C is for...

This week, our letter was "C". There are lots of foods with c and I knew that cookies were going to have to be a part of our fun but I was stumped in terms of an outing. We settled on Costco. It's not exactly sophisticated outing but it's a place that Pk has always loved. She loves the snacks and she has always had a thing for their hotdogs too (although I shudder to think exactly what they contain). For "C" week, I was willing to suck it up and let her have her fun.

After Costco, it was off to our local pet store. I am not a fan of animals being sold in stores but the cats at this store are from a local cat rescue organization and it happens to be the one that our Sadie comes from. They give the animals the best care in the world and they don't just give cats away to the first comer who is willing to pay the fee. Pk loves visiting the cats so it seemed a nice way to make some letter C memories.

Of course, our cat had to be part of the celebration of "C" as well. I wasn't sure that she would cooperate - she is very much my cat and while she will hang out with the kids at times, she can be pretty stand-offish and I didn't know whether we would be able to track her down.

Little Bean had his visit at 11:30 p.m. We had a horrible night and he and I were up for hours before I could get him down. This was one of the few moments that he was actually smiling. As an aside, these are his favourite jammies and he goes around roaring very proudly when he wears them. I guess, in a way, they fit our cat theme, too!

We got the cat in the first place because of Pk. She fell in love with the cat at the home daycare she goes to and we have always liked cats, so it gave us the perfect excuse to add another life to our household. We have had Sadie for three years now and we love her. She is tiny and can be quite aloof but it feels a bit like she knows she is lucky to have a home and she conveys to us that she is happy to live here. She's wonderful company and there is nothing better than when she curls up, purring, on me, when we sleep.

Trying to get a child and a cat still at the same time for a photo was a challenge, that's for sure.

Of course, we couldn't just see cats and Costco, there had to be some "c"ooking involved. We started with pumpkin cupcakes that I wanted to try since I am hoping to take them to next month's dinner group (they are really yummy and made the house smell wonderful).
Our second recipe was a cookie recipe that we all love. We decided that we would deliver a batch to Mrs. M, our neighbour across the street who is the lunch monitor in Pk's class. She's a bit of a grandma figure to Pk and I know, especially during the initial adjustment, she really went out of her way to make Pk feel loved at school. Now, every time we see her outside, Pk wants to run over to give her a hug. It was very sweet, Pk took her the cookies and she made a HUGE fuss over Pk. This morning, when we were getting ready for church, she arrived with the container and to tell Pk that they were the BEST cookies she has ever eaten. Pk was walking on air. I also really liked that Pk was starting to learn to do things and share with other people.
We finished up by making breakfast cookies this morning. I thought I did a photo but I can't find it. She has lots of memories to go with letter "c" and it's gratifying for me because I am really seeing the payoff. She has been fairly good with letter sounds for a while but now, she is constantly thinking about the sound that starts a word and she sounded out the word cat by herself today. I think that reading is just around the corner and I couldn't be more excited.

Stay tuned for letter D. I have plans for that one, too!