So Long 2010

The last day of 2010 went like this ::
1. Good morning. Let's eat pancake and sausages.
2. Wait. Mummy needs another cup of coffee.
3. Hold on guys. One more cup of coffee here...
4. Just the two of us? Why yes, Hugh. I would love to go on a date with you to your best restaurant. 4. Arlo gets a haircut by our in-house stylist...Daddy. I collapse from cuteness overload.5. Honk-shoo. Honk-shoo. {after root beer date snooze}
6. Play. Play. Play.
7. Let's get gussied up - time for celebration.
8. If you get dressed I will be the happiest Mummy in the whole world.
9. For the love of everything good in us...GET DRESSED!
10. Fine, I'm leaving without you.
11. I'm selling you to the gypsies.
12. Fake knock at the door.
13. The gypsies are here.
14. Dressed.
15. In the car.
16. Eat fancy pizza and drink Shirley temples.
17. Take last family photo of 2010 - Ah, blurry...perfect, that's our signature family photo look. 18. And finally on the last day of 2010, we deliver one big fat kiss to YOU! Happy New Year's Eve. Smooooch!19. Goodnight.
20. So long 2010.
xo

Brotherly Shove Love

Part I
Me? I remember only love and kindness from my older brother. Sure he liked to tease me...but for all who know me...let's face it, I am a teaser's dream come true. So perhaps I withstood a few verbal punches from time to time...but the physical stuff...like shoving or say sending my bottom tooth through my lip - from my brother, it just didn't happen.

Which brings me to two brothers called Hugh & Arlo. They are a lovely duo. Truly. But as of late, Hugh has taken the pleasure in pushing Arlo down...hard. Hugh's brotherly shove is oddly not a malicious act, more like something created out of boredom...excitement...or curiosity. Whatever the reasoning, I find it desperately unacceptable. It touches on sibling territory unfamiliar to me. And therefore, I find myself at a loss...a complete and utter loss.

Part II

Did I know a tooth could go through a lip? No. In fact when I've heard stories of such an incident, I thought it was an exaggeration. Like, 'Oh yeah, he fell so hard his tooth went through his lip'. In other words, blood...lots of blood.

Yesterday, Hugh performed the classic boredom shove. Arlo fell hard. I scooped him up and noticed immediately his chin folded as a chin should not be. I gently relieved the crease and there with my very own eyes saw the tip of a tiny tooth poking through his...not lip, exactly... the location right between the lip and the chin. Um, I'm pretty sure that area is called the Chip. My first thought was, Wow...a tooth really CAN go through the chip. And then I don't remember exactly the panic thoughts following - perhpas it went something like, 'We need ice. There's a hole. Emergency room. Why? Why? Why the shove? There's a hole. An actual hole. E.R. Blood. Hole. Tooth. Chip'.

A short time later we took a breath, stopped the bleeding and iced the chip.

Part III

Hugh loves Arlo. Arlo loves Hugh. Their brotherly bonding? love? will be an ongoing learning process for me. I suppose my first lesson is to accept the falls as much as I embrace the recoveries. But seriously, can't we all just get along?

xo

That's French for After Christmas

Merry Apres-Christmas!

We just said goodbye to Nana and Grandaddy and I only cried a ton on the inside. To cheer myself up, I ate some cookie dough, four mini-cheesecakes {which brings my grand total to 36 this holiday} and lastly, I decided to dismantle all signs of Christmas. We have had such a good time dancing and jingling to holiday music, touching only the most breakable ornaments on the tree and counting down the days to every one's arrival...but now it's time to embrace the aftermath. Ahh...peace, quiet and time for another mini-cheesecake.

Merry Apres-Christmas - Love, Hugh & Arlo and their Mummy & Daddy. And love from Arlo's shopping cart and phone. And Hugh's bat-cycle and transformers. And the 8 7 remaining mini-cheesecakes.

xo

Why Did I Buy Arlo That Hat?

Because I love Uncle Buck...and Arlo too. That's why.
xo

The Blind Leading The Blind

Standing next to each other at the top of our muddy, snowy big hill, I said 'Son, I am the worst skier I have ever met. And therefore I have only one bit of advice : Good Luck.'Thankfully, he takes after his father. Whoooooosh!!!!!!
xo

Holiday Decorating 101

Oh sure, we know what you are thinking. How are they so clever to build such a BEAUTIFUL, PROFESSIONAL and EXQUISITE gingerbread house? And how did they arrange the gum drops in such careful suspending clumps from the roof? And yes, to answer your next question...that is indeed Frosty the Snowman who has clearly met his fate at our front door.
Don't be jealous. We can't help our Holiday decorating abilities...it just comes naturally.
xo

Empty.

'The Memory Card Is Full...AGAIN!' , reminds David as he tries to capture a photo-op. It's annoying...not David's reminder...but my apparent inability to let go of photographs. I hold on to them...big time...all of them. Blurry or beautiful, they sit side-by-side one another in the Land of Memory Card waiting to be moved, copied, printed or dare I say, deleted. Ugh...annoying. So tonight with Hugh & Arlo in bed early, I took full advantage of moving, copying, printing, deleting AND SHARING a few with you. And in pure-Peg-dramatic style, I am calling these shots - Hugh & Arlo : The Never Before Seen Footage. No, no...how about - Hugh & Arlo : The Lost Ones. Hugh & Arlo : The Outtakes? Hugh & Arlo : Behind The Music? Oh forget it...

{Officer Arlo "Ponch" Poncherello - CHiPs - Canada Highway Patrol}

{Ahhh...Nature. Rock. Sun. Sky. Salt & Vinegar Chips - Arlo and the good life.}What?...nothing to see here...just a typical night in our home...painting, art-ing...whatever...same old same...WooHooooo!

Ahh...like the gas tank in our car, the memory card is empty.
xo

Nothing Short of...Two Miracles.

Miracle One.

Silence in the house. (although a miracle in itself...not the One.}
1 minute. 3 minutes. 5 minutes.
Silence.
"Hugh?"
Silence. Panic.
"Hugh? Huuu-ggghhhh?!? Where are you? What's going on?"
Silence.
I sped down the stairs...slid around the corner at top-dog-sock-sliding speed and practically blinded by the divine light streaming through the window, I came face to face with Miracle Numero Uno. {You know, there is hardly any other saying that I like more than Numero Uno. I wish everything, everyone, everyday could be Numero Uno.} There he was, sitting quietly at the table creating, drawing, art-ing. Right there. In the divine light. There was no bribing involved. No craft-begging. No wrestling to the ground shoving a broken crayon in his hand. {Okay. That one never happened. Unless having visions of it happening count.} Of his own accord, he had found his well stocked art box and his dusty sketchbook. I didn't know what to do. So, I held my breath and froze like a statue for I was just sure that even the slightest bit of movement might offset my Hughblo Picasso.
Silence.
My camera was within arms reach. Should I? Would I? Could I grab it and click it without disruption? Yep. I should, would and could.
I don't know why, but something resonated with Hugh on this day...perhaps it's his new fascination with Superheroes. After all they are so beautifully graphic...full of colour and expression. Or maybe he just decided after 4 years of living on Earth, it was time to draw. And because I am SO NOT GOING TO MAKE A BIG DEAL OUT OF THIS ...ahem... perhaps I should wait a little while before informing Hugh....that I just signed him up for this.

Miracle Two.

This one speaks for itself.
xo

Superhero Moment?

Two days ago Arlo and I were visiting our friend Anna. Everything was as it should have been. Afternoon light was streaming through the window. Anna and I were discussing her artwork...perhaps we were also eating grapes...the purple variety...when all of a sudden Anna gasped. I spun around, following her panicked eyes only to meet a teak cupboard falling on top of Arlo. I leaped to my feet, dove and threw the cupboard...oh, about 5 feet...away from Arlo. Although glass shattered on and all around him...he wasn't crushed {or cut}. I remember thinking to myself...in that kind of slow-motion-before-catastrophe-hits kind of way, "Wow, I totally just threw Anna's furniture". After inspecting Arlo and talking about the statistics of deaths to children due to furniture...Anna attempted to lift the cupboard back on to its feet. She couldn't do it. "Do you need some help?" I offered. Anna had watched me throw the cupboard across the room. It seemed practically insane...impossible...that she would need any help at all lifting this seemingly weightless cupboard. Regardless, I gave her a hand...make that two hands...and with a whole lot of effort...the two of us managed to set it upright again.
Superhero moment?Last night while teaching a knitting class, fruit flies were abundant. Everyone was swatting, clapping and flicking the annoying creatures out of their sight. However with all their efforts, no one actually made contact. Finally, I joined in on the fruit fly hunt. It seemed too easy...too easy indeed...but every time I made a swat, a clap or a flick...the fruit fly would fall lifelessly to the table. "How are you doing it?" my students asked. "Everyone knows fruit flies are virtually impossible to kill."
Superhero moment?Tonight we bought a new, old car. It's a lovely beast. Full of tank-like materials...as well as heated seats and robot arm cup holders. Hugh was so excited to check out every single nook and cranny of our new, old car. I enjoyed watching him. As the sun began to set, I beckoned him to come inside. Just as I was stepping onto our porch, I heard him scream. I spun around and immediately identified the ol' fingers shut in the car door mishap. I ran over...opened the door...freed his throbbing fingers and held him tightly. After a few popsicles...ice packs...tylenol...physical and mental therapy...popsicles...ice cream...physical and mental therapy, he asked, "Where were you? Why did you let this happen? YOU should have been there to make sure the car door didn't slam on my fingers?"
Silence.I. Wish. I. Were. A. Superhero.
xo

*A special thanks to Arlo for playing the role of superhero for tonight's post.

Channelling Mr. Chaplin

Happy Halloween.Fin.
xo

PostScript - And let us not forget our very own, very strong Spidey-delicious-man!

Apples on a Stick :: Friday Fun

{googly eye alert. googly eye alert. googly eye alert. googly eye alert. googly eye alert}
Apples on A Stick enjoyed plain or fancy...proving once again that our fancy Friday's are plain FUN!
xo