May overview

These pictures are really out of order, but I'm not too concerned about that right now.

Phineas got to go in the bakfiets for the first time. He LOVES it. All of our kids do. And they have been loving going in it together. Phineas gets excited when we put the helmet on because he knows what's coming next.

Milayla is loving her dance class. She is also a little timid at the beginning of class but is dancing across the entire room in no time. I love watching her study each and every move. Would love to know how she is processing everything in her thoughts. She dances everywhere at home and is always excited to show us new moves and creating dances. It works well because she is also always singing for us. It's great. She has an outfit that is deemed her dance outfit that she picked out herself. It's all purple with sparkly hearts. I so love getting to know each of my children; their preferences, likes, dislikes - everything. It's so fun.

Jason and I had a date night downtown. Musical swings. China town. Place des Arts. It was the perfect night for walking around downtown. And the musical swings were lots of fun. Loved china town, too.

Phineas is usually found barefoot when we go out because he pulls his shoes and socks off. Thankfully, it is warm enough that that isn't a problem. He's also usually pantless, but those stay on when we are out :).

Jason and I had to get some blood tests done (just part of our checkup with our new doctor) so all three kids came along. I loved how engrossed they were in their Friend Magazines. Phineas was crawling around with Jason. Milayla and Atticus would ask me questions about the things they were reading. They have those things memorized (pictures for Milayla and words for Atticus)!

For another date night Jason and I finally checked out an Indian restaurant that Jason had been telling me about for a while. It was pretty good. And it was close enough that we had a nice conversation while we walked there and back as well as lovely conversation over dinner. So perfect. I feel pretty lucky to be married to my best friend.

And we saw a wickedly large beetle. I was trying to find something to put in the picture to show the scale of his size to the kids (they are so interested in bugs/beetles - as long as they aren't in the house) but he was crawling up my foot before I had the chance to add something. I did pick some lilac to bring a lovely scent into the house for Milayla's birthday that we were celebrating the next day. Milayla LOVED the lilac!

Jason didn't shave for a really long time. Not intentional. We have just been so busy with the move. None of us have had haircuts either. We're pretty scruffy. Well, when it came time for Jason to finally pull out the razor I challenged him to do a handle bar moustache. He did it!! I also challenged him to sport it out and about but he didn't... Oh well. I at least got a picture. I have been encouraging him to grow out his hair and it's getting to a pretty awesome length. He has wispy hair behind his ears and it looks great on him. I'll have to try to remember to take a picture when he has it styled.

The kids just want to be on their bikes all day, every day. Milayla usually does some practice on her peddle bike and then does the laufrad (balance bike). While we didn't have a backyard in our old place, the back alley was super great for practicing bikes! Phineas usually goes in the stroller or the tricycle (with push bar) and we circle around with them. It's a great way to play in the afternoon or just before lunch.

Our kids love the swings. I can't remember why Milayla decided she wanted to try and fit in the baby swing - it didn't last long before she was back on a normal swing. All three kids love big pushes. And Phineas could stay in the swing all day. He laughs so much. When he gets really excited he will kick his legs and it looks like he is running in the swing. We have playground/swinging loving kids. I love all those smiles. They have great smiles.

Usually, a couple times a week, the kids like to play out back with Aoefa (our neighbour's daughter) and she joins in on the bike brigade while they run away from the "bear" which is usually Aoefa's dad or Phineas or me. They have fun together.

Phineas pulls everything off the shelves. Everything. He is beginning to learn how to put them back. So for every 10 items he pulls off, he usually helps put back a few. Not too bad for a baby.

Milayla wanted to do her hair for dance one day. She put every clip she had in her hair (without fully brushing it) and put her elastics on her toes. She was so proud of her creativity and so proud that she can put the clips in on her own (it is a BIG achievement! I'M so proud!). I did have to restyle the hair so that all of her hair was pulled away from her face (a requirement for dance class) but she enjoyed every minute. I need to start a good little pinterest gallery of little girl hairstyles. Milayla loves having her hair done and tries to explain all these things she wants me to do to style it but I don't always understand her vision. So having some pictures would certainly help. I love the extra time that doing her hair gives me and her to spend together.

Walks. Lots and lots of walks. Especially after it has rained. We love going puddle jumping and looking for puddles. I bought rain boots JUST for THIS. No joke. And all those green tree seeds across the sidewalks and roads - SO BEAUTIFUL after fresh rain. Mix that all with fresh flowers, happy (rain soaked) children and it's a beautiful way to go for a walk.

Phineas still naps with me. He is a very attached baby, yet very social. He is teaching me so much as a mother. I will never tire of how beautiful my children are - there is something so cute about a sleeping baby snuggled up to you.

Atticus did extra chores around the house to earn money to buy Milayla a birthday present. He scrubbed a lot of baseboards and cleaned the basement stairs several times. It took him a long time to pick out the perfect gift - he even lined up all the 'fast' race cars so that he could properly compare them. I was a little unsure how strict to be with his money (eg., should I pitch in a bit of money if he wants to buy something that is slightly over) but decided to have him buy with what he had (after he paid tithing and put some in savings). He understood the concept of downsizing the price of one thing so that he could get something else as well. And he did fairly well adding what was left of his money etc. He even insisted that he MUST count out and pay at the cashier for his toys himself. He did a great job. Really. He picked out a purple skipping rope and a new car for Milayla. She was thrilled.

Phineas can reach pretty much everything now. He can stand up on his tip toes and investigate things. He's loving it. He even stands for a few seconds solo. That gets us all very excited.

With all the packing/cleaning we have been doing Jason and I have been known to reach for the frozen treats that need to be emptied from the freezer before we move anyway. Long nights trying to get things ready.

The kids always tell me I'm silly. While packing up the closet, I did give Jason and good laugh by showing him how humorous it looks to have stockings on your head. He did it, too. Can't seem to find that picture though! How convenient for him.

Atticus loooooooves reading. He is reading all the time. He especially loves novels. He has read Encyclopedia brown more times that I lost count.

While packing things up, Atticus and Milayla would help put the toys in the box and then Phineas would pull them out and start playing. I think it was partly because he was seeing some toys that were usually out of his reach and partly because he just loves that he can stand and move around so easily now. And I really love those smiles!

Milayla loves picking out her outfits each morning. She loves colors and bright. Such an awesome reflection of her personality. And that smile! I love these smiles.

I FINALLY got a blog year printed in book form. Best thing ever. The kids love it. And we love it. Both Atticus and Milayla will pick it for book time. And I love finding the kids reading it together when they have free play time.

Found some joy school stuff while I was packing up. Atticus and Milayla look so small in those school windows! And I still love Alpha-bot. That's how Milayla learned her alphabet letters and their sounds! Alpha-bot still gets played with.

One night I had the idea to tell Milayla that she could brush and style my hair. I didn't think she would love it as much as she did. She LOVED it. It was such a great opportunity to spend time with Milayla. She loves to talk and has such awesome things on her mind. And she is so smart and inquisitive. So much laughter and smiling. I often think that getting to spend one-on-one time with each of the children is just as much for me as it is for them. They are such unique, wonderful kids who are growing and learning more each and every day. I need to remember to let Milayla brush my hair more often. We went for a Sunday evening walk afterward and I wore my new style out and about. Milayla even gave us matching bows. 

And Atticus has been loving his music class. The songs they learn are fantastic and Jason and I often end up singing them for the first few days after the class. Atticus has done a great job learning them and I am so impressed with the progress he has made in keeping time which will be a big help with his piano. Phineas loves getting to be at the music class as well - he loves music.

And then we moved at the end of the month. Probably much more on that soon. So grateful for the things that we were able to continue in order to keep some normalcy while we packed everything up and moved it to the new house. There was also Mother's Day in there which I already wrote about (such a lovely day), and plenty of other things that I didn't get pictures of. I really do love getting to spend time with my family. They're awesome. And I think I used the word 'love' a lot in this post..