It found us...

Apparently T1 has H1N1. G is off to the Dr now - pretty sure he has it too. T2 and I are fine so far. I am nervous because T1 has a history of lung problems and G and I both have asthma (T1 does too). Mine is only triggered by illness but when it does - boy is it ever bad : (

Hoping we can all get through this relatively unscathed.

*update* G called - he does have it too

Finding a tiny piece of peace.....

I wanted a Dyson vacuum for a long time before I got one. There was nothing wrong with my Hoover so I couldn't justify buying one but boy was I tempted. I would drool over the majestic Dyson standing on display in stores and wonder when I could bring one home. A couple of years ago I got one and I swear it more than lived up to my expectations. I vacuumed my clean floor and area rugs and watched with both alarm and satisfaction as I saw the canister filling with dirt that my old vac had over looked. Upstairs on the carpet was even more horrifying and I thought it was clean already - it looked clean and still had the stripes my old vacuum had left hours earlier. OK enough about it's awesomeness

Fast forward to last week when my Dyson let me down. Something is stuck in there somewhere and even though G took it apart, he was unable to reach the offending piece that caused Dyson to be so sick. The hose part was still working so I continued to do the best job I could lugging the upright vacuum along while trying to suck up every fleck of glitter, dog hair and crumb. Walking around barefoot today I discovered that I was being unsuccessful as I could feel gritty dust underfoot. Reluctantly I grabbed my broom from the laundry room and swept through the house. Our new house has only hard floors thankfully.

As I was sweeping and marveling at the growing pile of dust and doggy hair I noticed how peaceful it was - no roaring vacuum motor, no sound of things clunking into the plastic canister. I could hear my laundry swishing, the dog snoring, the sound of T1 turning the pages of his book from the warmth of his bed prior to going to sleep, the rhythmic breathing of T2in dreamland. I was thrilled with the pile my trusty broom gathered, I felt a strange connection to a time before vacuums and other noisy gadgets - the simplicity of a wooden stick and a bunch of bristles with no parts to get clogged or malfunction - how could a broom let me down?

My Dyson will eventually be fixed and I am sure I will continue to use it but I must remember once in a while to pull out that broom and enjoy some peace while cleaning up the remnants of our day that have fallen to the floor.

The things kids say...

T2 asked me this week...

"Mommy when it's winter, can I have some snow headphones to keep my ears warm?"

She was thrilled when I found an old pair of ear muffs in with the hats and mitts and has worn them each day since!

Random interview with 4 year old

I decided to ask T2 a bunch of random questions....

What is your favourite colour? Pink and Purple
What is your favourite animal? Pigmy Marmoset
What is your favourite food? Pizza
What colour are your eyes? Greeny blue
What colour is your hair? Brown
What do you like to play with? my pony and stuffed animals
Who is your best friend? Kaitlyn Morgado
What does a donkey say? heeee honk
What does a cow eat? hay and so does a horse
Where do bananas come from? sometimes from the store and sometimes from trees I think
How do you make a sandwich? All you have to do is put something on the bread and then I put another piece of bread on top - that's how I make a sandwich
Where do worms live? Holes and in apples
How many feet do you have? 2
What letter does your name start with? tuh Teee
What does Mommy like to eat? salad
What does Mommy like to drink? club soda
Where does coffee come from? coffee stores like Tim Hortons
What do you want to be when you grow up? A fireman girl
How do you feel today? Good and I don't think I sneezed anymore

Getting there

After way more computer problems than I ever thought possible - it seems we are on our way to have both computers healthy once more. G still has to reinstall a bunch of things and locate files but everything seems to be working so far yayyyyyyyyyy

We've been busy around here settling into school - grade 4 for T1 and K for T2. Both seem very happy with their new school and teachers. Of course back to school has meant all kinds of things coming home with the kids - field trip forms, library books, mail, mail and more mail and of course germs and it has been snot central around here for a month but thankfully nothing serious.

Today we awoke to the first frost of the season - it looked so pretty outside with the grass glistening. I am excited to see what it's like in our new surroundings when we get snow - a pretty sight I am sure.

I've been batch cooking and stocking up the freezer, planning for upcoming festivities - Halloween and of course December celebrations. We just enjoyed Thanksgiving weekend here with a trip to a conservation area Thanksgiving festival which was so much fun - pics to follow.

Today after I had completed some of the chores on my never ending list, I wrapped up warm and sat out on the deck. It was so nice out there - bright and sunny, cool and crisp - soon it will be too cold to be outside more than is necessary so I need to remind myself to make the most of it while it's pleasant outside.

As soon as my photo software is reinstalled I will add some pictures of what we have been up to lately.

Where am I today?

I posted over at Mom's Marbles today. I hope to be back here next week : )

grrrrrr

I have one computer in the shop and another that will only work on safe mode. I can't upload pictures or access my stored pictures and it is driving me crazy. I haven't been able to share anything because of this. I believe my sickest computer will be discharged from the 'puter hospital in the next day or two - yayyyyy then I can show you our fun day at the apple farm : ) and a few other things we have done recently.

Happy Fall

Where am I today?

I'm over at Mom's Marbles. It's great place for tips, ideas, sanity savers and more - stop by and say hi : )

9/11

I'm holding my family a little closer and thinking of all those who lost family 8 years ago today.

It's a day we'll never forget. On that fateful day we were living in a hotel in NY awaiting the completion of our house build. We were about 30 miles from NYC. G and I happened to be in the hotel that morning and for some strange reason turned on the TV which we never did at that time of day. We were watching the footage and trying to figure out what was going on and saw the second plane hit live. I knew several people in NYC that day and not being able to make contact was agonizing.

The days that followed provided endless reminders of the horror of that day. We had no way of communicating via phone/email. The hotel filled with bewildered people denied access to their NYC apartments. The constant news and updates on TV. The silent sky.The fear.The endless stream of emergency and construction site vehicles heading towards NYC. Road blocks everywhere. The shocked and despairing look on every face around us. The need for everyone to talk to anyone about it just to work through it.

The sight of so many stars and stripes in the weeks that followed was so utterly moving. To feel and see so many people pulling together offering help in all ways possible. The combined hope that maybe a pocket of survivors would be found even though it slowly dwindled to the hope of even a single survivor. A miracle.

We paid our respects at Ground Zero while it was still burning (and several times since). The silence was erie. The magnitude more real when there in person and seeing the aftermath.

We were lucky that we didn't lose any loved ones but like so many others I lost a little piece of myself that day and will never forget.

I totally forgot to mention.....

Huds the dog, who left a few weeks ago for phase two of his dog guide training, was released from the program and into our home forever. During a routine eye exam it was discovered that Huds has cataracts in one eye and therefore could not continue with the program. It's a shame for the organization but we were so happy to officially adopt him and bring him home to stay. He was so excited to see us again and went absolutely crazy, squealing and loving on us. He's been back for a while now and it's like he never left, other than the shedding which I didn't miss! So we are officially a family of five with the fifth being the hairy one!

Welcome home Hudsy (who only gets called Hudson when he does something naughty - which is almost never)

T2 quote

"this is the most ruinous day ever.....can we still go in the hot tub?"

It's all about girl drama around here!

More MOM Time

More Mom time doesn't only apply to being a Mom. Although I am trying to give more of myself to my kids, I am also trying to give more of myself to myself and have been working on some projects. One - a skirt for T2 is complete but the quilt for my itty bitty Niece still needs some work. I've never made a quilt before but I'm pretty pleased with it so far.

Another reason why I love Summer

Locally grown produce at the Farmer's Market

Face paints - not just for faces!

Last week the kids and I had fun with some face paints that T2 received as a Birthday gift. T2 wanted her face painted but then we moved on from faces to...





Face painting - not just for kids!

BOO!

Birthday reflections

T2 had a great Birthday, spending the day at the beach, Birthday cards in the mail and packages to open at dinner time. As with Tobin's Birthday, I wrapped her gifts in plain paper and wrote words describing her on each one.



She also enjoyed a party with her friends at our place with pizza and cupcakes.



loot 'bags'

Welcome new followers

I'd love to get to know you : )

Quoting T1

"I don't know if I even know the words to describe how much I love living here".

Ditto kiddo. There's nothing quite like validation from a very happy kid. Moving away from familiarity was a gamble. T1 doesn't handle change well (all part of Asperger Syndrome) we knew this could be really tough on him even though we knew in the long run it could be great for our family. To hear him spontaneously share that he's happy here is more than I could ever have wished for. I told him that I thought it was the best thing we ever did, moving here. He agreed - he actually agreed with me lol!!!

: )

Happy Birthday to my sweet and special girl. I can't believe this time 4 years ago, I had no idea today would be the day I would finally meet her scrunched up red little face and my life would be changed forever just as it was over 9 years ago when T1 arrived. She was so eager to embrace the world that I didn't even need to push her out, one grunt and there she was (if only the rest of the labour had been that easy lol!). In the early weeks she cried and cried, if only I had known she was simply hungry even though all I seemed to do was feed her. It took a while and what felt like constant nursing to get her back to her birth weight but eventually we made it. before long we were rewarded with smiles meant only for us - a reminder that all the tears of the early weeks - both hers and mine were worth it.
Now, she is readying for Kindergarten in just a few short weeks, her back pack and lunch bag already purchased. She's ready. I am not. She's funny, cheeky, full of drama and has fully mastered the art of whining and sulking, she loves my company and wants us to chat all the time. She has created 2 new words "Betwards" and "Benext", both seem to mean in close proximity to but are clearly to be used in different situations. She loves pink and purple, friends, animals both real and the toy kind, she misses Huds the dog a lot. She seems to worry a lot that she doesn't yet know what she wants to be when she grows up.
T1 has a lisp. When we named her, my Mum loved the name but voiced that she hoped she disn't have a lisp as there's an s in it. Sure enough this wriggly red faced baby was a tongue thruster and continues to be. Nearly every picture of her as a baby has her little tongue poking out at the top of her mouth. This will be addressed when school starts - in some ways if it stops, I will miss it - it is part of her.
Long gone are the days of nursing (she quit of her own accord the week she turned one - when offered one day, she looked at me as if to say "what are you doing, put it away" and that was that), diapers, nap time diapers, naps, crib, stroller, soothers, crawling, baby steps, pureed food (that at all times had to contain sweet potatoes, even though she was turning orange), highchair, baby swing, infant car seat, chubby thighs and wrists, red teething cheeks, drool and on the shoulder burps. One thing still remains and that is her pink blankie, bought by Grandma when we went to Disneyworld when she was 4 months old - a pack of pretty receiving blankets but she only ever wanted the pink one. It's still intact and 'she' (apparently!) sleeps with T2 every night.
The pink blankie has been joined by long complicated conversations,imaginary games, chosen friends, a love of chili (but not many other foods and she wouldn't even taste sweet potato now), terms of endearment towards her (she 'owns' the name sweet pea - my fave flower- and doesn't like anyone else to be called it), terms of endearment from her - she has taken to calling me things like "my sweet lov-e-lyyyy", "sweet heart" and "my special girl". She's both highly independent and needy. When she wants something, she wants it that second. She doesn't want to be grow up fast or be taller and wants to stay little. If only it were possible to slow down time but all there is to do is savour these moments while she is little and to try and remember them when she's a challenging teenager!

I knew my life would be changed when she arrived - I just didn't realize how much.

Happy 4th Birthday Sweet Pea. xoxox

Super easy beach game for 2 or more people

Build a sandcastle or sand mound, Place a shell or rock on the top in the middle, take turn slicing the sand vertically with a small shovel or stick - can be a thin slice but must go all the way through the castle/mound - try not to be the one to make the rock/shell tumble down. Can also be done at home in a sand box or indoors using a glass of flour, and a button slicing with a blunt knife.









UH OH!



Grandma 1 - T1 nil

Oh, how I love summer

Small town livin'














Introducing Huds the puppy to the lake

So much rain

We've had a lot of rain here lately, heavy, noisy powerful rain with thunder - so cool. It does rather limit our outdoor fun but the best part is when it finally stops and the sun pops out....









Unfortunately our street just got resurfaced and we no longer have deep puddles : (

Easiest mess free sunny activity ever

All you need are: construction paper
few interestingly shaped items
sunshine
Possibly rocks to stop the paper blowing away.

Gather supplies, head outside, arrange items on paper, place rocks in each corner to hold it steady. Forget about it for an hour while the sun kisses the paper. Remove items, oooh and ahh. Can be used as a matching game afterwards

Happy Canada Day!

Project patio hole...

The people who lived here before us had a very odd looking water feature in their backyard. It was an ugly head spouting water from his mouth, set in the stone work patio. they took the feature with them (thankfully) but that left a hole with a piece of wood over it. When we lifted the wood we found stagnant water and hundreds of dead worms

Step 1 - shop-vac the water out



Step 2 - fill with dirt





Step 3 - with Grandad's help, position plant (Clematis brought from old house)



Step 4 - sweep up dirt



Step 5 - add obelisk,water plants



Step 6 - water dog also

Return of the Huds

We were so sorry to say goodbye to Hudson when he left us recently to be assessed for his potential to be a seizure response dog. We were very excited when the organization called and asked if we would like him to come and stay for 3 weeks. He was not selected for seizure response but is now being considered for the seeing eye dog program but the trainer is not available for 3 weeks. G drove the 4 hour round trip to collect him shortly after the surprise phone call. He was so pleased to see us that he was squealing and making Scooby-Doo sounds.

We're so happy to have him home with us again



I think he's pretty happy too

Fun at the zoo

Yesterday before some crazy weather hit, we enjoyed half a day at our local zoo.



T2 insisted on bringing along her 'my first animal book' to identify the animals





T2's favourite



T1's favourite



Of course it's great to cool down before heading back to the car as T1 demonstrates.

Oops I forgot.....

When you're a girl of almost 4 years and you graduate from preschool - what must you do??? Grab your diploma and twirl of course : )

Rocks 2

We haven't quite finished yesterday's rocks - need to add a couple of features but I did make use of some more rocks using acrylic paint and a permanent marker

Our new digs...

We love our new house, the backyard is awesome but the best part is how close we are to.......





I could hang out there every day. It's the perfect distance to bike ride (T1 is not a fan of walking) with T2 in the bike trailer and T1 and I enjoying the breeze through the few strands of hair not encased in our helmets we can be there in about 1o minutes- not many people seem to use this stretch of beach which is perfect. I love the beach : )

Fun with rocks 1

Today I decided it was time to pull out the paint. Hmmmm now what to do for our first craft project in this house? I know decorate some of the many rocks in our new back yard.....









Today they may be red rocks but tomorrow they will be something totally different - any ideas?

A brand new Niece

I became an Aunt for the second time during the night. My brother, his wife and my 6 year old Niece Emily welcomed baby Alice, born at 32 weeks, weighing 3lb 3oz and breathing on her own. We knew the early arrival was imminent and everyone was as best prepared as is possible. Sadly I won't get to meet her anytime soon because they live 3,500 miles away but I'm hoping to see pictures later today. My Niece chose her name - she's a big fan of Alice in Wonderland and she was hoping for a sister. I am both thrilled and a little nervous. I hope the next few weeks for baby Alice will be filled with many more ups than downs : )

Hudson the wonder-dog

We had to bid a very sad farewell to Hudson last week. We fostered him in September and knew he wouldn't be ours forever but knowing that didn't make it any easier to let him go. Hudson was recalled for training to be a seizure response dog. Due to his sensitive nature, it was felt that he would be better suited to that task then being a seeing eye dog. We should know soon whether he's been accepted into the training program. If he isn't, we'll adopt him : ) It is hard because we know his job is an important one and how great he would be, a great companion and would make a difference in someone's life but selfishly we kinda hope he fails so he can come home to us once more. He loved our new back yard with all it's new exciting smells and sounds and so much more space to frolic - sadly he didn't have many days to enjoy it.

We miss him so much and hope he'll be very happy and share his happiness with those around him. T2 now wants a rabbit......

Settling in

We've been the new house 2 weeks and are fairly settled and enjoying exploring our new town. This coming week will be our first proper week - no unpacking keeping me busy and no trips back to our old town for appointments or anything.
Also this coming week, I'll begin a homeschool trial. We have decided to register both kids for school for September (we'll bike to the school tomorrow (aah the joys of biking places - loving it, although my butt is complaining!) with all the paperwork)but we will give homeschooling a trial run over the summer - nothing too intense - it is the summer after all! If T1 responds well to it, then we'll keep going. He's off his ADD meds and doing really well without them. He notices the difference too - he's less argumentative and bossy and where he was constantly correcting the three of us on everything we said - he is hardly doing that now. I'm hoping that if we homeschool that we'll be able to keep off the meds which definitely helped him in the chaotic classroom environment but shouldn't be necessary when it's just us working at his pace and allowing thing to go in the direction that works best for him. We haven't decided what to do about T2 and whether she'll be starting K or not.
Hopefully we can get back into some fun activities this coming week - can't wait!

Who knew...?

Seriously, who knew how little it takes top keep a kid entertained? Not me, that's for sure.With only 3 days until moving day (at last), almost everything is packed, yet the kids are managing without all their stuff just fine. T1 finds it a little harder because he loves Lego and it's packed away but he's rediscovered the sandbox and a few small cars that were buried and has been happy to while away decent chunks of time (he finished school a month early due to the move). T2 has discovered the joy of rocks - small ones that are great for counting, stacking, rinsing, serving as food to stuffed animals and even treasure to be searched for and joyously discover. Does that mean we will be donating all our toys - no, but I think they will be excited to rediscover their long lost (OK - short lost - you know what I mean) toys and collections of stuff - I'll be rediscovering my stuff too!

Surrounded by chaos...

...it's hard to breathe. I find mess and disorder energy draining - G doesn't get that at all and would happily live in this sea of boxes and clutter all the time (is this a guy thing?). It's hard to focus on anything else, the craft supplies and most of the toys are packed, the dog is banned from setting a paw on the carpeted areas of the house now that we have steam cleaned the last of the puppy paw prints from a rather unfortunately timed romp through the house after playing in the mud recently. The basement is out of bounds as it is a sea of G's tools and half packed boxes, two bathrooms are cleaned, locked and not to be used by us ever again and the family room is half it's usual size as more and more boxes find their way to the main floor and therefore closer to their exit and are stacked at one end of the room.

Today I just had to get out, couldn't stand to look at the boxes for another second. Knowing I wouldn't be doing anything fun or productive in the house, I grabbed drinks and snacks, slathered two girls in sunscreen and headed on an adventure. In all honesty it was just a trip to a local park but not one we had visited yet this year and in the opposite direction that we usually walk. Once at the park I parked myself on a bench, let T2 and K go as crazy as they wished and just sat, didn't do a thing - no packing, no planning, no stressing. I just sat. It was just what I needed.

Our return walk took us through "the forest" as T2 likes to call it. A shady trail that led us back home. I walked in the door and the chaos and boxes were there to greet me - but they didn't seem quite as monstrous and menacing as they had only a couple of hours before.

Through a child's eye

Today I took a break from packing and we walked to the library. My view of a walk alone to the library would be something like this - walk along the residential street, turn at the high school, the library is right next door. I may walk back another way along a more main road, turn right at the Catholic high school, cross the street and I'm home again.

Today T2 gave a running commentary as we walked. She knows the route very well and doesn't like us to deviate even though there are several ways we can walk there. As we strolled along with my bag of books to return on my shoulder and her carrying her "prettyful" unicorn she asked me if we would be going down the mountain before we got to the bend. The 'mountain' is a slight slope that I had never even noticed. As we approached the bend she wanted to check out the waterfall in one of the front yards, then we watched a Robin collecting worms, them we dodged some ants and a potato bug. We turned at the school and she wanted to confirm that we would go in the back door to the library, passed the ice rink that would be closed, past the place that smells of chocolate chip cookies and into the library. After choosing some books and a movie she wanted to have a break and sit on the bench by the curvy wall in the sun, not the shady one. We stopped at our usual spot (I hadn't even noticed that we always choose the same bench) for a drink and a granola bar. Then she needed to walk along the curvy wall, up another mountain and across the secret path (a path worn in the grass from people cutting the corner) and to the store and then to the trail where she wanted to find the big bump in the path (never did find it but she sure knew what she was looking for) to the bridge with no Troll under it, past the fallen down tree, the backyard with the new fence, then along the trail by the soccer field, across the street to collect the mail and home again. So many things that she had noticed or remembered from comments I had previously made as we strolled along. Things I no doubt would have overlooked were I walking alone, when my head would be filled with to-do lists or the nothingness that can sometimes be enjoyed when child free for a few minutes.
The walk takes longer with T2, my shoulder wouldn't ache so much were we to jump in the gas guzzling car and drive there but walking at her pace and seeing it through her eyes is worth way more.

Consumed with moving

We move in less than 3 weeks and there's so much to do. The dog had surgery (minor) but now has an infection (not so minor), trying to decide if T1 should stay in the school system or be homeschooled as Asperger's is now affecting him more greatly - especially combined with ADD and a learning disability and despite being 'gifted' he is falling behind as he doesn't complete his work and therefore gets low grades and the social aspects of school and becoming stressfuol for him as well as us. He's got a sleep clinic appointment coming up, T2 needs an adenoidectomy (no biggy but still a worry), I recently had a biopsy (negative thank goodness). G's work load has increased so his day is stressful - all these little things are adding up and toss in a house move to a town where we know no one and really don't know what to expect and I feel like my head is spinning.

Having barfed all that out (unintentionally) I hope to be back in June between the house move and my parents arrival from UK for a 3 week visit (yay can't wait!!).

The perfect day....

...for a 'hike'.
After the rain of yesterday - the day dawned dry and bright. A trip to the library was in order as I had some books to return. T2 hasn't been on a long walk since she broke her leg last summer. By the time her leg had completely healed and regained it's strength, winter was upon us and it was too cold. I wasn't sure how well she would do. It was awesome. She managed the whole walk, never complained, chattered the whole time.
We walked some of the way on regular residential sidewalks but deviated now and then to the trail paths which were full of Spring life with bird song and plants and rushing water in the streams from the rain.
I decided to take advantage of the forks in the trails by offering her choices of which way we should go next. I emphasized left and right when explaining our options "if we go LEFT, we will go to back home again, if we go RIGHT, we'll head to the library or if we go straight we will go to the High school" She really enjoyed taking charge and deciding which way we needed to go and used the correct left/right after hearing me first. Hopefully a few more 'hikes' and she'll fully grasp the concept.
The weather was perfect but the company was 'perfecter'.

You don't have to be a kid to....

...enjoy puddle jumping! I love the noise as rain boots hit a good puddle with a resounding SPLOSH - the bigger the puddle, the better! It has been raining non stop here today - initially it was raining too hard to go out and enjoy it but once it eased off WAHOOO. T2, K and I were out there donned in rain gear jumping and giggling - fun fun fun. Now back to packing those boxes - groan

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

Our day will be much the same as any other day as I feel that we are pretty kind to the Earth every day. We will take a walk and collect garbage - I'm sure the local High School kids will have left us plenty from their take out lunches grrrr

computer woes

My card reader seems not to be reading cards right now so my pictures will have to remain on my camera.

Yesterday between packing boxes for our house move - T2, K and I enjoyed painting wearing rain boots - dipping our booted feet in trays of paint and walking, jumping and stomping on paper covering the kitchen the floor. The boots made some cool prints!

After a long Winter

This is what it's all about....

T1's project

I finally remembered to take a picture of T1's Pioneer one room school he made for a visual aid to his recent presentation



I think he did a great job : )

Giant chick

Warning - these images may be disturbing to some readers : )



Before we move I need to clean our windows inside and out (why? I have no idea - the new home owners will probably want to do it themselves anyway!). To make this job more worthwhile we decorated one of them with a giant chick for Spring. All you need is washable kid craft paint, a squirt of dish liquid (makes clean up easier) and some willing hands.....







A rare sighting of T1!!









(Tuesday - Window is now clean and shiny and chick free once more)

Wibbly, wobbly egg friends

I'm sure we could have made these more elaborately but we had limited time.

I cut beaks and wings out of craft foam. We used plastic eggs which we weighted with a ball of Play-doh pressed into the base of inside of each one (make sure it is pressed firm). Using regular white craft glue we stuck on the features and tested them out. Sure enough they wobble about and don't fall over!

Letter matching eggs

I drew around an oval cookie cutter to make 26 egg shapes and wrote an upper case letter on the top half and it's matching lower case letter on the bottom, then I cut each egg slightly differently so only the correct letters would match.

After quiet time T2 and K had fun matching the letters. They are very familiar with upper case letters but still confuse some lower case letters so this is great practice for them.

Oops

I got a bit caught up in mindless TV tonight and am now desperate to crawl into bed with a book so looks like my planned activity will have to wait - got to make it first!

T1

I don't talk about T1 much. At 9 years of age he is very uninterested in crafts and stuff like that. After a long day challenging his mind at French Immersion school, he wearily arrives home at 4:15 and wants to relax in his preferred way. This usually involves catching up on his favourite shows on Discovery/Discovery kids (how it's made/Myth busters/anything involving transportation/science/technology) or some times on the computer either www.lego.com, flight simulator,John Deer drive green, 18 wheels of steel, assorted Tycoon games or building lego or reading.

This week he needed to do a presentation at school. He doesn't like to present to the class at all. His teachers know of his social/attention difficulties and they do cut him some slack. With this particular presentation, we decided to try a different approach. Instead of having the focus on him talking, we thought something visual would take the pressure off him and give him something to prompt him with the verbal part. The subject was Pioneer one room schools so last weekend, with our help, T1 built a model of a one room school. He did his presentation yesterday and apparently all the kids in his class were eager to check it out up close when he was done which game him a huge confidence boost. It was so nice to see him so involved in a creative project when I know that typically wouldn't hold his interest or attention.

I'll try to add a picture later of his finished school.

A fun day

While T1 was at school, T2 and I worked our way through the stack of games and puzzles in the playroom cupboard. I am ashamed to admit that many of them had not been played with in months and some T2 had never played with as they had been forgotten by me. So, we matched, we joined, we figured out and we had fun. Tonight I plan on working on a little matching game of my own to try with her after school tomorrow.....

No such luck

Peanut/tree nut allergy still present. Oh well, could be living with worse

Fingers crossed

Tomorrow T2 has an appointment with her allergist to have her allergies retested. How wonderful it would be if her peanut and tree nut allergy had miraculously ceased to exist and we would no longer live in fear of her coming into contact with nuts - even contact with someone who ate a peanut product hours before brings on a reaction. I miss nuts but I'd miss her more.....

Finishing the yarn eggs

separate the balloon from the yarn



pop the balloon and pull it out

Yarn eggs

It's been a long time since I last made yarn eggs - hmmm probably about 10 years so I figured it was about time I made them again with T2's help (we'll see if T1 wants to have a go when he gets home from school in a few minutes!). It's easy but messy and the results are cool.

Here are my supplies. I watered down the glue - probably similar quantities of each. I added glitter but it's not necessary. Balloons (look carefully and you may see a clue as to where we live!!), yarn, scissors, paintbrush and somewhere to hang them to dry.









I am eager for the glue to dry so we can pop the balloons and remove them.....

A sure sign

We have lived in this house for almost 5 years and every Spring two ducks, one male, one female, have come to hang out during the day for several weeks. Each year we have fed them, provided water to drink and splash about in and loyally they return. The male always waits until the female has finished eating before he starts and he's very protective of her - issuing warning quacks should one of us get too close. The best times have been when Mr Duck sits on our porch or patio quacking loudly for food and once even 'knocked' on the door repeatedly with his beak - seriously! Each evening they waddle across the street and through the houses across the road to the creek, returning the following morning. I love it - they are so cute and fun to watch. About 3 weeks ago they came by for the first time this year and have been back a few times on mild days - today being one of those days

Mrs Duck:



Mr Duck:



I'll miss them when we move - along with Tippy the squirrel (it has a white tipped tail) and the 'SquipMunk' - I am sure it's half squirrel and half chipmunk. I hope we have some fun wild life at the new house...

Spring tree

Yesterday we gathered pine cones and twigs when we went for a walk before meeting T1 from his school bus stop. It was a glorious sunny day - T2 even found it warm enough to stretch out on the sidewalk and check out the clouds - not typical of this time of year where we live. It's hard to consider we might be done with snow and layers of cold weather clothes when we are often still shoveling the white stuff in March and sometimes April!

I knew exactly what I wanted to do with the things we collected and this afternoon we set to work. I had planned we would work on our activity when K was here but she had to stay home with a fever today but I knew T2 would not be able to wait until we next see her on Thursday. We'll work on it some more when she's next here.

















It's not finished yet - we'll be adding a few more things to our Spring tree over the next little while : )

By the way - anyone know why Blogger will no longer let me centre my photos?

Spring fun

Pine cones, twigs, paint and ribbon are ready and waiting on the table. Tomorrow is going to be fun!

Mud, mud, glorious mud

Yesterday was the perfect day for making mud pies, mud soup and just getting muddy!!

This week...

...has been a haze of cleaning and tidying the house, house showings and more cleaning and tidying of the house, plus a few kid appointments, toss in my need to surrender to anemia and sit or nap and fun seems to seriously lacking right now. I do still have a stack of paper plates awaiting transformation - maybe tomorrow......

paper plates 4

Today we decided to make a lion's face







We'll add some details with markers when the paint is dry.

Paper plates 3

Paper plate piggy. T2 wanted to give the pig a body too

Paper plates day 2

I very rarely buy paper plates but I did find a few in the back of the cupboard, left over from when we renovated the kitchen a couple of years ago. Today T2, her friend K and I made paper plate fish







Here's mine : )



Here's T2's

Turtles

Today T2 and I made turtles. For me, it was a welcome break from steam cleaning the carpets. For T2 it was a well deserved reward for her patience while I steam cleaned!





Here's mine



Here's T2's

Taking a break from crazy

On Monday we list our house for sale. Right now life seems to be one big ball of crazy and more kid TV than I would like while I get everything ready and hope, hope, hope we can sell this house fast before the condition on our new home expires and we risk losing it. Add in colds ear aches and some days spent on the couch with a snuggly blanket (T2 mostly but a little for me too) and there's been very little blog-worthy activity going on. Hoping that changes soon : )

Binoculars

Today T2, her friend K and I made binoculars. I cut 2 paper towel centres in half and the girls coloured them, then we attached coloured cellophane to the end s with elastic bands and taped each pair of tubes together. The girls enjoyed exploring, examining things around the house through them.

Time to get back in the game

Finally I'm feeling a bit better - not 100% but getting there. Today I've been trying to get the house in some kind of order. It's a school day for both kids which means K is here to play with T2 this afternoon. Tomorrow there needs to be some paint or glue mess in the house - it's been too long....

Still sick...

...but slowly feeling better : )

pity party

Bronchitis is horrible, throw in some asthma and it's hideous and has knocked me on my butt. It's a good job G is home from work this week because I am seriously incapable of doing anything. My body feels like lead, my lungs feel like they have halved in capacity and don't even try to make me laugh because I will moan and do some kind of weird version of Lamaze he he he hee breathing to avoid the coughing fit that will happen if I surrender. I helped T2 get dressed this morning and felt like I'd ran a marathon (I have no idea what that feels like and to be honest - I'm not sure I ever want to find out!) Hoping to be back as CEO of the household once more in a few days!

My turn....

...to feel like poop. My lungs are mad at me - they burn when I breathe and make squeaky sounds. It's just a delight to have asthma aggravated by cold and flu season. Looks like this week is a write off as far as crafts and activities.............. : (

blah

Not a whole lot of energy over here. T1 seems OK but T2 is still under the weather, G's battling man-flu and I have zero energy due to an over-active brain causing insomnia. I seriously did not need to wake at 4 and spend the rest of my slumber time planning furniture placement in the house I hope we are buying. I couldn't locate the off switch and therefore my day started somewhat earlier than planned!

Monday

Crazy day house hunting and trying to keep T2 happy as she's full of cold and feeling miserable.

My thoughts are with The Whitt Family

R.I.P. Tuesday Fiona Whitt October 11 2006 - January 30 2009

cough cough sniff sniff

T2 is under the weather today and home from preschool. All she wants to do is snuggle under a blanket on the couch and watch TV - therefore - not much going on around here today!

Warms my heart

T2 has recently taken to calling me "my sweet lov-eh-lyyyyyyy". I have no idea where she got it from. The other evening she called me "sweet lovely delight" I think it's super cute but I think 'de-heavy' might be more appropriate for me right now!!

Snow painting

Another must for this winter. Here's T2 and her friends painting and 'glittering' the snow last Winter

Valentine's Day of old

I was browsing through old pictures and found this Valentine's Day shirt I made with a much younger T2 (I used to have a home based daycare so I did one with each of my little daycare girls).

I painted the shirts to look like a package with a bow on, using fabric paint. I printed onto transfer paper a label which said "Happy Valentine's Day from name" to look like a gift tag. Then each child did red finger painting on the shirt for the wrapping paper. I made these with them ahead of time and put them on under their coats when it was time to go home on valentine's day so their parents would get an extra special gift when they got them home!

After dinner fun

Last night I picked up some natural modeling clay. Tonight after dinner, I divided it into 4 and we set about trying to create something with it. T2 chose not to join in but happily watched.







T1's 'T'



G's bowl



A paw print from Huds



My heart bowl and braid.





It's pretty clear there's no future in pottery/sculpture for me!!



We'll paint and clear coat them when they are dry.

*~*Post 100*~*

Woah - my 100th post!

Yesterday was a write off after a 2 for 1 at ER on Sunday. G fell on Saturday night while holding T2 and badly sprained his ankle and T1 has a weird toe infection which flared up and seems unresponsive to meds. There's no wound on the outside so we have no idea what's wrong with it. Anyway, yesterday both my guys were home. Today T2 went back to school but G remains at home for the remainder of the week to heal. T2 had preschool but was sent home because pink eye suddenly appeared after I dropped her off. I arrived less than an hour later to be greeted by a very sad little girl with one eye almost shut with redness and watering. She wasn't sad about her eye but about having to leave school without her best friend K.

We did a couple of errands and finished up at Blockbuster so she could rent a DVD for later.

At home we decided to try florist foam prints. An idea I saw in one of my craft books but can't quite remember which one (I will keep looking so I can credit the author). I bought the florist foam at the dollar store so it was not exactly best quality and therefore extra fragile and crumbly but T2 and I had fun carving patterns in the foam pieces (I sliced it with a sharp knife into small blocks before we carved patterns in them). We tried dipping the blocks into paint but decided we preferred painting the paint on with a foam paint 'brush'. The results were not exactly great but it was fun to try!

: )

Hey, why not introduce yourself ?!?!?! I'd love to know who you are!

Never too old for finger painting...

K came for a playdate today. She usually only comes after preschool but was coming for the whole day so we had lots of extra playtime. I decided we would do some good old finger painting - sometimes as kids get older and more able to control a paintbrush or sponge or stamp, things like finger painting and being able to feel the paint squish between their fingers become a thing of the past. I realized we hadn't done any in a while so we set to work. I like to squirt the paint directly on the surface and then gently press a piece of paper over the masterpiece to get prints so that is what we did......

Yesterday.....

It was just T2 and I at home yesterday and I was stuck for ideas. I though of painted feet penguin pictures but then realized I had no black paint so that will have to wait for another day. T2 wanted to play with her chicks which she rediscovered in the cupboard. I realized that she has been enjoying these chicks for 3 years now. She used to shake them and drool on them, then she would put the shell tops on and has since learned how to put each egg in it's correct place (the bottoms are shaped differently) and to match the shells correctly (each chick has a different pair of eyes and they are also on it's shell top.) I think they have been one of our most played with toys.

We did a little pencil control practice - she can do a good job tracing over the letters of her name which takes a while because there are 8 letters.





Then we had a snowball fight. An indoor snowball fight. I made these snowballs (still a few more to make but I ran out of yarn) using a small circular loom. I loomed using a craft store styrofoam ball as a filler. I basically loomed a tube and threaded yarn through the open ends and pulled them tight enclosing the ball. The fuzzy yarn has a nice feel to it and they are light and pretty fun to toss around. We mostly just aimed them into a basket.



Today is a school day so I should be working my way through a list of chores - or I could enjoy the tranquility of an empty house and work on a project.......

Today T2 figured out how to (kind of) draw around something to use it as a stencil. She was so pleased with herself! The little hand mirror was her chosen object.

Sugar sugar

After dinner this evening we tried to build Igloos from sugar cubes. It was fun balancing the cubes. T2 built a tower, G manages an Igloo with a roof and no door, I managed an entrance but no roof and T1 decided to replicate the Colosseum. It was fun and a nice quiet activity to spend a few extra minutes at the kitchen table before beginning the evening routine of baths and showers.

Sugar, glorious sugar!




Here's T2 working on hers





G's doorless Igloo



My roofless Igloo




T1s Colosseum



Down it came



Debris



We're recycling the sugar cubes by passing them onto a friend to build Igloos with her kids : )

Wanting....wishing......waiting.....

We have seen a house we like with this view. I want it so badly that I can't think about anything else. I can't settle. I am totally consumed with thoughts of us living there.....

Afternoon 'doings'

Nap time is drawing to a close in our house. T1 stopped napping the same week he turned 3, T2 is 3.5 and still needs to nap - not everyday but about every third day. Today was not one of those days but she did have 'quiet' time in her room for a while with her books, doll house and stuffed animals.

After nap time, she chose to colour a couple of fish pictures, prompted by her ice fishing this morning! Her colouring is becoming more controlled and expressive.

Then we spent some time working with our Fun Thinkers which T2 loves. T1 does too - he has the grade 3 book. I just noticed we put the 16 round the wrong way ::blush::

Afterwards we played Zingo . T2 had never played this before and loved it, so we'll play this often from now on!

From one extreme to another....

Today we went ice fishing! It's even colder today so perfect for some ice fishing. It's easy - all you need are: a container to hold the water, packing tape/clear wrap/contact paper, toy fishing rod and fish.

Fill container about 2/3 full with water, add a couple drops blue food colouring or paint (optional)
Add fish.
Tape across the top of container.
Cut hole in tape - reinforce opening with more tape if necessary.
Go fish!

I added snow to the top but only because we have plenty to spare!!

If you can't play at the beach....

Another freezing day here today, too cold to play outside due to frostbite warning. I don't mind the winter but I do love the warmer weather when playing outside is an option most days. Despite the beauty of snowy landscapes - I can't help but drool over the thought of warm sunshine, beach, ocean, sandcastles, paddling toes in the water....

I figured if we can't go to the beach - the beach can come to us. I grabbed a tray, couldn't access any sand as the sandbox is frozen shut and buried beneath a lot of snow so I raided the kitchen and found cornmeal and oats - perfect sand and pebbles/shells, some scrunched up blue tissue from the craft supplies, a few rocks to hold it in place - a few small characters and T2 and her friend K had all they needed for some beach time imaginative play....

Perfect match

I was walking to preschool to collect T2 and her friend K yesterday, when a neighbour stopped me and asked if I would like another snow suit for T2. I jumped at the chance because firstly, I love hand-me-downs and secondly, because T2's current snow pants keep falling down and are not particularly great all in all. My neighbour said she would catch me on my way home and give it to me. In the hustle and bustle of hearing about the girls' morning and helping them into their outdoor clothes to come home, then enjoying the walk with the girls in the toboggan, I forgot all about it until my nice neighbour jumped in front of me and handed me a bag. T2 was excited to see what she was getting and was thrilled with the funky coat and bright red snow pants. I was equally as happy because it was a great snow suit and just happened to perfectly match the hat I was looming for her, which I completed shortly after receiving the suit!

To blow off the cobwebs of a morning in the house, we decided to bundle up and wander to the mailbox at the end of the street. T2 was very excited to wear her 'new' snow suit and bobble hat! (busted!!!! - yes I am British!!!). I want to take the bobble/pompom off but T2 really wanted one.

Brrrr

It's super cold today - cold enough that I half expect to see a Penguin or Polar Bear in the backyard! With a possible house move in our near future (fireplace, backs onto lake, rural location, small village school, slower pace of life aaaaaaah), I have lots to do around the house. However much I want to do other things - I have to get this house ready for sale so today was a bit of a play-with-anything-as-long-as-you-tidy-up-when-you're-done day. T2 has spent much of the morning engrossed in a game involving both farm and safari. She loves miniature animals and has been collecting them for the past year. She needed somewhere to play with them so I made her a safari/farm play board by painting a board for her and she loves it.

days like these.....

It's cold and snowy again today and it makes me want to light a fire and curl up under a blanket with a good book. We don't have a fireplace in this house so this will have to do!! (we're looking at another house and it does have one - yayyy).

No theme collage

I cut a frame from paper and stuck it to a piece of clear contact paper.



T2 added the collage pieces she wanted to and then some sparkles.

I added a second piece of contact paper and T2 glued around the edge.

T2 chose to display it on the playroom window (glue stick cleans off glass easily).

We celebrated T1's 9th Birthday with G's family. Celebration number 3 follows on Saturday with a remote control car racing party with his buddies.

Button fun

After school this morning, T2, her friend K and I played with the button collection. Scooping. Pouring. Stirring. oh, and of course examining the buttons.

Trying something new

We usually wrap the Children's Birthday gifts in fancy paper or use gift bags and tissue paper. Each year I realize I didn't manage to make the reusable cloth gift bags that I meant to!

I decided to try something different this year - instead of buying paper, I wrapped the gifts in plain florist paper (which we already had for crafts) but instead of leaving them plain I chose for each package a word that describes him and wrote it repeatedly on the paper. I wished there were more packages so I could have written more words.

Hopefully he'll feel good when he sees

Awesome fun good friend loving handsome smart passionate thoughtful caring strong & helpful

This might become a tradition - not necessarily to use descriptive words but maybe words relating to achievements of the year. Next time, I won't leave it until the last minute so it looks better : )

My first baby....

...turns 9 tomorrow

I can't believe it.
He's so big, all knees and elbows when I catch him unaware and and he lands in my lap.
His shoes are size 5.
He technically doesn't need a booster seat in the car since his last Birthday and he's frustrated that we insist he still use it because he doesn't weigh much and it's safer.
He's very good at speaking French and on occasion will speak in French rather than English by mistake, even though we don't speak French.
He knows more about the Titanic than many adults.

His favourite colour has been yellow for as long as I can remember - in fact when he was about 3 he wanted to be yellow when he grew up.

He is very mechanically minded and could very well become a third generation Engineer.
He's crazy about transportation - especially planes and trains.
He is a master at Lego building.
He loves the Discovery channel.
He's a very picky eater - but he's wiling to try more things now than before.
He never fails to wash his hands after going to the bathroom (except during the night).
He loves vanilla soy milk but only Silk brand.
He detests socks and pulls them off the second he gets home.
He loves Croc season!
He insists on sleeping wrapped in fleece blankets, even in the summer.
He has bonded with Huds more than I expected.
He is easily irritated by his sister.
His favourite chocolate bar is Aero.
He and I have matching moles - exact same placement.
He is not yet embarrassed by us, his parents and has yet to refuse a kiss or hug - even in public.

He's awesome. As much as he denies it - he'll always be my baby

Things I miss about summer......

A few of the many things I miss about summer.....

Solar dried laundry - air drying it in the house just isn't the same

summer clothes

Leaves, flowers, grass and even weeds

The beach.

Puppyhood

One of the things about last summer that I am not missing!

In the summer, I'll be missing things about winter!

ABC bean bag toss

Last year when T2 was learning her letters and letter sounds, I made this from a shower curtain. I drew the circles using a plate as a template, drew the letters and coloured them with permanent markers. Either she would throw the bean bag and then name the letter/letter sound it landed on or I would ask her to aim for a certain letter. We also used it for jumping on certain letters. It's still fun now, even though she knows the letters, now she gets to work on her aim!!

• 
  

Belated bird treats

Way back when we had our first snow, T2, her friend K and I made bird treats. At the time, my computer was acting weird so I wasn't able to blog. Here are treats our birds have been enjoying while our part of the world has been frozen....

Buttons, buttons and even more buttons

I needed buttons for a craft project but didn't want them to be new ones. I wanted old mismatched buttons, in shades of white so I asked on my local freecycle group if anyone had any buttons they no longer needed. A few people had buttons they had been collecting for a while. One woman's collection was over 20 years old. I was excited to collect them, bring them home and wash them and check them out. When they were clean and dry, I picked out all the ones I wanted (a huge container of mismatched white ones - perfect!) and set the coloured ones aside. When I was small my Mum had a box of buttons - not many, but I loved to handle them and sort them. I thought my kids might like to do the same. We have buttons for threading but there's not much variety and these freecycled ones have great shapes, colours and textures. I'd like to know the history behind some of them - I wonder if my children will imagine what they might once have been attached to like I do......

Brrrrrrrrrrrrr

We had another snowfall last night and would have loved to go out and play in the snow but T2 was feeling kind of grouchy wanted to stay in her jammies so I brought the outside in to her.

It turned out looking more like a snow penguin but it was fun, Huds licked up all the puddles on the floor and we stayed warm!

Sand dough

Yesterday I made sand dough for T2. It was very easy and the results interesting for sure.

3/4c water
1/2c cornstarch
1tsp vegetable oil
1c clean dry sand

Bring water to a rolling boil.
Remove from heat, add oil and cornstarch - it will foam slightly Stir hard until foam subsides. Put back on (medium) heat for about a minute, stirring constantly until cornstarch thickens and is mostly incorporated. Texture should resemble watery mashed potato. Cool 10 minutes.
Using hands mix in sand. Blend well and knead until dough forms. Enjoy!
This dough can be baked at 120 degrees for about 1 hour.