Cake Shop

We had some neat boxes that lead to a wedding cake, which lead to a superhero cake, which lead to every toy in Gemma's room being covered with a cloth and decoration to become an amazing bakery. Check it out!

Oops, I thought I took more pictures! Doh. Well, there were a lot of cakes!!!

School

Doing better about going to school. She has a friend, and even though they got separated for talking too much today (about a spy mission and horse game they were going to play at recess) I can't help but feel happy that she has someone to be in cahoots with. Friday is library day, and she brings a book home. She has Primary Fitness instead of PE, and spends most of her day 'learning to spell new words, and coloring.'

I found this DVD set at the library, and we watched part of it today. Old school animation but its cute and educational. Some good vocabulary and sentences. We'll see if I can stick with it.

So frustrating!!!

"Mom? This really frustrating thing keep s happening at school. When we sing the ABC's the people in my class sing this one part wrong. They say it differently. Let me sing it for you; abcdefg, hijklmnop, qrstuv, w,x, ZED! Can you believe they do that? It is supposed to be (insert entire song here until the last phrase...) x, y, ZEE! How can I remember zee and zed?"

And this lead on and on to a discussion about missing Taiwan schools, American vocabulary, etc...

Pray for Gemma as she struggles daily to recall that 'zee' is the same as 'zed' ;)

Sick

And Gemma is out with a stomach bug. She went to school because she was feeling fine then, but by 5:00 she was crashed out on the couch. I hope she keeps sleeping, that's the best way to wait out a tummy ache.

Bathtub games

We don't have the same collection of bathtub toys as we did in Taiwan, so new games are required. In this game, Gemma fills all the little containers up with cold water from the tap, then dumps them on her head one at a time. It is like a gameshow:

"Which one should I do now? THaTS the coldest one!!! Ok, I need you to say, go Gemma go! A little louder! Come on, it's only fun if you're watching!!!"

And I always cringe because brrrr.... I can't stand cold water! And then she laughs even more because I am laughing.

Show and Tell

The redeeming factor for Gemma's Monday is that Monday is her day for show and tell. She chose to bring this pin she got from her ballet teacher last year because "it is my most special treasure, and Miss Tina is my most nicest and special teacher."

The rules for show and tell are:
1) it has to fit in your backpack
2) it can't be a toy

Since 90% of what Gemma owns is toy, I hope we don't run out of ideas. Any suggestions?

Shoes!

Gemma learned how to tie her shoes this week! I demonstrated it to her slowly (again) and it just clicked; she tried it and got it. Of course she doesn't get it everytime so there's lots of waiting and patience as we get ready.

I remember buying shoes for school when I was in kindergarten and my mom was adamantly against velcro shoes. She was convinced that if we had velcro shoes we'd never learn to tie shoes, and so I remember practicing over and over again. She even made a little cardboard practice board for me with two rows of holes punched in it like a shoe, and I would have to practice. My mom was tough about things like that, and I appreciate it now. (But I'm not tough on my own kids... I know I should be tougher but I'm not!)

Gemma prays

I posted recently how Guinness has been praying for us at meal times, but we asked Gemma to pray yesterday. You could tell she hasn't done it much since Taiwan because of her requests;

'Please help Daddy with all his meetings and work' (Chris has only just started working again, so its really only
his first week of being really busy)

'And help mommy with all her students, that they be good and listen well'

Ummm; I'm not teaching this year Gem! I've been home playing with you!!!!

Sweetheart.

First week of school

Ways that private school is different than public school:
1) in public school they have no idea how many children will show up for each grade on the first day. This would explain why the beginning of each day this week was a little crazy at Gemma's school, as they dealt with way more registrations than they expected. They planned for three grade 1 classes, but had more than 80 grade 1s show up. Yah; crazy.
2) private schools have to focus on the business aspect of things; service with a smile, pleasing customers, etc. Apparently public schools do not feel it necessary to make you feel welcome, or assure you of how great their programs are, or 'sell' the school in any way.

Maybe I am being a little harsh. But on the first full day (Wednesday), after meeting in the library for almost an hour, waiting for attendance for 80 kids, waiting for our name to be called (which it wasn't, despite registering a week prior and the day before in the gym) I was so worked up! I mean seriously???? They wanted me to leave my not quite 6 year old in a new place, with people I didn't know and who didn't know her, for the entire day?????? No one had introduced themselves, except for the grade 7 teacher they had filling in for that first hour (yes, the grade 7 teacher???). There was no tour, there was no daily schedule, just administrators and teachers popping in and out, trying to figure out what to do. I felt like a number, like we were an inconvenience to them for showing up at their school. I mean, yes we are new but we went to the school and registered the first day the office was open... What else should we have done?

Anyway.... It took me most of the day but I calmed down. And when I picked Gemma up she said she had the most fun day, and it was totally awesome. There were great toys in the classroom, and the teacher there was really good, visiting with her former students and stuff. Then I saw the name tags on the desk, and that made me feel 100%. Someone had taken the time to write everyone's names down, and the kids had colored them... at last I felt like there were professionals at work and they cared about us.

I know I just need to be more relaxed and gracious and patient... It was stressful for them too, and I know that support and cooperation is what they need, not criticism. I'm excited about the new year beginning and getting involved with volunteering and stuff.

The Jam

Gemma the chef (who fried her own egg for breakfast this morning, wow) wanted to make jam with the berries. And it turned out great!

http://savorysweetlife.com/2009/08/how-to-make-blackberry-or-raspberry-jam/

In case the link doesn't work, something like this:
2 cups crushed blackberries
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons lemon juice

Cook together on high for 5 minutes. Turn down heat and simmer for 15 minutes. It will thicken upon cooling.

First day of school is tomorrow!

Tomorrow Gemma will start grade 1.  Her principal and the secretary were really nice when we registered last week, and the first day will be a simple 1 hour assembly in the gym.  Shrug.  Not sure at all what to expect!

Don't know where her classroom is.
Don't know the teacher's name.
Don't know the music teacher, PE teacher, art teacher.
Will there be snack time?
When is recess?
Where will they eat lunch?
How often do they go to the library?
Will she be behind?

I am very hopeful that both of us will make new friends!

A new word that stuck...

Last time I wrote about improducable, but then yesterday she used a made up word that she has been using for a long time but still never figured out; Puh-dounce.   Here it is in context:

"And now, ladies and gentlemen, I now puh-dounce the great lion tamer!"

Or,

'Mom, just wait a minute before you come in.  I have to puh-dounce you."

Its sort of mix between present/announce.

:)

New Word

We are very into Super Heroes here, with lots of names and powers and abilities.  We were playing at the park today and Gemma shouts out, "I'm IMPRODUCABLE!!!!"

She corrected in a minute to 'invincible', but I was having so much fun brainstorming what improducable could mean :)

First Cry

Gemma had her first cry this week about moving.  She will miss her friends so much, she said, and she won't be able to see them..

I think we are entering the 'heartbreak' phase of moving, as all these realizations about what goodbye to Taiwan really means start to kick in. 

I tried to be as encouraging and optimistic as I could, but honestly, my heart is breaking too.  Canada will be great, but we have some very wonderful people in our Taiwan community.

Awesomeness all around

We were riding home from school yesterday, reflecting on the neat events of the week; Gemma losing her second tooth, Guinness learning to use the potty... and I said, "Well, we have two really awesome kids, maybe we should have another one and he or she will be awesome, too."  Then I asked Gemma, "What do you think, Gemma, would you like a brother or sister?"  She replied with a firm 'yes,' because then she'd have someone to teach things to.  So I asked her what she would teach the new baby, and she said, "You know; how to be awesome!!!"

Right on!

Except you do know that it was a purely hypothetical situation and there is absolutely no inkling of a thought about adding to our family. :)

Awesome New Trick!

I can put Gemma's bike on the back of my bike and carry it to school!!!  This is a dream come true for her.  Every day she asks me, Mom, did you bring my bike?  And I always say no because I'm too late to walk with it to her school by the time I get home.  But now that the training wheels are off, it fits perfectly across the back kid seat, Guinness rides in the front, and we are off!!

This has been the most amazing week for Gemma; on Tuesday she lost her first tooth AND learned to ride a two wheeled bike.  I'm speechless.  It's so amazing how much she's grown and matured, and I've just been marbling in her awesomeness lately.

We were having a picnic on Tuesday night, and Chris was giving her a hard time 'cause she couldn't get the corn on the cob that well.  Well, she sat down and was eating a french fry and then I noticed a hole in her mouth.  I said, "Gemma where's your tooth???" and she looked down at the ground and found it right away; she had just flicked it there because it came out in her fry and she didn't know what to do with it.

I don't know if she's even been that excited before.  She told us the story about a hundred times (even though we were both eye witnesses).  And she state awake until 11:30.  She could not. stop. talking. about it.

The second one is almost all the way out, too.  What is the going rate for the Canadian tooth fairy?  Gemma got 50NT (a bit less than 2$)

Instead of story time....

This is her line because more than anything else she likes to play. So most nights we trade story time for playing time. Still a lot of Queen and princess, and mother daughter. I did bring home a non-fiction book called "Lady of the Manor" which talks about what the life of a medieval lady would have been like, with lots of real photographs, so we'll see if I can pique her interest.

Popcorn Server and Babysitter

Gemma is all about the new babies, and the first thing she asks our friends when they come over is, "Can I hold her?" Thankfully tonight BOTH our friends with new babies came over so there was one for each of us, ha ha!

Gemma also serves the popcorn. She counts how many people there are, hands out the napkins, gets a vote on which flavour to make, hands out the bowls, and then brings the popcorn around.

Her other habit lately is to change clothes 12 times a day. Warmer, cold, ballerina, etc. Just keep trying different outfits.

Kids are funny

So Gemma put her hands tight over her ears. "Mom??" "MOM???" "Can you hear me, mom?"


Uh, yah. I can. My ears aren't covered and therefore working fine.


Hee hee, that would be my DNA working its way out.

In the bathroom...

Gemma called out from the bathroom yesterday, "Mom? There are these little boxes in here, and they have an O and a B on it. What ARE they?"


Uh.....

Ridiculous games part two

And to add to my last post about silly things we play: one of her other favorite games we play together is Old Maid. Yep, with just the two of us:). When will she catch on that one? Ha ha, buts still fun trying to trick eachother at the end into taking the old maid. At least we were playi g with a full set this time!

Scooter

Gemma was given a two wheeled scooter; major step up from the three wheeled pink fairy one she bought this summer and is now happily 'owned' by Guinness. She can balance pretty good, but the biggest trouble is resisting the temptation to push all the time because if you push and push and push and push then you get going REALLY fast. So she is doing pretty good and push push coast, push push coast. With this crummy weather we've been playing down in the B2 parking garage all week. This is Gemma's favourite game to play:

"You be the mom, and I'll be the daughter, and I'm riding my scooter."


Umm?

Jan Latta

Today I met author/photographer Jan Latta. She has spent years and years traveling and taking pictures for kids books about animals, and they are pretty awesome. Here is a link to one of her videos

The series is called True to Life Books. Check it out :)

Chris!!!

Chris and I were planning on enjoying some Subway on our own, but after a great sale at the NorthFace shop we got home later than we planned, and at the same time as the kids. So I whipped the kids up a sandwich from stuff we had at home, but of course they wanted in on the yum yum goodness that is Subway. I was explaining to Guinness again and again that 'No, mommy's has jalapeños on it, you won't like it," when Chris finally did cut him off a slice. Gemma looked down her nose at him, admonishing eyes, and said in a perfect hushed tone, "CHRIS!!" It was so funny, I laughed for 5 minutes. Such a bossy mother hen!

We did some puzzle with Daddy yesterday, and had so much fun. Laughter is a great medicine (not better than coffee, but I think important to have every day) so I am hoping that 'laughing together as a family every day' is a realistic goal for 2012.

Yes, I can make goals for 2012 now because the Chinese New Year has just begun.

5 going on 15

Growing up.... by her attitude sometimes you would think that the birthday that follows five is fifteen. Isn;t this a good disgusted teenager look?

Age Gap

The kids got along pretty good for a long time. She likes to play computer games, he is happy to sit and watch. She likes to boss around, he likes to be bossed. Gemma did a good job of handling the baby business, and has been a pretty patient big sister till now, but the terrible twos are causing some frustration.

When Gemma was two and three, she loved to play the same games over and over; you be the mother I'll be the daughter, over and over again. Guinness is very into super heros, and we've been playing Spiderman for about three months. And Gemma is tired of it. She doesn't want to play superhero ANYMORE!

Gemma likes setting up her little villages and houses and stuff. Guinness physically can not resist the urge to plough it down. He draws on her art, he makes messes that take away mommy's time, he pushes buttons on the iPad when she's playing, he playfights too hard sometimes... the whole little brother thing is getting too frustrating.

It's been just amazing how much she's changed this fall. Really growing up.

She has one more week of holidays, then a final semester of Chinese school. We are pretty sure she'll join me at my school next year for kindergarten.

Tastes like...

Kids brains' are so weird! Today I made pancakes and bacon, and the kids love bacon. Gemma was dipping hers in her syrup, telling me, "Mom, you HAVE to try this." so it did, and she said, "It's so good, it tastes like chocolate ". Does the word 'chocolate' mean 'tastes good'?


And then, a minute or two later, Guinness was munching his bacon and he said, "this is is so yummy, it tastes like CUPCAKES!".

Like I said, weird!