WITH THE HOLIDAYS upon us I am so excited about all the friends and family we get to see, the food we get to eat and how this beautiful city really comes alive in the Christmas spirit!
The Distillery District is an incredible place at any time of year, with great shops, coffee, food and even a microbrewery. But at Christmas it is the most festive place in the whole city and I can't get enough of it!
Thank you to the incredible Ryan Freeman for capturing these pictures of our family!
A COUPLE WEEKS back we spent an evening at the home of my mom's new father in law, Otto. He is one of the most wonderful and interesting men I have ever met. My mom has spent the summer learning to garden from Otto, who has a large vegetable patch he has been gardening in for years. There is everything from basil and sage to rhubarb, tomatoes, swiss chard and eggplant! And they planted them all from seeds!
Since Finny loves food so much (eating it, pretending to cook it, actually cooking it with me...) it was such a thrill to take him back there and show him where all the fresh produce comes from and to have my mom teach him how it grows! He was in awe of the tomatoes on the vine and spent a good chunk of his time picking and eating the green beans, which he loves (he takes after his mama in that ;) ). He was a little nervous pulling the beets out of the ground, but he loved it once he realized what it was that he was pulling on!
I love fostering a love and appreciation for food in my littles, and it was so special to me to see how excited he was at seeing where it all comes from. I can't wait to have him out there planting seeds in the Spring!
^^ Trying to get a good family picture with a seven month old and a two year old looks a lot like this, ha!
I don't have enough words to express how much I love this little boy or the joy that he brings to us. Two years ago our lives changed in the best way imaginable. Arriving three weeks early and born bright eyed and curious, Phineas created another chamber in my heart that is just for me to love him. Cheesy? Perhaps. True? Absolutely.
He is one of the brightest kids I have ever known, who loves to eat, loves to laugh, loves to make other people laugh, loves inside jokes, colours, trains, his family and his bunny. Everyday with Finn is the best day and obviously I love him because he is my son, but I actually like him as a person and really enjoy getting to hang out everyday with him.
Being a mum to my boys is one of the greatest privileges of my life.
Happy birthday Finny bubba, I love you and I am SO proud of you.
ONE OF FINNY'S favourite activities is reading. He likes to read with you, he likes to read on his own. He memorizes the books and will say the last word on every page before you can say it. I love this about him since Sam and I both love reading. We try to limit TV in our house to rainy days and desperate times where we all feel like we need a break, so reading is such a great way to teach him things and to spend time together. Also, I love hearing what kids of similar ages are reading, so if you have any recommendations please leave a comment below!!
Here are Finny's favourite books this month.
Spot The Cat: This book has no words but is a picture book that I think has really helped him with spying things and with memorizing. It is beautiful and tells the story of a boy who loses his cat, Spot, who you see exploring all over town while his owner looks for him. Finny loves to be the first one to find the cat on the page and gets so excited saying "Cat! Spot, Cat!" when he finds him.
A Bear's Year: A beautiful book that tells the story of a bear's year with her cubs. It talks about the seasons and has lots of things to look at. This is one of his and my favourite's to curl up on the couch and read!
What Pet Should I Get: Finny LOVES animals, so Dr. Seuss's What Pet Should I Get was an immediate hit in our house. With the quick rhymes and bright pages he took to it immediately... here's hoping he doesn't get any ideas about getting a pet soon... ha! Finny loves this book since it rhymes so nicely and will run up to me on the couch and go "Pet book!"
Alphablock: This book is SO much fun. There are pop out letters and beautiful graphics to help teach kids their alphabet. Finny is really interested in letters lately and always wants us to spell things for him so this book has been really helpful in aiding us to teach him!
Pride and Prejudice BabyLit: Considering I come from a family of girls who would sit for hours and watch the BBC special of Pride and Prejudice (also where I developed a large crush on Colin Firth), I had to have this book once I saw it. Finny loves counting along with each page as he learns the basic story line of the book. A huge hit with boys and girls alike!
Pantone Colors: Finny has been working so hard at learning his colours lately. This book was a HUGE help with that!
ABC's of Canada: A really fun book that has taught Finn so much about our country! He likes to go along with each letter and tell you what they stand for... A is for "Arctic" in the icy cold north... brr! Whenever we get to M (which is for Maple Syrup, obviously) there is a picture of a maple tree being tapped and he thinks its hilarious to insist that it's water while you insist it's maple syrup. This little guy loves his inside jokes!