Springtime 30/04/2015

Dad – Spring is here, and so we’re doing spring-ish things. We took a trip to a maple syrup farm with our homestay student Marin and her friend Shiharu.

Marlon – It was cold, but the syrup was worth it.

Jayden – The syrup got on my fingers.

Dad – We also started planting a little bit. We put the kale in because it’s pretty frost tolerant, and then I checked the long term forecast, and we decided to risk planting the bean and peas.

Jayden – I dug the whole with the little shovel, and then I put in three beans, and then I covered them up. Dad only did two-three-four holes. I did lots.

Dad – We also put a new bike rack in the garage, so now there’s no reason to leave bikes laying around the yard – in theory.

Marlon – Hey! Sometimes kids have better things to do.

Dad – Like?

Marlon – Like talkin’ to the ladies.

Jayden – Or you can put a blanket on your head and be a ghost.

Marlon – Jayden, that’s not even what we’re talking about.

Jayden – But you can be a bacon-ghost, and then you can turn the robots into bacon when they attack, and you can eat them, and they’re defeated. (Which is when I’ll cut the conversation because, well, where do you go from there?)

Halloween 09/11/2013

Dad – What were you guys for Halloween?

Ethan – I was a ninja. I wanted to be a hobbit, because my hair looks like a hobbit, but we couldn’t find a vest that fit me at Value Village. Just Jayden got to be a hobbit.

Jayden – Hobbit.

Marlon – I was a pirate. I already had the coat, but I bought the hat and the hook and a sword and an eye-patch.

Ethan – I bought two ninja swords to go on my back, and two sword can defeat one sword.

Marlon – I can block one sword with my hook, so you can’t defeat me.

Ethan – But Dad carried your hook.

Marlon – Only when we were getting candy. You’re not allowed to attack when you’re getting candy.

Dad – And what was the new candy rule?

Marlon – You can eat as much as you want when you get home…

Ethan – Til you puke.

Marlon – …and then the rest goes in the garbage.

Dad – How much did you eat?

Ethan – I didn’t throw up, but I was laying on the ground, and then I almost threw up when Dad tried to wrestle me.

Marlon – I didn’t feel bad at all. I cold eat more.

Marlon’s Graduation 26/06/2013

Dad – Marlon graduated from kindergarten yesterday. It was very exciting.

Marlon – The best part was when Yasmeen put her head on my shoulder.

Dad – What else was good?

Marlon – We sang songs. The other class did one song, then we did one song, then they did one song, then we all did a song at the end. And there were poems too. Two poems.

Marlon – Then we went up to the front when they said our names, and the teacher asked us, “What will you be when you grow up?” and I said, “When I grow up, I’m being a ninja.” And I wore my karate suit.

Christmas Parade 26/11/2012

Dad – The Guelph Christmas parade was last weekend, and the boys got to be in the parade as elves on the Play with Clay bus. We had a bit of a wait before the parade got started, so everyone was outside dancing in the gorgeous weather.

Ethan – The best part about being in the parade was when I was dancing in the parade. I did a handstand,a nd I got to be on TV.

Marlon – I did handstands too, and I gave candycanes to my friends. I gave little ones to everybody and big ones to my friends.

Christmas Stuff, and some Hallowe’en Too 24/12/2011

Dad – So, we haven’t posted anything lately because we haven’t had any time with a new baby in the house, but that doesn’t mean we haven’t been doing anything, so hopefully this post will catch us up a bit.

Ethan – For Hallowe’en I was actually Batman, but I got some tiger facepaint a little bit before.

Marlon – I was the Hulk, and I got facepaint too. I made a claw with my hand, and I said, “Roar!”

Ethan – I lost a tooth. It was a little bit wiggly, and I pulled it out with my finger. I’m getting three molars too, but not the number four.

Marlon – I have two teeth out before Ethan, because I bonked my teeth on the floor, and the dentist had to pull t hem out.

Ethan – I did swimming lessons in the fall. And I went to young naturalists in the fall. We banded birds, and we saw bats, and we caught a snake, and we tried to fish with our hands. When we were banding the birds, one flew back inside, and it was flying all over, and we had to catch it again.

Marlon – I did dance class. We did the chicken dance, and we did the hokie pokie, and we did the twist. This movie is ring around the rosie.

Marlon – We did some Christmas decorations, and we made some Christmas cookies. I put the cherries on the cookies. They were candy cherries, and some were green, and some were red.

Ethan – We bought stuff for some bags too. You buy the stuff on the list, and you put it in the bag, and you give the bag to people who don’t have enough money. I made a bag for a boy, and Marlon made one for a girl. I put in a toothbrush and some shampoo and stuff, and I put in some candy too.

TorQ Concert 04/11/2011

Ethan – We went to a concert (TorQ Percussion Quartet). They did drumming with lots of instruments.

Marlon – Sometimes it was really loud, and I was dancing, but Dad said, “Don’t climb on the railing.”

Ethan – My favourite ones were the ones with the wooden tubes (the Marimba). Lots of people can play on it at the same time.

Marlon – My favourite song was when we got to make noises too. We made noises like the forest with our hands and our mouths, like rain and animals.

Dad – Here are links to a couple of their songs:

Marlon’s Birthday 18/08/2011

Marlon – I had my birthday on Manitoulin Island. It was at Nana’s house.

Marlon – I had a horsie cake.

Marlon – I got tools and a toolbox for my birthday. It has a hammer and a measuring tape and a toolbelt. They’re real tools, not kid tools. Adults can use them if they want.

Dad – Can I use them?

Marlon – You have to ask first.

Dad – Okay.

Marlon – And we went to a place for riding horses (Kicking Mule Ranch).

Marlon – I got to ride on a pony. I said to the girl, “Hey, stop holding it. I’m four years old,” but she said, “No!”

Ethan – I rode the pony too, but next time we’re going to ride the big horses.

Marlon – They had some other animals for petting. I petted a ‘paca (an alpaca, in translation).

Ethan – I got to hold the rabbit. It scratched me, and then it ran in it’s house.

Dad – Here are some more pictures from our trip to Kicking Mule Ranch.

Bring on the Sunshine 22/02/2011

Dad – On Monday we went to Bring on the Sunshine, an African cultural festival in Kitchener.

Marlon – First some guys (Oshongo Drum and Dance) did drumming. They had big drums too.

Ethan – The Drumming was really loud.

Marlon – Then we did some dancing. A man showed us how to do dancing.

Ethan – The dancing was my favourite part because it wasn’t too loud.

Dad – Then a group (Nhapitapi Mbira) sang and played the Mbira.

Marlon – A man (Diyen Julius) was doing painting.

Ethan – He said that it’s a picture of a plant, but I think that it looks a little bit like a monster too.

Dad – There was also some carvings by Nii Addico.  This picture is a detail of a bust that I really like.

Dad – Then we watched a woman do the Ethiopian Coffee ceremony, which I always enjoy.

Ethan – It made lots of smoke.  It smelled like when Dad makes coffee in the popper.

Marlon – Then we did some drumming.  A lady showed my how to do it.  I had lots of drums.

Ethan – I drummed on a little drum and on a bell, but it was too loud, so I went to sit outside for a bit.

Going to the Library 20/02/2011

Dad – On Wednesday mornings we go to the library.

Marlon – We play hide and seek, and we play in the tunnels.

Ethan – We get to play some learning video games. I like the show and tell one.

Ethan – I pick some reading books (easy readers) and some learning books (for whatever topic he has chosen to study that week).

Marlon – And we pick some some short books and some movies. Nemo movies and Africa movies and Canada movies.

Ethan – My favourite is Scobby-doobie-doo!

Birthday at Creativity Greenhouse 16/02/2011

Ethan – I went to a friend’s birthday party. Daddy thought it was a different day, so we were late.

Ethan – The party was at a craft place (called Creativity Greenhouse). We made dragons and a castle.

Ethan – My dragon is gold, and it has a jewel on the back. It’s a komodo dragon.

Ethan – My castle is covered in gold, and it has a heart on the bottom that says I made it.