A Good Name

This morning a fox wandered into our yard.  We watched it as it meandered along, eating snow, sniffing the ground, doing what foxes do.  As it left our yard, Chancery commented, “It’s going to visit Mr. Peter now.”

 

I agreed that it was going into his yard, & then she continued, “And it’s going to see Roxy (the dog)… and the other lady.”

 

I guess we see more of the man & his dog than we do of the lady next door.

 

My favourite part of the conversation was the part she tacked on the end, “Trixie is a good name for her.”

 

Thinking she meant the woman who lives next door, I asked, “Do you mean Miss Cynthia?”

 

“No,” Chancery responded, “the fox that went into Mr. Peter’s yard.  I gave her that name.”

Meal Requests

When the kids have a babysitter, I often give them pizza pops for supper.  The other night we were leaving after the kids had their supper, so I made the pizza pops for them & we all sat down to watch as the kids ate.

 

Chancery went to her place at the table & saw that she had a pizza pop.  She’s not as fond of them as Asher is, & she let us know.

 

“I didn’t talk about this, so I don’t want to have it!”

 

Because when we have leftovers at lunch time we usually give her 2 options, so I guess she figured that since she hadn’t been asked, there must be another, better option!

Sunday Pictures

Asher – 4 years

Chancery – 2 years

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Asher: “Did you notice that there is a Christmas tree set up behind us?”

 

Chancery: “Yes, I helped decorate it.”

 

Chancery: “The only issue I have, is I don’t know why I was allowed to decorate it, but now I’m not allowed to touch the ornaments.”

 

Asher: “That’s because you might accidentally break one of the decorations.”

 

Chancery: “Is that true?  Do you think I’d break one of them?”

 

Chancery: “I suppose that’s understandable.  But it’s so difficult!”

It’s a Book

Proof of why it’s important to read to your kids when technology is so proliferate…

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Thanksgiving Pictures

I bet you thought this was going to be a special holiday instalment of ‘Sunday Pictures’, but instead I just wanted to give you a bit of advice as you take your OWN Thanksgiving pictures today.

 

Red-Eye flashes TWICE.  I know it can be hard to remember, so I had my good friend Julian Smith (he’s not really my friend, in fact he doesn’t even know who I am) write a song to help remind you…

 

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

A Snowman’s Vocation

Chancery & I were in the grocery store this morning & she spotted a snowman on one of the displays.

Chancery: “There’s a snowman!”

 

Me: “Yes, that is a snowman.”

 

Chancery: “The snowman is preaching!”

 

Me: “He is??”

 

Chancery: “Yes, he has on a red preaching thing!”

 

It took me a minute to figure out this logic.  Then I asked, “You mean his scarf?”

 

Chancery: “Yes, he has a red preaching thing on his neck!”

 

Apparently the only time Chancery sees a tie is when PChad is preaching.  Thus, it must be part of the uniform of preachers.

Mastering Language

I help out with math at the local Christian school one hour a week.  As I was helping a group of students the other day, the following conversation took place:

Student 1: “I just need to ponder that a minute.”

 

Student 2: “What???”

 

I did my best to explain at a 5th grade level, “Ponder… think.”

 

Student 2: “Ponder? What does that mean?”

 

Me: “Contemplate… think.”

 

Student 2: “In what language?”

Thoughts & Stuff

Asher told us at breakfast today, “When I was in my bed & I wasn’t sleeping, I was thinking of things.  And I thought, & I thought, & I thought.  And THEN I had a dream & I dreamt that I had a burning bed.”

 

I was reminded of this song

it’s an oldie but goodie!

Sunday Pictures

Asher – 4 years

Chancery – 2 years

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Chancery: “What do you have in your hand, Asher?”

 

Asher: “I had a little bird, but it flew away…”

 

Chancery: “I think he’s pulling my leg.”

 

Asher: “Would I do that to you, Chancery?”

 

Chancery: “Yes.”

 

Asher: “You’re absolutely right!  There was no bird!”

 

Chancery: “I KNEW it!”

Rollin’

When I think of having a cat, I always think of the fun things cats do.  Instead I end up with a cat that sleeps 90% of the time & rarely plays.  NEXT time, I want a cat like this one:

 

…but maybe for that I’ll need to buy a turtle too.

Cause & Effect

Asher speaks quite well for a kid his age.  He seems to have a pretty good grasp on the English language & how to properly form sentences.  Case in point, today at lunchtime he said, “Daddy, I really am quite hungry.”  He throws out these phrases randomly here & there & it’s quite fun to hear him say them.

 

One thing he consistently has trouble with though is ‘because’ & ‘why’.  “I ate the whole granola bar, that’s why I was so very hungry,” he’ll say.  Or, “Yes, I coloured on the book, but that’s why I didn’t have any paper to draw on!”

 

As much as we have tried correcting him on that, it just seems to be a hard concept for him to master.  But, we’ll give it time, he is only 4 after all.

Hit The Road, Punchy!

I’m a big fan of the show “How I Met Your Mother” & this weeks episode featured Barney telling Ted that he needed to get his friend Punchy to go back home.  I think he used about every line from reality television…

 

It’s one of the reasons the show is so good.  The dialog is fantastic, Not to mention all the Canadian references this episode!

 

(I’m not sure why the frame is mirrored, but it’s the only clip I could find)

Sunrise Serenade

Chancery has decided to sing us songs when she comes in our room in the morning.  She insists on having a stage & then puts on her little song & dance show.  Here’s just a small teaser of her concert…





At one point, Daddy started to sing & he got a swift telling off.  She will NOT be upstaged!

Helping Out

At snack time the other day, we were having some Little Debbie treats & I just handed the kids theirs & went to get some juice for them.  PChad decided to join us & I guess the kids weren’t having any luck breaking into their snacks, so he offered to help open them.

 

First PChad asked Asher, “Would you like me to open that for you?”

 

Asher: “Yes, please.”

 

Once Asher’s was open, Chancery asked, “Can you open this for me?”

 

So PChad obligingly opened hers too.  Once that was done I heard Chancery request one more thing, “Can you open yours for you, Daddy?”

 

It’s nice to know that she’s concerned about him getting his snack as well…

Sunday Pictures

Asher - 4 years

Chancery - 2 years

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Chancery: "Are you going to smile today, Asher?"

 Asher: "I don't know.  I haven't decided yet."

 Asher: Maybe I'll just give Mum a cheesy grin."

Chancery: "And that makes my smile look even more spectacular than it already is!"

 Asher: "I always aim to please!"

Drama Queen

A brilliant advert for the Young Director Awards:

May your children be good to you…

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

Quality Control

I was out shopping a few weeks ago & decided Chancery could use some undershirts.  So I went to that section & had a look & decided on some nice tank-top type shirts.  When I got them home & was taking them out of the package I noticed that there was a problem.  The package said, “Tagless”, but the shirts clearly all had tags on them.  Luckily Chancery is pretty easygoing about tags.  They don’t seem to bother her too much so I decided to keep them anyway, but I did find it quite funny that the package was so obviously misrepresented.

Languages

Since I grew up in the States, I took Spanish as my foreign language when I was in high school.  PChad, growing up in Canada took French.  The languages, though both deriving from Latin, don’t have a whole lot in common.  Asher will sometimes ask me to read the French on a cereal box & I butcher it badly, pronouncing all the letters (even the ones that are supposed to be silent), with a poor Spanish accent.

 

We have come to a language truce, if there is a book in Spanish, it is my job to read it to the kids; if there is something written in French, it is up to PChad to translate it.  Every now & then I decide to take the plunge & try out some French written on various food packages, often with some rather funny mispronunciations.

 

Today at lunch, we had a package of berries & I was attempting to read “mûres” (blackberries), & “framboises” (raspberries) to the kids, & PChad was trying to understand what I was saying, with little to no luck.  Finally I handed him the packages so he could attempt a proper pronunciation.

 

Asher suddenly asked, “Mummy, can you teach me how to speak Navajo?”

 

This, of course set me into a fit of laughter, which then led him to ask, “What’s so funny, Mummy?”

 

How do you explain to a 4 year-old what the Navajo language is & why we can’t help him out in that department?

Sunday Pictures: The Things I WISH They Said…

Asher – 4 years

Chancery – 2 years

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Chancery: “Asher will be back in a minute.  He just went to get Frisbee.”

 

Chancery: “See?  Here he is!”

 

Asher: “I just love Frisbee so much, & I wanted him to be in the pictures this week so all of you could see him!”

 

Chancery: “Asher, do you love Frisbee more than me?”

 

 

Asher: “Chancery, I could never love an inanimate object more than I love you.  You’re my sister!”

 

Chancery: “You say some of the FUNNIEST things, Asher!”

 

Asher: “But it’s true, we do love each other!”

Welcome Home!

Once again, T-Mobile has come up with another creative ad…

 

HAPPY FRIDAY!

Reading…

I love the mornings that Asher wakes up, goes into Chancery’s room, & spends the next 1/2 hour reading to her…

 

Muscles

Chancery & I went to visit a couple from church with a new little baby.  Chancery kept talking about how small Joash was.
“He has tiny hands!”
“He has tiny eyes!”
“He has a little tongue!”
“He did a little toot!”

Chancery played shy for a little while, but then decided to sit by Mr. Wilbert.  She was fascinated with his rough hands & kept asking him if he had owies on his hands.  Then they started comparing muscles.

I told Chancery to say, “Twenty-four pounds of pure muscle.”  It seemed that something was lost in translation when she declared, “Twenty-four pounds of TINY muscles!”

Sock Spot

I have a special little spot near the back entrance that saves my sanity.  Asher is a perpetual sock remover.  He always wants to have his socks or slippers, but every time we sit down at the table to eat, the first thing he does is remove his socks.  It seems he can’t get through a meal with his feet encumbered.
So I insist that whenever an item of footwear is removed it must be placed in the designated “sock spot”, for if it wasn’t for this place, we would never have a clue as to where the missing socks had gone.

Every night, as I make my way upstairs I must remember to collect the day’s socks & put them in the laundry, because otherwise, we can end up with a week’s worth of socks piled up in the “sock spot”.

It may seem like a small thing, but it makes a big difference on those mornings when it’s time to head out for school & we don’t have to wonder where the socks have been left lying, for they will be found in the small pile near the back door.


I like to think that I’m also teaching my kids a bit about organization…

Costume Time!

Saturday we went to a friend’s house for a costume party.  Since Halloween fell on a Sunday it just wasn’t going to work for us to take the kids trick or treating this year, so we figured it would be a good opportunity to let the kids dress up, do some fun activities, & of course, get a little candy!

Asher was a knight that was riding a dragon.

And Chancery was a zebra.  She wasn’t too crazy about the hood, but she was quite pleased when she noticed that she had a tail!

I was just glad I had some costumes in the dress-up box that fit them, but I’m afraid next year I may have to get new ones!