Wednesday, March 28, 2007

The End is Near!!

Hi all, sorry for the lack of updates but given my brush with the law I decided to keep a low profile for a while. My Mom just finished a week visit with us (OK - with the girls, we all know who takes top spot now). I didn't think to take a single picture with mom and the girls (I think I have been home too long with my brain shut off). The caption refers to my last month at home - it has happened way too fast. Anyway, here are some of the most recent photos we have, see if you can match the captions to the photos...

1. Dad was right - cooking is a terrible thing!
2. Time for a break
3. Where did all these other kids come from? I've got to hide my toys!
4. If it ain't Scottish it's crap!
5. I'll never get to church at this rate...
6. The book beat
7. But they don't match??!!
8. Dad has already caved about not dressing us in trendy clothes - excellent!






















































































Saturday, March 17, 2007

Happy St. Paddy's Day

On Tuesday of this week DoT was sick, sick, sick. So I took the day off work to look after the girls. In the afternoon, I took them to the mall to try to give DoT a couple of hours without shrieking - so he could get some sleep. When the girls started to get a little antsy and wanted out of their stroller seats, I bought them each hats thinking I could maybe buy myself 10 or 15 more minutes of peace. Well, the fun we've had with those hats ever since. They're the best $1.39-purchase I think I've ever made!










Sunday, March 11, 2007

Fugitive father of two...

A few people have told me that they have had trouble in the past with adding a comment to our blog, so for now I've turned off the word verification for comments. As long as I don't start receiving a whole bunch of spam on the blog, I'll leave it off. Hopefully this will mean we get more comments than we have lately (and, come on, just one or two more than 0 would be nice).

On Thursday of this week DoT was driving the minivan with the girls asleep in their car seats. They'd only been asleep about 30 minutes when he pulled up at a red light at an intersection near our house. He said that a few seconds after he'd stopped, a car went through the red light in the lane next to him. There was a police car sitting at the lights in the opposite direction. And what do you think happened next? Well the light turned green, DoT started to continue on his way and the cop pulled him over. For having a dirty licence plate. $110 ticket. He didn't end up having to pay it, but he did have to get the van (or at least the licence plate) washed and present it at the police station within 24hrs. Which he did. Probably the worst part was that dealing with the cop had woken the girls and that was it - no more nap for them that day.

I find this incident a bit frustrating particularly because a few years ago (okay, about 10 years ago) my car was hit by a hit-and-run driver while it was parked near the building where I worked at the time. When the cops came out to the scene of the accident all they did was write it up. And just looking at the damage to my car it was clear that the car that hit me had come out of the driveway across the street. Do you think the cop could bother going up to the door and asking the homeowner if he/she knew anything about it? No. Apparently Ottawa City Police are too busy for that... what with chasing down people who are driving around with a bit of road spray on their licence plates. Sheesh.

This week was not a good week for DoT and the girls. Aside from the traffic incident, both girls were sick this week. I think we got away lucky since E only threw up a couple of times over the span of three days, and A didn't throw up at all... she was just listless and a bit cranky for a day or so. Both seemed to be back to normal today.

Lately, we've been dealing with a lot more slapping between the girls. It seems like this weekend that's been most of their interactions with each other. It never fails that as soon as one of them starts having fun with a toy, the other one decides that looks like something she'd like to do. Which generally ends with both of them throwing a bunch of slaps and crying. And I'm getting tired of breaking it up. I wonder how small hockey helmuts come. Maybe I can just put a helmet and face mask on each of them and, hey, why note throw in some shoulder pads, and let them go at it. I've been told that kids don't really get the concept of sharing until closer to age three, and that just seems like a long way away right now.

Sorry, I don't have any pictures for you today. But, who knows, maybe DoT will post another message soon and he'll have some shots for you.

Have a great week.

Sunday, March 04, 2007

The Two Newest Canadian Citizens

Hi all, this will mark the second posting by DoT. This week E&A received their Canadian Citizenship cards in the mail. I think they decided to immediately act like Canadians in honour of the auspicious occasion - see pics below:

In honour of our special association with the Queen:






















The other sure sign that they are now Canadian is the absorption of local customs (it is March after all and we know what happens in March don't we?)


E samples a Canadian delicacy...













... and A rolls up the rim.


















The girls get ready for school:

E decides to absorb some knowledge by osmosis....













... and A has decided she doesn't need her parents to leaf through these books.