Yappy Halloween

This little barker is wearing his furry ears hoodie tomorrow. I just sewed the ears on last night and he took them for a test run. At first he wasn't too sure, but then he felt how soft they were and kept saying, "ooooo, pretty". I think when he pulls his hood off the ears look like insect wings.

Dream Maker, Heart Breaker

These little thighs are so squeeze-able! I wish he could go around en diapera sola all day long, but as you witness those slippers...they just can't do the job on their own. And mmm! those curls!

hunker down for winter

According to last night's forecast, "a Denver low is swinging up to Southern Manitoba, clearing the way for an Alberta clipper." What does this all mean? Sweaters and hot chocolate.
Some of us are happier than others.

drawing on a dreary day

I didn't say it was all on paper.

Soooz and saws

One of Luke's cutest words these days is "Shoes", with "socks" in a close second. He has a little bit of a lisp and the S comes out really long. We're so proud of his language skills! We discovered yesterday while Luke was reading the church photo directory that he IS saying grandma (we weren't sure we'd heard it although he frequently says Papa and Grampa), it just sounds like , kay-o. He found Harv and Helene's picture and pointed at it saying over and over, "PA-pa, PA-pa, Kayo".

I would say the church visitors were a success last night. We had six adults show up with four kids. One of the kids was a twelve year old girl and that meant that our kids were all happily supervised in the basement while us adults got to visit upstairs. I made cinnamon buns and we had tea, and once the plates were in our laps the tongues really started to wag and I am pretty sure I made three new women friends. Two of them are closer to my age, and Ann is in her eighties. All of Ann's children, grandchildren and great grandchildren live far away so I'm thinking I could adopt her as my own :) When she hugged me good-bye I was pretty sure I'd hit the jackpot. I also knew I'd done something good when Lorna (from China) said that she'd been living here for three years and didn't feel like she had any friends at all, because in China you politely say no to any invitations and the inviter is supposed to perservere...in Canada if you say no, people think you mean no and give up. Well! Lucky for her I have learned to persevere. And the last woman I referred to is Wendy. She has three kids and works as the church secretary. Before she left she said, "We are going to get along perfectly. When should we get together? I have Tuesday afternoons off." I bet you can guess what I'll be doing tomorrow afternoon.

The one disappointment was that we didn't get to talk really deeply with anyone in particular. So Derek and I agreed we will have to have these couples over one at a time to visit. This church "mixer" really hit the spot for my socially deprived self.

farewell fast friends for Friday is former

Bathtime pictures on a Friday evening. Sorry this post is so late!

The great news is that today we sold our car! The good news is that I did a LOT of work today and even got a new client! The other good news is that I got paid some outstanding invoices. The cute news is that instead of asking for his "cup" this morning, Luke asked for his, "Choo choo" because I bought him a Thomas cup yesterday. The disgusting news is that yesterday evening Luke flushed the fur intended for his puppy dog costume down the toilet. The good news is that it was a long enough piece of fur that I was able to retrieve it (did I want to? I almost wish it had just gone away forever). The fascinating news is that my african violet is blooming for the eighth month in a row. As you'll notice, today there is no bad news to report.

thunder thistle thinking thorough thicken THursday

water willing wishful wanderer winding whistle Wednesday

"We have a theme, June." Letters are fun. So are invitations. Do you think people from church will finally come "get to know" us if they receive my beautiful invitation in their church mailbox? Let's hope this does it, otherwise I may have to use something more bold next time...like W's.

Breakfast conversation. Luke talks most first thing in the morning. Listen to him say "orange" - he says, "O-nge-sh".

typical tormented turkey turtle toque tortilla tornado Tuesday

someTimes cammy comes over and we eaT oranges Together because everyone likes oranges. we also drive around the basemenT on luke's Tractor, and siT aT The Table like adulTs. someTimes These guys can play TogeTher so well. They are "like a couple of ToTs, running across a meadow, pickin' up loTs of forgeT-me-noTs".

mongoose moon musty middling menagerie monday

Over the weekend we started a coloring book for Luke. I gave him one of the books I got from the dollar store for my to do lists. He draws in it even when his pen is not engaged. He just loves it. He handed me his pen and I wrote out part of the alphabet. He repeated each letter as I wrote it, "A", "B", "C", "D", "E". His favorite book this week is "Go, Dog. Go!" by P.D. Eastman. He repeats the words he knows like, go, dog, g'bye, hat, car, blue, up, down, sun, tree, fast, where, water, g'night. Watching him draw and enoy longer books has convinced me that we will have this boy reading books on his own in a matter of months.

Photo Friday

It's enough to make you want a cat

I am not a cat person. They are hairy and they don't chase a ball or get excited when you come home. They don't smile at you like dogs do, and they don't do as many tricks. I am however, what's that phrase Derek used? oh yes, "a softy". And Punkin, as I named him (a dig at all cats everywhere because I hate liking a cat), has been spending a few minutes each morning hanging out in the house where Luke can pet him. Punkin has gotten quite attached to us, I think. And Luke is getting attached to Punkin. The cat comes in and sits by the door on the rug and lets Luke pet him and pull his tail. Luke shouts, "Cat!" over and over again, and when Punkin tries to rub up against Luke's legs Luke is too happy to stay in one spot and he runs to me or the couch and buries his smiling face in my lap or the cushions.

Punkin is sort of a neighborhood cat. I don't really know who he belongs to. I've seen him around a couple different homes, but this week he is frequenting our back door. I would never choose to get a cat...except that someday Luke might. And for now it looks like Punkin has chosen us for his morning visits.
Kathy, you got it right! Give Carl a pat on the back for that one.

"'Em are ducks"
"'Em are not"
"Yes, 'em are. See 'em wings?"
"Why I be! 'Em are ducks!"

Look at them Chompers

M r ducks
M r not
s m r, c em wangs?
y i b
m r ducks

We have excellent dental hygiene around here. Luke wants to brush his teeth whenever the bathroom door is open. He also loves his baths, so I guess we have overall good hygiene. When Luke sees his toothbrush he rubs his hand on his chest ("please" in ASL), and says, "Ffffff".

Trying to figure out what that first part says? It's a puzzle my sixth grade teacher gave to our class. Put your answers in the comment box and tomorrow I will let you know who is right! By the way, if you were in my sixth grade class please don't give away the answer (Amanda).

Living la Vida Canadiana

Thanksgiving weekend. We got some serious snow. A few hours later it was gone. But that was perfect for our visitor.


John-Mark, my cousin and one of my best friends, came to visit for 30 hours this weekend. It was a very short trip, but very very nice. You know those people who don't seem to take up any effort/space/energy? This fellow is one of those. He just fits in wherever he goes, and made my weekend a whole lot merrier - in the company of one of my favorite people in the whole world.


We ate and visited and ate and visited and watched TV and visited and ate again.
And then we ran in a field of sunflowers until our shoes were too heavy with mud to go any further.