Tuesday, March 20, 2012
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
The Day of L.O.V.E. 2012
Valentines day. Zoe's favorite day of the year.
Except for her birthday. And Christmas. And Easter. And maybe Halloween. Hm. Basically, if it's got candy and sweets of any kind, she's all over it.
Zo has been counting down the days till Valentines for at least a month. She insisted we put up decorations the day after we took down the Christmas tree. Well, in truth, I was able to put us off for a week or so, but constant begging and pleading made me give in pretty quick. And up went the pink and red.
After that, daily questions like "is today Valentines day?" or "is tomorrow Valentines day?"led me to think that it might just be time for my 4 year old (almost 5 year old, eek!) to have a calendar of her own. Get an idea about the passage of time. So we printed off and then colored two calendars, one for January and one for February. While it did seem like it took a while to finish off the month of January, February flew by and before we knew it we had arrived at V-day.
We started the day with a couple of presents first thing in the morning (which Zoe later told me was her favorite time of the day). The requisite helium balloon for both kiddos, a robot arm and gardening gloves for Calvin; a drawing book and playmobil figures for Zo. Following gifts was a breakfast of heart-shaped blueberry pancakes and, after packing a tasty lunch of heart-shaped foods (apples, cheese, pb&j), it was off to Little Birds preschool for Zoe. Finally her opportunity to give her homemade Valentines to her friends, woo hoo!
Shannon took the day off for a much-needed break from work so while Zo was at preschool Calvin, Shannon and I headed to the soaking pool at the Kennedy school. Ice cream at Salt & Straw on Alberta, some remaining Valentines card drop-offs to friends, pizza and red jell-o for dinner, playtime and off to bed.
A super fun day filled with love love love.
Except for her birthday. And Christmas. And Easter. And maybe Halloween. Hm. Basically, if it's got candy and sweets of any kind, she's all over it.
Zo has been counting down the days till Valentines for at least a month. She insisted we put up decorations the day after we took down the Christmas tree. Well, in truth, I was able to put us off for a week or so, but constant begging and pleading made me give in pretty quick. And up went the pink and red.
After that, daily questions like "is today Valentines day?" or "is tomorrow Valentines day?"led me to think that it might just be time for my 4 year old (almost 5 year old, eek!) to have a calendar of her own. Get an idea about the passage of time. So we printed off and then colored two calendars, one for January and one for February. While it did seem like it took a while to finish off the month of January, February flew by and before we knew it we had arrived at V-day.
We started the day with a couple of presents first thing in the morning (which Zoe later told me was her favorite time of the day). The requisite helium balloon for both kiddos, a robot arm and gardening gloves for Calvin; a drawing book and playmobil figures for Zo. Following gifts was a breakfast of heart-shaped blueberry pancakes and, after packing a tasty lunch of heart-shaped foods (apples, cheese, pb&j), it was off to Little Birds preschool for Zoe. Finally her opportunity to give her homemade Valentines to her friends, woo hoo!
Shannon took the day off for a much-needed break from work so while Zo was at preschool Calvin, Shannon and I headed to the soaking pool at the Kennedy school. Ice cream at Salt & Straw on Alberta, some remaining Valentines card drop-offs to friends, pizza and red jell-o for dinner, playtime and off to bed.
A super fun day filled with love love love.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
The man in the kitchen.
Makin orange (ahem, green) juice. O.j. with spinach. Good idea? The jury's out.
Friday, February 10, 2012
ZeeZee and Calvey, Take 1
First blog post ever. Woohoo! Doing it while watching the kids (ie. actors) on Glee get drunk and party while I sit here drinking white wine with blueberries and getting a buzz. Good stuff. Shannon, I think, is pretty calm and relaxed, sitting beside me, arm outstretched. Except for the moments when he comments about how insane a 5th birthday party (yes, Zoe) would be with 15 kids. Running around. Going crazy. In our house.
But that's what we need to discuss. Planning a fifth birthday for our Zoester. How could she be 5? But that's not the question at hand.
The question is, where to do it? She suggested the ceramic studio, so it's either that or our living room. Hmm. Somehow I'm thinking living room will win out, which means decorations, games, and party favors are in order. Where to start?
Hoping to stay as far away from the plastic-y/throw-away-as-soon-as-you-walk-in-the-door toys. Can we do it homemade? Homemade crayons? Homemade bags? Bag of collage goodies? That's what I'm thinking...
But on another note. The whole catalyst for starting this little blog here is same 5 year old and her new ways. Yes, I'm feeling the interesting tug and pull *away* from mama of my eldest child. At this point I'm observing. Sensing, feeling. But it does seem as she moves into this 5th year (and yes, we're still two weeks away) she is finding some footing sans mama. She's always been such a mama's girl, but it does seem she is peeking, poking her head out of the house, looking for some independence. Where she normally wants only mama, to be near mama, to eat near mama, to sit on mama's lap, to gush to mama, now she's moving to dada! Dada, can you put me to bed? Dada, can you sleep with me? Dada, can you help me go potty? This is new territory. For all of us. And it will be interesting to see where she ends up. Is this temporary? Permanent? Where will she be a week from now?
Moving on toward her little brother. Calvin is the fast, funny, goofy, always-lookin-for-a-laugh guy that he has been since the minute he was born. Today we went to The Circuit, a climbing gym, where he climbed up the top of the wall. Over and over and over. So fast, and without fear. Up he went, down the slide. Up he went, down the slide. So fast that the three present mamas (myself, Auntie Jenna, Jeni) could hardly keep up. Trembling, his body working so hard. That little man is an animal and always has been.
Boy, do I love these kids.
The question is, where to do it? She suggested the ceramic studio, so it's either that or our living room. Hmm. Somehow I'm thinking living room will win out, which means decorations, games, and party favors are in order. Where to start?
Hoping to stay as far away from the plastic-y/throw-away-as-soon-as-you-walk-in-the-door toys. Can we do it homemade? Homemade crayons? Homemade bags? Bag of collage goodies? That's what I'm thinking...
But on another note. The whole catalyst for starting this little blog here is same 5 year old and her new ways. Yes, I'm feeling the interesting tug and pull *away* from mama of my eldest child. At this point I'm observing. Sensing, feeling. But it does seem as she moves into this 5th year (and yes, we're still two weeks away) she is finding some footing sans mama. She's always been such a mama's girl, but it does seem she is peeking, poking her head out of the house, looking for some independence. Where she normally wants only mama, to be near mama, to eat near mama, to sit on mama's lap, to gush to mama, now she's moving to dada! Dada, can you put me to bed? Dada, can you sleep with me? Dada, can you help me go potty? This is new territory. For all of us. And it will be interesting to see where she ends up. Is this temporary? Permanent? Where will she be a week from now?
Moving on toward her little brother. Calvin is the fast, funny, goofy, always-lookin-for-a-laugh guy that he has been since the minute he was born. Today we went to The Circuit, a climbing gym, where he climbed up the top of the wall. Over and over and over. So fast, and without fear. Up he went, down the slide. Up he went, down the slide. So fast that the three present mamas (myself, Auntie Jenna, Jeni) could hardly keep up. Trembling, his body working so hard. That little man is an animal and always has been.
Boy, do I love these kids.
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