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.

Halloween or H1N1, which is scarier???

..that is the question, apparently.. I guess it would be silly not to point out the whole healthcare fiasco of late or at the least, give it mention. Suffice it to say, this whole immunization against the swine flu has been a complete keystone cops routine and unbelievably poorly organized by our healthcare system - 5 hour waits, wristband entries and public protests are just a few of the sad lowlights. On a happy note, the girls have both been 'shot' and are nursing owie arms. I'm not sure when we will go get ours, hopefully the vaccine jar will once again be flush in a few weeks and the mass hysteria will have died down and then we'll get'er done..

In other news..
For Halloween, I was a mechanic, Kyra was a witch (last year's costume still fit! yay!) and Noelle was a featherless chicken (she didn't want to wear the poke-y feathers).. The bootie was great and is currently residing atop an innocent cupboard, nicely forgotten.. oo, did someone say 'snack time??'

What to do, what to do...

SNOW is definitely part of Canada's Food Guide..it is at our house.

Don't worry, she only ate the white snow...and lots of it! It took until 'blue lip' stage to get her in the house. Good thing she likes the stuff, I have a feeling we'll be seeing quite a bit of it this winter.

The Last of the Summer Mud

..reason number 29 as to why I do LOTS of laundry.. this was taken an hour before bedtime .....and minutes before bathtime..

Back in Time

Officially, we've begun our slow climb into good health once again...and to celebrate such good fortune (being alive, that is) we took the girls to Heritage Park. Yes, it is a 'trip back in time' but it really brings us both back to when we were kids going to Heritage Park or riding the bike path by, around and across from it. Nothing but great memories I think and today was no exception - the sky crystal clear and the crowds, far apart from each other. Kyra guided us through the park deeming herself 'Chief Map Engineer' (she's BIG on maps these days) and we hit all the great spots with trains, chickens, weird looking stoves (Kyra couldn't identify the stove in the old kitchens) and the arts & crafts display. Oh, and let's not forget petting the bunny bums (the non-bitey end) or the work horses and enjoying a grassy picnic by the fountain..sigh. I'm also pretty sure Noelle enjoyed picking up Poplar tree leaves & trying to feed the hens with them AND getting free candy from the Bank..

Lunch time!

This one looks just like the one in our garage!!

Hen Teasing 101

Playing with the Fountain

Gasoline Alley (beautifully restored classics) - no Model T's tho'...hmm

Below is a tribute from the HandCrafter's Guild to Audrey (our neighbour), who died August 25th suddenly and saddened us all. We have many of these fine tatted articles in our own home, gifted by her - she did beautiful work!