School Pictures

Again, I wish they gave a class picture, not just individual ones. They have started doing sibling pictures in the spring, so maybe one day. Anyway, we bought the package that included the CD and for the printed pictures we had the choice between two different poses and we chose those:

Mainly because we didn't like how the kids were not at the centre of the picture on the other pose (despite Kelden's nice smile).

With the CD we also get the sepia and black and white versions.

But I still prefer with colors.

The Dog, the Cat and Zack

I got a $5 Tim Horton's gift card for helping at the school on Friday. So, of course, we bought doughnuts for supper. Zack did not want to share with Marley.

But he got so mad he threw the doughnut on the floor...for Marley to eat.
I think Zack prefers the cat.

I'm not sure it's mutual though.

Saint Catherine's Day

Today is my day but we have already celebrated at the school on Friday, making the traditional tire. Do I need to remind you of the tradition or do you remember it from last year's post? Just in case, here's a little recap.
Marguerite Bourgeois, canonized in the 80s, was recruited to teach young girls in the New France. She therefore moved there in the middle of the 17th century. She didn't want to be part of a cloistered group of nuns and so she formed her own sisters group teaching the poor and the natives. She attracted them by giving them candy.

We tried to make her candy on Friday. It's not easy. It's mainly made of molasses and corn syrup that you have to boil at a very specific temperature and then you pull it, like this.

Keld, who took the day off so I could go help, came when it was our kids's turns and tried it himself. It was sticking all over his hands...I should have taken a picture of that. (Okay, I wasn't better..)
When the tire has the color of gold, it's ready to be cut. If you wait too long, it gets hard and you can't cut it any more. If you do it right, it looks like this:

Then you wrap it in the paper to make a papillotte.

The older teachers told me that they used to do more than just tire to celebrate Sainte Catherine's day. There were raconteurs telling native stories and dance classes. Today, they make the candy and dress up...as native americans....

..or as nuns...

I didn't have anything special for Julia, she chose a châle that looked native to us.

She had a good time anyway, and so did we !!

The New Julia

Julia finally got her glasses. This is her new look:

You have to see her close to really appreciate the style (and see the colors better).
I think it will take me some time to get used to that new look. It makes her look older...

Our Latest Adventures

Skating

Since both Julia and Kelden got skates for their birthdays, I brought them skating. I started with Julia (Kelden was too tired the first day we went).

We went back this past Friday, with Kelden this time. Julia was already doing a lot better. Okay, she's still not your next Olympic gold medallist, but, eh, it was only her second time!

Kelden, on the other hand, hated it. I had to hold him the whole time. I wasn't even able to take a picture of him standing up, he would fall right away.

Birthday Party

We were invited to a birthday party yesterday. I didn't ask permission to post pictures of the birthday boy, but here are my kids playing rock stars.

And here is the cake the mom made.

She definitely would have won the ward conference cake contest if she had been able to bring it before we ate it.


Cake Contest

There was indeed a cake contest for our ward conference yesterday. There were prizes for best presentation, best creativity, best taste and best overall.
This is the cake that won best creativity:

And this is the cake that won best overall:

Notice that I didn't take any pictures of the competition :)


Glue

I have to put a picture of Zack and his Dad because lately, that's what Zack has been doing: asking for and sticking like glue to his Dad!

We brought him (and the others) for immunizations this past week. He started screaming as soon as he saw the nurse's room. We tried to weigh and measure him. Tried. His bum never touched the scale, he was moving in my arms so much I couldn't put him down and so we stopped before it went past 22 pounds. After that, the nurse and I held him tight and she said he was 34 inches.
These measurements make him tall for his age and too light for his height. I knew exactly what to do to make him gain weight instantly: put him on Special's scale. According to that "heavy" scale he is 27 pounds. I tried to shrink him too, by re-measuring him, and he is now 33 and a half inches. And that places him nicely at the 75th percentile for both weight and height :)
And, just to let you know, the nurse gave him last year's flu vaccine. So we have to go back in 4 weeks. We can't wait...

Kelden's Birthday

Kelden turned 4 on Tuesday. They were all up early (as usual)  to celebrate.

This time we started with the party at the school. I made the same cupcakes that I had made for Julia, except that I needed more this time (there are 2 more friends in his class plus one assistant). With two containers of cupcakes balancing on the stroller, it's a miracle they didn't all get squished.  Anyway, we weren't too late (I walked very slowly trying to be careful).
They sang first (and you might notice how the smart teacher has them practice some maths skills).

Then Kelden and the assistant distributed the cupcakes.

Kelden was very proud to be the star of the day. His teacher had given him a party hat for the occasion.

The whole class was excited actually. I guess they like chocolate too!

After school, the party at home. Kelden had asked for a very sophisticated meal (Kraft Dinner). And Grandpa Bruce couldn't come fast enough for him to open the presents.

He got lots of things, toys and clothes, and played with everything right away.

Well, we did have cake in between. Look how his new shirt from James and Ashley match the big cookie.

At 4 years old, Kelden is approximately 40 pounds for 41.33 inches (if my conversion is right) which puts him on the 75th percentile line.

Yesterday evening was the parent teacher interview but I actually saw his teacher in the afternoon. They had called to tell me that Kelden had fallen and that the bump on his forehead was pretty bad and they asked if I wanted to come and see. I told them that I was on my way to their book sale and would take him home if needed. When I came, the teacher was on her preparation time and asked if I could see her then instead of later. I agreed, hoping Zack would stay quiet (which he did for a grand total of 2 minutes).  She said Kelden was a great boy, very nice to others, making friends, etc. She told me the results of the early screening. They screen a few areas, I'm not sure of the translation but those areas are: attention skills and memory, verbal fluidity, interest and participation, capacity to recognize letters, calligraphy and maths (they actually split maths into 8 categories). Kelden scored very poorly on the last 3 areas. She said it wasn't surprising that he couldn't recognize the letters because the test shows capital letters and they are studying lower-case letters in class. So hopefully, as they study in class he will get better. For calligraphy, she said that she still can't tell if Kelden is right or left-handed. Me neither. We both agree that he seems to write better with his left hand but he switches constantly and uses scissors with his right hand, eats with both, etc. So instead of getting a stronger grip with one hand, he still is unsure with both. As for maths, I have no excuse, except maybe that he didn't inherit his dad's skills, just his looks :)  Once we were done, I asked Kelden if he wanted to come with me and buy some books before going home but he pointed at his teacher, saying he'd rather stay with her!

I'm glad he likes going to school now and I am confident he will get better in all those areas. I have already seen a tremendous progress this past year, so I'm not worried...yet...just paranoid now that he might need glasses too :)