Valentine's Day

Per tradition we went out for Chinese food and just hung out.  I think we went to the library first and then went out to eat, but that was almost a month ago and since I can't remember what day it is today I think I'm doing pretty good remembering we even went out!  haha.  Just kidding.  We usually get take out chinese but the kids really like the whole restaurant experience, and since they are so good when we go out its fun to do.  Norah is getting easier at restaurants because she can pretty much eat what we are eating, which is awesome.  Again, Valentine's isn't one of those 'holidays' that we really care about, but its nice to have a little tradition to do on that day.  :)

As usual, we do npr valentine's... and this one was specially for Gaetan because he loves RadioLab.  :)

JVG

Snow mound slide

The things that kids invent to do for fun never ceases to amaze me.  That's why I don't really like to give to many ideas when we are doing something new, or just outside, because I want to see what they come up with on their own.  The other day the kids just wanted to go outside, and the sun was shining so I figured what the heck.  It has also been tested and proven that if our kids can get out of the house, even for 10 minutes or so a day, they will behave exponentially better than if they don't.  Well, with the big mounds of snow that cover the majority of our parking lot, the kids decided that they wanted to climb and make their own slide.  Initially Dude just wanted to show me the cave that he made with Papa the other day and yell "King of the mountain" but then started to slip down the hill and just turned it into a slide.  He thought it was hilarious.  Lucy really wanted to get up there and try it but the piles are so steep that we had to make some steps for her.  Dude was a little monkey and just climbed right up but we had to find a different place for Goose, but once they were both at the top of the mound they held hands together and slid and slid and slid.  They loved it.  Norah came out too and make herself a little snow angel in the side of the mountain.  haha.  Unfortunately, I had to get going to work, but they seemed like they were enjoying themselves immensely.  I knew that they weren't going to be out that long because it was still only about 20 degrees, but they had a lot of fun and got to burn some energy.  :)






JVG

Story time/Music class

After we had dinner with the Min's we ran into them at the library... which, honestly, I'm surprised we hadn't before this.  And, the next day I think we were watching her kids... so we were seeing a lot of each other!  She usually hits up the library for a little while after she drops Ava off at preschool, so if we get ourselves organized in the morning we could probably see her more there.  The kids played well together and then we decided to try story time.  We tried it a handful of times when we first moved there, but Dude wasn't really about it and Lucy was so small she didn't really care... so we stopped going.  But, now that they're a little older and Dude has been to Sunday school and things like that they're more about it.  This time was for the 2 year olds and they loved it.  Jane said that this is the first time that Christian was really about it too... and Norah even was hanging around Jane!  It was awesome!  

We are also now trying to coordinate it so that the kids can be in the same music class.  There is a music class for 4 year olds called Early Childhood Music and then there is another class for the younger ones at Crescendo Music Academy that we are trying to get in.  That will be fun if we can get in the same class together!  And it was thanks to Jane that we even knew about them at all!  It's also really nice to have a personal reference for classes so you know what you're getting into and not just paying a ton of money for something that isn't awesome or worth your time.  

Dude has started his class already and the teacher said that he is the most musically included child she has seen.  That he did really well, and picked up on what she has having the kids do.  And he loved it! He was a little worried about it at first because it was drop them off and leave, which he isn't used to, but he didn't whine or anything and loved his class.  :) 

So, here is to more story times, music classes and play dates!

JVG

A glimpse into the future

Yesterday we got to babysit the Min children, Ava and Christian.  Jane had to get some dental work done and since it was during the day her normal babysitters weren't available.  So, from one Momma to another I know how much easier it can be to do these visits solo we watched them.  At first we just had Christian because Jane didn't want to drop both of them off, thinking that it might be a lot, but then was told that Ava couldn't be in the room with her while she was getting the work done, so Goose and I went and picked Ava up and took her back home to play.  Our kids had a blast and her kids did really well!  I was worried that Christian was going to be touch-n-go wanting his Momma but he did great.  At first he wouldn't come in more than the stairs but eventually we gave him some toys and convinced him that it was OK to come in the rest of the way.  They played hard and Jane's appointment was over a lot faster than I thought it was going to be!  So, she came over and hung out, had dinner until it was time for them to get going home.

Dude was so excited to have Ava there too

The boys and their dinos

Miss Ava loves putting different things on her head

Awe... Dude has been calling her his girlfriend...

This could possibly our future!  Whoa!  It doesn't even look that out of place for me...

It was an interesting perspective to have watching 5 kids... because I think that is ultimately how many we are going to end up with.  There are days (most days) that I think I could handle one or two more but then there are those days where I don't think I can handle the three that I have, and they are relatively good children!  I know that when we do finally get a chance to adopt that they will most likely be older, since we would like to get siblings, so we won't be on infant duty and our kids seem to love to play with any other kids.  Gaetan did great.  I think that out of the two of us he is better with wrangling lots of kids at a time... good thing he wants to teach!  So, at least on that front I know that I have a lot of support for when we do expand the VG family.  Whew... crazy to think... but adoption has always been on our hearts so I know that barring any big life change we will be doing just that.

It was also really nice to have somebody appreciate your help.  I know that when you help someone you aren't doing it for their approval, but it sure is nice when they give it and truly appreciate it.  It was really fun hanging out with Jane and getting to know her better as well... she and her husband are extremely nice and intelligent people... people I feel comfortable having my kids around.  I know it may sound weird that I mentioned their intelligence, but it really does make a difference in how things are handled, and that we know they are on the same page as we are.  Looking forward to hanging out with them more!

JVG

Snow Ice Cream

Lately my mantra has been efficiency... I'm not sure why but I really think that is the driving force behind the way I do things.  I guess it's not a bad thing, but it was an interesting conclusion.  Anyhoo... having all this snow around I figured we should do something fun with it!  So, we made some snow ice cream.  Shoot!  With all the snow that we have I could've been having the worst year of my life and still would've been covered ;)  The kids thought it was great and honestly, it wasn't to bad tasting.  We put mini M & M's on it because I couldn't find the sprinkles but didn't hear any protesting.  I highly recommend it.

8 cups of clean snow (yeah, avoid that yellow...)
14 oz of condensed sweet milk
2-2.5 teas of vanilla extract (I approximated)

Dude loved it!

Lucy was a fan too

JVG

Goose's sprained ankle

You know how you can get punch cards at restaurants or rewards at stores for frequenting there?  Well, I feel like we would be on our way to winning something at the Woodbridge Urgent Care here.  Right while the Mins were leaving Lucy was doing her normal routine of jumping off the couch but this time she landed incorrectly.  I just figured that she was overly tired from the lack of nap and all the excitement of having two pals over, but she really wrecked herself.  We got them ready for bed but she kept limping and saying how much it hurt so Gaetan took her in to urgent care.  She luckily didn't break it but they said she definitely sprained it.  :(  She was honestly more concerned about her scraped knuckle and was a champ about her ankle, but poor Gooshe!  They just said to have her take it easy but if she continued to say she was hurting to bring her back in.  Here's to hoping that she heals quickly!

Our sweet Goosh girl once she was back home... she was showing off her new bracelet... haha

JVG

First week of work

I made it!  Yes!  My first week back to work. haha.  It was a grueling two lessons (grand totally of an hour of work)... which is much better than the usual three that it should be.  ;)  It was kind of fun getting ready to go out and 'work.'  I was also glad to know that I could still teach and wasn't a babbling fool.  The students that I have are extreme beginners so it is a little painful on the ears (at times) but its really nice to see their passion and desire to want to learn more about violin.

JVG