Leo and I have been getting crafty!

My work in progress, an embroidered carry call for Clara's teacher

Leo's race car

This is the first time Leo has really gotten into a craft I've suggested. I was so excited by his enthusiasm. He made the cutest, most focused face lining up the wheel and attaching it tot he toilet paper roll. Today I have hope for future craftiness from my boy! Oh yes, the cars are not jsut fun to make, they are also fun to play with :)

It has been a fun day, the smiles say it all.

face painting at school

"show me a surprised face Leo"

The ball is going that way!

We ate BBQ ribs for dinner last night. Leo said they were like chicken on the cob. We clarified, its more like pig on the cob!

Leo dressed himself today, as soon as the last piece of clothing was on he proclaimed Your wish came true! He'd remembered that a few weekends ago Clara had asked me to make a wish, I'd been in the process of getting Leo dressed and I jokingly said my wish is that Leo will get dressed all by himself.

He's got a good memory that boy.

To celebrate Leo's accomplishment, we moved his T shirts to a new drawer that is easier for him to access all by himself. Now he can make my wishes come true every day!

Clara said she felt really grown up today. In fact she also said that today was one of the best days ever. She counted all the things that she did that made her feel like a grown up;

1. Went into the changing room before and after swimming lessons without a grown up. Marc and Leo accompanied her to swimming this morning as I was going to a tea tasting with friends.
2. Hugged Leo when his scrape was hurting him and got out a band aid for him.
3. Went bicycling and practiced gliding.
4. Took an afternoon nap (we had to convince her weekend napping is something grown ups love)
5. Went out to eat at a nice restaurant and ordered for herself in French.

Clara is really craving more independence these days. She comments on every kid she sees walking or biking without an adult. She imagines what they might be doing; going to visit a friend, going to the store, etc. We are tying to find ways to allow her to increase her independence while maintaining her security and our peace of mind. Some of the things that we've been doing more often is giving Clara the house keys and letting her open the door when we get home, giving her a good head start when we're walking to/from school or the pool (two routes she knows well), giving her money to pay for things at stores, etc. So far these little things mean a lot to Clara but I can see she's always waiting for the next "grown up thing" she can do. In fact, during dinner last night Clara asked Marc and I what time we liked best, being a kid or being a grown up. She has a hard time believing adulthood is not the best possible time in one's life. Oh, she has so much to learn!

Clara came up with this recipe idea all by herself this evening and then went ahead and made it for Leo and I. As she was chopping the strawberries Clara maintained a constant monologue. She often mentioned that she wasn't a super chef like mommy and berated herself for chopping slowly. She never got frustrated or mad but she certainly wanted to make it clear that she'd been slow and would probably get faster with practice. Leo sat by her side for the entire prep time encouraging her with a hungry look in his eyes.

After my little chef had cleared the table she asked for help to write down her homemade desert. She dictated the recipe and I wrote a rough draft for her to copy. This is her final version of Strawberries and Sauce. She mentioned wanting to type it on the computer as well tomorrow.

Mothers day loot from my sweet, sweet girl.

My daughter is a perfectionist. She likes to do things the right way. That is why this Mother's day gift is so very special to me. The story is she broke down and cried in the classroom the week before Mother's Day. She was working on making a lovely bouquet of three paper flowers from a cutout of her hand. Something about the curling of the petals wasn't going right and I guess she crumpled under the pressure. Julie, her teacher was caught off guard by the tears but it apparently all got settled pretty quickly. Since the flowers were a gift, Clara really wanted to keep them a surprise so she only told me in the vaguest terms what had happened. Julie gave me a bit more insight without giving away the big secret.

On Sunday morning Clara could not contain her secret a second longer. She bounced in my room at 7am and told me she'd prepared my breakfast and all I had to do was add the milk (she'd poured me cereal), I asked if I could sleep a little longer and she agreed that since it was Mother's Day that I should get that gift as well. I guess sleeping in means 7:25am because that was the time on the clock the second time my sweetheart bounded in to see me. She begged to give her gift so I rubbed my squinty eyes and agreed. I was unprepared for her to break out into song!!! She sang me a cute little song in French that ended with her presenting the bouquet of flowers and a card. She said she'd been practicing the song in her head all weekend so that she'd remember the words. Her performance was perfect and it woke me right up. In the end 7:25 was a great time to wake up :)

The rest of Mothers day was perfect, the kids and I played outside in the morning and in the afternoon Marie-Clothilde came over to babysit while Marc and I had lunch and did a little shopping at MEC where I got some new running gear and a raincoat I actually like - Yay for babysitters on Mother's Day!