April (Snow) Showers Welcomes....SUN PLEASE

Well the news of April:

The Oilers made the playoffs and are presently in round 2 beating San Jose and currently playing the Mighty Ducks. Needless to say every second day is hockey hockey hockey (for Mark). I am usually to tense to watch it so I check the score every 15 minutes or so online...

I have finished watching 13 Reasons Why on Netflix...a little mixed on it. Presently watching Series of Unfortunate Events. Plus finished watching Season 5 of Girls from the library and Moana and Allied.

I just did some spring cleaning. Or maybe just regular cleaning but since I hadn't done it in about a month and a half I will call it spring cleaning. I even took apart our dishwasher and cleaned out the filter and the blade. YUCK. Thank goodness for youtube though as it shows you how to do almost anything!:)

Income tax has been completed and filed. Phew. I hate tax season. Usually makes me annoyed with life as the game of life hits me with something. And it kind of did...but then didn't.

Other things that have been going on:

Two pieces of raison toast has greeted me in my rain boots thanks to a little one travelling all over the house eating.

With that travelling, dancing, climbing, singing, adventure seeking little lady we decided to sign her up in SPORTBALL. and why not. this girl loves kicking, throwing, rolling balls. Why wouldn't she love this. Well she was a little overexcited when we took her to her first class last week and spent most of the time running around (and at times attempting to steal other kids balls). Monkey. She did love the popcorn clean up game where you gather all the balls and put them in a basket. She rocked that one. :)

We also had a family filled evening of Raffi and Dairy Queen. Yes that is right. My childhood favourite. Although he didn't sing from my favourite album (the Christmas album). He did not disappoint with Baby Beluga, Brush your teeth, and Bananaphone. Plus the little lady did pretty good, thanks in part to a few snacks, entertainment and the girl behind her that would smile and talk to her.

Another thing I have noticed is she is starting to take a liking to dresses and barrets. Although I don't know if she has the same feelings towards leotards. It's kind of fun as she likes to pick out her clothes every morning.

Lots of park outings. Basically everyday before or after supper Mark takes her in her push car to the playground for a swing on the swings and if she is feeling adventurous sliding down the spiral slide. Whether it is rain or shine she is outside. Loves going out in the backyard in sock feet chasing the dog and "telling" him what is right or wrong.

New words like cracker, and cookie are emerging. HA. And whenever she wants to say something emphatically it is usually No. I don't think she knows what it means exactly as everything seems to be no...even if i asked if she wanted chocolate....she will learn soon enough what that word means! :)

I don't know if I have anymore news. The bees will be coming shortly. Seedlings of squash, tomatoes and garlic have been planted. The greenhouse has a door to keep in more heat. Voles are being captured everyday. Yes Mark is having lots of outdoor fun.

Let's hope we get some May flowers pretty soon!
xoxox

Happy Easter to ALL!

Easter takes on a full new meaning now that we have a little one. She had loads of fun on Thursday at her dayhome with an Easter party, cake and stuffed bunnies. Plus her bunny barrets that she loved to wear the whole weekend. So much so that every time we opened her "accessory" drawer she would pull them out and bend her head down so that I could put them on. Thanks Gam. They were a hit.

Alas I was working for the majority of it so it was a very eventful daddy/daughter weekend of fun. Swimming, visit to Granny and Granddad's, and music filled fun at the Mutant Conservatory. They seemed to have a blast! Then it was our family time together!

We fit in one evening at the Keg. Was it for Easter? Probably not but I had been talking about the Keg for a few months now and Mark suggested it so who was I to turn him down. Hello lobster tails and twice baked potato. I love you! And the little one? I was a little nervous as most of the restaurants we have gone to have involved quick delivery of food with a bit of appropriate toddler walking. She managed to sit and entertain herself with a few colouring pages to aid and a bit of playing of food for an hour and a half. Go chickita go! :)

An Easter egg hunt was also on the go to as the Bunny made an appearance. Little plastic eggs filled with raisons with a few gummy bunnies and jelly beans scattered amongst them. That Easter bunny was a bit frugal this year. I thought she would need assistance with knowing what to do but as I was making her breakfast she was right in the family room collecting the little plastic eggs and shaking them with glee. She loved opening them and eating the raisons. Then when she found the gummy bunnies and jelly beans the raisons became old news. So much so that when she found the raison ones after a gummy she would throw the egg on the floor and go to the next.

The Easter bunny didn't stop with just plastic eggs though. She was gifted with three smartie eggs and a kinder surprise. And being the ever patient girl she bit right into that tinfoil to get to the chocolate treat. Obviously loves her chocolate like her mom and dad. I took her to the Science Centre to run off some candy and she did just that.

We then had an Easter dinner that we brought to the grandparents place with Uncle "Jiggy" in tow. Roast beef, roasted potatoes, carrots, broccoli, salad and a fun dessert with lady fingers/bananas and pudding that involved two other families doing it and created a mess...a leaky milky delicious mess.

So what do I say at the end of these festivities. I had fun. I enjoyed dinner with family and the littles fun in the morning. What I don't enjoy is the massive sugar crazies that seem to be happening today as every time she enters the kitchen she throws down in fits of tears waiting for the chocolate to appear. And little did this mom know that one was in reach with stool in tow as she got eerily quite and then came sauntering into the family room with another one of her smartie eggs. Muhaha. A girl possessed with the sweet tastes of chocolate! Again I totally understand.

Love that little! And all my family combined! Happy Easter all!
xoxox

Springly Things

So it is still kind of winter...and by still i mean an occasional snow fall seems to be emerging every now and again. But spring is a coming. Why? The snow is melting super fast. The sun is out for super long periods of time. The trees are budding. It rains more than snows. AND it's April! :)

So what have we been up to in the last month...

Blokus! So a few weeks ago I went to the tabletop cafe with my besties. We played some pretty cool games like hamsterrolle, cards against humanity, dutch blitz (a fabulous classic that i still love) and blokus. Funnily enough I owned this game. Mark and I got it from his sister's family two years ago! YIKES. Life with a newborn seemed super busy and exhausting that we never did play the game...but since that fateful night at the tabletop....Mark and I haven't been able to put that game away. Although I may need to take a break as I keep losing. CURSES!

The game of life reared it's head once again as I managed to get a ticket and had to enroll into a car seat safety clinic. It's all good in the sense that I should know all this information. But that ticket is nasty. And with all the stuff that happened over the last three months and just a week after my car getting fixed all I could do is let out a big sigh....cause really that is all you can do.

The little gal is sure growing up. Lots of words being said: shoes, hot, socks, coat, cold, apple, nana, water, up and the list continues to grow and grow. She loves her dolls as she takes them to bed, the bath and they seem to be little companions as she plays with her toys. Singing songs like ba ba black sheep, zoom zoom, and the itsy bitsy spider. Really she sings the rhythm more than the words but she does seem to manage the actions too! She loves brushing her teeth, she knows her body parts and is a great little helper unpacking groceries, peeling onions, sweeping, and cleaning up after herself.

Her new adventures are dog walks as she insists on walking yet can't quite do all the distance that we cover so in and out of the stroller, our shoulders or the new (and used) little car we got her. Outdoors is definitely her new love at the moment. Jumping in puddles, throwing rocks, playing in sand/dirt, going to the park and playing with all her different sport balls.

We continue to go to the same places. We have checked out cafe o play again with a mom friend and her little boy. She is definitely getting more out of that place than she did before. We visited a petting zoo and some little play houses at the Mom and Tot's Fair. Been to our fair share of mini gyms and even managed to do a family swim trip to St Albert.

Dinner out x2 for us and pizza in x1. Special kind of awesome this month as I was exceptionally tired of cooking a couple of days and we eat fast and she can now eat restaurant food. I think she liked Boston Pizza over New Asian Village...but like I said....we eat fast.

Mark is busy with his bee making...really the hive making and he discovered his love for the redo centre. I have joined a Quality council at work that I am enjoying. BUSY BUSY BUSY.

In entertainment I have seen some movies: Logan (really good), Manchester by the Sea (too sad for me), The Light Between the Oceans (sad but really good), Trolls (LOVED IT), Girl on the Train (enjoyed) and Mike and Dave Need Wedding Dates (a little blah). I finished the third season of Grace and Frankie (hilarious), have enjoyed Riverdale and just started watching reruns of Road to Avonlea again.

In books I finished a series finally that I started quite awhile ago. The Pittacus Lorre series. Very much a tween book series but light all the same. I am thinking of starting up on L.M.Montgomery again....

Loving the sunshine. Can't wait for all the fun the outdoors has in store for us this month.
xoxo