Crafty Wednesday

My little princess loves everything pink, purple and all things pretty. She also loves dirt, bugs, snails and has three pet rocks. When I came upon this craft the other day I thought she'd like it. Not only was it quite an easy and fun one to do, I also had the supplies on hand. I'm trying to use up what I have before buying more. Well, I think we've done that with some of our things so I told Charlotte today that on Friday we'll replenish our supplies. I have a number of spring type crafts coming up that I thing she'll really like.

Today, we made little bugs. They're made out of egg cartons, pipe cleaner, pom-poms and google eyes. While I didn't have actual pom-poms, I used some cotton balls and the effect worked for what they were. In hindsight, we could have painted the cotton balls different colours too.


First, we painted the egg cups as per Charlotte's colour choices. After we let them dry, we added the legs and wings and then the heads and eyes and they were ready. 

Did Charlotte play with them? Of course, we both did! We played hide and seek and well, they hid while we took turns looking for them. Hide and seek with a three year old.... VERY interesting!

The whole family

The webcam - Bringing our family closer together

Growing up with grandparents on the other side of the province and across the pond in England meant we didn't get to see them very often. We saw my Nan and Pop maybe a couple of times a year at most and my grandparents, well, maybe three or four times. That I remember anyway. As a result, we didn't really know them. We knew my Nan and Pop, but my Grandma and Grandpy, not really. When we did see them, it would take a little time to warm up to them before we felt comfortable. Only normal for a young person.


Charlotte & Harrison are lucky. They get to see all their grandparents at least twice each month. Their Nana and Poppy live in CBS, their Grand Dad and Mel in St. John's and their Nana and Grampsy in England. Wait, you say, Nana and Grampsy are in England? How do they see them every couple of weeks? Well, we use the webcam.

Talking to Nana and Grampsy

The webcam is an amazing thing. It brings families that are thousands of miles apart closer together. When we speak to Andrew's Mum and Stepdad, it's as if they're in the same room. We both have laptops, so we carry them around, showing Charlotte and Harrison in different situations around the house and they do the same. They get a cup of tea while chatting and show us the sun that's shining warmly and brightly on the 26th of February.

Nana

Charlotte has been speaking to Nana and Grampsy on the webcam since she was born. When she was a babe she'd just sit there but once she was old enough to recognize faces, she'd smile and laugh. Then, once she stared to talk, well, there was no stopping her. Sometimes she just sits there, other times she plays in the background, just listening to the conversation (much like her Mom) and then there are days like today where she takes over the webcam and Daddy can't get a word in edgewise.

Charlotte reading a book to Nana & Grampsy

Does it really make a difference? You bet. When we went to England when Charlotte was 2 years old, she ran to Nana and gave her a huge hug when we came out of customs at the airport. No child would do that to someone she'd only spoken to on the phone or seen pictures of. The fact we spoke to them right up until the weekend before we came over made a huge difference. There was no getting to know you time. She already knew her Nana and Grampsy.

Chatting with Grampsy

Andrew's Mum and his Nan are coming to visit in June. We're very excited. We've already told Charlotte and when we talk to them on the webcam we talk about the visit. I am sure as the time gets closer she'll get more excited and we'll be at the airport when the plane arrives and she'll be the first one to give Nana a hug.

Charlotte the Hairstylist

Today, Charlotte, Harrison and I went to the hairstylists. Charlotte's been going there since she was born. Not as a client, but with me when I went to get my natural hair colour enhanced (ie dyed) and cut. Right from the beginning, Loretta and the girls at the salon treated Charlotte like one of the girls. They talked to her, played with her so Mommy could have a relaxing couple of hours and made her feel at home. 

When it came for her to have her first hair cut at the ripe ol' age of 20 months, it didn't phase her at all. Instead, she sat on my lap and had a great time.

Charlotte and Loretta

She regularly got her hair cut over the first couple of years and now, she gets her bangs cut every time I go. She looks forward to not only getting her hair cut but also playing with the "dolls" as she calls them. These mannequin heads have real hair and Charlotte loves to brush the hair, spray it with water, put it in rollers, and then put them under the dryer to dry. Whenever she needs something, she just asks one of the girls and they quickly oblige.

To say the salon is a huge part of her childhood is an understatement. It's in the same mall as Andrew's work and when we go to pick him up, Loretta always calls out to her to say hello and introduce her to her clients. Charlotte loves the attention, she loves Loretta. 

Loretta giving a helping hand

Harrison too has been going since he as born. As it's only been 6 months, he's still too young to appreciate all the attention, but if he's anything like his sister he too will be the centre of attention when he's about. He probably won't be interested in the mannequins (or maybe he will be) but there's always the bin of toys to play with too. Plus the pretty ladies of course. He already has their attention.

Bath Time Thursday

Harrison and Charlotte usually have their bath together but in separate baths. Charlotte is in the main bath and Harrison is next to it in the baby bath. Well, today I came across the bath seat we had when Charlotte was a babe. I had totally forgotten about it. Tonight we put it to use and Charlotte and Harrison had their first bath together in the same bath.


Charlotte was very excited to have Harrison in the bath with her. We'll see how long that lasts. She helped wash his hair and face, read him his bath book, showed him the boat and introduced him to Arial. When he became too friendly with Arial, she put an end to that. All in all though, I would say it was a great success.

1st bath together

"Harrison, this is Arial"

" Well, hello Arial"

"I'll have her back now"

Washing time

Just hanging out

Crafty Wednesday

This morning we went to our weekly story time at the library. The theme this week was getting dressed to play outside during the winter. Dressing up nice and warm to play outside. Snow angels, sliding, snowshoeing, skating and of course, building a snowman.


I decided today's craft would continue with the theme so we made ourselves a snowman. As an added bonus, I had everything in the house to make this little guy. Charlotte was able to do most of it herself which was nice. I did make the pom poms for the earmuffs and put those together, but other than that she did most of it on her own.


To make our snowman we needed two paper plates, some orange construction paper, pipe cleaner, buttons, pom poms (I didn't have any so I made them from some yarn I had around the house) and white paper clips.

Getting ready

We used the white paper clip to keep the two plates together to make the snowman.

Gluing on the eyes

Adding the buttons

I put a hole in each side of the snowman's head and attached the pom poms. I then threaded the red pipe cleaner on either side to finish off the ear muffs. Using the brown pipe cleaner, I made the arms and hands.

Don't forget the nose

The snowman's smile.... and teeth!

Ta-da!

I think next week we'll leave the winter theme and start looking to the spring and upcoming holidays for inspiration.

Pancake Tuesday

Today, Pancake Tuesday, we (sans Andrew who was under the weather) went to my Mom and Dad's for our annual pancake supper. We've been going there every year since we moved back home. I look forward to it every year. Not only for the time we spend with family, but the fun of picking our pancakes and seeing what we get in them. Yes, Mom still puts the little treasures in the pancakes for us. There were buttons (gonna be a seamstress/tailor), rings (getting married), hairpins (gonna be a hairdresser) and of course, money (gonna be rich). When we first moved back it was just Andrew, myself and my brother who went to Mom and Dad's. Mom would still put the money in and of course, all of us, adults (really too big to be doing so), got very excited when we got the money. At least I did. Tim's coffee the next day was my goal. Now, there are the aforementioned crew, Stacey (Darrell's girlfriend), and two little ones. Charlotte and Harrison. 

Toppings for the pancakes.

 This year, Charlotte was very excited about the pancakes. She helped Nana put the little surprises in the pancakes and then couldn't wait for the finished product.

"Which one is mine?"

Mmmmm good!

Charlotte managed to eat 2 and along with Nana and Poppy's money, she came home with $2.50 for her piggy bank. 

Looks like a quarter!

Harrison came home with $3.00. Not bad for someone who didn't eat any, although he did try. 

No pancake was eaten in the taking of this picture

Harrison's Toonie. After the cupcake incident, I held on very tight while taking this picture.

Darrell, he got $4.00 and me, I got $2.00 (and a ring). I know, I should have given the money to the kids, but I just couldn't part with it. And it was a toonie, I couldn't split it between the two kids. Yeah, that's a good reason. Actually, I used that $2.00 towards deep water fitness tonight which, after those pancakes, was very painful. 


So, it was another great Pancake Tuesday. Charlotte and Harrison came home and put their money in their piggy banks. We all had fun and look forward to next year. Thanks Mom and Dad!

Funny Thursday

Today my brother and his girlfriend came for lunch. We had a great couple of hours catching up and chatting about all things. Of course, the stories eventually came around to little Miss Charlotte and my brother said I should definitely share this one with you all. 

As I've mentioned in a previous post, Harrison sucks on his two fingers for comfort. When he's tired, in they go. When he's settling down for a nap he can be crying a little and he gets those two fingers in his mouth and all is silent. When he's eating, between mouthfuls, the fingers are in there. I think part of it is also due to teething. I think the pressure that the two fingers put on his gums help him.

When he was younger than his six months, Harrison didn't like the car seat. He'd cry most of the time unless the car was moving or he had a pacifier. He still doesn't really like the car, but he's a lot better. He only cries now if he's very tired or hungry. He doesn't use the pacifier anymore so, instead he uses his fingers. Most of the time he doesn't cry because he can just put his fingers in whenever he wants. He has a built in pacifier. Sometimes though, if he's very tired, he needs a little encouragement. Unless Andrew is in the car, that encouragement comes down to me who is driving or Charlotte who is in her own car seat on the other side of the car. So, we turn to words. "Find your fingers Harrison" or "Suck your fingers Harrison" are two phrases we use. Believe it or not, it works. Just today on my way to pick up Charlotte, Harrison was crying. As I can't do anything while driving I said "Find your fingers Harrison" and he did.


Charlotte doesn't like to hear Harrison cry. Most children don't like to hear other children cry. Even babies don't like it when other babies cry. They get upset too. When he was younger, she just put her hands over her ears. While she sometimes does that too, she has found another way to do so. She copies her Mom. Problem is, she has difficulty with the letter 's'. In most instances, she says the words correctly. Sugar, Sally, Sammy the Sea Lion, no problem. The word Suck, however? Huge problem. 


We were in the bathroom cleaning her teeth the other night and we were discussing her thumb sucking situation. We're working on curbing that habit and trying, for now, to limit it to the night time or unless she's super tired. We were chatting about it and she declared "The dentist said I can F@@k my thumb". Well, to say I was knocked over is an understatement. Of course, before I ran for the soap, I asked her what she said. She repeated it but I realized that it was her attempt at suck. So, I repeated the word for her. "It's ssssss, suck Charlotte". She repeated it perfectly. But, she has to really concentrate. I mentioned it to my friend when she was over for supper one night. She's a Speech Therapist. She said it's perfectly normal. The "F" and the "S" are formed in the same way. 


Normal? Maybe. Embarrassing if we're in the middle of a shop and she tells Harrison to suck his fingers using the letter "f" instead? You betcha! Hopefully no one will notice. Yeah, right. 


So, when we're in the car and Harrison starts to cry, Charlotte usually is the one who responds first. She tells him to suck his fingers in her own way and I then help her with her pronounciation. In the meantime, I now tell Harrison to find his fingers in hopes she'll start saying that too. If not, it'll probably make for an embarrassing moment for Mommy (probably not the first).