Number 10

As promised, here are some more photos of our t-ball superstar.

During practice...catch the ball and touch the base:

During the game he caught the ball and ran and touched the runner before he got to first...way to go Owen:

Taking a little break from the action of the game to dig in the dirt.  He likes to make piles:Getting ready to bat:
Getting a hit and running the bases:



Shaking hands at the end of the game:

Cheese

Bella is all about the cheese face right now.
You know the one.  Eyes squinty or closed.  Face scrunched.  Big toothy smile.  "CHEEEEESE" being yelled at the top of her lungs.
It is the face that kids of a certain age put on as soon as they see a camera.  It is a face you never see unless there is a camera in sight.
I love this face, cheese and all!

Photos & Picasa

Can you believe how grown up Isabelle is? She is 2 1/2 years old; although don't tell her that...she thinks she is a 5 year old just like her brother. Here is a photo of her from the park last week:
Now look at this picture before I edited it:

Do you know about Picasa? Definitely old news to you who are a little more seasoned with photography. But something I definitely felt like mentioning today because it just may change your life. Okay, that's a strong statement. But if you don't know what the heck I'm talking about, read on.

I am not ... I repeat NOT ... a good resource for technical questions. Seriously. Don't ask. I just need to be sure you know that. But a friend at work recently convinced me to install Picasa and I have never loved software like I love this little gem.

It took me less than a minute to take this photo from a mundane OK photo to WOW. It was a little dark, so I adjusted the lighting (fill light), I used Warmify (yup, that is what they call it) to adjust the skintone and Sharpen to make it just perfect.

If you have not tried Picasa yet, click here, it is free to download and definately worth it!

Overheard

We are surrounded by chaos right now as the winter activities wind down and the summer activities ramp up - we have a lot of cross over and it has made for some busy, busy weeks!
Here is a wee peek into our week right now:
Mon: 6:30-7:00pm Owen swimming (Bella comes with me to watch)
Tues: 6:15-7:15pm Owen T-Ball (Bella comes with us to watch and play at park)
Wed: 5:30-6:00pm Owen skating lessons (Bella comes to watch - see a trend here?)
Thurs: free
Fri: 7:00-8:00om Family Swim time at the local community center
Sat: 10:30-12:00 Owen Gymnastics (Bella stays at home with Daddy)
Sun: free
Last week Isabelle and I had the following conversation while watching Owen skate.
Bella: I only watching Owen skating
Me: Yes, we are watching Owen skate
Bella: I only watching Owen baseball
Me: Owen played T-Ball last night, tonight is skating
Bella: No Mama! I only watching Owen skating, I only watching Owen baseball, I only watching Owen swimming. I no having turns. Is not fair!
Oh the guilt! It is tough on the 2nd child, at least it is in our home. We have learned through parenting Owen, that signing kids up for activities before they are ready is no fun for anyone. That age was about 4 for Owen...I am starting to think it will be earlier for Bella. We have a plan for September where she will be in gymnastics at the same time as him and we are looking for another activity for her. I find myself struggling with the balance - for so long she was a baby and then a toddler, tagged along wherever we took her, good natured, always happy...now she is becoming her own person and I have to remember to treat her as such. Bella, I love the person you are and I will do my very best as your mama to remember that you are not a baby and to give you the same opportunities as your brother. I am excited to see you skate and swim and play tball...for right now though you and I will have to tough it out on the sidelines of your brother's games; playing hide and seek at the hockey rink, running to and from the playground beside the ball park and lots of hand games like this little piggie at the pool...at least until September.

Documenting the Kids

Owen @ 5 1/2 years

• totally into Ben 10, the TV show -likes to "play" Ben 10 "Mom - you be Gwen and I will be Ben"
• when 'calling' it, must say the following "I'm Ben 10 - called it - lock it in my pocket"
• working on the behaviour required to earn DS play time
• learned to ride a 2-wheeler without any adult help and has not looked back once
• learned how to fix the chain on his 2-wheeler when it falls off from going too fast
• gaining a bit of freedom in the neighbourhood, can cross the street on his own and go to Jackson's without adult supervision (mama still watches from the window though)
• is super helpful and sweet with Isabelle - most of the time :)
• has decided that toast is his favourite food and has eaten 8 pieces for breakfast two days in a row in the last week
• favourite saying "Prove It". Here is a conversation we had on the way home from TBall last night:

Owen: Can we get a donut from Tim Hortons please?

Me: You played great tonight buddy! Sure, you can have a donut or you can have the Kit Kat you bought at the snack bar. But only 1 - you have to choose.

Owen: Donut please!

Me: OK. You will have to eat it in the car on the way home. Bella has a sore belly and I am not going to get her one. Please do not tell her that we went to Timmys.

Owen: Why not?

Me: Because it will hurt her feelings.

Owen: Prove It!

Isabelle @ 2 1/2 years

• remembering to use the toilet most of the time - only wears pull-ups to bed now
• likes to wear a "princess dress" every day
• says "I not a buddy! I a girl" when I say "Hi my little buddy"
• is doing the same puzzles that Owen did at this age: 20-40 pieces. Now we have 2 puzzle masters in the house
• can recognize most of the letters in the alphabet and has an association for each one: O is for Owen, I is for Isabelle, M is for Mama, D is for Dada, G is for Grandma, P is for Papa, N is for Nora and Nana, U is for ung-brella, V is for guitar (and then mimics a person playing a violin while singing plinky-plinky-plink)
• enjoys playing games with Owen; enjoys doing anything with Owen - she idolizes her older brother
• loves to tell knock knock jokes that she hears Owen telling. Most recent favourite"

Bella: Knock Knock

Me: Who's there?

Bella: Boo

Me: Boo who?

Bella: (laughing) I don't peek owl.

(The original joke was made up by Owen and is quite clever: Knock Knock Who's There? WhoWho Who? Sorry, I don't speak owl. He does another joke about a ghost which is where the Boo comes in - Bella has just combined them into her own joke - gotta love that!)

T-Ball

Owen played T-Ball last night and played 1 inning as the back catcher. This had to be the game where I did not bring my camera - DOH! But I did have my handy-dandy camera phone. The photos are not great quality and are pretty tiny...but I wanted to share them here. I will post more t-ball action shots tomorrow...from the good camera.

Fireworks

Monday, May 18, 2009 - Victoria Day. The first day of the year we do fireworks. It was pretty chilly outside and we typically save the big fireworks for Canada Day in July. We got together with our friends on the street and set the kids up with some sparklers.

Isabelle:
Sydney:
Owen:
Jackson:
The girls were so cute standing across from one another, twirling and waving their sparklers around.

And at the end of the day, there were two angels fast asleep in our house.  One in her crib:

The other in a makeshift bed on the floor so he could fall asleep watching the fireworks out his bedroom window:

The view from in here

Reading a recent post on Simple Kids I was reminded of the fun of building forts on rainy days. Last weekend we had a super-duper rainy day on Saturday, the perfect kind of day for building such a fort.   
So we pulled out our trusty box of Crazy Forts, all the blankets the kids could find and set about building the bestest fort ever in Owen's words and a pretty princess castle in Isabelle's.  Gotta love that one fort satisfied both of their needs all at once, that rarely happens and even more rarely on a house-bound rainy day.  I love the forts of my youth, made with all the chairs and blankets in the house, and we often make those.  But sometimes a special fort is called for.  The wonderful system of sticks and balls work together to make a sturdy fort that lasts longer than the traditional chair/blanket system.  

Here are a few photos of the fort during construction:

The kids played in this fort for most of the day.  Had picnics inside, read books and pretended to sleep.

Togetherness

I love watching the "togetherness" of the kids...it is not there every moment, every hour or even every day...but when I catch a glimpse it warms my heart like nothing else.
Last week I left work a little early and took the kids to a new park. They insisted on wearing arm bands in the car on the way over, the new park was close to the public pool and for them that was enough of an excuse to put on the water wings.

As they ran down the path towards the park, Isabelle grabbed Owen's hand and said "Owie brover, I so eh-cited" He held her hand just as tightly and told her "Me too Isabelle, we are going to have F-U-N"
Even going down the double slide they held hands.
They did have moments on their own...climbing

and sliding

But when all the swinging and climbing and jumping and sliding was done...they ran together back to the car.  These are the moments I want to remember and cherish!