This summer, they're back.....and they're grumpy.

The title of this post is not my own creation. It was the caption Noah's older brother Jacob gave to the above picture when he saw it. Don't they look like they're in a thriller movie, in which they are the cause of terror? Honestly, there are times when they truly do frighten me, so there is some truth to that joke. ;)

And here's a picture in which they all look like they are up to no good! Leila is not even making eye contact! ;) They are playing firefighters here, and this chair is their fire truck. They just pretend the construction hat is also a firefighter's hat, so no one is left out of the game.

All three of them prefer to walk most of the time now, rather than to relax in the wagon. Thomas thought this front area of someone's house looked like a great stage. Thomas has really become the leader in the daycare. The girls look up to him so much. I'm so happy it's his turn to hold the power position, now that Noah and Riley are in school all day. It is doing wonders for his confidence.



Now that fall is here, we are starting to get into the crafts again. The kids made cute owls, using paint, paper plates, construction paper and markers.

Here's Peter Pan and the gang. Thomas loves to dress up, and one of his favourite new things to pretend is that he is Peter Pan. He has assigned Amadea with the role of Wendy, while Leila always volunteers to be Tinker Bell. (Her temperament suits the part.)

Here, Peter Pan has died, and Wendy and Tinker Bell are attempting to bring him back to life. He's such a great actor, that Tom!



We often play at the upper part of Lithuania Park, now. It's a great place to play Hide and Seek! The kids always opt to hide or count with me, so this game only works when my helper is with us. This way, we actually have someone to hide from, and someone to find!

Here's a picture of Thomas and Leila hiding behind a tree. They usually give our spot away by squealing in excitement of being found.

But they absolutely LOVE the game! Who doesn't?

Here Leila is trying to peek around the corner to see if the person who's "it" is approaching.

Leila and Amadea are proud to have mastered new areas of the playground. Leila is especially proud that she can hang from the bar (as demonstrated by Amadea in the photo below). Thomas loves to pretend this upper area of the playground is his house. He has 3 T.V.'s, and always courteously asks me what I want to watch.

And I just had to get a shot of Thomas's Superman cape shirt. Adorable.

On to more cuteness. The kids often come into the kitchen while I'm cleaning dishes, to keep me company, "help" me, or to hit me up for food or water. And then they happen to look so cute. This is why I am amassing so many photos of them in front of the cupboards, or fridge!

Another art project we did was finding things from outside, like leaves, grass, dandelions, twigs, stones, wood chips. We then glued them to the paper to make nature collages.

Some random photos....

Thomas knows his whole alphabet. He seemed ready to learn more about letter sounds, and about blending those sounds together (reading). So, I've been spending a few minutes a day while they are  having snack, doing a little reading activity with them (apart from reading books). You can see the word, "bat" above the doorway, in the photo below. Once we go through the individual sounds of the letters, I try to get them to blend, or to put them together to figure out the word. Well, Thomas read the words: bat, hat, at and rat! I was so happy for him I texted his mom at work so that she could share in my excitement! Boy, was she proud of him!

Another reason I decided to make a formal effort with reading was because Amadea seems very much interested in letters. When she sees the magnetic letter "A" on our fridge, she says "me!". She knows it's the first letter of her name. She also sometimes takes the "N" off and brings it to Noah, saying "Nunna". I couldn't NOT work harder with this natural curiosity they have.

What I didn't expect, was for Leila to catch on to letter sounds so quickly! She just didn't seem particularly interested before, but she accurately makes the sounds for "S" and "A" when I point to them. Leila lets me know when I need to simplify things, when I need to make it more fun, or when I'm spending too much time on the activity, by saying, "Mommy, it's bored. Read a book." I love it. :)



So, here we are just taking our babies out for a morning stroll around the block.

It lasted about five minutes, and then everyone started handing me their stroller, saying they didn't want it anymore. Isn't that always the way? Good thing I had a big wagon to load them into!

Another day, another beautiful walk around the block.

So, Leila has started a book club at the daycare. It is now one of her favourite activities, to look through book after book. She always wants one or both of her friends with her too, looking at books beside her. I often hear her say "Dea, you want to read books with me?" And Dea sometimes responds with "no", because Leila asks this a lot. Then Leila responds with a disappointed "Awww...why?"

I call Amadea the "book boss", because Thomas and Leila always ask her to bring them books. She is pleased to do so. They'll say, "What book should I read next, Dea?" She'll get a few books for them, and a few for herself, and then, it's book club!

Now that Noah is in school full-time, we have a little more freedom with our days. We have started to visit drop-in centres again.

This is the drop-in centre at Annette Street Library. Dr. Thomas loved the dress-up clothes! And in the photo below, Riley (who stayed home from school this day) is looking in a full-length mirror, adjusting her crown.

Amadea loved the kitchen area. They even have a little kids' dining table where they can serve their pretend food.

The girls enjoyed the painting on this day, as well. Thomas isn't too much into arts and crafts yet, and I don't push it. (Although sometimes I encourage it a little more so I can put some of his artwork up in our home too, along with the other kids'.)

But the best is circle time. In the photos above and below, they are under a parachute. In the picture below, we are doing the song "Sleeping Bunnies." It is so sweet to watch them all lie down together, and then jump up and hop around in excitement!

Then, there are bubbles!!!

Life's a party. ;)

So, Riley started a trend on this day, and that is to run up to the door of houses and squeal "Trick or Treat!" Then run away. They're practising.

Here are the 3 little ones continuing the trend and adding to it, on another day, without Riley. Thomas was counting the pumpkins. I'm hoping that if one of the homeowners is irritated that we are overstepping our boundaries, he or she will look at the 3 little sweethearts and all will be forgiven.

Okay, back to the afternoon with Riley. The kids all sat down on the edge of this lawn and of course, it was a picture-perfect moment. Riley decided that they should all hold hands for the picture.

It was no easy feat, but well worth the effort. ;)

Oh. My. Goodness. We went hiking in High Park one day, and these guys were the cutest, happiest hikers ever! (Until they got tired, but shhhh! Let's not talk about that!)

I'm in love with the photo below. I love these guys!

Happy 6th birthday to my baby boy, Noah! Even though he's in school for most of the daycare hours, he still demanded that he celebrate his birthday with the daycare kids. He requested we make him a chocolate cake with white icing, sprinkles, and writing on it. He got his wish. :)