Valentine's Day and Leila's 2nd Birthday (...and Everything but the Kitchen Sink)

So, it has been quite a while since I've written a blog. Part of this was due to our trip to Israel in March, but mostly it was just the regular busyness (and tiredness) of mommy-hood that has kept me from writing thus far.

These are pictures of the kids working together to make Valentine's cookies. We did the good old, (and easy) sugar cookies, in the shape of hearts.

I baked a batch in the morning, with the four little guys, and a couple of batches in the afternoon, with the big guys (when the babes were sleeping). Riley overlaps as a little kid and a big kid, since she's too young to be in school in the mornings, and too old to nap in the afternoons. So she gets to do these activities twice, if she so wishes. Lucky girl!

The next day, to ice and decorate the cookies, we did the same thing: one session in the morning, and one in the afternoon. This REALLY worked in Riley's favour. I mean, she was able to dip into the icing, sprinkles, and smarties twice that day! I'm surprised there wasn't a coup d'etat by the older boys, over the injustice of this! (phew)

Thomas, Amadea and Leila got zero cookie decorating accomplished. But they did have a tasty treat of sprinkles and icing!

Everyone was happy, which is especially important when you are dealing with such messy, sticky stuff! A meltdown in those circumstances could have me cleaning up for days!

These are just some of the kids' creations. We divided the cookies into lots of Valentine's treat bags and gave them to friends and family for yummy heart day treats. And kept some for ourselves too. Soooo good!

Here is Noah doing a heart-lacing Valentine's craft. We also decorated paper hearts using crayons, markers and stickers.

 Another Valentine's themed activity we did was to decorate red folders (see Thomas's below) to use not only as large envelopes to collect Valentines, but also so that we could deliver kind notes to each other. I'm not sure if it was last year or the year before that we had done this, but I thought it would be fun to revisit. So, in the two weeks leading up to Valentine's Day, I encouraged the kids to either write their own kind messages to each other, or to tell me what they wanted to say to one of their friends (but it had to be a secret!) so that I could write it down. Then they delivered the messages to their friends' mail folder. I also delivered my own Valentines and messages in the days leading up to Valentine's Day.

And then, of course, we had to have a Valentine's bash on the actual day.

Here is the table nicely decorated before the party.

And here it is after the onslaught of the kids. The kids all had Valentines and treats to give each other, and also got some from me. Noah and B. obviously had lots of Valentines from school to sort through as well. We had fruit punch, or "Valentine's Juice" to drink. I also made them heart-shaped pancakes and served them with strawberries (because they're red, of course!).

Here's Thomas drinking from one of the heart-shaped silly straws that Riley gave to the gang.

Later, he worked on some stamping using Valentine's paper pads and stampers.

During our outdoor time, we brought a big stack of foam hearts and played "Hide the Hearts" at the playground.

Riley found one in a swing...that was a tricky one!

At one point we took a break to use the hearts as pretend plates at our little picnic table on the playground. Then we went back to the game! Here Riley has brought the collection of hearts she has found after Noah hid them.

It was a fun party day for sure!

Usually the kids paint at the table, since I like when they can produce their very own paintings for me to hang up. But once in a while, we paint at the easel.

This was Amadea's first time really getting into it! Actually, she outlasted Leila and Thomas, who became more intent on hiding under the easel. To each his own!

Dea, Leila and I all worked on the painting above. I wanted to help show Amadea and Leila what to do with their paint brush. Amadea caught on very fast and focused on the activity for some time. Little Picasso.

Riley is noticing letters more and more, which is naturally preparing her for reading. When I can, I try to do a literacy activity with her. This is an activity she did a few weeks ago in which she had to match the lower case letters of the alphabet with the upper case ones. She did great!

I had to take this photo below after noticing that Amadea had squished herself into a dolly bath tub. (She must have been a cat in an earlier life). 

Riley demanded to also be in the picture, so here are more kids surrounding Amadea in a dolly bath tub! :)

Leila finally started walking, just 3 weeks shy of her 2nd birthday. We are all delighted. And she is too!



Despite the bitter cold this winter, we had TONS of fun! One day, when Noah and I wanted to go home because we were too cold, B. encouraged us to skate on the ice at Lithuania Park. That kid really knows how to have fun in any weather! It was so fun, and beautiful as well. That is B. walking towards the camera in the photo below.

Sometimes we hike through the woods at the side of Lithuania Park. After we climb up the hill, and come back towards the park, we find ourselves at the top of this monstrous hill. Not once have we taken our sleds down; the hill is just a little too intense for even our 5-year-olds (though I see many other children that age who seem to master it fine).

But what we have been doing is sliding on our bottoms down different ice slides on the hill. Thomas (and I!) would go on the slide that had the least amount of ice...mostly just snow. The bigger boys had their eyes set on the icier slides but were a little too scared. They followed my suggestion of starting their slide from only halfway up, and working their way higher, if they felt comfortable to do so. Well, they were sliding from the very top in no time and having a ball! Another one of our wonderful winter days. Really, it has been a very enjoyable winter for us, despite the cold.

This is little Leila, two days before turning two years old, at her daycare birthday party! We weren't planning on doing anything too special until the afternoon, when we had the whole group with us. Well, I had to change the plans a little, because after morning snack, as I was washing dishes, she came up to me and said, "My birthday's coming up." I smiled and said "Yes, and we're having your daycare party today!" She repeated, "My birthday's coming up". I said, "Yes it is. You are going to be 2 soon!" She repeated herself one more time, but this time there was frustration in her voice, and she was on the verge of tears. I figured out the translation: "Let's get this party started."

I dug into a couple of the loot bag treats. One of the party favours was HUGE sunglasses, but they were too huge for the little guys and kept slipping off. This is why Leila is wearing her own pint-sized sunglasses in the photo above. I think it's hilarious that she pushes them to the top of her head herself. She hasn't been interested in wearing sunglasses until recently, so I didn't even know she was aware that this is something people do. She's a cool kid!

Leila insisted on helping to set the table for her own party. It was adorable.

Finally it was party time! We ate chicken dogs (one of her favourite lunches). Then it was time to sing Happy Birthday. We ate the cupcakes that Noah, B. and Riley helped to make for the party. Yummy!

We waited until after lunch to give her a present. It was a new high chair for her babies, and her friends had great fun sharing this with her. Amadea is especially into caring for the dollies lately, so I'm not sure who will get the most joy out of this gift!

I thought I'd stick these random painting pictures in for the heck of it. You know I'm never one to hold back the photos.

Wow, this is an epic blog post. Is it done yet? This is what happens when I wait too long to put a post up. Next time I'll at least try to divide it into shorter posts, for an easier read (or an easier perusal of photos).

I finish with our choo-choo train, Noah as the conductor of course. (He was happy to let others drive once he had had his time in the power seat.) They ALL really liked this activity!

Princesses and Cowgirls

Riley's prime goal right now is to be a princess. She adores dresses; especially ones with a skirt that spins when she turns around. She has been raiding Leila's closet recently, in pursuit of the perfect skirt or dress. I let her try on ones that are a little big for Leila. She also walks around in Leila's sparkly slippers which are half her size. She demands to try on every one of our flavoured chapsticks so that she can be a "Rainbow Princess." She is adorable.

Here is an exciting event that we were fortunate enough to witness on our way home from picking the boys up from school. The tree branches that had fallen in the park after the ice storm were getting cleaned up....and....fed into a "tree chomper machine"! We watched the men work for a good half an hour.

And here are the morning munchkins up to their usual shenanigans.

The bigger kids have been very much into sledding this winter. On one occasion I neglected to put these 'magic carpets' away, and the kids started using them inside, sliding down pillows from the couch. It was great fun at first, but soon the runs seemed to resemble those used in extreme sports. I put the sleds away, despite the complaints and very persuasive negotiating.

Okay, so this was one of the best moments. Every day I need to be in Thomas's room for the first 5-10 minutes of nap time, in order for him to fall asleep. And almost every day I need to go to Amadea's room and gently rub her tummy until she falls asleep too. This is now the time when I give the older kids their half hour of T.V. They know they are to be as quiet as possible, and they're pretty good about this. (I know it's not easy for a 3-year-old and two 5-year-olds to stay quiet, but they try.) Anyway, as I am rubbing Amadea's tummy, and have almost gotten her to sleep, I keep hearing this banging sound from the living room. I'm wondering what the kids are doing, and hoping they will stop, since I am so close to getting Amadea to sleep. It doesn't stop, but I miraculously manage to get Amadea to sleep anyway. When I return to the living room, I ask, in an exasperated voice, "What was all that banging?" I am answered by another bang. I focus now on Riley, lying on the ground, with her feet tucked into Noah's Leap Pad case. She flaps her feet to the floor, and the case slaps on the ground. There is a look of pride on her face. Clearly, she is a mermaid.

If you could see what I saw in that moment, you would get such a good laugh, right from the heart. In the picture above, Noah has joined her. He is a "mer-man", and they are perched on a "rock". Riley told me, out of the blue, a few days ago, that when she grows up she's going to be a princess and a cowgirl. Thomas is intent of becoming a robot. It's highly important to set completely unreasonable and unattainable goals early on in childhood. ;)

Amadea loves to try things on. In fact, she's basically dressing herself these days. At only 16 months, she can put on hats, tube scarves (I'm not sure what you call this kind of scarf, but I feel that term describes them well), pull shirts over her head, and put on anybody's boots but her own. I even caught her attempting to step into my tall Hunter rain boots! Such an ambitious girl!

And Thomas has that firefighter hat practically glued to his head. A few days ago I went to his playpen to retrieve his blanket for his parents when they were getting him ready to go home. I just saw the firefighter helmet lying in his bed where his head had been and remembered that he had worn that to bed. Yes, he was so determined to stay a firefighter while sleeping that he kept this incredibly uncomfortable hat on for nap time.

And I just had to include this creation of  B.'s. It is amazing! He is unbelievably skilled and creative.

One day at lunch, Amadea decided to wear her yogurt bowl as a hat. (I know - how far is she going to take these self dressing skills?) Of course I ran immediately to the kitchen to grab a....cloth? Nope. Camera, of course! After remarking on how adorable Amadea looked, and getting a good laugh (and a picture) (and with the other kids giggling and watching the show), I was duly rewarded by my daughter, who followed suit. She thought, "I'll make mommy smile even more!" Leila's bowl was far fuller than Amadea's. You can tell that Leila is trying to process the sensation of the cold glob on her head! Bath night!

Here are a few outdoor pictures. Some child at Noah's school had built this awesome snow fort. After another child kicked it down, we tried to recreate the builder's vision. I have to admit I had WAY too much fun doing this. The other picture is of us sledding at Lithuania Park.

Thomas isn't into sledding as much as the others are. He prefers to play on the playground, or in the snow. Here are two good friends roasting marshmallows in a snow bonfire. They let me taste, and they were delicious! Speaking of which, Thomas, more than the other kids, likes a good snow snack. As long as it's clean, who am I to stop him? The other day I looked over at him, and he was holding this huge chunk of snow to his mouth (don't worry, it was pure white), and he gave me the biggest grin, as if he was enjoying his first summer ice cream.

Photo shoot time. Notice Leila and Amadea holding hands in the first photo.

Leila bites and pushes Dea. Dea swings water bottles and various toys into Leila's head. It's the beginning of a beautiful friendship.:)

This is a cute little video too, although a little blurry. I love capturing these beautiful moments!

Amadea strutting through the kitchen catwalk sporting the look of the season: a Santa hat and a backpack.

Riley brought a princess dress for Leila to wear today. Now they can be princesses together. Actually, Riley would like it if EVERYONE in the daycare could become a princess. She brought another princess dress for someone else to wear but it was too big for the baby girls. She begged, and actually succeeded in getting one of the boys to wear it for a short time (I won't say which one).  I told her I had a black dress like hers and she begged me to put it on. It's a summery dress. Why do I feel like she's going to succeed in getting me to wear that dress? Why do I feel like she is going to succeed in turning me into a princess too?! :)

Humour in the Difficulty that is Parenting

This article is fantastically funny, and oh so truthful of what a humbling experience parenting is. Humour is what helps me to enjoy my job, even in the most difficult moments. Enjoy! (I'll get a daycare post up soon, I promise!)

http://www.scarymommy.com/10-things-i-said-my-children-would-never-do/

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Snow Angels

The daycare is up and running again, after a wonderful holiday. However, with the deep freeze that Toronto was experiencing, we have been stuck inside for two whole days! Minus 25 degree or more with the wind chill is just not okay to trek out in if we don't have to. And since Noah and B. are not yet back at school, we have had the luxury of avoiding it.

Let's go back over the past month or so, when we had delightful winter weather, in comparison. Oh look, here the kids didn't even need their hats and mitts on! Ahhhh....memories.

Here are some of the kids (and one of Noah's school friends) in the playground tunnel. Leila and Amadea are really getting into this tunnel!

But it got REALLY fun when the snow began to accumulate, and we were able to play in the winter wonderland, in balmy near zero temperatures. 

We met Noah and B. at school each day, with our huge toboggan in tow. It is able to fit 4 kids! Leila and Amadea enjoyed being pulled around in it, while the bigger kids (Thomas now included in this group) were more interested in riding it down the hill.

The next day, we also brought our "magic carpets" to supplement the toboggan. I have had these for years, and they were the biggest thing back in the day, but I'm wondering if they are even sold anymore? They are basically single rider sheets that are super easy to transport, since they roll up and weigh next to nothing.

Thomas and Riley eventually tired of the sledding and preferred to play in the snow. We made snow angels and followed each other's foot prints. But what they seemed to enjoy above all was playing house. We made low snow walls (we lacked the required amount of snow, attention spans and time for something more ambitious) with a small opening for the front door. We called the front room the living room, and we got as far as a hallway and a bedroom.

The two babies have not yet developed a love for the snow, and usually go for a walk instead, with my assistant. The older boys usually prefer to continue sledding with their school friends. This snowman, however, was a group effort (well, sans babies), and they were quite proud of their creation!

Swinging in the snow was another delight!

They are all into underdoggies, swing hugs (where I grab hold of them when they swing forward, hug them, and let 'em go), and a little game where I give them a push and say good-bye, and pretend to be annoyed when they keep coming back.

Winter, so far at the daycare, has been a blast. We just can't get enough of the snow. It's so pretty and fun, at least when the temperatures are reasonable.

During our indoor time, the kids completed many holiday crafts.

They made sock snowmen, paper plate wreaths, paper stockings, Santa Claus masks and 3D Christmas trees.

They also decorated my wall with beautiful snow paintings.

For Hannukah, we made a menorah out of a paper plate, a paper towel roll, a toilet paper roll, straws, and construction paper. The kids loved singing our Hannukah song which was sung to the tune of "The Twelve Days of Christmas"

B.'s mom bought us a gingerbread house, which we also had great fun decorating and tasting.

Usually Noah and I make sugar cookies and decorate them on Christmas Eve. This year we decided to include the daycare kids in our super-fun tradition. As usual, the kids have a knack for making delicious cookies!

I hope everyone had a great holiday. Happy new year to you all!

Roar

Haven't had the chance to write a daycare post lately, but here's something really cute, to brighten up your day. It's Leila singing her favourite song: Roar, by Katy Perry