and so

this is the last day of November.


one more month left in 2008.


hard to believe.





we are ready!








i try to complete Christmas shopping before December. it is just so crazy everywhere! and i find the whole holiday more peaceful if we have the "busy" month to do fun things. or at least try.





my very last official holiday shopping stop had a memorable ending. one of those situations when i was stuck in traffic. {busy holiday traffic already!} leaving a parking lot. stopped at a stop sign. sitting behind the stop line. signal light on. apparently if you drive a big truck you are allowed to make the rules of the road. stressful. it was a good reminder of why i avoid shopping in December. did you ever see this movie? not that far from the truth....

there have been a few days where Kiara is insistant that she is "not tired, mommy" for her afternoon nap.

this is what "not tired" looks like right before supper time. on the good side it did let me have some peace while i prepared supper....



life with a four year old.
never. a. dull. moment.
this is what happens when i ask, "Aidan, could you help Kiara put on her sweater?"



yeah. funny.
note to self: remember to take more photos of moments like these....proof of his "f"ing fours when he is forty!



and when Aidan is forty....I'l be...

we won't go there.

however, at times this is how i appear.

deep in thought?
maybe thinking about how i can prepare myself for the next tantrum?
or maybe just contemplated the menu?
or perhaps dreaming about a sandy beach....clear, blue water....peace...? let's go with that one!


until tomorrow!

free gift!

this one is only good for a short time....

go HERE and download some free MP3 Christmas songs!

{thanks Wilna for posting this super info!}

p.s.

wish lists are funny.

they tend to grow. and no exception here!



there must be some good secrets here! i am wondering if they could apply to my non-scrapbooking life too?!

and this would be a welcome addition to my stocking....i've heard that this is a good one!

now that life is quieting down somewhat....at least for a couple of weeks!....i'm hoping to spend more time enjoying our mild winter weather and taking photos. long overdue. i feel like i can take those full breaths again.....

Aidan has had given us some challenges. and yet at the same time he amazes us. he was a little pooper for our babysitter this weekend. and listening to her, it sounded like the same kind of challenges we get. {at least he is showing his true colours to everyone he cares about?!} his consequence was to spend some time in his room thinking about his behaviour and what he could do about it. which is hard to know how that could go. but apparently it went very well in this case. when he came out of the room he was very calm and thoughtful about the evening. he made a card for her to apologize which was very mature and thoughtful for a four year old - we think. and then he delivered the card in person. unfortunately she wasn't home, but he later called her to talk. we also paid her well and bribed her with chocolate....so hopefully she will come back!

Kiara is our terribly sweet one these days. which probably causes strain on Aidan and his issues these days! she is still a monkey. and probably will always be one. she is most proud of her potty training skills. and it is definitely a novelty for her! i guess it is the only time in one's life that a toilet could be so awesome. we'll let her have her share!! we are amazed at her comprehension and vocabulary too. we are giving credit to Treehouse. she could not have possibly learned this from us. really. if i could just be able to get her to nap every afternoon that Aidan is away at school...the original plan. yes, i admit that it is convenient on some days that she doesn't nap. but some days i would love to have a few quiet hours to do something without having to listen to chatter....which i have to listen to because it always involves questions or statements that i have to agree to...which gets scary if i agree to something i wasn't aware of!

i FINALLY made it back to school to visit the kids i taught for their first school experience. they were an amazing group of kids. really. it does help that their parents are amazing too! i miss my teacher assistants. i wish they could be with me at home every morning...they are like my walking reference books when it comes to preschoolers. every mom should have one. or two. or even three if you are lucky. anyways....the kids remembered me too. phew! i can't wait to go back and sub for a whole morning with them.

i tried to glitter a Martha Stewart snowflake with Kiara today. i'm questioning my glittering skills. how would Martha do it? the two of us were sparkly for the rest of the day.

anyone else used Martha's glitter? any tips? is there really a trick to it all? i need to know!

dear santa,

we have been asked if we have a 'christmas list' this year.

i guess we all do. but sort of comes out little bits at a time.

and like any lists...i know that they will be subject to change. or upgrade!

Kris and i have a good idea of what we are wishing for. one would be to get away to the mountains for a weekend. maybe some passes to take the kids to places around town. or a year pass to WEM attractions. and yes...even better....an annual family pass to the YMCA would be lovely. and if we could go even bigger....a vacation to somewhere tropical and hot...like Maui. and since we're wishing....a home where we could actually stretch out and not hurt anyone (or ourselves!)

wishing is great. because you can wish for anything!

getting the wish granted is a whole new story.

so here are more wishes.....

basically i like simplicity. photography. scrapbooking and paper crafts. anything that would make my life less complicated and cluttered.

i've been thinking about the Making Memories Slice. or the Cricut Expression. something that can cut lots of shapes out of paper.

i need to take some photography lessons soon. and i wonder if this book is helpful?

this would be handy.

and a year subscription to any of my favourite magazines would be pretty cool.

i think this would be a great book to get.

and i sure wouldn't complaing about a gift card to Urban Scrapbook either. or coffee. yup, those are sure winners that would not bring a complaint to my lips!

i'm rather slow in the new tech stuff. i've never had an mp3 player. but this looks like fun.



my dear, dear husband on the other hand is our techno genius. it's like he is hot-wired for the stuff! he loves latest toys. he loves the kind that will allow him and Aidan to do stuff together. which, of course, Aidan loves too. makes me wonder who the toy is really for...

smart as he is, he could get lost in a box. i think he needs this. it might be easier to have this as a backseat driver...rather than someone else he knows!

and he loves his wii. so does his son. and for that matter so do us girls. unfortunately we also only have 2 controllers. sharing can be tough. if he had this component cable we also would have a better picture. for the techno guy, that matters. and also where the wii is concerned...that is a cool toy! we would love the wii fit and the wide variety of games that it comes with. we don't play much during the summer....but it sure helps survive the long and cold Canadian winters.

he needs a new one of these. his last one fell as he was installing the garage door. oops! but at least it fell after everything was installed. small miracle?

and yes this would really make him smile.

this would also make him smile. a PC gamepad. PS3 style. he doesn't spend hours gaming, but he does enjoy playing at the end of a tough day. and i prefer it when he's relaxed. i wonder if it could work with the gps?

he also is happy with gift cards to places like Best Buy or Future Shop.


Kiara seems to love anything pink. and now that she's older she likes to do more interactive or role-playing stuff. she is also more interested in crafty things.

she made a bead necklace and bracelet one day and loved it.

she loves to play in her "kitchen" {and my real one, for that matter...not that there is much difference!}. she has lots of healthy foods. yay! but it might be fun for her to pretend to bake.

and it's never to early for her to learn this chore! i think she'd like it.

these dolls are cute!

and they go with this neat wooden dollhouse. i love that it is natural wood. except for some trim! and it is Melissa&Doug. quality! toddlers are rough on their toys.

she saw this today at the toy store. it talks. in two languages. she LOVED it. i'm thinking that Santa will definitely have reserve this doll for her. Fisher Price Little Mommy series. this is the Baby Knows doll. they also have strollers and bassinettes to accompany the line.

but i love this wooden one!

yes being a mommy seems to be her big thing these days. she is just starting to enjoy her books too. i'm always on the lookout for girly stuff for her.

Aidan is our little techy. he loves robots. space. he insists that we let him go to the sun one day. does he mean the moon? he also says that he wants to be a fireman when he grows up. every time he sees a fire truck or ambulance he gets very excited. our little rescue hero.

when i saw this tent....i totally thought of him! i just have never seen it in the stores yet.

this is his number one toy. yes, perfect timing for that movie. he also loved the Robots movie.

he has not seen the Transformers movie. BUT he loves these toys. i don't think he has a favourite. but Optimus Prime and Bumblebee are pretty cool i think. but is that cool that the mother likes the toy? probably not.

he saw this and liked it right away too. i hear the photos are actually not bad. and he could also drop it into a lake and it would still work. it's a Fisher Price camera....and it has 'tough' in the name. like it already!

and Thomas the Tank Engine still is fun for him. these interactive parts are his favourite. that and unique train cars. he is also all about the Lego these days. he liked the LEGO CITY series. yes it has a fire truck.

there was also the LeapFrog Click Start 1st Computer on his list. it did look neat.

and i hope santa remembers to buy some extra batteries. it's always a bummer when you open the box but can't play with it right away!

so. we'll see how many of our wishes come true.

what is on your list this year?

sharing

maybe it's the teacher in me. maybe it's the mom in me. or maybe it is just me.


but i like to share ideas and help each other out. maybe it's the "pollyanna" in me!


i came across this idea this morning. had to share.

i've enjoyed this site.

she has a lot of great ideas to do with the kids.

now that the days are colder we find ourselves indoors more often. and once in a while even have time to make something!

any cool ideas that help keep you and your kids organized?

joy

of cooking!

i wish every thing we did resulted in this kind of a response from these two.

but so glad that i have a camera to record these great memories.

we were hanging out in IKEA last week. we stoppped and hung out in one of their display kitchen/dining room combo. after all we needed to find a place where one of the kids could break something....and learned what ornament NOT to buy for our tree! ugh. back to the story....so we're hanging out and admiring. there was a kids table set up with activities. and a dining table. and a tree. and a full kitchen with attached pantry. i was admiring the extra large kitchen island.

and Aidan suddenly says,

"Mommy we should get this kitchen. Look there is room for all of us to watch you cook now!!! Wouldn't that be good?"

yes, Aidan. i think you are on to something.

we walked through a few brand new show homes back in September. almost every one of the master bedrooms in these homes had walk-in closets. most were larger than or as large as our present kitchen. {and one was the size of both kids' bedrooms combined.} hmmm.... and we won't start talking about their kitchens....especially when our comparison of size relates our kitchen to a closet!

well, Aidan. what do you think we should do?

for my kids

i just posted a story that combined our kids and art on my other blog:

Projects With All My Heart


there are photos. stories.

check it out.



resting up for one last busy week! catch you up when i can!!

news

i mentioned earlier that we are now able to use the garage!











because 2 days later we woke up to this.....

kind of reminded me of university days...staying up late to finish the paper and nearly sleeping in the next day and almost missing the deadline.....lots of similarities!! {except much cheaper to build a garage!}

i've been waiting all summer for a fully fenced yard again. it turned out to be a bit of a blessing that it took the city the entire summer to resurface the back alley...which meant less worry about the kids leaving the yard and getting hit by a car. i was so thankful that they were successful in meeting the boundaries and staying in the yard....but it didn't mean i never worried!!

Aidan was excited beyond belief when he woke up to the snow. it was the first time in a very long time that he could not get dressed fast enough. his motivation was to get outside and build a snowman. i managed to coerce him into eating a breakfast. then the ritual of trying on snow pants. i found a "snowman kit" at a second hand sale this year. i love it! it is totally cheap - great for kids. and this way i don't have to search the house for objects that could work. our neighbors gave Aidan a huge carrot last year for the nose...and we had a scarf and hat....but how do you find rocks under piles of snow?! my favourite part is the pipe - upside down.

and i did put the kids in mittens.

the snow was very wet. and it wasn't as cold as it looks! i think they would have been better off with mud pants. they wore the mittens most of the time, just came off when we were finishing up the snowman.

there you go! mommy did two things good. played in snow. kids did not freeze. yes it was a successful day.

we have only a few more days before the fundraiser. since last Thursday the kids have made 43 cards. 5 days of work. Kiara made about 10 of them. and the amazing part is that they look very good!! i'm hoping to take a bit of a break from the card making - starting to feel like a sweat-shop. maybe we can get some pictures out of them now. it's been awhile since they painted.

lil' crafters

i am impressed with my kids!


Aidan was excited to help his friend, Kelley, make cards and art to raise money towards helping sick kids. Kiara also got excited to help....although she is missing the purpose of the activity! lol!!

we spent a morning looking around town for supplies that would make some amazing cards. then we spent that afternoon {and much of our days since then!} making the cards.

it ends up being a big mess on our table, so we've found creative places around the house to eat. {no reason to clean up the mess, only to re-create it minutes later!}


not much extra space here.

i've learned to not put out EVERYTHING at once. we've been focusing on one kind of card and making several before we move on to the next design.


Aidan is now at 25 cards. that took him 3 days. incredible! i told him last night that he is making our Christmas cards this year! judging by the look he gave me, we may need to pay him....

Kiara is at 10 cards. not sure how many of the 10 will be sale-able....but still she has created a few that are remarkable. for a two year old.

Kiara's designs. she loves glue. especially if it has sparkles and snowflakes in it. see the card in the centre with the star and 3 squares? i did not help. {other than to provide the materials} isn't that amazing?!

these are the ones Aidan has made so far.

i pre-cut some papers. and helped come up with some of his designs. as you know how four year olds can be, that design gets re-worked! but i love how he has put the design into it. in the last photo, see the two cards with the circles? the one on the right has a circle cut out of the front, with another circle glued inside? i cut the circles, but the entire card was his design. down to the idea to have a cut-out in the front. you can't see them in the photo, but he wanted to go around the entire circle with gems....hmmm....he had to settle for ten of them....since it would take an entire package to finish the trim. but i do agree it would have looked very cool.

buttons are his latest favourite.

let me know if you want to purchase any of their cards or make a donation to the Stollery Children's Hospital. the proceeds will benefit the Critical Care Step Down Unit. each card will be sold for $5 minimum.

this Saturday Kelley and her friends are having the sale. there will be more cards made by other kids. also wrapping paper and art {some framed}. in the afternoon, she has organized a very unique tea party. read this poster for more details {click on the image to enlarge it and make it easier to read!}

we are going back to making more cards....and hopefully some art. i'll keep you posted with more of the work.

let me know if you want me to save a card or two for you and make a donation to the Stollery. Kelley is getting interviewed by CTV news today, so watch for her story tonight!