Gentle, gentle, gennnnntle...

The annual lessons in How To Approach A Christmas Tree... Eliana and Milan do not appear in this post because they are already well-schooled in the art. No lessons needed for them!

Dominic displays good form: "ONE finger. You can touch the things on the tree with ONE finger."
"Not my whole fist? Even if I don't pull?"
ONE finger. ONE.
While Dominic practices the One Finger Touch, Nora excels at Just Looking. Of course, Observation is one of the things Nora does best.
(Sorry about Nora's blurred non-face. I think the batteries on my camera were just about dead.)
And Ella? Ella, who does not approach life with a cautious, measured one-finger approach, wholeheartedly disapproved. I'd go so far as to say she was flabbergasted.

"What do you MEAN, 'one finger'?????
You can NOT be serious!"

Wings!

Rebekah was an elf at a friend's father's work party. The balloon clown at the party made her a pair of wings, which we saved for Eliana.She loved them! They did not, however, survive the day. No one was really surprised by this.
It was fun while it lasted, though!!

Wrapping Paper

More Stamping

Where Dominic approached this activity with a little doubt, the others needed no coaxing. Whee!
"Can I have a longer, longer, longer piece of paper?"
"That's as big as will fit on the table, Milan."
"I can't work on the floor, can I?"
"Sorry, no."
"Or the babies will walk in it."
"That's right."
"But if I could be on the floor, I could have a longer, longer, looonger piece of paper."
"Yup. Too bad about those babies. Here, have a stamper."
"Okay!"
And Miss Five-Year-Old Sophisticate decides to do a Pattern.

A Stamper is Born

He was a little uncertain at first.
"You want me to do what? Are you sure about this?"
A little cautious. Tentative, even. (This stuff feels weird!)
But he soon warmed to his task...

And by the end was a complete stamping enthusiast!
Look at that boy go!

Icing

And where there are cookies...there needs to be icing!

And if the DOG can have a taste...
Surely we can, too?
Thought so!!!
NOM!

Cookies

Some of us may be more adeptthan others...
But we ALL

Loooooove
making cookies!!

Spatial-ity

Dominic rocks the shape-sorter.

Menu Monday

Monday: Grilled cheese sandwiches, cucumber

Tuesday: Lentil soup, roasted beets

Wednesday: Pasta with sauce made from leftover lentil soup, cooked carrots

Thursday: Meat pie, baked potatoes

Friday: Presidential chili, biscuits

Mmmmmm, chocolaaaaaate...

Milan and I made chocolate brandy balls a while ago.
Emphasis on the chocolate!

mmmmmmm...

Down by the Station...

Snowy Day

First, put masking tape on bristle board to make the shape of a snowflake. Dot the paint with purple and blue blops of paint.

Blop, blop, blop...Blue blops...
And purple blops...

Then scoop up a goodly blob of white paint on your brush and swirl it over top until the WHOLE PAGE is covered with colour. Over the card, over the tape, right to the edges of the card.
When it's completely dried, peel the tape off, and voila! Snowflake on a blue sky!!!
Edge it with a black marker, and... pretty, pretty, pretty!

No, he's not dancing

Guess who...
has learned to...


STAND ON ONE FOOT!?!?!?!
He's very proud.
Can you tell?

Menu Monday

Monday: Rice, dahl, chickpeas, squash

Pretty much an all-round hit with all of them, though Dominic was not a fan of the dahl.

Tuesday: Lentil curry

This one's a staple that every generally enjoys. Except for those occasions when someone doesn't.

Wednesday: Bean salad (This was served on Thursday.)

Eliana LOVED this. "I will eat FIVE bowls!" she declared, when I brought it to the table. She managed four. Milan wolfed down three. Dominic didn't much like it, and Willa carefully removed all the tomatoes and onions before cheerfully ingesting the rest.

Thursday: Minced pork, apricot pilaf, carrot salad (This was served on Wednesday.)

Everyone liked the rice. (Duh.) Eliana and Dominic liked the carrot salad. Nobody felt like meat.

Friday: Spinach-tofu curry on rice

Rock On!

It's not immediately apparent from the picture, but what the children are doing is Table Drumming, each of them slapping the table as hard and fast as they can. The pity is that the instant they saw the camera, they stopped what they were doing. (Of course.) So all you get is the Corporate Boardroom Look. With cheeky grins.

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.