Back to School... with Penguins

I think me and two of my friends are the only ones still blogging in this world. Thanks La and Rebecca.

I'm a little behinds. So here we go:

A penguin came to Chloe's kindergarten class and I was so excited. I know that probably makes me a little dorky but I really wanted to go and see this penguin. Chloe and her friend had been talking it up for weeks. Luckily for me, my parents were in town so I was able to leave my baby coo-koo home and head over myself. It was great to see Chloe at school interacting with friends and with the teacher. I asked the teacher later if Chloe was acting differently because I was there and she assured me that Chloe was always that good. (Mother beaming moment here.) Anyway, so onto the action. She really was the best kid in class too. One kid had to go to his special drawer and get this chew toy thingy to squeeze because he couldn't focus. I felt so bad for him. I especially felt bad that I thought it was humorous that he was squeezing a chew toy.

This is Tweeblick. Yeah seriously. I know what you're thinking. What kind of name is that? Poor penguin. She is an African penguin who now lives at the Edmonton mall (biggest mall in N. America--woo-hoo--claim to fame). That's right, I said the mall. There is a little sea center/aquarium thing there. That mall is really like nothing else I've seen.

I think she pooped on the table right after this shot. Now that was a fun to watch 15- 5 yr. olds reacting to a penguin poop.
Tweeblick is the penguin that gets to leave the mall and do all the classroom visits around town. She was really cute but I couldn't help but feel sadder and sadder for her as the lady was throwing out her stats. Every egg she's ever laid has cracked. And it turns out it is largely due to the fact that her "boyfriend" is too closely related to her. Ouch. Count your blessings huh?
But overall, I'd say kindergarten is still a really fun place. I shared a snack with her, watched her do a craft, played at recess with her and also was able to see them all do the penguin dance in French!


Enjoy her bootie shake/twirl towards the end.

And in case you were wondering what the zoo looks like right now since the penguins are living at the mall and not the zoo, check this out:

Isn't that hilarious? It is too cold outside for me too just for the record. Ok Sondi, you're right it is WAY warmer than last year so I will try and sound more grateful.

But these animals were still outside:

Love List Lunes

Well, I had to start doing this after reading my friend Laura's blog. You should go meet her, here. She is pretty hilarious. We were roommates in college and also in the MTC which seems like several lifetimes ago. I took it as a sign that this was in fact the week that I was starting my love list because I was just thinking this weekend about how much I love the sun. I don't know that rules about loving the same thing on a Monday but since I know La and I know she won't mind, today I love Sunshine See, I used to live in a basement so I know what a 5 month winter is like without sunshine, I can even more so attest to my love of sunshine. But I'll keep my reasons brief:

• Because it makes me warm.
• Because with it on your back, you will have the best nap.
• Because it reminds me of warmer weather coming later.
• Because shining through stained glass, it wakes up happiness in me.

Foliage and Fun

It's Autumn time, It's Autumn time, the leaves are falling down
It's Autumn time, It's Autumn time, they're all around the town.

I thought I'd better post about Fall, before it ends. We've had some good times in the foliage around town. And just in case some people thought I couldn't appreciate any season that isn't called, "Summer", let me prove you wrong.

(Isn't this an awesome action shot?)

(It's fun playing soccer with Tati until she gets mad that anybody else kicks the ball.)

(This is a picture taken by our photographer, Chloe. I just love it because of Tati's reflective shoes and maybe also the fact that she is totally picking her nose--you might have to zoom it. Hilarious child.)

Once upon a time when we were watching Teletubbies, they showed a short movie of this cute little British boy going on a walk outside with his mom and tromping in the puddles. They called their boots, "Wellies". We thought that was so funny so we call them "Wellies" too. Since that episode, Chloe has been wanting some rain boots. And now her dream has come true. I wish these fit me. She wears them all the time. Luckily we did have a little rain one day to create the perfect puddle situation. But you've got to love this get up.

And here's Tati in Get-up #2:
It was so hilarious to see her face while she walked through the water and didn't get wet. She was in awe and smiling super gigantically. After a while she fell and then got water inside the boots but she still had a blast!

Ta-Da!

Say What?!

So Chloe plays with one of her BFF's every week. Our house isn't too big so they are often playing around or in front of me. This was a beauty I caught while I was looking for a recipe on the internet.

Chloe: "Pretend we're teenagers, ok Linnea?"

Linnea: "Ok, Chloe. I'm going to drive a car. What are you doing?"

Chloe: "I'm calling my boyfriend."
(push buttons on Tati's cell phone)

Mirror Mirror on the wall...

Who is the fairest of them all?

Princess Tati (and her powerful backpack)!

It was a dark, COLD night on Plum Street...

Happy!

(Isn't this so cute? My sister made it for me. I LOVE IT! Sometimes, she blows me away with her craftiness.)

Sorry for the delay. Here are our Halloween pics.

This was the first year we weren't all dressed up in theme together. It was a little rough for me but I'm maturing and learning how to let it go. Or at least I'm trying. We had two Halloweens this year, normal Halloween night and then our neighborhood did a trunk or treat before Halloween before the weather turned cold. So it was really "warm" that night--probably in the low 60's (which isn't "warm") but compared to the 30's and 40's it usually is, then well, it is warm.

Tati was a candy corn. It was sorta retarded how many people asked us what kind of candy she was. Um, duh. One lady asked if she was a jelly bean. It's not like they don't sell candy corns here. Somebody was complaining to me the other day that candy corns didn't even look like corns and how they were a retarded candy. I finally told them that they picked the wrong audience because I'm a HUGE candy corn fan AND I think they totally do look like corn. But I digress.

Here's our candy corn.
And our "nice" witch. She had to emphasize that to everybody.

She wore make-up and we were all blown away at how striking she looked. It scared her daddy a little bit though. All her overwhelming beauty.

I was Ahoura. Yes, I wanted to be more black but Greg told me it was inappropriate. Don't you think he was being a little racist to not let me be more black? I just used a bunch of bronzer to make me like a Mexi-Ahoura. Greg said he was "Disposable Character #1". He's usually killed off in the first 5 min. or so of the show. Crazy ole coot.
Here we are, all together:

Here we all are on Halloween night:
Greg was supposed to be the "Edge" from U2 but he forgot to wear his beanie. I don't know what I was. I was like a pimp meets cat in the hat meets Elton John.

And finally, this is a glimpse into the future for Tats and if I never brush hair again.

Awkward Moment

So I went to Costco today. It was super busy and my child was super sick of being strapped into the cart (I finally realize why they have those weird seat belts in the cart). I feel like something is always getting rearranged at Costco. The eggs were gone because they are trying to make a "dairy" section. Well if you're going to make a "dairy" section why not include cheese, butter, cream cheese, cottage cheese, etc.? Whatever.

So I'm in the retarded meat department and now the pork is all gone. All I see is lamb everywhere. I sighed some relief when I saw a meat dude. A butcher if you will. He was facing a meat cart and was unloading some salmon into the salmon section. A burly man with a baseball hat on, short gray hair, some gloves and of course the butcher jacket (which looks an awful lot like a doctor jacket, doesn't it?) I quickly approached him and said, "Excuse me Sir, can you please tell me where the ground pork is?"

But he just sort of ignored me. I was about to repeat myself when he turned around. Um, not a man. Definitely a lady. A burly lady with short hair and not too girly in any way but still definitely a a girl. SHE told me (sorta rudely) that the pork row was just over there. I quickly thanked her and was also thanking the stars that apparently she didn't hear the 'Sir' part when she goes, "And by the way, I'm not a man, I'm a lady." I quickly mumbled that I was so sorry to her as I wheeled away as fast as I could. Woops!