First Day on the Slopes

Today, Alia and Kyra got their first chance to ski the slopes! They had a great time! They even got to go on the chairlift! At the end of the lesson, we couldn't get them off the slopes! Since we had a bit of time left on the rentals, they got two more chances up the small hill with the moving carpet! Gone are the days of t-bars and poma lifts!!!!!

Weekend in Gananoque

It only took us 2 and a half years! Now we wonder why we didn't do this sooner. ;)

Last weekend, we met up with the Szollosy family in Gananoque -midway between Toronto and Montreal. We had a blast. We purposely picked a hotel with an indoor pool. We walked along 'main street', found a playground, had supper in Kingston (20 minutes west) and of course swam in the pool!

We all has a blast and are already planning our next trip!

1500ième KM!

Cet été, Eric prenait son vélo pour se rendre au travail. C’est 52 km aller/retour et le trajet l’amenait dans les sentiers des parcs le long du Don Valley. Pendant ces voyages, il a vu un renard, des chevreuils, des lièvres et plusieurs beaux levés de soleil. Vendredi (hier) Eric a complété son 1500^ième km en vélo cet été! Félicitations mon amour! On t'aime beaucoup!!

Thanksgiving at the Market

Since it was just the 4 of us for Thanksgiving this year, we decided not to do a turkey. It would have been a lot of work with lots of leftovers. We decided to do something different. Eric created the weekend menu and our holiday weekend started off with a trip to the market.

We love going to St. Lawrence Market. We went last year only to discover it is closed on Sundays! Luckily the Buskerfest was on that weekend so it wasn’t a wasted trip. (Funny, the girls still talk about the Fireguy!) Late this summer, we started going back every couple of weekends. It’s always fun to go early Saturday morning to buy our breakfast pastries and coffee. There are always tons of people and every week, there is something new to see!

This weekend, some musicians were playing at the tables were we usually eat our breakfast, just next to the bakery and Italian coffee shop! Since there was no place to sit and eat, we walked a little further and found a small table tucked into a corner just outside the Ukrainian deli!

Ukranian fruit juice! Yum!!

We bought some coffee, vegetables for supper and went upstairs to the meat market and cheese store. There were a lot of people there (but we were also there a little later than usual). We bought bagels at St. Urbain Bagels. But the only thing they have in common is the wood stove. They don’t taste like Montreal bagels (not even close). The only thing going for them is that any baked item tastes good warm and fresh out of an oven. But they are definitely not Montreal bagels!

Raspberry danish

Usually we would take a walk across the street, the north building, were they have more farmers and produce vendors. We didn’t go this week since we found everything we were looking for in the south building.

Eric’s dinner menu for this weekend:

Pork tenderloin with port/hazelnut/blue cheese sauce, sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts. Homemade crème brulée for dessert.

The view from the DVP!

Chicken Paprika with fresh pasta, fresh yellow beans and homemade chocolate pudding for dessert.

Homework

Well, it has begun. Alia has her first project. And on a long weekend too! Actually, it's not all bad since she does have next week as well and it doesn't seem to involve too much writing. We will have to go over the concept of "you can't print a page off of the Internet and hand it in!"

She's not the only one with homework this weekend. I'm doing my FSL AQ course right now and have some assignments to catch up on. Online courses are not a piece of cake as some might think. Everyone I've talked to has said that 'online' was more demanding than 'face-to-face' courses. On top of it, the quality of written French by my classmates is sad. It sometimes seems like I spend more time trying to read what they've written because the mistakes are so bas the meaning of the sentence changes!

Au travail!

La Natation

Voici quelques photos d'Alia et Kyra à la piscine!

Les filles nagent deux fois par semaine avec l'équipe de natation Mallards. Elles aiment beaucoup nager! Les pommes ne tombent pas loin des arbres!! ;)

Swimming is in the Genes!

Alia and Kyra went to their first swimming session on Monday. After talking with some friends and family reflection, Eric and I decided to register the girls with Mallard Swim Team. Both girls surprised us with their successful tryout session (we had never seen them swim like that before since they usually 'bob' or play in a pool). We calculated it would be cheaper that registering for swimming lessons and, frankly, we were not too impressed with the local swimming lessons the girls took last year. Can't learn to swim in a bathtub folks! Poor Alia would take two strokes and then reach the wall. No wonder she could never swim farther than two or three arm pulls!

Since I was busy with taiko practice (big concert on Sunday), Eric took the girls to the pool. He came home and recounted how impressed and proud he was of both girls. They swam for an hour, did several lengths of the pool and even started to learn how to dive. The girls loved it. They got to use their fins for part of the session. (Yes, we were asked to provide pull-buoys and fins for training purposes!)  Alia and Kyra also got to see their friends from school (who's parents introduced us to Mallards). They swim with a different group but were in the lane next to their group.

I can't wait until Friday when I get the chance to go and watch the girls swim.

The Kids are Growing! More Tacos Please!

When we meet up with family and friends whom we haven't seen in a while, the first comment is always "My, how the kids have grown!" I am guilty of this cliché and proud of it. But when we live with our children and see them on a daily basis, we don't notice these changes. What we do notice are the milestones. Like...

"Why didn't you tell me that the shoes were too tight?!! I would have replaced them 3 months ago!"(usually heard after seeing the 'indoor school shoes' at the end of a school year.)

Four toddlers plowing through a complete family lasagna on their own!! Remember this one Aunty Rhi/Uncle David? What are the adults going to eat for supper?

Pants too short or too tight, long sleeve shirts that are now 'fashionable 3/4 length' tops and the list goes on!

Tonight, our family can check off another milestone. We finished off a 'hard/soft taco kit' (the El Paso kind) in one meal!!!! Both girls ate the same as Eric and I, which means we each had three each! So much for having leftovers for lunch tomorrow (which probably is a good thing since packing and transporting all the dressings is not so practical for school lunches.)

Phone Calls Home!

Multi-tasking!

The girls enjoy calling family and friends in Montreal to recount their tales and Toronto happenings and we try to call as often as possible. Both girls love dialing (which sometimes involves squabbling and/or negotiating over who’s turn it is to dial) and Alia’s even memorized phone numbers.  Here are some memorable moments of the girls on the phone! 

Folks, we do our best to try to minimize the distractions when they are on the phone. But as you can see, sometimes little things slip by!!

We took this picture on the first day of school as Kyra recounted her day to Mana. Not sure if she gets better reception this way!

Testing Postings by Remote

Good Morning world. I recently joined the world of smart phones. Will I get more done? Or less? Only time will test.

Currently I am testing an app that will let me blog even when I am away from my computer. Maybe now my blog will be more up to date!!

Back to School! C'est la rentrée scolaire!

The girls started back to school today. Both girls came home full of exciting news. Kyra is in Grade 1 and has M. Denis. Alia is in Grade 3 with M. Loya. Both girls were excited to be in their classes.

Alia was very excited to be ‘on the second floor’!! Alia came home with homework for the week today (yup, on the first day!) but it is not that difficult. It is a series of handouts on Multiple Intelligences and completing a survey to see which intelligence best describes themselves. Alia says it’s easy! I’m glad she feels Grade 3 is easy! Hopefully it stays that way! Ha!

Kyra is in a Grade 1-2 split. She didn’t get any homework today but said I could teach her and asked for work! No problem. I purchased exercise books at Costco back in the summer for just this purpose.

We are back into the routine of filling and emptying lunchboxes, checking school bags for notes and the list goes on!

This morning I started back to work too. I got a call back last week to come back to work in the SK French Immersion class like last year. What an interesting exercise to be there on the first day. Last year, I started in December, when the routines had been established and the students understood some French. Today, it was back to the beginning. Very cool.

Day one was a success. 199 to go!

Harry Potter: The Exhibition

Did anyone see a flying car go by?

Last weekend we took the girls to see the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Ontario Science Museum. It opened back in the spring and Eric and I really wanted to go see it. We were not sure if the girls would appreciate it. We tried to watch the 1^st movie together but Kyra found it scary. We ended up watching only half of the movie (up to the scene with the sorting hat and Harry is sorted into Gryffindor). But on other visits to the OSM, the girls had asked to go see Harry Potter.

“We want to see the real Harry Potter. Not the movie.”

So last weekend we ordered our tickets for the first time slot on Saturday morning. This was a great move because the exhibit was empty and we could take in all the displays without the crowds.

The exhibit was a collection of costumes, props and recreations of different scenes from all the movies. It was so interesting to see up close all the tiny details that went into the items that either movie viewers don’t see or don’t notice in the movie! All the thought that went into creating the costumes to help create the characters we all love (or hate).

We made the wise choice of renting 2 audio guides to share. There was a lot of interesting information about the movie and the development of the props used in the movie.

When we first walked into the exhibit, we were greeted by a ‘professor’ who sorted guests into houses! The girls were too shy to face the sorting hat but Eric and I were sorted into Slytherin and Hufflepuff! We then walked through the doors into a ‘movie’ room where we watched clips from all the movies. It reminded me very much of the way Disney controls the crowds with themed ‘holding pens’ for large crowds. After the movie clips, the doorway opened onto Platform 9 ¾. The Hogwarts Express was waiting for us, steam and all. Pretty impressive.

As we walked into the exhibit hall, we were greeted by other ‘professors’. One professor asked the girls to light her lantern with a wand. They had wands from all the characters (amazing how they are all different). When we first walked in, the painting of the Fat Lady was tomented by dark magic, but she soon reappeared a little later! They had set up Harry and Ron’s beds. Beautiful.

Many of the robes of the different professors (Snape, Dumbledore, Moody, McGonagall …) were on display along with their wands and props.

We got to try Quidditch by throwing Quaffles through the 3 goal posts. We pulled out squealing Mandrakes! We sat in Hagrid’s chair and walked through his hut. The girls found the Forbidden Forest a little scary but then, it’s supposed to be!!

The lifesized Hippogriff was amazing to see, all the feathers individually stiched in.

Poor Ron’s dress robes were on display, along with Harry’s robes and Hermione’s ball gown for the Yule Ball.

Of course, no exhibit can exist without the gift shop at the exit! Didn’t see myself spending $45 on a Marauder’s Map! Settled on $0.69 postcard and two pencils!

In all, it took us about 90 minutes to go through the entire exhibit. Eric and I are glad the girls didn’t rush through the exhibit but took their time along with Eric and I. We were also very glad we went early in the day. We started our visit with 3 other families (maybe 15 people max) so we had full access to the displays. By the time we finished, it was a lot more crowded.

Maybe now the girls might want to watch the movie (at least the first one since the other ones are a bit scarier). But then again, maybe not. And that’s ok. 

EN by YAKUDO

Calling all taiko fans!

Mark your calendars!!

On Sunday, October 3rd, 2010, Yakudo Traditional Japanese Drummers will be performing 2 shows in Richmond Hill, ON (just north of Toronto). I have been an apprentice with Yakudo for the past 18 months and lovin' every minute of it!

For tickets and more information, visit www.yakudo.com or www.rhcentre.ca

Taste of the Danforth 2010

Chicken pita! Délicieux!!

Yuuuummmm! Souvlaki! Baklava!!
Here's a clip from a local news videocast about the Taste of the Danforth.
Toronto's Greektown hosts a fabulous street party every year with food, food and more food. Since there is a higher concentration of greek restaurants, the choices of greek food is wide and varied. But there is also variety with every restaurant, pub and store getting in on the action. Thai noodles, sushi, roasted corn, ice cream...the list goes on.

Culture crossroads!

We just got back from our afternoon of chicken souvlaki, baklava, spanikopita and so much more. It was a lot of walking but a lot of fun. There was a lot of people and so walking through the crowds was sometimes difficult. Line ups were long but seemed to move quickly. The challenge sometimes was to find the end of the line and to make sure you were standing in the right line!!! Most people are pretty courteous about waiting there turn. I've never seen people line jump for freshly squeeze lemondade or fried calamari.

Since streets are closed and parking is next to impossible, we decided to take the bus and subway. The girls were very excited to take the bus (Alia claimed it was the first time. Hard to believe but I guess we take the subway more often and they've rode the streetcar last summer). The bus ride was long but we brought some reading and it is sometimes just fun to look out the window. I think some of us napped a little too!

Our way home proved a little more difficult. We found out on the subway from passengers and muffled TTC announcements that our station was closed and riders had to find an alternate route to their destination. Great. We got off one stop early but now what? Guess we have to walk to the next subway station. The girls were real troupers. We stopped halfway to rest our feet and finish our slurpees from the 7eleven. We made it to Victoria Park Station only to find that busses were diverted too and we had to walk around a bit to figure out where to catch the bus. Luckily busses run every 5-10 minutes so the wait was next to nothing. The bus ride home seemed to go faster than the ride earlier in the afternoon.

Let's just say, when we got home, we put up our feet and relaxed. Not sure what I will have for supper tonight. Not very hungry right now!

Ribfest 2010

What an interesting weekend. July 30 to Aug 2 was the Rotary Ribfest in Scarborough. What's a ribfest you might ask? Well...

Umm...where do we start?

The ribs were great. The pulled pork sandwiches were great. We tried the ribs from 2 different 'Ribbers'. We got a kick out of seeing all the trophies some of these teams have won. Most of them also sold their 'secret' sauces.

Ribs anyone?

The sign says it all!!!

Blooming Onion

On top of ribs and pulled pork and baked beans and coleslaw, if you were still hungry, you could try the Alabama lemonade, fruit smoothies, Mill St. beer on tap (not cheap!), fresh cut fries, blooming onions (which we shared one after sitting at the playground for half an hour to digest the ribs), roasted corn on the cob, ice cream truck treats and the list goes on.

Yummm! Pulled pork sandwich!!

We were glad we went on the Sunday. It was rock 'n roll day. They had a band playing classic rock tunes. The Saturday was 'country/western' day which we were happy to have missed! Gotta say that the food was good (to the point that we stopped by on the holiday Monday to pick up some pulled pork sandwiches to take to the beach for lunch).

Parks, Walks and Gelato!

Today was a wonderful day. Mom and Dad are in town this weekend and with the sun shining today andthe humidity gone, it was the perfect day to go for a picnic. We packed our lunch and headed out.

Our first stop was Humber Bay Park. It's on the west side of Toronto and was a easy walk to some neat rocks and a great vi

ew of the city skyline. We will definitely be back with our bikes because there are some nice trails that would probably take us all along the lakeshore.

We decided to have our picnic lunch at High Park. We ate and then walked to the park and zoo. We didn't see too many animals since it was midday and hot and they were probably hiding somewhere to stay cool.

We were all hot and our feet were getting tired. Time for some ice cream. We decided to head to the Distillery District and aim for Soma for some gelato and chocolate! Yum!!

Gee. Not bad for an afternoon in Toronto!

Day at the Beach

Today, the girls and I took a short drive and discovered a small piece of Toronto, perfect for spending a quiet summer day. Wi

th picnic in the cooler and towels and bathing suits in the car, we discovered the beach at Bluffer's Park.

The sand was nice, the water clean to swim and the beach shallow enough to walk out almost to the swim limit. Since it was Tuesday morning, the beach was pretty quiet but I am sure this place is very busy on the weekend!!

We ate, went for a swim and the girls played in the sand making sand cakes and decorating them with stick 'candles'. Next time we come, we will bring the pails and shovels instead of the soccer ball.

When we first arrived, we parked in the first parking lot. I didn’t read all the tiny signs and arrows at the split in the road. We unloaded the car and soon discovered that we were in the wrong spot! Thank goodness we decided not to walk because we had to drive by a boat launch, two marinas and the restaurant at the marina to get to the beach parking lot!!!

I’m definitely glad we made the trip today. Kind of crazy to think that we were still in Toronto but completely isolated from the city!

Last Day of School

Good bye Grade 2 and SK. Hello Summer!

Saturday = Family, Cherries and Wine!

Yesterday, we went on a family outing to the Niagara Region to spend the day. The weather could have been warmer but we saved on sunscreen! ;)

We went to Cherry Avenue Farms to pick cherries. It was our first time picking cherries in a cherry orchard. I wanted to do it last year but missed the picking season. It didn't take us very long to fill our basket.

Of course

we visited some vineyards and tasted some wine. We did our wine shopping too!! The girls were very patient with us. They wanted to get to my cousin Laura's

house so they could play.

We had a lovely bbq with my cousins Laura, Barb and their families and Aunty Joan. The girls had a great time jumping on the trampoline, swimming in the pool (even if it was raining) and playing dress-up and store in the basement with Emily and Sandra.

Traffic was great (even with the G20 in town). As we drove by the airport, we caught a glimpse of Air Force One and the other G8 airplanes parked on the tarmac. Kind of cool to see such a sight.

We had a great time. It was a wonderful way to spend a Saturday.

Celebrating La Fête Toronto-style!

Today is June 24th. Here's how we celebrate Saint-Jean in Toronto!

1. Dress the kids (their idea) in blue and white for school and 'fake' tattoo them from head to toe. (no holiday here...it's a regular school day...yes, school is still in session. School's not out until next Tuesday!)

2. Distribute bracelets, necklaces and 'doo-dads' purchased at Easter (or was it March Break? or maybe May long-weekend?) at the Dollarstore back in Montreal.

3. Decorate the house with above 'doo-dads' purchased on same Montreal trip.

4. Go the the grocery store after work to buy fixings for hamburgers on the bbq for supper. Absolutely possible since stores are open today! (except for those closed because of the G20! Completely unrelated!!)

5. Run out of propane half way through cooking the hamburgers. Finish cooking supper on the stove. Send Eric to the store to fill propane tank for next time. Of course this is still not a problem. Like I said, the stores are open!

6. Post pictures for family and friends to see!

Bonne Fête de la Saint-Jean!

Earthquake

This afternoon there was an earthquake. It seems the epicentre was 45 km north of Gatineau and registered 5.5 on the Richter scale.

I had just stepped out of the school assembly for a moment and was in the classroom by myself. All of a sudden, it sounded like the wind had picked up and was blowing so hard that the walls seemed to shake (as if I was in a tent or log cabin) and the windows rattled. I just felt a mild rumble and it only lasted a moment.

I wondered at first if it had been an earthquake or just a really wobbly chair at the computer station!

Nobody in the assembly seemed to notice! With 400+ students plus staff, can you blame them?

Mamma Mia!

Mamma Mia! Here I go again! My my, how can I resist you!

Last night, Eric and I took the girls to see Mamma Mia. It was my Mother's Day present but it's kind of funny how I 'cashed' in my gift on Father's Day weekend!! It was last week that I realized that, with the G20 in town this week, the theatre was going dark early and cancelled the last week of shows. Ooops! Gotta buy my tickets fast! Yikes! But yes, that's me, always leaving things to the last minute.

What a great show! We had good seats for last minute. There was a last minute promotion on tickets and prices were super reasonable. We were on the balcony but right in the middle so we could see the whole stage. (When we went to Sound of Music, we were on the side and I always felt we missed the 'edges'.) The usher at the front door was nice enough to inform us that booster cushions were available at the coat check. Thank goodness we knew about it before climbing up to the stairs to the balcony. (Poor people who we crossed on the stairs on their way back down the stairs to pick up their own boosters!!)

The four of us loved the show. The music was great. The spandex costumes in the finale were hilarious. The set was simple yet so amazing. I am always impressed with how they can take a simple set of two walls on wheels and swing them around into different positions, add a few props and completely change scenes, all the while still singing.

Alia's review - "I liked the first part and the second part." (cute...there was only act 1 and 2!!)

Kyra's review - "I liked the wedding and all the dancing at the end."

Traffic getting downtown wasn't too bad. We got there early and had supper at Penelope, a greek restaurant across the street from the theatre. It was the perfect evening to eat on the terrace. The waitress complimented the girls on their behaviour in the restaurant. Guess she has seen her share of kids-run-amok in her time! Alia and Kyra were perfect!

What would life be? Without a song or a dance what are we?

So I say thank you for the music, for giving it to me.

All is quiet now

Everyone is asleep right now and I guess I should be too. There is a sense of calm at this time of night that is soothing. It is finally nice to be able to sleep with the windows open! It is a crazy week (and I don't even know where it has gone). All I can say is "thank goodness for pizza day at school tomorrow"...don't need to stress about making lunches tomorrow!

Good night. Fais des beaux rêves!

Feels Like Spring!

The girls are playing with the basketball on the driveway, the garden clean-up is done for the day and nothing left but to put our feet up and relax!

Still can't believe how many yard waste bags we go through. The garden is very over grown and so little by little, we are trying to clear away the dead branches and prune the hedges. I think I filled a bag today just of dandelions.

This morning we went shopping for Alia's 1st communion outfit. I am very grateful for the fact that the kids will be wearing robes for mass next week. Hence, no need to go super crazy with the fancy dress and all. We found a nice sundress that Alia can wear this summer. Found shoes too. We were about to leave the mall when I realised that she didn't have any appropriate footwear to go with her new dress! The sandals we bought last week are too sporty and her school shoes are starting to show their wear and tear. Kyra was a good sport to tag along. We stopped at the Disney Store to buy t-shirts for our vacation and some extra sunglasses for Kyra. We also stopped to play on the computers at the Apple store (gotta love them!) and used the girls' Tim cards for a snack at Tim Horton's.

All in all a very good day!

Swimming Lessons and so much more!

We are just back from our Thursday evening swimming lessons. Both girls were swimming back and forth with their instructor. Alia even started doing 'catch up' front crawl arms. Kyra jumped into the pool at the end of class without holding on to the teacher's hands. It is impressive what they have been able to accomplish in just three lessons! Can't wait to see them swimming after their set of ten lessons.

Safety First!

The girls started swimming lessons last Thursday. They haven’t been in a while and Eric and I both felt they needed to learn how to swim properly. We found as small private pool nearby that offers semi private lessons (4:1) for a reasonable price. They focus more on swimming skills and technique, which is what we want. Other programs offering a water safety component is not necessary for we can cover that as parents. Both girls really enjoyed their lesson and are looking forward to next week.

Several weeks ago, Kyra asked to play my guitar. I let her sit on the couch and strum away. I asked her “Would you like to learn to play the guitar?” “Yes”, she said. “But I want to do swimming lessons first.”

“Ok”, I answered. “What about the piano?”

Kyra thought for a moment. “First swimming lessons, then guitar, then piano, then taiko, then flute.” There was a slight pause. “And then I would like to learn how to climb a tree.” She looked at me with a serious look and added, “but only after I ask an adult for permission!”

April 9th! Already??

Don’t know where the time has gone. All of a sudden, it is April. March Break is a distant memory. Easter has come and gone. And now we are heading into the mid-April weather blips, ranging from shorts and popscicle weather to “oh my goodness, how are my tulips and daffodils going to survive the overnight freezing and snow! “En avril, ne te découvre pas d’un fil.” I googled the expression to find a translation. One version gave me “don’t put your umbrella away yet”. Forget the umbrella, we use those year round. It should have read “don’t bother washing and packing away the winter jackets just yet” or “keep the mitts on hand” (especially if you are on morning yard duty)!!

This year, we invested in a family membership at the Ontario Science Centre. It is relatively close by and the deal was too good to pass up. The temporary Harry Potter exhibit opens this weekend. Don’t think we will be going on opening weekend but we will definitely visit the exhibit during it’s stay. From the news coverage, it looks really interesting. We have until August to find a time to go.

A couple of weekends ago, we went to the OSC and visited the Kidspark area and watched the IMAX movie Hubble. It was really interesting to learn about how the astronauts had to go up and fix the famous telescope and what kinds of information and pictures scientists are now receiving. Seeing a space shuttle liftoff on the big screen is pretty impressive too! (Maybe not as much as seeing one live but that’s a little harder to organize!) On our way home, we stopped by MacSushi for the end of day sale. Kyra had requested sushi for supper that morning and I was not sure I would get around to making it (especially after a day out). However, the price was right, and the sushi is fresh and very good for “shopping-mall-food-court” sushi. The Spicy Dynamite rolls are fabulous and usually my first choice (spicy salmon and shrimp tempura maki) however, ‘end-of-day-sales’ are usually ‘take-what-you-can-get’ and there was enough great selection to choose from. We brought our sushi home and I made a quick batch of inari-sushi to add to our meal (Alia prefers them over maki rolls)

It was also Earth Hour that evening, so we let the girls stay up a little later, unplugged everything, and played Clue Jr. but oil lamp and flashlight. Must say, that it was challenging to read the clues by candlelight. I don’t think it was as big of a success in Toronto as it was in 2009 (participation was down, according to news reports later) but we had fun.

This Week

Hurray the warm weather is returning. It's a busy week leading up to Easter Weekend. Even though it is only a 4 day work week, we are busy getting ready for our weekend with family and friends. Getting the house ready for the Easter bunny's visit means getting rid of the dust bunnies under the beds! ;)

Spelling Bee #2

Écrit 'omelette'

Alia: h-o-m-m-e-l-e-t-t-e

March Break!

Hurray, it is March Break! Working full-time now is exhausting and this week is a nice break from the regular routine. Sadly, Eric still has to work, which means the girls and I can go downtown one day this week and have lunch near his office. The girls and I are going to head to Montreal for a quick visit later this week. The girls and I are looking forward to our trip.

This weekend is the perfect weekend for a little spring cleaning, some movie watching and some gaming. It has been raining since Friday. Last night, on our way home from date night, Eric and I stopped by Blockbuster to pick up some movies for this weekend. We haven't been to Blockbuster in years! We also noticed that they rent games for the Wii, which will be interesting to try out.

I am starting to pack for our girls week in Montreal. I have to make sure I leave room in the suitcases for bagels, pizza and smoked meat!

Snowman lives

I guess it has been a while since I last wrote! January flew by and now we are at the end of February!

We have had very little snow this winter. The girls had their bikes out one weekend in January!

(well, guess time really flies by since it is now the middle of March and I am still working on this blog entry!!)

True, we had very little snow this winter. We got a week of snow at the end of February, just in time for the Szollosy's visit with us during their school break.

Now the snow is gone again (except for the shady areas on the lawns). The last couple of days have truly felt like spring. Lighter jackets are out and the snow boots are being tucked away for another year.

I think we made 1 snowman this year. The snow has to be just perfect for snowmaking and those days seem rare that when the snow is right - drop everything kids, we are going outside to play! Our snowman this year was a little small (we only had about 5-10 cm of snow to work with in the first place). He had broccoli eyes and a celery nose and a couple of baby carrot 'toggle' buttons. We enjoyed him while he lasted (about a week). We did replace his (or maybe it was 'her') pink Las Vegas cap with a old sun hat right after this picture was taken. Didn't want to the new cap to get all wet or blow away!

Family Skating

We have had very little snow this winter. I think the girls have had the sleds out maybe twice! I think I can count the times I have scraped the driveway on one hand (that is scraped since there never really was enough to 'shovel'). I almost gave up hope and took the snow brush out of the car. (thank goodness I didn't since we did get a dusting last week, which definitely required clearing the car but not enough to cover the grass on the front lawn!)

We have been enjoying getting out this winter and skating as a family. (Eric just commented that 'out' means out of the house not outside, since Toronto doesn't have very many outdoor rinks and with this winter's weather, they probably wouldn't have been in great shape.)

Both girls are getting really at gliding and staying on their feet! Last week, the girls' school had their skating day for winter carnival and they had a great time. Today, Alia was very much into playing in the middle of the rink, trying some figure skating moves (ie: skating on one foot and trying to spin). I think the new socks and bandaids before putting the skates on really helped.

We tried a new rink today. Normally, we would go to the local arena which is just down the street from our house. Today, we tried Cummer Community Centre. There seemed to be fewer people there today, making it more enjoyable to skate with little ones. I wonder if it being a holiday (Valentine's day and Chinese New Year) had anything to do with the crowd numbers. We will definitely go back. They also have the indoor pool in the same complex which might be a good option for our Saturday afternoons!

Le sacrement du premier pardon

Jeudi soir, Alia a fait son premier sacrement du pardon. Bravo ma belle!

Le pluriel au niveau préscolaire

L'autre jour, on faisait la dictée avec les deux filles. Alia étudie pour la dictée PGL à l'école et Kyra voulait faire 'des mots faciles'.

Maman: Kyra, épelle 'pomme'.

Kyra: p-o-m-m-e

M: Bravo. Comment est-ce qu'on écrit pomme si on a deux pommes?

(réponse voulue: p-o-m-m-e-s)

Kyra: p-o-m-m-e-p-o-m-m-e

Le printemps au mois de janvier!!

C’est le 16 janvier et il faisait 5⁰C aujourd’hui! Alia et Kyra sont sorties en vélo et trottinette! Nous ne sommes définitivement pas au Québec!!

Pas de traineau aujourd’hui – il n’y a plus de neige sur la colline!

Kyra m’a demandé cette après-midi: Est-ce que c’est le printemps? Il y a beaucoup de gazon!

Non, ma belle. C’est encore l’hiver! L’hiver à Toronto!

Mon Jésus n'aime pas les piments forts!

Hier soir, nous avons mangé des tacos pour souper. Kyra a gouté un piment jalapeno.

Kyra: (avec grimace) Ug. Non. Mon jésus n'aime pas ça.

Maman: Quoi? Qui? Ton jésus???

Kyra: Le Jésus dans mon coeur n'aime pas les piments forts!

Need I say more!