Today we went to see Thomas the Tank Engine Live show. The girls (particularly Natasha) have been looking forward to the show for months now, and were extremely excited to see their favourite engine on stage. We weren’t too sure as to how Veronika would react being as it was her first theatre show, but she did wonderful – was on her best behaviour, paid attention, listened, and was truly interested in what was going on on stage. And Natasha naturally loved everything. She sang, made choo-choo whistle sounds, and followed all the instructions the actors gave the kids.

And of course, they were selling a ton of Thomas
related items in the theatre – watches, glowing sticks, bags and t-shirts. The girls REALLY wanted the red t-shirts and of course we caved in and got them each a bright red Thomas t-shirt!

Thomas the Tank Engine is still definitely one of their beloved, and most favourite toys. It’s one of those obsessions for them that isn’t a phase, but has been going for years and there isn’t an end in sight! They truly love this train and play with Thomas and “his friends” every single day. It’s pretty exciting to see this through their eyes.

February is ending and the month of March, at this point, seems incredibly hectic for us. The biggest upcoming event is our move to a bigger apartment which should hopefully happen towards the middle of the month. Hopefully. Earlier this evening, the girls’ new bedroom furniture was delivered and right now our apartment looks like a furniture store threw up. It’s messy and it’s disorganized and I can’t stand it anymore. But… c’est la vie.

That aside, there are… “other things”. Such as:

• Natasha’s March Break – yay! My baby will be home for a week.
• Natasha’s second dental appointment which she is stoked about – weird child!
• Thomas the Tank Engine Live! Both girls are looking forward to this show.
• Mini-event, but Natasha turns 4½ – it’s a huge thing for a little girl!
• Biggie – my dear husband person is turning 30! Yes, he has lived in this world for nearly three decades and he thinks I’ll dedicate each day of March to a blog post just about him, leading up to his birthday on March 30. I am still laughing about that one…

Phew. That’s it? I am sure there is more… Did I mention we’re moving? Hopefully??

And once alllll of that is over with, my little baby Veronika turns 3 on April 2nd! Where did my itsy bitsy baby go? It’s going to be incredibly weird having a 3 year old and a 4½ year old – the age gap between them seems to be “shrinking”.

Every once in a while my husband comes home with an unusual fruit. It’s usually something strange and exotic that we have never tried before. For instance, between the months of September through November it was the pomegranate (which wasn’t unusual to me since I grew up with them), but it was unusual to him; and during those three months while the pomegranates were in full season, I frequently caught him spending 20 whole minutes peeling the fruit and then 2 full minutes eating it. Yeah, not worth the effort (to me) and definitely worth the effort (to him).

And today it was a brand new experimental fruit – dragon fruit (Pitaya).

It was interesting to say the least! The fruit was soft and white inside with tiny black seeds and had a very mild taste that was a good cross between a kiwi and a pear. Natasha refused to try it, but Veronika tried some after Matthew explained that not trying will result in her getting eaten by a dragon… AHHH! But it worked, she tried, she ate, and she liked! Score.

This Christmas season is definitely the most exciting for the girls thus far, being as they are both older and understand the traditions and the meaning of the holiday so much better this year. Natasha has also been studying about Christmas in school and they are reading the book “Polar Express” which is about a train so double the excitement for her! Last week, Matthew picked up the book for her in a bookstore so that she has a copy at home and both girls enjoyed watching the movie at home as well.

Today we all decorated our tree together – everyone helped! I picked up a few new ornaments today, but sadly with Natasha having been sick with a bad cold since last Wednesday, we haven’t been able to take both girls to the store so they could each pick a brand new ornament for the tree. Hopefully, by the next weekend we can take them.

Five days into the month, and it’s still hard to believe it’s really already September. It feels like only a few weeks ago we were excitedly looking forward to the warm summer months, but that came and went by very quickly. But this is the first September in a long long time that I have to think about school again, except this time it’s for my little girl and not for me. But aside from school, September just feels crazy busy… we have so much planned!

September 8th – we meet Natasha’s teacher! I am really excited about that. It feels weird to be the parent and not the child… The tables have kinda turned. I also have about a million questions to ask her and I am trying to figure out how to squeeze them into our 15 minute time slot with her! Ugh…

September 10th – Natasha starts her first ‘unofficial’ day of school with a few children. They slow-transition them into the program so they don’t end up with an entire room of sobbing kids (their words, not mine). I just can’t picture Natasha sobbing, but we’ll see how she does…

September 11th – both Natasha & Veronika start gymnastics! This will be Natasha’s 3rd year and Veronika’s 1st. They are both very excited and Natasha keeps reminding Veronika that she will show her around and explain where everything is, particularly the best thing - the trampoline! :)

September 12th – we are taking the girls out for their first ever movie in the theatre! And it’s a Thomas movie, and they are thrilled beyond words.

September 13th  (morning) – Natasha’s first ‘official’ day of school with the entire class. And also, most likely first time taking the school bus, but I still have to inquire about that and get the schedule and such.

September 13th (afternoon) – Natasha’s first dance class! She is starting a new dance school since I wasn’t very happy with her previous one. This one is actually walking-distance from our home which is another pro. She will be doing acro/jazz/ballet and we already bought her a cute uniform for it. I hope she likes the class.

September 18th – Natasha’s 4th birthday! So bittersweet. Where did my baby go?

September 25th – my sister-in-law’s wedding! We are all very excited for her and both girls are looking forward to dressing up all pretty and being ‘princesses’. Especially Veronika, the child loves anything involving dressing up pretty. We can’t wait! :)

Okay, phew. Just throw in some additional shopping I still need to squeeze in. A haircut or two. Snacks for Natasha’s school. Some random odds & ends. How do you spell ‘busy’???

We bought the girls tickets to watch their very first movie in the theatre! And what’s better to to see than their favourite character – Thomas the tank engine! The movie is called Thomas & Friends: Misty Island Rescue, and is offered through Toons for Toddlers. I really love this whole service, even though they are only offering one movie right now, but it’s ideal for toddlers – it’s for kids ages 2-5, screening length under 60 minutes, reduced sound, and the theatre is not fully dark so parents can exit if necessary.

I am not a fan of people bringing young kids to ‘regular’ movies and have them cry, talk, and disturb everyone, so for us this is ideal. I am hoping the girls like it! Of course, it isn’t a first movie without popcorn and pop!

Today was a very relaxing day for us, and I spent it with my 3 favourite people! Matthew and the girls definitely made the day special for me – Matthew engaged the girls in 2+ hours of crafts this weekend (his own idea!) and together they made me an adorable Mother’s Day card. It meant so much to me that he put the effort and involved our girls – a lot more than expensive, store-bought gifts.

He also surprised me with flowers. Matthew is not  typically into buying flowers so these were special and I love how simple yet beautiful they are. He also made dinner! I have a great husband who gave me two beautiful daughters without whom I would’ve never been able to celebrate this Mother’s Day. I feel very blessed.

Easter was really fun for the girls this year. We did more than the previous years mainly because, well, they’re older and more into it. It will be even better next year.

We got them fun Easter baskets with a few fun toys & crafts. I think next year we’ll include a Veggie Tales DVD or an Easter-themed book.

We dyed eggs for the first time on the Saturday before. The girls were really into it and enjoyed every minute. The kit came with stickers which they had a blast putting on the eggs.

For Easter Sunday’s breakfast, the girls each ate 2 decorated eggs! They loved it, even Veronika ate her egg, knowing she decorated it herself.

And of course they enjoyed getting together with their family and cousins!

Holidays are so much more fun with children! It’s exciting to see it all through their eyes.

We had a really awful week of the sickies and it’s only Thursday. Natasha brought home the 24-hour bug and we each took turns going through it. It was awful. Natasha had it Monday through Tuesday, Veronika got it on Wednesday, I had it Wednesday eve and most of Thursday, and Matthew got all the symptoms Thursday afternoon. He’s still sick. It did not even spare my mom who spent 3 hours at our place Tuesday afternoon; it’s extremely contagious. Both girls are feeling better by now and I’m getting better as well; now it’s just Matthew battling it. Sigh. I am tired of cleaning everyone’s vomit.

On a brighter note, Veronika was super excited on Wednesday afternoon when she received her new Dora toddler bedding set. Natasha already had one, but Veronika did not, so being as she’s in a big-girl bed now, she deserved cool new bedding. She LOVES it. She was really upset when she puked all over the pillowcase Wednesday night, but it’s now washed and back on her pillow!

I’ve never been one to care for Valentine’s Day, but when you have small kids and see all the adorable Valentine’s gifts in stores, well it becomes a different story. Buying for your kids is a lot more fun than shopping for yourself.

Natasha has been asking for blue nail polish for a while now. Because pink is boring, right? She also wanted a purple one. I dropped by Claire’s and they had the perfect set! Moreover it’s scented (bubble gum, cotton candy, grape…). Mmmm. She loved it!

While in the same store, I saw these adorable stuffed… raccoons? They light up and make sounds… perfect for my little snuggle bear! She loved it, too.

Now, Matthew and I don’t really exchange Valentines gifts, but I wanted him to have something from the girls. A few days ago (together) we made him this:

Then we made some cupcakes and the girls decorated them with little coloured candy-stars. We also made some with pink icing and fresh blueberries. Then we ate them :P

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY!