I'm little late with Sissy's birthday posting because we spent her birthday travelling to NB to visit with family and it's been busy getting back into the swing of things. I'm pleased to say that the long drive went quite smoothly, with both kids behaving really well. On Saturday we had a reunion at Ed's cottage where the kids enjoyed playing with their cousins, kayaking, and splashing in the water. Matthew even got to drive the pontoon boat! Sunday saw us break up the trip home with a visit to Magic Mountain which both kids loved. So it was a pretty fun birthday weekend for Anna.
What can a say about our little drama queen. She is full of personality - feisty, persistent, independant and charming all in one! Just as easily as she can throw a tantrum, she can smile sweetly and dish out the love. She's more fearless than Matthew at that age in many ways, and always wants to do what her big brother is doing ("me too" she says). She has always called Matthew "Nany", and he seems pleased that Sissy has a special name for him. Ask what her name is and she will reply "Sissy Anna" - what a doll! She loves to run and race and play with Matthew, but also loves her dollies, tea set, kitchen, and shoes! She often picks out her own clothes too! Her vocabulary exploded when we got back from ON and she puts multiple words together...pretty much communicating whatever she wants. We're trying to learn basic colours and numbers, but so far most things are yellow :-) We have also just started potty training, and it's going really well. Anna's eating habits have been improving, so meal times are becoming more pleasant. She loves bananas, apples, peppers, grilled cheese, and has now added chicken (and of course any little treats!).
My baby girl is not a baby anymore - she is really growing up into her own little person! Happy Birthday Anna - we love you!
Matthew and I are all ready for the Winter Classic tonight...except that game time was bumped to 9:00 pm so he'll now be in bed! Oh well, he'll enjoy watching the highlights tomorrow morning! 
It sure has been a busy and eventful year!! Chad and I have enjoyed some extended time off over the Christmas break and were able to spend some time just hanging with the kids and visiting with family and friends. Nana and Grampy came in for Dec 23 to Christmas Day and on Christmas Eve "Eve", we all enjoyed some lobster! The picture above is my boy sucking the meat out of the lobster legs while wearing his Penguins shirt - love it!!
Our little princess in her Santa dress.
We were joined Christmas Eve by Terry, Sean, Cathy, and Shay! Here is the best picture of the three Smith cousins...next year there will be one more!! (Sean and Cathy - not us :-))
Matthew ready to dive into his sock Christmas morning.
Anna loved her new tub for her babies...so much so that shortly after opening it she got naked and got in it herself!
Anna was also fascinated by Nana knitting socks and wanted to help.
A highlight of Christmas was the arrival of Grampy S, Great Nanny, and Great Aunt Sherilan joining us for Christmas Supper. Matthew loved playing air hockey with Nanny and Anna was Sherilan's shadow all evening.
Unfortunately we did not take our usual family picture for Christmas cards this year...next year for sure though! We did take a Christmas Day family picture...all members of the family were not terribly cooperative, but we did the best we could!! Merry Christmas everyone!
The Smith Family has been way behind getting ready for Christmas this year with a extra busy travel schedule since November. Now that Chad's last trip for the year is behind us, we were finally able to go get our tree. The kids were super excited and Matthew insisted on helping Chad carry it into the family room.
All smiles while getting out the ornaments!
Anna's job was to pass Matthew the bulb ornaments so that he could put them on the tree :-)
The finished product - photo courtesy of Matthew Smith Photography!
Matthew ran in his first race on Saturday at the Valley Harvest Run. It was 400 m - one lap around the track at Raymond Field. He was very excited!
And he's off!
...going so fast on the back stretch that his hat flew off...
Matthew post race with his medal - we are so proud of you big boy!
Matthew patiently waited all through August for the arrival of September because that is when basketball classes started. His teacher told me today that at circle time he is always talking about playing basketball. So far he loves it!!
This morning we went to Bedford to run the Terry Rox Run. This was Matthew's first year where he was really keen to actually run - and he did quite well. He had his own running number and loved crossing the finish line. Anna ran for a while too, and even had a pit stop mid race. This morning was her first outing with dry pants!! 
Smith family at the finish line :-) 
