DpoD June 30th - Plans for a Monday

Big C returned safe and sound this morning after a wonderful sleepover at grandma and grandpa's. It was reasonably uneventful, with the exception of his wakeup this morning. He decided to quietly go down to the kitchen and have himself a yogurt. Went right into the fridge, got himself a spoon at all. Grandma seemed rather concerned by it all as he could have gotten out into the street. After suggesting that all the doors to the outside world be locked whenever Big C is over, it got daddy to thinking that if he could do this on his own and take his brother with him...daddy could sleep in until 11 or noon. They'd just have to figure out how to get Franklin on TV and they'd be set.

As for TV, it turns out that both households were watching Curious George this morning. Curious George had a little interlude where some neaighbourhood kids made a wind chime. I asked Monkey if he'd like to make one. He excitedly replied 'Yes!', so at the end of the show we were off.

We went down to daddy's tool area and gathered some stuff that daddy hadn't used in years and other stuff that he's been setting aside for crafty type stuff. We got the drill and went to the garage to assemble the pieces. It was a real blast. Monkey was very helpful and even learned how to tie the knot in the string. We put it all together and then the 3 of us went to the backyard to tie it to the playstructure. It's a little off balance, but we were able to hear it during lunch. Oh yes, we rewarded ourselves with some fresh strawberries for a job well done!

The plan for Monday

Big C is over at Grandma and Grandpa's finishing up his sleepover. We were sent a grand total of 0 pictures of his precious sleeping form and got no phone calls. I can only assume that the night went wonderfully. I wonder when he woke up?

Monkey and Daddy are milling around the house, not sure what mischeif they have planned for the day. Perhaps preparations for Canada Day tomorrow...We have been invited to a pool party, a BBQ and the big party at the local comunity centre. It'll be a busy day for sure!

Mr I and I took the bus downtown for his first day of school. We took the local bus and then transferred to the downtown bus. Got a couple of landmarks (his stop is the one after you see the water fountain) and dropped him off safely at the door. I would have taken a couple of pictures, but I didn't want to embarass the guy!!! Today is the day that the school will test his English and put him in the right class. They have several groups starting today so it'll be a busy day of meeting new people and getting accustomed to the new school.

DpoD June 29th - Ole, Ole, Ole

Whew! What a great game. I've been a fan of Fernando Torres ever since he was signed by Liverpool and it was great to see him score such a fantastic goal for his country. It was a great sporting and cultural moment to watch the Euro Cup final (thanks again sunshine for the ball, it will always be a cherished Father's Day item for me) with Mr. I here in our home. He was glued to the set anxiously for the last half of the game, particularly the last 5 minutes. He was in pure joy at the final whistle. Way to go España!

Birthday Party

Okay, I admit it-I'm excited that it is Mr I's birthday! We've never had a student celebrate a birthday with us before so this has been really neat for us. We invited over some of the kids that we know in the neighbourhood to have a bit of a birthday party while watching the Euro Cup. Spain is up 1-0 at the half so we're having birthday cake.

Happy birthday Mr I!!!

Happy Birthday Mr I!

Today is both Mr I's first full day in Canada and his birthday-happy birthday!!

We have a fun day planned. We went out for breakfast, then had cake at church. Now we're having a little down time before some of the local kids Mr I's age come over to watch the soccer final, play fooseball and have some fun!

We started the day off with a couple presents. A Canada flag beach towel and a Canadian hockey t-shirt. I think that the shirt might be a bit small though, we'll have to wait to see when he tries it on.

Gotta go, the soccer pre-game show is on. It is hard to know who to root for. Mr I is from Spain but Nick is from Germany....may the best team win!

Our new guest has arrived

And he is fast asleep! Mr. I is from Spain and for those of you familiar with world geography. Spain is 6 hours ahead of us here in the old Eastern Time Zone. So when his flight arrived, and they finally cleared customs it was already past 6 pm our time, so past midnight Mr. I's time.

He swore that he wasn't tired, but I could tell that he'd had a long day. An interesting part of Mr. I's trip is that tomorrow is his birthday. His first birthday away from home. This afternoon we made a cake to get ready for tomorrow.

Monkey decided that the cake would be a suprise. On the way home from picking Mr. I up from the airport, Monkey announces to him that we made a cake and that it is chocolate. Then he realized that he just blew the secret. Poor kid was so devastated that he started to cry. I told him that if we stopped talking about it, Mr. I would likely forget all about it.

So in the middle of supper he turns to Mr. I and asks him if he forgot about the cake yet. I had to laugh. The cake is decorated with the right number of candles just waiting. Now that it is after 9 pm here, technically in Spain, it is already his birthday!! So Feliz Cumpleaños Mr. I!!!

Thank you for the presents

When Mr I arrived he was wearing a neat shirt that he got from his grandmother for his birthday. It has a neat logo on it that says "El nino", that caught Monkey's attention. Monkey really liked the shirt and he and Mr I discussed it for a couple of minutes.

Lo and behold, before the boys went to bed, Mr I brought out some gifts for the boys. The boys very excitedly ripped open thier gifts only to discover matching BLUE t shirts with the el nino logo on them.

Thank you!! They love them! They both immediately announced that they would be wearing them tomorrow. Mr I and his family couldn't possibly have known just how much these two kids just love blue, and not just blue, but this shade of blue!I received an abolutely georgeous bottle of "Aire Lowe" eau de toilette. It smells wonderful and I can't wait to wear it out.

Thanks so much to Mr I and his family. We are looking forward to a fun month!

DPoD The Real June 28th - Mmmmm Cookies

I can tell that I'm in summer mode already. I've already lost track of what day is what.
So daddy was a little bored last night and decided that it was time to make some cookies. Daddy was also getting bored of the usual chomocolate chip cookies, so he decided to investigate other recipes. He came across double chocolate peanut butter thumbprint cookies. It sounds as though someone was finally able to challenge the old Reece Peanut butter cup premise that nothing could combine chocolate and peanut butter and taste as good.
The boys beg to differ as evidenced by the speed as which they were consumed and the amount of chocolate that was able to get all over their faces and hands. They're super yummy...so if you're local enough to come by and try one please do soon, as they won't likely last long.

DPoD June 28th - Mommy's Wonderful Garden

We've all been commenting recently as to how mommy's garden has really been filling in beautifully this year. I was hoping to get some photos of the boys standing in front of the different flowers with fabulous smiles. No such luck. Here's the gallery of photos with the reason why they didn't partake at the end.

The white and pink hibiscus (yet to flower)

The red hiubiscus (growing like stink, but also yet to flower):

Some other very beautiful flowers

Whatever is growing out of the bottom of the old apple tree that the rascally rabbit really chewed
The remains of the apple tree with new growth at the very bottom:

Two monkeys that refused to be separated from running a car down to the bottom of the slide and over the dumptruck.

June 27th - the Return of the DPoD

To follow up on Saje's comment, the school year has certainly flown by. Today marks my last day at work for the summer, which I'm spending at home with Big C as he has run out of all options for care.

To that end I have recommitted myself to the DPoD. Please expect to look in daily to see what we're up to and ideally the summer will be much quieter than the school year so that I'll have enough time to get on and update the world.

Today I took the idea from E-man's mama to get out and wash the car. It's been in dire need of it for months, so I thought that 2 sets of hands are better than one. Cue Big C.

He was more than glad to help. He took on the task of making sure that we had everything we needed. The hose, the sponge, the soap (he was very excited about soapy water) and the watering can. I never was too sure about the reason for the last one, but he insisted that he needed it.

Big C was sure to wash down the area first - the driver side rear light needed some special attention:

then apply the sponge with soapy water

Then rinse...though I think that the driveway got rinsed more than the car.

All in all he had a fantastic time. It took about an hour, but it was an hour of laughs and giggles throughout. I think that given the chance we may have a very clean car this summer!

Last day of school

Wow, the year has flown by. At times taking forever, and other times just slipping by. Last night I climbed in to bed with Monkey after he was asleep to snuggle him like I do most nights. He was sleeping flat on his back and his feet are only 1.5 feet from the bottom of the mattress.

*sniffle*

We had the first day of school with the accompanying first bus ride, I was sad as the milestones passed and as much as I embrace them as they go by it is hard to hold the fleeting moments in your hands.

Roll Call Time

So many of you enjoy checking in with the WBs on a regular basis. We're so glad that you are stopping by. Now it is our turn to reach out through the computer screen and find out about you. We have lots of world wide visitors, many of which we have identified, though not all. These numbers are for the last month.

Starting here at home in Canada we are curious to know who you are. I know who some of you are, but not all. We have people regularly checking in with us from Ottawa, Nepean, Outremont, Barrie, Kitchener, Weston, London, Islington, Toronto, Winnipeg and East York. I would love it if you would drop us a comment and say hi so we can tie it together : )

Quote of the day

Some history here. Big C and Grandma made a mug together so that he could eat his soup out of a mug with his hand prints on it like Monkey does. He broke it the second week that it was in use. Grandma finally agreed to make him a new one.

Big C-I have a nug, a nug, a nug!! and it isn't broken yet.

Grandma -sigh

Monkey's end of year concert

Monkey's end of year concert was a big success!! Dave, Big C and I were very proud of him!

He sang very well
And danced very well. He even played the air banjo very well (not shown in this photo, don't bother looking)
At the end there was a celebration with cake.
mmmm, cakeYay, we've had a fun year!!!
There is a video of the concert. We are currently on the market for more memory for our Vic 20 so that we can actually manipulate it and get it on to the web. Stay tuned. It'll be at least a couple of weeks.

Monkey helps with some home improvements

Dave was away the weekend that I painted big C's room. Since he is often in bed pretty early, Monkey and I worked together to paint his room. Here Monkey provides a quick musical interlude: Truly a work of art. I really enjoyed spending time with him working on this together. He is really proud of the finished room and feels that he was a big part of it.