Christmas Laughter

I love the sound of children laughing. It's one of my favorite sounds, especially when it's my children laughing. My daughter laughs with her whole body and my son has a smirk that turns into a huge smile as he laughs.

Christmas Laughter

Summer Movies

This summer will be the third year we have taken our kids to the theatre for a summer movie.

It is such a great memory for us all. The kids still talk about their first time at the movie theatre when we saw the movie Toy Story 3, and then last year when we saw Brave.

Today we saw Despicable Me 2. The kids love the first "Despicable Me" and have watched it multiple time over the years.

One of Jaclyn's favorite parts in the first movie is when the youngest girl Agnes gets a new unicorn and while hugging it says "its so fluffy I'm gonna die". 

Last Christmas my brother and sister-in-law gave Jaclyn a extra large pink unicorn. After she saw it she immediately said "its so fluffy I'm gonna die". She has been sleeping with her unicorn every night since Christmas.

 

Here she is holding her big unicorn and her little one that David got her holding them at a sleepover at Gramma and Grandads. 

We along with David and Jaclyn are looking forward to watching a summer theatre movie together for many summers to come.

Summer Movies

Bubbles and Games

It was such a beautiful day today that the kids and I decided to take advantage of it and spent some time playing outside. We played with bubbles a beach ball and some games. 

The kids loved playing different games together. They played What Time is it Mr Wolf, Go-Go Stop, and by Davids request Freeze Tag.

It was such a beautiful and fun afternoon. The kids and I are looking forward to spending more and more time outside this spring.

Bubbles and Games

Aquarium

Last week we went to the Vancouver Aquarium with some wonderful friends. The kids had a wonderful time and have asked regularly to go back

 It is one of those places where the kids have always loved, and as they get older, they find more and more things to be fascinated by. Last time we were there was 3 years ago, and Jaclyn wasn't really old enough to take notice of as much as she did this time, and David was only interested in certain areas last time. This time with a 5 and 6 year old, everywhere we looked was something incredible and new to explore. Jaclyn loved the giant turtle, and the feeling seemed to be mutual as the turtle stared at her for a few minutes from in his tank.

 David was very excited to see some of the animals in the rain forest area, including the alligator. It was great to watch them explore the area and really start to process the different things about each animal and what their lives are like.

While there, we were able to watch some different shows, the first was a dolphin show highlighting training and caring for them and then a beluga whale show highlighting their needs (both of which the kids thoroughly enjoyed). At the end of the beluga show we got splashed because we were in the splash zone. David loved getting splashed and this became one of the highlights for him from the day. Jaclyn, on the other hand, was not as impressed with getting wet and decided she did not like beluga wales anymore. Since that day she has told me that she does like beluga whales but not getting splashed. 

  Jaclyn has told me she is now thinking about working at an aquarium as a trainer. Right now she wants to work with the dolphins so that it would be almost like she has a pet dolphin that she could teach to do tricks.

 Both are so interested in all the different animals there and want to learn more. David has told me that he wants to keep asking questions because he wants to figure out everything...which is a great attitude that both of them share, but definitely forces us to do some quick research sometimes.

Aquarium

Star Wars t-shirts

Here is another fun craft we did that was inspired from a pin I saw on Pinterest. I found the original post here. It had a full set of step by step instructions that helped me recreate these t-shirts for my kids. The mom who writes the blog is very creative and I have found myself going back to check out some of her other posts since finding this one. Go check her blog out, Finley and Oliver.  I'm sure you will be inspired by her writing and creativity as I was.

Over the last few months we have been introducing our children to the world of Star Wars. So far they have loved every part of the Star Wars movies they have seen, asking questions about character back-stories and why they are doing things, they love to recreate the story and anything else you can imagine that goes with Star Wars. The love that my children have found in Star Wars makes my husband happy, since he has always been a big fan of them and now it is getting picked up by our children.

They have asked me many times for a Darth Vader (or any Star Wars character) t-shirts. After looking at the stores and not having much luck in finding the right sizes or for a reasonable price I started the search on how to make our own. That is when I came across this pin on pinterest.

As you can see from their faces they are very excited that we now able to make them some of their favorite charactor shirts.

Jaclyn is already asking for a Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia t-shirts.

David wants a Han Solo and Storm Trooper t-shirt.

This method of t-shirt stenciling is so easy to do that I think I will be trying a few other characters in the future.

Star Wars t-shirts

My Rock Stars

For months we have had our Rock Band Wii game in our living room corner and both of the kids have been wanting to play with it. So on the day that we set up the game for them to play they were so excited. They each picked an instrument, David the guitar and Jaclyn on drums. Once they started playing they became comfortable with the game, really getting into the music and the "proper" Rock and Roll stance. 

We set it up so that no matter how good or bad you played the game would play through the song.

The music that they both loved to play the most was 70's rock, which made me smile after all that's one of my favorite genres of music.

Pictures taken April 9, 2012

Both claim to be rock stars, and now they can get an early start on their music careers, even if it is the Wii version of it.

My Rock Stars

Playtime

End of the day playtime with my two favorite little people.

Playtime

Valentines Day

Every year since David was a baby I have done something little for my kids on Valentines day. Most years the kids wake up to a little surprise waiting for them. There are always something pink or red, hearts and balloons involved. 

This year with Valentines day being on a Tuesday and David in school now I didn't have it ready for them in the morning, instead it was in the afternoon.

 Chris had this wonderful idea to have a treasure hunt for the kids.

He made two maps for them to follow.  The first map was in the living room and it lead them through the house to the bathroom under the sink and then the second one lead them back through the house to the living room to find a box with more little goodies in them. 

 Both kids had a lot of fun and Chris and I really enjoyed watching them.

After the treasure hunt was over and the kids were off playing with their new treasures I made a Valentines dinner for the kids. 

Heart cookies for dessert.

I enjoy doing these fun little suprises for them, I think it makes for great memories.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Valentines Day.

Valentines Day

Waiting for Summer.

I was just going through some old pictures on our computer and found these that I took with my phone outside of Starbucks one windy day last summer. 

 These pictures make me long for summer to come even if this winter hasn't been too cold.

Almost every time we go into the city both David and Jaclyn ask to make two different stops. One is Starbucks and the other is Toys R Us.

We don't always say yes, but it certainly makes there day when they can go to either of them. And since I have a soft spot for Starbucks, that one has a bit more chance of happening.

I love my little Starbucks junkies!

Waiting for Summer.

My poor sick kids

Well I am now on day 8 of staying home with two sick kids. David has missed this whole week of school and Jaclyn and I have had to cancelled two different outings.

Last week it started with Jaclyn having the flu and David having a cold. They have now shared with each other and Jaclyn is now fighting a cold as she tries to heal from her flu and David has the flu on top of his cold. It's been a long week here at our house.

I have now lost track of how many boxes of Kleenex we have gone through and how many loads of laundry have been done this week. I also feel like a broken record with every ten minutes I am saying "cover your mouth when you cough" or "go blow your nose" and "remember to wash your hands".

I am hoping and praying that we are at the end of this sickness and that we can all get back to our normal routine soon. If you are the praying type please pray that my kids return to their normal health soon.

Here is a list I am thankful for this week: Netflix, Tylenol, my iPad, cozy blankets, apple juice, tea and most of all my husband. Chris comes home from work and helps me with the laundry, cooking, cleaning and the kids. In fact Chris is so wonderful that he lets me sleep at night and he gets up with them when they wake up from coughing. I am blessed.

Here are some pictures I took of the kids on the couch this week.

My poor sick kids