After Dinner Silly's

Dana took a few pictures of the kids playing around tonight before bed. Not much to say here, move along.....






oh wait....and a snapshot of furby that Hannah or Jack took...

20 Years ago today...

20 years ago the space shuttle blew up, it's hard to believe it was 20 years ago. Where were you when it happened? I was actually in Florida, at Busch Gardens in Tampa and someone came up to us and told us what had happened. I think that may have been the last time I have been to Florida...wow that is a long time ago.

Today it's 10 degrees Celsius outside, it feels like spring, the kids are outside playing and it sunny and all of the snow is melting. What a great Saturday. Last night we went out with another couple from Hannah's school and had a nice time at the local pub. The band was okay...the lead singer was sprouting a serious mullet. Dana is shooting an 8 hour wedding and but she was able to help out with swimming lessons this morning which was great. She is going to be very tired tonight. Okay off to see what those two monkeys are up to outside. - J

I am not Mr.Fixit

I was leaving for swimming last night and was parked on a little bit of ice, and couldn't get anywhere, I was just spinning all over the place - I used my Dad's idea of cat litter (non clumping) to put under the wheels to get some traction it worked a little but the spinning I was doing and the noise I was making called out to the neighbor's - and they came. We pushed and pulled - and then noticed that my rear wheel wasn't even turning in drive - and worked only in reverse - not good. I do not claim to know anything about cars, I don't want to know, I don't need to know - it's really not anything I can understand and it's better suited to the professionals. It's not that I don't care, it's that I would just mess it up if I really tried...

No swimming last night, and the car is off to Mr. Fixit's for repairs...hopefully it's not serious, but when I talked to Mr. Fixit this morning his reaction was "hmmmm, ohhhh" not reassuring. I don't think I have ever been to a mechanic that said "oh it's nothing just a loose whatever".

Oh well, tonight Dana and I are going to try and go out again - this time with a different babysitter at the helm - our old babysitter agreed to watch the kids, she's a little older and doesn't mind if we come home later than 11:00...I am surprised she is free - she started dating and we haven't seen her since, maybe they broke-up - yeah for us! - J

UPDATE: Yeah! It was just a leak of something that was clogging up something, I don't know - it wasn't working and now it is and the cost is minimal.

Sorry...

I know, it's been a while. What do you want to know.

Right now, because I'm trying to blog rather than play with Henry, he's drawing on me with chalk.

It's freezing out today! The kids were let in at school early because it's too cold to play outside.

Henry & I are headed to the library in Thornhill shortly to meet up with Eri & Bennett for a Mom & baby (or whatever you call Henry's age) program with songs & stories. Henry will call out Bennett's name way too loud through the whole thing. He's pretty vocal lately. Yesterday he called out "bum bum" at top volume the whole time we were grocery shopping.

I don't know if any of this was interesting enough to blog about and I don't have supporting pictures, but there. You've been updated.

-Dana

Where are you dana?

Dana hasn't blogged for quite sometime, she is always busier than I, running three kids around doesn't leave much time. Me on the other hand - I am at work and it's been a little slow, self-training on new software and taking a break every so often so my brain won't overload.

Rick Mercer has a very funny prediction on the upcoming Conservative Cabinet posts - a must read... http://rickmercer.blogspot.com/2006/01/conservative-cabinet-revealed_09.html

18 months until another election.

Bonhomme!

I can't remember the last time I had a dream. Well last night I don't know what the dream was but I woke Dana up in the middle of the night to ask her if Bonhomme was really a cookie, she said "No it isn't" and went back to sleep, a few minutes later I woke again to ask her if Bonhomme was filled with icing...again Dana said "No". Either I really want to go to Quebec City for the winter carnival or I was really hungry in the night....

Prime Minister Stephen Harper...

Those website predictions were pretty darn close. Last night Hannah and Jack went with me to the school so I could vote - and I explained how they count the votes to determine the winner, I think they understood the process. As for the results, well what are you going to do...at least it's a minority government - surrounded by progressive mp's. I don't like the title of my blog. It's interesting that the Conservatives didn't get one MP elected in Toronto, Vancouver or Montreal.
Okay...that's enough complaining.

Election Day

www.electionprediction.org has made their final predictions and this is how they call it;

Liberal Party 104
Conservatives 118
N.D.P. 29
Bloc Québécois 56
Other 1
Too Close 0
Total 308

I think they may be off, I think the Conservatives will win by a bigger margin. If they do win...ahhh - I do hope it's a minority. Interesting note - they have Belinda Stronach losing her seat in Newmarket. - j

Monster Jam!

This afternoon Jack and I ventured to the Skydome (it's now called Rogers Centre...but it's still Skydome to me) for the Monster Jam. Not really knowing what to expect I am glad I called on Doug & Chase for some advice - bring earplugs.

We got to Skydome and found our seats with only moments to spare, Jack was thrilled about seeing the Monster trucks in person. This morning we had to make a sign that he could wave about in the stadium - he told me that he saw it on t.v. and everyone does that - he is so funny he said that it had to say 'Grave Digger' (one of the trucks names) so that the driver could see it in the stands. He waved it proudly throughout the 3 hour show. The earplugs came in handy, it was loud! Louder than loud if that makes sense - I had to cut the little earplugs lengthwise so they would fit into Jack's ear - when I was putting them in he asked me "I thought you said we were only allowed to put our elbows in our ears?" (That's a house rule - no kids with q-tips or pencils in their ears - they can only put their elbows in there - they do try too....) - I told him this was a special circumstance...

It wasn't just monster trucks, they had a few truck races, motorcross bikes that did these crazy tricks high up in the air, it was a great show - I liked the one-on-one time with just Jack...I didn't mind the big trucks either... - J

Weekend

It was so nice to sleep in until 8:30 this morning. Hannah was at a sleep-over last night, and Dana and I went out for drinks at the local pub. It was a lot of fun, we meet some characters there and quenched our thirst - we wanted to stay longer and even called the babysitter up to say we would be another hour, but the babysitter said "No - I'm kind of tired...." & it was only 10:30.... Oh well, so we had to leave just when this fun band started. Next time...

This morning the three kids had swimming lessons and it was Dana's turn to take Henry in the pool. Everyone did well and it was easier that Dana was there to help with the chaos.
Hannah is gone skating with a friend, Jack is doing a puzzle and Henry is napping. Dana has a "surprise" wedding to shoot - a surprise for the guests - no one knows they are getting married today - should be interesting, they think they are going to see the 'surprise' proposal by the bride.

Tomorrow just Jack and I are going to see Monster Jam at Skydome. It has all these crazy Monster Trucks including Grave-Digger, Cremator, Predator - he knows them all, his buddy Chase (via Doug) taught him all about Monster trucks and now we are going to see the real-deal. It should be a good time, especially because Jack needs a little special attention lately, middle child - I think he gets lumped into being a big kid too much and Henry is at an age when anything he does is funny and cute, and Jack notices it. He's only four and it's hard to remember that all the time. - J

Election Fix

The federal election is only days away, and things are very busy here at CTV, luckily I work mainly with TSN so I am unaffected. CTV did take over the TSN studios for the past few days so hockey productions are currently on the road. I have had a hard time getting into the election this time around, but there is a great website created by a few University of Waterloo students a few years ago and it is called http://www.electionprediction.org/, they predict riding-by-riding who will win and why, and they usually hover around 90% arruracy. It's a great site for an election junkie.
Hannah and Jack know there is an election coming, they have been asking who Bob Callow is, the Conservative candidate....hmmm how do they know who he is, there are a lot of signs of his around Markham and only a scattering of liberal ones. They know that Paul Martin is the Prime Minister and they know that they will probably have to learn a new prime minister's name on Monday...it's going to be a bumpy ride.

Home

It's nice to be home. Came back this morning, it was only a 50 minute flight, Dana and Henry were there to pick me up, it was good to see them. Then we picked up Hannah and Jack and went to lunch together. I am glad to be back, Dana is too! Thank you Eri and Mike for helping Dana out while I was away - her thumb healed nicely so that's good.

Ottawa was busy, I have never been there in the winter so that was different and yesterday it was Cold. The Rideau Canal just opened again this morning because it was so mild for the past two weeks. We were working out of the Civic Centre and there wasn't much time to see the sights or much of Ottawa, I did drive by the parliament buildings, I had forgotten how impressive they are. I think the last time I was in Ottawa was when Dana was pregnant with Hannah - way back when. The skating event went very well, it was broadcast in High Definition so that was a challenge as it was the first skating event in Canada to do so, and the audio was 5.1 which is all about surround sound and all things I don't concern myself with at these events, I have to worry about making sure all the graphics appear on screen and to make sure the judges marks come up when they are supposed to. They asked me to do the skating events next year already and they are in Victoria and Halifax which would be great, now I just have to figure out how to get Dana to come with me one of these times.

Back to work tomorrow, but glad to be home - J

Blogging from the Nation's capital

Hello from Ottawa, I am trying to blog from my hotel room on my tv and it is very quirky...a wireless keyboard that really doesn't work propery.
All is well so far, busy and long days, I am working with TSN/CTV doing the Canadian figure skating championships. I felt pretty awful leaving my hobbled wife alone this week, but she sounded in great spirits, hopefully she'll get a hand this week...or a thumb.
It is nice to get out of my day job and do something different with different people, but I must say I always feel bad leaving Dana and the kids, my comfort spot it my home but it's good to shake things up I guess. Ottawa is rainy and not freezing cold, I was involved in another car accident (which I forgot to mention to Dana, sorry Dana) I was NOT driving, I was in the backseat this morning getting a ride to the arena, and we were driving down the ramp which was a sheet of ice and slid right into a metal fence post. No one was hurt and we were going very slowly, but luckily that little metal post was there because it stopped us from going down a 15 ft grass and treed ravine-type ramp.
Well off to bed another long day tomorrow, maybe I will walk to the arena...J

Bring It On!

Was that just yesterday that I said I was looking forward to being a little busier?! Jason left today for a week in Ottawa and I fell this morning (tripped over Jack who fell on the way to school) and as the day progressed my thumb got more & more sore & swollen. I had it x-rayed and it's NOT broken...so what would they have done if it HAD been broken? As you can see from the photo, I have a plaster cast that needs to be worn (coincidentally) for a week and can't get wet. Henry's got pink eye & needs drops 4 (!) times a day that make him scream & squeeze his eyes closed if he sees them coming and he's also cutting some molars. Hannah had Sparks tonight (like Brownies but for younger girls) at 5:00 and Jason's cab came to pick him up to take him to the airport at 4:30 all while I was still at the hospital. I didn't even get to see Jason off since I had no idea I would be at the hospital for 3 hours!! Anyway, I'm managing fine so far, except I just realized I forgot to eat dinner and Jason only left 4 hours ago. Ask me next Monday how I'm feeling! - Dana

Catching Up

I haven't blogged for a while...although I've been reading Jason's and learning things along the way that he forgets to tell me when I see him in person. It's a great way of keeping in touch for those of you who never get to talk to your spouse!

Hannah & I figured out what we were doing wrong with her Tamagotchi...we were never turning the lights out to let it sleep. The poor electronic critters were dying of sleep-deprivation! I was much more concerned about it than Hannah mind you. When her second one died I was trying so hard to figure out what we were doing wrong (there aren't instructions!) that she said to me, "it's not one of your real kids, Mom." Man, when did she get so old?

I DID really enjoy Different Strokes last night and am almost as excited as Jack to watch another episode tonight. That was one of his first requests when I picked him up after his first day back at school! Thanks Andrew & Ali!

Henry's supposed to be napping right now but I hear him chatting with his Teletubbies in his crib. He seems to be outgrowing his nap - already!!

I had a really restful - too restful, bordering on just plain lazy - holiday and am quite glad to be back to the hustle & bustle of our regular daily lives. - Dana

What u talkin bout Willis...?

Hannah and Jack watched two episodes of Different Strokes last night on DVD. Andrew & Alison gave the set to me for Christmas. When Jack was 2 he learned to say the famous tagline repeated in every episode "What u talkin bout Willis?" Hannah and Jack were really into it, I was really surprised as they watched the very first episode when the boys came to live with Mr. Drummond, I didn't realize why they moved in. Their mother was Mr. D's previous housekeeper and before she died she asked him to take care of her boys. (that's your free dif. strokes history lesson)

When we started to watch you could hear the laugh track or the actual studio audience clapping and laughing and Hannah asked "why are people clapping, where are they?". Jack was laughing throughout and Hannah liked Arnold's giggle. They both have never really watched a real t.v. show, they think anything that doesn't have cartoons in it is a grown-up show. Hannah asked Dana "Did this really happen? Is it real?" Dana joined in for the second episode and when I got home she said "it was a really good one!".

I went to swimming last night where I was moved up to a faster lane that enjoys no resting and no chit chat. 3000 metres later we were done, something I am not used to.

The kids are back to school this morning and hopefully all goes well. Henry has pink-eye, we think, so Dana is off to the doctor too. Both kids are happy to be going back to school, but not as happy as Dana who is ready for the routine to return. - J

Skate Swim, Skate Swim

The kids finished up their week long skating lessons, and they both are better skaters for it. Now we just have to make sure to get them out a little more often, Hannah is out skating right now at a friends backyard rink.

Dana is at a wedding today the first of many this year, it's a long one today she left when I took the three kids to swimming lessons this morning and she won't be back until late tonight. Swimming - that was another story. It was a bit tricky, first Hannah balked at going in the water which was a complete surprise. She was scared of doing somersaults, I told her she didn't have to but she was still a little nervous about it, finally she jumped in when I told her to try it and if she didn't want to come next week she didn't have to - a gamble, but she is very excited about the lessons and can't wait to go back - whew dodged a bullet.

Jack just jumped right in and I didn't see him for a half hour, Henry and I went in the parent and tot lesson and it was nice because we were in small heated pool. Henry blew some bubbles and looked like a giant compared to the little babies that are in the same class - he was even standing up in the pool which seemed a little strange when everyone was holding onto their children.

Trying to get everyone dried off and clothed afterwards is another story and I hope to never do that by myself again - fortunately next week is cancelled due to a swim meet at the pool, and that was the week I am away.

Today we are just relaxing, I am going to play spaceships with Jack - sounds like fun - while Henry is still asleep. - J

So Long Mbrk

Another Tamagotchi has met their demise. I am not sure what the reason was this time, it might have been malnutrition, as Hannah was trying not to feed it too much. Hannah has moved on and a new egg has hatched named Hanna, and all is right with the world.

Dana started back at work tonight and I start back tomorrow, which will be a nice short week. This weekend Dana has the first of three weddings this month so it will actually be quite busy. All three kids start swimming lessons on Saturday morning and Dana's wedding is early so I will have to figure out some way to get them all out of the pool without forgetting one - and I am in the water with Henry -it's a parent & tot lesson - should be interesting.

Hannah and Jack are in a week-long skating lesson this week and are enjoying it - Hannah has almost figured out skating backwards and Jack is getting both feet to glide so he is getting close. We will just have to get them out more this winter skating and they will pick up a lot on their own just playing around with their friends. All three kids finally crashed tonight, all asleep by 7:45....

Cold FX 1 Cold 1

Tie game in the war vs the cold today, the Cold FX drugs I think are working and don't want to know what this cold would of been if I didn't take them.

The kids are starting to go bonkers around here without the routine of school and regular sleep. Hannah and Jack have both been up way too late each night and are going to be bears when Dana wakes them for school next week. This week at least they are in skating lessons each morning so that is something to get up and get ready for each day.


Ann, Lance and the kids stayed over last night and we had a nice visit and the adults played a fun game of Trivial Pursuit which Ann dominated. All the kids played together nicely, the first thing Hannah and Kate did was to make a sign for the bedroom door that says "No Boys Allowed - Only Babies" (with a picture of a boy with a line crossed through it), even though Jack shares that room with Hannah...


I feel completely out of touch with the world, I haven't read the newspaper, watched the news or checked the regular websites I check out each day. Maybe it's a good thing, but I feel really disconnected. I'll have to watch The National tonight.

Hannah's Tamagotchi died this morning (his name was Mark), if you don't know what that is, it's a little computer pet you have and you have to feed it, play with it and just generally take care of it. I guess she fed it too much, it was at one point 99 pounds and only 1 year old, now I don't know if that's normal for a Tamagotchi but it sounds a little heavy. A new egg was hatched later in the morning and I incorrectly gave it the name of Mbrk, I was trying to spell Sally but I pressed the wrong buttons and now Hannah is stuck with the weird name until...

Happy New Year!!