It's hard to find a gender-neutral bike...

... but I think we did pretty good!  Annika wanted something a lot girlier, but we compromised on this one (it still was called a girl's bike, though) so that it would be something Emmett could ride in a few years.  We added the pink streamers and bell from her old bike, and she was very excited to pick out a basket. She noted that it was the perfect size to hold a slurpee! ;)

Off she goes!!

Scrabble

I am a big Scrabble fan. Annika often sees me playing it on my phone, so when I saw this "Scrabble Junior" game at my Y Neighbours used toy sale today I knew I had to get it. She really likes it (as expected), but what sort of surprised me is that Emmett is really into it as well. He needs help to play it (the box says for age 5+), but I think it's good letter recognition for him. He still doesn't know a lot of his letters, so this will be good practice.

Phoenix trip photo book

Our trip to Phoenix!  Finally finished the photo book.

Click here to view this photo book larger

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Lost

Annika lost another tooth this morning (her third).  It took forever for it to come out since she was very determined that Emmett (or anyone else) would not pull it out this time (although I did help her get it out, after it came loose during breakfast this morning).  She was so excited about it that she wore it to school in her "tooth necklace".  I was a little scared that the tooth, or the necklace, would get lost at school (the necklace was actually mine from when I was a kid and had to have teeth pulled out at the dentist), but she took good care of them both.

She can't wait to show her piano teacher next week, given the song that she's currently working on!

Something new

Today we tried something new for Annika's piano lesson - so far Emmett and I have always stayed for the lesson, with me trying to keep him quiet with varying degrees of success.  However, today we went for a walk outside during the lesson, so Annika could have some one-on-one time with her teacher.  I think this will actually be quite beneficial for us all - for Emmett, because he doesn't have to try to stay quiet for half an hour, but mostly for Annika, because she'll have an uninterrupted lesson, plus she tends to open up more when I'm not around.  So far she's been very quiet during her lessons.  She does what the teacher asks, and she'll say yes, no, okay, but not much more than that.  I think this will be good for her, musically as well as socially.

Something else new today - Emmett got a "big boy" bike!  He was very excited to try it out, so we went for a bike ride today after supper.  It took a little trying, but he got the hang of it and we were out for quite a while this evening.

The next "new thing" on the list is a new bike for Annika - she's pretty much outgrown hers!  Then to try without the training wheels....

Happy Easter!

I know this photo is completely out of focus, but for some reason I really like it. :)

Easter buns

My second attempt at baking Easter buns (paska)!  They turned out pretty good last year, so I figured I'd try it again this year.  Except I made the buns REALLY big!!  Oops.  Carey says I should probably give it another try. ;)

 YUM!!

 Recipe here.

Happy birthday to me

We wrapped up our birthday celebrations today with my birthday.  It was a pretty low-key day, which was okay after all the partying and going-out we did over the weekend.  It was nice to have some time for just the 4 of us.

Carey brought home these beautiful flowers for me.

We ordered in Chinese food for supper.  We were going to have some leftover cake for dessert, but we were all too full (those plates are huge - I barely put a dent in mine and I was stuffed), so we just had fortune cookies.  Yes, there's a candle in mine.  My fortune was something about every downhill having an uphill.  I asked Carey if that meant that I was now over the hill??

My birthday present from the kids was this neat little wireless bluetooth speaker.  It even has a light in it that changes color (in keeping with our rainbow theme!).

Then we had a little dance party to test out the speaker (and tear down some decorations that were still hanging around).

Happy birthday Annika!

Today was Annika's 6th birthday.  We started off the day by going to Sunday School and church...

...but before leaving Annika opened up her gift from us - a Lego set she'd been dying for (and which I got a great deal on in the States).  She was surprisingly okay with leaving it unopened (except for putting together the mini-figures) until later.

After church we went to Boston Pizza for lunch - Annika's pick.  They sung happy birthday to her and brought her a free birthday brownie.

After lunch we had some down time and then started putting together the Lego house.  Unfortunately, we didn't get it finished before leaving for supper at my parents' place.

I love this picture.  She was so excited to get the movie "Frozen".

Birthday girl

And I got a turn with the candles too, but I don't think I actually got to blow any of them out, what with all my helpers.

Annika's rainbow birthday party

This afternoon was Annika's "rainbow" birthday party.  We invited 6 girls from her class, and 4 came, which was just enough (one of the moms also stayed, which was very helpful).  The party was from 1:00-3:00, which was just the perfect amount of time.  I think a good time was had by all.

Annika's rainbow outfit

I didn't get a shot of the kids making their crafts (too busy helping everyone), but they all seemed to have fun making these "treasure chests" with colored craft sticks.  After the glue dried they decorated the lids with stickers, and we put "gold coins" (chocolates) in them.

While we were waiting for the glue to dry, the kids played "Twister" and then we did this "science experiment" - jello powder, baking soda and vinegar.  The kids really enjoyed it.

While I was getting things cleaned up from the "science", Carey played a version of "musical chairs" with the kids on the Twister mat.  They had to dance around while the music played, and then when the music stopped they had to stand on a circle on the mat.  Carey then spun the dial, and whoever was standing on the color it landed on had to sit down.

The decorations and the food.

Rainbows everywhere - white chocolate pretzels with Smarties, fruit tray, layered jello, colored ice in Sprite and the rainbow cake (each layer was also a different flavor, due to being colored with jello).  Too bad the kids barely touched the food.  I guess they were just too excited to eat.

Birthday girl!

And even a little rainbow here!  Just a clip-on, but I thought it was fun.

It was a great party, but I'm so glad it's done now.  I'm just going to ignore the clean-up for a little while longer though...

**edited to add...**

I forgot the picture of the loot bag goodies. Each girl went home with Skittles (taste the rainbow), rainbow licorice, glow bracelets (a favorite of Annika's) and multi-colored bendy sticks. 

Let the celebrations begin

This evening we kicked off our birthday celebrations (Annika's is on Sunday and mine is on Monday) at my in-laws. The rainbow loom was a present for Annika, but I think I'm going to have just as much fun with it as her! ;)

Puddles

When I grow up, I want to be a...

I think I may have finally figured out the answer to that question (other than "mom", of course).

A few months ago we had a doula come to my Y Neighbours group and speak about birth and postpartum doulas.  I was quite familiar with the role of a birth doula, since we had used one with Annika, but I hadn't heard of a postpartum doula before.  The more the lady talked about the role of the postpartum doula, the more I thought... I could do that, I'd like to do that.

For those of you who don't know, a postpartum doula works with the family after the mom and newborn baby come home from the hospital.  Here's the official job description from the CAPPA website:

The Postpartum Doula is a trained professional that offers physical, emotional, and spiritual support to a new mother and the rest of the family.   Postpartum Doulas also offer breastfeeding support, light household maintenance, family nurturing and instruction to mom and/or other family members in the care of a newborn.  The Postpartum Doula’s job is to make the transition to parenthood easier for new parents, to help mom during her recovery period and to ascertain what the family needs help with and provide the instruction.  The main objective of the Postpartum Doula’s role is not to take over complete care of the newborn, but to educate and support the family so that they will feel empowered to care for their newborn themselves.  Postpartum Doulas do NOT offer any medical advice or perform any medical or clinical procedures, but instead can offer parents referrals to appropriate studies and published books. Postpartum doulas should be good with children, patient, non-judgmental, and knowledgeable about newborn care and breastfeeding.

After giving it much thought, I ordered the materials for the distance training program two weeks ago, and they arrived today!

In addition to watching the DVDs and reading the manual, there is also a list of required reading and I have to get certified in CPR/first aid, as well as attend a breastfeeding class.  Part of the training also includes working for 3 families (for free - lucky them!) and being evaluated by them. I don't really plan to work much before Emmett is in school, but it will be good to get the training all done before that, so I'm ready when he starts school.  Even though I know a lot of this will be stuff I already know/have already experienced, I'm excited to get started!

Movie night

Carey went to the hockey game this evening, so the kids and I popped some popcorn, snuggled up on the couch under the Snuggie, and watched a movie.

Given the recent weather, this seemed an appropriate choice...

Spring break day 3

Busy day today!  We started off this morning by bringing in my car to have a light fixed (turns out it just wasn't plugged in), and while we waited for it, we had breakfast with Carey at the Pancake House.  They had a new pancake shape on the menu for Easter, so Annika of course had to try it (it's a bunny, if you couldn't tell).

We did a little shopping after breakfast, picked up the car and headed home.  We were home for lunch and then headed out to get Annika's hair cut.  It was just supposed to be a trim, but we had a little fun while we were there.  Annika got a hair feather, and while she was getting hers done, I decided I wanted one too.

Emmett would've liked to get one too, but he was happy to settle for some red hair gel (which he referred to several times as "jello in my hair").

After our hair adventures we headed to Build-a-Bear, to get some new accessories for the kids' stuffed animals.  With mine and Annika's birthdays coming up, I had received two $7 off coupons - no minimum purchase necessary.  Annika picked out a headband and some sparkly bows for her kitty (only one bow pictured, on her tail), and Emmett picked out some sneakers for his bear (I have no idea what's with the face - the attitude must come with the hair gel, right??).  Total cost with coupons - $2.83.

More rainbow fun

Another "test drive" for Annika's party. Oh the fun created by baking soda, vinegar and jello powder (plus it smelled delicious!).