The Rescue

Okay adventure doesn't describe how today went, total and utter chaos is more like it.  Thursday is my kindergarten volunteer day, so off I went to the school this morning after Mylee was dragging her behind. She made it just as her class went in to the school so she wasn't late.  I signed in like any other day and made my way to the classroom.  And then I was in the photocopy room because the librarian had the kids first thing this morning. 

After photocopying and starting the Friday files, I remembered I needed a new pizza lunch form for Mylee, I had misplaced hers.  A quick chat with Mylee's teacher and then up the hall I went.  That's when the chaos began, KT (which further refers to kindergarten teacher I volunteer for) told me to grab my coat, we were going on a rescue mission.  Yeah for someone who has had one sip of coffee this morning, this did not compute.  But I followed along, out of the school we went, down the street and down the street again.  Then the grade 7 girls stop and disappear behind a bunch of bushes along the fence and come out with kittens.  Eyes wide, they ask me to grab one the last one. 

Here's where the chaos becomes even more fun.  The kitten was stuck between a chainlink fence and a wooden fence and the chainlink was the smallest one you can buy.  So with twig in hand I started to shuffle the kitten down to where I knew the opening would be so we could grab her.  Uh huh....stupid cat, the poor thing gets itself wedged in the wooden fencing between the planks, that small gap between the planks.  So off KT goes to the people who own the house, and then out she pops into the backyard.  I am sure people would be rolling on the floor laughing at us trying to coax this kitten out of this small space.  So out she came and with the stick I gently prodded her some more.  Finally she got close enough to grab.  4 kittens rescued, warm and cozy amongst the girls' sweaters, phew....back to school we go covered in grass, scratched by the bushes and hair all dishevelled from the small branches. 

So after a couple minutes, I finished my Friday folders and thought it would be cool to show Kiya and Mylee what I got to see today and went to take a picture.  Can you guess.....holy crap more chaos.  I walk in and the girls have the kittens out of the box, and all I can think is WHY?  So one of the girls tells me that there is a kitten stuck and she can't get it out.  Okay I ask where.....get this.....in the vent.  You gotta be kidding me, nope...you reach your hand in and you can feel the little sucker. And of course we can't get him out, and guess who had to take the long walk to the caretaker....yep me...that's who.

Mr. C, do you have a flashlight?  and if you do can you bring it with you and follow me.  You could actually hear the groan he made, I think he knew it was another one of those days. I should mention that earlier this week him and another teacher had to chase 2 raccoons out from the kindergarten area, and then yesterday a dog entered the school, so he knew what was coming.

We shone the light in the vent and saw the same stupid cat in the vent.  And off he went to get his ratchet set to unscrew the vent to take it off.  Yep nothing fit, so he had to use the vice grips and after about 10 minutes of frustration he finally got the screw out.  He wrenched the panel and asked me to grab the cat.  This stupid animal had itself wrapped so tightly around things in there that I need to unfold it.  So thankfully the humane society came to take them and take care of them.  They had little eye infections but seemed healthy otherwise.  So alike my mother, I now have my own little cat story about the silly behaviour of animals. 

Have to admit, they are really cute and after telling Darryl that I helped rescue them and if I could keep one, he replied with

"Awwwww......NOPE"

The Spring Walk

Was walking through the halls a couple days ago and noticed that one of the bulletin boards had changed.  Mylee's teacher had put up some new work that her students had completed.  Now being the mom that I am, I walked over and looked for Mylee's stuff right away.  Took me a minute to find it, I can't help but reading all of them to see the other children's thought process. I bet Bill Cosby loved when he was on asking the kids all the questions and the funny responses they gave. 

I really like this one. Not only is she a princess but the squirrel was the same size she was.  She also wrote all the words herself without help. There are some days I walk through the school and just giggle at some of the kids' work, the creativity at this level makes me smile and feel like a kid again.

Birchmount part 2

Whoo Hoo Semi Finals!!!!!

Macklin took 37 children to the semi finals at Birchmount last week and I couldn't have been prouder.  A couple of Kiya's friends qualified so I got to go cheer on some kids I actually knew.  And even though they placed 8th and 9th, they should have been proud of themselves.  That was not the case, and it truly broke my heart.  I think I spent more of the day cheering people up than I did cheering them on. 

We came away with some placing teams and a couple placing individuals so they are going to city's, but I am hoping the kids get more out of it than a medal. Yes the goal is to win, but I think it is more important that they focus on personal development and be proud of their accomplishments.  I find children now have self defeating attitudes and the praise from someone else can boost their spirits even the tiniest bit. 

So Way To Go all our semi finalists!!! Way To Go our finalists!!! and way to go to the teachers and staff who support them along the way!

Oh and I finally scored a school shirt!!!!!

Hillside take 2

I got to go on another adventure with the girls' school, the grade 7 teachers asked me if I could possibly attend another visit to Hillside and of course being the outdoorsy type (ya right) that I am I said absolutely. 

This adventure took us to a different place, a hiking trail I didn't know existed in Rouge Valley.  We walked down the path and saw quite a few trilliums still in bloom, then they walked down a big hill that I knew I wouldn't be able to climb back up, so I stayed on the upper level and listened to the trees.  Nature can be really noisy when you quiet your mind and listen.  The trees groan, which I can totally understand the ideas behind Tolkien's Ents from Lord of the Rings, the birds send coded messages, and even the ground crinkles with dead twigs and leftover leaves from the winter, it was quite amazing to just stand among the forest.

We made our way down to the river and I got to play with one of my favourite things, Shale, it is that one natural material that is so much fun to break apart.  Layers upon layers of rock that sometimes contains hidden secrets, fossils from long ago...ugh still get goosebumps thinking of it.  Unfortunately I didn't find anything among my little adventure but did come across a piece of beach glass.  That stuff is awesome, amazing what water can do to a piece of bottle that has been discarded.

And of course we found the little critters that live amongst the rivers and streams.  I was actually brave enough to hold a smaller crayfish, something I would never attempt at the cottage as my chicken costume still fits rather nicely.  One of the teachers grabbed a picture for me but I am still waiting for it so will show as soon as I get it.

We moved along through the riverbed and came across a really awesome ecosystem, inside were frogs, small turtles, water striders and I am sure a bunch of other bugs that I didn't want to go near.  I got a little braver and held a baby turtle as well, which I can only describe as really soft feet. He was too cute and though I wanted to take it home, turtles smell really bad. 

 

 

And then finally we hiked up the hill from hell.  I reached the top after stopping twice, my lungs decided they wanted to give up but I did make it, and I even kept going.  After a quick lunch we got to play in the river and collect some really cool insects, larvae, and crustaceans.  After I saw the leech I wasn't going in the water, but the kids took off their shoes and socks and dove right in with their nets looking for whatever they could find. 

 

Another amazing adventure with the school and I am so glad that I was able to go. There is nothing like watching the kids' faces light up as they find something in their net.  Does that ever get old?



Toronto Batman

Well the last 2 weeks have been super busy.  Haven't posted much so again I have to play catch up.  So I will start with the birthday party. 

Our friends Sarah and Abbey invited us to their birthday party on the 25th of May, and we were invited to dress as our favourite super heroes.  So guess who didn't fully read the invitation and forgot....yup that's me. 

So out came my creative side and we ended up with some pretty interesting costumes.  Mylee decided to go as Cat Woman, and a very cute one she was.  And Kiya was Super Girl, and she fit the part!

On that chilly day in May we sat, played games and had some snacks.  And then in walked a surprise...

 

 

In walked Toronto Batman! And boy was he a surprise.  The kids weren't sure how to take it, but Batman was quite entertaining.  After a karate session, balloon swords, and cake and ice cream it was time to go home and get warm.  It was a great adventure and we had a blast! Thanks Jenn and Mike, and thanks girls for the invite! 

Make up

Grade four is an interesting place to be, I find that it is a transitional year and the children of this age are much more mature than what I was at age 9-10 (and I was old for my age lol).  That being said, fitting in is getting more and more difficult for Kiya.  She has her own group of friends she hangs around with, as well as some older kids and some younger kids.  She fits in most circles and can find interesting topics to talk about or new games to play.

So with the hormones running through her body and her self image becoming more apparent she has asked for a couple "girl things" lately.  I am not a fan of children wearing make up who feel they need it to look beautiful.  I always tell my girls that make up is supposed to highlight what you already have, and both of you are absolutely beautiful.  Well I guess they have discovered the "well you are my mom, you are supposed to say that" saying because there are some days that they don't feel as pretty as they are, but then again what woman feels pretty everyday?

So I bent the rules just enough to make Kiya happy and yet still respect what mommy is trying to accomplish.  We went on a shopping trip and picked up some eye shadow and lipstick to play with.  I gave Kiya $10 and she had to budget.  Make up is not cheap but I wanted to give her a little bit of freedom to make her own choices.  So we looked up colours for her eye colour and skin tone and off we went to Sally beauty supply. 

Kiya picked up a couple of colours of their Sally Girl line and she was ecstatic.  That is when I dropped the rules on her. 

1. You cannot wear the make up to school.  If you do, it is instantly in the garbage and we won't be talking about make up for a very long time.

2. Sharing make up is forbidden.  Now because this is play make up I gave her permission to share with her sister on occasion when she wanted to see what the colour would look like.  But friends are off limits period.  Again, in the garbage if rule is broken.

3. When friends and family come over the make up is to be put away somewhere safe so that no one shares it.  This is more a safety precaution for it not to get ruined or shared, because too many germs and bugs are in make up and I would hate to see something happen. 

So though I bent the rules slightly, I think Kiya has a good grasp as to why I said no make up in the first place.  She is growing up fast and I know some of you will disagree with me on this and I can respect that.  I have to balance the good with the bad, and as long as she follows the rules I am still in control and she can still be a little girl as well. But in all honesty who can't remember wanting to dress up in mommy's make up and pretending they are older. Maybe I just got tired of sharing lol.

And So The First Long Weekend Ends

And then along came Monday.  Up early to check out on time and out to do the last bit we could before getting on the traffic laden road home. 

Our first stop was breakfast at Timmie's yet again, then the Ferris wheel, which I got out of going on this time, then a stop at Fantasy fudge for a treat.  Mylee decided on a huge lollypop and the rest of us got candy apples. 

It was time to say goodbye to the falls for the weekend and we were all a little melancholy at the thought of family time being over.  We get so little of it and on weekends like this we spend as much time together as possible.  I was ready for a horrendous drive home, yet the roads were clear.  An hour and 45 min later we were home and unpacking the car. 

Then it was off with Jenny and Mike to see Star Trek: Into Darkness, which I must say was really good.  Love Chris Pine and the guy who plays Spock, their connection to each other is quite dynamic and really does remind me of the connection that William Shatner and Leonard Nemoy have. Would recommend anyone who likes the old ones to watch this one too.

So that was our crazy family weekend, and I loved every second of it.  Looking forward to the next one!!!