First Snow

O the excitement of the first snow fall. C had to go outside and play in it even though very little had fallen.

Grandpa's Retirement

Last Saturday night, we went to visit my dad. As we sat around the table doing a puzzle, the conversation turned to retirement...

"I don't want grandpa to retire!"

"Why"

"Because he would run out of money."

"No he won't. He'll go live with Aunt B." (my sis has an in law setup that we hint about)

"That's not fair! Aunt B gets all the good people!" (...not sure who the other good people are...)

Under my breath..."She's making my dad's day"

"What does that mean? Grandpa doesn't want to live with Aunt B?"...turning to my dad..."You can live with us. We have a spare room...and it would be a lot less noisy." (my sis has 4 kids)

I couldn't help but notice the smile on my dad's face which warmed my heart...seeing my daughter fill my dad's love tank.

C's Treasure Box

A couple of weeks ago, C was given a treasure box assignment at school. She had to decorate a shoe box, place 5 special-to-her items in the box along with her published autobiography, and then give a 5 minute speech about her box, and its contents, on presentation day.

C and I brainstormed about ideas for decorating the box...paint it, wrap it...but the idea she liked best was to cover the box with pictures of herself. We went through photo albums, and digital pictures to find her favourites. It was an interesting task as she often rejected my favourites because she deemed the photo was too embarrassing to show her class mates. I couldn't convince her that at 18 months, diaper photos are not embarrassing. In the end, I was only able to convince her to allow me to OK any pictures she put of me on the box.

C picked out 6 things to put into the box: T-shirt from Old Navy with the words Break Dance on it (reminds her of her favourite hip hop band Manafest); her very first Webkinz; a picture of Georgina, her guinea pig; her softball medal; her Build-a-Bear (named after our last Irish homestay); and her lullaby (which we have to wind up every night when we tuck her in).

I think the best part of the project was her published autobiography.

Hi, my name is C. I live in Ontario. I live with my mom and dad. I also have a pet guinea pig. My dad's name is G. He was born and raised in S-town. My mom's name is Cheri. She was born and raised in B-town.

I like a lot of colours. They are pink, blue and lime green. I like to make crafts for my friends and other things too. My favourite holidays are Christmas and Easter. I like my birthday too. My birthday is July 5th.

My family likes to do stuff together. We like to watch movies and my mom reads me bedtime stories. We also have a Bible time. We like to go to my grandma and grandpa's trailer.

My family is special because my parents know what is best for me.

I read it and then had to ask her if she really wrote the last line as I wondered if it had been prompted by the teacher...but no, that was her idea. I think I might have to frame it.