10/23/2011 ~ 1st Phase of Halloween Decorations

28

We will save our pumpkin carving for Halloween weekend but it was gorgeous outside today so I got the garden gloves on and filled a bag of leaves and garden pruning.  Afterwards I dug out the 1st phase of the halloween decorations and the kids got busy helping me decide where to stick the yard signs and where to spread the cobwebs.  It felt great to be outdoors!

My inflatable ghosties are still going strong!  Claire calls this "Punkin Patch!" because she's taken with the Jack O Lantern

Our huge spider

My crows eyes glow red at night.  I bought more crows last year but I have yet to figure out where I stored them.

Enter if you DARE!

This old hag spider witch has been in my family since I was a little girl.  I love her!  Creepy as hell!

That's right!  Come and get it!

Oh, they're more bark than bite.

10/22/2011 ~ Nathalie Bertin Gallery

27

Lily participates in a fine arts mixed media class every Saturday morning for two hours at the Aurora Cultural Centre.  Today the class took their inspiration from Nathalie Bertin's Gallery being shown on the third floor of the cultural centre.  I didn't get the chance to snap a picture of Lily's replica of one of the  pieces but I will be sure to when it comes home next week.  We did use Lily's Ipod Touch to get a shot of Lily in front of some of the pieces.  Will update with the photos from today when I have them uploaded.

In the meantime, check out www.nathaliebertin.com
"Nathalie Bertin is a Canadian visual artist from Toronto, Canada, of French and Algonquin heritage.  Nathalie's work is described as luminescent and energetic.  She has a keen sense of observation and a fondness for strong colours and textures.  She draws much of her inspiration from the beauty of the natural world and focuses on their essence, in alignment with her cultural roots."

Lily's favourite piece from Nathalie Bertin's gallery at the Aurora Cultural Centre

Lily uses her memory to recreate elements of one of Nathalie Bertin's pieces.  The green, floral elements and bunny in the middle.

The piece that Lily took inspiration from to create her replica of Nathalie Bertin's Metis art.

10/21/2011 ~ The Wacky Adventures of Ronald McDonald

26

I read in SNAP Aurora that tonight was the Grand Re-Opening of the renovated McDonalds in Aurora.  They had .99cent cheeseburgers and an appearance by none other than Ronald himself at 6:00pm.  So we didn't bother pulling anything out for dinner and scooted over there with an oblivious Claire, an indifferent Lily and an obsessed crazed fan, Griffin.  When the time came for contests, Griffin was there.  Want Ronald McDonald's autograph?  Griffin did.  And of course, we got our picture with the living legend.  On the way home Griffin asked if Ronald McDonald Land was a real place?  Of course it is!  Big eyeballs all around.  Griffin would like to visit there someday, as long as there aren't any bad guys.  "No sweetie, bad guys aren't allowed in Ronald McDonald Land."  I said.  "I know it Mom.  'Cause they have the big key to lock them out!" he knowingly explained.

10/20/2011 ~ Sleeping Beauties

25

I snuck into the kids rooms and took pictures of them asleep in the dark (you can't tell from the flash).  Love my babies.

10/19/2001 ~ Sweet as Apple Pie

24

I seriously considered taking pictures of supplemental vitamins today.  I started a regimen of a variety of vitamins last night, something that I commited to on my DayZero list of 101 goals to accomplish within 1001 days.  Today, I already felt the positive effects of it as my energy levels were improved and my productivitiy was increased as a result.  So instead of a photo of Omega3, Women's daily Multivitamin and B Complex vitamins, I decided to show you what I used some of that productive time to do. 

Nothing better than a warm apple pie on a cold and rainy day.  Recipe from my Betty Crocker cook book and crust from Tenderflake.  MMMMMMMM!

10/18/2011 ~ Nighty Night

23

I was feeling like my kids were fighting sleep and yet I had no fight in me.  I turned on the show In the Night Garden and realized it's only 8pm so we can afford a quick show instead of me going out of my mind trying to wrangle them into bed.  Don't let the serenity of this picture fool you, they're arguing like crazy and Griffin is a whiney little brat tonight.

10/17/2011 ~ Playdate with the Boys

22

Ever since Griffin was 15 months old, I have taken care of his little friend Brooklyn.  Recently, that ended and our Monday's are left without a playmate for Griffin.  The timing seemed perfect for me though because I believe Griffin really needs to be fostering his friendships with boys before all of his little girlfriends decide that he has cooties.  Two week ago we invited the first friend but the playdate flopped as his pal woke sick that day.  Last week was Thanksgiving long weekend, so we passed on scheduling one in favour of family time.  And then I had a playdate lined up for today but got into a chat with another Mom at school last week and thought she needed help with her twins today so I juggled the schedule around to watch them today and have the other set of twins next week instead.  As it turns out, I somehow messed that up and she really needed help next week but OH WELL we went ahead with the plan anyhow.  The boys played ghost pirates, tag, Star wars light sabres, punched the punching bag for a while, built lego and took turns shooting the marshmallow gun.  We finished it all off with a tattoo each and a chocolate ghost lollipop to take home.  Playdate number 1, a success!

10/16/2011 ~ Autumn Fun

21

We have been having some Autumn fun.  I had some certificates for our local Halloween Screamers Scare shop and took Griffin there on Saturday to choose a few things.  It was Lily's turn today.  Griffin picked a vial of vampire blood, a skull with glowing red (battery operated) eyeballs and a pair of skeleton bone gloves.  During Liy's visit, she chose a pair of custom fitted vampire fangs, black lipstick and dangling ruby red earrings to complete her vampire costume.  As you can imagine, my kids are all going to be Vampires this year.  We also took a trip to the mall to return a bunch of crafty kit duplicates that Lily got for her birthday and a few Barbie doll themed presents.  When all was said and done, she had almost $90 in store credit and bought a coveted Werewolf barbie set and DS game that is a zoo theme.  A new charm for her bracelet, silly putty, a slinky, a "cootie catcher" book etc.   Shopping spree.  On our way home we grabbed McDonalds and the Happy Meals came in Jack O Lantern buckets.  As we pulled into the driveway, Paul was raking leaves and Griffin got in on the leaf pile action.

10/15/2011 ~ Go Leafs Go!

20

Paul scored a pair of Leafs tickets through work and since Griffin was his guest to last year's Leafs game, naturally Lily go to go tonight.  They left a little early because Daddy had a few other fun ideas so the plan is for them to go out for dinner at the Toronto Eaton Centre at Mr. Green Jeans and then skip onto the subway for her first subway ride before the take the underground Path system over to the game.  Paul insists that taking Lily to a game is like having a best friend around.  The combination of her great sense of humour, infectious laughter and spirited cheering makes her the perfect date.  I'm sure it is going to be an amazing night of memories for them both!

10/14/2011 ~ Fitted for a Retainer

19

Lily has an underbite.  It's not that her teeth are crooked, it's that her jaw is misaligned.  The long term plan is to have her fitted with braces but we are waiting for Paul's work to adopt a better dental plan before we embark on that journey. In the meantime, she is being fitted with a retainer that will help to reposition her jaw so that her top teeth will fall over the bottom teeth.  This morning was her first orthodontist appointment.  She gagged all the way through the top fitting but was a trooper through the bottom.  She is very excited about the prospect of a retainer or braces.  It's the cool thing at school.  Bye Bye Two Thousand Dollars!

10/13/2011 ~ 1st Day of Swimming Lessons

18

We lucked out.   It is like Christmas for the family with three children to find the same half hour time slot for each of their kids.  On October 13th, each of the kids started a new session of swimming lessons through the town and it all starts at 6:30 and ends at 7.  There is a parent and tot "Sea Turtle" session for Claire.  The "Salamander" session for Griffin and Lily is doing Swim Kids 3 again.  We much prefer the more personalized lessons at The Main Pool, but they are doing some renovations so we'll stick with the town this Autumn.  At least the kids get some time in the water each Wednesday night.

10/12/2011 ~ Paul's 39th Birthday

This is the post I haven't had the chance to post yet.  Better late than never!  Happy birthday to my love. 

10/12/2011 ~ Someone Tell them it's a School Day!

17

Someone really needs to tell these girls it is a school morning.  Lounging around and reading Princess stories.  Oh well, at least they love each other.

10/11/2011 ~ Magic Mask

16

Lily got a perfect score on her two practice spelling tests this morning so I pulled out a mask that I've been saving for her from the dollar store.  Tonight we were fooling around with it and bursting into fits of giggles.  Here is a moment that captured her character.  I added the ball of light with psp because she's going to love imagining that she was whipping up some magic with that mask on.

10/10/2011 ~ Achoo!

15

Poor Bear-Bear is battling a cold.  I decided that it would be a good idea to keep a tissue box within her reach and begin teaching her to access her own tissues to clean her nose.  Good call on the nose wiping, bad call on the accessible tissues.  Now I have tissues strewn all over the place, but at least she is keeping her nose clean!

10/09/2011 ~ BatMobile

14

Funny thing happened on the way to Sauble Beach today, we came across the BatMobile. 
It's not every day that you stumble upon the BatMobile parallel parked at the Main intersection in Shelbourne.  Naturally we pulled over immediately to get a shot for the 365 blog. 
I couldn't resist.

10/08/2011 ~ Happy Thanksgiving

13

Today we enjoyed an early Thanksgiving dinner with family.  So wonderful to get together with everyone.  For dessert we celebrated Paul and Lil's birthday's so they collectively blew out a candle.  Good laughs, much reminiscing and thanks to Paul...great food.  We took advantage of the tripod to take these beauties.

10/07/2011 ~ Mirror Mirror on the Wall

12

The shoe mat has become the new toybox.  Trying on boots and shoes of all sizes is the "it" game.  Today, Claire decided that rainboots were the shoe du jour and ran around in these beauties.  Her reflection did not go undiscovered and she took a break from pounding around in boots to play with it. 

10/06/2011 ~ Hockey Night in Canada

11

I'm a lucky lady.  Approaching my 10th wedding anniversary with Paul in a few months.  There are a lot of things that people can tell right off the bat about Paul and then there are the finer details that only I am privy to.  Somewhere in the middle of all of that is the simple stuff.  Tonight I thought I'd sneak downstairs after the kids got put to bed and capture a snap of how he typically spends an evening.  Feet up, remote in hand, hockey on the tube.  That's my guy getting some much deserved down-time in.

10/05/2010 ~ Puck Power

10

Today was the first day of Griffin's Puck Power hockey skills program.  My Mother in Law takes him to this activity and at the end she was told that he's advanced for the program.  He could be a good example to the other kids but basically he already possesses the skills that they are trying to develop.  So now I have to consider whether I hurry up and get a refund since it is only one class into the program, or if I stick with it and let him enjoy the extra ice time instead of hanging out with me all day on Wednesday's.

10/04/2011 ~ Ballet Technique

9

Tuesday's are ballet technique at 4:30 days.  I should have Lily's hair pulled into a tight bun but I learned a year ago that hair battles are better left for competitions.

I'm so proud of this little girl.  There were times when we butted heads on a daily basis and I secretly wondered whether we were destined for a lifelong personality conflict.  I see now that I had a lot to learn from Lily and she keeps teaching me new lessons every day.   Don't under-estimate the power of diversity.  With an open mind we have so much to learn from even the most opposite personality.

10/03/2011 ~ 8 Years Old!

8

Today is Lily's actual birthday.  We've had a few celebrations to date but this is the day my little girl turns 8.  She'll be at school for most of the day but we had a little daycare birthday party planned for her so the celebration will continue.  And for the record, this little face is why I just love gift giving.  She is so appreciative.  She has been spoiled with oodles of gifts as her birthday approached.  Thank you so much to everyone who helped to make Lily feel loved on her 8th birthday.  We love you guys!

Make a video - it's fun, easy and free!
www.onetruemedia.com

10/02/2011 ~ Luau Sleepover for Lily's 8th Birthday

7

Historically speaking, I tend to over-invite for birthday parties in fear of no-shows and then we average only one absentee.  The Luau Sleepover of the century included.  When I woke with neck tension and a headache, I was pleased to discover that many of the girls had plans of some sort that prevented them from actually sleeping over so our party numbers were high but our sleepover attendance was doable.  This could have gotten as uncomfortable as Woodstock over here.

As the girls were settling into their sleeping bags and I was popping the popcorn in the kitchen, Lily approached me in the kitchen.  "Mom, this is the best birthday party I ever had in my WHOLE LIFE!"  she quietly said.  We squeezed eachother for a while and I droned on about how much I love her and how proud I am of her.  A few friends looked over and she said "Don't mind us, we're having a 'moment'" ha ha!!!

10/01/2011 ~ I giy Off!

6

Claire spent yesterday with her Nonna so I could do some preparation for Lily's upcoming Luau sleepover party this weekend.  They took a trip to the toy store and bought a Princess Potty.  Claire is a bright little 27 month old and truth be told, she could have made much more progress in the potty training department if her Mom was any good at hardball whatsoever.  Want to know who potty trained my other two children?  Nonna did.  So she arrived home sound asleep and I carried her up the stairs where she had a brief moment of lucidity from the hallway light. 
"Nonna got you a PRINCESS POTTY?"  I whispered to her.
"No!  I giy off!  I GIY OFF!" she protested.    Allow me to translate.  "I get off".  Clearly my girl put some time in on the princess potty today.  It was something that she wasn't happy with in that moment although by all accounts, she was thrilled to have sat on it during the day. 
Interestingly, she awoke with a dry diaper on October 1st.  I quickly parked her on the new potty and after a quick moment of rebellion when she felt the first three drips coming....she did manage to make her first big pee pee on the potty.  Here is proof!

9/30/2011 ~ These are the Moments

5

This is the stuff I live for. Catching my kids in a moment of sibling bliss.  This isn't a pose at all.  Claire and Griff were laughing and he was using her tummy for a pillow.  I snuck up on them and they looked over as I approached.  These are the moments I wish I could breathe in forever.