Happy 5th Birthday, Nathalieland!

My little blog just turned five years old. Time for a new background!

While I imagine my blogging will decrease over the next few years, I will always cherish and enjoy looking back on the posts I've written. It's been a wonderful way to capture it all!

January 2010

January 2011

January 2012, 2013

January 2014

And here are the annual statistics:

Total blog posts published: 934
Total page views: 90, 035

Thanks for reading!

Nathalieland Update - Milestones/Allowance/Piercing/Drawing

Diaper-Free House. We are officially done with diapers in this house! A couple of weeks ago Jessica decided on her own that she wanted to wear underpants at night. She had accidents the first couple of nights, but refused my offer of a diaper on the third night. Since then she's been doing great, and I'm thrilled to be putting away the diapers after 5.5 years!

Allowance. After Christmas the girls started asking a lot about purchases and money, so Steve and I decided it was time for them to start 'managing' some money. Since the start of the new year they've been getting an allowance of $2 per week. It's cute to see them keep track of how much money they have and plan their purchases. This past week both girls made their first purchases with their own money -- a bracelet and ring for Jessica and a stuffy for Emily. The best part is now any time they ask for something at a store (which is usually junk they don't need), we just refer back to their allowance and tell them that they can buy it themselves when they've saved up enough money.

Cleaning The Piercing. If someone had told Jessica that after getting her ears pierced she would have to clean the piercing three times a day for six weeks, she might not have gotten it done! It's been three weeks and she still complains about having them cleaned. It has improved somewhat since the first few days (Steve used to have to pin her down and hold her arms/legs), but I know she'll be very happy when these next three weeks are up.

A Drawing A Day. My art course is going well! We've had three classes so far and I'm learning about shapes, lines, perspective, and value. And I've been getting lots of practice in my drawing. Though with the homework of one drawing every day (so 15 now to date), each drawing taking me about an hour to complete, it's not leaving me with much time for other hobbies (such as blogging! and reading!). It's a good thing I'm enjoying the process of making the art.

Jessica is often my companion during my 'drawing assignments',

making her own art 

Sisterhood - 44 Months In

Emily and Jessica's sibling relationship hasn't changed much over the last six months, but it's always nice to keep track and collect a few pictures of them together. Here is what they're up to:

- They are still best friends, they love each other very much, and they play really well together.

- Jessica still insists that they will marry each other when they're older (I think Emily is having second thoughts). Jessica casually told this to my dental hygienist last week, explaining that she and Emily already know so much about each other. Hilarious!

-  Some things that Emily and Jessica enjoy doing together: playing outside, colouring, playing with (and trading) stuffed toys, and most recently, watching Mommy and Daddy play Mario Bros Wii.
 

- One major difference between these two sisters is that Jessica is really into feminine things like nail polish, lip gloss, earrings, accessories, dresses, etc, whereas Emily doesn't care much for any of it.

- Emily is already excited at the thought of Jessica going to school with her in the Fall. She excitedly tells Jessica all the details -- like how they'll get to see each other at recess. I'll bet having a big sister at school will help with the transition!

- I asked the girls a couple of questions for their Sisterhood post. Funny the answers they come up with:

Q: What do you like best about your sister?
E: That she's my sister.
J: That she has blue eyes.

Q: Is there anything your sister does that makes you angry/sad?
E: I don't like it when Jessi doesn't stop but I ask her to stop.
J: When she doesn't make a noise but I want her to make a noise.

Q: What is your favourite thing to do together?
E: Colour.
J: Play Snakes and Ladders. (Note: they haven't played this game in months, and I'm pretty sure that when they did, Emily quit because Jessica was getting upset about losing. Ha!) 

- These girls are too cute for words!

Snow Angel

Memory Lane: Vancouver 2008

In May 2008, Steve and I travelled to Vancouver, BC. This was my first time visiting western Canada and I have to admit that I fell in love! We stayed there for a week and spent a lot of time admiring the beauty of the city.

Streets lined with cherry blossoms

Cherry blossom head

Steve's uncle Dennis lived in Vancouver at the time, so we met up with him a few times during our stay. Dennis was a fantastic tour guide! We went on a ferry ride to Granville Island to visit the market, walked around the city's west end, and biked around the perimeter of Stanley Park. Lots of great ways to enjoy the city.

 

Self portrait while I biked :)

Let's not forget the purpose of the trip: poker, as usual. Steve played in a tournament held at the River Rock Casino Resort. I spent a day sitting on the sidelines while Steve worked away...

Where's Steve?

(À la Where's Waldo?)

He was out of the tournament by the end of the first day, which was just fine by me because it meant we had more time for exploring the city. At the end of our trip Dennis took us on a walk inside Stanley Park and out for a round of golf at the Pitch & Putt.

  

The "classic" Nathalieland header picture! From this trip!

(Thanks Uncle Dennis for taking so many lovely shots of us)

We enjoyed our time in the city of Vancouver so much that we revisited it three months later on our honeymoon.

Next up on Memory Lane: Orange County & Las Vegas 2008

Emily's New Classroom

At the start of the new year, Emily's class moved into their newly-renovated Kindergarten classroom. Today they hosted an Open House so that all the parents could come and see their new space.

Before we left Jessica had to admire her straightened (for the first time!) hair. What a cutie!

 

Kindergarten portraits at the door

Emily

 

So happy to see us!

Emily was excited to show us around. She showed us the coatroom and her cubby, then gave Jessica a personal tour (especially of the toys).

Emily's cubby

 

The open house ended with songs and a dance from the kids. The new classroom is a beautiful place; I'm sure Jessica will enjoy being there in September!