the snapping game

Emora is so well taken care of by her older siblings. She gets scared by the sound of the vacuum, so Ivan covered her ears while I ran it today. Both he and Dominique were fighting over who could feed Emora at lunch. So many mommas.

Seems like I have another hacker in the family. I can barely type this with Emora trying to get to the keyboard. Fortunately my arms are longer. OK, she just grabbed the mouse! Did you know that infants have super power strength when they have something they don't want to let go of?

I can remember dad playing this game with me as a kid. Apparently it never grows old. Once he did this to me out of the blue when I was an adult. It was so strange, because immediately I felt as though I was about 5 years old again and squealed just like my kids do now. That is the closest I have ever come to time travel. It was very strange.

dad's snapping game




the VonMacLeod/Baggett family players

What thing can take you back to your childhood memories?

swimming

We are enjoying summer here. We have been going to the pool, visiting friends, going on bike rides and going to special library programs. At the last minute, I decided to sign the kids up for swim lessons. I am subbing this week, so I'm up at the YMCA anyways and I get a huge discount being on staff. I've been trying to teach the kids on my own, but kids don't always listen as good to mom as they do to other teachers. We had to totally bribe Ivan who had decided he didn't want to go, he was too shy and would not do anything. I tried everything I could think of to help him change his attitude. I think all our other tactics helped, but the one that drove it home was the promise of a donut if he was good. I am delighted to say that they love it and are doing great- learning lots I haven't showed them and reinforcing what I had.

We had wonderful experiences in Saskatoon too. Here are videos from our time at the Kinsmen park. I remember being on these rides as a kid!

merry-go-round


dad's interview

Sakatoon Jazz festival

auntie and nephew dance
There were hundreds of people at the Jazz festival in Saskatoon the day we went. Some brave, carefree souls were dancing in front of the bandstand and on lookers. It was such a joyful atmosphere. About 20 seconds after we had found a spot and Ivan figured out that it was a sit down and listen affair, he pipes in with "when is it our turn to dance". His obliging, wonderful, loving aunt immediately scooped him up and twirled him off his feet (literally). Have I mentioned that I have an awesome sister? Ivan just soaked up all the fun and love. Before long, it became a cousins dance and sibling dance. I just love how kids respond so enthusiastically to music. One of our routine activities is listening to CDs or the radio.

we dance with Emora


cousins and auntie dance

What is your favorite kind of music?

Brian likes classic rock and Jazz, I like the rock I grew up with (80s and 90s). The kids like everything! They think Bach, Beethoven, Vivaldi... are all called Little Einstein.

Growing up

It's always funny to see how toddlers and even babies see themselves as so grown up. I guess this never changes through teenagehood either. The kids think they are so big and a walking baby will call a non-walking baby "a baby". Do I have everyone confused yet? Here is a case in point:


At the same time, these children really are advanced beyond what we imagine most of the time. They are learning to talk and understand long before they have words to communicate. It's so fun to interact with Emora. She will make a noise and I'll make it back to her, then she will laugh and laugh and do it again. You can just tell that she understands that we are playing a game. Ivan and Dominique amaze me constantly with things they have learned without us making an effort to teach it to them. They just pick up things naturally through observation. It's hilarious to me what exactly they pick up and to what extent. In this video the kids are telling each other how to take a picture and while their camera no longer works, they even finish off the photo session by "looking" at the picture and commenting "awww, how cute!" I guess we say that a lot!

video archives from our trip

I started working on uploading videos from the trip... so prepare to be inundated. Ivan and Dominique saw a snippet of the movie Anne of Green Gables while in Canada, which of course is a huge Canadian icon. I had never shown it to them since I thought it wouldn't keep their interest, but I guess I was wrong. Ivan is interested for sure and calls it "Green Anne of Gables". You have to admit that the title is a little daunting. Of course the kids like all the slapstick- when she died her hair green, when she fell in the well and when she sinks a boat. They like to retell these scenes over and over.


on the sky train in Dallas. We were also on many airplanes, an underground train, escalators and moving sidewalks... all of which were entertaining and exciting especially compared to the 28 hour drive back home!


running wild

Ivan ran this loop over and over until his sister and little cousin decided to give it a whirl as well.

funnies

Ivan has been battling a stomach bug since we got back. He missed out on swimming at Dominique's party- which was a HUGE disappointment for him. But I promised him we'd swim this week as soon as he was feeling better. Yesterday was the first day he seemed to be eating a bit more like normal, so I asked him "do you have your appetite back?" Without missing a beat, he countered with "only my sausage biscuit appetite". Later in the day, he informed me the he didn't have his supper appetite back. Nice try Ivan! You WILL eat supper foods (some day).

The other day, Dominique let out a big sigh and glumly said "I want my birthday back".

We went to the library Tues. and the librarian counted 40 dots with them in a book at which point Dominique stated: "that was TOO much" and Ivan countered "yeah, my mouth is all tired".

on our walk

Some sweet moments from our walk in Ft. Qu'appelle.


I caught these girls holding hands- everyone one together now- AAWWW! Just goes to show that sisterly love can transcend teenagehood. It may have helped that they hadn't seen each other in many days and that it was Moira's birthday.

Saskatoon berry picking- or should I say eating!

Floral bounty

I don't usually post scenery pictures, but with all the gorgeous flowers and the powers of our new camera, I couldn't resist. These were taken in my cousin's yard! The Tiger lily is Saskatchewan's provincial flower. Then we went for a walk in the hills overlooking the valley and Victoria made herself a wreath of wild prairie flowers. She did not include the wild prairie lilies that we spotted. We had to make ourselves down a bit of an incline to get a picture of ourselves with these.



What is your favorite flower? What is blooming where you live right now?

cousins

We got to visit with my cousins in Ft.Qu'appelle Saskatchewan where beauty abounds unbeknownst to many a Saskatchewanian. I grew up in the province of vast prairie and endless sky, never guessing that a few hours from my childhood home was nestled away this little area of hills, lakes, and trees so unlike the rest of Southern Saskatchewan.

I made other surprising discoveries. I think it was always common knowledge that Ian was my craziest cousin. But here he is photographed with his wife Janet and family- so serene and normal looking. Very nice. I noticed with this picture that none of the Koops (his sister's family) were featured here. As I looked back over our computer's library overstuffed with picture's I found these gems. There are more, but I could only post so many: the parents,


the older girls and the youngest daughter taking a pause to "smile" while roughhousing her uncle, the former crazy one. Do tell, who appear to be the wild ones now? Admitedly however, pictures can betray one's true character. I think Ivan was actually trying to tease Arwen here, but doesn't it look like he is trying to steal a kiss?

Canoeing, fishing and beach time!

I am writing this on Dominique's birthday. We enjoyed her pool party at the YMCA. I loved not having to clean up and of coming back to a peaceful home. Once back, we got the birthday girl all dressed up in her princess outfit- (one of her gifts) and she, Ivan and Nana played Perfection- a timed puzzle game she also got. After a bit, it got all quiet. Everyone had fallen asleep. Brian got up and told me to come see the living room. There, in all sorts of interesting configurations were Emora, Dominique (in princess attire), Ivan and Nana passed out on the floor. I think Papa had found a bed. Ah, this is what Saturdays are made for.

So, back to our tales of Saskatchewan. Ivan and Dominique did get their long awaited wish of going canoeing and fishing. They were out for about an hour with Uncle Mike and Brian. I stayed on the beach with Emora, my cousin Ian and his son Kellen. The kids were so excited and enjoyed every minute out on the lake. They have deemed this their ultimate favorite part of being in Canada.
Funny story from our beach time. Ivan and Dominique wanted to find sea shells. They came running to me to show me their discoveries. Can you tell what they are? They were sunflower seed shells! I snapped the picture and told them to drop them and quick go wash their hands! Yuck.