Busy day

We went to Bruce's IATSE x-mas party on Grouse Mountain. (yes - Bruce is doing Mo-November!). Saw Santa. Braved a packed tram ride up the mountain then down again. Interestingly, I learned that Grouse will be open 24 hours a day during the Olympics so if you want to fight the bridge traffic, it'll be open (unlike Science World which will be closed all of Jan and Feb).

Then off to birthday party at Go Bananas! in Capilano Mall. DQ Ice cream cake. (Note: Hazel picked out that shirt to wear).

Exhausting but fun day.

Veggie plate

I could hardly contain the joy I felt inside, when Coco requested a "vegetable plate" in her bedroom. Then she wanted to listen to the Christmas music CD we took out of the library. THEN she invited Hazel to lay in bed with her to eat vegetables and listen to "Frosty the Snowman".

It was an amazing moment in my parenting life.

CHAOS

I have no idea why I feel the need to blog about my messy, chaotic house?! Sometimes it gets insanely messy. The worst is when I am so tired at the end of the day, that I can't be bothered to put away a few toys. Then the next days toys get dumped on the previous days toys. Here are a few photos from two days worth of play... then the Christmas decorations came out...

Pumpkin

We cut up our pumpkin, boiled it, then made this tastey loaf. It was time consuming. Thankfully I had helpers with the clean up. We are trying a Rachel Ray recipe for "Pumpkin Penne" (Thanks Ping!) next. But I'll probably stick to canned pumpkin after that.

Aquarium

Words can not express my love for the Vancouver Aquarium. It is a truly wonderful experience for children.

RAIN! RAIN! RAIN!

If I see one more Vancouverite wearing a Lululemon rain coat, I am going to buy shares in the company. Seriously. And I believe they are breaking into the tween market with a yoga store on 4th where Oquoquo used to be. Unfortunately most of the stuff is made in China.

Hazel says "Rain, rain,go away".

Coco says "Rain, rain, only come in the night time".

Lucky says "Where are all my friends who called to walk me at the beach on hot, sunny days. The beach is still fun on rainy days -unless you're toting 1 whiny 4 year old".

I say "Would someone please invent the self-cleaning gutter!" I'll have to talk to Bob across the street. He's a semi-retired engineer and might be up to the challenge.

Always exciting...

It is always exciting when a new store opens on Broadway or in the vicinity. We now have a No Frills (4th and Alma) and a Save-On_foods (16th at UBC). It has a hot food area. It is a bit of a drive (8 kms) but little traffic. I am so driving there another day for the ribs.

Hazel likes to say "Look at that".

Coco said "Mom, quit talking in that agitated voice". I am guilty of talking in a different voice when I really want to YELL at the kids to do something. Bravo to Coco for that big word.

Saw "Coco Avant Chanel". Great movie!

Ate a whole tub of Ben and Jerry's Half Baked today - it was so good - but that is not what I am blogging about. I am raving about a child's art crayon called Djeco Pastel Gels. Love them Just discovered you can use water with them. Check out our art today...

New eating/craft area

Bruce built us this great bar height table. I just need to figure out a way to incorporate some storage.

rainy days

It is a bit of work getting the kids out for a walk every day - rain or shine - but it is worth it. Here are a few pics of us, braving the rain, to take Lucky for her walk.

Working on a poster to post to give Lippy, the cat away. I have 2 places to post it so far.

ADOPT ME... please.

Hello there. My name's Lippy and I'm a super sweet cat. Wanna adopt me? I'm a perfectly healthy fourteen year old cat. The thing is... things aren't working out in my current living situation. These small children chase me into corners and hug me too tightly. Don't even get me started on the big black dog. Let's just say the dog and I are not friends. She was here first. I only moved in because my person met this other person, fell in love and well, you know the rest of the story. Don't even get me started on babies.

What I'm looking for... quiet house or apartment. green space optional.

Let's talk... insert cel# here.

Did I mention I'm vaccinated and fixed and in perfectly good shape.

Save me from the children and dog, please. I'll bring heaps of joy to your life.