Oink!

We licked the cookie batter off the beater.

We TOTALLY cleaned up the bowl.

Upon starting on the beater for the icing we asked......

"mama.....can I be a piggy pig again some day?"

Cast Out

A new bedtime routine

has begun in our house.

It involves casting out of her room,

each and every night

a select few.

There is not rhyme or reason to this.

No way of knowing who it is going to be.

Every night, someone new.

We are given strict instructions on where to place them.

Usually, 

on the couch,

or on the kitchen counter.

This is tonight's collection of misfits,

in no particular order.

Kiwi....Baby....George...Jessie.

Two of her all time favourites.

I am waiting for the day

that I can figure out exactly what goes through her head.

In the mean time,
I am keeping company with this lot tonight.

Candy Floss

Sofia loves the PINK stuff!

She has, ever since she first tasted it.

We promised her on our annual trip to Great America 

that she could have some......

IF,

they had it.

And

IF,

we didn't hear too much begging for it.

Well,

we turned the corner

and this little voice pipes up.....

"I smell something!"

Apparently, she has a nose for it,

because sure enough.......

More Eggs in the PM

This child dyed more eggs this Easter

than ever before.

Coloring eggs with Grandma Jean....

.....and Papa!

This is what happens when you don't use a spoon.

Okay.......something's funny :-)

More beauties.

We tested the new game in Grandma Jean's pool.

Can't wait for it to be warm enough to test it out for real.

Maybe this weekend.

Beautiful Easter girl.

She picked this outfit out herself.

And finally, for Sofia, there is not a day that could end any better than with a bath, pj's and a book snuggling up with Papa.

Life is pretty good for this wee one.

Eggs in the Morning

There is nothing like fresh eggs in the morning

or so I've heard.

Not a big fan of the egg thing myself.

Never have been.

But these two

sure make eggs a whole lot more appealing.

Only one casualty too!

Beautiful!

The Hunt

Buckets were waiting.

There were eggs hidden everywhere....

and I mean....

EVERYWHERE!!

Two of the cutest kids arrived...

.....and hunted high,

and low.

Their buckets got fuller,

and fuller,

until there was nothing left to do,

but find a perfect spot,

and dig in.

Sick Day

Let me start this post by saying that Sofia is not a very sick child.

I can probably count on two hands the number of days I have had to take off work to take care of her. And that is not too bad for a kid who spends three days a week around a whole bunch of other kids and their own little greeblie germs.

She is a real trooper when she is not feeling her tip top best.

So, on Thursday, when I went to drop her off at school, she had a fever and I decided, given tax season is over, to take her home (well, she actually came into my office for 2 1/2 hours so I could get some essentials done). 

But after that, it was ALL Sofia and Mama.

Sofia got this princess fort building kit for Christmas, so what else could we do while the sheets were in the wash, but build a magic, feel better fort.

We spent hours in here....

reading

chatting

resting

rearranging

snuggling

hanging with her "friends"

It worked.

She's feeling great again.

Back Peddling

I have been shockingly bad about keeping up with this blog.

But since it is refusing to really and truly turn into Spring around here,

I figured I could still get in some photos of some of our Winter fun.

This was Sofia's all time favourite event on our trip up to the snow.

She ditched the sled  and opted for some good old bum sliding down the hill.

Lily and Sofia

We are so lucky to have a little group of Guat kiddos and their parents

who meet every couple of months....

somewhere

so the kids can play together,

and the mom's can compare stories about their feisty (for yes, that fire seems to be a common trait) tots.

It is nice to be able to chat

with people who have a shared experience,

and the same questions about adoption

that swirl about in my head all the time.

Every time we meet it seems that the kids have grown

and changed.....probably 'cause they have :-)

And this particular time,

maybe because it has been a few months since we attended one of these gatherings,

the big people were actually able to sit and visit with each other

and the kids were content, for the most part, to do their own thing.

Sofia was most excited to see her friend Lilyana.

These two are like chalk and cheese....

and yet somehow it doesn't seem to matter how long it has been since they have seen each other

and they fall into step

and become goofy, giggly, silly girls.

I love that they have this bond.

And I really hope that they can keep some form of it for,

as Sof would say,

a long, long, long, long,

LONG time.

This little game they had going on I was pretty sure was going to end in disaster....

but it didn't.

They look so much older in this photo than their 4 and 5 years.

This is where I get a glimpse of them at 13 and 14.

Goofballs.

I couldn't get a serious photo of them.

This is what I got when I asked for just one photo with a smile.

Goofballs again!!

This one was hilarious.

They were walking around the playground with their "walking sticks" saying

"we are the grandma's"

Happiness is having a friend who will just sit with you

and shoot the breeze

(oh yeah.....and have bark fights, and grass fights, and stick fights).

They are oh so cute.....

but feisty

remember?