too much encouragement

I am home with a stomach flu, which is horrible, but I do get to see the boys a little more. Jonah was playing a motorbike game on kidsCBC today while Nate watched him. Here is how it went:

Jonah is making jump after jump -

Nate: NICE jump, Jojo.

Jonah: THANKS Nate!

N: NICE jump, Jojo.

J: Thanks.

N: NICE jump, Jojo.

J: thanks...

N: NICE jump, Jojo.

J: ok Nate

N: NICE jump, Jojo.

J: haha. don't thank me Nate, its the game thats doing it.

N: NICE jump, Jojo.

J: OK! Nate, don't thank me anymore ok.

N: NICE jump, Jojo.

J: uhhhhh.

it was really funny. Here's a recent pic of the boys.

Labrador

I was in Labrador for a couple of weeks this fall as part of an investigative drilling program for a proposed tunnel across the Strait of Belle Isle. The following pic is at Fox Cove after a nice snow fall:

I went for a walk on a nearby beach and this is what the sign says... watch yer step!

Tallest lighthouse of its kind in Atlantic Canada!! Point Amour, if you want to look it up. Amazing sunrises and sunsets. really amazing. I wish I had a good camera to get good photos, but you get the point.

Driving into Red Bay. Historic place, used to be a huge whaling center.

Pinware River - famous for salmon fishing. It was very very loud, and the air smelled so fresh. I think this was November 22, and it was about 8 degrees celcius.

Lanse au Claire - I stayed here for a few nights when I first arrived.

Lanse au Loup - I stayed here with Francis and Dot Barney.

Family Pics

Mo took some pictures of us at Brackley Beach this summer. Here are a few.

PRE-Kindergarten

Jonah has started pre-kindergarten. Tuesday and Thursday mornings 8:30 to 12. Its Christian based and so far is pretty impressive. He is pretty happy that there are only three boys (including himself) and the rest are girls.

We dropped him off the first day and I was late. He hadn't noticed me yet and I was takign pictures of him when he looked up, saw me, and made a dash for me. The picture captures the few fleeting moments in between seeing me and slamming into me like a small truck.

Nate

Some pics of Nate over the summer. Sorry for the mish-mash but this takes forever.

August

some pics from August - I know its mid-sept. There are lots of funny things that Jonah and Nate say, but mostly I forget them. I'm sorry my blogs are generally lacking in info and fun things to read, so I'll let the pictures do the talking.

I'll just add some pics of the month. Jonah's soccer is over. Every Tuesday night @ 6:45. It was usually a great time, visiting neighbours, meeting new folks, chasing Nate.

Little man loves soccer too. He kicks anything he can find. "keek, keek. dad?? keek keek"

IN ACTION!!

#4 is the new #1

our resident super-hero who saves random people from such things as: drownings (a favorite), shootings (often violent), falling down and hurting themselves, and monsters. He doesn't save people from animals though, 'cause he is afraid of them. Every SH has a tragic weakness, you know.

He got to try the climbing wall - maybe next year...

Nate was keeking a small yellow plastic ball around the beach for probably an hour. It is right under his foot.

go-carts are always a hit, although they are mostly just carts with not much go. This one here is on a track about the size of our living room. We have to find a place like Lake-O-Law, where people don't care and are not worried about litigation. Remember that Leanne?

me - hey Leanne, you slow poke, HAHAAHA - VROOOMMM ------- ooooh, tight turn... toooo fassttt, uuhhh, skid, smash, crash (tooley weeds). Stunned tires don't even keep the cart on this track.

a few seconds later,

Leanne - hey Mark, stupid kid!! - ummmmmm, sputter, sputter, ummm----

two minutes later, repeat. remember? too funny.

He isn't allowed to drive the big ones on his own, so I get in and let him steer. Everything's great until the cows in the next field get his attention...

Jonah's Theology

Jonah is very interested in God but confused about him too. Here are a few things he has said lately.

"God cannot reach down to me because he has no arms"
"Does God have lips?"

Last night I told him to try and talk to God and see what happens.
J - I tried. I axed him and axed him and axed him, but he did not answer me.
Me - what did you ask him?
J - I dunno. But I did not hear anything with my ears...

A couple of days ago, it was raining and he said "WELL, I guess God does NOT love me anymore. There is NO rainbow outside. *SIGH*." So I went to the window and sure enough there was a rainbow out the east window of the kitchen. He was quite thrilled!! coincidence?

more later

Great Pals

Nate was eating (his favorite thing to do) and Jonah told Leah that he needed to get some pictures taken with Nate. The following pics are the results of the photo shoot...

Jonah thinks it looks cool if you have a picture taken with your eyes closed. Nate would like to keep eating, uninterrupted.

Jonah, how old are you?

New Bike

Jonah has quickly outgrown the old moonrider, so I scored a good deal on a new bike that should last him for the next 2 years. He got a new helmet and knee pads too. The knee pads are already totally scratched up.

On the go...

Just a little clip with him cruising around on it.

sometimes he wins

Nate has been engaging Jonah in combat more and more. Most times Jonah is completely unaware that he is under attack because Nate is not really agressive and does not hit hard at all. Here is a little sequence where Jonah has cut into Nate's play and Nate fights back. You can see he is grabbing Jonah's back. Eventually he wins and is very happy. for now.

The Green Goblin

Jonah watched about 20 minutes of the Spider Man movie and was enthralled by the green goblin. He tends to identify mostly with the antagonist character in movies, books, etc. Not sure what this means but we'll see...

I have a very large green marker (permanent) in my desk. I don't know why either. Leah came downstairs to find Jonah with green legs. He used the permanent marker to paint his legs. Why would a little boy paint his legs green?? To resemble the green goblin more closely of course! He tries very hard to smile nicely.

It took a long time to come off but he didn't care one bit. Nate, on the other hand, must have small blades of grass removed from clothing, hands and feet because they are yucky.

ASHLEY - pics of the basement

Just some pics of the basement because Ashley asked for them. Provided lots of "confessional" material during the winter. Not completely finished but almost there. Dad, thanks for the saw...

Training Wheels are OFF.

Jonah has been riding his bike, the Moonrider, around since last July with the help of his training wheels. Today I asked him if he wanted to try riding without them. He said OK, so I whipped them off and away we went. I explained to him that it was different to ride without the wheels, he, of course, didn't acknowledge anything and just tried to pedal away. I ran with him supporting him, and when I thought he sort of had it, I let him go. He took off no problem.

Here is taking a ride.