bosco's plane

on the way to bethlehem. again.

another year, another walk-thru...
but we may have to put this christmas tradition on hold...
since the script remains the same, not only have we memorized all of it, but rob has added some harmless fun by altering some of the lines.
in particular, rob can crack me up when he does his spot-on joseph imitation (where he pops up from his bed and says: yes, i will take mary as my wife) and rob turns it into any number of tongue-in-cheek comments:
yes, i will play joseph in the pageant again this year
yes, i will freeze my buns off in this line
yes, our guide will be named ruth, or mary, but never beyonce
yes, that is weird al playing the angel, etc, etc, etc


well, it's one thing for rob and i to have a laugh or two, but now the kids are wising up to our antics and throwing in their own lines! we've swooshed from sacred to secular to kitsch all in one year.

as we were leaving this year, laughing too hard, we accidently missed the exit and popped up in front of joseph again. we refrained from gushing to him: Oh, you're our favorite, but we did insist on a special photo before the scene that has caused so much laughter in our home.

heard today (on the way to bethlehem)

bosco: 

sha-lo-o-ome, ladies! 

(not sure what bosco thought shalom meant, or if he meant to flirt with mary and elizabeth  - but we sure enjoyed his antics)

putting up the tree

looks like we got a 'rudolph' too

add a stripe

from simply a cub,
to a second,
and now a sixer - fierce takes the highest position within his pack: the leader



you've come a long way baby! see here and here

highschool musings

pepper and i attended an educational fair tonight.  it's open to students in grades 7 to 12 so it was our first time, and we just a look-see to see what was on offer. 
we skipped the universities (way too early to think of that!) and focused on actual jobs/careers, mentoring, and apprenticeships.  pepper has such a rich creative side, so we tried to talk to people that represented creative industries like an interior designer and a radio show rep (where they create their own commercials!)

it's interesting to note that elementary students are simply told where they will go next - like an assembly line in a factory.  meanwhile, students can request attendance at a different high school. 
and i think pepper would benefit from attending a strong arts high school.  naturally she'll take all the science and maths courses that will keep her options open, but - for her - art needs to be more than a high school band, one fine art teacher, and the hope of goofing off for one class a day.  highschool's the perfect time to explore art more deeply.  (plus, even the extracurricular opportunities must be richer and more enticing)

so pepper will use the next year and a half to think about what type of highschool she'll thrive in.  and she'll choose where to go - not be told.  it's great practise for the future when she'll turn that same analytical eye to college/university choice.

as prep work, we'll be attending the highschool drama productions to see how many supports and resources are available.  tomorrow, we're off to see the wizard of oz at GCVI.  so far, i'm impressed that they've already got a show ready to go, and it's only mid-november.  surely that demonstrates dedication.

a river runs through it

pepper's history teacher has requested her class create a model of a plot of land within the seigneurial system. she's also requested a graphic organizer of their research, and a typed annual report to the Seigneur outlining key items.
i'm guessing the model is the carrot-on-the-stick incentive to get them interested in the work. well, it's worked for pepper as she has spent hours creating her crops and buildings and trees.




this is my fav shot: the perspective is perfect - the forest in the background truly looking like it's small b/c it's so far away (and not simply too short in comparison to the house and barn height)

elixir

is it because i've so much booze left over from the party?
or is it because i'm watching alot of Cougar Town on-line?
(those girls drink red wine like my kids down orange juice)
or maybe the sudden freedom of being mortgage-free has loosened my boundaries....
whatever the reason, i've started drinking on non-weekend nights and i feel liberated.  whoo-hoo!  like right now.  this monday night could be friday night and there's nothing telling me different.

now, where can i go dancing?

parade

first time we went to the santa claus parade downtown

and the first time pepper has marched in the parade

series 3

fierce has been drawing series 1 and series 2 robots in his book. with series 3, he's moved from 2D to 3D (i love the colour coordination)

burn baby burn

mortgage-free

this is our symbolic banker; see his little monocle?

and here we are:
banker, mortgage and us...

we bought this house almost 15 years ago. it was our first real, longterm debt (even our first car loan we paid off in 6 months, it unnerved me so to owe anyone anything)
this debt was our entry into adulthood. and then i lost my job before we even moved in! but we didn't let that take away our joy of having our place in the world.

the day we moved in, January 27th, there was a blizzard and the hallway filled with snow. i remember being so worried about my hardwood floor (ok, parquet); these were my floors, and i'd never had my own floors before!
we couldn't spend the first night in our first house... the truck had to be returned to brampton, and the blizzard meant bunking down at mom's for safety sake. so it wasn't until the 28th that we really moved in to our place: our -Large - place!
because whatever-in-the-world were we doing with a 3 bedroom house?! i was afraid the neighbors would think we were pretentious. (this is when i thought people paid attention to what i did, now i know better!)
but we wanted to fill a house with children. and after some hardtimes, we did. 1, 2, 3.

this is their home; the only one they've ever known.
we have scrimped and we have saved.
we threw every spare penny to double-ups and lump sum payments. this day was just a date on a calendar for so long - and maybe we still don't know what to do with our newfound freedom - but we knew for sure that we wanted to share this moment with our family and friends, the people who mean the most to us.

and so:
a karaoke dance party!  it was blast.  thank you all for coming and making it such a great night...

sweet

pepper's work of art

guess who read baghead?

gotta love a book that inspires imitation!

who says HSing isn't fun?

even under the so called burden of curriculum, fierce finds a way to enjoy himself:



in case you can't make it out, it's -
  St. Loser High
  The Janitor Store
  Duncan Mental Hospital
and - my personal fav - buying milk at the Everything But Milk Store

geometric design

and yes, fierce is in his suit again. this time for play - thanks nanny for that expensive 'costume'.  i'll be sure to keep in OUT of the dress-up box!