Canada Day!

Ah yes, the red & white day... It is so NOT celebrated in my part of town. My neighborhood had nothing to offer. Nada. Even the local pool was closed. Party poopers. I was thinking of bringing Keira to the Old Port where the celebrations were taking place but... the heat, the humidity, the massive amount of ppl. I didn't think it was a good idea. Plus, Claude was working today. Working! He had Monday off.

So Keira decided she wanted to go back to house-of-hell, uh, sorry! I meant, Cache-à-l'eau again. I was given the warning that there was a group of day campers there and the place would be packed. Ah yes, such comraderie and fun.

I wish I could just sit down, open up a fresh new magazine and just enjoy myself while Keira went nuts with other kids but... I just couldn't. You could lose sight of your kid in there in less than 2 seconds. Seriously. Plus, even though I know they lock the doors and need to buzzed in and out, I just don't feel comfortable unless I try to keep Keira in sight the whole time.

So... 3 hours later... I was so tired, came back home and slept. lol. Happy Canada Day everyone.



Lucky for me Keira is a sandwich aux jambon-obsessed kiddie. This is surely better than the soggy pizza, hotdogs, poutine & pogo offerings that they have...right?


She goes up here and...disappears!

First day of summer day camp

Hooray! Keira's first day at day camp. Sadly, it's a week of rain. : ( I have to admit, we are really lucky parents. Not once starting school and now day camp has she ever pulled a fit, got clingy/whiny/screaming or crying when we left her there. She gets way too excited to see the other kids! She gave me a kiss and said bye bye. Sniffle, I just wanted to hug her tight! She looked so cute.

So far so good. Came home to see Keira all excited about the new t-shirt she got and also water bottle with her name on it. Cool. It's really too bad it's raining all week long (or so the weather channel says). Wonder who her new friends are?

Caught!

A Fun & Active Morning = Snoring Naptime from chantal on Vimeo.

Deep sleep after a morning of crazy fun at Cache à l'eau. My beautiful angel...snoring. lol. Her snoring woke me up from my nap!

Ah...l'été commence..

Yes! School's over! And what did the weekend bring? Rain and humidity. I promised to take Keira to Cache-à-l'eau again and this weekend was perfect for it. Lucky we ended up going early as it was already packed when it opened! Didn't matter if Keira was there alone without friends, she pretty much had a great time with all the other kids there. Can be scary when there are tons of kids there because you lose sight of your own in a blink of an eye.

I spent the weekend trying to figure out a good lunch plan for Keira because tomorrow, she starts her new summer camp where lunch is not provided like her school. Sigh... I'm pretty sure they won't put her lunchbox in a fridge so.. have been planning lunches where it won't spoil or need too much refrigeration. I mean, my lunches way back when weren't refrigerated (and without ice packs!) and I survived so... Of course, I didn't eat much of it because of the weird combo sandwiches my mom used to make: kimchee + peanut butter sandwiches, wet ham+wet lettuce+peanut butter sandwiches (piled super high and ended up super soggy), mock-chicken (shudder!) + mustard+peanut butter sandwiches, I mean the list goes on of the hideous lunches I had to endure and eventually never ate. But I did love my lunchbox, a Happy Days one!

(Actually, mine was plastic not metal but the scene was similar including the thermos).

I also had a metal lunch box but can't remember what was on it. Either Mickey Mouse or Underdog.

Anyways, tomorrow's the first day of summer camp for the Keikster. Hope she likes it. I know there are some of her classmates going to the same place but only in August but seeing Keira at social scenes, she pretty much jumps right in so... I'm only nervous for myself.

Finished with Preschool Class of 3 Years Old

Keira finished a full year of preschool! Whoohoo! No more uniforms for the summer, no more school work, no more tests (yes, she actually had them)! She'll enter 1 more year of preschool this year (classe de 4 ans) and then it's off to kindergarten. Yikes! It's going awfully fast.

We've had nothing but great comments from her teacher which is surprising as we thought that by now, she'd have rebelled like her classmates. hehe. I've heard comments from other parents where their kids started off the school year listening, paying attention etc but now, they've had it and they've been getting comments in their agendas of "not participating, losing attention, etc". She's certainly come a long way in a short amount of time & kudos goes to her amazing teacher Mme M. She is awesome!

We'll take advantage this summer to pump up the english (that she's been losing) and just having fun. Wheeee!!

Poker face.. from chantal on Vimeo.

La fête nationale from chantal on Vimeo.

Daphne, Keira, Meghan, Ashley

Fête Nationale

Happy St Jean everyone! This year, it was just me and the Keik heading over to our city's festival offerings. Hubby was at home with a friend continuing the basement reno. Can't wait til it's over and done with.

Perfect day for celebrations! Didn't take long for Keira and her friends to find each other. It's so funny to see them recognize each other and then get all excited. All of them are either our neighbors or her school chums.

There was one mishap though where Keira fell on her face. Nothing serious but she'll be sore right near her eye. Since it isn't serious I can laugh about how she fell.... Coming off one of the gonflables, a girl only slightly older than Keira but well, much heavier, stepped beside her impatient to get off (the step to come off was an extension of the air-filled playset) and once that girl stepped, it dipped way down so Keira went down with it. Then the other girl stepped off and BOING! Before Keira could right herself, she went flying off and landed on her face. Was NOT funny when it happened, all you heard was a collective "ohhhh!!!" from all the other parents. I think the other girl was embarrassed when it happened. Ah well...

We finally headed home after 3 and a half hours! Waiting for the Keikster to wake up from her nap so we can head to a restaurant for supper. Hope you all had a super day as well!!

Summer lovin?

Keira came home from the garderie (at her school) with a rash all over her face, arms, shoulders and legs. GAH!!! Like polka-dots. Trying not to panic in front of your kid is really hard to do but after checking the rest of her body (nothing there), we breathed a sigh of relief. After asking her all kinds of questions, diagnosis was: allergic reaction to the sunscreen that they smothered her in. Why is her skin so darn sensitive?

I had to bring in our own sunscreen (some hypo-allergenic thing I bought) & had to tell all the monitors there not to use their generic brand. Then they asked me where Keira's sunhat was... damn. Had to drive back home and get it & while there, noticed hubby was still home. He forgot to shave! haha. Man, we are definately in serious need of vaca-time. We are losing it. Why isn't the province implementing a 4-day workweek?!

Am I gonna be ready once Keira starts her new summer day camp? I have to MAKE her lunches. Every. Day. Nutritious peanut/kiwi/strawberry-free snacks & meals must be provided. I'm in trouble.

What do you send your kids off to school with?

Wovenplay

Now these are play clothes Keira would luuuurve. Mostly the tutus, frilly dresses. Check it out here.

This is my super brave Keira when there's a thunder/lightning storm...

Father's Day Weekend

Finally got my new computer up and running. Takes a couple of days when you've got a kid or 2 around. Father's Day weekend started with a big feast yesterday with my moms and dad. We really had a great barbeque dinner. I don't know what the kids ate but boy, were they ever hyper!

I think if my dad were still alive today, he'd burst with pride with all his grandkids around. Of course, my dad was a real old style korean so...having 4 grandchildren who are boys... When he was alive though, he couldn't stop spoiling the girls either!

Let's see, 10 things that make my hubby an extra-special dad:
1. His ability to stay calm (very useful when Keira had colic & would scream for hours, in his arms!).
2. His sense of humour. He acts all goofy for Keira and makes her laugh her head off. Then she acts just like him. Oi.
3. His motto is: Just have fun. Why waste time cleaning up when you could be having fun?
4. He never ever complains or needs "his time" when he comes home. If Keira wants him to play "tea time" with her, he's up there in the playroom, pinky finger up and sipping warm water.
5. When there are ped days and no service de garde, he takes those days off from work (no questions asked) and then plans an itinerary of their days. Cool!
6. He makes her spaghetti just right!
7. He gives her "elephant" rides on his back (and he's pretty much the right height to do so!).
8. He brings her a special teddy with whatever city/place embroidered on it's belly when he returns home from a business trip. She loves that part!
9. Keira knows daddy will buy & let her eat her chocolat avec le caramel BEFORE lunch/dinner.
10. Keira calls for only daddy during the nights and he ALWAYS goes! He feels special she asks only for him during the nights. Hurray for me!

(just a bunch of random pics)

Thursday's Soundbite

Keira: "Mama! I want pop-scl!"
Me: "We don't have any!"
(pause)

Keira: "Mama! I want chocolat avec du caramel!"
Me: "We don't have any!"
(pause)

Keira: "Mama! I want.."
Me: "We don't have any!!"
(pause)

Keira: "So we have nah-ting?!!" (indignant)

We Picture This: Before & After Contest

Head on over to We Picture {This}: a mamarazzi photoblog  if you're a novice, amateur, professional photographer. I really love this site and all the photographer mamas there! Still tinkering with my camera settings but I thought this month's contest is really fun: A Before and After contest. With my trusty Photoshop, off I went!

Starting with last year, I've decided to create "movie posters" to dedicate to Keira's birthdays. Last year's poster, I realize now, seems a bit too grim (guess I was in that mood) so this time, I decided to lighten up. heehee! Maybe it's that transition of off-the-charts screaming-for-nothing that Keira was going through and now her total sweetness is there (at times, screaming-for-nothing shows up like an unwanted guest).

I downloaded some stock photography (gratis btw from stock.xchng) and spliced up the images using Photoshop & FluidMask. I added more flyaway hair using the brush tool, tweaked the colours etc etc. This is just the teaser poster. You'll have to wait for the real one later on! What do you think? Maybe I should have added Jim Carrey in the background.... lol.

Up!

I decided to bring Keira to see Up, the new Disney movie. I invited Keira's friend Ella to watch it with us in 3D. To be honest, the movie started off cool but I think it touched more adults than kids. Some so-so scary parts and some not-enough-action parts. I think Keira only got into the movie at the end when it was really evident of "good guys over bad guys". Anyways, who cares about the movie, we had a great day with our friends! Lunch, fun, naptime (well, not the gals) and then barbeque dinner! Hopefully we'll decide on our outdoor furniture so that next time, we can all eat outside... 

I love Keira's smile here, it's the real her...the one who gets all happy & excited she's with friends.

www.lomography.com

What?!

Yesterday I found Keira stuffing her t-shirt with tissue after tissue and patting down her chest. I asked her what she was doing and she responded: "this is for my boobies!"  Ai carumba!