Mother's Day 2012

Mother's Day was extra special this year!  Shae is old enough to be excited about the secret things she makes for me at daycare - and that ramps up the whole day, since we're both excited to see what she's created.

This year, Mike helped her hide my gift in the garage on Thursday, when he picked her up from daycare (I was out of town).  On Saturday, he told me NOT to look in the cabinet in the garage Sunday morning.

So first thing that morning I exclaimed, "Shae, it's Mother's Day today!"

Shae, hesitantly, "But I can't show you anything, right?"

I said, "Um, I think you CAN show me stuff today."
 

Shae, suspiciously, "Let's ask Penny." (daycare provider)

I was in stitches at this point - it was sooooo cute how secretive she was being!
 

Me, impatient and being very sneaky, "I just talked to Penny.  She said it was okay to show me something on Mother's Day."

So she got a BIG grin and whispered, "Its in the garage! Come on!"

So we went out to the garage and she showed me the cabinet. Inside was a potted begonia, a necklace she made me (those foam flowers with metallic paints - It's HUGE - and I wore it to the zoo all day), some cookies, and a hand print plaque! Penny did so much with her! So cute!

We spent the balance of the day at the zoo, enjoying each other.  We saw a peacock in full regalia, a wee goose family, and Shae proved herself a grown up by riding the camel on her own.  A wonderful day.

400940595309 Days, One Post

This has been one amazing spring, but before I tell you, I MUST preserve this photo forever, immediately.  It lasted about 5 seconds after this photo... but there's some hair play happening over here.

We had our first cold of 2012, so with indoor sick days, we have indoor "make your own fun":

We were still sick but we headed out to Glenaura Farm to hang out with Andrea, Chris and Hanna along with a pile of other families for some Spring Fling fun:

Mike and Shae

Egg Races!

Fishing

Hanna and Shae - vegetating

Mike, luring Shae to the Sack Race.... (fail)

With a little help from the neighbor's tiller, and some slave labour (Mike), I turned the old garden, grass seeded most of it, and will plant the rest with vegetables:

And... we have already had to break out the sprinkler for some sun relief:

My favorite post play pic:

I just love her face in this one... :)

And her gorgeous smile:

New Fun

So, Shae has been spending a LOT of time trying to lick her own nostril.  See below:

Not quite there yet.

Such a STRANGE hobby right? 

Well, yes.

But it's not her fault.  She's picked it up from Mike, the aforementioned man I've been busy falling in love with.  You can see what has drawn me to him in this photo:

In other news - the garden is coming along.  Now, note, I'm SHRINKING the garden to the one corner, and merely tilled the rest of the garden to level and seed it.   This will NOT be all garden.  And that's our "new to us" swingset in the foreground!  Just need to figure out how to make it NOT tippy when Shae swings on it... suggestions?

Oh Yeah! I blog!

Ah frig, I'm the commitment phobe-iest commitment phobe ever there EVER was... even for blogging I guess!

Is it because Shae and I stopped doing things and talking to each other?  No. 

For one, I can't find my freaking camera.  For two, I was terribly busy falling in love.  For three, it's ridiculously annoying to email individual pics off my Blackberry to myself, so that I can post them.  But I have done it.  Just not any from April.. I even gave up on phone pics. 

Here's a few photos of our March... note the SUMMER clothes!  Crazy!  It hasn't been shorts weather since, but BBQ season is in full swing.  And my baby got her first bike.

March Break

Our beloved daycare is closed this week... so Shae is repeating the week she spent at Gramma's house again.  This time, she assured me she did NOT want to go to Gramma's house without me.... because she LOVES me.  My mom guilt almost crippled me - visualise how the Wicked Witch of the East's legs curl and shrivel after Dorothy removes her ruby slippers... those were my legs as I walked away from my perfectly content 3 year old on Sunday.  I barely made it to the car.  But a single momma's gotta do what she's gotta do... and sometimes, we need back up plans.

Despite her protestations leading up to her week, by all accounts she is well.  In addition to spending quality time with Uncle Shane, Gramma, Gigi and three whole days with her Poppah, her favorite people in the whole world, she's being showered with Barbie movies and Smarties.  In fact, when I call and talk to her, she asks to hang up after about 3 minutes.  I'm not sure what I'll end up having to buy her love back with...

I'm very proud of her.  And only a little weepy.

Dress Up

Watching Shae make believe is probably my favorite part of observing Shae's development.  Often, she's regurgitating conversations she's had in a day, and projecting it onto Barbie.  Sometimes, she's just making it up as she goes along.  I've seen her use play as an opportunity to "be the boss" of someone, in a  way she's not in her everyday life dealing with so many adults.

No matter what she's doing, she does it with earnest.  Make believe is very serious work.

Today, Shae and her friend Jacob spent some time make believing and playing dress up in her room.  When they came out for the big reveal, they moved slowly, held hands, and had shy smiles on their faces.  You could tell, they felt good about their choices.

And because make believe is so serious, when I asked them to say cheese, so that I could take a picture of the "bride and groom", all laughter left their faces and their faces reflected just how serious they were.

I fell MADLY in love with this photo.  And deeper in love with my kid and her childhood.

Yes!

Life is clearly awesome at our house today: