All she wants for Christmas...

2010 Garden

We have a little water garden! I didn't get any photos of it before the raccoons got at the fish, unfortunately. We're down from 10 to 1 fish left. I'm still debating whether to get more (they're just little mosquito fish.) Anyway, it looked great, with the irises and dwarf papyrus. It's starting to come back now, but if I ever catch those darn raccoons, they're in big trouble!

My favourite roses in the garden - they smell divine!
Another rose, smells good too ;)
Finally got the shade garden finished. Lots of hostas. I moved two of the ferns (a maidenhair and another (ostrich? male? wood? not sure)) and am still on the search for the elusive toad lily.
An here's this year's garden! We started very late, but planted:

Seeds:
- peas, bush beans, broccoli, pumpkin, carrots

Starter plants:
- cucumbers, zucchini, brussels sprouts

This was 1.5 weeks ago (freshly planted)

And after a week of super hot (30+ degrees) weather, we have sprouts!
Broccoli!

Pumpkin
Check out these beans!
Tiny little pea sprouts

July 2010 Photos (so far!)

The nice weather is finally here, and I'm happy to say we've managed to get out and enjoy it. Aside from my three weeks of lingering flu symptoms, which is finally clearing up!

Remember those shark teeth? We lost one! The adult ones are still coming up behind, but they should start moving forward. The other front tooth is also quite loose.

At the waterpark with Sabine and Alex (Max wasn't interested in a photo)

June 2010 Photos

At Centennial Beach with Ashley:




Found this guy in our garden.
Shark teeth! Her adult ones are coming in already. She's only 4.5 years old!!! I'm SO not ready for this. The baby ones are REALLY loose, but being stubborn. Hopefully we'll have a no-teeth shot soon.

Last skating class
Last dance class
With her cousin
With Sabine, directing the start of the North Delta parade

A wish

Chloe's Bubbe Donna gave her a small pewter elephant that has a tiny hiding spot. In it is a necklace. I guess Donna told her that she can make a wish if she puts on the necklace.

Tonight at bed she proclaimed it was a day to make a wish. So we got out the elephant, and with great ceremony, she put on the necklace.

Then she held the pendant in her hand, and whispered something. She looked at me, and asked "Are you supposed to tell someone your wish?"

"Usually not." I replied.

"Well I'm not going to tell you what I wished for then."

"Okay."

"But I'll tell you that it starts with the letter 'B'."

"Okay."

"When my wish comes true, can I tell you then?"

"Yes, sure."

"Okay. But I've wished many times already, and it hasn't come true."

"Well, sometimes it takes a while."

"Are you supposed to close your eyes?"

"Sometimes. You can if you want."

"Well then how can you see the cloud in your wish?"

"Um...maybe it's just hard to see sometimes?"

"Oh, right. It's an invisible cloud."

"Mm-hmm."

"Did you know invisible is a place where you don't see things?"

Man, I really want to know what she wished for! Let's hope it comes true soon ;)

Favourite milestones

Some of my favourites so far:
- blowing her own nose
- wiping her own butt
- mastering the swing (no more pushing for hours - yay!)

Yup, in the last week, she suddenly (magically) figured out how to pump her legs to get herself going. Whoo!

And yeah, I know. I'm far behind in photos. Here's a recent one to keep ya happy.
Note: this is BEFORE she decided to cut a whack of hair off of the side of her head. Sigh.

And now a word from our sponsors

...if only she paid us...

---------------------------------------------------------------

chloe

dad

mom

---------------------------------------------------------------
...if you didn't guess it, Chloe typed those words ;)

I had to write this down so I can show it to her when she's 16.

After having read the word "Dell" on my laptop, Chloe asked what the word meant. I knew it had something to do with valleys (think "The Farmer in the Dell") but said I wasn't sure.

Her response: "Check on your computer - you know everything!"

I said that I had to write that down for prosperity, and she asked why. When I explained that I like to write down the funny things she says, she laughed, and asked if she could read them.

It won't be long before she can read them on her own. She can read simple words now (cat, duck, red, etc...and now dell, apparently.)

A few recent photos

...because I'm so far behind. I'll catch up again, I promise!

More mispronunciations

I'll keep adding to this as we remember (and hear) more!

pup-cake = cupcake
pumpkin catch = pumpkin patch
bandelion = dandelion
olibs = olives
sgostco = Costco
Mooshy Mooshy = Mike Wazowski (from Monsters Inc) -- when she was two-ish
Mike Skowski = Mike Wazowski (from Monsters Inc) -- when she was three

Barbara Ann is Gorgeous

The song Barbara Ann (by the Beatles) comes on the stereo.

C: "Oh I LOVE this song. It's gorgeous."
Me: "So you really like this song?"
C: "Yes, it's been my favourite forever. I like to dance to it, and do this with my head." (demonstrating how she grooves to the song by bopping her head to the beat).

She's right, it was her first "favourite" song. I think it started around when she was 9 months old? She used to go nuts when it came on, and (when she could stand) would dance to it over and over and over.

My built-in calendar

Me (looking at my daily schedule for work): "Who books a meeting for Friday at 4pm?"
Chloe (wearing a red plastic fireman's hat): "It's Wednesday today, mister!"
(it was)

21 Questions to ask your child

November 11, 2009 - 3 years, 10 months, 2 days old.
1. What is something mommy always says to you?
"I love you" (awwww)

2. What makes you happy?
"When you say I love you" (double awww)

3. What makes you sad?
"When someone does something rude to me" (what's rude?) "When you hit someone"

4. What makes you laugh?
"When someone tickles me"

5. How old are you?
"Three and a half"

6. How old is Mommy?
"I don't know" (what do you think) "Five and a half"

7. How old is Daddy?
"I don't know....five and a half?"

8. What is your favorite thing to do?
"Play with the camera"

9. Who is your best friend?
"Sabine"

10. What do you want to be when you grow up?
"A fireman"

11. What are you really good at?
"Stamp and clean my hands and crafts"

12. What are you not very good at?
"Painting the house" (um, never asked her to do that?)

13. What did you do today?
"Had dinner at a restaurant"

14. What is your favorite food?
"Rice Krispies and cake"

15. What is your favorite song?
"Baby Beluga"

16. What do you want for (holiday or birthday) this year?
"I reeeeally want a wagon that has a cover on top and a ride-in car like Casey has" (our next door neighbour)

17. What is your favorite animal?
"A sheep - I like them a little bit. And giraffes and elephants and lions and zebras"

18. What is love?
"I love you" (what does love mean) "Love is nice"

19. What does mommy/daddy do for work?
"You work on a computer. Daddy has lunch"

20. Where do you live?
"Canada" (where do we live in Canada?) "North Delta"

21. Where is your favorite place to go?
"Disneyland!"

Halloween 2009

And close-ups of the pumpkins. Front to back: mine (I painted it first), Brenda's (Chloe painted it first), Dare's (face was a template, then he carved the rest (only shaving the top layer, so the light still shone through)


Chloe's (she drew the face with a Sharpie and Dare cut it out - I love the mouth!), mine (template), and Chloe's (painted, I just poked holes in it, but the candle blew out). You can't see it, but there's also a wee tiny pumpkin that Chloe painted.

Catch-up

Our trip to Haida Gwaii (part one)
Haida Gwaii (part two)
Haida Gwaii - comparisons
August 2009 Photos
September 2009 Photos

Still working on the Disney ones!

I know, I know

It's been a LONG time. Lots to catch up on, including this:

Photos and stories to come soon, I promise!

September 2009 Photos

Dare and Chloe were playing in the front room. Then it got quiet. I came upstairs to find this:


Their first sleepover! Bedtime didn't go so well, but other than that, the girls had a blast!



And I think those are all the photos from September, excluding the Disney ones, of course! Those are coming up soon...