Clara's class had a pyjama party today. She was so excited. When I woke up this morning she was sitting on the edge of my bed already dressed in her new pjs (bought especially for the occasion) and and she said "I'm ready to do my hair now." This coming out of the kid who H.A.T.E.S. getting her hair brushed was quite shocking. I soon realised why she wanted me to do her hair, the new pyjamas had come with a matching scrunchie!

She's holding the scrunchie in her hand in this pic

It looks like Leo had his first dream (that we are aware of). He woke up after a nap today and immediately told Papa that he'd been running after the Were-Rabbit, he was very emphatic about it; "runnin' after the wea-wabbit, runnin' fast!". He'd seen Wallace and Gromit the night before. So that means both kids' first dreams were of cartoon characters; I'm pretty sure Clara's was of Winnie-the-Pooh.

Weird things are going on.

Leo just walked out of his bedroom in a half dazed state, it is 12:30am (yes, I am still awake). I scooped him up, gave his a squeeze, whispered "I love you" and popped him back in bed. He turned over and closed his eyes immediately. As I tiptoed out of the room closing the door behind me I heard a loud whisper "mommy, MOMMY!" I turned to see Clara sitting bolt upright in her top bunk, she is whisper-shouting at me. I went back in, and whispered "lie down sweetie, it is the middle of the night." She lay down and started mumbling "we forgot to make the Groovy Girl list... I need to write down the ones I want... mermaid, ballerina, princess, fairy....." She was gone - back to dreamland where undoubtedly she's dreaming of Groovy Girls, and groovy accessories!

Leo and I spent the morning together, we spent most of the time cuddling. Man, that boy is such a snuggler - I think he could happily spend 24 hours a day on my lap fiddling with my ears, hair, and nose. So after spending a long time just nuzzling I finally convinced him to play a bit while I prepared lunch. He followed me into the kitchen and grabbed a small saucepan. He was yammering on about something but I really couldn't make out what the saucepan was supposed to be - until he handed me a frying pan and said "doin' exercise, its heavy!" He then lifted the saucepan up over his head several times grunting "ugh, heavyyyy". Then the game changed and I was instructed to "catch a butterfly" So there we were, waving pots and pans around in the air pretending we were catching butterflies and then putting them in the oven drawer with a great little sound effect "pshhht" whenever we dropped a butterfly into the drawer. His little imagination is growing by the day!

Weekend of winter fun.

Grandpapa and Uncle Alex pulling Clara in the sled while Papa give Leo another kind of ride.

Leo eating snow at Beaver Lake

Clara taking a break from ice skating.

Our super-skater at it again. It snowed really hard all morning, we couldn't even see the ice but we still skated and skated and skated... I can't believe how much balance Clara had this year, she really impressed me and most importantly herself!

Clara and Leo woke up to some dinosaurs and valentines at the breakfast table. They were thrilled. It was quickly established that the Tyrannosaurus Rex and Allosaurus were bad and the other two were nice. I caught Leo sharing his cereal with three of his newest friends...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Clara had her first real learning experience with money today. We were at the thrift store and she came across a lovely deep fuchsia leather handbag (I'm not kidding, it really is nice).

She wanted it.

It cost $3.00.

I did not feel moved to buy her a gift without reason today. There are days when I feel little unexpected gift purchases are okay but today was not one of those days, it probably had something to do with the fact that I'd just dropped $13.00 on some really good thermal socks for her. Anyway, I casually said "If you really want the purse, you'll have to buy it with your own money." She started to cry "but my money is at home, we'll have to come all the way back and its too cold...." I had not expected that reaction, so I decided to offer to lend her $3.00 to buy the purse right away and then she would pay me back when we got home with the money from her piggy bank. She agreed and we went over the details of the transaction a few more times before I handed over my toonie and a dollar worth of silver. She bought the purse and jauntily held it in the crook of her elbow all the way home (wearing her full snowsuit of course because it really was freezing out there!). About a block from home she started to whimper, I asked what was going on and she said "I'm not going to have any money left! I don't want to give you my money" AGHHHHHH!

Oh Boy, I think to myself, now I've got to settle this account in a way that makes sense to her and teaches her the value of money - should be a fun lunchtime today. Thankfully, with the help of some props and a store purchase re enactment, the concepts of paying for something and borrowing from me started to make sense. By the end, the most troublesome aspect of paying me back was letting go of her "big moneys" ie her toonie or her two loonies. We negotiated and she ended up paying me back with one of her loonies, four quarters, and 10 dimes!

I'll snap a picture of the lady and her purse asap and post it, it reminds me of Patricia's red leather purse that Clara had such an affinity for back when she was 2.

Fete des Neiges

Friday afternoon game of family drive. Mama Clara drives Big Boy Mike, Baby Malcolm, Queen Clara and Selia & Savanna all around town, that is, until the the wheel breaks and then they have to get a stroller and walk to a mechanic who says there no problem, you're just silly and then they all get in and drive off again!

I love watching Mama Clara and Big Boy Mike play :)