Let the Season Begin!

December 1st. What a fun day. Kael had school first thing in the morning. We were asked to bring a plain shirt to class cause they would be doing a fun art project. I was excited to see what he would come home with. After we dropped him off Naveah, Jacek and I headed to the grocery store. The whole front of the store was covered with Christmas trees and I thought....I should take one of those poor cold trees home with me. So we did! We dropped the groceries and the tree off at home and then went to get Kael. This is what they did with the shirts!

The shirt he made at school. Im assuming they used stamps
unless Kael suddenly got REALLY good at painting.
A tree, a deer track and paw prints.





The rest of the afternoon was a quiet one. I set the tree up in the stand so it could fall so that we could hopefully decorate it later that evening and the kids napped. When they woke up we made Taco Pizza for dinner. Then pulled out the decorations and let the kids have some fun before it was time for bed.

Sour Cream anyone?



decorating the tree. The tree topper we normally use
didnt fit on the top of this tree.
So we improvised and used a skull! Dont worry, its only temporary!



 Okay so the Tree got a whole new makeover when I was able to get to it. Not to say the kids didn't do a great job...and the skull was so appropriate....

Crayons

Well I dont know about you, but crayons don't last very long in this house. No matter what I say, those darn things get snapped into millions of tiny little bits and they end up everywhere! Trying to figure out something fun for the kids to do I came up with crayons! I thought maybe we would try to make some new ones. Ones the kids couldnt break! So I lined everything up and had them peel off all the paper and go snap happy! Naveah was thrilled! Kael however was a little confused on why I was encouraging him to break them up when all this time i've been telling him not too!

Everything was going pretty good until it came time to actually melt them. It says it took 15 minutes on super low....I kept turing the oven up and up and nothing was happening. Just over an hour later I gave up. For those that try this I recommend not using no name brand crayons. Apparently they dont MELT! I did manage however to squish them down but they still looked pretty funky. I havent actually wanted to test them out to see if they will stand up to their intended task in fear that they will just crumble and ill have bits of crayon everywhere. But the kids had fun MAKING them and thats all that matters....right?

All Couped Up

Its been cold. REALLY cold. I dont go out much. We are all couped up!
Heres a little of what we've been doing.



My Sewing Room

 This is my sewing room. Its where I practically live this time of year. My poor machine is practically smoking by the time im done with it. That list you see on the white board? Yah thats only half of it. Now, I cant show you any of the Christmas presents yet, that would just ruin everything, but I can show you a couple of the other projects ive been doing...



The Advent Calendar. Inspired by my childhood.




...the stockings were hung by the chimney with care...
I just finished making these.



patching clothes!!! The bad thing about the whole 'distressed' look is that they dont last as long,
The good thing? Very easy to repair!!!



Amoungst my projects i've had to keep 'stir crazy children' happy too. So we've been doing things like this!



Making sugar cookies!




Kael and Naveah had so much fun playing with the extra dough and using the "steam roller".




The cookies.



Christmas Decorations!




Kaels looks somewhat disturbing...
 Perhaps they should have thought of another color for Santa.




Naveah had more fun pressing the felts down so hard the tips would pop up inside.
 This WAS a blue felt...we dont play with these anymore.

 Its not only cooking and crafts the kids like to do. A big plus is that they LOVE to help me clean. So on a day that the house was way overdue for a good make over, I plugged in the Vacuflo and Kael and Naveah spent hours taking turns vacuuming. When they ran out of things to vacuum on the floor, they found other things....like the dining table. It was pretty cute.



Kael vacuuming the dining table!

 The kids are also really into Christmas movies right now. I dont think I can take much more of 'Frosty the Snowman'. So I bought Kael "The Polar Express". There is a constant rotation of those two, "Frosty Friends", "The Grinch" and occationally they throw in "How to train your Dragon". Movies were becoming so frequent for a while that as soon as the kids got out of bed they were plopped on the couch asking to watch a movie. So I moved the TV to our bedroom so it was 'out of sight, out of mind'. Its working so far. Now movies are only occasional and much more appreciated.


excited to all hang out and watch Frosty while I got some Laundry folded.




Who could resist that picture!

 Aside from movies another favorite time for the kids is Bedtime....???? Yes its true. We never used to read books to them at night. We sometimes got grief about it but it was just something that didnt work for us at bedtime. But since we've moved and have had a lot more 'down time' the kids have become quite fond of them. Because time with Daddy has been so scarce lately with his busy work schedule, reading books with him before bed has become an anticipated event. Kael reads one of two books every night. Either his "Discovery Space" book, or his "The story about Everything" book. Naveahs favorite right now is a Little People book I bought a couple years ago. She loves to look at the page that has the grocery store on it and scoop out food and treats from the pages and feed them to us and herself (and sometimes the monsters). I caught this picture tonight. Apparently Kael was reading THEM the story.



Kael reading them the "Story about Everything".

 We are loving Red Deer and its slow pace. So far I dont mind staying at home all the time. I dont mind not having something to do everyday because its given me the chance to focus on my family. Its amazing what you discover about your children when you're only interaction with civilization is them.

Naveah is such a strong nurturing spirit. She Loves everything. I sit back and watch her play with her toys and love seeing how gentle she can be with them. She rocks them all gently in soft blankets. She calls them "Hunny" and "Sweetheart" and gets incredibly upset if a toy falls on the ground or gets stepped on. Her imagination has gone wild lately. She scoops things out of books or out of thin air and is completely satisfied with whatever it is. She also has become good friends with one of the monsters in the vents and often I catch her feeding it treats. She has become quite taken with Jacek and tries to sooth him when he is upset. She loves giving him hugs and kisses. All of this gentle and caring behavior from her completely wipes out the fact that 90% of the day is spent whining, crying or screaming.



kisses and hugs for baby brother.



Kael is becoming quite the individual. He wants to do everything by himself. Getting dressed, getting something to drink, turing on light switches, washing hands, and shoveling the sidewalk! The stool gets carried where ever he goes so he can get what he needs. My help is hardly ever wanted anymore. We have also switched into overdrive when it comes to Tantrums. Man this kid puts on one good show. Many tantrums leave Evan and I holding back hysterical laughter. He says silly things like "My legs arent working cause theres no food left in them". Today when I asked if his lips hurt (because they are very chapped) his response was, "yah, my lips hurt cause I was trying to eat them". (I promise, we really do feed him, though his quotes appear otherwise!). He is so intuned with emotion I get excited to think about the caring Man he will one day be. He is always sure to check to make sure im happy. Hes first to give hugs and kisses when someone gets hurt. He tears up in movies when someone is sad and he always knows when you need a great big hug! Hes eager to make friends and will make sure no one is left out welcoming all kids to come and play with him. What more can I say? I love this little man!

.

Jacek is still too young to pin point exactly. His personality changes daily. What we do now about him is this; He loves to smile and giggle. Sometimes I think the only reason he fusses is so he can smile at you when you come to see whats wrong. He loves watching Kael and Naveah he observes their every move. He likes patterns with black and white and doesnt mind at all being in his carseat. Hes not a fan of being rocked or patted when he needs to be soothed but being in warm water will always do the trick. Even just turning the shower on will quickly stop his cries. He is loved by all who see him and I cant wait to get to know him more.



Mr Handsome Pants

 Evan has become an amazing Father and Husband. Despite the kind of day he has had at work he is always happy to come home and see the kids. He takes the time to call me daily to make sure Im doing okay and any spare time he has is spent with us or working on the 'honey do' list. I love that when hes home he is sure to include Kael and Naveah in whatever he is doing whether it be shovelling snow, running arrands, home improvements, or spinning records.
Red Deer has been such a good move for us. Our relationship with eachother as well as our relationship with the children has improved dramatically.

Growing Up

Its something we cant avoid....Growing Up. I remember doing it, and now I look at my children and see them doing it. In a way it makes me sad. It makes me sad that my childhood is and always will be just a memory. It also makes me sad that my children ARE growing up. When I look at Kael I realize just how fast those first years fly by. Yesterday he was minutes old. Today he is nearly Four.

He started 'pre school'. Well thats what we call it. Its really just a 2 month program at the Kerry Wood Nature Center here in Red Deer. Its 2.5 hours twice a week. They spend the first half of the day playing inside and learning about whatever theme it is that day, then they spend the other half outside...even if its freezing cold and snowing! He LOVES it. When I pick him up hes excited to tell me about the animals he saw. His first class he saw an Owl. Another class he was lucky enough to see a Moose!!! Since then hes just been telling me about squirrels and birds but he is just as excited to tell me about those animals as he was about the Moose. My fridge has become full of little art projects he gets to do and I smile with the thought that these art projects will continue for the next 12 years, at least, and only get better and better. He is really excited about his next class on Friday. The theme is "twinkle twinkle little star". Ill definelty be bringing my camera to that one so I can get pictures of his face when he sees the black out dome filled with the images of little stars!!!

All ready to GO!

Waiting to go inside

Kaels first art project. A Bison. Decorated with recycled coffee grinds and yarn. How fun!

This is a painting he did. (with Crystal Light!!!). Do you know what it is???

its a Helicopter!!!! (obviously)

Todays theme was "bones". Decorated with Q-tips!

Our dear sweet Naveah. Shes a one of a kind type of girl. Such a quirky personality thats absolutely adorable but also so different its hard to get a real handle on her. Her mood changes just as often as Alberta weather and she sways between Tom Boy and Girly Girl. She loves to wrestle, growl, mimic noises and movies, play with transformers, tuck her 'babies' into bed and 'make food'. Shes very imaginative and it can be incredibly intense at times. While hanging out downstairs in the playroom one day she walked up to me with a plastic egg, opened it up and pointed at the 'tiny baby' that was inside. Must have been REALLY tiny cause I couldnt see it. Of course I didnt TELL her that. Moments later she statrted skrieking and I asked what was wrong. Apparently she dropped 'tiny baby' in the carpet and couldnt find her!!!! So with all the spare 'tiny babies' I keep in my back pocket, I simply handed her another one and "WALLA!" problem solved.

Naveahs Favorite, reading books with Daddy at bedtime.

...Beautiful!...


Making herself comfortable! (probably watching Toy Story!)




Jacek. My Big Little Boy is doing very well. He graduated from 'Newborn' to 'Baby' a week ago when we had to move him into size TWO diapers (*tear). We are finally settling into a manageable routine and "sleeping" has become part of my vocabulary once again. Night time feedings are generally only once a night now and I can usually get a good 3 hour nap out of him during the day. Hes a very happy little boy. Loves smiling and 'cooing' at anyone who will listen to him. He doesnt like to be left alone and will quickly kick up a fuss if there is no one in eyesight. Once he sees a face though he goes right back to smiling! I had to take him in for his vaccines today. Poor guy. I always feel so bad for them. He did pretty well though! hardly flinched for the first shot, the second however was a completely different story. We also weighed and measured today. Im not surprised at the results. Hes 10 weeks old, 14.06 lbs, and 24 1/4 inches long. Hes in the 95 percentile (not far behind Naveah who was off the charts until she was 9 months old!) and in the 70 percentile for proportion...so basically hes just big!

Still smiling even though he just got 'poked'.

Big Boy...

His first Band-aid, and he got TWO of them! :(

We all did a fun little craft last night while waiting for supper to be done....SnOwFlAkEs!!!! If you didnt make these as a child, you were seriously deprived. I have made thousands of these in my life time (one year filling my Dad's basement suite ceiling with them). I wanted to see how well Kael and Naveah would do. So this is not only their first time making snowflakes, it was the first time using SCISSORS!!! (I have a feeling my Mom just got a knot in her chest).They did much better than I did at their age and used the scissors for their rightful purpose, cutting paper!!! I had to help them a little with maneuvering the paper around but for the most part they did these ALL by themselves!

Waiting patiently for their turns. Had to show'em how it was done first!



Naveah trying so hard to make her snowflake!

All done!!!

Kaels Turn (he calls scissors`Dangerous`)

He kept saying ``Im playing careful with the Dangerous cause im a BIG boy``