Summer Camp

On Sunday we dropped Sophie off at summer camp for 5 days of camp adventure. She is very excited about spending the whole week at camp (last year she did one night at Gardom Lake) but she is now old enough to do the longer camps. She has signed up for horsemanship, swimming, canoeing and arts/crafts.

She is in the same cabin as her buddy Hunter which appears to be new and still has the lumber wrap on the outside of the building.

It will be a quiet week with just one munchkin. Fynn is going to enjoy some "Fynn time" and is happily at play with my Easter decorations right now. He is really into birds and is playing with my little Easter chicks. He is so into

birds that he requested I asked the reference librarian at the library this Friday for a book on birds. Birds, Nests and Eggs is a good one for a budding naturalist.

Friday Night Library Visits

Looking forward to taking it easy this weekend.

Here we are at our usual Friday night haunt: the library.

Unplug and play - Family Literacy Week

We are trying to do some of the challenges associated with the Unplug and Play Challenge for Family Literacy Week which is January 23 - 29. Having the kids watch less TV is also one of my 2012 goals.

After I got home from the gym tonight we turned off the TV. Sophie did her homework and Fynn had some quiet time looking at one of Vic's bike books. Then Miss Jen came over for Sophie's piano lesson which is the perfect 30 minutes of completely unplugged mind expanding time.

I suggested to Fynn that he and I do a jigsaw puzzle. He loves puzzles and happily did two of them while Sophie had her lesson. After their baths I did submit to putting on the TV for 20 minutes or so which gave me some time to have a shower (I had my fitness class at 5:30pm). I find the TV is extremely helpful when you want to have the kids entertained for a bit and ensure that they are not fighting with each other.

We wrapped up the night with a few pages of their Richard Scarry book.

What's making me happy today

1. I joined a book club with some women from work. I love finding fellow bookies. It is also one of my goals for 2012 around making more time for "community."

2. The kids are happy. They are watching an Arthur DVD that Sophie requested from the library. The apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

3. Vic had a good day at work with some solid business opportunities.

4. We have confirmed that our bedroom will be painted in March during spring break. Yippee!!

The Weekend Lens

We had a nice, quiet Saturday. Sophie had her friend Hunter sleep over last night. Hunter participated in our usual Friday family activities which include going to dinner at Boston Pizza and a visit to the library.

She and Sophie stayed up fairly late (no surprise) talking, giggling and reading.

This morning we did a bit of yard work around the house until it was time for Hunter's parents to pick her up.

Tonight Vic and some friends are at our kitchen table playing poker. Nice to have a quiet evening to myself. A book I am really enjoying right now is Simplicity Parenting. It is excellent.

reading

Bryan and Patti came over tonight to show us their trips from Tuscany, to drink a little wine, and help us enjoy the hot tub. Patti read a few stories to the kids before they went to bed.

I’m looking forward to pulling out our Christmas books this year and ordering a couple more from Scholastic.

perfect days

For me perfect days are simple. They usually involve staying close to home. As much as it is fun to drive down to Kelowna, I'd rather stay at home and enjoy what is around me.

I told Sophie today was a mom and daughter day and she was very happy. We went to the library and listened to a Canadian author who grew up in Salmon Arm talk about her latest book. It's interesting to hear about the writing process and the business of publishing. Sophie asked to sign out a pile of books. We then headed out for a drink and meandered down to the new drugstore that has been remodelled and opened in our mall.

A perfectly simple day.

book launch

We had fun tonight at the book launch and signing of a book that Sophie's Grade 1 teacher illustrated and her librarian wrote. The gym at her school was done up with a bunch of hockey games/activities, and lots of treats to eat. Sophie had her booked signed by her teacher Mrs. Steeves.

The gym was loaded with people - great to see literacy supported so strongly.

the best I could get

It's blurry and out of focus. Shutter speed too slow.

Anyway, it is the two of them posing with their newly minted Summer Reading Club book charts. Sophie is offically old enough to be in the program and Fynn gets his own special little chart. We'll keep track of what we read this summer.

I remember the library summer reading club well :)

peter rabbit

Vic's mom gave Sophie the Tale of Peter Rabbit and Benjamin Bunny book/DVD for her birthday. We watched one of the stories tonight. It's a lovely animated story. However, I think a couple of parts were a little scary -- the bunnies got a few smacks on the bottom with a stick when they were naughty. Sophie is also going through a stage where she asks if characters on TV who appear in old costumes are "dead". Beatrix Potter is portrayed by an actress in the story and naturally prompted that question.

book club reunion

Just before I became pregnant with Sophie, over 5 years ago now, I joined my first and so far only book club. For someone who loves to read, finding a group of fellow like-minded readers is a dream come true. We stayed together as a group through babies, divorce, moves, travel, and job changes. The usual stuff of life. After about 4 years we fizzled out.

I actually started to read more after my book club experience. The club had opened up my mind to a world of books I wouldn't have experienced before and I became a much more discerning reader.

A couple of weeks ago an invitation came to meet at Joan's house for a reunion of the group of us. We had a wonderful time....appies, wine, we each brought a book to share or give away. We talked about our kids, recent travels and next trips, people, and the funny little town-city we all share in common.

When you meet up with people who "get" you, it is kind of like finding your clan, isn't it?

i'm tired....

i'm tired, really tired. tired emotionally and physically of the demands of doing my job and being a mom to sophie and fynn and the 100 other things that are responsibilties of mine.

i savour the half hour or so i have at the gym each day. today was one of those days however that even the gym couldn't help.

i got a call at 11:00am from the daycare. sophie was supposed to go to the waterpark today but she became so emotional at daycare about feeling the constant urge to pee that they opted to let her rest at the centre with another caregiver. I was in a meeting when the call came in, so I was late in responding. I finally got her in to the doctor's at about 3:45pm. It doesn't appear to be a bladder infection but likely a yeast infection that afflicts little girls and creates a spasm feeling that mimics the urge to pee. After the doctors we went over to fill her prescription. By then, it was so late in the afternoon that there was no point in taking her back to daycare, so she spent the last 45 minutes or so with me at work (writing on her hands in black marker).

I took her to the gym (which is not my typical routine) and she amused herself watching me in my fitness class. Overall she did well, but not the most productive gym time I've had. Back home to dinner (thank you Vic!) and then I drove them to the library during which time Sophie fell asleep.

A quick McDonald's icecream sundae latter that the two of them shared and we came back home. Thankfully storytime was a success tonight as Sophie really enjoyed her library books (small mercies).

They are now happily tucked in bed and I'm facing some laundry and we shall start it all over again tomorrow!!

Looking forward to visiting our family this weekend and taking an extra day off on Monday.

6 on Sunday

Ahhh....the birthday (week) is behind us.

1. She is FIVE. The pool party on Saturday was a success.
2. I have never seen so much of this kind of merchandise by way of gifts.
3. She also got one of these. I am trying to understand the mania.
4. I picked up this today at Chapters. Looks so good. Sadly, the subject matter is very close to home with Vic's dad in advanced dementia.
5. Rented this last night. Very disturbing. I'm still thinking about it.
6. good night!

books

Here is a great list of books to plow through this summer.

10 for Tuesday and House Update

The house is moving right along. Today some trusses arrived, they were tamping down the dirt, backfilling, and nailing the sills for the framing.

1. I am going to try to "coax" Fynn to take a bottle. He hasn't had one yet. He really likes the boob.

2. I have not had a good night's sleep in over 6 months. (Is that related to #1)? He only gets up 2x a night, but after 6 months, it is quite tiring each morning.

3. I got my hair cut yesterday. I go in for maintenance trims every 4 weeks or so. It is a must with a pixie cut.

4. I got some new shoes last weekend. I quite like them.

5. Fynn is "saucering" (see photo). He has officially moved from the baby play mat to the saucer. Big step - and one less piece of equipment we need to have around.

6. We are adding ground flax to our yogurt now. Must keep refrigerated to prevent it from going rancid.

7. So far, I have a playdate (with Jacob, our neighbour), hopefully a haircut and a video rental lined up for Sophie tomorrow. On her daycare days off, she (I) need lots for her to do. Or we all go a bit wacky.

8. This book came in for me at the library. I am really getting a handle on the system at the library. Do not look on the shelves for books you want. Order them in. I'm savings lots of money this way -- sorry Chapters.

9. We are meeting with our builder's wife tomorrow to go over our very hrrmph large invoice for our cement pour. It's okay -- needed to be done. The house took a lot of cement and we had concrete blocks placed for a back retaining wall to enlarge the yard.

10. I really think this is a neat idea -- podcasts for kid's book that a mom and dad do in a cafe. The book choices are great and the title of the site is exactly what Sophie says to me each night.

10 for Tuesday

1. Sophie had a playdate with Jacob our neighbour. Cute little guy who is her age.
2. We loaded up on library books today. This one is especially great.
3. This show is my guilty (after the kids are asleep) pleasure.
4. So is this one (like a car wreck, I can't look away).
5. This is back!
6. Sophie seems to have an excess of ear wax. Thanks to a little olive oil in the ear (she handled it very well) and our family doctor removing it with a little scoopy thing, her ear was nicely and safely cleaned out today.
7. Fynn has outgrown his size 2 diapers. He is really growing like crazy.
8. These work quite well and don't have all the plastic that some other brands do.
9. Vic had a very demanding swim tonight at Masters. 3200 metres in total!
10. I got new glasses from the Kliik line (Danish).