Spring time

It's slowly warming up and spring is coming... The rainy days are less and less, the glimpses of blue sky more and more...

And I've been away from this blog...

I've edited the edits and then re-edited the edited edits and now the book is at the printer's.

And life has gone on - I've put together some pictures to share with you:

It was warm enough in April to read in the sun:

I went on a trip, all by myself and visited friends and family and went to a conference. 

The Easter bunny came with surprises:

Spring weather has been cold and some weekend afternoons were better spent curled up under a quilt in front of the fire:

We've planted and put in some seeds:

There were the first bare feet and first garden dirty feet of the season:

Spring blooms:

And of course it's hockey playoffs season: "Go Canucks, Go!!"

 And finally there is the excitement of the new bunk bed.

It's been busy around here, in a very good way.

Fairies and unicorns

In the face of disaster and loss I bring you... fairies and unicorns.

It's been a week of sadness for me after the news from Japan and loss in my circle of friends.

My children sustain me and make me smile. And they bring me into the world of fairies and unicorns.

Liam illustrated these pages of a story.

I hope they will make you smile as well.

Unicorn and fairy in the forest:

Scared by a dragon:

A small fairy and a gnome:

Fairy dust:

A hydra:

A wizard with a magic wand:

A dragon spewing fire:

Everything is better with a tutu

Future Neuroscientists

Do you want some pasta?

That's the question Anouk has been asking us lately as she is busy cooking up some food for us in her pretend kitchen.

Her grandfather made her a beautiful little store for Christmas and everyone chipped in to fill the store with all sorts of yummy wooden food. One friend gave her a set of pots and pans and she loves going to the store, shopping and then cooking her food for us and for "her kids" (=her dolls).

The problem was that she didn't have a stove. And we have no room for a stove in her room. So, I made her a little mat with felt circles as the elements and buttons as, well, the buttons to press to turn the stove on and get cooking. It's been working out great - so great in fact that Liam wants one too, because Anouk won't share... Well, although it would be easier to just make another one, we'll work on that whole sharing thing... And for the most part it's just fine.

Anouk and the store:

The stove top with some pasta cooking:

And here you can see some details:

Living with statues

I grew up with art around me, so I've been living with statues all my life. And my parents have great stories to tell about us living with statues: The questions whether a particular statue had just pooped in her pants, or the Christmas ornaments hung from another statue...

We got a lovely statue as a present a couple of years ago: two kids reading a book. And Liam and Anouk really identify with the statue. They put little things onto the book pages for the statue to see or they turn it around to see something in the room better.

Lately Liam's been weaving yarn around them - maybe to warm them? to bond them together?

I'll try to take pictures of the different interactions with the statue and post it here.

Snow day 2

It started snowing late in the afternoon and this morning we woke up to about 15-20 cm of snow:

 There was a sidewalk that needed to be shoveled:

We pulled the sled out and the kids enjoyed the snow in the yard:

(Yes, that's the little sister pulling the big brother!)

Giggles while pulled my mama:

Pulled through the neighbourhood by daddy:

We don't get cold snaps often, but when we do apparently we go a bit crazy with wrapping everyone and everything in knits. This is a yarn-bombed sign post:

At the park:

Sliding into a snow wall:

Fresh tracks to the swings:

And now a nice bowl of hot soup for everyone!

It doesn't snow often here - and when it does, we need to pack an entire Canadian winter into one day!