April Fools Everyone!

Yum! Rocks!

Thanks to Gamma Rita who sent along some very convincing chocolate "rocks" in a recent care package, my April Fools joke on the boys pretty much scripted itself.

The day before I pranked them, M. and I had a conversation about recent studies proving the nutritional value of eating rocks – iron! calcium! MINERALS!!! – and once we got the boys' attention ("People eat rocks? Really?!?") we showed them this totally legit video from a bad reality show. M. went further and said he was going to try some rocks for a snack later and would let us know how it went. Of course it was a school day, so I had limited time to work with by the time morning rolled around but I did manage to serve up a small bowl of rocks that I "happened to find in the backyard" with breakfast this morning.

There is a video here where the boys claim that they weren't fooled, but I'm 100% sure that was a put on for the camera. Before I took the video they seemed pretty convinced and very reluctant to try them, so I'm going to call this years prank a win.

Happy April Fools everyone. Until next year...

- L.

P.S. Last year I fooled the boys and later M. by telling them there was a festival of hot air balloons flying over downtown Toronto.

M. was harder to fool since he was on guard, but a little Photoshop convinced him it might be legit and he stood outside not once, but twice looking around for the mysterious balloons until he figured it out. Ah, good times.

Perhaps They Aren't Hooligans ALL The Time...

Every month at school the students are allocated a character building trait and the students in each classroom that best emulate that month's trait are honored at assembly with an award. Seth won for "Respect" last September and Nate won the honors for March for demonstrating "Honesty".

There is a video of Nate and a classmate accepting their awards last Wednesday here. No video of Seth's big moment, but there are pictures of both boys and their awards at least.

Nate's award reads: "This award is presented to Nate for showing honesty. He is always honest with his teachers and friends by telling the truth."

Seth's award reads: "This award is presented to Seth for showing respect by speaking politely and kindly waiting his turn."

I am so proud of both of them and their achievements, but mostly it's good to know that they show well in public.

- L.

P.S. Why yes, that is the lovely Miss E. sitting behind Nate at assembly. He must have been doubly thrilled that day since they aren't in the same classroom, and as such encounters like this one are entirely left to chance.

P.P.S. Seen in the gymnasium at assembly. The hoop is regulation height so not sure who could dangle from up that high, but someone must have hence the warning. Kids!

Happy Easter Everyone!

Here are various pics taken over the past week getting ready for Easter and out enjoying the beautiful sunny weekend. Happy Easter to all!

Our Dollar Store "Easter House" that we put together earlier in the week.

Our Dollar Store Easter wreath. A bit spindly, but it cost $1.25 so there's that.

Easter egg dye kit!

We have messed this up so many times over the years it's become a joke, as seen here and here (#6).

This year we finally got it right – yay!

Easter morning with our Easter "baskets". The boys decided the Easter Bunny must be real and NOT Mommy, because how would I get to the store at night when everyone is sleeping? That is some excellent logic so I didn't argue.

Our Easter bunnies that we named "Snuffles" (awhhh!) and "Snot" (poor thing).

Fun with Easter straw!

Seth with his green "mohawk" and still sleepy eyes.

The children's choir at church. The video of them singing is here.

On our way home Seth decided he was a statue and wanted a picture.

The weather was nice enough once we got home to take a quick shot outside sans jackets.

While we were out the Easter Bunny paid us a second visit and hid Easter eggs all over the house filled with chocolates.

Just in case there were any lingering doubts that Mommy might be the Easter Bunny, I'm pretty sure this added another layer (or five) to the mystery. You could practically see the gears turning while they tried to figure it out. Ah, maybe next year.

- L.

P.S. These pictures were from the park yesterday after I persuaded the boys to take me out for a walk. The phrase, "Let's be dangerous!" lives on, some of which I had to put the camera away for since it was starting to look a little too dangerous. Even "Cannonball!" was not without it's injuries – and there's video proof here.

Seth's restaurant. Some things never change.

We've mastered the monkey bars finally.

"Cannonball!" on the slide is still a work in progress however. Again, there is video here.

"Let's Be Dangerous!"

It's the last day of March break and we spent it similar to the first day – with a lunch out and some time at a park. The weather was sunny, but definitely colder than last weekend. There is a playground we spent most of our time at. Nate gives a demonstration on being a helicopter on the swings, because why use a swing for swinging when you can use it for being a helicopter? There is a video of that here.

– "Look out" sounds about right.

"Lights! Camera! Action! I'm a helicopter everyone!"

"Let's be dangerous!"
*giggle*

"Danger is our middle names!"
"Wheee!"

On the way out of the park, we passed the bike/skateboard park which was empty today. The boys thought that was too good to pass up and scurried around playing a new game called Let's Be Dangerous! followed by running up the ramps and yelling, "Dangerous!" and then giggling. Mommy was not overly amused, but since I wasn't about to run up the slippery ramps after them I took a few quick pictures instead before I killed the party.

- L.

March Break Picnic

Last Saturday was the first day of March break at school and also the most spring-like day we've had so far this year. The temperature was around 16°C in the afternoon so we decided on a picnic at a popular park nearby. Popular is an understatement on the first really-nice-weather-day-of-spring that also happens to be the first day of March break since it was a zoo. Seth declared the playground "too busy" right off the bat. Nate somehow managed a few turns on the slide before we checked out more quiet places in the park.

"Now this is more like it!"

"I agree!"

"Ahhh... nobody's over here. Perfect!"

- L.

Happy St. Patrick's Day Everyone!

... or as it's known at The OP, St. Padrin's Day.

And so without much further ado, we will be celebrating this festive occasion with Uncle P. The boys have enjoyed "helping" with the balloons so far.

- L.

It's Beginning To Look A Lot Like Spring

At least in my storage room where the bags of potatoes got neglected all winter:

 Whoops!

(I didn't even know potatoes could do that.)

- L.

Sunday Afternoon

We went to the museum yesterday after lunch. I took a few pictures. There was some nose picking at the end which is how I knew our outing was done (or at least the taking of pictures). Enjoy!

- "Look Mommy..."

- "... it's Jesus!"

- L.

King(s) Of Kings

The boys are in rehearsal, practicing one of their Easter Sunday songs at church. They looked a little lost up there on the stage, but between this and school performances I think they're starting to figure things out. At least their mouths were moving through some of it. The video is here.

- L.

New Hair Cuts

Just showing off how handsome we are!

- L.

Park Pics

We went to a park last weekend. I took some pictures. The end.

(Also, it was unseasonably warm and winter disappeared for a bit before making a comeback this week.) 

- This is how we swing everyone!

- For some reason we think this is cool.

– Sitting on swings is for suckers. Also, this is a foolproof way to show everyone your underpants.

- If it's got wheels I'm on it.

- Vroooom!

- I prefer the slides.

- Especially when used...

-... in unexpected ways.

- L.