Sunday 1 January 2012

Cooking! Welcome to 2012!

We have a great lunch at the Cooke house! It was my birthday party, Freedom Shifty-five, where all worked to ensure I had a great one!

Modeling the new apron!
Isabelle is on her way to try it out,
while Josephine, the elf, happily reads!
For Christmas, I gave the kids matching mother/daughter aprons, the child apron included a small wooden spoon and rolling pin.

They cook a lot together, both mother/daughter and father/daughter, and I thought this would be fun.

The best part is the stool we had built by Three-cut Kent, in Bala!

It serves as a snack table, work table, and step stool!

Caitlin & Josephine baking, June, 2010!
Jofee is high atop the step stool!
Kids can have so much fun in the kitchen. I have many fond memories of the kids helping me cook and bake.
Josephine, Aug. 14, 2009
Hard at work colouring!

Snack table!





I am very proud of our children. Caitlin works 4 days out of 5, Jean-Luc works as a consultant from home. The kids are in a Home Day Care four days a week.

I've been a working mom, and they aren't so much juggling family life as living it to the fullest.

My late mother went back to work when I was 5 years old.

We were a working class family.

She worked 31 years for Toronto's Rotary Club, in the Royal York Hotel.

My mom's best friend, a neighbour babysat us.
It's the cutest apron ever, with matching one for mommy!
A Cookbook
for the cooks in the house!
My grandmother, 'Nanny', lived nearby and I walked to her house for lunch on Cottingham Ave. in Toronto from my elementary school.

Now, we have many families who benefit from day care; public, private and non-profit, where kids are looked after in love and joy. The kids' day care provider is a wonderful woman, who takes kids to play dates, and on outings.

Caitlin, age 12 in 1991, making pancakes!
I am glad to be watching the big changes that have occurred for working mothers.


Welcome to 2012!

Below is a video Josephine (4 years old) made, while Mummy and Papa were cooking in their kitchen! Having taught these skills to my students as young as gr. 4, I knew she could do this, too!

6 comments:

Powell River Books said...

Happy New Year and Birthday all rolled in one. Nice to see all the family cooking goin' on. - Margy

Kay L. Davies said...

I love "Freedom Shifty-FIve"! Congratulations!
I'm sure the aprons will be well-used, and Jofee's video is adorable.
Looking forward to more in this lovely new year. (Pretty snow and hoar frost here this morning.)
Luv, K

Kay L. Davies said...

PS
I meant to say how much I admire the multi-purpose stool and snack table. What a great idea.

Red said...

Now I can see you , as the teacher lady, using these opportunities to teach many different things. A teachable moment!

W.C.Camp said...

Great little cooking vid. Looks like you have passed on the tradition of cooking to your kids and they have done the same. Happy 'Shifty FIVE' b-day to you. Nice family! W.C.C.

Anonymous said...

Love the post and agree with all you said about working/day-care/changes welcome....we both come from (and continued and passed on) a proud working-class family tradition.

I also love the step-stool/table combo -- darling -- and the cooking (same as above, could have been us ;>).