tidbits of October from the iPhone

A few scattered pieces from October, complements of my iPhone.

Jason's makeshift Halloween costume at work. One of his coworkers is Egyptian and had brought in a few headscarves for people to try on. I'm sure Jason is going to be pretty happy about me posting this picture on the blog :).

We finally started Mommy School on a regular basis and the kids are ecstatic about it. It probably would have helped to ward off the whole Montreal Meltdown. But, alas, hindsight is always so much clearer. In any case - we're having fun!

Jason's friend, Moe, from his undergrad days came to visit us. I have yet to see the kids adjust to anyone this quickly. They adore him. I think the fact that he is from Egypt knocked him up in the cool factor pretty quickly. But also, he's just pretty cool in their eyes. They asked to make cards to send to him the next day to thank him for coming over. It was pretty sweet.

I've put the kids to work making their own lunches. Of course, this only really works for sandwiches, but it's a start. I get them involved with dinner wherever possible, but lunch is the first meal that they prepared 100% on their own. It was interesting to see the finished result. They also have given their hand at making their own muesli for breakfast now as well. Breakfast has been mostly successful, short of one little incident where the cinnamon lid came off midshake and we ended up with a mountain of cinnamon. We all had a good laugh before we scooped it off (I think I have a picture of that somewhere..).

Love seeing these kids play together as they brainstorm train ideas.

I am happy that green smoothies are in full force around here as we start working to keep all those winter bugs at bay. 

The kids adore helping out with the green smoothies. I am so glad they they like them so much. It is such an easy way to make sure they get lots of nutrients that they don't get otherwise (like Milayla, who isn't too keen on trying to chew lettuce. Though that isn't for lack of trying!).

This is what the kids do when I tell them that Daddy should be home soon. I can't help but smile. They love Daddy and it's not hard to see why - he's pretty awesome.

Of course, the moment that they see Jason walk down our sidewalk the kids bolt for the nearest hiding spot and we play an impromptu game of Hide and Seek. Every time.

Another Mommy school picture that I can't help but post. I love their smiles.

This is a pretty regular site around here; the kids have moved their chairs into the hallway to make a train (the regularly go to India, Japan, Germany, and Peru on that train!). Milayla is trekking around the apartment in Atticus' shoes and Atticus is helping their alligator (from Peru) crawl up Milayla's leg. Fun times. They're so imaginative. I love it.

Things have turned a tad chilly and very wet around here (though definitely not as rainy as a Bremen fall was!) so the kids have loved digging out their warm hats and mitts.

And with all that rain, our front steps have gotten particularly slippery (which I was a tad worried about) and Milayla was unfortunate enough as to have a tumble.

Poor girl. Her nose was pretty swollen for a little while but she was still smiling. She is brave. The other day she got a piece of glass in her foot and she very casually let me know and then braved a smile while I dug in to pick it out. I was impressed.

And I am happy to report we now have a winter carpet on our stairs so that, hopefully, that will greatly reduce our chances of going for a slip down them!

Pumpkin Carving

Pretty happy that Jason made it home in time for us to get a pumpkin carved a few evenings before Halloween. He's been working hard, and with the longer commute it can be tough to make it home. But he did it and we were pretty happy to have him there.

This year we got a pumpkin carving kit which was brilliant because those little saws are perfect (and quick) for cutting out the pumpkin face/drawing. And they were really easy to use with the kids. I love doing this tradition each year. The kids love getting right in there to get their hands dirty and we all love getting to snack on the roasted pumpkin seeds afterward. It's a win all around.

I love this picture. Don't let Atticus' expression fool you. He tried licking it next!

After the kids scooped out the pumpkin insides, Jason drew on our stencil and got to do a little bit before the kids and I took over.

It was serious business. I tell you.

We were all pretty excited about the finished result.

I'm pretty impressed with those kids' focus to work to the end on this one! They are already talking about their pumpkin for next year!

Halloween 2013

I'm really wishing that I had brought out the camera for the kids' first, full on, Halloween, but the rain persuaded me otherwise so I really hope these blurry, slightly orange-casted, iPhone photos capture the sparkle in those kids' eyes about this new found "treat day".

The kids were over-the-moon about receiving some Halloween cards and a some fun pencils from Great Grandma and Grandpa Hochstein. We had received the package in the afternoon but I had the kids wait until Jason was home to open it. By the time it was time to open the package the kids were brimming with excitement. 

Oh man, they love those cards.

And they think those pencils are treasures - seriously. Thanks Great Grandma and Grandpa!

Then we had some friends come over for a Halloween dinner before we all headed out Trick or Treating. I was a little put off by the rain that greeted us for Halloween night but the kids were not deterred. I snap some quick photos of the kids in their costumes while Jason was at the door giving out candy to the waterfall of trick or treaters.

The kids' picked costumes that are pretty representational of what they see when we are out in Montreal.

Milayla is a pumpkin. And we cannot go anywhere without her spotting every single pumpkin. There are still quite a few out and around.

And Atticus was a squirrel. We have a LOT of squirrels around here and the kids are completely enthralled by them. Whatever the squirrels do is completely fascinating to the kids. "look! It's climbing the tree!" or "look! It's eating a banana peel!" or anything else to the like is the cause of constant stopping while out and about so that we can admire all those squirrels being squirrels. When Atticus found the squirrel costume I'm pretty sure it was instant love. The Thomas, Mouse and Firefighter costumes didn't stand a chance; he was going to be a squirrel and that was that. And he made a pretty cute squirrel :) .

The kids all ready to go!

Hitting the street.

I was interested to see how the kids would do with the Trick or Treating rituals, particularly speaking with all the different people at the door and they did AWESOME. They both spoke at a good volume and clearly and made sure to say 'Thank you" or "Happy Halloween". I was impressed.

Between homes I was talking to the kids about when to say "merci" instead of "thank you" and Atticus piped up to inform me that if someone speaks German that he should say "danke schon". Man! We worked with him on using his German words for 2 years and he chooses now - when we are living in an english/french speaking city - to start breaking them out. Nice kiddo. And impressive.

Once we made it to the end of our block Tali had grown tired of being rained on and headed home. These are the only pictures that I got of all the kids together (Thanks, Rani!). They look really happy, don't they?

I particularly love Atticus' facial expression in this one.

I kind of wish I had though to grab a photo of all the kids before heading out in the dark, rainy, night, but alas, I did not.

Mila was a trooped and made it another block before her and Rani headed home. I thought our kids would want to make our way home as well, but they wanted to keep going. They did another block and then asked if we could stop at the bishop's house as well. We drew the line and declared that the bishop's house would be the last stop. They walked a pretty good distance and their buckets were very full. Milayla's bucket was so full she was dragging it behind her and still wouldn't let Jason or I carry it because she was determined to make it to the end.

When we got home, the kids were excited for their turn to give out candy to trick or treaters but we stayed out so long that we only had one trick or treater come and Jason, not realizing the kids wanted to give the candy, gave the candy to the kid. Our kids were crushed that they didn't get to give any candy.

So Jason played along with my brilliant idea and played "Mr Pumpkin Head" and came trick or treating to our home.

The kids could not stop giggling. I think it was their favorite part of the entire night. I'm so glad that Jason was such a good sport because the kids' loved it.

Then after getting to pick out one treat each and brushing their teeth, the kids were off to bed and sound asleep within minutes of their head on the pillow. Tired kiddos.

And we were left with a ton of candy to give to trick or treaters that never came. So Jason trucked a whole lot of candy to work. We also sorted through the kids' candy to take out opened packs, soggy packages, and thinned things out a bit. The kids are pretty happy with the arrangement of getting one treat every couple of days. Maybe it's just me, but even those small treats seem to give me kids uncontrollable energy. And when I see them just as excited about our home made larabars (that have no crazy ingredients) I wonder why we even have the treats. Then I remember their sheer excitement on Halloween night and chalk it all up to childhood fun. Though, that's not to say they'll be overloading on those treats any time soon ;).

September Date Night - Botanical Garden of Lights

Since our Mosaic Cultures International passes were good for two days, we brought the kids back on the second day in the morning to check out the Insectarium then Jason and I came back in the evening to check out the garden of lights in the chinese garden. It was nice to get out just the two of us especially since I don't foresee it happening all that often with how expensive babysitters are, how busy Jason is and how pricey things to do here are. But for now, I am still enjoying the pleasant memory of getting to go to the Garden of Lights together. It was lovely. We even got to check out the Japanese exhibit which was so cool. I love the Japanese culture. It's beautiful.

Chinese Garden of Lights:

The chinese Scholar rocks were really cool. I seem to think there was another name for them but I cannot seem to remember it. Basically, they are naturally occurring rocks that look like something and are gifted to scholars (or to a hostess...or something like that...I really should have read the information better in here but it was pretty packed).

moon cakes. Jason was pretty over-the-moon (hehe) about these.

Love, love, love the architectural lines.

After I took this photo I turned around and promptly walked smack dab into some man. We're talking a full head on collision. It was pretty dark in those gardens I tell ya. Good thing too, it helped to hide my embarrassment.

Thanks for the fun night, Jason!