Group 268

Dance exams a success!

heather — Thu, 17 May 2012 02:17:51 +0000

Katrine did what might be her last set of Highland Dance exams on Friday. She managed to pass both her Nationals and Highland exams with the highest possible award. Very proud of her. Now if she can apply the same amount of focus to practicing for her competitions this summer it should be interesting.

The many faces of Elspeth

heather — Tue, 15 May 2012 02:24:23 +0000

The title says it all.

A Mother’s Day Christening

heather — Tue, 15 May 2012 02:20:50 +0000

When we were in Nanchang, one of the things that we did was arranged to have articles of clothing sewn specifically for the christening. Katrine got to chose the material for each item with the one stipulation that it all had to be red (the colour of celebration and good luck). She did a bang up job and we ended up looking quite smashing for the christening. So eye catching that a little girl in the pew infront of us turned around, eyed us all and ernestly asked “Are you Chinese?” Hmmmm, well let’s see two of us are blonde. Hmmm, she must be thinking that we had to be Chinese to wear those clothes. She is about 7, how to answer, how to answer. Katrine pipes up, “Only me and my sister are.” Little girl nods as if that has cleared the matter up and then turns back around. Almost as funny as the time that my mom and I picked Katrine up at Chinese class and the kids looked at the pair of us in confusion before turning to her and asking if her grandmother spoke Chinese. “Nope, just Scottish.” Isn’t it interesting how they try to make sense of their world?

Anyways, back to the christening. We usually sit upstairs at our church where there are less people but yesterday that was out and we sat right up at the front. Man did Elspeth’s eyes get big like saucers when she looked over her shoulder at the rows of people. You could tell that she was already getting a bit stressed.

When we met with the minister in April, we had warned her that Elspeth doesn’t really like getting water put on her head and she should be prepared for some noise. Well, up we go to the front with Karen, Glenn’s sister aka Godmother, and Scott, my brother aka Godfather (thanks guys). Katrine is super excited that she can pour the water into the baptismal font. We repeat our promises to guide Elspeth in the path of Christ and approach the minister who takes Elspeth and begins the placing the water on her head. HOWL!!!! TEARS!!! Okay, return said child to mom as soon as possible. I think the passion of Elspeth’s howls surprised the minister. She was really protesting.

Once back in my arms she wimpered and then went into shut down which lasted until we could escape the sanctuary and go into the nursery which is her normal routine. Poor baby. At least once she was okay, she was okay. She was happy to pose for photos once the service was complete. Thrilled to eat the cupcakes made by Auntie Heather (thank you) and open all of her gifts. It was actually a nice way to spend a Mother’s Day morning….aside from the howling and shut down portions.

Our girls before the service:

The prayer shawl that was given to Elspeth in honour of her christening:

The scrumptious looking cupcakes:

Doesn’t Elspeth look even more angelic now?

Adventures in Potty Training

heather — Sun, 13 May 2012 00:03:47 +0000

We are right in the thick of learning that no two children potty train the same. Katrine was a schedule girl. Figure out her schedule and wham – mostly trained. Wore padded training pants for a few months as assurance but that was it.

Elspeth is a different kettle of fish entirely. Firstly, she has no schedule. Spent two weeks tracking roughly when she wet herself only to discover that there was no pattern. Sigh. That is no help. However, we did notice the pattern that she would occassionally run to the toilet on time and occassionally run there after the fact. Thought, okay maybe she just isn’t ready for toilet training. So we back off for a few months. Then two weeks ago she refused to put on a pull-up. Okay, time for round two but with a different approach.

No pull ups. Instead, training pants. They will be more uncomfortable and that will motivate her more to go to the toilet in advance. This lead to our second discovery. For her the sheer act of wearing any form of underwear (regular or padded) seems to be an invitation to wet herself. Sigh. Now what. I mean she wants to and is digging in her heels about the pull ups. Guess we need a new plan.

Okay, pantless at home. Well don’t you know, accident free in the house for the past three days. One minor complication though. She seems to think that when she puts pants on to go outside it is an invitation to just let it go. At least we seem to be making some progress.

No two kids are a like!

Oh, a happy birthday to Glenn. His first birthday hug from Elspeth. A priceless gift.

Big Job Fixing the Turtle Pond

Doug and Audrey — Tue, 08 May 2012 14:06:00 +0000

Mark has had the opportunity to get up close and personal with the turtles. He loves them and is very happy with their new temporary home. He can reach right in and touch them! His first English word when we got home was "turtle" because I would take him with me to feed them. We have a leak in the pond and while we have it drained we are holding the turtles in this livestock water trough. Mark has found the turtles very interesting and has been holding the food for them and letting them take it from his fingers. He is getting much braver with them because it is scary when they go "snap, snap" at the food. The turtles have mixed feelings about all the attention. Love the extra feeding, but not sure they like the extra attention of poking at them and pushing them under the water. It seems son that you love animals, much like your Momma.

Mark’s First Wedding

Doug and Audrey — Tue, 08 May 2012 13:55:00 +0000

Mark attended his first wedding on Saturday. My work partner married her firefighter love and Daddy got to sing her down the church aisle. Mark was very good but Momma kept him in the back of the church because he would be hollering "tar, tar" if he saw Daddy playing the guitar. What a handsome family we were. Mark loved his little outfit and strutted about until the music at the reception started and then he turned into a dancing machine! We are so proud of you son...everyone said how handsome you were and such a good boy. Hopefully you will be just as good at your cousin Dan and Jessica's wedding. I know you will be just as handsome! You are the joy of our lives son!

New Game for Mealtime

Doug and Audrey — Tue, 08 May 2012 13:45:00 +0000

Mark has a new game for mealtimes. He wants to eat in his own kitchen and Mommy has to put peas, corn, beans etc from the soup on her spoon and transfer them on to his spoon. What a production! He has a new favorite hat...his John Deere hat is his favorite hat. Last night I noticed for the third time that he will say the word KIP, KIP, KIP just before he drops off to sleep. I have noticed this before and I cannot pin point the connection. It has some meaning to him and is only said when he is just about to drop off. I do not know the connection but have captured it on the blog in case it has meaning to him later. This morning Mark dropped some peanut butter on his pj"s and when I said "oh oh you made a mess", he responded with saying "Smokey" and then started to laugh. This little scamp has figured out that he can blame something on the cat! Sounds like something your Dad has taught you, but he says it is not his doing. Hmmmm, not sure if I believe him.

An outing and the final skate of the season

heather — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 23:01:31 +0000

On Thursday, Katrine had a great opportunity. She skipped school for the day to attend university. Well, sort of. She spent the day at the Take Your Child to Work Day with Glenn. She had a fabulous time. First she explored Glenn’s work space (as you can see in the diagram below, he works in quite a small space). Then she walked around with campus security learning about stranger awareness and sitting in their patrol car . Next it was off to thespider lab for a workshop on spider communication. Her big learning was that female Black Widow spiders are larger than males. Who knew? After a lunch date with Baba (does it get any better?) it was off to the gym to learn about healthy eating and do some circuit training. The day ended with her favourite event of the day: a visit to the chemistry lab. They made ice cream using dry ice and got to eat it!!!!! Someone knew what they were doing when they planned that experiment.

Today was our last skating competition of the season. This means that we no longer have to listen to the Annie medley. However, it was also the last time that little miss gets to wear the outfit that I put so many hours into. I suppose that it will soon be time to get started on the next outfit…maybe something in black and gold so it is super shiny.

Anyways, we were at the Ursula Leming Skate in Scarboro. It was really well organized and we had a lot of fun. My parents even drove in because they have not been able to make it to any other competitions. They got a treat. Katrine decided to finish the season with a bang. She skated her tush off and brought home a second. You can see in the photo how proud of herself she is.

Do we get a break from skating now? Ha! Her club lessons run until the end of May and then there is a break for June meaning happy mummy before summer camp begins. Five weeks this year as opposed to last summer’s two. I am not happy about the driving but I am looking at it as more time for Elspeth.

Caught in the Act!

Doug and Audrey — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:57:00 +0000

Remember Mark's redneck water table. Well Momma was not paying attention and here is what I saw when I turned around. Mark was climbing up the cupboards to get his second leg into the sink...clothes and all. Seems he wanted to get his feet into the dish washing act as well. He was almost in when I caught him at it and stopped that little adventure! He is too funny. Soon time to get the wading pool out. And next time son...we will get your bathing suit out!

Popcorn Crazy

Doug and Audrey — Fri, 27 Apr 2012 13:51:00 +0000

Mark believes that popcorn comes out of the microwave oven if you just stare through the door intently. Even at breakfast time he will make every attempt to make it happen! The only popcorn you are getting for breakfast will be what is left over in your bowl from the evening before. Today you will get your usual peanut butter on a spoon and dry cheerios. Getting Mark to eat good, healthy food has been a major challenge and sometimes we get him to peck at a poached egg or hot oatmeal cereal. You are a hard one to please in the food department son. And just for the record you will not be getting popcorn for breakfast! Not today and not ever. Mom controls the microwave!