Friday, February 15, 2013

A sensory bin

Tyler is a very busy boy.  He likes to get into everything.  I really should have taken a picture of him on top of the piano before I got him down from there.  It amazes me daily on how much trouble one little boy can get into.  I can honestly say he is nothing like his sisters. 

One of his most favourite things to do is play with the cat's water dish and food dispenser.  Usually, I put water out for Sebastian at night time and during Tyler's nap.  Other than that, Tyler will inevitably go for the water dish and dump it all over the floor.  If there is no water dish to play with, Tyler turns his attention to the cat food.  He likes to run his fingers though the little granuals, throw them, and try to eat them.  (Shudder.)

I thought I was being smart and gave Tyler a bin full of rice and measuring cups.  I thought it would keep him busy.  Was I right.  He was kept busy throwing the rice, trying to eat the rice, and dumping the rice all over the floor.

He did decide to smile nicely for the camera though.  I appreciate that.  And he did have a good time.



Wednesday, February 13, 2013

My birthday cake

My children like to play with play dough.  I make my own. 

Reasons why:
1.  They tend to drop a lot on the floor and/or mix it with other colors and I just can't justify spending money for something that they use once.
2.  Homemade stuff smells better.
3.  It's cheaper to make my own.

The other day while playing play dough, they decided to make me a cake.  Aaah, now I know the reason why I don't let them cook in the kitchen!


A close up of Abigail's cake.  It's even complete with candles!


Annika's cake had Swedish flags on it as well as candles.  It was quite the festive creation!

Monday, February 11, 2013

Korean BBQ

We have a new boarder.  He is from South Korea and a real sweetheart.  Our children are in love with him.  Abigail is the cutest.  If she hears him come in from school, she'll run to the door and ask him how his day was. 

Tyler is also a big fan.  He can say his name.  He'll sit at the dinner table and just chant it, over...and over....and over.....

He has a girlfriend that comes over periodically to hang out.  She loves our kids as well.  It is definitely mutual.  I think my children like anyone that will take the time to play with them.

Last week, I got asked if he and his girlfriend would be able to cook an authentic Korean meal for us.  I jumped at the chance to not cook.  They decided to make us Korean BBQ. 

Oh. My. Word.  It was so good.


It might not look like much because I obviously don't know how to take a picture to do it justice, but I will tell you all about it.  There was pork that was marinated in a very good sauce you can't get in Medicine Hat, you have to go to Calgary for it.  Then it was stir fried.  There was also pork that was barbecued, along with mushrooms and onions.  They made noodles with some sort of sauce on it as well, and then there was a plate of lettuce.

It was explained to us that you put a piece of pork inside the lettuce leaf, then wrap it up (kind of like a taco) and eat it like that.  There was a great marriage of flavour with the meat and the lettuce.  It was SO GOOD. 

I almost forgot to mention our appetizer!  They bought a bag of banana things.  They looked like cheezies...the soft messy ones, not the hard ones.  But, they were banana flavoured.  The kids ate the whole bag in under 15 minutes.  Annika requested that I buy another bag for her lunches, so guess what I'm doing on shopping day?

I mentioned that any time they wanted to barbecue for me, they could go ahead.  I don't like to try new things too often, but I'm glad I tried this!

Saturday, February 09, 2013

Saturday snapshot ~ A new fad perhaps?


Clark sure seems to bring out the silly in our children.  Annika asked that I take a picture of her new hat so that "people will laugh at me!"


Yes, it's underwear.  Don't worry, it's clean.

Friday, February 08, 2013

A little bit of hoarding

I think I've mentioned before, I like to keep things for sentimental reasons.  I was organizing one of my linen closets the other day, and I happened to come across a duvet cover that my Mom and my Auntie had made for me when I was a little girl.

My sister had a matching one.  I called her to ask her if she still had it and she said that she didn't.  I then told her that I still had mine and she replied "But you keep everything."  Not everything....just things that hold dear memories for me.

My sister pointed me in the direction of my mother, she thought that maybe she still had it.  My mom looked everywhere in her house for the cover, but she thinks that she probably got rid of it.  I don't know why nobody asked me if I had wanted it, I would have kept it in a heartbeat.

Anyway, I put the cover on Annika's bed while she was at school one day. 


She came home and asked me why she had "an old blanket" on her bed.  I explained that it was mine when I was a little girl and that her Moogie had helped make it.  That perked her up and she asked if she could keep it on her bed.  It's very cute and brings back good memories for me when I see it.

Wednesday, February 06, 2013

Valentine's Day DIY

I love Valentine's Day.  I think it is my second favourite holiday.  I guess any day that I can justify pink pancakes and maybe eating a very little bit of chocolate at breakfast is OK by me!  We usually buy the girls a present or two.  This year, I think Clark is going to buy them some roses.  I'll put them in a couple of vases just for them so when they come to the breakfast table, they'll be waiting for them.  I'm excited for that.  I think it's great that their Daddy is showing them now how they should be treated. 

Last year, I bought them Valentine's  pajamas.  They enjoyed that.  This year, I decided to make them shirts.  There are a bunch of tutorials floating around the Internet about dyeing with bleach, so I decided to give it a whirl.  I must say, it was SO MUCH FUN!  I had to stop myself, or I might have started dyeing a whole bunch of things.

Annika's shirt is on the top.  I wanted to make little hearts go down the sleeve, but they look more like blobs.


So then, with Abigail's shirt, I decided to just bleach stripes down one of the sleeves.  I hope it doesn't look funny when they wear them that there is only bleach on one sleeve and not the other one.  I think it looks quirky.