June Snippets

It has been a very busy month, getting ready for the end of the school year,  sick kids (first poor little E with a weeklong fever and now it has been M's turn), picnics, birthday parties and other events.  And just plain hanging out and trying not to blink 'cause time is running way too fast again and this mom is feeling a bit nostalgic and bittersweet seeing her big girls finishing Kindergarden and Preschool soon.   Makes me hang on to little Pipsqueak just a bit tighter ...

So what have we been up to?

Some good laughs



comfy naps on dad's lap



sidewalk chalk in the backyard





enjoying our first homegrown strawberries of the year





getting ready for birthday parties



enjoying our walks to preschool





backyard time in our jammies



... and some fun crafts ...






... off to prepare for a preschool graduation party and then a year-end picnic at the beach.

She Walks!

We officially have a little toddler in the house!  With just a couple of weeks to spare before her first birthday, our little Pipsqueak has started to walk on her own.  All of those weeks of tireless practice have paid off,  and she is so proud of herself!   This little girl has been working on her balance skills and trying to take steps as if she is in training for some big event.  She REALLY wanted to do this and  now she wanders through the house clapping her hands in glee ...

 notice the little clapping hands!
necklace courtesy of big sister 



And for the first time, after checking out each room in the house of course, she spent about twenty minutes looking at a book.  I guess, now that we've got the walking down, there may be some time for more cerebral pursuits?!




Happy Monday!

Happy Fathers Day

The fact that you knew you wanted to have children many years before I did should have been my clue that you would be a fantastic father.



You are not just there for the good times - bedtime stories, preschool graduation parties, walks in the park - but also for the mundane and routine tasks like helping to fix things at the preschool, brushing teeth and getting up in the middle of the night to calm the fears of sick and feverish little girls.







You are our steady rock and our girls are immensely lucky to have you as their dad.





And for me, you are the best partner-in-life I could have imagined.  I'd marry you again any day - even on those "no sleep, house is a mess, kids are whiny and its raining" ones :)

HAPPY FATHERS DAY!

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge | Bright and Vivid

This image came to mind immediately when I thought of this week's theme



Leftover balloons from big sister's birthday party

Happy Wednesday

(not bad for an IPhone Camera!)

I Heart Faces Photo Challenge | From a Distance

What fun to submit my first entry:


My big girls, taken on vacation in Utah.

Children's Festival

Trips to exciting and faraway places are fun.  But this weekend we remembered that the place we call home is not too shabby either.  If the tourists go to Granville Island, then there must be a good reason.   So off we went, to catch a "Music with Marnie" Show at the Childrens' Festival (which was appreciated by all three girls, even Ms P who hopped away with the best of them and squeaked with excitement during the Kangaroo song).  The "Big Girls" and I also caught a cool performance of "Farfalle" put on by an italian dance company.  E was mesmerized.   "This is what I want to do when I'm grown up", she said.

Granville Island was transformed into a Kids' Wonderland - M and E were intrigued by the lady wearing an edible herb skirt

There was a cool Troll whose house sits right on the border between Sweden and Norway (kitchen and bathroom in Sweden and bedroom/living room in Norway) - seriously, that is where the lady (the one in the costume, that is) lives. 

There was facepainting ...

Some cool sculptures ... if I was more of a crafty/handy type I'm sure I could get the kids into painting a structure like this for our garden, ha!

... and a quick trip to the market hall to get some fruit for tomorrow's beach bash 

We ended the day with a very tired baby who was happy to come home and play with a pile of shoes (yes, we do give her real baby toys but she prefers to mess up our wardrobe, bookshelves, drawers, you name it ...)

Happy Saturday!