Beautiful Chaos

In anticipation of Maryam's 1st birthday, we baked cupcakes. In the photo above, Maryam has not yet arrived at the daycare for the day, but we do have a few extra kids than usual, due to a P.A. day: Riley and Aidas!

The other kids quickly got bored of making cupcakes....but not little Leila. She stayed at the table until the end. It was wise of her, too, since she got to lick the beater. (Thank goodness nobody else even noticed!)

We stopped to play at the upper part of Lithuania Park this time. It was completely iced over.

And this was perfect to skate around on (it wasn't quite as slippery as a real ice rink).

Also, we had brought a few hockey sticks and balls. It was great practise for Noah, who has just joined the ball-hockey house leagues at school.

I have to admit I was really into it. I used to play hockey in high school, and I love ball hockey too. A great perk of my job is getting to play! I mean, yeah, um, er, it's strictly for the kids. ;)

Aidas had an Angry Birds hat on, and seemed to be engaged in his own pretend play....so it followed that we began to play "Angry Birds Hockey." This consisted of trying to shoot the ball at, and have the ball touch Aidas's legs. Whenever the ball touched Aidas's legs, he would collapse to the ground. I gave a commentary, as I was trying to figure out just what this game was all about. This had Noah in hysterics, and Aidas fully into his role as the angry bird.

Here's a cute pic of the angry bird trying to block my photo of three little munchkins behind him.

I finally succeeded. These guys had been on the sidelines with my helper, and were apparently playing "Frozen Hide and Seek." (As in the movie Frozen).

Angry birds get hungry for cheese rice cakes. Ahhh...I always love Alumni Day at the daycare. :)

Even though we weren't celebrating Maryam's birthday yet, the kids got to add icing and sprinkles to a cupcake; and then eat it of course! Riley and Aidas wouldn't be here for her actual birthday, so it hardly seemed fair that they shouldn't get a cupcake. Actually, funny little story: Aidas originally stated, earlier in the morning, that he was not going to eat a cupcake because "they are not healthy." How old is he?! I told him he still needs to live a little, that once in a while is okay. He later changed his mind.

I love the myriad of things going on in the photo below. Notice that Tom is in mid-flight. (It's not the first of such photos I've taken of him. That kid loves to jump!)

Picnic time again. :)

Here's a cute photo of Leila during circle time (music time). If you are very astute, you will be able to figure out the song we are singing.

And here is Maryam as we are singing to her, and presenting her with her cupcake. She looks a little concerned. Haha! What a cutie-pie.

Everyone approved of the cake.

Happy birthday, dear, sweet, Maryam! We are delighted (and SO lucky!) to have your lovely little spirit in the daycare. Have I mentioned that I am already in love with her?! It's amazing how fast the bonds grow. I adore her.

Okay, so I save the most exciting news for last. Get ready for it......Thomas is a BIG brother! And a VERY proud one!

Baby brother Drew was born on Sunday, healthy and beautiful as can be! I didn't even realize how excited and emotional I would feel about someone else's new baby, but I am overjoyed for this family! What a precious gift.

Thomas insisted that his parents bring over his little bro, on Tuesday, to meet everybody. Leila had been super excited to hold the baby too!

TWO days old!! He looks like a little doll, but I can assure you, he is real. How is it that we forget, every time, just how small they are when they are brand new? He is absolutely beautiful. (Yep, already in love with little Drew too.) I don't even know what to say about these pictures except, are you seeing this? Are you getting how wonderful this is?! Okay, I'll settle down now. :)

When he is much bigger, and stronger, I get the honour of caring for this little dude! I am truly looking forward to it.

We were sledding at Lithuania Park yesterday, and this lady walked by and offered to take our picture. Thomas didn't cooperate, but I can't say I blame him. He has the camera in his face enough of the time. Besides sledding, Thomas also did a lot of rolling down the hill, and rolling across the ground. Seriously, at one point I think he did about 30 rolls in a row. He even inspired me to roll down the hill, and I am alive to tell about it! We even taught Leila to roll. It was her first time. (She is more of the cautious sort). I love how everyone inspires, and also learns from, everyone else. It doesn't matter how old. Even little Maryam inspires us. And I can still remember B. inspiring Noah and I to really enjoy one of the coldest days of the year, last winter.



But back to baby Drew, and his awesome big brother. I had to finish the blog with this!

Oh, and if you're wondering about the title of this blog, it's just the term that often comes to my mind when I think about life as a mom, and life as a home daycare provider. (But I think any parent can appreciate this.) Here are some more words: crazy, busy, peaceful, quiet, messy, happy, screaming, laughing, boo-boos, tantrums, love, joy, learning, silliness. But most of all, there is beauty. To sum it up, it is beautiful chaos. :)



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