Halloween, and so NaBloPoMo begins

Here we go.  NaPoBloMo #6.  How was it that I could blog more when the kids were so much younger?  Is it possible that I had more free time then?  Or just different expectations?  Or I was in the habit?  Or focused on documenting the milestones of the early days?

Whatever the reason, I'm going to do my best now and apply all the neuroscience I've learned about changing behaviours and building habits and weave blogging back into my routine.  I can find the time, what the kids are doing now is as important as the early day milestones, and I want to foster the connectedness of blogging with friends and knowing that relatives near and far will read this.

Here goes . . . .

Kids had a great time carving pumpkins.  They did one together, free style, with "hair" poked holes all over, and extra holes at the sides and back.  The second pumpkin, I carved out the inside (and that was dedication, it was rotten and stank), Matthew carried up the stairs by himself (no small feat, it was big and heavy), and carved the face all by himself.  He was disappointed that one of the teeth fell, but then thought it made the face even scarier.  

Renee went as Elsa, Matthew as Red Ninja (he decided last minute not to wear his new Captain America Falcon), Samuel went to a friends place as Thorin Oakenshield from the Hobbit. His costume deliberation was intense, and thankfully we found an online website that had what he wanted.  

Post 1 is done.  More to come, stay tuned for Kids Fun Videos, Backyard Studios, Renee's first tooth falling out, selfie while looking at the moon, and upcoming birthday adventures.  

Sent from my BlackBerry 10 smartphone on the Rogers network.

Summer 2014

Here's an attempt to capture our summer in one post.  (And hope that this gets me back into blogging).

Seems like a whilwind, and now Matthew and Renee start grade 1 tomorrow.  I'm more nostalgic about that than I was when they started Casa 3 years ago.

We had a great summer.  The kids had a great time at various camps.  highlights were the theatre camp and film camps where their personalities shone through.  Samuel's group did a  Scoooby Doo inspired skit that was admittedly his idea.  He was amazing in it, so confident.  Renee was a bunny rabbit on a bus going to Canada's Wonderland.  Matthew was a mean kid in his skit about a girl scared to go to school.  The night before the show we went to the Eaton Centre, a large mall in downtown Toronto, they still refer to it as the "biggest mall in the world".  Renee had to buy a "white, all white, the teacher said it has to be all white and clean with no spots, like bunny rabbits" outfit , Samuel had to buy a "what cool kids wear in the fall" long sleeve shirt with backwards baseball hat.  Matthew didn't need to buy anything until we got home and he remembered that he needed "clothes with holes and dirty, like those kids who are orphanages and don't have parents like in Annie and Hard Kocks life", good thing we had a few stained  and ripped on hand!

They climatized  well to each camp, made friends, and had a great time.

We are undoubtedly in a different plane of development, Montessorians refer to it as "second plane".  The play is based in reality, independent, and creative.  The sibling rivalry is picking up pace, as is the rudeness, both of which are expected and exasperating.

We had a great weekend with my parents, sister and be phew at rationale local resort.  The weather was lousy so we stayed inside and Matthew developed a taste, and skill, for pool and darts. He got a "bull dog" (ie bull's eye) in darts and got the hang of both pretty easily, a skills that will serve him well when he is a teenager.  Samuel really liked shuffle board, until he got a blood blister that covered half his thumbprint.  He eventually saw the blood blister as a good thing because that way he always had something to play with (no need to a fidget toy, bracelet , lego guy, shirt sleeve when you have your very own mushy, squishy blistered thumb!).

One of my dear, dear friends had her daugher's Bat Mitzvah at a jewish sleepover camp, and Samual came with me.  3 hour drive there and back the next day and he used my iPad for about 30 minutes, the rest of the drive we talked, he looked out the window.  He didn't know any of the the kids there but acclimatized to them quite quickly.  We stayed at a resort and I let him go up to our room by himself, he was so mature about it,  he locked the door, put the deadbolt on and asked "who is it" when I tried to use my key 10 minutes later.  He was watching FoodTV because he couldn't find Teletoons.  He loved the report bathrobe!

Matthew is a super star bike rider,.  He and I biked to the local mall about 1 km away to buy him new shoes and he was awesome.  Renee can ride with her training wheels and we did a few local rides which was fun.

Renee's favourite thing to watch on "screens" is DYI shows for making cakes, especially Frozen and misc princess cakes, with fondant.  She's asked me a few times if we can make a cake together with playdo.  She's very nervous about grade 1.  "I'm shy about it because I only have one friend", "in casa you start learning a about things, but in grade one it's about real life", " the teachers yell in grade 1".  All comes down to her not knowing the lay of the land yet.  Hard to see her like

Rainbow loom

Rainbow looms are all the rage with the kids.  ‎Matthew can make bracelets with his fingers.  And he doesn't stop with bracelets, he also made a necklace / belt / sash.  He usually follows a pattern of 4-5 colours, repeating them in the same order.

Renee uses the loom, but needs some help with the hook.  She said that she is planning on selling the bracelets she made for $17.00.

Hanukah and Shabbat

Hanukah

Ricardo’s Art Exhibit

My uncle Ricardo had an art gallery opening in Toronto.  Here are a few pictures from the gallery, the artist and, of course, the kids.  Matthew was particularly taken by the paintings inspired by Mt Kailash.   Ricardo also spent a day at the kids school where Samuel was his helper as Ricardo visited each classroom.  He was so proud.

Miscellaneous Things to Remember

This is such a great age, the kids are so much fun and say such wonderful things.  Here are a few that I want to always remember.
_________

Matthew was using one of the tablets, and brought it into the kitchen with some water droplets on it.  I asked him how the tablet got wet and he answered "By accident, ‎I did a bless you".

_________

Matthew wanted to be with me in the kitchen before dinner, a big deal as the alternative was to be with Samuel and Renee watching TV.  He wanted to help me make dinner of tuna sandwiches. He took particular liking to the can opener and used what he dubbed the "turny thing" pretty successfully.  After dinner, he stayed with me in the kitchen again and explained "I don't want you to be alone.  I can dry the dishes and even I did that at school and even I'm ready to do it at home."  He also cleaned the table.  
_________

Renee and I were playing with a metal tin that comes with scenes and magnets that can be placed in different places.  There are planes, trains, cars, and people.  She explained the rules of "the game". "This is a thinking game, you have to think it in your brain."  We took turns putting the different vehicles on the metal background.  She didn't quite like how I placed a plane, "the trains and planes of the same colour can't go together, that's what the ancient birds say."
_________

We got Samuel a weighted blanket, we told him it was a blanket that would feel like someone was giving him a hug all night.  The first night he used it, he had a big bruise and scrape on his back from falling at a birthday party.  When he woke up the next morning, he said "that blanket that hugs me all night made my back better".
_________

There was a stomach bug that made its way though the family.  Renee was the first to get sick, at 3 am all over herself, myself and my bed.  Three days later, it was Matthew's turn, at a restaurant, in the hall right outside the bathroom, and on my leg.  A few days later I overheard:

Renee: "My barf was bigger than your barf"

Matthew: "But Renee, my barf was three times of barfing"

Renee: "Matthew, my barf was all over Mami and her bed"

Matthew:  "Yeah, but my barf was at the restaurant on Mama's leg and at home"

Thankfully Samuel didn't get sick.

Rules for meal times

I'm not in the habit of blogging any more, as was evident by the lacklustre NaBloPoMo performance.  I have though been sending quick emails to the blog, emails of things I want to write about and remember.  Here is the first of a few such posts.

After one too many meals where every second sentence was focused on correcting behaviour, we decided (ok, I decided) to write out some rules.  We each took a turn saying one rule and I wrote them down, for a total of 5 rules .

A few days later, Samuel wrote his own rule: