for today

this has been the highlight of the summer so far.



i think he would be at the library nearly every day if he could get me to agree!



he has also decided to challenge himself to read more difficult books. it is amazing to watch him. once in awhile i catch a glimpse of that little baby boy that smiled at everything and said nothing! had i only known that he was just soaking in life during those first few months.






his top question these days is:

"how do you know that?"

drives us crazy!




he finally got his hair cut. it was getting so long.

he started going to the same salon where i get mine done. it was getting to be really inconvenient to take him back to the place where he first got his hair cut. he had a little boy crush on his hairdresser too. i still remember him looking through one of the gossip mags in the waiting room and seeing a blonde woman....he thought it was Simone (the hairdresser). i convinced him to show her the photo....totally made her day! he was only 2 1/2 years old at the time! a little charmer.

this time he sat off in the chair, while i waited in the waiting room and read my own gossip magazine. and Kiara read My Little Pony in French! not really. since she can't read yet, it is the pictures that are bilingual! i think the only thing he would have changed was getting some blue dye put in it. so far none of the salons we've taken him to have such a thing available.

they are growing so quickly. it really is unbelievable how much more independent they both are. today we went to Toys'RUs. neither of them fought, cried, whined, ran away or did anything stressful. i'd love it if it happened all the time. still, it was a glimpse of what we have to look forward to with them. what did we buy? water balloons, pop rocks and a game. perfect combination!

just another day?

not a chance!


yesterday i finally took the time to book appointments....why is it that the kids are completely happy and quiet until the moment i make these types of calls? no wonder they get delayed! i managed to get in to the dentist the next day {today} due to a cancellation. this changed our plans a bit. turned out they were for the better. in many, many ways! thankfully i really like our dentist...even after teaching two of his kids. {or should i say dream children....they were and still are amazing} it is not my favourite place to be, so it totally helps that i look forward to the visit and hearing how his excellent kids are doing. {they don't read my blog...nor know that i have one....no sucking up happening here!} how thrilled i was that one of these amazing kids was working in the office today!! and she is still amazing. in my teaching career this family was rare in the amount of time they invested into their kids. each year, they dedicated one Friday morning every week to volunteer in the classroom. 90 minutes per class. out of the entire year...they maybe missed 2 days. incredible. which reminds me, i wonder how long they continued that as the kids got older? sooooo.....good visit and i have sparkly clean teeth!



but there is even better news!!!

seriously.


Kristian didn't give Aidan any time to think before he announced that they were going to the park without TRAINING WHEELS. we had been telling him that this time was coming....so he wasn't completely caught off guard.

i'm taking my time, getting water, sunscreen, camera....when i saw this:

how long was i putting stuff together?

barely had time to focus the lens.....

he obviously had been ready for just two wheels for a long time. great balance from the start....and shocked everyone!

even his new friends came out to congratulate him. i'd show photos...but we're all new and i don't dare lose new friends for the sake of my internet audience of 3 people! (thank you for your dedication, by the way!)

Kiara was a little confused at all the excitement i think. it had been awhile since Aidan had received this amount of positive attention....no not really.....but all the yelling and such must have caught her off guard! despite her confusion, she maintained her joyful and happy attitude. as you can spot in the photo above. no confusion for Aidan, however, as he was most serious about maintaining his balance.

congratulations my boy!!

a really big first. a definite sign that you are leaving those preschool years behind. i'm thrilled....but hoping for some slow years to enjoy my little boy....

thankfully she is still puttering along on four wheels......even though she is anxious to get moving on her preschool years.....

sigh.

so ironic to want them to grow up.....but yet keep them small......

whir!

wow.

not quite sure how this week went so quickly. seems like i said that last week too.

definitely feeling better about the work side of things. the prep work is different than what i am accustomed to. there is no marking. but i have to remember details a little differently. a different kind of challenge. but i'm working it out.

i had hoped to have completed my photo picking and have them printed by now.

and from that list of photos i had hoped to generate a second grouping for a couple of mini-albums. along with that the plan was to put together a couple of projects that could be for classes at Urban.

hmmmm....

now i find myself instead thinking of the bulletin board display or a possible craft for the class.

on thursday i had a HUGE brainwave. it was like i had suddenly finished a race and had that chance to catch my breath..... so now i have a plan for crafting ideas for the kids - who are interested - and to take care of that bulletin board problem. my TA's - Dymphna and Erna - hadn't heard me talk crazy before, so i think i scared them. but they're on board and excited too. they were maybe worried that i was going to implode...or worse, explode and they'd have to clean up! who can blame them?!

i LOVE our class. i've been working in classes like this since 2002, and i know that there are very few classes that are as amazing as this one. not that we're getting it easy or anything. but they are interested and excited. how can you not enjoy being around kids like that? D and E and i make a great classroom team. i love that we respect each other, listen to each other, and feel comfortable enough to speak up if it is called for. again i know how rare that is.

i have been taking photos of the kids in class. but i can't share them here. i played catch up with Kiara and Aidan this weekend in the photo department. i'll try to work on those photos soon and share our happenings before next week is over!

that brain wave has also brought me back to my photo and scrapbooking goals. so happy about that!


Saucy has a blog that i enjoy visiting every now and then. she writes regularly, so i sometimes get behind. she is from Saskatoon. that city is like an oasis in the desert. truly.

since i don't have any photos of my own to share....go here and check out the photos that Saucy gathered from Flicker of her hometown.

my mom lived most of her childhood in a very old house a walk from the river. one of those three story, early 1900 homes. 923 - 7th avenue north. i think she figured out once that Farley Mowat must have lived in the same neighborhood....not sure how she learned that one. once a year - usually, but sometimes twice - we drove the 8 hour trip from "the farm" to "the city". if it was a Christmas trip then it was always dark when we got to grandma and grandpa's house. it was quite a sight for a country kid to see how the city lights lit up the night sky from a long distance away. i remember staring toward the glow and watching it get larger...knowing we were getting close. the other fun part about traveling that time of year was seeing homes along the highway (and city) all lit up with Christmas lights.

it was fun looking at the photos and remembering the few places that we saw.

we always went for a "walk around the block".

a treat was to go to the corner store and buy candy. the only time we ever got candy outside of Halloween.

watching the city buses whiz past the house...sitting in the veranda, of course. this was always fun at night when the inside of the busses were all lit up!

better yet, getting to ride a city bus. our destination? the Army and Navy store downtown. hoping to eat crinkle fries and drink pop at the A&N cafeteria....which was designed to look like a ship. very cool to a kid. and we fought over who would get to pull the cord and make the bell ding. apparently i was really excited to do this once and pulled it several bus stops in advance. i remember having to walk a long way home and feeling tired that day....i wonder why that decision was made?

a few times we were taken to the Mendel Art Gallery. they had a greenhouse with walking paths and rivers filled with money.

Kinsmen park had a carousel, ferris wheel and a mini train. maybe it had more stuff, but it wasn't important to me at the time. we always went for a train ride. i loved the tunnel. and the ride was always too short. my favourite was the horse carousel. i remember being sad when we didn't go to this park during a visit. i think that may have been the first time i ate cotton candy.

it was fun to see the photos. and amazing how a photo brought back memories!

i wonder what i would think of some of these places now as an adult? would my own kids enjoy them as much as i did? crazy to think of the progress made in kids play places in the last thirty years....

remember when a playground with a tire swing or merry-go-round was the best?