oPen sesame

Matthew and Renee have a great banter when it's just the two of them.  They talk non-stop and come up with really funny things.  I'm not sure if it's the twin connection because the banter is a bit different than what we hear with their friends.  Either way it is priceless.

Here is a recent one where Renee had been helping get lunch ready by cutting the cucumber, and Matthew wanted a piece.

Renee: "to get cucumber say the magic word that starts with P"

Matthew "oPen sesame"

And so Renee gave him the cucumber.

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.

Catching Up

It's been a long time since I blogger, and now it's time to catch-up. Good thing I kept sending draft postings that I can use now to fill in the last 8 months. Kids are good. We're half way through the summer, heading towards grade 2 and 3rd year casa. Hard to believe they are as big as they are. Here's a snapshot of today: They woke up at some point, not sure when because they went downstairs to watch TV by themselves, they had breakfast with Marc and then we did legos. Multiple floor structures, a helicopter landing pad with an elevator and a "Gargamel" on the tower like the Smurfs. Matthew and Renee build their own while I built with Samuel. Sounds lovely, and it was but it was preceded by lots of "Mami, you come with me", "you always go to ___ first", "you never help me", "MAMI", etc. Once we all got in the same room, we were good, but getting there wasn't easy. The kids and I went swimming while Marc went grocery shopping. Lots of jumping, swaying on noodles, a swim to the deep end or two with Samuel who doesn't need to wear a life jacket anymore. Renee stayed where she could stand, life jacket and all. Matthew swam, jumped and dived with his lifejacket, with near-perfect form. After lunch, we did more lego, went swimming again but with Marc this time. After swimming the kids all showered with relatively little help from us. In a perfect demonstration of the differences between them, while I was blow drying Renee's hair (my only possible contribution to her desire to have it straight), Matthew came in with a bloody nose from his "i kicked myself on the nose when i landed on the floor after my dive, tumble, seat drop, summer sault, but i wasn't jumping on the bed". On to watching Star Wars while I made their requested dinner of pasta with smiked salmon in a rose sauce. They got very restless during the movie so we went out to ride bikes. The boys had a blast, Renee struggled and came home after one turn around the block. And just before you think "they sound so grown up", they were mesmerized by Treehouse TV. Boys fell asleep easily with scratching their backs, telling stories and singing songs. Renee regaled the difficulties of her life and why tonight was the worst ever, why no one ever sleeps with her, and why she hates me (all due to me saying, lie down on your pillow), as soon as Matthew fell asleep, she came to cuddle. A relatively typical bedtime. Keep your eyes open for back-dated posts and pictures.

Reaching New Heights

We had an unseasonably warm weekend last wek (not now when it's well below zero). With Marc traveling, the kids and I went to the park.

Matthew went on the big swings. I gave him one small push (pulled him from the front) and he started to pump, and pump, and pump. So much so, and so well that he was higher then me, or as he insisted "not higher and taller, I'm older up here". I turned around, heard a thud and turned back to see him brushing the sand off him knees. "Matthew did you jump?", "yes Mami from really high", "let me show you how to slow down for next time".

We played for a while longer and then tried a relay race. It was my idea as an attempt of keeping everyone active, engaged and outside for a little longer. Boys against girls with Matthew and Renee running the first leg, down the path and back again. Down the path was fine, but on the way back Renee looked sad and started walking slowly "Ima (mom in Hebrew), I want to run WITH you". So the next race was Matthew and Samuel in relay, Renee and I holding hands.

Morning after sleepover

Renee dubbed it a "long, long sleepover" because she stayed over most of the next day  too.  Despite her claims that "Ima, you didn't come to pick me up for a longtime, and I wanted you to come, and you didn't come Ima, and you took a long time after I called you, and you didn't come right away, and i was there for a long time, and i didn't want to eat lunch and i wanted you to come", she wanted to stay the next day and by all accounts had a great time.

First Day Back (at cooking and baking camp)

We had an amazing winter break.  We stayed in our pajamas, did lego, baked, hung out, read, drew, played, had fun, laughed a lot.  We had such a great time that I didn't want it to end.  I almost had tears in my eyes when I dropped them off at camp a few says before school openned again.

Happy New Year!!!

We celebrated at midnight (Atlantic time zone, but shhh no one under 8 realized, those of us over the age of 8 opted for celebrbating together earlier).  We had sparkling juice, champagne, gluten-free, dairy-free cake, noise makers, hats and all.  4 generations having a blast.

Last Day of School

Friday night.  After Shabbat dinner.  Last day of school.  Renee and Samuel were sleeping over, Matthew was coming home on his own.  It was late at night all were giddy.  Need i say more? Well maybe a little explanation - Renee is wearing a t-shirt she wears as pajamas and singing a song in a language unknown to us with a bit of Hebrew for good measure.

We're saving this picture to blackmail Matthew when he's a teenager

It could embarrass him more than naked baby pictures.

Nothing quite like mismatched pajamas and a mask, and the pose and look on his face.

Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Samuel's Hannuka Card

Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network

Eighth Night, and a visit to the Museum

For the eighth night we took turns, Matthew candles 1, 2 and 3 Renee 4, 5 and 6, and Samuel 7, 8 and putting the shamash in its place.

Samuel in the very realistic bat cave

Matthew the medieval knight

Sent from my BlackBerry device on the Rogers Wireless Network