At Least He's Honest

Sometimes I'm an inattentive parent.

I don't mean to be. I think its the combination of lack of sleep (which has caused me to completely lose my ability to maintain a train of thought...oooh look....something SHINY....where was I?) and just too much going on. Thank goodness nothing too serious has slipped by me yet. At least, not that I noticed.

But case and point, James and I were playing a game with friends and the boys were both sitting at the end of the table watching. There was a box of chocolates at the end of the table. K asked if they could have one, which of course they could. James and I keep on playing. K is playing his Nintendo DS. The house could have crashed around him and he wouldn't have noticed. C is watching K play. They're good. We're good. We're all having a good time until I look up and see that the box of chocolates is EMPTY! Nice. I was like, RIGHT THERE. Totally oblivious to my son pounding back the chocolates.

"I had one", K tells me.

"I had....dis many" C says, face covered in chocolate, holding up his entire hand. "Five, I had five."

Then he started running laps around the table.

Catch up

New year, new post. Its been a busy couple of weeks, to catch you up:

We had a great, but too short winter break. Its so different now that K is in school. I was SO looking forward to the two weeks off, but it flew by.  Christmas with my family, quick trip to visit other friends and family, back home where K went and tried skiing for the first time (which btw he LOVED!), New Year's with friends and that was it for James' week off. Whew.

The last week off of school went by quickly, but by Wednesday I was ready to ship the boys back to school!

K got glasses: he looks so BIG now.

L attempted to knock a tooth out. Funny how every time I leave someone with the kidlets they try to lose teeth. For L, she had only just had her top two cut through that week. Nana came to watch her while I volunteered at K's school. L was crawling around in the kitchen with her soother in her mouth. She took a little spill and somehow managed to scrape up the inside of her gums, so much so that her entire front tooth is exposed. Took her to the dentist who said it should all be fine, but good grief. My kids and their teeth!

C is doing his usual random stuff. He's still clumsy as ever- actually took him to the E.N.T. to see if there was some inner ear stuff going on to account for his inability to stay upright, turns out he's just a clutz. (I think that's the official diagnosis).

So there you go, December in a nut shell.  How were your holidays?

Bananas

Chocolate Dipped Marshmallows

Looking for a cute, quick and kid friendly snack? Here's a sweet one K and I whipped up yesterday. It took all of 5 minutes, looked adorable, and best of all, he did it all himself.

Following the 'cake pop' craze, we opted for marshmallows instead. And we didn't have lollipop sticks, but cocktail straws worked great. Anyways, here's what you need :)

Ingredients:

Large Marshmallows (we used Jet-Puffs)
Chocolate chips
Heavy Cream
Sprinkles

Basically, you make a chocolate ganache (you can find an easy tutorial here, but essentially you just heat the cream, pour it over the chocolate until it melts and then stir it up, easy peasy)

You put a cocktail straw through each of the marshmallows, dip them in the chocolate ganache, and then dip them in the sprinkles.

We used a blob of playdough at the bottom of a cup to stand them up.

And voila! Couldn't be easier!

The kids gobbled them up over the afternoon (pretty sure mom and dad dipped in too).

Enjoy!

All Grown Up

Today is K's first all-in, everyone's-there, riding-the-bus day of school.

Considering we kept him back the extra year (his birthday is at the end of December so technically we could have started last year) it is amazing how fast it crept up on me.

And I really am happy for him. I'm happy that he's excited. I'm happy that he's starting to become his own little person, with his own experiences and his own ideas. We did preschool; this isn't entirely new, but it still feels different. This morning I put my baby on a bus and let him out in the big scary world.

No tears though. Not from me and definitely not from him.

Another first in the book. First time on the school bus.

Now, what to do for the next 3 hours?

Just Like Dad

Just a quickie post while K is in school.

So, just to preface this post, I am aware that I should not be leaving C unattended with markers for any reason whatsoever. Clearly I do not learn!

Either way though...this cracked me up.

"Look Mom, I'n a mustache just like Daddy!"

PSA: A Dishwasher Alert

For years I have been suffering in silence. I truly felt I was alone. But after several revealing conversations with other moms it would seem I was wrong. And so today, gentlemen, it is you that I am speaking to. Today, I'm blowing the lid off this thing.

This fellows, is my kitchen. It comes equipped with the standard equipment.

I'm sure you recognize the fridge, I know my husband has established a certain level of intimacy with this particular piece of equipment. Its where food comes from (and in some cases, such as mine, it comes with an amazing capacity to replenish itself automatically at least once a week...or perhaps that's another post). Marvellous isn't it?

yikes...please excuse the finger prints, good lord!

This is the microwave. Again, I'm sure no surprises here. Its the primary reheating tool in our house. I think James would say this is his only tool for cooking.

Perhaps some of you are also proficient with the stove, and oven. I won't go into detail.

This is the sink. It is a purveyor of water. It helps with filling pots, rinsing items, washing hands, and, on occasion, is useful for hand-washing large dishes or hard to clean cooking residue.

But this, THIS is the dishwasher. It revolutionized the 1970's homemakers world. It is extremely efficient at cleaning dishes, glasses, sometimes I even throw in toys or other 'washable' items. It has numerous functions, cycles, fancy stuff I've never used. It in essence serves to replace the need for hand-washing dishes.  Wikipedia has a tonne of information about the history and mechanics of dishwashers. It is truly a wonder of modern science. The only thing it doesn't do, is load the dishes itself.

So tell me then, dear husbands of the world, why is it that you still insist on placing your dirty dishes directly above the dishwasher, in that obsolete sink?

I mean, seriously James, its right there!

Catching up

So its SEPTEMBER!! Yikes, where did summer go. I really think I need to consider living somewhere that summer lasts more than 2 months!

In a perfect world, I would be on a beach in Hawaii soaking in the warm sun and splashing in the ocean waters 365 days a year. That would be my paradise. However, James hates the isolation of being on an island and would much prefer a day in the mountains than a day on the beach, so for now we are planting roots here.

Speaking of planting roots.

We've been busy busy busy. Ok, I'm lying, James has been a busy boy.

11 pallets of sod, I think I ended up helping lay maybe one, and the other 10 were all on him. He was exhausted, but we are super happy to finally have something other than dirt and rocks for the boys to play with. (That being said, they still chose to play in a dirt pile, but they at least had options!)

Today half of my trees arrive, including not one but two apple trees!! Poor James will be trading his sod knife for a shovel this weekend. What a trooper.

What else have we been up to?

We've been putting out fires

Growing Teeth

Losing Teeth

Digging

Creating art

Playing

Going until we drop

and just trying to suck up those last few moments of summer.

Fridge Worthy

Today K has been an artist. He's drawn the house, characters from the Cars 2 movie, whales and a heart. So when he said he wanted to draw me a picture I thought, this is gonna be great.

As he drew he told me a story:

I was driving in your car. And  I saw out the window a turtle with a giant shell. And it was trying to cross the road. And the other drivers stopped.

But the turtle had eaten too much, and he was so scared that we went into his shell, but then he popped right out, and he got scratched, and there was blood squirting everywhere. And so I had to pick him up, and I cleaned him up. Then I put him in my car and drove.

I took him back to where he lives, and he had a Mommy and 3 babies. And the Mommy had a very tiny baby that was riding on her shell, and the other babies were walking. And they saw the Daddy turtle shoot blood again, and they thought it was funny and he couldn't clean it up, (because he's a turtle), so I cleaned it up.

Hmmm, perhaps not as lovely as I thought. Now he'd like me to put it up on the fridge. He is quite proud of the picture, and granted he took his time and made some lovely turtles but...yikes.

This is definitely serial killer  normal boy stuff, right?

Life as Usual... Almost

Ahh. After a week holidays in Panorama, its back to life as usual. Well, almost usual. Nana and Pops took K on a weekend adventure to Victoria. He's been having a blast and so has C. James and C went on an overnight camp out on Friday night and C really enjoyed it. His favorite part? Why, sleeping in the tent of course.

He also learned a few new tricks. Like roasting marshmellows, sleeping in a sleeping bag, and oh yes, peeing while standing up.

Which was fine outside.

But inside? Judging by the puddles in my bathroom, I think him and Daddy will be needing to have a long talk about aiming.

Why oh why am I constantly cleaning pee?!?!

Baby Talk

Baby talk. I'm not a big fan of it. It would be rare to find me talking all goofy, and I don't really encourage it in the kids either. That being said, there have been a few words that they've come up with that were just too cute to correct.

For example, when K was first starting to talk he had a lot of difficulties with a lot of sounds. There were like 10 different words that all came out 'guk'. Context was critical. Milk was 'guk'. Stuck was 'guk'. If it ended in a 'k' it sounded like 'guk'.

'Pops' was also tricky. Pops was 'Yops' for at least a year, to the point that I think he was a little sad when K starting saying it properly.

There are only a few from K that remain, and here they are:

"Mom, I'm borned" = Mom, I'm bored

"Can I have some hungeets?" = Can I have crackers? I think it started from, 'are you hungry?'

"We're going on a holcation!" = holiday + vacation

So while I"m quite happy to see his language explode and improve, I can admit that I will miss holcations and hungeets.

What about you? What does your child says that keeps you smiling?

Fine Print Amuse Bouches

All five of us are in the car. We're on our way back from a little gathering in the woods, so we have about a 20 minute drive ahead of us. "You Spin Me Right Round"is on the radio, so we turn it up and I'm dancing like a goof ball trying to entertain the boys. K's right into. C hangs his head and shakes it embarrassed.


K:  "Mommy, I love you."
Me: "Thanks bud, I love you too."
K:  "But I love Daddy more.....just kidding. You're the same"
Me: "Haha, that's nice"
K: "Mommy, you're cool"
Me: "Thanks K"
K: "But Daddy's cooler..."
Me: "Oh, Just Kidding, right?"
K: "No, Daddy is cooler."

Sweet

Let Me Count the Ways

This is a true testament to how much I adore my children. I can tell you point blank that there is nothing else on God's green earth that would ever convince me to come within a 10 foot radius of this lovely.

It was on the back deck and instead of taking shelter indoors as any sensible person would do, I ran into the garage, grabbed the bug jar and a sheet of paper, said a prayer and went outside. 

Look at this thing! Bleck!

it is freaking huge!

C checking it out

K, "I think it wants to look at me mom."

Now I feel like a zillion tiny things are crawling all over my skin. AGG! So gross.  

I love my kids...I love my kids....I love my kids...

No More Pics Mom

There's no denying I love my camera. I take volumes of pictures of everything we do, so today I thought I was quite clever. I bought a phenomenal new hat on the weekend (I also love my hats :) This one is no exception, check it out here). I thought, I'm going to take one of those uber cute pics with L in my new hat. This is going to be awesome.

However...

L had quite a different mind about it.

Perhaps another day ):

Let's Make A Deal

I love my kids. Of course I do. I love them like I love my husband, in that, "I'd totally give you a kidney...but right now you're driving me insane" kind of a way. More often than not they are making my heart smile. They are funny and sweet. They are loving and kind. And they are also dirty and obnoxious.

Today they are definitely more on the dirty and obnoxious end of the spectrum. They're also being sweet and sharing and playing very nicely. But as I survey the house, that I so painstakingly cleaned yesterday and I realize that I have to once again clean

the piles of shoes

the over-flowing laundry hampers

the giant gobs of toothpaste

the mystery contents of petri dishes sippy cups left in various warm environments

the pee-smelling couch cushions

the food stained chairs

ARG!

...So now, that being said, even though yes, I would give you my eyes, today boys, I might also trade you for a warm chai tea latte and a good book.  At least for a few hours.

Liquid Sidewalk Chalk

Its my new favorite thing to do. I found a tutorial here

Takes literally 2 minutes to make, and kept the kidlets busy for an hour and a half (and likely would have been longer if we hadn't spilled 2 of the four jars).

Here's what you will need:

1 cup water

1 cup cornstarch

food coloring

It doesnt get much easier.

You just mix up the water and the cornstarch.

Separate it into containers (like perhaps the zillions of baby food jars that you've kept cause they'll be good for something...or is that just me?), and then add the coloring as you wish.

ok, seriously, how cute are they?

And voila! You have fun in a jar.

When it first goes on, its more like water paint, but as it dries it becomes more vibrant. And once they got tired of painting the sidewalk, we created an entire garden of painted rocks. Fun!

and BEST of all. It washes off everything. Sidewalk, clothes, kidlets.

Boys: n. Noise with Dirt on it

I am a stay-at-home mom. My soul duty is to maintain the house and keep the kids alive.

So far I'm doing swell at the second half.

My house is a disaster. At any given moment in time there are numerous catastrophe's in progress. I don't seem to be able to address one area before another has exploded, and in truth I don't think my boys are as busy as some. They are just dirty. I feel like I am trapped in a vicious cycle of destroy -> clean -> destroy.

Take, for example, my utterly disgusting kitchen chairs. Ultra suede, because the sales person told us it was great for cleaning (HA!). They are actually quite useful as an appetite suppressant. After a certain point the staining became so repugnant that I just gave up and resigned myself to the fact that the chairs would need to be recovered. I actually have to apologize to house guests for their condition. People should consider bringing a seat cover if they visit...

I think I've made my point.

Anyways, I decided to give it one more kick at the can and used my good friend baking soda to try and get rid of the stains. Baking soda and a Norwex cloth actually. And beyond all reasoning it actually worked! I was so proud of my newly stain free chairs that I took pictures, I made James come and look (He even humoured me and faked some enthusiasm, what a good husband). I was SO PROUD of myself.

Check them out.

Before:

Sadly, this was the cleanest of the four

After:

Oooo, Not too bad

Until that same evening when C spilled his apple juice all over one, and K dumped bits of his sandwich all over another.

*sigh*

Ocean in a Jar

Trying to get L back into a sleep routine, which means K and C have been pretty tied down during the mornings and they get all wrangley. Solution? Crafts, crafts, crafts.

Today we did a science experiment and they each made an 'Ocean in a Jar'. Super cute and super easy.

What you will need:

• baby oil
• water
• mason jar
• food coloring
• glitter
• small floaty toy
• some uber excited scientists

**Cautionary note** Do NOT leave 3 year old unattended with glitter as you search house for baby oil as this will occur:

incase picture doesn't do it justice, that would be an entire vile of glitter on C and the chair and the floor...

Ok, so once you've cleaned up the glitter and regrouped, here's what you do.

Step 1: Fill the mason jar with water, about 1/2 full

Step 2: Add a few drops of food coloring. Ask intelligent questions like, "What do you think will happen when we add the color? Do you think it will mix with the water?"

Step 3: Add the baby oil, maybe 1/8 to 1/4 of the jar's worth. You judge. Smell it...just cause it smells so nice. Ask more smart questions like, "What do you think will happen when we add the oil? Will it mix, what did you notice?"

Step 4: Add some glitter, where does it float?

Step 5: Add the toy. Again, talk about where it floats. 

Step 6: Put on the lid and let them (gently) rock the jar. See how the contents move, but don't mix? They thought that was really neat. 

or shake it like a crazy person...that works as well

Of course K & C wanted a train in there, which did float, but not right side up like it should. Would probably work better with a little bath toy or something, but what the heck, they were happy.

And in the interest of shameless self promotion, this post is participating in the Summertime and the Living is Thrifty's link party (via the ON{the laundry}LINE blog). Check it out for some other quick and easy summer crafts and while you're there, send a vote my way :) 

That About Covers It