Skating

It may be warm and spring-y, but that doesn't mean we can't "pretend skate"! (notice Sam's "cheese" at the end...she does that all the time now when there's a camera around)

Untitled from BabyLuch on Vimeo.

It's funny, a lot of times when Katie plays pretend "something" she actually says "Pretend whatever-it-is" so that we know it's not real. Like "pretend eat the cupcake" or pretend throw the blank". We started this because we didn't want her really eating plastic play food in the house and always said "pretend eat the banana" and now she uses it all the time. It's good so that we don't get mad when she's pretending something we actually don't want her doing. Whoa, that was actually kind of hard to explain.

Auntie Gail cam over this morning and we had coffee and scones ( same scones as yesterday, no time to bake today!). Lovely visit and she helped me with a sewing question which was a bonus.

Sam fell on a coffee can in the playroom earlier (remember the drum?) and now has a curved red line going through her lip. She's doing fine now.

Not sure what we're up to for the rest of the day...nothing big planned, we'll see what happens. Hope you enjoy your day!

Monster Hands

Katie says "Look at my Monster Hands!"
We've had a great day...My friend Steph and her little boy W. came over for a playdate and stayed for lunch...such a wonderful visit. We're sad to see her returning to work from her mat leave. Now Katie and I are waiting for Sam to wake up (not too soon please!) from her nap so we can go out and run some errands. It's a much nicer 20C ish day today...pleasantly warm with a refreshing breeze.

I'd write more, but yesterday was lots and for some reason ("Which one of you girls did it!?") I can't see my cursor on the screen as I type and it's making editing visually difficult. =)

No Reason

Hello!

No reason for the recent blog silence but the loss of blogging mojo. I've been tired (lots of 3rd birthday fun will do that to a mom) and reading more (Before Green Gables...anyone? You MUST read this if you love Anne.)

We've had no illness, all is well, things are sometimes fun sometimes frustrating and usually funny. I'll keep this post relatively brief so that I am motivated to post again in much less than a month. =)

Sam, playing peek a boo at breakfast time (and just yesterday she said "Break Fast" with both syllables! A little mumbled, but two syllables definitely).
A picture of the daisy cake my mom made for Katie's grown up birthday party.
And blowing out candles on the cake GG Mary made for her. She had a great party. Likes to wear her birthday had on the front of her head like a unicorn. No idea where she got that idea but it was definitely done on purpose as she refused suggestions of normal hat wearing.
Katie was spoiled with gifts and I don't really like playing Show N Tell with her presents, but I will show this one, from Auntie Alli. She calls it "Purple Buddy" and bounces around like a maniac. Loves it.
That Sunday was also the day that Ben and I ran our half marathon. It was excellent. A little cool which was good running weather. Our time was about 2 hours and 6 minutes. About 30 minutes faster than our last one together 4 years ago. There were a few big hills that we handled well but the last kilometer was a tease that ran us right past the finish line with no real concept of how far we had to run before turning back toward the finish line. Should have read the map more thoroughly. =) Overall, we were a bit sore but happy, the perfect way to feel after a half.

The day after, on Katie's actual birthday (which was a bit anti-climactic given the two other parties etc) was gave her our gift, a sand and water table. We didn't put water in since it was freezing that evening. (It's a steamy 30 degrees here today, so things have changed a bit...and in between we had a huge spring snowfall with snow that stuck around for almost a week!)
Lately it seems like I've been doing a lot of driving in the afternoon, where the girls will fall asleep and I"ll get a drive through coffee and drive for about an hour. Sherwood Park one time, MillWoods the next...waste of gas and bad for the environment, I know, but for a while it just seems as if Katie needed the afternoon nap and wouldn't get it any other way. And I'm talking maybe once a week I do this. Not every day. Anyway...this was in the Superstore parking lot:Sam hanging out with me in the front seat while we waited for Katie to wake up. This was Katie sleeping:The day after this, we changed Katie's car seat to a booster seat as we had her weighed recently and she's 42-44 pounds (depending on the scale), definitely over the 40 pounds limit for her car seat. We just had to take out the 5 point harness, un-latch the seat from the and now we just use a regular seat belt. Katie was pretty excited, but I think Ben and I were even happier to not have to deal with the 5 point harness...those things, though safe and good I'm sure, are a pain. I've also been spending a bit of time sewing (rather, learning to sew)...with the basement done, the extra room has become a sewing/craft/storing grown up books room. This is the dress that I made for Katie from an old men's shirt. The tutorial's on line at Craftster here. I think she does actually like it, but the toddler in her resists wearing it much. She's definitely a wear what she wants to wear girl. And one last picture of our new "princess tent", a birthday gift from Auntie Andrea. Both girls love it and usually part of every daily basement visit involves chasing each other in and out of the tent. Often with screaming and giggling. And...otherwise...things are good. Katie's 3 yr check up went well...she's healthy as can be. Dr. recommended a new parenting book to try for discipline stuff, 1-2-3-Magic. I'm still reading it, but we may try it when Ben and I are both in the know with the procedures. Let you know how it works. Sometimes lately, Katie's been really great...most times perhaps...it's just dealing with common toddler behaviours that I sometimes struggle with...whining etc. We're dealing with it. Her imagination has been in full gear lately too...lots of pretend play...I guess this isn't new, but I think I've been more aware of it lately. Trying to get myself more involved in it with her, to play with her more. It's fun that she's able to create anything anywhere, but can be brain taxing for me.

Sam...wow, this girl is growing. She actually runs a bit now. Got another tooth (that's 13 now). Is getting some more excema now that the weather's warming up ( I think that's why...just like last summer) and I'm using the same prescription cream to spot treat that we used last year. Definitely helping. She also had a weird reaction on her face (May 3rd, for the record)...swelling around her eyes and a red bumpy mask-like rash on her face and near her eyes. Gave her an oral antihistamine and went to the Dr and he said isn't just a contact dermatitis thing. Something she touched may have caused the reaction...she haven't changed any soap or anything so who knows what it was. It's better now and we're not really worried but keeping an eye out for things. She's talking more...Please, breakfast, and a million other things it seems...I've heard her try to say cucumber even. It doesn't sound like cucumber, but it's 3 syllables in a way that mimics the word. She'll get there. She's also, we've just noticed that she's tall enough in her crib that we should be moving her to a bed on the floor (chest height apparently is the time to move them). We'll be tackling this this weekend...you may hear about that.

Anyway...that's plenty more than I intended to write but it's been fun. Hopefully not to boring or rambling for you. Will try and post again soon.
PS...Oh yes, I've been cooking/baking too lately. Really, you HAVE to make this. And this. And this.

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!".

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. =)

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! =)

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!