Pic-sharing Thursday

Time to download some pics from my SD card. Thought I would share some recent ones of the last couple of weeks.

B's game of 'puppy tea party' yesterday. She gathered together all of her stuffed puppy dogs (Gawd! I didn't realize how many she has until she kept pulling out another one from her room or the toy bin. I think she was up to five?!) and a few bunny stragglers ('cause we can never leave a bunny behind) and set up all her teacups.

















She even included Dealer in the party. He looks thrilled to be in attendance. Can you figure out which dog is the real one?

(And, yes, if you look closely enough, you'll see little plastic 'dog bones' on each of the dog's plate!)

















Besides playing with dust motes in morning sunshine and bouncing her bum up and down whenever the Wiggles or Yo Gabba Gabba songs start, Avie has been pulling herself up a lot lately. Maybe walking by her birthday? Hmmm, not likely, but stranger things have happened. Anyways, she was super excited to be standing on her own here (well, cheating anyways--she's holding onto a rolling walker toy, but she's not holding anyone's hand--and she seemed pretty stoked about it!).
























Brooke post-school registration last week--full of face-paint and beans.
























The kids attended a little friend's second birthday party at Starr Gymnastics the other day. (This is the second time we've attended a party there and the girls just love it! Great place to hold a party if you want a no-fuss affair. The entertainers are great, the kids have a fabulous time, plus no having to clean the house beforehand or after!)

The kids all had a blast jumping and running and sliding into piles of foam blocks. Then, after an hour of working off all their energy, they rejoined in a little party room for juice, goldfish crackers and cupcakes. Yum!

Then, as we started singing 'Bonne fête' to birthday boy Olivier, Brooke burst into tears. Why? She wanted to sing 'Happy Birthday' to him, but didn't know the song in French!

I was torn between feeling bad for her and embarrassed that my kid was hijacking the limelight away from Olivier in the middle of his song! Here everyone was trying to wish him a great day and my kid was sobbing in the corner. (Sorry, again, Max!)

Anyways, my doll of a friend Maxine decided we needed to sing the song again, in English this time. Poor Olivier looked confused as to why he had to wait to blow out the candle for another song, but the drama queen was appeased. Ridiculous!



Plus, a little strange because she has heard--and participated in that song a dozen times before--since many of our friends' and family are francophone. Weird! Anyways, I chalked it up to having been a very long and very active day (swim class that morning, then the gymnastics party that afternoon) with zero nap.


Here's some photos of the kids having a wild time!

A weekend earned

Another short post--really just want to share some random pics before we head out. Will be leaving after B's swim lessons tomorrow morning for a weekend in Tremblant with my sister's troop and another set of friends.

It won't be a long vacay--more like 24 hours, really--but a well-earned rest, I think. We're going to stay at a cottage on a frozen lake with an indoor pool and an outdoor jacuzzi. Tramping through the snowy village by day and cozying up by the fire, wine bottles and nachos by night.

There will be 14 of us in all--6 weary adults, 6 wild kids (one of whom is celebrating a birthday--Happy Day, Masyn!) and 2 teething babies. Should be a good time. (And, I don't write that in my usual sarcastic tone. I really think it will be a good time.)

Anyways, I snapped these today because I just loved Brooke's outfit. Santa brought those fuzzy leg warmers for her (courtesy of Dollarama) in her stocking and she wanted to wear them today. Still, it's a little chilly to be running around the house in a miniskirt, so we opted for some grey leggings under the skirt and beneath the leg warmers. We're Canadian, so we dress in layers, right?

What I didn't notice until after I had downloaded the photos is that I had also captured some of Brooke's writings on the floor. Yup--my kid just turned 3 and she can already read and print her name with absolutely no prompting whatsoever from me.

Not only does she know how to spell her own name (and can type it on the computer, too!), but she knows the first letter to Hubby's name, Avie's, Dave's, Grace's and mine. She's that smart. Natch. (Brushing knuckles on lapels.) We clearly have another brilliant writer in the family.

I especially love how she writes her 'B.' It's like she has already taken ownership of her initial and that just warms me inside. She always makes a curly loop between the first and second bumps--a really cursive, beautiful 'B.' (Just like her.) I love it--and I love her.

Anyways, after she 'wrote her list,' we went to wrap Masyn's gift and make her a birthday card. Brooke even signed it by herself. Adorable. I almost don't want to give the card to Masyn--even after Brooke worked diligently at decorating it with all of the stickers (and I do mean, ALL) to bedazzle it in Masyn's honour.

Another pic of Brooke ballerina-ing it in the living room, while Avie watches Caillou. And, yes, you'll note that the room looks a little like a toy typhoon blew through it--and you wouldn't necessarily be wrong. (Hey, at least the tree is gone. Took me almost a month to get everything packed up again. The Xmas boxes are still sitting in the dining room awaiting to be returned to the garage.) And, if you'll note--heart garland over the window. Getting ready for HappyHeartsDay! :)

I wanted to do a proper photo shoot today with the girls all dolled up in sweet little sugary dresses, but I just couldn't be bothered to clean up the destruction left behind the typhoon. (You should see the tiny terrorized faces frozen upon the forever-staring eyes of the dolls. To know the things they know! To see the things they've seen! The horror!) I'll have a go at it next week. Promise.

And, check out Avie's hair. My little sugarbee's hair was all over the place après nap. Love that flyaway baby hair. I swear, I'm not cutting that hair until she's well into her toddlerhood, either. Give her some glitter and a guitar and you could call my little punkrocker MiniPink. Too damn cute!

Okay, final photos. B in her own little winter wonderland.

Look at the expression on her face. Enjoy as she does.