The news in Fingal

Here's what's been happening around our house this week:

1 - This is nothing new, in fact, I often find Emily sitting in this exact spot multiple times each day, playing on her favourite website, Boowa and Kwala. I don't mind too much. Each game is educational and when I'm busy with Jacob or household chores she usually sneaks onto the computer.

2 - The porch has been poured and the forms are off. It will have some finishing touches in the spring, and we might even get the roof up before the end of the year. For now, the kids LOVE running up and down the smooth concrete, and on a rainy day it's perfect for puddle jumping.
3- Jacob has found a new favourite way to bathe. Why sit up, when you can lay down? Each night he now lays around in the tub, usually humming 'twinkle twinkle', or picking things up with his feet and passing them to his hands.
And this is the result of laying down in bubbles....and being a goof, in general.4 - We found out Jacob LOVES leeks. Gross, right?? But he loves em. He walked around for about 20 minutes one night munching on a leek. Yuck. And his breath that night? Well, I'm glad he sleeps alone.

5- Emily is resourceful. This is how I found her colouring her Sunday school page. When I asked her what she was doing on the table, she said that the cat was attacking her feet (something that can be quite painful, I know!), so she climbed on the table and kept colouring. Smart.
And that's that. We also put our tree up today, but now that almost all the decorations are on the floor instead of on the tree, I'm too frustrated to blog about it. Maybe once I come up with a better plan on how to keep the cat out, and the toddler from touching, I'll post our tree. But don't hold your breath.

An Emily Update

Sometimes I feel that Jacob gets all the attention - the profile pictures, the small-talk conversation, and the last blog update was all about him. So... here's a little about his big sister.

Emily is now 3.5, but she's our "old soul". She uses phrases like "that's the cat's meow" and "good golly". She would rather drink milk or water over juice or coolaid.

She's very logical, and will obey her parents if she feels it's the right thing to do. Luckily, she is fairly well behaved and we don't have any unusual rules, so that works out okay. However, that leaves "because mom said so" out of our vocabulary, because she just won't accept it. If you reason it out to her why, say, it's not nice to hit your brother, or it's important to clean up the mess you made, then it's all good.

Emily asks ALOT of questions. Although this is very common for this age, Emily asks some pretty tricky ones. Like "why is that river, a river? how did it get there". The whole "because God made the earth and He wanted to put a river there" answer doesn't fly. She knows God created the earth and everything on it, but she wants to know how exactly that river was formed. Was it always there? etc etc etc. She makes me realize just how much I don't know!
She asks questions that we, as adults, know the answers to, but to articulate it to a child is incredibly hard. Like "what is a cloud made out of?" or "why do some eggs stay eggs, but other eggs turn into tiny chicks?"
By the end of each day my mind is exhausted.

Emily also has an incredible memory. Don't think you can tell her something and she'll ever forget you said it. This can be a blessing and a curse. Emily can write almost every letter in the alphabet, she knows all their sounds, and can count to 30. She can spell her name, her best friend's name, and about 5 other words, all from memory. Unfortunately, however, she can also remember the lyrics to a black eyed peas song that's playing in the superstore while we shop. She only has to hear it one time to pick it up.

Emily is the best of both worlds. She loves pink and purple, frilly dresses, and high heeled shoes. She also loves worms, dirt, and dump trucks. As long as she's not wearing her pink, frilly dress and high heeled shoes while playing in the dirt with worms, I'm happy.

Emily loves to cuddle and be affectionate. If I sit down for one minute, she is right beside me plastered to my side. She loves to do things together, even if it's just watching a movie. She loves to have books read to her and she loves to snuggle in bed after daddy goes to work in the morning. She wears her heart on her sleeve and can have her feelings hurt very easily.

Emily is not a good sleeper. Never has been, and probably never will be. She has slept through the night a handful of times since birth. She is still up 2 or 3 times each night, needing to go to the bathroom, wanting to be tucked in, or crying from a nightmare. I'm so very, very blessed that Jacob is a fantastic sleeper and usually sleeps 12 hours straight.

Emily came into our lives with a bang. My pregnancy was uncomfortable, her birth was horrible, her infancy was a nightmare, and her toddlers years a trial. She is still a handful, but is growing up into an intelligent, caring, empathetic young girl. We have 'grown up' conversations all the time, and she is quickly becoming my friend. She is a blessing from God, one that I am truly thankful for, and never take for granted.

little miss mitzi

We were a little hesitant to keep one of the kittens. We had a cat when we were first married, and she only lasted about 6 months before she went to live on my friend's farm. I don't like litter boxes, the smell of cat food, and someone in this house HATES hair on his clothes (and it's not Jacob). So when we found the kittens in our barn and knew Emily would die if we didn't keep one, we were a little stressed.

But, so far, so good. Justin devised a hole-in-the-wall system that lets the cat go in to the basement to use the litterbox, but keeps the kids out of the basement (and the smell out of the rest of the house). She eats only dry food, which is covered by an upside down diaper box with a hole in the side. Jacob hasn't figured out that there is food under the box and all he'd have to do is move it..... good thing he's cute, eh???

And the kids are LOVING the cat. She's their favourite play thing. Although Emily and Mitzi have a love/hate relationship (Mitzi loves Emily until Emily bothers her, and Emily loves Mitzi until she scratches her) but it's mostly love.
I don't mind when she curls up on my lap at night and purrs while I read or watch TV. And I even catch Justin playing with her and petting her sometimes (but don't tell him I told you ;)

Mitzi and Jacob share very similar interests. They both loves balls and things that move.I think she's going to fit in just fine.

How do YOU do this dishes??

crazy kittens

Our playroom seems suddenly smaller now that 6 kittens - yes, SIX kittens - are calling it home. We reluctantly decided to bring in the kittens so that they wouldn't freeze in the barn, and so that they would be a little more people friendly. There are only 5 kittens in this picture, since Mitsy was basking in the sun in the living room :)
They have been TEMPORARILY named: Mopsy, Flopsy, Pumpkin, Whiskers, and Sunshine. I'll let you guess who named them. We will NOT be keeping any of them. We only have three left to find homes for - so HURRY and claim your cat before they're all gone. Yah, right :)