Daily Katie and Sam

Happy Birthday Sam!

2012-01-24T21:13:00.000-07:00

Happy Birthday Sam!
Today you turn three. You are such a big girl now! You have been super strong these past few days and most of the blog doesn't even know why. (this has nothing to do with my lack of blogging...this is pure laziness, dishes, reading and knitting. Sorry about that!)

We took you to the hospital emergency room on Sunday evening. You'd been feeling sick all weekend...sick like napping on and off all day and really really tired. And you'd been drinking a ton of water (over the past two weeks) and peeing a lot...while i thought you were doing an exceptional job of keeping hydrated, we know know that you were starting to show us signs that you have diabetes. Auntie Gail helped us see on Sunday evening that we had to take you to see a Dr. and i'm eternally grateful because she may well have saved your life...with one prick of a finger, you were diagnosed, given awesome care and now our lives will be a little different forever.

Your dad and I cried a lot while you were recovering, hooked up to tubes of saline and insulin and sleeping. It hurt so much to think that you were so sick. As soon as your sugars and other levels got a bit better the next morning and you could have actual food and water again...we knew everything was going to be ok. You were quietly smiling and talking that Monday evening, the very next day from when we brought you in. We got to take you home almost 24 hours after we came in...pretty amazing.

We were at education sessions today (and the rest of the week) and Gram and Papa and Gram and Grandpa and Auntie Andrea were there too, all learning about how we can help you be the best Sam you can be with the help of insulin and controlled diet. Katie, who missed you sooo much and cried because she was sad, was with GG Lill (and had stayed over the night before at Gram and Papa's and the night before that Gram Cheryl had stayed over at our house with her). I'm overwhelmed with information but also grateful...

Grateful for:

The love of our family and friends,

the knowledge and skills that we all bring to the table (biology, math, coping, positivity, creativity, organization etc),

our already strong focus on healthy eating that may make these nutrition changes for our diet a little less difficult and the opportunity to learn even more about healthy eating,

the digital scale that I bought with Christmas money,

realizing now now we dont have to find a place in the cupboard for the scale because it will live on the counter,

the health care system...we have dietitians, nutritionists, social workers and doctors all working hard long hours for us so that we can become diabetes experts ourselves,

and probably many other things that i just don't know about yet.

Sam...this will all become normal soon. You will still be you...feisty, outspoken, funny, friendly, kind and polite (you're probably about the only 3 yr old who the nurses have heard say "no thank you" when they were coming at her with a needle)(true, it was kind of screamed/yelled through tears, but very polite)

I wish I had more time and brain power to write more about the other amazing things you have been doing as you grow lately, but I'm exhausted and still have to get meals and things ready for tomorrows session. I'll make sure to bring lots of activities since Katie is coming tomorrow too and I'm sure you'll want to colour, play dolls or stickers together.

We can't believe you are already three...be happy, the dietitians said they can work the Strawberry Shortcake ice cream cake into your meal plan for your birthday party on Saturday. Wouldn't be a birthday without cake. =)

We love you!

Christmas and Happy New Year

2012-01-05T20:27:00.001-07:00

Happy 2012!
We have had a lovely holiday so far. Christmas was great, especially not getting sick like last year (remember...Ben and I were throwing up?). We saw lots of family, had some lovely food, and the girls especially received many thoughtful gifts.

Santa brought them a rather large doll house. Taller than both the girls! I suppose he figures this way they can grow with it a bit.

This is the girls opening the box for the dollhouse, which had a note on it telling them to go downstairs after they opened the box. Katie refused at first, saying she'd rather play with her new stamping set.

The girls also received from Gram and Grandpa and Ben and I some Rapunzel dolls and from other friends some Strawberry Shortcake dolls, so I think this house will get lots of play time.

Santa assembled the dollhouse for us and had it ready to go downstairs. Smart guy.

The girls watching TV with the new blanket Gram Mary made for Katie. It's such a warm fleece that Ben and I love it for tv watching too!

We went to G Auntie Gail's for Xmas day dinner. Katie and Sam were a little shy (actually a bit of a theme this season...) but warmed up a bit come present time. Katie is wearing one of the headbands the girls got from auntie Alli in their advent calendar...you should all know that I steal them every chance I get because they are so adorable. And if you want to give me...ahem...I mean, my kids... more cute headbands, feel free to do so.

We've definitely enter the land of dolls but also maybe board games...we got the Candyland game as a gift and it's fun! So great to play a real game with the kids. Katie is definitely a little more into following the rules, but will still bend them when she gets bored. Sam doesn't really care about the rules much. She wanted to stay on the sticky "miss a turn" spot for about half the game.

I found time to bake (of course!) and Ben requested cinnamon buns. They were delicious, I didn't do the cream cheese icing since it's not Ben's favorite but found a simple brown sugar caramel icing instead. I only iced some of them in case the icing wasn't great, but not to worry it was good. Yum. We froze a bunch so we wouldn't eat them all at once.

Last Friday we went to a park for a sledding party with friends. The weather was pretty good (as in, not too cold) and there was some snow (which, I imagine by now might have melted some as it was 12 above zero yesterday!). The girls had lots of fun. I brought some hot chocolate and we all got some rosey cheeks. The sun started to peek out just as we were leaving to go to our friends house for lunch (Jon, Shelley and their kids L and E...it was a full house with lots of friends!).

Hope you are enjoying the few days left of holidays. This week has been great with Ben still being home and we have been doing some more relaxing and normal activites...a few small playdates and catching up on laundry etc. Sam's potty training is awesome and she hasn't worn a diaper since the Tuesday before Xmas (except at night). We don't have big messes to clean up any more but we are sure going through a ton of laundry...wet undies mostly. Usually just a bit wet and definitely making progress every day. Exciting! I can't believe how much less garbage we are making without the diapers. Big milestone for our (second) big girl! :)

It's all about timing...

2011-12-23T10:47:00.001-07:00

Christmas is almost here...I can't believe how fast it has come this year. We had a warm fall and late snow which I think tricked me into thinking it was farther away. The girls had a My Little Pony advent calendar (as well as a chocolate one and one with pictures) that they love, and every morning, as the numbers got higher, my disbelief just increased. Crazy.

We did eventually get some snow, and the girls actually love shoveling it! They got these cute shovels from my parents neighbour who moved this fall.

We've been having quite a few nice playdates with our friend W and his new baby sister N (now our Goddaughter!). Colouring at southgate is lots of fun. And the moms get coffee. Yay!

We had a fun snow evening with one of our first real snows. The girls had a blast riding the sled and making snow angels and playing in the snow. The sled (which I was using to pull the girls across the field from where we park at school) has since gone missing. I don't know how that could happen but we really cannot find it.

I tried making caramel apple for the girls. They loved it, but I have decided that it's actually a lot of caramel for them to eat in one sitting and probably won't do it again for a few years.

We went sledding once right after Ben got home from work and it was just getting dark and chilly so we didn't stay long. The girls had fun and got nice and tired!

We have managed to do quite a few Christmas activities this year, so I really don't know how I didn't see it coming! We painted ornaments (a great little kit from Costco) with W. I have to tell you, when the box says "washable but may stain some clothing". That really means "if you scub for an hour the paint might wash off hands and probably won't ever come out of clothes or the dishes you use to wash the paintbrushes in between colours even though it wasn't really used to wash brushes but to make paint soup".

We went to the Festival of Trees which was so much fun...the girls were really excited and loved the trees, the fake presents, the hot chocolate, writing letters to Santa (we got the cutest replies last week! Personalized letters! Thank you Canada Post).

We went to grandpa Ken's staff family Christmas party. Super fun...there were Christmas crafts, a petting zoo, santa and a bouncy castle. This is the first year in a long time that we managed to get a Santa photo...the girls have been too scared previously. It was amazing how un-scared they were this year! I love it!

Katie had some fun with math. It says 1+1 2+2 etc...from a song by They Might Be Giants, the girls know, one plus one is two, two plus two is four etc... Cute. Excuse the terrible red eye.

We went to the museum with friends C and G (who's not quite a baby any more!) and the girls went fishing in a canoe. I got in earlier too and C said she was taking me to South Carolina. Interesting. :). We will be going back more since I bought a year pass. So cheap! 35$ for a whole year!

We decorated our Christmas tree and the girls were SOOOO excited.

One day I was trying to get some things done, probably baking or cleaning or dinner or something like that, so I built the girls a reading fort. The fitted sheet sure did the trick! And a lamp to light it up so they could read.

I'm going to try and finish up quickly since Sam and I have to pick Katie up from school in a few minutes.

About timing...Sam decided to start peeing in the potty and toilet recently. I'm not ally pleased about the timing but I'll admit I encouraged her by bringing out the little potty...I'd heard our younger friend D is trained and I got envious. Jealousy has brought it's karma on me though ( if that makes any sense) because we are now dealing with Christmas prep as well as tripling our laundry and cleaning pee off the floor. She's has some awesome success but still some not and I had somehow completely forgotten what a pain it is. I'm happy that we are getting the though and our new year will be great I think.

Hope this has gotten us mostly caught up. Look forward to seeing you more in the near future. Merry Christmas is I don't talk to you before then!

2011-11-23T17:53:00.001-07:00

Have I mentioned how much Sam is growing? She's talking up a storm (Katie can't even seem to get a word in edgewise!) and pretending as much as Jillian Jiggs.

Her colouring is improving too...Katie is exceptional and it appears that we have 2 artists in the family with strong fine motor skills. Sam coloured this page this evening...she does a great job of staying in the lines for her age (2.75 yrs to be accurate).

We also had a big moment yesterday when we weighed her and she's JUST enough of 40 pounds to make it into booster seat territory. Which makes things soo much easier with winter snow suits and everything.

Yay for big girls!

2011-11-21T07:59:00.001-07:00

2011-11-15T09:34:00.001-07:00

Some super quick photos because I know I am behind in sharing with you!

At the playground, Sam in hat I knit. I've been a hat knitting monster this ever since I realized it was going to get cold. (and snowy, but only as of just yesterday!)

Katie and I at the playground. We rode our bikes as it was so nice and "warm".

The girls shaking their pigtails, us making chai tea, which we do a lot now, and some messy baking...the mess is one reason why I wasn't baking with the girls for a while. I'm taking a deep breath, letting go and we've been baking a bit more lately. Making two batches so that they each have a bowl to mix helps.

We bought letter cookie cutters for super fun cookies!

Pumpkin carving and princess dresses for Halloween! This is the best pic I got of the girls in costume. Princess with wings is apparently the costume "Du Jour" at preschool as all but maybe one girl was dressed as this. The girls went trick or treating with dad in Gram and Grandpa's neighborhood and had a lot of fun. I stayed home to hand out candy to the THREE kids that came to our house. Disappointing. Guess I should stop buying candy at Costco!

Sam and I went to a YMCA indoor playground (tis the season!) with friends Steph and W and new baby N. Sam thought she was super clever when she took off her pants and stuck them in the playhouse mailbox. She is so funny these days.

These two photos were taken at our nearby playground. We decided to go right before dinner one sunny afternoon. Beautiful day. Katie's wearing another new hat (though it is an exact replica of one I made her a couple of years ago). Sam is or course, wearing our favorite hat...an oldie but a goodie. The girls love playing on the teeter totter. Katie, being bigger, does make Sam bounce a bit at the top, so I stay close by, but they see, to have reached an age where Sam can handle a bounce and Katie has an idea of how hard to bounce her.

I'm not going back to edit this as the girls are bugging me for a snack. Just had to post something and I must be physically incapable or sharing just one photo or not commenting in depth or something. More to come, as I mentioned, we have finally had some snow and dad and the girls had a blast shoveling and making snow angels and sledding in the back yard and I have pictures to prove it. (though not good ones since it was dark).

Talk to you soon!

Oh Dolly!

2011-10-24T07:43:00.001-06:00

Sam has a dolly that she loves to pieces. A few weeks ago, Dolly disappeared. We looked everywhere for her. We cleaned up like crazy looking for her but still no luck. I was resigned to the fact that we were just not going to have a doll.

Coincidentally or not, our sleeping issues were getting worse. Sam escaping from her room in the middle of the night trying to get food etc. We kept the gate closed at the top of the stairs so no worry about her going to far, but she was really getting into things. We borrowed the pressure gate from Gram and Grandpa's house to keep her in the bedroom at night. That worked, until she learned to pile up her blankets and use them to climb out (smart girl, figured it out within an hour). So we started a version of sleep training, where you close the door and hold it shut for a short period of time, to make the point that we need her to stay in the room. This definitely worked and we saw huge improvement in sleep from both girls within a few nights. I thought we were golden.

And then...I was reading in the living room after bedtime and found that Sam had climbed the gate again and was in the bathroom (not the good "learning to pee" kind of in the bathroom, but the bad "getting into things" kind). I go to her and tell her NO and she's not to be in there and she starts getting upset and yelling something I can't make out. I finally figured out she was saying "don't close the door!"...which of course, means that the door thing is working in that she does connect it with the negative behaviour, but also means that I have to follow through and do the door thing (which I had forgotten about). I put her in her room and closed the door and she was pretty upset. A short 2 minutes later I go in and she's got a blanket over her head and is crying...I gently tuck her in and she looks at me, and her voice, all wobbly from crying, says "maybe tomorrow, you can go shopping and buy me another dolly?". Aw...poor thing, still missing her dolly. I was kind of emotional at how upset she was and even as I headed to bed took another peek at places where the doll might be...like behind our bed...places we've already looked. No luck.

So, after a little research and a few phone calls, we went to a store and bought a new dolly. Not exactly the same, but close enough I think. And of course, when Katie asked why she wasn't getting a new dolly, I didn't have a good answer, so I broke down and bought 2 dolls.

Sam's is the one with green hair and Katie chose the one with pink hair. When I told the girls to hug the dolls for the picture, they lifted them up high like that. Katie did it first and Sam followed, though clearly not sure why she had to do it.

What's great about these dolls is that they are so soft and the colours are so bright and beautiful. And we know from experience that the dolls wash well.

So far, the girls have been playing with the dolls quite a bit. I think it's a good age for dolls as they are playing with them in a very imaginative way.

We had a great weekend. Before buying the dolls on Friday we went and got our flu shots. We went for dinner with Gram and Grandpa at Famoso for pizza. We had a relaxing Saturday morning and then went to a birthday for friend M who is now 3.

Sunday we tidied up a bit and met friends C and little G and their parernts for a walk in the river valley. It was nice, but cool enough that my fingers got a bit chilly by the end. Still nice enough to get out and enjoy the warm sunshine though. After the walk we had them over to our house for dinner. The ham and scalloped potatoes were yummy and the salad that they brought was so good, not to mention the amazing wine they also brought. (they can come again any time!) It was such a cozy, fun and easy little dinner...a fantastic end to a wonderful weekend!

More Gobble Gobble

2011-10-16T22:15:00.001-06:00

Katie made a turkey today all on her own. Well...the only thing I did was cut out the feet. But I made her draw them first. She came up with the idea all on her own from concept to execution. She plans on giving it to her teacher and so wrote her name on the back of the paper that she eventually glued the turkey onto.

Today it smells like fall in our house. A friend recommended a new cookbook...Feeding The Whole Family. The focus is on whole foods and also getting kids (families) to eat healthier whole foods. I got the book out from the library to try it out. It's a very interesting read...sadly no photos, but a wealth of information and some very good looking recipes. Today I made Pumpkin Pecan Muffins. Yum...molasses, cardamom and pumpkin and a bunch of other fall flavors. They look fantastic though with dinner soon, I haven't tasted them yet (that took a great deal of restraint). While I don't think we do too badly with feeding whole, unprocessed foods to the girls, I do Iike the idea of improving and learning more options to increase variety in our meals. A food adventure!

This has been a busy weekend (and really these days, aren't they all?). Helped out Papa and Gram most of Saturday morning with their yard renovations...dirt and sod and what a transformation. The girls helped, especially with raking leaves on the front lawn...raking and jumping too of course! This tired the girls out and Sam fell asleep in the car which led to a 2 hour nap in her bed, which she never ever does.

We were hoping this would be good for her to catch up on sleep since lately things have not been so great in that department. Have I mentioned that Sam has been waking up in the middle of the night and getting food? Bananas, marshmallows and other things in the baking cupboard. Thankfully we hear her usually before she really gets eating, We've put a pressure gate on the girls door and that's helping. Though Sam quickly figured out how to pile up blankets and use them to climb up and over. Both girls did sleep well last night after their busy day and they went down SO fast tonight that I'm hoping we're getting back on track.

PS...I tried the muffins...they are excellent! Look and taste great and very satisfying. I wanted a second since it was so yummy but I also didn't since it was filling enough. A winner!

2011-10-12T14:14:00.001-06:00

Look, I have two shoelaces!

Last week sometime the girls had taken the laces out of my shoes to play with (should I admit that I actually helped them?) and by the end of that afternoon, the laces had disappeared. I found one a day later but the second was unfindable. I cooked our thanksgiving turkey wearing one shoe without any laces. (these are my indoor "I must be getting old now that I have to wear orthotics all the time" shoes.).

Finally this morning while steph, W and new baby girl N (2.5 weeks old now and already 8 pounds 10 ounces!) were over I found the missing lace...tied up in a million knots to the steering wheel of the Bobby Car. Of course, why didn't I think of that? (do you hear my sarcasm?)

Before school this morning the girls made a bunch of castles/towers/buildings using their plastic cups and plates and cutlery. Why buy building blocks? (excuse the poor quality photo...it was early this morning)

And this afternoon, right before lunch (which was served late because they were having so much fun I didn't want to interrupt them) they used the same plastic bowls to go skating/roller skating. Not on the hardwood, don't worry!

Goodness, life is fun isn't it?

Thanksgiving

2011-10-10T08:51:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was Thanksgiving and we sure had a lovely one. We decided this year to host it...my babies are now girls and that makes it easier (theoretically) to find the time and energy to cook a turkey. And, since we are not the most experienced with the gigantic meal planning, we asked everyone to help out and bring a dish. Both sets of grandparents, GG Mary and GG Lill, Auntie Andrea and Uncle Sheldon, and G auntie Gail. 13 all included. We took care of the turkey and potatoes, though admittedly had help with the turkey from my mom who came by in the morning to remind me how to make the stuffing etc.

In the afternoon, before company came, Ben and Katie went out to find some decorations...for some reason, she had been very interested (obsessed?) with getting a centerpiece for our table. They came back with some plastic fall leaf arrangements perfect for the table. Later, Ben said how much fun it was to go shopping with just her and how thrilled and proud she was to choose the decorations.

While they were gone, I helped Sam work on decorating the place cards. This is a job I remember doing often as a kid. I started trying to get the girls working on them the day before but they weren't interested. As it was, I wrote the names on and Sam coloured the letters, just about obscuring some of the names. I brought out some fall themed stickers that we had too, thinking Sam would love to stick them on (she does really like stickers) but she didn't seem interested. So, I may have stuck all the stickers on myself, in a haphazard manner that made it look like the girls had done it. I don't think anyone noticed. :)

The girls had a good time...Sam ate a ton of cabbage rolls and turkey (she has been a picky eater lately so i was glad to hear she ate something) and Katie ate lots as well.

Dinner was delightful. Food and company were perfect and I really felt so thankful for all that we have. Health, food, home, love, friends and family...doesn't get much better than that.

Best Bathtime EVER (and other stories)

2011-10-03T07:42:00.001-06:00

Late last week, when we had all had a longish day, Ben became SuperDad and came up with a new game.

While the girls we in the bath he started telling them NOT to wash themselves in a fake angry voice. "Don't you grab that soap...Please don't wash those toes...no definitely not the other foot...". It sounds silly I'm sure, but the girls were beside themselves with laughter. And seriously, I've never seen them wash themselves so thoroughly.

It was nice to all be laughing and enjoying the big joke. Happy family tie for sure.

We had a nice weekend too...I met my friend Megan for a spin class (which as it turns out was full so we just did a workout instead). At the same time, our husbands took the kids to the indoor playground. Win-win I think! And again, good family time.

The photos below are from end of summer and September. I don't know how yet to get the text in between the photos.

Ben with the girls sitting on a little waterfall at the Leg grounds.
Katie and Sam on Katie's first day of preschool this year. Katie insisted on wearing the hello kitty dress which is WAY too short to be acceptable for school so I worked hard to convince her to wear a skirt underneath. I think I even hiked up the skirt I was wearing to show how short hers was and see if she thought I should go out with a skirt that short. Weird but it worked. :)
The girls taking the LRT to church one Sunday morning. They Loved it.
The girls and our friends C and baby G at our new favorite playground which is the biggest I've ever seen and has a great spray park. The girls are sitting in a manmade rock cave...nice and cool. We didn't really discover this park until the end up summer, but we were there more than once a week, especially in the warm early September weather we had. Lovely.

The great Mysteries of Motherhood

2011-09-21T15:57:00.000-06:00

Why are there banana peels all over the house? (Sam has recently learned to get bananas off the counter and peel them and eat them whenever she wants. This has obviously resulted in some teaching about asking for food.)

How can a house get so messy so fast? (2 kids and a mom who loves to bake, cook, read, sew and knit.)

Why have there been so few blog posts? (see above)

Who loves school? (Katie! 3 days a week now with the same teacher but in a new location this year.)

What happened to summer? (The most fun things ever...spray parks, picnics, playmates, time with dad, ice cream, mom doing yoga almost every weekday in August, babies being born (baby A, big brother to our friends D and M), splashing in the water at the Leg grounds, staying overnight at our friends lake, trips to the farmers market, and on andonandonandon)

Who loves playing dress up? (Katie and Sam!)

Who can pump herself on the swings? (Katie!)

Who misses dad the most, him having gone back to work in September? (No one, we all miss him a whole lot!)

Who finally maybe figured out how to blog on the new iPad? (Me!) (but apparently still cannot figure out how to post pictures and will have to take some time to do it on the old laptop.)

Who loves that friends and family were so concerned about the lack of blogging but also polite enough not to say much about it? (Me!...love you guys!)

Why is my formatting not showing up? (I don't know!)

More from holidays...

2011-07-29T08:26:00.006-06:00

A photo of our rental house in Penticton:
Gram reading to the girls in the outside seating area. Gram and Papa had brought books for the girls. Eating lunch at the house. Shopping at the legendary used bookstore in Penticton. We love this place. Look at all the books! We bought a few for the girls...a Richard Scarry Dictionary and a Disney/Mickey Mouse one too.
Sam sat in this cute little desk, (she was so warm...see those red cheeks?) wearing the dress she insisted on wearing almost every day of the holiday. (well, not quite, but it took some convincing!)The new water toy that managed to come home with us. Fun, but really, it'll be more fun when the kids are older and can swim.
We (Ben) made lots of sand chairs. This day on the beach, it was a little chillier than usual, so hardly anyone was there. The girls had a blast running up and down in the sand. And sitting in their sand chairs. And jumping in our home made (Ben-made) swimming pools. I honestly could not believe how long they had fun with this one. Crazy. =) I think that's one of the things that made this trip so good...they could have fun doing a number of things for HOURS and it didn't feel like we were so busy going from one thing to the next trying to keep everyone happy. More to come...!

Back from Holidays!

2011-07-24T20:30:00.004-06:00

We're back from holidays! (and have been for a week and a half.) Re-entry was a bit slow...partly due to Katie and I getting sick on our last night/morning home, but just because we've been busy doing lots of fun and nothing. Enjoying Ben being home with us. Enjoying the super rainy weather and monster mosquitoes. Yes, it's kind of dreadful here...We have had the odd nice day but hard to enjoy with those bugs. Ah well...shall I tell you about the holiday?

Other than it ending in illness (canceling our plans to go to the Calgary Zoo) we had our best holiday with the kids ever!

This is a stop we took because Katie said she HAD to go to the bathroom. Apparently not enough to use a pit toilet though! =) Anyway, it was a great stop. Good to get out of the car and throw rocks in the water.

We made it to Sicamous the first night with enough time to have ice cream at our favorite place...the D Dutchmen Dairy.
It was our only night camping. The mosquitoes were horrendous, such that Ben and I put up the tent while the girls were in the van and then threw them in quick before the bugs found us. We read books for(ever) a while and eventually all went to sleep. In the past we tried to get the girls down while Ben and I stayed up but that's just impossible and really a waste of time. Going to bed altogether worked well. I had an awful sleep and woke up freezing but overall we were good. Oh, and did I mention that while we were setting up the tent we found that one of our tent poles had a broken elastic...and was cracking. We made it work but it sure was a good thing that we weren't tenting more! Here's the girls in the tent.
After a quick take down we were off and found a super great little local place in Armstrong for breakfast(COFFEE). If I can dig up the card, I'll tell you what it was. Just down from the Home Hardware.
Driving was great. We had bought new sticker books, colouring books and blank paper and crayons (and markers for at the house) so the girls were well entertained. And new CD's from the library! I think the CD soundtrack to our holiday is by a band called Recess Monkey, their album called Field Trip. (favorite songs include Marshmallow Farm, Sack Lunch, Hot Chocolate etc) Definitely, if you're looking for kids tunes that are very adult friendly, I highly recommend!

Ben and the girls in Skaha Lake Penticton. The girls at Skaha.We were lucky that Gram and Papa were able to stop and visit us at our rental house for two nights on their way back from a wedding holiday in Vancouver. It was nice to have company. (They slept outside in their van.)After dinner, Ben made up a show for the girls. They did shows for him too. It was fun to watch.Little Sam and and bigger Dad by the big tree (at Skaha Lake Penticton).There are many more photos but that's it for now. This is only day 3 of the trip and we were away for a week and a half. I'll try and be selective about photos. So I'm not still posting them in Decenber. =)

Heather

More from before...

2011-07-02T20:35:00.006-06:00

More pictures from before...

A playdate with some preschool friends.
Face painting done at the Children's festival in St. Albert...did I show you this picture yet? I can't remember...I've gone back and forth a bit now with photos and I'm confused (and too lazy to look it up on the blog). Sam didn't want any face painting.
She and our friend C were more interested in Jumpy Castles (for the record, I call almost all jumpy things "castles" even if they are not. I'm sure there was a castle themed one once, and now they all get called that!) The girls were so cute in their dresses!
Some action shots of Sam...jumping...
...and falling!
The weather was superb and we had ice cream in the sunshine!Which was great since went we went again on the weekend with Steph, Russ and W. it was freezing! (around 4C) And I think it rained too. =( But we still had fun.
And got our faces painted again. And had pancake breakfast instead of ice cream. Yum!
We weren't able to get balloon animals done since the line was long and took forever, so when we got home, I did up a couple of balloons for the girls. Sam wanted SuperWhy,
And Katie, a cat to go with her cat face. I did a bit of work for Auntie Andrea office at the University and Papa and Gram watched the girls. They girls had lots of fun, including enjoying ladybugs at the Muttart Conservatory. The girls were so excited to tell me about it! We went to the nearby mall again for ice cream ( a sure sign of summer!). Notice Ben wearing his new U2 shirt...from the concert we went to. It was AWESOME and though we got home really late, it was such a fun time and a really memorable event. We went to a family dinner at Auntie Gail's house, Auntie Jen was there too. She and uncle Ray brought chalk and little gifts for the girls that were much enjoyed!And Gram and Grandpa brought over the new bike they had found at a garage sale for Sam. She is so happy that she now has a big girl bike too!Yawn...to late to write more about what we've been up to this week. Trust me we've been busy, but in the best possible way! Really happy now that Ben is home for the summer.

5 AM

2011-06-29T05:53:00.002-06:00

The girls and I woke up early. 5AM. It's partly my fault....Sam was so tired from our busy day yesterday, playing at the legislature grounds (again!) and playing at the playground after and then playing dressup and other games with a friend who came over that she fussed at dinner time and wouldn't eat much of anything and then fell asleep on sitting next to me while I read Thomas to calm her down. At 6pm. And the girls have lately been going to bed maybe around 7:30 or 8 by the time they sleep. So, much earlier than normal.

Luckily I went to bed early (8pm...shockingly early)... as the day was tiring for me too, and so now being awake at 5AM isn't killing me like it might otherwise.

The girls are colouring Sesame Street colouring pages, (in my hopes that we can win admission to the Science Center's new exhibit, hee hee) and having fun. while they are doing this, they are singing/chanting...

Sam: "I want a bike, I want a bike, I want a bike..."
Katie: "But it's not as big as mine!"

They are colouring with markers...do you remember some of the issues I was having with markers a while ago? Did I tell you a threw most of them out in a huff of anger one time? (sometime last winter) Well, we bought a new batch around Katie's birthday and I'm SO pleased to see how well they've been treated. Sam still needs a fair bit of reminding about putting caps back on, but we've all worked hard to put them back in their box when we're done. The only problem we have now is that they're do so much serious colouring that the markers are drying out from overuse. I think we'll surprise them with new markers when we head off on our summer trip this year (no details about that for blog privacy issues...you'll know when we come back whenever it is!).

Speaking of colouring...have I told you how much Sam has improved? She holds the marker in a proper pencil hold and can colour a solid patch in a picture...she colours within the lines, but not completely in the lines, if that makes sense. She can also draw a circle and fill it all in.

Anyway. Hope my newspaper comes soon...We've been up for over an hour and I'm getting bored. =)

More catchcup (not the red kind)

2011-06-22T06:54:00.006-06:00

Some catching up...For some reason, I feel like parts of this batch of photos is out of order and I can't figure out which way they go and I'm not going to bother going through iPhoto again. Sorry! They are all taken mostly back in May.

Cheryl, reading to the girls.
Yay! Ben (who is a year OLDER as of yesterday! Happy Birthday!!) ran a half marathon at the end of May.
Sam and I went to ice cream instead of going to Katie's soccer one night...trying to avoid the mosquitoes. We discovered that the nearby pizza place no longer sells ice cream so we had to make do with big-ish tubs that Sunterra had. I won't tell you whether we ate it all or not. =)
The tulips that we planted at the beginning of the school year (given out by the preschool) grew! Look how much bigger everyone is! (the tulips and the girls!)
Sam, wearing one of our favorite dresses that Gram Cheryl brought back from Hawaii. It was really windy that day.
GG Mary helping us plant our garden...much has changed here...we have been eating green onions already! And we have a lot of weeding to do. We had a playdate with our friends C and her sister G (friends from strollercise).
We met at the playground in Hawerlack park but then it started pouring rain...
...and we ended up back at our friends house where the girls played dress up. Katie especially loves the shoes I think. Katie on the last day of preschool this year. Sam too.As well as Ben's birthday yesterday we celebrated Father's day on Sunday. We are lucky to have such great fathers and grandfathers around us and I'm grateful that our girls have these excellent men present in their lives. I see the joy in their eyes every time we hug Papa and Grandpa and every morning as they wish Ben a good day at work and when they welcome him home at the end of the day. Lucky us!

Yesterday

2011-06-14T08:45:00.003-06:00

I have other photos to show you but I couldn't NOT post these from our wonderful day yesterday.

I've been working a tiny bit for the past week or so at the University...a little job for Auntie Andrea's office. Interesting to try work a bit and earn a bit of summer money. It's going well. Thanks to Gram and Papa for doing most of the childcare. Yesterday I didn't start work until after 4pm, so when Megan called saying "It's going to rain all week, let's take the kids outside!" I said sure.

We went to the Leg grounds, one of my favorite summer places. I don't think we went even once last year because I was nervous about watching two girls, Sam only being 1.5 and running all over the place. Yesterday, things were perfect and I was confident that the girls are old enough to handle the water and steps without me hovering beside them. (Mom likes to relax a bit you know!?)

Sam didn't want to wear a suit and Katie wore her new suit...we Finally found one that fits this long torso-ed girl! So beautiful, lots of trees and sunshine!
The four kids had a blast playing together. Walking up and down the steps, splashing in the water and playing pretend. Something about taking turns being the baby and mom/dad? They kept coming up to the sidewalk and lying down to go to bed.
On our way out (after our picnic lunch and more water time) we waded through the lower pool. I did end up going in with them, rolling up my long shorts in the water that went to my knees. (just to be close in case of a fall...Sam did trip at one point, but righted herself quickly...I was glad to be near anyway.)
Moms and kids had a super great time and I can't wait to come more often.
And today, it's pouring rain and gray. (shh...kind of refreshing and the garden will like it) That makes yesterday's adventure even better. =)

Feels like summer

2011-06-05T20:03:00.003-06:00

It's beginning to feel a lot more like summer around here.

The garden has been planted (with a little help from Ben, the girls and GG Mary). We play outside a fair bit...and suffer the mosquito bites to prove it! Both girls react alot but Sam especially...a bite under her eye last week made her look like she was in a fight...her eye swelled up a lot. And a bite on her hand this week has her hand still a bit swollen and hot. Upon Dr's advice, we're applying Benedryl cream to the spot and giving her Benedryl liquid oral stuff for general healing (and proactively if we know we're going to be outdoors).

We're blowing bubbles...loving this Gymboree set we got for Christmas...the combination of bubble stuff and the neat wand make lots of bubbles. (PS...I have quickly decided to edit this to point out the girls new hats...have I mentioned/shown them before? Both girls have the same hat in different sizes, the pattern is a reversible bucket hat pattern from the Oliver and S kids sewing book. (Thank you Library!) The fabric is purple Minnie Mouse on one side and blue Little Mermaid on the other. The girls mostly love. Katie's is a wee bit too small...such a big brain in that head!)

Gram and Papa went on holidays for a few weeks and while they were gone we snuck in a visit with Uncle Jerry...and the girls didn't freak out! They've both been strangely scared of him since...forever I think. Katie's improved a lot in the past year, especially since we've demonstrated Uncle Jerry's art skills (they have something in common!) but Sam still freaks out. Anyway...Uncle Jerry was smart and offered them rice krispee squares immediately and things were awesome. (Until I tried to force Katie to say thank you for her second square and then she got all upset at the attention on her...my bad!) here's the photographic proof. (Katie is turning away from the camera, nothing to do with Uncle Jerry!)
One not great photo from Katie's "Sharing Day" at school...a low pressure concert type event. I tried to pick a photo where most other kids were blurry, for privacy etc...but I do think she looks cute with her hair and dress slightly puffed out in mid hop. This dress we've worn for almost a year and I think it may be time to pack it up (or somehow let Sam wear it..I'm not sure if that'll happen without a fight!). School's now over for the summer...they end a bit earlier than most schools. Another reason to feel like summer! It was so hard saying goodbye...those teachers of hers are amazing and lovely and we can't wait to see them again in September.
While Gram and Papa were away we watered their plants and played with (and kind of broke) the umbrella. (No worries, Papa has fixed it now!)
And we also had a picnic at their park nearby...can you tell I was trying to keep busy and make things fun for the girls?
Our major event this weekend (besides freezing our noses off at the Children's Festival in St. Albert in 4C weather!) was getting Sam a big girl bed. It's exactly the same one as Katie's. We've been meaning to get it for ages and when photos from her getting out of her crib a year ago popped up in iPhoto, we knew we had to do it. She's settled in perfectly and seems very happy with the change.

Hopefully blog mojo comes back soon...I've been reading some good books lately and doing some sewing. I think also the change in schedule has thrown me off a bit. I'm not doing strollercize anymore because my foot was bothering me again so that and school ending has given us more freedom and surprisingly made us a bit busier in a way.

Other good things to note...I bought and correctly programmed a new garage door clicker...the other one fell and broke on Thursday and I am SO lazy that to avoid pushing the button by hand and walking the long way every time, I made a big point of getting a new one the very next day ( which I suppose isn't very lazy is it?) (a big yay for feeling like a handy mom!). AND I found some ants in the back landing (well, Katie and Sam saw them first) and dealt with them quickly on Friday too...not something you wait on, eh?! (I think I've gotten rid of them...cross fingers that they weren't just staying away from the weekend rain...a little Raid and a sprinkling of Equal sweetener seems to have done the trick for now.)

Yawn...I should have been in bed ages ago...Still recovering from the Awesomeness that was the U2 concert on Wednesday...Definitely a "never forget it" kind of event. If I get pictures I'll share.

LRT, Chopsticks and Soccer

2011-05-19T20:57:00.006-06:00

A couple of weeks ago our van went caput...long story short, no one was harmed and 1100$ and a new timing belt later everything was fine. It did leave us without a van for one Monday. This meant that Katie missed her Active Bugs class. I had a few library books due, and I did have to find some way of getting them back. So, we went on an "expedition" (Katie's word!) and took the LRT to the downtown library. I've been wanting to take the girls on the LRT since the new station near us opened a year ago, but was always a bit nervous about the logistics of me taking both girls. I decided the wagon might be best. (I wonder if the Chariot is maybe too wide, and anyway, it was in the van at the shop, so wagon it was!)

Here's the girls at the LRT station.
The expedition was a big success. I kept Sam buckled during the ride for safety and they were both excited (Katie slightly more so) to be on a train. Next time, knowing how much time there is until we have to get off, I would consider taking them out of the wagon so they could see better out the windows.

Getting to the library was a challenge...I don't feel that accessible entry to the library is well marked. Took a bit of walking to figure out that I need to take an elevator up to the Citadel Theatre and then walk outside across the street. Then, the library has the dumbest wheelchair lift...I really feel that a ramp would make more sense. (I'm sure there must be a financial/construction difficulty reason for having the lift.) I ended up letting the girls walk up the 4 stairs while I lifted the empty wagon. Overall, it was a challenging experience even though I knew where to go...I can't imagine being a visitor to the city with a wheelchair or stroller. Anyway...!

The Children's Library was nice...but imagine my surprise (how many years has it been?) when I found that the library that I remember being downstairs was no longer there! They'd moved it to the main floor AND no longer have pets...I really remember the big old iguana and maybe bunnies? Ah well. The new library is designed much like other new branches I've seen. Computers for kids, a wooden boat to sit and read on and a nice seating area with train set and puppet theatre, plus a nice big classroom which was perfect for storing our wagon and bag while we explored. Fun!

After the library we had an early lunch picnic outside...it was a lovely day! The girls ran around a bit an then we headed back home on the LRT. A really great first experience. I wonder if they'll remember it at all?
The girls have been enjoying the new chopsticks given to them from preschool friend S at Katie's birthday. I think I showed you pictures of the girls at his place using their training chopsticks. Now, we happily have our own. Such a thoughtful gift (I believe they had to order them from Korea!).
It's no end of funny seeing the girls use these cute chopsticks to eat! We just need to have noodles more often now! (though we have used them to eat a number of unlikely foods)
Finally...Soccer! This is Katie in her soccer outfit (I know, we should say uniform, but we keep saying outfit!). In a group vote, the team has named themselves The Fire Hydrants. (silly name) Sam has no soccer outfit, but if not for that, you'd think she was on the team too!

The team plays games (tag, red light/green light, what time is it mr. wolf) in the rink in our community.Did I mention that Ben, as one of the assistant coaches, volunteered to store the soccer nets? Gave us a fun chance to practice a bit before soccer started. They fold up nice and flat.
Sam, running! She's not officially on the team, but it's hard to keep her from joining in. No one seems to mind at this age. I do try and bring things to keep her busy, like colouring. I almost brought bubbles but thought it might distract the soccer kids. The kid beside her is the brother of another player. Snack time is a favorite time!Ben does such a great job assistant coaching...the kids love him (and jump all over him sometime to show it!)Happy girl and proud mom after her very first soccer night.

We've had 2 more soccer nights since, the second was a horribly windy (It was CRAZY windy here for about a week.) and Katie didn't want to play and just sat on my lap. This week she was apparently right back in there. I missed it since it was super mosquitoe-y this week (vicious, you have no idea, I've NEVER seen mosquitoes this bad, biting in full sun and wind) so Sam and I went for a walk and had ice cream instead. It's beginning to feel summery around here. =)

Otherwise, it's been a rather interesting week. I have no photographic evidence to show you, but I MUST mention what a troublemaking two year old Sam's been. (P.S...Sam, I know it's not your fault, you're 2 and I forgive you) I showered the other day and of course, I have to take my hearing aids out for this. Sam went in the bathroom and somehow dropped/pushed one of my hearing aid down the sink. Long story short, I was able to do the plumbing and rescue the aid and after a day or so of drying out it seems fine. I feel very lucky. She was also found this week with something in her mouth that shouldn't have been (I'm not telling, but everything was/is alright) and managed to climb on our bed and on my night table to reach up to the top of our big dresser (it's almost as tall as I am) and grab a child protected bottle of vitamins and my favorite necklace...stuff I had put out of reach. Goodness, I may have grown a few more gray hairs this week. Remind me again, when does she turns three?

In better Sam news, she's loving pig tails in her hair, which I am delighted to do for her. She's been waking up happy lately. When she and I went for ice cream the other day, we sat on the Sunterra patio and as I gave her each spoonful of ice cream, she said "I love you mom." It was very cute. =) She's also really improved her colouring lately...she's definitely colouring specific objects on a colouring page, rather than scribbling randomly...and colouring it very thouroughly...no white space...not entirely staying in the lines, but showing amazing progress.

Also, we struck gold at a garage sale this weekend and bought the girls 3 skirts, a wand, a headband with fuzzy antenna and a princess hat...for 7$. Every playdate we've had lately there's been requests to play dress up, tough to do with only our one fairy dress. I really need to start sewing up some play clothes. We'll see...I have many things I want to sew. (I did manage a pair of pants for Sam this week that I will try to hem and photograph for you...cute summer pants!...the mosquitoes made me do it!).

That's all for now, enjoy your long weekend, we're enjoying ours.
Lots of love,
Heather

More about 4

2011-05-11T20:02:00.000-06:00

Well, apparently life with a 4 year old and 2 year old keeps us busy since blogging has been slow.

On Katie's actual birthday we had the grandparents over for cake. Gram Mary made the cake. Katie loved it!
Our gift to Katie was a bicycle. She loved it too.
Ben was smart and got Sam's trike out of the attic since we knew they'd both want to go for rides.
It has training wheels and pink and silver streamers and a bag. We've gone for several rides since and it's great fun!
The next day we went to Tim Hortons for coffee with Mrs Ferguson and Gram and Papa (we don't make it every week anymore but when we can!). I brought new play dough for the girls to keep them happy while grown-ups chatted.
Katie, Sam and Dad on Katie's kid birthday party day, the Saturday after her Tuesday birthday. Katie wore her Birthday Button from last year for about 5 minutes before putting it on a chair and saying that her friend N's mom (Julia) could sit there. Strange. =)I had trouble keep the guest list small, and in the end we had about 30 people and about 12 of those were kids 4 and under. It was a little loud and crazy and we probably won't have that many people again, but it was also kind of fun. (from top Left: Steph, baby G, D, Katie, S, N, C, H)We kept things simple with takeout pizza and cut veggies and dip. I made cupcakes baked in ice cream cones...and I don't think I got a picture of a single one! The kids really enjoyed them and they were even easier to serve than regular cupcakes since they didn't have any paper wrapper. I definitely recommend.
(Sam, M, D, L)
As much as I tried to keep things simple, I did want to try one activity for the kids and ended up having them colour paper lunch bags that I later used as treat bags. A little chaotic but in a way it was a good way to channel the kids energy for a few minutes. A more active game would have also worked well if we had had the space to contain it. The weather was ok, but nowhere near as beautiful as last year. (W, G and C)Present opening was a bit chaotic too...all the kids crowded around. Funny how much each kids took ownership of their gift and really wanted to give it to Katie. Fun. Using throwaway plates was good too...Honestly, clean up only took 15 minutes after everyone had left. I'm so glad that she had a fun party with her friends.

More photos to come, including Katie's first time playing soccer, but I must share this cute video of Sam. I think it was taken the day after Katie's birthday, or around there. Sam's been making this funny noise lately and it's just fun to make her do it. Enjoy!

Untitled from BabyLuch on Vimeo.

She's alright and a conversation.

2011-04-28T19:55:00.003-06:00

Long-ish day here today.

Sam woke Ben and I up last night at least 9 times between us (or around there) and so we were all tired this morning.

Sam barely ate anything for breakfast.

We took Katie to school and hung out with a friend at a nearby mall. The little car/stroller was fun for a little while but then Sam just wanted to be held with her head on my shoulder while we walked and I pushed the cart. For Ever. (30 min +)(ouch, my arm STILL hurts!)

Obviously tired and out of sorts I checked her temp before lunch and it was 38.9...a bit of a fever. She slept a lot, sometimes in my lap, sometimes in a chair. A lazy day for us. Cloudy and drizzly as the afternoon went on. While she napped I made soup. Which she then didn't eat, but of course that's ok because she's sick. She did nibble on crackers and a few other things. And drank lots of water.

As we were reading after supper, she was falling asleep again, so I got her jammies, her second dose of Advil and put her to bed. Katie and I were colouring (Henry and Diesel 10, from Thomas books) when Sam heard dad come home from his soccer assistant coach meeting (for Katie's team) and she walked out of her room saying she wanted to be up. Then dad went out again for groceries...he's a Really Useful Dad. =)

I held Sam while Katie and I drew pictures. And then, this magical drawing/strorytelling took place...
...here's a square, see how I can make it a box?
...oh, I should use this colour, Sam?
...Hmm...sea green
...let's draw an octopus
...Katie will draw his face
...why is he sad Katie? Oh, because the other fish and octopus friend wouldn't play with him and I should draw him in a cage?
...like this?
...Sam, you think he's sad and he should have a toy?
"...yeah"
...Ok, I'll draw a toy car...ok a red one.
...Kaitie, you want me to draw the mean octopus who put him in the cage?
...The mean octopus isn't letting the one in the cage have any food? Well, I'm sad about that, so I'm going to draw some seaweed for him.
...Yes, Katie, they eat little fishes too, I'll draw one of those.

And on and on. And while this conversation was so organically creative that I was tickled just by this, I was also glad to start to see Sam come alive a bit. I then noticed it was raining more so we went to the front window to see what we could see.

Katie: Cars! Houses! Trees!
Sam: smiles a little...and says "Pinecones!!"

And then Katie gets silly and lists all the things we saw in a funny voice and before you know it both girls are doing it and laughing hysterically.

So, I think Sam is feeling a whole lot better. Already she doesn't even feel quite as hot to me. Phew. Not that I was really really worried, but they are just so seldom feverish (knock on wood) that I get a little worried when that happens. Though, I don't think we had a single temper tantrum today. That's a bit magical too. =)

Happy 4th Birthday Katie!

2011-04-26T12:50:00.002-06:00

Happy Birthday Katie!

It's cliche to say this, but I cannot believe you're already 4...have you really been bringing joy to our lives for 4 years already? (and has it only been this long? Feels like forever!)

You took this picture of yourself with the camera last week. I think it is the best picture of your eyes I have seen. Such a beautiful mix of colours! You have grown incredibly this past year. You can write words if we spell them out for you and even can write Dad, Mom, Katie and Sam all by yourself. Your dad and I may have to start spelling words aloud in French soon (or Pig Latin) because you are getting the hang of spelling...the other day Dad spelled E-A-T and right away you said "Eat!?". Other words we cannot spell are Park, Snack and Bath. (well, we CAN spell these words, bu cannot count on you not understanding them). You can say your ABC's backwords with a little prompting, and can count with ease.

You are the greatest big sister I could ever want for Sam. You both enjoy each others company most of the time and the things that make you giggle are silly. "Sack of Potatoes" anyone?! You are also finding humour in potty language these days, though you have been pretty good at stopping when we ask. For example, when "making cake" you explain that it's "Blueberry Diaper Cake" ha ha ha. =) Speaking of blueberries...:
You are an excellent listener...I suspect it's something of an Oldest Child/Rule Follower thing...I love it and will try hard not to abuse it and let you have some fun.

I suppose your biggest talent these days is drawing. Your teacher at preschool has let us know time and time again that you have excellent colouring/drawing skills. (if I'm allowed to brag..."best I've ever seen in a 3 year old" is about what your teacher said). You drew this "Blueberry Man" (you named him) at dad's school on the white board.
And drew his friend (or brother? I forget) next to him upside down. I don't know but this seems pretty amazing to me. Apparently Dad's students were impressed too.
It seems like I am amazed every day with something you say or do. I can already see that you are kind and concerned about other people. You love to make friends and will run up to anyone at the playground and ask them to play. You voluntarily share things with me and Dad and Sam. You can definitely be stubborn and, like all kids, can get upset when you don't get what you want. You love to run and jump and are excited about starting community league soccer soon.

Your face was painted like a butterfly here because we went to our friend D's preschool Easter Egg Hunt/Penny Carnival...we had so much fun. It is a wonderful feeling to do things that make you happy.
We all love you so much! My biggest hope for you in the next year is that you continue to smile, be nice and funny and enjoy doing and learning all the new fun things that are coming your way.

Love and BIG Four Year Old Hugs,
Mom
PS...big hugs to Dad too...it's our 8th wedding anniversary today and I can't believe how fast the time is gone and how amazing you have been as a Husband and Father. That's all I can say about it...if I try and type more and explain, I just start tearing up because no words are good enough. =)

2011-04-17T19:53:00.003-06:00

From last weekend...Sam, getting caught eating soap in the bathroom. Doesn't she look guilty...buy also peaceful?
Last weekend Ben got creative and made the girls a cardboard box airplane. He actually made a car first and started to make the airplane when we realized we might need two vehicles, but the airplane was so much cooler (apparently) that no one then wanted the car. They did manage to share one vehicle.
Auntie Alli was in town visiting last weekend. She came bearing gifts!
Flowers and spring headbands and stickers a quilt and all kinds of goodies!
We had a great weekend with her and I'm so glad that she got to see some really great behaviour from the girls...Goofy, fun, smart, polite, crafty and all kinds of great ways that our girls are so awesome and I'm glad she got a good taste of it. This last picture (though we spent quite a bit of time together I must have had too much fun and forgot to take many photos) was taken just as she was saying goodbye and the girls were just about as hyper as they get.
Auntie Alli brought me a book about making Cake Pops...yummy little treats that can be spectacularly decorated... I made some the next day for the dinner at Gram and Grandpa's and though I kept the design simple, I think their cuteness is still pretty impressive. Don't be too surprised if I make these a few more times this spring!
Of the 268 pictures that I just took off the camera, Katie must have taken at least 200 of them...I let her take a few pictures and she just got the hang of it...she even knows how to slide the button back and forth between seeing the pictures you've taken and taking more. Clever kid. I'll show you a couple, but will spare you the pics of stuffed animals, dirt on the floor, and miscellaneous blurry things. She took this cute one of Sam. Auntie Alli brought the girls cute window clings/sticker-gel-things and the girls play with them every day...the play does include ripping the pieces (Sam) so they wont' be around long, but have been well loved. Katie put these letters up (Katie took these pictures too, after I showed her the macro setting):And told me they were on skateboards. This pic was taken on Thursday when we had the big snow. Honestly, the day before, that scene was just about all grass. Indie photographer Katie was shooting documentary style and caught this interesting exchange. Allow me to narrate:
Sam, the wild and daring 2 year old of the house is seen climbing over the couch...again. Mother rushes over and expresses great with a mix of great concern and fury that this is dangerous behaviour in the home environment and better suited to playground type environments. We can see in this shot of her posterior that the mother may have recently been indulging in the previously mentioned "Cake Pops" and other baked goods. The mother then sits on the desk used as climbing apparatus and expresses her delight at triumphing over the difficult behaviour of the sometimes trying two year old while also showing awareness that photographers were indeed, still nearby. The photographer, Katie, allows herself to be photographed and is wearing the new dress made by her mother. We appear to be quite proud of the photography skills and happy with the new ensemble. Expect more stunning photographs from this up and coming new photographer on this very blog soon.

Snow again...

2011-04-15T09:37:00.005-06:00

Well! Just when we thought it was spring! The day before yesterday, we could almost see all the grass on our front lawn...and then yesterday we had a huge dump of snow. I don't know how much but it must have been at least 10cm. Wet and heavy to shovel. Grumble grumble.

The other week Katie got dressed all by herself and then asked me to take a picture of her outfit. And then for some reason, intentionally gave me this face while doing it.
Sam reading in a chair...doesn't she look grown up in this photo?
Last week when the weather was nice and there were puddles everywhere we went for a long walk. It was beautiful and fun to get outside.
Rubber boots and spring jackets! (Katie is wearing her winter one again today, Sam is wearing two spring jackets.)
The next day we went and had lunch at Gram and Papa's and it was so nice out the girls wanted to go for a walk again. So I talked Gram into joining us for a walk to the playground. There was so much deep snow! the girls had trouble walking because they sank down so far. We may have gotten a little wet.
I really can't wait for playground season!

Finally Springish

2011-04-05T20:02:00.004-06:00

Whoops...have we not talked since St Patrick's Day? My bad...

(The funniest thing about St. P Day was how the Leprechaun's came to Katie's classroom and were mischievous and MADE a MESS(!!), turning chairs upside down and on the tables, and leaving footprints all over the floor...these teachers we have are SO wonderful!!)

Though the weather has finally started warming up and the snow is melting, for a while there I was doubtful we would ever feel spring-ish...so the girls and I decided to make butterflies and adorn the walls. (and their backs). This inspiration came from a favorite blog of mine, Made. Katie enjoyed the craft though I did end up colouring most of the butterflies, simply for speed and efficiency.
Sam coloured some wings too and though she didn't seem to need antenna like Katie, was pleased to have her wings just like her big sister. (stuck on with tape)
This is such a silly picture...I was being lazy and tossed the girls coats down to the back entryway, hoping to avoid the terribly arduous pain (*sarcasm alert*) of having to open the gate and walk down 4 stairs to hang them up. Sam's landed right on top of the light and the girls thought seeing the coat on the wall was just about the funniest thing ever.
This is our first time playing scrabble with the girls. (or rather Ben and I playing scrabble while the girls watched, learned and played with our letters, possibly dropping them on the floor...I may have been a little uptight about them dropping tiles on the floor. Can mom spell R-E-L-A-X?) Katie had fun and calls it "Scribble". The game was a nice way to do something fun and celebrate that it was spring break and Ben was home the whole week. We had so much fun with Dad around! By the way, Sam looks like she's not enjoying the "scribble", but really she's just mad I pulled her out of her chair for the photo. Bad Mom. =)
Here's a happy Sam! Wearing a beautiful Chinese dress that Uncle Jerry brought back from Cambodia. I love this bright colour on Sam. I had to tear it off her later as she has sbuck back to the table for more breakfast (she's such a grazer...if I don't clear breakfast she would nibble at it all day)...no Rice Krispees on this dress please!
Katie's dress doesn't quite fit, though she was game to try it. Since we recently had her 4 year checkup with the Pediatrician (about a month early) and found that she's well proportioned at the 90something percentile, I'm not surprised that a size 4 doesn't quite fit! (for the record: 49lbs/22.2kg and 3'8"/92cm)We managed to squeeze in a playdate with our friends D and M during spring break. I think it was one of our best play dates ever with them! (and rest assured there have been many great ones!) The kids hardly argued and played so well together that Megan and I had almost a full and complete conversation. Wonderful! The kids had fun playing in their dress up box. (Katie was looking for the lion costume, which we never found, but in the spirit of the awesome play date, there were No Tears etc about this)(...now had it been a princess/ballerina costume...!)
We ended the play date with a rousing game of Curious George Discovery Beach . We've played it before and it's a fun game for the kids. Makes me really look forward to playing more board games with the kids. And Megan was an excellent game hostess. A really lovely day overall. As I mentioned, the weather is finally looking up and we're seeing more grass. The girls and I went on a couple of walks ("Expedition!" says Katie) and are enjoying splashing in the puddles ans being in the sunshine. And I have to write this now, because I don't want to forget to tell you...as we were on our walk in our neighbourhood yesterday, we passed some people that we don't know. I said hello and something about the weather and Katie looks at them and says "We can't talk to you right now because we're minding our own business!" with quite a lot of almost 4 year old attitude and maybe even a finger wag. I have no idea where she got that, but it was hilarious and a glance at the gentleman says he agreed. =)

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2011-03-17T07:08:00.002-07:00

Happy St. Patrick's Day! I managed to sew Katie a green shirt special for the day! She searched around and found her green skirt to wear with it and wanted green hairbands (4 of them, two on top and two on the bottom). You can't see but she also chose white tights with blue polka dots. They're marking the day at school today and I'm one of the parents bringing the snack. I made little green bags to bring the store bought rice krispee treats. I made bags because health/food regulations say I can't bring anything home made to eat. Says nothing about home made bags. And I just thought it would be fun.

Katie wanted Sam to wear green too so she picked out the clothes and thankfully Sam didn't veto. I also managed to get her in pig tails, which is great because it's so cute. Worth a few "Ouchie"s.
I'm wearing a green shirt too but you don't get a picture.

By the way, it's snowing.
PS...I am feeling much better today...strollercize helped and even though I didn't get to bed particularly early (read in bed until 11:30) the 6am wake up felt great. Must have been the sore tooth making me so tired yesterday.

It's a start

2011-03-16T10:57:00.002-07:00

Hello again,

Sam is currently walking/running/jumping around the house without a diaper. When we came home from coffee she insisted on taking of her pants and then I found her a few minutes later with her diaper off, sitting on the toilet. And she did NOT want her diper on afterward. I'm not saying that we're officially starting potty training but that we seem to be getting closer to that point. WOW it feels soon to be here and I'm grateful that Sam's showing her own interest. She did also have two successful, self initiated pees on the toilet last week as well.

Just felt like sharing and we'll keep you posted!

Recovery

2011-03-16T07:33:00.002-07:00

Good morning! This morning we have already done some painting. I've not brought out the easel in ages since the time it takes to set it up seems rarely worth the little time spent painting. But it was time and the girls enjoyed it.

Last week I made finger paint for the girls. I've done this before, basically cooking cornstarch in water and adding food coloring. It works but is very gloopy and makes the paper warp when dry. We had played with some crayola colour wonder finger paint right before and it wasn't quite as much fun. It takes a moment for the colour to appear, which I think really throws Sam off, as she doesn't see the colour.

I showered (quickly, as usual!) the other morning and heard chairs moving. The girls built a train while I was occupied. They are so creative. =)
I'm feeling a bit grumpy and out of sorts today...had a wisdom tooth removed yesterday (as well as one last Tuesday) and I'm feeling tired and a bit sore. Overall the extraction was easy and the dentist is great but I think it's wearing on me a bit. Another day and I'll have more energy I'm sure!

We have plans for a coffee date this morning and I'm not sure what else later today. Hope you enjoy your day!

Yet Another Milestone...

2011-03-10T19:30:00.006-07:00

Well, I wasn't planning on posting again so soon, but I have an important milestone to report.
It may not be immediately obvious, but look and you will see that Katie CUT HER HAIR. She found tiny scissors in the bathroom drawer (which I immediately went and moved) and snipped. I have no idea why, though clearly she can see a bit better (at least I can see her eyes more) so perhaps she's done the right thing. It's not terribly noticeable but definitely snipped. Maybe we'll talk to our family stylist (Simone) and see if we can officially finish up the new style. (for the record, safety-wise, Katie can use scissors and we often let her cut paper with them. They use scissors all the time at pre-school and she's quite experienced.)

I should have suspected something when she disappeared for a while after she was combing and barrett-ing my hair. I was reading to Sam and inwardly applauding myself on the quality time spent playing with the girls instead of washing dishes. I will say I'm quite happy that I:

a)Managed not to yell
b)Managed not to laugh

as I think both of these reactions would have perhaps encouraged her. I did calmly explain that cutting our hair is not something that we do ourselves but something that we leave to the professionals. I didn't even glamorize it by taking pictures right away but waited until the girls were ready for bed and I remembered that I wanted a picture to blog while they were sleeping.

Sam thinks it's all very funny.
Funnier still...when I was grabbing the girls toothbrushes, it took me about 20 seconds to realize that I was looking at the missing lock. (please excuse the messy bathroom drawer and on one hand, don't tell me your drawer looks better than this....on the other hand, if it does, please tell me how?!)
Amidst all this, I managed to make an amazing loaf of bread (since Steph and her little boy W were joining us for dinner). The recipe is one my mom uses and somehow it still worked perfectly even though I forgot to split the loaf in two. I made a Perfect Super Huge Double Loaf without meaning to. How lucky is that!? Mmm...cheesy!
Last week at strollercize (I'm going more now, but still just walking...foot injury may be improving, orthotics may be helping, hoping to run again by Spring...the current snowing weather outside suggests this may not be until June) they had a soccer camp going on in our space. We managed to get our workout done around it but our little kids were sure mesmerized watching those big kids. (Sam, M and D...Katie's running around somewhere else)
Speaking of soccer..did we mention that we've signed Katie up for community league soccer? Yay! It's starts at the end of April (ahem, weather permitting). I'm excited about it in general and even more so when I found out that a good friend of hers from preschool will be in her group as well. Hopefully that helps make it a fun experience for all. And Ben has volunteered to assistant coach, so I'm sure that will help too. Yet another (#3462) reason to look forward to spring.

Girls are sleeping, hope you have a good night.
Heather
PS...While I think of it, Happy Birthday to Auntie Andrea!

Sew Good!

2011-03-09T20:25:00.006-07:00

Katie made herself a desk for colouring. Not that we dont' already have a few good places to colour, but what's better than a space you make for yourself?
Sam, just being goofy.
I've been sewing more than knitting these days. I finished up a shirt made from the pattern that Auntie Alli gifted me for Christmas. The fabric was bought at a garage sale last fall. Kind of bright but I like it. I had issues with the sleeves and ended up redoing them with elastic...I could not stretch my arms to pick up the girls before I fixed it so that was a no go. I definitely have plans to make the longer tunic and dress versions sometime down the line.
The buttons on the back are kind of silly...I need Ben's help whenever I want to wear it...so weird! (though I may try buttoning it up halfway and slipping it on and finishing the buttons myself)
Amazing how a box can keep the girls busy.

The girls in their new skirts. Made from this pattern. I didn't put on the called for pocket since, though cute, it obscured the cute printed fabric and that I wanted to see more of. Bonus...the girls both love the skirts. That doesn't always happen!Katie made this sign for their bedroom. Apparently, it's their address.
At Gram and Papa's place for dinner the other week, Katie brought out the cards and she and I played Go Fish. I'd taught her a little while ago. She actually gets most of it, but often will pick up a card and tell me what it is right away. And does other little things that are "wrong" in card playing, like showing me her cards, that are just Oh So Funny. Makes me look forward to playing all sorts of gamnes with the kids as they get older.
Last week we went to Millenium Place with a bunch of friends and after swimming and playing in the playground ended off with picnic lunch. So much fun. I'm really looking forward to doing more of this outside in warmer weather. (which is getting a bit better but still very wintery.)I'd write more but have to get ready for school I'm not dressed and we leave in 10 minutes. And the girls are only sort of dressed. Wish me luck!

Some Tired and Some Fun

2011-03-04T07:25:00.003-07:00

Sam has not been napping for a while now and while we're getting more used to the idea there are still some days when she's cranky/tired and you know she could have used a nap. Like when she falls asleep on a chair at 4:30pm:
Or with Dad around the same time, another day. Maybe Dad could use some naps too? =)
Katie found a new use for my pretty yellow headband. (she's using the place mat as a mirror since it's silver on the back) The girls are having lots of fun playing lately. Like cuddling up in blanket piles on the floor.
A few weekends ago we saw Fred Penner. It was a great show.
The girls enjoyed it but looked pretty serious throughout. We had lunch at a preschool friend's apartment the other day. Katie with friend N and S. There was a Korean style of sushi/rice roll served and Katie scarfed it up and wanted more. She's very good with the Thomas training chopsticks.
S's brother H is a little younger than Sam but they get along great too. It was a great afternoon and the kids have so much fun playing together.

More movies...

2011-03-03T07:25:00.002-07:00

Here's another video of the girls gymnastic-ing.

Untitled from BabyLuch on Vimeo.

And this video is of Katie singing, taken yesterday. We've fallen in love with the Sound of Music since I showed the movie to the girls over a few bays back when they were sick.

Untitled from BabyLuch on Vimeo.

Jumping Bean

2011-03-02T21:39:00.001-07:00

Here's a video of Sam jumping on the trampoline when we did gymnastics the other week. More video's to come soon!

Untitled from BabyLuch on Vimeo.

Endless Winter

2011-03-02T15:40:00.002-07:00

Hello March!

Great to see you...it's been what, about a year since we saw you last? Should be a good month, with a couple of Auntie's birthday's coming up. I do have a tiny bone to pick with you though...

You're MARCH...it shouldn't be blizzard-ing and -40 with the wind chill. I've had it up to here with shovelling snow (I rant on Ben's behalf) and as much as I love a stew/soup, I'm kind of hankering for a burger or pizza on the BBQ. I don't think any sane person should be asked to withstand this much cold and winter. Not fair. I'm tired of dressing the girls up in puffy coats and hats and I've been getting lazy on mitts(...hands in pockets please!). I miss spring dresses and playgrounds and everything else that comes with it.

Please send your friend Winter away. Now. And don't bring him with you next year. And don't let the door hit him on the way out.

Sincerely,
Heather

In The Paper!

2011-02-24T08:03:00.002-07:00

Good Morning!

Just a quick announcement this morning...the girls and I have our picture in the Edmonton Journal today!

It's on the front page of the City section. Be sure to buy extra copies for your scrapbook! =)

I'd link but it requires a password. Maybe I'll scan the photo soon and post it for you that way.

Talk to you soon!
Heather

Dear Sam, You're Two!

2011-02-10T07:02:00.004-07:00

Dear Sam,
I can't believe you're 2 years old already. I definitely feel like we have 2 kids in the family and not a kid and a baby. Here's a picture of you from about a year ago:
And from from sometime recently:
You've completely changed and look like a beautiful little girl. You are a huge part of this family. You and your sister play amazingly well together, for which I am grateful on so many levels.
Sometimes you copy Katie but often you do your own thing that Katie thinks is great and so she follows you. You are a strong personality, knowing just want you want and repeating yourself insistently until you get it. Here's a photo from your birthday with Pam's son, D, a very good friend of yours. Whenever they're coming over, you wait by the window excitedly. Actually, you do that for our friends D and M too.
You're so grown up you can hang out by your friends at the kids table. (like here at your birthday, friend W beside you) It can get a bit noisy but you all have a blast being independent.
You are a lucky girl. You love your dad and can't wait for him to come home from work each day. You've been sleeping better just this week (it's been a bit rough for a while...have you been teething? I'm not sure what's been bothering you but I hope it's over...I like my sleep and knowing that you're getting good sleep makes me happy too.) This is you, Katie and dad with a birthday cupcake from the kid party. This is the recipe...these were a good batch. You love to bake with me too. For a while there I couldn't do anything at the kitchen counters without the sounds of you pushing a chair over to help. Fun, but messy. You like to eat raw flour no matter how many times I tell you it's yucky. (surprise, you like to eat raw vegetables, including cauliflour...a nice surprise!)
You can be a very silly girl. The sillier the better sometimes. You and Katie have a whole bunch of inside jokes...one is where you both start chanting something like "A, O, E...SEVEN!!" and break out laughing. You also love to pull the cushions off the chairs and bounce on them. And (I'm shaking my head as I type this...) you have a terribly persistent habit of running/jumping on the couch and chairs. No matter how many times I tell you not to, I know the minute I'm in the kitchen or my back is turned, you'll be back at it. You also like to ham for the camera, like here, a picture from lunch when we had our friend L over. (we watched him when his mom had to work one afternoon...great, napped for 2 hours...you could take a lesson from him about napping...you're not a napper these days...only in the car and occasionally on the chair/couch at 4:30pm..not a good time) You LOVE to read. Sometimes I thought you wouldn't, since you don't always sit for a whole book, you like to be up and down and around, but when playing alone (ie, when I'm busy cleaning/cooking/dishes etc) you often plunk down with a book in your lap and read. Lately you love Fancy Nancy books, the Little Mermaid, Thomas the Train Engine, The Waterhole (which I'm hoping you don't accidentally rip, as it's one of my favorites too). You love music too. Lately you LOVE "You are my Sunshine" by Anne Murray. We went to see Fred Penner at a shopping mall last weekend and you had a good time, but your ears and eyes totally perked up when he sang the Sunshine song, Twinkle Twinkle, and the ABC's...that's our favorite trio of bedtime songs! You do a pretty good job singing ABC's and know some words to the other too. It's magic to hear you sing. Here's a photo of you with Gram and Papa showing off our new curtains. 5.5 years after moving into our house, it's about time! We bought fabric about a year ago and it took a while to get the energy to think about how to put it all together. The secret...Gram and Papa did all the work!...after Gram and I did the math they realized I was going to find it tricky to find time to come and finish it so they surprised me one day. I was flabbergasted and beyond grateful. You love both sets of grandparents and all your extended family. Last weekend you overnight-ed with Gram and Grandpa and they said that both you girls were fabulous. You looked like you'd been having a great time. So...Sam, you are wonderful and amazing and fancy and smart and fun. I can't wait to see what the next year brings us.
Lots of love, mom and dad and everyone.

IOU

2011-02-07T20:01:00.002-07:00

Happy Sunday evening!

I still owe you a Sam Birthday Letter, but I also have to finish knitting up a hat for a new baby in our family (my cousin Kathleen recently had a baby boy!) so you just get some recent photos and comment.

The girls greatly admired our friend W's new firetruck car. The girls colouring when we arrived early for church one week. Yes, Katie did wear her fairy costume.
All the photos I took of Sam's birthday dinner were candid and useless, so all I have is this one of Sam and Gram playing with the new train set. (still a hit and gets played with daily...almost worth the million pieces!)
We had lunch at the other Gram's the next day (Sam's actual birthday). This is the kind of lovely picture I should have gotten the night before. She's wearing a mew outfit from Gram Cheryl and eating cake baked by Gram Mary. .
Katie had written a card to Gram to express her thanks for the cake she had brought to dinner the night before. I helped tell her how to spell the words, but she decided what she was going to write and wrote it all herself.
It was a busy weekend...included was some fun at a drop in gymnastics gym with Joanne and her girls. there was a ton of running and jumping and giggling. Sam is such a jumper. Katie made friends with the older girls and ran her heart out. I've never seen her cheeks stay red so long. Pictures and video someday soon.

...After I finish knitting the hat!

Happy Days!

2011-02-02T13:37:00.007-07:00

Well, I have a borrowed keyboard for the laptop. Time for catchup!
Sam, wearing a cute sweater I made her. She refused the wear it for months. And hasn't worn it since.
The girls watching the fireplace at Gram and Papa's house. (might have been a cold day...we had a few snowy and cold days in January)
On one of the coldest days we decided to go out for dinner at Boston Pizza. we hadn't gone out for dinner as a family since maybe in the summertime? It was so nice...the girls were great and they coloured and were patient waiting for the food.
Our first day of swimming lessons was cancelled...the pool broke somehow and was freezing cold. So we went and played in the indoor playground with our friends D and M. M with funny hair in this pic.
Sam in the little playhouse.
Some pictures of the snow...from our front window.Katie shoveling.Look how much snow! (looking into our back yard, through the kitchen window)Joanne and her girls came over for a visit and my girls invited them to stay and watch a show. So cute to see them all cuddled on the blanket.
The girls, helping me bake...Katie's wearing the Christmas present jammies that Joanne gave her...she wore them almost for two days straight. Loves them!

This Week in Point Form

2011-01-28T07:06:00.003-07:00

-The brakes on the van broke (died? went? disappeared?) on the way to preschool on Tuesday.
- The vehicle we borrowed (Thank yo AA!) wouldnt start the next morning.
- We finally looked into/asked ourselves why the washing machine wasnt draining all the water after a cycle...the answer? Bobby pins and other small bits. Check your pockets twice!
- We still do not have a microwave...our decision...a bit laziness, a bit thriftiness, a bit of -Hey, we are surviving withot one.
- Bringing in the computer today for the fix. (hopeflly...I have some qestions about how it is running that will determine if we spend the $$.) (as I type this, I copy/pasting the trouble letters in as I review)

In all this there have been some Silver Linings
- Sam and I celebrated Birthdays...cake, presents, family and friends...Yay!
- The van was fixed in a day. (yay Toytech!)
- We were able to borrow a car.
- Thank goodness for family and friends.
- No one was sick (some friends of ours had a rough week).
- A playdate was moved to a closer friends house so that the girls and I could walk over, since we couldnt drive.
- With Grandpas help, we managed to fix the washing machine ourselves ($yay$).
- I had my Get to Know Your Sewing machine class, and it was great.

We have a busy weekend ahead...Two Birthday Parties, one that we are hosting, the other we are attending. Hope you have a great weekend!

Happy 2nd Sam!

2011-01-24T07:22:00.001-07:00

Happy 2nd Birthday Sam!

Yo are azazing. I cannot write enogh to explain how Och so...partly becase yo are so special that I do not have enogh words or stories to share...

...partly becase I devastatingly spilled coffee on the laptop last week. This dear laptop, which is a wee bit older than yoqw, works fairly well, bt we are having SEVERAL isses with teh keyboard...no Letter Before Vs and Letter Before Ns. Not good. (no apostrophe either)

Ill spend socxze tie toorrow typing soething great bt I need ore tie to copy/paste the letters I need.

A preview or toorrows blog?...We Love YoIUeqrtw...Yo are cte and cddley and or lives are so xzch rivher with yo arond. (does that last line ake ANY sense?)

Love o (a three letter word that refers to the one who birthed yoIUY)

Broomy and Spacemen

2011-01-15T07:37:00.001-07:00

Meet the newest member of the family...constructed entirely by Katie...Broomy! She drew the face, grabbed the broom, chose a bib and put it all together. Please ignore the fact that Broomy appears to be better dressed than the girls.
We made cookies from my new cookbook, Deceptively Delicious, a Christmas present. They have chickpeas as well as chocolate chips, walnuts and raisins in them. Not bad...we all ate them. Not as good as regular cookies though. (as I preview the blog post I just noticed the BIG SHARP knife in the picture...the one right close to Katie there...see it all shiny?...please note that I most likely moved it quickly out of the way...I had just been chopping nuts and my BIG knife is my best one.)
We went to Gram and Grandpa's house for dinner last Monday, to welcome Gram back from her trip to Hawaii and Sam fell asleep in the car. We carried her in and she was still asleep when I laid her down on the chair...I took a picture before we woke her up because she just looked so sweet.
The girls and Grandpa cover their eyes waiting for the surprise...Christmas presents sent from Auntie Alli!
Happy girls...!
The girls playing in the loft at Gram and Grandpa's, wearing their new dresses that Gram brought them back from Hawaii. They're gorgeous but make me want summer NOW. (still cold, still snowing)Earlier this week Katie wanted to draw with markers so I gave her a stack of paper to draw on. Perhaps I gave her a few too many but it was keeping her busy! She was drawing "Spaceman" over and over again. Some were for Sam others for Mom or Dad or Grams or Papa or Grandpa. In the end, I thought it would be neat to cover the wall by the girls table. A gallery of Spacemen! The one different picture there is one that Katie drew for Papa before but we forgot to bring it to him.

This weekend was nice. Snowy though. It feels like we have to keep shoveling constantly. It's still -20 something though they're predicting highs of up to zero later this week...the warmth will be nice but I'm not sure I'm looking forward to that slushfest!

We were supposed to start swimming lessons yesterday, Sam with a parent and Katie in an unparented class...her first of this kind. We got there, and after finding parking (busy due to a big unrelated swim meet) discovered that the heater for their warm pool had broken overnight and the pool was too cold to use. They offered lessons in the cool pools, but it was a little too cold for our liking. Luckily we ran into our friends D and M who are taking lessons at the same time and talked them and their dad, Rob, into joining us at the indoor playground instead. Not quite what we'd planned but it ended up being a lot of fun.

We baked a bit this weekend too...tried the Fig Bars from my second new cookbook (same style as the first, all about incorporating veggie purees into recipes)...they turned out alright. I really like the filling...with figs and spinach, but wasn't too fond of the dough. I have leftover filling and might try making something else with it...sandwich cookies? Thumbprint cookies? Spread it on toast? On a scale of 10...this recipe was only a 4.

Katie has been sleeping on cushions on the floor of the girls room, in between their beds, for the last few days. She just waked to do it one night and we said yes. They've both been sleeping well, so I suppose it's ok. It's actually very cute, to see them snuggled up closer.

What else...I've been trying some exercise DVD's, since my foot isn't fully recovered and I'm finding strollercize isn't really ideal. Borrowing them free from the library is a great way to try them out. I'm doing Jillian Micheal's Yoga DVD...tough stuff! The girls watch and try to do some...they get on the hands, facing the ground and put their legs up on the couch...kind of a plank/push up pose. Very cute and they think it's fun. I will say it is convenient not having to get the girls out of the house to work out.

Hope you had a good weekend too!

Haircuts and Bowling!

2011-01-14T15:49:00.004-07:00

Last week we went for coffee with Grandpa Ken, celebrating his recent successful hip replacement (making use of his healing time away from work).
The girls got their hair cut the next day. Sam's very first one! She behaved very well and really barely got any cut off...we just wanted to clean up the scraggly in the back. Looks much neater now!
The girls had a delightful tea party with the new tea set. Filled the pot with a bit of water and Katie politely poured tea for everyone and we nibbled on small cookies. How posh! (as Fancy Nancy would say, "that's a fancy word for fancy!")
Last weekend, in the middle of about a 30 cm dump of snow, we celebrated our friend D's 4th Birthday with a bowling party! The kids has a great time!
They even had little kid shoes!
Ben and I,of course, brought our own shoes...do you know/remember that we bowled in a league at this very same bowling alley for 2 years in a row? The first year I was pregnant with Katie and bowled right up until just a couple of weeks before she was born. Such great memories. Sam doesn't yet share our enthusiasm for the sport. She didn't even want to walk on the lane in her shoes. The party was great and it was just so nice to be celebrating the birthday of such a wonderful little guy.

It's still cold today. I'm so "over" winter. Here's hoping that upcoming birthday celebrations and maybe a slight increase in temperature make the season a little more bearable!

Some January Pictures!

2011-01-13T14:18:00.005-07:00

Hello!
Here's a photo of the girls new play/craft/breakfast table. A Christmas gift from Gram and Grandpa. Hoping to keep crafts there instead of clearing off the dinner table every night. (PS...Katie took this picture, that's why it's so fuzzy. I have no excuse for other pictures!) =)
Katie painting the tea set she got for Christmas. (at the craft table!)
While the newspaper was out she was inspired to redecorate. She did this all by herself. With a Globe and Mail I hadn't quite finished reading. Oh well! =)
Sledding (the last day before Ben went back to work!)...we thought it was warm out...turns out that -6 is a little colder when you factor in the wind. But the girls were bundled and managed alright!
Sam REALLY wanted to go on the swings...I think she misses going to the playground.
Katie pulled Sam all the way home. We stayed out just long enough to warrant some hot chocolate. In new Princess mugs. I think when Katie says she wants to go sledding now, it really translates into "I want some hot chocolate.".

We had a big storm over the weekend giving us almost 30cm of snow in 2-3 days. Perfect for sledding if it weren't for the -30 I mentioned this morning. Stay warm!

Brr

2011-01-13T07:36:00.003-07:00

Only popping in to say I just checked the temperature on line and it's -23. With wind chill? -31

Gosh it's cold. When we thaw I'll post pictures and stories. =)

Last Of Christmas

2011-01-05T07:00:00.002-07:00

The last of the Christmas photos...there isn't much taken after Christmas morning since we were sick.

Here's Ben reading Twas the Night Before Christmas the night before Christmas.
Unflattering photo of me with the girls on Christmas morning. Bed head and a smile to hide how sick I was really feeling.
Happy Sam.
Katie crawling under the tree to get presents.
Neither of the girls is looking at the camera, but it looks like such a clear, well lit photo, I had to use it!
The New Year has been good so far. Katie went back to school yesterday and Sam and I went to strollercize...walking but working out at least! We had an off night the night before last, and Katie was awake seemingly all night for reasons unknown. The last two nights were better, although last night/this morning Sam was cuddled up in bed with us and it wasn't until she peed that we realized she'd taken off her diaper sometime back in her room.

Ah...Parenthood. =)

More pre-Christmas and the Eve

2010-12-30T12:00:00.006-07:00

We had some friends over the Monday before Christmas. I think I mentioned it before...6 kids and 6 adults. Here's the 5 non-infants at the kids table.
We had brought out our old bouncy chair for the 6 week old. The girls thought it was very interesting and played with it the next day. Here they are pretending to watch over baby Jesus. I think Katie even said she was Mary and Sam might have been either Joseph or a wise-man, I didn't quite catch it.
We finally got around to putting some insulating plastic over the girls window. Whoops! See the ice that had built up between the black out blind? I knew it felt a little cold in there. I don't care if the plastic helps with the ice or makes it worse, but it does seem warmer in the room now.
We decorated more cookies on Christmas Eve...had to make sure we had enough for Santa, right? Used my mom's "Old Fashioned Sugar Cookie" recipe...much better than the other ones I made. Hopefully I remember that this is THE recipe when I go to make them next year.

The girls got a little dressed up for Christmas eve. (though I think before we headed out Sam had decided she didn't want the skirt anymore)I had made them Christmas barrettes the night before for our other family Christmas party. I think they are so cute!GG Lill brought out a gorgeous doll house to play with, that used to be Gram Cheryl's. Such a neat house...all metal and bungalow layout...I haven't seen one like this ever before!Gram was keen to show Katie and was having as much fun (or more?) than Katie!Sam had a lot of fun and ended up getting so hot running around that she insisted on taking of all her clothes. How's that for a special Christmas outfit? Here's a video we took of Sam. She was pretty excited!

Untitled from BabyLuch on Vimeo.

Here's a pic of the girls in their PJ's putting out the cookies for Santa. We also put out apple for Rudolph. The girls were excited and Katie even wrote the note.
Things are mostly improved health wise now. Most of us are feeling better...Katie got sick this week but is recovering quickly.

Have I mentioned that Katie is officially in her "WHY?" phase? Evidenced (obviously) by asking why about a lot of things, but also her general questioning. For example..."We're having friends over tomorrow" (1 second later) "Is it tomorrow?". Cute, but irritating after the millionth time. It's very neat though to hear her being curious about everything and I'm trying my best to give her clear answers appropriate for her age.

Sam's talking a ton...very much a "Mine" "Me Too!""I want some fruit too!" kind of place she's in.

I'm sure there's more to share but I'm getting tired from our WILD (leftovers for dinner, bath and books) New Years Eve. See you next year!

More Pre-Christmas

2010-12-27T15:48:00.006-07:00

Hello!
Hope you all had a very merry Christmas. Our girls had a lovely Christmas but Ben and I (technically) did not, with both of us getting some bad stomach bug on Christmas day. Luckily, we made it through the present opening and brunch, but we were in terrible shape the rest Christmas day and the next. Thankfully, Gram Cheryl was able to help and came over for a bit in the evening to give the girls dinner and help get them ready for bed. Gram and Papa took the girls for much of boxing day so we could rest and recover. Thank goodness for family!

Illness aside, things were wonderful. Here are some photos from pre-Christmas.

Katie getting excited about putting up our tree.
Sam wasn't as excited but did help hang some (unbreakable) ornaments.
The girls and I had time to spare one morning and went to Starbucks and Chapters.
As much as we have the time to do this, I think we've been busy with errands or playdates and school etc, so haven't actually had much recent relaxed "no where else to be soon" play time together. It was fun and silly.
Laundry doesn't stop for holidays does it? Funny how the mountains of laundry stay as large, but the girls are looking bigger in the pile then they used to.
Silly Sam, still little enough to fit in a basket. I do believe it was Katie who covered her up with clothes. I did quite a bit more baking this year than I usually do...I'm more of a year round baker than a Christmas baker. These were cookies made from Gram Mary's dough (luckily for her she couldn't find her cutters and had to send it home with us!), saving me time and energy. Katie enjoyed helping me decorate while Sam was out shopping with Ben. Decorating with Katie is easier than baking, because I just let her do whatever she wants and decorate the rest as fast as I can before we have too many inch thick iced cookies, or cookies drowning in a bottles worth of sprinkles. The girls helped the grandparents decorate their Christmas trees. (I only have a picture of them at Gram and Papa's but they did Gram and Grandpa's too). Papa was reading "Twas the night before Christmas"...Sam, not that interested in sitting still. Look, more baking! Peppermint Meringue Cookies, from Joy the Baker. I didn't have the proper piping tools, so I just used a ziplock bag with a snipped tip. They maybe had a bit too much food colouring...the first ones piped were a little red and bloody looking and the rest still left quite a pink tint in your mouth when eaten. Still, they were easy and had a nice whoosh of peppermint. One fine evening was spent having dinner at our friends Russ and Steph and baby W's house. We exchanged gifts for the kids with them...So Much Fun for the kiddos! All gifts given and received were lovely and sweet. Especially the slippers...Katie got a pair of snowman slippers and she has worn them to bed every night since and skates around the house in during the day. Happiness is...!
More Christmas to come...!

Christmas Season

2010-12-22T12:45:00.003-07:00

The girls (especially Katie...at her age, she's really starting to anticipate this year) are getting very excited about Christmas. We've had lots of fun Christmas activities to make us feel warm and fuzzy.

Sam eating a cookie we decorated at the breakfast/crafty fun morning with our friends Megan and Rob and their kids D and M.
Katie decorating.
Megan and family.
Katie had a Sharing Day at her preschool. Parents and Grandparents were invited (both Ben and I and Gram Cheryl came!). There was a craft component as well as a song/dance. (low pressure Christmas concert!) Katie had fun but did get a little shy during a dance and sat on my lap after that. It was neat to see her with her friends and teachers.
Here's a picture from our little graham cracker gingerbread house decorating party we had the other weekend. The kids were quick to decorate but even quicker to eat...I think all Sam did was lick icing. The houses were cute and we had fun eating pizza and veggies afterward. Jo-Anne and her girls G and C came...we'd invited others, but very last minute, and so we had fun with just the 4 girls.
There's been a lot of baking and Christmas prep this week. It's been nice having Ben home. We had dinner with our friends Megan and family and Katie's preschool friend N and her family. 6 adults and 6 kids (though one is only 6 wks old)...it was a bit chaotic at the kids table. There were times where we adults couldn't converse for all the loud giggling!

Unfortunately, Sam woke up in the night throwing up...It's either that she ate too much or the bug that's apparently going around. She was fine after that until yesterday morning when she threw up again. Though I admit I gave her a full normal breakfast thinking she was all better...and I was definitely wrong. She seems fine today...here's hoping we're healthy for the rest of the next few days as we have 4 dinners out in a row starting tonight.

Merry Christmas! (in case I don't post again until after Saturday)

Christmas Kitties

2010-12-13T13:15:00.003-07:00

This photo was the result of one of Sam's Un-Naps a few weeks ago. She took all the blankets etc and pulled them off the beds. And took her clothes off. She's a busy girl. These photos were taken at Ken's work Christmas Party. They had lots of great kids activities including face painting. I don't know if Katie started it, but after she got this kitty face I saw lots of other girls with kitty faces. Or maybe that's the only face the painters knew how to draw? (note Katie's Christmas dress from last year...it was a bit big when I bought it and she refused to wear it more than the one time until a couple of months ago. Now we're wearing it once a week!)(Cute!)
Sam with the Christmas tree. I swear I saw her look at it... Think... Take a few steps closer...Then look around as if to think "See, they didn't even notice I moved closer!". I'm sure she's the one will worry about getting into our tree this year. Since we did decorate on Sunday afternoon, Sam has been taking off some ornaments here and there, but only the soft ones we put on the bottom, so it's not been too disastrous.
My friend M posted on her (private) blog recently and posted pictures about the trouble of getting family photos with too busy kids. I thought I'd post one of our attempts:
I was trying to get the girls in front of the trees. I had decided that kitty faces could be the new holiday "thing". The girls did not seem to agree.

Thank you...

2010-12-12T11:48:00.005-07:00

Sam is napping on me in the sling as I type this one handed. I've prepared myself to surrender the nap battle...we'd lost the last three days with no nap. Her behaviour's not intolerable though, so while I think she's a bit young, maybe she knows what's best. But I'll take a nap from her here and there when I can....today, she was pointing and asking for something and as best as I can figure it was the sling and a blanket. Add my favorite calming CD (recent re-found!) Jewel Lullaby and she fell asleep. I'm sure my back will thank me later.

Besides Sleepy Sam, what I'm really thankful for is the mysterious extra camera cord I found! While digging through our tech/CD cupboard looking for Christmas CD's, out tumbled this little black camera cord. I swear I've never seen it before. Early Christmas miracle?

We tried letting the girls put decals up in their room (some time ago now...). There were two identical sticker sheets, so the got one each. The decals were stiffer than the ones we have in the basement which made it pretty easy for the girls to work with.

Of course, that also makes it easier for them to pull off too. This happened later on the same day we stuck them up.

Here's a long promised skating photo! Videos to come. Ben and Katie.
Friends Megan and M.Rob and D. The rink is at Millennium Place in Sherwood Park.Sam was not into skating, but enjoyed watching.It has been a busy weekend with Christmas parties...Hopefully I can do some marathon blogging and tell you all about it soon. =)

Baking!

2010-12-09T13:41:00.002-07:00

I'm definitely feeling more seasonal lately...It helped that we went to an AWESOME Christmas breakfast and craft event with my friend Megan and her family, held at their church, this past weekend. The food was great and the best part was seeing the kids ave so much fun! I'm so grateful that they thought to ask us to join them.

Today was Katie's sharing day at preschool. Parents and grandparents were invited to come and do some crafts with the kids as well as watch some song and dance...and participate! It was really neat to see what they do and see how the teachers interact with the kids. Katie did get a little overwhelmed and chose to sit out for a bit, but we understand it can be awkward, with all those strangers around watching. Ben and Gram Cheryl were able to come and Great Auntie Joan even popped by! Sam stayed home with Auntie Andrea and Uncle Sheldon.

Anyway! Now we've had lunch and since I'm napping Sam later now, I'm just getting used to having more time after lunch. What shall we do...Bake? We made dough for making gingerbread men. I bought a set on impulse because it had cutters for clothes and a santa hat and beard with it. Too cute! What's our favorite part of baking? Licking the beater/spoon or course!
(I'd almost forgotten I can take pictures with the laptop...yay!)

The dough has to cool in the fridge for a few hours so the girls are doing dishes. Yup, for real. I have limited their dishes to plastics or other unbreakables. The mess will be astronomical I think. And I am planning on rewashing the dishes later when they're not looking. I've never let Sam get involved before, but she has this very insistent way of getting involved. I swear, half the time I think about baking these days, I decide not too because of the way the girls start pushing chairs over as soon as they see me go near a kitchen counter.

It's maddening, but then, what else is new? =)

About a Green Sheep

2010-12-08T19:39:00.002-07:00

Today was a pretty good day!

With all the sick and the weather and who knows what else, I'll admit I've been feeling pretty tired and maybe stressed out. And THEN...Sam didn't nap for three straight days.

I was totally freaking out. She was even taking off her diaper and telling me she had to go potty (she asks usually after every diaper change...sits, does NOT pee/poop, pulls as much toilet paper as she can (before I remember to grab it) stuffs it in the toilet, AND reaches back and flushes it. And then smiles with glee!). The whole situation was bringing back flashbacks of when Katie was doing the same thing...which led to the end of napping and potty training at the same time!...Only she was 6 months older than Sam is now!

Goodness! I thought and thought and thought...chatted (whined) to my mom friends and strategized with Ben and finally called our pediatrician and the receptionist (is she a nurse too? I don't know?) suggested putting her down for her nap later, around 2 (I was aiming for our usual 12:30 or 1:30). I was also remnded while talking to her of something we did with Katie when she started sleeping on a bed instead of her crib...that is, putting her back to bed every time she gets up. Right now, we had gotten into a pattern of holding the door shut. I think that putting her straight back to bed (even every 30 seconds for 20 minutes while she's screaming) works better because it gives a consistent message of "It's nap time" and no "fighting" about it. It worked yesterday and again today in less time than yesterday. Phew. I feel like I've averted a major crises. And for some reason, I feel like my perspective has changed and I'm just more calm and happier anyway. Maybe the weight of being worried about them being sick and then Ben and I and then napping issues was really affecting me more than I realized.

Anyway...Other than napping, today we did a few things. Went and picked up a part for our dishwasher (yay, we can use rinse agent again!), went to the library and made soup for dinner.

At the library, Sam found a book that we've read before "Where is the Green Sheep?" by Mem Fox (we love her!). Sam insisted I read it to her while some other mom commented on her talking skills (so nice to hear!). Sam remembered that the book was about sheep, especially green sheep. Since we've had it home again, we've read it maybe 6 times. One repeated line in it is "Where is the green sheep?" I must have said something like "we don't know." once or twice at this point because now Sam reads this line and then puts up her hand and says "Don't Know!" in the cutest little voice. Another favorite page is where it says "Near sheep" and "Far sheep"...for "near" there is a close up drawn image of this sheep face and then for "far" a sheep drawn far away. I moved the book close to her face and then far away...she loved it, giggled and now we have to do it multiple time, every time. =) It's definitely one of those books we've developed a special relationship with. I love it!

Hope your days are looking up too. Still looking for the camera cord...and Sam's dolly...Santa?...are you reading this?

Feeling Blah and an Overdue Video

2010-12-03T07:46:00.003-07:00

Good morning!

Um...still have not found the camera cord. Will find it soon or I'm sure the camera will explode.

The girls are both feeling better...did I mention the day after Katie was sick last week, Sam got a fever too? Yep. Katie didn't go to school at all last week, but did make it this week.

Ben was sick on the weekend. Not quite the same thing as the girls but sick enough to be on the couch for a day or two.

BAM...then I got it this week on Wednesday. That was a long day but the girls were pretty good. There was a lot of them playing by themselves, a little extra tv for Katie and...I don't even remember how I made it through the day. Ben was great and came home as early as he could from work. And arranged to have someone cover his morning class so he could take care of the girls yesterday morning. That helped a lot...being able to sit and not talk and just relax myself all better.

I'm feeling better today...my throat's still sore but it doesn't feel like my whole neck is swollen.

Katie's illness affected our night potty training, and upon advice from the Pediatrician's office, we're having her wear Pull-Ups and waking her at around 10 or 11pm to go to the bathroom. Training her body to wake up at night too pee. So far so good.

Also, Christmas is suddenly right around the corner (how did that happen!?) and the girls have started their Advent calendars. We have one each with Playdough treats (cutters and tiny playdough filed ornaments etc., a thoughtful gift from my cousin Meghan and her daughter Lucie) and the one that Gram made Katie last year which we've filled with chocolates. Sorry Sam, you're too young this year to get a chocolate a day, next year for sure!

Not sure what we're up to today...hopefully we can arrange a playdate of some kind.

Since I have no photos, I dug around a bit and remembered I hadn't ever shown you our Halloween video! Are you alright watching a video that's over a month old? (you'd better be ok with it, because you have no choice!)

Untitled from BabyLuch on Vimeo.

Enjoy your weekend!
PS...has anyone seen Sam's little knit Dolly? It's her best sleep buddy and it's been missing for a week! Napping has been if-ier and I think she'd settle down more easily at night if we had it. Look around and if you find it, let us know! =)

A Surprising Milestone...

2010-11-23T17:04:00.003-07:00

Today was a sick day. Katie woke up with a fever. I kept her home from school (she cried about that) and the three of us took it easy.
Sam's diaper rash is back since her poops have (I think) been affected by her teething. Medicine and diaper cream are helping.
We've been eating lots of plain pasta and not too much fruit/fibre.

In all this I'm sure you're wondering "what was the milestone"?

Katie's First Movie.

I decided that since she was sick that she got all the books and tv time she wanted. (which gave me some reading/"napping with eyes open" time). Sam napped over 2 hours which helped. I had hoped this would be a more spectacular moment...maybe popcorn, Ben and I both there, a movie we've been dying to share with her. Nope. Horton Hears a Who which we had PVR'd a few weeks ago as a potential movie for her, just since it was there. We've enjoyed several versions of the book. I think it went ok. She watched most of it I think.

We also read some of Little House in the Big Woods...I've been itching to read this book to Katie. I enjoyed them so much as a little girl. I'm sure she doesn't understand everything but she does seem to enjoy it. Looking forward to more of this.

I think this sicknes is going to put a kink in our nighttime potty training...after a couple of sick issues earlier today, I threw a Sam diaper on Katie when we went downstairs (carpet you know!) and Ben and I have just agreed that messy nights would be even less fun than simply wet ones. Ben's out getting emergency diapers right now. Phew. Quick thinking since...

...I'm heading out to my last writing class in 45 minutes and dinner's just about ready. (garlic lemon chicken drumsticks, white rice and asparagus that I'm betting the girls don't touch.) Hope Ben's evening goes well.

Have a good night, hope you are not sick like some of us.

A little Grumpy...

2010-11-19T08:02:00.003-07:00

I'm a little grumpy this morning. A few reasons why:

1. We took the gate off the girls bedroom for sleeping. Party because the plastic gate was getting a bit bent and the girls had figured out how to slip underneath. (gate=useless) Also partly because we've decided to try getting rid of Katie's night diapers. We have ONE diaper left. We'll use it tonight and then make sure we have a lot of clean sheets. Anyway...Sam stays in the room pretty well...we have to hold the door handle for about 20 minutes until she gives up. Katie on the other hand...while she goes to sleep better, she is waking up more and coming to see us in our bed. Maybe partly because she's going to the bathroom (we've told her we're going to start getting rid of diapers completely) and I think largely just for comfort. She'd been a bit wakey anyway lately...searching for her glowworm or other stuffed toy etc. It was a long night last night. I think I juet need to mentally plan for a weekend wake-a-thon.

2) Sam's been a bear this week. Not the whole time, but definitely having a few really fussy periods a day. And some diarrhea...I'm chalking it all up to molar teething.

3) This morning Sam got to and broke a musical snow globe...thankfully not the globe part, just the base. I'm mad because of the mess a bit, because she keeps getting into things she shouldn't (yay persistence, that'll be agreat character trait when she's older!) but mostly for sentimental reasons. The globe was used a lot when Katie was a wee baby when we needed to calm her and distract her while at the change table. It's sad to think that I won't someday be able to hand it down to her. Oh well, it's just an object.

4) Due to the gate thing, the girls woke up at about 5:20 AM this morning. Yuck. I refused to make breakfast until 6am.

5) Winter is officially here this week...like -20 cold and a fair amount of snow. It's kind of fun and nice and bright, but it's going to take some getting used to.

There are many GOOD things though...!

1) Coffee. At home and free at McDonalds this week. I like free things. And coffee. Did I mention coffee?

2) When Sam was having some rough times this week, Katie has been an angel...helpful. Both to me and Sam.

3) I baked a yummy Cranberry Orange Bread for a play date yesterday and it was delicious. (though I didn't use any dried cranberries...only nice tart frozen ones!)

4) The girls have been playing really well together. Last night before bed the girls were racing around in a circle with their strollers and all four of us were laughing.

5)Katie has named one of her stuffed animals. Every time she says the name I almost can't not laugh out load. The name is Baby Join Join. I have no idea where it came from. ("Mom, I'm busy reading to Baby Join Join")

6)I've got cookie dough in the fridge ready and waiting to be baked this afternoon. I've found that with the two girls "helping" it's often easier time-wise to mix dough one day and bake it another. Hard to find time to do it all at once.

7) I've got all my fabric cut and ready to sew for some Christmas projects. Now comes the fun part. Can't wait until Sam's nap time!

8)I think we're planning on going to Millenium Place this morning with some friends. Warm swimming, indoor playground and nice company. Can't wait.

9) Which reminds me...I have video and pictures of Katie's first time ever skating from last weekend. Sam wasn't interested but Katie loved it. She liked it so much that I searched on Kijiji the next day about picked up 2 pairs of skates for her (2 sizes) in our neighbourhood for THREE DOLLARS. (that last point has a lot of good things, doesn't it?) (but I still can't find the camera cord...I'll get Ben to look this weekend)

Dear Sam,

2010-11-16T08:05:00.003-07:00

I know I should expect that you could figure out how to open the diaper bag and get into my wallet. You've done this a zillion times and each time I curse your cleverness.

Why is it though, that you manage to take out only the most important things? My license, health care card and even the receipt for my Special Boot that I'm to photocopy for the claim? Do you know how close that is to disaster?

There are plenty of better things for you to grab from my wallet...expired starbucks cards, unneeded receipts and various "club" cards for stores I don't shop at. Please take those instead.

That's it for now. Have a good day...lets hope you're less fussy than yesterday...darn molars. (and perhaps a wee cold).

Lots of love,
Mom

Where is the camera cord?

2010-11-15T15:13:00.002-07:00

I would post, but I can't find the camera cord.

Working on it.

See you soon!
Heather

What we sometimes do with Playdoh.

2010-11-06T06:10:00.002-07:00

Sometimes, this is what we do with playdoh. Because it makes the girls laugh.

Untitled from BabyLuch on Vimeo.

I've been meaning to take of photo of my newest accessory... a walking boot...an Aircast...looks like a ski-boot. I didn't break my foot, I'm just trying to heal a mystery running injury on the bottom of my left foot. I took last month off running and will do another month with the boot. Sam calls it "Mom's Special Boot". I don't feel the pain while wearing it, so I think it'll help. I'll try and get a picture.

Friday

2010-11-04T15:29:00.002-07:00

Hello Friday!

I'm uploading a video that we took while playing with playdoh the other day, like in this picture:
It's kind of cute...I'll post it when it's ready. I have a few videos to post, I'll work on it.
Here are some photos I almost forgot about from Katie's preschool party. (really just during the drop off and pick up, other kids faces are blurred). This yellow dude (I forgot who his costume is...) is cute and knows how to pose for a picture!
Katie the Fairy. I love this photo because her face has such a cute heart shape. She actually looks like this a lot but I don't manage to get many photos of it. I just think she's so cute!
Here's Katie with her friends (yellow man in background is a friend too). These 4 really like playing at the playground and running in the field after school. They're very lucky the weather has held out...we're still getting plus temperatures this week. (I just checked the weather and it's currently 12 degrees...at 7:30am!!)
Sam's hair is getting longer and fluffier (that's what happens before it gets thicker) so I'm trying pigtails a little bit. Super cute, but with a high level of difficulty in execution. Sam says "Ow" a lot during, but I really think it sounds a bit fake and suspect she's copying Katie's "Ows" from when I brush her hair.
Not sure what the plan is for today, but I'm thinking we should go outside. I'll let you know!

Snow Pictures

2010-11-03T18:37:00.004-07:00

Never mind that the snow's all gone...here are the snow pictures!

Cute and puffy in snowsuits!
The two "Noman", as Sam likes to call them, before Katie insisted on adding her scarf (like Jillian Jiggs, she says!"). (my leg in picture for scale)

Sam wondering about those mittens...they're last years and thumb-less. Mama needs to make her girls some mittens. =)
Katie laughing.
The finished snowman. Katie got upset when we went inside because she wanted her headband back (the scarf was originally her headband) even though I'd prepped her that we were giving it up forever to the snowman.

Halloween 2010

2010-10-31T19:01:00.004-07:00

Happy Halloween!

While I still have snow pictures and some others from last week, I couldn't not keep you up to date with Halloween, could I?

We did our pumpkins this morning. We had gloves for Katie, which for wore for a scoop of pumpkin guts and then abandoned the job completely. Lucky for her, I was willing to step in.
Sam did a scoop too, but for some reason isn't looking too happy in this picture.
I let Katie draw the faces on both our pumpkins and I'm so glad...they look wonderful and she had a great time doing it!

And look how well in translates into Jack-O-Lantern?! It's funny that the unintentional lopsidedness, both from her drawing and my carving, greatly add to the creepiness. (I think.)
Here's the second pumpkin...she gave it all these tiny teeth that I just managed to carve. Looks so great!
And the costumes! Sam has a Monkey costume we bought from Old Navy and Katie a Fairy costume from the same. I was totally intent on making a costume until we went to Millennium Place and they had dress up costumes, including a ballerina. Katie changed her mind for her costume after that (to ballerina) and I was afraid of her doing it again (um, Fairy!?), so we bought. Next year will be homemade.
Sam was very good Trick or Treating with Dad and Katie. She said Happy Halloween and Trick or Treat (I have videos of both to share later) and Thank You. Ben said both girls were really polite. We had an early dinner at Gram and Grandpa's house so I could come back and give out treats and the girls could go out in their neighbourhood. The weather was great for it...5 above zero at 7:30ish when they all came home. Slow night for us...15 kids. What will we do with all the leftovers?!And here's one more picture of the girls being silly earlier. I think Katie was pushing Sam around a bit, but she was laughing, so it was still funny. You do know that it's always funny until someone starts crying right? Cute sisters! Happy Halloween!

A little more...

2010-10-29T07:15:00.002-06:00

I think this is actually the last few pictures from last months backlog. Then I can show you pictures from this week.

The girls are doing more of this:
Sitting together and reading quietly. I really really love it. They just look so grown up. And the peace and quiet is brief but glorious.
Some photos from G and C's recent 4th birthday! Face painting!
Butterfly cupcakes...aren't those butterfly's gorgeous? Good job Jo-Anne!
The birthday girls.
And another one-on-one date with Sam. Thanks again mystery Starbucks gift card! (by sticking to black coffee orders, that 40$ we found is lasting a l-o-n-g- time. I LOVE it!
Yesterday was Katie's school Halloween party...so cute! She had a great time. I have pictures! Not sure what the plan is for today...we're wide open! And since I hosted some mom's for a playdate yesterday, the house is relatively clean so I don't feel like I have a ton of housework to do today (which is how I almost always feel!).

Anyway, happy Friday everyone!

PS...such a nice start to our morning...pancakes, leftover from dinner last night (total cheater dinner, I couldn't come up with anything else...we had poached eggs too...yum!). Katie did very well this morning...I had brought syrup to the table and Katie says, with her voice getting a little higher, but still quiet "Mom, I wanted to bring the syrup to the table, Please." With such politeness! Often, something like that will cause a big whine and shout and tears. Phew. First crisis of the day averted. =)

PPS...whoa, lots of exclamation marks back there. Didn't mean to get so excited. Forgive me. Is there an opposite exclamation mark? To notify when a sentence is UNexcited? If there were, I would use one now to balance it all out. =(

Nature Walk

2010-10-26T12:35:00.002-06:00

We probably won't be doing many nature walks like this anymore as the snow came yesterday! (pictures to come).

These photos are from a couple of weeks ago when we went for our nature walk with Meg and her boys D and M. I think I told you Sam said "I see water!" when she saw this:
The kids threw rocks and sticks and made some nice little splashes. Then we kept on walking and climbed over trees and picked up more sticks.
We walked over bridges and threw things into the water...that's fun too.
The funniest things about this walk were a few scary incidents...the boys are currently afraid that dogs will lick them and get scared when dogs appear. We ran into a few dogs and the kids got a little scared (but Meg and I were stifling laughter because really, it was a little funny). Also when we were on our last bridge, this little golf cart like truck comes zooming around the corner and all 4 kids freaked out a bit. Again, kind of funny. I think maybe you really had to be there to appreciate it. Ah, the memories!
We found a little park when we left the ravine and had a little swing to calm down.
So, yes, we have snow! Nothing to shovel yet...Katie is so disappointed...I may have help shoveling this year. And they wanted to make snowmen...so we did. Cute pictures. I have. Will share. Maybe tomorrow? Ah, but there's still photo backlog...soon then.

Today was Orange day at preschool but Katie insisted on wearing all pink anyway. Sam and I ran a few tiny errands and then browsed around an antique store near the school. Equal parts "Awesome" and "Don't Touch That!". We may or may not attempt that again. =)

Enjoy the rest of your day!

21 Months!

2010-10-24T15:48:00.002-06:00

Sam turns 21 months old today! Hard to believe that when Katie was this age we were just adding a newborn to the family. Sam's grown so much in the last few months. She jumps and bounces around, dances to music and is fearless on the playground. She laughs and plays with her sister. They have many inside jokes that make them giggle..."Tia!" and "Chew-wa-wa" are two things the girls say that get each other rolling with laughter. (and Ben and I to0). Her language is amazing but I think I've mentioned that recently.

This is Sam when she and I went for coffee one nice day while Katie was in preschool. It feels like we've hardly used this old stroller...we usually use the Chariot, which can fit both girls, or we walk and carry Sam when needed. She was wearing cute little Halloween socks that peeked out perfectly from her shoes.
I know this isn't Sam related, but Katie spends oodles of time doing these little lacing things...it's a set we have where the fish gets sewn onto the fishbowl etc, but she's taken to sewing with any string she can find (it's sometimes rare to find all the pieces in a set together.). She told me this was a tree house she was making. She also took some laces and sewed them through a fleecy blanket we have downstairs. Did an actual "running stitch" as well as some "whip stitch".
Sam, sitting on the chair...taking cushions off happens at least once a week. The cushions are either staked up in towers or laid out as a path and jumped on. I think they also like how the chair feels deeper without the cushion. I have sort of accepted the fact that our furniture will be a beat beat up after surviving two kids.
Before dinner on Thanksgiving we went to a playground and ran around. Sam still loves swings but does eventually venture over to other areas. We used to have to take turns pushing her, Ben and I, to keep from getting bored.
Today the girls and I went to church (Ben stayed home and napped...I owed him a three hour nap from yesterday morning...I was up all night coughing and he was up with the girls a bit...both nights) and when we came home I made chicken noodle soup. SO good...hopefully will help kick this little lingering cold I have. Ben went to school to work while Sam napped and Katie watched a show. When Sam woke up the three of us baked Pumpkin Chocolate Cookies. Haven't eaten enough to know if I should be sharing the link...I'll let you know! It was nice to bake because it's been a dark and gloomy day. Makes the house are nice and warm and smelling good! We're ending off the weekend with supper at Gram and Grandpa's house. Can't wait!

Hope your weekend was as nice as ours!

Another Fine Fine Fall Day

2010-10-21T13:36:00.003-06:00

Pictures from a couple of weeks ago. At Ben's school watching the Volleyball kids (girls love!)
At the playground in Hawerlack park. We had a surprisingly gorgeous day and called friends Russ and Steph for a spur of the moment Saturday lunch picnic.
It was, like that other Saturday evening at the playground, such a perfect memorable day. I feel like it was movie perfect and gorgeous and we had these great friends to share the moment with. I hope the girls remember somehow. Sam, in her chair:
Katie in hers:
Sam running away as I attempt to get beautiful fall photos. Strangely, I forgot to take any photos of our friends. Trust me, they were there. Katie had lots of fun playing at the top of the big hill gathering sticks and playing with other kids.
It's just after 8 in the morning and still quite dark out. I kind of don't know how I hadn't noticed how late the sun is getting up. It's just strangely dark out.

Went through Katie's closet this morning...a task I've been putting off. More than half the clothes are things she wasn't wearing. Took out things that are either: out of season (easy), too small (tricky, since I had to guess because who do you think wouldn't try anything on?), or that Katie doesn't like (tricky, because she started saying she didn't like things that she wore just last week and I began to doubt her answers, so went with my gut). Feels good to clear it out a bit. Hopefully that will help with the getting dressed...we've been having some issues with that lately. I've tried giving her two options, but if she doesn't like either of them (which I'll admit is sometimes the point...to get her to pick something she normally wouldn't wear) she just yells and thrashes around while I debate wrestling her into the clothes. I'm sure those of you who haven't seen a toddler/preschooler tantrum recently can't imagine Katie like this, but it's a sight to see. Anyway...we're trying to avoid it.

Friday today! Hope you enjoy your weekend! We have a very important birthday party to go to and I'm not sure what else is on tap. Talk soon!

Heather

Knoc Knock

2010-10-20T18:40:00.005-06:00

- Knock Knock
- Who's There?

- Apparently not the blog!

Busyness abounds as do excuses for the absence that I will try not to go on and on about. I'd hoped to share pictures, but at the moment it's not working. I've tried twice and it's a no go.

Pre-school is going SO WELL for Katie. We all love it. She gets excited in the morning if it's a school day, runs into the room and disappears almost before I can say goodbye. Brings home lovely crafts every day (of the two per week she attends). Sam and I are filling the time well. Semi-regular playdates, some walks and playground visits, sometimes the library or even a swim with Gram Mary. I'm really enjoying the one on one time with her.

The downer news of late, is that I've not been running. A nagging pain that I've had for a year or so finally caused me to see a podiatrist (recommended by our family doctor) and though x-rays show no break or crack in my foot (the pain's under the ball of my foot under the big toe) we suspect a bit of inflammation. Along with the diagnosis came an order to stop running for a month. Which is actually up already in the first week of November (that's how absent I've been!). I'm not sure what will happen then...honestly I don't feel like the pain is getting any better as far as general use. Here's hoping it does get better. I miss running and my running friends and the busy structure of my strollercize class. Not to mention I sort of feel squishier already. Ugh. Probably partly just cool weather hibernating feeling, since it is deep October already.

I'm also taking a writing class...Introduction to Creative Writing. 8 weeks, one night a week. With my lovely friend Stephanie. It's going well so far...the intimidation of sharing writing has been replaced with the excitement of hearing how to improve my writing so I'm really enjoying it. It's not for credit, just for fun. Here's hoping you don't expect some kind of improvement in writing here! (I hope the blog's always been an enjoyable read!)

What else...Cooking lots, baking a little, Sewing...some...thinking about it more! Battling a little sore throat and cough.

Sam has grown immensely in the last while. we went for the BEST nature walk in the ravine with our friends Meg and D and M (happy almost 2nd Bday M!) and Sam said repeatedly "I see water!". Now she sees lots and tells us lots too. It's so much fun having 2 little communicating kids in this house. She has developed a sense of imagination now too...will feed us pretend food just like Katie does. This gets her and Katie playing together for longer stretches...sometimes with arguments, but sometimes they work something out and keep playing.

Katie's colouring is awesome, though I rarely let her do it (I'm so mean) because almost every time I have to stop supervising and it ends up on her somewhere (body, clothes). I feel awful withholding fun crafty stuff, but I have had it up to "here". And probably not for the last time. I did let her draw up a birthday card for our friends G and C (now 4!!) and I wrote out Happy Birthday for her and she was able to copy out all the letters. A little wonky looking, but legible. Then she insisted in colouring them all in, (and they weren't block letters, just lines..she added extra lines to give her spaces to fill) and I doubt it was even recognizable as Happy Birthday. Funny girl.

The girls had their first sleepover at a grandparents (Gram and Grandpa) house just this past weekend. We then had the girls transferred the next morning to Gram and Papa's and didn't show up until dinner time. 24 hours on our own. Seems silly, but it was such a nice little break. We had diner and a movie with friends Steph and Russ and then brunch out the next morning. We made heavy use of gift cards, including a Starbucks card with 40$ on it! (whoever gave us that, thank you! It got lost in our gift card storage area...here's hoping we didn't buy it as a gift for someone else and forgot...wouldn't that be silly!)
----------------------------------------------------------------
Ooo...while I was taken away from the blog to put the girls to bed (and sleep as it's now the next morning) the pictures are working! Here's a few with short descriptions.

D and Katie at a playground. The weather was exceptional one Saturday evening, so we called our friends and went to the playground...not our usual play date time, but it turned into an incredible warm, fun, memorable evening. M and Sam.
D and Katie. I've been talking all month about how this may be one of my favorite photos ever, but now that I've seen it on the big computer screen, I realize it's a bit fuzzy. I'm disappointed, but I suppose you can still see how much fun the kids were having. (I have discussed it with Megan, this could be their engagement photo...D has officially asked to marry Katie and she accepted.) (it was so cute!)
After an awful September weather-wise, October has turned out to be super lovely. Before we had a few windy days the leaves were spectacular. Here's Sam playing outside after strollercize one day.
And here she is again. See that happy smirky look? We had put out the high chair since we were having company (she uses a booster seat now) and while I wasn't looking, she climbed right up and over the tray and slipped inside. I think she was quite proud. I was a little scared realizing the extent of her climbing skills.
More photos next time. Soon. Promise. I'll set an alarm reminder on my phone. OK?

Bad Babies!

2010-09-26T06:41:00.002-06:00

This is a video of Sam dancing and singing "Bad Babies"...one of our new favorite songs from the Sandra Boynton CD Rhinoceros Tap. It's a bit of a strange song...it's weird telling people Sam loves "Bad Babies", but quite funny and not bad to listen to a million times. Sam's a great little dancer. (Katie's a great dancer too...I'll video that someday if she'll let me.)

Untitled from BabyLuch on Vimeo.

Some Handmade and 20 Months

2010-09-24T14:06:00.005-06:00

First off, Sam is 20 months old today! Yippee! Look at her go! (in a skirt I've made for her...a little while ago...did I show you?)

Katie likes to go too. (in a shirt and pants that Gram Mary made for her.)
Katie's still loving preschool. Last week we planted the three tulip bulbs they were given. She was so excited and looked to see if they were growing for a few days (she's forgotten now I think). Sam has taken to doing this kind of squat thing a lot now. Very funny. (I did make Sam's hat, originally for Katie...did not make the hat or mitts that Katie is wearing.)
Next spring, tulips, right here!
Here's the finished (almost...the city just has to put the last bits of grass on) lawn that we were working so hard on this summer. The unfortunate cool weather has helped the lawn stay moist. It's such a pretty green that I think it looks fake. And yes, that's Sam running toward the road. I did catch her. The next photo in the set has Katie with her hands to her mouth, like she's all shocked or something. Funny. (but I had other photos to share)
Here the girls were having a ton of fun playing "store" or something. Really, anything that makes a mess is fun isn't it?Not sure how this was part of having a store. Last week we followed the recipe in our Jillian Jiggs book for making pigs. In the story, Jillian makes "millions and zillions of pigs". Seriously, I don't know HOW she did it. I could barely make one and I'm a grown up...I couldn't tie up the feet with string and had to use elastics. And the embroidered eyes got pulled out in minutes. ("The pig is sleeping...") The rest of the face came out soon too. It was a VERY exasperating crafty mom moment. (I try so hard...!) At least we can say we made a pig. The girls will have to share though, I'm not making another. Nor am I making clothes for him/her...this is a naked pig household. Sam likes brownie batter. The girls at Ben's staff BBQ last Saturday. The big success were the students they brought in to play games with the kids. I think both old and young had lots of fun. And moms and dads were relaxed. Please, do that every time. I love it. Last, but definitely not least. New Pants for Katie. I finished sewing these last night. I think they are so so cute. But Katie, though she tried them on for me (there may have been a strawberry bribe) refuses to wear them. They do still need hemming (with perhaps more green underneath, in case we cuff them). This isn't a cute pose on purpose...see her hand? She's trying to take the pants off. They have elastic waist and no buttons (she does NOT like buttons). I think if I don't push it, she'll wear them. I hope. If you ever see her wear these, please compliment her, no matter what you really think. Help a crafty mom out! =)

What They Say

2010-09-15T08:17:00.002-06:00

-This morning, as Ben was heading off to work a little early to run with a coworker, Katie says:
"Dad, where are you going?"
"I'm going to work."
"But, those aren't WORK clothes!" (said in a disbelieving, "you're so silly" tone of voice)

Sam, as you may remember, knows how to push the button to listen to messages on our answering machine. Despite of my constant reminding, she still does it. Only now she yells "I did it!". She says this also when she clicks the power bar nearby, or flushing the toilet (only a few times so far thankfully!).

Sam can also say I love you, although the "you" is very unclear.

Sam says "Apple Pie!" and "Amen" (as we finish saying grace before eating).

Katie says more cute things too but I can't think of any right now as they are both struggling to climb into my lap. We'll talk more later!

Preschool is Good...!

2010-09-09T13:30:00.004-06:00

Haven't told you about preschool yet, have I? Everything went well. No tears (from either of us!). I didn't get a lot of information about what Katie thought because although she's a bit of a chatterbox, it's only when she wants to be. I'm sure we'll hear more as she gets more comfortable. I did hear that they served a snack. Apple juice and a cookie. That's the really important information I guess. =)

Here's a "first day of school" picture.

I got them both outside although it was pretty chilly out that early in the morning. Katie decided pretty quickly to run back inside the house where it was warmer before I could take any better pictures.
Last week (or was it the week before?) I decided to make playdough for the girls. I don't know why...we have lots of store bought playdoh already...! I was pleased with the colours though...using my gel food colouring. And substituting lemon juice for the cream of tartar called for in the recipe seemed t o work fine. It was a bit stickier than the normal kind so some of the playdoh tools didn't work as well. I'll try and cook it more next time, maybe that will make it stiffer. (not sure why Katie has no shirt in this pic...she likes taking her clothes off sometimes.)

In preparation for the coming winter ("Hello? Fall? Aren't you usually nicer than this? I'm cold already all the time and feel a need to buy tons of new sweaters and pants for everyone.") Katie tried on the snowsuit I bought (70% off!) at end of the season last year. Phew! It fits generously and will last the whole winter I'm sure. Cute no?
I'm hoping that Katie's snowsuit that she's worn the last two winters will fit Sam. Must remember to try it on her soon.

Have a great week!

Preschool!

2010-09-06T19:08:00.002-06:00

Katie starts preschool/playschool/whatever-you-call it tomorrow morning! We're pretty excited! I don't think that this will be her first day outfit...it's the dress Gram Mary made for her to wear to my cousin Mark's wedding in July (SUCH a wonderful wedding by the way!). The dress fits perfectly and the colours are stunning in real life. I've decided to let her wear it as much as she wants until she grows out of it. Frankly I'm really just happy she'll wear it at all as her track record wearing things that Gram and I have made her if terrible. (remember the green knit dress I made her last year? I think she wore it three times. Maybe. I can't even get her to try it on to see how much too small it is now). Anyway...we're loving this and that's what matters.
Here's a picture (dated August 14th) of the alphabet that Katie wrote. It starts on the bottom corner and then continues on the line above. This was completely on her own, no prompting of letters or telling her how to form them. I don't care if it's smart or normal or what, I just can't believe that our first little baby is growing up so much!
This pictures of of the girls and my cousins from England, Beth and Will, who came to visit this summer. The girls fell in love with their cousins and despite the age gap (They're almost 13 and 9yrs) they all really enjoyed each others company.
We stopped in to visit Gram Cheryl at work the other week. I don't know if they're hiring, but we may want to start resumes for the girls.
They look like they're working hard don't they?
Today was the Monday of the long weekend. Very fall-ish weather...cool. Some sun. We did a lot of tidying up today which felt good.

For some reason, I had a very clumsy day...spilled flour (almost my whole bucket! I'm sure it was at least 10 cups!)(do you know how hard flour is to clean?...but so soft between your toes!), broke a plate, stepped on Ben's glasses AND actually broke the lens. I was so mad at myself for a while. But I suppose the I get points for making two batches of banana bread, feeding the girls 3 good meals and two snacks, helping put away laundry and getting quality reading time in with the girls. And adding a spontaneous park playdate before dinner with Megan and D and M.

It's all about the big picture, right?

Have a great week and think of us tomorrow morning. I don't know about Katie, but I know I'll have butterflies in my stomach! =)

Back to School

2010-09-02T07:54:00.004-06:00

Well, Ben's into his second week of back to school, and the first with the kids there...I guess that means I should share the pictures from our holidays. Here's a very few...there are plenty, but I'm thinking I'll share a few, and move on.

Sam, eating a Doughnut in Red Deer. I think she likes doughnuts.
Katie and I at our lunch picnic spot in Cochrane. It was sunny but a little chilly.
Katie in action at a playground in Banff.
Ben and Sam on the swings in Banff. Sam still loves swings, but only recently has she begun voluntarily ending her swing time because she wants to play with other things.
The girls climbed from the back of the car to the front while we were getting ready one morning. Sam knew instantly what to do. We ended up camping at Peach Orchard campground in Summerland...a traditional place to go in Ben's family. Sam on the beach in Penticton. The Ogopogo statue in Kelowna. Many of our pictures are on beaches or spray parks like this one. It was hot enough to want to be near water all the time. The girls both loved it. Sam is fearless and Katie hangs back from the water a bit but runs around near the kids and wants to do what they do.
Katie actually got WAY more comfortable in water this year...searching for rocks in the sand and throwing them etc. It was great to watch them both have so much fun. The rest of the pics next time.

Things are good. Katie starts preschool two mornings a week next week. We're all very excited. She's got new inside shoes that she's wearing constantly already. We went to the playground at the school last week and ran into the lovely teachers and they invited us in to see the new (they've moved) classroom. I think Katie's going to love going and playing with all the kids.

Sam's growing too! Her language/communication has grown in leaps and bounds! She says things like "Carry me please" and "Big Truck" and tons more. She has really realized how language works. And, cute thing, she uses "please" lots too when she wants something. It's cute to see how automatically she uses it. I'm such a nerd for loving that aren't I? She's recognizing some colours sometimes too. We may have a problem with the low number of pink cups and plates in our house...seems to be a favorite for both girls!

We got the sod put in earlier this week...what a big job! We had lots of helpful family and friends that made the work go quickly. We are watering lots and hope it takes well. The weather's been cooperative with some rain and some sun, but not too hot.

I've been sewing happily and reading some books and that's part of the lack of blogging too. Time seems so precious sometimes that it's hard to blog. Will try harder because there are so many good things to share about how great and fun and growing the girls are!

Sheep Hunting

2010-08-24T08:45:00.002-06:00

The girls are sheep hunting right now.

Of course, I mean hunting for sheep...LOOKING for sheep. Apparently, Little Bo Peep has lost them and they need hunting down.

I think they may be using this morning's floor Cheerrios as bait. I hear Katie telling Sam not to eat them because they're for the sheep.

Wish them luck!

Purple Dreses

2010-08-14T08:44:00.005-06:00

Gosh...how did 10 days just go by?
I still have not uploaded the photos from our holidays...but I will now that I've finished sharing the old ones.
These purple dresses I bought for the girls at H&M...for under 5$? I think it may be the first matching set I've bought for them. The dresses are cute and I love when they wear them.

Work on the front lawn/sidewalk has gone swimingly... Katie's been a big help. Since this(a few weeks ago now) there's been countless hours of hard work and we now have a beautiful sidewalk and lovely black dirt and a few fence posts. Thank you so much Grandpa and dad!Ben's Auntie Lorri came by for a visit and we had a fun time.

Sam is a goof and loves hanging out on our new-ish ottoman (extra seating!). I'm still amazed that she can climb this high.
Other important things to note (as much as I can remember)
- Did I mention Katie's writing her ABC's? She just started doing it one day, with no specific instruction from us. Childlike, but definitely legible. And, if she's showing you and you're facing her sideways, she'll draw the letters sideways, so that you can read it. I don't even know if I can do that!
- Sam is starting to say small "sentences" (phrases?)..."night night Katie", "more meat" (just yesterday). When Katie's doing 3 minutes in her room and starts banging on the door (as she sometimes does) Sam says "Knock!".
- Their sleep's been not bad lately...sometimes sleeping in until 7am. Of course, then, the next morning when they wake up earlier, I'm just grumpier because my expectations are higher.
- We went to the Art Gallery for a kids program for 3-5 year olds. It was very nice for something different. The teacher talked about stories and we all walked around as a group and chose characters, setting etc from pieces in the gallery to make up a story. Then we sat and drew paper bag puppets. The only cost was my own admission. I could see going again and having lunch out by the fountain at city hall. It would be a great playdate.
- The girls like to sing along in the car...Katie knows often knows all the words. Vegetable Town by the Bare Naked Ladies (from their kids album, Snack Time, a recent favorite...kids music but bearable for adults too). Sam prefers Fred Penner and "Meows" appropriately when necessary.
- We suspect Katie's had a growth spurt as some of the pants she's been wearing for a long time are getting snug and short. We'll be buying new clothes for fall soon anyway. School starts in less than a month you know! (2 mornings a week preschool).

I'm thinking really hard but I can't think of any more...I know there's more funny things and milestones. I'll try and write them down during the day as I think of them. Talk to you soon!

Still Some Summer Catch Up

2010-08-04T08:06:00.006-06:00

Hey There!
We went camping to BC last week and got back on Sunday. I have some great pictures and stories, but think I should blog the pictures from before and get caught up first.

A few weeks ago, Katie had a weird swelling on her ankle all of a sudden...we decided to get it checked at the medi-center. Good thing as it turned out to be a bacteria infection of some kind. She was prescribed antibiotics for 10 days. It cleared up sooner than that though. Good instincts.
Dad and the girls reading.
We've been playing with sidewalk chalk a lot...especially loving our 3-D chalk set. I tried taking a picture through the special glasses, but it doesn't work.
The girls and I visiting Grandpa Ken at ChaptersStarbucks.
At a park...
Sam's hair is getting longer isn't it?!Katie at the playground.The girls helping me shell peas. "Helping" rather. (Hope that's a proper use of quotation marks!)Katie draws nice looking people now! (The ones she used to draw looked really mean!)(haha)We bought goggles for swimming...they're so cheap I doubt the actually work properly, so I'm kind of glad that the girls don't want to swim in them but prefer to wear them in the house. There's still more to catch up on, PLUS photos from our camping trip. Yikes. I'll work on it.

Summer and 18 months

2010-07-25T21:02:00.004-06:00

Hello! Summer has been too much fun (seriously) and there's been some kind of summer time warp where weeks are flying by and I haven't noticed or blogged it.

Anyway...here's a quick one...(whoops...now that I'm done writing, it wasn't so quick!)

We love driving by giant blow up animals/characters...we saw this one in the west end and Katie said "That bear's sitting on a potty!". It does look like that doesn't it?
Once in a while we tape paper on the floor and do some serious colouring. Sam gets involved too, though I find I get pretty impatient with her scrunching up the paper as she scoots over the floor. Gram and Grandpa got a new hammock...my goodness it's comfortable!
We did go camping...(though that's not why I haven't been blogging...we were only gone for one night!)...a test drive really for camping later in the summer. We went to Pembina River with Gram and Papa. Only an hour or so away from the city, in case it really wasn't working and we had to go home. Needn't have worried...aside from a tiny wake-up, things were great!
There was a playground within view of our site:
And we brought riding toys...the bobby car, the stroller (Sam must have walked 5km with that thing...we've gone and bought another one, so they stop fighting over it) and Katie's trike.
Gram and Papa.Katie had her first toasted marshmallow (I think it was her first...did I allow her last year?). She likes it!Sam and Ben at the playground.
Thank goodness for coffee and pancakes...thanks Gram and Papa!
I have 300 photos on the camera but that's all you're getting for now. =) I'll have to play catch up later. We've been busy...
- ripping out our front lawn (left the trees) as we are planning on redoing the grass and grading and sidewalk.
- lots of sewing for me...a dress! ...and a skirt! and a tiny dress that's a wee bit too small for Sam that I will make again but bigger.
- Lots of chalk...thank you Steph and Russ for 3-D chalk...it's awesome!
- Lots of playgrounds and strollercize, trips to the library and so much rain!

The girls are fun...things have been so great. That 123 thing works really well for Katie. We're still improving but it's made such a difference in my parenting. I caught Katie drawing the alphabet today. Yes, I'm absolutely not lying. And I didn't even coach her, she just did it. It wasn't perfect, naturally, but definitely recognizable...up to about m...and then I saw some s and t and maybe a q. She's loving her dot to dot workbook and that uses abc's and numbers, so she's really getting great at that...and enjoys it!

Sam...Wow...you turned 18 months old yesterday!! I cannot believe what a big girl you're getting to be. You've definitely getting it when it comes to language...feels like in the last couple of weeks you've started finding new words all over the place! And even starting to put endings on your words...like "Mil...K!", as you emphasize the K sound like we encourage you to do. And with this, I think things are getting easier just because you're understanding more of what we tell you...you're maybe not so in the dark anymore...it's like we've let you in on our big secret, and you're very happy about it.
You may also be happy because I think we're through most of your teething. You have all of your teeth broken through that you should (no 2 yr molars yet). We've had a nice period of sleep with some solid nights and some sleep ins...!! Until about 7am even. Though really, anything later than 6am gets me pretty excited.
You're climbing very well...managed to get up on the red couch just yesterday actually...it seemed pretty high but you've just figured out how to shift your body weight. You're very proud of yourself. And, not that I'm not careful anymore, but you're SO GOOD at getting down (you say "turn around") that I'm not as worried about you falling.
You're really enjoying cheese lately...another of your good words. Your hair is getting longer and it blows in the wind and is JUST starting to maybe get in your eyes a bit...time to find the tiny barrettes for fine hair...if you would just leave them in. =) Maybe we have to try pigtails?
At your 18 month checkup we found that you're 25 pounds and Hmm...forget the height but it's 90th percentile (weight is 75th...both up from last time) and the doctor prescribed that we use your excema cream on your "diaper rash"...it's been SO helpful...I wish we'd found out about that earlier...we've been struggling for a couple of months with this (again!). Otherwise, your skin's been looking really great...a bit of cream here and there and excema's seems under control.

Life is great. YOU are great...thank you for being you and keep it up!

Sleeping...

2010-07-05T14:57:00.002-06:00

Hello!

SHOUTING from the rooftops...!

Both girls are napping!

Sam's having a nice long nap. I think we're on the verge of giving up the morning nap, and I'm looking forward to longer afternoon naps. Remember when Katie regularly slept 3 hours? Ahh. Miss those days. =)

Katie is lying on the floor in the basement. The lights are on and she's got on a light blanket. We were hanging out and I just started singing to her. (Do You Realize)(well, really, only the first line and anything else I could think of that rhymes with it). She smiled, looked peaceful as I touched her face and sang over and over and just...fell asleep. I'm in love! =)

Also good news on the sleep front, they've been sleeping in until almost 6:30. Or at least not making loud enough noise to wake us up until then. And bonus...waking up happy instead of crying. Always a nice way to start your day.

Let's hope I haven't jinxed it. =)

Warm Weather Fun

2010-07-01T09:08:00.006-06:00

We've had some amazing weather lately! Nice hot days with stunning thunder showers in the evening to cool us off. Perfect!

Was is Sunday we went to Gram and Grandpa's? Must have been...Lots of running around the backyard.
Look at these cute girls! Posing on Grandpa's new rocks. Sam's wearing one of my favorite Katie skirts. Sam'll get much more wear out of it seasonally...I'm so thrilled! (Thanks Auntie Patty!)
We also walked down to the "lake" nearby. So nice to cool off and splash in the water.
Tuesday night we went for our traditional End of the School Year ice cream. (a day early due to scheduling conflicts). I have more pictures from my mom, but I'll post those tomorrow. Katie was pretty excited!
Sam couldn't eat the ice cream fast enough...we all ate faster too! Papa shared some of his chocolate with her...well, actually I think she got some of everybody's.Wednesday we had an excellent play date and out first time ever at the zoo! Kids love trains! D and Katie in the front.Sam and M in the back.We also the merry-go-round. Katie screamed to get off before we started and Sam only screamed a little bit. Truthfully, it she might have been screaming because she was slipping a bit while I took pictures. Once I was done she settled in nicely. D was a pro. (didn't get a good shot of M)There were lots of neat animals...the lemurs were so much fun, and there was a petting zoo and ducks and a huge elephant and wolves...But I only really got some good pictures of the tigers. Katie was tired and taking a turn in the stroller. (Maybe stop waking up at 5:30 AM and you won't be so tired? Just a suggestion.)D and Sam watching closely.We made sure to bring a picnic lunch too. We love picnics!
It was Ben's last day of school for the year and I baked cookies to celebrate. A mountain of them. The recipe says it makes 2.5 dozen, but I'm sure I got at least 3.5. Yummy!Yesterday was Canada Day. We celebrated mostly by taking it easy. Sam didn't nap super well in the morning. I opened the door to find her like this:What a goofy giggling girl!While dad went for a bike ride the girls and I played with play dough. Sam's first time! I'd been avoiding it until now because I thought she might still be in a "eat it" phase, but she didn't eat a bit (that I noticed). I think she enjoyed squishing the different colours. And she's wearing a nice red/white Canada Day dress? Cute. Katie wouldn't wear her red dress. We also tried setting up our tent in the backyard. Just for practice. Good thing too since the instructions are terrible and we ended up ripping a hole (2!) in one of the sleeves that holds the poles to the tent. Luckily we called the store and they had no problem exchanging it. So really, that's how we spent our Canada Day. We ended the day with a super meal at Gram and Papa's. My Uncle Joe and Auntie Joan were over and the girls had a great time running around the backyard after dinner playing with gigantic bubble wands. I know Gram has pictures so I'll try and post those tomorrow too.

Also...Sleeping has NOT been great lately. I'm feeling very cranky about it. Maybe it's teething (we blame everything on teething...everyone dose, it what parents DO!) or Katie rolling over and kicking Sam in the night or Katie wanting to potty in the middle of the night instead of in her diaper. Either way, Ben and I decided last night to go back to "sleep training" mode and try and wean them off the wake ups. Don't know what do do about the early wake up though. The alarm clock we got Katie works, but Sam's a bit young to follow it. Oh well, thank goodness for coffee.

Today Ben's planning on joining me at Strollercize. Wish him luck! =)

They're Back!

2010-06-25T20:07:00.003-06:00

Ben was away for a work thing earlier this week, Monday through Wednesday evening...The girls and I really missed him. We're so glad he's back!

While he was gone we had a lovely dinner at Russ and Stephs...W and Sam played piano!
I sewed a bit more this week...I made this super cute baby dress for a friends new baby.
See how the straps tie up? It's not been gifted yet...but I don't think she's a blog reader. And I'm assuming she's too busy with her new baby girl to read it anyway! Hope to drop it off soon.
The girls and I went to a playground on Thursday. We packed swimsuits to wear in the spray park, but turns out it was closed. =( It was a super hot morning, so it was good that we got there early. Sam's LOVES swings. That's almost all she wants to do at the park now. I suppose it's better than chasing two girls in different directions.
Katie was over here on a spinning...seat-thing. (wearing boots, her choice)
But then Katie wanted to swing too. Usually I tell her she's too big for baby swings, but I didn't see any other swings at this playground. ( I think because there are a couple of bigger kid parks right close by)(Greenfield)This afternoon, I took the girls for their first bike ride of the season...maybe Sam's first bike ride ever? It wasn't long but it was great. We stopped once to check out a garage sale, but found nothing good. No kids things. Ben and I often joke that really, they should be called "Garbage Sales"...but I keep hoping to find a diamond in the rough. Not a bad time killer for an afternoon. (we'd already gone to the park earlier, before strollercize)You know who else is back? SAM...we've had her first happy day in what seems like forever (but may actually be only two weeks or so). Whether it was her stomach bug or teething or something else, she's seemed really grumpy and surly lately. Hard to please, needy...all that. Today was the first day in ages where I heard her giggle spontaneously. And where I felt I could do something to try and make her laugh without being afraid I would actually tick her off. It's so nice to see that smile again! I think because she's been off for such a significant period of time, I kind of forgot what was normal for her. THIS is definitely the normal I like to see. It made the day so much easier and less draining. Let's hope the rest of summer is as fun for all of us. Ben's last day is Wednesday, so we're counting down.

Enjoy your weekend!

A small conversation

2010-06-23T12:32:00.002-06:00

Mom: Do I tell you girls often enough that you're wonderful?

Katie: We're always wonderful and we're always BAD that we can't share!" (exactly as she said it, smiling and confident)

We start laughing and Sam grins too.

Father's Day/Ben's Day

2010-06-22T07:25:00.002-06:00

Hello!
No pictures today...

For those that are worried, Katie's face cleaned up the other day easily with a wipe. What looked like marker was actually "Dry Erase Crayon" that we'd had some samples of. What a monkey!

We had a pretty good weekend. Sam has been throwing up a bit off and on since Friday, including another one this morning. Thought we fixed the problem by getting her new milk (I remember once when Katie was younger we fed her bad milk that had her sick for a few days...thought this was similar) but perhaps it's a mild stomach bug. Her spirits are pretty good and she's sleeping well, so I shouldn't be worried.

We had the grandparents and Auntie Andrea and Uncle Sheldon over for Father's Day BBQ pizza lunch on Sunday. It was a very hot day and nice to sit outside. The girls even got in the little pool.

We were also celebrating Ben's Birthday (which was actually yesterday), so the day was really all about Ben! Such a wonderful dad and husband, he's not hard to celebrate! I honestly don't think I could be as good a mom without him. And the girls adore him...can't wait until he's home with us for summer.

I also managed to do some sewing this weekend again (yes, I am a bit obsessive when I get into something I like) and made another purse/bag. And cannot stop thinking about what else I can sew. Any ideas?

Katie's downstairs watching a show (I'm pretty sure...), Super Why and perhaps we'll add a few minutes of soccer afterward. Hard not to. Enjoy your day!

Skin Art and Other Things

2010-06-18T08:49:00.008-06:00

Katie's balloon wings from the market last weekend.
Dairy Queen ice cream cones.
These are children's size but we could have split one 4 ways it was so BIG.
A photo of the beautiful BBQ pizza we made. (the one I gushed about)Proof that crayon will melt to the bottom of a hot coffee cup.
This is my favorite coffee mug ever. Huge and Tinkerbell. If I remember correctly, it was a gift from Grandma Lill years ago. I use it almost every day. Katie with a house she built out of laundry. If I can only get her to start helping me match socks like the article on kids doing chores says a three year old should be able to do. (in the paper today)
Speaking of socks...is it weird that I loathe socks all winter (due to the annoying job of matching) and now that it's summer, I don't have to wear socks I should be rejoicing? But all I can think about is how I now know how crumby my floors are and how I wish I had socks on and didn't know?

Sam has been seeing these Telus billboards around town and MEOWing loudly...she gets SO excited!Katie was playing the markers (highlighters technically) and produced some lovely skin art. Every other week I take markers away for this kind of thing and the next week keep forgetting why I did and bring them out again. Repeat. May I proudly present...my newest crafty project:My new purse/bag! Not that I need one (still diaper bag all the time) but it was so much fun to sew something so cute...I'll find a reason to use it. The pattern is here.

THIS JUST IN...

I KNEW she was being too quiet.
This is all your fault blog. =)

So Cute!

2010-06-16T08:21:00.004-06:00

Yesterday I caught Sam doing the cutest thing! We were shopping (and bought a tent!) and as Sam was running around in circles and bending her knees she's babbling. I'm kind of ignoring the babbling because I'm really just busy trying to follow her around the store and not lose her and then I realize...the babbling...it's NOT babbling...it's a very fuzzy string of sounds that is actually "...and we all fall DOWN". She's singing Ring Around the Rosies! So cute!

She also must have seen us hang some laundry because I found a sock hanging on the freezer handle:
Katie moved our coffee/side table the other day and made a comfy desk. (She's sitting on the ottoman). I don't have the heart to tell her to get used to it because there's years of homework and studying coming her way down the road. She looks so cute and grown up doesn't she?And Katie took a nice picture of Sam while we were out for coffee last week. Maybe someday we'll make the blog a team effort. We had pizza for dinner yesterday...one of the BEST pizzas we've ever made. You MUST MUST MUST try cooking your homemade pizza on the BBQ grill. It was insanely good. I tried a new dough recipe which worked really well and was easy. Made sauce from scratch (including fresh tomatoes, but I think I'll use canned when possible because it's just too much work with the kiddos around) that really needed more flavour/spice (athough I really liked the texture). And had fresh mozzarella, prosciutto and fresh basil. YUM YUM. We actually did one pizza on the grill and one in the oven due to space reasons and the grill was far better. And FASTER...I had no idea it would be so much quicker. It wasn't exactly 90 seconds but maybe 5 minutes? I should add that we did get a bit of a dark crust on the bottom of our pizza...we made a mental note to turn down the grill just a tad...but it was still great.

Please promise me you'll try this? =)

Sam's napping, thank goodness! We had a great night's sleep last night...no one woke up...for the first time in ages (teething how I loathe you!!). But Sam was so cranky this morning (Teething, see previous parentheses!) I couldn't wait to put her down (for a nap). Constant tears, angry running, and back arching. So frustrating. Here's hoping a nap turns that frown upside down!

Going to a payground soon to play with friends...should be good...hope your day is good too!