Pumpkin Carving

It's that crazy time of year again where the kids get to dress up and walk from door to door begging for candy. But, before they can enjoy the activities we have to carve the pumpkins. This year Gerben picked out 5 pumpkins for us to carve. They were all large pumpkins. Natalia loved to try and scoop the goop out of the pumpkins. Emma, on the other hand, would have no part of it. She refused to touch the slime and totally freaked out when I wiped some on her bare leg. I thought it was pretty funny but she didn't. Gerben and I did all of the carving and then we let Emma finish each of the pumpkins by painting them. I think it made her feel like a part of the process but allowed her to stay far away from the goop. It took us close to 2 hours to carve the pumpkins but it was lots of fun.

Our Musical Genius

I couldn't believe my eyes! Yesturday Emma dragged this little piano in to her Daddy and I and began to play the entire Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star song. It was amazing because neither Gerben nor I taught her how to do this. In fact, on this tiny piano the notes for the start of the song are printed. Emma played that part and then finished the remainder of the song all by herself. It was so cool to see and she was so proud. I think we have a budding musician on our hands. Gerben and I giggled the entire time because we just couldn't believe what Emma had done. She has been practising on the piano for several days now but I never realized how good she had gotten. I think we know what to get this little girl for Christmas. Doesn't anyone know where I can get a good deal on a used piano?

Geez, it seems like time is flying by...

Wow, it seems like the days are zooming by. Nothing is getting done around here. I can't believe the weather we are having lately. One day it almost 30 degrees and the next day it's only 10. I think I am chronically cold on the cooler days. Both girls are in swimming lessons and doing great. They absolutely love spending time in the water and we try to get them over to the Gretzky Center as often as possible.

Gerben and I have been doing tons of exercising lately. It's a great activity for him and I to do together. We head to the basement almost every night after the girls are in bed and we either do some cardio exercises or we do some weight training. It's really nice to do something productive together. I have also been spending a few days a week at the Gretzky Center too. They have great fitness programs. I love taking their aquafit classes and lately I have discovered the low impact aerobics and beginner step classes. They are so much fun. Hopefully, with all the activity and the improvement in our diets I will continue to lose weight. Currently, I am down about 14 lbs from my start weight. It's so nice to be putting clothes onto the top shelf of my closet because they are too big and not too small.

Emma actually let me take some photos of her today. The one at the top of this post is my favourite. Hopefully, one of these days, I will learn to wash her face before I take pictures.

Today was much, much better!

After yesturdays horrible day, I can honestly say that I was terrified of what today would bring. To my surprise and relief it's been a great day. Emma was really, really good all day. She didn't pick on her sister, she didn't argue with me and she was even quite helpful when I asked her to be. She sat at the table and painted for a long time today and when she was finished she cleaned up all by herself. I didn't even have to ask her to do it. I was even more surprised when she cuddled up with Natalia on the couch and read her several books. Natalia was thrilled and both girls had a great time. Why can't every day be like this? It would make for a much more pleasant atmosphere around the house.

To top off my good day...I even managed to find the time and the desire to scrap today. Here's the results.

That couldn't have been my child!

Oh my goodness! What a day I have had. I have 2 extremely cranky kids on my hands. Kelly and I decided yesturday that we would take the kids to the park today so they could play and burn off some energy. The weather channel said it was 36 degrees out with the humidity and it was GROSS! The kids played really well most of the time at the park but it didn't take Emma much to get upset and have meltdowns. I decided to give Emma her 5 minute warning and she kept yelling at me that she wanted 6 minutes and not 5. Being the stubborn mommy that I am and having had to deal will many, many arguments already today I decided no way. It was five minutes. Needless to say she flipped out so I told her that we were leaving then and she LOST it. I had to drag her to the car with her yelling, "Get you Bloody Hands off of Me! I hate you! I don't love you!" She screamed in my face, she kicked me and she slapped me. It was brutal! I have never seen a tantrum like this is my life. It took both me and Kelly to force her into her carseat and she yelled at me most of the way home. When I told her that I was going to call Daddy and tell him about her behavious she flipped out even more. She kept yelling, "No, He won't love me anymore!" Which is totally not true and I have no idea where this comes from. She even continued this tantrum at home while threatening to hide on me so that I couldn't find her. It was rough to say the least. I had to call Gerben to let him know what happened and while on the phone with him I had a complete "mommy meltdown." It's so hard when you feel like you have no control over your child. No one wants to be kicked and hit and told that your not loved. I realize she is only 4 but I can tell you this. I hope to never experience another tantrum like that. We ended up spending most of the afternoon as far away from each other as possible. Emma played upstairs on the computer and I watched TV. It was much safer that way. I can't wait for Daddy to get home. Saturday can't come fast enough!

By the way...this pictures at the top of this post were taken before the meltdown. So she was happy for a very brief part of the day

Some of my favourite photos!

I just wanted to share a few of my more recent favourite photos that don't involve my kids or any people. These photos are all flowers. It's so nice to change your photography subjects once and a while. Plus it's amazing what cool things you can do with flowers in photoshop.

If you want to view these pics (or any others) larger just click on them.

You know you're a redneck when...

You head to the county fair to watch a demolition derby!

Last night we took the girls to the Norfolk County Fair. We had a great time and of course spent way to much money. Man, those fairs are expensive. It's around $3.00 per person for each ride! The kids loved it. Natalia really enjoyed the merry-go-round and the french fries, while Emma's favourite ride was one that you lay on your tummy for. I have to admit that it was a fun ride. I quite enjoyed it. The kids each won 2 prizes. Emma one a ducky for Natalia and I am sure that it was the higlhight of her entire evening. My personal favourite has to be the jumbo ears aka. Beavertails. They are the best fair treat EVER!!. Is it bad when the parents don't want to share with the kids?

Just before we left we stopped to watch some of the demolition derby. It was really loud but the kids got quite a kick out of it. Emma thought it was funny that the cars kept running into each other. She didn't seem to understand why people would want to do that for fun. I have never seen a demolition derby before. I thought it was pretty cool too. I couldn't get over watching these cars that kept on moving even though their tires were at 45 degree angles.

What she doesn't know can't hurt...Right?

Emma absolutely hates when Natalia gets into her room. She never lets Natalia touch her things and she has a really bad habit of stealing Natalia's toys and putting them in her room where Natalia can't get them. Well, this morning while I was playing on the computer Natalia got Emma's door open and was having a great time enjoying all the "forbidden" goodies in her big sisters room. She was like a kid in a candy store. The most ironic part of this little adventure is that once Natalia found HER magnadoodle that is all she wanted to play with. She couldn't have cared less about the Barbies or Polly Pockets.

It's really neat to see Natalia come out of her sisters shadow when Emma is away at school. Natalia will play for long periods of time quite contently with no screaming or crying. She seems to really enjoy exploring the house and not being bossed around. We have decided to sign Natalia up for Parent and Tots swimming lessons every monday morning. I think it's going to be fun to have an activity just for me and Natalia to do together. She loves swimming.