The Innocence of Three

The innocence of a three year old is honestly something you have to live with to appreciate. A few nights ago Sid was having a rough night and I cuddled up in bed with her and she snuggled right into my arms. She let out the biggest sigh and said "Mom, I love you of the whole wide world." This was an unprovoked statement that could have brought me to my knees if I hadn't been lying down. My eyes got a touch tingly as I could feel them water ever so slightly and I squeezed her a bit tighter. She then finished this precious moment off with "And I love Daddy more!" I burst out laughing and hugged her even harder. Out of the mouth of babes!

Sid is in love with the Magic School Bus series and we have 10 chapter books and watch it on TV occasionally. You can often catch her talking away with Ms. Frizzle and her classmates while playing in her room, in the tub or sitting in her car seat. It is a riot. I have discovered through this adventure that she just adores science and wants to know how everything works. She particularly like the chapter books about bats, insects and whales and now claims to be an expert on these subjects. Last week we were in the car and Sid said "Mom, I am a science kid! I am an expert on all kinds of things." I asked her what kinds of things she knew that made her an expert and she answered that she was an expert on cars. I asked her what expert things she knew about cars and she paused for a moment then answered "Well, they aren't mammals!"

Sidney also really likes a series called Little Bear and we have a few videos that I put in when we need some down time. If I am lucky I find them in VHS at the consignment shops for next to nothing and they entertain her for a good hour. There is one episode where Little Bear is sick and he stays in his bed playing with his homemade stuffed bear, Fisherman Bear. Well out of the blue on Thursday morning I got woken up by a little person asking me to make her a fisherman bear. I don't sew, or so I thought. About an hour and a half later we had a stitched stuffed cat that is Sid's version of fisherman bear. She picked the material, helped make the face and fishing rod. The funny thing is that she just loves this silly handmade toy so much. She asks to sleep with it each night and loves it because it is so cuddly. This was a real lesson to me, if we can make it, it is better than anything store bought.

Being inspired by sewing I baked my very first loaf of bread today. It turned out great and was so easy. It is Spelt Bread and takes 10 minutes to mix and 30 minutes to bake. Super easy and delicious with supper. If anyone is interested I can post the recipe. I found it in this months Today's Parent page 116

Speaking of cooking, Ken, my sweetheart, made me a nice quiet breakfast in bed with fresh fruit, pancakes and coffee. It was delicious and hilarious because I thought it was so nice to have a quiet breakfast after sleeping in and this is what became of my peaceful breakfast in bed.....

What are the cats thinking??? Fruit and pancakes!!! They don't eat either of these things.

Saturday Ken and Gerry did a benefit show for an event called Blood Sweat and Gears. It was a fundraiser for Breast Cancer research through the montfort hospital and was held at a local community center. Sponsors paid 125.00 per stationary bike and then teams rode the bikes for 10hours straight to raise money through pledges. Ken and Gerry were the closing act to help the cyclist finish their ride. It was a good time and they were really well received. Here are two pictures of Sid hanging out listening to Daddy play and bustin' a few moves on the dance floor too!

The red dot on her head is a stage light behind her not a ball or strawberry LOL!

Spring Cleaning

Hoooray for Spring!

It has been a much warmer week with spring in the air and a day or two of open windows. I have caught the spring cleaning purge and collected two boxes of miscellaneous things, two boxes of toys and a large bag of kids clothes to freecycle. I read about and practiced the 27-Fling Boogie (by Marla Cilley - known as the fly lady, organizing guru - flylady.com). I don't know why the number is 27 but you walk through your house and throw out or recycle 27 items then go back through your house and find 27 items to give away. Apparently 80% of things we keep we never use so why keep them?!

Sid and I have been off all week for march break and crafting like crazy! Today we decided to make and decorate a chore jar. We took some strips of paper and wrote down some chores Sid came up with so she could help the family. She chose make her bed, tidy up, set the table, wash the toilet (she loves doing this!), set up her own craft, find one toy to give away, vacuum, fix the blankets on the couches for the dogs, clean the bathroom mirror and put a load of laundry in the machine. These were all things she picked herself once I explained what a chore was. She was so excited to try the jar and really wanted to get "make your bed" but pulled out vacuum instead. She jumped up and down all excitedly and asked me to get the vacuum out while she put on her ear protectors (she doesn't like loud noises) and away she went. She vacuumed the couches, under tables, the kitchen, bathroom and playroom. She was having such a good time she insisted on picking another chore from the jar and luck was with us because she picked making her bed. This morning she woke up and brought her chore jar right to dad and asked him to open it for her. While I was making coffee she was cleaning the bathroom toilet LOL! I know this won't last long but I love the novelty of it.

The Beloved Chore Jar!?

Really Getting into Vacuuming!

This week was a special week for Ken. He and Gerry played a short set at Carleton University for Amnesty International. It has been several years since Ken took the stage and the boys did a fantastic job as always. They have been invited to play at a "Free Omar Kotter" rally and a gig in April for the Cancer Society. They will skip the rally since it is in a week but are excited to get practicing for the 1000 people show for the Cancer Society. It is so nice to see him back on stage. It is going to be really fun going out with Sid to watch Daddy play music!

We are off for a picnic and a going green eco fair today. Hope the weather stays nice and warm because we are bringing Sid's bike along!

Sid working on balancing on her running bike (no pedals)

Sid going down the skateboard ramps on her bike

House League Champs

For yet another year, the Xtreme won the house league Competitive Division Championship this past weekend. It was a great season with a great group of friends and a personal G.A.A. (goals against average) of 1.00 (which is 25 goals in 25 games) to take another Top Goalie award for me. After a solid week of working those new gloves in every night while watching TV, they did the trick and felt like old friends by the time the important games needed to be played. Now to continue with our ODWHA competitive league playoffs. The Mustangs have 3 more games to play and to qualify for the championship game we will have to win them all.

With Spring on the horizon we trekked off to the Experimental Farm today. The very first thing we saw were Canada Geese flying over the barns. What a welcome sight that was after walking up the long drive way in 40 to 90 km wind gusts. What a great way to brighten a cold stormy day. Sid made some new friends and was particularly please with this gal who she named Rosa the Sheep. She even sang Baa Baa Black Sheep to Rosa.
It was a very cold walk to the dairy barn but as always it was worth it to be able to pet and brush the little calves in the calf barn.After all the mucking about in the barns we got home and Sid decided she wanted to practice her ballet. I caught a few great pictures of her in her dancing glory.

Fittings for the ballet recital in June with be happening this weekend. Sid is very excited to be in a recital even though she had NO idea what a recital is. All she knows is she gets to dress like Tinkerbell and is in group 4 with her friend Charlotte. I will have to borrow a video camera to capture this, it should be priceless.

Science and Technology

Technology: I caught Sid reclining on the couch reading Dad's Air and Space magazine. When I asked her what she was reading she said she was reading about snow planes. Oh what a proud moment for Daddy.



And now for the Science portion of the blog:

Goop! We love goop, such a childhood staple. Cornstarch, water and food colouring if you want and presto a big bowl of goop. Sid was mesmerized with the concoction for close to an hour. It is messy but so worth it!

Today we made our own paper from left over paper around the house. It was a cool experiment and we will do it again when the recycle bin fill back up. Here's how it is done!



Step 1: shred your recycled paper into small bits in a bucket of hot water



Step 2: soak for 30 minutes until it is pulpy

Step 3: Mix pulp into a creamy base using a whisk or blender. Put a piece of window screen in a dish or pan that you can cover with at least 3cm of water.

Step 4: Cover the screen with at least 3cm of water then add a cup to a cup and a half of the pulp mix. Spread it out evenly so it covers the entire surface of the screen. Gently lift the screen and let excess water drain. Flip the screen and pulp onto a dish towel (I used cotton place mats) so the pulp is directly on the surface and the screen is on top. Remove the screen.



Step 5: cover paper with tea towel (or cotton place mat) and squeeze excess water with a rolling pin. You may also cover with a towel and iron excess water with a hot iron. We did both. Carefully set aside paper to dry. It will take between 24 and 48 hours for the paper to be dry depending on how much water is left in it.

Enjoy your handmade recycled paper!

L'il Drummer Girl

Last week we were looking through Sid's toys to freecycle to make room for new things. She decided to give her little drum kit away to her friends because she doesn't use it anymore. Daddy bought it for her when they went shopping at toys r us when she was 10 months old.The little blue kit was sitting in her playroom gathering dust because now she is a big girl and plays the full size kit. Her friends Charlotte and Emily love the little blue kit but their dad who is 6ft 2" and a drummer loves it even more! Check out the movie of Siddy out on the big kit taken this morning.