It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas....

The Augustine cozy Christmas corner is awaiting the arrival of the big guy himself.

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care...

Another Sunday of snowfall and fun times at the park.

And of course finding the best sticks to play with - the biggest ones will only do!

A winter wonderland...

Sledding with daddy through the snow!

Tis the season...

The Augustine's are getting into the festive spirit! It is hard not too when there is Christmas music on the radio and there is freshly fallen snow all around.
After a night of snow, Rory was able to get out on his sled for the first time this year. He enjoyed a sled ride with daddy in the park.

And what better way to warm up then a quick sled ride over to Starbucks for a yummy coffee treat. While mum popped in to get the drinks, daddy taught Rory the finer points of catching snowflakes with his tongue!

Now was time warm up our toes with a run through the powder-like snow! Almost a little too deep for Rory's little legs and snow pants which seemed to slow him down.

All the morning fresh air and running around tuckered our little Rory out and he had a long nap after lunch. To continue with our winter and Christmas festivities we took Rory to help choose our Christmas tree. Rory loved running around the tree lot and even more so, loved picking up all the 'sticks'!

It was a fantastic day, full of wintery fun and getting our home a little more festive looking. Photos of our tree will follow - I'm still in the process of vacuuming up all the fallen tree needles, but it smells so Christmasy!!

Earlier this week Rory was doing a little painting in his Christmas paint by water book. He loves painting and sat for a good 15 minutes without making a sound. That's an incredible long time for Rory to be still (and quiet) for!!

Wishing you all the best of the festive season! Not too long before the dude in the big red suit comes for a visit!!

Snow!

Winter has arrived once again, with a winter storm arriving over night and delivering about 10 cm of the white stuff!
This was Rory's first time to play in the snow - so on went the snow pants, boots, toque, mitts and winter jacket. I was worn out just getting Rory ready to head outside! Rory quite enjoyed wearing his new snow pants and boots.


Rory went around the park pointing at all the snow and saying 'oooo'. The mitts came off when he spotted a stick poking up out of the snow. This became his magic wand to help brush snow off of everything.





Looking forward to getting the sled out and heading to the hills. Bring on more snow!!

Fun times

A big hello to you all!!
I must apologize for the lack of blog posts as of late. Life has been pretty busy.

Here is a glimpse inside life at the Augustine's over the last month or so.
We've had some crazy weather - snow, rain, gale force winds, warm sunny days and freezing cold days below minus 20 - we've had all the seasons. And sometimes all in one day!

So what does one do when it is too cold to venture outside??
We build forts!! Rory has loved it! The best part he seems to like, after crawling inside and having a snack, is destroying the fort and throwing himself onto the pillows.


Bubbles and bath time also helps to keep us warm and cozy.

Our independent bather showing off his hair washing ability.

Just today we were lucky not to have minus 20 temperatures, but a balmy plus 10!!

Rory and I took advantage of the beautiful day and spent the morning in the park.

There was lots and lots of sticks to collect after all of the strong winds.

Rory was very excited to get outside into the fresh air and be able to run around without the bulky winter jacket.

Here come the winds....on our way home the winds picked up again and Rory loved watching the trees blow all the leaves around.

With the cold temperatures last week, Rory had time to do some 'repair work' to his fancy wheels!

Rory seemed to know exactly what he was doing. I think he was putting his winter tires on, ready for the snow!

With lots of time indoors it was a great to discover old toys and spend time with mum and dad building all sorts of creatures!

We hope you are all staying warm! See you again soon!

Our dancing star!

I couldn't help myself - I took these videos of Rory this afternoon. He is our little groovin' dude and can even play some drums while dancing away.

I love this one below - this is his 'dance spot'. Which is funny because the tv isn't on, the music is from the radio. It's Lady Gaga's ' Born this way' if you can't make out the music in the background. Rory is quite the Gaga and Pink fan! Actually anything with a beat will get Rory into the groove!

Trick or Treat!

Happy Halloween!!!

Wishing you a spooktacular Halloween!

We had a quiet celebration with some pumpkin carving, roasting pumpkin seeds and a fun photo shoot over the weekend.

Rory the Scarecrow was featured for Halloween 2011!
Enjoy the pics - it was hard to choose which ones to include, when someone takes a couple hundred photos in one afternoon!! Opps. I just couldn't resist, you'll see why.

Costume and all Rory still searching for pine cones to throw off the bridge.

Still lots of sticks to collect before the snow falls.

We had a great afternoon in the park with lots of smiles and giggles from passerbys enjoying Rory's costume. The costume didn't hold Rory back at all and he ran and played as he normally would. He looked like he quite enjoyed being a scarecrow for the afternoon!!

Our cheeky little Scarecrow!

A big thanks again to Auntie Shari for lending us another awesome creation from your dress up box!!!

Hope everyone enjoyed their spooky day!!

18 months!

Hello everyone!!
Just wanted to let you know that I am officially one and half years old!!
Look out world - Me being 18 months old must mean I can do so so much more - it's gotta mean that! Maybe I get to drive daddy's car now or maybe have coffee like mum or maybe I can go on the big twisty slide at the park! Oh I'm so excited!!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!



Wishing everyone a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with yummy food with family and friends.

We began our turkey day with a lovely morning walk through the park.



The park was carpeted with golden leaves ready for little feet to run through.

Rory loved playing in all the leaves.

He would grab bunches and bunches of leaves and toss them in the air and watched them tumble back to the ground. Then he would do it again and again and...

again, and again!! Rory was full of giggles. Lindsay and I were amazed to watch our little dude entertain himself so independently. I think Rory would have stayed there all day playing in the leaves if we let him.

A little helping hand to run down the hill.


Always time for a cuddle with dad.

Playing on the ropes with daddy - Rory is becoming quite the fearless little monkey!

After our exciting and chilly morning at the park we headed home to warm up before heading to the Snider's home for our much anticipated turkey dinner!

A big thanks to Uncle Brent, Bree and Jenna for introducing Rory to the art of tricycle riding!

Yes that's right - Rory has had his first ever bike ride!!

Rory needed a little helping hand from daddy as Rory's legs didn't quite reach the pedals.

But soon Rory was slowly drifting down the lane full of squeals of excitement! Rory loved it and I am sure Rory will be tearing up the pavement come next Spring!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend. A special thanks again to the Snider crew for a wonderfully delicious turkey dinner and an afternoon full of smiles, giggles and memories.

This and that...

Here are some photos I have been meaning to post for ages. It is a collection of Rory's day to day 'adventures' which we wanted to share with you all. Enjoy.

Rory's favourite past time - rock throwing. He would throw rocks for an entire day if he was able to.

We enjoyed a beautiful autumn evening walk at a park near our home.

Rory chasing down dad.

Lindsay has been teaching Rory how throw rocks really far by reaching his arm all the way back before letting go. Rory has loved learning this new skill, although it has led to some major 'uh ohs' at home when he tries to throw a ball inside.

Rory loves the big big rocks, but unfortunately forgets he is still a little person.

Hanging with daddy at the park.

Our little monkey.


Rory is learning to bake with mum. He quite enjoys being in the kitchen to help out and especially for the 'taste testing'!

The Ball!

Rory loves to help with the cleaning, especially the vacuuming! Although this usually means it takes us all morning to vacuum.

Oh the mountains!

Welcome to Jumping Pound Summit!!

I was very lucky to join half of the Snider crew on a wonderful day hiking in the crisp fall air and absolutely beautiful fall mountain scenery! I tagged along with the intrepid hikers Aidan, Maelle and Shari for a fabulous day in the mountains.

Aidan was our pace setter for most of the journey to the summit - stopping for the occasional snack and rest break. He seemed like an old pro on the trail.

After a delicious lunch with an outstanding view we made our summit push.

We all made it and admired the 360 degree panoramic view of the surrounding Rocky Mountain peaks. It was eerily silent (well almost...haha) and absolutely breathtaking.

The determined hiker Maelle leaving her mark on her Jumping Pound Summit.

I was also introduced to Geo caching - I've heard lots about this treasure searching activity, but never experienced it first hand until today. Pretty cool stuff - guess I better start saving for a GPS to introduce Rory to Geo caching in a few years.

The hardest part I learned is choosing what treasure to take home!

To begin and end our day here is pic of a few four legged friends that slowed us down on the road!

"Moooover!" I believe was the ongoing joke in the car!

I was so very impressed with these two little hikers - an awesome job Aidan and Maelle!

A big thanks to Shari for the long drive and to Lindsay for staying at home with the Rorster. Rory's little legs are not quite ready for this hike yet - but this is definitely a hike our family will be enjoying together in a year or two! Looking forward to a few more hikes in the mountains before the snow begins to fall!!