Charming Charlotte

Kids are Playing Spies Today...

2012-01-29T14:30:00.000-08:00

C requested her own secret agent badge and told me her name was to be Michelle LeStrange. LeStrange, indeed!

Lost My First Tooth Today!

2012-01-14T19:36:00.000-08:00

Having a Sleepover With the Cousins...

2012-01-13T20:11:00.000-08:00

Parry and I are causing trouble since it's bedtime!

Just got this photo from Paula...

2012-01-05T14:56:00.000-08:00

...and even though it is from way back in October, it is "so her" so I had to share it.

Charlotte + donuts = bliss!

C's Cupcake Party

2011-11-26T19:03:00.000-08:00

Our beauty who is just a few days away from six!

First, we decorated aprons. By the time they were done, the kids had them covered in paint, bingo dabbers and fabric markers!

There were some real artists in the group!

Then it was time to decorate the cupcakes. I think it proved to be a competition to see how much each kid could put on each cupcake!

Look at all those kids! 18 in all!

After some snacks it was time to open presents! The moms impressed me...not one Barbie in the midst (snicker!).

And all done in two hours! And no, the house is still not clean yet (snicker!)...

Diva Pirate!

2011-10-31T20:38:00.000-07:00

Overheard...

2011-09-18T13:44:00.000-07:00

I made Charlotte carry a heavy bag of groceries in from the car. Her almost immediate reaction was to complain but then she stopped herself and said instead "Oh good, now I can practice my technique"!

Could I Be in More of a Snit?

2011-09-12T18:56:00.000-07:00

I am still not tall enough to go on the rollercoaster with T and Mom made me go on this boring truck ride with Ave. I showed her my displeasure!

Do You Wanna Go to School Tomorrow Charlotte?

2011-08-31T18:53:00.000-07:00

No!

Let's talk about something else...

Silly Pics from the Aerospace Museum

2011-08-20T14:21:00.000-07:00

Charlotte conversation of the day...

2011-07-06T20:40:00.000-07:00

"Mommy, why do you have two boobs? I think you should have just one right in the middle of your chest." My reply was that I would then be known as "cycloob". From there, she had to run around the room chanting "cycloob, cycloob".

Charlotte's Kindergarten Grad!

2011-06-24T11:39:00.000-07:00

Biking on Just Two Wheels!

2011-06-13T17:30:00.000-07:00

Charlotte may have training wheels on her bike but they are angled so high as to render them useless because she is now "queen of the two wheelers". She is such the daredevil that she abandoned all the padding and wore a bathing suit and ballet shoes to ride her bike...what a nut (but very typical!).

Charlotte with her friend Kaydence (who lives just up the street)!

Hanging with my bro...

2011-06-05T15:26:00.000-07:00

Mommy caught us in a rare moment...we were hanging out together doing chalk drawings and being nice to each other. Needless to say when she tried to capture that moment, things rapidly descended into chaos!

Practicing on Two Wheels...

2011-06-05T15:20:00.000-07:00

BTW, this only lasted for about five minutes before she insisted Daddy put the training wheels back on! (Which she had insisted he take off five minutes beforehand!) That girl is bossy!

Proud of my C!

2011-03-18T09:44:00.001-07:00

Posting for Charlotte...

2011-03-16T18:28:00.000-07:00

Charlotte's big news for the week is that she cut her bangs yesterday. In one section of her hair, it is about an inch and a half long but we are strategically mixing it in with the rest of her hair so she doesn't look too weird.

On Monday she went all day to the Spaceport at the airport so she had yesterday off. She met a new friend through the nanny network (she's five and her name is Cindy). They had a good play and then talked the nannies into taking them swimming today. So Cindy, Charlotte and Avery went swimming with their two nannies and then had another playdate. So yes, it is nice to be Charlotte...goofy hair and all.

Send in the Clown...

2011-02-24T14:00:00.000-08:00

C came to visit me looking like this. She painted her hand and Jing painted her face...

Charlotte Has Skipper in a Stranglehold!

2011-02-19T15:20:00.000-08:00

Happy Valentine's Day from C!

2011-02-14T15:11:00.000-08:00

Charlotte is "so my daughter" today as she tries to interpret the Valentines from the boys in her class. (Does it really mean "love" when it says "love"? Did he give me extra stickers for a reason? Why do they have to have a superhero on them? That's dumb....)

C's Rendition of Skipper the Cat

2011-01-31T11:24:00.003-08:00

C Makes Her First Easy Bake Oven Cake...

2011-01-05T19:38:00.000-08:00

...and gives it to Daddy! He didn't even share!

Charlotte's Easy Bake Oven

2011-01-05T14:54:00.000-08:00

We took some of the duplicate Barbies back to Toys 'R Us yesterday and C got an Easy Bake oven instead. Popping these recipe links here for her to try:

Typical Winter Vacation Scene

2010-12-28T17:05:00.000-08:00

Grandpa's present of a Barbie house came today so all three kids were playing with it! Avery caught on that I was going to take a picture hence the exuberant pose from her!

P.S. Avery is still working on her words but even with her limited vocabulary she has almost perfected "Barbie".

Taking Pictures of Charlotte

2010-12-20T16:56:00.000-08:00

This is a study in frustration. Every time I asked C to look at me, she is looking off in the distance! Fourth time's a charm (except she does this every single time I try to capture a moment!)...

A Charlotte Moment...

2010-12-02T12:15:00.001-08:00

Kids are discussing WWII. Tristan brings up the Japanese invasion of Korea and Charlotte says "I wonder if they are on Santa's naughty list...".

Chocolate Cupcakes

2010-11-30T16:13:00.000-08:00

Happy birthday to my C. She helped me make cupcakes for her class tomorrow by licking every utensil, bowl, etc. in sight!

Moment by Moment Party Memories

2010-11-29T12:15:00.000-08:00

(Note to the moms: I will e-mail pictures to you once I get the additional ones downloaded from my in-laws' camera. Mine has been dropped on the floor so many times (guess who did that?!?) that their "glam shots" did not turn out great. Nonetheless, enjoy the pics below!)

Start with some free play...

Siena

Marin

Siena

Make some tiaras (the girl who wins for the most "bling" on her tiara is Marin!).

Sylvie

The birthday girl!

Brianna

Color some pictures while everyone else finishes making their tiaras.

Lauren

Brianna

Lauren

Model those fashions (I thought each girl would go down just once but they ended up going three times before I stopped them so we could go eat some cake! And oh my, from some of these looks that were captured, these girls are gonna be trouble when they get older...ha!).

Ella

Kaidynce

Sylvie

Brianna

Marin

Lauren

Sophie

Charlotte

Siena

Three-year old Parry insists on strutting his stuff!

Glam Shots:

Sylvie

Kaidynce

Kaydence

Lauren

Sylvie

Sophie

Brianna

Parry

Our most prolific model...Ella!

Sophie

Get your eat on...the cookies were all quickly gobbled up!

Marin

Make some toilet paper dresses!

Captured: Ella, Siena, Sylvie and Lauren.

Captured: Charlotte, Ella and Brianna.

Kiernan (Charlotte's nine-year old cousin) got in on the fun.
(I think it was his idea for the toilet paper fight too!)

When you're done, have a toilet paper fight (and watch the lint fly!).

Kaidence

Wait to open presents (if you can)!

My nephew Parry.

When can I open my presents? (Repeat, repeat, repeat.)

Finally, get rid of that annoying paparazzi who won't stop taking your picture (my nine-year old nephew Kiernan).

Siena

Thanks for coming everyone!

Hanging With My Sister

2010-11-14T12:24:00.000-08:00

Ave and I share a room. Mommy and Daddy changed it around this weekend and I hope to decorate it with some Hello Kitty sheets soon!

P.S. Yes, I am only wearing panties...this is how I like to stay comfortable once I am done with school!
P.P.S. See how Ave likes books? She regularly leaves them all over our room!

Daddy's Birthday Card!

2010-10-25T20:12:00.001-07:00

Charlotte loves the bling!

A Happy Face Sandwich...

2010-10-20T11:25:00.000-07:00

...for a happy face girl. And yes, she used about half a jar of PB and J on this creation. (She said she wanted a happy face on her sandwich but I think she just wanted a way to squeeze even more of both on her sandwich!)

Being 4 With Charlotte

2010-10-04T19:18:00.000-07:00

She gets so easily embarrassed lately (and quite ticked too!) so don't tell her I posted this here!

Charlotte at School

2010-10-02T12:00:00.000-07:00

Charlotte's teacher sent along a couple of pictures from her at school. She is really doing well, has accustomed to the situation after a couple of days of tears and is practicing her French (in truth, she makes up a lot of stuff and tells me it is French but that's C!).

What Brad Overheard...

2010-09-09T08:47:00.000-07:00

You know that annoying Swiffer commercial that plays the "Who's That Lady?" song?Last night, Brad took the kids to Canadian Tire. C saw a bunch of straw brooms and said "Hey, there's some sexy ladies!".

P.S. The kids both spent a lot of the summer singing this song while riding their bikes in the cul-de-sac. Their friend Jake admonished them frequently since, according to him, "sexy" is a bad word.

First Day of Kindergarten!

2010-09-02T11:18:00.000-07:00

I couldn't choose just one pic so I posted them all...I love her in these '80s-like fashions! She did have a few tears going into class (even though she was so excited on the way there) and couldn't remember anything that happened in the 90 minutes she was in class, but here we go for lots of adventures in big-girl school!

P.S. More pics of T and C together at his blog!

Official Ballet Recital Pics

2010-09-02T11:09:00.000-07:00

Here is Charlotte at her dance studio as a snowflake! Such good form!

Charlotte's Ballet Recital

2010-07-11T22:09:00.000-07:00

Back on Father's Day, Charlotte had her ballet recital. She was a snowflake along with the rest of the preschool class in the school production of Wizard of Oz (held at a big theatre at Mount Royal college). She had a long weekend of keeping up but did so well (and did not act nutty like the rest of her classmates!). I think the best part for her was getting to wear makeup!

My Graduation Photo

2010-06-10T10:54:00.001-07:00

Next week, I will be all done preschool! Kindergarten, here I come!

A Card for the Children's Challenge Corner

2010-05-22T15:26:00.000-07:00

Charlotte made this "Thinking of You" card for the Children's Challenge Corner.

Overheard...

2010-05-15T17:41:00.000-07:00

C and I were driving home from school yesterday when we saw this monstrosity of a truck called the Chevy SSR. I was like "What is that?". Charlotte said, "I know, it's a baby truck. They call it a truckling."

A to Z Project

2010-04-30T16:10:00.000-07:00

I had Charlotte work with Candice (her nanny) to find objects around her from A to Z. Here are the results. (P.S. She took all the pictures herself!)

A - AVERY

B - BALL

C - CANDICE

D - DOOR

E - EGGS

F - FEET

G - GRANDMA

H - HAT

I - ICE CREAM

J - JACKET

K - KETTLE

L - LETTUCE

M - MICROWAVE

N - NOSE

O - ORANGE

P - PLANT

Q - Q-TIPS

R - RECTANGLE

S - STAIRS

T - TRISTAN

U - UMBRELLA

V - VENT

W - WATER

X - X

Y - YELLOW

Z - ZEBRA

Charlotte as Belle

2010-04-17T17:57:00.000-07:00

Charlotte's Card

2010-03-31T11:36:00.000-07:00

Charlotte created this card for Easter and the Children's Challenge Corner!

My Favorite Zoo Friends!

2010-03-30T20:36:00.000-07:00

T, A and I went with Mommy to the zoo yesterday. I enjoyed this big apple right by the river otter tank and more than once they came up to the glass to try to take it from me!

I made T go into the hippo/giraffe building with me (he hates the smell of the stinky hippos!). I thought the baby giraffe (she is almost four months old) was so cute!

Charlotte's Face!

2010-03-25T20:37:00.000-07:00

Charlotte made this face with me tonight. We punched holes and then cut lengths of felt for the hair. She then practiced threading the felt and tying the knots (with varying levels of success). She then drew a face on her (after this pic was taken she added "lipstick" and "blush" with a red felt marker too!). When it was all done, she gave her face to Brad and told him to take it to work so she could watch him while he was there!

Today at the Maple Festival...

2010-03-20T18:03:00.000-07:00

...I got my face painted as a princess and I loved, loved, loved the slide (I went down it at least twenty times!).

Sometimes I wonder...

2010-03-17T06:06:00.000-07:00

...what those teachers tell those kids at preschool...

Charlotte told me that she saw small footprints all over the front yard. Thinking that they were probably rabbit footprints (they own this neighbourhood!), I asked her to describe them to me. She said they had extra long fingernails so it was probably a leprechaun. She then told me that she would find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow because he left it there for her. And then she said that they really liked to eat carrot sticks and cheese sticks. Hmm...oh, really?

Happy St. Patrick's Day from Charlotte!

Overheard...

2010-03-15T15:00:00.000-07:00

"If I had a basketball team, they would be all girls and called the Mermaids or the Princesses."
My fav number is 39 (which happens to be her fav channel...Family Channel).
Her CD request list includes Britney Spears, Miley Cyrus and Lady Gaga...oh my!

Crazy Hair Day at School!

2010-03-12T11:52:00.000-08:00

I back teased C's hair for school today. I had to grab some pics so I told her to pose...OMG! Can you believe some of these looks (esp. the last one)?

Who Did This?

2010-03-10T23:20:00.000-08:00

Sometimes when I download my photos from my camera, I will find a bunch of random pictures taken by the kids. But they always find a way to give away their identity! Can you guess who took these pics?

Curse the painted toes...they can't fool Mommy!

Pictures from Charlotte's Tea Party

2010-03-09T20:19:00.000-08:00

Prima Ballerina

2010-02-24T11:27:00.000-08:00

Daddy took a ton of pictures but I am only posting a few!

Practicing "en pointe", with ribbons/scarves and holding my pose with my skirts.

P.S. You can click the pictures to make them bigger!

Extend-a-Breakfast

2010-02-13T10:11:00.000-08:00

Charlotte normally eats all day long. In the last two hours, she has had an Extend-a-Breakfast.

Froot Loops
Two sausages
Cheddar cheese slices
Granola bar
Brown sugar cinnamon toast
Big jug o' water

Here's her hyacinth. Will be a little while before it opens but T took pictures so you know she had to too!

My Name!

2010-02-08T15:00:00.001-08:00

Aren't I a great big sister?

2010-02-03T09:39:00.000-08:00

Charlotte's Ballet

2010-01-27T20:03:00.000-08:00

Mark your calendars!

Presentation: February 23rd

School production (at MRC): June 19th (Full dress rehearsal) and June 20th (recital)

What a Ham!

2010-01-23T21:43:00.000-08:00

What I Listen To...

2010-01-23T21:30:00.000-08:00

...again and again. Charlotte sings this crazy song as she and Tristan run around the house...I only pretend to be in charge...

My Interests in Pictures

2010-01-19T14:49:00.000-08:00

(My fav is Pat...the hammer.)

Charlotte-isms

2010-01-19T10:09:00.000-08:00

Gonna use this spot to collect "Charlotte-isms".

"After this day" = tomorrow. She never uses "tomorrow" in her vocabulary for some reason.
"L"s are still a challenge but she sounds cute saying "yellow", "balloon", etc.
Shakes her bum at people (esp. Tristan) to get a rise out of them (in a good way). Works especially well in "just panties" and hanging off a bunk bed.

ETA: Brad reminds me of "pint" for pink. And the other day, we were aliens from the planet "Jompenoe." (Jalapeno?)

Crafting with Mom!

2010-01-06T16:04:00.000-08:00

Mommy and I did a silly craft today with a picture of my face. Before we began, we took this picture!

An Interview with C

2009-12-29T22:02:00.000-08:00

Sometimes I just like to ask C random questions to see what her answers are. It usually helps as a conversation starter when she has jumped in the tub with me since then we can just chat instead of her insisting on telling me more stories about Ariel (I know, I know...but I only have so much patience for the princesses).

Here are some questions from tonight...

Q. If you could be any color which one would you be?
A. I would be a rainbow...all the colors...even gold and silver.

Q. If you could be a number, which one would you be?
A. 10 or maybe 22.

Q. If you could be food, what would be?
A. I would be vanilla ice cream with strawberries, chocolate sauce and whipped cream.

Q. What do you wanna be when you grow up?
A. A babysitter. Then I would take care of Avery.

Q. Would you wanna be a mommy?
A. No, she works all the time.

Q. Would you wanna be a daddy?
A. No, he's a boy.

Q. Well, what would you wanna be called when you grow up?
A. Grandma.

Q. Why? What would you do that would make you want to be a grandma?
A. I would make breakfast, lunch and dinner. I would clean up the kitchen and have showers. I would go and get my hair done and go in the motorhome sometimes. And I would go to the theatre.

So there you have it. I will interview her again soon...she amuses me.

Santa Comes to Preschool!

2009-12-17T21:07:00.000-08:00

Oh No!

2009-12-14T11:12:00.000-08:00

It's the gingerbread man! Or would you like some cookie with all that candy?

Charming Charlotte

2009-11-18T09:03:00.000-08:00

First off, here is Charlotte on her stage giving me some attitude (she wasn't in a picture posing mood, I guess). Looking pretty disheveled, no?

Well, it gets better. She turned around to change the song on her stereo and look, the back of her dress is tucked up in her underwear. Maybe that explains the snarky mood... Hee hee!

Me and My Sis!

2009-11-12T18:33:00.000-08:00

And we are both in our favorite way...naked!

A Beautiful Nightmare?

2009-10-19T11:46:00.000-07:00

Okay, disclaimer time. She picked the clothes, music and dance venue (in fact, she had been dancing on the stairs for a little while before I filmed). OMG...keep this girl off the pole! (I will admit she has watched some Beyonce and Britney videos, but I think she adds her own bit of magic!)

P.S. Avery's doing her own little bit of singing/dancing in the bottom of the frame!

From

Cute Naked Girls

2009-10-02T00:01:00.000-07:00

If you scroll down this page, you will realize just how rare a picture of a clothed C is! I think Ave may be following in her footsteps! The girls look terrificly cute in this pic I captured yesterday!

Can Someone Tell Me Why?

2009-09-29T20:05:00.000-07:00

...every painting session with Charlotte ends like this?

Here's How I Found Charlotte...

2009-09-22T21:14:00.000-07:00

Around four o'clock, Charlotte came downstairs wearing this ensemble and insisting she was Katy Perry. So of course, I had to get some tarty pics of her!

Sir Reuben?

2009-09-09T13:25:00.000-07:00

Charlotte and I made this puppet today. She named him Sir Reuben. (I think she picked this name up from a school story [already!]). Now she is prancing around telling stories about her and Sir Reuben...classic!

First Day of School

2009-09-09T11:25:00.000-07:00

Mama thinks I am the cutest girl around!

The Hug Bug!

2009-09-06T10:54:00.000-07:00

If you want to listen to some of one of my favorite songs "The Hug Bug", click here!

Chalk Family

2009-09-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

Here is me, Ave and Mommy drawn in chalk by me, of course. Oh yeah, and Ave's in the picture too in her jolly jumper.

Just a super picture of me!

2009-08-27T19:54:00.000-07:00

Aren't I stylish? Today while Tristan was at school, I did a lot of crafts, wrote some more songs and played on daddy's guitar. I rock! (I think I am going to call my rock band "Forever Naked"!)

Angelic Charlotte

2009-08-22T17:30:00.001-07:00

Charlotte's Attempts at Mixed Media

2009-08-22T00:54:00.000-07:00

She has included a mix of punches, crayons, marker stamps, glitter glue, a button and designer paper!

P.S. Out of nowhere, she has started practicing her printing. And, as per usual, C has just figured it out with little guidance (she is as sharp as a tack!). Now she knows how to spell her name and soon enough she will be able to print it out just as well. She baffles me that at a mere 3 1/2 she can do all this (esp. since she is not expected to know this for at least another year to 18 months on average).

Back to School Clothes!

2009-08-20T23:10:00.001-07:00

clipped from www.gymboree.com

Charlotte Sings Serena...Again.

2009-08-13T22:47:00.000-07:00

One of Charlotte's Songs

2009-08-11T23:25:00.001-07:00

A Charlotte Card

2009-08-09T23:10:00.000-07:00

C made this some time ago. I promised I would put it on her blog but only found it today! Sigh...bad mommy and her messy office!

Mighty Mama and the Breakfast Froog!

2009-08-07T13:14:00.000-07:00

As Promised, a C-H-A-R-L-O-T-T-E Video!

2009-08-05T21:20:00.000-07:00

I can spell my name!

2009-08-04T12:19:00.000-07:00

It is C-H-A-R-L-O-T-T-E!

Mommy will have to get some video...that is one long name for a three-year old!

You know that bad "banana" knock-knock joke?

2009-07-29T13:09:00.000-07:00

You may remember it from when you were a kid...

Knock knock.
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana who?
Knock knock.
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana who?
Knock knock.
Who's there?
Orange.
Orange who?
Orange you glad I didn't say banana?

This is Charlotte's version:

Knock knock.
Who's there?
Banana.
Banana who?
Banana you glad I didn't say apple?

Yep, not the sharpest pencil in the box. She of course thinks it is hilarious...

Overheard

2009-07-20T12:18:00.000-07:00

When I grow up I'm gonna be a singer like Serena Ryder and perform on the Coca-Cola stage. You will be my audience and you will not sing...I will.

Note: She has been sitting on the couch with her Daddy's acoustic guitar playing along with Serena for like the past three days. She can mimic every head bob, facial movement, dance step, etc. that she does. If she wasn't just three, I'd say Serena might have a stalker on her hands...

My Stinger!

2009-07-18T08:37:00.000-07:00

Me and Daddy Go to School for Father's Day!

2009-07-13T13:03:00.000-07:00

I took my Daddy to school for a special playtime for Father's Day. Don't we both look so stylish?

My Start as a Rock Star!

2009-07-09T20:30:00.000-07:00

Charlotte is Funny Today...

2009-07-09T13:52:00.001-07:00

"I have no clothes on since I need to air out." (She stole this from her sister who needs to "kick out".)

On Mommy not being able to find a new band-aid: "Don't panic. I'll find one." (I don't use the phrase "Don't panic." I don't know where this came from!)

My Stampede Adventure

2009-07-07T13:24:00.000-07:00

Serena Ryder at the Stampede!

2009-07-07T09:56:00.000-07:00

Me and Mommy singing the songs!

Waiting in line for my first concert t-shirt!