ABC and dance with me!

Today while Karis was napping, Kamille and I pulled out the Alphabet Train puzzle.  I love doing this puzzle with Kamille because it really shows me how far she comes with recognizing and using letters and their sounds. 

At her daycare/preschool they use "Letter Links" for all things that they use to label their names.  Kamille's K is a KIWI BIRD.  These letter links have really kick started her interest and recognition of her friends names. 

Today she was picked out the first letter of the train, A.  She understands and recognizes B because of "The B Book" that we have.  She knows D is the start of Uncle Dave, dog and is deep sounding like the G sound and that her boyfriend Gus starts with.  She loves the letter K and seems to find it in everything - books, signs, posters, on TV....she can point out her beloved K anywhere!   She can show me the letter O and the letters L,  S and X makes her laugh because she knows that her friends Liv, Sacha and Xanadu start with those letters.

 While we put this puzzle train together we sing the alphabet together over and over to figure out which letter comes next.... She has come a long way with her alphabet song and is nearly perfect in her pronunciation now.  I used to love hearing her sing "l, meno, p" and "w, s, wine and z."

 this puzzle also makes for a great balance beam

And as I sit here typing this, Kamille is in my lap, picking out where I have typed her name, finding other K's and getting excited about me pressing the letters that she knows. 

As for Karis, well, when my sweet baby isn't napping she loves to watch Kamille and I in action from her Exersaucer.  Since our girl has not taken to sitting up confidently on her own, this 'circle of neglect' as it is so commonly known as, is just the thing for her to be a part of the action.

And as you can see from this picture, the only thing that is neglectful about this Exersaucer is the amount of 'activity' or toys on it.  Ha!  In my search to borrow 'all things baby' I was lent this very, very, very plain Exersaucer.  My initial thoughts was that this just would not do and that I would not get the hands free time that I would need from such a less than entertaining set up. 

Thankfully, its Karis and not me sitting in that pouch, because Karis LOVES it.  As if she would know the difference...or that she is missing out on an Exersaucer made in this past decade!  As long as someone, Kamille especially can throw some toys to chew on up on her ledge, she is as happy as a pig in shit.  In fact, she is literally a baby in shit.  This just so happens to be her most favorite place to fill up her nappy.  Dancing and spinning around is almost a guaranteed laxative for our girl Karis! 

oh, the moment was caught!  (sorry honey....these kind of photos make for lasting memories!)

And speaking of dancing, today in the car on the way home from running errands with my little Ks,  I was listening to CBC's DNTO program.  Sook-Yin Lee was discussing dance and the theory of 'Dance Confidence' as studied by Dr. Peter Lovatt, psychologist and lover of dance! It got my attention when they discussed this interesting point about girls and dancing....

Women, display immense confidence up to the age of 16, experience a drop between then and 20, and then confidence levels rise steadily up to 35 and then drop steadily between 55 and 65.

Dance has always been related to "confidence" for me.  I started out terrified, lived for the front row of the stage at the NAC Nightclub in my late teen's, got into the electronic and rave culture in my early 20's and then just like that,  I was done my public displays of dancing.  No more dancing, no more confidence.  Not sure where it went.  

I admire dancers though.  I admire their confidence and their ability to just let go and feel the music in all styles and I want this for my girls.   I now have this thing about getting my girls to dance.  I dance around the house with them all the time!  When a good song comes on we dance and then we listen to the song again and dance some more.  Kamille loves it.  Karis is getting used to the craziness that it brings out in us.  

This past Halloween, we took our girls to their first dance at the local rec centre.  I wasn't sure what to expect from Kamille.  We had been talking about dancing, but I was really thinking that Kamille would hug my leg the whole time and be a bit timid.  Was I ever wrong!  Maybe it was the lights and the loud music, or perhaps the Abby Cadabby costume that got her going, but she was a regular club kid out there on the floor.  She gave us her best "pointing fingers" move and jumped around like she was on a trampoline.  I was so proud of my little dancer.   And you know, I was inspired again by my little one - I got out there with her and gave it my all by her side!  

kevin introducing our girl to the dance floor!  

And we continue to dance like lunatics in the house.  Pointer fingers, wiggling bums and bouncing bodies.  This is our favourite these days.  Go on, turn up the volume and give it a go! 

My Little Fashionista

This morning I was woken up to Kamille in my face pleading for me to get her purple skirt out of her closet.  Argh.  So I stumble out of bed, yank it off the hanger and quickly snuggle back into my warm bed. I know I have just bought myself another half hour of uninterrupted snoozing.  Kamille is content - with her purple skirt on!

So lets talk about this little fashionista.  Not sure when, how or why, but she is obsessed with her clothes.  I think its pretty much standard for little toddlers to develop a bit of an interest in what they wear and dressing themselves, but this interest has taken off with Kamille as she enters her preschool years.  Yowza!

When Kamille started to forgo her afternoon nap I insisted that she still had some "quiet time" in her bedroom so that I could have a 'break' of some sort.  This worked out really well.  She was cool to stay in her room and I soon found out that she was totally entertained by taking everything out of her drawers and whatever she could reach in her closet.  And when I say everything - I mean everything.  All dolls in undies, all socks and leg warmers line up around her room, and she must have changed her outfit about 100 times because her jammies and clothes were everywhere on the floor and she was definitely wearing an assortment of stuff she could reach from her closet.  It was a BEDROOM EXPLOSION.

Needless to say, the rack in her closet was inched up a couple notches - hence the "mommy can you get me my purple skirt" wake up call this morning.

Her most perfect start to the day is figuring out what SHE wants to wear.  And I used to fight it.  I used to fight it nearly everyday because she had all these great outfits in her closet, so many wonderful clothes passed on from Rachel (our favourite 4 year old fashionista cousin) and Kamille's friend Liv (who's mom has great taste in kids clothes!) and yet, I could never get her interested in what I thought would be a great outfit.   Why was she like this?  Surely Suri Cruise doesn't battle Katie Holmes every morning!!!???  But as some might know, you cannot beat the stamina of a preschoolers in an argument like this.

is that a reflection of me shopping with karis?

   i am hoping that she doesn't get her fashion sense from me?      

I have learned to carefully negotiate with my Kamille.  On daycare days I get to pick out her outfit - and not because I am embarrassed by what she chooses, but more so I don't want to be THAT mom who sends her kid to daycare wearing a bathing suit, leg warmers, crocs and socks on her hands in the middle of the winter.    If we successfully negotiate a dress or skirt (which Kamille begs for everyday), I get the pleasure of watching Kamille and her best gal friend Xanadu run towards each other, eye each other up and make cute little girly comments about what each other is wearing.   Its ridiculously cute.  They are definitely destined to be those girls that make the early morning call to each other saying, "what are you wearing today."  Yikes...thinking about it brings back memories.  (Erin and I are soooooo guilty).

And so on 'non-daycare days', its agreed upon that Kamille gets to choose her "work of art" outfit and change it up as much as she likes over the day.  It makes me laugh now.

And as I type this, I kid you not,  she went from wearing the purple skirt, spotty shirt, striped hoodie, spotted dora tights and rainbow legwarmers to wearing her purple skirt, her favourite undershirt, swimming goggles and a pair of water wings on her hands - not because she is going swimming, but because water wings on your hands make for a good pair of boxing gloves to beat up your little sister up with.

I wonder how much of this Karis is taking in?  I can only imagine what the future holds for her with a role model like this....

And besides, who wouldn't want their day to be filled with this much colour?  It works for me!

As a final note, as I press PUBLISH POST on this note, Kamille has emerged from her room in yet another outfit for the day...a shirt long enough to pass for a dress, some new tights and some colourful socks over her tights.  She looks LOVELY!


Oh, and it should be no surprise that this is was her absolute favourite commercial while it was on the air.  She would walk around out house with one of her arms pulled up through the collar just so that she could get the "off the shoulder" look like the "lady in the mercial" (the lady's final dress).

Kamille is just hilarious in that way!

Trips to the City

For a bunch of reasons, I found myself going to the big city 4 times this week.  Its a trip that is no big deal to do, and I usually get myself really excited - especially when shopping is involved.

On Wednesday, Dawn and I packed our Ben and Karis up and headed on in for a day of pampering and shopping!  Dawn introduced me to a great place called Bloom Essentials where we got some amazing new toes.  It wasn't so much the clipping, filing, exfoliating and buffing experience, but more so the actual decorating of our 10 tiny toe nails that made this a new experience for me.

I was presented with a sample of all the 'girly girl' kind of designs that they could intricately place on all of my toes.  Hmmmm, what to choose??  Given that the city is in bloom with cherry blossoms and literally outside the door of the place we were, I was inspired and chose the CHERRY BLOSSOM design to welcome the spring season.  I am pretty sure that I will be back for some new summer toes in the future!  Thanks for hooking me up Dawn!

    Look at those tiny little cherry blossoms!

Yesterday Jaja and I packed up our kiddies - all 4 of them - and headed on down to IKEA.  Jaja recently got a mini-van and she wanted to test it out on a road trip!  So there we were.  4 kids in tow.  Two 3 years olds, an 11 month old and a 6 month old.  FUN!  

All things were going according to plan until we were denied entry to the Smaland kids play centre due to height restrictions.  Boo - very boo.  Plan B - bring the pre-schoolers with us.  It wasn't bad, it wasn't easy either, it was ok and I managed to buy more than I likely needed too because I didn't really have the time to put thought into it.  

the silly kids !

Lunch time was definitely the highlight.  There is something so very yummy about a cheap IKEA lunch!  Did you know that a small thing of baby food is free when you purchase an adult meal?  Really, its the small things that make me smile!  

So with purchases piled on top of our strollers and preschoolers on the verge of breaking down, we packed up the mini-van and headed on home.  It wasn't too long into our drive that we realized that we needed a mandatory "let the kids run around" pit stop, diaper change and breath of fresh air!  ; )

    this kid can climb anything!  he's awesome!

me and my karis    
and i forgot to mention that the two little ones were perfect little angels throughout the entire experience!  

Earlier this week, I picked up a pair of bike gloves for Kamille, knowing that she would absolutely love them because she would be "same-same" as her Daddy!  

Today we gave them a try to see if they would make her ride longer and faster.  I'm not sure if it was the gloves or the skirt that she insisted on wearing but she sure did ride with a smile on her face!  

              super girl on a bike...in a skirt!

The Kitchen Diva

I think it all started when I was on maternity leave after having Kamille or just before then because I wasn't working and had lots of time.   I don't recall the exact reason or push to do it, but I suddenly became obsessed with being in MY kitchen.  Suddenly things like slow cookers and rice cookers, whisks and zesters started to mean something to me and I was USING them!

In my wonderful little townhome community that I lived in at the time, the kitchen was the place where I could see everyone's business.  We lived in a fishbowl and I LOVED it.  I was a social butterfly hangin' around the windows and I guess I needed some excuse to stand and watch everyone going about their day, so why not look "busy in the kitchen."

It was soon after that I started to prove my 'busyness' and I started to make meals and sharing them with our dear friends Rory and Stacey.  If I was makin' a meal for 4 and Kevin wasn't around, I might as well share it, right?  Well I did, and they loved it (probably some things not so much) but it fuelled my desire to keep on it and I have definitely become a better person in the kitchen for it.

I got into baking too.   I LOVED to put pies on the window sill and announce to Stacey (in our window to window sign language), "I'm bringin' over dessert tonight."  Oh, I do miss that now that we have moved.  *sigh*

The best part of all this 'busy in the kitchen stuff' was that I had the time!  I had the time because I was on maternity leave.....and I official  became the  Maternity Leave Diva In The Kitchen.

I have also gained a lot of inspiration from other mom friends of mine.  I used to hear them menu planning for each night of the week, thinking up great recipes and using foods that I had never heard of before.  I was pretty much jealous of their organization and creativeness in the kitchen.
However, as creative as I am with arts and crafts or photography, I am NOT creative when it comes to preparing food.  I have come to embrace and love recipes and recipe books.  I rely on them for nearly everything I make.  There was once a time when I hated reading recipes and they would twist me all up and I would read tbsp instead of tsp and chop instead of grate because it all meant the same to me, but I have a new respect for measurement and methods of preparing - because it works if you follow it!

Menu planning has become a chore for me.  Some weeks I do it, some weeks I don't, but its always on my "to do" list, always on my mind and somewhat of a stress at times because of my obsession trying so many different recipes and meal ideas.

So, Kevin knows that if we travel somewhere, I consider it a done deal and I am not likely to want to go back regardless of how great it was. Why waste the money to go somewhere you have been, when you can spend the money to go to some other corner of the world?  Well, that's how I feel about my recipes.  Why make a recipe again when there are millions of others out there to try?

(Kevin questions this effort that I go through to constantly make something new - for. every. meal.  but I just tell him that I am "testing out" as much as possible so that when I go back to work I will have a good selection of recipes on hand that I am familiar with and can make up confidently.  Ya...I think that's what I am doing????)

Hence, the stress of menu planning.  I start from ground zero each week. My most successful weeks are the ones when I manage to incorporate leftovers into the next day's recipe or perhaps I am able to use the large bundle of parsley in 4 recipes over the week.  THAT kind of stuff is satisfaction to me.

Some other things that I love are:

* the feeling that I get when I compost a large pile of organics - because I know that I have made something really good and healthy
* my moms pie recipes, especially peach and apple
* rinsing and recycling a bunch of tin cans (like after making chilli) - because I know that I have cleared a bit space on the cupboard shelf for more groceries
* using my slow cooker - because who doesn't want a stress-free dinner time?
* using my rice cooker - because my dad gave it to me when I had no idea what to do with it, I almost sold it in our garage sale and now I wouldn't be able to live without it
* my comments in my recipe book that I make about everything I try.  These books are gonna be around forever, I better keep track of what's good and what's not.
*  the kitchen gadgets that I have acquired over the past 3 years because they represent my 'maturity into Diva-ness!'
* baking with Kamille - we have matching aprons too!

* my silicone muffin cups - AMAZING - I use them for baby food portions too!
* the feeling of adding an item to my grocery shopping list (knowing that I won't forget something and will always be stocked!)
* the fact that I was terrified of my 5 top gas burner stove/oven, but now I LOVE it!
* my newest appliance - my food processor!  *love*
* my new found love for my blender that I use to make delicious smoothies in.
* the glass of wine that I enjoy while I make dinner
* the fact that I can see my whole main floor from the kitchen
* my fridge drawers can hold so much stuff
* collecting SAVE ON more points by recycling/returning certain grocery packaging and then saving money when I redeem them!  (That's how we got our kick ass FP Rainforest Booster Chair for Karis!)
* my deep pull out drawers, especially my tupperware one and dry goods one that has everything jarred and labelled (in the photo below).
* the satisfaction of making a delicious recipe and being able to share it with others
* my recipe book cupboard - despite the chaotic condition of it and the need to organize it.  The fact that I have one is awesome.

So yes, this has become a bit of an obsession.  What can I say?  I like my kitchen, I like to eat, I like to eat good food and I like getting better at something.   

Energy and Cookies

Kamille you make me smile, you make me laugh out loud, you remind me of how 

new life and language is to you still.  

Today we went on a walk to deliver a special bouquet of tulips to our dear friends Rory, Stacey, Gus and their dog Wilson.  Delicious orange tulips to brighten their day.  Yum.

And so after packing up my girls and our tulips, we headed on out to the trail to walk over.  Kamille announced that she wanted to run all the way there (about a 15 minute walk for us).  And I am not one to deny the opportunity to watch her little body wiggle as she runs in front of me.  Her tiny, but powerful steps and her little fists on bent arms - she is a natural!

   this is kamille running at the relay for life this past june.  she literally ran laps of the track - seriously.  

i love this photo of my little runner!

And so as she continues to run along the path, I can see the novelty of her idea waring thin - about 2 minutes into our 'walk.'  She slows down and turns to me holding her side and says, "Mommy, my energy hurts."  ; )  And she walks toward the stroller and she climbs in for a more comfortable stroll.  I love that she used the word 'energy'.  She generates such positive energy in my life!

Another thing that I don't want to forget is the way that Kevin and Kamille have created a special bond over their love for cookies and eating dessert after dinner.

There is this commercial for Oreo cookies that reminds me of their special bond for a couple reasons, 1. they love Oreo cookies and 2. I first saw this commercial when Kevin was working in China and it really was his morning when we were going to bed and was truly reflective of their experience and Skype conversations.

One day when we were all grocery shopping, Kevin and Kamille took off to the 'cookie' aisle and if I had a camera to sneak up on them, I am sure that I would have witnessed the biggest decision making process going on.  Oreos or chocolate chip cookies?  Hmmm..... That day they chose chocolate chip cookies - the PC Decadent ones.

And so with their love for cookies, I hear the ever so delicious phrase from Kamille almost every night about half way through dinner, "I want sumping ta-zert."  She has used this phrase over and over, despite our best efforts to explain that she is trying to say "I want something for dessert."   It makes me smile every time.  Of course an Oreo or a chocolate chip cookie is always the best received treat and it is enjoyed even more if Daddy is able to have one with her!

my cookie lovers!

Enjoying the Normal Days

So I am really trying not to measure the success of my days by the number of things that I get done.  Is it fair to say that the more that I get checked off on my 'forever long list of things to do' defines success for the day?  Toilets, laundry, dusting, dishes, straightening and tidying up?  This can't be what it comes down to.

I am learning.   I am learning to let go of the messy house and to see it as a sign of a very productive and eventful day, rather than not keeping up.  

We are very successful at turning the house upside down and giving it a big shake - every. day.

I am really learning to rethink success as perhaps the number of smiles that I exchanged with Karis as we roll around on the floor, the number of books that Kamille and I read together and how that lights me up inside or maybe the number of quick texts that I manage to get in with Kevin about how his day is going?

I've been thinking about what each day means.  Life is in constant forward motion and we don't get the chance to 'do over' any of our days...Do I really want to look back and think that we were all in this 'rat race' and too blind to see the small things to appreciate in our days?  I think NOT!

I really want to have lived each and every second that we have, perhaps doing something memorable together and toilet cleaning is just not memorable.

Today was one of those normal days.  As I type this, the house is a mess and the laundry is half done, and I didn't get to much on my "to do" list.  I did however, LOVE my shop around Walmart with my girls and taking them to the pool where we bounced around in the water.  Totally normal, yet completely memorable.

There is an incredible blog that I follow and gain a lot of inspiration from here.  My sister turned me onto it when I joined the blog community.  Its inspiring because it reminds me to take in the "small things" of each day, to see the beauty in our normal days and to put down the dish cloth, pick up the camera,  get down on the floor with my girls and to create a memorable day!

(And just so you know, the most powerful posting on this blog is this one.  Please read with tissues in hand.  You can't help but be moved and inspired).  This woman is beautiful.  

There was once a quote on her blog on this date that I truly appreciate and I will share it here.


"Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let me learn from you, love you, bless you before you depart. Let me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow. Let me hold you while I may, for it may not always be so. One day, I shall dig my nails into the earth, or bury my face in the pillow, or stretch myself taut, or raise my hands to the sky and want, more than all the world, your return."


I am trying to increase the number of normal and 'newly-defined' successful days in my life.

Are you with me on that?  

    my inspiration...my little K's!

When the sun is shining....

....we are out having fun!   I have had such a great past couple days with my little K's.

Spring is here...or at least has been here for the past couple days.  Its SOOO nice when the sun shines and everything warms up!  Sun glasses, rolled up pant cuffs, lunch on the front porch, bike rides up and down the street, play dates in the park and some cross country skiing.

Yes, that's right! I went cross country skiing with my friend Hilary two days ago and I have the bruise to show for it!  ; ) .  So let me start by saying that I have thoroughly enjoyed my cross country skiing experiences in the past.  A couple times on my own with some girlfriends and once Kevin and I took  Kamille in tow.  Enjoyable yes, flat trails yes.

This experience with Hilary was just as exciting.  We were both going with our youngest daughters.  Karis and Lauren were maxin' 'n relaxin' the the Chariots and it was mama's job to pull those Chariots.  No problem - so I thought.  There will hills...and a few of them and not so much big hills, but "big enough for me to be stuck in my tracks, huff, puff, slide slide slide, I can't get up them" kinda hills.

All joking aside, I was trying my best but it was just not that easy to pull my sweet 13 pound, 11oz baby in her Chariot up those darn hills...and the bruise...Well that likely came from my "safety" falls on the other side of those hills!  I am bruised, but not harmed.

And Hilary was as patient of a friend that you could want out there with you.  She was skate skiing (which I am really excited to try!).  She did great and waited for me at the top of all those small hills.
It was a gorgeous day and despite the tough effort, it was SUCH a great time and I am totally inspired to ski more often.  Its such a family friendly sport!

Kamille, Karis and I have been getting along fabulously.  It seems that the sun brings out great moods and fun times!  We had a delicious day at the park with a heap of my Mommy friends and Kamille's friends.  I brought the camera and took some great shots of all the kids playing on the equipment and chatting with each other!  Kids are so cute!

sun kissed face!

Our favourite 4 year old, Rachel B had her birthday and I was invited via Skype to help her to blow out her birthday candles.  ; )  Both my girls had fallen asleep after a full morning at the park so they weren't there!  Its amazing that Rachel is 4 years old.  I love that she was excited to share the experience with her Aunt.  It was also great to see little Cordelia and Kingsley too.  I cannot wait to snuggle them all when we go home this summer!  xo

There was lots of bike riding too in the past couple days.  Kamille got her bike for her 2nd birthday.  Kev was so excited to get it for her and it has pretty much sat in the garage for one full year and now she is totally diggin' it.  I was afraid that she wouldn't get it, but she's really come along.  She calls it her "motorcycle"  - because she's just like her Daddy, ya know.  Our Daddy has been home this week and so the Kami Daddy Team has been in full effect.   Kamille can easily rope Kevin into riding bikes at any time!

on biking days, i can manage to get some jeans on this girly girl!

cheering on her big sis!

Today, I took my girls on a little "girls only" shopping trip in the city.  We were going with one goal in mind - new clothes using a 30% off coupon that I had for the GAP and Old Navy.  Unfortunately Kamille didn't sleep on the car ride in, so it made for one very "on the edge" toddler - not what I was planning.  Hmmm.  By the time I narrowed down to and purchased a pair of jeans at the GAP she was pretty much spent.

So, I did what many other moms have done to "kick start" a second wind - I entered into a right of passage with Kamille - I took her to McDonalds for lunch.  And as she said to me "Mommy, what is Mick-in-donalds?" I contemplated by decision for now she would forever know of this place and perhaps, like every kids who has ever been, would beg to go back.  But I had to get through the grump that was coming on strong.

Ok, so I ordered her her very first Kids Happy Meal - chicken nuggets and fries with milk, and yes, I fully expected that it would come in a cute little box with a toy buried among the food.  Well, it didn't.  I had to WAIT for my food (not very fast at all) and then it came out all spread out on the tray amongst my 'snack wrap' and fries! ; ) .  Kamille dug right in but didn't seem the slightest excited about her meal.  She finished the nuggets but left most of her fries (she has a taste for the homecut fries I think!).  The toy was a hunk of plastic, made in China Hello Kitty digal watch.  Stupid.  I paid about $11 for our lunch and was just about to get excited by how cheap it was when I noticed that I PAID for this toy.  It cost me all of $0.91, but had I known, I could have OPTED out of the toy option, I would have left it.  Besides, Kevin picked her up a real 'knock off' Hello Kitty watch not 3 weeks ago IN China.

Anyway...so off to Old Navy we went.  Kamille did not come around and so it was quick and to the point - dresses and skirts for Kamille.  One of the cute dresses that I got for her she calls her "Marry" dress.  Initially I wasn't sure what she meant, but soon figured out that she was saying that it was her "wedding"dress because it went all the way down to her ankles.  She is such a doll.

this is the Marry dress.  it goes all the way to her toes.  it looks more like a maternity dress on her in this pose!

  

Overall the shopping trip with my little K's was a success!  We had a great time and got some great loot!

I am excited to see what tomorrow will bring for us K's!

Almost missed out on the GREEN!

This morning I woke up to a bust of green comments on my facebook home page and was reminded that it was St. Patrick's day. Seems that many of my Ontario friends were in the full swing of the spirit of St. Patrick's day as they posted away about plans to sit on a patio and drink green beer.

As I look over at Kamille and realize that I had just dressed her in pink and brown I decided that for her sake, I should try to get some green on her so that she wasn't the only kids at daycare NOT wearing green.  I enthusiastically mentioned that it was a special day and that everyone would be wearing green  and that we should change her outfit so that she was too.  Smile, smile!!  Kamille, being very particular about what she wears looked hesitant, but good ol' Daddy chimed in with some more enthusiasm and she was sold on the deal.  ; )

So off Kamille went to daycare, in a green shirt and matching hair elastics.  I was good, I did my part for the day that I could care less one way or another about.  I wore pink and Karis wore orange.  No one called us on it.

I did - and totally coincidentally - come across a 'My 1st St. Patrick's Day' bib in Karis's drawer today.  Not sure who lent it to us, but it showed up on just the right day!

When I picked up Kamille from daycare at the end of the day, I was greeted by a dozen little kids wearing bits of green, and all with painted shamrocks on their cheeks.  I was reassured of my efforts to get her in the green.

Kamille happily told me that it was "Patrick's day" and was super pumped to show me her shamrock painted face. (Which was super cute!)  It was somewhere during that walk home that I suddenly decided to make the most of this GREEN day just for her.  Having no real plans but leftovers for dinner, I decided that I would make her a green dinner, starting with pancakes...and then it just didn't stop.  Its amazing what you notice and do when your thoughts are green!

Starting with the pancake mix - green colouring with grated apple and carrot (because I know that it will get past her in a pancake).

Green for me - leftover Spanakapita - full of green spinach, 

Green for Karis, peas - not her favourite, but I think she liked the bib!

Green shirt, green barrett, green cheeks, green pancakes, green plate...

    initially she was completely skeptical, but when I showed her how the food colouring worked, she was    fine with it...she thought that i had put avocado in it and was not impressed.  ; )  smart gal!

And by golly, my wine came in a green bottle....

Like I said, its pretty cool to notice things when you set your mind to it...Green was our thought!

And I might also add that on this gorgeous sunny 'daycare day', I went on a great walk with Karis and our friends Dawn and Ben.  We walked and talked while the babes slept in strollers.  So perfect!  

And 'wha de ya know', I did notice that with spring on the way and the sun shining that everything was starting to look a bit more green!  

; )
Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Splish, Splash, Karis was takin' a bath!

So how cute is a kid in a sink?  

Tonight Karis had a mini bath.  You know those nights when you think the bum could use a wash, but you're too lazy to do the whole 'fill the tub' thing?  Well the sink is the perfect compromise. 

She's had a couple mini bath's before but tonight I brought the camera out because she ain't gettin' any smaller and soon that sink is going to be too small for my baby and we need photos of the mini bath - because I don't want to forget how stinkin' cute it is.  

So my smelly butt girl got clean and I got some great shots of her soaking in the suds!  

And our day leading up to the mini bath was great.  It was a rainy rainy rainy day and so we had a casual morning, grocery shopped, played, napped, played some more and then I tried another great recipes - Roaster Vegetable Strudel with a Balsamic Vinaigrette drizzle - for dinner.  Super yum.  Super healthy!

There will be a future post about my recipe addiction.  Its pretty bad too.  I don't want to forget that I am a training Diva in the Kitchen - especially when I am on mat leave!  

It was a great day with my girls.  

Another Milestone

Deep breath.  Karis is a sitting girl.  All on her own.  Wow!  

Today she sat long enough for me to grab my camera to capture the moment.  She bobbled, she swayed, she tilted forward, but she still managed to get a good play in with her friends Turtle and Pink Pig.  She needed the supportive pillow there to catch her final topple, but it was far less support than my hands holding her pelvis from behind!  She really did it on her own!

Considering a back arch on the floor is how she could comfortably spend her days, the whole idea of sitting is a big deal for our lil' Kare Bear.  We can finally get her to bend the other way!  Her world is now right-side-up!

my little archer

Such a big girl!