ASD & the Truth About Santa

Spoiler Alert this post is about the magic of Christmas, parental lies, and when it's time to come clean with your kids.

I am happy that my kids were gifted with many magical holiday seasons with Santa. While there is a movement of parents who never want to deceive their children about Santa, and I respect that (so long as you or your kids don't spoil the magic of believing for others), we've always been team Santa is magic. That chapter has ended, and now my kids are both entirely on board for helping make Christmas magic for little kids everywhere, particularly their little cousins.

The beginning of the end

Our son Jack was recently diagnosed with High Functioning Autism (HFA), level one autism, what used to be known as Aspergers. Since the confirmation of his diagnosis (something we have suspected for years) I have heightened my research on everything we can do to help Jack become as successful and happy as possible. 

There appears to be a consistent link between people on the autism spectrum and lying, specifically them not lying and having little patience for those who do. Jack is no different. He'll play practical jokes, but he won't lie and is not comfortable lying. When I say "I love you more." to him, he pulls a complete Han Solo and says, "I know." He also hates being lied to (I mean, who likes being lied to, but you know what I mean). When I read an article written by a woman with autism who describes finding out about Santa ending her faith in spirituality and God, I figured it was probably time to come clean with Jack.

When I was in grade six or seven, our teacher "gifted" us the job of responding to Santa letters from the kindergarten kids because it was the 1980s, Christmas was still a part of the public school experience each December. Because we were in middle school, our teacher assumed that we already knew the truth about the big S. This was how a sweet, only-child friend of mine found out the truth about Santa. She was disappointed and sad. I didn't want that for Jack, or worse have him be teased by other kids for being a believer.

My intel

One day, in early November, when Molly and I were out together, just the two of us, I asked her if she still believed. She looked like a deer caught in headlights. As soon as I assured her that the stockings and the present train wouldn't stop no matter what she said, she came clean. Apparently, she found an old letter she'd sent to the big S two years ago that had fallen behind Chris' dresser, confirming her suspicions. When I asked her if Jack knew, she said, "probably? We've never really talked about it."

Norad Image Courtesy of PBS

The big talk

About a week later, I pulled Molly aside and told her we were going to come clean to them both. As we made the big reveal, one thing was apparent: HE HAD NO CLUE. We gave him a few moments to process and told him it was okay to be mad at us. He was quiet for a few minutes and then had some very valid questions. What about the Norad Santa tracker on Christmas Eve? What about all the holiday movies where someone loses their sense of Christmas magic and is proven wrong? He told us he was a little annoyed at us but got it and that he'd eventually forgive us. He also told us that although he is happy that he heard the news from us, he wishes he had another year or two with the magic. 

SNL Image Courtesy of Slate

Inside jokes

A couple of weeks later, when we were decorating our tree, the Christmas song I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus came on, and Jack began to giggle. When I asked him what was so funny, he replied "I just got it!". All holiday season Jack has been having a blast pointing out Santa related "inside jokes" to the rest of us. 

Happy Holidays from our family to yours!

It's beginning to look a lot like our holiday movie list

Howdy! We've started doing theme movie months this fall and will continue to do so throughout the winter. October was Halloween and scary movies, and November was action month, with a lot of James Bond and James Bond parody movies. For December our theme is naturally holiday movies.

In previous years we focused on seeing as many holiday movies and specials as possible. This year, although our list is still big, we recognized that some movies we're going to save for another year. 

With Jack having a vested interest in horror films (he wants to be a writer and director when he grows up), our holiday movie list has gotten a lot more sinister than years past. Now that the kids are officially tweens, we will watch just about everything with them!

Here's this year's list, and once again, we'll check everything off as we watch it with a Christmas Tree to be festive. Maybe, we'll actually complete a list!

Our Personal Family Classic Specials and Modern Classics

Charlie Brown Christmas

Garfield Christmas🎄

The Simpsons Marge Not Be Proud🎄

Frosty the Snowman

The Grinch (1960s) cartoon

Alien Xmas🎄

Christmas Movies

Home Alone 2 (skipping 1 this year)🎄

Home Sweet Home Alone🎄

Elf🎄

Christmas Vacation🎄

Nightmare Before Christmas

Scrooged

Christmas Chronicles🎄

Romantic Comedy Christmas

Let it Snow🎄

Love Actually🎄

Holidate🎄

The Holiday🎄

New Specials & Movies

(that have just been released or are new to us)

Violent Night (in theatres)🎄

Spirited

Guardians of the Galaxy Christmas Special🎄

Jingle all the Way🎄

The Night Before🎄

The Muppets Family Christmas🎄

Christmas Horror Movies

Krampus🎄

Santa Jaws

Jack Frost🎄

Anna and the Apocalypse🎄

Ginger Dead Man🎄

Adult Holiday Specials

South Park (Mr. Hanky & Christmas in Iraq episodes)🎄🎄

It's been a while! I know that it's past Halloween, but I figured I'd post this year's Halloween costumes because I am really proud of them, and people may be inspired for future costumes. 

This year Molly and Jack helped me out a lot more with planning out their costumes, which was amazing! 

Becoming the Queen of Hearts

Most retail, store bought Queen of Hearts costumes ran for around $40-$100 depending on quality and detail. I enjoy making the costumes, and usually can do so for a little less money.  

Here's how we did it.

First, we found the dress. Ours was a used Flower Girl Dress that we bought from Value Village for $5.99

Next, we went to Michaels and bought some black fabric dye for $6.99 with a 40% off coupon, which came to $2.80. Because of the sheen of the dress, we ended up having to dye the dress twice, as the first time it was grey, and we wanted it darker. The iron on patches we used for various parts of the costume (dress included) were $13.99 at Amazon for 24 iron on patches. 

The pashmina we found in the dress up bin at Nana and Papa's, the red gloves we purchased from Dollarama for $1.25 and the boots we got at Value Village for $4.99. Each item was decorated with the remaining iron on patches.

To make the card crown and collar, I purchased two headbands from Dollarama. The small collar one was $1.25 and the bigger one for her head had a small Halloween hat on it was $2.49. I also bought two decks of cards from Dollarama at $1.50 each. I went online and found a tutorial to show me how to mature and build the hat and collar, using a glue gun and staples to secure everything. The heart and feathers and gems were left over from Valentine's Crafts.

To make the scepter, we used my old Glinda wand from last year and repurposed it by gluing on an old Valentine's decoration from Nana and Papa's and some leftover playing cards.

This is the costume all together. Molly also found a red sash that she thought popped, so we added that. The costume received all sorts of compliments on Halloween, and I think it's one of my all-time best. Because it rained on Halloween, Molly carried a red umbrella to keep herself and her cards dry. Overall, a costume I'm really proud of. The total cost was roughly $36 plus tax. All of the costume has gone into our dress up bin, save for the boots which Molly will likely rip the patches off and wear any time.

Photos of Molly and her costume shared with her permission.

10 Cheap & Free Things to Do in NYC

Last month we took the minions to New York City for their first ever trip to the Big Apple. They were very involved in our planning process to ensure everyone got to see and do items on their travel bucket lists. Here are 10 of the best free and cheap items we found on this trip and on our other travels to New York City.

10 Cheap & Free Things to do in New York City

Take the Staten Island Ferry to See the Statue of Liberty

This commuter Ferry is free! We hopped on at about 10 am and had a fantastic view of lady liberty from the ferry. Honestly, the photos I have don't do it justice. Since you also take the ferry back from Staten island, you can view the statue twice! To get the best possible views of the statue of liberty at no cost, it's recommended that you avoid rush hour and weekends.

Women's Rights Monument in Central Park

Tour Central Park Statues, Fountains, & Movie Filming Locations

It's hard to be in Central Park without feeling like you're on the set of a movie or TV show. Check out The Mall in the middle of the park to enjoy the monuments and see what vendors are selling. This area also leads you to the famous Bethseda Terrace and Fountain. Movie locations in the park Molly and Jack were most excited about include Tavern on the Green (Ghostbusters), the snowball fight from Elf, and the bridge from Enchanted and Spiderman.

Get a Slice From Joe's Pizza

Jack is really into Spiderman and had to get a slice of pizza from the place where Peter Parker worked and was fired in 2004's Spiderman 2. Cheese slices were around $4 each and huge.

Take a Walk on the High Line

Get a birds-eye view of the city from the High Line at no cost! The High Line is open from 7 am to 11 pm in the summer and is a formal rail line turned elevated walking path and park and runs between 14th street and 34th.

Play in the Heckscher Playground at Central Park

This playground has a fantastic water feature to enjoy when it's hot out. It's really like nothing we've seen before. If you're not near this playground, consider checking out another one of the 21 playground the park offers here.

The kids called this mascot "Stop Touching me Elmo"

Visit Time Square

Going to New York without a visit to Time Square may feel like going to Vegas and not entering a casino. The bright lights and the hustle and bustle is bound to impress. Just be wary of the costumed mascots because if they pose for a photo with you, they'll want a tip, and if more than one poses with you, you may find yourself handing out plenty of tips.

Check out the Books on Display at the Flagship New York Public Library

Located 5th Avenue and 42nd Street this library is like nothing you've ever seen before. Check online in advance for ours or to arrange a tour of the Historic Rose Main Reading Room and more.

Visit the Harry Potter Store

Whether you want to buy something (Molly purchased a Scabbers plush, and the kids split the cost of a giant chocolate frog to share) or browse, this store is the ultimate for any Harry Potter fan.

Stroll Through Battery Park

Steps outside the Whithall Ferry Terminal (or the Ferry to Staten Island as I found no locals called it by the official name) is a long path that borders the water. While you walk, you can check out monuments along the water's edge and enjoy the ocean breeze.

The Rough Location Where Hamilton was fatally shot

Enjoy the Hamilton Monument

While this is technically not in New York proper, we serendipitously found the Hamilton Monument in Weehawken New Jersey, where we were staying, just in front of our express bus ride into Manhattan. After spending the majority of our car ride to New York singing alongside the soundtrack, everyone was pleasantly surprised to see this monument, the spot where sadly, Burr did not miss his shot. If you're staying in New York proper and want to check it out, you can buy a bus ticket to New Jersey from the Port Authority. It cost us $10.10 USD for the four of us each time we headed into the city.

Stay tuned for my next post on 10 splurge-worthy New York City experiences!

Four Mistakes I Made Taking My Kids to New York City

 We just came back from an amazing road trip from Toronto to New York City with Molly and Jack. It was their first time there and it went quite well. Like any vacation it doesn't come without hiccups. While everyone in my family would agree that it was a resoundding success there are always opportunties to improve and allow others to learn from our mistakes.

Image Courtesy of Orange Smile

4 Mistakes I made while travelling with my kids to New York City

1. Not Bringing a GPS Device
No, I'm not talking about a cell phone, I'm talking about one of those old school devices that don't charge you for roaming. If you don't have one, borrow one. It will save you a ton of headaches and roaming fees (both of which we felt on this trip and my hefty bill just arrived).

2. Not Giving my Kids Cash to Carry
We briefly went over what to do each day should we get separated from our kids, arranged meeting places at most locations, and who to ask for help. That being said, if we did get separated we made things more tricky for our kids to get back to us because we didn't let them carry any cash. In retrospect, just $20 per kid would allow them to get back to our hotel, a primary meeting spot if things went sideways, with very little trouble. My kids are 11 and are regularly entrusted with cash at home in Toronto, why should New York be any different?

3. Not Packing a Lunch for Central Park
Central Park is wonderful and you can do a lot of things there for free. Eat is not one of those things. We ended up paying $35 USD for a lackluster lunch from a cart. Bring your lunch instead or exit the park briefly and grab a slice at one of the many pizza locations offering cheap slices around the city instead.

4. Not bringing our own Water Bottle
I've only ever been to New York in May through September, but it's hot. Make sure you have a water bottle filled at the beggining of the day and be sure to take advantage of the filling stations at various locations around the city. We brought one with us but didn't always bring it day tripping for fear it was going to be too heavy. That was silly. 

Click here for a list of 10 cheap and free things to do in New York City!

Reflections on Turning 11

 As soon as they could talk we started asking the kids these questions every year before their birthdays. It's amazing how some stuff changes in an instant and other things remain consistent over the years.

Molly Age 11

What is your favourite colour?
Red

What is your favourite toy?
Sloth Stuffy and Barbies

What is your favourite food?
Mr. Sub

What is your favourite song?
Prom Queen by Beach Bunny

What is your favourite movie?
Shawshank Redemption

What is your favourite animal?
Fox

What is your favourite book?
Babysitters Club Graphic Novels

What is your favourite drink?
Milk and coffee lattes (a treat she's allowed sometimes with half coffee and half milk)

What do you sleep with at night?
Slothy and Beary

What do you want to be when you grow up?
Grade 3 teacher

Jack Age 11

What is your favourite colour?
Green

What is your favourite toy?
My knicknacks on my bookshelf (FUNKO Pops and stuff)

What is your favourite food?
Pizza

What is your favourite song?
Mean Green Mother from Outerspace (Little Shop of Horrors)

What is your favourite movie?
Aqua Teen Hunger Force the Movie, Little Shop of Horros 1960 & 1986

What is your favourite animal?
Shark

What is your favourite book?
Jaws Unmade

What is your favourite drink?
Mountain Dew or Rootbeer or Coke

What do you sleep with at night?
My weighted blanket with a radio with classical music on

What do you want to be when you grow up?

Filmmaker, Director, & Writer

Leaving on a Jet Plane - The Day Before Summer Camp

Tomorrow Molly leaves for overnight camp for the very first time. Maybe it's covid related, perhaps it's just being a mom, but I know for a fact that I'm WAY more nervous than she is. As we've worked towards getting her packed up, checking off the list of items she needs to bring, and labelling everything with her name, she's been randomly announcing to me "I'm so excited mom!"

When the idea of overnight camp was broached, we decided that Molly would attend with her cousin who is also one of her BFFs and we were even able to place them inside the same cabin. We asked Jack if he also wanted to attend overnight camp this year and his answer was a decided "NOT FOR ME!" So, this is going to be Molly's adventure and not her brothers.

Molly tackles every single new thing she faces as an adventure and I hope she keeps that quality for the rest of her life. This is something I wish had rubbed off a little more on the rest of us.

We promised Molly each day we'd write to her (and they'll print off our email and hand it over to her each day), but she will be unable to email back. She's keeping a journal so she doesn't forget to tell us anything! 

You know that part of the book Wild when she first puts on her pack and can't stand up right? I am feeling that for Molly right here!

Is there a name for the feeling you get as a parent when your kid goes away for the first time and you miss them like crazy? Sota like being homesick, but you're at home and just missing your kid, asking for a friend.

Tomorrow when we drop Molly off, I'm going to put on my brave face (I'm not going to cry) and I'm going to cross my fingers that she has an absolute blast! We're going to focus on getting in some quality one on one time with Jack this week (I sense a horror movie marathon in our future)

Cheers to my big kids and summer time adventures! 

Happy Mother's Day 2022... I'm still Sorry!

I'm a little late this year, but that doesn't mean I can't still celebrate my mom. So, it's time for my annual apology letter to my mom. It's become apparent over the years that children have given me new perspective on my childhood. So, here we go....

Image courtesy of Reader's Digest

Dearest Mother,

I am so incredibly sorry for....

• never appreciating all of the coordination it took to schedule our medical appointments, social activities, extracurriculars and more
  
  
• forgetting to clean up the sink every single time I brushed my teeth
  
  
• parks and recreation registration day. I imagine in the 1980s and 1990s you had to stand in line and do it in person.
  
  
• throwing my coat on the floor instead of hanging it up.
  
  
• years of braces, the time required to take to me appointments for braces, and the costs associated with said braces
  
  
• fighting (loudly) with my siblings whenever you were on an important work call
  
  
• leaving dishes in my room no matter how many times you tell me to stop eating in my room
  
  
• shoving all the clean clothes that you have painstakingly folded for me haphazardly into any old drawer
  
  
• subsequently complaining that I cannot find a specific item of clothing that I need because it's shoved into the back of the wrong drawer
  
  
• leaving garbage in the car
  
  
• shoving my car garbage into the sides of the door when I get in trouble for leaving garbage in the car so as not to be "caught"
  
  
• having to be told to have a shower
  
  
• having to be told to wash my hair after I've had said shower
  
  
• leaving my towels on the floor or on a freshly made bed
  
  
• asking about snacks while you're in the middle of a nap, exercise, work, or something important, knowing very well that dad is relaxing and I could just as easily ask him
  
  
• every time you helped me with a school project, or study for a test and I didn't thank you

This is just a small snippet of some of the many things I am thankful for.

Thank you for everything you did for me, continue to do for me, and my kids.

Hiking Medway Valley Heritage Forest

In the first summer of the pandemic we redecorated our TV room. In the process of this venture, we bought some local photography to affix to the wall. We were both excited about these autumn photos taken by an Ontario photographer in a forest near London Ontario. (I'm currently looking for the link to his Instagram to post here).

This past long weekend we decided to take a short retreat away to Port Stanley. Since Port Stanley is a significantly closer road trip to the Forest from our wall art, we picked the warmest day we had (a balmy 8 degrees) to go and hike Medway Valley Heritage Forest.

There is free parking at the entrance to the forest and enough spaces for about 5 cars. Since the trailhead is located in a residential neighbourhood, if the lot was full you could probably find street parking.

This is a well carved out loop that is an easy to moderate 2-3KM hike (the moderate was only because of the slippery mud). The major challenge this time of year was that the mud made some of the hills slippery and mucky. 

While we weren't given bright fall colours on this early spring hike, the signs of warmer weather and bright colours were hard to miss.

Along the way we found a fort that someone had built in the forest. Jack named it "Castle Byers" as inspired by Stranger Things.

A section of the trail takes you alongside the river. It was a relatively quite day where we only stumbled upon two other groups of hikers and one person in waders fishing in the river.

A failed attempt to skip stones. We couldn't find many rocks that were the right shape.

As for wildlife spotting, our best find was this active woodpecker Molly managed to snap a photo of.

While we weren't wowed by fall colours on this hike or any other spectacular views it was a nice way to break our hiking shoes back in for spring. Early spring hikes are great because the bugs aren't out yet! As a free hike that is only 2-3KM I encourage anyone who is in the area to check it out. We hiked for about 40 minutes and this is a nice, easy, short hike for kids. That being said, it's not going to make my top 10 list, despite being the source of beautiful art in my house. Stay tuned for more hiking adventures later this spring!

Molly the Conqueror

 One of my 101 in 1001 resolutions and parenting goals is to teach and support my children in being charitable and nurturing their giving nature. Now that they're older and more aware of the world and news headlines around them they (Molly in particular) want to make a difference. 

I have been completing Conqueror Virtual Fitness Challenges since the beginning of the pandemic to help gamify fitness, motivate myself to walk more errands, walk the dog more, and because I've always been a sucker for trophies and ribbons. To date I have finished four challenges.

At the beginning of this year Molly expressed an interest in joining me for a challenge, and so she and I began the 4000km long challenge of the Pacific Coast Trail that we gave ourselves 365 days to to hike, bike, and walk (we're currently about 1200KM along our journey), and I'm really hoping we can finish it before we hit 300 days, but we'll see what we can manage.

Molly really loves that Conqueror plants a tree every time we hit a 20 percent milestone on each challenge.

When the news hit of what was going on in the Ukraine, Molly wanted to help and spent some time trying to figure out how. When the Conqueror Community asked for a challenge to with all proceeds donated to International Red Cross and Save The Children currently providing to Ukraine appeal we, along with a friend of our S, became three of 15,000 participants who helped raise over $500,000 USD in just a week. To find out more click here.

Yesterday Molly finished her Ukraine Challenge (doing so in just 10 days), and next week I will begin mine while she plugs away at our Pacific Crest Trail Challenge.

Two weeks ago she had us participate in an earth hour and I know there will be at least a community clean-up on our agenda come Earth Day this year, maybe more. She's researching...

I can't emphasize enough how proud I am of our little activist, being a person who works towards making change. 

How are you helping your children embrace their charitable side?

April Fools

We've become a family who likes to celebrate the small things. Any chance to celebrate is a pretty big deal around here. Whether it's St. Paddy's. Star Wars Day (May the 4th be with you), or April Fools.

Image Courtesy of Good Housekeeping

We have a few ground rules when it comes to April Fools that mainly centre around the concept that tricks must not be mean spirited. Last year I tricked Molly and Jack by playing a clip of The Ice Cream Truck Song on my cell phone from my pocket sporadically throughout the day, making them believe the Ice Cream Truck was on our street. They ran outside three times searching for the truck before they realized it was me.  One year I froze their breakfast cereal in milk and juice so they were confused at breakfast time, another I bought the classic snakes in a can of chips to shock them when I offered up a snack.  

Molly commented yesterday that my tricks usually involve food. I assured her I'd work on a trick that did not involve food...only that's just a deep fake. 

This year I am going to attempt two tricks that are a combination of things I found online thanks to some research sent to me by my friend C.

The first one starts tonight. I have asked Molly if she wants to paint our nails tonight and she has said yes. When she goes to bed I am going to create a fake nail polish spill (here's a video on how to to this) and placing my "spill" all over the coffee table. I'll ask Molly and Jack if they can put it away the nail supplies in the morning to watch their reactions.

Image Courtesy of Thrifty Fun

This will make her think I have completed my April Fool's prank for the year.

Later in the morning I am going to head out to Tim Hortons and return with a coffee and donuts. I will present the kids with new Tim's Brownie donuts, only It's just going to be an empty Tim's Donut Box (we saved one from a couple of weeks ago) filled with paper, Brown, Es.

Image courtesy of Pinterest

We'll see if they fall for it. Wish me luck, as I'm sure I have a couple of pranks headed my way care of them. What are your favourite April Fools tricks?

Treetop Trekking at Binbrook Conservation Area Hamilton

Now that both kids are double vaxxed and we're triple vaxxed and that spring is on the horizon we've decided to make a deliberate effort to be more social. This weekend we went out with the kids and a friend of theirs to a Treetop Trekking Playground at Binbrook Conservation Area in Hamilton.

While their aerial course doesn't open until April, there was still a lot for us to explore there and the kids and adults all had a blast.

The playground structure connects a bunch of treehouses to each other through a variety of nets, bridges, and tightropes.

There are various picnic areas for kids to take a break for water and snacks when needed, and to set down their coats and gloves when they get overheated from running around.

Since all courses are either completely netted in or low to the ground, the course is safe for preschoolers to big kids to adults. Since you book time blocks for the space there is no overcrowding. The course also operated on a red light green light path system which, as long as people are following the stickers, prevents kids from head on bottlenecks.

The Hamilton and Stouffville locations are open right now, for anyone looking to blow off some steam with their kids this March break, with additional locations in Brampton, Barrie, and beyond opening up beginning in April. Traffic was bad on the day we went, which meant we were over 30 minutes late for our 2 hour time block, that being said we had more than enough time for the kids to fully enjoy the experience without feeling shortchanged. I would recommend aiming to show up 10 to 15 minutes after your time block starts to avoid the lineups at the sign in centre and enjoy as much time as possible on the course, based on what I saw when we left. The cost to participate for Treewalk Village is $22 for kids and $10 for adults.

Both kids are excited to return later this spring with their three year old cousin.

 

Forever in Frozen Blue Jeans - Experiments with Kids When It's Really Cold Outside

 For a few winters now I've seen some fun social media post showcasing frozen jeans standing up as if they'd come alive in some amazing Fantasia based Sorcerer's Apprentice spell.

Image Courtesy of Your Classical

Creating A Frozen Jean Family

First we wet our jeans in the kitchen sink. Then we hung them over our back porch railing for 30 minutes. To provide some weather related contect the day we conducted this experiment it was -15C outside (said to feel like -20C), for you Americans that's 5 Degrees F to -4 Degrees F. If it's colder than your clothes will likely freeze faster, warmer out they'll freeze a little slower.

It didn't take long to realize the genius of Molly's idea to go with overalls. I was able to truly hang them off the railing to get a perfectly perpendicular frozen jean. The jeans that we laid over the porch railing were folded over frozen a bit and harder to pose in the snow compared to Molly's overalls.

Our jean garden in all it's stiff and frozen glory.

With a second successful experiment under our belt (see what I did there? Feel free to groan now) we're ready to take on more. Next time I'd use a close line or only use overalls to freeze because the result was so nice. Molly wants to try to also make frozen shirts next time to make full frozen phantom scarecrows. When that happens I'll be sure to post the results.

Stay tuned for more extreme cold weather experiments this winter!

To view our frozen spaghetti optical illusion click here.

The Frozen Spaghetti Incident - Things to Do with Kids When It's REALLY Cold Out!

It's really cold outside. How cold is it? Really. Freaking. Cold. In Toronto this year we were throttled with a record breaking (seriously it broke records) ton of snow and now we're enduring blasts of arctic cold and no hope of that melting any time soon and apparently another 20cm of snow next week.

While getting outside for extended periods of time is not the easiest right now, short times outside is how we're logging our vitamin D, whether it's walking the dog or shovelling snow. 

We've managed to log just over 20 hours outdoors so far this year towards our annual goal of 1000 hours outside and have turned to my 1000 hours outside Facebook group to get some inspiration for things to do when it's really cold outside. This weekend we decided to try some fun experiments to show just how cold it is here in the big smoke. Here is our first one.  Behold:

Our Frozen Spaghetti Optical Illusion

First we boiled the spaghetti as per usual and put it in a collander to cool.

Next we piled the spaghetti onto two plates and brought them outside along with our forks and used a box to prop up the fork-fulls of spaghetti on to let them freeze mid-air. I put a hoodie over top of the forks on the box to keep them in place while the weather took care of the rest. I probably should have taken a picture of the process, but hindsight is 20-20.

We left the spaghetti on top of the BBQ to ensure our dog Ted wouldn't eat the spaghetti while it froze. 

Look Ma, no hands!

Fear not, no spaghetti was wasted in this process. It has since been thawed inside and Molly will be enjoying it for dinner tonight.

Stay tuned for our next Baby it's Cold Outside Experiment!

Thankful Reflections

Happy New Year! No, we haven't disappeared completely into a COVID related abyss, but I have been struggling with what to write the past few months. 

As the news continues to roll in about COVID numbers being at an all-time high in Ontario, alongside news that many kids will be going back to school in less than a week is an emotional rollercoaster that is stressful and infuriating. At the same time I understand how lucky we are in Ontario and Canada, after reading about Uganda's 84 week shutdown of in-person school, with many students not even having the option of remote-learning, and instead having to get jobs. 

I have thought a lot lately about writing school boards, my local governments to try and make change, but unfortunately my efforts surrounding this in the fall fell flat. Instead of giving into my feelings of defeat my hope is to begin this year from a point of gratitude. Here are some of the things I am grateful for right now.

A rare sighting of our cat.

1. Frontline workers who have kept everything running for the safety, health and comfort of the rest of us.
2. Daily breakfasts and lunches with my kids (and often husband) while we all work from home and had virtual school.
3. Having received our booster shots and having M&J's second dose appointments in less than a week.
4. Having a flexible enough job that my kids can attend online school until they are fully vaccinated and it is safer to return to school.
5. Amazing online teachers who have kept my kids engaged and learning for what's approaching two years now.
6. Outdoor programming for kids in Toronto that allows for safer interaction with other kids throughout the pandemic. (this week they snow shoed in High Park and it was amazing)
7. Two amazing kids who support each other in their learning, and have come along way in terms of attention span. managing their workloads, and their computer and typing skills.
8. A wonderful tutor to help both kids when they're struggling with new concepts or studying for tests. 
9. Jack's IEP, it has increased his confidence and grades, tenfold.
10. Our family and friends who have managed to stay in touch virtually, endured chilly outdoor visits, and remained engaged, even when there is literally nothing to talk about.
11. Our pets, who are always up for cuddles when we're feeling down.
12. Messenger Kids, Zoom calls, and Text.
13. Online Trivia games and the site Trickster cards for euchre.
14. Puzzles....We have completed 60 puzzles (and counting) since the beginning of the pandemic and have found a new hobby to give us all some zen.
15. Binge-worthy shows to enjoy.

Keep safe and take care of each other!