two good eggs

December already?

Yikes. 
I haven't even started Christmas shopping.  Let alone Christmas making! 
I must admit to irritation with folks who announce (merrily) that they've finished their holiday shopping before the end of November.  Really. 

So, in honour of getting the advent calendar out today, I'm offering a little store discount to you stalwart folk who read this (rather boring) blog.  Entering the disount code Advent09 will get you 20% on whatever you fancy in the store!  It's good through to Friday. 

I'm also working on some doll diapers and some wool hats that should be up in the store next week. 

 Say, have you noticed that the website has been updated?  (it's been live for a month or two now but being the punctually challenged person that I am, this is the first that I've mentioned it)  How long have I been saying I'd get to that?  Well, all credit goes to my beautiful sister, Claire and amazing brother in law, Simon who is also a talented photographer. 

Another thing: 
If you've tried to email me in the past while, I haven't been getting them.  I forgot to set up the email for the site.  Whoops!

 
 


 


 
 

Before and after

After watching Finn eating french toast (okay, he was licking his plate) with one hand holding his hair back, it was decided that a visit to Mr. Tomaso was in order. 

Dave too, felt it time to tame his carefully tended mid 80s do.

Surfer dude goes waaaay retro? 

Finn looks both older and younger to me.  Definately taller too.  That mane must have been draggin' him down.

Poppy goes shopping

In the pre dinner craze the other night:

I was upstairs fiddling around on the computer; Poppy milling around my legs.  Dave and kids had just returned from the usual "what are we going to eat pre dinner shop"

It's always such a mad time.  Tempers fading, agravation growing as we gear up for the great hustle through dinner, into the bath and into bed. 

Dave yells up from the kitchen "That varmint!  That's why the groceries were so expensive!" 

He comes up stairs to show me a beautiful fruitcake that has somehow ended up in the shopping basket.   Poppy looks pleased and grabs the fruitcake and craddles it tenderly. 

Funny, because she's obviously had this in mind for some time.  I shopped with her a few weeks back and she'd tried the same trick; grabbing the fruitcake and putting it in my basket.  I'd just thought it was a random shiny thing but obviously it held real appeal to her  (yuck!) and she'd continued to think about it in the meantime!   

Strangely, it's existence has now slipped her mind.  Which is good because judging by it's diminishing girth, it looks like Dave was happy about it afterall.  Maybe that explains the heartburn.  hehe

Requisite Halloween pictures

Finn went as 'Luke Skywalker'  He wrestled with this quite a bit.  I'd made the top for him last year when he was deeply involved in the whole Star Wars thing.  Last year he tried it on over top of his down vest and he looked just like a portly Willam Shatner playing Luke.  I laughed and he decided that he'd go as something else instead. 

This year he spent some of his allowance at the dollar store and bought a pretend lightsaber.  This spurred on a re-interest in all things Star Wars and he tried on the costume again.  He decided to go with it, much to my relief because all of his other suggestions involved a LOT more work!  He still hummed and hawed up until he left for school yesterday morning, feeling that kind of nervous apprehension and excitement about his costume that I remember quite well. 

Poppy too went out last night and she was a hilarious little fairy trouper.  Stomping along in her red rubber boots, a tiara jammed onto her wool toque.  It took her all of one house to figure out the game plan and she would reach her hand in fast to grab the loot with hardly even a 'dahdah' (thankyou).  She kept repeating through about 15 houses "Ah no home, uh-uh" (meaning she wasn't going home). 

When we got home and the booty was well poured over and sorted from most desirable to least.  Poppy grabbed a chocolate foil covered eyeball and yelled "Ah eet ahbaw!"  Finn deposited much of his candy into our candy bowl and the record number of trick or treaters decimated our 150 pieces in no time! 

   

A conversation

This morning:

Finn "I'm going to write a story before school today."

Me:  Mmmhmmmm..

Finn: "I think I'll call it 'Nature of Life' ... Or maybe 'Finn of Life'...... or maybe 'Finn of Metal'"

a bit later:  "Well, I'll DEFINATELY put 'illustrated by Finn'!"

And so, he did write said story which somehow morphed into a story about dragons (spelled 'jragins') and princesses (combing their hair). 

He was late for school but how can you rush good writing?! 

A Poppy note:  Can now say many things, the most oft repeated being 'gopgop peeps'  (chocolate chips of course)!

High Karate?

So, Finn is enrolled in Karate.  He loves it.  Has attended 2 classes so far and is verrrrrrrrrry excited about it. 

I am a Karate luddite.  Having not attended any of the classes with him yet, I'm a bit clueless about the whole thing.  Finn was 'practicing' some moves in the kitchen last night and made some sound like "oyyy"  in tandem with a move.  He informed me solemnly that this is "America counting". 

I love that he thinks that Americans speak a different language.  And perhaps they do? 

As an aside:  Here's Poppy in one of her many moods.  She's covering her ears because she didn't like the music that CBC was subjecting her to. 

Before and after

All Finn wanted for his birthday party was a pinata.  The ever obliging parent (Dave) made him a giant golden egg.... 

Much fun was had by all, along with the requisite Birthay boy tears.  All devoured the rather awful cupcakes that I'd decided I must make from scratch.  I guess chocolate is chocolate, even if it does taste a bit salty.  (I swear, I followed the recipe word for word)

and now we are 6..

6... I can't believe he's 6!

He woke up this morning, (in our room because Uncle Simon was here last night) bright and early. Could hardly wait to open his present. He'd been promised a morning present since Dave has a PTA meeting tonight.  As it was maybe 6:30 at best, I told him to go back to sleep and wake me when it was light. I could hear him rolling around restlessly.  Then he got up and started creeping around the room. I could hear a bag crinkling.

"Go back to sleep!"

"Ummmm.. I'm just.... trying to get some... ummmm.. exercise?!  Yeah!..... I'm just getting a little exercise since I've got a long day of school ahead!

Right. Actually, having a mother's 6th sense, I knew what he was really doing was searching for his gift! He'd almost found it last night and I re-hid it.  It was in a crinkly bag as his clever ears detected and he was searching out all possible crinkly locations!

Please note new haircut which was precipitated by school photos!  I balanced on a knife edge the night before, just about to run out the door to book club when I remembered that I'd meant to trim his hair.  I held the scissors in my hands and thought that perhaps it would be best to let sleeping dogs lie, as it were.  Being the adventurous type that I am however, I snipped once and sealed his fate!  It became rather more than a trim as you can see.  He looked at himself in the mirror as I was leaving and siad "I look DUMB!"  I laughed and laughed, because truthfully, he did look rather funny!  I think it was the transformation of saucy surfer dude to Christopher Robin that was kind of startling!  As it was, I had to facilitate the haircut like this:
Mmmhmmmm, that would be a dayglo blue sucker you're lookin' at!

Worked like a charm..

Hmmm, do I even remember how to do this?

A funny conversation with Finn this morning.  First you must refresh your memory concerning the energy smart (or whatever they are?) commercials with David Suzuki replacing homeowners lightbulbs with new ones.  In the commercial I'm about to reference, David Suzuki is in someone's basement, the homeowner comes across him as he goes into the basement (curiously with a sitar in hand).  David is as usual, replacing a lightbulb and then admonishes astonished man about all the energy his old beer fridge is using and how it'll save him money to replace it etc. etc.  The man in true neanderthalic fashion, says "oooooh.... so I can use that money to buy more beer!"

Forward to this morning when I ask Finn to turn off the bathroom light after he's done.  I tell him it saves energy to turn it off.  He pauses then says brightly "Oh!  Because that will get us more beer!" 

Perhaps a little photo for the sake of appearing like I actually take them.   This is Poppy after a session of painting! 

And the requisite 'first day of grade one' pic.  No, Finn has not joined the armed forces, though he would if we'd let him.

Poppy's new word!

Poppy learned to say 'ant' yesterday!  She kept pointing into the garden and yelling 'ant' at the top of her lungs, then 'weh ant?'  This went on for a good half hour! 

Asked her later if she could say 'ant', she just slyly nodded her head. 

The usual, rather rotten photos.  (that would be a good title for a coffee table book of my photos)

And we'll see if this works.  If it does, it's a little video of Poppy jumping.  She's such a hilarious, exhuberant jumper.  Download DSCN1783.MOV