go fish

goat

orangutan

frog

iguana

squirrel

horse

Do you have a narwhal?

GO FISH!

See? No narwhal.

Do YOU have a narwhal?

Nope. Go Fish!

And the theme repeats. At least once a day. And, in our house, all letters are now equated with animals. To the point that when giving my postal code over the phone, it is now S as in squirrel, A as in alligator and L as in Lion. Oh, the wonderful world of a preschooler!

water therapy

It's not a new concept around here but one that I seem to often forget and have to dust off when there is a toddler in the house again.

Water therapy.

I'm not sure that therapy is the right word but it always seems to put the kids in good moods. My oldest has moved from simple water play to trying to be helpful - rinsing dishes, even washing the dishes. It's a work in progress but it does give me hope that one day I may not have to wash my own dishes. I may or may not be counting down the days until that is a reality.

Avery is still enjoying water play but is starting to move toward more productive play...or maybe it`'s just me being hopeful. Either way, he is still entertained by it and had no problem having a sink to play in all to himself.

But this little girlie is absolutely loving playing with a pot of water and a wooden spoon. She will push the chair from the table over to the sink and then say "please". If I miss her asking nicely or just plain miss what she is doing she'll make herself known as she begs for help to get up.

Getting her to leave her "soup" is a little trickier and I'm having to dust off my memory and remember how I got around that problem with the boys. Guess it's time for her to learn how to say "bye".

With Maia teething our house has been loud and cranky. Introducing water to the mix has brought the volume down, therefore the frustration levels as well. While that alone is nothing to sniff at, the best part is that now I can get my dishes done any time! 

p.s. If any of you wish to contribute to my dishwasher fund, I'll be accepting donations until my kids are old enough to do them...

mom, I could do this all day

I have shied away from doing messy crafts at home. Call me a wuss but I hate cleaning up the mess, especially as it usually means trying to keep the kids out of the mess while cleaning them and the mess simultaneously. Not a fun job, at least in my books. And now with 3 kiddos, I really don't like the idea of messy projects at our house. But, my boys thoroughly enjoy any messy craft we do at storytime so I decided it was high time I gave it a shot...that, and I kept getting these huge pieces of paper in my Amazon boxes that were just begging to be put to good use.

A quick stop at the dollar store for paint and brushes and we were in business. Oh, and taking off the boys' shirts because I do enough laundry already.

It was a hit.

There is nothing like mixing four colours to see what colour you end up with. Or painting in the same spot over and over and over again. Because why would you want to paint the whole piece of paper?!?

Thankfully liquid tempera paint is an easy clean up.

Lane's comment was that he "could do this all day."

Maia did not want to miss out on all the fun so she painted with yogurt.

She made the biggest mess out of all of them!

And every day since the boys have asked to paint.

where's waldo?

Ahem. Where's Lane?

I went to check on Lane one afternoon during quiet time and had a hard time finding him.

But there he was, tucked into his little "house" having a wonderful sleep.

I must admit, I was a slight bit jealous.

tooth fairy & superheroes

Things just don't stay the same around here. With three kiddos, one of them always seems to be learning something new, growing out of one thing and into the next or just plain getting taller. Either way, it's never boring around here for long...


The tooth fairy came for her first visit:

Lane was so excited to put his tooth in an envelope and put it under his pillow. The tooth fairy graciously left him 8 quarters (or caribous, as Lane calls them) with which Lane bought a couple of matchbox cars.


Avery is catching on to things right behind his brother - he can count to 13 and rattle off most of the alphabet.

He is very affectionate and loves to cuddle up and watch a movie. He is also very protective of his little sister and, when we go out, he proudly tells everyone that "her is my sister".

And Maia, well, she just tries to keep up with her brothers. She is starting to mimic the boys' sound effects, expressions and play. Her brothers often call her the pace car while they do laps through our living room and kitchen.

When the boys pull out their superhero capes, she has to have one on too; when the boys get dressed to go outside, she has to get dressed too; and when the boys have a snack, she better have the same snack too.

And that is life around here these days. Crazy, busy and yet somehow normal.

my little miss

Just in case you needed some cute to brighten your day:

rocking chair

Last weekend I rearranged our living room - I finally got rid of the baby swing so there is a bit more room - which meant I got my rocking chair in front of the window again. It also meant our wooden rocking chair got moved to a more usable position. This rocking chair is special...not just because it is wooden but because it has history. It is the chair my grandmother was rocked in when she was a baby. And it is the chair my great-grandfather caned (he re-did the wicker in the back and seat).

 

And now it is the chair my middle child likes to sit in after his nap to watch a show.

capes

For Father's Day this year, I made capes. That is, I made a cape for Avery, for Lane, for their dad and an extra one for my dad when he is at our house (or whoever happens to be here that needs one). Swords are often clashing and slashing around our place so it seemed like a fantastic idea to have capes to go with it.

Except I forgot how much my boys like to run. These capes are not swashbuckling capes, nor are they superhero capes, they are running capes.

They run.

And run.

And run some more.

Because what is better than racing?

Well, maybe a bit of wrestling with your sandals as arm/hand shields.

The little girl next door likes to do whatever our boys do and so she now sports a cape as well, albeit the pink version.

Big surprise, the boys have got her racing too.

 

And if for some reason you can't picture them running in capes, check this out:

 

 

And if you are interested in making one for a little person in your life, I loosely followed this pattern.

my happy girl is back!

So this third child of mine is different. In many ways. Obviously her gender differs from the boys but there are so many other differences. Less obvious is how she teethes. After weeks of unhappiness and screaming at me in the evenings she finally cut her first tooth at 6.5 months (my boys teeth started appearing at 4 months). But now that she has two teeth through, she is a happy baby again. See:

 

Now that this girlie has figured out how to grow teeth she is moving on to standing. Although she'd really like to be moving. Should be fun!

it keeps going. and going. and going.

This truck debuted way be here. It became a favorite toy again here. And now it is back. Albeit with a few less stickers.

Maia loves to sit on it, have the music play and go for a ride. All too soon she'll be stable enough to have her brothers push her around and not long after she'll be pushing herself. Crazy. Uncle Mike, you did well. Thank you for the gift that keeps going and going. And going.

 

The best part? We haven't had to change the batteries yet.

 

PS - Can you find a cute little tooth in that big smile??

besant campground

One sunny afternoon, our family decided to go on a picnic adventure. So, a circuitous drive down the highway later, we found ourselves at Besant Campground. We found a lush picnic spot... with no playground. Although confused, disappointed and not understanding how there could be a place without a playground, the boys amused themselves by playing hide and seek:

and looking at bugs:

while the girls sat on the grass playing with toys and watching the boys.

happy, chubby baby girl

In the midst of teething, this girl could sometimes still find a smile or two.

 

Which was a good thing as it was the only thing keeping me sane.



mud. pure and simple.

After a long winter with lots of snow, the snow finally melted into the time of year we typically call spring. This year that meant water. Which, in our current yard, meant mud. Ahem. MUD. MUD. MUD!

Not that the kids care. Nope, just me. Especially when it comes to trying to keep my house somewhat clean. But I digress. It's about the kids, right? Because what is better than getting wet and dirty outside where mom can't mad at you and you can make a big mess and mom can't get mad at you? Nothing. Nothing is better than that.

Oh, wait. Maybe running through the mud puddles with your neighbour. Yep, that probably is better. See for yourself:

 

Did you hear the water sloshing in their boots??

makes me smile

My boys love being with their sister, are very protective of her and try their hardest to play with her.

They are all growing up so fast - some days it seems so incredible how big they have gotten! Maia is starting to sit, Avery is mastering talking and Lane is getting to be a little man.

 

These kiddos make me smile.