Picking Food Up Off The Floor

A Little Verbal Exchange

Excerpt from a grocery trip conversation between Brandon and I.

Me:”What do you have to do in the store?”
Bran: “Hold onto the cart”

Me: “That’s right, you get an “A”"
Bran: “Andrew’s name starts with ‘A’”

The boys now don’t like to ride in the stroller, nor do they like to ride in the cart. I was lucky actually. They were willing to do both for a long time. But now it’s made life a bit more difficult. So the rule is, they have to hold onto the cart. Today, Drew had to ride because he repeatedly refused to hold on when I asked him to. Although he didn’t seem too upset about it, so it worked out fine for all of us. Now that they are walking around the store lots more things get put into the cart than what I’m planning to buy, so I am learning to maneuver strategically and find good places to dump off their loot! The boys have also figured out how to work the conveyor belt at the end of the checkout and so have been getting my grocery bags stuck under it at the end. It’s the kind of button where one side turns it on and you have to flip it the other way to turn it off. Unfortunately they’re not as fast as we would like them to be at flipping the switch. Although they are as fast as they want to be. At first the cashiers thought they were cute, now I’m not so sure they think that! Another week until we go again!

I have to say though, it’s alot of fun to see what interests them in the store (like whole grain crackers, who can say ‘no’ to that?) and to have conversations like the one above. It’s just hard to weigh those against the work it is to get through the store with all the groceries on the list, no extra snacks, and no tears from any of us! Happy shopping everyone!

Shayna Drew & Bran, Edmonton, Family 4 Comments »

Halloween

I was just about to write a post about how the boys were playing quietly in their room. And it was true for about 15 minutes. Now toys are sailing down the stairs. But calmness seems to be settling once again. I know I’ve been way behind on my posts and I promise they are coming soon. Right now the boys are using their tool set to take apart a gate. I’m not too worried about the screw drivers, but I think their plastic hammer could actually do some damage to it!

Last night we took the boys trick or treating. It’s was lots of fun. We went around the block. All the neighbors oooh’d and ahhh’d over them and they got lots of candy. One house had spooky music playing and when they opened the door, smoke came out. Bran stopped halfway up their sidewalk and didn’t want to go any further. Drew just trudged right on, taking the older brother role and going first. It actually took us a long time to get down our street and up the one behind us. The boys stopped between every house to look at all the pumpkins and stare at other kids dressed up.

After our walk around the block we decided to drive to the Tanner’s and surprise them. As soon as we got out of the car the boys were called over to a house to play some Halloween games and earn their candy. They played a hole of croquet and then had to throw bones into a box. The boys loved this part. They like throwing anything! We got to the Tanner’s, had our surprise and hung out for awhile. The boys dumped their loot and we convinced them to eat tortilla chips instead of their chocolate. We did want them to actually go to sleep! They had the most fun helping to pass out the candy. They would get so excited every time the door bell rang and they ran to the candy pile (the candy was neatly organized in bowls, but when the boys were done, they were covering the stairs instead!). They alternated between giving out only one piece and gathering up whole armfuls to put in the kid’s pillowcases. It was quite hilarious.

Bran also spent a lot of time shushing the Tanner’s dog, Scooter. It was one of those moments where you hear back what they hear you saying at home. We’ve had several service people in the house for various things this week and Noah was shushed a lot. Bran would run up to the gate that Scooter was barking behind and say, “you be quiet!”, “stop barking”, and “shush!”

I think the boys had much more fun there than going door to door for candy. So next year we already have our plan in place. Once around the block and then, go to the Tanners! Hope you don’t mind us inviting ourselves! (We don’t get enough kids at our place to make passing it out nearly as exciting.)

The best part of the evening for us? Besides the cuteness of our little guys, was them falling asleep in the car on the way home.

Well, I have to stop now. Those ‘quiet’ boys have now taken a knob off of a closet door and are going through the wrapping paper!

More Halloween pics are now up on the Gallery.

Shayna Drew & Bran, Family 1 Comment »

“What’s that you say?”

I’m working on some posts about the boys, in the meantime I thought you might like to know what the boys have been saying lately.

Drew: “Alright! Let’s play together!” (He said this to Bran after coming down the stairs and jumping onto the floor in front of their trains.)

Bran: “I wanna drive it on a circle” (Said while watching Drew drive a train around the top of a round container)

Drew: “Life is but a half” (This is Drew’s last sentence to Row Your Boat. Row, row, row, your boat. Gently down the stream. Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily. Life is but a half.) I have no idea why. Bran says Dream, but Drew won’t, it’s always, half.

Bran: “I’m sorry I took your train Andrew” (I think this is Bran’s longest sentence to date, and was of course prompted by the mama saying, “tell your brother you’re sorry you took his train”.)

Drew: “I got you!, me.” (The boys are having some trouble figuring out their pronouns. Sometimes it’s “I got me!”)

Bran: “No say no!” (This started on Monday and now has become a regular saying whenever I tell him ‘no’, or even when I don’t use the word ‘no’, but tell him he can’t do something. Like today at mom’s group I said, “you’re not going upstairs” and he replied, “no say no!”

If anyone remembers hearing anything else cute or funny, let me know. Sometimes there are too many to remember.

Shayna Drew & Bran 2 Comments »

When Balloons Attack

The balloons attacked again last night, but Noah successfully fended them off. I think we need to remember to put them away before we go to bed, so we all don’t have heart attacks.

Shayna Edmonton, Family, Miscellaneous 1 Comment »

On-line Learning

The computer has been an invaluable tool for us of late. It’s amazing to think about the electronic culture our boys are growing up in, when I never used a computer until I went to university. We’ve been using the computer mostly for two things (in addition to playing music and watching videos). The first is to look up musical instruments and listen to their sounds, and watch animals via live or recorded feeds from National Geographic. And more recently we’ve been doing iChat with the grandparents and aunts and uncles. Using my new MAC with the built in camera makes it so much easier!

When the boys started being able to point out the sounds of instruments in music I thought they might want to see what the instruments looked like and what they sounded like. So off we went to Google images to find trumpets, drums, clarinets, flutes, oboes and violins. Then I found a few sites that also gave sounds for the instruments (although most were midi so they weren’t great), but I also found lots of ideas for specific pieces of music that highlight specific instruments that we could download and they could listen to. So from time to time when they’re listening to music the boys will ask to look at instruments on the computer.

About two weeks ago we started watching feeds from National Geographic from a watering hole in Botswana, Africa. There’s not always much to see and usually it’s antelope. But sometimes there are monkeys, warthogs, and elephants that we have seen. The other day the boys and I were watching an elephant drink and then wash himself. The boys were mesmerized. They still don’t quite understand what’s going on though. Soon Bran ran off down the stairs and came back with a sock, he wanted to help the elephant wash off by rubbing his sock over the elephant on the computer screen. He said “helping to clean”. I think he thought he was drying him off! They’ve also gotten to watch grizzly bears in Alaska and Elephant Seals in California. It’s so amazing! Although what they really want to see more than anything is a lion or tiger come to that watering hole. I think they have a tiny chance with the lion, but there are no tigers in that part of Botswana. I hope they get their wish. Although I’m sure I could just find a video somewhere else, like YouTube.

If you’re interested in the National Geographic site, you can check it out here.
http://www9.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/wildcamafrica

More recently the boys have been “emailing” the family and friends. My mom sent them this great email where she told them about things, like the fact that she works in a castle (this is true by the way), and that they should have their mommy help them look up those things, like what a castle is. And that there was a bat in the castle and that we should look up bats. So off we went to Google images for a look at castles. We actually got to look at the castle where Grandma works which was really neat. Then we went to the bats page. Brandon was so excited, he kept pointing at different pictures for me to enlarge and every time I would go back to the email he would get upset. So we spent a good half hour looking at bats, talking about what bats look like, what colors they are, what their faces look like, their wings, etc. Then he helped me reply to grandma’s email by telling me what colors the bats were that he saw, and other features that he could remember, like that they hang upside down, have eyes and ears, etc. We had lots of fun! Thanks Mom!

If you have any other suggestions of interesting images to look up, send them our way.

Shayna Drew & Bran, Family 3 Comments »

Since When is there an Exchange Rate on Air Miles?

Okay, so I haven’t gotten to post any Mon/Fayette Expressways in awhile. I guess I was due.

Tonight Mike was trying to book a ticket back home for an event he has to attend. We decided it would be a good time to use our Northwest Miles since we can’t use them at Christmas or in the summer (that’s a whole other post!). He finally found some flights that he could use our miles on (all the better flights wanted 37,000 miles instead of the usual 25,000). He found a flight he thought was reasonable even though he already had to stop twice and leave and arrive at awful times, but that’s what you expect from airlines, right?

When he went to book his flight and typed in his address in Canada, the number of miles he had to use jumped from 25,000 miles to 32,000 miles! When he was booking the flight and they thought he was residing in the US it was 25,000, but when it became known that his address was in Canada, the cost jumped 7,000 miles! Now maybe I’m being rash or quick to get angry, but does this seem ridiculous to you? I fly on their airline several times a year. They’re happy to take my money and give me sub-par service, all of which I can actually live with, with only a small amount of complaining. But an exchange rate on miles? Really? Everything you read, says 25,000 Continental US and Canada. To make matters even more exasperating they won’t even take our credit card to pay the fees that they charge to process a ticket using Miles. It has to be a credit card issued to someone residing in the US! I’m just dumbfounded at the ridiculousness of this.

Friends who know me well, I’m sure can picture the frustration seething at the surface. Wouldn’t it be fun to sit and talk with me about this? Ha ha! This, my friends, may be the next Mon/Fayette Expressway.

Shayna Miscellaneous, My Mon/Fayette Expressways, My Stuff 1 Comment »

When Things Go Bump in the Night

or…when balloons make funny shadows.

At 4:30 this morning Mike and I woke up to Noah barking and growling like crazy. We weren’t quite sure what to do. So Mike crept downstairs with me following close behind. When he got to the bottom of the stairs he turns to me and says, “you’ve got to see this.” “This” was Noah barking and growling at one of the boy’s balloons. There must have been some change in the air that caused the balloon to move slightly and Noah just freaked. After chuckling over Noah’s seeming distress and moving the balloon out of sight, we had a chance to think about how we responded to Noah’s barking. Should we have taken a baseball bat with us? What if there had been someone in the house? We decided that Mike, upon seeing them first would have peed his pants and turned around to run upstairs but because I was following so close behind he would have crashed into me and we probably would have gone tumbling down the stairs. Maybe that alone would have scared them away! Or at least caught them off guard. I guess maybe we have to come up with a plan. Although hopefully the only people breaking into our house from now on will be balloons.

Shayna Edmonton, Family, Miscellaneous 1 Comment »

So Many Blogs in One Day!

In one afternoon even! They boys were tired out from swimming, so I’ve had a super long naptime to write. Yay! And since I’ve been a bit behind I thought I would get these out. I have one more I’m working on, but I usually like to go back and re-read them (which is usually the hold up in getting them posted). Anyway, be thankful with me for long naptimes and the energy to hopefully write something coherent!

Shayna Drew & Bran, My Stuff 2 Comments »

Making their Parents Proud

Lately the boys have been doing some fun things that have made both Mike and I proud, mostly because they are things that we are interested in!

A few weeks ago when Mike was putting Drew to bed, Bran and I were doing puzzles. Bran gathered up all the puzzles and then started tapping on them. He told me it was his computer. He was working like daddy. So we’ve been sending off pretend emails to grandma, nana and papa. Eventually we’ll get to the real thing, but I’m not quite ready to confuse them over when they’re allowed to touch the computer and when they’re not.

Mike started teaching the boys to play Carcasonne not too long ago. The version of the game is very basic. The boys have to take turns taking tiles out of the bag, they have to lay a tile next to another tile, they may not pick up any of the tiles already on the table! This was been working fairly well, although it’s not a simple as you would think! But it’s music to his ears when his little boys run up to him asking “play a game daddy?”

For my part the boys have taken a real interest in music. They love to listen to music and whenever I have Itunes running on the computer they want to come to the table and just watch the screen and listen to the music (even though the only thing on the screen is a photo album cover). Getting to watch the visualizer is a real treat. They especially like listening to Copland’s Fanfare for the Common Man, Appalachian Spring, and Hoe Down. During Fanfare, whenever the trumpets start playing they yell “trumpets, yay!” Bran is always asking where the flutes are so we wait for the next song to hear the flutes. They also like listening for the elbow (aka the oboe, they even point to their elbows!) Sometimes when I’m trying to get them into the kitchen (either from watching a video or just being distracted with play) all I have to do is put on Fanfare for the Common man, and they literally come running! Dan got the boys the CDs, “Classics for Children with Arthur Fiedler” and Peter and the Wolf. They’re awesome and the boys are starting to listen to those as well.

The other day Drew learned how to play a note on his plastic flutaphone. He can put his right finger over the first hole and take it on and off. He gets so excited that he starts jumping up and down and running for a high five. I wish I could get a video of it!

The boys are also starting to really enjoy swimming. Drew is especially taking to it (although Bran did awesome at lessons today). And often doesn’t mind going under when he jumps off the wall. The boys throw their boats out into the water then jump off into our arms and swim to the boat. Drew really gets his legs going and I think he could almost swim without me holding him if he didn’t panic a little bit when his head goes under. We’ve had fun going to the pool in Becky’s building. This Saturday we start another round of swim lessons. I’ve noticed one problem that Bran might have with moving to the next level which is where they really start to put their faces under and that’s that he can never keep his mouth closed! The boy is a mouth breather and I can’t get him to hold his breath, or even keep his lips together to go under. The instructor suggested that we practice humming. I think he’ll get there pretty soon.

Becky if you read this…when we were telling the boys about going to swim lessons Bran kept saying, “going swimming with Becky!” So now they are learning that our Saturday lessons are with other kids in a class so to distinguish in their minds, Bran keeps saying “going swimming with other kids”. Now hear around the house, “going swimming with Becky” and “going swimming with other kids” usually made in the form of a question so we will tell them which one they are doing!

Shayna Drew & Bran, Edmonton, Family, Friends 3 Comments »

Organized and Not So Organized Activities

Yesterday I took the boys to this really cool morning of play at the North East Edmonton Gymnastics Club. I met another wife from the department who has been taking her girls to this drop-in morning so I decided to meet up with her and check it out. Basically it a giant room of gymnastics equipment and the kids run around and play on whatever they want. I like that’s it’s not organized because I don’t think the boys could handle, “now we’re going to practice our tumbling…” when there’s a room full of other fun things to play on. Especially when I have them both together by myself! So the boys got to swing on rings and high bars, balance on balance beams, jump on trampolines and run, hop and roll down this long trampoline like run with obstacles for them to run/hop over or around (it probably has an official name). Everything was their height and when it wasn’t (maybe a bigger kid was on it) someone would change the height for us. We haven’t yet got to try the rope swing, the horse, or much of the tumbling mat. But we’ll try that next week. I’ve been getting really anxious about how bad this winter is going to be with them in the house, but now we can look forward to Gymnastics Fridays!

So that was our unorganized activity for the week. Our organized activity is that the boys are taking swimming lessons again. Saturday mornings at Londonderry Leisure Centre. It’s a huge pool with swim lessons going on all morning so the boys can watch the bigger kids having lessons too, which they seem mesmerized by. This place is really cool because they have a teaching pool for the little ones that’s only 2 feet high. The place we were last year didn’t have that. The boys can actually touch the bottom which they think is the greatest, and we don’t have to hold them the whole time which gives them some independence. Today was just getting used to everything so we practiced bubbles and front and back floating. Bran loves to back float and he’s getting very good at it! Drew is getting good at bubbles and will sometimes push off with his feet and semi-swim/float just a short distance, maybe 6 inches until he starts to go under and then comes up sputtering, but not upset. It’s a 10 week class and I think they’re really going to enjoy it.

Shayna Drew & Bran, Edmonton, Family 2 Comments »