Daddy rocks at "letters"

John will hate me for shouting this news from the rooftops but the boys and I are so proud that it must be done.

As you might know, John has travelled to Lake George, NY for a Scrabble tournament in mid-October for the last number of years. He goes with a group of friends and they have an absolute blast no matter what happens on the Scrabble board. This past weekend was no different; he went down with some great friends for a guys’ weekend of playing the game that he loves, hanging out, enjoying “wholesome” American pub food, "educational" American TV shows, and more.

The big difference this year was that HE WON THE TOURNAMENT. He was ranked 28th of 28 players in Division 1 but he went 12-3 over three days and won the whole thing. The field included various former world and national champions, so this was no small feat. His rating has shot up and he is ranked in the top 75 in North America and top 15 in Canada. Not to mention the little bit o' prize money he brought home!

This win is especially wonderful considering that John doesn’t play nearly as much as he used to with our two niblets at home. Apparently, he’s still got it!

In the words of Max, GO DADDY GO!


Yes, this is an old picture:)

Hunks in the pool

I love the matching farmers' tans. Thanks to my friend J for sending me this photo and to J's mum for snapping it during a Monday swimming lesson at Dovercourt.

Thanksgiving and giving thanks

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend here at Casa Stardom. Saturday involved a full day of fun at birthday parties and a street festival in Westboro. Sunday, we hosted a turkey dinner for family and friends and capped the evening with some games. Finally, Thanksgiving Monday was spent outside with family and at the park and we were treated to a wonderful lunch at the Newport. Life is good.

I meant to ask our dinner guests on Sunday to share something that they were thankful for but I forgot to ask in the flurry of dishing up. Instead, I’ll share some things that I am thankful for.

I’m thankful for my husband who still makes me laugh every day after almost fifteen years together. I am so proud of him for taking the plunge as a stay-at-home dad. He makes every day an adventure and I’m so glad that he chose me as his co-pilot.

I’m thankful for my beautiful, healthy boys. This past weekend, Max managed to crawl into bed beside me in the middle of the night without me even knowing and I woke up with his little sleeping body next to me. We definitely don’t want to make that a habit but it was pretty wonderful to cuddle him and watch him sleep. He barely slows down these days so getting a quick cuddle in is time well spent. Leo is on the run exploring everything and trying desperately to talk to us. His frantic run to the door every night when I get home from work for a big hug is something to look forward to.

I’m thankful for my family. We’re close-knit and crazy. Our brand of crazy doesn’t work for everybody but it works for us because we love and support each other no matter what.

I’m thankful for my other family, the Stardoms. We’re having an extended visit with them in November and I’m really excited to see them all. To share conversation and some shopping with my mother-in-law, to see Murray and Kathy’s new house and Kathy’s baby bump, to share some Winnipeg attractions with the boys, to see John’s dad and stepmum in Winnipeg for the first time in years and so much more.

I’m thankful for my friends near and far who add richness and depth to my life. For my friend Kerry who treated me to a crazy big Starbucks hot chocolate this afternoon as we discussed the merits of The Social Network and laughed like crazy when the barista delivered an “Iced Vente Iced Water with Ice”, a.k.a a big glass of ice water. For my friend Renee who shared Thanksgiving dinner with us and did a crazy pile of dishes so that my kitchen actually looked better after dinner than it had before dinner. For my friends Is and Greg who took me to their favourite brunch place in their new neighbourhood in Toronto last weekend for perfect waffles and poached eggs.

I’m thankful that our fridge and pantry are full and we're able to feed the boys a healthy and varied diet. Thanksgiving is an excellent reminder that so many people in our community are not as lucky and fortunate as us.

I’m thankful for my health. I beat myself up about the extra pounds I carry around on my frame but this body plays a mean game of ultimate and shot two babies out in pretty spectacular fashion. Kind of like Spartacat's t-shirt gun. I have work to do but I’ll get there.

I’m thankful for the little things too – a great new dress for work that I picked up in Toronto last weekend, pumpkin pie, great garage sale finds, getting a seat on the bus on the way home so that I can read a great book (just finished the first book in the Millennium Trilogy), fall leaves, sunny and crisp days, a funny podcast, catching all of the previews at a movie, and so much more.

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving wherever you are and that you had a moment to reflect on what you are thankful for too.

Here's to you, Mommy

September's such an interesting time to have a birthday as it always seems to happen around other interesting events for us. Holly, 15 years ago, you were in the process of starting your life at university. And you had just met me. 11 years ago, you gambled and hopped in a convertible with me to move across the country and settle in Vancouver for a while. 9 years ago, you were married and hopped back in the car to go back to school in Kingston. A year later, you started the career portion of your life, working for the Feds. Three years ago, you were getting used to your new life as a mother. Three nights ago, you were doing this:



You've come a long way baby. Happy birthday.

John & the boys.

My three-year old boy

To my darling boy,

Happy birthday! I can’t believe that it has been three years since you arrived and changed my world forever.

I love your “superhugs” – a recent invention of yours where you wrap your legs around our waists and your arms around our necks really tight and squeeze. Nothing beats a superhug from you.

You still love all things construction-related – heavy machinery, cranes, bulldozers, backhoe loaders, asphalt, rollers, piles of gravel, etc. You can’t quite say “construction”; it comes out more like “conscrushin”. You love all of the road work near Carleton Place on Highway 7 and the big residential builds near our place – there is almost always a crane in action if we go by during the day.

You started preschool. When we ask you about what you are doing at school, you can never seem to remember anything but then you will break into song or tell us a story about something that happened at school at another totally random time of day. I think it is a good change for you.

You can make your own fun. You recently knocked my socks off by playing, reading, snacking, and keeping yourself happy for an entire three-hour van ride with no stops at all. I see some road trips in our future.

Your imagination is really active, from playing doctor and fixing everyone to raising dinosaurs on a farm.

I thought that your love of Bob the Builder was wavering but you still seem very interested in reading all of your Bob books. You love, love, LOVE books in general. Nothing makes me happier than curling up with you on the couch and reading and giggling together. Some of your favourite books right now are The Cat in the Hat, The Cat in the Hat Comes Back, Go Dog Go and Big Dog, Little Dog.

You ask for dessert with your breakfast. You come by that one honestly.

You love the bath but you hate getting rained on. You've recently developed a fear of thunderstorms, although your fear of the tub drain seems to have subsided.

You love custard dessert tofu, egg sushi, marshmallows, udon noodles, cherry tomatoes, dim sum (especially BBQ pork buns and shrimp dumplings), olives, Nana’s jello creations, ground cherries, jelly beans, frozen blueberries, macaroni and cheese, and butterscotch chips. You actually said liver was "Yum". You don’t like potatoes. You don’t like things that you think are “spicy” but you like some things that I would consider spicy. You are willing to try new things.

You’re growing – I thought we were safe with 3T but you had a 3T shirt on the other day and it was too short for you. Sometimes I wish that I could keep you little forever.

Your response to almost every question these days is “I don’t know” but you aren’t fooling anyone. You are remembering stories and songs and little facts about the world around you. You surprise me every day with the things you are observing and taking in.

I love you, monkey. I hope your fourth year brings many more adventures.

Mum

Happy 3rd b-day buddy!

Yes, Max is now three years old. We are actually three years old as parents. Whhaaaaat? We are still in the age of two parties (in essence, one for family and one for little friends)....come to think of it, does that ever end?....so Max's birthday kind of turned into an extra long weekend of festivities. He was swamped by wonderful gifts and has been hard at work playing with all of them ever since. Here's the lowdown on Max's big days:

On Thursday the 9th (Max's actual birthday), Holly arranged to take the day off work and we all set out for the newly-renovated Museum of Nature as a family. Max had been to the Museum on three previous occasions (and Leo once), but huge parts of the museum were always boarded up and they had one functioning freight elevator so navigating the museum with a stroller was a bit of a gong show. We were really excited to check out the whole shebang for the first time. The Museum was gorgeous! We ended up checking out the dinosaur, water, and mammal wings of the museum before the kids were totally out of juice. Here are the pictures from the morning:


Right after a rousing game of garbage truck (yes, that's what the boys are playing here), Max got three or four birthday calls. By 9 in the morning. Cool.

Here's Holly, perhaps exposing Max to a bit too much dinosaur. This is about 20 minutes before she sat him down to a movie (When Mammals Ruled the Earth or something?) where a marauding army of millions of carnivorous ants attacked a prehistoric baby bird still in its eggshell, leaving Max screaming "Where's his mommy??? WHERE'S HIS MOMMY???" Good one.

Leo checks out the audio tour. Seriously, quiz him on extinction-level events.

It looks like the Vancouver Aquarium was no fluke. Leo loves his fish.

In the Water wing, there is a mock icebreaker with a lab, kitchen and Zodiac set up. The kids had a real blast in this area. The above photo is a menu that Max set up as the boat's chef. Looks yummy! The lower photo, ummmm, welll, at one point Max had to, ummmm, excuse himself to expunge some solid waste. So he hid in the cabinet under the sink for some privacy. This was just fantastic in that we didn't see this happening and we totally thought he was lost for a few panicked moments. The smell should have given him away but a muffled "I'm pooing" when we started calling for him alerted us to his location.


After getting home, we fired the kids into bed and they gave us a long nap, just enough time to decorate and prepare the super yummy taco dinner for our guests. For those of you who don't know, Holly makes the best tacos.


Holly, amped up about the taco dinner. No, REALLY amped up.

See, everyone's lovin' them some tacos.

Max and his nana-made cake. He was talking about the marshmallows for days.
Two days later, we piled a few different adventures together. We kicked off the day by giving the kids haircuts. Yep, that's Leo's first. He was pretty good about it, but a lot more fidgety than Max so the stylist wasn't that comfortable going short around the ears. So the pseudo-curls around the ears are gone, but it still ended up a little scraggly. Here's the evidence:



Introducing the new and improved Leo "Laser" Stardom!

After we left the confines of the mall, it turned out to be a beautiful day and Holly suggested that we go out and do something to take advantage of the weather. She had seen an ad in the local paper for a fall fair at the "Unitarian House" by our place that featured a kids' play area, live entertainment, a BBQ and a rummage sale. So we went. It turns out that Unitarian House is a monster seniors' home and we essentially walked into the middle of a fun fair for 75+ers. The kids' play area was a pair of unattended tables, one with craft stuff and the other with a big tub o' Lego. We ended up having a blast (see the Elvis impersonator below - he was British!), ate some BBQey goodness and found some deals. The kids absolutely loved it and the residents got a real kick out of the boys too.




That evening, we booked a time slot at Starr Gymnastics (inspired by the birthday of a friend of Max's that was held there in August) and invited a bunch of Max's toddler friends for an evening of fun in the gym. The party featured an hour of instructor-led activities such as floor exercises, beam-walking, trampoline time, launching selves into a pit of foam blocks and generally a lot of jumping off of things. This was followed by an hour in a private room where we served pizza, veggies, drinks and cupcakes.


Max warming up with "Chili" and "Thumper".

It was training day at Starr, so we actually scored a foursome of instructors-in-training.

Max's crew of little buddies.

Max doing his best Tarzan.

Starr had four monster trampolines for the kids to use. To be honest, most of the parents snuck on for a few bounces too.

Almost certainly the highest thing that Max has jumped from in his life. That or the rear bumper of the van this month. Too bad our driveway isn't a big foam pit.

At the end of the class, Max was told to turn his back while everyone else was instructed to wish him a big Happy Birthday when he turned back around. This was really interesting for me to see. When Max plays in a big group, he typically keeps to himself and prefers independent playtime (reminds me of me). The whole time we were at Starr, the instructors repeatedly made the activities focus on Max to some extent and it was strange to see Max be the center of attention. He seemed to handle it pretty well and it made him smile a lot so that was pretty cool.

Everyone worked up quite an appetite.

Max had a really great time at both parties and I'm really glad that so many people could attend one or the other. I kind of expected there to be more tears on Max's part, but he handled the excitement relatively well. Now I suppose we have to shift our attention to Halloween...

Pop Life and Poutine

I thought I would share a few photos of the boys enjoying pop art and local cuisine this Labour Day.

We started the day with a family trip to the National Gallery of Canada to see the Pop Life exhibit. John and I had both wanted to see this special exhibit before it ends on September 19th so we decided to make it a family affair. Max was very curious about the Gallery and seeing art. He started off his visit to the Gallery by getting up close and personal with Maman, the giant spider sculpture outside the Gallery. He loved her and was fascinated by the giant marble eggs in her belly.


The Pop Life exhibit was awesome, including works by Andy Warhol, Keith Haring, Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons and Takashi Murakami. Back in 1997, John and I had travelled to Toronto from Peterborough to see a Keith Haring exhibit at the Art Gallery of Ontario and I have been a fan ever since. Seeing a recreation of his Pop Shop was awesome. Leo also enjoyed it:


Max enjoyed watching Andy Warhol in old “The Love Boat” episodes, a unicorn encased in glass, and meeting The Twins (SO cool – a piece by Damien Hirst featuring live identical twins) but his absolute favourite was the Takashi Murakami video installation AKIHABARA MAJOKKO PRINCESS (which showed on a 103-inch plasma screen). For want of a better description, it is a music video starring Kirsten Dunst as a live-action anime princess. The images come at you a mile a minute. To say that Max loved this video would be an understatement. We literally had to drag him away from the screen and we still think he watched it at least a dozen times. Oh well. It gave John and I both a chance to go back into the exhibition to see the “Adults Only” rooms.


All in all, I think it was a successful first visit to the Gallery and I definitely think that we will be bringing the boys back as they get older.

After visiting the Gallery, we walked around the Byward Market for a bit and got some crèpes for lunch – magnifique! We made it back to the van just as the rain started to fall.

We had made plans to go to the Gatineau Hot Air Balloon Festival in the early evening to check out the grand finale when all of the balloons take flight at the same time. We went last year and Max absolutely loved it. My best friend from high school J has recently moved back to Ottawa for the first time since high school so J and her partner T decided to join us. The weather was still crappy so we checked the Festival website to see what the status of balloons might be. The Balloonmeister (yes, a real word – they are sort of an air traffic control person for hot air balloons) uses a flag system (green, yellow, red, pink, blue) to determine the flying conditions.

Despite the still pounding rain, we thought we would head over to Gatineau to check out the Festival grounds and cross our fingers that some balloons would be flying. Alas, we saw the red flag flying so we abandoned our mission to watch balloons and set out on a new mission: to find poutine for J and T, who had been craving the treat since their return from the West. We drove around Gatineau for a few minutes before spotting a small sign for Bob Patate, a classic Quebecois fry place with an order counter inside and not much else. We ordered a few mediums to eat in the car and a “poutine familiale” to share at home. The adults thoroughly enjoyed the poutine but we weren’t sure about feeding it to the boys. Max decided that he likes his fries plain with no gravy or cheese. Leo on the other hand is a born poutine lover! He saw the giant Styrofoam container of poutine and dove right in with both hands and two forks:



What an awesome day!