Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Happy 3rd...Kids Party

The Kid party to celebrate Katie's upcoming third birthday was a hit! The weather was So Warm that all our housecleaning went to waste as we all stayed outside. (we did give some house tours, so not completely wasted!)(and now we have a super clean house)

Dad found a special Strawberry Shortcake Birthday Girl "Pin" (we didn't call it a button...Katie dislikes wearing clothes with buttons these days, so we didn't want to turn her off)...and she wore it proudly for about 3 minutes and then wanted to stick it to various other things. (chair etc). It's now sticking to the floor somewhere. But look how proud and excited!:
Here's the Strawberry Shortcake Ice Cream Cake:
That's as far as the "theme" (it wasn't really a theme) went. I have another cute picture of kids sitting at the kids picnic table but won't post since I haven't checked with the parent about blog permission. Right before the eating of the cake, as the kids were sitting with the cake in front of them, the last candle was discretely blown out by a non-birthday kid (two of the three candles had blown out on their way to the table!). As I was fretting about whether or not Katie would get upset about this, and should I re-light the candles, little hands and fingers started getting into the cake, so we quickly whisked it over to the nearby table for cutting. It was hectic for a moment, but the cake was successfully passed out and devoured. With forks, not fingers.
Another favorite moment of mine was when Ben started up a rousing game of Ring Around the Rosy. Everyone took turns being in the middle and then killed themselves laughing as "they all fell down".
I can't help but smile when I see D's face.
Presents were opened...I did debate not opening them in front of kids, since it's kind of hard for other kids to watch...but it was nice to be able to thank people while we were right there. Katie did have to do some defending of her presents though. She loves all her new gifts (it's been a relatively easy week for me as I've been doling out the presents throughout) and wanted to wear these immediately. I'm surprised how well she walks (and by that I mean, how much she hasn't fallen) in these, given that they're a bit big. The whole affair was delightful...we had wonderful friends of ours over to enjoy food and good weather. (it was 24C!) We ate veggies and dips and pizza for supper...we saw how easily this worked at my friend Megan's 3 yr old D's birthday party in January. It was a busy 2ish hours, especially with Sam to watch too...no down time. But lovely and we'd do it all again in a heartbeat. But not this weekend coming up...another one...sometime. =)

The weather's been nice all week and the other evening after dinner, while Ben unfortunately had to be at work, the girls and I went outside to try Katie's new MEGA bubble maker. It was lots of fun and made lots of big bubbles! And yes, that's Katie wearing tiny shorts and a housecoat with no shirt. Her choice. Sam says "Peek A Boo!".

Saturday, April 17, 2010

Getting Ready...

...For Katie's 3rd Birthday Party (The Kid Version) this afternoon.

- The house is tidy.
- The fridge is full.
- There are balloons all over the house.
- 21 people, 9 of whom are 3 or younger. Yikes!
- Trying not to get the girls TOO excited.

Lately:
- Sam has been eating a lot of crayons. (ick)
- Sam loves wearing her jacket (any jacket, inside or outside).
- The weather's getting nicer. (high of 23C today!!)
- Katie got a cute haircut.
- Katie's been waking up and crawling into our bed at night...we're tackling the problem.
- Katie's also been a little...spirited lately. We're trying to figure out how to work with this as well.
- Katie got a new bike helmet...it's PINK! (for her tricycle.
- We love going to the park.

Oops...better go, Ben thinks I'm cleaning the bathroom. =)

Thursday, April 8, 2010

For Real...

Hello again!
A real post, with real pictures.
The couch (that came later on the very first day we had a playroom), the hard workers and the playroom recipients:
One of the best looking ponytails Katie's ever had:Katie was so excited to help dad do some yard work! She helped clean up some of the pinecones out from under the trees. Earlier in Easter week, we decorated Easter eggs. As well as dying them, we did colour some with wax patterns (nothing like a traditional Ukranian Easter egg...maybe some year we will!) and adding stickers and shrink-y wrap things. They all came in the package and it was a fun activity! We have lots of leftover dye tablets...no idea if I'll remember where I put them when next year comes around...maybe I should find another crafty use for them? Katie had lots of fun with this and we all enjoyed egg salad sandwiches Easter Monday...I blew out 4 eggs and hard boiled 6...my cheeks hurt for days after the blowing...I need a gadget like this next year!The new skirts I knit for the girls. Originally they weren't meant to be Easter skirts, but they were Easter colours and when I finished the knitting Thursday night, I knew I could put in the elastic waistband in on time for Good Friday church and it was a done deal. Easter skirts for the girls! Hopefully they will want to wear them on regular days because they're too cute to only wear once!We bought the girls new sunglasses for spring.This appears to be about the only picture I got of the in their Easter Sunday dresses. Gram and Papa took the girls to church as Ben and I went for a big 20km run. (The race is April 25th...coming soon!) Later in the day we went shopping and the girls sat in one of my all time favorite chairs...this big cozy round one. They have a bigger one that could practically fit the four of us. I imagine all the cozy book reading that would go on in this chair. But, too much money and not at all practical! We had nice weather a few days ago, so we took the wagon to the park. Fun fun fun!And took some cute pictures of the girls sitting on dad's lap, like this one. Sam has finally broken through her 4th baby molar...hope better spirits come with it! She's been talking a bit more...says something now that is definitely a version of "Please". The girls are having more fun playing together all the time. Peek a boo games and Chase games...who know's what the other games are...but they laugh!

We had a wonderful and busy spring break with Ben home. Went swimming to the playground, flew a kite, had some nice home cooked meals and just generally had a really great spring break. And although there's some kind of crazy blizzard going on outside right now, warm weather and outdoor fun is definitely on it's way for good...soon...I think...I hope! =)

Sunday, April 4, 2010

Not a Real Blog Post.

Happy Easter!
Lots of pictures and stories to come...we've been having too much fun playing in the playroom.

But I HAD to share...
We're reading this funny little book "And Then the Sun Came Out" which is a cute story about sunny days that ends in the middle of the book and tell you to close the book, flip it over and start again reading "And Then the Rain Came". Cute book, cute concept and Katie likes it.

My favorite part however, is the author's name: Crescent Dragonwagon.
I'm SO serious, that's her name. How do I know?

Thank you Google:
Website and
Name Explanation
Interesting story about her name. And I still laugh every time I read the name. =)

P.S. Easter Bunny Came and the girls have lovely dresses this year AND new skirts that I knit! Spring break with Ben home was lovely. I don't want him to go back to work ever...but I suppose I do like to eat...and buy Easter dresses...=) Talk to you soon!