Celebrating the best job in the world, with my two beautiful girls!
(thanks to those who have reached out to make sure I'm okay! We're doing great.
I guess you could say I took a break and I'm enjoying my girls, but I will be back very soon!)
phebe: "Can I play with your toy?"
lilah: "Go ahead - knock yourself out!"
The day she got her report card, on the walk home she said how excited she was to see what the teacher had written about her! Then she said to me: "I know what Baba's going to say... Lilah is a rascal sometimes and she kisses the boys!"
After asking me about my report card, I told her I talked too much in class and she replied: "Your report card probably said, you're a good girl at everything, but you just need to control your mouth!"
"I'm not losing weight, I'm getting weight!"
"Phebe do you want to do chores sometime? I do. Do you want to know why? Because you get money when you do chores - that's why!"
After Canada won the gold medal playing hockey at the Olympics: "I wish Baba played hockey instead of soccer!"
The littles, going craft crazy today!
If they keep this up, their art-and-craft-wallpaper will be creeping out of the playroom and all around our house!
We spent a fun 'Family Day' on the canal today.
We skated from our home, right downtown.
I'm so proud of my Lilah girl, she skated all the way there and back, which amounts to about 10kms - she's a whizz on ice!
This photo, was taken this day last week... in Cayo Coco, Cuba.
My girls did this constant charging into the warm ocean. They had so SO much fun. We all did.
I have plenty of photos to share and I'm planning on blogging some 'a day in the life' posts, over the next week!
[ Lilah in Cuba, February 2013 ]
Ahhh yes, this exact beach is where it'll all be happening for the next week! So excited!
Today I was showing Lilah the weather forecast in Cuba: I was reading out loud...
"Sunny and 38 degrees celsius", (as it was basically blizzarding outside our front door).
She looked at me and in all earnestness and asked: "Why don't we live in Cuba?"
So my Lilah girl told me tonight that I'm the only Mom she's ever wanted - bless her sweet heart - she's told me this same thing several times now. She went on to say that when she gets married she wants to live with me in our house, because she loves our house... or at the very least next door, she said, so we can be neighbours!
To which I responded: "Oh that would be wonderful, then when you have a baby I get to be a Grandma and I'll be able to see my Grandchild ALL the time!"
She thought about that for a second and then said: "Oh, I hope I don't adopt!"
Hmm, I asked, "Why?"
She replied: "Because an adopted baby would be too heavy to carry!"
Haha! I think she slipped back (from being older and married) to being 6 years old and having a hard time carrying a 2 year old (Phebe!), as opposed to a newborn! Speaking of a newborn, we met up with our good friends a couple of months ago and Lilah fell in love with their little newborn, baby Irene. Seriously, afterwards she asked me if we could get a baby just like Irene. (see photos below)
Love that girl of mine... she's going to be the best Mommy some day.
On another note, I had no idea how choked up I would get seeing Lilah hold little Irene. It just brought these floods of thoughts and emotions of when Lilah was a baby, possibly looking similiar (Irene's Mom is Chinese and Dad is Malaysian) and that I didn't know her during that stage in her life.
It was an emotional moment. Phew. Kinda still is.
Lilah had a PD day (off school) today. Since Phebe was heading to her usual Friday afternoon preschool (Kidz in Sportz) for 2 hours, I decided that Lilah and I could walk up the street to the local 'Mud Oven', a paint-it-yourself ceramics studio, for some one-on-one time. We don't get nearly enough of that these days.
Lilah chose a cutie little elephant to paint, and well, I'm sure you'll see from the photos... she has that same concentrated look since the day she joined our family. Whatever task Lilah takes on, she puts her all into it. It was a fun time and she really enjoyed herself.
Earlier that day she had an appointment with the Ophthalmologist at CHEO, who told her she was seeing and reading perfectly (in fact, the best she ever has - with her glasses on, of course!), then we went to Tim Hortons to celebrate! We came home for a couple of hours before walking up to the Mud Oven, and finally we walked over to the Rideau Canal and spent 2 hours skating, which was then followed by supper at our local Thai restaurant. The girls were just as worn out as me by the time 7pm rolled around!
Lilah proclaimed it the best day of her whole life! And that's what makes my job THE BEST!
I took Phebe skating on the canal this morning, while Lilah was at school. But of course, that 'mother guilt' (that comes along with the job!) would not even let me dream of neglecting my big girl!
So, I surprised her. When she came out the front doors of school, I told her I had a surprise for her, and I let her peek into the bag that contained her skates. Excited much??!! Her screams and jumping for joy may have woken the neighbourhood and had a few parents look in our direction and wonder what on earth had just happened! Lilah, my sweet girl, just loves her skating lessons, and she is always desperate to have extra ice-time and put her skills to good use! She's skating forwards (fast!), backwards, stopping, turning around. I'm really impressed with her skills, especially this past term, I've noticed she's made huge strides in her learning.
Oh, and if you watch the movie below, remember, skating on the canal is not like skating on a nice smooth rink, there are a few more bumps and chunks of ice that can easily trip you up! And you will also quickly note, that videography is not my strong suit! Ha!
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When I was putting the girls skates on, a very kind lady came over and insisted on taking a photograph of us together!
I appreciated it, I should really get into more pictures with my girls.
I also went out and bought another hockey helmet that evening, now that we have two skaters in the house!
The bike helmet Phebe is wearing here is definitely not the best safety helmet for the ice.
Lilah's been heading in the direction of telling the time for a while now.
She's been wearing her little pink and purple Timex watch religiously, morning, noon and night since we got her baby sister in China. In fact, I bought that little Timex watch as a gift for her becoming a big sister. When I gave it to her I told her it was because becoming a big sister was a big responsibility. If you know my Lilah girl, you'd know she loved that idea and eat it right up, she talked a lot about her 'responsibility duties' in the weeks and months after. The only time that little watch came off her wrist was for bathtime and the swimming pool! However, it wasn't much good when it came to helping her tell the time.
After Christmas, Lilah asked me to spend some of her Christmas money on MORE Magna-tiles. I'd bought her a 100 piece set for Christmas and she still wanted more - but that's another post for another day. It's an amazing toy! So, when I was shopping around on Amazon, I also found this watch. It's a time teaching watch in her favourite colour, turquoise! It shows the words 'to' & 'past' on each half, along with the number of minutes, 1/2 and 1/4. Unlike a lot of other watches that show the minutes up to 60, it just shows the minutes to 25 on both halves... haven't got a clue what I'm talking about? I know, sometimes I confuse myself too... let me give you an example! Instead of saying 7:40, she says 20 to 7. Or instead of saying 7:15, she says quarter past 7. Just the way the watch teaches you the time, which I really like.
She got it in the mail on Monday and was pretty much reading the time perfectly by Tuesday.
To be honest, I kinda need a responsible time keeper around here, especially in the morning! However, being updated on the latest time every 5 minutes, is maybe overdoing it a little. Ha! Gotta love her enthusiasm! I'm so proud of my girl.
Yes, we changed the words to that Frank Loesser song!
-26C and my silly girl wanted to stay outside and play after school today.
Have you lost your mind child?
Sitting on my knee one day, cuddling: "It feels so nice to be loved."
Baba, washing the dishes one Sunday... "I'm ALWAYS slaving over the dishes!"
Lilah quickly replied: "Like the Israelites in Egypt!?"
Regarding a little boy in her class: "He's a bit of a rascal, but his name sounds good!"
Her teacher was off sick for a few days and Lilah made her a get well soon card, she also made a little pouch on the card and popped some loose change in. When I asked her why she felt she needed to give her teacher money, she replied: "One day we were wasting stuff and my teacher said, 'I'm not rich you know!', so I wanted her to have some money!"
Talking about the Bible verse John 3:3 (being born again) one day, she said: "Being born again is actually adoption, into God's family."
After Phebe suggested some things Lilah could add to her drawing, she said: "Phebe, I don't want your details in my idea!"
phebe: "Lilah, let's play married."
lilah: "No Phebe, I don't want to kiss you on the lips!"
Baba was teasing both girls one day and Lilah was telling him off for teasing them...
baba: "Hey, are you guys sticking up for each other?"
lilah: "Helloooooooooooo Baba, we're sisters!"
We had a wonderful Christmas break. I thoroughly enjoyed our two weeks together, as a family... relaxing, eating, just enjoying our time together. I can hardly believe school starts back again tomorrow. Yikes!
I'm definitely not ready for routine again, even though I do normally thrive on routine! It's just the bitter cold weather we've been having lately, oh my, I am not a fan! The idea of dragging the girls out in it 3-4 times a day, is not a pleasant one. We booked a trip to Cuba over the holidays and I printed off a January calendar page and put it on the fridge so the girls can put an X to mark off each day, as they count down to our trip. Right now we're standing at 21 more days to go. We can do this! The thought of sun, sand and warm seawater is so enticing right now.
We did a few other things over the Christmas holidays that I haven't noted on the blog, so here we go...
After Bible Study on New Years Eve, we brought the girls to a 24 hour diner for strawberry milkshakes and poutine!
Then we did a 11pm countdown to the New Year, before they headed off to bed. It was a fun, energizing evening with two slightly hyper girls!
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I got my '2013 - our year in pictures' blurb book in the mail, and I'm in love! Seriously.
See maybe there ARE benefits to cold weather and staying indoors a lot! Ha!
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Another annual Christmas tradition, completing a puzzle.
This one was 1000 pieces and delicious enough to eat!
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I bought the girls a roll of 'duck' tape each, for their stockings.
This item was on Lilah's Christmas wishlist. A friend in school brought in a duct tape wallet one day and she hasn't stopped talking about it since.
So here I was, making duct tape wallets, the newest craze!
To say they were elated, would be a huge understatement. I love seeing them so happy over something so small!
We started this little tradition a few years ago. On Christmas Eve, I give my girls their 2013 Christmas ornaments. I try to find something relevant to the past year, and this year it worked out well.
I found Lilah's first, on Etsy, a bauble decorated with music paper to remind us that 2013 was her first year to be introduced to music. A new piano, and lessons each and every Monday started in September. I had no idea how it would go, although my Lilah girl is always positive about trying something new... after her first lesson I could tell just how much she REALLY enjoyed it, and by her 4th lesson she was jumping for joy at the idea of going to lessons! The pride she had at learning to play with her left hand, then her right hand, and just 3 months later, she is now playing with both hands, not sure exactly how to say this, but now she is using both hands to play 2 different notes, at the same time. I am quite honestly mesmerized! She is so confident and loves her instructor, Steve. He is a little kooky and makes her laugh! Along with being kooky, he makes her work hard (usually practicing three different songs a week) and gives her plenty of encouragement when she deserves it.
I didn't take me long to figure out Phebe's huge accomplishment in 2013, her brand new fixed heart and the brave girl that she was during that time. Something I still thank God for. Her experience was positive, her recovery was amazing and we are delighted that she has it behind her now. And of course, the heart decoration had to have her initial on it, because my little miss Phebe was feeling a little put out when we were hanging ornaments on the tree and she noticed that there were two L's (for Lilah), but no P's for Phebe! Indeed. We had to fix that dilemma!
I came downstairs to the girls playroom this morning and found them both with their chests stuffed.
Stuffed with a couple of their little stuffed animals!
As if that wasn't shocking enough, they were singing "Shake your boobies"!
Oh yes, I totally cracked up!
Believe it or not, I took these photos back in November. Last year!
I've been a terrible blogger lately. And you'll maybe notice that I've been trying to catch up lately. Sorry for filling your feed with posts as far back as June... yikes! I'm so not proud of that. I may or may not have made a new years resolution to try and keep on track! Ha! But I must say, I feel pretty good to finally be caught up now. For me, these blogs are all about the girls, I want them to enjoy reading about their little lives in the years to come... they are what keeps me motivated!
Anyway, these photos were taken on the day of our first snow storm... November 27th. We were just heading out to swimming lessons and I decided to run back inside and grab my camera for a few impromptu photos - with the hope that I could get at least one to work for our Christmas Card.
I'm so glad I made that decision. I love these girls, the giggles they share and especially the love they have for each other. It chokes me up and I thank God for them daily, that they are part of my life and part of each others lives too. Just yesterday, Phebe was having a little nap on the couch and Lilah kept checking on her every 10 minutes or so, to see if she was awake yet. She said to me: "It's so boring without Phebe!" And I smiled to myself and thought, that's love.
~ today is the first blank page of a 365 page book ~
Last year had its fair share of challenges, struggles, adventures, but most of all, joy and love.
Thank you Lord, for a blessed year.
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Here's a monthly review of Lilah's year in pictures!
[ the flickr set is here ]
(thanks to those who have reached out to make sure I'm okay! We're doing great.
The littles, going craft crazy today!
I'm so proud of my Lilah girl, she skated all the way there and back, which amounts to about 10kms - she's a whizz on ice!
She sure does make my heart glow.
This photo, was taken this day last week... in Cayo Coco, Cuba.
My girls did this constant charging into the warm ocean. They had so SO much fun. We all did.
[ Lilah in Cuba, February 2013 ]
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I also went out and bought another hockey helmet that evening, now that we have two skaters in the house!
After Bible Study on New Years Eve, we brought the girls to a 24 hour diner for strawberry milkshakes and poutine!
I got my '2013 - our year in pictures' blurb book in the mail, and I'm in love! Seriously.
Another annual Christmas tradition, completing a puzzle.
I bought the girls a roll of 'duck' tape each, for their stockings.
[ the flickr set is here ]
