Friday, November 27, 2009

Photo of the Day November 26th

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One of the major pieces of our holiday decorating was completed this afternoon while carols played in the background and we sipped chocolate eggnog (which the jury is still out on - sorry Presidents Choice). Laura joined us to decorate the tree - it's always a fun trip down memory lane, but this year was especially neat because we have some of Chris's moms old Christmas tree decorations which brought back a lot of memories for Laura as we unpacked them. We use a mish-mash of handmade and store bought, shiny new and weathered old decorations, and I think the overall effect is pretty charming. Chris's sister Mary and her kids joined us for dinner after the tree went up and we drew the names for our Christmas gift exchange, and with Sandy, Lisa and Madison on their way into town this evening for our annual card-making weekend it is truly beginning to feel a lot like Christmas!
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Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Photo of the Day November 25th


It's the 25th... which means one month from today will be Christmas! That said, the more focused-on date for Sophie at the moment is December 1st, because I've brought out her Advent calendar and she knows that she can't get into it until then. Last year I splurged on this large, book-style Advent calendar with it's pop-up tree at Starbucks knowing that I could save it for refilling... it was originally packed with chocolate truffles, but not surprisingly I found that a chocolate a day is excessive for someone of Sophie's age. This year I've alternated the treats - on even numbered days the window will open to reveal a chocolate, while on odd numbered days she'll discover a bouncy ball, rubber stamp, or little piece of jewelry instead. Sophie remembered the calendar the second she saw it and has been itching to start opening the little windows - I'm glad I put it up on the fireplace a few days in advance so the anticipation can build and I have time to prepare her for the alternating chocolate-prize-chocolate pattern she'll find when she does finally get into it.
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Photo of the Day November 24th


I have a running "to do" list that I've been crossing things off of furiously this week. As you can tell, much of the items on the list are Christmas-related, although there have been plenty of emails, projects for Sophie's school, and other family events to plan for. I'm thrilled to be crossing off one of the more time-consuming items on my list today - the Crackers we "pop" at (or shortly after) Christmas dinner. I think most people can remember a holiday meal where Crackers were laid out on the festively set table for everyone to open - it's something we've done in my mom's side of the family since at least when I was a small child and I can't ever remember a Christmas without them. The only problem with those crackers is the stuff you find inside them... usually cheap plastic toys made in China (sorry China), a slip of paper with a joke on it, and a paper crown that no one but the under-10 set is willing to wear. So all the excitement of the cracker is pretty much lost once you pop it, and I hate that. You must understand, I'm a bonafide holiday over-achiever and if something related to Christmas doesn't sit right with me it'll get under my skin until I fix it. The 'fix' to crappy prizes inside the crackers? Make them myself, and customize the contents to fit the audience. They're not hard to make really, as long as you plan ahead and start saving paper towel rolls a few months in advance... the paper strips that makes the "pop" sound when you pull them apart are available from craft stores, and the rest is up to your imagination. I make sure to put sugar-free candy inside the crackers going to diabetic members of our family, include trinkets and gifts that I think people will actually want (like lottery tickets or little hand-made items), and include quotes about the importance of family or the history of the holiday in place of those silly jokes. No paper crowns. They're a hit, and have become a special part of our family holiday tradition... the only challenge is that as our family grows, so does the scope of this project. This year's Christmas Cracker total is 17, all of which are labelled and packed up to be carried up north by Sandy and Lisa on Sunday. Another project off the list!
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Photo of the Day November 23rd

A detail from the Christmas Card I'll be making and sending out this year. If you want to see the entire image, click here.

I'd better warn you now... in the next week or so you're probably going to get bombarded with entry after entry about all the holiday prep that's going on at my house. But if this blog is to be a true reflection of what's happening around here each day, an overwhelming amount of Christmas projects will be what you see for the next while. I mentioned two days ago that an upcoming visit from my cousins was prompting me to get some wrapping done to send back up north with them, but I didn't mention the primary reason for their visit. Each year we get together for a weekend in November to work on our Christmas cards, and I'm excited that the weekend is almost upon us. I've been making my own Christmas cards for over a decade, my cousin Sandy started making her own about five years ago, then two years ago my cousin Lisa joined in as well. I'm converting them all, slowly but surely! It's quite the weekend, with hour after hour of paper cutting and folding, gluing and glittering, stamping and embellishing... fueled by eggnog, Thai take-out and chocolate. We each have generous Christmas card lists (last year I made 60), so putting together enough cards isn't a quick affair... but it's a fun one when you do it with people you love and enjoy spending time with!
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Photo(s) of the Day November 22nd


Chris, Sophie and I don't find ourselves with a commitment-free Sunday very often, so when one popped up on our calendar this week we decided to enjoy some family time with a small road trip. We drove north out of London, stopping at Crunican Brother's for a jug of cider and a bag of Courtland apples before heading into Exeter in search of some of the white squirrels that the area is known for. Despite rattling our bag of peanuts all over the park, no squirrels came out of hiding to show us their fluffy white tails - we were lucky that the park had three foot bridges to run across, a dam to investigate and some trees to climb to help make up for missing the squirrels!
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Photo of the Day November 21st

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas... especially judging by the fully decorated blue-themed tree gracing my front porch!

I am bound and determined to get myself organized for Christmas early this year. I know, I know, we all say that every year don't we? But this year I have a few extra motivators, one of which is my girlfriend Lee whose taking off for Australia in a couple short weeks to visit mutual friends of ours, and has offered to take presents and cards "down under" for me as long as I get them to her before all the space in her luggage is gone. I'm also inspired by next weekend's visit by my cousins Lisa and Sandy, who've agreed to drive back up north with whatever presents & stocking stuffers I have wrapped and ready to go. Both of these "delivery services" will save me either shipping costs or the frustration of having to lug four hundred pounds of gifts on the train at Christmas... both excellent motivators. So, the sounds of Christmas carols are ringing through my house this week as I work on Christmas crackers, decorating, wrapping and more. My hope is that getting all this work done early means I'll have the chance to sit back and enjoy some quiet time over the holidays this year. What are the odds?
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Friday, November 20, 2009

Photo of the Day November 20th


Despite the somewhat relaxed vibe of this photo-of-the-day, we enjoyed a very high-energy visit from our friends Rhys and Rowan today. While we see Rowan a couple days a week, we don't see Rhys as often so his visit was something Sophie had been looking forward to all week. Their time together certainly didn't disappoint, as it was chock full of pretending to be an assortment of creatures (here they're being bats, hanging upside down in a cave by their feet), running around like crazy people, playing board games, and generally getting into mischief. The kids all had a blast, and while I was left exhausted the day seemed to have the opposite effect on the kids, who had to practically be torn apart at the end of the day as they bounced around at full-speed-ahead high-energy! What a day...
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Photo of the Day November 19th


Chris's schedule is all over the map, with him working early mornings, mid afternoons, nights and overnight shifts that range from eight to twelve hours long - sometimes within the same week. That can make it hard to enjoy regular family time together, but we make up for it by having "family cuddles" whenever we can... it might be first thing in the morning or the middle of the afternoon, but one of us (often Sophie) will ask "who wants a family cuddle?" and we'll stop what we're doing and all pile into bed for some snuggle time. Even the cats come running (can you see the ear in the lower part of the frame?) It works out especially well if Chris is heading to bed for an afternoon nap prior to working a night shift... we can enjoy our cuddle time together before wishing him sweet dreams and sneaking off so he can get some sleep.
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Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Photo of the Day November 18th


A new toy has arrived in our home! As you can tell by reading this blog I enjoy photography, albeit on a purely amateur level... and while Chris and I have talked about eventually upgrading our little digital to an SLR, there's always something more pressing to take care of financially. Enter Chris's mom Shirley, who took a photography course quite some time ago and outfitted herself with a nice SLR and a great collection of lenses and filters as a result. She's taken some gorgeous pictures with it (especially nature shots) but it hasn't been used for the past several years, and since a camera like that really does want to take pictures now and again... it's taken up residence at our home for a while! Chris has been pouring over the manuals trying to figure it out, and I'll take my crack at it once he's had a turn - I'll be sure to make note of it as photos from the SLR make an appearance on this blog!
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Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Photo of the Day November 17th

Sophie and 2 other JK's get a push from a very helpful SK student
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It's another Skating Day at Tecumseh, so when preparing Sophie for school this morning I packed up her skates, snow pants and helmet in addition to all her other school supplies. Unfortunately Sophie's backpack can't possibly hold all that, so on Skating Days we have to bring two bags instead of one... I'm glad I attend skating to help out because I can't imagine Sophie having to carry it all by herself while successfully navigating stairs and change rooms. That said, our "lot of stuff to carry" seemed like nothing when I compare myself to one of the other Tecumseh moms I was chatting with in the change room. She has four daughters, three of which are school-aged and therefor needed all their skating supplies brought to the school today - her "lot of stuff to carry" included a mammoth hockey bag stuffed to the top with different sizes of skates, helmets, mitts, snow pants and scarves in addition to a double-wide stroller with her youngest daughter in it. Hmmm... kind of puts things in perspective, doesn't it?
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Monday, November 16, 2009

Photo of the Day November 16th


As I mentioned in an earlier post, I've recently started taking part in the Cooking Club Challenge run by Food Network Canada. Each month the registered participants vote on the type of recipe they'd like to make, and Food Network tabulates the votes and lets everyone know which dish "won". The recipe is posted and as participants complete their own version they're invited to send in photos and information about what they may have changed and how the overall recipe worked for them. I think it's a neat way to introduce something into your meal plan that you may not otherwise have made - last months meatloaf was a pretty good example of that in my house. Although I haven't gotten to this month's challenge yet (Michael Smith's Cinnamon Rolls), I've decided to go back and try some of the previous challenges... which is why last night I roasted a chicken for the first time ever. Please bear in mind that I'm a vegetarian, so when I think of "family meals" they usually feature something I can actually eat... making roasts, steaks, meatloaf, etc are pretty much outside my frame of reference. I'm thrilled to say that the chicken was a hit, especially with my tried-and-true carnivore husband who said it was one of the best roast chicken dinners he'd ever had. Feel free to click here to check out the recipe. I'm looking forward to continuing this little cooking experiment, and I have every faith that Chris will support me every step, or every bite, of the way!
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Photo of the Day November 15th

Chris, Sophie and I staked out our curb about 45 minutes before the parade began and snuggled up for some hot chocolate while we waited.
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Well, I guess the Christmas season is officially upon us... the Santa Claus parade was last night! It certainly snuck up on me - I may not have found out about the parade until after it was over if it weren't for a Facebook friend mentioning it in their status update. Although I've been thinking Christmas-y thoughts since pretty much the moment Halloween passed, I was still shocked... this month is absolutely flying by. Since we were lucky enough to find out about it, we bundled Sophie up, made lots of hot chocolate and spent the night watching the bright lights and listening to the music of the Santa Claus parade. We even managed to slip to the grocery store to pick up baby food for the food bank and remembered to bring Sophie's letter for Santa, since Canada Post employees walk the parade route collecting letters for the big guy. Sophie was particularly excited that Slippery the Seal from Storybook Gardens was this year's Grand Marshall... she thought the fact that two of her favourite characters both openned and finished the parade was pretty special. Ho ho ho everyone!
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Hey Santa! Look over here!!!
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Saturday, November 14, 2009

Photo of the Day November 14th

A pajama-clad Sophie shows off her balance beam moves at The Little Gym

Here's a first: I took Sophie all over London in her pajamas today. Not our normal way of dressing, but in a very strange coincidence the playroom at Goodlife posted that kids were invited to wear their PJ's to the gym today while Sophie's Saturday class at The Little Gym's was hosting a "Pajama Party". Since we had both on our very busy agenda we decided to just cut to the chase and wear a pair of what we dubbed "daytime PJ's" for all our errands today. I sometimes see adults wandering around Shopper's Drug Mart in their pajamas, but I'm pretty sure this was the first time a four-year-old hit the Farmer's market, mall, gym and grocery store decked out in her long johns!
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Friday, November 13, 2009

Photo of the Day November 13th


Field Trip Day! Since we live so close to her school Sophie has no need to ride the school bus - she's ridden one only once, on a field trip to Circle R Ranch with Calvary Nursery School. So today was a big day from her perspective, because not only was her Kindergarten class going to the Children's Museum, but she was going to ride the school bus to get there. I think it's possible she was more excited about the bus than the museum!
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Photo of the Day November 12th


Today was so busy that I actually had to write up an agenda and tape it to the dashboard of the car so Chris and I could keep up with everything we had to do without missing any appointment times... you know you're overbooked when it comes to that! One of our "to do's" was getting both Sophie and Chris to our Optometrist Dr. Shuit for appointments. We don't have any concerns about Sophie's eyesight at this point, but since both Chris and I wear glasses as do each of our parents, we want to be sure to (pardon the pun) keep an eye on her vision. While Chris is an old hand at the testing an Optometrist does, it was Sophie's very first time... we weren't sure if she would be a bit frightened by all the machines so we asked if Chris could have his appointment first while Sophie watched the whole process. It was obviously the way to go because when it was her turn she clearly knew just what to expect and handled it beautifully. Dr. Shuit even commented on how very well behaved she was... way to go Sophie!
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Photo of the Day November 11th

Lest We Forget...


Chris, Sophie and I observed our moments of silence separately today. Sophie attended a Remembrance Day Assembly at Tecumseh, Chris went downtown to watch the Veteran's parade and the ceremony at Victoria Park's Cenotaph with several thousand other Londoners, and I stayed home trying to explain to a somewhat confused Rowan why we weren't talking for two full minutes before heading to the school to get Sophie. Throughout the day we remembered those brave men and women who have fought in wars throughout our history, dying to protect the ideals and values that we so often take for granted today. I said a special prayer for my friend Meaghan's husband Paul, whose currently at home after a tour in Afghanistan... we're grateful for his safe return, and mindful of those who weren't so lucky. Lest we forget...
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Photo of the Day November 10th


Sophie's school is wonderfully located right beside Farquharson Arena, which gives them the distinct advantage of being able to include skating as part of their curriculum. Students at every grade level are taken over to the arena about 8 times a year for lessons, and since the first round of those lessons happens in November it's the perfect way to get kids in the mood for winter sports season. We didn't get around to taking Sophie skating last year, so her experience at Tecumseh this morning was her very first time on the ice - and I couldn't be more impressed. She's what I would call "physically timid", in that she doesn't have a lot of confidence in her ability to do some of the bolder things that kids do. It was great when she was little, because I never had to worry about her climbing the bookcase or jumping off something high and hurting herself... but as she's gotten older both Chris and I are encouraging her to have more faith in her physical abilities. That's the main reason we enrolled her in classes at The Little Gym, and I can't help but wonder if her success today came in part from the confidence she's been getting from successfully overcoming challenges at the gym. Although at first her Teacher had to hold her just to convince Sophie to stand up, by the end of the lesson Sophie was moving around the ice on her own, with just the support of a chair to help keep her balanced. That's quick progress for her very first time at the rink, and I'm very proud of her!
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Photo of the Day November 9th


I used a lot of pie pumpkins in my autumn decorating this year, and as a result I've found myself with a seemingly limitless supply of pumpkin to cook and bake with. My most recent experiment was a delicious pumpkin canneloni with sage brown butter, and I was thrilled with the results. It's nice to use pumpkin in savory dishes instead of limiting it to desserts, and the combination of ricotta, parmesan cheese, pumpkin and sage was simply lovely. This one's a keeper for sure - I'll upload the recipe and add a link as soon as I have the time!
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Photo(s) of the Day November 8th

Say "hello" to my little friend!
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A squirrel approaches Sophie to check out the peanut she's offering
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The successful handoff!
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For a down-home, old fashioned family activity you really can't beat going to Victoria Park and tossing peanuts to the squirrels. It's been something Chris and I have done for years - in fact, we got engaged at the park on an outing that Chris sneakily claimed was to feed the squirrels - and since Sophie's arrival we've been enjoying trips to the park all the more often. On sunny autumn days it's a great excuse to walk around, feel the leaves crunch under your feet, and get up close and personal with a couple furry little friends. The squirrels at Victoria Park are so docile that most of them will come right up and take peanuts from your hand, something that has delighted Sophie since she was first able to hold a peanut steady with her little fingers...
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Saturday, November 7, 2009

Photo of the Day November 7th


Oh, I do feel a sense of accomplishment today... After waking up early I managed to put away laundry, organize some household linens that were getting out-of-hand (don't laugh), take Sophie to the Farmer's Market, go to the gym (elliptical, weights, then 50 sit-ups... can I get a "hell yeah!"?), take Sophie to dance/gymnastics class, go to the grocery store, drive Chris to and from the gym, take Sophie to the park for over an hour of play time, bury her in leaves (shown above), help make dinner, and throw more laundry in. Whew! I've mentioned that Saturday tends to be the craziest day of our week, right? All that combined with the couple of glasses of red wine with dinner might explain why at 9:25pm, I'm completely wiped out! I'm going to make coffee for the morning, send a couple of quick emails and then I'm off to bed... a good night's sleep is just what the doctor ordered.
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Friday, November 6, 2009

Photo of the Day November 6th

Sophie, deep in negotiations with her new swimming teacher
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Sophie had her first "on her own" swimming lesson last night. I've been taking her to the pool since she was an infant, first in organized Mommy-and-Me style classes and then on our own so she could play while I taught her some basic swimming moves. On our more recent trips to the pool she's been brave and coordinated enough to let go of the side of the pool and swim a few short kicks to me completely unassisted, so we decided that now would be a good time for her to start more formal swimming lessons. I think the idea of Mommy not coming into the water was drilled into her enough before the class that it didn't come as a surprise, but I must say she was still more resistant to the teacher's instructions than I hoped she would be... each time she was given an instruction she presented a counter-offer. If the teacher said they would be putting their faces in the water Sophie would tell her that she was only willing to put her chin in the water - the teacher would then counter with a suggestion that she consider putting her lips in the water too, and so on and so on. It's kind of funny watching someone else deal with my little negotiator... I feel like I've been spending a lot of my time lately either working out compromises or trying to squelch an oncoming tantrum because I'm not able (or willing) to negotiate on something. I think perhaps we should be increasing Sophie's RESP contributions in anticipation of her upcoming decision to enter law school.
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Thursday, November 5, 2009

Photo of the Day November 5th

Happy Guy Fawkes day! Don't worry if you don't really know what that means... I didn't either until Chris explained it to me - the best I could do was "Isn't that the V for Vendetta guy?"
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It was a bizarre day to say the least... I checked the weather network this morning and read that we should expect "mixed precipitation", which essentially means they know stuff is going to fall from the sky but they don't know what exactly it will be. Could be chickens, who knows? What we actually got was a strange mix of brilliant sunshine, violently dark clouds, gentle misting rain, blue skies, sudden hail, and pounding downpours. All of it - every 10 minutes. I snapped the above photo as I was heading out the door to pick Sophie up from school... large chunks of hail on a leaf from our backyard, and can you tell from the shadow that the sun is shining on them? Very strange, very strange indeed.
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Photo of the Day November 4th


After a long day of sitting through lectures yesterday I brought my energy level back up with a quick workout at the hotel gym and then headed out for dinner at the Eaton's Centre with the other representatives from my school. It was a good opportunity for us to discuss what we'd seen and heard, which ideas we thought might have a place at our school and which weren't such a good fit. It was also good to get away from "conference centre air" and outside for a while - we all enjoyed the walk to and from the Eaton's Centre and Toronto's harbour front, where our hotel is located. After a much better nights sleep (it does take at least a night to get used to a new bed, doesn't it?) I enjoyed a cup of coffee and the view out my hotel room window (shown above) before heading down for the second day of the EQAO Symposium. A school choir performance, two more lectures and a closing speech later we said goodbye to Toronto and headed back to Union Station to catch our VIA train home. I'm very glad to have had this opportunity... to learn some strategies to help my daughter's school become an even better place, to establish new relationships, and to have some time away from home as "Summer" instead of "Mommy". All three of those things feed my soul... something that may not have been on the conference agenda but which I appreciated none the less. And the perfect way to end this little journey? Sophie and Chris waiting for me at the train station in London with lots of "I love yous" and "I missed yous". With all those selling points, I would jump at the opportunity to attend similar events in the future!
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Photo of the Day November 3rd

Getting ready for a day of lectures...
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I'm back in the role of a student today - away from home, notebook in hand and ready to fill my brain with new and hopefully helpful information for my daughter's school. I boarded a train yesterday evening bound for Toronto, where the EQAO Symposium is being held. For those of you not familiar with it, EQAO stands for the Education Quality and Accountability Office and is the organization responsible for administering the standardized testing completed by all Grade 3, 6 and 10 students in Ontario, and analyzing the results. I was invited to attend the conference as a parent representative, largely due to my current role as the Co-Chair of Tecumseh's School Council... I traveled with two Teachers from the school, the Principal, and my Co-Chair. After a restless night of sleep at the Westin Harbour Castle, our day started early with registration and a lovely breakfast and was followed by a succession of speakers lecturing on everything from making schools a "Harbour of Hope" to the ways that boys learn differently than girls. While some presentations didn't quite hit the mark, I've learned a lot and have been enjoying my time as a "learner" again... having a couple days of completely adult conversation doesn't hurt either, I must say!
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Monday, November 2, 2009

Photo of the Day November 2nd

Hey, who's that cute redhead in the middle?!?!
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As I'm sure I've mentioned in the past I'm the co-editor of the Firebird, the newsletter of Tecumseh Public School. We put out an issue once a month, and it's one of the largest newsletters of any public school in the area usually coming in at about 12 pages in length chock full of pictures and information about student activities. I work with a partner who's a whiz at all things grammatical and an expert at the ins and outs of spelling, so my focus each month tends to be on editing text for flow and working on layout and design. Proof of my focus on this month's newsletter layout over its specific content came this morning when Sophie brought home a copy of the Firebird in her backpack... I was looking it over to see how it translated from on-screen to hard-copy when I noticed that she was in the photo for recipients of the SOAR award this month! When going over the newsletter as it was coming together I didn't actually check the award photo for faces, I only looked at it for size... what a wonderful surprise to see she had won an award for "Thinking Skills" (which refers to problem solving and making decisions)! It you would like to see the most recent issue of the Tecumseh Firebird newsletter please click here (you'll need an Adobe reader).
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Photo of the Day November 1st


I can't believe it's November already... this year has simply flown by. When I look back at October there's one thing in particular that will stand out in my mind beyond Halloween costumes and changing leaves, and that's computer problems. We've endured many appearances from the "blue screen of death" and thanks to our friend Al underwent a complete overhaul of our computer which resulted in our current PC. It's a step up from the one we used to call "Old Bessie", and was created from components of our original mixed with those of Chris's sister Laura's old PC... we affectionately call it "Frankencomputer". And now it's even acting up, with the mouse freezing and monitor going to a completely black screen that can only be escaped by hitting the reset button, generally right when I'm in the middle of working on a Word document. Very frustrating, to say the least... I'm hoping that with November's arrival the dark cloud of computer issues will be left behind us.
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Photo(s) of the Day October 31st

Happy Halloween!
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Today was crazy... I felt a bit like we covered the "trick" part of trick-or-treat just keeping up with our busy day! As with most Saturdays we went out to the Western Fair Farmer's Market, where in addition to doing my weekly shopping I dropped off a jar of carrot marmalade to the lovely farm family from whom I often buy carrots. After that it was a quick lunch, dance and gymnastics class with Sophie, a visit with Mary & Courtney, lighting up the jack 'o lanterns, grabbing dinner, and then dress up time for a certain little princess we all know and love.
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She was more than a little excited (can you tell???) for not only the trick-or-treating, but for the fact I let her wear makeup as part of her Halloween costume.
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She looked so regal prancing from house to house on our trick-or-treating route... what a pretty princess!
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Once we returned home from our own trick-or-treating, Sophie was excited to answer the door and hand out candy to the bigger kids when they came around... in between sampling a few of the goodies she received of course!
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