also a nice place to go if you're feeling homesick as the same Ikea in the UK tastes exactly the same in Canada lol! The UK Ikea that we went to was 5 mins from our home and with their free baby meals and kid friendly environment, we found it a nice place to go where you got real plates but food on a budget. Also the refill of coffee or tea was also very nice :)

Wow, where has the time gone...

The Best Christmas Holiday ever

WOW! What a brilliant 3 weeks! We've had the best Christmas Holidays EVER! It was 3 weeks but 3 brilliant weeks!

School finished just before Christmas, so that was nice as it gave me more time to get things organised. I shook off the Flu just before Christmas.

With the illness we went to visit Santa a bit later than we planned so it was about 4 days before Christmas day so that was nice.

Then we did some Christmas Baking, we made a cake for a friend as a gift for pudding on Christmas day. We were planning on having Christmas just ourselves but one of my best friends Oatie is best friends with her dog. My eldest is 6 months younger than her eldest and same for my middle and Oatie....

So we went there for Christmas day, we had the best day, we were with my friends family and it was really lovely and Christmassy.

Then on boxing day we cooked up our Christmas dinner.

The Gingerbread house that we made, it was delicious as it was homemade, and so much fun, we went to Bulk Barn and stocked up on candy (chocolate) to decorate it with.

Oatie playing with one of his new DS games.....

My eldest's cat. She loved Christmas, she "rearranged" the tree over and over and in the end took a sitting vigil in the tree and lay on the last remaining branch as I put the tree away....

During the week before New Years my older two had 2 play dates, so that was really nice and we entertained a few times with our super friends and their kiddlets for dinner which was really nice.

Then we had a great new years too. We had a special dinner and movies with the kids, they went to bed and then we stayed up to the early hours watching a movie with a bottle of wine which was nice. It was the Adjustment Bureau and well i was surprised as the director pulled it off well.

The kids built dens, played games, went for an ice skate, just played and we had so much fun.

I cooked for our upcoming ski trip as I've decided to start to save up for an adaptive ski for Oatie. The Bi-Ski is $3000US. So what we did was pick a self catering hotel-condo.

Then a few days after New Years I picked my parents up from the airport and then last weekend we left for our Family Ski trip. It's the first time I have skiied really since my daughter was born. The last time I skiied with my parents we didn't have any kids.

My dad has a milestone birthday in 2012 so I thought what a better way of celebrating it than doing what we all love.... SKI!

So we all did fit in to my Dodge Grand Caravan.... It was unbelieveable... but my dad even squashed Oatie's wheels in the car too! We had 6 pairs of skis and poles... 6 ski boots, Breakfast and Dinners for 7 for 5 days... Oatie's wheels, and all of us and it's a 7 seater.... and a SLED too! My husband did relent and buy a ski rack for the ski's...

Happy Birthday! Oatie is 4!

Oatie turned 4. The main thing is that he had a brilliant day! We hadn't decided on a birthday party as such as a lot of our good friends are on holiday or about to go this week. So we'll probably have a gathering of people to celebrate his birthday in a few weeks time. I am sure he won't mind... he'll get another cake!

If you don't want to read a rant! then scroll down to the photos below! (It's about disabled people being excluded by able people)
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For me it was a day of mixed feelings, I suppose the difference between my older two's birthday and Oats. My older two at the same age, had a hall full of people... and Oatie, well not many of his peers would come.

Still even now, you think someone has got it, got Oatie and on your inner circle of Oatie Supporters... only to find that this person, when it comes down to the crunch.... is actually no different, at the core than the people who view "disability" with disdain...... it's the exclusion, I think it's the exclusion that I find the hardest. (In a nutshell, Oatie doesn't get invited to a party but a non-physically restricted person does, who both (Oatie and this boy) know the boy, both from the same place). It wasn't that Oatie didn't get invited as such, it was that it was all "secret-secret, hush-hush" as the mum was I thought from the inner circle of families that I trust. I think what it was was the fact that it was all hush-hush, but then they spoke about it right in front of me, and rubbed your face in it too... not once but over DAYS! (the boy in question and Oatie are a few days apart in age so it wasn't like he's 8 and Oaties 4) and it wasn't like she said..., "I'd like to invite him but it's going to be a boisterous kick a ball around party..." and give him the choice. It was also at her house so it wasn't like 15$ per person nor did she ask If I would stay with him as I would do.

Then the mum (also a friend of mine) from the boy who was invited... did say, when she asked about directions..."Oh I thought that Oatie would be invited, as (friends/same age/ your neighbours). and she felt bad... she then said... "ahh Exclusion.." "I was like, yep probably..." And told her not to feel bad, they can invite whom ever they want and it isn't and won't be the last time Oatie will be EXCLUDED from things.

nevertheless, you cannot be surprised at other peoples crapness... I feel like Jack Burns from "Meet the F's..." she's out my circle of trust! lol! All I wanted was honesty... and not some whisperings behind my back!

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Oatie showing off his Drinking Skills with a Glass

A new Dora DVD for his ABR Bench time...

Dora Cake with Sparklers and Candles

Today (Wednesday) Oatie and I got in 3 hours of ABR, we did one of the new style exercises and two favorites of mine. We watched one of his new Thomas Tank DVD's.