The Girls Have Some Visitors

Three cousins and their parents arrived from Macau on December 20th, and our girls are having a wonderful time...

From chasing their boy cousins, ages 11 and 14 around, to spending time with their 4 year-old adorable cousin; to skiing and spending time in indoor amusement parks, the girls couldn't ask for a better winter break...Although I suppose if there were enough snow (and less rain) outside we could be sledding and perhaps even skating...

Deep in a game of Lego chess

Chasing their 11-year-old cousin around

The two youngest ones

Arts and crafts table

Ski Buddies

Great-Grandmother Turns 100!

It is not every child who has a great grandmother, much less one that turns 100!

Last Tuesday, in a small town in British Colombia, my grandmother, and the girls' great grandmother turned 100! My sister and I decided to fly over. Due to work constraints, we could only stay for 36 hours...

My 5-year old had a temper tantrum before we left, and she insisted I take her with me. I explained that not only did she have school, but that she would be very tired after two separate flights...She eventually calmed down. My girls have yet to meet their great-grandmother, but I was able to Face-time while there, and my kids eagerly peered at this lovely old lady, and she smiled back.

Our 5 Year-Old Makes a Graham Cracker House

Why make a ginger-bread house when you can make one out of graham crackers? Our kindergarten teacher organized a fun-filled day...In fact a few days as the base of the house had to be made the day before.

On Thursday, the children presented a holiday-themed show in the middle of the day. Siblings from other classrooms were released from class to enjoy the show, and parents were invited to attend. After the show, the parents and their Kindergarteners headed over to the class for cookies, juice and coffee:

Our cutie-pie, front left

The siblings with their cousins

After the parents had left, Mama stayed behind to help the teacher build the graham cracker houses, as it was a two-step process. The next day, 8 parent volunteers came to help the children decorate their houses. It was hard to keep them from eating their art-work!

The Girls Watch Their First 3D Movie

My 8-year old was invited to join her swim team for Movie Night, and her sisters and father decided to tag along. "The Grinch" was playing; it was a brand new experience for them, donning glasses and watching a film in 3D:

Our 6-year old enjoys the show!

The Girls Stay up Late

It is rare that we let the girls stay up late. Tonight, we made an exception. My cousin Charlie got married, and we all attended. I think that our five year old thought that the bride was a princess, and she got caught up in the fairytale. She danced and danced, met a bunch of people, and insisted that she pose with the bride...All in all the girls were very well behaved, and we certainly hope that they will be sleeping in tomorrow...

The Girls Have a Sleepover

Last night, our 5-year old slept over at Grandma's house. This is a weekly event. What was different about last night was that the older two also had a sleepover; they stayed with their aunt who lives only 5 minutes away. While the girls called it a sleepover, my husband and I called it date night!

Here is our youngest tucking in her babies:

The First Snow

The first snow arrived rather suddenly this Friday. Our 5-year old was the first one down from her room, and she declared "It's actually winter now!"

The kids were so excited to run into the school yard at morning drop-off that I did not have a chance to take a photo. Thankfully, the teacher sent me a photo of our 5 year-old with her friends during recess:

Second from the left, our Kindergartener

The Letter V

It has been a bit of a struggle, but the little one is finally learning to write. She showed little interest until recently in writing her name, colouring, and in fact anything requiring a pencil or even markers.

Here she is at school, working on the letter V with a classmate:

Halloween With The Girls

This year, the girls helped decorate the house, both inside and outside:

They chose their own costumes for school:

Our littlest one chose Little Red Riding Hood

Our middle one asked for a cupcake costume!

And our eldest went for a skeleton with a heart!

I chose the outdoor costumes, as trick-or-treating in near freezing weather requires warm clothing. Our little one had a 30 minute tamper tantrum prior to joining us. She had wanted to continue being Little Red Riding Hood...

Three cute and warm Minions!

They were allowed to eat 5 treats each on Halloween. I have since hidden their bags, and they choose 3 a day, after completing their homework. Hopefully the treats will last until the end of November, and homework will be a breeze until then!

Ped Days, Yay!

I didn't always look forward to Pedagogical Days, or Ped Days, as we call them. However, I have come to look forward to them...as the only opportunity to sleep in. Between working weekends and waking up early with the girls on weekdays, the Ped Days cannot come often enough!

Yesterday, one such day occurred. We slept in until 8AM! After homework, we headed over to a trampoline park. Our 8-year old had been invited to a birthday party there, and the other two decided to jump for an hour. Later on, we even had a playdate with a classmate of my 6-year old. This was followed by an afternoon of crafts and cooking. We made our first butternut soup!

A selfie at the trampoline park!

Playdate!

Our 5 year old, Ballerina

We always knew our youngest loved dance. But with all the other activities, including piano,  ringette, swimming and gymnastics, I had forgotten to register her this session. Then all that changed. I bought the animated movie "Ballerina" on sale at Walmart, and played it during a long drive in the mini-van. When we got home, out 5-year old quickly donned her sister's old ballet leotard and slippers, and spun and danced around the house. She has watched the movie many times since, and finally. I felt compelled to look into ballet lessons. Most classes had already started, or were full. Finally I came across a class for 5-year olds on Saturday mornings, the only day that she doesn't have any organized activities. And so it was that this morning, she took her very first class. Here are a few photos:

The Girls try Ringette

With the pre-season almost over, the girls have officially "gotten into" ringette. Our 5-year old is a "Bunny", the 6-year old a pre-novice and our 8 year-old a novice. Our novice player actually volunteered to play as goalie in her game today, and our pre-novice played her first game. When I asked our 6-year old if she scored, she replied that she wasn't sure what to do with the ring when she got it. And our 8-year old claimed to have stopped most of the goals:)

Here they are in action:

#2 with a friend 

Our goalie

Photo Day at School

On Friday, I was a "photo day" volunteer, and discovered exactly why volunteers were needed. The two photographers was very professional, but getting 16 kindergarten children to simultaneously smile was no easy feat:

Here is my 5-year old's class:

Front row, third from the right

The Magic of Kindergarten

Kindergarten has turned out to be a lot of fun for our 5-year old. She was reluctant to go in on the first day, but by the second week, she declared "I want to sleepover at school for a billion years"!

Here is a sample of the fun she has in kindergarten:

Photos coming to life!

The Carnival

The girls have been eagerly awaiting the school carnival. Bouncy castles, games galore, pizza, glitter tattoos and their very favourite, cotton candy.  I was volunteering at the glitter tattoo station and only took a few photos when the girls ran up to me. In french, cotton candy is referred to as "barbe à papa:"

The Girls Head to the Zoo

Monday proved to be a bright and sunny Labour day, and we decided to head to the zoo. First, we drove through the "safari" and the girls eagerly fed the passing animals:

Next, we had lunch at the local in-zoo restaurant. The girls got a special treat: pink lemonade:

We took advantage of the warm weather to do some swimming and  tubing:

When very much out of the blue, a thunderstorm hit and the pools were evacuated. We took shelter in the beachfront store, and purchased some umbrellas. The rain quickly dissipated, and the girls enjoyed acting as "old ladies":

Finally, before heading home we walked around the zoo and met a few other animals:

Finally, School Begins!

At long last, the day I have been waiting for...All three girls in the same school!

Wednesday was the big day; the girls were excited and nervous. Our little one tried to run away, and Mama finally got a break...

Not everyone cooperated

Our littlest one starts school!

A Whirlwind Week

In the last 7 days, the girls attended the end-of-season gala at the local swimming pool, went to Vermont for 4 days, held their very first lemonade stand, and tried ringette for the first time. Here are some photos from the fun-filled week:

At the ringette open house

With a friend, displaying "participation" swimming  medals

Our 8-year old wins the award for most dedicated 8 & under swimmer

Our 5 year-old wins the trophy for best "Guppy"

Sliding in Vermont

Tubing at Smuggler's Notch

Sifting for precious stones in Vermont

First ever lemonade stand at Grandma's house (with friend)