Ways she can amuse herself!

We were at the cousins over the weekend and Sid was gifted stacks of clothes and some costume jewelry.  Monday was declared, "Let's organize your wardrobe day!" and I got busy emptying closets, boxes and drawers.  From the hallway I hear "Mom, come and see, I have ALL my jewelry on!" and this is what I found.  :)

 And while left alone to amuse herself, Sid did a fine job of finding things to do and play.  I walked by and saw this at another point in the morning.  "Shhhhh, I am spying!" she said.

 Poor Lilly walked by and nearly had a heart attack seeing the horse and two beady Sid eyes staring at her.  Lilly is still very leery of the horse and it has become and effective tool to guard Sid's toys!

 Can you see her eyes peeking out of the laundry basket? 

 Karate pics of some of the little kids all doing their spin kicks.  They had to go one after another.  It was a cool drill.

It was cold, cold cold this week starting off with a blanket of snow.  Hopefully the weather changes quickly and we get back to park days and playing outside!

New...

 

 A new little life has joined the Karate family!  This is little Sebastien who is only 4 days old.  Sid is in LOVE with him.   Like she needed any more motivation to go to Karate???  Now she just oooh and ahhhhs over this little guy and holds him so perfectly while his big brother and sister watch and help to make sure little Sebastien is safe.

 New chicks!!!  Sid and I were invited over to our friends house for a day of catching up and playing with the new babies.  The chickies were only a day old and the loud peeps drew Sid right to them as she entered the house.  These thirty (dirty birds.... Chili Pepper reference!!!!) are going to be quite the flock in a few weeks!

 Ohhh so cute!

 Kitty thinks... oh so tasty!!!!

 Sid helping little Neirin.

 Look at those feet!  Who'd have thought chickens could have cute feet?

 And then out in the pasture, the other new babies.....

OMG look at those bums?!

Back at home Dad and Sid watch Star Wars A NEW Hope.  So far they have only made it half way through.  It is quite scary.  Daddy is enjoying quoting the movie as it plays.  This is the end result of having seen it some 40+ times as a boy!

 A few new splits stretches!  Holy KungFu!

 A new tradition.   This was the Mustang end of the year Barbecue at Aimee and Doris' place.  They turned it into a fundraiser for their Ride for The Cure.  They provided the location, food and drinks and we made a donation to their team.  It was so fun.  Good food, good friends, lots of laughs and the Sens won as well as the team Canada women's team taking gold at the world cup.  What a great night!

Doris sneak flipping the burgs while Chef Aimee stepped away for just a moment!

 Watching the game which turned out to be a good one! 

Sid with her new flower hair clip in her hair.  Sid now takes special care in selecting her hair accessories every day.  She does all the styling and brushing and only requests help with braiding.  Wow she is growing up!

Spring Session is IN!

One of my most favorite times of the year is April / May.  Everything is coming to life and we can play outside for hours!  The starting of our summer park days rekindles the kids joy for park play and sand between the toes while the moms get to sit back and reconnect.  Also at home the bugs aren't eating us alive just yet so we can enjoy the sunsets from our own climber and trampoline.

Park days with the girls and their flower hats!

Happiness is......

Sunset after Karate

More basking in the sunset in our yard.

Lilly waiting for me to throw the ball, throw the ball, throw the ball, throw the ball, throw the ball.... you get the picture ;)

Groovy is the excavator and as always Maggie is the supervisor.  She is good at keeping on top of things!

And now Maggie takes over the hole Groovy worked so hard to excavate.  Maggie is a good alpha!

Training for the tourney on May 6th has started.  Time for sparring again!

Sid tagging Johnny with a punch

Johnny returning with a round kick

Sid landing her beautiful Spin kick! 

Horse stances and punches with Kiai!

Group hugs!

Sigung has asked me to take pics for another advertisement to run in the paper so I have been camera crazy at Karate this past week.  So far I have about 8 pics for him to choose from.  I love the chance to shoot new stuff!

More to come.....

Horses, Easter, Wool and Karate!

This post starts us off at the RCMP stables.  They offer free tours of the facility that includes a small museum and a gift shop.  Of course the horses are the best part!

The officers that make the musical ride are posted here for 3 years.  They have over 96 horses they work with at this facility and they are all beautiful animals. 

This horse is named Sammie and he was really sweet with Sid.  She could have spent hours standing there stroking his soft nose.  She has now decided that riding lessons are in her future!

Easter Sunday was started early by the pad of little feet running to our bedroom! "Mom! Dad! Get up!!!  It's Easter!"  The bunny made it in and out once again without being eaten by the dogs.  The eggs where well hidden and this year Sid had to really look to find some of them!

Easter isn't complete without a special get together with the MacNeill / Brady clan.  Brunch with her cousins is the highlight of Sid's day.  The parents sure enjoy the time too :)

Sid and Julia have a special bond.  These girls can play together for hours!

Grandmama enjoying her family!

Uncle Dirk and his girls.

Sid and Emilie having their special time together.   Cousins are just the best thing (after chocolate)   ;)

My hockey and soccer is on hiatus for a month and with little to do in the evenings I have found myself back to felting!  This beehive mobile was created for new baby Sebastien born Thursday April 12th! 

I saw a really cute stuffed polar bear and was inspired to create these two little guys.  Mom and baby polar bear having a cuddle!

Lastly the karate is intense as always.  Sid is still attending 4 - 5 classes a week and hasn't lost her love of the art.  We are still waiting to hear if anyone is going to London on the 21st.  A few people have been invited but we are not sure if enough are going yet.  In any case they are all training for a local tournament on May 6th.

Kicking target practice while moving across the club.

Sid sitting in her full splits waiting for her turn.  Look at her feet all the way out to the sides.   OUCH!

As she tags her friend Reece in the head, you you can see why the splits are so important.

Reece's turn and Sid is ready for it!  They are practicing kicking each other in the head with control.  The contact is minimal and a very soft touch but the girls can get a bit carried away :)

Reece doesn't have quite as far to kick.  Height is a definite advantage!

These two work really well together and challenge each other.  It is awesome that Reece lives so close to us.  These two are going to have a fabulous summer grappling and sparring around the yard! 

Off to Karate but will post more pictures of our week outdoors later today or tomorrow!