New Year's Eve Dinner Extravaganza!

No, not for Violet and I!  That's too late for us to stay up to have a fancy dinner so we had our fave grilled cheese and rang in the New Year at 7pm, ha!  Then off to bed and Mummy and Daddy stayed up to have THEIR special dinner.  Mummy bought a special steak from the butcher and made rib-eye with red wine pan jus (cooked in the pan in the oven, a new method to try that worked out great.....with only 1 fire alarm, hee hee), roasted garlic potatoes and steamed asparagus.  Mmmm, it was delish!  Even Daddy said it was restaurant quality! 

And then to finish, a lovely chocolate chip cookie molten cake.  Now THAT's a great meal.  Good job Mummy and from all of us to all of you out there - HAPPY NEW YEAR!  2011 was pretty fantastic and may 2012 bring everyone health, wealth and happiness.  BIG hugs and kisses xoxoxox Audrey & Violet & Mummy & Daddy

New Year Eve's Day 2011 - The Gang!

What better way to kick off the last day of 2011 than with a whole bunch of your friends!  We put a bunch of coffee and pastries and fruit on a table and then got to the fun! With all the new toys to play with, all us kids were pretty happy. 

We were lucky enough to have the Goldthorpes in town from New York so we got to see all 3 of the Goldthorpe girls....Elizabeth (4.5), Amy (almost 3) and little Emily (only 8 months, such a cute little baby!)  Check them out, they're pretty silly and pretty cute.  Emily got caught between two princess dresses, Elizabeth tickled/snuggled her baby sis, Amy and Elizabeth tackled their Dad on the couch, Elizabeth made my pink pots a new hat trend, and then Amy had a pretty pose with her Mummy!

And our Toronto friends were able to come over too - we had Jack Donnelly and McKenna Reid over as well.  With their parents, it ended up being 15 of us....wow!  Jack liked playing in the new kitchen and McKenna loved my orange Princess dress.  Plus everyone seemed to like the microwave....plenty of mini-chefs in our group!

Now of course, this is a blog about me and Vila mainly so here's our pic with Daddy!!!  Notice Daddy's new shirt (courtesy of Mummy for Xmas) and I'm wearing my purple/blue princess dress.  Nice!  Vila had on a new jean dress that Nanny bought her recently, but alas, it will only get 1 wear as it was very short --- Vila is just such a growing girl! 

What a fun morning we all had - thanks for helping us ring out 2011 with such good times and good friends - hugs and thanks to the Goldthorpes, Donnellys and Reids! xoxo Audrey & Violet

Snow Day Fun!

Woo hoo!  We finally got some snow!  Violet and I couldn't wait to get outside and play around in it, especially since it was quite "warm" for snow weather too.  And our neighbour friend Avery came out with us too.  So fun, because she had a sled that she let us all go on too.  We did some tobogganing down the "hill" on our neighbours front yard, right into the end zone in our front yard.  Violet had never tobogganed before and it had been ages since I had a turn so it was super fun.  We were REALLY enthusiastic - do you hear us saying "again"??!!

Not only did we do tobogganing, we also did snow angels!  Well, Avery and I did some great ones together, but Violet preferred wasn't quite sure what was going on.....she let Daddy hold her why she tried to figure us out. 

And after a while, she got down and let Daddy hit her with snowballs!  Well, we were trying to play catch with her, but Vila didn't quite get it.  No matter, the snowballs were not thrown hard, and she liked watching them smash on the ground or on her belly!  Check us out below in our winter wonderland front yard!

Such fun and then we had hot choccolate when we came back in.  A fun wintry afternoon for all of us - hope everyone else enjoyed their snow day! xoxo Audrey & Violet

Happy Birthday Grandma!

Grandma's birthday is right after Christmas on Dec. 27th so we always get double the celebrations, yay!  We gave her some nice lipstick, nail polish and a purse mirror, and spent the day hugging and hanging out with her.....Grandma's fave things to do!  For dinner, we took her out to Casa Di Giorgio for some yummy pizza.  Love you Grandma, here's my lovey scrunchy face for you!  Hey Vila, what are you doing?  Oh, being silly and staring at the ceiling with Daddy?  Okay, whatever keeps you happy in a restauarnt, ha ha.  We know you love your Grandma too (and good job on saying/singing Happy Birf-day....you're getting so good at that Vila!)

Hugs and kisses to our much loved Grandma for a happy year and many many more to come, xoxoxo Audrey & Violet

Best of Christmas Day 2011

There were so many fun things on Christmas and so many pictures that Mummy saved a few for here as the "best of Christmas 2011".  Our family picture above will definitely be in our yearly collage of pics.....a nice outside pic with all of our little family!  And the best gift of all had to be the handmade dolls by Aunt Holly that looked just like our family - so cute!  We love them so much, such a talented Auntie we have! 

And Mummy also discovered "instagram" on her iPhone which is great for taking pics in a vintage-like quality - here's Violet and I colouring at the end of the day, and a cute one of Vila trying to sneak up the stairs like she usually does when no one is looking!  Enjoy our fave pics......xoxo Audrey &Violet xoxo

Christmas Afternoon with EVERYONE!

The fun didn't stop with our Christmas morning of stockings and breakfast......the rest of our family arrived to kick off an afternoon of good times!  Nanny and Gramps came with MORE presents for us....yay!  Nanny gave me a treasure trunk full of princess dresses, I loved them! 

And Vila got a new Weebles playset, she was pretty excited by it (go Weebles!)

Thanks Nanny and Gramps - now say "cheese" for your pretty picture!  You both look great! 

After presents, it was time for MORE food of course.  Violet discovered the snack table first.....mmmm, hands off Violet, we'll get you a plate!  But don't steal Daddy's Golden Palace Egg Rolls (fresh from Ottawa - thanks Grandma and Grandpa)

As for me, I had my own snack area, with cookies for Gramps from my new kitchen.

And sisterly love isn't just for me and Violet.....it's Mummy and Auntie Holly too.  They had some mulled wine (mmm, a Mummy-Daddy drink though) and enjoyed together time at the snack bench. 


In fact, the whole family ended up sitting in our living room, relaxing with each other and the yummy food.  Aunt Holly and Guy had brought some homemade hummus and beet dip which we also snacked on....mmmmmm.

After all that snacking, it was time for a Christmas day walk outside.  We bundled up and took off  with Mummy, Daddy and Aunt Holly and Guy.  Holly held Violet's hand as she strode along in her cute red jacket. 

I ran ahead with Mummy who picked me up for a lovey-dovey picture!

We walked around the block and found a perfect sign on a neighbourhood yard for a picture - say cheese again Vila! 

It was great to get out in the fresh air and walk off some snacks, because Christmas dinner was next on our list of things to do.  Luckily, Nanny and Gramps brought the turkey with Nanny's homemade stuffing, and everyone helped to cook the feast that had roast potatoes, parsnips, steamed carrots, asparagus and corn plus the turkey and AGO cranberry sauce.  Yummy yummy in our tummy!  Gramps had a beer with dinner - cheers! 

And of course, we took a picture of the feast like typical Procktors - smile Aunt Holly with your plate.

Finally, no Christmas feast is finished without dessert, yippee!  Nanny brought a big bowl of black forest chocolate cake trifle....and we LOVED it.  Violet practically inhaled it - she was like a conveyor belt for cake!  Check her out being fed by Nanny and Grandma.  Silly Vila :) 

We hope you all had a grat Chritmas day too - ours was certainly full of presents, food, family and good times.....just the way it should be!  Love to all, Audrey & Violet xoxo 

PS Small video of all of us on Xmas Day hanging around....love the hang-out holiday times together.

Christmas Morning 2011!

Yippee!  Christmas finally arrived!  Violet and I were eager to see if Santa had come and brought us presents for being good girls (not "bad girls", Violet!)  We came downt the steps and saw a bunch of presents waiting for us....and crumbs on our cookie plate.  Santa has come!  See all the mess of paper and presents above?  That's when we finished opening them all - Mummy got her "aerial" shot standing on our couch.  Violet got some really nice gifts, including an Elmo toothbrush, a book, a Cars puzzle, a Blueberry muffin doll, and a tiny little windup Ladybug that reminded Mummy of our Vila's pudgy little walk!

I was very excited to get my Strawberry Shortcake doll that I wanted, plus some strawberry earrings too --- see?! 

We also got "thingamajigs" that sing together, more books, socks, snowman necklaces and stickers. After opening our stockings and main gifts under the tree, Mummy and Daddy STILL had one more surprise for us.....

WOW, our very own mini kitchen!!  Plus we got stacks of "food" to play with it too, including a whole stray of cookies and icing.  Yay, we're going to have some fun picnics around our living room in the future!

 Speaking of kitchens and food, Mummy made us all a very special breakfast of apple french toast casserole and fruit, plus bacon and coffee (for the grown-ups!).  Mmm, we enjoyed that.  With all that excitment and gifts, we had to have some hugs too of course.  Here's Grandpa grabbing our Vila for a quick snuggle - she certainly is a cuddly one! 

More fun to come for Christmas afternoon - the whole family arrived and more gifts for us too, hee hee!  Hope you all had a happy Christmas morning too.....xoxo Audrey & Violet

Christmas Eve 2011

Yay!  Finally it is Christmas Eve and almost time for Santa to get here!!  Of course, we had to make him his cookies to thank him for his gifts.  And after baking them once already with Aunty Holly, I was the head chef and Mummy was my sous-chef!  And every baker has to test their creations, don't they?  Mmm, they passed the test! 

Grandma and Grandpa had arrived so it was nice to have Christmas Eve dinner with them.....and what says tradition and Xmas better than some yummy butter chicken, tandoor, and naan?!  Although truth be told, Vila and I mainly had some KD! 

After dinner we got to have our Christmas Eve gifts.....new pajamas for Vila and I.  Check us out in our new jammies....me in my "superstar" pose, and then with Vila who couldn't tear herself away from her cookie!

 Finally, it was time for bed....and to put out Santa's plate.  I made him a card with a cute little message on behalf of Violet and me and hten it was off to bed.  I hope he likes sprinkles!  We gave him our best sprinkle-covered cookies.  Enjoy Santa, see you soon! xoxox Audrey & Violet

Love & giggles!

Vila and I love each other - we are good sisters and good fun together!  From our lovey-dovey faces above, to our silly faces below, we are good buddies!  And we even like to take a "together bath" and have fun in the tub together too.  Love you Vila ("Luv you Audi") - awww, yay to sisters!  xoxo Audrey & Vila