Four Princesses

I finally got my scanner to work and was able to scan the picture of Lily and Keira with Cinderella and Belle. Not the greatest picture, but still pretty cute!!

Winter Walk

I had a job out in Beaverlodge to do so after vainly trying to find something fun and exciting to do in Beaverlodge ... besides stand and look at the ginormous beaver ...

It really is enormous! Whenever we drive past it on our travels I always tell Aidan that if he's not good, it will come find him and bite him. I don't usually tell him things like that ... so the first time I told him I think he kind of believed me ... hee hee!!

Anyways, I couldn't find anything exciting to do in Beaverlodge, so I decided to take the girls to Saskatoon Island Provincial Park. I went out there in the summer with a friend, hoping to let the kids play in the water on the beach. When we got there the kids had a blast playing on the awesome playground, but when we went down to the beach, there was a sign advising people not to swim because of health hazards. The water itself looked completely disgusting. It was quite a disappointment, but I did remember they had a fun playground.

There's this HUGE merry go round - and yes, it's as heavy as it looks!! When Jen and I were trying to push the kids around on it in the summer we figured it had to have been built to slow down and not retain speed because it is SO heavy and SO slow!! I think it is even worse in the winter with the snow. The girls had a blast on it though ... sitting and then as they got braver, standing and walking while it moved.

Keira decided she had had enough and said she was 'stuck' ...

... so Kylie went to help her. The snow was pretty deep, probably knee to thigh deep on them but they got 'stuck' quite a few times!

Then I decided we would go for a walk. It was at this point that I realized that I had become my parents. As I said "Let's go for a walk on the trail!" and dealt with the unexcited responses from the girls and the non stop complaining from Kylie. Every time we would go out to a lake, my dad would say "Let's go walk around the lake!" or "Let's go for a walk on the trails!" and I would think "NOOOO!" And now the roles are reversed!

As we walked along the trail, Keira saw a tree and determined she was going to climb it. She tramped off the trail and over to the tree, hugging it and asking me to help her climb it. It was so absurd and so funny I had to take a picture. You can see Kylie in the corner of the picture saying "You can't climb trees like that!"

The girls holding hands. Kylie has really warmed up to Keira and I'm very thankful for that! It's funny that they're almost the exact same size, but just about 2 years apart

Our walk ended up being about 3 times as long as I had wanted and the girls, Keira especially, were really not impressed. It really made me anticipate the summer and daytrips out to parks, walking on trails (without snow) and splashing in streams and rivers. One of my friends told me about a lake about 45 minutes from here that they took their little boat out on and I am particularly excited to drive out there and see it - as well as the many beaches and lakes in BC we'll get to visit on our holidays. Bring on the warm weather!!

Keira's New Haircut!

This is my second attempt at cutting Keira's hair ... and like last time, I took off more than I wanted. But, it appears straight, which is the most important thing! Last time I did bangs too, but they're still growing out so I'll leave them alone. Her hair is so wispy thin, I'm hoping it will grow in a little thicker ... I'm not sure it will, but I'm still hoping!!

A recent study ...

My March issue of Today's Parent arrived the other day, and as I was paging through, this caught my eye:

TV = babysitter?

A new US study reports that preschoolers in home-based daycare watch two hours more TV per day than kids in centre -based daycare (2.4 vs 0.4 hours). The study also found that in home settings that had staff with college degrees, kids spent 1.4 fewer hours in front of the tube.

Is it just me or does that sound slightly offensive?? I have a home-based daycare, and don't have a college degree so perhaps I'm being a little sensitive. I think there are different expectations involved in centre-based daycare vs home-based daycare. In a daycare centre, there are employees and lots more children and I would expect the environment to be stimulating enough that tv is not needed. In a home-based daycare setting there would most likely be less children, fewer adults to supervise and perhaps less toys. Which is not to say that tv should then be the substitute. I usually have the tv on treehouse after Aidan gets home from school and I use that time to get dinner ready. Sometimes while the boys are at preschool and it's just the girls at home (or just Kylie, if Keira is having a nap) I'll let them watch a princess show but I do try to keep the tv watching to a minimum. I've actually been thinking about putting on one show and then turning the tv off after Aidan comes home from school because most of the big kids head into his room and are busy there anyways.

I do resent the insinuation that if childcare provider doesn't have a college degree that they will then be more likely to turn the tv on more often. I guess on the other hand it's gotten me thinking ... and that's always good!!

What do you think??

The Princess Carnival Extravaganza!!

One of the local daycares hosted an event this weekend and once Tara told me about it I knew Keira would love to go. Perfect timing too, while the boys were away! We made plans for Princess Keira and her mommy to go with Princess Lily and her mommy and daddy to ...

I told Kylie, the little girl I babysit, about it and she just about had a heart attack on the couch. "They're coming HERE?!? Where I live?!?" So funny!!

I didn't think Keira would sleep on curlers very well, and I wanted to do something special with her hair, so she had a bath and then I braided it while she watched a show

There were about 10 scraggly braids over her head and she looked pretty funny!

She looked very pretty when her braids were curled, un-braided, and brushed out

The back. It would have been perfect for an 80s party :)

Princess Keira in full regalia! Tiara, necklaces, bracelets, purse (complete with mirror and lipgloss), tutu and Disney Princess Ariel shirt.

Keira must have been so excited this morning she couldn't sleep because she woke me up very early. We were ready with time to spare, so she sat herself down on the couch to watch a show

Decorating a cookie - you can see the glob of extra icing on the napkin right at the edge of the picture. I'm not sure why they gave us so much, I would have been able to spread it 2" thick!!

Cheese!

"Look at my beautiful cookie! And all the candy I managed not to eat!"

Talking with Cinderella. All the princesses we ran into were very sweet and got down and talked to the girls. The dresses looked like someone had made them rather than ordered them from a company, but they were very well done!

Playing with Princess Playdough. They had put sparkles in the playdough - what a great idea!!

Lily checking out the Princess figures

Playing with the frogs in the water table

After a quick bathroom break. Keira has been doing AWESOME at her potty training!! I took a tip from a friend and have been taking her to the bathroom before I go to bed and with that extra trip, she's been staying dry all night!! I haven't been brave enough to completely do away with the pull ups at night, but soon!!

Keira and Lily dancing with Princess Aurora, or Sleeping Beauty. Keira stayed dancing with her for awhile, she was having a great time. You can see Princess Ariel in the opposite corner as well.

Keira getting her nails painted at the 'Princess Nails' table. She chose fluorescent pink and actually didn't scratch it off right away.

After stopping in the food court for some fries and getting a balloon from Auntie Tara, we headed off to run some errands before heading home for a nap after all the excitement of the morning

We saved the cookie for after dinner and Keira really enjoyed eating it!

She had such a good time with Lily, running around and bouncing in the bouncy castle, it was really fun to watch them together. One of the funniest things was they had a 'Princess Sing-A-Long' where all the Princess and Prince's got up on the stage and sang along to kids songs like 'The Wheels on the Bus' and 'Hot Potato'. They had the volume on the speakers so loud though that the girls were scared by the noise and weren't really able to enjoy it. They even got their picture taken with Cinderella and Princess Belle but I'll have to post it when I can get my scanner to work. Tons of fun for Keira, but I'm glad we were only there for a few hours!!

Baking Day

Since I've had some kids to babysit and things have gotten a little more 'back to normal' I've been trying to make sure everything gets done ... so I've given each day it's own task. Monday is shopping day, Tuesday is baking day, Wednesday is recycling day, Thursday is sewing day, Friday is either clean the bathroom or clean the floors day, Saturday is laundry day and Sunday the laundry gets put away. So far I'd have to say my favorite day is baking day! This past Tuesday my friend Jen came over and we made granola bars, Crispy Rice squares, muffins and cinnamon buns. I love having so much fresh baking around and the kids don't mind either :)

Aidan and Miga

Since Aidan is going down to the Olympics, I wanted to buy him something Olympics-related ... and the mascots, weird as they are, are still pretty cute. Everything is fiercely expensive, but I saw little stuffies at Save-On for $10 which is kinda reasonable, so I took Aidan there and let him choose one ... and he chose Miga. I was hoping he'd choose Squatchi because he's fun and super hairy :)

He's very excited with his new little friend and said in the van on the way home that Miga and his big cat (he got for his 2nd birthday and has just recently experienced a resurgence of attention, as well as finally being named - Mrs. Pomegranate) were his very favorite stuffed animals!

He asked to play some Star Wars when we got home from the church potluck and of course Miga had to play as well. But, it should be noted, Miga's controller does not have a battery pack in it. This is so that Miga doesn't touch any buttons and mess up a game :P

This is the new outfit Aidan got on Friday. I'm not a big fan of Power Rangers, but Liquidation World had all their clothing on 40% off ... and it seemed like something he'd like ...

... and boy was I right! He hasn't taken it off since he got it! Apparently when you wear it you have to do 'super cool' moves and dance around. I'm going to have to wash it before he leaves on Wednesday because I'm sure he'll still be wearing it every day! Best $7 I've spent lately!

Aidan and Keira watching a National Geographic Dinosaur movie on Mini Party night. Aidan said 'I like these blankets!' which I thought was really sweet. I also overheard him telling Kylie (the girl who I babysit full time) "Yeah, my mom is AWESOME at sewing!" what a sweet kid!! And I'm glad he thinks that!!

Recent Pictures

Keira got some new hair accessories - pony tail holders with Cinderella and hair clips with Aurora - so here she is modelling them. She's got her hand on her hip saying 'Ta da!'

Close up - I'm sure when I look back, she'll look the proper age, but right now it feels like she's growing up super fast and looks way older than just 2!!

Aidan and Keira trying out my Oral B Brush Ups on the couch. I was very sad to learn from wikipedia that Oral B discontinued the Brush Ups back in 2006. I thought they were very cool!

My little babushka

After Aidan's Wolves Wrap Up Party he went over to his Auntie Bev's for a sleepover and Michael and I took Keira to the mall to get her ears pierced. I am SO glad I don't have another daughter and don't have to go through this again! If I did, I would definitely wait longer than 2 1/2, and I would also make sure that wherever we went had a double gun!! She's okay about them now but while it was being done I was feeling more than a little guilty - especially when we had to hold her down to get the second ear done *sigh* it seemed very barbaric

Aidan's class was celebrating '100 day' and so they had to dress up like they were really old. It just so happened that the day before was a Value Village 50% day, so I picked up some suspenders and a pair of pants that were too big and that he could hitch up to his arm pits

Then he borrowed one of Michael's ties and we drew on a gotee and voila! a very old small person!

Keira bulding a 'tall tower' The kids are always building tall towers that get almost as tall as themselves and then fall over and smash on the floor - which seems to be part of the fun

Me

My latest baby quilt.

They're not finding out the gender and it's really hard to pick material then! Fabricland had about 4 or 5 really cool flannels that were black and multicolored. I decided on this one and really wasn't sure how well it would work, but I think I like it! Hope our friend does too!!

Wolves Wrap Up Party

Last Saturday was the final day for Aidan's U8 Wolves soccer team and just for fun, the kids got to play against the parents. There was a great sense of anticipation - in our house at least - and kids were really excited out on the pitch

Warming up

Kicking the ball around

Playing pass with Daddy

Aidan is #3

Then the coach gathered everyone together in the middle of the field to explain how the game was going to work

As soon as they were assigned a side and allowed to go, the boys all ran to their goal ...

... and proceeded to jump around screaming like little girls - so funny!

Aidan in goal again with Michael playing defense for the parents

I think this one went in. Aidan's skill for the goalie position is greatly surpassed by his enthusiasm for the position

The extras sat on the wall cheering for their team mates. They cheered "Go Wolves Go!" and "Boo Parents!"

Another action shot. Curiously enough, when the time was up, the game was tied and they had to go to a shoot out. Each kid got to shoot against their parent, and then take a turn in net while their parent tried to get a goal. That was just too much fun for everybody and hilarious to watch, but at the end the kids won :)

Nothing like juice boxes and some cake to celebrate!

There was a very fun cake with team pictures on it and then everyone gathered around the coach while team pictures were handed out. The coach said a little something about each player, focusing on their strengths and the great job they did and how much he enjoyed having them on the team. It was really nice to hear, especially the emphasis on having fun and being gentlemen and good sportsmanship.