Monday, December 31, 2007

Wating at Pearson

This never got posted as my wifi access timed out before I did the final save:

We're just waiting another hour for our flight. Which due to the power of a google search is supposedly on time. Momma was able to get hour a couple of hours ago as standby for the earlier flight. Now she'll be able to get some extra sleep.

Having traveled this holiday season I have the following advice
* Picking up your luggage is infinitely harder if your black luggage bag has no identifiable markings
* Criticizing the airline because you have black bags with no markings is probably not helpful

Monday, December 24, 2007

Merry Christmas

That's about all you'll get over a dial-up connection. More posts follow when we get access to a wireless hotspot. Pictures may be delayed because I'm pretty sure I forgot the cable for the camera.

Thursday, December 20, 2007

Quote of the Day 40

Birthday for BigE and when he wakes up Momma asks him does he feel older?

BigE "I feel taller and my head feels bigger"

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Where's Christmas Vacation Been?

National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, normally a Christmas staple on the ol' tube, has gone AWOL. I haven't seen it once. It's not Christmas without Christmas Vacation running a dozen times during the holiday season.

The New FireTruck

Has a 'mote control and is a big hit. Thank you Auntie Karen.
BigE and the new FireTruck

Did I mention the noise it makes? Check out this video:

More $@&#(!^ Snow!

In Icing the Rink I mentioned how I had spent Friday night shoveling out the rink. That gave me 36 hours to try and get an ice base on it.

Since I didn't have a water tight seal, the plastic sheet was flat on the ground, I ha to work the sprinkler. Moving it around to fill an area then move the sprinkler to let it freeze. There was some good weather for it. Nice minus teens. -15 through -18 Celsius.


It's a little hard to see on the small left shot but there is a little round yellow metal sprinkler working hard out there. It's metal with no moving parts so it won't freeze.

I've used vapour barrier for the bottom previously. About $20 for a 20'x100' sheet that I would cut in two to make my 40'x50' base sheet. That would go over the wooden frame. The problem that ended up happening was that the sheet would tear. So it wasn't water proof anyways. I.e. so it would collect the water if I flooded it.

The end result is that I have to go slowly to build up the layers. That's when I ran into this, our snow storm.

Backyard hockey rink

For those astute readers you may have noticed that the chair and play structure are the same from the ice rink picture above. In fact it was taken from the same vantage point just 48 hours later. Yes my rink is under another foot of snow.

So now I'm trying to figure out how I will get my neighbours snowblower into the back yard. I think he thinks I'm joking.

BigE's Birthday Party

BigE celebrated his 4th birthday on Sunday. It took till today to get the guests out of the house and my exam written to get this post up.

It was one nasty day outside. 37cm of snow feel through the course of the day. It was a little questionable whether it was going ahead. However once Momma got there just before the start time she found almost everyone. In the end only one kid didn't make it. (And those following me were a little late).

BigE's party was at a gymnastics's club. He'd been there several weeks before when another kid from his class had a party there. He'd really liked it once he found the Jump-o-leen. Today was no different.

For the first hour the kids get to run, jump, climb on the bars and general mayham
BigE tumbling

BigE jumping off the big mat

After an hour or so of activity we headed up to the party room for a little pizza and party cake. This year the cake was a rocket ship. The last remnant of the original party plan (Rocket ships before Arnie's surgery meant we couldn't have 15 kids running around our house).
The Birthday Rocket ship birthday cake

Somebody had no trouble figuring out what to do with the cake
BigE and the birthday cake

Funny thing here was that all of the kids dove in to grab the candles to remove them. panicked parents worried about wax burns while the kids wanted to help or get one.

As mentioned the turn out was great considering the weather. With only the Torontonians following me late and the wussies from BC not making it.
BigE and the party crowd

At last we reached the presents. The kids were losing focus as their blood sugars increased and they became more tired. Once we started opening them the crowd surged forward to check it all out. BigE made out very well. BigE managed a nice Thank you at the end.
BigE opening presents
All in all I think everyone had fun.

Is this what they had hoped for?

Found in Seth Godin's Facebook for old people is a link to this hilarious image (click on it to enlarge).

Saturday, December 15, 2007

Chritsmas Concert Conductor

And finally bringing the Christmas Concert series to a close is this.

During all this singing I noticed the teacher working hard to keep the kids singing and in time with the actions. I couldn't resist capturing a couple seconds of what was going on in front of the stage.

Chritsmas Concert Video 4

Besure to check out the kid on the far left at the beginning. He seems to be losing his head band.

Icing the Rink

We've had a lot of snow lately. Well for around here we have. Funny when I read Coldest winter in 15 years I thought great that will make it easy to freeze the rink.

What I didn't realize was that the other comment in the article was also going to apply. Higher then normal level of snowfall. Snowfall? I figured that was for those in milder climates.

Well in the end I had waited and waited hoping wind, or warm weather might have cleaned up the rink. Nope. So, since I had some time between exams and the big party, I figured it was time to get started. 3 hours of shoveling later I finally had the rink clear. And by finally I mean FINALLY.

It was 11:00 so I figured I had some time to get a coat of ice down before hitting the sack. Then I saw the timer on the tap. You know those mechanical timers that let you turn on the sprinkler and have it shut off after so much time. So the tap is wide open. Guess what -15'c temperatures did to that? I ended up going in to boil the kettle a couple of times till I finally got the water flowing. I even had to use a wrench to get the timer off the tap. For a moment I thought the whole thing was going to come off the house.

Now I'm sitting in the dark waiting to move the sprinkler to a new location. So far so good. Things are doing better now that the ibuprofen is in my system.

PS Trying to avoid walking on the plastic and newly formed ice gave me the idea to use the long reach paint pole to move the sprinkler around. Normally I have to climb around the edges in the snow to get the movement.

Friday, December 14, 2007

Chritsmas Concert Video 3

Goofy Pics

BigE was inspired to make some silly faces. His buddy Monkey (from the WBFamily) took these pictures. After they were done at the Christmas concert they wanted to take some pictures too.

Here's two Monkey took (maybe with a little help from his Mommy)
BigE making faces a Mojavascript:void(0)<br />Save Nownkey takes his picture
BigE making faces as Monkey takes his picture

Here's one Dada took while BigE was on my shoulders. Not too bad when I can't see the LCD or view finder.
Dada takes a picture as BigE was on his shoulders

Chritsmas Concert Video 2

Chritsmas Concert Video 1

Chritsmas Concert

This morning was the Kindergarten Christmas concert. There were four classes (two senior and two junior) up singing. They each did a couple of songs. BigE's class was up first. They sang "It's a Small World" which is what that thing hanging around their neck is. It's a little Styrofoam world covered in blue and green tissue paper.

Here's a dump of the pictures. The picture quality isn't the best. Even for a gym with our camera. Not sure why though. I have a few video's that I'm uploading so stay tuned.






The Christmas Tree

Here's this year's Christmas tree. A little on the small side this year. And by a little I mean about half height. But a Christmas tree none the less.
2007 Christmas tree
Note the green extension cord in the bottom right hand corner. That big red dot is the magical clicker from Single Greatest Toy Ever!

Wednesday, December 12, 2007

Single Greatest Toy Ever

Not a Wii. Not a firetruck. Not a helicopter.

But an extension cord with a on off button. Somebody likes the tree with all the lights. The only problem is that BigE wants to plug it in. Which we caught him doing once. So after the reminder that we don't work the plugs we figured we'd have to get an extension cord with a switch on it.

Well Momma found one with a nice big red on-off button. Boy it was a hit. Somebody could barely let go of it long enough to let the cashier ring it in.

After it was hooked up we had our own version of blinking lights

Off - Click - On - Click - Off - Click - On - Click - Off - Click - On - Click - Off - Click - On - Click - Off - Click - On - Click - Off - Click - On - Click - Off - Click - On - Click - Off - Click - On ...

Well you get the idea.

Quote of the Day 39

As BigE looks under the table

BigE "I can see well because of my blue eyes"

Dada "Hunh?"

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

I Miss Momma

BigE comes into the room, looks up to see me dressed and begins to cry. I was expecting something along the lines of "Do I have to go to daycare?" but oh no. After some wailing and crying

"I miss my momma"

Momma's boy. Time for me to break out more cookies and chocolate milk.

Monday, December 10, 2007

Dada's First Curling Event

Not sure how you can be Canadian and make it this far without trying curling. But some how I did. Sadly there was no pictures of any of our stellar sweeping. Or "HARD!" as we kept joking.



All I've got is a pic of our skip. Guess who's at the other end of the sheet calling the shot? That's right Dadda. Although I think he was ignoring some of my controversial shot suggestions. Your questioning my "Inside turn three rock takeout with a backspin?" Shut up and make the shot.

Friday, December 7, 2007

One Fine Loaf of Bread


We've been using the bread machine to make pizza dough for a while. Usually with pretty good results. I've also used the dough setting to make decent rolls on holidays.

A couple of times I have meant to make bread dough. Roll it up, and freeze it. Then when you want a fresh loaf pull it out before you go to bed, put in the oven, and set the timer so it cooks for first thing in the morning. Fresh bread first thing in the morning. I'd say the results are pretty good.

Well what was funny the other day with this particular loaf? I covered it with a tea towel to rise in the oven. I was making it fresh. Then as we rushed out the door I thought "Oh heck I'll just set the timer so it's done when I get back".

Turned out I forgot to remove the tea towel. It was baked for 30 minutes at 350'c. Not a burn mark. Imagine my surprise when I opened the oven door wanting to see the finished product when I saw this blue cloth. "What the he...."

Woopsie

Actions have Consequences

From the Globe and Mail is 'Merry Xmas Isaac, I hope you've learned your lesson'

Parents don't often tell their children what they can expect to get for Christmas, but thanks to some creative parenting, one Toronto-area teen knows exactly what he won't be getting. That's because his dad is selling what would have been his Christmas present — the popular video game Guitar Hero III — on eBay, after he caught the 15-year-old smoking pot in the backyard of the family home.

Thursday, December 6, 2007

Smart Car Purchases

See this is what happens when you let somebody borrow your car you get Next Car We Buy Will Be a Pontiac Vibe

Four hours later your car comes back and for some reason the windows have to stay down so it can dry. Ooookay.

PS I was semi-awake but dam tired.

A Week with No Posts?

Bugger off.

I finished my last assignment for the semester last night. 11 pages of regression analysis. Now there is only two exams left. Not that isn't much of a good excuse because after that there will be Christmas or New Year or whatever.

The Christmas Party

Momma's work had a Christmas party for the kids this past weekend. Momma has been in on the organizing for a couple of years now. Swimming, pizza, Little Ray's Reptiles, Santa, and a gift. A lot of fun for all the kids.

After the kids got a slice of pizza Little Rays Reptiles showed up to entertain the kids. They liked the spiders and the cousin to the komodo dragon (forget the name). BigE liked the big dragon. Then he saw the Snapping Turtle. Boy that interested him

Little Rays Reptile snapping turtle

He moved in for a closer look. Although he could touch he was interested. It might be the first animal that BigE realizes eats other animals. In this case fishes. So maybe that's ok.
BigE takes interest in the turtle

What's a round of reptiles without some big ugly old snake.
The big snake from Little Rays Reptile

Then came Santa and the gift. For the first time in the four years we been there BigE didn't cry upon seeing Santa. He even walked up and answered Santa's question about what he wanted for Christmas. Quite the brave boy. He even hoped up on his lap for a picture.

BigE and Santa

Afterwards he gave Momma a thank-you hug that was worth capturing.

The Santa Claus Parade

We hit the Santa Claus parade for the village just down the road from us last Saturday. It was a cold day (compared to our warm fall). Minus teens Celsius plus wind chill. So we were all bundled up waiting for the parade to begin.
With Momma taking the pictures this is the best picture taken of me. To say I resemble Jabba the Hut here is no stretch.
BigE and Dada

Now the comfy couch award goes to these folks who parked in the no parking zone to watch the parade from their minivan. Maybe we're just jealous.
Best way to watch the parade

Here we are watching the parade go by. Again Momma had the camera so we missed taking a picture of the firetruck, police car, horse & wagon, and Santa.
BigE trying to watch the parade
After the parade we hit a local shop that does specialized ginger bread houses and shapes. You could get a house, chalet, palace, race car, or even aircraft made out of ginger bread. We picked up a little snack.
BigE on the way home
Here is one pic of our tired little boy. He perked up for another picture but this shows the little boy tired but willing to work through that ginger bread cookie.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Where Have You Gone?

As soon as I get the camera back from Momma we'll have shots from the Christmas parade and Momma's work Kids Christmas party. Hence we've been kinda busy. So that's why it's been 5 days since I've posted. Since I'm in class tonight it will really be 6 days till anything is published.

Stay tuned

PS I'd like to mention BigE has got one mean spiral on the football.