Daily Stuff

Vocabulary from a toddler is one of those funny things that charm us. Noelle is certainly full of charm and full of funny words.. Aminals, Bressfest and suglasses are just a few of the garbled things that come out of her mouth. (translation : animals, breakfast & sunglass. In case you couldn't understand them either..). Mostly though, she's an articulate, sharp little speaker. No single words here, full on sentences - and luckily most of them intelligible. I can only hope that she takes to potty training as easily, cuz that ain't no picnic right now.. I suppose she'll just teach herself when the time comes, she's that kind of a personality..

Good-bye to a Legacy

I just wanted to make a quick post in commemoration of a great woman, strong person and loving mother, aunt, great-aunt, sister, grandmother and great-grandmother.
I'll miss you a lot Aunt Bud (nee Veronica Drake).

See you in my dreams...

Spring Springs UP!

..and we're outside enjoying it - everyday!! We've even found ourselves a great family canoe (yes, we did it!) and we plan to take full advantage of that, too! The girls cannot wait to get out and do some serious camping/canoeing this year and take every chance they can to set up sleeping bags in the living room and play 'camping'. Life is better, now that the sun shines on a regular basis.. ;-)

Many things have happened..Here's a few..

One of us discovered just how traumatizing blue marker can be when used as lipstick..

Dirt + Water = Foot Washing

Fish can be mesmerizing..

Checkin' out the Hippos with the Gang

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HAPPY SECOND BIRTHDAY!!

Blow!

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...And along came Easter celebrations... The eggy toots around this house were stellar!!

Kyra & her best buddy, Evan - crafting it up!

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HAPPY 4th BIRTHDAY!!

Pink is BEAUTIFUL!!

A Pillow Will Be Served With Dessert..

This has happened more often these days, since the dropping of the 'nap' and the discovery of a social life..well, as 'social life-y' as a 2 year old can get.. Unfortunately for us, the cute dinner dopey-ness is usually after a preclusion of psychotic behaviour and rollercoaster emotions - but it's all worth it, I swear! ha ha.. I also need to add that she stayed up to 8 (the video was taken at 4:50) after all, and she ate 7 pancakes in total..

Spring Eludes Me

Well, here we are in the throes of another Winter.. What the H-E-double hockey sticks is going on??!! On the upside of all this absolute crappy weather and brrrrr temperatures, I hear that most of the pine beetles are dead. At least there's one good thing to come out of the past 6 months of bone chilling punishment..argh. I guess I had never really noticed just how crappy the weather can be until I had kids. I chomp at the bit to get them out the door and playing in the yard, just for my peace of mind and for the fact that they are getting some form of outdoors in their childhood years.. Actually, I find it like pulling teeth to pull Kyra away from some mindless children's show on Treehouse but when I can actually get her outside and playing with a pile of mud or snow, I can't actually get her back INSIDE for any reason other than food. She's a simple thing sometimes. Noelle loves the 'outside' . period. so any mention of it is like mention the W word around the dog, salivation begins and pacing ensues.. I'm still kicking myself for not having enough toasty clothing for her to wear - next year, I hit the stores like Eddie Bauer (if they even sell kiddie clothes) for some serious kids thermal stuff. I'm not feeling trapped by the cold AGAIN!

Spring...Winter...Spring...Winter...Strolls through the puddles, snow, puddles..

Poser!

We're also careening closer to birthday #2 for Noelle..just 13 days away! Nothing big planned really, just a little cake made into a turtle (Kyra's idea). And I'm informed that this year "we will turn out the candle before she has a chance to cry" - Kyra knows it all, I tell ya! I can't decide on a gift for 'Welly' yet, but I'm leaning towards a slide for the yard seeing as she's positively addicted to the 'Slidey' as she calls it. I've seen a folding one at the toy store and I'm patiently waiting for it to go on sale before pouncing.. I'm fairly confident this will happen within the next few weeks (not!). ha ha..

Mommy & Ms. Naked 2009

Also in Noelle's world, she's speaking in sentences. Actual, long sentences like, "Put it in the garbage, Mommy" No, nambie pambie two word stuff around here! She's our second MENSA child in the making...now if only she'd figure out how to use the toilet..ah, but that's another blog post.. I guess it's back to spring cleaning - some of us do this in our Sunday best around here..

Don't worry if you're not good enough...

..Just sing..sing a song!!!
I remember this song from my early childhood days, when the guy on Sesame Street sang that song. I'm not sure why I remember it so vividly, but I'm sure it has much to do with my love of singing throughout my life (with or without an audience, of course). And the girls are no exception here. Noelle is now asking over and over again for me to sing 'itsy bitsy spider' to her. She makes the hand movements and always comes in on the last word of the line, as sort of an off-key reverb to my singing. It thrills me to no end to watch her rapt focus on my lips and hand signs as I go through the motions and you can practically see the wheels in motion, soaking up every little note & nuance of the silly tune. She also asks for 'rock-a-bye baby', 'twinkle twinkle little star', and 'I wanna be sedated (by the Ramones)'..Well, actually, the last one she just likes it when I do the guitar part on my rockin' air guitar, but I'm sure she'll be asking for it soon!
A milestone event in Kyra's singing repertoire, is the fact that she can remember a song after hearing it twice (shocks the heck out of us!) and that she can actually carry a tune now! Even Grandpa remarked on her amazing ability to do just that - sing in tune! Up to now we were silently cursing her tone-deaf aproach to singing, but after a collective sigh of relief - we are extremely happy. And rightfully so.. It's pretty hard to stay sane with what seems like 20 small girls running around the house, screaming at each other, shrieking & laughing, banging toy instruments AND singing off-key - it's almost too much to bear, no matter how much love we have for them!!
Happy tunes ahead for us... phew.