Report Cards!

The kids brought home their report cards yesterday from school. They both are doing great, Jack is reading well, and we just have to get him to do more "inventive" writing, other than that he is doing fine - I guess he's a little leader in the class, now that he is the big SK boy in the class. We were pleased with Hannah's report also, she needs to concentrate a little more, but really no issues that we have to concern ourselves with.

After work I am heading straight to the school to attend parent/teacher interviews with Dana and the kids. I am looking forward to it, especially meeting Hannah's teacher. Hannah's teacher is I would consider 'old school', she is retiring in a few weeks and is being replaced by a newer model - we are hoping for the best.

Henry, Henry, Henry...he continues to ask the same question about Christmas..."When are we going to Christmas?" It's a funny thought he has, that we are going to get in a car and drive to Christmas - Hannah and Jack usually just answer him by saying that we aren't going anywhere and that Christmas will come to us, to which Henry replies the standard question - "Why?"

Tonight is swimming - and I am preparing for an upcoming swim meet, but tonight we are doing the kamikaze - I have conveniently missed that swim practice for the past two years - I don't know what's really involved but I hear it's difficult and not fun....should be interesting - J

Sunny Days!

I finally took Jack to the skateboard park he's been asking me to take him to for quite some time now. He wanted to ride his bike around it...yikes! I had a lot of excuses and the weather was getting colder, but I ran out yesterday and it was a beautiful day and we had lots of time to kill so what the heck.
Well, I've never seen that kid so happy! He was singing while riding around, "this is the time of my life!" It only lasted about 15 minutes...we were kind of in the way of some actual skateboarders (for whom the park was built) and there's only so much riding in a circle you can do, but they were 15 minutes of glory. And they put him at a new level for Henry who then followed Jack around like a puppy imitating everything he did.
The pictures say it all!
~ Dana

My Weekend

I had a great time shopping in Buffalo with my friend Karen...we left Thursday night and were up at 5:30am Friday (the biggest shopping day of the year in the States) for some great bargains! We got home late Friday evening and went our seperate ways. It felt like I had already had a weekend so it was great to still have 2 days with the family after that. Saturday morning was the Santa Claus parade and Jack and Hannah were both walking in it. Jack with the Beavers and Hannah with Brownies. We snuck them out of the parade half way through so that they were able to watch the rest. Henry was able to enjoy some time with Grampa all to himself! The weather couldn't have been better. Today was a much quieter day, Jason took Hannah skating but I stayed home to knit after a much too late night out with friends last night. It feels early to be going to Santa Claus parades and Christmas shopping, but I think as soon as it snows I'll feel more into it. I'm hoping the weather will stay this nice a little longer though. I think it reached 13 today!
~Dana

Henry

Just thought this was pretty funny...Henry is at the lunch table and he broke into song....Kumbaya actually - the whole song...

Crazy Hair Day!

Dana is off shopping in Buffalo with her friend Karen, and I took the day off work to take the kids to school and such. Dana informed me that today at school was Crazy Hair Day...whatever that means...so this morning I put a bunch of goop in Jack's hair, and for Hannah I put 5 pony tails in her hair - it looked crazy that's for sure...as we were walking to school I thought Dana better not be playing a joke on me, and as I walk up to school all of the other parents will start whispering and shaking their heads saying things like "look at that poor father, his wife must be away." Well, luckily there were other kids at school with crazy hair, green hair, blue hair, etc.
Check that off the list....the boys are just finishing up lunch and I am looking forward to a quiet afternoon, as long as Henry naps.

Tonight I am taking to the kids to Main Street for the Festival of Lights - they light the big Christmas Tree, there are fireworks and of course Santa will be there. Tomorrow Dana will be home and we are all going to the Santa Claus parade - Hannah is in it with Brownies and Jack will be in it for the 1st time with Beavers!

Well the boys are starting to act crazy...must be the crazy hair - J

Happy Birthday, Andrew! and Chase!

Hope your birthday's great! Sorry we aren't there to celebrate with you.

Grade Two Spelling

Here are a few spelling words that Hannah is studying for her weekly spelling test...too tough?

carnivore
dissolve
absorb
evaporate
friction
float

This seems difficult for grade two...doesn't it?

The Office Preview

I just read a brief preview of the next episode of The Office.

In two weeks, Michael finds out one of his employees has a prison record.

Yes, there is no show this week...but who do you think has the prison record...I say it's Phyllis.

That boy can skate

We woke up this morning with a little snow on the ground...it begins.

This weekend Dana worked her last wedding of the year - yeah! We have her back on the weekends!!! On Sunday we promised the kids we would take them skating - Henry being the most excited as it was his first time on the ice. Off we went to the arena in Unionvile, Hannah hasn't been skating since last year and did great - she really wants to take figure skating. Jack has been skating once a week and he sure has improved, trying desperately to overtake Hannah around the rink. We brought one of those little skating helpers to the rink so Henry could hold it and push it around, well that boy sure took to it, by the end of the hour, he was pulling himself up and pushing around on his own - he loved it. He must of fell two dozen times, but he just pulled himself up and kept going. After that was over we went to Main Street for some hot chocolate - a great Sunday afternoon.
When Dana was putting Henry to bed, she asked what the high was for his day and he replied "falling down skating".

It was a really relaxing weekend, and we were able to get a lot done, Dana got to the gym and I went to swimming last night - 2600m!, I have to get ready for a swim meet on Dec. 10th, it's a Penthatlon - 50m of each stroke then a 100m I.M., it's a fun meet and looking forward to beating last year's times.
Okay...have a good week everyone.

Happy Birthday, Ailsa!

The Office

I just have to say what a great show The Office is - if you have never watched - give it a try, it sure is funny. I think it's the best show on t.v.

I watched a few episodes of the British version a few years ago and it was hilarious, but I can't find it on t.v. anymore - I'll have to rent the dvd's.

Success!

Beaver's was a hit. I dropped Jack off, and he joined right in, no problems. Everyone seems nice enough, I watched for the first few minutes, peeking through the door, because Jack told me I could go now... I watched as they sat in a circle, then one-by-one said their names and then they were to go and pat the pet beaver in the middle of the circle, well tonight it wasn't a stuffed animal beaver, I guess the leader forgot it at home...........so they used a sock instead. Yes. A sock. Hopefully we get a little more bang for our buck and they start using an actual stuffed animal beaver next week. Jack didn't mind though - he called it the dirty old sock. Go Beavers!
Now we have to get him a costume...

Beavers

Jack starts Beavers (1 step before cubs) tonight and is very excited. They called last night to say they had room, they started a few weeks ago and the leader said that he could join, but he wanted Jack to give it a try tonight first. After I told Jack, he said to me "but I don't have a costume yet", he wanted to wait up until Dana got home from work to tell her all about it.

Helmets, Reading & Santa!

This morning Dana captured Jack reading to Hannah - with Hannah helping her little brother out a little when he got stuck on a word - he has recently clicked with the reading and is very proud of his progress.

Then Dana captured this little monkey in a hockey helmet - this kid is ready to play! We are going to take him skating for the first time next weekend and he is raring to go.

Hannah and Dana had a girls afternoon of shopping and nail-painting...and Hannah relented and went for a haircut - she sure looks older...

Tonight was my Christmas work party for kids. It's a great time, the kids love it and they sure put on a great party. Henry was thrilled to see Santa and kept shouting his name as we walked by him at different times throughout the night. They each received a present at the end of the night and were playing with their new things on the ride home.

Bowling For $$$

As you can see the kids enjoyed bowling and the adults enjoyed catching up with each other, although it can get a bit tricky trying to converse while lil' fingers are getting caught between bowling balls in the ball return. We did have a great time and it was nice catching up with Kristy & Brent and the whole family....and Wimpy's has great burgers too!

Henry's ball took a looonnnng time to travel down this lane, I think I went to the bathroom and returned and it still hadn't reached the pins...

Night Out!

Last night I had a date. It turns out she is a nice girl from Nova Scotia, talks a lot and is very pretty.

Dana and I went out to dinner at a little place here in Markham, it was a great food with a nice atmosphere, not too quiet and dark, just right. Then we went to the Duchess for a few pints. It was nice to catch up and have a conversation without someone pulling at your shirt asking for something.

And today....I slept in until 9:30!! Feels like I missed most of the day...this afternoon we are going bowling with another family - should be fun.

-J

Home

It's sure is nice to be home, I had a great welcome with everyone running outside to greet me in the driveway, couldn't have asked for more. The event went really well, did you hear it rained...and rained...the later flight was delayed for hours, so I was glad I was on the earlier one.

Back to work this morning, I have a lot of catching up to do - the person who covered me while I was gone organized my entire desk and put everything in neat folders and stocked my drawer with highlighters and pens...I like that.

J

Home at Last!

Well, Jason got home around dinner time tonight and I couldn't have been happier!
However, earlier today, I found myself more at home than I've felt in a long time. Erika & Bennett showed Henry & I a forest that they like to walk through and it felt SO good to be in the middle of the woods with no other sounds or people or cars or buildings! It was very magical and at one point we even saw 2 horseback riders up ahead in the distance then they disappeared through the trees. I grew up playing in the woods year-round and always forget how much I love being among the trees until I actually get there. Thanks so much for re-introducing us, Erika...I promise to make it a more frequent event!
~ Dana

Will it ever stop raining?

Thanks for the pic Dana, cute. It has rained here every single day, every minute in fact...when it's not a downpour it's a mist that gets you wet enough.

Things are winding down here, last day tomorrow - then I am HOME on Monday - yippee!

Miss the kids and you too Dane...

-J

TOOBERS AND ZOTS

My aunt is in the process of moving and since her girls are all grown up now, she's found a lot of their old things that they no longer need and sent them home with my Mom. I had never heard of this "Toobers and Zots" but I'll tell you, the kids love it! They love the name, they love making things, they love showing it to their friends...it couldn't have arrived at a better time either!

We kept busy enough today that there was no time for any meltdowns (from the kids or me!). The neighbours' kids were over to play (Toobers and Zots) and stayed for lunch. Hannah had a play day at a friend's house in the afternoon and Jack had a birthday party to go to. Then Hannah's friend joined us out at East Side Mario's for dinner. It was kind of wierd being the only adult at a table for 5, but they were all very well behaved and one man even said, "well done" to me as we were leaving the restaurant!

So things are looking up, another busy day tomorrow with a shoot in the morning and my parents taking Jack out to a movie in the afternoon. He'll enjoy the special attention and I think he really needs it!

So thank you to Mom & Dad and to Marilen!

~Dana

Halloween

Trick-or-treating was great, I didn't put any pictures up since I only took one of all 3 kids dressed up and I took the same one for Eri's Halloween Party, but since Jason asked, here's a picture from Halloween night.

We only got a dozen trick-or-treaters but I may have missed a few when I first took the kids out. I had to turn the light out. But I came home with Henry and a friend took Hannah & Jack on a busier street where it felt a little more like Halloween. They came home cold and tired and excited to dump and sort all their candy.

We're missing Jason around here and Jack's been really testing me while he's away. Things are getting a little better today since the ground rules have been firmly set. Not sure what we'll be up to to keep these guys busy for the weekend!

Dana

Hello From Victoria

Quick note from Victoria...what a nice city this is, I forgot how beautiful it is. I think it's one of the prettiest cities in Canada. Not that I am seeing much of the city really. The hotel is across the water from the provincial buildings and the Empress Hotel, and they are lit up at night which is really nice. First show today went well, miss the family and the day to day routine, I am a creature of habit.

Dana...any halloween pics?

Bye! - J