What’s a Snoopy Party?

Posted on April 22, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….day 81 of 365 Days of Art

On Friday our granddaughter requested that everyone coming over for lunch on Saturday wear a Snoopy t-shirt. Our oldest daughter was the only one who could honour that request so Oma and Papa went to work looking for Snoopy clipart. I knew I had t-shirt transfer sheets so it was just a matter of choosing the design and finding some plain t-shirts that we didn’t mind messing up if things didn’t go as plan.

The first shirt did get messed up and I had to hand draw the lower half of Snoopy with a black Sharpie. The next two worked out much better.

I asked my daughter-in-law what colour t-shirt she wanted for her Snoopy Shirt. When she said black I knew that I couldn’t use the transfer sheets that I had so I researched how to transfer designs onto to black or dark fabric. It turns out that there is a special transfer paper designed for dark colours.

I made a quick trip to Michael’s and found the special sheets that I needed and the t-shirts were on sale, buy two and get one free. I picked up three new shirts and decided on the spot that I had to make shirts for daughter #2 and her husband. I loved how easy it was to use the special paper for dark colours and was very happy with the outcome. I think everyone loved their shirts.

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Free and Easy

Posted on April 17, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Cee for hosting the Fun Foto Challenge

Grooving to the music….

Chill-in on the store bed display

Awakening the Plants

Posted on April 14, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to WordPress for this week’s WPC ‘awakening’

Here in the northern hemisphere spring arrived a couple of weeks ago but the awakening of new growth has been slow due to the unusually cold weather. Today in Hamilton my granddaughter and I played in the backyard and even though the sun wasn’t out it was mild enough to be outside without hats, scarves and mittens. Miss Winnie loved playing with the puddles of water and digging in the mud and checking out the plants to see if any flowers were forthcoming.

Of course there are a few patches of green sprouts emerging in parts of the garden and if I got close enough I was able to see the beginnings of buds on some of the shrubs. On our walk we also came across a small flock of pigeons in a bird bath…..something they haven’t been able to do in awhile.

Art With a Toddler – Day 74

Posted on April 14, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….365 Days of Art

Today I travelled to Hamilton to spend a few hours with my granddaughter and her mom and dad. I packed up a box of circles from my collection, some stamps, Washi tape, a glue stick and clear ‘cow’ tape. I also brought along a small book with blank sheets inside so that Winnie could have her own sketch book.

We sat together at the kitchen island and I opened my sketch book and we worked side by side so that I could demonstrate how to make a simple collage using bits of paper and tape. She need a bit of help with cutting the tape and using the letter stamps was a bit of a challenge but she got right into it and she added some detail to my example as well.

Here is my piece:

Here is my two year old granddaughter’s art work:

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Kind and Caring

Posted on April 11, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….thanks to Cee for hosting the Fun Foto Challenge

Nothing says Kind and Caring more than giving love and watching over the youngest member of your family, serving food to those who are hungry and petting your dog.

The Roster Spring Run-Off

Posted on April 7, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….following in her father’s footsteps

When my husband was in his twenties to thirties he was considered an elite runner. He specialized in long distances, anywhere from 10k to marathons. As he got older he decided that in order to continue to improve it would mean making more sacrifices that would negatively affect our family. He made the decision to quit running because the sacrifice wasn’t worth it.

We never pushed our children into running but our son seemed to have a natural gift and in his early teens he pursued running until he started to suffer pain and he had to make a decision between a music career and being a runner. He chose his cello over his running shoes.

Our oldest daughter took an interest in running in her 30s. Over the years she has participated in numerous races, anywhere from 5k to half a marathon. Every year she steadily gets better. Her wife also started running with her.

Today we attended a race that holds special memories for my husband. The Spring Run-off is held every year in High Park and some 35 years ago or more Kevin ran in this race as a member of the Brooks Racing Team. The race then was known as the Brook’s Spring Run-off.

Today Andrea and Josie joined some 2600 runners to take part in this challenging 8k race. The challenge is in the hills that this race covers. Andrea was aiming to complete the race in 40 minutes and did it in 39 minutes and change. Out of 900 women participating today she placed 8th in her age category. She was delighted with her accomplishment.

As you can see the race attracts all ages. My daughter is the young lady on left in the above photo with the blue sunglasses. Here a few more of her throughout the race (one of Josie #1927)

Cee’s Fun Foto Challenge – Happy

Posted on April 4, 2018 by Mama Cormier

…thanks Cee for hosting this happy, fun foto challenge

Happy Easter – April 1, 2108

Posted on April 1, 2018 by Mama Cormier

,,,,,is it some kind of cruel joke to have Easter Sunday and April Fool’s Day on the same day?

Of course it’s not 2108. That’s my lame attempt at an April Fool’s joke. I know that teachers are delighted that April Fool’s day is on a holiday, except maybe those individuals who liked playing jokes on their students.

This year we celebrated Easter one day early to accommodate other commitments that family members had. It started out as a sunny day, so I hid all the eggs for our granddaughter outside in the backyard. When everyone arrived we could see that the sky was darkening so we didn’t waste anytime and proceeded with the Easter egg hunt. It was so much fun seeing the delight in Winnie’s eyes every time she discovered an egg or other small gift hidden in the branches, corners of the deck, handles of the barbecue and under covers.

One of the gifts was a bubble maker. Actually our oldest daughter also got her a bubble maker. This was definitely the hit of the day. Winnie got into making bubbles almost right away and after dinner we went outside again (just before the rain started) to make more bubbles. It turns out that buying that extra large bottle of bubble soap was a good idea.

Here are a few photos of the egg hunt and blowing bubbles.

Cee’s Which Way Photo Challenge – March 23, 2018

Posted on March 29, 2018 by Mama Cormier

….I know I’m a bit late on this one but today seemed a good day to post photos from last week

Thanks to Cee for hosting the Which Way Photo Challenge. It’s been dreary and wet all day today and what a better time to post my sunny photos from last week when my husband, daughter and I took Olive for a walk to High Park. We walked along Bloor Street, past fruit markets, through tunnels and down a descending sidewalk towards the park entrance.

Once in the park we headed towards the off leash area where we could let Olive run free. She loved it. I love the off leash area in High Park because it is made up of fenced in trails and if you’re a walker it’s a great way to get in some steps and fresh air.

It was a great day. On the way back we walked down hill, then up hill, back through the tunnel and then we took a short cut up a flight of stairs which took us up the the rail path. All in all I clocked over 15 000 steps that day.