Menu Monday

Monday: Potato-crust quiche
They ate it. Not a huge hit, I'd say, but no one gagged, either. Pretty much how I felt about it, frankly. I don't think we'll see this particular incarnation of quiche again...

Tuesday: Black bean soup, cornbread, salad

Wednesday: Tacos

Thursday: Very veggie cheese omelette

Friday: Stir-fried veggies on rice

It's not as rude as it looks...

When the children precede me up the stairs to bed, I almost always swat their wee butts as the scramble up ahead of me. Much giggling ensues as they scramble ever faster and I make ferocious growling noises, drumming on every bottom within reach. Swat, swat, swat! Giggle, giggle! Whee, fun! (Because it's very important to keep them calm and quiet right before naps...)

Every parent knows how irresistible a tiny toddlers bottom is. Often when they pass me in a room I'll swoop down and give a quick tap to a wee butt. "Cute bum!" I carol. "Cute bum! What a cute bum!"

Of course, when one child gets that sort of attention, everyone wants it, and soon I am surrounded by small children, each demanding "Cute bum! Do me a cute bum!!!"

It's cute, all right, but I have other things to do in a day besides swat your children. What does one do when one's work responsibilities become onerous?

One delegates, of course.

"Do me a cute bum, Addie!!" Addie hastens to comply.

 "Now I will do YOU a cute bum!"

 Heh.

They are cute, your children, from head to toe. Including their bums.

Menu Monday

Monday: Kale cups, cucumber sticks and yogurt dip
These were a hit. Ella ate a full cup (muffin-cup, that is, not an 8-oz cup), which is a decent serving for a toddler; the others had two or two and a half each. They are also super-easy to make, so I can see this recipe being added to my recipe file.

Tuesday: Spaghetti and veggie-balls

Wednesday: Singapore noodles (tofu and veggies in rice vermicelli with a curry sauce)

Thursday: Half-pita stuffed with lentil-rice balls and shredded veggies of their choice; cucumber raita

Friday: Potato-crust quiche

Soooooo funny!!!

There'd be a minute of poised anticipation, then ... SHRIEKS of laughter! SHRIEKS!!!, I tell you!

AAAAAAHHHH! Too FUNNY!

We can barely contain the hilarity!

(Well, most of us. Some of us are just quietly amused...)

But what is causing this excitement? Well, neighbours are having work done on their house that involved a small loader. Watching the wee Bobcat scoot around and pick up the debris was interesting, yes, but what caused the regular outbreaks of hysteria was this ...

It's DUMPING the stuff into the TRAILER!!!

Is that not the FUNNIEST thing EVER???

Yes! Yes, it is!!!

Puzzling Times

Baby, it's hot outside!

Starbucks!

We set off for our Grand Adventure!! (Thanks to Aideen for volunteering to take the group shot.) In the heat of the summer, Starbucks makes for a convenient, air-conditioned destination.

You have the cutest children in the world ... Just look at them!

Playhouse

Stella Luna, again, and an Introduction

Ella and Nora shared chocolate biscotti...

Addie and Dries enjoyed raspberry sorbet...

and Chelsea had mango!

Chelsea? If you've heard that name, as I'm sure you have, now you have a face. Chelsea will be starting Algonquin College in the fall, in the ECE (Early Childhood Education) program. She worked for a few years between high school and college, so she's a little older than your average first-year student, and, I think, a little more grounded and sensible. She has a lovely, warm way with the children, and as you meet her, I know you'll like her.

She's visited with us twice so far this summer, and as her schedule permits, she'll be helping out in the fall.

Menu Monday

Monday: Spinach in tomato sauce on rice, cooked carrot sticks

Tuesday: Toad in the hole. (Ella's will have cheese chunks instead of sausage.) Salad.

Wednesday: Beet-carrot-tofu salad with tahini dressing

Thursday: Southwest bean salad

Friday: Tortilla soup

Why Be Normal?

Two or three weeks back, Nora was discovering the world from upside down. This week she has decided that the usual way of riding the bouncy toy, feet pushing off the ground or dangling beneath the seat, was not offering enough challenge. A new level of physical test was required: the feet-free, ab-building version.

When Dries, who has yet to see a physical challenge he isn't ready to tackle, saw that, he simply had to have a go!

It takes concentration, but he was able to get pretty nearly as big a bounce as longer-legged Nora. No matter that she has the advantage in torque due to longer limbs, Dries has, I am almost certain, the advantage in weight...

Vroom!

Windsor Park, July

Grrrr!

Daisy has calmed down a lot in the past year, to the point where the children can play with her without (too much!) danger of inadvertent nips and scratches. Most of the children still give her a reasonably wide berth, though they all love to watch me play with her. However, recently Ella has begun to initiate play with Daisy, her favourite being this. You and I, we might call this game "tug-of-war". Ella calls it "GRR!" As in "May I play GRR! with Daisy??"

It's GRR!, of course, because, when you play the game, you say "Grr! Grr! Grrrrr!" You the human that is. Daisy may or may not.

Water Table

To most of the population, the "water table" is a geologic feature. In a few years, these guys will learn that definition, too, but right now a water table is, well, a table. With water in it. What better way to while away a very hot morning?

Ella mans the hose.

The tower was endlessly fascinating. Pour the water in the top...

and watch it rush out the bottom!

Over and over and over again! Dries was particularly rivetted by this.

Addie was more taken by how you could dismantle the water-chute tower.

Hours of fun here, focussed, surprisingly quiet, and almost completely squabble-free activity. Hours.

Amazing. Adorable. Cooooooool.