keeping busy in the winter

It's January and it's cold outside. Like -40 cold. Yes, very cold. Add one very active little 2 and a half year old to the mix and well, I'm sure you get the idea where this one is going.

I am always trying to come up with new ways to educate, entertain and stimulate Noah. We have a few things that we like to do on a daily and weekly basis, but more recently I've been feeling the need to add to our list of activities and to also start some kind of a weekly schedule of activities.

One of the things that I would like to get Noah into more often is doing art and crafting. For those that know me well this would seem obvious, but I have to admit, we actually haven't done much crafting/art making up until this point. I find that with very small children (2 years of age and under), that making art usually just consists of sensory activities such as finger painting and playing with playdoh. When we tried other types of painting in the past, I had to keep a very close eye on Noah because he'd often stick the brush in his mouth or start painting the walls. Sigh! But now that he is a bit older I am finding that he is starting to make the connections and art time is actually a lot of fun.

For Christmas we got Noah an art easel and set (easel from IKEA, art set from Melissa and Doug) and it is definitely getting used by Noah. The other day while looking for some new activities to do with Noah, I found these ideas to do at our easel. We tried out doing some collaging right at his easel yesterday and it was a success! I had to stay with him the whole time to show him the process, but he loved it and it kept his interest, which we all know is hard with little ones.

Here are some things to keep in mind and how we did it:

1. I always clean up the area that the child will be working at ahead of time. If you don't do it ahead of time, you most likely have an excited child who wants to get into things that aren't part of the craft. Have everything already set up and clean so that the child knows exactly what is happening and doesn't have to wait. This goes back to me teaching art to highschool students... you wouldn't believe the amount of prep that needs to be done before class starts.
2. Precut various shapes of colourful paper and felt scraps. I cut squares, circles and triangles. You can cut what ever shapes you like, hearts...stars...organic shapes...ect. I then put them in a small box on the tray of the easel.
3. Have a blank piece of paper ready and allow the child to draw on the paper using crayons or markers.
4. When they are finished drawing, show them how to use a glue stick. Noah and I got a little song going, every time we'd use the glue stick on the paper we'd repeat "circle circle circle" because that's the motion we were making with the glue stick. I think it helped him to get into the process.
5. Allow the child to choose one thing at a time to stick on. Ask them questions like, "do you like the orange triangle?" this helps them to identify shapes and colours.
6. Once the child is finished gluing their shapes you could take it one step further by adding stickers or stamps or bingo dabbers if you like. I like the idea of adding to a picture and not just leaving it with one thing.
7. Et voila! You're done! Looks great doesn't it?

I'll be back soon with more ideas on how to spend those cold days indoors.

Stay warm!

xox

my week in photos

I'm just loving these warm sunny days. Everyday we've been getting out for walks around the neigbourhood and we always go to the park at least once or twice a day. We spend a good few hours everyday working outside in the garden and in the front yard (which is coming along nicely). At the end of the day we come in with dirty feet and sun kissed cheeks. What a stark contrast it is from the winter around here, where somedays the most we would go outside would be to run to our car.

The summer is here and I'm so inspired. My camera is with me at all times to capture the little moments of my days. The sky that is blue, the treat that I had at a coffee shop, the wild flower that I stopped to look at. There is colour everywhere and beautiful light to be seen. I think it's true that people in the North really take advantage of the summer. It may be short but it is beautiful.

So here we go with my week (so far) in photos...

:: a close up of a pretty wild flower seen on one of my walks

:: a butterfly that Evey found on the side of the road

(it was already deceased but very pretty to inspect)

:: a rare break (by myself) at a coffee shop to edit some photos. A cupcake is a must.

:: my sweet boy running along the path by the river downtown.

That boy just runs and runs and runs!

made to feel special

Happy Monday dear friends! I hope your weekend was a good one and that if you are a mamma, that you got treated nicely on Mother's day.

Here are a few snippets from my Mother's Day, my second Mother's Day in fact.

The day included flowers and a card and a sweet photo of my boy and me framed. Trips to the park, visits with my mamma friends and plenty of sunshine. It also included yummy treats like eggs benny, coffee and for dinner a pizza from a local pizzeria. And to top it off, Winslow and I watched The King's Speech after Noey went to bed. A pretty awesome day I must say.

Earlier in the week, my hubby surprised me and booked Mother's Day off work so that we could all be together. That actually was the most thoughtful gift of all because we live so far from our family, it's nice to have him around on those special days. I really felt special yesterday, getting to hang out with my boys.

Hope you all had a nice day dear friends. Happy Monday!

xox

my Wednesday in photos

My Wednesday in photos:

• a beautiful bunch of crocuses spotted while on my walk
• an old historic home, rich with pretty details
• sweet yellow rain boots worn by a sweet little boy
• blue blue skies

My trip home to Ottawa is nearing the end. I've been busy visiting friends and trying to squeeze in every last minute that I can with family. My and Noah's days have been busy and jam packed and next Monday we will be heading back to our other home, Whitehorse. It has gone by so very quickly.

It's bittersweet for me, these trips home. On one hand I love coming here, love seeing my loved ones, and love going around to all my old haunts. But on the other hand I just hate having to leave, hate having to say goodbye, knowing that it will be a long time until I get to see everyone once again. I also hate that Winslow doesn't get to come home with me on these trips, oh how I wish we could enjoy our time all together. But that's just all part of it isn't it? The good and the bad.

These past few days have been busy and fun. Trips to Value Village to find clothes for Noah, walks around old familiar neighbourhoods, good eats, and Spring sightings!

Everything has been moving by so fast, so today I made a conscious effort to slow down and take some photos of what I saw while out on a walk. Spring is here in Ottawa and it's is just beautiful! Enjoy!

Hope you are enjoying your Spring days dear friends!

xox

my week in photos

My week in photos has included...

• a lunch out with hubby at a fish and chips joint (he got a burger)
• time spent with my little family
• blue pained toe nails for my little boy
• a very exciting trip to see our new house that is being built
• tea dates with friends
• the last of my Valentine's flowers transplanted into an old milk bottle

my weekend in photos

Sometimes there is so much beauty in the everyday and I'm so glad that I bring my camera along to capture it all. I'm learning that all pictures don't have to be perfect to tell a good story. And I need to remember that that is what I really love about taking photos, the story telling.

I started making these collages last year, where I select 4 photos from a day, a week or a weekend and then I place them together. It was one of my New Year's goals, to continue making these collages and I'm so glad that I started doing them again.

So with any further explanation.

My weekend included....

• time spent with one very funny, outgoing and kind little girl named Amira (my niece and Goddaughter)
• looking through my niece's beautiful artwork...so colourful and decorative!
• picking up a few little goodies at Nest
• taking lots of pictures
• staying inside, away from the frigid temperatures
• having lot's of visits with family

Happy Monday dear friends. The giveaway winner will be announced this aft!

xox

my Wednesday in photos

My Wednesday included:

• a delicious lunch at the Green Door with Suzanne, an old university friend (she's not old we just go way back)
• watching Noah and his Lolo sneak a few zzz's together. Grandpa and Noey. So very sweet.
• spicy peanut noodles. Spanakopita. Avocado salad. Raspberry pie. Yum!
• beautiful pumpkins and gourds spotted in a window. Pumpkins are not just for Halloween.
• a meander through Chapters (Canada's big box book store). Oh how I miss that store when I am in Whitehorse.

my week in photos

When I wrote up my New Year's post just a few days ago, I went back through my photo files and dug up some of the collages that I had made over the year. To me, those collage posts were some of my favourite ones to make. Simple, visually pretty and they told a story which I liked. For examples of past collage posts see here and here and here.

So because it is a new year I thought I would start up a new weekly addition of a collage. I'm not going to stick to a particular day, but I will attempt to post one collage a week for the next year.

In case you are wondering about my other weekly traditions like The Tuesday Diptych Project or The Guest Blogging Series, they are both still very much up and running.

If you are interested in writing a guest blog post, please contact me at birdsonawire@hotmail.com for more details.

So here we go....

My week in photos:

• an afternoon walk around Elgin St. in Ottawa
• a trip to the Museum of Nature with my friend Liz and her sweetie Boris
• admiring Ottawa architecture
• enjoying being in my old haunts

our friday in photos

our friday has included:

• a rainy day, perfect for staying in and being homey
• playing with new wooden blocks and a vintage fisher price chime ball
• some sewing and crafting
• coffee and left over lavender lemon shortbread cookies

Happy weekend dear friends. This will be our last weekend ever in Hamilton and I am feeling pretty overwhelmed about it all. We have a lot on the go this weekend, including a good bye bbq in our honour, a family photoshoot that I am doing, and a 1st birthday party for Noah's little buddy Micah. In amongst all that stuff I also want to get in some serious quality family time and go to some of our favourite Hamilton spots, because as I said, this is our last weekend here ever. Oh boy. Saying good bye is going to be hard. I'm thinking that next week may be heavy on the Hamilton blog posts.

I also want to say a heartfelt thank you to everyone who has been leaving such kind comments in telling me that they are thinking about us while we make this big change/move. Your support and care means so much to me, thank you dear friends.

xox

* a few people asked how the cookies turned out. For the most part we all liked them, but next time I would scale back on the amount of lavender that I put in, that's some potent stuff!

my monday in photos

my monday has included:

• a morning frolic in the backyard to take photos of the flowers after a rain storm
• hanging around the house
• peanut butter and apple slices on toast
• a long and much needed phone call with my dear friend Eugenia
• a forgotten date with my friend Erine and her son Rylan, which then turned into a visit at my house and a trip to the park- sorry Erine :o)
• a trip to the post office

hope you are having a great monday so far

xox

my week in photos

Happy Friday dear friends. Just a few photos from my week. This past week has been a whirl wind- good times, tired times, stressful times, fun times...but as you can see from my photos there was beauty to be found even amongst the craziness. It's true. Beauty, beauty everywhere!
Today I am on the road to Peterborough and Lindsay ON. First I am going to visit my friend Desiree, go out for lunch and have some good girly/mama/baby time with her and her little one. Then I will get back on the road and go have a visit with my Grandmother and pick up my Mama to bring back to Hamilton! Phew it's gonna be a busy but exciting day.
Hope you have a great start to the weekend.
xox

my tuesday in photos

My Tuesday included:

• a vaccination appointment for Noah :(
• a beautiful walk down by Lake Ontario.
• plenty of sun, family time, and smiles.

my thursday in photos

My Thursday included:

• a much anticipated reunion with my sweetie, my love, my babe! I missed him so much and am so very happy that we are back together as a little family.
• a sunny walk with hubby and Noah through the By Ward Market.
• A maple sugar leaf and some bubble tea!

my saturday in photos

My Saturday included:

• a long leisurely brunch with my dear friend Sweta. It had been years, yes years, since we had seen each other last and we had a lot to catch up on. So many wonderful things have happened to both of us. And after all that time, it felt like nothing had changed. To me, that says something about our friendship.
• a short walk through the Glebe. Just enough time to check out a book store and snap a few pics.
• a lovely visit and sleepover with my sister, niece and nephew. Some of the things we did together were take silly photos of ourselves using 'photobooth', make playdoh banana cookies for a monkey and cheer on Canada while watching the Olympics.

All in all, a very awesome Saturday! I do hope that you are having a very awesome weekend. Is the word awesome too 80s? Oh well.

xox