Remarkably, there still remains some Halloween candy in the house. No, the entry title refers to the last of this year's ghoulish imagery. I just had to post this because I love it so much. Scary? No doubt. A little creepy? Absolutely; I think Wee-Mina took Matthew's zombie makeup to heart. But beyond that, her vampire is still fashionably dressed and sporting a lovely heart pendant choker and some orange jewelry across her shoulders. She has an eye for detail, this one. I remember when Matthew used to do the same.
Hipsters
November 06, 2009
November 03, 2009
Latest Update
Just a quick update to let everyone know I'm feeling better and managed to go to work today. It was a good day and I created a presentation for the lads at the office to recap my day-long seminar on Friday. And, because the two grandmothers asked for it, here's a quick picture of the little plunderess, Marina.
November 01, 2009
The Night of Nights
I love this picture of Marina; it's not the best picture of the group, but it is the only one with that expression. It was a pretty long day yesterday and both kids were primed for the big night, Marina in particular. In fact, she's still going a mile-a-minute.
We decided to stay home last night and take the kids around the neighbourhood. Jennifer took the kids out first, doing one street over and half of our own street. I stayed home and dispensed the candy. We didn't get a whole lot of kids, maybe 30 or so. Jennifer came back and suggested I finish the street with the kids which, in retrospect, was very nice. We then came home and the kids began to sort (and eat) their candy. All in all, it was a lovely Halloween…until this morning.
The cat didn't take kindly to Daylight Savings Time, deciding to Meow-It-Up™ at his usual time. We took our time getting up, then made a Halloween treat bag for Chloe and wished René a Happy Birthday on our way out of the grocery store. The shopping done, Jennifer notice a scratch that runs 3/4 of the length of the van as we packed it up; we'd been keyed. When we got home, I checked the street we'd been parked on last night and behold, at least another 6 cars showed the same deep scratches. No doubt a Halloween prank and, I'm sure, one that will be costly at that. We just can't seem to catch a break. Little shits—thanks for ruining the weekend!
We finished our trip with a stop at the pet store to pick up some stuff for Cato. He's lucky though; we almost walked out with the cutest little black rescue cat. I keep thinking another cat will keep him company but looking at how he and Boo get along, I imagine he'd get tired of a new friend pretty quickly. Grumpy old cat.
October 26, 2009
La P'tite Marina
On the way home from school Marina looked up at me and said: "Citrouille."
"Oh…pumpkin!" I exclaimed with obvious pride. She does this, the Wee-One, ever since she started French immersion. She'll softly throw a new word she learned that day to see if I understand what she's saying. For the most part, I get it.
As we walked along, Marina would point out the various citrouilles standing guard on people's porches. "Look!" she'd call. "Trois citrouilles! Une petite, une moyenne et une grosse citrouille!"
Then at dinner she perked up for a joke. "Do you know that all horses speak French?" she asked. Jennifer looked at her curiously, "No…how do they speak French?"
Pointing to her nose, she beamed: "They all say: Nez, nez, nez!"
Ah, my little French girl!
October 23, 2009
Health Update
Well, the Lad stayed home again today. After we gave him some medicine at 4:00 am, Jennifer decided she'd stay home with him. Sadly, this means the trip to Edmonton has been canceled, or at least, postponed. Much to the disappointment of the Wee-One who walked in from school yesterday and went straight to her room to cry. Scenes of broken hearts by jilted boyfriends flashed through my mind. We did our best to console her and eventually, she nibbled at her dinner. Matthew on the other hand, was saddened by the missed trip but has been enjoying movies with Daddy and catching up on PVRed episodes of Star Wars: The Clone Wars.
He did get through the day without any medicine although his temperature is starting to rise. As the rain lashes against the bedroom window, I think we'll stay in and take it easy on this blustery weekend. I have a meeting tomorrow morning and I've got to take the van in to get our snow tires put on. Otherwise, it should be pretty quiet.
October 22, 2009
Plans in Flux
Uh-oh. A certain young man woke up with a fever and a sore throat this morning. This could be problematic because tomorrow, Matthew, Marina and Jennifer are supposed to fly to Edmonton for the weekend. We'll have to see what develops. So far he's read in bed and now he's downstairs watching TV.
On a positive note, he did finish his book. You should know that this brings me no greater pleasure, knowing this is the third Tintin book he's read and that he loves them…as he should. Of course, he's reading them in English but hopefully, someday, he'll read the French copies which sit in his bookcase.
October 08, 2009
Broken Enigma
We were having one of those okay store-bought pizzas when Matthew started picking out the sausage from his slice. It was fine at first, but after picking little bits for over 5 minutes, I told him he could eat the rest. He suggested he could get more of the offending sausage off of his pizza, but I sternly suggested he just eat it as is.
From the kitchen, Jennifer countered with something like: "Mais, il faut faire la même chose avec la fille." She was suggesting that I should be as rigid with Marina who was picking pepperoni off of her slice of pizza. Of course, picking big pieces of pepperoni versus little pieces of ground sausage isn't quite the same, which is what I was about to get into before the Wee-One perked up with: "Oh? La fille?"
And there you have it. Our French code has been compromised. We will now have to resort to another language if we are to communicate privately in front of the kids. I've always wanted to learn Japanese.
October 07, 2009
What Does He Want?
Sucking and Reading … captured on September 30, 2009 - 5D
The other evening Matthew was on his Best. Behaviour. Ever. Neither Jennifer nor I knew why, nor could we fathom what his ulterior motives could be but his actions were funny to behold. It started with unusual initiative: "Mommy, I'm going to practice the piano before dinner." And on the way downstairs, "But I'll wash my hands first!" This was followed by rare instances of offered help: "Let me take these to the dinner table for you." and a suspiciously obvious collection of polite comments such as: "Oh, thanks for dinner, Mommy. It's delicious!"
Both Jennifer and I were more amused than wary but the clincher came when Matthew offered to help Marina and share something with her. He often helps out but sharing is still something that is difficult at his age. In the end, he never asked for anything. No more pleas for a Nintendo DS, no begging for the latest Wii or PS3 game, no nothing…just a happy, polite, helpful and thoughtful kid. Imagine that.
October 05, 2009
Scaring Mummy
Hugging at Rockpoint … captured on September 19, 2009 - 5D
It is the time of year, I suppose. Actually, I expect the majority of you probably haven't thought of Halloween just yet, but you'll have to trust me when I tell you that that's all that's on the kids' minds these days. This afternoon I picked them up from school and as we crossed Roncesvalles, I saw an approaching bus, lumbering its way through the narrow lane of construction. I told the kids that it was quite likely that Mummy would be on it and then I suggested we hide around the corner to surprise her. Of course, the kids took this to mean "scare her".
Crouching under a window, we could see clearly through another window onto Roncesvalles. As Jennifer walked past the window, the kids bubbled in anticipation, readying themselves. As our victim crossed our path, Matthew and Marina leaped out with a roar. Of course, Jennifer jumped and the kids giggled madly. As we walked the rest of the way home, Matthew high-fived Marina and I, ecstatic that the surprise was such a success. "Ah, Mummy. You really jumped. That was SO AWESOME!"
October 02, 2009
October 01, 2009
Mittens and Max
The Wee-One has arrived at the beginning.
While it's not part of her Kindergarten curriculum just yet, we have been reading with Marina most nights. Except, she no longer simply listens, she's effectively trying the odd word here and there. I presume Jennifer has taught her the word Mittens—the story's feline protagonist—but the other night, she actually figured out Max, all on her own. She also figured out friend which completely baffles me; perhaps Jennifer taught her that one as well.
Of course, it's not always simple. The Wee-One does get frustrated from time to time (we're not asking her to read sentences, just the odd word) and she seems unusually shy to read a word out loud, but I assume that'll pass quickly the more we read together.
Matthew, for his part, reads all the time. Most of his homework consists of reading—every day—so it's become old hat for him. His handwriting has also improved, as has his spelling, although there's still the odd, creative word which finds its way into a sentence.
September 30, 2009
The Annual Crazy Hair Day
Not the best shot, I'm sure—there are quite a few more at home on the "real" camera, but Jennifer wanted a shot ASAP so, here you are. The nice thing, now, is that there's no more drama or sullen moods when it comes to Crazy Hair Day. Both kids are eager to participate and they relish the attention they receive on the walk to school. Each would take turns pointing out how this person was looking at them or that that man behind the wheel of a passing truck looked surprised. When I suggested that a dog was eyeing them funnily out of a parked car, both giggled furiously.
September 02, 2009
Cooler Heads
Jennifer and I agreed we'd all go to the last game together and tell Coach Steve that Matthew was done. As the day wore on, she e-mailed me at work suggesting we speak with the coach; after all, this likely wasn't the first time a kid wanted to quit playing. Perhaps, she suggested, he might offer a solution.
We arrived at High Park by 6:10 for our 6:30 game but there'd been a double-booking and we'd have to wait to play at 7:15. We told Matthew to run off and practice with his teammates but he seemed uneasy. When the coach called the kids in for warm up exercises, Jennifer and I talked about how uncomfortable the Lad has been around the other players. I'm not sure if he's had a tiff with someone but this did seem out of the ordinary. We took the miss-scheduling as an opportunity to talk to the coach. First, we wanted to know how much of a commitment the winter session would be. He suggested it would be one night a week and that it would be mostly training; the component that Matthew really enjoys. I then insinuated that Matthew was feeling awkward with the players; not one in specific, but he was being overly shy. The coach agreed to keep an eye on things.
Walking back to Marina who'd been playing with Jennifer's iPod, we agreed to talk to Matthew when he had a break before the game. When he did, we told him that we'd talked to the coach and Jennifer offered that she thought he should keep playing through the winter. It was at this point that he said nonchalantly: "That's what I want to do." We barely got to discuss why we thought he should play—the physical exercise, only one night a week, making new friends—before he was off. "Yeah, that's okay. That's what I want too!"
So, all's well that ends well. I think the initial question to play came at a time when he was feeling low about himself and his playing. I also think he's been jittery around kids that aren't in his core group; in fact, I noticed this over the past few weeks in various day camps as most of his closest friends have been away. Perhaps that's what brought this on in the first place. Who knows with kids? All I know is that the whole parenting thing can indeed be more difficult than it needs to be.
At the end of the day, he played very well and really seemed to have fun. Marina hooked up with Alex, the sister of one of Matthew's teammates and they ran themselves ragged; probably more than some of the soccer players. I showed a positive attitude throughout the game and kept any suggestions to myself, deferring to the coach. After all, my job is just to support him. I think it was a lovely night out.
September 01, 2009
August 19, 2009
Easy Enough
Light 25 … captured on August 13, 2009 - LX3
I'm guessing it's been more than just the weather lately and that they've been keeping Matthew quite busy at summer camp. We were eating dinner when Jennifer asked if the kids would like to go for a bike ride once they'd finished. Marina answered with a resounding Yes! but Matthew just noodled with his food.
"No, that's okay, Mommy." he half-sighed. "You guys go ahead and I'll stay here and relax."
"Relax?" Jennifer asked.
"Yeah. I had a really exciting day. I should take it easy."
