A Little Catch-Up

I have been really slacking on the posts lately.  Things have been super busy (yay) and Cooper got super sick (boo).  So here is a catch-up posts to get us all up-to-date.

HALLOWEEN 2011

Made from cereal boxes and paper

Caramel apples and yes those sticks are awfully long. We
had no popsicle sticks so we used chopsticks instead! Hee!

White chocolate bark with Halloween sprinkles

Homemade goldfish crackers in spooky shapes

Scarecrow Crunch

Pretzels dipped in white chocolate with Halloween sprinkles

Halloween Goodies

Tucker

Cooper

MUSIC TEACHER RUTH AND COOP

The boys just love their music teacher, Ruth. She is so good to both boys.  Tucker is literally in love with her. EVERY night before bed he says, "Ruth" in a voice filled with longing. When he plays, he gets a bag and his car and says, "Bye." I ask him where he is going and he says, "Ruth."  When we see a bus he says, "See. Ruth. Bus. Wheels. Round and round."  

Cooper sharing his bird book with Ruth. 

Coop playing Ruth's piano accordion

ANOTHER TRIP TO THE BOTANIC GARDENS

We went back to the gardens, again. This time we went with our friends Carrie (mom) and Eleni.  The kids discovered that the wall that separates the gardens from the harbour has little holes at various intervals (for drainage) and that the waves splash through those holes and make great puddles to play in.  Terrible grammar, forgive me... :)

Tuck and Eleni

Splash! Splash!

JUST TOO CUTE

The boys love to pretend they are dogs. Coop constructed this "bunk bed" for them to play in when they are dogs.  Love it!

A Little Catch-Up

I have been really slacking on the posts lately.  Things have been super busy (yay) and Cooper got super sick (boo).  So here is a catch-up posts to get us all up-to-date.

HALLOWEEN 2011

Made from cereal boxes and paper

Caramel apples and yes those sticks are awfully long. We
had no popsicle sticks so we used chopsticks instead! Hee!

White chocolate bark with Halloween sprinkles

Homemade goldfish crackers in spooky shapes

Scarecrow Crunch

Pretzels dipped in white chocolate with Halloween sprinkles

Halloween Goodies

Tucker

Cooper

MUSIC TEACHER RUTH AND COOP

The boys just love their music teacher, Ruth. She is so good to both boys.  Tucker is literally in love with her. EVERY night before bed he says, "Ruth" in a voice filled with longing. When he plays, he gets a bag and his car and says, "Bye." I ask him where he is going and he says, "Ruth."  When we see a bus he says, "See. Ruth. Bus. Wheels. Round and round."  

Cooper sharing his bird book with Ruth. 

Coop playing Ruth's piano accordion

ANOTHER TRIP TO THE BOTANIC GARDENS

We went back to the gardens, again. This time we went with our friends Carrie (mom) and Eleni.  The kids discovered that the wall that separates the gardens from the harbour has little holes at various intervals (for drainage) and that the waves splash through those holes and make great puddles to play in.  Terrible grammar, forgive me... :)

Tuck and Eleni

Splash! Splash!

JUST TOO CUTE

The boys love to pretend they are dogs. Coop constructed this "bunk bed" for them to play in when they are dogs.  Love it!

The Cats Part II

Today is Wednesday and Wednesday means music class in Paddington and music class means cats.  If you remember in an older post, we see a group of cats each week as we walk to class. Well, today we got a little more than we bargained for!  As we approached the cats, we noticed a woman sitting there petting them.  She stood up and began to tell us about the cats and the woman who owns them.

It turns out the woman has been evicted from her home and had to leave her cats behind.  She had lived in that house her entire life except for 5 years somewhere in there right after she married. It is not surprising that the owner of the house wanted her out. It is prime real estate and he could get top dollar for the house. So sad though for the woman. The neighbours all know the cats and sometimes they even go into others' homes and spend the night or have a nap!  The neighbours have decided to take care of the cats until either she returns to get them or until, well, whatever comes next.  We learned a little about each of the cats as well.

Below is Buster. Buster just had a tumour removed from his face and is now missing a good chunk of his nose!  There is a person in charge of cats for the city- he is a broker who cares for the cats for free on his own time.  He came by, picked up Buster, took him in for his surgery and then brought him back. He picks him up periodically for follow-up appointments.  Buster is a big cat!  He is also very beautiful and today was basking in the sunshine.

In this photo is Sasha. She loves Cooper and Cooper loves her. They sit together like this the whole time we visit. She apparently is pretty shy so the fact that she has taken to Coop is pretty special.

This cat is Buster's mom. I cannot remember her name. The funny thing is she is about half the size of Buster!

It was really nice to talk with someone who knows the cats and their story.  Two more weeks of music and that means two more visits with Buster, Sasha and Buster's mom.

The Cats Part II

Today is Wednesday and Wednesday means music class in Paddington and music class means cats.  If you remember in an older post, we see a group of cats each week as we walk to class. Well, today we got a little more than we bargained for!  As we approached the cats, we noticed a woman sitting there petting them.  She stood up and began to tell us about the cats and the woman who owns them.

It turns out the woman has been evicted from her home and had to leave her cats behind.  She had lived in that house her entire life except for 5 years somewhere in there right after she married. It is not surprising that the owner of the house wanted her out. It is prime real estate and he could get top dollar for the house. So sad though for the woman. The neighbours all know the cats and sometimes they even go into others' homes and spend the night or have a nap!  The neighbours have decided to take care of the cats until either she returns to get them or until, well, whatever comes next.  We learned a little about each of the cats as well.

Below is Buster. Buster just had a tumour removed from his face and is now missing a good chunk of his nose!  There is a person in charge of cats for the city- he is a broker who cares for the cats for free on his own time.  He came by, picked up Buster, took him in for his surgery and then brought him back. He picks him up periodically for follow-up appointments.  Buster is a big cat!  He is also very beautiful and today was basking in the sunshine.

In this photo is Sasha. She loves Cooper and Cooper loves her. They sit together like this the whole time we visit. She apparently is pretty shy so the fact that she has taken to Coop is pretty special.

This cat is Buster's mom. I cannot remember her name. The funny thing is she is about half the size of Buster!

It was really nice to talk with someone who knows the cats and their story.  Two more weeks of music and that means two more visits with Buster, Sasha and Buster's mom.

A Perfect Moment in Time

There is a woman who lives near the community centre where we take our music class. She has something like 17 cats. As we walk to class, we pass by her home and we see her cats returning from their night out.  There are only a few cats at first-- one under a car and another sitting atop the fence. As we continue to walk, we see more cats moving towards the woman's house. The cats wait patiently in anticipation of the meal the woman will soon set out for them.  As we leave class, the woman is strategically placing plates of food on the footpath, on the fencepost, by the curb and even underneath a car.  We stop briefly to "talk" to the cats. The boys "meow" at them and try to pet them.  Last week, we met the cats' owner. This week as we were walking to class, she greeted us with a smile and a "Good morning, little ones!"  How nice to be recognised!

Today, as we walked away from the cats (who were now finished eating and lounging in the sunshine), I thought to myself- this is a perfect moment (dare I say purr-fect).  A perfect moment in time with my children by my side, having an experience that we will have again, together, next week. A perfect moment when the world has stopped and it is just us, in the sunshine watching the cats and simply being together.  A perfect moment that will become a shared memory that we can bring out and re-live whenever we like. This moment is why I chose to be be a mom.

This moment was perfect.

A Perfect Moment in Time

There is a woman who lives near the community centre where we take our music class. She has something like 17 cats. As we walk to class, we pass by her home and we see her cats returning from their night out.  There are only a few cats at first-- one under a car and another sitting atop the fence. As we continue to walk, we see more cats moving towards the woman's house. The cats wait patiently in anticipation of the meal the woman will soon set out for them.  As we leave class, the woman is strategically placing plates of food on the footpath, on the fencepost, by the curb and even underneath a car.  We stop briefly to "talk" to the cats. The boys "meow" at them and try to pet them.  Last week, we met the cats' owner. This week as we were walking to class, she greeted us with a smile and a "Good morning, little ones!"  How nice to be recognised!

Today, as we walked away from the cats (who were now finished eating and lounging in the sunshine), I thought to myself- this is a perfect moment (dare I say purr-fect).  A perfect moment in time with my children by my side, having an experience that we will have again, together, next week. A perfect moment when the world has stopped and it is just us, in the sunshine watching the cats and simply being together.  A perfect moment that will become a shared memory that we can bring out and re-live whenever we like. This moment is why I chose to be be a mom.

This moment was perfect.

Kids at Music

We had music class again this morning and it was a huge hit again. Cooper loves the drums and acting silly. Tucker just has to dance.  He basically spends the whole class smiling.  There is only one other child in the class that is Coop's age.  It is so nice to have him in the class with us to see that the things that Coop does and how he acts is how other 4 year old boys act as well.  

After class we walked for a while instead of getting right on the bus. We walked through the Paddington area where we found some neat shops and a great grocery store where we picked up some sandwiches for lunch and some chocolate covered bananas- they were really banana-flavoured chewy candies. I have to say they were quite tasty and the boys liked them too.  The stray cats were out as well.  Coop petted one of them and was thrilled. He told me that cats meow to tell you how much they love you. 

We stopped for a while at the park before going home. Coop played in the dirt for a bit and Tucker chased the birds.  Coop had to pee while we were there so he went in the bushes (ah, one of the many joys of having a boy) and Tucker watched in amazement.  I snapped a picture of it because it made me smile. :) See below...

Music Class Pictures

Kids at Music

We had music class again this morning and it was a huge hit again. Cooper loves the drums and acting silly. Tucker just has to dance.  He basically spends the whole class smiling.  There is only one other child in the class that is Coop's age.  It is so nice to have him in the class with us to see that the things that Coop does and how he acts is how other 4 year old boys act as well.  

After class we walked for a while instead of getting right on the bus. We walked through the Paddington area where we found some neat shops and a great grocery store where we picked up some sandwiches for lunch and some chocolate covered bananas- they were really banana-flavoured chewy candies. I have to say they were quite tasty and the boys liked them too.  The stray cats were out as well.  Coop petted one of them and was thrilled. He told me that cats meow to tell you how much they love you. 

We stopped for a while at the park before going home. Coop played in the dirt for a bit and Tucker chased the birds.  Coop had to pee while we were there so he went in the bushes (ah, one of the many joys of having a boy) and Tucker watched in amazement.  I snapped a picture of it because it made me smile. :) See below...

Music Class Pictures