Moving Day!

I've moved the blog! Wordpress. Onwards and upwards!

Check out the new digs@ http://www.thislemonyogurt.wordpress.com

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Spring-ish.

Today it was. BEAUTIFUL out.

I can't decide if a gorgeous day in mid-February is a gift or a cruel joke. I know that we still have potentially months of wintry weather, but day-yam today felt like spring. This afternoon the girls and I went for a walk, and we brought out sidewalk chalk, and we took the bikes out for a spin...

Then I realized that this warmth? This delicious warmth that had the neighbor walking her dog in shorts and a t-shirt? It was like 35 degrees Fahrenheit and sunny. The neighbor was a bit optimistic, I think. We were out in our spring jackets and no gloves but still had on hats. But it was so so so nice.

"Look, my shadow is dancing!"

Before we came outside, Violet made sure everyone was wearing their "cool dudes".

We drew a "hopscotcher".

Drawing with sidewalk chalk.

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Valentimes Day.

The girls and I had a busy morning.

First up- a doctor appt that I stupidly scheduled for 9:00am. Most days I am just crawling out of bed at 9. (I know, I know. It's just that the baby will usually remain content in her room until then, and the big one usually crawls into our bed at like 8ish and occupies herself with Netflix or Cupcakes! or a downward spiral of random Youtube inappropriateness that always begins to go bad when she clicks on anything Dora-related on my iPhone until I tell her the phone needs a nap and then I begin parenting for the day. I just can't resist the way she asks "Oh, Mama? Do you think you would never mind if I play with your phone?") (Also not on days I run. On days I run the alarm starts going off at 7:15 and I can typically mange to drag myself outside by 7:55.)

But I digress. 9am appt. Which I was very nearly on time for. So close. We finished up there by like 9:30 but we were all dressed and had a full diaper bag packed and I sure as heck wasn't heading home already. Baby's day out! Huzzah!

I had heard on City and Baby's blog about this new café that opened up fairly recently, and had been wanting to check it out. So we headed to the north side of the river (according to their Facebook account, they're actually considered to be in the central-west part of the city) to check out Café Tiramisu.

Love it.

The thing that drew me there was the play room I had heard mention of. It sounded much less crazy than our usual haunts, and I was right. It was actually relaxing. They had this little room off to the side with some blocks, books, a couple random toys, and OH MAMA LOOK BIG IPHONES. (Well, you're close, kid. They're called iPads.) Not a crazy runaround pandemonium center like Cafe O'Play, but my girls were more than engaged. I parked them in there and showed them how to turn on the iPads and then I went outside the room and sat down with a cafe mocha and a scone and ACTUALLY DRANK MY COFFEE WHILE IT WAS STILL HOT. Which is kind of a big deal. I really liked how I was able to sit outside of the kid's room and still monitor the munchkins through a big plate glass window. We'll definitely be going back.







I also caved and let them get pre-lunch cupcakes. It's Valentine's Day! That's a good enough reason, right? Shut up. It is.



My sincerest apologies to the staff of Cafe Tiramisu for the obscene amount of cupcake crumbs my children mashed into your sofa. I really did try to clean up the best I could. Thanks for a lovely morning.

Then we went and met Nate for lunch. Is it a Valentine's Day tradition yet if we have had a Japanese food lunchdate two years in a row? Or do we need a third year to really call it a tradition?

And then we came home. And there was napping throughout the land. Or at the very least, quiet containment while Mama edited a couple images and wrote up a blog post.

Tonight our big Valentine's Day dinner will be... leftovers. Romantic, right? But by God, there will be ice cream for dessert.

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Typical.

Glarghhhhhhh. It's been two days of hibernation, but today we had to go out. Had a doctor appointment this morning, so there was no choice. We were going out.

Of course it took us like 4 times as long to get out the door. I'd boot, hat, mitten, coat, and scarf one child, then turn to the other. The first took this opportunity to de-scarf, de-hat, de-boot, so I'd have to turn again and start over... you get the idea. Once I finally got everyone ready, we get outside, we buckle in, I go to start the car annnnd... welll. It started, but once I pulled my foot off the clutch it stalled out. Multiple times. Apparently cars don't appreciate temperatures of -40 any more than I do.

Finally made it to doctor, appointment done, but then it was time to go and we had to do the whole hat/coat/boot/mitten routine all over again. GAHHHHHHH.

Since we were out, we also decided to meet some friends at the mall for lunch. Of course, once I got there I found that I had left my wallet at home and had no money with which to buy lunch. Luckily a friend spotted me $20, which was good because at this point it was nearly 12:00 and I had eaten exactly nothing yet all day long. Lunch acquired, tray carried one-handed allll the way across a crowded food court, baby on opposite hip. I made it all the way to our table before I spilled the entire contents of my large iced tea onto my tray, table, seat, self, and floor.

Sigh.

But all in all, a nice morning. It was great to get out of my prison home sweet home and see some actual grown-up people and have at least half-conversations between running to stop 1-yr-olds from throwing themselves from the tops of playground structures and 3-yr-olds from running away to go look at whatever it is that grabs the interest of 3-yr-olds. Which is anything and everything.

I even got smoothies from Orange Julius for the girls on our way out of the mall. And don't worry. When Violet dumped the entire contents of hers out the front of the stroller and onto the floor- I told the mall cleanup guy. He didn't seem to mind. Nor was he surprised.

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Hibernation

It is so cold out.

See? Not making it up. That's really freaking cold. And in case you're trying to do the Celsius to Fahrenheit conversion? Don't bother. Because -40 is minus 40 is -40. That's where the scales intersect. It's cold.

So today we stayed in. We baked.

And before you start thinking my blog is turning into one of those shiny ones... Here's the part I hadn't yet taken out of the oven.

Yeah... That cranberry bread is a little... mauled. It really did not look done yet. But apparently it was more than done on the bottom, because I had to yank it out of the pan and it did not turn out well.

Anyways. It still tastes fantastic. Lemon Cranberry Bread with a lemon glaze.... so good. It's cake, posing as bread. But yeah, I'm hoping next time I don't let it get so overdone. 

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In which I am the permissive one.

Today we all napped. And it was glorious. And when we all woke up at 5pm and I really just wanted to finish my book, I let them sit on the kitchen counter and eat cookies and milk (a mere hour before dinner) and shhhh don't tell Nate.


Not very wordy today. Working on getting my 365project going. Setting up a new blog for it. Running into your regular issues- I don't remember who hosts my website, I can't remember any of my passwords, I get error messages of which I understand nothing beyond the "you have an error" bit of it... But I shall persevere! I will add a photo-a-day blog to my every growing list of things to try and keep up with!

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Painty.

Today we tried some new tactics. Namely, a sticker chart for good behavior. How did it go? Well, like pretty much anything else goes with a 3-yr-old. It was CRAZY EXCITING for like a half hour, she was "using good listening" and "being kind to sister" and she even let me "brush hair with no whining" and then it just ceased to motivate her. Apparently we do not have stickers cool enough to warrant "stay[ing] in room during quiet time".

But, we painted this morning. And that was fun.

Not entirely sold on the finger paint just yet.

She realized she looked like the "Wicked Witch of the 'Est" and began cackling.

"Eh, heh heh heh"

Blah, blah, paint on walls/floor/pants/hair/my shirt/the carpet/edge of tub followed by a pre-lunch bath. You know the tune.

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2012.

A new year. A new start.

Or, maybe just more of the same. I kind of half-decided I want to attempt a 365project this year, in order to continuously push myself to become a better photographer. But it's already the 7th and I sort of haven't shot anything yet. Hardly an auspicious beginning.

Also, I have yet to decide on any concrete resolutions. Again, it doesn't bode well for my stick-to-it-ive-ness if it takes me more than a week to even MAKE my resolutions. I guess if I can manage to flounder through another year and keep myself and my children alive, I'll take it as a win?

Today I made my bed. That's good. And cleaned off my desk. A MAJOR accomplishment. Maybe by the time the weekend is out I'll manage grocery shopping? I did a pretty good job clearing out all the food in the house before our trip, which means our meals since we got back two days ago have been... odd, to say the least. Today for lunch we had hot dogs wrapped in tortillas. With peas on the side. I have a feeling we will have to have something delivered for dinner. Again.

Here's to making it through another day!

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Catsup.

My baby turned 3. We went trick-or-treating. My husband left us for 4 days to go give a talk at his alma mater. I turned 29. My other baby is officially 1 and a half. The snow that will cover us for the next seven months has arrived. Blarghhhhhhhhh. Winter.

I don't have much else to say. It's cold, and I did a VERY good job of forgetting how miserable this all is. Too good, I think. I am not ready for this. I don't want this.

American Thanksgiving is next week. I am in the strange predicament of feeling indignant that there are Christmas decorations up before remembering that there are, in fact, no Canadian holidays between now and Christmas. So I guess it's okay? I don't know. I do know that I am not busting out the red-and-green construction paper until NEXT Friday. Because that's just not right.

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Mother of the Year, obviously.

Today we had a busy day. We had a doctor appointment for Fiona, I decided that since the office is only like 1.5 miles from our house, I would skip my run this morning and just do a destination run to the doctor's office, and then after that over to playgroup at the rec centre, where we would play and then lunch, then head to the library to return my very overdue, non-renewable items, then back home for naptime. THAT was the plan.

First problem: Stayed in bed too long. Not a problem normally, normally that kind of morning is STELLAR. But on this particular morn, I probably should have gotten out of bed because it threw my whole morning late, which resulted in me leaving only 15 minutes to run the 1.5 miles. Which I can allllmost do, but not so much while pushing a double jogger on a windy day, especially when faced with

Second problem: It's actually like 2 miles to the doctor's office, and not the mere 1.5 that I had guessimated. Thus, we arrived about 10 minutes late. And then she couldn't find us in the appointment book, because apparently

Third problem: Today's doctor appointment wasn't actually today. It was NEXT Thursday at 9:45. Damn. We got in anyways, but as a walk-in, which meant we had to wait like 45 minutes.

So, doctor appt completed, just a bit behind schedule. Run the second leg, get to playgroup, meet a couple new people, sit down for lunch. Discover, while pulling lunchbox from basket under stroller, that

Fourth problem: Left my freaking library stuff on the counter in the kitchen. They're going to revoke my library privileges, I just know it. Eh, whatever. Guess we can go back onto the massive indoor playground for some extra after-lunch playtime.

The girls were thrilled with this turn of events. They love that place. Fiona was running all over everywhere and climbing and sliding and etc etc and so forth. Violet and I were sitting in the bottom part of the play structure, in the designated toddler area. I was sitting there reading an article on my iPhone doing something important that doesn't make me sound like a horribly neglectful parent. Suddenly I realize that

Fifth problem: Violet is no longer sitting there at my feet. Trying to look totally in control, I walk over to where Fiona is playing with a cozy coupe, chat with her a minute, ask her if she knows where her little sister is. I'm not super worried, the playground is completely enclosed, with like 4 levels of buzzer-activated doors to get in and out, I know she is SOMEWHERE IN THIS GENERAL VICINITY, so I casually start glancing around, all "It's cool, but WHERE THE SHIT IS MY BABY?!?!?!?" She's nowhere on the ground. That leaves one option. She climbed up into the big kid play structure that is "designed for children ages 4-10". No, she wouldn't... would she?

click to enlarge, suckahs.

I dive into the structure, around and around and around the spiral staircase at it's center, heart beating a bit faster the higher up I get, until... I hear a giggle. I turn a corner. I see the BIGGEST shit-eating grin.
So darn pleased with her little self. So since I am such a midget a petite woman, and can fully stand up in this structure designed for children one-third of my age, we stayed up there to play for a little while.



Annnd, that's pretty much the day. We did have quite a time once we started on the final leg of the run home, Fiona sort of lost it and sobbed "but Mama, I don't want to go home yet! I want to go to my-kea!" but that's just your garden variety long day/late nap type stuff.

Even with all the problems, I'd say that overall, today was massively successful. If that tells you anything about my "normal".

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Simplicity.

It's about that time again. The time when it's about three weeks till my child's birthday and I have yet to do a single bit of party preparation. Since Fiona will be 3 this year, (omfg, THREE YEARS OLD? WHAT?!?!?) and is able to give me some input, we had a little conversation.
Me: Hey Finn, what do you want to do for your birthday?
Fiona: A celebration!
Me: Okay. But what kind of party do you want to have?
Fiona: Um... With cake. And party hats. And our friends. For a celebration.

Annnnd there you have it, folks. That is what my almost-three-year-old wants to do for her birthday. No bouncy house, no clown, no excessively over the top anything. Just a celebration with friends, cake, and party hats. Done and done.

Oh, and with further prodding I got that she wants the cake to be purple. I think I can manage that.

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Dormant

One day I'll blog again...

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Summertime

Summertime, apparently, means no time for bloggage. Not because we've been on a million fun vacations (We haven't). Not because every day is so gol-dang gorgeous and we spend every waking second outside (It's not. When it's nice, it's REALLY NICE, but much of the summer has been fairly miserable with rain and insanely populous clouds of mosquitoes). I don't actually have a reason. Just- we've been doing our thing with some pics thrown up on the facebook here and there but I just haven't been motivated to sit down and write about it, okay? GOSH.

I have been working on a toddler music review entry though. That's gonna be a good one. I make no promises, but I hope to finish that one up soon. We've been listening to a lot of music.

Today is just your basic garden-variety rainy day. Last night there was a seriously cool thunderstorm, I'm talking thunder you could FEEL, and one time it was so loud it set off a neighbors car alarm. I'm not even joking, that actually happened. But now it's tapered off to a steady rain.

Miss Violet took a weirdly early nap today, which left Miss Finn and myself some good old-fashioned one-on-one time. We did a few "progrects" as Fiona calls them. One a stick puppet endeavor that was mainly a "Mama makes puppets while Fiona dumps Elmer's glue directly into a basket of rice" type of thing.




The other was something I've been meaning to get around to for quite some time now. Namely- a felt board, and lots of fun pieces to put on it. I have grand intentions of making a whole bunch of different themes to play with, like a baggie marked "Weather" and one marked "Letters" and one marked "Shapes" and of course, "Holidays" and whole stories full of characters, etc... but that is a big undertaking, which is why I got as far as buying a huge stack of felt and putting it in a bag in the closet and then promptly abandoned the task for I don't know how long, until today I said "screw it" and we pulled out the felt and some scissors and I just started cutting out shapes. Started with some squares and triangles to make houses, and then just kept going as Fiona asked for more items. A girl, a dog, a tree, some clouds, a purse. Just fun.

I'm quite proud of that dog, BTW.

Now my little lady is awake and Fiona is asleep (curse you, back-and-forth nap schedule days!) and so I should probably lavish the same amount of attention on her, lest I give her some sort of complex. Peace out, yo.

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Walking that fine line between lame and AWESOME.

Sometimes I think of an idea and it is so super cool, and then halfway through doing it I realize it's kind of lame. Then I think, maybe it's so lame it's cool, then I think "you're overthinking things", then I decide I don't care because I FEEL LIKE MAKING SUGAR COOKIES SHAPED LIKE HOCKEY MASCOTS AND PIPING ICING ONTO OREOS TO MAKE THEM LOOK LIKE HOCKEY PUCKS FOR THE STANLEY CUP FINALS. And I don't care how room-mother-ish that is. Also, caps-style yelling.

Boston Bruins vs. Vancouver Canucks (orcas? def had to google that one)

And then today it was rainy again and we went to the science museum and then when Nate got home we all put on our rainboots and splashed in the puddles in the lane and THAT was undeniable PURE awesome.

Walking with Mama

Teaching baby sister to splash and jump.

Yelling hello to the turtles. Yes. The TMNT.

Kisses for Daddy.

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