Mmmm

Mikah had his first pudding last night and he attempted to lick the cup out. I think he likes pudding!

No More Cooking for Me

Well, it looks like I am out of a job. Mikah has decided that he can get himself food now.
















He was so proud of his potato snack. He was excited that he had thought to put the raw potato on a plate and bring a fork. Dig in!

Kids; gotta love them

Alek has a friend over for a playdate this afternoon. While I am in the kitchen making a snack his friend comes in to help.

Friend: Barb, how old are you?
Me: I'm 32.

Friend looks horrified.

Me: Hmm, does that sound old?
Friend: Yes, it's really old for a young lady like you.

Friend takes the plate of snacks and goes back to the toy room.

Fall Into Fun

The Fall Leisure Guide is here! The Fall Leisure Guide is here!!!


Am I the only one who awaits the seasonal Leisure Guides like kids await the Wishbook? I don't look at it the moment it comes either. I let it keep for awhile until I have a nice quiet moment to savour it and dream of the possibilities that it contains. This time when the kids were in bed (and asleep, I checked) I made a cup of Epicure Cocoa and curled up on the couch with the Guide, a pen, a blanket and the cocoa. I read and circled for at least an hour. Then I repeated the process at the kitchen table the next morning substituting cocoa for coffee, just in case I missed something.

This Guide is full of new activities too which is so nice. Last year, thanks to my work schedule, there were no extra activities being enjoyed but I vow to change that this year. The kids need a couple of things to do to keep challenging them and tire them out. And I need some "me time" activities as well, where I can escape for even an hour and re-charge.

So... here are my highlights. It will be interesting to see which ones make the final cut.

• swimming lessons (Alek and Mikah)
• Homemade pasta cooking class (it might encourage me to use my pasta machine)
• Pilates (community association is offering this. I've been dying to try it but balk at paying the price at the pilates studio. Can't go wrong with $40 for 8 weeks)
• Learn to play Mah Jong (I brought a set back form Hong Kong but haven't been able to find anyone who can teach me.)
• Art Adventures (to help encourage Alek to draw other things besides Medieval scenes and Star Wars)
• Pilates on the Ball (I can use all the help I can get)
• Tae Kwon Do (for Alek. Enough said)

7 Year Old Logic

"Whiskers just gives himself baths all day long. He sure must be bored to keep doing that because he doesn't even DO anything. Too bad that he doesn't like having real baths because he could at least play with toys then."

Good point Alek. Good point.

Lovely Afternoon

Yesterday the boys and I met up with a friend of mine and her golden dog for a walk by the river. It was so nice and now I have a new favorite spot in this beautiful city of ours. The sun was shining and there was just enough breeze to keep the bugs at bay and the sweat from flowing. I finally got to see how the new stroller did off-roading and it handled wonderfully. We tested it on the path, through the wild grass, down rutted trails, up and down steep hills, and through the softest finest white sand that I've seen in years. After all our walking we ended up on a secluded beach that felt like the middle of no where, even though there were cars driving by on the other bank. The kids played, the dog swam, and the baby slept.

It was beautiful; peaceful; memories were made.

Lesson Learned by 8:00am

Soap in the mouth will not work as punishment for Mikah when he starts to swear. Turns out that he likes the taste of soap; dishwasher tabs anyway : )