Two Ways to Decorate Sugar Cookies....

First, it's real important to position yourself kneeling on the table, or standing on the chair.

This allows for maximum sugar dispersal.

You've got'cher wide angle coverage,
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And your mountain top application.
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I asked Tristan to look at the camera and this was his immediate pose. It's a natural inclination when it comes to kids and cookies, like Lord of the Flies. This is why they have parents.
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There's sugar all over the kitchen floor, but oh, what a full-cookie-jar feeling.

What He Wants For Christmas....

This is what Sawyer wants for Christmas. They call it a PSP. Here's how he asks for it....

"Mom, can I have an ESP?"

or

"I want a PS, can I, can I?"

Maybe his Extra Sensory Perception will tell him he's not gonna get one, and the post script will read, "Wait 'til you're bigger. Merry Christmas."

How A Big Sister Can Boss You....

This was the conversation around the breakfast table this morning. (We had pumpkin bread with fresh-ground whole-wheat flour. This information will redeem me by the end of the post).
Kiki addressed Tristan, "Did you know you are dying?", and paused for effect, "Everyone is dying."
"Of course!" answered Tristan cheerfully, "Everyone is going to die."
Kiki clarified, "You're dying right now."
"NO!", Tristan corrected.
"YES, every second you're closer to dying." she retorted.
"NO."
"YES."
This no/yes parlay continued for a few rounds and was punctuated with exuberant attempts by Sawyer to gain Kiki's attention:
"Kiki, LOOK! Kiki, LOOK! Kiki, LOOK!"
"What?" Kiki finally snapped.
"I'm not dead!" Sawyer said brightly.
Tristan added supportively, "I'm not going to die for 100 years!"
But Kiki had the last word, "Most people don't even live 'til they're 80!"
This doom was lost on the two boys however, as they turned to the immediate task at hand: which color of leftover, birthday, Fruit Loop Straw should they have for breakfast?

Hmmm. Come to think of it, with that kind of diet, maybe expiring at 80 years old is not such a conservative projection.

His Birthday....

Greyson is 11 today. One of his gifts was a mannequin for drawing. Can you guess how everybody posed it?

Sawyer, Tristan, Greyson, Kiki and I participated.

A. "Basketball Player"

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B. "Bendy Ball"

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C. "How's It Goin'?"

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D. "Fencing Man with Ball"

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E. "Marathon Man"

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I think this was his favorite present. From Grammy and Grandpa:

Either he'll finish the project today or...not sleep very comfortably.

It's "Would You Rather" Wednesday!

You receive a gift from a sensitive relative and must display prominently in your home....


A portrait of Beatrix Potter made out of Trix.....
OR

A sculpture entitled "Man Who Creeps at Midnight".

Please vote on the sidebar, it's free and anonymous!-------------->
Let the record stand at 4 votes Beatrix Potter, 6 votes Creepy Statue. I shudder to think of it.

Selling Tickets Now....

I promise you've never heard anything like it.
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First you press the Christmas Music Carousel...
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Then you provide accompaniment on a one stringed violin, or guitar as it is commonly known around these parts.

Wheedle Dee and Wheedle Dum....

He's hurt. A friend threw ice at his head. But it was an 'accident' because the ice was initially aimed at someone else, the reasoning goes.
I scoop him up for comforting and amid the sobs I hear what's most important to him. Taking advantage of a prime opportunity he whimpers:
"Mom, I feel like some candy."
Aha.
And then, "Can I play a computer game?"
In the same pitiful voice he mumbles, "Can you buy some PopTarts?"
These are all the things he is not often allowed.


In one final attempt he goes for the thing that siblings have gotten when they are sick:
"Mom, can I have some tea?"
We can do that.

How to Eat Christmas Cookies...

Guess whose Christmas cookies these are?
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Yep, they're Sawyer's. If you couldn't decide which one was the best, taking a sample bite of each one would be a good way to solve the problem. Why don't adults do this? Maybe we would, when no one was looking. Do you still tilt your head back to get the last drop in the glass?
I hereby declare one-biteness and last-dropness to be fine table manners. Go, and live free!

Better Than Radio....

I seldom turn on the radio while we're riding in the van because I would miss out on conversations like this:
Tristan, trying to get Sawyer to sing Jingle Bells the right way:
"Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells, jingle all the way. Say THAT."
Sawyer tries: "Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle bells all the way."
"NO. Jingle bells, jingle bells, JINGLE all the way! Say it. Say that!"
"Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle bells all the way?"
After about five exchanges like this, Sawyer begins to lose heart and mom steps in:
"Guys, he's doing good for a four year old. He will be able to do it when he's bigger."
Sawyer expresses a deep felt wish:
"I want to be bigger. I'm going to get bigger than Tristan, and Greyson, and Kiki."
"Sawyer, you'll NEVER be bigger than us," replies Boss Girl.
"Yes I will. I'm going to eat and eat and eat, and then I'll get bigger," argues Sawyer.
Tristan enlightens us all: "Sawyer, you can't get bigger until your birthday."
"I'll get bigger on my birthday?!" Sawyer says excitedly.
That settles the argument for now, and we tool happily on our way with Sawyer looking forward to December 10th, where he'll miraculously grow several inches.

The Couch Ate My Son....

I heard screaming. I heard someone trapped.

It was Sawyer. Being eaten alive by the couch.

He's a good actor.

"Help meeeeeeeeeeee!"

It could have been in a movie.

Little munch.

When he's not being eaten by the couch, you can find him cross referencing passages in Revelation.

The Family World Tour....

The kids love our blog and looking over the family adventures we've had.

Upon seeing the sunset tree in the post below, Tristan pointed to it and asked, "What's that?"

"Africa" I mumbled, and kept typing.

"We went to Africa?!" he said in amazement.

I wish I still had that simplistic faith.

It's "Would You Rather" Wednesday!

You wake up and find yourself........

Resting in a thicket on a African plain, with your pet elephant
OR,

Curled up by the fire in a mountain wilderness. With hot chocolate and your pet bear.

Please vote on the sidebar----------------->
It's free, and anonymous!

And the winner is....Mountain Wilderness for eight out of twelve votes cast. I wonder if it was the hot chocolate, or the pet bear that was the big draw?

Let the Polls Show....

Everyone that voted wants to live in the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse over and above tripping through Willy Wonka's Candy Land.
Robinson's island had everything you'd need and I've yet to find a better dream. It makes me reason: If God made the man who thought of that book, and made the man who built that set, then God must have something really cool in mind for heaven. Because heaven trumps everything. Do you think there will be an allowance for things such as coconut bombs?

The Unthinkable......

It's not even Thanksgiving, and we've pulled out our Christmas decorations (collective gasp). I am a firm believer in the fact that you gyp Thanksgiving if you do that. And I cringe walking through the stores past piles of Christmas trappings displayed in October. You just can't decorate for Christmas until AFTER Thanksgiving.

But, we don't have the U.S. Thanksgiving here. sniff, sniff. And when we try to have it, everybody else is at work (including Daddy) and it's business as usual out on the streets. So it never FEELS like Thanksgiving. And the only good thing about that is the freedom to pull out Christmas decorations before December. It's a small good thing, and a little bit sad, good thing. But a good thing, none-the-less, because we get to enjoy Christmas for two extra weeks. (But if you had to vote to skip Thanksgiving for that? Yeah. I didn't think so.)

So here we go-

Daddy started by telling the kids that he was thinking of just having a Christmas pole this year...

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We put on Christmas Radio (cool Internet site that lets you choose the styles of songs and play Christmas music 24/7 all year long. And no, we don't do that). Greyson assembled the tree this year.

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This was the cue for the cats to show up. They always do, don't they?!

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Daddy made a fire, and Kiki found Daisy's Christmas collar.

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I started to make brownies, was short 3 eggs and had to run to the store.

"Are you making egg brownies?" Sawyer asked suspiciously. He hates it when I try new things.

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But they turned out to every one's satisfaction. Sawyer served and all the kids got "coffee".

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The night ended with a surprise. Tristan found a left over goodie from last year in the toe of his stocking. He was actually food savvy enough to throw it in the trash. We were all glad it wasn't Sawyer that found it.

The tree is done. But I don't have the heart to blog it until the true date for such things: The day after Thanksgiving. Let me know when you all have it.

Sawyer's First Pet....

Meet "Fluffy"......

Sawyer's ladybug.

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An unlikely name for a ladybug. But Sawyer grew very attached to the idea. Until Kiki derisively said,
"You can't call a ladybug Fluffy. Call him Spot."

So now he's Spot.

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"Mom, do ladybugs die?" Sawyer asked.

"Well... everything dies."

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"Can you spray some cod liver oil on him, so he'll grow big and strong?"

"I don't think he'd like that."

"Would he like ice cream?"

"You can give him a little bit"

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About this time big brother and sister stepped in like they usually do.

"Sawyer, you know you're going to have to let your lady bug go, or he'll die. Tonight. You have FIVE HOURS."

"MOM, do I have to?"

"You can keep him 'til tomorrow, but then he'll want to be back out in the sunshine, where he lives."

"Can I keep him this day?"

"YES!"

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"We're going to go watch a movie!" he said, and wondered down the stairs talking to his little bug friend. I went down a while later to see them both sitting on the couch.

Such a happy pair. What am I going to do tomorrow?!

"SIT, Daisy. STAY!"

It's warm today. Remarkable! For November in Canada. It was warm enough to go outside barefoot and jump rope.


You've seen this trick before, just not in action. Thought I'd capture it before the snow hits.
Such a good dog! She's waiting for the neighbor on the other side of the hedge to show up so she can roar at him. Otherwise, she'd be smiling at the kids with a lolling tongue and laughing eyes.

Random Rules

I never questioned the rules to games we played as kids, but today, listening to my kids as we rode in the van, I was wondering....
"Yellow car!" they'd yell.
And then they got to hit someone.
"Why do you get to hit them?" I asked.
"Because you saw a yellow car and called it."
"What if they're not playing?" I asked again.
"They are."
I remember. By virtue of the fact that you hit them, they ARE playing. This could work well for us as adults. Here is my random rule game: The next time you are standing in line at the grocery store... No, standing in line anywhere, If someone coughs, you have to be the first one to yell "jinga-jinga" and then you get to be first in line. But you've got to be the first one to yell jinga-jinga, or it's not fair.
Doesn't this sound like a great game? If you can think of another one, please share.

Oh, and if anyone dares to counter with "no cuts!", you just send them here and I'll explain things to 'em. You have my full support.

It's "Would You Rather" Wednesday!

Would you rather....

Find the golden ticket?

OR

Live as the Swiss Family Robinson?

Let the voting begin---------->

Who Needs Toys?

Remember blanket sleds?

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I had planned to capture Greyson as the puller, rip-roaring through the hallway, but what you can't see is Tristan, committing a foul. He snatched the other end of the blanket to swipe a free ride. This stopped Greyson in full stride and you can just see the remnant of complaint on Greyson's face. Tempered by the fact that it's being recorded for all to see.

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Remember the shiny pot mirror?

Sawyer's experimentation graduated from this.....

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To this, in the space of a few bites.

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A rare occurrence, Sawyer was deemed worthy of imitation in this instance. Pig noses are just too intriguing.