Ski Doo Sled

The one big thing BigE wanted from Santa was a sled that looked like one of those snow things. "What's their name again mama?" Eventually we'd get to snowmobile? "Yeah!, one that looks like that." Sure enough Santa delivered so we took it out for a spin today.



Off we go!



Working the brakes at the bottom

Back he comes







Getting tired



This one's for you M!

Kids Outside

Nice little pic taken by Mama during the week as the kids went outside to play in our new found snow.

The Oh Nine Christmas Party

Mama was running her Christmas party again this year. More swimming, followed by pizza, Little Ray's Reptiles and, of course, Santa.

After the swimming and pizza here are the boys checking out the animals. Turtles, snakes and some kinda lizardy crocodile. I didn't really catch the description as I was chasing Peanut out in the hallway for much of this.


Here's BigE getting his picture taken with Santa. What an amazing Santa hunh? Wow is all I have to say.


Peanut wasn't as interested in the festivities so she found her own fun. There was a pile of gym mats in the coat room. It attracted a few other kids and ended up being the nursery. When they weren't walking or running up and down the hallways.


Monkey was eager to sit with Baby Peanut and have his picture taken with her.


Mama didn't get a gift but she did get to have her picture taken with Santa. It will take a few more days for her to find out if she was naughty or nice.


And I can't go without a shot of that big turtle thingy.

Introducing the Canucks

IP2 Hockey Team

Mmmmm Donut

Peanut got experience a chocolate donut thanks to Auntie Bevie on Saturday. At first she wasn't too sure about it. Which is a little odd because here 'goody sensor' is usually pretty good.

But the trooper she is Peanut gave it a try

I think the smile says it all!

Quote of the Day 84

Dada's in the kitchen when I hear a squawk from Peanut. I then realize that the TV has been turned off.

Dada: "What's going on out there? Why is Peanut upset"

BigE: "It's ok Dada, I just put Peanut in a timeout for turning off the TV"

I NEED Another Circle

BigE's class had a little activity the other day where they drew little pictures of family on circles to go with their picture. To put a limit on those the teacher said it was limited to only people who lived in the house. To avoid doing the entire family tree.

BigE demanded four circles. The teacher was confused and thought he only needed three. No I need one for my baby brother in my Mommy's belly. BigE was insistent and so the teacher agreed.

Someone is very excited.

Are You Done With That?

Oh yeah this is Dada's girl.

The Morning Zombies

Another in the morning picture series. This is "The bright picture box is onnnnnnn...."


Except that Peanut doesn't hang around very long

Quote of the Day 83

Mama "We've got FLYERS!"*

Thanks to the new flyer delivery guy. You made Mama's morning.


* The background: If you don't get a newspaper subscription then you get a bundle of advertisements or flyers dropped off on Friday but we hadn't seen them in months.

Baby in a Bucket

Well maybe toddler in a bucket. No childhood is complete without doing this ...

How BigE likes to Wake Up in the Morning

A little blurry as I quickly popped out from the kitchen to take the pic

Maybe its Just Me

Ok, so I get that it might just be me that feels this way. But this get's the ol' "Hell Yeah!" arm pump from me.

From Time magazine (of all places) Helicopter Parents:The Growing Backlash Against Overparenting (page 2)

Dear Abby endorses the idea, as she did in August, that each morning before their kids leave the house, parents take a picture of them. That way, if they are kidnapped, the police will have a fresh photo showing what clothes they were wearing. Once the kids make it home safe and sound, you can delete the picture and take a new one the next morning.

That advice may seem perfectly sensible to parents bombarded by heartbreaking news stories about missing little girls and the predator next door. But too many parents, says Skenazy, have the math all wrong. Refusing to vaccinate your children, as millions now threaten to do in the case of the swine flu, is statistically reckless; on the other hand, there are no reports of a child ever being poisoned by a stranger handing out tainted Halloween candy, and the odds of being kidnapped and killed by a stranger are about 1 in 1.5 million. When parents confront you with "How can you let him go to the store alone?," she suggests countering with "How can you let him visit your relatives?" (Some 80% of kids who are molested are victims of friends or relatives.) Or ride in the car with you? (More than 430,000 kids were injured in motor vehicles last year.) "I'm not saying that there is no danger in the world or that we shouldn't be prepared," she says. "But there is good and bad luck and fate and things beyond our ability to change. The way kids learn to be resourceful is by having to use their resources." Besides, she says with a smile, "a 100%-safe world is not only impossible. It's nowhere you'd want to be."

Go read the whole thing

Quote of the Day 82

I pick up the phone at work, its BigE.

BigE "Dada, did you give me my allowance this weekend?"

Dada "I can't remember. Maybe on Saturday but hmmm I'm not sure"

BigE "Well what are we going to do about that?"

I'm sitting there going wait a minute did a collection agency just call me? It went on like this for a little bit. BigE got his money. But I'm still not sure I didn't pay him Saturday after hockey. I need to pay more attention!

Happiness is a Moral Obligation

Yes that is the title of this video from Prager University.

Give Dennis Prager 5 minutes to explain why happiness is a moral obligation.

The Gaia Doctrine

George Will at the Washington Post has Awash in fossil fuels with this gem:

Today, there is a name for the political doctrine that rejoices in scarcity of everything except government. The name is environmentalism.

You could call it a modern religion.

Cuddle Me, I'm Upset not Hurt!

After all the backpack activity of the past day Peanut took a spill off the end of the couch. I think she sat on the arm and leaned too far back. Maybe the new backpack helped break the fall. No bruises or bumps. Or hurt ego. That was quickly comforted by Nanny.


She hardly needed to see Dada

More Snacks

After Peanut's Hanging On I thought I would show our little girlie getting herself some Nutrious for a snack


See not always Fruitloops

Peanut's New Backpack

We were taking Nanny Dot to MEC to look for a few things. I was looking around for a new backpack. After 10 years every zipper on my backpack was about to go. BigE was a big help finding something very similar to the last.

As I turned around I saw this LittleLife Toddler Runabout DayPack or too cute as well call it (Amazon link because MEC doesn't show the pink version). Peanut had worn a plastic backpack in the nursery toys one Sunday so I wondered if she was interested.

She didn't quite freak out for it but she was happy to walk around with it.

Off she went with the posted note and pen in her hand writing notes. I think she believes she's off to school.

The big loop is a "parent handle", and it even comes with a parent leash. Or big brother leash as its known in our house. We might need to hide that.

Peanut's Hanging On

Affter Vaccinated Peanut was finally starting to feel better. As she was coming around she decided to find her own snacks.

Out came brother's popcorn
I gave up. I figured if your eating I ok with it. I laid down on the couch to ice my ankle (twisted saturday) Peanut climbed up onto my belly to eat her popcorn.

The next morning Peanut decided she'd like a few fruit loops. Perfectly happy to help herself. Five fruit loops later and she's good.

And finally there is the pic of Peanut trying to figure out how I made that thermometer beep. She never did quite figure it out.

Dada's Birthday

A little steak for dinner. Followed up by some vanilla cake. There was plenty of helpers for the cake!


Peanut wanted up in my lap and wanted part of this action!

Vaccinated

The kids were vaccinated for H1N1 on the weekend. We got there at 7:30 for an 8:00 hockey practice and there were armfuls of the wrist bands. We came back at 2:00 and the kids had their shots.

Mama was working but had been warned to give the kids something because they probably would spike a fever afterwords. True to form Peanut has been running warm for the last day or so. She doesn't seem to get as hot as BigE but it seems to impact her more.

Peanuts been awfully warm and tired for the past two days.

Child Creativity?

BigE's been sick for a few days (no not that!) so he's hardly been out. Today he headed back to school. He decided to be creative on where he hung up his coat.Yes I made him take it down but I have to say I was impressed!

The Little Young Old Lady

The day after halloween Peanut started playing with the pumpkin bucket. It's nothing to do with candy. I guess its out and around so she decided to play with it. She even wanted to put stuff in it. Like her blocks or cereal. Yes that was a nice mess to clean up.

I didn't catch quite the picture I wanted here but I had to show Peanut channeling a 70 year old lady the way she was carry the bucket.
Hooked on the elbow. If that was an old purse Peanut was ready to roll to the mall.

The Halloween Pumpkin

One of two pumpkins we carved this year



This was a BigE and Dada special

Millers

It's been a while since I posted about Millers farm. Well last weekend we took the trip down on one rainy Sunday to grab a pumpkin, some apple cider and a tractor ride. BigE didn't feel halloween was complete without a trip to Millers. Even the trip to Saunders with his class didn't fill the void.

Here's the best shot of the two hanging around the pumpkin patch.
I have several with Peanut losing her mind trying to get free and a few where BigE has his head down.

Here are the kids on the double headed Boo!


And Peanut's first picture in the pumpkin piles

Peanut Playing Hockey

BigE has been taking to hockey more so lately. He's on the ice twice a week with IP2. I picked up a hockey ball that is as heavy and bounces like a puck for BigE to play with.

However the person who has joined along is Peanut. She loves walking around with that mini-stick taking a swing at the ball. Check out the squeals.



By the way note the one handed stick work. Further proof that the one handed nature is genetic!

Pirate Ship Drawing

Here's BigEs drawing of a Pirate Ship play structure from Saunders farm. (A local spooky haunt for halloween).


It was pretty impressive. It had gun portals in the hull. There was a real rope rigging to the crows nest where the kids could climb up. The bit in the front was a rope anchor the kids could swing on. Oh and in the top right hand corner that was the little row boat that was next to the pirate ship.

It's a BOY!!!

Picture Mama saying this for 30 minutes

"Oh my I can't believe it. I thought it was a girl for sure"

Nothing toughens a little Sister

... like the "love" of a big Brother.

Some H1N1 Reading

Instead of the usual MSM and their panic, do you want to learn things like:

The mildest pandemics of the 20th century killed at least a million people worldwide. And even after six months, swine flu has killed about as many people as the seasonal flu does every six days.

So how could WHO make such an outrageous claim?

Simple. It rewrote the definition of "pandemic."

(emphasis mine)

Then go read The Pandemic is Political over at Forbes.

Just Like Mama?

Two pics from recent days. The first happened in TO. Its shopping cart Peanut. (That's MAMA!)


Followed up by nurse Peanut? I don't know when the heck this was taken but it's too cute!

BigE All Dressed Up

In TO for his Uncle's wedding BigE got all fancied up.

Here's one with the older cousin

Quiet Time

The kids, tired, lounging on the floor. BigE watching TV. Peanut just playing along.