Ada makes us laugh

A couple cute stories from Ada recently:

Gus was up in the middle of the night working in the office.  Ada got up to go to the bathroom.  He could hear he on the toilet through the office wall talking to herself. 

Ada: When I grow up I am going to wipe my own bum.  When I grow up I am going to eat sour cream.  When I grow up....

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Ada came to Gus in the kitchen and asked him where her snack bowl was. 

Gus:  Weren't you just eating from it at the computer.  Did you check if it is in the office?

Ada: Yes.

Gus: Are you sure?

Ada: Yes

Gus: (In an accusing tone) If I go in there and I find it sitting on the desk, what will I get?

Long pause.

Ada:  (slowly and simply so that her dense father can understand)  A bowl.

Ada discovers synonyms

Ada and I were quietly rocking on the rocking chair.  She was staring pensively out the window.  Suddenly she said "Mom....Autumn and fall mean the same thing. You can say 'in the fall the leaves change colour and fall' and that means the same as 'in the autumn the leaves change colour and fall.'"

She seemed struck by the idea that two different words could have exactly the same meaning and I was struck by her linguistic ability!

On a completely unrelated note, here is a cute picture I took the other day of Darwyn teaching Ada to write:

Our summer pet

Gus and I were on a walk with the kids a few months back and there on a piece of milkweed was a monarch caterpillar.  I immediately decided we ought to raise him, while Gus rolled his eyes at another of my hair brained schemes.  We brought him home along with a tiger caterpillar who soon escaped (largely because I had not made a cage) and had to be relocated outdoors.  Anyway, the whole thing turned out to be awesome fun.  Fun facts we learned from our pet monarch:

(1) Monarch caterpillars are very impressive at pooing.  This, I guess, goes hand in hand with being impressive eaters.  But it isn't just how much they poo that is impressive, but how far they poo.  There was poo landing as far as 16 lateral inches away from the milk weed plant the caterpillar was on.  The kids were impressed when I told them that was like them pooing and having it land down the block. 

(2) Monarchs make their chrysalis very quickly.  We researched the whole process and woke one morning to find our Monarch hanging upside down in a J shape.  We knew from online research that meant she would make her chrysalis, so checked on her obsessively.  She hung in a J for an eternity.  We went on one short walk, during which time Ted watched her closely.  Somehow, she made her Chrysalis in a span of 5 minutes when no one was watching.

(3) I always envisioned the Chrysalis to be something that the caterpillar spins around itself.  It isn't.  They just shed their skin and the Chrysalis is underneath.  The Chrysalis has a line of golden shimmering dots on it that Darwyn was delighted to discover.

(4) Monarchs hatch from their chrysalis very quickly.  This was an exact replica of what happened in point 2.  We missed the whole thing.  One minute we looked and there was a chrysalis, the next there was a butterfly drying its wings.


Anyway, here is a video and a cute picture of Darwyn to enjoy:

A love poem

By Darwyn.

Not a leaping frog

Not a shooting star

Not the perfect cherry 

Can break our love

(Bottom photo taken by Darwyn.)

But everybody likes me!

We have mice in the attic...and now mice in the kitchen.  The kids love catching them in the live trap.
After awhile of staring at the terrified mouse refusing to eat her cheese Ada was offering her, she turned to Darwyn and observed in an incredulous tone, "Darwyn, I don't think this mouse likes us."

"Of course he doesn't like us!" Darwyn exclaimed "We've trapped him in a cage he can't get out of."

Ada: Oh.

Happy Halloween

This Halloween is better told with photos:

The whole family

Did you need a closer look?  

The kids absolutely loved Gus and my costumes.  They spent the whole night calling me daddy and Gus mommy.  Ada was particularly thrilled with the switch.  The neighbors were a mixed bag.  Half of them loved it.  The other half started by smiling and commenting on how cute the kids were, but their faces quickly turned to horror as their eyes drifted upwards to Gus's smiling face.  But Gus and I had a riot making terrible jokes all evening at the other genders expense.  

Pumpkin farm 1

Pumpkin farm 2

pumpkin farm 3

Help mom!  He loves me!

fall leaves

Jose purchased pumpkin carving stencils and fancy tools so our pumpkins were a cut above this year.

Ada's Halloween pumpkin

Max and Darwyn's pumpkins

Ada really got Halloween for the first time this year.  She stared wide eyed as each household gave her candy just because she said trick or treat and then we went home and she got to eat a whole bunch of it!  The next day when Ada woke up the first thing she asked was "Mom, how long until Halloween again?"

Darwyn promptly replied "Oh forget Halloween Ada.  That's ages away.  Now we focus on Christmas!"  Sigh....

Read lots, keep active

Here's how Max reads books these days:

He's into the Percy Jackson books by Rick Riordan.  Yesterday he finished The Lost Hero.  We checked that book out of the library on Wednesday.  That's 550+ pages in 60 hours.  His other big passion these days is swinging on his rope in the backyard.  (Thanks to Ted for capturing this wild animal behaviour on video.)

Happy Birthday and Happy Birthday and Happy Birthday to you!

Ok so I have 3 kids and I'm getting lazy, so I'm writing one blog post for all 3 kids birthdays (and a little late at that).  Each was a hit.  Darwyn chose a fashion themed party this year.  The kids designed their own costumes and put on a fashion show.  It was a good excuse to make some adults dress up in stupid costumes too (see photos).  Dar had a lovely lady in a gown cake that she and Anne decorated.  Note the unfortunately placement of decals on the barbie's chest. 

Max's birthday party was a games themed party.  We downloaded a escape room kit online, but the story turned out to be really weird .  For one puzzle Ted and I had the puzzle (aimed at 8-10 year olds) and the answer sheet and we still couldn't figure out what was going on.  Also, the whole thing was all paper and pencil activities and we wanted a little more sparkle.  Ted and I modified it and gave roles to all the adults.  There was drama, custom computer programs, including giant count downs on all the computer screens and puzzles a plenty.  It was definitely epic.   I am trying to make a spiffy edited video of the whole event which I may or may not manage to post here in the future. Also, special recognition goes to Jose for Max's amazing birthday cake with a magic the gathering theme for those of you that don't recognize it.

Finally, Ada's waited very patiently for her birthday.  She attended both Max's and Darwyn's parties before her own and asked us over and over when her birthday was.  She started telling anyone who would listen that her birthday was at the end of May.  We kept it simple.  The kids decorated a pink train cake and jumped in a bouncy castle.  And, of course, they opened presents.  Ada spent the entire week preceding her birthday asking who we could invite and clarifying that each of the new people would bring her a present. Ugh!  Max and Darwyn didn't even get presents at her age.

My musical prodigies

These videos speak for themselves....

Trigator 2018

The kids recently completed their first every triathlon.  It was a special triathlon designed for children and even Ada was allowed to participate (and she left the other contestants in her dust...particularly on her bike).  Darwyn bugged us to enroll her because Sue's kids did it last year and got a freezie and medal.   Darwyn didn't really seem to care about running, biking or swimming, but she does really like freezies and medals.   Neither Max nor Ada seems to feel any pressure to move particularly quickly, but somehow all three kids still managed to finish in the top third.  I guess ours weren't the only kids wandering around aimlessly.

I do

An apt description

Ada: Grandpa Lee is mommy's dad. 

Gus:  Your right!  And do you know who my daddy is?

Ada: Grandpa with the oval head!

Lord of the Rings, finished

Today I finished reading The Lord of the Rings to Max.  It feels like we've been at it for months at a casual pace.  Most hyperactive eight-year-old boys could not get through the whole thing.  Max's uncanny ability to listen to stories has not diminished in the slightest.  I'm glad I got to read such a good book with him.

Max on the computer

When life gives you ice...

Southern Ontario saw some pretty awful weather this past weekend.  Right when the snow had all melted and everyone was ready for spring, winter hit in full force.  Everything was closed all weekend and we were all trapped in our houses as we were pelted with record amounts of precipitation, mostly in the form of ice pellets and freezing rain.  This morning we emerged from the shelter of our house, sick of hibernating to find a picture perfect January day...  As an added present, the plow had left an impenetrable wall of chunks of ice at the end of our driveway.   While Gus and I grumbled away and attempted to excavate the driveway with ice pics the kids saw possibility.  The morning's lesson, when life gives you ice...make an ice fort.

Ice chunks left by the plow

Max and Darwyn hard at work hauling ice

Take THAT winter!

Last week Gus and Ted deserted me, leaving me with our disgustingly late spring while they went to Florida for a conference.  The day they left, Jose and I took the kids down to the infamous tunnel to Tarabithia.  I had noticed really cool icicles under the bridge.  The kids had an awesome time with them, while Jose and I felt sorry for ourselves.

Love Darwyn's expression.  This is pretty much what I am feeling about ice at this point.

You can run to Florida, but you can't hide.  We are coming to get you!

Yum!

View of the tunnel

Loves like magic

Gus has a guilty pleasure.  It is playing Magic the Gathering.  Unfortunately, he doesn't have many people to play it with.  Luckily for Gus, he recently found someone to play with: his co-worker Ted, who also happens to be Jose's boyfriend.  Jose likes to tease Gus that he will share Ted (for Gus to play magic with) only if Gus does what Jose wants.  This led to no end of jokes regarding the sharing of Ted with Gus....jokes which were, apparently, not completely lost on my then 5-year-olds ears.

Given the (at the time) recent Pride week, I was explaining to my kids about homosexuality and bisexuality.  I explained that some people like to date people of the opposite sex and some people like people of the same sex and that some people like both.

Darwyn: Like Daddy!  Daddy likes both!

Greta: (quite confused)  He does?

Darwyn: Because he is married to you and Ted is his magic boyfriend!

I can't begin to explain the delight and mirth that the phrase "Daddy's magic boyfriend" has caused.

Purple Ada

Ada was supposed to be napping.  She wasn't.  When I came in she was sitting in the middle of a pile of markers.  She looked up at me proudly showing of her purple hands.  "Look what I did mommy!"  And then she pulled up her shirt....  Good thing they were washable markers!