A Couple Cute Coco Videos

This one she didn't want me to take any more pictures of her, but she gave me a very cute wiggle instead!

This video is a bit long, but it shows how to really enjoy a box of Smarties!

They Say the Cutest Things

One of my favourite things about a baby getting bigger is when they start to say things on their own.  Nicole has been amazing at repeating (yes sometimes too amazing) but now the cuteness continues with her coming up with her own things to say.  On Monday Mark was eating a fudgsicle and she looked at him and said "Please Mark.  Please?  Please Mark."  On Tuesday Brady learned a new song and sang it non-stop for what felt like 3 hours and finally at supper time she looked at him and said "quiet Bady"  My feelings exactly.  His song was about a pony, skinny and bony, that had an unfortunate mishap at the park, in the morning I reminded him that this was not an appropriate Wee College song so he said he would only sing it in his head.  After Wee College I asked if he remembered NOT to sing the song, and he proudly answered that he only sang it in his head and smiled to himself all morning.  On Wednesday Nicoley started using "Oh yes" in many different situations... with an emphasis on the 'yes'... "play Pey-Pey?  Oh yes" (Pey-Pey is her little buddy actually named Peyton)  then when extra ham showed up on her plate she looked down and said  "Oh yes"  Now I have fun asking her if she loves Mommy, because the answer is always "Oh yes".   If you tell her how cute or pretty she is, my vain little girlie answers "I know"

And Jayme too is so very cute, I know I often leave her out of this blog... only because I don't want her to think I'm making fun of her, a grade two-er can be quite sensitive about such matters.  Jayme's cuteness this week came in the form of a note.  A friend of mine gave us a pair of plaid pants as a hand-me-down for Jayme.  I tried to convince her how cute they were, how old she looked in them, how sassy, how sporty, really anything that may have convinced her to wear them, but she wrote me a note  saying "I WILL NEVER IN MY LIFE WEAR THOSE PANTS... EVER"  She made herself clear, we will re-hand-me-down those pants.

A Peaceful Shower

One day I would like to take a shower in peace, but while the kids are young, I can forget about it!  Today Jayme came in first to pee, I reminded her not to flush, then Brady came and I gave the same reminder, but boys have to ask why, so I said it changed the water, he said cool,  to what colour?  Then he said he had to flush, y'know had to.  I told him I'd flush for him when I was done.  OK he says, but I'm still going to wipe.  Yup, good thing, thanks, I should lock the door next time, we do have 2 bathrooms for reasons such as these.

First Snow

Well somehow the first snowfall sneaked up on me this year.  I realize that it's almost mid-November and we often have snow even in October, but maybe it was denial, or maybe it was just wishful thinking, but this snow caught me rather unprepared.  Jayme had to call me from school before lunch recess today and ask me to please bring her some snowpants, everyone was wearing them.  

And all I had for mitts for the kids were those useless mini gloves.  No warmth, and absolutely not water proof.  I guess all the other moms in St Vital were WAY more prepared than me and had already been to Walmart to buy their fancy new mitts and when the Letkeman family decides to go on the night of the first snow, funny thing, Walmart is OUT OF MITTS!  OK so not really funny, actually frustrating,  but we found some at Children's Place and I hope my kids enjoy their 12$ mittens better than some 6$ pair we couldn't find at Walmart.

I don't think Coco really like the snow all that much, I got her to smile for this picture, but I think she was crying 1 and a half minutes later.  Of course I also think that Brady threw a snowball at her and that is quite possibly the reason for the tears rather than the cold or snow.

Brady loves winter... he wanted to be outside all afternoon, but I ran out of minigloves before he ran out of things to do outside.  I bribed him with hot chocolate to get him in

Jayme likes the snow too.  She's the idea girl.  She decides where to put the big piles of snow, how big to make it and she supervises the work.

I think I'm happy about the new "season", but really I'm just lying to myself, I really don't like winter.  I dislike the snow, I dislike being cold, I dislike bundling up, I dislike carrying a baby all bundled up, and have her slide down because her jacket is puffy and slippery and my jacket is puffy and slippery. ARGH.   The ONLY thing winter has going for it is CHRISTMAS... I LOVE Christmas!!!

Trip out East Part Three: Apples, Pumpkins & a Park

We spent one day touring to countryside around Belleville.  It was such a beautiful fall day.  The trees in Ontario turn the most amazing colours... we saw orange, purple, red and gold leaves.  It was all so lovely.  We went to an apple orchard and pumpkin patch.  The kids fed some ducks there and saw some pot-bellied pigs.  (I'm not sure what they have to do with apples and pumpkins, but still fun nonetheless)  Each of the kids picked their very own apple from a tree and carried it around with them for quite some time (I think they were waiting to eat it until they washed it, but I never actually made that rule)  After the orchard, we went to Lake Ontario and a town called Wellington.  Again SO SO SO beautiful.  There was a fabulous park and playstructure beside the lake and it was a great spot for some fun fall photos!  With all the excitement over the playstructure, the kids forgot their cherished apples on a picnic table.  They remembered once we got back in the van, so Daddy got and and checked EVERY picnic table in the park with no luck, some lucky chipmunks must have got them.  The kids were devastated, and I mean really upset, almost irrationally so.  After we stopped for lunch, we got back in the van and magically those "exact same apples" had turned up!  Turns out Papa had rescued them from the table, or so Mark told the kids, and they believed it hook line and sinker.  (Wow, I've never actually used that expression before!)

So here are only a few of the pictures I took that day.

Mark was back there holding Nicolie up

This truly was an amazing playstructure