Menu Monday

Monday: Vegetable soup
Nora had three bowls. She's such an easy-to-please eater!

Tuesday: Baked beans and coleslaw

Wednesday: Spaghetti and meatballs, broccoli

Thursday: Orange-ginger beef (flavoured beef stew, lots of vegetables in it)

Friday: Rice pilaf, cooked carrots

Nora Charms the Glebesters

As you probably know, Rebekah is doing a work term at the Glebe Centre this term. Since today was a PD day for her (no school! no work!), and since I had only the one child today, we thought it would be nice to go visit some of the folks there. After all, who doesn't love a baby??

Seconds after stepping off the elevator, we were greeted by one of the residents, who led the way.

"Bring that lovely child here. I know who needs to see her!"
We started in the lounge, where half a dozen residents were watching a movie. Nora was fully engaged. Lots of eye contact, lots of smiling, lots of wandering around being utterly charming. Then it was on to visit people in their rooms.

"Come, come!" our guide directed us. "Let's go see Mrs. M.! Mrs. M loves a baby!"

No, she didn't want to sit in Mrs. M's lap, thanks, but she was happy to chat with her. Mrs. M is, sadly, quite deaf, so it's a sure thing she didn't hear a word of Nora's high-pitched babble, but they enjoyed each other's company nonetheless.
Art, who, at 92 has several grandchildren, a multitude of great-grandchildren, and two great-great-grandchildren (!!!), also has a room filled with Very Interesting Things. He was happy to bring them down for her investigation.
Nora loved the mouse. I think it's a mouse.
Rebekah, Nora, and Art, a truly lovely man. By then, Nora was showing signs of fatigue, so we called it a morning and headed on home.
It was a lovely outing. I think we'll do it again sometime.

A Boy and His Dog

Ella is intrigued...

Dominic appears quite pleased with himself...

and Indie?

Is she stoically enduring the unpleasant, or just being totally mellow? Given this went on for some three minutes (under close supervision), I'm leaning to the latter. And when Dominic finally got bored, she didn't move at all.

What a cute boy.
And what a gooooood doggie.

Menu Monday

Monday: Meatless Meatballs* with pasta and tomato sauce, cauliflower
(*Yes, that's what we call them. It's an Italian dish, and I can't remember the real name. "Meat"balls made with bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, eggs, and parsley.)

Tuesday: Butter chicken on rice, cabbage-beet salad

Wednesday: Black bean felafels in pita, carrot salad

Thursday: Chicken pot pie, squash

Friday: Egg fried riced with vegetables

Snoozer

Banana-boy bites the dust...

Guess who had a busy morning?

Cheerios

Two toddlers, two highchairs, one tray heaped with one mondo pile of Cheerios...

and you have a happy, yummy lesson in sharing.

We Have a Reader!

Eliana reads to the others. It's a combination of actual word recognition, logic, and memory... which is how it's done. The girl is 75% a Real Reader. I predict reading-reading within 4 - 6 months. (Heck, at the rate she's going, it could be 4 - 6 weeks! It's been known to happen.)


And the others love it!

Menu Monday

Monday: Home-made baked beans and rice, cooked with spinach. A side of butternut squash
They universally loved this. Shovelled down multiple helpings of everything.

Tuesday: Cream cheese bagels and corn
Yum, yum!

Wednesday: Basque turkey. (Turkey and noodles, cooked with tomatoes, onions, and green peppers, in a broth of balsamic vinegar and water.)

It was eaten with modest enthusiasm. Willa demanded "more" when she'd finished the noodles, but had all the meat and vegetables in her bowl. She finished it all when "more" was not forthcoming, but after that, didn't want "more" after all.

Thursday: Squash bake, ratatouille

They all loved the squash. Ratatouille was hit-and-miss: Dominic did not like it, Willa and Milan ate a bit, Eliana ate more. No one was hugely enthused.

Friday: Scallopped corn (corn baked with eggs, cornmeal and cheese) and zucchini

We didn't have scallopped corn on Friday. What did we have? I can't remember...

Snuggle Time!

Eliana invited Willa up for a snuggle. That looked like such a Good Idea that Dominic clambered up, too! And that blurred arm at the left of the picture?

That's Milan on his way to join in!!!

And Nora? Well, she thought it was fun... but preferred to participate with laughter rather than clambering up.

You Know You Should Worry When...

... it gets very, very quiet...

Toy Sale at Lansdowne!

The aisles were too crowded, and I was too busy shopping, to take pictures during the shopping. These were taken as we were preparing to leave.

We have, from front to back: 1. Drooping with Exhaustion, 2. Ms. Camera-Face, 3. Can't see him, and 4. Camera-Face the Second.
And again:

1. Still pooped, 2. Still flirting with the camera, 3. Sound asleep!, and 4. Very, very interested!
There's a lot of stuff, most of it very inexpensive, and some of it worth the price. It wasn't a bad way to spend an hour on a Monday morning.

If the Boot Fits...

What is that item clutched in Ella's hand? Clutched in her well-mittened, snow-suited hand? (Because it was chilly our there today!)
Chilly? What enterprising young woman is going to let 'chilly' get in the way of removing her outerwear?

The boot was returned to the foot, where, with some monitoring on my part, it stayed. To the tots' dismay, party-pooping is indeed in my job description.

Menu Monday

Hm. It's only as I'm typing it out that I realize that this week's menu seems to have been affected by the cooling temperatures and the clock change. Lots of hearty comfort food!

Monday: Cream cheese on bagels, cucumber slices, bananas

Tuesday: Hamburger-noodle casserole
(comfort food from, oh, 1952)

Wednesday: Tofu-broccoli stir-fry on rice

Thursday: Baked beans, squash

Friday: Toad in the hole, corn niblets

Menu Monday

Monday: Mung bean curry on rice

Tuesday: Turkey meatloaf, squash

Wednesday: Char sui pork, rice, cauliflower

Thursday: Vegetable stew, baking-powder biscuits

Friday: Cabbage rolls, zucchini baked with cheese