from my Ipod Touch

So today we went to Earls and used the gift card that Rob and Rita gave us to Christmas. I think that they must have put something on her drink because she was wired after.

We are also getting a lot of snow. Perhaps this is why my head has hurt all day.

Face Painting.


I had promised Kendra that we would do facepainting on Friday with real paints as that is all we had. But Friday rolled around and Kendra was tired and so was I. On Saturday morning when I got up she was playing with what I thought were pastels that she had got from her daycare. Then I looked more closely and noticed they were face paints! First she painted mine and then her own and then Daddy's. She had a lot of fun. She didn't want to wash it off when Daddy took her out so she went out looking like this! This was a perfect gift for her.

Our tree is up and decorated. Kendra stayed up late to help out. She was so excited. She danced and sang Christmas songs all evening long. It seems her favorites are Deck the halls and Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

Our Tree is up!

We went out to get our tree tonight. It's a real tree, but it was so expensive. Why do we pay 80 dollars for a tree? I don't like fake ones, but this is getting ridiculous. Kendra helped pick it out. Actually she just ran around the lot shaking the snow off the trees... LOL.

She is really loving snow. When I arrived at daycare, she and her friends were sticking snow on a tree trunk. When we got home, she didn't want to go in so we played in the front yard and made more ice-cream castles in the snow for about half an hour.

So much fun.

Medicine Hat is a Slippery Mess.

Woke up today hoping for a snow day, but no such luck. Kendra had so much fun yesterday that it would have been nice to play all day today. It just didn't happen. The roads were a mess this morning. I realized when it was hard to get out of the driveway. Well, the driveway was clear, it was the little section between the road and the driveway that was bad. Turning onto 20th would have been OK if I didn't have a 4 year old wanting her granola bar opened. Before I turned onto Parkview, there was a car attempting the turn before me. It missed the turn and went down the turn left lane, got to the light and then turned right. Traffic was going 8km down the hill. I stayed in the slow lane across the bridge because I didn't want to have to change lanes later. I was glad when Kendra and I got to school about 20 minutes later than usual.

Kendra's class didn't go outside today because other kids didn't bring snow pants and proper clothing for the weather. They said they would try tomorrow when it was warmer.

We went outside after dinner again. John took Kendra on the saucer around the block and then Kendra and I built a snow castle in the front. Kendra decided that she likes snow castles better than sand castles because they get built fast and they are just so much fun.

That's it for today!

Winter has arrived.



It started snowing this afternoon. Kendra and I went out back and played and played. The snow was really wet so we got soaked. After dinner, John wanted to shovel the driveway and walks so Kendra and I came too. It ended up with me shoveling and Kendra and John playing. We had a blast.


Winter is arriving.

I say 'arriving' because I don't believe it is quite here, but there was a dusting of snow on the ground today. Kendra was excited about using her new boots. They even light up when she steps. She got her scarf, hat, gloves and boots on this morning without having to be nagged. She showed everyone her boots when she arrived. She was so proud of them. She wanted to wear her snow pants but finally agreed to just take them to school in case she went outside.

She's smart

When I went to go pick up Kendra, one of her teachers told me that Kendra has been playing with Cameron a bit more which makes sense because he's intelligent too. Cool. My daughter picks smart men.

Also, she is adding more and more. She can do:
1+3=
3+4=
4+5=
9+3=
4+4+2=

I'm so proud of her. She finds minus more difficult, but can do it if I use the words 'take away'. What a braniac. I'm so proud of her.
I have the flu right now, but everyone else seems to be doing fine. I dragged myself out this weekend to do a bit of Christmas shopping. I asked Kendra what she wanted and she told me that Santa knows... ugh. Then I said, we have to let Grandma know what she wants and she said that she already told Santa and that's enough. He knows. After a bit of coaxing and getting my cell phone out to take some photos, she started picking stuff out. She loves 'In the night garden' but honestly, I hate that show. It's for babies.

Anyway, she really got into her camera this weekend. She found the games on it and couldn't put it down so we thought we might get her a leapster 2. I'm still looking at them.

So far we have Hungry Hippos, Monopoly town, a princess craft kit thing, a mariposa princess and some chocolates.

Anyway, I'm so tired. I'm had a nap earlier and I'm going to bed really early. I can hardly keep my eyes open.
So I guess the 'getting married' thing is going around as yesterday many of the girls at her school were talking about who they were going to marry... LOL.

She can now add numbers up to about 12. I'm so proud.

She has decided!

On the way to school, out of the blue, she says, 'Mommy... I decided.'

"Decided what?" I answer.

"I decided that I'm going to marry Josh R.," she tells me.

"Oh."

"He doesn't want to marry him, but I'm going to marry him," she goes on.

After school, I pushed a bit further, "So, you like Josh R.?"

"Yes, he is a funny boy and sometimes he tricks me," she tells me with the biggest gring.

When Dad got home, I told him.

"Oh, who's Josh?" he asked with a look that said This kid better stay away from my daughter. Kendra got a bit nervous at that look and stayed quiet.

So who knows! Maybe she will one day marry Josh R. I don't know who he is or what he even looks like, but as long as he's nice... fine.

The Weekend

So this weekend, I picked Kendra up from school and then we went to see Deb at Penningtons. I thought I'd get a bit of shopping AND let Kendra see her favorite person at the same time. Well, I didn't buy anything and I think Kendra got a big fed up. Deb was too busy buying stuff. Kendra finally demanded to go NOW. So, ya, we left. I didn't feel well anyway.

On Saturday, we went to Costco and I spent 178 dollars. I mostly went there to get movie tickets for Saturday night, but then socks were on sale. And then I saw Biscotti, and raspberries... and well, you get the picture. Kendra had fun I think. We sat in the cafe and had hot dogs together. Kendra was running around looking for samples.... LOL.

Saturday night we went to the movie 'Bolt.' at the mall. They said it was in Digital 3D, but I don't really get what that is. We didn't have glasses. Kendra liked most of it, but got really scared during the fire scene. She sat on my lap for some of the movie. It was opening weekend so it was quite crowded. Kendra was starting to melt down as we left the theatre. It was on quite late (7pm show) and it was past her bedtime by the time we got home.

On Sunday we went back to Costco. Kendra enjoyed it. We had Japanese food (tempura) for dinner. Kendra got so excited and really tried to use her chopsticks. She's getting better. I think she figured out that she should use 2 of them at the same time.

Tonight she is wired. I have no idea why. Oh well.

TGIF

John has worked the late shift all week so he's been taking Kendra in while I've been picking her up. Today we went shopping with Deb. Kendra gets so excited when I mention her name. But after an hour of being ignored by Deb (and with good reason... she was trying stuff on), Kendra demanded to go home! She had a fit when I said we wouldn't go to McDonald's but later apologized for that. What a sweetie.

Kendra's party was so much fun. We had an air bouncer set up in the yard which was perfect. We also had lunch (hot dogs, chips, veggies etc) and games such as pin the tail on the donkey, a pinata, and musical chairs. I think it will be the best party she'll ever have. I don't think we can ever top this one. 9 of her friends came to enjoy it. I think this picture has them all in there. You can see Kendra at the door.
Kendra turned 4 on September 9. She got a TAG reading system which she loves as well as some puzzle books and art supplies. We had a princess cake for her. She had a great day!

Back to school...

Today was the first day of school for kids around here... so the morning was a bit hectic as we had to hustle it, get up earlier etc.

Kendra had to go to 'school', but she was trying her best to get ready. She actually beat me to the shoes and got them on herself.

Finally we got in the car and we talked as usual. She pointed out all the princesses on her shoe and asked me their names. Then said, "Mommy, You don't happen to bring another shoe like this one?" Just like that. My baby's language skills are improving!

So I reply, "What do you mean... another shoe?" I turn around and look at her shoes. They don't match... ACK! We are almost to her school and I don't have the time to go back. She gets out of the van and I notice, they are both the left foot. So my baby, with the great language skills went to school with two left feet today.

I'm exhausted from work and going to bed. I'll be sure to make sure her shoes match tomorrow.

End of Summer

So it's the end of summer. We had a great one. We went on holidays at the beginning of August and had great fun.

2 nights in Princeton:
Got there late but had a great day with 'Grandma and Grandpa M'. Doug came in for the evening and showed us his new truck. We left there early on the Monday. We booked the ferry so we were sure to get on it. Stopped in Tsawassen first. The Ferry was very pretty. Kendra was tired so I don't think she enjoyed it too much.

7 nights at Gordon Bay
We had a wonderful campsite with lots of kids around. Kendra made a few friends down at the playground and the beach. We met 'Grandma and Grandpa S' and Chris and Kayla at Parkville. The tide was out which was fantastic because that beach is huge. We gathered shells, went swimming and just played around on the sand. Days at the lake were fantastic. We only had 2 rainy days. We spent one of them going to port refrew and to botanical beach. We had a great time. Lots of walking though, but the tidal pools were awesome. I was worried that the tide would come in so we didn't spend too much time on the actual beach.

2 nights in Vancouver
The first night we went to Granville Island by Sea Taxi. I love that place. John had 2 dinners! Crazy guy. The next day we went to the Science Museum and the Vancouver Aquarium in Stanley Park. There was the baby beluga there who was born in June. Lovely. One thing I couldn't get over was the admission costs to these places. We were going to go to Caplilano bridge, but it was going to cost 30 dollars each!

3 nights at Alice Lake Provincial Park.
Great beach! I loved that place, but there was a high threat of bears. Luckily we had taught Kendra what to do in case she saw one. Well, on the morning that we were leaving, one of them wandered into our campsite. I put out my back picking up Kendra who was still sleeping. She asked me why I was picking her up so I told there that there was a bear. She said, "It's ok Mom... just back away slowly." I ran with her to the car, got in and locked the doors.

Back to the Hat.
We had budgeted 2 days to get back, but I drove all the way in order to save money. My back hurt and I didn't want to sleep in a hotel room. It was bad for another week or so after that.... darn bear.

Kiddies Parade and Echodale

The parade started at 10 so we got there about 9:30. It was held in the downtown district. The downtown is really dying. I don't know what they can do to revitalize it. Perhaps some outdoor cafes, trendy shops and on street vendors.

The parade wasn't bad. We found a spot in the shade and waited for what seemed like forever. Kendra was getting a bit restless. Finally it showed up and we watched it for the next 30 minutes. There were clowns, a band, floats... all in all it was fun.

Back at home, we got ready to go to the beach at Echodale. I decided to bring a picnic lunch: chicken, apples, banana bread and pretzels. We got out there shortly after 12 o'clock and it wasn't very crowded.

We set up near the water so we could have easy access to the lake. Kendra didn't want to go in the water too much at first. She spotted a cute little girl and decided that this was the girl she was going to play with. She spent the next hour trying to play with her. The girl seemed quite a bit older than her, but just a little bigger than her. I don't think Kendra gets that she's so tall and kids her own age a quite a bit smaller than she is.

That girl finally left so we got in the water. Well... what a turn around. Kendra loved it and wanted to spend most of the time in the deep. I think she realized that the water cooled her off. We spent the next few hours in the water with a short break for the potty and ice-cream. When we got back from ice-cream, we realized that someone had taken our water noodles. Now, if they had asked, I would have lent them to them, but they didn't ask. I saw the noodles out in the water with some parents playing with their kids. I couldn't believe it! When the kids finally brought them back on shore, I sent Kendra to grab them back. It was quite funny because she was upset that someone had just taken them so was more than happy to run like hell to get them... LOL.

On the way back she fell asleep even before we got to Holsom Road. I went through the McD's drive thru and we got home about 5:40.

After dinner, Kendra did a beautiful painting with lots of colours. She had been using just black, so I'm pleased with the addition of colour. She then made a card for Teresa and demanded that we deliver it tonight... so... I called to see if it was OK and off we went. We spent a while there gabbing and playing.

Back at home, we had a quick bath and a hair wash and I tried to get Kendra to sleep. Thank God John came home so he could work on her. She's just over tired. It was a very long day.

She's growing!

I'm not sure how tall she is, but she is definitely tall for her age. She is 43 pounds and has been complaining that she is 'so tired'. I figure she's growing again. She's grown over an inch in the past 1.5 months.

Let's see. What is she into these days. She likes to pick out her own clothes which can be a bit of a pain in the morning. She loves cake and wants birthday parties for her stuffies each day. She still loves to pretend and play dress up.

Her speech is amazing. She can talk so well now!

On the weekend she helped water our garden and pull some weeds. We are growing peas, potatoes, and two types of onions right now. I think we'll do some more planting this weekend as it is the May long weekend.

Cough and a copy cat.

Kendra has had a bit of a cough with it becoming noticeably worse today. I'm not sure if it is allergies. The worse time is usually in late afternoon or just before bed. She had a bit of a fever totday, but we gave her Tylenol Cold and took her to superstore and then to Costco. Before bed, she played with Sydney. She seemed a lot better and hadn't had meds for a long time. She gets so excited when playing with Sydney. I had bought her some Croc-like dora shoes and she had to wear them over to Sydney's house because Sydney was wearing them. Then once there, she had to take her socks off because Sydney had them off.

Kendra helped us plant 2 shrubs, an apple tree, peas, potatoes, yellow onions and red onions. She is really starting to help. I love it. AND she excused herself to go inside to go potty by herself!

Cat's birthday



Kendra decided it was Cat's birthday and wanted a party so we went out and got a cake, sang happy birthday while Kendra helped Cat blow out the candles. She had lots of fun.

Swimming, snowmen and a movie

John had to work today so I had the entire day with Kendra! We started off by going to the Leisure centre for a swim. Kendra is getting the hang of swimming more. After I coaxed her into the bigger pool, she took off on a floating mat -- kicking her feet and making it go. She had so much fun there. After a couple of hours in the pool we got out and had hot dogs by the rink. It was nice that it was just the two of us.

On the way home, we stopped by Co-op and picked up some ice-cream, cones and watermelon. Strange food for a snowy day. But Kendra had two ice-cream cones today. We stayed in for a bit and watched Mermadia (Barbie) on the DVD. I happened to doze off a bit while she watched while vegging out on top of me.

Then it was out to the yard where we built 2 snowmen. Even the neighbours were getting excited about them. The snow was so wet that my gloves were instantly soaked. The snowmen turned out great. They were her first snowmen as usually the snow here is too dry to make snowmen out of AND it's too cold. But today was warm and the snow was damp.

Soon after that, John got home from work and we headed out. We had dinner at the mall and then watched 'Horton Hears a Who' at the Galaxy. This was the first time Kendra has seen a movie in a theatre. We ate more junk. Kendra munched out on popcorn and cotton candy! A couple of parts were a bit scary for her, but she seemed to have fun.

Then we went to Superstore and looked around. By the time we got home at about 9:30, Kendra was beat. I hope she sleeps in tomorrow. It was a long day, but a fun day... with a few 'firsts'!

McDonalds

I took Kendra to McDonald's today because John was working and I had yearbook. She was so excited when I told her, she told me, "I have to tell Shandra about that!" And then she ran back to the green room and told her. We played there for a while. She went through the lower tunnel a couple of times, but still won't go up to the slide. Aemiley (sp?) was there too which got Kendra excited. We stopped by Wal-mart and picked up a toupee and beenu video (glad it's not dora) and a Barbie Mermaid video. She had a bit of trouble sleeping tonight, but a rub on the back works wonders with her -- 3 minutes and she was out!

Mornings with Kendra

In the morning, I have to get Kendra up, not John. If John tries to get her up she screams, won't drink her morning milk, won't eat breakfast, won't get dressed... nothing.

So today, I went to work before she woke up. John had the day off so stayed home with her. So no mommy in the morning meant a crying Kendra. John even put the milk on the table and she knocked it right off.... luckily it was a sippy cup.

She is a Mommy's girl through and through. I got lots of hugs and kisses when I came home.

Strawberry and Pickle Sandwiches.

Kendra has never been one for sandwiches. I quickly taught her how to tear them apart and eat the parts she liked, otherwise she would refuse to eat anything. Well, over the past few days she has been making her own sandwiches: pretzel sandwich with crackers and strawberry and pickle sandwiches on crackers. I tried to give her a 'normal' sandwich today and it is the closest she's gotten to normal.... Ham and Pickles. Strange, but she's eating it. I can hardly wait till we can slip some lettuce in there.

Her first word!

Kendra read her first word today. She's been really excited about reading recently and learning her letters. She's been finding letters everywhere. For example, with her hand she can make a C, L, O, K, V etc. I told her this morning how to spell CAT. I didn't write it down or anything; she practiced it by using a stick and drawing the letter shapes in the carpet. Then this afternoon, we were out at Wal-mart where I thought I would buy another leepfrog dvd. Once in the car, she had to hold it till we got home. Suddenly she screamed out, 'Mommy! Mommy! Mommy! The CAT word!!!! There is the CAT word on the DVD box! C-A-T... that's the CAT word!" So I guess she read it. Yeah. I'm so proud of her.