All I can say is...

YAY!!!!

Melting streams,

emerging leaves,

forts in the woods,

and floppy-eared dogs,

OH MY!

My Adam

This is my Adam-Bean.  Our cheerful sunflower child.

Before he was born, when we told Julia about her new sibling, we said we didn't know whether the baby was a boy or a girl, because it was only the size of a bean.

It stuck.

Which could be a problem someday.  Especially since Julia sometimes calls him Beano. 

Adam has been, from the very moment he arrived, a happy, lively soul.

He smiled earlier than most.  He giggled earlier than most.  This picture, with the smile?  Is typical.  As is the fuzziness, since this kid is ALWAYS in motion!

He loves taking things apart, dumping things out, and building things.  Wrap, paper, cardboard, leftover ANYTHING is a treasure that needs to be kept and used for some sort of building project.

He's the loudest kid I know.  And he talks constantly.  At a high decibal level.

He's my cuddler.  He gives great hugs.  At night, when he's giving me a goodnight kiss, it can be painfully enthusiastic!  My glasses always end up askew as I try to keep from being too roughly tackled.

He's gentle with the cats and rough with the dog.

In the kitchen, anything goes.  In a bowl could be sugar, all the vanilla in the bottle, and a bunch of oregano.  Presented to me with flair.  All the paper in the computer is taken and covered in pictures and the "writing" of recipes, which MUST be placed with the other recipe books.  I have no peace in the kitchen, having constant help whenever I so much as set a toe in through the kitchen entry, and nothing, absolutely nothing, is sacred there. 

He's the most grateful child I know.  He says thank you for EVERYTHING.  Sometimes I'll do something without even thinking about it--nothing much, really--and he'll be all smiles and "THANK you, mommy!" as though I've just done the best thing in the world for him.  I love the positive reinforcement.

He likes playing dress up, pink, hotwheels, trains, getting his nails done (!), drawing, building, taking things apart, making forts, going to preschool, collecting toilet paper tubes, opening mom's mail, leaving the end off the gluestick, squeezing out mom's toothpaste, playing board games (as many as mom or dad will sit with him for--all day if possible), digging in the dirt, and snuggling with mom reading story after story.

Every night he asks, "Why do you love me, Mummy?"

And every night I ask myself:

How could I NOT love this child?

My Julia

Oh how I love this little girl!

She's my prickly rose.  I wish I could see into her head, see what she really thinks. 

These things I do know.

She loves to read.

She's strong in her ability to say no when tempted to do something she doesn't feel is right.

She's a story writer.

She loves her brother.  When push comes to shove, she's there for him.

She's obedient. 

I don't know how many times I've asked the kids to do something, and she's on it. 

Right away.

And then I say, "Didn't I tell you to...oh.  You're already done!"

She's my Family Home Evening alarm bell.

She's not a big cuddler.  When I give her a hug, she doesn't relax into it, rather she tries to grab my neck and climb up my legs. 

But if I take out a book and pull her near to read I can snag at least a book's worth of snuggles.

She loves school, especially the language arts part.

She has developed into a sweet little singer.

She wants to be a mom and an author when she grows up.

Her giggle is the best sound in the world.

She's ticklish.  Very.  Ticklish.  You just have to point your index finger in her general direction and say "tickle tickle," and she loses it.

She's tough.  When she is really hurt, she hangs in there and takes it with nary a tear.

But if Adam touches her, you'd think she was mortally wounded.

She likes animals, books, peas, tomatoes, the scriptures, speaking in primary, helping mom without being asked, going to bed with her music on, soccer, choir, baking, pet society and webkinz, making crafts, scrapbooking, dressing up, talking with friends on the phone, steaming hot baths, and running.

She doesn't like hamburger, being cold, math minute practice, being rushed, and

CHOCOLATE (much).

She needs early intervention.  It's my responsibility as a woman and her mother to ensure that she learns to love the stuff.

She's my joy.

Calooh, Calay! A bookish sort of day!

This past weekend was a Children's Book Festival in town.  Since we loooooove reading at our house (we can spend the whole day reading stories, much to the internal screaming in pain from my vocal chords), attending was not an option!

Highlights:

Each child received a book--and we got a couple of really cooooool ones.

A storyteller told a couple of great stories, and had the kids in stitches.  I didn't want to use the flash, so my photos are a bit iffy, but here they are:

Decorating cookies

Beaded bookmarks.

All in all, a good day!

A moment of excitement

I was upstairs yesterday when I heard a police car "whoot whoot" and then the sound of a cop speaking through a megaphone.  I went downstairs and checked up and down the street.  All appeared well.  Went back upstairs and looked out the bedroom window and saw, quite a distance down, what looked like a guy in full camo holding a shotgun (away from the house, to my relief)

Do you see what I saw?  To the right, underneath lower wire, by the conifer tree?  Believe me, it looks in real life exactly like I told you!   

I reached for hubs' field glasses, which happened to be right there on the dresser.

And realized that the perp in the big crime drama was this:

And that the neighbours had the television on.

I really REALLY need to get out more!

In a pinch, at first.

In my so organized and extremely together state, I made pancakes a few weeks ago.  Looked forward to the crisp pancakes with syrup.  Yum.  As the pancakes were cooking, I went for the syrup and...

Crumbs.

I had forgotten that I was out.

What to DOOOO? 

So onto the internet I went, and found a recipe for homemade pancake syrup.  It was to be made in a pinch, not as a regular staple.  The batch that I made that day was really too sweet, but the kids liked it OK. When we went to the store to get syrup, I asked them whether I should just make some again (way cheaper!) or get our usual.  They decided that they liked the homemade stuff, and although it tasted different, they'd get used to it. 

Last week I made it again, only without as much sugar and with a bit of salt to cut the sweet.

It's really good.  Definitely more than comparable to the stuff in the stores.

I'm afraid it has corn syrup in it, so if you're squeamish about that sort of thing, this recipe is not for you.  But then again, the stuff in the store has corn syrup, too.  So.

Here's the recipe:

1-1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1-1/2 cup water
1 cup light corn syrup
1 teaspoon maple flavoring
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
A good pinch of salt

In a saucepan,  stir and cook the sugars, water, and corn syrup over medium heat until boils.  Boil for about 7 minutes, until slightly thickened.  Add extract.  I think I add a bit more of the maple than the recipe.  Taste and see what's good for you.  Add the salt.  Stir well.  Cool for a few minutes.  Enjoy!

Just another day.

Yeah, this is just an example of our usual get-up for school.  Shirt on the bottom, pants and unders on the head, and shirt backwards.  One shoe and one slipper.

Yup.  Just another morning at our place.

I should point out that he was the only one at preschool today with underwear on his head. 

I'm so proud.  *sniff*

Backlog

Really, I've been a horrible blogger lately.  Looking back, I see that I've posted maybe...erm...once a week.  What can I say.  My fingers were removed due to...uh..digimagiggeritis major...and I've had to..um...type with my nose.  Which takes awhile.

So without further ado, and so my nose doesn't get chapped, here we go with the recent happenings.

Last Wednesday was Dress Like A Storybook Character Day.  Here's Julia:

Can you guess who she is?

(hint:  It's a Robert Munsch character)

***

In other news.

Have I told you how much I looooove Freecycle?  If you haven't heard of it, GO!  NOW!  And check out http://www.freecycle.com/  Sign in under your county, and you're good to go!  It's a yahoo group, and if you have anything you want to get rid of, you can post an offer.  It goes to everyone on the list.  First person to reply arranges to pick up the item!  I've gotten a few things from Freecycle.  A basketball hoop, a kitchen cart, and last week a juicer.  Used only twice.  YES!  The lady had bought it, used it twice, and decided after it had sat there for ages that she wouldn't be using it anymore and it was time to find it a new home. 

Mom and Vic were here last week, and Vic and the kids had fun juicing up a storm.

Julia's face says it all.  Yum!

***

Here's Mom fixing the shelf in my corner cupboard:

So YAY!  Between a good friend who fixed the broken window under the stairs and Mom and Vic fixing the corner shelf, I am in a MUCH better mood.  Of course, I still have to find the hinge I need online for the corner doors so I don't come thiiiiis close to cursing every time I want to get in there but can't.  I tell ya, it's a good thing I'm not too broad, otherwise I would never be able to access anything in that cupboard, seeing as how the door only opens up 90 degrees, which in a corner cupboard, means that really there is just a narrow opening to get into that cupboard, but I'm rambling and that's just the way I get when I even think about that cupboard.  But imagine the cupboard door attached to the left of the opening there.  Then have it extend out 90 degrees from the opening and, well--now I think I need a cookie.  And chocolate.  Lots.  Of.  Chocolate.

I can't remember if I wrote about a walk a week or so ago with the bunny prints everywhere.  So I'm going to go check and if not, I'll post those later. 

After a few days of fairly warm weather, it snowed yesterday.  So we went out or a walk, Dog and I, and it was magical.  The snow had bent the trees low over the trail, so you had to bend under the trees to go down the trail, and every sound was muffled to silence. 

Did I have my camera?  No.  Still no p&s, and it was snowing and I'm still a wimp with my DSLR.  Just trust me that it was absolutely and utterly gorgeous.

And now I'm off.  Adam wants to use the Wii, and within less than 24 hours after the parentals left, the house needs a good pick up.  Please come back mom.  I need you.  I'll cook.  You can tidy up after me and children.  Please.  Pretty please with a cherry on top?  I'm begging you...grovel-grovel...

birthday cake and the aftermath

Quick (belated) birthday post.

Kids picked a cake mix.  Funfetti.  Julia made the cake.  They both frosted it with two cans of frosting and a veritable blizzard of sparkles and sprinkles.

It was death defying.

Afterwards, I felt like doing this:

But with two little ones hyped up on sugar, it didn't seem prudent.

So now I'm off for some much needed rest.

Good night!!!