Handy Manny

Gavin was cutting a paper with the kid scissors and got a paper cut.  He was crying and saying, "Owie, Owie!"  He wanted someone to fix his cut.  So he got his screwdriver from his tool kit and took it over to Greg and said, "Daddy, fix it!"  Although Daddy couldn't fix it with a screwdriver, he did blow Gavin's mind when he applied some super glue to his cut and the pain immediately stopped.  He said, "Owie gone Mommy?!"  Then he showed everybody where his cut used to be.  His eyes were in wonder.  He kept touching the spot on his skin where the cut had been and just couldn't seem to believe that it had vanished.

Cute kid.

Here he is with his drill fixing our shelves.  Not the same as a screwdriver but still shows how much he loves to fix things.  I love this little Handy Man.

Snack Table

Well I finally got that table I ordered a few months ago.

It's great for holding bowls and glasses. Probably would be a nice perch for a bird too. This is me in week 23. Not quite steady enough for a plate though...yet.

Egg Hunt

Easter was a little problematic this year.  Our kids were getting to greedy and bratty.  They were fighting a lot and not doing what we asked them to do.  Saturday night before Easter was a straight up battle.  I told Greg that I hated that after them not listening to us or helping around the house and just fighting, that they were going to wake up to treats and presents.  So we decided that we'd put Easter on hold--at least the candy/present side of things.

So Sunday morning, we read the story of the resurrection and did a fun little churchy activity with them.  Then we took some family pictures.  We tried both before and after church.  They all turned out the same--difficult to get everybody looking--just with different lighting.  The skirts were made by a friend and I used some leftover fabric from her to make Gavin and Greg matching bow ties.  (I'm certain Greg will never wear this bowtie again.  I initially was going to make real ties, but these were just so dang fast and easy, it was a no brainer.)


That was it.  The rest of the day was just a normal, nice and relaxing Sunday.  We told them that if they could be helpful and nice to each other that we'd do some treats and fun the following day.

So Monday, we did their baskets and a fun egg hunt.  We were worried about finding a good place to go since there was still so much snow.  In other years, we've had nearly all the snow melted completely.  We were determined to have a Spring day though so we tried to have a picnic and we froze our butts off.


Greg really had a stroke of genius because he set up the eggs in this little forest of trees so there were lots of nooks and crannies to put the eggs.


I also had a stroke of genius (that I heard about from somewhere) to assign each child a different color.  That way they each had an even amount and we could put different more appropriate things inside for them.  It also allowed for Greg to place the girls' eggs in more difficult places. 

It worked out great and they loved it.  We'll definitely do that every year.  It was great too to have the secular stuff of Easter a little more separated from the spiritual stuff.

Spring Thaw

Having the snow melt really has invigorated everybody.  It seems like we're all more energetic and happier.  Maybe we've been in a dark Winter gloom.  That can happen when it has been cold and snowy for 6 months.  It is amazing the freedom that not having to put on snow pants, boots, scarf, mitts and a toque (beanie) can give somebody.  The kids want to be in the backyard all the time jumping on the trampoline and also love making snow balls out of the last remaining snow.

This particular day, the big thrill was watching the snow melt.  Chloe made some mini snowmen with her snow ball maker and the kids basically just sat there until the sun melted it enough to make it fall over.    Here you can see the baby snow man.  And there they are are just watching him sit in the sun.

And this is what they've been waiting for:

Then they'd laugh like crazy and do it all over again.

There has also been a big excitement over hoola hooping lately because Chloe's good friend had a hoola birthday party and she came home with this enormous hoop made out of pvc pipe and hockey tape.  And not to be outdone, we got Tati a hoola hoop at Dollarama.  ;-)  Check them out.

Here's Tati with a long winded and funny tutorial.

And here's Chloe with her mad skills.
So happy the snow is gone.  Now we just have to hope that it stays gone.  Happy Spring!

Kwasi

Tati's brain is very special. 

Me:  Do you want peanut butter and jelly for lunch?
Tati:  No.
Me:  Do you want a quesadilla for lunch?
Tati:  No.
Me:  What do you want for lunch?
Tati:  How about just a tortilla?
Me:  Ok.  Sure.

A few minutes later as I'm getting a few side dishes in the kitchen to go with the tortillas.

Tati:  (Giggle, giggle.) Look Mom!


And what do I behold?

Sporty Spice

Chloe has been playing basketball this year.  Honestly we aren't very sporty people.  I mean I guess Greg was in high school but not really since then.  I don't enjoy any sports where people have to defend me or when there is any sort of pressure put on me so that pretty much rules out any competitive group sports.  I do however really excel at shooting things into the garbage.  And I play a mean game of P-I-G or H-O-R-S-E depending on how much energy I have.  Greg and my first date was actually us playing H-O-R-S-E together and I wooped him.  I won him over when I sunk a shot from half court.  So maybe Chloe gets it from me.  ;-)

Her coaches are really great.  They focus on drills and skills and not so much the game part so it is all the parts of basketball I would really enjoy.  Anyway, if she isn't tripping over the ball while she's dribbling, she's really good and being open for shots and passing and really good at rebounds because she doesn't make too many shots.  Still it is fun to watch her and fun to watch her team.  There is a little boy on her team that just gets tired of running around and lays down on the court sometimes.  And there is a girl who goes into her own world sometimes and starts jumping around like a frog.  So there is lots of entertainment.  She's got another set of games this month so it should be fun to see if there is much improvement.

Gavin and Tati have really been enjoying themselves too.  Tati loves to run around and shoot the ball and Gavin just loves the freedom a large gym provides.  He can also be lured to sit still if you're playing a video game and he can watch you.

Old Ladies

So it turns out that I really love doing embroidery.  Who would've known?

I decided that this year for birthday presents, I would sew my childrens' friends a purse or bag with some embroidered embellishments.  It has been great because it keeps me sorta crafty but it is something that I can do in spurts and really is relaxing.  Embroidery books however are super dumb.  They are written in a language I don't understand.  They are in the same language as word problems, health insurance pamphlets, tax information, and overly detailed period piece novels about the British class system.  My dear, sweet, husband who speaks all of those languages except the last was able to help me visualize the stitches and translate the words into my language.  I've been adding a few, new stitches to my repertoire.  I've been laughing at myself at how excited I've been getting at dorky things like embroidery hoops that are really tight, or a really sharp needle, or even adding beads and sequins to things.  Apparently this excitement has been contagious because Chloe has been really wanting to do some embroidery too.  So I gave her the chance.  At first I thought it was over her head because she wasn't listening to all the instructions before trying the stitches and she wasn't watching me the way I told her to poke the needle or hold the needle and I was getting frustrated and impatient.  So I told her she had better listen or she wasn't going to get to sew.  So she listened and I explained it all again.  Then I gave her a simple straight line to sew.  She did it.  So I gave her a another straight line to sew.  She did it.  Then I gave her a straight-ish line with a little bump in it to sew.  She did it.  Then she said she wanted to sew her name.  And lo and behold, SHE DID IT!  Now I need to come up with some project where she can sew her name.  I'm so proud of her.  Honestly, she exceeded my expectations.  See for yourself.  Now we're both turning into old ladies.