Quiet Weekend

The girls have spent the weekend recovering from their illnesses. Jessica did have a rough night on Thursday, but other than a reduced appetite she was back to normal on Friday. Emily got the worst of it, that's for sure. From Thursday afternoon until Saturday night, she was either lying on the couch or in her bed, drifting in and out of sleep. She barely ate anything during that time either, maybe just a couple of noodles. We took her to an after-hours clinic on Saturday afternoon, but the doctor said it was just a normal virus that would run its course (which was a relief, because we started worrying that it was pneumonia or something more serious!). Sadly we had to cancel our weekend plans, which included a birthday party for one of Emily's classmates, as well as a gathering at our house with Steve's family. Instead we had a quiet weekend of snuggling on the couch, watching tv (and worrying). Emily started feeling better today. She had enough energy to walk around and play, and she even insisted on going to my parents' for Sunday lunch. She ate a few servings of noodles and cheese. I'm glad everyone's health is on its way back up -- let's hope it stays that way!

Yet Again

Just when we thought we were in the clear, sickness has hit our house again! We have been catching one bug after another since the beginning of February and the end is still not in sight. The girls and I just got over colds that we caught before/during March break, and now Emily came home early today because of a major headache and mild fever.

She didn't have a great sleep last night so we thought it might just be fatigue, but she was miserable all afternoon/evening and quickly fell asleep before 7pm.

Meanwhile Jessica was complaining of a tummy ache around supper time, though we figured she was either hungry or needed to visit the bathroom. Eventually she asked to go lie down in her bed and requested the 'puke bucket' as well...

Not puking here -- just pretending!

I honestly thought she was faking it (she would dry cough into the bucket every once in a while), until 10 minutes later when her whole supper came up. Poor girl! She was asleep by the time I got back from cleaning her bucket.   

We're in for some long nights... yet again!

My Art

Three Teapots
Charcoal, Drawn in class

Today I had my last art class! It's been a fun and busy 10 weeks. I've learned a lot and have definitely noticed improvements in my art throughout the class. Best of all, it's inspired me to continue to make art, improve my skills, and potentially build a career in the field. I still have a lot to learn, but I'm excited to dive in and practice, practice, practice!

Here are my favourite drawings and paintings from the course. Note that to get these on the computer I took pictures of them, but then they looked all gray and washed out. I used the Auto Contrast in Photoshop to try to fix it and now the pictures look a lot better than the actual drawings (apologies for the slight deception!).

The drawings below are all in graphite, and the paintings are all acrylic. The assignments were mostly still life compositions, with a few portraits and one landscape. If a signature is missing it's because it's been cropped out by the photograph!

Self portrait

Our final drawing assignment was my favourite: drawing textures on a box. I had a lot of fun with this and was really happy with the results!

Wood, hair, rope, steel

Glass, grass, wicker, rock

Brick, Microfiber couch, aluminum foil, fabric & buttons

Feathers, rock, dripping paint (unfinished)

Painting was a whole new experience for me. I had a love-hate relationship going on, where I enjoyed the process and results, but got stumped and frustrated many times, especially when it came to mixing colours. Luckily the assignments were just 1-2 paintings per week.

This next painting isn't really a favourite, but it's pretty entertaining:

Attempt at a self portrait, Acrylic

Portrait of Steve in the works

 And the artist herself:

Nathalie Paul

Oh no! More Snow!

It isn't looking much like spring around here... Though the wet flurries didn't stop these two from having some fun outside this afternoon.

Racing to Daddy

Ready... set... go!

Talking to Jessi about races

(She gets so mad when she doesn't win)

We have a couple more cold days ahead of us, but hopefully it's spring weather from then on!

4-6 Year Checkup

We've been taking it really easy this March Break. Playing around the house, visiting the library, and attempting a walk at Lemoine's Point (which only lasted one minute because it was too cold and windy).

Breakfast & TV

1-minute walk

The only 'major' item on the calendar this week was Emily's 4-6 year checkup! We took her to the doctor today to update her stats and vaccinations. The last time Emily had needles was when she was 18 months old (and she hated it), so we were curious how she would handle things today. She was clearly nervous, but stayed calm throughout the whole appointment and only whimpered and cried "ow!" when the shots were being administered. Hooray! Hard to believe there was once a time when Emily would just cry through her entire appointments...

Waiting

Getting reacquainted with our nurse

Jessica checking out "the pee" 

Our doctor has this 3D diagram of a bladder -- the girls have always loved it. They like to touch the (plastic) pee.

The Pee

We put some topical anesthetic cream on Emily's thighs an hour before her needles in the hopes that it would ease the pain. Maybe it worked?

All smiles with her cream/bandages

Checkup from the doctor

Jessica had a blast hanging out in the doctor's office. She was climbing, jumping, and twirling all over the place. Ha!

Hulky pillow there to help 

Getting ready for the needles!!

Happy because she gets to pick two Avengers stickers!

Emily is 45 inches tall and weighs 36 lbs. Tall and thin, as usual! Doctor said she seems healthy and well. Hooray for growing up!