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Daily Life

Reminiscing already…
Olivia is nine months old today - or eighteen months if you count it all.
For nine agonizing months she grew inside me. From the second I found out her tiny life was forming, I worried and waited for the day when I would finally get to hold her safely in my arms. Honestly, most [...]

No Longer a Kindergartener
Today was Jackson’s last day in Kindergarten.
And as every mom will say — I can’t believe it is already over! But yet, September seems like a very long time ago.
With my belly nine months swollen with Olivia, I had handed my son over to a teacher I didn’t know and prayed that he would [...]

It’s Finally Summer
Today I wrote on my blog about how I spent my first real summer morning now that my daughter is finally out of school.
Now I can actually apply all the great Creative Summer Days ideas.
Did you enter all the contests that interested you? You can see the full list with links to the individual [...]

Lacrosse
In Canada, we arm our children with sticks in the name of sport.
My husband, Phil, is from Quebec. In true Québécois style, he was raised Catholic, played hockey almost every day of his life - and yes, ate poutine and tourtière.
While we live far from Quebec and our ponds never freeze in winter, Jackson, [...]

Head Cheerleader?!? THANKS!
Last week, Kailani and her wonderful readers voted 5 Minutes for Mom as Head Cheerleader in the Bloggy Hoss Elections!
THANK YOU so much ladies - what a fun and fabulous honor!
I can almost picture myself looking perky and perfect in a little skirt and knee socks… Oh wait… no… I just saw my [...]

This girl just loves her shoes…
I am so in love with this shot of Olivia chewing on her review sample of Clarks kids Cruisers that I just can’t stop looking at it!
And the shoes are super cute too of course!
This spring, Clarks kids expanded their line into the the US. So to promote the line, they sent us some [...]

Please Don’t Tease My Baby!
Today at 5 Minutes for Books and at Snapshot, Jennifer went back eight years to the day she discovered her first-born was not perfect. It got me thinking about my own babies’ imperfections.
I think for us as moms our babies are perfect to us, and then when someone else says they have a defect, it [...]

Eat Your Veggies
Summer brings an abundance of delicious seasonal fruits and vegetables. Farmers’ markets have farm-grown vegetables that taste so much better than what has been stored and shipped across the country (or the world). Take this opportunity to encourage your kids to try out something new. In the summer months, my kids [...]

Why are kids so much cuter when they’re speaking a foreign language?
Don’t you just LOVE hearing little kids speaking a foreign language? I mean, they just sound sooooo cute!!!
You’ve gotta turn on your speakers and watch this couldn’t-be-cuter video.
Too much candy from Capucha on Vimeo.
So tell me… what is it that makes a tiny tot speaking French so irresistible?
I think maybe it’s because they sound terrifically [...]
It was the one routine I did consistently - no matter what!
Tonight, Olivia went to bed without her bath.
Since she was born, I have had the same nighttime routine for Olivia. Even on Christmas Eve when we came home after midnight, I turned off the lights in the bathroom, and by the glow of the hallway light, gave her a quick bath.
I was afraid [...]

Go Ahead — Ignore Your Kids
Tonight I made a good parenting choice.
I ignored my daughter.
Just as I was serving out a kid-friendly, yummy dinner that I know from past experience she loves, 3 year old Julia decided to declare, “No food for me!” She erupted into a tantrum and ran into the playroom screaming and crying.
My patience was [...]
Cook!
Unless there’s a particularly compelling show on television, each time I begin my dinner preparations in the kitchen, I hear the pitter patter of little feet as four-year-old Kyle comes in to ask, “Can I help you?” He doesn’t even wait for an answer as he heads over to pull the step stool up [...]

My brother is way too much fun!
I took these shots of Jackson and Olivia last night. Our impromptu photo shoot made us late for our nighttime routine.
It drives my husband crazy when I grab the camera and ignore the ticking clock. But, I think it is worth letting them be a little late for bedtime. Now, I can keep those [...]

What are your dreams like?
Last night I dreamed that we adopted a two and a half year old boy. In the dream, he was related to us and his parents died, so we brought him into our family.
Although it was so sad that he had lost his parents, having this little boy join our family was wonderful. Jackson finally [...]

I cannot write on paper…
I was sitting outside this afternoon enjoying the sun, with Olivia sleeping next to me in her stroller and Jackson tearing around the cul de sac on his bike.
But my workaholic nature wouldn’t allow me to just sit still. So I borrowed a pad of paper from my neighbor, (we were down the street [...]

Now, that is some serious bargaining!
“Mom, can you pleeeease have sextuplets, or at least some twins. Two kids in our family is just not enough.” (Jackson has been watching Jon and Kate plus Eight again.)

“Jackson - I can’t just order up sextuplets or twins,” I pry open his mouth to scrub his teeth and chuckle a bit - but not [...]