Prepositions

Prepositions are special building block words in sentences.

Prepositions help to link the object (often a noun) or phrase to other words.

Prepositions define the spatial or logical relationship of its object to the rest of the sentence.

Some examples of prepositions include: on, in, over, under, during, about.  Apparently there are around 100 prepositions in English.

Prepositions are important.

So is enunciation of prepositions.

Case in point:

Last week, when Miss G was oh-so-very sick, she was most concerned to miss school on Wednesday, because every second Wednesday is her Show and Share day, and she LOVES Show and Share so much!

I assured her that her Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. F., would let her do her show and share the next day, on Thursday.

Miss G thought about this long and hard, and finally decided that she would prefer NOT to do show and share the next day, on Thursday, but rather wait until the following week on Wednesday.

Clearly, Wednesday is an important day.

I digress.

Last Thursday was Miss G's triumphant return to Kindergarten, after that nasty nasty stomach bug was over.

Thursday turned out to be special for her, even without Show and Share.

Miss G's name was called out in front of a whole school assembly.

She is Student of the Month for her class!

It was so cute to hear her friends whispering to her (a stage whisper, of course... I could hear them from across the gym),

"Miss G!  Stand up!  They said your name!!  You're Student of the Month!"

Like a good girl, she stood up, and looked straight ahead, proud as could be while the other Students of the Month were called out.

After the assembly, Miss G got a certificate, and she was very excited to show it to Daddy when we got home from school.

A local restaurant gives each Student of the Month a $10 coupon, and we told Miss G how proud we were of her, and that we will take her to the restaurant for ice cream someday soon.

Then, I said, "We are so proud of you!  Go put your certificate ON the fridge." 

She heard, "Go put your certificate IN the fridge."

Maybe it was my enunciation.

Maybe it was the preposition.

Or maybe, all that talk about ice cream clouded her action.

The award is still in the fridge, in case you are wondering... waiting for our trip to the restaurant to cash it in!

We're Just Ducky

We are melting, melting, melting!!

I snapped this picture of the girls playing in the puddle at the bottom of our driveway.

It makes me happy for a number of reasons. 

Reason #1:  Miss G is feeling much better in the picture than she was two nights before.

On Monday night, just as Eli and I were thinking about going to bed, Eli helped Miss G down from the top bunk for a preemptive trip to the bathroom. 

There was a suspicious, deep couch.

I ran to the bathroom, "Did she just get sick?"

Eli was looking at his shirt (suspecting a repeat of spec-gross-ular), inspecting it, "I don't thin..." and then it happened.

Poor Pookie Loo was so sick, we gave her a quick bath, and then I braided her hair to keep it out of her face. 

She snuggled with Daddy (above) in the big chair, watching The Princess and the Frog, until the Gravol made her sleepy, but she continued to be sick for the next 24 hours.  Eli stayed with her on Tuesday. 

I stayed with her on Wednesday, which is when this picture was taken.

She didn't have a massive appetite, but she was able to walk to school to pick up her Sissy from preschool with me, and play outside for a little while that afternoon. 

Reason #2:  Duckies and rain boots. 

We love duckies, as is evidenced with our numerous duckies, and

the Big Ducky. 

That picture is snatched from my Thanksgiving blog post, on October 10th of last year, so we've officially had snow for more than half the year. 

Reason #3:  It's Spring. 

This cartoon is on the girls' calendar, hanging on their door, which I write on every night as an ongoing journal.

It makes me think of Halifax, and the rain, rain, rain.

And, the fog, fog, fog...

The fog that would roll out around noon, and back in by 4 pm.

I officially miss it.  Well.  Only a little.

It rained yesterday, for the first time in over half a year, and the girls were so excited!

"Rain, Mommy!  Rain!!  It's rain!  Get us umbrellas!!" 

Reason #4.  The sun. 

Yeah, I might miss the warmer, less snowy Spring of the East coast, but I must say that the long lasting Northern sun with no fog and very little rain is making up for it.

Yay for long shadows!

Whitehorse, Blue-horse, Rainbow-horse

Last week, Eli went to Whitehorse, Yukon, for a week for work.

He sent the girls and I lots and lots of pictures from his week.

One of the first ones was this vintage white horse mechanical toy.

It fuelled quite a discussion.

Miss A wanted to know if Daddy could maybe go to see a blue horse instead.

Miss G requested a rainbow horse.

Why?  Why is it Whitehorse??

Why not a blue horse?  Or a rainbow horse??

Daddy got his boots all polished up at the airport on his way to Whitehorse.

Years of having to spit shine his own boots has given Eli an appreciation for boot shiners, and he likes to support them at the airport. 

The landscape flying towards Whitehorse is decidedly different from the flat tundra with large lakes around Yellowknife.

Whitehorse has rivers and mountains, and is close to the Pacific Ocean.

Yellowknife has big ravens, bison, snow, ice and Great Slave Lake.

As Monique told me, Whitehorse is the "other" northern capital.

I asked her, "What about Iqaluit in Nunavut?"

She said, "That doesn't count because I didn't learn it in elementary school."

Ha ha ha ha!! 

There is no direct flight from this Northern capital to the other, though.

So, Eli had to fly from Yellowknife, NT, to Calgary, AB, to Vancouver, BC, to Whitehorse, YK, on Monday.

Then, Eli had to fly from Whitehorse, YK, to Vancouver, BC, to Calgary, AB, to Yellowknife, NT, on Friday.

Efficient.

Eli found a nice little restaurant pub near his hotel in Whitehorse. 

It was a double-wide trailer!  

The charm of the Klondike city was evident in many of the landmarks. 

And, Eli found this not-so-politically correct cartoon in the local newspaper that I couldn't help but laugh at when he sent it to me. 

Eli found a fun store... for him. 

All hunting, all the time. 

Eli took a day trip to a small town about 200 km south of Whitehorse, to Teslin for a work meeting. 

He said the stops and scenery were great. 

Pacific salmon. 

Of course, Eli had some fun with his rental 4 x 4. 

Eli said, the whiteness 4 x 4 was just asking for a little mud fun. 

"The big rocks are called mountains.  The little ones are their babies."

Name that movie. 

The ice is almost completely out of this northern river.

That's the difference to the proximity to the Pacific Ocean. 

And, this is the difference a few hours of fun with Eli makes to a white vehicle. 

The Klondike! 

And this is a bullet from a moose.

Can you tell that Eli went on this trip and not me, based only on the pictures??

Happy Earth Day!

Yesterday, when the girls came home, I had a new craft supply for them to explore to celebrate Earth Day.

Window markers!!

Complete with window-friendly stickers and templates... I'm not sure who is more excited-- me or the girls.

I mean, really?  Who doesn't love the idea of a big empty window for your blank canvas?

Crayola rocks!!

The girls had HOURS of fun drawing and tracing, and admiring how the beautiful sun makes the Earth look oh-so-beautiful outside the window. 

I would totally recommend these window markers to my teacher buddies and parent-friends...

HELLO!? 

Can you say,

Awesome way to practice

...printing?

...spelling?

...dictée?

...drawing?

At preschool, Miss A made this Earth Day caterpillar out of a reused egg carton.

She actually left without her caterpillar, but her teacher, Mme. C, chased us down to reunite Miss A with her caterpillar.

She was so proud! 

In Kindergarten, Miss G made the Earth with her very awesome and involved teacher, Mrs. F.

I actually found the whole Kindergarten class with Mrs. F in the school kitchen (seriously, the school kitchen had me drooling when I first toured the school... it has four full kitchen stations!).

She's an awesome teacher, and bakes with the students a few times each month.

Big Puddles!

THE SNOW IS MELTING!!!

Now, it freezes each night, and earlier this week, morning temperatures were around -20 degrees Celsius, but, with the long sunny days, the snow IS definitely MELTING!

Lots and lots of snow melting means lots and lots of big puddles.

Of course, in the mornings, it also means lots and lots of slippery ice, so this week we've mostly been driving the short distance to school because the sidewalks are so slippy.

Today was a Professional Development Day, which means that I went to school, but the girls had no classes. 

So, they stayed with my wonderful neighbour at her day home for a Friday full of fun and playing. 

I was pretty excited to see the girls NOT WEARING SNOWSUITS!!!

Enjoying puddles. 

Look, mom! 

No coat! 

Yes, it is the first official day that it was warm enough to be outside with only t-shirts on.  

It was so much fun to see them outside without all the puffy snow gear and mittens. 

Marianne, do you recognize the hat you made me? 

Action shot.  

What can be more fun... 

...than running through giant puddles?

Well, maybe the glorious sun casting giant shadows!

Hello, Sun!

Keep on melting that snow!!