4/24/14

Adventures in Egg Dying

I picked up a little egg dying kit from Target weeks ago, on clearance - of course. Completely forgot about it until Saturday evening - of course. SO in a mad rush, we cleaned up after dinner and set about to colour some eggs. Oh man, was it messy. The kids had fun doing it but there was dye everywhere.

Anyway, we did it, it's been checked off the parental holiday to-do list. Good. A dollar and fifteen minutes later and we have happy childhood memories.

Here are a few pictures I managed to take of the babes and their eggs...

Ignore the laundry basket in the background, please.



4/23/14

Happy Easter... a few days late

Happy Easter! We were away for part of the long weekend so I'm a little late on my holiday greetings.

We spent Easter Sunday and Monday at Matt's parents. We had our egg hunt Sunday morning before we left for Little Harbour. The kids opened their baskets had a big breakfast, got their Sunday best on and went downstairs for another egg hunt, put on by our buildings super. E cleaned the place out, she had a full basket and had already eaten most of her chocolate by the time the big kids were finished.


Stoked for Minnie Mouse Play Doh

We came back home and opened some gifts sent up from the grandparents in Cape Breton and then it was time to hit the road. We made it to Little Harbour just in time for another egg hunt. The boys spent the rest of the day playing board games with Grampie and the Uncles while I got to sit, drink too much coffee and eat nothing but sugar with Grammie and the girls.

Why are gifts from Grandparents always more exciting?

Late night parties at the Brown's with lots of wine and cheese are what Holidays were made for. All the "big kids" stayed up waaaay past bedtime and had the silliest conversations with Matt providing some acoustic background music. Quick trips to Little Harbour are good for the soul, I have my theories.

Little help from the Aunties



The next day on our way home we stopped at a friend's place, she's actually the one who set Matt and I up all those years ago. She has a little gal around Max's age and a new little guy who lets me snuggle him. Its win win for everyone.

Once we got home it was a rush to get supper on the table, everything unpacked and to put two very sleepy little bunnies to bed. Then it was time for the adults to unwind with a new episode of Game of Thrones and pass out like we hadn't slept in weeks. Happy Easter indeed!


4/16/14

Gettin' Er Done

We started using a chore chart with Max to get him to help out around the house a bit. So far (two months in) it's been pretty successful. I found the chart from this website full of free printables, we hang ours on the fridge and he earns a check mark for every chore he does. Getting to do the check mark is almost as good as the treat at the end of the week, for him.




He's only four so the amount and kinds of chores he can do are kind of limited but he does what he can and it actually isn't too much work on my part to get him through it. E is obsessed with the chart and wants to earn check marks too, its terribly cute to watch her empty the dishwasher with Max. Next year she'll be old enough to have her own chart.

He get a special treat, to watch a movie or go somewhere fun on Sundays if he completes most of his chores for the week. He almost always chooses a movie and popcorn, he's pretty easy to please.

** In case you can't read it, Max's chores are:

Make Bed
Get Dressed
Fold/Sweep
Empty/Fill Dishwasher
Set/Clear Table
Put Away Toys
Swing Chore (whatever we can get him to that day)
Brush Teeth/Bath

The chores won't always be as easy as getting dressed or brushing his teeth but it's worked so far in getting him clean and dressed everyday before noon. Gotta get them charm marks! Oh, and he gets Easter Sunday off because we're going to Grammie and Grampie Browns and we're not monsters.


4/14/14

Our Weekend 019

What an excellent, productive weekend. We got so much done, in the same amount of time normal people do. That never happens. Errands and chores take eight times longer in this house, for whatever reason, but not this weekend. We were all motivated and the kids were even kind of, sorta, helpful. What?! I know, crazy talk.

Saturday, bright and early, was Max's first day of soccer. Parents couldn't stay in the gym, unless absolutely necessary (which is why there are no pictures) and Max was cool with it. He jumped right in and starting running around like he'd been playing for years. He wore the cutest little gym shorts and fancy new sneaks that I had to go to three (!!) different stores to find, but he was so proud of himself. When I went in to pick him up the first thing he said was "I was a good boy, Momma!" And then I melted into a puddle.

Trying to keep E busy while Max was having all the fun.

We signed up for a 5k run to support the Lung Association, through The Credit Union Atlantic. If that seems out of character for us, it was, but Katie works for the Credit Union so we did it for her. It was really not that bad, I can say that because I didn't run. I'm sure the people who actually exerted themselves might have a different opinion. It had been raining all day, but minutes before the run started the sun came out. E had the right idea, she sat in her stroller, eating Cheerios  and then had a nap. Girl, is smart. Max wanted to run but that didn't last long once he got going. Afterwards we came back here, Matt BBQ'd burgers for us all and we (even the babes) stayed up way too late.



Sunday was day one of swimming lessons for Max. He is normally a fairly cautious child but he jumped into the pool immediately. So I guess he was excited about the whole swimming thing? He spent the next half hour ignoring the instructor and trying to do his own thing. I'm sure she loved him.    

The afternoon was spent picking out seeds and soil and planters for our little Summer garden. We've been in this apartment two years and have barely used the deck. Hopefully, this is our last Summer here, so we're making the most of it.




We planted spinach last night, that's as far as we got because it was pretty chilly and E couldn't hold the shovel anymore. Little pink noses are a sign to go in and warm up.

So much in one weekend. Super productive, only a handful of breakdowns (from me and the kids) and lots of fun. Easter weekend is around the corner so I'm glad we got a lot out of the way this week, because I don't plan on doing much during a long weekend.


4/9/14

Birthday Outing

What was up with Monday? It was like, 16 degrees all day, was it just for my birthday? Because, yesterday and today have been cold, wet and windy. Mother Nature, you crazy.

Since it was nice, and we've been cooped up for WAY too long, we took to the streets for a big dose of Vitamin D and some playground action. Katie had the day off, so she got to join us. We had the place to ourselves right up until the lunch bell rang and we were swarmed by school kids. That was when we went to stalk a potential new apartment to call home and grab some lunch.

doing their best Miley impressions.


E slept in her stroller right up until the food arrived. Smart gal. We hadn't really done much up to that point, but all the excitement or lack of excercise all winter, and I was spent. Thank goodness for downhill walks home. There was still plenty of ice cream cake left and two spots on the couch for the over 25 crowd to rest on.

Such an amazingly simple but fun day. Thanks for taking a girl out, Katie!

4/7/14

Happy Birthday to Me

Interrupting weekly weekend recap for a special announcement, today is my birthday!


We celebrated last night with a couple of friends, the babes and some ice cream cake. And, I got to open my presents early. We just got new dining chairs and it kind of kicked me into gear about re-staining our kitchen table, so Matt and the babes got me all the supplies to do it. No more excuses, kind of a brilliant/passive aggressive gift. Happy birthday, indeed.

the munchkins were SO excited to give me my presents




Woke up to actual Spring temperatures so thanks for the B-Day gift Mother Nature. We're getting out today to enjoy the sun and I'm not cooking a thing all day. This is going to be a good day, based solely on those two things.