Dearlove.ca » A & K

Kids Say The Darndest Things Part IV

The Dearlove — Thu, 22 May 2008 00:15:52 +0000

There’s not a day that goes by when the boys don’t come out with something that causes me to stop and laugh. Usually it’s the highlight of my day, unless it comes when I’m trying to be a stern disciplinarian, in which case the uncontrollable grin kind of undermines my authority. There were a few good lines tonight…

A : “K, don’t you remember? Mommy and Daddy are always right.” (Amen, son.)

…..

K: “Daddy, I don’t want to watch Harry Poppins”. (He got Mary Poppins and Harry Potter mixed up. Actually, that would be a hell of a movie.)

…..

A: “Daddy, can we get a whip and a pistol?” (It sounds like Indiana Jones has infiltrated the Junior Kindergarten playground, which is a little scary.)

May is for Birthdays

The Dearlove — Tue, 15 May 2007 01:07:00 +0000

A and K are both May babies, so we’ve been busy baking cakes and wrapping presents. K turned 2 last week and we had a fairly quiet evening, while A turns 4 on Saturday.

Saturday was anything but quiet as we hosted a birthday party for both the boys. A room of 14 children under the age of 5 is already fairly noisy, but when you add Mike from Little Ray’s Reptile Zoo and his menagerie of creepy crawlies, the energy level goes through the roof.

It was actually a pretty cool party. Mike brought a tarantula, a huge millipede, some lizards, a cane toad, two snakes, and a snapping turtle. I was O.K. with it for the most part, although I was a little worried that the turtle might take a kid’s finger off. I also had images of kids licking the cane toad and then rolling around on the floor having hallucinations.

For some reason, the thought of a bunch of adults coming to our house turned me into a Martha Stewart wannabe. Suddenly the front door needed to be painted, photos had to be framed and hung, the piano polished, windows washed. Of course, hours of cleaning were quickly undone as kids ground chocolate cake into the carpet, but at least the place was presentable for the first few guests.

Recent Pictures

The Dearlove — Sat, 24 Mar 2007 11:10:00 +0000

B’s taken a few good pictures over the last few weeks, so I thought I’d share.

K doing his best Bob the Builder impersonation.

A was really happy with his new swimming goggles.

Trust me, this kind of brotherly love is not a regular occurrence.

Happy Birthday

The Dearlove — Thu, 15 Feb 2007 19:04:00 +0000

Giving a belated birthday shout-out to my main squeeze, B, who reached the big thirty-something yesterday. Yes, there’s no better story than a Dearlove born on St. Valentine’s Day.

We had a pretty quiet family affair at home last night. The boys were eager to blow out the candles and tried to get a head start on unwrapping the presents. There’s also nothing cuter than watching a one-year old shovel chocolate cake into his mouth using just his bare hands.

Winterlude

The Dearlove — Sun, 11 Feb 2007 19:44:00 +0000

After much talk and hand-wringing in early January that this year’s Winterlude would feature beach volleyball and sand castle demonstrations on account of the spring-like conditions, Mother Nature intervened and ensured the annual winter festival would go ahead as planned.

In fact, I think this may be the best weather I’ve ever seen for Winterlude. It’s been consistenly cold and sunny – most years there’s a least one warm, rainy weekend that turns the canal and ice sculptures to mush.

We’ve been out three times in the past week for various activities. The boys have enjoyed seeing the ice and snow sculptures and the ice slides, not to mention the obligatory Beavertails. Here are a few pics of our adventures.

K riding around in style.

The happy (and cold) family in front of one of the ice sculptures.

Daddy and K after a successful trip down the ice slide.

B and K during our horse-drawn sleigh ride.

A and the Fat Man

The Dearlove — Sat, 02 Dec 2006 15:31:00 +0000

A and I braved the freezing rain and snow last night to head over to the Aviation Museum for a special members-only event. Rumour had it Santa Claus was making an appearance and A had a few things he wanted to tell the jolly fat man (no, not me).It’s interesting to watch A get more excited about Christmas every year. I think part of it starts at the daycare – as soon as Halloween is over, crafts, stories, and music time takes on a Christmas theme. He was certainly excited enough last night, waiting patiently for 20 minutes for his turn to sit on Santa’s knee for 30 seconds (barely enough time to get through the first two items on his ever-expanding wish list)

Alas, K could not make the trip. He is still a mess, and we spent another largely sleepless night comforting him. How can one tiny nose produce such an incredible volume of disgusting stuff?

Halloween

The Dearlove — Sat, 04 Nov 2006 19:02:00 +0000

Halloween is one of those nights that gets better when you have children. A was talking about getting dressed up for weeks, and he counted down the nights until trick or treating.

A was a cowboy this year, complete with a horse and an authentic Calgary cowboy hat. He was so eager to get outside that he forgot to put his shoes on, and we had to come back for new socks before we even got to the first house.

K wore the cat costume that A wore in his first year. He was unbearably cute, and loved playing with his tail (how cool would it be to have a real tail.) He only went to two houses before heading home to help B hand out candy.

A and I were out for about an hour, and we had a great time. It’s one of those rare nights when you actually meet and talk to people in your neighbourhood who you usually just see driving by. I wish that sense of community was more prevalent at other times in the year.

In the end, A couldn’t carry his bag home because it was too heavy. He got to enjoy a little bit of his haul, the rest of which is hiding on top of the fridge. It’s a real test of willpower to walk by without sneaking a little KitKat…