On the Chirstmas Train

Here is the gingerbread train that me and Akemi put together. No baking required. Just the smell of it is rotting my teeth.

She must have been a good girl because she has plenty of presents under the tree.

Christmas Concert 2011

Yesterday was Nina's Christmas concert. She was all decked out and on stage with the JK and SK classes. Here's the video from their performance.

Terrific Tiger!

Each month at Akemi's school the teachers select a couple of students from each class who exhibit or develop a certain character trait and give them the Terrific Tiger award. This month the trait was Empathy and Akemi was chosen for her class! Yes, I'm a proud parent!

Fancy Birthday Card

This morning Nina was working on a birthday card for the birthday party she's going to this afternoon. I am amazed at the thought and detail she puts into it - the veins on the leaf, the designs on the wings, the bark on the trees. She was telling me what she was doing as she was doing it. I thought it was funny when she was drawing a bunch hearts one on top of the other, but then she said they were heart'o'flies all flying in a line. Since the birthday girl likes princesses, she drew long hair on the happy face on the front like Rapunzel.

Autumn Leaves

This afternoon we raked the leaves from the magnolia and had some fun.

Happy Halloween!

Akemi went to her friend Abby's house to go trick or treating. Many of the houses were all done up. It's in a town house complex, so it was very convenient to crisscross door to door. Tomorrow she wants to lay out her loot and sort them.

Preparing for Halloween

Unfortunately you won't be seeing this jack'o'lantern in front of our house on Halloween because it didn't last long enough.

Last weekend we went to a pumpkin patch to choose a pumpkin and to have some fun. They had some games for Akemi to play, but it wasn't really a pumpkin patch - more like a big lot with pumpkins and stuff in it. She was really good at the ATV ride and maneuvered like a pro.

We picked out a pumpkin to bring home. Since she was sick on Monday, we carved it out. She made a selection of possible designs on paper and then chose the one with a heart on it's check. Before actually carving out the pumpkin she wrote down a check list - Step 1 - clean the pumpkin inside and out. Step 2 - draw the design on the pumpkin. Step 3 - carve out the pumpkin. Step 4 - Light the candle inside to test it out. She didn't actually write down all the words, she just wrote the numbers and put square boxes in front of them. When we were ready to do the step, she drew a check mark in the box.

She wanted to scoop out the guts with a spoon, but she backed out half way because it was too messy. She did a good job drawing the face on the pumpkin, and then I cut it out. The holes were pretty small, especially the one side of the heart, which made carving difficult. In the end I think I faithfully represented her design.

Today Silvina and Akemi made some spiderweb cookies to take to a Halloween party tomorrow. The jack'o'lantern had already become moldy and stinky, so I had to throw it out today before it could celebrate it's night in the darkness - it's hopes dashed at the eleventh hour!

Exploring Nature

For the Thanksgiving weekend we went up to Algonquin Park to do some hiking. Our practice excursions around our neighbourhood paid off because Akemi was an expert out there. We did six hikes over the weekend and she made it through with flying colours. At the end of each day she had more energy than us.

Baking, Skipping and Odori

The last little while we have been doing a bit of baking. Yesterday we made some ginger cookies. They were so good that they are almost gone already. About a week ago we made some cupcakes and ate them up immediately.

Today Akemi did what she claims will be her last odori concert at the issei day at the JCCC. She says that it is too "boring". We'll see what happens.

The video is of her skipping on a trail last week.

Nature Walk and Shadow Dancing

Last Sunday we went on a nature hike near our house. Akemi didn't want to go initially, but she was leading the way in no time - running, skipping and dancing. We collected some leaves for rubbing and spotted some animals along the way.

Here is her shadow dance. I wasn't able to capture her skipping. Maybe next time.

Inspired Artist

The other day we went over to Nona and Nono's place. As soon as we got there Akemi disappeared and reappeared in a smock with paints. She said that she wanted to paint.

So, off she went to paint some things while we talked about Nona and Nono's trip. Occasionally Akemi would complain that we were talking too loud.

The picture above is of some face-painting place. The second is of a time machine and the third is a flying machine, where in both pictures the black square is the door. The last picture is of a ghost story.

Fun at the Ex

Yesterday was a perfect day to go to the Ex. Not too hot, some cloud cover, not too crowded. We started just after 10, and before we knew it, it was past 8pm!

We did the rides and the games, but there was a petting farm and a magician work-shop we went to.

Maid of the Mist

The raging water before us...


The frenzied spray surrounds us...





The wet impression remains.

Goldie and Butterfly City

Near the end of July we made our annual pilgrimage to the Butterfly Conservatory near Niagara-on-the-Lake. The first time we went Akemi couldn't get a butterfly to stop on her, and she was a bit disappointed. The next time she got one to stop on her finger and was very proud of herself. This year they were flying all around her.

One of them that she named Goldie kept returning to her.

After we left Akemi was horsing around with some of the locals.