Clean Cut Crew

The Boxing Day sale excursion yielded a shaving kit for Kai. Here we are in action:

Christmas 2008, Round 4

Christmas proper began with Kai's first words: "Did Santa eat his cookie?"

The smile on Reiko's face indicates that her eBay present was a hit:


After a morning of cinnamon buns and present opening, we headed to the farm for the festivities with my side of the family. The kids were appropriately doted upon by everyone, although my mom was feeling sick and spent much of the day resting in bed. On the up side, she didn't have to go to work.

The next few days shape up to beer-drinking, book-reading and wine-shopping if my gifts are any indication. Merry Christmas everyone. Again.

Party Tricks

I didn't encourage them to do this. But I didn't not un-discourage them either... (how's that for a George W.ism?)


You'll note that Kai has increased the degree of difficulty by standing on one leg.

Christmas 2008, Round 3

Our Christmas observances begin at Thanksgiving with Shelley's cousins, continue in November with her parents before their Floridian migration, and as the 25th creeps closer, with her sister and boyfriend.

Their gifts were on the mark. Princess Reiko loved Disney's Rapunzel Princess:


And Kai has a real-life guitar of his own:

Woody's Roundup

An ardent fan of the Toy Story franchise, Kai was the beneficiary of a pre-loved Woody toy. One of Shelley's co-workers passed along this doll (action figure?) to Kai's great delight.



And no, we don't have the heat turned up in the house; he just likes to dress as if it is. Mind over matter, perhaps. Merry early Christmas.

pre-Advent Preparations

So it's not officially Advent yet, but we've undertaken the decorative preparations for the coming Christmas blitz. My liturgical stricture has abated over the years, conceding that sometimes you need to take on tasks when you have the time and energy for them.

Reiko is perhaps contemplating the seriousness of our transgression, or pondering the true meaning of the season:


Kai, not so much:

Hallowe'en 2008: Firefighter and the Fairy

Speaking of Hallowe'en, Kai actually was excited to be trick or treating. Perhaps he felt the dignity of his costumed profession required a more solemn demeanour.



I think we tallied 120 visitors or so. It's hard to keep track when you're on the phone with your satellite TV provider (resolving technical troubles/advocating for financial reimbursement for our trouble) while answering the door.

First Dump of Winter

It looks like the weather is dressing up like winter for Hallowe'en this year.

Pop Go the Wiggles

Kai's first big-ticket concert experience came tonight, courtesy of Australia's richest entertainers: The Wiggles.

They indulged the Canadian crowd with a rendition of Raffi's "Baby Beluga" and all the usual gimmicks and characters. If we played a drinking game, taking a shot every time Anthony drew attention to himself, we'd be too wasted to walk back to the car. Although his Patrick Swayze impersonation was quite clever, in a desperate kind of way.

Kai's favourite Wiggle of late, Sam, came within high-fiving distance of us. I didn't have the camera ready in time to snap a photo in his face.

As a keepsake of the night, the kids are bedecked in concert finery:

Kai's First Photo

Our budding young photographer's first photo:

"Ducks on the Avon"

The fluidity of the subjects anticipated progress set against the textured water presents a feeling of poignant reflection amid autumn gloom. The muted tones of dark birds on cool grey shades seem dreary and forlorn, but it offers a statement of solidarity and persistence in the face of emptiness. A powerful, moving piece – I look forward to great things from this artist.

You can see his sister's first work here.

Pigs and Play

I took the kids into Stratford to visit my aunt and uncle, we stopped at a park where they climbed to new heights.





Back on the farm, my dad presented them with a piglet which they approached with guarded curiosity:

Life on the Farm

Upon my return, I headed home to my parents' farm with the kids to give Shelley a break.

They soon gravitated towards the machinery:


Especially Kai:


A ride in the combine was special treat, notwithstanding all the noise from the open door:

Free Lunch

Completing the culinary reunion tour (having already feasted on Darbar and Brew Pub), I stopped at The Wok-In on my way out of town.

It was pretty busy for the lunch hour, I grabbed a seat at a table as someone finished up. I'd ordered my standard #4 with extra spring roll, and another one as take-out for Shelley. While I waited, someone joined me at the table.

We got to talking and of course, ended up talking about church and faith, etc. where he shared his profound respect for my vocation and marvelled at my (apparent) youth. In the end, he insisted on paying for my lunch (and Shelley's supper) because the Lord has been good to him and his business this year. Thanks Andy. And thank the Lord too, I suppose.

Return to Kingston

It's a trip back to the Limestone City for the Annual Conference at Queen's Theological College. For the first time in 3 years, there were no Korean ladies at Inverary Golf Course for my pre-conference round. I was, however, able to take advantage of their 2-for-1 Mondays, getting together with a classmate of mine.

A cruise downtown showed a few changes: the once-heralded (albeit dubiously) Lino's has changed hands once again – this time LegendZ Italian restaurant, bar and grill hopes to establish itself on Princess and Division. I was sad to see that Café Max had closed and relieved that the creepy doll store on Brock Street is no longer there.

Stopping by some familiar haunts yielded some previously-used CDs completing my New Pornographers collection, beginning my Buck 65 one and procuring a pound of the Sleepless Goat Café's "Dr. Joe" coffee beans. Such are the sounds, sights and flavours of Kingston in the fall.

Fall Photos 2008

Leaf helmets (and we don't mean fan wear for that Toronto team that hogs all the area sports attention - says the bitter basketball fan):


Pumpkin Rider:


Treehugger:

Canada Votes 2008. Not!

Upon our return from the hotel, Shelley and I exercised our franchise and voted in the federal election. Through VotePair.ca I had arranged to swap my vote with someone in London-Fanshawe. I'm still committed to the left-leaning socialistic side of the political spectrum; while my background in environmental biology might nudge me to the Green Party, the rest of their platform is not so inspiring.

Within our riding, the NDP had not put forth a strong showing or inclination in running a candidate (unnamed for the first few weeks of the campaign, apparently absent from local All-Candidates meeting - so was I, so who am I to judge?, and the campaign manager for another candidate in a neighbouring riding). So I was torn: if I voted NDP, it would be like the party was taking me for granted ... but did I want to strategically vote Liberal?

Moxywoman sent a link to VotePair and I saw this as a way that I could still support the NDP, vote Liberal if I had to (and not feel dirty about it) and feel as if my vote made a difference. So the upshot was that I was matched up with a voter in London-Fanshawe who re-elected the NDP incumbent and I voted Green (which I was prepared to do anyway, given that Stéphane Dion blew his chance at my vote with his comment about NDP coalitions with the Marijuana and Nudist parties).

In the green spirit (and of Ed Begley, Jr. on the Simpsons episode "Homer to the Max"), I rode my bike to the polling station to vote, powered by my own sense of self-satisfaction.

Thanksgiving Holiday 2008

Foregoing the standard apologies for being swamped and non-bloggy, here's the quick skip through October:

Thanksgiving Holiday
As a supplement to the double-barrelled turkey action (beginning with Christmas 2008, part 1 with Shelley's cousins followed the next day by family thanksgiving with my folks on the farm), we went to a hotel for an overnight holiday. Shelley had a 5-day weekend and we ventured to the Best Western Lamplighter Inn for some special occasion fun.


Kai did well in the pool until falling facefirst into the water. I caught him immediately, but he was done with aquatics after that. Reiko enjoyed herself immensely, so we may look into swimming lessons next summer. Continuing in a maritime theme, the kids tried some shrimp with supper at Red Lobster and enjoyed the experience.

The Rest of the Summer

I'm not exactly sure where the rest of September went ... mind you, there were a couple weekends where I was sick with this sinus cold-headache combo that did a number on me.

Life at the churches has been busy with everything that seems to happen all at once. Reinvigorating the Sunday Schools at the start of a new year, Cemetery Decoration Day services, a special worship for the Fall Fair in Glencoe, reminded me that getting back into the routine of work might not happen until November when all the special events and occasions have passed. Just in time to get wound up for Advent/Christmas.

At one point, I had 4 distinctly different worship services in 2 days. But enough about me.

Reiko's enjoying French Immersion, coming home with new words for her vocabulary and new friends for her peer network. The new skincare system seems to be working well with her eczema and ballet class has been a hit.

Kai has taken to shirking his clothes at every opportunity, preferring to strut around in his diaper (yes, still a diaper ... we're still waiting for that cognitive turning point in his potty training). He's discovered he likes eating raw mushrooms, and while he'll pick green peppers off the neighbour's plants (with her permission, thankfully), he won't actually eat them.

Shelley has also been busy with her work and the fresh start that September represents. She's currently away at a literacy conference in Niagara Falls. Coincidentally, she is there with the spouse of one of my ministry compadres; he and I often are away together for various church functions, this time it's their turn to have some time away.

So that's the latest from our end, maybe the change in season will allow for more blogtime ... maybe I should just stop saying that, but I am a person of hope.

Alternatorily

When the car began acting up this morning, I knew it wasn't the ignition coil or misfiring plugs. The battery light that flashed red and the wildly fluctuating gauges (could I really have been driving 260 km/h?) prompted me to proceed directly to the garage.

With no loaner car available, and the complimentary shuttle service not extending as far the church office, I had them drive me home where I would do my work. A call in the afternoon confirmed that we need a new alternator.

Shelley's dad often says its cheaper to fix an older car than to pay the depreciation on a new one. Lately, I think we're getting to the tipping point of this fine balance. But after 8 years and 246 000 km, things are bound to wear out.

Back to School 2008

The early morning fog delayed buses, but didn't dampen Reiko's enthusiasm for the first day of Senior Kindergarten, en français. Kai has another year of daycare before he can put his Spiderman lunchbag to proper use, but it's always good to practise.



Her return home was far more eventful: Reiko wasn't on the bus! I hurried to the school where we managed to figure out that the teacher sent her on the same bus as some boys that live on our street ... except those boys go to a babysitter in the afternoon in a different part of town. So Rei got a tour of Strath Vegas before being returned to the school.

Although she did knew that the bus she got on didn't have any kids (or bus driver) she recognized, she likely thought things were different now that she was in SK, French Immersion. (Not riding the bus in the morning because of the fog didn't help things any).

In the end, everything worked out. She and I went grocery shopping and got a special treat for her trouble and I made her requested spaghetti for supper.