Holy Cats!

It's been AGES...I know..Spring disappeared, Summer arrived, Summer left and here we are.. smack dab in the middle of Fall. Phew! There was much camping, gardening, bike riding, visiting, eating, drinking, merriment, tears and laughter. It's just a jumble in my head right now but I thought I'd touch on a few things we accomplished over the past few months.. At the bottom of the family totem pole we have Kinny, the Shiba, she turned 12 this year. She's getting a bit white around the muzzle and turning into a cat the way she sleeps all day unless someone jingles her collar (on purpose or by accident). She's hooked on glucosamine and rediscovering 'chase-y' the way she used to. Oh, and she doesn't growl nearly half as much at the girls anymore BUT she has taken to peeing on our bed when she gets left out of family activities (like when we mow the lawn outside and leave her inside). Annoying, yes. Solvable, yes. We just have to remember...

Next on the list we have the newest member of the household - Tia, the silver tabby.

This little cheeky thing found Kyra & I out front of the house one Sunday morning, after a good run (Kyra rides her bike with me now). She just came a-runnin' from up the block and hasn't left yet! The vet figures she was left behind when someone moved since she's healthy, sociable and about 4 months old. Either way, we tried posting ads, searching the local vets and the local humane society but to no avail.. We've since become her pets I think...

Noelle has mastered "how to annoy your sister" 101. She can dress herself completely, sometimes even accurately! She can poop on the toilet, most days... And she's attempting to learn how to use a knife - "No, Noelle, we don't eat FROM the knife..". It'll take some practise... But I have to admit, the most amazing thing about her is her ability to observe and comment on things. She can compliment you out of the blue and will empathize with you at the drop of a hat! She came up the stairs the other day and said, "Mummy, I like your pony tail"... and then went about her business.. It's pretty damn cute when you witness it!

Kyra mastered the use of a bike, sans training wheels! Yay! And will ride at every chance she can...

Below she's pictured on a 7 degree day.. I think I was dressed in coat & mitts, she apparently still has an internal combustion engine on full speed!

She also took an airplane trip and dipped her toes in the Pacific ocean - we now own stellar collection of shells!

 All in all, a great summer for everyone! It's nice that we can take longer car trips now that the kids are older - who knows how far afield we can make it next year!?

Now that fall has arrived..the garden is getting tidied, bulbs are planted and the girls are rediscovering the sandbox! I'm taking advantage of the new distraction and doing a thorough cleanse of their clothing collections. Just Purge It... Feels good..

Oh, and we've offically entered the public school system. Opinion-pending at this time...

Until Winter, I guess we'll plug along. And at this time of year we'll be thankful for the great things we are able to do, able to eat and for the great people we can share it all with!

Frolics

We celebrated a milestone age for the big sister - who couldn't wait to open gifts this year - and had specially requested a UNICORN cake (to which I replied, nonchalantly, "of course!").. 6 hours of happy toil, and a good chilling in the fridge overnight - we had our very first (of many) requested shaped birthday cakes. Okay, so there've been a couple before, but this was the first time someone actually remembered that she requested it! To be honest, I'm a bit frightened of what I'll get asked to create next year - but mostly I'm enjoying the creative direction the birthdays are taking.. Our gift to her was a new pet fish (if you can call them 'pets'), Boris the Betta fish. He's a handsome fella and mostly gets fed by his owner, but doesn't protest too much when he skips a meal here and there.. We also took the girls 10-pin bowling for the first time, and everyone had a great time! Noelle was overly determined to carry her very own ball to the lane and eventually got very irate when Grandpa used her pink ball!! Needless to say, Kyra beat the kids and Grandma beat the adults.. They should tour!!

We also ventured into the land of 'kindergarten registration' this past month...(insert eerie music here)... I tried to dig up my experience from way back, but nothing really came to me about Kindergarten..oh, except for our class bunny getting loose in the hallway and pooping everywhere while the caretaker Mr Nelson yelled at it. Memories are funny things sometimes... Needless to say, this didn't instill much confidence in the nervous Neo-scholar but she soon relaxed after an evening of kindergarten activities put on by the school. The next morning she was thoroughly disappointed to have to go to back to Preschool!

Noelle has been a topsy turvy little angel/monster these months.. Lots of stubborn ideas about food, activities and personal hygiene... She still refuses to eat cheese but will eat Babybel (she doesn't consider something in a little wax pocket to be cheese I guess), she always has to find mud and jump in it (today she made 'mud' angels in the rain - did I mention that I hate laundry?) AND (wait for it) she won't poop on the toilet.. She waits until bedtime when I put a diaper on her, and she poops in it instead... argh.. I've tried researching a cure for this, but have come to no avail. Short of issuing an enema, I wait patiently for this phase to come to an end. But dammit, it's a looooong phase.. sigh.. In the meantime, we continue to contribute to the landfill with her one/day effluent/diaper package and carry on focusing on the cuteness of her.. Tonight she used a piece of asparagus as a magic wand, flinging balsamic vinegar everywhere while chanting magical words - it's worth the laughs she gives us..

And until summer returns to us - I guess we'll be seeing a lot more of those umbrellas...maybe I really should go buy some rubber boots afterall (if you can't beat 'em..join 'em!). Happy puddle jumping!

You Say It's Your Birthday...

..Happy Birthday to ya!!!

Well, we made it..well, SHE made it. It's a miracle I think, considering the number of smashed fingers, bruised bones and lacerations we've endured. We can count ourselves lucky that it hasn't been worse and there have been NO trips to the ER for her (knock on wood, cross fingers, swing the lucky rabbit's foot...).

At 3 she's already goofy, with facial expressions and funny voices to add to the mix. She's stubborn - she can scream non-stop for what seems like hours over a toy that was taken away because she said she didn't want it anymore. She's lovable - she'll hug us hello, good-bye and in-between, and can make you feel like she pined in your absence when you hopped out to the garage for a minute. And, she still picks fights with Kyra and trash talks poor Christopher after playing with him all day. I wonder what the next year will bring??

Snapshots of Late

Just ol' Crazy Eyes interrupting some serious eating here...

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Hangin' in the 'T

Play & Eat, It's the Life!

A lot of days I focus far too much on what things don't get done, what messes get made and just how much of a non-life I think I have. Today (and many other days) I've been looking at what progress we've made in terms of relationships, sharing and general personality traits.. Fairly deep yes, but introspective I can be sometimes... And all this focus-y stuff, studying the girls and their traits, I've come to the conclusion that not much has really changed from last year other than the direct correlation between food/play and the ability to not hurt each other. As long as both are fed and happy with the games, they will not cause each other pain. But the minute..erm, second, one of these variables is out by a micron - tears will inevitably ensue from pain infliction. It's ugly. It's not right. It happens waaaay too quickly for me sometimes (I swear I just left the room for a second!). And I have to act insanely fast to change it. It always works. I'm learning.

Happy New Year!!

A bit 'forced' but at least we can say that they like posing together now! Let's hope the New Year brings a lot more friendship like this..

The New Year started off with the end of a family cold - yet again! At least the cold is over and not just beginning.. I can honestly say that I'm kinda sick of sickness. Historically, we all get sick in January - the cycle WILL be broken (shaking fist)...

On that note, here are a few things that we're learning as the new year creeps forward...

• We're all learning the art of negotiation - "if you pee in the toilet, you can have your hippo back..." (insert smiles & sing-song voice)
• We're learning new words - "..my hair's all frisby, mom.." (pointing to fluffy hair)
• We're learning that kids are still full of surprises - "..Can I help you with the dishes, mom??" (insert stunned expression on the mother)

..2010 is lookin' good so far.. Cheers!!!

'Tis the Season...

What kind of Christmas is Christmas without a couple o' cookies being cut & baked, hmm? We managed to wing off a few dozen gluten-free gingerbread. The girls enjoyed the dough handling more than anything (second to the actual ingestion of said cookies). I have to admit, I really like doing this too - brought me back to when I was a girl with my Mum letting me decorate cookies. We're not quite at the 'help decorate' stage but soon...

Concentrate...concentrate...

Decorated cookies.. I went a little old school, but it was worth the results..

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Smiles for the camera!

New territory was conquered just before Christmas - we took the kids skating for the first time. As you can see, there's a bit of practising to be had, but at least she's confident enough to stand without holding on (okay, there's the 'safety skate' at the boards..). Even Noelle loved being out on the ice, when she wasn't hiding from the smiles of the oodles of other strangers that wanted to engage her.. How I ended up with 2 shy girls is beyond me, but they slowly show signs of emerging from their wee shells and continually surprise us.