february, 2007

february 25, 2007

it was parent conference week this week. they were child-led conferences which was nice becuase they each showed us around the classroom and went through their routines and all the work we've been doing. overall it seemed to go great. the usual - it would be great if toby was more into art [although he's a really great leader in sports].. it would be great if aly was more into sports [although she's wonderfully creative]. toby is doing really well academically, but could do with listening more [as if we didn't know that!]. he's been acting up a bit at kindergarten for the past few weeks. i wonder if he's bored. he's not great when his brain is not fully engaged.

toby was laughing at me saying 'taping' this week. "taping - like on a piece of tape?!" he said. [as aly sniggered in the background]. as sascha pointed out, the phrase 'to tape something' went from meaning to use sticky tape, to recording something and then back to sticky tape [upon the arrival of DVR] within a matter of about 20 years. very weird.

we caught aly sleepwalking again this week. i heard noises around 12am and when i didn't hear her getting back into bed i went to investigate. after not finding her in her bed, under her bed or in either bathroom i started to panic a little. anyway, she was perfectly fine - wrapped up in a blanket sitting bolt upright at the dining table! last time she was sitting in the living room as though she was watching tv! looks like we might need to keep the stair gate on the stairs at night after all.

february 16, 2007

so it happened - aly lost her other front tooth. now she just has a gaping hole at the front of her mouth and an ever developing lisp! i've no idea how she's managing to chew anything.

snow activity-wise we opted for skiing last weekend. toby, sascha and i made a start while aly was snowshoeing and then she joined us afterwards. it cost a fortune [around $250 for the 4 of us - and toby skied for free] but it was one of the best days we've ever had as a family. we all really loved it. the children amazed me with how natural they were - they seemed to get the hang of snow ploughing instantly and aly was turning really well within about 15 minutes.

it's almost a week later and my left knee and right shoulder are still not quite right but I'd do it every week if we could afford it. it was only a 35 minute drive away and was the most gorgeous day. the views were amazing… aahh :-)

i can ski but i'm definitely far from great at it. i can make it down a mountain [green run] ok by myself but didn't really anticipate how difficult it was going to be with a child in tow. it's one thing to slow yourself down, but quite another to co-ordinate skis and slow down a child who is hurtling down the mountain!

after a couple of hours on the baby slopes, the novelty of the tow rope had worn off - it was a very fast tow rope which yanked your arm viciously as you grabbed hold and was made more difficult by a small child holding onto you - not to mention navigating around all the snowboarders who for some reason couldn't for the life of them make it to the top without flailing under the tow rope halfway up!

anyway, we opted to take the 1st ski lift up to the green run. the children both really enjoyed the ski lift which surprised me because I'd forgotten just how dangly they are and toby usually hates heights.

unfortunately, when we got to the top and all peered over the edge, the mountain was a hell of a lot steeper than either sascha or i had anticipated! it seems the beginning of the run was shared with a blue run. anyway, we went for it - aly and sascha a little more successfully than toby and i who embedded ourselves in a snow bank. after 10 minutes of inching back down to the ski run we somehow made it down to a more level section. we then switched children and aly and i took 2 spectacular tumbles - the second one was the one that did the damage to my knee and shoulder since i pulled her on top of me to break her fall.

upon reflection, doing a proper ski run was perhaps not the most sensible decision, but the second half of the mountain was a much smoother, more enjoyable run. i think we should probably all take a lesson or 2 before the 4 of us head up there again though! it was hard work persuading aly to take off her skis and head home. i'd been hoping to go to the 3-years-to-the-olympics event in richmond and do some ice skating [they had converted one of the main streets into an ice rink and had a street luge set up]. unfortunately just pressing the gas pedal was a bit much like hard work and the children fell asleep in the car on the way home which i don't think they've done for a couple of years.

february 9, 2007

so we're having a playdate right now. there are 5 children. i swear it sounds like at least 15. it doesn't help that they are taking turns speaking into the loud hailer that toby bought at a dollar store. [mental note to dispose of said loud hailer after they have all left!]. they're actually all behaving very well but i've resorted to norah jones on my ipod to mask the screams of excitement.

we're doing a big fundraising raffle at work at the moment because we have to move location in the summer. anyway, i think the stress of selling raffle tickets [and the threat of having to go sell them at the mall next weekend if we don't sell them all before then] is getting to me. i had a VERY weird dream that i was trying to make sure that the coffins for emmerdale farm characters had the correct raffle ticket numbers for the right person on them!

so aly lost another tooth. one of her top front teeth. once again i missed it. i wonder if i'll ever been there for one of her teeth coming out. she has such a hectic social life that i don't see much of her these days!

aly is going snowshoeing at mount seymour tomorrow. toby, sascha and i are hoping to go tobogganing while she is show shoeing. i could go along with her if i wanted to but i have a feeling that it's really not my thing. a bit too much like walking i suspect. if i have to be that cold i need more excitement! anyway, unfortunately it clashes with toby's 8.15am saturday hockey practice so i might be sitting by myself in the parking lot while she goes snowshoeing at this rate since i think the roll call has already gone to snow patrol and i'd look a bit silly tobogganing on my own.

there was a crisis last saturday morning when toby couldn't find his miniature bowling set - only the miniature bowling ball. sascha and i were both still semi conscious and when we woke up we found aly's very cute solution on the kitchen floor:

february 1, 2007

we're off to victoria this weekend and are starting the weekend a day early with sascha and i both taking a day off work on friday to do hopefully very very little. i don't do well with januaries [who does?]. it drags. i'm miserable, lethargic, vaguely ill. i have definitely been in need of perking up so i decided to do something which i don't ever remember doing before; taking a day's vacation without any sort of plan. i might sleep, might scrapbook, might just watch tv. the sofa is my oyster!

we had a nice family tennis game/lesson last saturday. sascha used to be a coach and was showing the children how to hit a forehand and backhand. since my tennis game is pathetic at best i decided to join them on the baseline and picked up some handy hints. i'm hoping the handy hints might even benefit my fake tennis [on the wii]. sunday, aly and i went to see "night at the museum" while the boys were at hockey and it was a great movie. we both loved it. it made a change from the cartoon movies with the occasional joke thrown in for the grown ups.

a little gem from toby the other day after i had handed out goldfish crackers during a playdate at our house:
me: "would you guys like some watermelon?"
toby: "you're going to spoil this playdate just like that time at the party."
me: "what party, what are you talking about?"
toby: "you know at christmas when you spoilt that party with the fruit; with the grapes and i had to eat the grapes and none of the other kids had to have any."
me: [suddenly realises what party he is talking about and goes quiet. i didn't even realise he noticed that he had grapes on his plate while all the other children just piled theirs high with cakes, chips and cookies! maybe i could lighten up a little :) ]

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