The First Years

So we made through the first year. My baby is one!! I searched long & hard through thousands of photos and put together a little something.... related much?

 

Is there a right answer?

Sorry... I'm really lacking in posts these days. It's this whole winter thing... I hate it. Our winters have turned into a life sentence of nothingness. Winter activities are a thing of the past. Skating & tobogganing don't work well in -25 or +10. At least not with an 11 month old. What happened to the amazing winter weather that is in between?? The weather that makes you want to play outside in the wonderful snow building forts and going on adventures. What ever happened to those days? Geez life has changed since I was a kid. Everything is so scheduled. Play dates... activities. When I was a kid you'd just run out the front door in the morning and come home to eat. You'd have a slew of best friends to adventure with on the street and it was just go go go 'til suppertime. There was so much time spent outside because the weather just rocked. Tobogganing... skating... playing in the soccer fields. Today I sent my son out to see if a friend of his wanted to play. Just walk over there. Knock on the door and ask if he can play. My husband said why don't you just call his mom? Cuz I don't want to. It was fun for Sam to get dressed up and wander down the street to his buddy's house. And it felt good.... until I started imagining the possibility that horrible things could happen to him and I would be to late to ever find him again. But they didn't. I sat by the window and waited. He came home. That's the problem. Too much worry. I wish kids could just go out and explore like we used to.... without all the worry. Did our parents worry? I guess I could let them wander... give them freedom. But then what if something did happen? How could I live with it? Wondering if it would have been different if I had just been more careful... more strict. Was it bad parenting when we were young to not know where your kids were? Out playing somewhere. Having fun. Is it bad parenting now? Highly likely. I could let my kids go up the street to the park to play. I'd know where they are. How much fun would they have going alone? It's a better adventure than playing in the yard. What makes them old enough? Age? Awareness?

Is there a right answer?

CRAFT corner

Color Science

So as you can see by my lack of posts it hasn't been a very eventful January. Not much going on in sub-arctic Ontario. I swear.... we're the only place in the world that can go from +10 to -25 overnight. Anyway I thought that I could probably use my school crafts as fillers for when my blog is.. well... lacking. I'm always taking pictures of the stuff we do but never get around to posting it. Even today during craft one of the kids asked "why do you always take pictures?". They're catching on to my craziness...

So I'll start this first edition of "CRAFT corner" with what we were doing in late November. We were mentally preparing for the crafting over-load that is the Christmas season and decided to take a break from crafts for a week...well sort of. I thought it would be fun to find some interesting science-y stuff to do that would really grab the kids' attention. So we spent the week exploring colors.

We started with cups of water & food coloring. We used red, blue & yellow. The idea was to show the kids how we could mix these three colors to create different colors. So we mixed the red & blue together... the blue & yellow together & the red & yellow together. Then we had six different colors. Next I gave the kids a ziplock bag with the same three primary colors and had them mix the paint together to get the different colors. They LOVED this. And they did a really great job of mixing the colors before turning the whole bag brown. All of this exploring led to the final project of painting a rainbow using just the red, yellow & blue paint. They each got a plate with these colors and had to paint a rainbow. Unfortunately there were many more brown rainbows than expected but the kids had a blast.

On Display

We're coming to the end of the Christmas vacation... and I'm ready for it. In fact I'm straight up bored. The weather hasn't exactly been peachy keen so the lack of outdoor activity has been somewhat depressing. An 11 month old out in the winter weather isn't exactly my idea of fun either... not much she can do to stay warm. We did get out to do some skating and the kids had a few good hours of romping around in the snow. But aside from that... I'm ready to get back to school.

I've been meaning for a long time now to share some of the stuff we've been doing at daycare. It's more like we'd been doing now... going back as far has Halloween. We've got a huge display board in the front hallway of the centre so I thought I would take it upon myself to make sure it gets decorated by the kids instead of with plain old posters. I'm trying to keep it seasonal/current and so far it's worked out great. This was our Halloween display...

We made spiders from our hand prints & ghosts from our feet. The older kids made pumpkins & cats. It was awesome. For Remembrance Day we made poppies, first with our hands again and then with tissue paper. I basically did all the tissue paper flowers. Kids often have a short attention span for crafts when there are blocks & Lego to play with. It still turned out nice.

Then came Christmas. I had an idea in mind for a Christmas tree and found some velvet ribbon that fit the idea PERFECTLY. I made the tree and then the toddlers & kindergarteners made awesome ornaments to decorate it. I loved it.

Got any ideas for January?

The Year In Pictures

January

February

March

April

May

June

July

August

September

October

November

December

holiday recap... a la "Night before Christmas"

'twas the night before Christmas...

and all through the house... the kids were excited, as were I & my spouse.

Christmas jammies were donned & stories were read... the kids wrote their letters & got cozy in bed.  Then I went right to work on my job as St. Nick... I wrapped all the presents & stuffed stockings quick. I was tired & anxious to get me some rest.. cuz Sofie no doubt would soon want her some breast. And then Sam would be up too excited to sleep... and Sofie, again, she would open her peep. And of course at 5:30 Sam was ready to rock... to get everyone up so we could all "share our socks". By around 6 o'clock I could no longer delay, a boy's sheer excitement to get up Christmas day. And then soon thereafter my bed overrun... with children & "sockings", with toys & with fun.

Santa left them a letter which was really quite neat, to say thanks for the milk & the broccoli & treats. But they were way too excited and just wanted to see.. the presents that Santa left under the tree. Fun toys for Sofie to help her explore... Juliet, of course, got babies galore. A DS for Sam who was excited because, he'd been waiting 3 years to get that from the Claus. Presents were opened and messes were made and then we had breakfast with my husband's friend Quade. And then off to work went Christian to get pay to cover the costs of the presents that day. Juliet played with her babies and the DS for Sam, then we packed up the car for a visit with Gram!

Finally at Grama's after a drive that's quite far, and the kids got spoiled rotten, Sam got a guitar! Juliet loves to sing so a micro for her, there will never be peace in my house that's for sure!

Lots of mimosas & lots of red wine, lost of good food & great family time. Lots of good friends & tons of fresh snow... and today's a new year so we're ready to go!!

HappY New Year!!

Tinsel

So I think the last time I wrote Tinsel was trying to go out the front door in an RV. Well because she couldn't take a trip outside of the house she decided to take a fishing trip INSIDE the house...

Joyeux Noel!

Gangnam Style a la Sam & Juliet

And who can forget about Sof...

'twas the week before Christmas

What a CRAZY week it's been. Last Friday night was my staff Christmas party and believe it or not, I was home pretty early. I was in bed by 10 and sometime overnight got hit REALLY hard with the flu. I slept for 34 hours straight. Didn't even see the kids until Sunday morning when I was forced to parent because Sam had a hockey tournament. It was awful. Clinging on to life I did my very best to mother the girls while Sam & his hockey team cleaned up that tourney & took home the gold! Way to go Novice C1. Sam even got MVP for one of the games....

deck the halls

In comes the holiday season out pour the crafts & festivities. Well, sort of.

In the past I've been known to go a little cookie crazy...

It's like a crazy 5-day extravaganza. You can see more about it here. Unfortunately last year I forwent the cookie baking process because A.) I was pregnant and who wants to do anything when they're pregnant and B.) We were in the midst of kitchen renos. This year I have no excuse. Ok let's go with lack of time and laziness. But come to think of it... I should really bake this weekend.

Herself the Elf...

Got some more photos to share of Tinsel. So on day 3 she decided to have a party on the kitchen counter and got together with Ariel for some cake & sprinkles... a little too much of the latter.

Juliet was a bit freaked out to have her just sitting on the counter. "Mommy if I just reach out my arm I could touch her." Well don't reach out your arm then.

Elf on the Shelf

I just wanted to keep you up to date with the goings-on of our elf, Tinsel. I think she is going to be a trouble maker... talk about setting an example! Yesterday the kids found her swinging in the chandelier! Worse still... this morning she was hiding in the milk jug and had dyed the milk green! Sam was not interested in drinking the milk but once we showed him it was okay he had honey nut cheerios & green milk. I wonder what she'll be up to next....

Happy December

Last year I talked about the little family traditions we've started... the Prescott Parade, the Nutcracker (which is this Friday night!!). Well, I'm happy to say I've got a couple more up my sleeve.

While browsing the web for craft ideas I came across some really cool ideas for advent calendars. Forget cheap chocolate hiding behind doors... this year, and every year thereafter, we're counting down the days to Santa's arrival with books! The idea was to get 24 Christmas themed books and wrap them up. I've numbered each one and every night beginning today the kids will find the number for the day & unwrap the book. That way every night they will get a Christmas story before bed! Once Christmas arrives the books will go away until next year when I will wrap them again in random order. The initial investment has been a little pricy because I've had to buy most of the 24 books, but then they'll just get re-used year after year. The kids will be so excited every December to get to read all their Christmas books again, all the while counting down the days until Christmas!

Unfortunately my book shopping backfired and I haven't received all 24 of my books. I really wanted to have ALL 24 books wrapped by today but I had to order quite a few of my books online. So I'll wrap them as they arrive & add them to the box.

Then I used a little heart-shaped punch & sticker paper to create tiny little hearts to hide the numbers on...

So today the kids opened # 1. Enter new tradition number 2...

Oh yes. I'm sure you've all seen it before by now. And I caved. I pretended that I just bought a book about this elf but that Santa must have come last night and somehow brought it to life. Oh that sneaky Santa... never ceases to amaze! So we sat on the couch and read the book. The kids were in awe. They hung on every word and by the end were fully engulfed in the story of our elf on the shelf. They just couldn't believe it! She comes to life every night and visits the north pole to report to Santa on their behaviour (good & bad)! First they needed to give her a name so the magic would work, but they can't ever touch her or her magic will vanish. Sam freaked out when Juliet "pretended" to try and touch her. Lol. Sam immediately wanted to call her Dairy Queen. Really? I don't know where he gets his ideas, but Juliet didn't like that. We couldn't even sell her on DQ. Then I suggested a name and both kids thought it was great.

So her name was chosen and then we decided on a place for her to sit & watch us for the rest of the afternoon. Sam panicked.... I told him it was okay for adults to touch her. "How do you know?" he asked. "I looked it up online." I said. "Oh. Ok." Phew...

So... here she is perched on the TV where she spent the day observing.

They are SOOOOOOO excited to wake up tomorrow and find her hiding in the house somewhere, and equally excited to open book #2.

Rock My Wednesdays.

Well it's probably a good thing that my last post fell on Tuesday, because if I had written something about my husband going back to work AFTER 2 Wednesdays ago there probably would have been a lot of swearing. Last week's & today's Wednesdays were A LOT better. In fact, I straight up rocked them. But let's go back a couple of weeks...

I work until 5:30 at the daycare and swimming lessons are at 6:30. In that hour I have to gather my oldest 2 (who are at daycare with me)... pick up Sofie from her daycare... feed the older kids & get them organized for swimming... calculate Juliet's carbohydrates & insulin requirements for supper... entertain Sofie... drive to the Y... get the kids changed & poolside STAT. Oh yes. Now if you don't think that any of that is a big deal then you can go read someone elses' blog. If you'd like to read about how I turned my worst nightmare into an organized evening with time on my side... do read on.

So my first attempt at this Wednesday evening thing was pretty scary. I managed to get the kids out of the daycare at 5:30 and was able to pick up Sofie and get home by like 5:45. I hauled everyone inside (my first mistake) and sat the kids at the table & Sof on the kitchen floor. She eats at daycare (phew). She was happy (lucky for me) to sit there with a cookie while I made the other 2 a gourmet meal of peanut butter sandwiches. Then it was time to grab the swimming gear... re-dress & get out the door. In the family changing room with babe in arms I probably sounded like a dictator the way I had to verbally maintain Sam & J's focus on getting into swim stuff. Time was not on our side and they aren't the best at staying focused. We actually made it in time, believe it or not.

Just when you think you can sit & relax for half an hour while the kids swim, the baby on your lap squeals & squirms because who wants to sit on mama's lap when there's a whole (wet) pool area to explore? Pool decks gross me out and there was NO WAY Sofie was going anywhere but on my lap. She didn't think that was much fun... nor did I after 15 minutes. Grrrrr. Then comes the end of the lessons. Getting the kids out of the wading pool after a lesson is always fun and it's even more fun when you have a 25lb baby to carry around who is trying desperately to escape. What is also loads of fun is the chaos in the awesome family change room after a lesson. Who's idea was it to make the FAMILY change room at the Y the size of a walk-in-closet anyway? Sofie wasn't going down in there either and so again with the dictatorship to attempt a quick & smooth transition from swimsuits to PJs... which was way too much to hope for.... but I totally kept my cool. Shocking, I know.

By the time we got home it was an hour past Sofie's bedtime so I hurried to get her down. It was an hour past everyone's bedtime for that matter, but I had to tackle homework & snacks before the other 2 were actually ready for bed. Trying to take bedtime snack away from my kids is like telling them Santa doesn't exist. END OF THE WORLD. Nine o'clock rolled around before they were getting tucked in. Awesome. Breathe.

Needless to say some serious planning needed to go into the next Wednesday if I was going to A) tackle it again alone and B) do it without valium. Lol. So.....

Swimming bag was packed & ready to go when I left for work... towels, suits, goggles & jammies. There was no way we were going home after the daycare round-up. What a waste of time getting the kids out of the car to eat & then back into the car to head to the Y. This time I planned to hit up a drive-thru for supper and bring it to the Y but my husband actually cooked up some KD before he went to work so after getting Sofie I swung by the house and ran in to grab it. Sorta drive-thru-ish. The kids ate at the Y and I put Sofie in the play care because she was bound to have more fun crawling around in there then sitting on my lap poolside. GENIUS I tell ya! I was able to help the kids get ready for lessons and poolside with like 10 minutes to spare!! Tonight we did the same thing but hit the McDonalds drive-thru (ya ya I know... brutal) AND I squeezed in some nursing time for Sofie as well. Booyah! It was fabulous. So fabulous that I think in January I'm going to turn 2 of my weekday evenings into trips to the Y and add in some swimming for Sofie, floor hockey for Sam & some MUCH needed yoga for me. Ambitious? Maybe. Worth a try? Hell yeah.

Here we go!!

As my Halloween decorations still light up my front porch and my pumpkins decay on the steps people are frantically putting up Christmas decor as if Santa arrives next week. We saw the first sign of Christmas lights the day after Halloween and since then a good 7-8 more houses in our neighbourhood alone have plastered their houses with Christmas cheer. It's still November right?

So it's happened. That curveball I mentioned a few weeks ago? It's been thrown. And what better way to take the hit than with a sick baby. Oh yeah. Up all night with a runny nose, that with a sneeze becomes projectile, and a very painful cough. I decided it would be best to hold off Sofie's daycare debut to a day where she felt a little better.... today. She's napping right now, but we are off on a new journey in T-55 minutes. I think she'll do fine. My husband, on the other hand, is not so thrilled about being back at work. He sadly went off to work yesterday morning for the first time since February. CRAZY!! It's going to take some getting used to for all of us. Some getting used to and a whole whack of time managing & organizing. But we're the Charlebois'... we'll keep up.

TRICK or TREAT!

We had another amazing Halloween in the country all thanks to the Purvis family and their wonderful hayride. It was even better this year because A) Sam & J knew more kids on the wagon this year as Sam plays hockey with a few of them, and B) I was not pregnant. That's always a bonus.

THIS is HALLOWEEN.. this IS halloween.. halloween HALLOWEEN hallowEEN HALLOWEEN

I LOOOOOOOOOVE Halloween. It's fun, it's exciting, it's creepy, it's scary, it's full of CANDY!! It's a chance to go out on a school night! My kids love it too. They are soooooo excited to wake up tomorrow.

I like to think that I put a lot of effort into Halloween. I really hate the way it's become so 'commercial' with blow up everythings and aisles and aisles of costumes in every store. When I was a kid people were creative with their decorating and there were TONS of haunted houses. Decorations were creepy. My mom made our costumes and I try my very very best to make our costumes too.

Here's what I came up with this year.

Drummond's Haunted Hay Ride (of Terror)

Let me start this post by saying that if you'd like a shot at getting your name on the list of nominations for 'parent of the year' I would strongly suggest that you pile your young children in the car and take them to Drummond's Haunted Hay Ride in Spencerville. There's nothing that screams parent of the year more than subjecting your kids to a forest full of psychos, evil and death, leaving them breathless, shaking & scarred for life. Take it from me, because I did just that this past Saturday night.

why hello strangers..

I can't believe it's been over a month since I last posted on here. Actually I can. Life is crazy. With Juliet on the pump & me starting work it's been a crazy whirlwind of ups & downs and it only really feels like we're getting the hang of it now, which is fabulous because who loves nothing more than finally settling into a routine and managing to get Juliet's sugars somewhat under control just in time for a change that will throw a wicked curveball at life as we know it? Me that's who. And what is that curveball you ask? My husband goes back to work in 3 weeks. And not back to a 9 to 5 job that would cater swimmingly to a smoothe transition into a new routine. No no no. Back into shift work that bumps us here and there and up the creek. That means I've got as much time to find daycare for Sofie and (hopefully) settle into a whole new routine. Oh how do I love change, let me count the ways. Zero. Totally not looking forward to this. So lets look back instead.

It's been a crazy past few weeks. October is Halloween month and so what little spare time I have has been devoted to costume prep etc. Since I started working at the daycare I've developed crafting fever and so along with costume prep I've been trying to do crafts with the kids. Here's what we've accomplished thus far...