Haffner Girls

Still Alive

2010-11-17T12:43:00.000-08:00

(Sechelt Beach, Sunshine Coast)

Hello! Yes, the Haffners are still alive. Wow, I cannot believe it has been a year since I posted! I have become lazy with Facebook as you just upload your pictures to it and that is that. However, I have been reminded that not everyone is on Facebook and that the commentary is not there, so I am back. Here is a snapshot of the Haffner Four.

(Grace & Claire in our front yard)

(Grace @ Savary Island)

I would say the main change in the last year has been Grace. She is now 31/2 and is coming out of the toddler phase and becoming a little girl. I often call her baby and she quickly informs me that "I am not a baby, I'm a girl!" I am blessed to have many girlfriends with babies that I can snuggle because I do love that baby stage. . .but not enough to have another! Grace is attending a community play school program which she loves. I think she loves the fact that she goes to school just like Claire. And she is in a ballet class which I will video and upload for you all to see as it is just the best thing to watch. I think I go from laughter to tears in minutes.

(Claire's first day of grade 1)

Claire's big change is her height! That girl is growing like a weed. She loves school and would rather go sick then stay at home as school is her "favourite." As Claire would say she is a "grade oner" in that great beginning stage of reading and writing. She wants to know how to spell everything which means our days of spelling things out so the girls do not understand are numbered. Claire continues to play soccer and she has taken an interest in art specifically drawing.

(Mike and Claire @ Bridal Falls)

(An enormous penguin & Claire)

Mike continues to teach high school science and math classes. Unfortunately with his back issues, he no longer can play basketball but still gives his time to coaching. He is fortunate to have a wife who played basketball for 9 years, so I understand the time constraints as it is a busy time for him from November to March. He also helps coach Claire's soccer team when needed.

(My Dad and I, Pender Harbour hike)

Last but not least, me. I am finally starting to find a balance between family, friends and school. I have returned to UBC to work on my M.Ed in early childhood which I am really enjoying. I am holding down the home front and most of the time we find ourselves happy and healthy.

We are truly blessed to have such great family and friends. Thank you for sharing in our joys over the last year, and I promise to update more often. All the best! The Haffners

(Our Hershey Kiss and fierce Kitty)

Tis the Season

2009-12-15T13:28:00.000-08:00

First Christmas Concert

Claire partook in her first Christmas Concert. It was the cutest concert I had ever seen. The Kindergarten's sang Frosty the Snowman, while the whole school participated in a play called, Melton the Warm Hearted Snowman. Claire was overjoyed, and she was getting a little worried at first when she couldn'tt find us in the audience but once we were located her little hand couldn't stop waving.

Haffner Christmas Tree for 2009 (Daddy saves the beautiful blue jacket and orange gloves just for the occasion)

Ahh, I just love this one of Grace!!

Grace is looking forward to Santa's visit! She loves hunting for Christmas lights, and then yells out, at the top of her lungs, I see one. She enjoys the festive baking and is a great little helper. I look forward to her little eyes on Christmas morning.

Claire decorating her treehouse and own tree.

Though Grandma Tangeman is no longer with us, her Christmas Spirit lives on in Claire. Claire really wanted her own little tree for her treehouse, so Saturday night in the snow we went out. She decorated it and added lights. It looks fabulous, and Claire's comment was "my heart is so full of Christmas spirit right now!" Ahh...this what it is all about!

From our house to yours, we wish you a wonderful holiday season and all the best for 2010!!

Merry Christmas from the Haffner Girls and Boy ;-)

We're Back!

2009-11-02T16:48:00.000-08:00

We’re back!!! Yes a few months have passed us by, but we are back to say that we are happy and healthy (most of the time). The girls are doing extremely well. Claire started Kindergarten this fall and is in the Montessori stream. She has made many friends, not that we are surprised from our social butterfly, and has an amazing teacher! She is also playing soccer this year and so far is enjoying it. Grace is up to trouble and in to everything. This girl keeps us on our toes. Just ask Uncle Lonnie who lives downstairs…she is a loud one ;-). She loves taking Claire to school and when she awakens from her nap instantly asks, “Where’s Care?” Mike has gone back to work, and he is teaching high school again. He is working in the science and math departments, as well as coaching basketball. Myself, I am the manager/cook/event coordinator/cleaner but happy to be at home with my little ones at this time in our lives!

Rapunzel, Rapunzel let down your hair.

Good Times!

2009-04-20T19:57:00.000-07:00

We have spent the last month having birthday bonanza at our house! Gracie turned 2 on March 15th and Claire turned 5 on April 9th. I think they both ended up having two parties each and throw Easter in there too. It has been a lot of fun to say the least. The girls are doing really well. Grace is talking up a storm and we understand about half of it. Claire never stops talking, so Mike is enjoying his days. All of you with more than two children, we don't know how you do it.

Claire is starting soccer tomorrow for the first time. We are curious to see what she thinks of it and how she handles it. I guess this will tell if she has the Markley competitive edge or the Haffner calmness. We'll keep you posted.

Grace is our pistol! She screams, throws and runs after Claire. Remember how calm she was as a baby-we didn't know what was coming. In the end, they are perfect!! :)

Happy New Year!

2009-01-01T11:04:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! We have been snowed in here in the Pacific Northwest. We actually even awoke to snow for our first morning of 2009! We spent Christmas this year at my parents' cottage in Secret Cove. We originally had planned to leave Christmas Eve; however, the weather report was calling for a snow storm on the 24th. So spur of the moment we decided to leave on the 23rd. I had 3 hours to pack the entire family, while Mike ran out to find cables for the car. It took him 3 hours to get out to Surrey and back, and when he did return he had to put the roof rack and cargo box on the car which didn’t want to go on. Let’s just say Mike made it on the naughty list this year for his vocabulary! Now many of you know we have to take a ferry to my parents’ so timing was crucial and to add to that Mike’s sister was waiting for us in North Van. We ended up leaving 45 minutes later than planned, made it to the ferry where they proceeded to tell us that the ferry was running an hour late! We laughed, in the end we were lucky we did leave right away as we would have never made it there on the 24th. Christmas was beautiful with all the snow and the roaring fire, and Santa was good to us all!

Wishing everyone a happy and healthy 2009!

Gracie helping decorate the house for the holiday season.

Snow time!

The three grandkids.

One of the birds that my mom likes to feed.

Halloween Fun

2008-11-04T21:09:00.000-08:00

I hope everyone had a happy Halloween! We lucked out as the rain held off, so no rain coats needed. The girls and I had a wonderful night, as all three of us were Snow White! I have to thank Michelle for loaning me her costume which was a hit with the girls and at school with my grade 1 class. Much chocolate was had, actually too much for mom and dad! Saturday night Mike and I both felt sick from over indulging in treats!! Grace quickly figured out what to do, by stating "pick or peat." And she held tight to her bag of chips. Claire also was a fast learner yelling out to Mike before the neighbour's door had closed, "Daddy I need to empty my bag in Grace's, mine's full!" Hugs to everyone!

The Best of Summer '08

2008-09-21T09:01:00.000-07:00

Summer '08 was a lot of fun! I've attached an assortment of pictures from our summer adventures!

Testing our first patch of tomoates.

Raspberry picking with two young girls meant a lot of berries in their mouths not in the buckets!

Lots of park trips.

Cottage style bathing.

Hanging out at Secret Cove with Grandma, Grandpa and Ty.

We went camping twice this summer, once to Harrison with our neighbours (we forgot our camera :( and with the Geekie Gang to Golden Ears.

Tristan making his moves!

Claire's first day of school and note the Tree House is done!!

And our last fun event was spent at Playland! Notice my face in the picture below. I guess I'm not as brave as I used to be.

Till next summer, when the sun appears again ;-)

Cast Away

2008-08-25T21:01:00.000-07:00

As some of you already know, Gracie had a cast applied to her right foot and leg this morning! She has in-toeing issues that we have been watching for awhile now. We recently met with a surgeon who stated that Grace has "metatarus varus", a twist in her right foot and to help fix this she needs a cast applied. Then after that she has to wear "special" shoes for 23 hours a day untill she grows out of them. We were told this morning that she needs to have the cast on for 4 weeks, and that it can't get wet, so only sponge baths! Yippee!

Grace was such a trooper! She watched patiently while the doctors applied the cast, didn't cry or fuss. That's our girl :) Below are some pictures from today.

I might have a cast on but I can still destroy my room!

Nothing is stopping me from walking!

This is my favourite: "I went to the hospital and all I got was this stupid cast" Also note: bad hair day!

Sunnyvale Miniatures

2008-07-24T13:15:00.000-07:00

June was a busy month for us! As we also had the privilege of visiting Sunnyvale Miniatures in the Columbia Valley. http://www.sunnyvaleminiatures.com/
My dear friend Jennifer (often referred to as my 'tall, blonde friend who I played basketball with in high school') invited us to visit her Dad and Heather's farm. They started this farm as a retirement venture and have been loving it ever since. I believe they have up to around 50 miniatures now. We had such a great time! Heather and John were great hosts and we can't wait to go back! Both girls had the opportunity to ride a miniature horse, as well we saw one that was only 4 days old at the time.

Kaia, Melissa, Jennifer and Grace (Kaia is only three weeks older than Gracie).

Cutie Kaia!

Claire working on the farm (Claire recalls the horse's name as Butterfly).

Gracie enjoying a twirl.

Claire going for a ride with help from Heather and Jennifer's niece.

Gracie and Kaia going for a ride.

June Extravaganza!

2008-07-24T10:03:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone! I hope you all are enjoying your summer. It's been awhile so I thought I would start with June. Claire finished her "Tiny Tot Programme" which happened to be at Century House where Mike and I used to live. Mike finished his school year and said good-bye to Scott Creek Middle as he will be off next year and they do not hold his job for him, so he will start something new in Sept. 09. And my Dad retired on June 27th! It was a lovely day! The sun was shining on the Sunshine Coast and many friends and family made a special trip to celebrate with him.

Congratulations Dad!

The girls are happy and healthy! Grace is fully walking and into everything!! Claire is a socialite enjoying every opportunity to play with her friends. I have more great pics, so I'll be posting a lot in the next week.

Grace has to feed herself!

7 Fascinating Facts

2008-06-06T14:52:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

Sorry for the delay in blog posts! We have been having or I should say still are having computer difficulties and we are so busy we can’t even get the computer in to be looked at!

So my dear friend Carolyn (check out her blog: momsontheedge.typepad.com) has, in blogger lingo, “tagged” me. It is very similar to a chain letter, and I’m supposed to:
- Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird
- Tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs

Since I haven’t posted in 7 weeks, I thought it’d be fitting to share 7 “fascinating” facts about the Haffners!

1. First Steps

Gracie has started walking! She is not consistent though. She much prefers to walk on her knees or crawl as it is much faster. I can understand this as I’m sure it gets her out of her sister’s clutches a lot faster! ;-)

2. Tree House

Mike has begun construction on a tree house for the girls! Claire is anxiously awaiting its completion so she can hold a “tree house party” for all her friends with “balloons and cake!” Claire thinks of any reason to have cake.

3. Road Trip

The girls, Grandma and myself went on a road trip for the May long weekend to Yakima. Claire loves it there and when I asked why she loves it so much, her first response was: “because my family gives me giftis.” (yes that is how she said gifts). And then she said “because I love them!” Good recovery kid. (The girls with Cousin Laura)

4. House Husband

Not sure if you have heard the news but Mike is going to be a 'house husband' this September. I am returning to work full-time in the fall to teach grade 1 and Mike has been granted an education leave from his work.

5. Olympian

Claire has been taking gymnastics these past few months! She clearly has inherited the Haffner genes as I don’t see Olympic gymnast on her future resume. I’m going to post her trampoline routine soon to watch. I’ll let you know when I do.

6. Spring is Here

Last Friday myself, Grace, Claire and her friend Victoria headed up to our local park to play. We were there not even 15 minutes before the girls noticed an injured bird on the ground and yes it was alive! My first thought was why me!! Because of course I couldn’t leave it there, but what was I going to do with it? And the girls were so concerned about it! So I’m phoning friends trying to find out where I can take this bird with Grace in one hand, so she doesn’t crawl out of sight and Claire and Victoria watching the bird. In the end I called Mike’s parents, who brought me a box and we took the bird to the Wildlife Rescue Centre which is located at Burnaby Lake. We got it there still breathing but were told it was in “critical condition.” It was a profound trip for all and Claire talked about if for days afterwards!

7. Tomatoes

And my last tid bit, with the help of Mike’s Dad we have planted tomatoes which according to Mike are Claire’s responsibility to water. So I’ll let you know how they turn out!

I hope you all are doing well and till my next post….
(PS I don’t know 7 bloggers so I’m by passing my last rule to follow, shhhh)

Party! Party! Party!

2008-04-16T14:54:00.000-07:00

Since Gracie turned one it has been a month full of parties. Between both girls' birthdays and two friends' baby showers, we have been or I should say I have been quite busy ;-)

Last week Claire turned 4! She had a family night on Wednesday and then on the weekend she had her first kids only party. She had five of her friends over and it was a great day! The kids were so good! And we had lots of fun. Plus the sun came out for a one day appearance so luck was on our side.

The girls are doing well! Grace is into EVERY thing! It is so funny because when you catch her ripping Claire's drawings for example and call her name, she drops what she has and makes a mad dash out of the room. She is crawling and standing. Today she stood for the first time not holding on to anything while drinking her milk. Claire is happy and healthy and making us work hard at our jobs of being parents everyday. :)

Till next time!

Princess Claire with her new set of wheels!

Yummy...cake!

Party bubbles! Get it Alexis!

Happy Haffner Family!

Happy Birthday Grace!

2008-03-15T21:35:00.000-07:00

Happy 1st Birthday Gracie Girl!!

As I sit here writing my two beautiful girls are fast asleep from all the joy and excitement of celebrating Grace's first birthday! It was a special day! We had a "Winnie-the-Pooh" party and it was a hit. She was spoiled with wonderful gifts. Thank you to all our family and friends who helped make this day a special one. Here are a few pictures, enjoy. :)

\
Kaia and Grace "bow sisters."

The older gang: Claire, Victoria, Alexis and Samantha.

Trying to get a group shot!
L-R:Tristan, Claire, Victoria, Kaia, Solenne, Alexis, Samantha and Grace

Great Grandma Ruth, Grace and Me

Our "Pooh" Girl!

Cellphone

2008-03-05T15:59:00.000-08:00

Who would have thought that I would already be dealing with cellphone issues with one of my girls! Today I received a glimpse into the future of what my life is going to be like with my daughter Claire. Claire has a pretend cellphone and often makes calls to her friends and grandparents telling them about her daily activities. So today she is making a call and this is what I overhear: "Hi Victoria, oh Alexis, hi (I like how she pretended to phone the wrong number) how are you? So my mom threw my artwork in the garbage!" I quickly try to defend myself before she makes anymore pretend calls but too late, as she went on to phone ALL of her friends: "Hi, Eric from across the street, my mom threw my artwork in the garbage!" In my defense I keep tons of her artwork! And I usually recycle too but this piece had so much glue I thought I better put it in the garbage...big mistake. You all will be happy to know that this piece of artwork is proudly hanging on the fridge for all to see.

Sunny Day!!

2008-02-21T09:45:00.000-08:00

Oh...nothing beats the sun and blue sky in Vancouver which is such a treat in February! On that note February is flying by. Grace was 11 months on the 15th and will be turning the big 1 next month. She is crawling and has just started pulling herself up. She has her two bottom teeth and is still working on the top two. Trust me I know this from the early morning calls for mom!

Claire is a fabulous almost four year old! She is still all about pink, purple, dresses, ruffles and anything girlie! This morning when I dropped her off at preschool she was commenting on all the other girls' clothes. "I like your dress" (as it had a big ruffle) and to another girl, "I like your animal boots." The moms and I were laughing, saying only girls and at that same moment a boy comes bounding through the door, whips off his gloves and sunglasses, dropping them to the floor, and jumps up on the seat. Boys and girls two different worlds!

Mike and I are keeping busy as usual! Besides teaching, Mike has been taking classes on the weekends for his Masters, coaching basketball, playing basketball, oh yeah and raising two girls! I am home with the girls during the days, playing volleyball one night a week, helping run my brother's company oh and raising two girls!! Hmmm...now I know why Mike and I are passing ships in the night!

This past weekend Mike had class, so the girls and I headed to my parents' on the Sunshine Coast.

We all went for a hike to the waterfall.

This picture makes me laugh as you can see trying to get a family shot was a little difficult! However, check out the old growth tree.

Here the eagle is leaving the lagoon which my parents' house sits on.

MEL'S DINER

2008-01-24T18:14:00.001-08:00

Somewhere in the midst of becoming a mother I also became a chef. Pretty much from the moment I wake up, till I hit my pillow at night, I live in the kitchen. My day starts with preparing breakfast, serving breakfast, cleaning the breakfast dishes; preparing snack, serving snack, cleaning the snack dishes; preparing lunch, serving lunch, cleaning the lunch dishes; snack again and then dinner which entails more preparation time, and more dishes! And then I go to bed and get up and do it all over again! Oh and I should add busboy to my new found resume, as the amount of crumbs made by the girls are incredible. Really my resume is expanding by the minute. Now I can't take all the credit as my sous chef Michael is a big help. And I guess in the end all that matters are the smiling faces on my customers. Now if I could just find someone to make a fluorescent pink Mel's Diner sign ;-) (only pink for the Haffner girls).

10 Months Old!

2008-01-15T12:24:00.000-08:00

Ok here I go again with "boy how time flies" but it really does! Grace is 10 months old today! Unfortunately she is fighting a cold and the arrival of her third tooth. A lot has happened in the last month. Grace has begun moving, yes she is crawling. She was quite content to stay in the living room at first, however, Claire took it upon herself to show her all the places to go. Grace also has two bottom teeth. Mike and I had forgotten how painful the first tooth can be for the baby and parents. Claire just so happened to get her first tooth when we were on vacation in California. Mike mentioned the other day how he remembers going for a drive and watching the surfers at 4am in the morning!

Claire is doing well. She is a busy body with preschool twice a week and ballet once a week. Claire is all about dresses, princesses and pink! With two girls there is no shortage of pink. Mike often says he is "pinked out."

For those Dirty Dancing fans Grace's shirt says "Nobody puts baby in the corner!"

The Haffner Girls

Happy Holidays from the Haffners

2007-12-16T22:31:00.000-08:00

HO HO…Holy cow it is almost Christmas! I’m amazed that it is already December 16th! Where does the time go? I have a feeling that this is a statement that Mike and I are going to be saying a lot through the years and probably more often as the girls get older. Remember how family members used to comment on “how big” you were getting every time you saw them! Well, not only have I become one of those people, but I now understand why this is said…children grow so fast. Gracie is now nine months old. It is so wonderful to watch her little personality emerge. She talks or I should say babbles all day long with a smile on her face. When she is not babbling, she's contently sucking her thumb. Both girls were content as babies to sit and watch (noticed I put were, as Claire has changed). We are still awaiting Grace’s first tooth and she continues to rock back and forth on all fours but no continuous movement yet. I should add that this is fine with us, as Mike and I are quite content to keep her our little baby for awhile longer. Now I also understand why the baby gets away with so much ;)

From our house to yours, we wish you all the best this holiday season!
Merry Christmas!
Love, Melissa, Michael, Claire and Grace
PS Santa is a good friend of ours...Dave's Dad...shhh!!!

Busy Bees

2007-11-21T15:01:00.000-08:00

I have added a new slide show feature. If you click the left hand corner of the box you will get the menu bar. The menu bar will allow you to pause the picture to look at it at more detail or use the arrows to navigate through. Also I've added captions so click on the writing bubble to see them. Please let me know how it works for you.

We have been quite busy this month and November is almost over! The girls are happy and healthy. They are swimming Saturday mornings and Claire has just started skating lessons at Moody Park Arena. She is doing quite well for her first time on skates. She had a nasty fall the second lesson and didn't want to return, however she persevered (and we received a great tip-for her to wear knee pads).

In the slide show I've added pictures from Halloween. The girls had a great night, Claire more so than Grace as she was pretty sleepy. Claire was lucky to have a school party that day as well. Note the pictures of Claire and Victoria with "make up" on. Victoria is a budding make up artist.

Till next post :)

Pumpkin Pickin'

2007-10-28T21:45:00.001-07:00

Last weekend the HaffnerGirls and Daddy headed out to Aldor Acres in Fort Langley to find the Great Pumpkin! We lucked out with weather as it had been pouring rain in New West but was nice and sunny at the farm. It is always a fun adventure with a hay ride and petting farm.

I love this picture of the girls. They look really amused. Are we having fun girls?

Mike and I have learned with a 71/2 month old and a 31/2 year old that most of your pictures are action shots!! But hey that's what keeps us on our toes and smiling :)

Happy Halloween!

7 Months Old

2007-10-15T19:51:00.000-07:00

Gracie is already 7 months old!! Oh..she is growing up, and look at her already trying to show off her midriff! ;) Grace is sitting up and now when on her belly she tries to put her bum up in the air, like she is getting ready to crawl!! I remember when Claire was this age we patiently waited with excitement for her next milestone accomplishment. But with Grace I want her to stay a baby! I guess it is because with Claire we knew we were having another one, but with Grace she is most likely our last, we think ;) No, I'm not pushing her bum back down, I leave that up to her sister. When I was pregnant with Grace a mom of a student I taught told me: "Don't worry you'll love the second as much as the first!" And oh how we love this little girl.

A little Gene Simmons for you.

14 Years!!

2007-10-01T09:41:00.000-07:00

High School Graduation 1994

I know the title of the blog is Haffner Girls, but let's face it there wouldn't be any haffner girls without Melissa and Mike! So today is about Mommy and Daddy. Mike and I met for the first time fourteen years ago today. We both were in our senior year at high school. Mike at STM and myself at NWSS. It seems like yesterday, but clearly it wasn't ;)
It was a Saturday night and I was babysitting. The family I was sitting for lived next to a friend who was having a party (yes, good old Rory's house). After I was finished I walked over to see my friends. When I got there Amy, my dear friend to this day, said to me, "I've got the guy for you!" We met that night and lived happily ever after!

Our Wedding, June 30th, 2001

And here we are today! Mini Mike and Mini Melissa.

6 Months Old

2007-09-17T19:45:00.000-07:00

Name: Grace Sandra Haffner
Age: 6 Months old
Weight: 18 pounds
Hair: brown
Likes: Long walks in the stroller, jumping in the jolly jumper, laughing at her sister, eating (all the time), and sucking her thumb!
Dislikes: Sleeping on her back, and probably the head butts from her sister.

Grace can be found spending most of her time sleeping in her crib. When not sleeping, she is enjoying her many toys, of course on approval of Sister Claire (I realized the other day that the girls have names suitable for a convent- Sister Claire and Sister Grace…hmm). Grace is looking forward to her swimming lessons starting, and her first Thanksgiving meal!

Summer

2007-08-22T21:11:00.000-07:00

It is hard to believe that summer is already coming to an end. The sun is setting earlier and the evenings now have a chill in the air instead of a warm summer breeze.

The summer has gone quickly for us (Mike has less than two weeks left before the start of school). We just returned home from Secret Cove where we celebrated my Dad’s 60th birthday (the secret is out Dad). We always have a wonderful time. It is Claire’s special spot, as my parents’ cottage overlooks their own lagoon.

Grace is enjoying her first summer. She has started eating! Mike and I work hard to prepare her gourmet meal of rice cereal twice a day and she has even tried banana. She is enjoying both, however I think her palate is craving more; we’ll keep you posted.

Claire is growing like a weed and since her April 9th birthday has grown 1 and half inches. Mike and I can’t believe how she is such a little girl now. Claire and her friend Victoria took dance lessons this summer. Claire loved it as everyday she could wear her ballerina outfits! She is looking forward to heading back to play school in September, as she has been talking about it a lot lately.

Enjoy the rest of the summer!

Grandpa and Claire rowing in the lagoon.

Mmmm...rice cereal.

First day of dance class. Where does it come from???

Little ballerinas Clarie and Victoria. Claire is wearing the same blue leotard I wore when I was her age.

Single Mom

2007-07-22T22:32:00.001-07:00

University of Oregon CampusThat’s right Mike has left me, but don’t worry it’s not for another woman. As many of you know Mike is in Oregon right now working on his Masters of Education for a month. We are now 2 weeks in and only 2 more to go. We are keeping quite busy: family reunion in Merritt, trip to Gabriola Island, and off to Secret Cove this week. I must say I’ve gotten into a groove with the girls, but the one thing I’ve noticed that I miss is adult conversation. Notice I wrote adult, as Claire talks non stop. I love how she tells me she is hungry and then continues telling me until the food is actually in her mouth.

Home of the Ducks
The girls are both happy and healthy. Gracie changes everyday and now has started squealing and chatting. Her smile makes Claire and I melt. Claire continues to be a princess. She doesn’t go far without her crown and changes from a fairy to a princess and back to Claire within minutes. You never know exactly what to call her but don’t worry she informs you right away: “Mommy I’m not Claire, I’m Snow White. Say hi Snow White.”
The girls will play when Daddy is away! (Photo "Captured by Amy")
Princess Claire (Photo "Captured by Amy")

Happy Canada Day!

2007-07-01T18:08:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Canada! Now imagine the first things a three old thinks of when she hears that it is someone's birthday: cake, gifts, balloons, an overall great party. So when I told Clarie that today is Canada's birthday, she asked the usual questions a three old would ask: is Canada a boy or girl and when are we going to Canada's house? Too cute. Grace enjoyed the festivities doing what she does best, sleeping.
Hope you had a good one!

Gracie Girl

2007-06-21T14:57:00.001-07:00

Grace is 14 weeks now (boy time flies). She is doing really well and is quite a trooper enduring many hugs and kisses from her big sister, at times a little too strong. She is weighing in at 14 pounds and 8 ounces, and she is almost 26 inches in length. She has begun to laugh and rolled over today for the first time! Many people have been curious to know if she looks like Claire did at this age, so I've included a picture of Grace at 3 months and one below of Claire at 3 months, you be the judge. One thing that is noticeably of course is Grace's hair is darker. Gracie has become quit the socialite and below are pictures of her friends Kaia (Jennifer and Rick's daughter) and Tristan (Jamie and Nicole's son).
Grace-3 months old.
Claire-3 months old.
Kaia-4 months old and serious Grace-3 months and 1 week old. And yes they are wearing the same outfit. In school Jennifer and I always had a liking for the same clothing and often bought the same stuff, so we thought it'd be cute to do the same to our daughters.
Tristan-11 weeks old and Grace-14 weeks old.

Graduation

2007-06-12T22:55:00.000-07:00

This past weekend Mike and I packed up the girls and headed to Yakima, WA for my cousin Jimmy's graduation. Claire was so excited that she didn't sleep one minute in our 6 hour drive there. It brought back many fond memories of my many family trips to Yakima, and this time I was heading there with my own family. The girls were great, Claire had the best time. She went swimming, stayed up really late and saw Shrek 3. When we were leaving on Sunday she kept asking to go to Aunt Cindy's house and she said she didn't want to go. It is so neat to see Claire gain that special love for our family there just as I have. In two years my cousin Laura is graduating, Jimmy's sister. We will head back and at that time Gracie will get to enjoy the festivities.

My Aunt Peggy, Uncle Brad (mom's brother), Jimmy and Laura.

Claire and Jimmy after the ceremonies.

Ah....sister and brother.

Family

2007-06-12T22:25:00.001-07:00

My cousin Jimmy(18) and Gracie (3 months).
My cousin Laura(16) and my cousin Chad's daughter Alexa (13).
Chad and Jessica's son Tristan (2) Eating a huge strawberry!
Claire (3) enjoying a swim.

Fairy Tale Ball

2007-06-05T13:58:00.001-07:00

On Thursday I took the girls to visit my school. The grade one classes I was working in this year have been studying fairy tales and to commence the ending of this unit the teachers and parents put on a Fairy Tale Ball! All the children dress up as their favourite character. The teachers rented costumes of Snow White and Red Riding Hood. Well Claire was in love with Snow White, she couldn't wait to have a picture with her but when it was time she played shy.
( I miss this view!)
Lesley a.k.a Snow White with Claire and Grace.

COOL RIDER

2007-05-22T13:41:00.001-07:00

For Claire’s birthday we thought we’d get her interested in riding. So we went out and bought her a helmet, which also came with an added bonus of elbow and knee pads. Claire decided she wanted to wear it all. She put it all on and we headed up to the park. Now Mike and I had in our heads how this wonderful moment would go, we’d teach her how to use the tricycle and a way she would go pedalling around. In the end Claire had nothing to do with us and decided to use her feet and forget the pedals. And you can see in the last picture she gave up pretty fast. Who can blame her; it was a lot quicker to run.

Happy Mother's Day

2007-05-13T16:56:00.000-07:00

Here are my Top 5 for You Know You Are A Mom When:
#5 You know you are a mom when you walk into a clothing or shoe store and head straight to the kid's section.
#4 You know you are a mom when you enjoy grocery shopping on a Friday night all by yourself!

#3 You know you are a mom when you are driving in your car singing away to your child's favourite CD, only to realize half way through your trip that your kids aren't even in the car!
(Glad I'm not the only one that does this ;)
#2 You know you are a mom when you go to the dentist and find it relaxing to sit in the dental chair.
And the #1 reason you know you are mom when you walk around in public with crayon, paint and baby puke stains on your clothes and YOU DON'T CARE!

Happy Mother's Day

First Kiss

2007-05-11T14:20:00.000-07:00

Claire is enjoying Grace's milestones just as much as we are. She was thrilled when Grace started smiling. Now every time Grace smiles at her Claire states, "Mommy Grace is smiling at me." The other night Claire leaned in to give Grace a kiss good night and starts yelling, "Mommy she did her first kiss!" "She kissed me!" I didn't have the heart to tell her that Grace was just really hungry.
Here are some other pictures of our Princess Grace. Claire has been working on being a princess for the last three years and now is recruiting her sister to join her side. This last picture makes laugh. P.S. our little princess is weighing in at 12 pounds now!

Happy Birthday Daddy

2007-05-06T21:18:00.000-07:00

Make it.
Decorate it.
Eat it.

(Prince Eric also got an invite to the party but misread his invitation as clothing optional.)

Today Mike turned 31! Claire has been excited all week. She had the plan of making the cake when Mike was at work and then hiding it. Also Claire and I went shopping for his present where she got him a dinosaur and a cobra snake. However I think something is up as she has been playing with them since she made him open the present at 7:30am this morning. Mike's Aunt Christa and Uncle Jack had us over for brunch this morning and the last picture is my attempt of trying to get three adults, a preschooler, a baby and a dog to cooperate, oh yes and a doll too.

Sleeping Like a Baby

2007-05-04T09:24:00.000-07:00

We’ve all heard the expression sleeping like a baby and that is exactly what Grace has been doing since she’s been born. But the parents on the other hand, now that is a different story. After the baby is born your world revolves around sleep; that is all you think about, that is all people want to talk about: how is the baby sleeping, are you getting much sleep? Now for the moms the baby starts preparing us towards the end of pregnancy with the frequent trips to the bathroom, but you’ll see from these photos below that the dads don’t feel the lack of sleep till the baby arrives. From these photos you’d think Mike was getting up in the middle of the night to feed.

Of course I had to add one of Claire sleeping and check out her sleeping partner, Prince Eric (from the Little Mermaid) with his clothes off.

Welcome Grace Sandra

2007-04-30T11:33:00.000-07:00

On March 15th, 2007 at 9:26pm weighing in at 8lbs. 14 oz. another Haffner Girl was born, Grace Sandra. Grace and her big sister Claire, who turned 3 on April 9th, are the inspiration and reason for this blog. They are growing up so fast and I'd love to share with you their stories and pictures of them as they grow. Of course I'll also share my anecdotes of a mom of two, and let's just say you thought one was hard ;)

"Be Prepared"

If you ever were a Brownie, Girl Guide or Pathfinder you know their motto is "Be Prepared." And this is a motto that you take to heart as you embark on a new baby! You prepare your house, the baby's room, food and your older child. However the stories and explaining didn't prepare Claire for her new baby sister or I should say didn't prepare her for her mommy's time to be occupied. Claire has been amazing towards Grace, hugs and kisses galore. But there were a hard couple of weeks where Claire was quite mad at Mommy and Daddy, and she pulled out all the stops. However today she is herself again and it is so nice to see my little girl back.

Now to explain the shirt, it was a gift from Auntie Jenny, as she overheard a conversation between Mike and Claire. Claire had asked for something in her "independent" voice and Mike had replied, "You’re demanding," where Claire responded with "I'm not demanding, I'm Claire."