Christmas Morning

Oops. Haven't put any pictures up. That's part of my holidays; taking an internet break. Sorry about that. Here's a few of Christmas morning; we had such a blast. Gemma was very cute and into things this year; digging in her stocking, picking the pieces of paper and tape off of presents, trying everything out. Lots of wonderful gifts for her. The bike is a huge hit, obviously. But the little things she also loves, too; princess board books, cars, playdough...She loves playdough; she got some for her birthday and we play with it almost everyday so I got her a few more cans to supplement her current colour selection (and replace the colours she's mashed together).

Skirt in the dirt

Gemma likes dirt. She spends lots of time lately when we are at the poking around and sifting it through her fingers and drawing in it with sticks, etc. I don't mind this; kids are supposed to get to get dirty and seem to stand up to frequent washings quite well. Well, this grandma at the park was not having it. She was with her two grandkids and she didn't want them in the dirt with Gemma. She didn't think Gemma should be in there, either, and kept trying to lead her out. At first Gemma was just annoyed; she came up and told me "No take away me!!" But then the lady actually LIFTED her out of the dirt and Gemma lost it, totally bawling her eyes out. All she wanted to do was play! So I got her cars out and gave them to her and she wheeled them around in the dirt and the grandma left her alone after that. Then when she was loading her kids up in the stroller I grabbed the wetwipes I keep with me and washed her kids hands, before the toxic biohazardous poisons could leach into their skin and cause irreversible damage and to show her I wasn't a complete idiot as a mother and she thanked me profusely and left.

Ali came with us, and I tried to assure her that our trips to the park aren't usually so dramatic. Hopefully she will come again!

Gemma fix it!

When things get broken around here we usually rely on Daddy to fix it. And so that's what Gemma says when we find something broken; "Daddy fix it!" When we are out on the town and we see a construction site or a pile of lumber or a broken fence she says confidently "Man come fix it". Yesterday was cute because I was trying to put my new bike bell on but not having much luck and so Gemma took it. "Gemma fx it." she said. Growing up!

Also last night, I was out late Christmas carolling and Chris was one handed parenting. When I got home they were in bed but not sleeping yet. I went in a laid down with her and she said, "I rubbing my eyes. I so tired!!!"

Narnival

It was the last day of school on Friday, and totally filled with fun and excitement so I brought Gemma to school. The highlight for the kids was the annual carnival, this year called Narnival with a Narnia theme. Anyway, here are some pics of Gemma winning prizes, fishing, giraffe bowling, and swinging on the monkey bars.

Concert Excitement!

Sometimes Gemma wakes up before I go to school, so I go in and cuddle with her for a few minutes and then she proclaims "Wake Up" time and then I settle her on the couch with a movie and some cheerios. Well this morning, I was laying in her bed with her, and we were pretending sleeping with our eyes closed, and the she opened her eyes and looked at me: "Today Mommy Concert!"

How much do I love this girl?

Happy Birthday!

The season of Gemma's birthday is over. And so fun. We had her kiddie party yesterday after school and it turned out so well. There are great pictures on facebook and flicker, so take some time to go see. The kids came at 4, and Chris said all day Gemma was like, 'no friends', but as soon as she saw the first group of people walk up to our building she was so excited. Her and her friends played so sweetly in her room while we waited for the guests to arrive, and then it was some Cedarmont Kids Praise and Worship, a DVD she LOVES and is the ultimate in cheesy Sunday school music. She is pretty familiar with the DVD and so lead the singing and dancing and everyone really liked it. (Even her big friends got into it; they were so sweet). Then cupcakes and fruit, and presents, some more playing, and then everyone went home. She had a great time and so did everyone else, hurray!

Hmm, I was going to add a few teaser pics but I can't because it looks like Chris has them on his laptop, not this computer. So go look at facebook and flicker. We'll put more up on the blog soon.

Birthday part 1

Gemma had a grumpy day yesterday and this morning; 6 hours of traveling will do that to anyone, not to mention the new sniffles brought on by the fresh mountain air. Fortunately with the help of a long nap and some Dimetapp, Gemma had a wonderful birthday party tonight. It was our friend Thanksgiving dinner at Ali and Nick's, so we carefully balanced the cake in the stroller and filled a backpack with her gifts, and trucked over there. After a delicious turkey dinner she listened to us sing to her Happy Birthday, then blew out the candles. She was very excited about that. Then she proclaimed her age (THREE!!!! ha ha) we began opening gifts. At first she wanted to play with everything, but soon caught on to the concept of more, and kept on going excitedly. I told her we would play with the new toys when we got home, so as soon as she was done she picked up the bag of gifts and said, "Go home!!!" We tried bunch of the new toys and started watching one of the new movies before finally venturing home. She walked all the way home from Nali's place, ran actually, and I was so proud of her. She went to bed easily; so pooped, but is sleeping a bit restlessly due to a scratchy throat and cough.

The cake was a miracle; for something that the magazine said I would assemble in minutes it was almost a disaster! First of all, I used a mix, and so it was really light and fluffy and crumbly: not so easy to cut into different shapes and frost. The edges were just falling away under my knife no matter how gentle I went. Of course, if I would have done this ahead of time (doh) and frozen it I understand that this would have gone a lot easier. Thankfully when the cookie crumbs came down (it was sandcastle cake) it looked ok. Chris helped with the ice cream cone towers, we added some cookies around it and some rock candy, and TA DA! Not as bad as it started out. Gemma loved it, and it was edible. Both important factors.

There are tonnes of pictures; Chris will get them up soon.

Next party is Monday. 4-5pm. Short and sweet, then everyone goes home for their own dinner. This one is for Gemma's friends, so there will be lots of toddlers, etc.. Will video and take pictures. And soon the b-day ones from today we'll be up.

Saturdays

Saturday is a pretty happy day around here. By Friday Gemma is usually tired of mommy leaving for school all the time, and so Saturday we usually spend a few hours doing just Gemma stuff. We often go to Daan park, because they have a big sandbox and slides, and because its a little farther away we don't make it there during the week too often. She loves the sand park, as she calls it.

Gemma making a mess

These pictures crack me up so much!

The blue ones are from two weeks ago, when I posted all those pictures from the wedding. Well, posting pictures takes time and Gemma was coloring by herself in the living room as I was uploading photos. When I went out to the living room this is what I saw:




She had bitten the tips off of three markers, and then drawn on herself with the turquoise. (I did find two of the three tips on the floor. The third one I can only assume was enclosed in the turquoise poo found in her diaper the next day).

The next pictures are from a painting project last week. She was on my lap, as I was busy painting these little movie cameras and clapboards black. She had her own brush and was going to town on some paper, getting a bit on herself but 'No big deal' I thought. I couldn't actually see her face. My partner in painting was cracking up, but still didn't think anything was up out of the ordinary. Then when Gemma was done I took her to the bathroom to clean up; holding her still facing away from me I carried her to the bathroom, washed my own dirty hands and THEN looked up into the mirror... and finally saw the handiwork my little artist created. I totally burst out laughing, and Gemma was surprised too at how she looked. Chris captured the moment for us. Ha ha, I love it!

New Haircut!

A few more haircut pictures, because I couldn't resist.

In one picture Gemma is looking under a traffic cone. There are always these traffic cones at the edge of our driveway area, and one time there was a baby gecko under one of them, so now every time we go by there she has to look and see.

Gemma's Haircut

These pictures are priceless. Every face is so cute, she really did not enjoy the experience. She was getting so scruffy looking though, and so to the salon her and daddy went.

Storybook Parade

Here are some of the pictures of the storybook parade, and Baba's excellent costume she bought. It was very cute and she was such a good sport, parading around the classrooms and working the waddle. By the time Chris got her home at 9am she was wrecked!

On an outing with Daddy

Audrey's birthday

Last Sunday we went for lunch and icecream for Audrey's birthday. Gemma is a good eater when it comes to sweets.

On an outing with Daddy

The dance continued

There was a five layer cupcake tree, which Gemma thought was excellent! She also LOVED the entertainment, especially this lady. Gemma was so starstruck, she was memsmerized the entire act. She was up on the stage, stamping her feet, clapping her hands...It was too cute.

Dancing Queen!

Ceremony

OK, we're late with the pictures BUT Chris did put a bunch on flicker (go to the Gemma pics link on the right). Here are some ceremony pictures. It was at a beautiful seminary church up in the mountains. So green and lovely. You can try and match the captions to the photos.
-I had to bribe her to let me put the hair things in, and take the picture. She pulled them out right after.
-How 'princesses' sit on the bus.
-A total fluke picture that turned out great. I couldn't see at all, the sun was so bright but I clicked away and got this gem.
-Tree Hugger