Brrrr...

I am so thankful that it is warming up.  It has been freezing the past couple of days and I have not liked it at all.  In the afternoons we walk to the bus stop to pick up Caleb.  I suppose we could drive on days that it is -35 but I don't like warming up the van and getting the kids in their car seats just to drive for under 2 minutes and waiting for about 5.  (On the plus side-Caleb's bus driver is never late.  In fact she is usually early.  We are lucky that his stop is at the beginning of the route both in the morning and afternoon.)  If we are out at the time we need to pick him up, we will drive and both Sophie and Silas complain the entire time we are waiting.  So we bundle up and walk.  Of course Sophie and  Silas are nice and bundled in boots, ski pants and all the rest.  And then they get to sit in the nice covered stroller with an extra blanket on top.  So really, it's just me who gets cold.

**As a side note....I know Sophie is too old for a stroller and most of the time she does walk.  But sometimes she likes to sit beside Silas.  Besides, if someone offered to push me around in a stroller, I would probably take them up on the offer. ;)

I ♥ cloth

I never used cloth diapers with Caleb or Sophie but after getting some information from a couple of friends who were using cloth and really liking it, I decided to try with Silas.  Who knew how many different kinds there were-or how much fun I could have buying them!  I love the ones with the prints and recently ordered some from Rainshine designs for Christmas.  I have to say-I love, love, love them!

I'm not sure why he needs a fancy diaper, since he usually has pants on, but they sure are cute.

Trick or Treat!!

Caleb and Sophie love Halloween.  They have been talking about since school started and Caleb has his costumes picked out for the next 5 years or so.  They both have Halloween shirts that they have been wearing frequently for the last couple of weeks.  Sophie has worn pants more often than not which is unusual for her.  Typically she will not wear pants and chooses a 'princess' dress or a skirt but if I gave her the Halloween shirt she very willingly put them on.

Caleb and Sophie had a great time with the pumpkins.  I usually buy 2 so they can each draw a face.  They both helped scoop out the seeds so I could roast them.  This year I put sugar and cinnamon on half of them.  I prefer them with salt but Sophie loved the sweet, roasted seeds.

They both drew faces on their pumpkins so I could cut them out and were so excited to put candles inside so they could glow.

This year I was pleasantly surprised when he chose to be a knight instead of a superhero.  He does have numerous superheroes on his list for years to come.  Sophie was a princess, no big surprise there.  Silas was going to be a lion, since we had that costume already.  But I decided that since we had a knight and a princess, we needed a dragon.  And what a cute dragon he was!  Here he is, a day shy of 8 months, and already trying to get to the candy.

Here's Sophie's photography skills again...she is always stealing my camera and  taking pictures.  Here she caught the dragon and I having a little quiet time before it was time to go trick or treating.  Silas then slept the entire time we were out trick or treating so that worked out well!  Of course it is now 9:30 and he does not appear to be tired at all...

And here they are.  All ready to go and waiting for it to get dark.  Caleb and Sophie had a great time and can't wait for next year.

Happy Halloween!

Raising Readers!

Caleb and Sophie were so excited to get a pile of books from my cousin.  It was so cute listening to them 'read' on our way home the other night.  Amazing how their books all had the same story!  They took turns saying lines from their story, flipping pages periodically.  We try to read every night before bed.  And most nights we do but some evenings are busy with activities, supper and homework.  I think we are going to switch up the routine a bit so that reading happens right after supper.  Hopefully this will help us read every night and not just most of them.

Thanks again for the books!  They are a huge hit!

Mountain Climbing

Caleb is excited about 2 things in Banff-the waterslides and the mountains.  Ever since we arrived, he has been asking to go climb the mountain that he can see from his window.  We tried to explain that it is farther away than it looks but he was quite insistent that it was "right there".  So off we went to "climb a mountain".

Silas had the best seat in the house.  He was less than happy at first.  I haven't worn him much on my back but once we started walking he settled right in and took a little nap.

Sophie was quite insistent that she did not want to climb the mountain and just wanted to go "home".  After convincing her that it would be fun, she reluctantly started down the trail.  She did enjoy drawing pictures in the dirt as we walked.

Of course after she tripped and fell she kept reminding us that she told us that she "didn't want to come" in the middle of her tears.  We went back to play in the playground...which she did enjoy and Caleb and Ryan went on to tackle the mountain.  Caleb came home saying that his legs were tired but not too tired to go swimming.  And ready to climb another mountain tomorrow.

Cauliflower Anyone?

Silas is loving solids.  Of course he prefers to feed himself.  Since he is still working on his pincer grasp, he prefers big chunks of anything.  And I am enjoying eating my food in peace while it is still hot.

And one of Sophie who can't seem to keep her hands off of her baby brother.

First day of school!

Caleb and Sophie both started at new schools this year.
Here is Caleb on his first day of grade 2.

It's been a bit of a tough transition to his new school but hopefully he'll settle in soon.  He says that his new school is easier.

Sophie started preschool and she is loving it.

Before school started she brought me the calendar and asked me to show her what day she was going to her dayhome.  She was used to going places and seeing other kids during the day and staying home with me was not quite enough for her.  Now that school has started, she is enjoying her days at home.  She was so excited about her first day it was hard to get her to stand still for the picture!