Windy Day

yes, it was a very windy day today, so we went to a park by the lake and flew our kite. it was lovely. usually, Skye is running around to keep the kite up in the air, but today, the kite had no problem staying up.

here are some movies of Claire. in the first one, Claire shows you how she's trying to talk/read. and in the second one, you'll see her happy dance, her little pirouette on her bottom.

Children's books

have any of you read some good children's books lately? would love some titles if you come across interesting ones. Skye loves books and Claire is beginning to show interest in books too. Claire actually looks at some of the pictures now instead of eating the pages! she makes cooing sounds and acts like she's reading - very cute. with Skye, we recently finished reading Ramona the Pest. she enjoyed all of Ramona's crazy antics and thought Ramona was very "silly." while she found Ramona's character funny, i'm not sure she related. perhaps i related more than Skye since i'm a second child like Ramona. but, the book inspired Skye to write her own book and that's been quite exciting. Skye spent several days writing and drawing her own book, "Ramona goes to the store", and we've read it many times. when i told her that i was writing a book and showed her the manuscript i'm working on, she sort of looked at me funny and then said, wow, that's a lot of words.

we also love this book - Windy. the illustrations are fabulous and there are instructions on how to build a kite!

happy reading!

Growing up

can't believe it's already the end of Skye's second week back at preschool. we've been busy - Skye's made several new friends and Claire is going through some new phase in her development because she's not sleeping much during the day.

Skye keeps wishing she could go to preschool in the morning because that's when most of her friends from preschool last year are going this year. but silly mum took too long registering Skye last year we didn't get into the morning class. i had no idea mothers came extra early to school on registration day, filled out the forms right then and there and handed them in! i was busy adjusting to Claire so i took my time and now i'm having to listen to Skye's wistfulness and being reminded of my negligence. BUT Skye is making some new friends and i think this wish for morning class will soon disappear. Avery, Ruby and Gianni are names that come up frequently in our conversations. and one day a week, when Skye has lunch bunch at school, she gets to see her friends in the morning class. Skye's circle of friends is expanding and i think that's always a good thing.

Claire makes us laugh and cry these days. she is getting so mobile she climbs onto everything and grabs whatever is in sight for her little mouth. her favourite activity is to climb to the top of the stairs and scream for me to come up and get her back down since she hasn't quite mastered the getting down bit. when she discovers something new to touch, bang and suck on, she does a little happy dance - she does a pirouette on her bottom - and then gives a happy squeal. all wonderful, endearing things. but she does make us cry because she doesn't sleep. i thought i had it bad with Skye because she never slept much during the day. but Claire is just as bad, perhaps even worse. i keep telling myself this is just a phase and i hope i'm right!

and of course Claire's lack of sleep translates to my lack of time for writing while Skye is in school. i think i would be a much happier mum if i just gave up my writing all together. but then, i don't think i could do that. how do i stop doing what i love to do? so, the compromise these days is, i write on those good days when Claire does nap for an hour. can't plan for it. there's no guarantee that i'll get it today or tomorrow or the day after that, but when i do get it, boy, i better be inspired and ready to write!

i overheard two mothers talking after dropping off our kids at preschool (i was eavesdropping, but how could i not?) and one of the mothers was telling the others about how she dropped off the kids on the first day of school and the first thing she did was go to the mall, to the makeup section, and ask one of the ladies working behind the counter what new products she had. the mother had no need for any new makeup, but she spent over $100 and she does this every year after dropping off the kids on their first day and never tells her husband.

the first thought that came to my mind was, are we that miserable raising our children? and then i thought, no, we aren't miserable. in fact, we'd all probably say that our kids are the most important people in our lives and having them made us immeasurably happy. yet we all have to celebrate to a certain degree by pampering ourselves when we are released for a short time from the responsibility of motherhood. i couldn't imagine spending over $100 on makeup - actually, i could - but there are other ways i'd pamper myself if all my kids were off to school and i suddenly had no one to take care of but myself. i think what made me a little sad about the whole overheard conversation was that we feel entitled to some reward for all the hard work we put into raising our children.

i reminded myself that these early years fly by too quickly and i should try to enjoy them while they last. already, with Skye being at preschool every afternoon, i feel she is moving on and growing up all independent. and Claire's not too far behind.

Apple and grape picking

today, we went apple and grape picking. we did this last fall - we picked tons of apples and grapes and made apple butter and grape jelly and canned a year's supply. it was well worth the work! last year, Claire got to enjoy the whole experience while in my belly. this year, she got to participate! and participate she did!





this is Claire sitting with all the apple peels she has taken out of the bowl. they've all travelled through her mouth and hands and into her lap!


check out the latest movie. it's of the whole family making apple sauce.

First day of school

here is Skye at school on her first day.

she had been excited all morning, constantly saying, "i want to go to school now!" but when it came time to actually saying goodbye to me, she clung to my legs and didn't want to let go. "now, you're not going to start crying like you did last year, are you?" i asked. i know, i shouldn't pressure my poor child, but i didn't want to have to go through the whole separation thing we went through last year. thankfully, Skye said her goodbye and when i picked her up, she said she had so much fun and that room 4 (her room this year) is much more fun than room 1 (her room last year).

now, this is Claire late in the night. she has been waking up constantly until i head to bed. it's driving me batty, having to run into her every half hour every evening. i seem to get nothing done in the evenings. oh well.

The Coming of Fall...

amazingly, fall seems to have arrived already. today was one of those "champagne" days - sunny, but brisk. the construction on our street has finally moved on to the next block, so we seem to have some sanity back.

and since i barely keep track of the days, i was reminded of what day today was when i was writing a cheque. back in 2001, i remember it was a perfect day much like today. sunny, clear. i had just returned from several days of flying (i was a flight attendant for United Airlines at the time). how surreal it had all seemed then and how surreal it was when i caught just a short glimpse on TV of the memorials going on today at the crash sites. and then it was back to making lunch for the kids, putting Claire to sleep, etc.

so here is Skye, in her leotard, tights (under her leggings) and holding her ballet slippers, ready for her first ballet class. she had a great time and is already looking forward to next week! (notice Claire's little bottom off to the side? busy trying to climb the stairs!!)



here's my big girl! she has finally learned how to pump with her legs on the swings, so she's very proud of herself.



my two girls at the park.

Transitions

today was the beginning of many transitions this week. Skye moved up a room in Sunday school. one thing we've learned over the years with Skye is that she needs lots of time to accept change. what with being sick and all, i forgot to prep Skye last sunday with the idea that she would be in a new room with new teachers today. alas, i forgot to mention it to her until we were driving to church. she went reluctantly and with some tears but was quite happy and her usual i-love-sunday-school self when we picked her up. she also begins ballet lessons and returns to preschool. these two changes, she has had PLENTY of time to get used to and is quite excited about them. one of our pastors told the story of his first daughter who had a really hard time adjusting to kindergarten - i guess it took her something like 8 months! i'm trying to prep Skye as much as i can before changes happen, but today was a reminder of how i failed. not that i'm beating myself over the head about it, but i'm reminded once again of my duty as a parent to equip Skye for life. at the same time, i hope she'll learn as she gets older that life is unpredictable and she can be ok with that.

Claire, being the second born, seems to know so much more than Skye did at Claire's age. Claire is so busy these days trying to get into Skye's things and wanting to do whatever we are doing. i remember feeding Skye was much easier - she would eat pretty much whatever we put in front of her. Claire often refuses to eat unless we give her what we are eating. she doesn't want baby food, no, she wants the good stuff! and she knows what toys are not for her - she heads straight for those!

now that we are all feeling healthier, life doesn't seem so bleak as it did last week. i'm excited about this week.

More recuperation

one of my fears since becoming a mum was that i'd be sick while my children were sick too and it would be next to impossible to care for them because i was trying to take care of myself. well, that fear was realized last week. minus Phil, all three girls came down with a cold. fortunately, Skye's was pretty mild and mine was too until i ended up with a fever. i ran a fever for 2 days and Claire ran a fever for 3. it was awful because Claire was marathon-nursing day and night while i was feeling like i was about to drop. today was the first day we've all felt normal, although i still have this horrible hacking cough. mine seems to be lingering the longest. everyone else is healthy now.

so, that's why i've been unable to blog all this time!

this week, we're in preparation mode for school. Phil began his semester already on Tuesday, teaching 2 courses. Skye's preschool starts next Thursday - rather late due to some construction. she's eager to get back to school. i think she's getting rather bored at home.

i don't know how parents who homeschool do it. they must really really love the company of their children or are so super organized. and have lots of patience. after spending every waking moment with both children for the past month, i'm ready to hand them both off if i could! i run out of energy to keep both kids occupied long enough during the day just to clean the house. in some ways, it's much easier to abandon my duties at home and take the kids out to the park.