1st Soccer Game

Jack had his first soccer practice and game tonight. We almost didn't go because of the huge lightning storm we had just before it started, but it cleared a little and we were able to make it. He was very excited about it, and he did amazing - what a difference a year makes. At one point he got a breakaway and headed for the goal, but some other rugrat stole the ball away. Last year he was more timid, but tonight Jack was right in there on every play. Another storm rolled in so we had to stop early, but a good start to the season!

Hannah was to have a t-ball practice tonight, but it was cancelled. Her first game is on Tuesday and she is really excited. She already knows a few girls on her team so that makes it even better.

And Henry...what a little fish that one is. He has only been in the pool twice so far this year, but he wanted me to let go of him (he wears water wings) so I let him, and off he went paddling away, happy as a clam (are clams happy?). Anyway he swam around with a huge smile, lapping the water up. I told him to show Mama how he swims and humms (the humming is a trick that our friend Nicola taught the kids to do so they would keep their mouths shut while swimming). So Henry did...he swam around saying Humm humm humm humm...instead of actually humming, drinking the water as he swam - he hasn't caught on yet I guess.

It was scary...

Adding on to what Jason wrote, it's crazy making your brain work in emergency mode when you've just been woken. I didn't even know what to think. I was feeling certain we were leaving our house forever. Hannah's fear stems from a fire drill at her school in kindergarten that they didn't explain very well and she thought the school was actually on fire. They sure had a lot of questions on the way to school this morning and Henry kept asking about Amy & Otto in a cage. That was fascinating to him!Our house is fine. No one else's house was damaged but looking back, I think we may have been evacuated for fear of an explosion since pool heaters run on gas...not sure though. The whole back of the people's house is gone...I think it will require rebuilding the whole thing. They're on a different street than us since they're across our back fence and a couple of doors down so I don't know them. I sure feel sorry for them though. I did have a strange sense of calm (ok, calm is the wrong word, I wasn't exactly calm, but maybe security?) as we were leaving our house though knowing that our whole family and cats were together even if we didn't have any stuff.
Dana

A Scary Night

Last night the kids went to bed exhausted from swimming in the pool for the afternoon and Dana and I were fast asleep by 11:30. Just before 1:00 am we heard the doorbell ring about 10 times, I rolled over and asked Dana if that was the door. I got out of bed and walked downstairs and that's when I noticed flashing lights outside, as I opened the door there were police cars on the streets and officers scattered about. I first thought there was a shooting nearby or something like that. The officer said "Who lives in this house?" I said "My family" he told us there is a house on fire behind us and that we were to evacuate the house right now because the fire department feared it would spread to other homes.

I ran inside the house and Dana was already gathering stuff up, I put some clothes on and ran out to move the truck so we could get in the van. That's when I looked over my neighbour's house and saw flames, it was very dark out and the flames were huge. Back inside, Dana called her parents and asked if we could go over there, she got Hannah up and I carried her out to the car, she was scared - she has always had a fear of fire and this sure didn't help. She began to cry as I left her in the van. We grabbed Jack and Henry and Dana somehow gathered the cats and we were out of the house in minutes. Everyone on our side of the street was outside, told to move to the other side. We decided to bring the kids to Dana's parents, figuring they would get more upset if we stayed. Thanks Penny and Rick, they comforted the kids and after an hour Dana and I drove back and the street was empty, everyone back in their houses. We went back and picked up the kids and brought them back home and they fell back to sleep after being told all was safe and sound.

Dana found out the fire was from the pool heater, the owner turned it on at 9pm, a neighbour came home at 12:30 from working a shift and saw a fire, they tried to fight the fire with garden hoses but it got out of control. The house is heavily damaged in the back but the front seems to be in good shape. The street was still shutdown when we finally went back to bed, and the fire department was there until early morning.

It was a crazy night, but it's comforting to know the police were there ringing everyone's doorbell to make sure we got out and that we had somewhere to go in the middle of the night.

Weekend's End

It sure felt like a long weekend, but not necessarily in a good way. I'm grateful for a Sunday evening with nothing going on. I worked a lot this weekend and feel like I didn't see much of the kids or Jason, but we had a really great visit with Jason's 3 aunts this afternoon who are in town for a conference. They hadn't seen the kids (or us) for at least a year and a half if not two years! It was a beautiful day and they brought bubbles for the kids and we just had a nice, relaxing time. Thank you Mary, Mabel and Pat!
~ Dana

A Good Day

Today was one of those great days with the kids, busy but great. Dana had a wedding last night to shoot so we let her sleep in and the kids and I got on our bikes and biked to "Tim-Tim Horton's" as Henry calls it, for some coffee and a donut. It is a pretty long bike ride for them and they managed pretty well. Henry kept nudging me to pedal if I was waiting for the other two to come along. After a stop at the park on the way home, we brought Dana a donut as she frantically got ready for another wedding - this one an 11 hour wedding! After changing into some shorts we were off to Hannah and Jack's preschool reunion, it's was actually the school's 30th anniversary. The kids were really happy to see their old teacher's, there were photo's from when they attended, kids games, a clown and we stayed for pizza. Henry will go there too in September 2007 - hopefully the teaching staff stays the same.

After getting home, Henry went right down for his nap and so we went for a nice long swim, it was a relaxing time and Jack's friend Kabir was over too. When Henry woke up we took him in the pool too and he loved it - what a little fish that one is.

Now it's getting late but Hannah and Jack are still up, we are waiting for it to get dark out so we can see the stars - they have been talking about the big dipper and remembering when we were in Maine and they went outside late at night to see all of the stars.

A great day, great weather - the only thing missing was Dana - she should be home in an hour or two! Tomorrow my three Aunts are visiting for lunch then Dana has another shoot in the afternoon.

Pool Ready? Pool Ready?

Finally the weather has turned around and it's warm again. It's about time. Every single day for the past 2 weeks Henry has asked "pool ready?"...every day like clockwork. "pool ready?". Finally I was able to say "YES Pool Ready!" Once he was in the pool he jumped off the side and was so excited about it, he must of got out and jumped back into my arms about 15 times. Hannah and Jack were thrilled and it tired them out and they fell fast asleep tonight.

No pics, sorry. Dana was at work.

Oh, and Henry ate some flowers from the garden, he was eating ice cream and he decided to sprinkle flowers on the ice cream...some are edible right?

Happy Birthday, Mom!

And I hope your first day back at work went ok, Er.
- Dana

Run Jason Run...

I went for my first run today, and made it home...panting and red-faced, but it's done. It was a lot of buildup in my head, I really don't like to run, but now that's done with and actually it wasn't that bad. Mind you it was only 2 1/2 km, but really I think it was easier than I thought because of the swimming I have been doing and I think I could have went much farther. So strap on those shoes Eri and lets go!

Happy Birthday, Nicola!

Fun day...

Isn't the May long weekend traditionally the weekend people go on their first camping trip of the year? Our pool is open but we certainly haven't been in it yet! I think it hit 7 degrees today!

We got a seat for Henry so that we can go on family bike rides (when the weather gets better). Hannah & Jack are old enough to go on longer bike rides with us, but Henry can't pedal his tricycle yet, so we thought this was a perfect choice. Henry seems to really like it so far too!
Then this evening, Mike & Eri (& Bennett) brought over a selection of fireworks. Great show! Here are some of the reactions...

This last one was only after a very noisy explosion.

We were glad they stayed on for cards and drinks. It was a cozy evening in on a cold night. Thanks for a great evening guys!

- Dana

Happy Birthday Gramps!

Sorry we couldn't be there to celebrate with you.

Note to self: don't forget to listen to Jason

No, he didn't pay me to write that. I've been putting off shaving Jack's hair and promised that I would cut it really short for the summer as Jason prefers it. So Jack was well overdue for a haircut today and I decided that it's close enough to summer and gave him a real buzz cut. It looks GREAT! And I always forget and think I like it better with a little length to it. Anyway, you can judge for yourself. - Dana

Happy Birthday Emily!

Enough about the kitchen!!

Our contractor came in yesterday and put some of the finishing touches on the kitchen...anything else is up to us now. We're still planning a bay window with a window seat and some of the trim needs painting and the windows need coverings, but otherwise, we're there!

Growing up...

Well, tonight Hannah graduated from Sparks and will join Brownies in the fall. That was a fast 2 years! (to me anyway). It was a crazy ritual where each Spark climbed into a pillowcase (representing an egg) then curled up in a ball in a plastic pool (representing a nest) then cracked out on their cue. They then flew around the room and eventually landed in front of their leader who presented them with a pin and a certificate, congratulating them on their advancement. For as crazy as it was, I was of course teary-eyed. Every milestone reminds me that they're getting older and I want to slow it all down and soak it in. I think that's partly why I take so many pictures...my memory's lousy and it's all going by so fast.
On a similar note, I went to visit a friend and her new baby today. Henry was really sweet with him and it made me think I'll have to work on convincing Jason we have room in this house for one more...
~Dana

United North America

What an odd website I stumbled on this evening, it's called www.unitednorthamerica.org, it proposes that Canada join the United States and the two join forces to strengthen ties and become a dominant force in the world.

Don't get me wrong, I like America, but I think we have it pretty good here, especially lately, well before Stephen Harper anyway.

But some of the ideas are pretty funny, but the funniest of all is what they said about poor PEI in the Frequently Asked Questions section... Weirdly enough, I think this website was created by some guy in a basement in Winnipeg...


12. What would happen to Prince Edward Island?
At a measly 2,180 square miles and a meager 139,900 in population, Prince Edward Island (PEI) would likely never be accepted as a full State in a United North America. Arguably, this tiny plot of land should not even be a Province in Canada. PEI while significantly over-represented within the Canadian Parliament would be outrageously over-represented in Congress with two Senators and one House Representative. Therefore, a more reasonable proposal would be to incorporate the island with Nova Scotia and/or New Brunswick. Of course nothing is beyond negotiation.

I better go visit before it's swallowed whole by Nova Scotia...

Good T.V.

We really don't watch a lot of t.v. these days, not like I used to, I used to watch anything that was on, but now I really don't have a lot of time. The kids probably watch too much t.v. but they have their limits, but we have found a show that we all watch together, it's called Little People, Big World. It's a reality program, but just about family life, 4 kids (1 set of twins), the parents are dwarfs, and 3 of the four 4 are average height. I thought it would be really gimmicky and tacky, but I really think it's probably the most normal family I have ever watched on t.v. One of the twins is average height and the other is a dwarf. The mother, I think is amazing, juggling 4 kids, a farm, coaches her son's soccer team and deals with the challenges facing a dwarf. She is one tough cookie, and the father has more energy than I will ever have, and does everything on crutches.

Hannah and Jack have watched a couple of episodes with us and they are really into it too, I think they just like watching the family dynamic, forgetting they are little people.

Anyway, good show, 4 stars, horns up.

Happy Mothers Day!

Love,
Hannah, Jack & Henry

Thanks so much, Er!

I was invited to Jack's class this morning for a Mother's Day Celebration. They sang us songs, brought us cookies & iced tea on home made place mats and showed us around the classroom. Jack & I snuggled up in the reading corner and read a few books before he was dismissed for the morning. Eri watched Henry for me during that time which was really great! If he had been there with me, I wouldn't have been able to focus nearly as much attention toward Jack.

And now, Eri and Mike have Hannah overnight for a special sleepover. She was invited with a kitten invitation (right up her alley!) and has been BURSTING to go! I just called over there and got all the details. They went mini golfing, had dinner, watched a movie, now they're making jewelry...I can't imagine how they fit it all in! It's been special for Henry & Jack too to have Jason & I to themselves.

Now we just have to finish getting ready for tomorrow's garage sale! ~ Dana

Blackberry's are evil I tell you

What is the deal with those blackberry things? If I have to go through another meeting where I begin talking and all anyone does is sit there and stare at their blackberry and scroll through their email I will take it away and smash it into pieces. I just had an informal meeting in my office with someone and he asked me a few serious questions about a pending project. I begin giving my observations, and then "BUZZZZZ" that's the little signal that an email has been sent, so as I am talking he starts looking at it, reading the email, then says "just a minute" and walks out of my office - doesn't return for 20 minutes, only to have this evil tool ring - yes it's a phone too, so I left my office and went for a coffee. I came back, he is no where to be found.

Now there are some responsible blackberry users out there, you know who you are, and as a non-berry user I salute you.

Belt Boy

Jack wanted me to blog about his action figure he calls "Belt Boy". It's actually Luke Skywalker dressed as an x-wing pilot. His super power is that he has belts that have weapons & power in them. He battles the bad guys to get their belts. He has 10 hundred million belts!

Kartika the orangutan

Since it is supposed to rain for the next 5-6 days, and today was so nice and warm, I thought I would take the kids on a picnic after I got home from work. Dana worked tonight so I really didn't feel like making dinner, so we packed a few pb&j's and went to the zoo. Luckily we got there when we did because the gates close at 5pm, and we had enough time to get some playtime in at the kids Discovery Zone, which they love, but Henry loved even more...it's all new to him this year and he is big enough to explore on his own.

We stopped in at the monkeys and butterfly exhibit (saw only 2) and then we sat next to the big orangutan statue. It's dedicated to a orangutan named Kartika, who "after heroic efforts, by visitors and zoo staff, died due to an unknown family who threw food in her pen" Hannah and Jack looked horrified by this and asked what they fed her, and why would they feed her. Jack said maybe she was allergic to peanut butter and they threw their sandwich at her. Maybe.

We ate our dinner and hopped on the last zoo-mobile ride of the day, we were the people on the train and saw a few zebras roaming about and just sat back and enjoyed the ride.

Nothing to see here, move along.

It sure was a nice weekend of not much planned. We needed that after the past few weekends. Dana actually had a shoot yesterday morning, a family photo, but other than that it was spent playing with the kids, painting the kitchen (still!) and I really don't know what else. Saturday night Dana and I stopped in on Kristy & Brent for a short visit and got to see Carter for the first time in a long while - what a ham! Then we stopped into a pub we like to visit for a drink or two...there were a few people from my swimming group there so we sat with them and listened to the awful band.

I did have swimming last night and we swam 2800 m, and last Thursday we swam a 1500m straight timed swim (+1000m warmup) which was just painful. Today I will put into record, via this blog, that I am going to try a mini-triathlon..something that I would like to attempt. Now this is a mini-mini tri, they are called try-a-tri... which is only 375m swim, 10km bike and a 2.5km run...but for someone who doesn't even run and rarely bikes it should be interesting. Now you can see I didn't set a time limit to accomplish this, but it's in writing and now I have to do it. I would think this is something I will try next year, but who knows. Actually it depends on my ankle, that darn ankle, the one I twisted months ago is still giving me problems. The doctor said it will just take time, and today I am going to see a physiotherapist to see if I can do anything. It still is very shaky, and even playing soccer with Jack in the yard I keep slightly twisting it causing more pain. Coaching soccer starts in a few weeks, and I have to chase 10 5-year olds around so I better get it moving. That's the beat!

Windsor Police Update

See update by clicking here. It is the first time a Windsor officer has been murdered on the job, it's an awful situation, and his daughter turns 7 today.

Record number of blogs in one day!

Somehow we usually manage to blog even when there's nothing going on. Today was more eventful than most I guess. It was a PA Day so Hannah & Jack were home from school. Jack could barely get to sleep last night he was so excited. So cute. It's not like we had anything planned today. I just kept telling them they could sleep in and have breakfast in their pyjamas. So one of the first things they did after breakfast was to all climb back into Jack's bed together! We met Eri & Bennett at the library and had a brief visit from John, but otherwise, not too much. Then tonight, after Henry was in bed, Hannah & Jack were out playing on the front lawn when they heard a musical sound that they know all too well...it was the ice cream truck. They came running in the house screaming! I told them that if it came onto our street they could get something...I didn't think it actually would! ~ Dana

Terrible News

My brother John was here today, but only for 10 minutes. He received what I would imagine to be a horrific phone call just before he arrived in Markham, that a fellow police officer was shot and killed this afternoon in Windsor. He turned around and headed for home. We have been following the news here, and here. I heard it may be the first time an officer was shot and killed in Windsor.

Check out the Wayback Machine

It's kind of like a internet website time travel machine...go to this link, and you can type in a website and it has archives of webpages back to 1996. It's very interesting especially to see how the design of websites have changed.
Or checkout old articles on the Toronto Star site etc.

Grade 1 Art History?

I really didn't know they taught any art history to kids in grade one....Hannah came home with a self portrait of herself and a picture of still flowers inspired by...Van Gogh...? She then told us about how he was a very unhappy man sometimes and he cut his ear off, how he used a lot of yellow. Later on we googled for other work, we found a bunch and she really liked seeing Starry Night in colour, I guess they just looked at b&w photocopies. Anyway I was very impressed and if my scanner was working I would post them here...maybe Dana can take a pic and post them that way?

Pools Open!

Who wants to go for a swim? Mind you, the water is only about 10 degrees or so... and there are a lot of worms at the bottom of the pool, which Hannah is excited about. The weather was too nice to look at the ugly cover any longer so I thought I would get a head start this year...one less thing to tackle outside later on.

Earrings

So this past weekend was officially 6-8 weeks since Hannah had her ears pierced (we told her May 1st) which meant she could wear earrings other than the studs. She was counting down the days and I finally told her that in fact, she didn't own any other earrings yet. She was pleading with me to take her shopping for a pair and it was in the back of my mind since I had company and the reunion going on. Well, as luck would have it, Jen Buter brought some of her jewelry-making stuff and asked if I minded if she made a pair of earrings for Hannah. What a special gift! Her first pair of earrings and they're hand-made by a dear friend! Thanks Jen Buter!