This weekend was our annual family camping trip to Sandbanks, and we were blessed to be in the company of my parents, both of my sisters, and one brother-in-law. The weather was perfect (it actually started to rain a little as we left the campground), and there were very few bugs. I'll let the pictures tell the rest of the story.
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Sunday, June 24, 2012
Sandbanks snapshots
Thursday, June 14, 2012
OEYC works for me
I'm almost embarrassed to admit that we've only just started using the services of our local OEYC (Ontario Early Years Centre). Almost a month ago, on a rainy Monday, I thought it would be nice to visit the toy library there. We had never been, so I looked online to see what the hours were; I found that they offered drop-in playgroups in both French and English, and that the immersion playgroup (for families with limited French, which describes D although not me) was on Tuesdays.
The girls and I have been going for the past three weeks, and it is a delight! For about an hour and a half, the kids play at whatever activity centre they want: there's painting, play dough, a sand table, a water table, a train set, a craft table, a play kitchen, and various large toys (trampoline, slide, stationary bike) and toy sets (cars, dinosaurs, potato heads) that vary from week to week. Then the kids and their care givers tidy up and gather on the carpet for about 10-15 minutes of French songs. It's been great to have the interaction with other bilingual parents, and to learn new music to sing at home; D's been humming the tunes to herself a lot lately, and occasionally tries out the words. We also picked up a copy of the play dough recipe (en français, bien sûr!), which we'll make after I've done this week's food shop. I'll never forget Prof. Paré's words to our 4th-year French class, that you can't teach someone a language without tying it to its culture. At least not if you want it to stick.
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| D & me, in "la Belle Province" a few weeks ago |
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Redemptive bedtime
Since our Wednesday Bible study wrapped up almost a month ago, some of us decided to keep the fellowship going through the summer. After all, we're all free on Wednesdays anyway, we enjoy each other's company, and our kids love to play together. This week it was at Sarah's, and she has a bouncy castle in her backyard, along with a gazebo to keep the mommies in the nice, cool shade. We had a lovely time (and D had no potty accidents for once), even though M missed her morning nap. She proceeded to fall asleep on the way home, and woke up from her nap just minutes after I put D down.
So, too bad for me, there was no break until now. That being said, M is now quite mobile and entertained herself beautifully while I sorted receipts and did some tidying. She can crawl properly, and started pulling herself up on furniture last week. The kid is 7 months old, btw. I remember with D, from about 7-9 months it was a whirlwind of milestones: sitting up, then crawling, then immediately pulling herself to standing. At 9 months came my favourite one: her first word, Mama. Now, M is great at moving around, and not surprisingly, none too keen on sitting still. I don't know why I'm always surprised that my girls are so different.
M finally fell asleep in my arms around the time my sister came over to help with the dinner-bedtime routines (Hubby had evening class). She napped for all of half an hour, then was up and ready to move some more. D had been banging around her room for the better part of two hours, but did eventually fall asleep. I had to wake her up around 6, which is not something I enjoy doing. I know how rotten it is to be forced out of a comfy sleep, but it had to be done.
After the baths were done, and the baby nursed and rocked, and D's teeth brushed, and the stories read, it was time for prayers. I will preface this part by saying I know D is only two and a half, and I know what happened probably doesn't count yet, but I loved her heart. Here's what happened. Whenever I pray with her at night, she chooses a few people to pray for, and I always pray for the same two things: that D's future husband will be a strong man after God's own heart (I know she may or may not marry one day, but I feel it's best to pray, just in case), and that D will choose Jesus to save her from her sins and follow him with all her heart all the days of her life. So maybe that's three things. Anyway, after I prayed and was about to say Amen, D whispered that God takes away our sins, and I whispered back that we have to ask him to first, but yes, he does. D looked up at the ceiling and murmured, "God, can you take away my sins? He took away my sins." It was the most beautiful thing I think I've ever heard, my own child asking her Creator to forgive her sins. I do realize that she's very young and that she probably doesn't fully understand the problem of sin and separation from God, or what Jesus' death and resurrection had to do with it, but she's putting the pieces together. And while it may or may not have redeemed her, it certainly redeemed my day.
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| This is way better than actually being in the exersaucer |
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| Hey, how did I get myself in here? That was awesome! |
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| The cape I made her before she was born |
Monday, May 28, 2012
Upping the produce intake and making lemonade
After a few too many pricey grocery visits in the early spring, Hubby suggested stretching our grocery shopping to three weeks instead of two. I declared it implausible, but then we tried it anyway. As it turns out, we end up emptying our cupboards and freezers more effectively, so that when we do eventually bring home three plastic tubs of food, we can actually fit it all in our house.
This week, I went a little crazy on the produce side of things. Everything just looked delicious, and no, I was not shopping on an empty stomach, although I was there sans kids. Here's what I bought:
-3 heads of cauliflower
-1 pineapple
-1 pint raspberries
-a bunch of kale
-6 sweet potatoes
-2 zucchini
-3 leeks
-2 lemons
-2 butternut squash
-celery
-giant bag of russet potatoes
-medium bag of vidalia onions
-4 bell peppers
The upside is that the trip to Food Basics only ran me about 80$, between all the fruits and veggies and the various other things like milk, pasta, sausages, hash browns, etc.
My hope is to use up everything before it goes bad, and I have three weeks. As soon as I got back from the store, I chopped up the leeks and froze them in 1-cup servings to add to soups or whatever. D and I gobbled up the raspberries (she finished them with her lunch today), and I went through both lemons (I literally made lemonade, surprisingly for the first time) and half the kale (made into chips, only the second time I've ever done so) with dinner tonight. I'm planning to steam, puree and freeze the cauliflower tomorrow in one fell swoop, and maybe shred and freeze the zucchini, too. I might cut the celery into sticks and keep it in a bowl of water in the fridge, so that's it's easy to snack on. I'll wait until the pineapple's properly ripe to cut it up and keep it in a bowl for the same purpose. All of that should take care of the more perishable items, and the rest will keep nicely until we need it.
I adapted a lemonade recipe and was shocked at how well it turned out. I've really only ever had bottled or made-from-frozen-concentrate lemonade, and this was way better.
1 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup lemon juice (I squeezed two lemons, then used bottled lemon juice for the rest)
3 1/2 cups cold water
In a saucepan over medium heat, stir the water and sugar together until the sugar completely dissolves. Pour into a pitcher, along with the lemon juice, and stir in the cold water. Serve with ice.
This week, I went a little crazy on the produce side of things. Everything just looked delicious, and no, I was not shopping on an empty stomach, although I was there sans kids. Here's what I bought:
-3 heads of cauliflower
-1 pineapple
-1 pint raspberries
-a bunch of kale
-6 sweet potatoes
-2 zucchini
-3 leeks
-2 lemons
-2 butternut squash
-celery
-giant bag of russet potatoes
-medium bag of vidalia onions
-4 bell peppers
The upside is that the trip to Food Basics only ran me about 80$, between all the fruits and veggies and the various other things like milk, pasta, sausages, hash browns, etc.
My hope is to use up everything before it goes bad, and I have three weeks. As soon as I got back from the store, I chopped up the leeks and froze them in 1-cup servings to add to soups or whatever. D and I gobbled up the raspberries (she finished them with her lunch today), and I went through both lemons (I literally made lemonade, surprisingly for the first time) and half the kale (made into chips, only the second time I've ever done so) with dinner tonight. I'm planning to steam, puree and freeze the cauliflower tomorrow in one fell swoop, and maybe shred and freeze the zucchini, too. I might cut the celery into sticks and keep it in a bowl of water in the fridge, so that's it's easy to snack on. I'll wait until the pineapple's properly ripe to cut it up and keep it in a bowl for the same purpose. All of that should take care of the more perishable items, and the rest will keep nicely until we need it.
I adapted a lemonade recipe and was shocked at how well it turned out. I've really only ever had bottled or made-from-frozen-concentrate lemonade, and this was way better.
1 cup water
3/4 cup sugar
1 cup lemon juice (I squeezed two lemons, then used bottled lemon juice for the rest)
3 1/2 cups cold water
In a saucepan over medium heat, stir the water and sugar together until the sugar completely dissolves. Pour into a pitcher, along with the lemon juice, and stir in the cold water. Serve with ice.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Makeover in slow motion
Our master bedroom has been driving me nuts lately. I would really like for it to be a haven just for Hubby and me, away from toys and clutter. (The girls can visit occasionally.) However, it would seem that whenever we do a big clean-up of the main level, our room becomes a catch-all for random objects. For instance, at the moment I have an ANZAC day poppy, two pencil crayons, a half-pack of baby wipes and a tall stack of books on my side of the bed. And that's to say nothing of the two basketfuls of laundry to be put away, and other clothes on the floor.
So, an important step towards making over our room is de-cluttering it. And not just the room itself, but the ensuite and the walk-in closet (which is a bit of a misnomer currently). Also, I can't devote much money to the project, so I'm hoping to redecorate using things we already have elsewhere in the house (as suggested by a savvy decorator friend), or can find at garage sales. Here's how slow the progress has been:
-from about the time we moved in (three years ago now), we didn't have a bed frame, just the mattress and box spring on the ground. Last summer, we found a white metal Ikea frame we liked for 119$. Lucky thing that we're both tall, because the top of the mattress is about a meter from the floor.
-in 2010, I found a piece of artwork at a garage sale for 20$. It was in our guest bedroom until D took over. It has been languishing in our room, pitifully propped against a wall, for nearly a year now. I love the colours in it, and I think it'll pull the room together nicely once Hubby gets the time to hang it up.
-last weekend, our neighbours two doors down held a garage sale, and I bought twp lamps from them, 5$ for the pair. Our previous bedside lamps were probably 10$ apiece from Walmart, purchased almost seven years ago. They'll be very happy in the guest bedroom downstairs.
We still need to decide whether or not to paint. I dislike the cost, effort, and smell of it (even though Hubby pays and does all the work), but I know it can really brighten up a room. The thing is, our room is one of the brightest in the house. Good luck taking an afternoon nap there, unless you're seriously sleep-deprived. Which brings me to window treatments. We do have blinds, but I'd like to put up either black-out curtains or heavy ones with a punchy pattern. My decorating tastes, if they can even be called that, run to the very bland. (There is a lot of beige in our house.) I'm trying to branch out without breaking the bank. We'll see how it all goes.
So, an important step towards making over our room is de-cluttering it. And not just the room itself, but the ensuite and the walk-in closet (which is a bit of a misnomer currently). Also, I can't devote much money to the project, so I'm hoping to redecorate using things we already have elsewhere in the house (as suggested by a savvy decorator friend), or can find at garage sales. Here's how slow the progress has been:
-from about the time we moved in (three years ago now), we didn't have a bed frame, just the mattress and box spring on the ground. Last summer, we found a white metal Ikea frame we liked for 119$. Lucky thing that we're both tall, because the top of the mattress is about a meter from the floor.
-in 2010, I found a piece of artwork at a garage sale for 20$. It was in our guest bedroom until D took over. It has been languishing in our room, pitifully propped against a wall, for nearly a year now. I love the colours in it, and I think it'll pull the room together nicely once Hubby gets the time to hang it up.
-last weekend, our neighbours two doors down held a garage sale, and I bought twp lamps from them, 5$ for the pair. Our previous bedside lamps were probably 10$ apiece from Walmart, purchased almost seven years ago. They'll be very happy in the guest bedroom downstairs.
We still need to decide whether or not to paint. I dislike the cost, effort, and smell of it (even though Hubby pays and does all the work), but I know it can really brighten up a room. The thing is, our room is one of the brightest in the house. Good luck taking an afternoon nap there, unless you're seriously sleep-deprived. Which brings me to window treatments. We do have blinds, but I'd like to put up either black-out curtains or heavy ones with a punchy pattern. My decorating tastes, if they can even be called that, run to the very bland. (There is a lot of beige in our house.) I'm trying to branch out without breaking the bank. We'll see how it all goes.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Pictures I love
One of our wisest purchases over the last couple of years has been Hubby's digital SLR camera. (SLR, of course, stands for Super-Lovely Resolution.) He reasoned that if we had a really good camera, we could always do our own portraits rather than having to pay a studio, plus get awesome everyday pictures of our little fam. Once he figured out the model that would suit our needs the best, it was a matter of watching the sales until the price was right. We ended up buying one in August 2010, of all times. D was around ten months old. We paid around 400$ with tax, I believe.
Here is one of the first photos he took, and it's still one of my favourites. It was my computer background for the better part of a year, too.
And some more recent ones:
M, wearing a sweater and hat that my colleague Christiana got for D. I love having two girls!
A photographic rarity: the appropriate bath shot.
Me and my eldest, looking surprisingly similar. And pale.
Naptime/bedtime photos of this kid are always a win.
Here is one of the first photos he took, and it's still one of my favourites. It was my computer background for the better part of a year, too.
And some more recent ones:
M, wearing a sweater and hat that my colleague Christiana got for D. I love having two girls!
A photographic rarity: the appropriate bath shot.
Me and my eldest, looking surprisingly similar. And pale.
Naptime/bedtime photos of this kid are always a win.
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Of blueberries and bilingualism
While cleaning the kitchen tonight, I'm listening to Jacob Moon, and looking forward to sitting down afterwards to read this article, and eating these muffins, pictured below.
The mug is exactly my cup of tea, literally and figuratively. It came from my university days, when an amazing department head believed that academic prizes shouldn't just come in envelopes, and sought out local artisans to make gifts which would accompany the monies won. (Salut, Professeur Paré!) So, tonight, I'll use it as I do almost every day, and be grateful once again for my parents who put me in French Immersion. I may not talk about French or bilingualism on here often, but they're never far from my thoughts, especially as I try to teach my daughters the language I treasure. I'm also tutoring again, which is wonderful! (Hi, Sarah!) And starting next week, we (that being me and my English-speaking Hubby) are planning on attending the French-language service at our church in preparation for the church plant in Gatineau. I truly can't imagine my life without knowing and loving the French language. Hopefully, this kid will thank me some day for persisting in speaking it to her.
The mug is exactly my cup of tea, literally and figuratively. It came from my university days, when an amazing department head believed that academic prizes shouldn't just come in envelopes, and sought out local artisans to make gifts which would accompany the monies won. (Salut, Professeur Paré!) So, tonight, I'll use it as I do almost every day, and be grateful once again for my parents who put me in French Immersion. I may not talk about French or bilingualism on here often, but they're never far from my thoughts, especially as I try to teach my daughters the language I treasure. I'm also tutoring again, which is wonderful! (Hi, Sarah!) And starting next week, we (that being me and my English-speaking Hubby) are planning on attending the French-language service at our church in preparation for the church plant in Gatineau. I truly can't imagine my life without knowing and loving the French language. Hopefully, this kid will thank me some day for persisting in speaking it to her.
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