I must admit, halloween certainly isn't one of my favourite holidays and in many ways I'm still trying to figure out exactly what I think of it. Actually, I read this article within recent days and it really made me stop and evaluate what I'm teaching my daughter. The part that stings the most is that I am exactly that person that knows something is very wrong with people mocking death, yet I'm also the same person that says halloween is just a little bit of fun for the kids. Like I said, I'm still fumbling through this, trying to keep things in perspective, and like any other parent, I want to do the right thing. Sorry, I didn't mean to go off on a tangent, this post is already going to be long enough!
All that being said, there were certainly a few memorable moments over the last week that made me grin!
Last Wednesday the little after school care (that Lilah attends) put on an afternoon of fun, for the seniors, at the local Retirement Residence. There were halloween songs and poems and lots of kiddie cuteness all around! Lilah wore her pumpkin dress (she would totally correct me here and tell me it's a jack o' dress!) for the occasion. It's the third year she has worn this dress.
Later on that evening, at home, I caught her marching around the house in her dress AND my boots! And I, of course, had to get a few shots of her! She was pretending to be the teacher in a few of these pictures - yeah, she totally rolled her eyes at me! I have some movies of the children singing halloween songs at the seniors home, but I won't be posting them, because all her little class friends are in them. So instead, I got her to quote one of the rhymes she memorized for the seniors. I think she has a pretty amazing memory, or maybe it's just my rapidly fading memory that thinks she has a pretty fabulous memory!
This is Jack O’ Happy. This is Jack O’ Sad.
This is Jack O’ Sleepy. And this is Jack O’ Mad.
This is Jack O' broken into pieces small.
Baked into a pumpkin pie, that's the best of all!
[ the flickr set is here ]
Then on Saturday the children were invited to wear their costumes to their skating lesson.
Lilah certainly wasn't going to miss out on an opportunity to wear her "good" witch's dress. She chose this dress out a few months ago at The Children's Place and told me she wanted to be 'a good witch, with a baby'. I'm not sure where or how the idea of the baby came about, but it was certainly something she got stuck in her little head!
The children are all so cute and funny in her class, I get some of the best laughs while watching them each Saturday! This week they were all lined up nice and tight behind each other and someone at the back fell down. Well you can just imagine what happened next, I likened it to a row of dominoes, one fell down and they all fell in rapid succession! It was pretty hilarious to say the least! I love how she's bending over in the photo below, to see (past her dress) if she had reached the line perfectly!
Then on Friday there was a halloween parade at school. The children all went to school dressed up and joined in with all the other kindergarten classes. Judging by the photos the teacher emailed me, Lilah had a fabulous time! Again, I'm not posting those pictures because her little class friends are in them.
And then on Friday evening we met up with Lilah's good friend, Aiden, and her Mom and we took our girls out trick or treating together! Aiden was Mike Wazowski from Monsters Inc. and Lilah was, of course, the good witch! The girls had so much fun together, they rarely let go of each others hand, helping each other up and down the steps! So sweet. It was such a lovely mild evening, one of the best (halloween) evenings I ever remember, as far as weather is concerned.
Hope your halloween was happy and safe too.
A while back, a little something came up about school and we decided we should explain to Lilah the reason for a boss and what 'being a boss' means. We referred to each of our work places and told her that Baba and Mama each have a boss: a person who's in charge and who is to be obeyed. We told her when she's at school and kindercare, her teacher is the boss. I don't think she needed any explaining as to who the bosses at home are, when she came out with this...
"You and Baba are the bosses, but God's the big boss!" ~Lilah
As a side note, we also explained that sometimes adults don't do or say the right things, even when they are the boss. And that she should always talk to us about anything that happens that she doesn't feel is right, even if that person is the boss and says it's right. The only person that can be fully trusted, is God.
I felt a little sad that I had to have that conversation with my 4 year old, but unfortunately you never know nowadays.
One of my favourite things is to watch Lilah jump on the bed, with complete abandon... hair flying and her beautiful giggle.
Childhood is so precious. Let them be little!
So let them be little 'cause they're only that way for a while
Give them hope, give them praise, give them love every day
Let them cry, let them giggle, let them sleep in the middle
Oh just let them be little ~lonestar
[ check out more 'let them be little' photographs over at i heart faces this week ]
With Halloween just around the corner, I've been doing a bit of "window shopping" on Etsy.
Lilah has had her costume for about two months now and she enjoys parading around the house in it. It's a very traditional halloween costume - she fell in love as we were walking through The Children's Place one day and practically begged me to buy it for her. I, of course, would rather have waited until the sale, but I must have been feeling guilty over something on that particular day and ended up buying it for her! Can you tell she has me wrapped around her little finger? Anyway, we're all set in that department.
But that didn't stop me looking for some fun ideas on Etsy... and that's when I found Wild Things (funky little dresses) and instantly fell in love with the character dresses. Tell me, are these cute or are these cute? I've definitely added this shop to my favourites for next year! Personally, I love the mouse dress, but I know it wouldn't take much convincing for Lilah to fall in love with the fox dress - she has always been mesmerized with wolves and foxes.
And of course these dresses could be worn all year long, not just for one night!
Wild Things on Etsy
(there's also an owl, a bumblebee and a ladybug dress in the shop - go check them out!)
Back in August, when the very idea of ice made me shiver, I signed Lilah up for skating lessons - "Kindergliders". It's only taken me 3 years to realize that if you want to book an activity for your child, you have to do it months in advance, not the day before!
Anyway, today was Lilah's fist skating lesson and to say she was SOOO excited would be a complete understatement! She had her skates and helmet all set out and ready for hours beforehand. She was on top of the world!
Her coach is pretty amazing with the children. If you look closely in some of the pictures you can see where he draws on the ice, with a marker, all sorts of little lines and paths for the children to follow, with certain different pictures along the way for the children to copy, like spreading their legs or arms, turning around in a 360, stopping and lying on their tummy, etc. And Lilah, being the eager child that she is, you can see her hanging onto every word the coach is explaining and making every exact move the coach tells her to. She is always the first in the lineup to participate in a challenge. Baba and I are so SO proud of her.
One of the funny moments during her lesson is when at one stage she fell down, she looked over at us and we, being the (terrible) parents that we are, were busy laughing! (She was grinning too so we knew she was fine.) And what did the rascal do? She got back up and fell down again a number of times for our entertainment! I actually thought I was going to die laughing! She has such a funny personality - she totally cracks us up.
When her lesson was over she was gushing about how much she enjoyed it and said she wished she could go back tomorrow, "But probably not", she said, "Because it's Sunday!" When I told her she would be going back every Saturday until Christmas, she got a massive grin on her adorable face.
Man I love that girly. She makes my heart feel like it's going to burst. I adore that first photo I posted below, looking at her coach with that massive grin on her face, she is always so full of joy and life and love. We continually shake our heads and thank God for this beautiful child, we've been blessed beyond our hopes and prayers.
What better fun activity for a holiday (Thanksgiving) Monday than to head off to the Pumpkin Patch. And that's exactly what we did - on Monday past - we drove a few miles out the road to Miller's Farm. I tell you, there's nothing more exciting in a 4 year old's mind than a trip to the pumpkin patch!
What made the little trip even more amazing, was the temperature! I think it was in the mid 20s. It was so perfectly gorgeous! The sun was shining and I think everyone else in the city had the same idea about going to the pumpkin patch!
There was lots of fun activities for the kids, so much to see and do. We took a tractor ride out to the pumpkin field and Lilah picked out a few pumpkins just about her size! And then us adults found a pumpkin that was half as big as her! We now have a porch full of pumpkins! Lilah had so much fun with the other children, climbing around and jumping off the bales of straw, playing forts inside them, looking at all the pretty coloured Chrysanthemums, checking out all the different types of pumpkins and gourds.
What a fun way to celebrate Thanksgiving Monday!
Two very cute hand crafted turkeys arrived into our home this week! One from kindercare and one from school.
Lilah teacher at kindercare was telling me that as she went around the circle and asked each child what they were thankful for, each of the children said they were thankful for candy or chocolate, but not our Lilah! Lilah told Sharon that she's thankful when her Baba reads her a story. It just about melted my heart.
Then on Friday, after supper, we were talking about Thanksgiving and what it meant. I went on to tell Lilah the top five things I was most thankful for, she then pitched in her top five too. Here they are...
1. Mama
2. Baba
3. God
4. Lots of money (her words!) ...for our house, car, food, clothes...
5. My books and toys
Rejoice evermore. Pray without ceasing. In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-18
Thou hast given so much to me,
Give one thing more, - a grateful heart;
Not thankful when it pleaseth me,
As if Thy blessings had spare days,
But such a heart whose pulse may be Thy praise.
~George Herbert
We went for a beautiful hike around Pink Lake (@ Gatineau Park) today.
It's only 2kms long, but it's got steps galore and the path is very rough. Lilah walked the whole thing by herself, not that I'm sure we could even carry her anymore! Is it any wonder she was begging to go to bed early and fell asleep at 6:30 tonight?!
The Fall colours are absolutely phenomenol at the moment, they really take my breath away. And the incredible weather we are getting right now is so so perfect, 24°C today and tomorrow is to be 27°C, not at all bad for October!
"How beautifully the leaves grow old. How full of light and color their last days." ~J. Burroughs
[ the flickr set is here ]
