Claire's latest words

"I try?" with a very innocent look on her face, reaching for something she's definitely not supposed to try.

Playdate

today, Skye's friend came over for a playdate. the girls rode the bus home together from school and then Claire and i picked them up. while we were waiting for the bus, my neighbour and her three year old daughter came out to hang out with Claire and me and they ended up joining us for the playdate. while we were getting things going, another neighbour stopped by with her two year old daughter, wondering if she could leave her daughter with me while she took her son who was screaming to urgent care (nothing too serious - an ear infection but he was refusing to take the medicine at home so the mother was taking him to get the kind of medicine he would take). so, we had a rather full and bustling house. but there's something about kids playing all together - they were all happy and content, i even managed to get dinner made!

Open house at Skye's school

last night, after dinner, we went to Skye's school for open house. we knew it was open house for the whole school (K-2), but i had no idea what craziness open house was until we got there. there were SO many excited, hyper kids, running around, dragging bewildered parents and siblings all over the school. once, they made an announcement: "there is a little girl, who looks about 2 years old, called Abby, looking for her parents. please come to the office if you are her parents."

it was great for Skye to be able to show us where she spends most of her day now. she was so excited to show us all the different rooms too - the music room, the art room, the specials room and the gym. as well as her classroom. it was encouraging for Phil and me to see her feeling so at home and so happy with school. she was never this excited about preschool, but with kindergarten, Skye seems to have a sense of ownership about the place which she never had at preschool.

seeing all the excitement, Phil is now convinced public schools are the way to go. it's so great to run into our neighbours and people we see at the pool. there's just a feeling of community which we really appreciate.

one of my neighbours and i had a lengthy discussion about schools a couple of weeks ago. she has a daughter that is in 2nd Grade who is reading at the level of 5th Grade. she was voicing concern about whether her daughter was going to learn anything in 2nd Grade, whether she was going to be encouraged to progress, or will she be required to remain at the level of her peers. that's a tough one. i think about that often too because Skye is reading and writing already. actually, since she started kindergarten, her reading and writing have improved drastically. so, at this point, i'm not too concerned. and if the teacher is good, surely she will encourage progress for all her students, no matter what level they are at. my neighbour seems to find public schools, esp in Madison, a little too bent on democratization - meaning, they want to equalize all the children, keep them all at the same level. we have no magnet schools, no schools to pool the "smart and advanced" kids.

but last night, seeing how excited all the kids were about their school, i had to say to myself, this must be good.

Canning season & Formula trouble in China

we are in full canning mode. we went to Door Creek Orchard over the weekend and picked lots of apples (Greening, Jonamac, Cortland) which will be made into applesauce, apple butter. we also picked grapes to make into grape jelly. there is something satisfying about seeing all those cans lined up after you're finished, but right now, i'm just thinking about all the canning i need to do!

on another front, all this formula trouble in China makes me think more of us need to be encouraging women to breastfeed. Breast milk is best!

Pajama day

today, Claire wore her PJs all day. this morning, she pulled out her kitty PJs and decided that was what she would wear today. i was just thankful they weren't fleece pjs. when we went to the bus stop to pick up Skye in the afternoon, all the adults were like, oh, did Claire just wake up from her nap? uh, yes, but she's been wearing this all day.

i've seen other kids do this, but Skye never did it, so i keep wondering if tomorrow, Claire will once again pick some pjs to wear or if she'll have moved on. we'll see!

Playdough Recipe

today, i made a new batch of playdough with the girls. our old batch was getting a little icky... i've used a couple of different recipes, but they all seem about the same. i like this one - i think the alum gives it a better texture that cream of tartar.

1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup salt
1 cup flour
1 tbsp alum
1 tbsp vegetable oil
food colouring

add salt to boiling water. in a medium bowl, mix next 3 ingredients together, then add salted water. when the dough is cool enough to handle comfortably, knead until smooth, adding more flour if necessary. divide the dough and knead in food colouring. store in airtight containers.

SNL clip

ok, so this clip from SNL was funny and i had to share:

Neighbourhood block party

after 2 days of mastitis (fever, chills, boob hurting like crazy every time i move, you get the picture), i am feeling sane enough to blog again. it has been raining like crazy the last few days, but that didn't stop our block from gathering outside for our annual block party. fortunately, the rain stopped in the afternoon, so inspite of the wet streets, we all came out to play. as we were getting ready to pull out the food, it started to rain again. the kids didn't mind getting wet and running around. the adults all pulled out umbrellas and we ended up just staying out in the rain. then one of our neighbours pulled out an enormous tent that was big enough for tables and food. the rain eventually passed once more and we could sit out and eat. sure, it would have been perfect if we had sunny skies and warm weather, but everyone seemed happy to be in each other's company--that's all we need for a party, isn't it?

Spending time with Claire

here are some things Claire enjoys doing while Skye is in school:



and today, we went to Claire's music class with Music Together. we had a GREAT time! Claire really got into the music, dancing, wiggling her boote and watching the other kids. she's doing so much better this week with big sister away at school. i'm sure she'll just get better with each week.

Feels like fall...

it's hard to believe but the weather is already starting to get cold. we've had some much needed rain as well. and yesterday, we took the girls to pick some raspberries and apples which definitely felt fall-ish. it's early in the apple-picking season, but the gala apples are ready, so we decided to give it a try. picking apples is definitely one of our favourite fall activities. the girls have a great time picking the apples straight off the trees and eating them. we're looking forward to making some apple pies, apple butter and apple sauce!

here are some shots, and don't forget to watch the movie of the girls picking raspberries!

Dinner with friends

tonight, we had some friends over for dinner. Phil smoked some goat meat and the weather was great we could sit outside and eat. our friends have two kids whose ages are compatible with Skye and Claire, so the kids had a GREAT time together. there was a lot of noise and a lot of running around, but we adults managed to get in some conversation here and there. the husband is a fellow writer, so he and i commiserated on how slow it was trying to write while raising children. too many times, i wonder if i'll ever finish the novel. oh well.

it was great to enjoy good food and decent conversation with friends.

Ballet lesson

yesterday, i returned to weekly ballet classes. it was good, but as usual on the first day of class, i realized how weak my muscles have gotten over my time off from class and sure enough, i'm rather sore today. my teacher is quite eccentric and i was slightly worried about him - i had him for the first time last semester - because he talks incessantly during class and eats away at the time during which we could be dancing. but, in the midst of all his talk, there are some jewels to be found. yesterday, he was correcting us on our cambre into the barre and said we need to look at our bodies as parallel lines that sway together to create a picture. i love it when he talks like that! it is the reason why i take ballet - i'm always creating something on paper, either with paint or with words. ballet helps me get out of that - ballet is movement, creating something with my body and the space around it. and so much more immediate and temporal. i hope it is feeding my writing.

First week of school

so, the first week has gone by in a blur. i keep thinking, will i get used to this waking up so early in the morning business? every morning this week, i rolled out of bed feeling exhausted after wakeful nights with Claire. and while Claire napped during the day, i'd sit down to write and fall asleep. only today, did i have a good writing session during Claire's nap. so maybe i am getting used to the new early schedule. :)

Phil and i are just really grateful Skye and Claire have adjusted so well to the changes this week. Skye has been busy making new friends - she jumped off the bus today and gave me a piece of paper her friend from the bus had just given her. it was a list of the girl's phone number, street number, and a list of everyone in the girl's family. i was asked to please call the mother to set up a play date. and then, after a quick snack at home, Skye ran off to our neighbour's house to play with their daughter who rides the bus to school with Skye. i really couldn't ask for a better situation. Skye loves school, loves her teacher, and she has many friends down the street that she sees every day.

after several difficult mornings, Claire and i finally had a great morning today. Claire has been having a hard time playing by herself all of a sudden. but today, i finally found activities she enjoyed, that kept her attention for a long enough time to allow me to prep dinner and get things done around the house. we also enjoyed a nice walk around the block, with Claire pushing her duck in the stroller (no baby, just a rubber duck). frankly, i'm enjoying this one-on-one time with her. i can focus on her and get to know her better. today, she was trying so hard to talk and was just babbling, but it was so so sweet. i can't believe she already wants to go to school!

all in all, it's been a busy week of changes, but it's gone smoother than i hoped.

Kindergarten begins!

Phil woke all of us up this morning at 6 AM. we had put down a rather excited Skye last night, but this morning at 6 AM, she didn't seem too excited about going to school. i was afraid we would be running to catch the bus, but she managed to get dressed and down to breakfast. she seemed too nervous to eat much, so i didn't push it, but i did worry about how she would get through the day. she would have only 20 minutes to scarf down her lunch and she eats oh-so-very slowly.

the four of us got to the bus stop long before the bus arrived, along with 8 other kids and their families. we were all armed with cameras and excitement. when the bus arrived, Skye had a moment of hesitation. i had to hold back the tears as i watched her get on the bus and waved to her as the bus pulled away. then we all piled into our car and followed the bus to the school. we watched Skye get off the bus and walked her over to her teacher who was standing in the middle of a very crowded playground. i couldn't believe the number of people there! it was all very exciting, especially since Skye got off the bus at the school beaming. a friend had gotten on the bus and sat with her and they had chatted all the way to school. :) when we arrived at the school, a policeman greeted us with, "welcome to first day of school!" we obviously looked like first-timers.

after we watched Skye go into school, all the parents were like, now what? it was truly an odd feeling. Phil and some of the other dads were talking about how they never had parents take them to the bus stop, let alone meet them at the school. no, they all had house keys and had to let themselves into the house when they got home, so this was all new experiences for them.

and Claire, well, she will enjoy some one-on-one time with me, but she too seemed in a daze that Skye wasn't here. fortunately, i had signed up for a toddler story time at the library, so we went there and she had a great time. then she took a good long nap after all the excitement of the morning before Skye returned home from school.

the neighbourhood gang, all waiting for the bus








and here is Skye getting on the bus for the very first time! you can sort of hear Claire upset that she's not getting on the bus!


First day of Kindergarten from slkim on Vimeo.