March Movie of the Z's At Work and Play

Here's what life looked and sounded like at the Z's this month. Be sure to click on the videocast below to see and hear what we've been up to!

Emily's First Music Video

This week, Emily and I found a web site called Fleximusic that gave us a seven day trial on a software program that kids can use to create their own music. It is awesome and easy to use!! We've both had so much fun using it. We tried to insert the music into this blog, but unfortunately blogspot doesn't appear to let you do this. (If anyone knows a solution to this, please post on comments). We got around this by creating a little video on Movie Maker and inserting one of her songs. Click on the video below to hear and see our Tornado Movie. Enjoy!

Emily's Pet Shop Story

Here is a story that Emily and I wrote together:

Once upon a time, a horse and a butterfly each had a baby. The horse and the butterfly bought outfits and stuff for them. The little caterpillar and horse grew up until they were much bigger.

One day, a bear on a motorcycle came from the adoption center and took the little horse and little caterpillar away. He took them to the adoption center so that someone could come a buy them.

One afternoon, a young girl named Taffodil came to the adoption center. She wanted to buy just the horse, but the horse said, “Please may I have a friend?”

“What kind of pet would you like for your friend?” asked Taffodil. The horse said she wanted a caterpillar. Taffodil said, “ I have enough money to buy the caterpillar.” So she did..

Then Taffodil took them home. She asked her dad to build them a house. So he said, “I will in a few days.” A few days later, he bought the materials to make the pet house. He went to the paint store to pick out some paints. Then he went back home and he built the house. When it was all done and the paint was dry, they went to the furniture store to pick out some furniture for them. The pets put the furniture where they wanted it. Then Taffodil went to the fashion store and bought them some clothes to wear. They loved their clothes and their house and they were glad that Taffodil had adopted them.

Hope you enjoyed it!

Welcome to the Z's 1st Blog (No Really-This Time I Mean It)

Welcome to the first official blog of the Canadian Z's-- as opposed to the other blog I accidentally posted and then could not figure how to edit before it got posted to the world wide web so everyone could see what an idiot I was. I pride myself on knowing a little something about technology, but who would have thought pushing the enter key after the title would cause it to be published for the entire world to see. Nothing like embarassing yourself on a very large scale.

With that theme in mind, we will continue.

My purpose for joining this blog site is to keep friends and family updated on the comings and goings of the Zbaraschuk household. Emily has also indicated that she intends to post art-work on the blog and may from time to time decide to communicate with the rest of you. You will be able to tell the difference in our posts by the number of references to Littlest Pet Shops-- hereafter referred to as LPS. Emily and Connor are obsessed with these toys, spending hours playing with the creatures, creating fashions for them, building lego playgrounds for them, and ripping them out of the hands of their little sister, Kaylie! In this one area, Connor and Emily present a united front-- the baby is NOT allowed in Pet Shop World-- aka north east corner of my living room-- with future expansion currently being halted by "THE PARENTS". Kaylie is determined though, and from time to time she manages to break through the barriers and snatch a lowly hamster or kitty. Of course, she is eventually discovered and then must hear her siblings' cries of "Bad Baby"-- which Kent and I have definitely discouraged-- as name-calling is a behaviour only THE PARENTS are allowed to engage in. Alas, our efforts have come too late and too little. Kaylie has not only taken the barb to heart, but recognizes that as a word, BAD BABY" is a phrase to be directed at those who have wronged you. Consequently, when the two older kids get in her way, she now turns to them and calls them "Bad Baby". What goes around comes around, I guess!

Kaylie is definitely going through a defiant stage right now when it comes to her brother and sister-- although I might add the stage might be rightfully labelled "Self-Preservation". Tired of the way she's been smothered and pestered, she is now learning to stand up for herself. Biting, hitting, and head-bunting are just a few of the moves she's picked up-- leaving us to wonder if she has a future in the WWF. While THE PARENTS frown on this kind of behaviour, it is here that we face a quandry as she really does need a way to defend herself from Pet Shop World's heavy handed Security Agents. Being a professional educator, I have tried to teach Kaylie the playground motto of "use your words, not your hands". This somehow got lost in translation, though, as the main word she uses is "MINE!!!!!" screamed at the top of her lungs as she grabs things from her sibling's hands. So , for now, if no one's bleeding, it's all good!

Anyways, that about concludes the blog for this week. (It may in fact conclude the blog for this year-- as I'm not sure how much time I'm going to have to keep this up)

I'd like to try and add some pictures of our recent trip to Florida, but I'm not sure I have the technological savvy to accomplish this. We'll give it a try and see how it goes. A Pet Shop drawing may appear, as Emily will be thrilled if her artwork appears on the web.

Signing off,

The Z's

Welcome to the Z's 1st Blog

Welcome to the 1st official blog of the Canadian Z's.