Valentine's Cake!

The boy was so excited for Valentine's day this year. We made little bags of goodies for his friends, he made cards for them all and cards for his dad and I.

But the real highlight for him was making and decorating a heart shaped cake for dessert tonight. We made it together and then with a little bit of guidance he decorated it on his own.

So tada, the boy's cake! Happy Valentine's day.

I can do it on my own

"I am not sitting here, 15 whole feet away from my kids, because I am too lazy to get up. I am sitting here because I didn't bring them to the park so they could learn how to manipulate others into doing the hard work for them. I brought them here so they could learn to do it themselves." From Please Don't Help My Kids by Kate Bassford Baker

A few people have been sharing this great post about letting kids do things on their own as a way of learning, rather than coddling them. I love it. It's something I struggle with, but I know that it's best for everyone if the boy falls every once in a while. Now I just need to keep reminding myself of that.

Christmas Wreath

The other week I decided that the boy and I would try making a Christmas wreath (it couldn't be any worse than our Easter wreath), and I figured if it didn't turn out, it could get hung on the boy's bedroom door and I'd put a store bought one on the front door.

Then I saw a tweet from Lindsey at Recreated (@LGrecreated) about this 'Amaze-Balls" wreath she had created, and I thought, hey, maybe I can do that. (Plus her post had plenty of 'balls'  and I have  the sense of humour of a 12 year old boy).

I let the boy pick the balls he wanted to use, and then he told me where to place them when we put the wreath together. I probably would have put more on, but the boy decided we had enough, and since he was the creative team, and I was just the labour, I had to listen to him.

The finished product

The boy loves to show it off to everyone, and I think it's front door worthy, so we're all set - bring on Christmas!

The Boy's view of the Christmas market

We headed down to the Christmas Market this past weekend with some friends to help us get in the Christmas spirit. The weather didn't really inspire any great Christmas-y feelings (it was damp & rainy), but the carollers, booths, food (yum warm nuts!), and general atmosphere made it a great night out. 

Like last year, the boy took his camera , to document the outing, and he's really getting quite proficient so I thought I'd share them.

There you have it, this year's trip to the Toronto Christmas Market was a success, I can't wait until next year to see what the boy finds picture-worthy then!

This is why the boy isn't allowed to dress me

"Mummy, look it's so sparkly and pretty, you should buy it"

Because what every SAHM needs in her closet is a sparkly gold mini dress... 

Although according to the boy I could wear it anywhere, so if you see someone freezing at kindergarten drop off, but looking very sparkly, you'll know the boy convinced me to get the dress.