41 and Fabulous

Cannot believe it's been a year since Tom's big 4-0 ... and we're still having virtual celebrations and having to wear masks outside! However, covid can't get the celebrations down! Kids put on brunch, made a delicious cake. We went for a (busier than we would have preferred) bike ride to the Leslie Spit. And balloons. Always balloons.

Balloons for the Old Guy

Fantastic Faces to Celebrate With

Brunch

Birthday with a View

Gourmet (kid made) Cake!

Keva Cosburn

Another early settler attends the Century School House with "Miss Taylor"! Keva being in grade three meant a TUSC field trip with a covid twist - it was done virtually! 

Keva Cosburn

Meeting her Mom, um ... Miss Taylor!

The Class of Characters

MOMENTS: Past Schooling with Present Technology

What is usually a full-day field trip has been modified to two separate online sessions. For the first session, I taught from my home office (aka: my bedroom) so had Keva join me in person and virtually at the same time! 

The second day, Miss Taylor headed off to the Century School House and met her class of characters, including Keva Cosburn, virtually. Being 'mindful of her manners', Keva Cosburn told Miss Taylor of her chore (gathering 8 eggs carefully), correctly spelled 'sister', used the new vocabulary word appropriately in a sentence, and was sure to say "thank you, Ma'am" where appropriate. Excellent acting skills all around! The 1890s school days experience was further supplemented by a 'settler' style lunch for Keva too. Yum!

All in all, a great way to spend the day together ... a virtual throwback to early settler days here in Toronto!

Cotton Candy Blizzard

To help bolster wellness during the ongoing (read: never ending) pandemic, Tom and I created a challenge board for the kids where they earn points for doing productive things and get a reward of their choosing. Both kids completed one of their challenges on the same weekend and claimed their respective sweet-treat prize!

Tavish earned his prize for exercised (squats, push ups, lunges, pull ups) and chose a 6 pack of doughnuts from Tim Horton's and enjoyed every bite of it!

Keva earned her prize for her daily challenges (stair climbing to strengthen right leg with another exercise like jumping jacks, bicycle pedals, stuffy toss, etc). She chose to get a Blizzard from Dairy Queen and enjoyed her large Blizzard over a few different servings. (thank you freezer)

Tavish claimed his prize after we returned home from our family bike ride. Keva got her prize at the half way point of our bicycle outing. While she was enjoying it at a parkette, she calmly shared a detail about the Blizzard buying experience...

Setting: 

While Keva enjoys her Blizzard, Mommy tells Tavish and Daddy about how Keva confidently chose "Raspberry Fudge Bliss" from the long list of Blizzard options I had read out to Keva...

Keva: 

"They have cotton candy Blizzards."

(pause)

"Mommy skipped reading that one though"

... it is known in this family that I think Cotton Candy is a gross food for kids to eat in general, doubly gross in ice cream and I must have subconsciously thought that by skipping it as an option, Keva wouldn't notice it. Mommy was busted... and relentlessly ridiculed! 

Easter 2021

Another Covid Easter that we made the best of! An epic egg hunt followed by a mountain biking outing on a fine chilly spring day...

Easter Loot - BEFORE the egg hunt!

Checking out her new book, Anne of Green Gables

Searching, searching...

...Finding!

Doing a crossword to find puzzle pieces with a note...

...to the smashing grand prize!

Carnage

Bountiful Brunch

Mountain Bike Adventure

MOMENT: The Hunt is ON!

The egg hunt was a smashing success as always. Each child had to find 15 eggs (blue and green for Tav, pink and purple for Keevs). For a grand prize, the Easter Bunny left them a crossword puzzle. The answer to each question was a clue to another hidden egg with a puzzle piece inside. Once they had all the pieces, they taped it together and read the Easter Bunny's note about where to find the grand prize. They each had a large chocolate egg with candy inside that they got to smash open! It was great. Tavish enjoyed his new back door basketball net and Keva really loved her new unicorn messenger bag that she got to colour. They both got a skipping rope and a book, while the whole fam-damily got a new family board game! Super fun hunt and it wrapped up with a festive family Easter brunch. To quote Keva "we love you Easter Bunny!".

Door Decor

It was time to update the welcome door! Couldn't lure Tavish in this year, he claimed his door still looked great, but Keva was all in!

MOMENT: Blank to Masterpiece in 2 Sittings over 3 Hours!

Keva was focussed. She had a vision and made plan. She found the drawing tutorials she wanted to follow. She coloured with vigor and precision. This focus and effort resulted in a masterpiece!

Tavish Turns TWELVE!?

 Another covid birthday, but all things considered, we were very lucky!

Birthday Boy Breaky

SUSHI!

Twelve!

Cupcakes

Socially Distant and Safe

Cousin Celebration

Tavish is Twelve

MOMENTS: Twelve and Terrific

We are so blessed with this kid. He's kind, he's caring, he's funny, he's empathetic, and he's TWELVE! His birthday fell on a school day, so we woke him with a birthday tune, fed him some waffles (mmm, whipped cream), and sent him on his way with a birthday note tucked into his lunch bag from his adoring sister. Birthdays are a big deal around here and it almost always involves sushi yumminess and celebratory cake! There was a short window of time where things opened up just a bit before locking down again, and Tavish's birthday fell in there! We rented a fire pit at Ontario place and had a socially distanced, masked up, outdoor party. We had a great time celebrating a truly great kid!

Skating Season 2021

It was a successful season of skating! A great way to be safely social, accessibly active, and happily healthy! The back yard rink was a great recess option during school lockdown in January, Jimmie Simpson rink gave us a neighbourhood meet up spot, and lesser-known frozen ponds provided pick up hockey and social skating safely. We hit the skating jackpot this year!

MOMENTS: Skating on Thin Ice

You don't need much ice, or much space, to have a great skate!