Halloween fun

Dumbo, a Zebra riding boy on Safari, and a Train Engineer. Ethan decided not to be the same thing twice.

This is What It's Like Playing Hide and Seek at Our House

Only replace the closet with Evelyn hiding under the living room couch.

A birthday party for Teddy

Yah, a party for a teddy bear. Evelyn has been talking for a couple weeks about Teddy having a birthday soon. We just put her off, saying "In a few more sleeps" or "Not yet". She was persistent. It seemed that nothing short of a cake with candle, and singing the song would do.

So, today, Evelyn helped me make a spice cake (from scratch). I iced it with some leftover coloured icing and we added a candle. (I'll make a little effort, but not too much effort for a stuffy)

When asked how old Teddy is going to be, Evelyn confidently answered "Forty-Nine"
"Wow, he sure is old!, How old is Daddy then?" was our response.
"Daddy is Sixteen" was her reply.
"Oh, so he must be 49 in Teddy years then - not people years?" we asked.
"Yes, in Teddy years, not people years" (Oh good then, I guess...?)

Here is a video clip of "Teddy" sharing his birthday wish before he attempts to blow out the candle.

Teddy's wish is this: "I wish I could fly up into space with Evelyn" I love how she moves his head at the end when he thanks me for my birthday well wishes. I thought for a minute that Teddy might go up in flames while he tried to blow out that candle!

We are so glad that Teddy is back with us and not lost.


A conversation from Evelyn last night:

We were cleaning up the kids rooms in preparation for bed. Some of her Littlest Pet Shop figures were in Ethan's room, so Ryan told Ethan they were going back and said "say goodnight to the kitty Ethan" then he did a pretend kitty voice and said 'Goodnight Ethan'.

Evelyn pipes up with pure derision in her voice "Toys don't talk Daddy. Only Teddy Bears and People can talk!"

Only teddy bears and people.

Wow.

Finally, here is a slide show of Ethan eating Teddy's b-day cake. He made some silly faces!

Potty Breakthrough!

Ethan peed on the potty about 6 times today!!! This is the first time he has done anything on the potty.

We bought him an "Elmo's Potty Time" DVD last weekend and he's watched it every day. Today, while Evelyn was at Play School, I plugged it in. Ethan asked for the potty, which I brought into the living room.

He sat on the potty while he watched the movie, got a really concentrated look on his face, and .... success!


Of course, after peeing, he had to immediately go and wash his hands. This is one of his favourite activities.

Then, a mini M&M was his treat. He really liked that, and managed to squeak out about 5 more little pees over the next half hour. I was just happy that he seems to get the concept. So, he will be in training pants at home during the day.

I hope the momentum continues and he contunues to do well.

Little Train Engineer

I picked up the overalls from the thrift store today and completed the outfit with items from the kid's "Tickle Trunk". I think I'll have Ethan wear this for Halloween.
Oh he also cut 3 eye teeth this week. The spot he's gnawing on in these pics is the remaining eye tooth that still needs to come through. Also, I measured him 2 weeks ago and again today. He has grown 1.5 cm in 2 weeks!! His height now is taller than Evelyn was at 27 months. He is 23 months old. He's gonna be BIG!

Thanksgiving with the Brands

We spent TG weekend visiting the Brand Family: Steve, Jen, Juliana, Evan and Benjamin. The kids played very well together and Ryan and I enjoyed visiting with good friends.

I had a song run through my head most of the weekend. I'm pretty sure it is a scripture. It fit so well with how the weekend went. "How good and pleasant it is when we dwell together in unity, and praise the Lord". That concept of dwelling together in unity has been a theme for me with my kids recently. I am totally craving a pleasant and peaceful home. I am not a person who thrives on conflict and drama!

Anyway, we had the lamb roast I picked up at the farm last week. It was wonderful! very little fat, and nice and moist.

We took the kids to a different park each day. Evelyn loved the rainbow tunnel at one of the parks. She and Juliana played together the whole time. The favourite games were doll house, Littlest Pet Shop, picnic, and even a round of 'Candy Land'.








Evan and Ethan did their own thing most of the time, but occasionally played with a ball or two at the same time. Ethan decided that Steve was his new bast friend and would only hold his hand when we were walking, and wanted only him to pick him up. Later, he wanted to snuggle with Steve. It was very cute.







Ben was a very quiet baby. I don't think I heard him really cry the whole time we were there! He rarely even whimpered! He got really excited watching "Mario Kart" on the Wii. He went all stiff and almost vibrated with excitement.

We adults waited patiently for the kids to go to bed, then worked our brains playing "Big Brain Academy" on the Wii. It was a lot of fun to play as a group.

It was a great way to spend TG.

AMBER ALERT!!! Teddy is Missing!

Help! (not that you can do much) Evelyn's beloved stuffy "Teddy" is missing. This has been her special friend since she was 9 months old. Just yesterday (when we still knew where he was) she told me "Teddy is my BEST friend".

She brought him with her in the car when we went to playschool. I remember putting him in the pocket of the seat organizer and saying "We'll put Teddy here so he doesn't get lost". I took her into class, jacket off, shoes away etc. I have no memory of Teddy being there.

After I picked her up, she asked after Teddy as we went into the house. I said "Oh, He's in the car, I'll get him later". So, bedtime rolls around and she asks for him again. "Oh yah, I'll go get him" I say.

I went confidently to the car - sure that Teddy would be there waiting for me. But he was not there! I searched the whole car, nothing. I returned to the house and started to search everywhere. All in vain.

You see, Teddy has gone missing a couple times before. We have found him tucked in the folds of a blanket, or hiding in plain sight with other stuffy's. Once he was under the couch. A few months ago, she left him on a shelf in the drugstore. Each time he went missing, a small panic started in my chest. Teddy is like a real person to Evelyn. It is kind of like we have lost a beloved pet or family member. Always, he was found.

Not this time.

When Ryan and I went in to break the news to Evelyn, we found her sitting cross legged in a small box, on top of her bed. A look of hope and tenuous emotional control on her face. She said she was sitting in her 'nest' (I guess like Big Bird has a nest). As we started to tell her we couldn't find Teddy, her lip started to quiver, and her breathing became ragged. Her eyes welled up with tears and she exploded into a wail of ... drama ... and mourning.

My heart broke. I almost cried with her.

When she calmed down a bit, she said "I took Teddy to playschool. I forgot him at playschool!" She seems convinced that she disobeyed and took him into class. She says he is sitting on the carpet by the books on one of the letter squares. I hope she is right.

Ryan has reminded me of the conversation that followed the tears:
Evelyn (shortly after her tears): "We have to make another teddy for the kid who has teddy."

Us: "Huh?"

E: "We have to make another teddy for the kids!"

Us: "You mean to trade for teddy back if they accidently took Teddy home?"

E: "Yes. So they won't be sad."

Us: "Uh."

Today, we will seek. I just hope we will find.


Update:

We found him! She indeed left him at school. He was waiting for us on the shelf with the toy dinosaurs.

A Rather Large Birthday Party, and Ethan Builds a Bed for Elmo.

Last evening I took the kids to a party for a boy we know from playschool, playgroup, and dancing class.









There must have been at least 20 kids there! They wisely held the party in a event room at the community centre. With all the available toys from playgroup, the kids had lots to do. Evelyn enjoyed the extra playtime with her friends Elizabeth (in the striped shirt) and Hannah (on the slide).




The birthday boy's Dad brought out his guitar and kept the kids entertained with songs like "old McDonald" and "Frog at the bottom of the sea". Ethan was SO into the guitar and music. He was like a little groupie.



The kids went to bed as usual, and before I went to bed I checked in on Ethan. He has been getting out of bed lately. He turns his light on an plays very quietly, then falls asleep onthe floor.

A few days ago we found him with his head under the bed. He startled when I took a picture, and wacked his head on the bedframe not once, but twice. He then snuggled in further and pulled his 'hank' over his head.

Well, last night he went a bit further. He emptied out the bottom drawer of his dresser and tossed all the clothes on the floor. Then, he moved all his dirty clothes from the floor of his closet to a pile on top of his downe quilt.

Then, he took his pillow from his bed and made a little bed for Elmo and Ernie in the closet where his clothes had been.

After all this work (very quietly done work I must say) he fell asleep near his door. I thought it was very kind of him to sacrifice his pillow for his Elmo doll. We put him back into bed and he settled into sleep.

A visit to a farm

Today, in-between Preschool and Dancing, we stopped by one of my co-workers farms to pick up a lamb roast for Thanksgiving. Karen was kind enough to show us around and introduce the kids to her animals. We saw a horse, a couple llamas, some chicken, a large herd of sheep and lambs, cows, and a bunny. Oh, and some cats and dogs too (it would not be a proper farm without those!)






They also had two huge white dogs with long thick coats whose job is to protect the sheep from coyotes. They also kept a llama in the sheep pasture with the dogs. The llama is much taller than the dogs, so can see farther. When it sees or senses something it perceives as dangerous, it calls out an alarm that sounds like a person laughing. This calls the dogs to attention and they will run to the perimeter to scout out what the danger is. While the dogs scout, the llama herds the sheep to a safer area in the pasture and stays with them while keeping them together. The dogs will deal with any coyote and the llama will keep the sheep as calm as possible. I thought it was amazing that two totally different types of animals could work together so seamlessly, and could communicate with each other to achieve the common goal of protecting another type of animal. It was interesting.

They raise 4 or 5 different breeds of sheep. Some were light brown with black faces and hooves. I think their breed was called Suffolk... Others were dark brown over the entire front half of their bodies and white at the back half. It almost looked like they were wearing long sleeved shirts and pants! Some were all chocolate brown, others had patches of black brown and white, still others were white all over. I had never seen so many breeds at once. It was fun to watch them.





The chickens had seen better days. They were a rather elderly flock and many were going bald on their rumps. Karen said they would only be good for canning the meat because they were so old. I had not realized that chickens could go bald! They looked a bit like baboons with their bright red rumps sticking out and flashing everyone!

Mama's Little Helper

This afternoon, I was adding a few more things to the garbage before I changed the bag. Without my asking, Ethan went into the cupboard, pulled out a replacement bag, and gave it to me. "Wow", I thought, "what a great helper.

I left the full bag on the floor and proceeded to do a couple other things. A moment later, I heard Ethan thunking down the stairs. I investigated and saw him trying to put his boots on, with the garbage sitting beside him on the stairs. "Are you taking the garbage out for Mommy?" I asked. "Yes! Garbage, outside" was his reply.

I quickly ran to get the camera and caught him in the act of his first, (completely independent) chore. What a WONDERFUL helper!

An October Visit

In celebration of our birthdays (# 29 and 28) K-A came out for a short visit Oct 1-3. We picked her up after we went to the Zoo. After, we went to Ikea. I told Evelyn about our planned Ikea visit last week and she literally jumped up and down with excitement. She counted down the sleeps and talked continually about going into the play room with the balls and all the kids.

The next day was a playschool day. We took Ethan around town and looked in some (actually, all) of the shops, went for lunch, visited the library, and picked Evelyn up.

On Friday, K-A and I visitied the Telus World of Science to see the Body Worlds exhibit. It was wonderful. I really enjoyed it. After, we went to Olive Garden for a light lunch, then to the airport. It was a short but very nice visit.

A trip to the Zoo where Evelyn rides a Pony.

On Oct 1st, I took the kids to the Valley Zoo in Edmonton. It was overall very disappointing. The only food served was ice cream, the animals looked depressed and their living spaces were tiny. Evelyn liked looking at the Elephant eat it's lunch. Ethan liked riding the little train. Just before we left, I decided to check out an area we had not seen. It offered pony rides, so I let Evelyn try.

The look on her face from the moment she sat on 'Sugar' to the time she got off was one of pride, excitement and joy. I think that was my favourite part of our visit.