Sunday, October 31, 2010

Halloween 2010

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!

Friday, October 29, 2010

A little more...

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. =(

Tuesday, October 26, 2010

Nature Walk

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!

Sunday, October 24, 2010

21 Months!

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!

Thursday, October 21, 2010

Another Fine Fine Fall Day

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

Wednesday, October 20, 2010

Knoc Knock

- 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!)
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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?