De Kelden

Kelden doesn't go to school so no report cards and no parent-teacher interview yet. I do try to teach him a bit at home and when I say a bit, I mean a very little bit, like colors and shapes. He doesn't learn as fast as I think he should and I have to remind myself that everybody learns at a different pace. For now, I need to enjoy him before he goes to school.
One of his favorite activities, besides playing with cars, is taking pictures.

Here is some if his best work.

It looks like she has red hair

And this isn't the worst he has of me!

He likes to take pictures, but he doesn't want me to take him.

Okay, for the family pictures we can't blame it all on him...

Something he likes though, is singing. But not at the right time. It took him almost 2 months to sing during singing time in Primary, even if he knew the songs and would sing them at home. A couple of weeks ago, during sacrament meeting, (you know, if you follow the blog, that that's the time when Julia and I try to close our eyes and see Jesus) he told me that it was time to sing (probably because singing = prayer = done) and  so he broke the nice silence and started singing the January Primary song As a Child of God.
Here is a video of him singing that song. Since I was filming him, he decided to act silly and I had to stop before the end.

If only you could recognize colors and shapes just by singing them...

De Julia

It was the parent-teacher interview last week so I talked to Mme Michèle. She said Julia is doing great. She is quite good at reading and does all right with mathematics too, although Mme Michèle says she has to explain the concepts twice before she really understands them. She gets that from me obviously (why couldn't she take after her Dad on that one?).  I'm glad Julia can learn well and has no specific difficulty.

I asked her again why Julia says she has no friends. This is her answer. "Most kids in this class are competitive and put others down to look better. Some are looking for the attention and affection they don't have at home, but some are actually encouraged by their parents who think their kid is so 'old of character', that it is normal for them to rule the class. Julia receives what she needs at home, both affection and rules. She is polite with everyone. She is not shy and will go play with most of her classmates but because she disagrees with their attitude she doesn't consider them friends." Well, I can relate to that, not wanting to associate with some people because they think they're so smart...

I also went to talk to the physical education teacher because Julia keeps saying that she has trouble doing what he asks. He said she's just fine. She recently went to a birthday party at the gym and she did try almost everything but you could tell she wasn't near as confident as the others. (They probably all do gymnastics every week). It was hard work! Look at that tongue sticking out!

She refused to wear the pants they had for the kids whose mothers don't think. 

Julia was the only one who didn't do the higher beams, she stayed behind and kept doing the lower ones, they were hard enough. 

All this reminding me of how much I hated physical education from grade 6 to 9 because we had to do all these things and, of course, I wasn't good at all.
Here are some videos of that day.

And now I thought I would share a little conversation I had with Julia one Sunday morning.

Julia: Mom, I did just like you last week during bread and water!
Me, wondering if I was telling Kelden to be quiet or trying to get Zack to stop moving, : And what's that?
Julia :  I closed my eyes and saw Jesus.
Me, pretty proud but wanting to clarify things, : Well, I don't really see Jesus, you know. I do think about him and about the things I do during the week, the good ones I should do again and the bad ones that I shouldn't do and have to change.
Julia : like slapping?!
Me, very surprised- I must have slapped her twice her entire life! : Did I slap you this week?
Julia, disappointed but honest : Hmmm, no.

Kelden comes in, playing with some toys that Julia grabs from him without asking. He asks her to give them back, she doesn't.  

Me : Julia, can you give him back his toys, please?
No answer.
Me : Julia, give him back the toys please.
Julia doesn't comply.
Me, raising my voice a bit : Julia !
Julia still doesn't comply.
Me, raising my voice again : Please, Julia !
Julia, triumphant : Ha, you shouldn't scream !!!!!
Me, a little upset : How am I supposed to teach Julia to be nice if I can slap nor scream?
Julia, without hesitating : By giving hugs.

Next time I'll just ask her what Jesus looks like.

Don't be fooled now if you see me hug my kids. I'm not loving them, I'm disciplining them!!

Birthday on Family Day

Today was a great day. Zack knew it was going to be and so he made sure I was up at 5.30-again- to enjoy it to its fullest. He got to spend some time with Special and Grandpa Bruce in the morning while the rest of us went to the cinema thanks to Auntie Becca! We saw Happy Feet 2. It was Kelden's first cinema experience. I think he liked it because guess who's dancing with penguins now?

Julia was in a hurry to go celebrate Grandpa Bruce's birthday so Keld brought her and Kelden over almost right after lunch.

I think she was also excited to see her best friend.

Meanwhile, Zack and I stayed home and took naps. I told you it was a great day. You might think I'm lazy, I think I deserved it. I know this year isn't so bad, I've already had 4 nights where I didn't have to get up at all between 10.30pm and 5.30am. 4 nights! In less than 2 months!!! I'm well on my way to beat last year's record! I'm actually almost certain I will beat it since 4 nights is my grand total for last year (and that's why even if this year is better, I still haven't recuperated and wish I could take more naps...)

When we were ready we went to join the party.  Dad couldn't wait and so he opened his presents before eating cake!

Mom had made chocolate cake, and she let us bring the leftovers home. Again, I did say it was a great day.

After trying to get a family picture we were on our way. It looks like it might be our last time with the sleigh and shovel. It has melted lots.

Spring soon? 

10 month old Zack

Zack is now 10 month + 1 week. Approximately 22 pounds, 29 inches and we can see two new teeth on top. The key word this month : tiring. Tiring because he sleeps less at night, he wakes up more often and earlier but tiring also because he goes everywhere, opens up everything and so we have to be careful. We never had that problem with the other two, which is why the house isn't entirely childproof. Also, this month, he's been practising the stand-up position.

 


He's a musician already, like his brother :)
He's been quite sick this week unfortunately. 4 days with a fever.

He's doing better today, although you can tell his teeth are bothering him. He screamed quite a bit this morning and still doesn't want to eat his solids. But he's slowly coming back to his normal self, the happy, smiling Zack.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Julia has been waiting for weeks for Valentine's Day. She had her cards all ready. And it took her only one day to write them all (compare to 2 weeks last year).

Too bad she hasn't been able to give them to her classmates yet. She was sick yesterday, throwing up all day and so I kept her home again today. She was feeling better though and wanted to make heart-shaped cookies. So she and Kelden got ready.

Kelden made the dough and then did the dishes.

He had to be careful; the chair was leaving. Notice his helper (Lightning McQueen).
Julia made the hearts and decorated them.

It's serious work as you can see.
And all this was done under the supervision of "Sick Zack". It's his second day with a fever.

Believe it or not, this picture makes him look better than he actually is. It's sad to see him like that, he usually looks so happy. Let's hope it doesn't last long.
And now, the end result.

Keld brought Kelden to choose a surprise for me last night. I was indeed very surprised; we usually don't buy gifts for each other and so I wondered what kind of chocolate they would bring back. They came back with a watch! I had been complaining  about how the bracelet is broken on the one I have. What am I going to complain about next February?

The Most Splendid Shania Twain Centre

Timmins. February 11th, 2012. -31 degrees Celsius (for you Fahrenheit friends, it means very cold). Good thing my batmobile has heated seats. My bum's on fire. Not for long. I got to get out. My mission: take a picture of the most splendid and famous Shania Twain Centre. That's what the not-self-destructive message said. I wonder if I'm going to the right place. It is called the Shania Twain Centre but it's neither splendid nor famous. But since I don't know any other one, I keep going. I pass the most splendid and famous buildings...

...and find myself in unknown territory (that's right, I've never been there before but Keld hasn't visited the Center either...we respectively studied and taught at her high school, so that should compensate, right?)

We meet no opposition. In fact, there's no car in the parking lot. I knew the centre wasn't that famous. But let's not be overconfident. They might be hiding, disguised as ice sculptures...Quickly, I take my picture.

I know this shot  isn't proof enough that this is the right building. I need a closer look. Courageously, I dive into the snow.

My plan is coming together, I decide to be brave and get inside. I pretend to be a crazy foreigner -my favorite disguise- who will not leave until you take some pictures for her.

The young lady tells me she has just the thing for me...behind the wall. Should I trust her? Why not? After all, my valiant knight is right outside, just in case.

When I see what she brought me, I know just what pose to take.

I can't stay long. The nice young lady might get suspicious. So I go back and report. I tell my boss the Centre is just a front. It's mainly the entrance to the gold mine tour. My next mission is underground.

Happy Birthday Uncle Dave!

This time, we made a cake!  Well, brownies actually..because it was easier with the theme I chose. Yep, since Uncle Dave just became American, I thought we'd make him an "American cake."

I couldn't make 13 stripes and I definitely couldn't put 50 stars. I considered making 33 little ones but I had a very hard time drawing just one and at one point I thought maybe I should have decided on drawing a football instead! Did you know that, according to Dave, part of the swearing in was to agree to watch the Super Bowl?
I'm sure glad becoming Canadian didn't involve watching hockey...

Papa

Keld is back to work and he misses his kids.

They miss him too.