Ohhhh....a pirate mask

So one of the gifts that Monkey requested from Santa this year was a box to make a pirate mask for his costume. There was some general confusion about this one, and daddy dropped the ball briefly on it too, but the box was 'delivered' for opening this morning. Then the discussion about the mask came about:
Daddy: 'so how do we make a pirate mask?'
Monkey: 'we need to do this, this and this (waving his hands about in a cutting motion)'
Daddy:'umm, that's going to make a really big mask. It won't fit on your face'
Monkey:' It's not a mask you wear daddy, (looking at him like he's from another planet)it's a mask that you hold in front of you'
Daddy:' that's big enough to hold in front of you?'
Monkey: 'yes. Like a mask with a stick on the bottom'
Daddy:'you mean like a shield?'
Monkey:'yeah, that kind of mask. Like the shield that pirates have'

Now it all makes sense.

The happy pirate:
and the serious pirate (I wouldn't mess with this pirate in a dark alley...arrrr).

The Magic School Bus Cake

We've had some fun cakes through this house. My all time favourite is still the Mater cake from last year (if you have not watched those videos recently you really should!!).

This year we are having a Magic School Bus cake. I'll try to get a photo of his face when he sees it. That is the WHOLE reason that I do this!

Holiday silliness

With the recent fall of snow daddy took it upon himself to dig out the backyard. Shovels in hand we headed out into the snow to make tracks in the foot or so of snow. Fortunately it was nothing like that of last year and we only had to dig down a foot or so. I was certainly glad to have little helpers this year, even if they got easily distracted by shiny objects like the yellow truck that was buried in the first snowbank. Big C drove the truck around while daddy made a big figure 8 with lots of options for little runners.
Then the chasing began. Both daddy and Monkey slipped into stealth mode - getting down on our bellies so that others couldn't see us. We burned off lots and lots of energy before heading in for some nice, warm cocoa*. All too soon it was time for nappies and for daddy to relax.

* Ok, so apparently making cocoa involves more than heating up water and cocoa together. No one told me that it's supposed to include brown sugar. The boys found it to be a little on the bland side and daddy couldn't figure out just why mommy liked cocoa so much. Now however daddy knows that cocoa involves equal parts cocoa and brown sugar :)

Mommy, I'm hungry

This is all that I hear in my house these days. In this photo he just put away three sausages and I am at the stove preparing pancakes for his just as fast as I can. All I get is this sad little face looking at me inquiring about the status of the pancakes!

MERRY CHRISTMAS part 3

Here is the opening of the Bruder crane truck. It is now understood to be a tow truck in our house. This was probably all he really felt that he needed for the whole of Christmas.Here's Monkey and his grandpa constructing his new Playmobil airplane. This now sits proudly in his bedroom on a table. He brought it to his room for his quiet time and the cowboy and pilot had a grand old adventure together.
Look, you can even see the instructions in the bottom left hand corner there!
Mater and lightning McQueen socks. I don't have to tell you that they both wore them all day yesterday and again today-what a hit grandma!!
This is a picture that Big C just told me is a picture of "firefighter Big C". Way to go grandma and Heather! He loves the outfit!

Merry Christmas part 2-The Ambulance

Big C's Christmas was overwhelming to say the least. As far as he is concerned there seem to be one major hit (aside from the zip track of course)-the ambulance. The ambulance is for one, an ambulance and that in itself wins many prizes in his books. Then, it has lights and sirens. It also has doors that open and close and even windshield wipers that "swipe". These are all very, very good things when you are a 2 year old boy!
All through the morning he could be found on his knees or laying down playing with the ambulance. He would tow it behind his new crane truck (not actually a tow truck, but really, who cares), later he was wearing his awesome fire vehicle vest and playing with it.
At the end of the day he cuddled up to it to go to bed. This morning it ended up coming in ot my bed with a little boy attached to it. I wish he would just snuggles "stuffies" like his brother!!!

Merry Christmas part 1

This was the first year that Monkey really understood what was coming. They beat it into his head at school and day care and pretty much any where else that he has been in the last month. Of course, they only spoke about the presents and Santa Clause (and then more presents). No one in our society dares to speak about the birth of our saviour Jesus Christ...that is another blog post though : )

Our tree was frighteningly impressive even before the extended family arrived! Our family is very blessed! We started the morning off (you can see that it is still dark in the background) with the opening of the stockings. You can see big C in the background pulling out some Christmas oranges-a favourite of mine.
Mimi was quite pleased with her Lindor chocolates and the cases for her iPod.
oooh, a Bob the Builder video (yes folks, a VHS!!)
The big hit of the day: the Discouvery Toys Zip Track race track. This is only part of the set. We actually have two different sets-they are a huge hit! As I type this I can hear the cars zooming around the track.

I'm a happy, growing boy

Since Monkey got a whole lot taller this week Big C thought that he would do the same thing. I looked down at him Sunday morning and groaned.

His clothes that fit at the beginning of the week don't fit any more.
At least with this kid I have a closet full of clothes all ready in the next size up. He wore size 3 shirts for 3 months in total.
Tell his occupational therapist about this!!

Happy, goofy, a little injured

Big C fell on the ice at pre-school and cut his chin. It didn't look like much but over a couple of days it has started to look pretty angry. It doesn't bother him at all. What a trooper. In these photos he is sitting on top of me laughing at me as I try to take his photo.

DpoD December 22

Ahhh....it's good to be off for the holidays and have a chance to catch up with life a little bit. Hence, the return of the DPoD. Much like you, I've missed it immensely.
What better way to start the holiday break, I don't count the weekend since it still feels like a weekend and not holiday yet, than to go to the M of S&T? Off we went for the opening of the doors and we were there with bells on. Almost. We went to the usual haunts: the periscopes, the trains, the snomobile, and the Jeep, which has become the new favourite (we went there first by themselves and then returned twice with Monkey's friend S). They had a fabulous time and we even found their really large Christmas tree to take a photo under.
After this we were off to get some errands done. We hit up St. Laurent mall and as the boys were so very very helpful we went to 'The Donut Store' (sorry about any name recognition here TH). And what a treat. Am I the only person that didn't know that they're serving up candy cane sprinkled donuts??? The boys were more than overjoyed.
We then went to do something that I was hoping Monkey was emotionally ready for. We had a long discussion about kids that wouldn't have any toys for Christmas and whether or not he'd like to give one to a little boy his age that wouldn't have any. He had lots of questions and thought about it for a while. Then I said that it could be a boy or a girl. When he found out it could be a girl that seemed to change his heart a little. When we got to the doors of the mall and saw the Toy Mountain he was in for it 100%. We went in and looked over lots of toys, some that they already had and some that he and Big C wanted. They both agreed on toys, daddy paid and then we were off to Toy Mountain to drop them off. Daddy was pretty proud and got more than a few smiles as he took these pictures of his boys doing a wonderful Christmas deed. (Monkey had to put them both in as Big C couldn't reach and daddy was holding the camera)
We finished the afternoon off with a few more quick errands and then were off to home to make supper. We certainly had a great start to the holidays and got a lot accomplished!

Man I LOVE this VIBE!

I really, really like this car!! I have been looking for a second table for the basement for the boys to create scenes on or play with stuff on that they don't have to put away as soon as they are done with it. Stuff like lego and Playmobil. I've been scouring usedottawa.com but had yet to find the perfect thing.

Today I logged on from a friend's place and saw a fabulous table for FREE on usedottawa.com. The thing is 7' X 4' X 16" and super sturdy. I had to have it!!
Of course, what better car than the Vibe* that we all know I love so much to go and pick it up?

It was a bit big to fit inside the car so we strapped her to the roof. In doing so we tied the three of us into the car. I just had to get photos!
Some things you can explain to a host student before she comes, and some things you just have to let them experience for themselves.
The phenomenon that is "Saje and usedottawa.com" simply needs to be experienced : )
*no Vibes, tables or exchange students were injured or damaged in the making of this blog post.

Christmas Concert #2

Monkey was in two different Christmas concerts this year. The second one was yesterday. The kids went to the library at his school and sang their little hearts out. It was adorable and wonderful! He was so happy to see me.

Here's Monkey waving excitedly at me when they were coming in.
Waiting to get started...
Suddenly remembering to put his arms at his sides...

Group performance. It was gorgeous!
I got the usual still shots as well as a video. I have no idea how to load a video onto the new computer so we'll have to sort that out over the next couple of days and post the video.

A Christmas Growth Spurt

The last couple of nights while putting Monkey to bed I noticed that the PJ's he was wearing were too small. I took them out of circulation in the morning and went on with my day. It wasn't until he came in to my room this morning with a shirt that he wore a week ago now looking like it had 3/4 length sleeves that I caught on.

He has really shot out!! None of his size 5 shirts fit him this morning. He owns 3 size 6 shirts and they are the only ones that fit. If anyone wants to get him shirts for Christmas, he suddenly needs 'em!!

Speaking of stuff for Christmas he would like to request Playmobil toys for Christmas. His teachers keep saying that he really needs to work on his fine motor skills and these toys are perfect! He has really grown out of most of the toys that we have in the house and needs more toys with little parts so that he can improve his fine motor skills. Big C is finally old enough for that to be safe in our house.

Playmobil are built in Europe and tested very safe. You can buy small sets for under $10 and mid range sets in the $30-50 range. It also climbs from there.

They can be found on-line at Chapters.ca (free shipping).

You can find them at Playvalue on Carling (they always have a discount section of the old stock), Toys R Us, Scholars Choice and lots more.