Jacob's First Goal

Jacob's last hockey before Christmas included a surprise - a "real" game! So here's a video of his very first hockey goal (and if he has his father's genes, it may be awhile until the next one). Check out the sweet moves.

Being Bave

Yesterday the kids came home from school explaining how Molly had gone up on stage at the school assembly because she's "bave", which is brave in twinspeak. I couldn't get much more out of them, but last night a few of the other dads from school said they'd heard Molly had been singled out in front of the school. And today we got the certificate home and an explanation from the teacher that Molly had received an award for Courage, related to how well she handled being in casts. I think two kids per class are singled out at each assembly for demonstrating some admirable quality. I hope she can continue to be bave for the upcoming surgery!

- Here we are at Zoë's nursery school Christmas party this morning. Kate holding the present Zoë made for us. And Zoë wearing a princess cape. Yes, the boys were given batman capes. Ah well.

And for a bit of artistic content. The lake tried to freeze on the weekend, but melted again on Monday (note: it was solid by December 7th last year). The remaining ice chunks all swept close to our shoreline and the wind blew them together all afternoon. It sounded like a massive xylophone or a symphony of triangles. So turn your sound up loud and see if you can hear it. I thought it was beautiful, but Kate is so angry that there is no snow or ice that she seemed quite unimpressed. So, you be the judge.

Gingerbread House

I'd say our quiet Saturday was quite productive. Jacob and I watched the Habs win this afternoon. And Kate made a Christmas gingerbread house with the kids.

Sickness, Hockey, and Hugo

We missed Chinese this morning as Jacob was up most of the night with a funny tummy, Kate has to work today, and I was too tired to contemplate driving to and from Toronto. Ah well, our mastery of the language will have to be delayed by a week. So we're having a quiet Saturday at home instead.

We took the girls to the family skating while Jacob was playing hockey last night. Zoë skated for the first time without a push-aid. And Molly is getting stronger on her feet, both on the ice and walking. She should be fully mobile just in time for her surgery and re-casting.

We also had a babysitter last night and saw Hugo in 3D. All the award nominees are yet to be released, but if there's a better movie this year it'll have to be great. We enjoyed reading the book with the kids last year, and were impressed with its format as much as anything (part graphic novel, part novel, relying on beautiful art to set the mood). The movie is magical though, and it's the first time I've seen 3D actually add to the viewing experience, not just as a gimmick. Big recommendation.

My Favourite Thing Today

Molly has been having difficulty walking or running since her casts came off, which apparently is to be expected given that she didn't use any of those muscles for a month. But we still took all the kids skating on Saturday night and Molly was moving faster on ice than on land. And she was really excited and proud of herself.

At dinner or before bed we often take turns telling each other our "favourite thing today". That night, Jacob spontaneously said "You know what my favourite thing was today? Seeing Molly skating."

That boy is my favourite thing on so many days.