Christmas

Our excited boy woke up at 8:00 on christmas morning and the first thing he did was open his baby sisters stocking for her.


After that he opened the big box with HIS name on it and was excited to find the Pirate Ship that he had asked Santa for. Boy was he excited!!



Then he opened a gift for his baby sister.


Here is Pineapple, Nanny, Mommy,and Big E opening gifts.

Here are Nanny and Poppy enjoying their gifts.


A shot of Pinapple, Daddy, Big E, Auntie K and Peanut with the spoils of the day.

Twas the Night Before Christmas

The new stockings made by Mama and Nanny Barb

Were hung by the chimney with care


Not a create was stirring, except one super excited little boy who was tracking Santa via Norad.


Once Santa had finished with Europe BigE wanted to get to bed so that Santa could come. But not before putting out a treat for Santa and his Reindeer

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!. Take a minute to remember why the day is Christmas and to be grateful for everything that we have.

Pictures coming as soon as I can find the usb cable for the camera.

The First Roll

Today Peanut managed her first roll onto her tummy. She was hanging out on the play mat when we heard BigE call from the other room "I think you'd better come see Peanut she's rolled onto her tummy".

Fun Fact of the Day

Arnie likes cats. Not in that usual doggie way either. Did you know. I certainly didn't

Peanut and Nanny

A sweet picture of Peanut and Nanny taken today at the family brunch.

Then the mischief side took over Nanny who ended up giving Peanut a new hairdo

A Reminder about Flickr

As I upload another gig or two of pictures and little videos I realize its been a while since I mentioned that we have a wealth of pictures on flickr.com. If your not already on the access list drop me an email and I can add you in a jiffy.

Woops .. Not that bag!

That's Dada this morning going through the bags trying to find some clothes for BigE. There were gifts tucked in every corner. Every time I said "Maybe your stuff is in here" and opened a bag. "Woops, ah ... not the right one". Our gifts would be one thing but ol' St Nick is another matter.

I think I'm in the clear as every high shelf in a closet has been confiscated to store toys.

The Eagle has Landed

We've touched down. Everyone handled the traveling great. Especially the longer second leg when the in seat TVs didn't work. What a bummer. The laptop batter barely runs 30 minutes. BigE was a gem in the seat keeping himself entertained. Peanut handled her first flight. She was a little fussy because she didn't really nap. For a four month old she did great.

Early Morning Practice

I wanted to drop a quick note about an event that was lost in the weekend of activities. Especially due to the Christmas party.

This Sunday BigE had his first early hockey practice. Well 7 am. Early but not too early. He was slow to wake up, and we got there at the last minute but everything went well. Plus he wasn't a big ball of snot for the remainder of the day too! Always a plus.

We've got one 6:30 and one 7:00 coming up after Christmas. We'll have to see how he does.

Semseter 4 Done

[Insert Usual clap trap about being busy.]

Done the fourth semester as of 9:58 pm tonight. Man that feels good. Give or take a few percentage points I'm 44% done. Sone I might even have to map out a post degree plan.

Meeting Santa

Another Christmas season has brought Mama's work place kids Christmas party. Similar format to last year. Swimming, pizza, pop, cookies, Little Rays Reptiles, and of course Santa

This year BigE got to go up with his baby sister for a picture with Santa. Unlike previous years he wanted to go up to make sure Santa knew what he wanted. A pirate ship and walkie talkies.

I still might be able to get that RV!

Now I've resisted the last years worth of $200 oil predictions. And this one should be taken with a grain of salt as well. Read it an see the effect of prices on production and how it take 3+ years to bring new production online.

The Coming Oil Crash: Why Oil Prices Will Drop

The tripling of oil prices since the summer of 2003 has unleashed forces that within the next two or three years will bring oil prices tumbling back down to below $50 a barrel. Looking even further ahead, prices could easily fall to $30 a barrel or even lower. So before you trade in your Cadillac Escalade for a Toyota Prius, think twice: $1.50-a-gallon gas might not be gone forever.

For extra good measure. The governments could be bailing out the big three with a promise to keep building an electric car that no longer makes financial sense. Then turn around with green rebates for consumers to make the car affordable.

Quote of the Day 66

At bedtime tonight as we're discussing going to the community's Santa breakfast in the morning.

BigE "I know what I want for Christmas. TWO THINGS"

Dada "Oh yeah, you know what you want?"

BigE "Walkie Talkies and a Pirate Ship!"

(Good thing there on their way!)

The Birthday Party

BigE turned 5, almost, with his Birthday party today. He's been excited over the party for days. The kids were over to dress up as pirates. They had a good time with the pirate entertainers for about an hour. A couple of the kids were scared by the pirate.

Most loved the pirate dress up.


Then it was time to wolf down some pirate party cake.


Followed up an enormous pile of gifts. Sadly nobody took Dada's suggestion that BigE needed a Wii, new laptop, or Lexus seriously. He did get a kiddie laptop (something like this) but no Dell Mini. Oh well there is always Santa!

Pirate Ship

Here is BigE's Pirate birthday cake. It took some work and the creative inspiration of four people but we got it sailing, sort 'o speak.

Two 9x13" pans of chocolate cake, a couple of tubes of chocolate icing, a tub of white icing (for the ocean), some PlayMobil Pirate guys, and two packs of small crispy crunch bars that were on sale for 67 cents each.

Some notes:
- That is a real piece of wood coming out of the bow of the ship (Sailing readers what the heck is that called?). I sanded it down smooth and wrapped the cake end in saran wrap that was mostly hidden by icing.
- The Playmobil pieces are mostly from a Pirate accessory kit that looks like this (amazon.com) but I don't think was a 1/3 of that price.
- The masts are skewers
- The crows nest is the bottom half of an ice cream cone
- The plank is a cadbury thin chocolate bar
- The guns where some kind of round waffer that had chocolate on one end.

Goodwill Still Out There

It's nice to know that there is still some kindness and goodwill out in the world. Dada touched the edge of the pavement and put holes in TWO tires. The road way out of the neighborhood is tight. Tight as in the white line on the edge isn't painted completely on the road. Parts touch the gravel.

After realizing what had happened I listened intently. For a few seconds all seemed well. Then I heard that front tire start to whomp. The air was coming out. I pulled to the shoulder and got out. Sure enough the front passengers side tire was out. As I grudgingly walk to the rear to get the spare I hear a hiss from the rear. Two tires out. Mother $^%&@ER

I lock the doors (for some insane reason) and I'm about to start my 5km walk home when my next door neighbor notices a red car and "some big guy". She figures its me and stops. While its by a some what well lit traffic light it still is an empty stretch of road. So I got a lift home.

Then I loaded my all seasons into the truck and went up to replace the tires. Prepped I had gloves, a hat, flashlight and few tracks on my ipod. As I work my way through the two tires I have two people ask and two people stop their car and get out to see if I need help. I had it all under control. (Aka nobody happens to carry a air wrench in their trunk.) But it was nice to know people still stop to help.

Quote of the Day 65

BigE smelled the faint trace of wood smoke in the air. He was trying to figure it out and decided:

BigE "It smells like graham crackers"

Dada, slightly confused but with a post graduate in tangential thinking, realizes that he's thinking of Smores at Auntie Bevie's and Scott's.

Dada "You mean it smells like a wood fire that you could make smores with?"

BigE "Yeah"

BigE is Feeling Better

He had a good nights rest. Well as best as you can with Dada in the bed with you. We didnt get up till after 8. So his the temperature has been down and energy level are good (consider how little he's eaten).

The day has been sliding by with the new Mighty Machines Airplane video. BigE has rounded up all his toy planes to play with. At one point they were playing hockey (4 on 4). One team was Canada and the other United States. Although Canada had the F-16 in goal. I mentioned I wasn't so sure about his choice of goalie.

That Seat is for my Feet

Holy Smoke. How did I not hear about this till now.

Disabled, obese allowed free extra plane seat
...

The decision ended a six-year battle by disabled travellers to secure two seats for the price of one if they need inflight attendants. Obese people can also qualify if they are too large to fit in a single seat.

Those that need help to fly I can see. (No just help getting your drink or a pillow but medical attendants.) Now I am no wee man, so I'm not trying to pick on the obese, but even I have to lean to get the arm rest down.

A possible sticking point is how to decide when obesity is a disability. The agency has recommended the airlines adopt a policy used by Dallas-based Southwest Airlines, which gives a free seat to people who are too big to lower their armrest.

Then again maybe they're trying to tell me something.

And for tBF.ca's understatement of the year award winner

The carriers have predicted that their costs would be significantly more because the policy would be abused.

Rights based on compassion. I wonder when this will rock our health care system.

BigE is Sick

He has some kind of stomach bug. Today was his first post infant upchuck. Poor kid is upstairs barely able to enjoy the cartoons with a high fever.

Does he look sick or what?

Two Peanut Pictures

Realized it had been a while since we'd posted any pictures. Somebody is getting bigger and stronger.

Swimming Lessons

BigE is finishing up another round of swimming and things seem to be going pretty well. BigE proudly told me that he is now able to open his eyes under water without googles. Even while swimming! He seems to be keeping up well with the other kids. Mama asked the instructor what level she should register him at for the next session.

Apparently we're ready to make the jump to the Swimming 1. Up for debate is whether to do the last kid level since he'd be a full year younger then the recommended age group of Swimming 1. Maybe there are a lot of younger kids in that group.

Traffic Lessons

For a couple of days this week I had to drive the exchange student (henceforth known as Pineapple) to school in the morning until the school board's grinding bureaucracy could add her to the school bus schedule. (Something about hunting season and carrier pigeons).

Day 1: Left at 7:45 and arrived 8:15
Day 2: Left at 7:40 and arrived 8:18

Day 3 comes and I have to be down to the University at 7 for a networking breakfast. I figure ah what the heck I'll be an hour late. But we'll need to leave a few minutes earlier.

Day 3: Left at 7:32 and arrived 8:12

That didn't work so well. We were spending 30 minutes to travel about 5 kilometers. Was that in down town New York you ask? No. How about suburbia with an empty stretch of a road.

However today was the first day on the bus. Of course the bus showed up 15 minutes before it was supposed to and Pineapple was left out in the cold. So off we went.

Day 4: Left at 8:15 and arrived 8:30

Since this is the same route I take to work that is why I don't leave from 7:20 to 8:30 am. Shessh

A Pretty Good Thermometer

Okay maybe a tangent post for tBF.ca but hey I like meat and I like to try and not completely over cook it. Also known as Newfoundland DONE! Aka like the sole on your boot.

My fancy wireless remote thermometer died after a brief encounter with some rain. It was quite frustrating. So I had been trolling Canadian Tire for a while to see if it would go on sale again. After a couple of months I found this little guy Accutemp Digital Cooking Thermometer regularly $19.99. (I picked one up on sale for $9.99)

I gave it a try tonight and it seemed to do a really good job. For just about any type of meat it had preset temperatures for rare, medium, well done. Select your level and it alarms when your meat is ready. Nice and simple. Note they're also customizable temperatures so you can slightly tweak them.

I'll have to do a few tests to see its accuracy. But for a basic thermometer it really seems to work. Now that simple interface seemed to fall down when I couldn't figure out the built in timer. But maybe that was me.

The Student

Just wanted to let everyone know that the exchange student had landed. After a small scare with her luggage she's started to settle in. Everything seems to be going well. And she's off to her first day of classes today.

It's Time for Bed

and Peanut is up in the bed cooing away at the tv. I'm in the living room and can still hear her. She's normally asleep by now. But she apparently feels like staying up to watch a little of the tube. She's completely ignoring the milk truck behind her. Go figure

Quote of the Day 64

Mama: "What shall we get Daddy for his birthday? What does he like?"

BigE: "I know BEER!"

[Ed. note: Yes I like an odd beer but you'd think I with that response I packed it in my lunch]

Mama: "Well I don't know if we'll get him Beer. What else does he like?"

BigE: "I know Sour Jube Jubes"

So what was my present:

The Fireman

Not to be out posted by his baby sister, here is the fireman. Somebody sure loves that fire gear the last week.

Morning Smile

Managed to grab a quick photo of those early morning smiles.

I have a little morning stretch video that I need to widdle down before posting

Hmmm I Wonder

You don't like political lobbyists? Think they corrupt Government? Wield too much influence. I ask you:

Does increased government activity in the economy increase or decrease lobbying?

Answer in today's NY Times Lobbyists Swarm the Treasury for Piece of Bailout Pie

Quote of the Day 63

Mama was on the ball to catch this one.

BigE "When I grow up I don't know if I want to be a builder or tanker truck driver. I'm not sure if I want to build or get to drive all day."

Decisions.

Some Pics

Of the happy baby

and impending timeout

Funny thing was everyone was happy two minutes before I grabbed the camera. What are going to do?

Indoor Soccer

Yup, another round of soccer has started. This time its indoor soccer. Which happens to be in BigE's school gym. The coach was a few minutes late. And boy were the kids riled up. Green pinny kids were chanting "Smash the oranges" to the orange pinnys. Orange "Crush the greens". One kid was taunting BigE's team so BigE decided to go in with a little shove.

In and around all of that commotion they actually did some soccer.

The second shot is some passing practice against the wall.

The skills section was a little slow to keep the kids attention. They liked the little bit of game time. BigE played defence on his goal line. He was worried that somebody would sneak behind him and score if he left the goal line. My attempt to explain to him that as long as he payed attention and kept the ball in front of him fell on deaf ears.

Quote of the Day 62

BigE was a little sad about having to choose who went to his party. We were all over a bunch of topics at bed time when he was bemoaning grade 1. (Why grade 1? because they are full day and don't get to play with the kindergarteners. So he misses a few friends)

In the middle of the sadness comes:

BigE "I'll have to stay all day and eat supper"

Dada "You won't have to stay for supper. It's not like daycare. They don't serve supper" I pause "but you loved the food at daycare didn't you"

BigE "Yeah they made it the way I like it. It was better then what you make."

Now that the elections are over

I can say that I voted for Kodos!

Quote of the Day 61

BigE wanting to play hockey with Mama using his new Mini sticks he picked up at the 67's game yesterday:

BigE "As soon as my baby sister falls asleep we can play hockey and cleanie (aka Roomba) can be the zamboni"

Quote of the Day 60

Mama is telling Dada lunchtime how it takes forever to get BigE out of the shower after swimming. Meaning they're not home for super until unusually late.

BigE "Yeah a shower warms me up as much as hot chocolate"

There you have it

Boo!

This year's pumpkins carved by BigE and Dada

Not a bad test with the lights off in kitchen and a flash light shoved inside.

Our designs came from a book we bought by Home Logic Halloween. (Note four free pumpkin patterns)

Big Cousin's Birthday

It took a little while to get the pictures off the camera but without further ado is Jakie's Birthday pictures. BigE was excited for Jakie all day long.

Nothing like going out for your birthday without the obligatory stupid giant hat and sing along. Ughhh

And here is Jakie with Peanut.

Nanaimo Bars

Yet another recipe after Moist Cookies.

BASE
1/ 2 CUP MARGARINE OR BUTTER (ROOM TEMPERATURE)
1 /4 CUP BROWN SUGAR
1 TSP. VANILLA
1 EGG
Put the above ingredients in a double boiler and cook until a custard like consistency.

COMBINE
3 TBLSP. COCOA
2 CUPS GRAHAM WAFTER CRUMBS
1 CUP COCONUT
1 /2 CUP NUTS (OPTIONAL)
Now add the mixture from the double boiler into these ingredients and mix well. Press into a 6x12 inch greased pan.

SECOND OR MIDDLE LAYER
CREAM TOGETHER
1/4 CUP MARGARINE OR BUTTER (ROOM TEMPERATURE)
2 CUPS ICING SUGAR
2 TBLSP. CUSTARD POWDER
ADD 3 TBLSP. MILK Or just enough to get mixture together in an icing sugar consistency to spread. If more milk is needed just add very small amounts at a time.

Spread second layer over base.

TOP
MELT 5 OR 6 OZ SEMI SWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS WITH 2 TBLSP OR MARGARINE OR CHRISCO and spread over the bottom layer. Chill in fridge and cut when just a little cool.

A Little Smile

Peanut is really enjoying the bouncy chair the last few days. (I hope to get some video up on that pretty soon.) But we have a pic with a little trace of a smile as she's enjoying the dangling toys.

Pumpkin Patch 08

Another fall has come and we've taken another trip to the pumpkin patch. BigE was there last week with the class. This weekend we went with some friends. In my favorite picture I almost caught the perfect shot of a pumpkins last moments. Alas the photo is a little blurry.

At least the tractor was able to give us the traditional ride into the patch. This year it didn't stop to let us off into the corn maze first so we picked some pumpkins and stashed them on the side of the road.

After finding some pumpkins we took a trip through the corn maze. The kids did a pretty good job leading the group.

We finished the maze on the other end from where we started. The kids were so confident they went in one row and walked the whole length of the maze. Straight down the row of planted corn. But they felt like they'd done the whole maze by themselves.

With a little help we get the kids into the BOO! sign.


Peanut enjoying her first trip. First traces of a smile. Something about the flash scares it away.


BigE got a ride in the little green wagon with his buddies. Dada had to pull them up the hill in that thing. (We decided not to wait for the tractor ride)


Then there was some play time on the cart, bails of straw, and piles of pumpkins

The Family Photo

Pulled this out of the Pumpkin patch visit. Thought it would be nice just to post the photo of the family.

Wondering What Our Weather Is

From the Government's WeatherOffice.gc.ca Ottawa Average Weather Info.

E.g.
Average daily temperature
Nov 1'c
Dec -7'c
Jan -10.8'c

Average daily min temperature
Nov -2.8'c
Dec -11'c
Jan -15'c

No Smiley Face Picture

Peanut just won't oblige us with a smiley face with the camera shoved in her face. We've past the six week mark and we're starting to see those smiles. Especially in the morning. But getting a picture is another matter. Perhaps she's been conditioned "Smile" -> "Camera" -> "Bright Light in my eyes" -> "Pain" -> No smiling.

Stay tuned.

Moist Cookies

The often asked for receipe. NO BAKING - Only stirring arm needed

Start with:
1 CUP PEANUT BUTTER ( 8 TBL SPS)
1/ 2 CUP MARGARINE (ROOM TEMPERATURE)
Mix peanut butter and margarine thoroughly.

Now add:
1 CUP ICING SUGAR
And mix together.

Then add:
1 CUP COCONUT (If you want you can add just add 1/2 cup of the coconut now.)

Next add 2 generous cups of Rice Crispies and mix thoroughly. If you only added 1/2 of the coconut add the rest now.

Place mixture in a greased 8 inch square pan and chill.

TOPPING
(I use the microwave to melt the topping ingredients)

1 / 8 BAR PARO WAX (I use Crisco shortening instead - approximately 1 to 2 TBL spoons depending on the amount of chocolate chips used)

6 OZ SEMI SWEET CHOCOLATE CHIPS (If you want a more chocolately tasting top you can up the amount.)

Spread on top of cookie mixture and chill in the fridge.

For best cutting results score the chocolate after it has has a chance to set but not harden. Then let the cookies chill.



.

Pictures from BigE

Another round of interesting photos from the junior artist

Mama sleeping

His little baby sister

His bucket of marbles

His hockey gear

Quick self protrait

And finally a fresh shot of his little baby sister from this morning