Friday, March 26, 2010

A snippet to remember

This is going to be a short post as this is an entry for our memory book.

Sebastian does not watch a lot of tv. We can go days without turning the set on and when it is on, we usually have an hour limit. Well there is one television show that Sebastian just loves. He will laugh out loud at the antics and will actually request to watch this show (thank goddess for the pvr!). When it's not on he will talk about it and what he thinks the characters would be doing in any particular situation. And although the show isn't one of those "watch me and your kid will learn their ABC's" type of show, it really is imaginative, weird and funny, which to me, is just great.

So, what is this show you ask? *insert drum roll here* It's Toopy & Binoo! In fact, Sebastian is sitting right beside me on the couch while I'm typing this watching an episode now. When asked why he likes it so much he replied, "The funny parts!". That's all I could get out of him before he told me to take it off pause!



Well that's it for now. Back to your regularly scheduled program....

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Family Portrait


Today Sebastian drew his very first portrait of our family. I absolutely adore it (even if we do eat fireflies & I have a big head!!) and love the look on his face when I compliment him on his accomplishment.



We then spent some of our afternoon making bugs.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Spring

I think I seem to start the blog the same way each time, with me stating that I've been meaning to sit down and write but that I am finding it difficult to find the time and energy to do so these days. This is mainly because our days are just way too busy and by the time Sebastian is in bed for the night, albeit before 7:30 p.m. on most nights, I'm either running out to run some errands and/or spending some quiet time with Jamie and blogging just isn't on my top list of priorities.

This past month we've been busy planning our new garden. We had some veggies in containers in Toronto on the back deck but we never ventured into planting a vegetable garden as our yard was a) mostly shade and b) I was never convinced the soil was safe. So now that we have the space we've plotted out a 5x10 space and have started some seedlings indoors. So far we've planted the pumpkin, peas and peppers. This upcoming weekend we'll be starting the beans and tomatoes and shortly thereafter the carrots, lettuce and numerous herbs will be started. Sebastian has always helped us with the gardening at our old home so having him assist us build the garden and plant the seeds really isn't anything new. But I am looking forward to being able to share the experience of harvesting our vegetables with him. Along with the garden we also purchased a share at the Ignatius Farm CSA. Every Friday I plan on heading out with Seb to the farm to pick up our veggies. They also have opportunities for share members to help in the crops, which will be perfect for Sebastian to experience.

Planting our pumpkin seeds

It's also that time of year when the trees are being tapped for maple syrup. Last year we went to a sugar bush in the Niagara area with my sister and family and this year we were lucky enough to actually assist with tree tapping at a farm in Floradale ON. Papa helps out at this farm so we had decided to go and visit with him one Saturday so that Sebastian could see the animals. And it just so happened that when we arrived everyone was in the bush beginning to tap the trees so we headed on out and gave them a hand. After having a quick warm up we went into the barn with Papa where Jamie and I were able to feed two lambs (Sebastian did not want to feed the lambs). Sebastian took a liking to one of the lambs and continued talking about him throughout the week! I must say, it's so nice having such a great Papa who helps us give Sebastian these experiences.

Sebastian with his favourite lamb

And other than that, along with our weekly scheduled programs, the simplest of things, such as writing with chalk on a driveway, playing in the backyard and exploring the walking paths behind our house is how we spend our days. I couldn't ask for anything more.

Exploring with friends

Thursday, March 4, 2010

Winter Getaway

We just returned on Monday from a lovely long weekend up north near Huntsville at a place called Cedar Grove Lodge. This was the first time we have been there and it definitely will not be the last! We now understand why so many return to vacation here year after year! We will definitely be joining in those ranks as we were able to do what we had wanted to do... Experience winter the way it should be experienced - Outside!

We didn't do a lot of outdoor exploration the first day we got there as check in wasn't until 4 p.m., but as we walked back to our cabin after dinner we walked out on the lake to admire the stars and the full moon. It brought me back to years in high school in the Outers Club when we would go to Bark Lake in the winter and spend our first night trekking through the snow with our eyes closed (trust walk) only to end up lying flat on our backs on the lake looking at the stars. Majestic doesn't even begin to describe it.

The following day we spent the entire morning outside playing in the snow. After breakfast we donned our snow attire, picked up some ice skates and took Sebastian out to the rink on the lake. This was the first time he had ever been on skates! Jamie unfortunately did not get to skate as there were no skates his size but it enabled him to be a more stable support for Sebastian. Sebastian however, was more interested in playing hockey than actual skating, so when he realized we didn't have a puck he quickly lost interest. However, when on the skates there were a couple of times that he would purposely fall and we were surprised at how easily he managed to get back up to a standing position with the skates on without our help. Lessons may be in the cards for next winter!

After skating we played outside for the remainder of the morning, hiking, tobogganing and making a snowman. After lunch we played in the games room where Sebastian amazed us with his billiard skills. There were a variety of games, such as air hockey, ping-pong and shuffle board and we were joined by another family with small children. The remainder of the day was spent watching the Men's Olympic game (Yay Canada!!) while the kids played nearby. It was really cute watching these two play together and we're hoping we'll see them again next year at the lodge.

On our last day we went snow shoeing for a bit and just hiked around the property and lake. It really was a lot of fun and we're really happy we were able to give Sebastian this experience. Looking forward to next year already!!

There are quite a lot of pics so I've made them smaller, but if you want to see them better just click on them & they will enlarge.












Tuesday, March 2, 2010