GRADUATION!!!!

Back in my day this wasn't a milestone we celebrated.
It was almost too much cute. The best part was when each of the children said what the wanted to be when they grow up. Here are my top three:
"When I grow up I want to be a rock star!"
"When I grow up I want to be a cashier!"
"When I grow up I want to be a paleontologist!" (sp? My son wants to be it and I can't even spell it lol)
Also, the parents and their mad picture taking rush really put me in mind of the paparazzi Especially when the principal had to come out and tell us all to sit down and we could take pictures at the end.....

Quote of the day April 7th 2011

Benji came to my room this morning with his huge plush shark and I grabbed the shark and Ben said:
"Mumma, that's not a cuddle-pie, that's a shark!"

Almost too sweet quote of the day February 12 2011

"Mummy, I'm really sorry you're so sick but it's really great that you don't have to go to work today!"

This morning...

I said to Ben, "Where are your mittens?"
And he said "My mittens? I'm not sure, I seem to remember putting them in the cold weather accessory basket.....Ah here they are!"
Cold weather accessory basket?!! I mean yeah, sure, I guess that's what it is, but I know *I* don't call it that. I call it either "That basket by the door" or occasionally "the mitten repository."

Sometime later he was showing me how fast all his sharks could go.
Then he asked me if I wanted too see how fast Tyrone could go. (Tyrone is a dog) Not as fast as a shark. But then to my surprise Tyrone went very fast by riding on the back of one of the sharks!

Phone conversation between Benjamin and his younger cousin Jakob

Ben: "Hi Jakob!"
Jake: "Ben?"
Ben: "Hi Jakob!"
Jake: "Ben!"
Ben: "Hey Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaakob! What are you doing?"
Jake: "I'm playing with trains!"
Ben: "I'm playing with my cutlass and pirate hat!"
Jake: "I'm playing with trains!"
Ben: "I'm playing with my cutlass and pirate hat!"
Jake: "I'm a train!"
Ben: "I'm a pirate!"
Jake: "I'm a train!"
Ben: "I'm a pirate!"
Jake:" I'm a via train!"
Ben: "I'm an express via train!"
Jake: "Chooooooooooo!"
Ben" Choooooooooooo!"
Jake:"CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Ben and Jake:" CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

Me: Go stand by the cannon so I can take your picture.
Ben: But Mummy! I'm not allowed to do that! Can't you see there's a chain around it?!
Me: It's okay.
Ben: really?
Me: Yes.
Ben: Are you sure?

March break day trip to Niagara Falls

We went to the butterfly conservatory, rode on the skywheel and went down to the falls. the weather was great

In preparation for Halloween! -Reinforcing the mistaken idea that Mummy can do anything.

We can't afford to buy the boy a Halloween costume this year. They are just too darn expensive, and we don't have the money.
I resigned myself to the fact that he probably wouldn't get to be want he wanted and I would have to make something he probably would be happy with.
Imagine my delight when he said that he wanted to be Elroy!!
For anyone who doesn't know, Elroy is the toy Ben sleeps with and has slept with since he was a small baby, he's also a bit of an imaginary friend who gets up to all kinds of crazy things! Here is "real" Elroy:
I thought, this is great! I can sooooo make an Elroy costume!! I don't know why I thought this because I've never actually sewn a Halloween costume before, and didn't have a pattern or even know how to make something from a pattern.
But I rushed right out an bought two meters of light blue velor, plus a tiny bit of white for inside the ears. Then I lost all my steam and for a couple of days was thinking "But how the heck do I actually do it?" Then it came to me last night as I was falling asleep. It was just like that scene in snow white when they make the dress (only without the enchanted scissors and pretty birds.) I would just fold the material in half, cut a hole for the head put it on him and pin the shape of his body. It would be a tunic style costume. I would make a hood with ears. And I did just that. Andrew was absolutely amazed that Ben stood still long enough for me to pin the entire thing as it was a very long process. I guess I've just gotten used to the fact that my boy is super amazing. Here the documentation of the final pinning, the sleeves, before I attached the front of the hood to the tunic:
And here (insert drum roll) is the finished product! Ta-Da! One Elroy costume!

As you can probably tell from the photo, Ben is absolutely thrilled with his costume. And it really is much better than anything I could have bought because of this.
So, lesson learned. Next year regardless of finances, I'll be making his Halloween costume!

September camping, so many milestones!

This trip was so amazing in so many ways! We all had a blast. The weather was completely perfect and we had something new and exciting to do every day. From taking a hike along the Bruce Trail, to sitting in a canoe, to just chilling on the shores of Cypress Lake Ben was a joy and a wonderful companion. He has the makings of a true outdoors men. This trip was chalked full of first for him and they were all great!


First sight of a wind turbines on the drive up!


First time in a canoe! We saw a water snake who Andrew picked up of the end of his paddle so that Ben could have a better look. Thereafter whenever we saw an animal Ban demanded Andrew pick it up on his paddle.


First time staying up to see the moon! We tried to wake him after he had already fallen a sleep one night but it just wasn't happening, so the next night we decided to keep him awake until it was dark enough to see the big beautiful full moon, and a night time camp fire. It was really special.


First open air fire! Also the first time eating food cooked over a fire.


First smore! He like the chocolate and the marshmallow. The gram cracker? Not so much.


First time sleeping in tent! (For Ben not Andrew, but I didn't have a picture of Ben in the tent!)


First time in a hammock! He loved it so much. It was great for us too because he was completely contained and required almost no supervision. Occasionally he would demand a new book.


Longest ever car trip! We were planning to stop many more times on the way up for bathroom breaks and to stretch our legs. But we only had to stop once! He was a really pleasure in the car on the way up. On the way back, however, after only about an hour on the road he threw up all over the place. (It was a rental car *sigh*) But nobody's perfect right?


Longest ever hike! He didn't really need a lift but I was willing to indulge since we were walking for such a long time. The funny thing is, after the first long walk, and then playing for hours in the rocks by the Georgian Bay, he didn't even ask for a lift on the walk home! He ran most of the way back.

All in all it was a pretty perfect trip.

Beach, Niagara Falls, Centerville, and other summer adventures

So it's been a while since I last updated. It's because we've been so busy having fun! There have been some amazing quotes (which will be posted in a later entry), some adventures, lots of rain, and lots of fun in the summer sun.......

First of all, let me just say that we are very pleased that the strike is over and that garbage pick up has resumed as of last week. Here is the sign we left out to show them how we felt about their return.



We have been visiting cherry beach regularly, and yes we do go in the water, and no we've not turned green or grown any extra appendages.


It's a great destination for young Benjamin seeing as he so enjoys digging, playing construction site, and going in the water.


Ben took his very first trip to Niagara Falls and he really liked the falls despite the fact that we got rained out and probably spent more time driving to and from than actually at the falls.




Also since you can't actually park at the falls we had to catch a shuttle bus called a "people mover" from the parking lot to the falls and back. Ben enjoyed the people mover and had a long conversation with a nice Grandma from Little Rock Arkansas. His favorite part of the trip? The gift shop of course!

Our soccer games have moved to a new (better?) location which just happens to be right under the subway bridge where it crosses the DVP.

It's pretty loud when the trains go over, but Ben loves to see them. Our first game there was rained out, and Ben had a misadventure with some fire ants whose nest he uncovered (see the rocks in the grass there?), infact, most of the team experienced some kind of insect bites. When they are not late start games Ben really enjoys coming to cheer our team on (Red).

And last but not least, we've been to Centerville on Center Island twice since the strike ended and ferry service resumed.




They will be extending our 2009 season passes into 2010 due to the extended park closure. I took Ben there on Tuesday and the line up to catch the ferry was the longest I've ever seen it.



And you'll never guess what happened! Go on guess.....Oh. I didn't think you'd guess right so quickly.
The thing is, we actually got much, much more rain last summer. Anyways it was still fun, especially since we brought appropriate rain gear.


Benjamin did not, however, believe me that they were closing the park due to the down pour. Which is why he looks so sad in that picture. He actually really enjoyed all the puddles and thought it was pretty cool taking the ferry back in the rain.

Bowling

The smallest shoes they have available.

<3 HAPPY VALENTINES DAY <3

(left to right) Wallace, Marcella, Curly, Isabelle, Barney, Red Bear

In honor of Valentines Day, I present to you The Bear Family. It's a little complicated so bear with me a moment (haw-haw-haw).
Red bear (m) is married to Isabelle (f), Barney(m) is their child. Curly (f) is somehow related to Isabelle (they are sometimes siblings, sometimes cousins, sometimes lifelong friends, but whatever their actual relationship they love each other very much.) Curly is married to Wallace (m) and Marcella (f) is their child. Red Bear and Wallace are both very good bears but they don't always get along well. They sometimes argue when the Mums are not present. They often try to convince each other to "go away" and leave their child. ( ei Wallace:"You can go away Red Bear, and I can take Marcella and Barney out to get some ice cream", Red Bear: "No Wallace, you can go away, and I can take Barney and Marcella out for Pizza" to which one of the children replies "No, we will all go out for Pizza and ice cream together." )
This year for Valentines Day Wallace gave Curly a blue car. Red Bear gave Isabelle an axe. Both Curly and Isabelle were very, very happy with their gifts. When I inquired as to what Red Bear and Wallace received as gifts I was told that they were going to share the gifts they gave........
I'm sure this reveals all kinds of crazy information about my son pyscological development. He's obviously got no problems in the imagienation department.


HAPPY VALENTINES DAY EVERYBODY!!