Halloween Photo

Oops, forgot to post this at Halloween. A cowboy on horseback, a flower fairy and an alligator. Other Halloween iterations included Jacob as a pirate and Zoë as a dog, unicorn and lion.

And in case you're thinking that Junior Kindergarten doesn't involve any real learning, here's Molly's latest writing sample.

Jacob Hockey Video

On Wednesday, Jacob had his first hockey session with sticks. Molly had to stop playing this year because of her casts (this point may seem obvious but Kate keeps trying to concoct crazy schemes for her to be able to skate in her casts).

Here's a video to show where Jacob's at - already a big improvement from the start of the year. And he LOVES hockey.

Remembrance Day for 4 Year Olds

I was a little nervous that the school's version of November 11th might differ significantly from my pacifist tendencies. For example, there is a Canadian Forces poster on the Remembrance Day bulletin board that looks like a recruiting poster to me. But, from what I can gather, the school assembly focused mostly on peace, the impact of war on families, etc. The twins even came home with the story of Sadako Sasaki and her origami cranes.

Two exceptions (and the school is probably responsible for the first, but definitely not for the second!):

1. The kids are insisting that Canadian soldiers are always the good guys and their job is to tell everyone to "drop their guns". Wouldn't that be nice.

2. Jacob: "There's one good thing about war. Poppies grow when there's a war."

EDIT:

Subsequent to this post, the twins came into the kitchen where I was making a coffee.

M&J: We learned a song at school about the soldiers
Me: How did it go?
M&J: The soldiers went to war, the soldiers went to war, they went to war and died for us, the soldiers went to war
J: But they didn't die for us. We didn't tell them to go to war
M: We should make a better song
M: How about, "The soldiers went to war, and they didn't die." That's a better song.
J: It would be better if it was "The soldiers didn't go to war, they didn't go to war, they didn't go so they didn't die, they didn't go to war"

We appear to have survived the school system for another day!

Building Blocks

In a rare calm moment, Kate and the kids constructed a Kapla Blocks extravaganza. Definitely our best, most consistently-enjoyed toy purchase.

Short Cast Video

Here's the little video showing Molly in action on her new short casts.

We had a fabulous weekend at David and Priya's. Not many friends will host a family with 3 young kids, knowing that everyone is going to wake up an hour earlier than normal because of the time change. And we don't sleep on good days! But fun was had by all.

New Casts

We were back to Sick Kids yesterday, and, earlier than expected, Molly is out of the long cast. The doctor was happy with the "tweaking" of the positioning of her right foot. So now the focus is on stretching her achilles in both ankles. Here's a picture of her in the two new short casts. Check out the hot new colours:





And see what she can do in them. Quite a difference.

Video will have to wait...oops

Zoë's Dragon Day

On Sunday we celebrated Dragon Day, marking two years since Zoë joined our family. Alison and the cousins were up from Toronto to join in the fun.

- Dragon Day breakfast of pancakes, fruit and ice cream!?

- Presents!! Warm pj's and housecoat as Winter Is Coming. Plus a sign for her door.

- Kate's masterpiece: a dragon for Dragon Day

- A Great Wall of China, castle-cake, being decorated by the cousins

- The full dragon, on parade. The Chinese dragon is believed to live underground, with the mountains being his scales and the wind his breath. So, for a Chinese-Canadian dragon, each piece shows a different part of the Canadian landscape, with mountains, prairies, forests and ocean. Yes, Kate is going for the "best Chinese mother" award.

- And here's a rousing rendition of "She'll Be Coming Round the Mountain", which we sing every Dragon Day, inspired by Anne Tyler's hilarious adoption novel - Digging to America.