Category: Elspeth

Another busy weekend

Friday saw us dancing in the rain.  The girls simply had to take out their umbrellas and break them in.

Yesterday we were busy balancing getting the house ready for Katrine’s party and enjoying the outdoors.  Glenn and Katrine whipped up the cupcakes and then she and I got down to icing them while Elspeth practised her flourishing (she is getting much better).  The girls also went about creating the decorations and loot bags for the candy movie extraveganza.  Then it was time to get outside for some much needed fresh air and exercise.

I love Katrine’s cloud raining down meatballs.

Her smiling bathroom sign got a few comments from the girls.

Doesn’t it look like red Easter eggs hangining in mid-air?

This morning while Elspeth played with Baba, I put Katrine to work on prepping some of the healthier snack options and organizing things.

Craft zone in case guests got bored with the movie.

Yup, had to put some veggies into the mix.  They even got eaten.

AND….CANDY

After all of the guests headed home, we headed outside (for Elspeth it was back outside because she and Glenn had biked over to the park and Tims during the party to escape the squeels and chatter).  It was a beautiful afternoon.

She really doesn’t jump quite as well as it appears.


A busy Easter weekend for all

What a great weekend it has been so far.  Only one day of rain and the rest of sun!  A nice spring day.

On Friday, we started the day off with rain.  It led to some great puddle splashing in the afternoon.  Then, we had a great Easter dinner with my parents. Turkey, the fixings and bunny shaped birthday cake.

The girls decided to dress up and surprise their grandparents with their Easter finery.

My happy birthday girl.

We finally got to see my mom’s latest craft project – Easter Bonnets!  They were adorable and loved by all.

My beautiful mom

On Saturday, we started the day with the Lion’s Club Egg Hunt.  The girls got to meet the Easter Bunny (a big deal to Elspeth and Katrine was game and humoured her sister), faces painted and balloons.  Katrine was in awe of the field full of eggs just waiting to be found.  Elspeth was excited to get to sit in a fire truck (although she still insists that she wants to fly like a bird).  Then it was time for the hunt. The buzzer went and the race for an egg was on.  The girls gleefully filled their baskets full of eggs before we headed to the local legion for cookies and hot chocolate before claiming our giant chocolate bunnies from Grandpa.

After the excitement of the hunt we headed back to my parents where we let the girls run off some of that sugar energy in the backyard.  We also had Katrine’s present time.  One of her favourite gifts was her Great Nana’s easel.  After running around, she took the easel outside for some art time.  I think that she is already planning her next big art project.

Sigh, snow still.  At least it was fun to jump off of.

Waiting for gifts.

Ooh, pastels….

The moment that she saw her easel.  Happy girl.

Her doll was her very first model.

This morning dawned with Easter baskets followed by an egg hunt.  Giggles, smiles and happy girls.  I think that the big sheep pillows and fleece blankets were among their favourite treasures.

When we got home this afternoon we had some outside time, finished up some homework before our final birthday/Easter dinner.  BBQ’d burgers.  Delicious.  Made even more yummy because Grammy joined us.  I love how much the girls love their grandparents.  Katrine had asked for the bunny cake as well as an ice cream cake.  Well, we had my version of ice cream cake.  A block of ice cream with a variety of toppings.  Tons of toppings.

Mint chocolate chip “cake”

 

HAPPY EASTER!!

Getting ready for Easter

It is that time of year again to dye some eggs.  Today was the perfect day to do it given that there was no way I was going to stand outside in the cold watching the girls ride bikes and then complain about being cold.  So, instead we boiled and coloured eggs.  The bonus is that tomorrow’s lunches are already started.

Thornhill Fun Skate

What a day!  Elspeth enjoyed herself to a point.  There is a new format for the CanSkate elements and we were not adequately prepared for her to be on the ice 30-45 minutes.  She had on her lighter dress and no sweater.  In other words, she was freezing by the time she got off and pretty miserable until she warmed up.  From a parent’s point of view it was kinds hard to follow what was going on.  I am not sure which elements she actually finished.  That said, she must have done them all because she received a gold overall ranking for her perfomance along with a red and gold ribbon which put a smile on her face.

Katrine got to have a little visit with one of her China sisters and was super happy.

The Easter Fun Begins

We had our first Easter egg hunt of the season this morning and the weather co-operated wonderfully.  Sun, warmth, dry what more could we ask for – a perfect egg hunting day.  The kids and some friends ran around our small backyard (whose snow has thankfully mostly melted).  We topped it off by trading in the plastic eggs for just one gift instead of a slew of candies. All the kids were happy and it was less junk to kick off the season of eggs.  We also had the kids make personal pizza.  The girls had a fabulous time and it was a morning full of smiles and giggles.  The stuff that memories are made of.

After our full morning, we took the girls out for a ride.  Katrine was thrilled because she got to break in her new bike.

 

 

Elspeth’s first ice show

Okay, just so that you can all get your Katrine fix too.  Here is a photo of her taken last night at the airport while waiting to meet friends bringing their newest daughter home from China.

Now onto Elspeth’s ice show.  To sum it up – CUTE!  A whole row of littles giving it their best.  Of course she was the smallest by far but she kept up and had a great time doing it.

I think the funniest part was waiting with her in the change room for her turn.  She decided to do some off ice work.

“See, I can stretch my leg up behind my head like Katrine.” (Hmmm, more like we can start having you take your own skate guards off!)

“Look mom!  I’m doing a Y stand!” ( Hmm, not quite but adorable nonetheless.)

Sweet Water Festival

It is that time of year again…maple sirop time.  In other words, time to head up north to my parents and celebrate that the sap is running.  It is always a fun time and the girls always have big smiles. (and they learn something too).

Pancake breakfast

Getting our names burned into wood for necklaces.

It was a perfect day for listening to the presentation in the sugar shack while sucking on maple taffy.  This year’s batch was super delicious.

To top it off, all of the kids got to help their grandfather collect the sap from a many trees.  They were so excited.

The morning finished up with face painting, crafts, a wagon ride and some bannock making.  Smiles were worn by all.

(Masks were the craft.)

My mom’s birthday is this week and Katrine’s is shortly thereafter so we did some present time in the afternoon.  Katrine loved the earrings she got from her aunt, uncle and cousins while mom rather enjoyed her strawberry shortcake.

Spring…sort of

Okay, so it is officially spring…even though it doesn’t really feel that way yet.  Elspeth however, is chock full of excitement over it being “almost summer”. As a result, on Friday night we broke out the sidewalk chalk.  If only it could get just a wee bit warmer.  I mean Aleigh didn’t seem to mind watching Elspeth draw from the comfort of the car but it was a bit chilly for me.  Then again, maybe I am just getting older. 🙂

(No, we did not leave Katrine out of the fun.  She was visiting with a friend down the street.)

 

 

March Break – Part 3 Science Anyone

I have fond memories of going to the Science Center with my family as a child.  Today I took the girls and one of Katrine’s China sisters.  It was a verrry long day but amazing.  All three kids left with big smiles on their faces.  You will notice that there are less photos of Katrine.  That is because she is in most of the photos with her China sister.

We began the day with some dancing in the big hall.  Circles on a floor apparently send the signal “Let’s dance!”

Time for some experiments and crafts.

My little looking super proud of herself.  She kept up with the biggies all day.

There was a special Sesame Street and the Body exhibit on for the Break.  All of the girls seemed to actually enjoy it .  I had expected more resistance from the older pair because of how it was presented but they got right in to it.  The digestive track with simulated poop was a big hit all around as were the interactive sink hygene display.  Who knew that hand washing could be so much fun without real water?  Elspeth was happy to see Dorothy in Elmo’s world but surprised that it was not real water.  As you can see in the final photo, Elspeth’s hands are exactly the same size as Elmo’s.

Time for more experiments!

Elspeth’s favourite two stations.  Her first reaction at the red peg wall was not to make the animal prints with the provided supplies but to make a face print.  She did manage to start a trend with another three kids following suit.  I prefered the hall of mirrors.

Katrine really enjoyed the water table.  They put in various combinations of walls in order to direct the flow of water in certain ways.  Very cool.

I rather enjoyed the black light puppet show.  Not only was it great entertainment but I got to actually sit down for half an hour.

One last thing; Happy Pi(e) Day!! The girls were happy to indulge in mini butter pies (okay tarts if I have to be specific) in honour of Pi Day.

 

March Break Part 2 -Animals & Crafts

I love how malls have free things for kids to do over the break.  It gives you that extra something to do.  Plus, it is free (one of my favourite words).  This year a local mall had an animal display in and the girls loved it.  They got to see tons of different animals and touched quite a few.  The highlight for each was holding the alligator (I think that is what it was).  Elspeth needed some help as she only out weighed the critter by about 7 pounds.  She also observed that his mouth was taped shut so that “he couldn’t bite me ’cause it would hurt but they open it later so he can eat”.

I always end up doing some craft projects with the girls over the break.  Some are great and others are flops.  This year’s new favourite was Painted Toast.  You basically mix food colouring with some milk and then apply to toast.  I suppose you could get really fancy and break out brand new paintbrushes for the task but we simply used the “paint” by the spoonful.  Painted, toasted it, slathered on some butter and it was apparently delicious.  That said, I am not sure that tie dyed bread is everyone’s style but it certainly made for a psychedelic breakfast.