Maisie the Good Witch

We haven't done much in the last little bit, so that hopefully makes up for the fact that I haven't made a post in a while. It would have been boring...technically, I'm saving you from boredom!

We've had a tiny teenager in the house the past few days...just grumpy, argumentative and kinda angry. Only difference is she's not sleeping as much as a teenager would. She woke me at 6 this morning by turning on all the lights and clomping around in plastic dress up shoes. Not the best.

Today at Arts & Crafts we made witches hats! The general consensus among the moms was that this craft was too hard...for the moms! It was complicated!! But here it is!!

Looks more like a party hat, or a princess hat...oh well. Despite the attitude of late, she's still my little good witch. :)

It's the Great Pumpkin, Maisie Rose!

As a spur of the moment activity (brought on by a full afternoon of no nap and nothing else to do), we hit up the pumpkin patch. It was time to bring in some more fall, and start prepping for Halloween!

Her pumpkin of choice is the one on the left

We weren't there for very long, as she's a girl who knows what she wants. She picked her pumpkin in about 2 minutes, Daddy went in and paid, bought some apples, she played in the leaves and then we were on our way.

We got a bag of Honey Crisp apples (our favourite!) and she ate one in the car, and then another when we got home.

I'm really looking forward to Halloween this year. Maisie has an adorable costume, that she's already excited about, and Mike and I have a party to go to and have some fun costumes planned for that as well, so it promises to be a fun season! Can't wait!

Giving Thanks

It has become quite common for our Thanksgivings to be so warm. In fact, they have been for the past few years...four at least. So I don't know why I'm surprised, but it just makes me feel funny. It just doesn't feel right. I realize our Thanksgiving is this early because our harvest is earlier, but perhaps we should move it to the end of October. This just doesn't feel like turkey weather.

But despite the weather, we spent the day giving thanks. Thanks for the sunshine and the chance to wear shorts in October...possibly for the last time this year!

Thanks for the pretty, colourful trees...

Thanks for swings...

Thanks for this cute dog, who ran away from his owner and went straight for the water and made us laugh...

Thanks for "snakes" that apparently slithered over the path...

Thanks for dinners out and delicious Bellinis...

Thanks for long weekends, air conditioning, early bedtimes, craft projects, sleeping in, a great book, a cozy bed and family.

Buckets of thanks this holiday weekend.

Adventuring Close to Home

This weather makes it very hard to believe it's Thanksgiving weekend. On one hand, the trees are making their lovely shift to harvest golds and warm reds...but on the other hand, the sun is warm and the sky is a cloudless blue.

It's confusing. It feels like early summer, and I don't know what to wear. But we're not complaining. We'll be rocking our turkey in shorts this year. No big deal.

Today we took Baby Stella and a host of other friends, out for a walk around the block.

I didn't think it would be terribly eventful, but adventure came to us!

The walk was slow, but we had some nice chats as we trudged down the street.

On our first leg of the walk, we saw a little bunny licking his foot in someone's driveway. It was a sweet little black and white guy, clearly belonging to someone...but I'm not sure why he was outside alone.  I thought I got a picture of him, but apparently I did not. Anyway, rest assured he was cute and Maisie was excited.

Around the next corner, we found some fluffy dandelions that Maisie took a real interest in. They of course became property of Baby Stella.

Further down the road, we met a new little friend.

We stayed and visited with this little guy (who Maisie named Chippy). Eventually he ran off to chase a butterfly, but found his way back to us! We could have stayed all day, but we had the rest of the block to accomplish!

Bye Chippy!

When you're moving at a snail's pace, it's amazing the adventure you can find in your own neighbourhood!!

Hope your long weekend is a blast!

Turkey Lurkey Lou

This is going to be a quick post, as I'm pooped. But I realized I had been lax, and wanted to give a little update!

This coming weekend is Thanksgiving, and whenever I think of turkey I can't help but think of that old SNL song of Adam Sandler's...Turkey Lurkey Lou.

On Monday at Arts & Crafts, we made turkey hats, where we had to write what we're thankful for. As most 2 and 3 year olds have no idea what they're thankful for, let alone what being thankful means, it was up to the moms. I decided that Maisie is thankful for her family. I should have put "I am thankful for my wonderful mother who endured FOUR DAYS of labour, stretch marks, months of no sleep and has given so much of herself to me", but I didn't want to be like that, so I'll just have to hope that one day she'll actually be thankful for those things. :)

More to come, hopefully when I have more stories and pictures to report!
Have a great night!

Cautiously Optimistic...

Scene: Arts & Crafts...Day 2. Mommy is nervous. She is remembering the last Arts & Crafts...and the last Music & Movement (bad...so very baaaaaad), and the last Tales for Tots. She is recalling the sweat dripping down her back as her daughter screamed. She is remembering the feeling of all eyes in the room burning into her back as she tried to diffuse the situation. She is feeling the nails dig into her arm as her daughter scratches her. She is anxious. Nervous. Full on freaking out.

Daughter is unaware that it is Arts & Crafts day. Mommy is keeping it to herself until the last...possible...second. When Mommy breaks the news, she nervously prepares her daughter with "No tears today" and "It's going to be so much fun" and reminds her that they have Circle Time and then and only then do they get to do some crafts.

They arrive at the Y and enter the room where it all went down. There are tables full of paper bags, glue sticks, scissors, crayons and glitter. But the little girl doesn't run over to the table and start screaming that she wants to do it NOW...instead, she follows her Mommy to where the other little ones are sitting. They talk...they drink some water...they play with another little girl.

Circle Time is announced...they arrive at the circle without incident. They start some songs and the daughter sings...she sings her little heart out! Mommy is becoming cautiously optimistic, but still tentative...they were barely 5 minutes in. Finally it's time for crafts. They find a seat at the table and start to make their Paper Bag puppets. The little girl finds joy in glue sticks and toddler scissors. Mommy's heart is still beating loudly, as things could fall apart at any moment. Puppets are complete and named (Dumbo & Puppet...and then later named Bumpadoo & Puppet)...the little girl laughs when Mommy puts the puppets on her hand and makes them talk. They go have a snack. After a break, they are back to Circle Time, and again...the little girl participates. She loves Hokey Pokey. She sings, she laughs, she shows how much she loves Arts & Crafts class.

Mommy is overjoyed...finally, she feels as though all is right with the world, and her little girl is enjoying something that is meant to be fun! They take their puppets home and put on a puppet show behind the living room chair. A good day was had by all. Whew.

Whimsy Day.

Having the itch to take some pictures, and not particularly wanting to get any of the inside of the messy house, I decided that Maisie and I needed an adventure today. It was sunny, not too hot...perfect girls day. Yesterday we were pent up on a rainy day, trying to get rid of colds and just relaxing...but today was our Fun Day.

Winter Wheat is one of my most favourite places to visit. A quiet, folksy, foresty dream-like world where you can go and wander the paths, take pictures, enjoy nature. There's garden paths, little houses and cool creatures hidden in the bushes, made out of random stuff like a cat with a saxophone, and people made out of brooms. Trees, flowers, birds...and peace.

"Quiet is the essence of calm. If you listen for it, you will find it in the most unexpected places"

I don't have a lot of quiet and calm in my life. But hearing the peace of this country home, where the only noise is wind in the trees, or a bird flying overhead makes you realize that there are actually places in the world that are quiet. Besides the fact that in the background, my toddler was saying "Let's go this way, Mommy!"

Today we felt the calm. And even when I told Maisie it was time to go, she went...no complaining. Just calm. I think we need to live somewhere like this, nestled peacefully in our own little nook of trees. 

Peace, calm, beauty, whimsy. Those are my words for today.

Hope you're having a beautiful day too.