Kim's Big News

I almost forgot about posting my big news. There was a good reason for me to wait a day to post, because I needed to ensure that certain people received the news first. Yesterday morning I resigned from my job in Ottawa. I have accepted a position with a company much closer to home! This position is much more suited to me than what I am doing now, so I am very excited! The best part is my commute will be dropping significantly - I don't know what I am going to do with all of the extra time!! We are in the process of making changes to Erin's daycare situation, but I'm not worried because we have a bunch of excellent options.

That's it for me!!

A Successful Dance Recital

Well we made it through the big dance recital! Check out the picture - Erin is the one waving!! Biases aside, I have to admit Erin did really well! We arrived at BCI just before noon on Saturday, and I dropped her off with her dance instructor who whisked her away to get dressed. We waited for everyone to arrive (unfortunately Aunt Elaine couldn't make it - we'll call to tell you all about it soon!!) and took our seats. Erin's class were the 26th act out of 70 or so performances for the day! I was a little surprised that they would make the little ones wait so long before going on, but I guess they have done this before, so who am I to judge? About two hours after dropping her off, Erin made her stage debut! Dressed in a Minnie Mouse-like outfit and dancing to "Livin' La Vida Mickey" (I'm not sure Ricky Martin would like the words to his song changed or not!), she and her little dance troop took to the stage, following their proud dance instructor! They were all pretty funny to be quite honest! I couldn't believe how serious Erin was in paying attention to doing everything the instructor was telling them to do!! I was laughing through a cloud of tears (yeah, I know everyone tells me I'm too emotional - having Erin has just quadrupled that factor for me!!) and just really enjoyed how much fun all of the kids seemed to be having. There was an intermission break about fifteen minutes after Erin left the stage, so Emily (Erin's wonderful cousin and favorite regular babysitter) and I went back stage to pick her up. Erin was just exhausted, but perked up as Emily gave her a chocolate rose care of Aunt Eleanor who also came to cheer her on! I think that rose was eaten in less than two minutes! We brought Erin out to greet her adoring fans and decided to leave at that point.

I thought for sure Erin would fall asleep as soon as we put her in the car, but as usual, I was wrong about that! We stopped at Erin's favorite restaurant "Old McDonald's" - the farm thing carries Erin through a lot of different descriptors in life - and headed home. Her North Bay grandpa hit the road too after a good visit.

We were checking in on Minnie to find that she has scraped one of the little de-horned caps off and hence we are now making sure the cut doesn't get infected. My goodness, who would have ever thought goats were so much to look after! She doesn't appear to be any worse for wear though.

I have just been puttering around this morning as I have Emily here to look after Erin. They are playing outside right now, so it's nice and quiet for me right now! Our neighbor Richinda is bringing over her two little girls Emma and Erika to play this afternoon so Erin should be good and tired by the time bedtime rolls around tonight!

Anyway, that's it for today. Be sure to check back tomorrow for my own big news!

Going to the Big Dance Recital

Well, it is bright and early Saturday morning and we are getting ready to bring Erin to her first dance recital. I had no idea that there was even such a thing as dance lessons for two year olds, but after listening to Erin beg me to let her take dance lessons, I found a great little spot in Brockville, called Brockville Dance Academy a couple of months ago and here we are today. Where would a two year old get it in her head that she wanted to take dance lessons? Well from a Wiggles video of course! Erin has plans to become a great dancer and maybe dance with the Wiggles one day! Time will tell, won't it!

So we have a big crowd going to cheer Erin on for the big recital. Everyone at the dance studio got a chuckle when I went up to the desk and bought 8 tickets! Erin has a big cheering session, so hopefully it all works out. Even Erin's 'North Bay Grandpa' came down for the big event! There are about a dozen or so little gals in Erins' class so it should be pretty cute. They will all be wearing little Minnie Mouse-like costumes so it should be entertaining. I really hope she has fun. I will post up some pictures tomorrow.

How's Minnie the goat you ask? Erin tells me 'She's great Mummy!'

Erin and Minnie - A match made in heaven!

My name is Kim and I am the proud mum of a beautiful daughter named Erin. Erin was born September 8, 2003, so she will be turning three in a couple of months. Okay, so I am biased, but I think she is the greatest kid out there and is just smart as a whip! Erin and I recently went for a visit to a petting farm just outside of Ottawa and Erin fell in love with the goats. Of course, she loves every animal going, but for some reason she just took to the goats during this visit. On our way home she told me that she was going to ask her dad (Gord) if she could get 'this many goats!' (now you have to imagine that she is holding up three fingers!!) And she did just that! So began our search for a pet goat for Erin.

A couple of nights later I was bathing Erin and heard her dad on the phone negotiating prices on goats!! The next weekend we brought home little June. June was an 11-week old Nubian goat. She was a sweet little goat and caused quite a stir on her first day with us. Let's just say we underestimated how high goats can jump and Gord spent the better part of an hour chasing June through the fields until he successfully cornered her and managed to catch her! It was one of those times I wish I had brought out the video camera!! Over the next few days June was becoming much tamer and Erin just loved her. It was pretty funny though because although June was pretty good with Erin, it was evident that Gord was the alpha-goat in this relationship because June would really only follow him around!! I guess the chase and capture created a bond between the two!! Unfortunately a few days later poor little June was kicked by the horse my sister-in-law boards at our place and didn't make it. It was the worst thing Gord and I ever have had to do in telling Erin that her little goat died. My heart just broke when she went to say goodbye to her in the barn. Erin still checks with me regularly to make sure that June is in heaven and has lots of other little goats to play with and lots of grass to eat. It chokes me up even to be typing it out.

So a few days later on Saturday May 13th, we brought Minnie into the picture. We had already made arrangements to get two goats, so I guess the timing was pretty good. Minnie is a bit younger than June was and was a bottle fed goat so is used to being handled. She is the friendliest little goat and just follows Erin around like a little puppy!! Erin just loves her and can't stop talking about her! So our new adventure begins now and stay tuned for pictures of Erin and Minnie as they grow up together!