More from before...

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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.