Group Selfies at McDonald's

Matthew's Map of Africa

Matthew insisted on showing me his work when I picked him up at school today. Look at these pictures and you'll understand why.

He wad so proud of how he coloured it, how he wrote the country labels, cut them to size, glued them in place.   He did "Madagascar " to show me how he did "fancy As".

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the Rogers network.

drying hair after swimming

And a favourite quote " we're not brother and sister, we're twins"

Saturday Afternoon Walk

We had a lovely afternoon on Saturday.  I had to pick up a ring at a jewellery store (a very cool ring from my great aunt that had to be re-sized, so I took it to my friend's jewellery store, where I got my 40th birthday ring that I probably never blogged about. Blog post to come).

The store is in a beautiful old neighbourhood, it was a lovely fall day so we went for a walk around the block.  

It was treacherous at times, there was lava flowing everywhere on the cracks.  To be safe, you had to touch the plants, walk on ledges and for sure, avoid all cracks.  And run superfast and jump when the volcano erupts.  And be on the look out for ships and monsters.  

Here is Matthew's soliloquy as we walked (if only I knew how to load video from my new phone):

"The volcano is going to erupt, right here, right now . . . and see those spike up there [fence posts] a volcano could push it and crush it into one little piece [me: and what happens to you] if we stay inside the house, we'll be fine because it can't push our house.  Only a monster can push our house.  It can pick up a house and air takes it away.  It's really strong.  And, lava comes from garbage. And if the lava monster eats more candy lava, more red lava, candy that it is, they can get more fatter"

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the Rogers network.

8 posts in 12 days (I need to catch-up a bit more)

Here is another catch-up post.  But first a bit of background.

My posts in the last year have been few and far between.  They had to be, my time and energy was needed elsewhere as happens in the ever shifting balance of life.  My commitment to keeping the blog, a record of our lives and the kids childhood remained steadfast so I would send the blog an email with a line that would jog my memory when I had a bit more time to fill out the post.  Now that I can find the time to blog, I have those sentences to remind me of things I had other wise forgotten.  

Samuel and Heart

One day last winter, while we were standing in the hallway next to the laundry room, Samuel said something extraordinarily sweet.  I looked at him and said "you stole my heart".

He looked back with a very concerned look on his face "Mami, is that what happens when babies are born?  They take their mom's hearts?" and gave me a huge hug.  He even had a look of relief when I explained that it was just a saying.


Watching Zimrya with Matthew and Renee on My Lap

Our school participates in a Jewish School choir concert in Toronto, and last year was Samuel's first year singing in the choir.  He did great, as did all the other kids.  Our school though had the distinction of being the only one where the kids, yes the kids, wrote the songs.  Both the music and the lyrics.  "I love ice cream" is a favourite (I love ice cream, how about you? one scoop or two?) and there's a great one about inventions.

The choirs sang in front of an audience of hundreds of parents, grandparents and friends.  Samuel was poised, smiling, singing proudly with his friends.

The other memory that I want to remember is the feeling of having Matthew and Renee on my lap for most of the concert.  It was just in March and I'm not sure they would both fit on my lap (or that my legs could take it!) now that it's eight months later.


Renee: "I'm 21 and can take care of myself"

Truth be told, I don't remember the context of this, maybe because it could have, and probably did, happen more than once.

Another idiom I want to remember is Renee asking my mom "Regi, can I sit on your lap top?".  She hasn't said it for a while, but she said it pretty consistently.


Matthew:  "Did you have a shower?", "No, I had a bathtub"; "and even"

Again, I don't remember the whole context, but I asked him if he had taken a shower and he said "no, I had a bathtub".

He also uses the phrase "and even" all the time. "I wanted to play beyblades and even Dad says it's bedtime". "I wanted to wear my red pants and even I cant find them".  He says the "and even" with such fervour and conviction.

Seven people and six meringues

(anther catch-up post; this was from winter 2013, good thing I wrote this entry because I had forgotten about this, remarkable as it is)

Meringues are the perfect dessert for dairy free, gluten free dinners (i.e. ones where my Babby and dad are present).

We were at my Babby's house for dinner one night, we bring all the food, paper plates, everything, and that way she doesn't have to lift a finger or go out.  One night we brought a box with meringues.

When it was time for dessert, Renee came to help us set up.  She looked at the meringues and said "one, two, three, four, five, six meringues.  and there's 7 peoples so we need to cut one in half".

She's four and a half.

No training wheels

(here is another catch-up post)

The kids went to Pedal Heads bike camp this summer for a week of bike riding lessons.  We dropped them off with training wheels on their bikes.  We were a little worried about all 3 being in the same cohort - would Samuel feel "too old" to be in a beginners class, would the incredibly physically adept Matthew surpass Samuel?  

End of day one - no more training wheels and look at Samuel!  He took off, super fast, super long distances.  Our worries were put to rest.  His counsellors recommend he enrol in level 4 next summer.

By end of day 3 Matthew was riding pretty well.  Counsellors recommend level 2/3 next summer.

Renee, on the other hand, they recommended she re-enrol in level 1.  She still prefers a tricycle.

"look at me"

And he's off . . . .

Random Picture - Tocayo and Kids

I can't remember when or where this was,  but I thought it important to email to the blog (but then life got in the way and I didn't post it).

My guess is that this was a Sunday dinner outing.  More important that when or where it what - a picture that shows the interaction between generations.  Tocayo - you are a blessing to your grandchildren, and i know you'd say that they are to you too.  XO.

Super Proud Matthew

Matthew is OBSESSED with a perplexus puzzle ball he borrowed from his cousin.  He is fixated when it's in his sights (of course, this includes at the inconvenient times of wake-up, bed-time, putting shoes on, brushing teeth, etc).

And finally he did it.  Just look at the smile on his face.

Snow Day Feb 2013

Another very old picture I had sent to the blog, but never published.  The snow storm in the background was severe enough to close schools.  From what I recall, we got a bit stir crazy by the end of the day and everyone stayed in pyjamas.

Starwars

This is an old picture (from April), but the love for all things Star Wars continues.  His upcoming birthday party is Star Wars.  More to come as we get closer to the date.

Look what we can do

Yes, that's Matthew carrying Renee.  She tried to carry him, but at 4 lbs and 2 inches shorter, she's at a disadvantage.

Matthew is all muscle, he has abs and biceps.  Renee is lean and has a defined waist.  No baby fat left anywhere, except their hands.

As for Samuel's physique, he is tall and skinny, and he can carry either Matthew or Renee.  Much as they try they can't carry him.

NaBloPoMo (off to a less than stellar start)

I needed impetus to start blogging again, something to get me into the habit again and remind me that I do like blogging and that it is an important chronicle of our lives for those who live far away and for ourselves to reflect back on in years to come. And, NaBloPoMo was going to be just that . . . except I missed 3 days already, and my blog doesn't seem to like to get pictures from my new phone. But no excuses. I'll have to figure out pictures later and for now let my prose paint a picture of our lives in November 2013. The beginning of November was met with great excitement as it is none other than Samuel's birthday month. Seriously (as Samuel would say) and For Real Life (as Matthew and Renee would punctuate). We did something great this weekend, one of those things you know you should do but somehow never manage to do. (no, not blogging). We had 1-1 time with each kid. No small feat, and largely facilitated by Samuel being at an all day playdate on Saturday and Matthew having a fairly long playdate today. On Saturday, Matthew and I got him super cool, harry potter, glasses. He first wanted red frames, then orange ones, then ones that were for 3 year olds. To my chagrin to didn't like the flexible ones. We've only had that on our list of things to do since May, but finally he'll have the glasses he needs to see up close next week. From there we had lunch with Renee and Marc. Only one tantrum by Renee who was not happy that she didn't stay with me at the optician. After lunch, we went to buy discounted costumes for Purim and for playing, plus a couple very cool Star Wars "statues" that hold candy bowls that we'll use at Samuel's birthday party (stay tuned for more on that). After that, it was girl-time. Renee and I went to a French pastry place where she ordered "pink cookies" (Raspberry macarons, of which she only ate the cream inside). She also liked my tea. We had a lovely chat about what people say at school, and what they do, and about Mommies and daughters. From these we went to a jewelry store to get a ring re-sized. This is a ring that my great-aunt gave me, it's very unique and I'd love to wear it but it only fits my pinky and it is not a pinky ring. The minute we walked into the jewelry store Renee remembered it. "this is the place where they made your ring when you were forty and i came with you, and with Regi and Tocayo and Andy, and she's your friend, and your ring has stones and I'm that stone and now you are forty one and when I'm forty you're going to give me your ring". Then she sat at the counter and asked very politely if she could have some jelly beans from the jar, which she did but she only liked the pink ones. We held hands and share barely stopped talking and smiling. I barely stopped smiling too.