Musical Stylings of Jacob

Here's Jacob dealing with the one-girl mosh pit that is his sister.


And here's some bonus footage of the kids' last playball session

Spring Clean-Up

Here's the family playing in the garden last weekend.

Big Girl Bed

Zoë's sleep challenges have continued, so we decided last week to convert her crib into a big girl bed. While this hasn't resolved all of the sleep issues, we're definitely all happy with the progress. Because we never had the twins in cribs, I think we believe our "sleep tricks" are more likely to work with her in a bed. We will see.

Icy Lake Couch

We went over to the Jenkins last Wednesday to see if the ice was receding off the lake, but not yet. Even today, the lake's not quite clear of ice. Summer-like weather this weekend though.

Walking the Walker

I came home after a weekend in London to this:
- Zoë trying the walker wagon for the 1st time

- A bit more footage for truly dedicated Zoë fans

My favourite quote from Jacob last week:
Jacob: What we having for dinner, mama?
Kate: Tex Mex Tamale Pie
Jacob: No
Kate: Yes we are
Jacob: No, it's Tex Mex To-Jacob Pie, not Tex Mex To-Molly Pie

- Who has a better mugshot - Jacob or Nick Nolte?

Zoë's "crawling"

Zoë is getting better at standing, pulling up and assisted walking so I thought I'd better capture her two methods of "crawling" for posterity.
- Here's the bum shuffle

- And the commando crawl

- Plus a bonus photo of the typical Canadian arts & crafts project, conducted inside the hockey net

Zoë Jumping

She's never unhappy, but when she's in the jolly jumper, she's really, really happy

Sporty Week

In this video alone (oops video is the last one, not the 1st one) we have Zoë playing soccer (stay tuned to the end for her "hi" and "bye"), while wearing her Montreal Canadiens jacket; Jacob working on his new-to-him big kid bike; and Molly training for a scrabble tournament. If you also factor in that Kate and I went for our first-of-the-season outdoor bike ride yesterday, we assembled the new road hockey net this afternoon, I injured my calf trying to keep up with Kate on a tempo run, and the twins' new tennis rackets (further video evidence below), I'd say we're in the running for sporty family of the year. Especially if effort is more highly valued than ability. And by the way, it doesn't count as spoiling if you're spending money on sports gear.


- Jacob doing his best Boris Becker imitation. Note: diving's easier on Wimbledon's grass

- The trouble with mixed doubles is getting distracted by your partner

- Molly looks like a natural talent too. I love her instinctive backwards claw grip - that could revolutionize the sport

Here's the video discussed at the top

Oscar Night

Before the show begins, here's my rundown on 2009's movies.
I like to do a top ten list, but I just didn't see enough good ones to justify such a long list. No depth and very low quality at the top. No Lives of Others, no The Visitor, no movie that really changed the way I'll look at or think about the world. But, here goes.

Top Five
1. In the Loop - very funny (the angry British head of PR should have gotten an acting nomination) and scary relevant.
2. An Education - I have a total bias for Nick Hornby, I loved the setting, and it had Kate and I talking for hours about gender politics and choices and how the world has changed and how it hasn't, etc..
3. Fantastic Mr. Fox - we had just finished reading the Dahl book with the kids. The movie is even better, and definitely not just for kids. It's a robbery that Up will win the animated award over this one.
4. Crazy Heart - Jeff Bridges is great and the rest is pretty good.
5. Precious - I'm only halfway through it, but I'm provisionally putting it on the list. Poignant, powerful story which seems to avoid the overdone, overly-emotional manipulation that is typical of the genre.

Nominated Movies I Haven't Seen
- Avatar - I'm surprised more hasn't been made of this year's most embarrassing moment (yes, even worse than Captain Kirk and Alex P. Keaton at the Olympic closing ceremonies) - James Cameron's acceptance speech at the Golden Globes, when he switched into the Avatari language. Hard to believe there is a blowhard billionaire even more nerdy and arrogant than Bill Gates. I'll be cheering against this one just because of Cameron.
- Blind Side - can't watch this one because the book was beyond offensive. Author doesn't disclose until the afterword that he's childhood friends with the "hero" of the story, a wealthy, right-wing, university booster. Michael Oher, the football player at the centre of the story, has led a fascinating life, but the book would have you believe that he was an idiotic blank slate before being saved. Reminds me of the old history books describing the first nations people as noble savages whose history began the day Columbus arrived. But I digress.
- A Single Man - really want to see this one
- Last Station and The Messenger - neither were very well reviewed

Nominated Movies I Just Can't Get Behind
- Hurt Locker - not in the top 20 of all-time war movies. I'm supposed to get attached to a character who's a total psycho soldier? Or surprised that people in the middle of a war are nuts?
- Inglourious Basterds - if anyone can tell me why I spent two hours watching this one, I'd love to know what I was supposed to get out of the experience
- Invictus - Morgan Freeman is good and Nelson Mandela is awe-inspiring but the movie itself is sappy and shallow.
- Up In the Air - a moderately amusing date movie. Nothing more.
- A Serious Man - one of the Coens lesser efforts. As my bro-in-law said, if they win an award it should be half an Oscar and they can claim the other half when they bother to write an ending to their movie.
- District 9 - an average action movie with disturbingly racist overtones

Who am I Cheering For?
- Bridges or Firth for actor
- Plummer for supporting (embarrassingly possibly because of my enduring feelings for Sound of Music)
- Anyone but Bullock for actress
- Mo'nique for supporting
- Fantastic Fox for animated
- Precious for directing - by process of elimination
- Education for Picture
- In the Loop for Adapted Screenplay

Life With Two Eight-Year-Olds

Sean & Erin's parents return in a few hours, but we're plotting to keep them indefinitely. Last night, when Kate was stuck at work, I went to put Zoë down and then when I returned to Molly & Jacob's room, the big twins had put them in their pajamas, given them their bottles, put on Molly's boots and bar, and were reading stories. The only downside to two 8-year-olds appears to be the grocery bill for waffles and maple syrup.

We had a blast in Collingwood (referred to by Erin as Hollywood) on Wednesday, at a splash pad / swimming pool (which was indoor-outdoor, so we were able to swim outside, while watching the snowboarders descend Blue Mountain).

I have a pretty good handle on the mind of the toddler, but I'm way out of touch with grade two kids. So here are my three favourite conversations giving insight into life at 8.

1. Tonight, we're talking about Molly & Jacob's day at school. Erin & Sean admit that they always reply "nothing" when asked what happened during their school day. Kate asked why and they said it was because too much happens and it would take forever to explain. We requested examples and Erin said, "Well, just this year we've had two kids at our school get their tongues stuck on the fence. We couldn't tell our parents that". We were informed that to remove the tongues from a frozen fence, a teacher has to pour on warm water, but one of the kids "just ripped his tongue off". If you were the parent of an 8 year-old, wouldn't it kill you to find out that this is a sample of the stories you're missing out on.

2. At the coffee shop on Monday, while the little twins were in school. Erin notices a painting on the wall of a nude woman, drawn from behind. "That's inappropriate" she declares. Which leads into a discussion of art, censorship and what makes something "appropriate". Which leads to Sean & Erin disclosing that some of the boys in their class say inappropriate words, and then look those words up in the dictionary in class, and then giggle about the definitions. So, the teacher has torn all of those pages out of the dictionaries!!! Seriously!! How am I supposed to win an argument that we should send our children to public school, in the face of this prudishness / Orwellianness / smallmindedness / patheticness. And they have a "good" teacher this year.

3. Damn, there was a 3rd one, but it's slipped my mind.

And just to prove that it's still winter up here, here are the kids in the "snow fort" they built this afternoon.

More Party of Eight

I went grocery shopping with all 5 kids this morning and got stared at the whole time. I must have looked like a visitor from some strange religious cult, where the guy does the groceries with the kids.

- Erin and the little twins dressed up as firefighters

- the little twins came home from nursery school yesterday to find that the big cousins had built them a big picnic tent

- we went tobogganing yesterday on the big hill. Lots of fun for an hour until a sled "train" derailed, causing a fair amount of road rash.
Note that Jacob, for the first time in his life, escaped unscathed

- Molly looks like she just won a scrap with Bobby Clarke. Ya gotta love that old time hockey. Can you believe that this same girl, an hour later at playball, announced loudly as she approached a purple square on the floor, "look, it matches my shoes!!". I'm not sure Hayley Wickenheiser or Clara Hughes ever cared about their shoe fashion - ah well.

- and Zoë, bloody but unbowed

- Please ignore the off-key singing, but check out the pirate ship birthday cake. I also love Sean's face when I criticize his candle-blowing - it ain't easy adjusting to a week of tough love with your uncle.

March Madness

We're a family of 7 this week as my sister went off to Jamaica for a week, leaving us with the two best 8-year-old babysitters ever. It's actually significantly easier with them around.

Here are some catch-up photos:
- M&J cheering on the women's hockey team in the gold medal game

- building a snowman with the cousins

- here's a shot of the backyard rink, which was going strong until today's melt. That might be it for the skating season

- Erin giving me some triathlon tips - have to stay low on the bike

- wizard hats and wands - the activities never cease

- baking a birthday cake for the big twins - note all of Kate's kids stuffing batter in their mouths

- watching the final period of the men's hockey final - before Parise gave me a heart attack. The kids were riveted, as you can tell.

- this one gives a sense of how much Molly likes her big cousin Erin