Another Sleepover

The girl let us know that it was way past time for a sleepover this weekend. We know that she will bring her internal perpetual motion motor with her, but we swallow hard, batten down the hatches, and put our game faces on.

Once again, she amazed me at story time. She pulled out an old ABC book where every letter becomes a lesson for good behaviour. It's a rather saccharine Christian kids book, but it's what she chose. Anyway, she read most of it to me -- the part in bold at the beginning of each page. I continue to shake my head at this kid who is still in Junior Kindergarten. I don't know how she figures out so many words. Yes, she needs help from time to time, but really ...

Here at random are a few of things that she read.

B is for Behave; It means doing what's right. Be happy and helpful; Don't argue or fight.
F is for Forgive; If a girl or a boy is naughty or careless and breaks your new toy.
K is for kindness to Grandpa and Gram; Be helpful to others, be sweet as a lamb!
U is for Unselfish; Be willing to share. Be thoughtful of others and always be fair.

... and so on ...

Onto the pictures.

Gramma helped the girl do her nails in the morning.

We did lots of yardwork, mostly her idea, believe it or not.

She worked hard.

You did good, Buppa and deserve a hug.

Time to sit and relax and try on Grampa's cap.

Didn't we do good, Buppa? I think it's time for ice cream.

In Thrall

Zach is already a TV/DVD addict. More often than not lately, he will watch a DVD on the computer -- partly because Amma and Buppa are too dimwitted to fathom the kids' tv/satellite/dvd system. Sheesh!

Lately, the movie in favour is Toy Story. I mentioned to Cuppa that we could put it on in the morning and rerun it continuously all day, every day, and he would sit there the whole time utterly entranced. I wasn't entirely kidding when I said that.

We do our best to keep him down to no more than two viewings a day, but on cold, cloudy days when it's not nice to be outside and when he doesn't feel like playing, it's tempting to make it three or more viewings.

I foresee significant problems in his teenage years.

A Trip to Balderson

Having been reminded that I haven't posted lately, perhaps I can rectify that situation by sharing some weekend photos.

On Sunday, the Cupster and the Cloud took a wee car trip to Balderson. It's just one of those corner places about a half hour from home; it's not even a small village, but it does have a couple of nice shops.

So off we went.

It wasn't a great day for pictures, but I took some anyway.

Early in the trip we passed by a neat barn complex with nice red doors.

In Balderson, we found this former and dilapidating shop.

A closer view of part of the building.

In colour: quite a crooked, old place.

Balderson United Church: a unique structure that begged me to capture it.

Birthday Celebrations

Last weekend, we had a party for the adults in Nikki Dee's life. Then on Thursday, her actual birthday, I picked her up from school at lunch time. We had a hot dog and fries at the chip truck before enjoying ice cream cones. For supper, her parents ordered pizza, and put a candle in cupcakes, so we could all sing again and watch her blow it out more than once.

Celebrations will continue on Saturday with the real fun — a kids party. Amma and Buppa plan to stay away, but we will contribute in our own way by taking both kids in the morning while Mom and Dad prepare the house for the invasion.

The first four are from the family party.

The next lot is from her actual birthday, taken while they were playing outside the ice cream place. Cuppa will likely have more photos later. I didn't have my camera out for much of the time.

Finally, a few shots from blowing out the cupcake candle.

Five Years Old

Those of you who have been here for a long time will remember Nikki Dee's arrival and early years. How could anyone forget, for I posted pictures almost daily hourly? I was besotted with her then, and I am besotted with her now. She's a special one. Today, the little one whom we used to call Smudge celebrates her fifth birthday. She remains a joy in my life. Just this morning, I went over feeling sick and grumpy, but after I took her to the bus stop, I came home happier because her joy for life lifted me.

This is a pretty recent picture of my five-year-old.

Now, let's step back through time.

Shortly after birth

One year old

Two years old

Three years old

Four years old

Taken last Sunday at her first birthday party — the one for adults. There will be a family supper tonight and a kids party on the weekend. Sheesh!

From the Inbox

Email forwards can be a pain, but at times they can also be worthwhile and interesting. For example, who knew that this coming July would be so unique? The month will contain 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays and 5 Sundays. Apparently, this only occurs once every 823 years.

EDIT: I take it back. I just looked at a real calendar, and this is wrong. There are 5 Saturdays, Sundays and Tuesdays (not Fridays). Grrrr.

---

Someone also sent this clip of a Chinese ballet company's version of Swan Lake. To me, it's ballet with a touch of Cirque de Soleil. Impressive.

Photographs of a Dawdler

I took the boy out for a little stroll the other day. What a dawdler he is. AC with his sore foot is a very slow walker, but I still have to wait to wait and wait and wait for him to catch up. He is the complete opposite of his sister with whom I cannot keep up.

The good point to his dawdling is that it does give one time to snap many a picture. I have recently been reminded that it doesn't work to have kids look at the camera and smile. It is not natural for them. Nikki Dee tries very hard, but her smiles are blatantly fake and just plain weird. No, with little kids, it's best to catch them in action. That's what I was attempting to do in this series.

He is standing on a pile of gravel, about ten feet high and sticks out his tongue as he tosses a rock.

Let me give you a few pointers, Buppa.

His stern look.

Balance is the key to living a good life.

Shall we dance?

Something has caught his eye.

He desperately wants to climb these poles but sometimes it's all that a guy can do just has to hang on.

Having a stare down with a Power Ranger that belonged to Althegal about 25 years ago.