Let the winter games begin!

Josh's parents are out visiting right now, and Aloka is having a blast.

We just had a first really huge snow storm last night and today, and Aloka couldn't wait to get outside and play in it!









We actually had tried to go out to eat for lunch but Jim and Lynn's car got completely stuck before we could even get to the road. So we threw in the towel and came back. Aloka was eager to get outside and go tobogganing down our driveway, and even though Josh had just shoveled it an hour ago, there was already enough snow to sled down!


As Aloka was sliding down the hill, I heard her say "I'm having SO much fun!!!" These two photos are just after they skidded to a halt.


























Then she decided to try going down by herself, what a thrill!

Balloon hat

This is just a funny hat Josh made a few weeks ago (pre-haircut)!

Lantern walk

Last weekend Aloka's Waldorf playgroup did a lantern walk to celebrate the changing of the seasons. The concept is to bring light to the darkness of the longer nights.
The children made lanterns, and then last thursday evening all the families and children got together for chili and cornbread, and then we went outside and sang songs around a little bonfire.

Then we went on our beautiful lantern walk singing uplifting songs throughout the neighborhood.
It was so fun to see faces peeking out of the windows, looking at our magical lanterns lighting up the night, and the songs filling the air.


Dena had decorated the entire outside of her house with little paper bag lanterns. They were everywhere; brown paper bags filled with sand and a tea light candle, lining the sidewalk, stairs and the trail to the back of the house. It was such a magical sight to see when we pulled up.
I'm so glad Aloka gets to experience this! It's so much more than just a playgroup or a preschool. It's a community, and the parents we're meeting all have a like minded approach to raising their children, honouring their creativity, play, and imaginations. And valuing the importance of rituals in life. Waldorf very much emphasizes celebrations, festivals, gatherings and community in regards to raising our children.

SO, after the lantern walk, and after most everyone went home, Josh was still talking with Dena's husband Noah, while Aloka, Reya and Tillian (Dena's and Noah's children) played some music. Here are a couple cute video's of that!

And here's some funny photos of it too. Dena's son Tillian also has an electric guitar and Aloka seems to be a natural musician.

Canadian Beauty, eh?

I have no idea why I'm posting this! I just thought it was kinda funny, so here it is:

mmmm, cake. No wait... brownies!

Aloka and I made cookies last week. When I wasn't looking, she decided to get her little baking set, and add some ingredients herself including: maple syrup, safflower oil, a few chocolate chips and of course a whole lotta sprinkles. I took the cookies out of the oven and turned it off, turned my back for a second and lo and behold there was her little loaf pan full of "cake batter" in the oven. I decided to let it stay for a bit for her amusement. Amused she was not, however, because she wanted to see it rise and actually bake, silly me.
So, I told her there's no flour in the batter and a cake needs to have flour. I start washing the dishes with my back to the oven, and again, I turn around after a few minutes, and there in the oven sits her little loaf pan full of batter, and one perfectly rounded tablespoon scoop of flour!

I told Aloka that we should probably mix in the flour so that is just what we did (and I added some baking powder and more flour while I was at it!). We put it back in, and turned the oven on to bake.
Aloka watched the cake with intensity. It rose beautifully and Aloka was beside herself. It was exactly what she wanted to see her little cake do. Then within 10 or so minutes, the cake plummeted back down to a flat little pancake. "Oh NOOOOO" Aloka shouted. She was so bummed. I told her sometimes that happens and that she actually made amazing brownies! She immediately felt better and we pulled them out of the oven to cool. They weren't bad and boy did she love them!

Saying funny things

Aloka (with her new haircut)!

Going to the Co-op grocery store has been challenging lately with Aloka. Every time I go there, there is a struggle between she and I about her getting Sundrops, a "healthy" (organic) version of M&M's basically, but still pure chocolate. Inevitably she gets her Sundrops, and I trudge out of the store silently swearing off the managers who put everything delicious at toddler level.
Anyway, as i was parking the car yesterday Aloka says "mama, this time don't put me in the cart." "But Aloka, I know you're going to get Sundrops if I don't put you in the cart!" I look at her in her car seat, and she has this huge grin on her face, which suddenly changes to a fury, and she says "Don't know my trick, mama!" Boy, i couldn't help but laugh.
And then a couple nights ago, she decided she wanted do some ballet in the living room. Now, she has only seen a ballet class a couple times as far as her exposure to the dance form. So I turn on some J.S. Bach and she starts to dance, but a few seconds into it, she screams "WHERE'S THE BEAT??" So we turned on our "other" music (one of my faves right now is a belly dancing CD) and she's dancing along doing spins and the occasional belly roll and hip shimmy!

And then last week I was sitting on the couch with her and I noticed a moth in our window outside caught in a spider web and struggling to get free. I said something about it, and Aloka was fascinated. I wasn't sure how much to explain to her because we haven't talked to her too much about death yet, and she's very sensitive. We told her that spiders eat moths and that's what they need to live. She became very concerned about the moth. Then she said to us in a worried voice "Is it sensitive?" Josh and I were speechless. Josh get teary, Aloka was so concerned, and I was not sure what to say to her. She knows about death and impermanence already, but in a childlike abstract way.
Later that night when I was putting her to bed, she told me she's worried that an animal is going to eat her. She said "mama, will you keep me safe?" After I reassured her I would, she said "And will Dada keep you safe?" Awwwww, how cute! I thought it was so sweet and amazing how children are aware of the hierarchy of the family. So cool and primal.

Ok, and one last thing because our daughter is such an engineer: We have a huge hula hoop we got at a festival over the summer. Aloka was trying to get Josh to hold it in the air, upright, so she could stand on the inside of the hoop (like you're trying to get a dog to jump through it). She gets lifted up (not very high off the ground) and Josh is holding it from the top with one hand and Aloka's hand with the other. Quite a trick! But the hoop starts to sag with her weight. So she takes a look at the situation, and she tells Josh "Hold it from the bottom Dada, it's stronger!" What?? Josh and I look at each other like "since when does she know the physics of a Hula Hoop?"

a few more pics from Halloween

Melissa and I actually didn't get photos together of our final gypsy attire, alas. But Josh took one of me before Aloka and I went out for the evening:

Josh's "Pug-kin" that he carved. It's an image of Melissa and Nick's pug named "Poppy":

Here's also a funny self portrait of Aloka (yes, she took this by herself!):


And on of me that Josh took:

And some silly ones of Aloka and Josh on the couch:

Pumpkin Carving Party!

We all went over to Melissa, Nick and Nile's house to carve pumpkins. Aloka once again got a hold of the camera and clicked away, not to mention a few videos. The best one is unfortunately too long; I think she filmed for almost 5 minutes.
Josh carved a great pumpkin version of Melissa's pug named Poppy. I carved a flaming skull, but my favorite was Melissa's pumpkin that said "Poo" because the B looked more like a P! We got a good laugh from it. She has pics on her blog too of the fun evening!

Afterwards, Melissa and I tested out our Halloween costumes. We decided to go as gypsies. My renaissance pirate wench costume fell through because the lady that sewed it couldn't get it shipped in time, alas. The gypsy costume turned out to be so fun though, we just dug through our "tickle trunk" (a Canadian term Melissa just taught me for dress up clothes) and found gobs of stuff, especially with my new belly dancing obsession. Boy did we jingle!!

Aloka went as a skunk, and her costume was plush and luxuriously warm. I'll include a separate post of our Halloween experience, so many photos and vids!

I got a cool shot also of all our pumpkins above the fire place. I don't know what the fire is doing, but somehow I got it on film!
And lastly, here's a video Aloka took while we were on the floor carving away.
Aloka was filming Betsy and her friend Puck, but Aloka didn't know Puck, so she said on film, "and here's Betsy and the other guy". You can hear us laughing.