... with no so great results.
We called this "Homeless, Not Quite Teenage Mutant Ninja Honey Bee".
Thursday, November 01, 2007
Tuesday, October 09, 2007
We have to save Neo!
Who do you think the boy looks like?
So, we're finally done with the 12 days of the girl's birthday. What's a good technique to convince her that her new birthdate should be Feb 29th?
We suffered our first physical Wii injury over the weekend. The girl was celebrating a nice play/shot (I can't remember which, I was sulking at being nicely played/shot at) ... and was she on the rug like I told her? No ... hardwood slippery.
We also suffered our first and second emotional Wii injury. Early weekend Wii fitness test rated me as 50 years old. Yesterday, I had "achieved" 55 years old. 60, it's the new 30.
I'm expecting the 3rd emotional injury when the kids realize what "we're just borrowing it" really means.
Me and the boy. I'm the 55 year old on the left...
Who do you think the boy looks like?
So, we're finally done with the 12 days of the girl's birthday. What's a good technique to convince her that her new birthdate should be Feb 29th?
We suffered our first physical Wii injury over the weekend. The girl was celebrating a nice play/shot (I can't remember which, I was sulking at being nicely played/shot at) ... and was she on the rug like I told her? No ... hardwood slippery.
We also suffered our first and second emotional Wii injury. Early weekend Wii fitness test rated me as 50 years old. Yesterday, I had "achieved" 55 years old. 60, it's the new 30.
I'm expecting the 3rd emotional injury when the kids realize what "we're just borrowing it" really means.
Me and the boy. I'm the 55 year old on the left...
Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Accck
Off to school they go. Boy actually likes pre-school - to the point where he cries because he doesn't want to go to daycare. (Couldn't be that easy.)
And in all the mayhem .... I completely missed this ...
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/features/seriously_westcoast/index.html
And in all the mayhem .... I completely missed this ...
http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/features/seriously_westcoast/index.html
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Visitors
We had a nice extended weekend with visitors from out East. Thanks for taking the time to come in and visit!
What is it about these cars?
They don't go that fast, and they don't really get to steer (like on the jalopy ride). But this is the first ride they always run to.
3 - 2 - 1
Sure, it's all fun and games until ...
... about 10 seconds after this, the boy got a time-out for soaking everyone.
... about 10 seconds after this, the boy got a time-out for soaking everyone.
Feed bag
Had a great visit with the Aunt/Uncle/cousins/2nd cousins ...
Very nice dinner. Forgot how good toasted marshmallow's are. Kids got face painted by cousin-D (thanks!). And cousin-N showed us the ropes on their Wii.
Place your bets on how long before we get one.
Very nice dinner. Forgot how good toasted marshmallow's are. Kids got face painted by cousin-D (thanks!). And cousin-N showed us the ropes on their Wii.
Place your bets on how long before we get one.
L Mol
Had a picnic at the sculpture garden. The kids were all over the bears. Good thing ye-ye/gong-gong and nai-nai/puo-puo's pieces aren't climable.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
You think this is disturbing?
I just found out that "irregardless" is acknowledged by both Webster and Oxford.
Incidentally, I also found out that, when a highlighter is left uncapped, while it does dry out, the powder that gets left behind does not lose any of it's pigmenting capabilities.
Incidentally, I also found out that, when a highlighter is left uncapped, while it does dry out, the powder that gets left behind does not lose any of it's pigmenting capabilities.
Monday, July 09, 2007
OOOO, AAAA
Currently featuring ...
- Billy Joel
- Fatboy Slim
- Grand Funk Railroad
- Green Day
- House of Pain
- The Fratellis
- The Housemartins
- The Jackson 5
- The La's
- Steriogram
... and many, many more!
Looking fwd to flash-based Sudoku
Currently featuring ...
- Billy Joel
- Fatboy Slim
- Grand Funk Railroad
- Green Day
- House of Pain
- The Fratellis
- The Housemartins
- The Jackson 5
- The La's
- Steriogram
... and many, many more!
Looking fwd to flash-based Sudoku
Sunday, June 10, 2007
Nothing better ...
... than hanging out in the back yard on a nice day. The girl continues her streak of fearlessness-recklessness, all leading to new things. Earlier last week, she graduated from the grrr-animals swimming levels and she's into real numbers. Last weekend, I was showing her how to dribble a basketball (secret is pushing the ball; not slapping at it ... architect). Later in the week, I picked her up from school and she was dribbling with both hands and between her legs (albeit, using those exaggerated, Monty Python, silly walk leg steps - but still).
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now put down the camera and catch me already.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. Now put down the camera and catch me already.
Sunday, May 27, 2007
Monday, May 21, 2007
Even Steven
Took a bit, but finally got a chance to spend the day with the girl - after having spend a day with the boy a few months back. Regardless, the day always starts with breakfast at Cora's.
Sunday, May 13, 2007
... her easiest decision of the weekend was whether to go for the topping, the creamy center or an all-in-one.
Harder decisions were choosing between the ferris wheel, the Monster Swings or something called "Wipeout".
These are the swings - she ended up riding that only once. That's "Wipeout" in the lower-left of the photo - you ride in buckets and it whips around forwards and backwards and while tilting, shifting it's axis and varying speed between fast, crazy fast and "no loose change allowed." No other pics, because that was a "two-handed" ride.
Happy Mother's Day.
Harder decisions were choosing between the ferris wheel, the Monster Swings or something called "Wipeout".
These are the swings - she ended up riding that only once. That's "Wipeout" in the lower-left of the photo - you ride in buckets and it whips around forwards and backwards and while tilting, shifting it's axis and varying speed between fast, crazy fast and "no loose change allowed." No other pics, because that was a "two-handed" ride.
Happy Mother's Day.
Wild weekend
... at the local community center carnival. This was the hit ride for the boy this year ... a step up from the cars/boats/aircrafts that just go in a circle - these faux-Nemo characters would actually go up and down.
Monday, April 30, 2007
If I wanted any poop outta you ...
Boy's pretty well trained ... if you doubt my veracity, ask yourself if I would thusly tempt ... whomever it is you tempt by declaring your child's feat only to have it inexplicably disappear from his/her repertoire.
He's even making it through most nights without incident - even to the point of getting out of bed a few times to go potty.
Good thing, they're not making Thomas trains at sufficient pace to supply the reward system we were using.
Here's my poop story for this week ...
Before bath time, he's started jumping on the potty and forcing something out so that he doesn't have to get out mid-bath. Tonight, he did his business, got into the tub, then immediately proclaimed he had to get out and go potty again. Going twice in a row usually means serious business. (For the "sitting" crowd - guys don't have the ability to stop part-way through ... then continue later when it's more convenient.) Anyways, he gets back on the potty and after some serious effort - triumph. After round two - he gets back in the water and after another 10 seconds, decides he's not done. This time, takes more patience and he embellishes his coaxing technique by putting both hands on his head and pressing ... but once again, success. He gets back in the water and decides he wants to give it another go. Again, shows good patience, but eventually tries the squeezing technique - this time to no avail. He gives up and bath concludes with no further incident. But now we'll have to see if it's a thing.
That's my story for this week.
My story for last week was ... I've spent about 90 minutes so far this Spring picking up rabbit cr*p from our back-yard. Apparently, all the people complaining about the rabbits feeding on their garden and flowers and all the home remedies they've attempted, have only succeeded in driving the city's rabbit population into my yard post meal.
He's even making it through most nights without incident - even to the point of getting out of bed a few times to go potty.
Good thing, they're not making Thomas trains at sufficient pace to supply the reward system we were using.
Here's my poop story for this week ...
Before bath time, he's started jumping on the potty and forcing something out so that he doesn't have to get out mid-bath. Tonight, he did his business, got into the tub, then immediately proclaimed he had to get out and go potty again. Going twice in a row usually means serious business. (For the "sitting" crowd - guys don't have the ability to stop part-way through ... then continue later when it's more convenient.) Anyways, he gets back on the potty and after some serious effort - triumph. After round two - he gets back in the water and after another 10 seconds, decides he's not done. This time, takes more patience and he embellishes his coaxing technique by putting both hands on his head and pressing ... but once again, success. He gets back in the water and decides he wants to give it another go. Again, shows good patience, but eventually tries the squeezing technique - this time to no avail. He gives up and bath concludes with no further incident. But now we'll have to see if it's a thing.
That's my story for this week.
My story for last week was ... I've spent about 90 minutes so far this Spring picking up rabbit cr*p from our back-yard. Apparently, all the people complaining about the rabbits feeding on their garden and flowers and all the home remedies they've attempted, have only succeeded in driving the city's rabbit population into my yard post meal.
Sunday, April 22, 2007
Saturday, April 21, 2007
Nothing happens when you click on this icon...
At a conference on the West coast this past week, we were treated to a motivational talk by Benjamin Zander. If you get the opportunity to hear him speak - grab that opportunity. If you find yourself with the ability to see him in person - don't let that pass you by. In his talk, he referred to a recording of his interpretation of one of Beethoven's movements "as it was originally intended" ... since I'm not a refined listener of classical music, I can best translate that as "even faster than you're used to hearing it." I'll have to track it down and let you know.
Oh yeah, Disneyland was cool too.
At a conference on the West coast this past week, we were treated to a motivational talk by Benjamin Zander. If you get the opportunity to hear him speak - grab that opportunity. If you find yourself with the ability to see him in person - don't let that pass you by. In his talk, he referred to a recording of his interpretation of one of Beethoven's movements "as it was originally intended" ... since I'm not a refined listener of classical music, I can best translate that as "even faster than you're used to hearing it." I'll have to track it down and let you know.
Oh yeah, Disneyland was cool too.
Wednesday, April 11, 2007
The following occurs between 10:10.17 and 10:10.19 ...
Jeez, in the manner of spontaneous combustion, I almost fell/slid off my chair at work just now.
In other news, the boy has stayed dry for over 48 hours (I can feel a relapse even as I type). Our method has been to "make him" go to the bathroom (or at least sit for a while) every hour, then every 90 minutes ... and now he's asking to go on occassion.
Jeez, in the manner of spontaneous combustion, I almost fell/slid off my chair at work just now.
In other news, the boy has stayed dry for over 48 hours (I can feel a relapse even as I type). Our method has been to "make him" go to the bathroom (or at least sit for a while) every hour, then every 90 minutes ... and now he's asking to go on occassion.
Tuesday, April 03, 2007
The Art of Deep Slumber
Note the maximum air intake potential.
Protective colouring in the cheek area that warns potential interlopers of pending danger of abrupt awakening.
The slightly damp fur is a known barometer of rest efficiency, measured to the 5th decile.
Slight abrasion around the frontal lobe is a marking found in nature showing the aggressive, predatory nature.
Note the maximum air intake potential.
Protective colouring in the cheek area that warns potential interlopers of pending danger of abrupt awakening.
The slightly damp fur is a known barometer of rest efficiency, measured to the 5th decile.
Slight abrasion around the frontal lobe is a marking found in nature showing the aggressive, predatory nature.
Wednesday, March 28, 2007
Saturday, March 24, 2007
Sunday, March 18, 2007
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Here I sit, broken software ... no, that's not how it goes ...
As I sit waiting for Movie Maker to recover from a crash (nice that it recovers itself from temp files; not so nice that it crashed in the 1st place) ... it dawns on me that "big sis" e-mailed me earlier from a Blackberry; Nai-Nai has a better camera than me; and yet, I type this an a PC that's at least 2-generations old.
Good thing that Casio, is not available yet online.
As I sit waiting for Movie Maker to recover from a crash (nice that it recovers itself from temp files; not so nice that it crashed in the 1st place) ... it dawns on me that "big sis" e-mailed me earlier from a Blackberry; Nai-Nai has a better camera than me; and yet, I type this an a PC that's at least 2-generations old.
Good thing that Casio, is not available yet online.
Monday, March 12, 2007
Career choices
Just in case jazz-hands don't work out for the girl, she could always fall-back to ... falling back.
Looking for a new digital video recorder. Tried and tossed this ... (terrible video - everything looked like blair witch)
Upgraded and tried out this ... but it's gone back too. (No tripod mount. Poor battery life. Video quality not good enough for $'s.)
Waiting for this to show up within catch and release distance. It claims to support new MPEG4 part 10 compression for better quality while still using less memory space than my current digital camera. 7x optical zoom, usable in video mode too. Just have to get over ... it's a Casio?
For now, it's back to the Canon S2 IS and video life 8 minutes at a time (or low res). And really, is that so bad? (Check back later for my response.)
Upgraded and tried out this ... but it's gone back too. (No tripod mount. Poor battery life. Video quality not good enough for $'s.)
Waiting for this to show up within catch and release distance. It claims to support new MPEG4 part 10 compression for better quality while still using less memory space than my current digital camera. 7x optical zoom, usable in video mode too. Just have to get over ... it's a Casio?
For now, it's back to the Canon S2 IS and video life 8 minutes at a time (or low res). And really, is that so bad? (Check back later for my response.)
Saturday, March 10, 2007
Saturday, March 03, 2007
So, I've set up shop on blip.tv (see link on sidebar) ... we'll see how that works out. Using YT was ok, pretty easy to set up and upload clips, but too much noise and it got embarrassing to have my video's always classified next to ... well y'know ... you're gonna make me say it aren't you? Ok, I don't want my kids hanging out on YouTube watching - swimming! There should be some controls ... it's all there for the curious (and amphibious). Backstroke, dog-paddle, treading water ... and you divers aren't much better either.
Oh yeah, I finally moved to new blogger as well. To celebrate, I picked a more generic and drabber (drabberly?) theme.
Anyways, hope to have new pics of kids and other happenings ... it's just been too cold for my camera. With the freezing shutter, everything and everyone looks like LeMans ... (that would be "Daytona" for any Merickens that happen by here).
Oh yeah, I finally moved to new blogger as well. To celebrate, I picked a more generic and drabber (drabberly?) theme.
Anyways, hope to have new pics of kids and other happenings ... it's just been too cold for my camera. With the freezing shutter, everything and everyone looks like LeMans ... (that would be "Daytona" for any Merickens that happen by here).
Friday, January 26, 2007
This was the conversation yesterday morning with the boy (TB) ...
(TB) Daddy! I see a bus!
(Me) Yes, a school bus.
(TB) No!. Not school bus.
(Me) Yes. That's a school bus.
(TB) NO! NOT school bus!
(Me) Yes. School buses are orange.
(TB) NOOOOO! NOT SCHOOL BUS!
(Me), what colour is that bus?
(TB) Orange.
(Me) And what colour is a school bus?
(TB) Orange ...
(TB) That school bus?
(TB) Daddy! I see a bus!
(Me) Yes, a school bus.
(TB) No!. Not school bus.
(Me) Yes. That's a school bus.
(TB) NO! NOT school bus!
(Me) Yes. School buses are orange.
(TB) NOOOOO! NOT SCHOOL BUS!
(Me)
(TB) Orange.
(Me) And what colour is a school bus?
(TB) Orange ...
(TB) That school bus?
Friday, January 12, 2007
Monday, December 25, 2006
Merry Christmas all (burp). This was finished at about 11:30PM Xmas eve. It's a puppet theatre / store front for the kids.
It was supposed to be red and yellow but apparently I brought home a quart of decade old paint - thank you HD supply chain - your stock velocity is underwhelming. Good thing our local Wally's world was one of those open for 24 hours for your holiday convenience. Bad thing, they only had this brand that, instead of drying in 30-60 minutes, was rated to dry in 3-5 hours which translated into the degrees Kelvin we use to (not) heat our house, takes a good day and a half.
And of course, the thing I had the most difficulty with, was the store bought curtains and curtain rod.
I think next year, they're getting a playstation 7 or whatever they're up to / taking pre-orders for at that point.
It was supposed to be red and yellow but apparently I brought home a quart of decade old paint - thank you HD supply chain - your stock velocity is underwhelming. Good thing our local Wally's world was one of those open for 24 hours for your holiday convenience. Bad thing, they only had this brand that, instead of drying in 30-60 minutes, was rated to dry in 3-5 hours which translated into the degrees Kelvin we use to (not) heat our house, takes a good day and a half.
And of course, the thing I had the most difficulty with, was the store bought curtains and curtain rod.
I think next year, they're getting a playstation 7 or whatever they're up to / taking pre-orders for at that point.
Monday, December 18, 2006
The elves
This would have been the Xmas card if it wasn't for the cutlery in the background and the evidence of child safety issues. (I was going to ID that for you, but let's play "spot the hazard".)
Canon PS next
A few reasons why I need the next model up from my Canon S2 IS ...
- relatively low ISO capability (tops out at 400)
- silly 1GB file limit/2GB SD card limit - which is a real problem because I tend to use this as my camcorder
- my mom has the S3 IS
- relatively low ISO capability (tops out at 400)
- silly 1GB file limit/2GB SD card limit - which is a real problem because I tend to use this as my camcorder
- my mom has the S3 IS
Xmas concert
From the evening show of the girl's school concert. This was the big Vegas finish - that's her on the bottom right (in green circle). Hard to tell, but she spent most of her time on stage looking for us in the crowd.
Friday, December 15, 2006
Mine!
This is now designated as the girl's yak-bucket. No one else gets to use it or play with it; it's been marked.
FWIW - The boy has learned how to run to the bathroom if he thinks he has to chow.
FWIW - The boy has learned how to run to the bathroom if he thinks he has to chow.
Thursday, December 14, 2006
This past Saturday, we took the kids to my workplace's kids Xmas party - Santa vs. The Snowman - in 3D IMAX! Kids, this is not your older sibling's 3D effects with the cardboard glasses that gave you paper cuts over your years and resulted in an inability to engage in strenuous activities, drive or otherwise direct large vehicles.This was almost as good as the T3 3D show at Universal Studio's (the last 3D show I saw). Good enough to make the boy recoil and pull his glasses off every time something shot out of the screen at him. 2 for flinching, boy!
Anyways, I'm a convert - we'll see if the boy likes the Polar Express in 3D.
BTW - Kids Party Santa? DENIED!
Friday, December 08, 2006
Monday, December 04, 2006
Pretty fly for my little guy ...
Cross my keyboard, but the boy made progress this weekend in the potty training arena ... wasn't that the name of the old engineering building on campus?
Saturday was ... messy. But he did great on Sunday and only had one mishap early this morning. Made it through daycare and all the way to bed time!
To think, all it took was Thomas Train gitch ... so what if they cost $30 a piece?
Saturday was ... messy. But he did great on Sunday and only had one mishap early this morning. Made it through daycare and all the way to bed time!
To think, all it took was Thomas Train gitch ... so what if they cost $30 a piece?
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