The Red Mud Room

2011-10-10T15:04:00.001-03:00

Octobrrrr
Some flippin's cold lately, had me feeling pretty down and out. No biking for the last month, but the weather cleared and was up to 24C (75 for you 'mericans) on the weekend. Got out a little with the boys. Took Jonah out for a 'date' on Friday night. Let's go for dessert somewhere Jonah, I say, what do you think about DAIRY QUEEENN??
J: I don't like ice cream or chocolate. lets just go to Walmart and get a Bey Blade.
M: we have to go somewhere and sit down, have a chat.
after driving around town, talking about not much..
J: lets go to Tim Horton's and get timbits for dessert.
Isn't that a classic. He got a vanilla dip and blueberry muffin, and to drink, a hot chocolate. It is chocolate after all, but in spite of that, he enjoyed it pretty well, after it became a cool chocolate.

I took Nate out on Saturday for a quick spin to McDonald's. He got a soft vanilla ice cream. He sat there, staring off into space, coming back to reality every now and then to share with me what had been happening during that time. His motto is: if you think it, you share it. It does not have to make sense. At all. In fact, at the end of your explanation, if your subject is left with that confused look, like they need more information to put the puzzle together, just reassure them with - "thats the way it is Dad, it is. Yep."

He asks me how many Walmarts there are in town. I say one. He says 'What?" (always). I say one. ONE!! UNO!! there is ONE/UNO walmart in town.
N: Uno??
M: yes. uno, it means--- cut off by this...
N: uno, dos, tres, cuatro, cinco, seis, siete, ocho, neuve, diez. hee hee, haha. Dad! I was just talking in FRENCH!
M: hmmm....
N: was that FRENCH???
M: no, pretty sure that was Spanish. Did you learn that from watching Dora?
N: NO, you taught me. do de do...

I certainly didn't. How can you learn something like that and not know who you learned it from?

2011-10-05T00:34:00.000-03:00

Sorry for the long absence. Crazy summer!! The kids have sprouted the last couple of months. Jonah is 50 inches tall, which means he can ride the tube water slides by himself! Nate is not the minimum 48 inches, so he has to ride with me. That is good because he needs pretty heavy supervision. Emily was taking him to the washroom (Ladies) on the weekend and he peeled off at the last second and disappeared into the Men's. Emily tried to get him but the washroom was full of men, so it didn't work out. He had to reach UP to the 'toilet' but he did his business. Apparently at least one man helped him activate the water tap and start the hand dryer. I arrived on the scene to 4 men all laughing and staring at a small blond boy, singing, drying his hands. One guy figured he did pretty good, quote "just mostly messed around in the sink". I told him never to do it again but I have a feeling this scenario may repeat itself...

this will always make you smile

Nate is a deep thinker.
Nate: Hey guys, did you know? Did you KNOW that the beach is bigger than a small POOL??
Me: seriously?
Nate: Yep. it is, cause the beach is the whole ocean.

Running over to me this summer, almost out of breath.
Nate: Dad, did you know? Did you KNOW that nanny is your mother and you are her son?

ELLA - one of Nate's 'gurls'. great buddies.

Jonah is now a Grade 1-er. They have a higher social standing than the Kindergarten kids. They are older, faster, stronger and of course, much smarter... Sometimes, they look down on K kids because, well, they just do not have the life's experience of a 1-er. Just imagine what it will be like to be a 6-er. Yes, contemplating this great achievement produces far away looks and whispers. We tell him God made him strong so he can help the K kids (and Nate). Sometimes the temptation to use his strength for his own purposes does get the better of him, and he practices his profoundly expanding vocabulary at home, calling Nate things like idiot and moron. Nate has no idea what these new, zingy sounding words mean but he knows they are not intended to compliment him. He is not accepting his role as doormat, so he makes up words too, and sticks out his tongue. He did not get the memo that 1-ers don't think that's cool.

Last night, Nate was ahead of Jonah on the way upstairs, and Jonah was in hot pursuit.
J: IS IT A RACE NATE?????
N: NO, no race Jonah, no race....
Jonah eases off, and lets Nate continue to the top of the stairs. As soon as he hits the second last step
N: JONAH, it IS a race. (raising his hand in the air) Wa-hoo, I win, I win, I just beat Jonah.

They are working it out, Nate beams when Jonah pays attention to him and says 'please' and 'thank you' to him. He was sad when J went back to school, but is pretty pumped about his own school.

Just some pics for you folks.

pasta anyone

Beauty and the Beast

praying or preying (shark attack!!)

what exactly is happening here??

Giving Thanks

2010-12-06T22:19:00.000-04:00

At meal time, Jonah takes a turn giving thanks before we eat. Once I asked Nate if he would like to thank God for our blessings, and he looked at me terrified, very quickly said no, plopped his head down on the table and started fake snoring. we'll wait until he is ready...

Sitting down for supper tonight, Jonah slowed himself down and started to pray.
J: Heavenly Father, thank You for making everything for us and thank You for sending Your Son to die on the cross for our sins and washing them all away. Ummm, thank You for the Lord Jesus, in Jesus name, amen.
Me: great, thanks.
*indistinct chatter* Jonah's eye's get big
J: wait, wait, I forgot something.
we all hold hands again.
J: Heavenly Father, thank You for the Lord Jesus, and for the food. In Jesus name, amen.
J: ok.
He often includes things we often don't think of, like bees and honey, blackberries, rainbows

Overheard: Jonah to cousin Brianna (7 yrs)
J: I am going to live to be 100.
B: Jonah! you will be dead by then.
J: No I won't. the bible says if you obey your parents, you will live long on the earth.

A couple of Quinn

2010-12-01T22:54:00.000-04:00

A couple of the baby. Making lots of noises and smiling a lot. I'll post a video here soon too. The pics will have to do for now. Great kid so far.

Brotherly Love

2010-12-01T22:31:00.000-04:00

It happened one evening while I was in the shower. Leah was nursing Quinn. I could hear Nate screeching and crying. Leah yelled, "Jonah pushed Nate, he cut his head, and he is bleeding" and ran out the door and down the road. (jk, that was Leanne... remember, falling with my bike, knocking pieces off my teeth and getting the nice furrow in my head from the bedrock I fell on. When Leanne saw the cut, she ran out of the house, all the way down to Uncle Freddy's house. Dad used that a lot to remind her that she actually did like me.). Out of the shower, down the stairs, this is what I found. Panic all around. Been there, done that. Way to carry on, Son.

After getting the story, Nate getting pushed and hitting his head on the coffee table, we went to Emergency. Nate was letting me know on the drive to the hospital that no one would be looking at the cut. NO ONE. Everyone I explained the story to, rolled their eyes and said "boys, huh". No issues, put a little crazy glue in there, good to go.

He was watching Dora yesterday.
TV: Hi, I'm Dora. What's your name?
N: umm, NATE!
TV: my favorite snack is a banana! What's your favorite snack?
N: umm, umm, umm, schrlub.

better to say something, I guess, than nothing at all.

Here he is 'preparing' one of the kittens for its adoptive home. They have passed a very rigorous 8 week program designed to carry them through every conceivable situation they will ever face, and then some. It certainly would not be described as "Kitten Whispering". Probably the most stressful situation was the wall walk but they have proven to be mentally sound and resilient. Yes, they do land on their feet. The kitten pictured here graduated the program today. Sensei was not impressed with losing one of his prized pupils and directed all his negative energy he could to the new owner with an intimidating mean mug and a snort.

The Ghost

2010-12-01T21:43:00.000-04:00

Jonah's first attempt at writing. He is fortunate as he has someone to transcribe for him. The following short (very) story was composed, dictated, illustrated and published by Jonah Macdonald. He has decided that he will not adopt a pen name.

Be careful, the story involves sinister characters... Do not read late at night.

Front Cover

Story & Illustrations

2010-10-26T23:28:00.000-03:00

Another quick update for you all. Jonah likes holding Quinn for a few minutes here and there. Quinn takes it all in stride, no problem. He just wonders at which moment Jonah's thought's will wander from him to the "extremely urgent" issue that needs to be handled right this second...

Not all of them are sleeping. Can you guess who is faking?

Remember the 'kitten in the box' story. Today there was a 'kitten in the bag' story. I had a bag of nuts mixed with reese's pieces (very yummy) sitting on the coffee table. Nate dumped the whole bag, ate all the reese's pieces and went away with the bag. A few minutes later he arrived back singing quite merrily, "Mommy, I have a delivery for you..." there was a lucky kitten in the bag, very obviously not a willing participant. We're just lucky his attention is diverted from Quinn for now. At least he won't be putting lipstick on him, dressing him like a girl and leaving him in the room when company arrived unexpectantly. (Leanne)

I'll throw a pic of Nate in here too. He messes up a room in seconds, takes stuff all over the house and cannot remember where he puts a single item. Not one! typical conversation while hunting for something.
M - NATE! where is the remote control?
N - i don't know.
M- but you had it, where did you put it? (I am never agitated)
N - oooooooh. Dad, my tuuummmmy huuuurtss... (rubbing his belly)
M - huh? your tummy hurts again does it? why?
N - yee-ah (sensing he might be getting away with this). I ate too much. I can't go find it.
M - Ok Nate, maybe we should go to bed?
Jonah - Nate, how many times do I have to tell you... (using his parent voice)
N - cue cry.

Vermont MTB Trip

2010-10-23T17:31:00.000-03:00

Quick video of our trip to Vermont this summer. We left the kids at home and went biking for two days at a really nice spot in East Burke, Vermont. Allen put the video together.

Left here Thursday after work, stayed in Waterville, Mn and then to the trails Friday afternoon, where we hit the trails until 6:30. Next morning, the girls went shopping and we totally wore ourselves out riding the whole day. The two days were full of highlights and we had to force ourselves to stop to take pictures and videos because the trails were so fast and addicting. Dave's good bike was being repaired so he had his old one, I wrecked my back tire on the berm trail the first day and Allen's crank arm kept falling off but we had a BLAST! Stayed at a beautiful house on the mountain and had meals there and also ate at some spots in the village. We each wiped out once, and we caught two of us on tape. The Sidewinder was the most fun I've had on a bike, although you can't appreciate the speed on the video. Uriah, we missed you.

We left Sunday morning early and made it to Augusta for meeting and then travel back home by 8 pm. Benn thinking about the trip ever since.

Enjoy the video.

Kingdom Trails, East Burke, Vt.

Day Seven - all is well.

2010-10-21T23:27:00.000-03:00

Quinn, seven days old today. Had both boys in bed with me this morning. Got Jonah off to school for 8:15. Nate and I went to Home Depot to pick some things up and then met Dave K. at Tim Horton's for a quick visit. The store was almost empty so Nate turned it into a playground. At one point, he climbed unto the window sill, hopped unto a table and leaped off unto the floor, smiling the whole time. He also stole one of Dave's timbits. He had given Dave the timbit 5 minutes earlier. Dave was cool with it though, he's got 4 brothers... Picked Jonah up at school, and he wiped out on his bicycle on the way home. He skinned his knee, elbow and hand and could not continue, but did not cry. I was tending to him and he said "Dad! I was not even thinking about showing off right there. I was only thinking about doing the jump." We piled in the van, went for a drive in the country and back home for pizza and sweet potato fries. Get the kids in PJs, into bed, thats a wrap! oh wait, wake every 3 hrs...

Jonah must think Leah is not as accessible as she once was. He sat down beside her tonight and asked her "Mommy, would you like to touch me? or, hold my hand". A cuddling session was soon underway.

Here is a video of Quinn swinging away. Listen to the hiccups. Jonah gets props as the cameraman.

Jonah watched the trailer for Conan's new show. He was lying in bed, doing 'the stare' when Leah asked him where he was.
Jonah - remember the guy who put all the explosives in his car, beat up the guy and then drove the car off the big cliff? that's what I'm thinking about right now... umm, WHY would he do that?
Me - He was just being funny. he didn't really do it.
J - how is that funny?
M - big people find it funny.
J - umm, ok. but why did they need to put all the extra stuff in it too?
M - the fireworks?
J - yah. why?
Me - to be extravagant.
J - WHAT'S EX-TRAV-enn mean?
M - over the top. to make it really crazy so people find it funny. Do you get satire at all Jonah?
J - no.
M - good night. love you.
J - love you (head butt kiss).
haha, gotta love him.

The 5th Day

2010-10-20T10:02:00.000-03:00

Quinn has found his voice and is willing to practice it at any time. He was awake about half the night last night. Leah is getting along pretty good though. Public Health nurse (Grant Thomas' sister) was in yesterday and was very encouraging, he is gaining weight, etc.. Nate and I are hard at work all day. I do the cooking and cleaning - He does the eating and messing.

I have tries multiple times to upload a video to Blogger but its not happening. Guess you'll just have come and see him.

Coming Home from Hospital. Didn't make a peep. Just the way we like it.

Asleep.

Proud BIG Brother. Nate calls him "Dur-ruther Baby"

Rocking his new swing

We have the same picture of the other two boys. He really looks like them here.

Car seat pushes his cheeks up. Thankfully he likes it.

makes it all worth it!

Thought I'd throw this one in. It takes him about 2 hrs to eat an apple this size. During this 2 hr stretch, the apple picks up its weight in various objects, all of which is consumed by an oblivious little boy. He just had the apple in visiting the kittens, trying to teach them how to use the litter box... I try not to look...

More Quinn

2010-10-16T19:46:00.004-03:00

Some more pictures of the little guy. I finally got to sleep through the night... jk. Last night was a really good night for Leah and Quinn. He is just sleeping, eating and making us change his diapers. He's a pretty great little guy. Leah had some visitors in last night.

Jonah's hand. His hands always have extra stuff on them. That's because they are everywhere, always moving, never stopping to rest. Even when he is sleeping... 99.9% of the germs on his hands have been destroyed by the mandatory gel we have to use at every doorway. One doctor told us it is the 99.9% that don't hurt you that get killed. whatever, as long as we think we're safe, right?

He is attending to his Mommy. I think she looks great. She thinks she looks like a cow. I think its all in your perspective. In this case, my perspective is correct.

Auntie Melody. Nate calls her Med-O-wie. She was and is a huge help. These boys have no idea how good they have it.

Jonah finds him really interesting. Nate is hiding under the bed to avoid getting pictures taken of him.

He is rocking out to some tunes here. Might be 'Welcome to the Jungle".

All for now, we'll post later.

Quinn David

2010-04-20T21:49:00.005-03:00

Here he is, arriving @ 11:08 am. 7 lbs 12 oz, 19 in.

This was the easiest way for you guys to see him. I'm going back in tonight.

Small, Medium and Large... Triple Trouble.

Jonah is very mature about all this. Nate could take him or leave him, although he did say he thought he was pretty big. He was expecting Quinn to be 'reedy small', like the size of a dinky car or a kitten.

I will not promise more pictures on here, but will try to remember.

too much encouragement

2009-12-22T19:28:00.007-04:00

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

2009-12-22T19:26:00.005-04:00

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

2009-11-07T10:38:00.004-04:00

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

PRE-Kindergarten

2009-09-21T19:18:00.004-03:00

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

2009-09-19T10:05:00.003-03:00

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

August

2009-09-19T08:44:00.005-03:00

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

2009-07-25T09:05:00.002-03:00

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

2009-07-01T12:07:00.004-03:00

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

2009-07-01T12:06:00.003-03:00

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

2009-07-01T10:51:00.004-03:00

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

2009-07-01T10:33:00.004-03:00

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

2009-07-01T10:24:00.003-03:00

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.

2009-05-02T17:33:00.005-03:00

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.

boys will be boys

2009-04-26T21:53:00.003-03:00

Jonah is coughing while Nate is gently patting his back

Jonah: "I want to do a sad face"

Oh, this is close...

Leah: say cheese guys

Nate: cheeeessseeee

Jonah: No, MONSTER TRUCKS! Nate, say Monster Trucks

Nate: cheeeessseeee

Jonah: MONNNNSTEERRRR TRUUUUUCKKSSSS

This is what happens when you try and get a picture of the boys together.

Jonah had just finished a bowl of blueberries. Evidently he forgot about the spoons.

Nate sits and watches Whinnie the Pooh sometimes. Leah found him asleep one day and snapped this pic. He is a pretty peaceful little guy and I think he might be rubbing off on Jonah a little bit. He was upset while getting his shoes on this week, and Jonah came over, sat down, and said "OK, little buddy, let's get your shoes on." He's starting to become patient with him and tries to help him out, as long as it doesn't involve Nate taking anything of his.

Last Saturday night we had some vistors come in and Jonah went running to meet them. He tripped on a cord and wiped out HARD right beside the piano bench. Everyone noticed and there was a smattering of oohs, ahhhs and ouches. With everyone looking at him, he said, "No, it's OK, I was... I was... just crawling under here." and crawled under the piano bench. It was so cute, and pitiful at the same time, so I jumped up and grabbed him. Not a tear, he just rubbed his stomach a little bit and was back at his entertaining ways.

early April

2009-04-26T21:19:00.007-03:00

run Forrest, run!

I was coming up the stairs behind him saying, "I'm gonna GET YA, raawrrh".

He just holds his breath and tries so hard to be fast.

Here Nate has 'thrown' me to the ground while we were wrestling. He is pretty tender, tho, so when he got me down he decided to kiss me.

His kisses are really soft and gentle, not like Jonah's head-butts/kisses.

A cute pic of Leah and Nate. I was holding the camera to get the shot, not sure where the facial expression is coming from.

Here's Jonah.

Nate turns 2

2009-04-19T22:23:00.007-03:00

Nate turns 2 today. We had a cake for him at Leah's parents place. He loved blowing out the candles, eating the icing off the cake and getting some fun gifts.

Leah made a puppy dog cake. He LOVES dogs, LOVES them.

Here he is blowing out the candles

Done!

This is a video of Nate eating his cake, actually he is stripping the icing off. First off, he is totally doing the 'stare'. You can hear Jonah in the background saying "can I have a big piece?". Towards the end Nate wants his hands clean and is saying "Help Me" repeatedly. We thought it was really cute.

Winter's Last Gasp

2009-04-19T22:10:00.002-03:00

Last winter storm. we hope. The boys took their trucks out to have some fun in the snow while I shovelled the driveway. Check out the pics.

Little Jock

2009-04-19T22:07:00.003-03:00

Remember how everything is a race these days. He walked into "Little Jocks", a sports oriented play group we go to on Tuesdays, and yelled at the top of his lungs, "HA, I am going to WIN this race!!!" One of the parents was sitting down and said, 'wow! right on, gimme 5!' Jonah looked at him and yelled "YAH" and gave him a very aggressive high five. I ask Leah where does this come from...

It gets alittle over the top when we are driving and we have to pass everything in sight. "DAD! you must pass that truck. Dad, pass him on the white broken lines..."

2009-04-19T22:01:00.002-03:00

this is what Leah found beside the sugar bowl. Jonah stashed a spoon so its easier to get his fix. Like he needs any.

Jonah's b-day - 4

2009-04-19T21:48:00.007-03:00

Jonah turned 4 on March 18. This pic is his cupcakes at lunchtime. He is pretty keen on Lightening McQueen. Everything is a race.

He was fairly confused when it came time for cake in the evening. He figured he was 5. Believe me, it took him some time to come to grips with reality.

This is his cake for his real birthday. A friend decorated. He was pretty pumped about it.

Jonah and his buddies

new bike

2009-04-19T21:38:00.003-03:00

Got a new bicycle this winter. A 2008 Giant Trance 3. Had it out a couple of times and it has worked great.

That's me with the orange sweater on. Dustin is riding my 2002 (?) Giant Rainier. We go out to some groomed ski trails in Brookvale and ride for about 1.5 hrs. Can't wait for snow melt and warm weather...

#1 Champ

2009-03-04T18:20:00.007-04:00

Almost impossible to get a good shot of these birds together, and these are some of the better ones so far. Family pictures seem impossible...

Notice the shirt on Jonah. He's the "NUMBER 1 CHAMP!!" Loves to wear it all the time, so after a couple of days, it accumulates all kinds of residue.

When Leanne was here a couple of weeks ago, her and Leah took the boys and cousin Brianna out to the mall. Popsicles were purchased, and L&L figured it would be time to show him how to be a gentleman... They gave the first popsicle to Bri and told Jonah that ladies are before gentlemen, yada yada... Jonah said "Nope! I'ne not having NUHFING' if i'ne number 2." yes, we are working on this.

Feelings

2009-02-22T23:01:00.003-04:00

Leah was reading a sad part of her book the other day, and was shedding a few tears. Jonah ambled into the room, became quite concerned and asked her why she had feelings coming down her cheeks.

Booger Nights

2009-02-22T22:52:00.003-04:00

Warning - may turn your stomach

Jonah picks his nose and usually recycles it. I find this mildly amusing, Leah finds it gross. Most other normal people do too. I am doing my duty to prevent Jonah from social backlash. I caught him in the car the other night.

Me: HEY! hey, are you eating that?
Jonah: mmm?? yes.
Me: OK, that's not cool... most people find it pretty disgusting, its not socially acceptable and you may lose friends too.
Jonah: well, Daddy, maybe your boogers are disgusting, but MINE ARE DELICIOUS!!!
Me: -----------

so far, no more progress has been made. Nate has picked up this unsettling habit as well.

The Boys

2009-02-22T22:29:00.004-04:00

Its good to have Leah back with us. I'll have to admit I was a bit short handed. If you haven't been around the boys lately, you may not understand. The activity level is high, very high, and they take a certain pleasure watching you slowly suffer, doing your best to be patient and understanding (reminds me of those African Wild Dogs catching a Wildebeest... they just use their energy and numbers to worry the poor thing to death and then when it finally falls...)

Nate is a born trouble maker - revels in it. Jonah always has an organized, structured play area; everything is serving a purpose. Nate strolls into the room, his little chest stuck out, grabs a dinky car (not just any car, the white monster truck) and RUNS!! The thrill is over very quickly, and he is soon taken down, slapped into an armbar and relieved of his bounty. Jonah usually uses the 'tough love' approach. Nate hollers the whole time this is happening but heads back for another go in another few minutes. Its quite a circus.

Jonah - another level. totally. the kid has energy coming out his ears and spends most of his day being distracted by something greener. He has been enjoying helping me work on the basement. Too bad I couldn't see the fun side to receiving help from him, but he isn't content bringing things to me or getting me a drink of water.

Jonah: "DADDY, I WANT TO USE THIS THING (the chop saw), CAN I CUT WITH THIS... CAN I?? DADDY?!? WHAT?"
Me: what (looking around), no, NO!! don't hit the buuutttttooonnnn!!!

too late, he does it anyway. this is why its not fun.

The DAY the Women Went

2009-02-21T21:14:00.002-04:00

We have being trying to follow the CBC show "The Week the Women Went" because it is set in Tatamagouche, NS, and we know a few folks there. Its humorous to see how the guys manage with the girls away.

Well, Leah went to Moncton for two days for a little get-away (well deserved) and I was left with the two boys for 36 hours. Our two days were filled with sledding, videos, two trips to Crappy Tire, a trip to the mall (fail) and a few stops at Tim Horton's for timbits. I did manage to feed, dress, entertain and have them in bed by bedtime, and clean the house to Leah's satisfaction. We also thought we would share the craziness with Chris (whose wife also flew the coop) and his little girl, so we had them over for the day. We had a blast, but we were all anxious for her return...