Please, Tooth Fairy?

She left a toonie for him! I REALLY thought you had to have the actual tooth. Live and learn.

My Computer Companion

I printed this large picture of Sam out on 8x10 paper from his Christmas concert and glued it on to some cardboard for strength. Then I taped it onto the little drum that he used as they sang Little Drummer Boy, and sat it on one of our speakers. It looked like him standing there with his drum around his neck - so cute! But, alas, he did not like it. At some point I'll tape this picture back onto the drum, and it will be a permanent Christmas decoration that I'll be able to enjoy each year as I remember his kindergarten performance. But in the meantime, I kind of enjoy him hanging out with me as I surf the net. :o)

Sam's Sandwich and Crazy Hair Day

Last week Sam decided not to eat his lunch as served, but rather to pile it all together. Cheese, crackers, bread, and clementine. I think he eventually had to disassemble, and eat the components in a more traditional fashion.


And today was CRAZY HAIR DAY. This is what we came up with.


Little did they know they were supporting my high school. Go Falcons!! :o)


We'll see how the "wash out" phase goes this evening.

You say tomato...

We went out for dinner last night. I had a salad that had apples, dried cranberries, goat cheese, and some yummy spiced pecans. Otto and I finished our meals well in advance of the boys (as is usually the case), so as we were sitting there waiting, I flagged the waitress over and had a back-and-forth that went something like this:

Me: Could I please have a few more of those pecans that were on my salad, they were very tasty!

Waitress: (staring, as if to read my lips) More of what?

Me: The pecans that came on my salad; could I have a few more?

Waitress: Prawns?

Me: (emphatically) PECANS (p'kahns). (Canadian/Northern pronunciation of 'pecan' then hits me like a ton of bricks.) Oh, I mean PEEcans (pee-kahns), PEE CANs (pee-cans)!! PEE CANS!

Waitress: Oh sure. I didn't think you had prawns on your salad.


She then brought me about three times as many pecans as I was expecting, and we ate every one. You just have to know how to ask! :o)

And what they refer to as 'prawns' up here is another matter entirely.

"Mommy, Sam's stuck in the mud!"

And I walked out to investigate yesterday afternoon just as Sam was trying to pull his leg out, but instead managed to pull his foot out of his shoe and land his sock in mud; still stuck. I had told them they could go in the back to blow bubbles. I didn't know our neighbors had a mud pit in their back yard; apparently an area that hasn't been sodded where the melting snow made some mighty sticky mud. Both sets of shoes were covered. Luckily Otto (and the boys earlier) had the hose out to wash the cars, so all that was required for cleanup was to put them on the grass and have Otto hose them down. I don't think I'll let them go out in the back again until the mud dries up, because I'm pretty sure they won't be able to help themselves. I think mud and little boys are like magnets to one another.

We spent our Easter weekend, rather untraditionally, in the mountains skiing. Or trying to. I bruised my tailbone pretty good the morning of the first day during my lesson and suffered through, but decided not to go back the next day. So Otto and Andy spent some quality time on the slopes while Sam and I spent some quality time walking around Banff. It was nice, but you don't get better at snowboarding by walking around town!

We discovered a lovely coffee shop/cafe called The Wild Flour. We ordered a ham panini with walnut pesto, and some fennel and apple slaw on the side, and headed to the Bow River for a little picnic. Sam ate most of the sandwich, which was fine because I was still full from the very good breakfast buffet at the hotel.

After lunch we walked to the other side of the river. And back.

Sam took this picture. He pointed out to me that he intentionally included the Canadian flag.
The next morning we had Easter brunch at The Bison. The food was DELICIOUS. Otto and I ordered variations of Eggs Benedict, and the boys shared pear and goat cheese crepes sprinkled with cinnamon and sugar, served with a raspberry sauce.

Sam enjoying his chocolate milk.
This sugar and cream would make anyone crave a cup of coffee.


Happy Easter!

Good times, good eats, and a really large plant

Sam's buddy Owen had his birthday party on Saturday, and his mom emailed this picture over. There was another kid in the picture that I didn't know, so I cropped him out. No only because I didn't know him, but he wasn't looking at the camera either. Anyway, it's a cute picture. Thanks for sending it over, Mel!


The next evening Otto made dinner. Lamb roast stuffed with feta, prosciutto, and spinach served with asparagus...

with a homemade Saskatoon pie for dessert. It was all delicious. And this was just an average Sunday; I can't wait to see what he makes me for my birthday! Well, it was Palm Sunday, but I don't think he was factoring that into the menu planning.


Apparently string cheese offers an endless amount of comedic possibilities. I turned around today to see this, with an exclamation of, "I am Master Shifu!" (From Kung Fu Panda.) Cracked me up!

Here is the REAL Master Shifu for those who haven't seen the movie. The resemblance is uncanny. (Rats! The image doesn't seem to be showing up on the blog. You can see it here if you can't see this picture.)




And with the LOVELY weather we've had the past few days, I was inspired to buy some plants. Indoor, as it's still too cold to plant anything outside yet. One fits quite nicely where I had envisioned it going on the stair landing. I had intended the other, larger one to go behind our brown leather chair in the office, but it was too big. Anyone sitting in the chair would have palm leaves hanging over their face. It didn't look quite so big in the store. But I've bought the silly thing and replanted it in a pot already, so I need to find a spot. Does this look too odd?


That corner was awfully bare before. It was met with a "Whoa!" when Otto went upstairs after coming home from work this evening.


This is my side of the bed. I figure I'll give it a few days and see how many times I get poked in the eye by the pointy leaf tips while getting up, half asleep.

Sam and the amazing talking string cheese....

Sam started entertaining himself (and me!) with his string cheese a moment ago.




I also forgot to post this picture the other day when we went sledding. It was before they got their snow bibs on. We went to church that morning, and they were still wearing their nicer shirts. (Too cold to change when you get home up here, at least in my opinion. Once I get dressed, or them dressed, it's for the entire day in most cases!) If they only had one of those newsboy caps on they would look even cuter.



And for anyone who knows Jennifer Becker from high school, she just had a beautiful new baby girl last week to add to her two adorable boys. You can see some pictures on Derek's blog here. Hopefully he'll be adding some new ones soon! (Hint, hint.)

That's odd.

During our dinner conversation this evening, we were talking about Penelope Cruz because Otto and I just saw "Vicki Cristina Barcelona" last night. Otto said that Penelope must not be her real name because it isn't a Spanish name. I countered that Marta isn't in the German/Swedish background of my mother's heritage, but that's her name nonetheless. Maybe Penelope's mom just liked the name Penelope. (I don't know - maybe it is a stage name!)

After a couple minutes Andy said, "Both of my grandmothers are named Marta. That's odd."

Otto and I just laughed and agreed. I know I've pointed it out before, but I guess this was the first time he came to the realization on his own, and it sunk in.

**ADDENDUM** See the comments for more background on my mom's name and heritage. And I spoke to Otto's mom the other day, and she says she doesn't know what he's talking about. Penelope is a completely Spanish name.