Nathalieland Update - Golf/School/Stickers/Beets

Golf Outing. We hit the aquatic driving range with the girls on the weekend. It was mostly fun for Daddy and Mommy. The girls enjoyed it for a few minutes, but got bored after they realized they couldn't hit the ball hard enough to reach the water. They eventually just amused themselves by running up and down a nearby hill.

 

The last time we were at this driving range was last October when the kids were 3 and 18 months!

October 20, 2012

Back to School. I don't think I've mentioned this on my blog yet, but Emily is not the only one going to school this fall! Steve applied and was accepted into teacher's college here at Queen's University. It's a one-year program and when he graduates he'll be qualified to teach high school math and chemistry. It's exciting, but it's going to be quite the adjustment having Steve gone most days for classes/practicums. On one day he has classes from 8:30am - 6:00pm and four days a week he won't be home for supper! We sure are going to miss our Daddy.

Stickers Anyone? If anyone needs stickers, just come on over! The girls are giving them out like crazy :).

Beets. I love beets! My parents have lots growing in their garden so when I was given a few fresh beets I went in search of a yummy beet recipe. I successfully roasted them (for the first time) using Bobby Flay's simple recipe, then made a Beet and Goat Cheese salad with this recipe. Delicious!

Sisterhood - 26 Months In

Time for a recap of Emily and Jessica's sibling relationship! I always love looking at old posts and seeing what their relationship was like at 6 months, 10 months, 14 months, 18 months, and 22 months. Amazing how quickly things can grow and change.

6 months

10 months

14 months

18 months

22 months

26 months

- Emily and Jessica's relationship continues to grow stronger. They really enjoy each other's company and now play together for long periods of time. There are even times when they would prefer to play together without their parents. Gasp!

- Although they love each other, the girls get into a few spats per day, especially over the last couple of weeks. Their fights usually consist of Emily yelling or grabbing and Jessica grabbing or biting. By the end of it they are usually both in tears. What causes the fights? Usually it's someone getting too close (in someone's space), or one sister not following the other's directions. They make up pretty quickly after Mommy and Daddy revise/discuss the situation. They always say they're sorry.

- Emily has definitely placed herself in a leadership role. She loves to dictate their play, decide how/what they are doing, and teach Jessica various things. Luckily Jessica is easy going and enjoys being led. Emily gets pretty upset on those few occasions when Jessica does not want to follow along.

- Emily has discovered a clever trick for getting Jessica to give up a toy when Emily wants it. Instead of asking for the toy, Emily will go find another toy and excitedly ask Jessi: "would you like to play with this toy??". It almost always works! If Jessica doesn't answer her usual "ok!", then Emily will ask how many more minutes Jessi wants with the toy, knowing that Jessica always says "2 minutes". After 2 minutes, it's Emily's turn! Poor Jessica doesn't quite see what's happening yet.

- Again, the list of nicknames they have for each other is ever growing. They almost never use their real names (unless they're talking to strangers).

- Their food preferences are quite different. While Emily loves parmesan cheese, noodles, cereal, and kiwis, Jessica does not. Jessica loves a number of foods that Emily will not touch: bananas, oranges, Granny Smith apples, cherries, black/blue/raspberries, carrots, cereal bars, pistachios, yogurt, ketchup, peanut butter, and toast. Even their preferences in cheeses are different: Emily likes chewy mozzarella or marble cheddar; Jessica likes cheese curds and hard extra mild cheddar. Jessica's definitely a more adventurous eater while Emily is about as picky as they get. Common loves include strawberries, chocolate, and batter!

- Activities they do together on a daily basis include drawing, puzzles, Legos, stickers, watching videos, and playing in Mommy and Daddy's room.

- I'm not actually sure what the effect of Emily's activities (gymnastics, soccer, school readiness) has had on Jessica. I can't tell if she really misses Emily, whether she wishes she could go with her, or whether she just enjoys having Mommy/Daddy all to herself. Maybe she's still too young to fully grasp the idea of sissy being gone for an extended amount of time and how to express her feelings about it.

Watching sissy play soccer

"Shopping for plants and dirt is SO boring, Mommy"

- I can't believe how much I love my two little girls and how much joy it brings me to see them together. It is wonderful to see that they know they have each other, especially when Mommy and Daddy are busy. I hope they continue to love and get to know each other. I'm curious to see how Jessica will react when Emily's gone all day for school.

Silly Girls

Jessica bathing in a bucket

Emily playing with a huge (dead) bug!

Powershot Photos

It's rare that I grab my point-and-shoot Canon Powershot over my big DSLR camera. But on some days, it's either completely impractical to have my big camera or I just forget to bring it along. The main problem with my Powershot (other than a lower quality picture) is that I rarely download those pictures and often forget they even exist. Not today! Here is my Powershot "photo dump" of our latest adventures -- definitely worth having them on the blog.

Emily doing gymnastics with Mommy

June 10th, 2013

 

Catching tadpoles at Lemoine's Point

 June 12th, 2013

Afternoon at the beach (Dog Lake)

July 22, 2013

A relaxing family day at the beach: