Dad's away, so the kids will play!

Adam flew to Calgary this weekend to visit his friends Chris and Monica, who just moved there in January. So, while he was away, I decided to do a few things with the kids that I don't always find the time to do.

Nahla loves to "science experiments" AKA putting a whole  bunch of stuff in a bowl to see what will happen. Today she discovered (without prompting) that baking soda and vinegar make a grand explosion! As you can see, she thought it was great, but Ty was a wee bit uncertain of what to think.

While at Rona picking up some new light bulbs, we say the beginning of the gardening stuff. We decided that it was time to plant our seeds. The kids each chose their favourites, and we started planting when we got home. They chose carrots, cucumber, spinach, green beans and we got a free thing of squash.

First, they poured the water on the pellets...

Apparently, Tyran got thirsty half way through!

Then we planted the seeds, marked them with coloured popsicle sticks, and covered them up to germinate in the window. I wonder how many will take? Hopefully not too many because we really don't have that much garden space!

Then, in the name of valentines, we made some gluten free pink heart cookies (coloured with beet powder). The kids love mixing, rolling, cutting and cooking.

We put little marshmallows in the center to give them a little extra pizazze!!

And, what is a weekend of fun without a romp at the dog park. Nahla pushed her doll in the doll stroller, while Tyran whined about not wanting to ride his strider, but also not wanting Nahla to ride it! Lexy ran and played, and was lucky enough to meet a husky friend to run with. Lucky her, she also got a play date with another husky friend later in the day.

Then, of course, I had to do some cleaning, cooking and re-organizing. This is my newest project! I am ever so proud of my spice rack. Last weekend I took the kids to IKEA to buy a whole lot of spice jars, and I slowly organized through the week. Today, we went ot RONA and bought some 2x4's to stagger them so that I can easily read the beautiful labels!!! Can you tell that I am excited?

It has been a great weekend, but I am so glad to be going to the airport to pick up Adam tomorrow morning so that we can finish off the family day long weekend with some true family fun...hopefully we will have some snow to play in!

It has been far too long...sorry!

I realize that it has been far too long since I have posted any updates. 

Not a lot has happened in the past month, but we have had a few fun times!

When Adam and Tyran went away for the weekend, Nahla and I had a girly weekend. One of the highlights of this was  tea party at Tracycakes in Abboltsford with Nan and Grandma.

Nahla loved pouring her own tea,

 Saying cheers with Grandma and Nan,

 And having free reign of the tower of tea party treats!

 I would absolutely recommend this outing for any moms of little girls!

Recently, Nahla also started karate. She was  proud little girl when she got her first Gi. Once I manage to get some decent photos of her in class, that don't have other children in them, I will post!

 Finally, I managed to find a second hand strider for Ty so that he can go for bike rides with us. He was a happy little boy riding his bike on our "discovery walk". Nahla brought her note book and write down everything she saw, and Tyran strode along with a grin on his face!

 We rode all of the way to the park...twice! We got there the first time and Ty had to go to the bathroom, so we had to come home before heading back for a second time!

The kids took a ride on the airplane, ran around a bit, then adventured back home.

I am loving this weather, and the outdoor opportunities it allows for.

I will try to post again soon!

Christmas Day!!

5 and 2 1/2 is absolutely the PERFECT age for Christmas!

Excitement, belief, wonder and joy filled every moment of our day yesterday.

Our morning began at 7, when the kids ran to our room to wake us up.

We went downstairs to open up stocking.

Then to the gifts!

With each child getting a large gift, our living room was FILLED with paper, boxes and general Christmas debris!

After opening up our gifts, we began setting up Nahla's dollhouse and Tyran's fire station and Pirate set while waiting for Grandma and Papa to arrive.

When Grandma and Papa arrived, Christmas began all over again!!! 

Look at the kids in their adorable NY Yankees backpacks! 

They were definitely a huge hit!

We had some quiet play time, nap time and clean-up, then it was off to Grandma and Papa's house for Christmas dinner with our extended family.

Fireman Ty had some help from his big cousins, Richard and Stephen, in opening up his new Airport!

Then the four cousins shared a cuddle on the big boys\ new "gaming chairs"

After a fantastic Mommy-made traditional Christmas dinner, Tyran spend some time entertaining Grandad and trying to convince him to open up a candy for him!

This morning, I awoke feeling blessed to be part of such a loving, giving family. Though we were not fortunate enough to be able to spend time with both sides of the family, we will get that chance a little later in the season, to spread out the love!

Tyran was feeling especially loved this morning as he and Elmo had a cuddle on the couch while he watched his new Toopy and Binoo movie.

 Merry Christmas to all of our friends and family!

Breakfast with Santa

Christmas must be near...this morning we went to our annual Breakfast with Santa at the North Delta Rec Center. Every year, it is a bit nostalgic for me, as I used to volunteer at this event, and now I bring my own kids!

Nahla and Tyran are at a perfect age for this event because they are so excited about Santa, and they are independent enough to do the crafts, sit at the table and enjoy the atmosphere.

Grandma and the kids being festive!

Caira, Cage and Chayce joining us for the annual festivities.

 The kids eating before Santa arrived.

And finally, getting to meet Santa. Nahla wants a Doll House and Tyran wants a Fire Truck...I wonder what Santa will bring!

Each year, we say that we are going to get a picture with all 5 kids, and each year we fail. This year we were successful!!!!

Thanksgiving Weekend

So many things to be thankful for on this Thanksgiving weekend.

For having 2 super kids!

 Great Friends...

 New babies

 And growing kids!

 It has been over 2 1/2 years, and we have avoided cutting Tyran's hair, but we decided that it was time to allow him to become a big boy. So, while I went out for a bike ride, Ada, cut his hair...and he grew about 2 years!

There should be some photos of our family Thanksgiving dinner also, but I forgot to bring the camera, so unfortunately I did not get any photos of the Bailey family and Forrester family together on thanksgiving!

Nahla's Princess Party!

As of tomorrow, my baby girl will be 5! It is completely incredible to me that 5 years have flown by so quickly, but also, they have, and today we celebrated Nahla's 5th birthday princess style!

Despite being dressed when friends arrived, all of the kids quickly changed clothes into costumes!

 They took a short rest to have some snacks...

 but were right back at playing dress up!

 Adam make his special macaroni for lunch, at Nahla's request

 And then it was time for presents. She is one spoiled little girl!

 Despite needing nothing, and mommy hoping that Barbies will never come in our house, Grandma had to buy her a barbie...correction, "It's a Rapunzel doll!!"...in the exact form of Barbie!! That't what Grandmas are for right? Giving kids all the cool stuff that moms don't like!

 She was overwhelmed with excitement and gratitude!

 Then it was time for cake. I started the tradition of making my kids cupcakes for their birthdays when Nahla turned one. I enjoy making them, and have found all sorts of ways to colour and flavour icing without using food colouring.

Well, this year, Nahla wanted a 5 cake instead of cupcakes, and her favourite colours are pink, purple and green, so I got lazy. Instead of trying to perfect each of the colours, I bought the store-bough icing colour/flavour mixes. Well...she got her pink, purple and green cake, but it smelled like a combo of mint, raspberry and bubble gum, and tasted like chemical! Complete fail! Next year, I return to doing it my way!....With that said, Nahla was happy!

A very Happy birthday to my incredible little girl!

As I look at the time, this is almost exactly the time, 5 years ago, that my water broke, and I headed in to hospital for the last time as a child-less person. It has been a ride of a lifetime, and I look forward to every minute of the future. I just hope it doesn't go too quickly!

Geek Mom Supreme!

I think that I did the unthinkable. I

 have never in my life been cool, nor have I attempted to be. After all I am a math teacher! However, I do pride myself on not being one of those geeky moms who dresses the same as her children, or ensure matching outfits for family photo shoots (no offense to those who do!). 

So, call it insanity, or call it thrifty, my most recent endeavour is shocking even to me. 

Last weekend I painted the kids bathroom yellow. It was looking drab and boring, and I had patched a bunch of holes, so it was time for a new, clean look. The yellow brightened it up, and with a cute little owl theme, it looks like a cute kids bathroom. However, when I finished sewing the window toppers, I had a bunch of extra material, and goodness knows you can't let perfectly cute material go to waste. What better to make with leftover curtain material?...apparently a dress for Nahla! And, if that weren't bad enough, her dolly got a new dress out of it too!

For those of you who know me well, you are currently shaking your head, and feeling uncertain whether to be worried about my mental hearlth or laugh your ass off, but it is true, I can't take it back, and Nahla loves her new dress!!!!

With that said, I had to redeem myself a little bit, so when I finished, I built the kids a fort in the trees in our backyard. Nahla has taken to climbing trees and both kids love to play outside, so with some string, an old tarp and the kids play centre, I put together a "tree fort". Now this is definitely more my style!