Slogan maker!

Matt here:

So today I had to do my blog, but I was distracted by a website called "Slogan Maker" were you type in something like "poop" or "food" and it will make a slogan like "poop for the rest of the night.'' or, ''Food in action'' and " Septic Systems Are Tasty".

that was fun(ny) but I have nothing else about that topic.

Has anyone heard of rebecca black? she is the new bieber. her "hit" called "Friday" consists of her mumbling this

"tuesdaysundaylookingforardtotheweekendwhichseatdoitakemumblemumble"

or something like that. What is happening to the world of music? beiber came and destroyed it.

lady gaga killed it. what happened to rick astly?

I don't know

I have a question, Are we at war with Libya? Our jets are over the area right now bombing them. but are we at war?

Well I am going to cut it off there.

Thank you for reading!

Matt

canada games center FTW

This is Sam. I was just going to say that my week has been pretty pointless but instead I am going to write about how we (The family) went to the Canada games center to go swimming. The pool had two slides. One was blue and one was yellow. The yellow one went outside the building and went around in circles a few times and then came back in. The blue one just went straight down.

I was looking forward to going down the yellow one but then Matt said, "the slides are closed because somebody fell out." Dan asked, "where did you hear that?" to which Matt replied, "the radio."

This has been a HUGE problem. Matt is always listening to the radio (even at night) and I am always trying to get to sleep. I'll say, "Matt turn off your radio," and Matt will say, "in a minute. I want to listen to this." It takes a long time, so I get really tired and then sleep in to 10:00.

When we did get to the pool the slides were closed. I was a little peeved but we had lots of fun anyway.

It's about time I go now.

BYYEE!!!!!

On the slopes

This is Sam. I have a cold right now not to bad but it was a few days ago. Let me explain what I felt like 2 days ago. I wake up at 2:oo in the morning feeling tired and sore so I went downstairs and got a drink and then went back to bed but I couldn't fall asleep. There I was lying in bed trying to go asleep when I remembered that we were going skiing in 2 days. I really started to get worried.

Well I woke up the next morning feeling like I fell off a cliff and broke my back arms and legs I also didn't get any sleep. I had to do school but mom let me off. Let me tell you I did not feel good.

one day later we went skiing amd it was raining I was still sick but I could do it. We had a very good teacher but one guy wasn't having to much fun because he wasn't very flexible and couldn't ski very well. Moving on I had lots of fun and by the end of the day I was skiing down the highst and fastest hill.

I felt worst when we finished I got off my ski boots and snow pants I was soaking wet. We all had to take a one hour drive home.

Eeeehhhggg.

well about time I go

BYYEEE!!!
~Sam

Battle: Los Angeplace.

Matt here:

Last night Dad, Dan, Sam, and Me all went to see a movie. the movie was "Battle: Los Angeles"

SPOILER ALERT

The rest of the movie was all Blam beam pewpewpewpewpewKABLOOMDFGDGATCalpewling aiblamrstrikakkgh

In the end they found the mother ship and destroyed it

It seems that Michael bay directed it, oh wait, i think he might have a Fake name

The aliens wanted our water, OUR WATER, Now we have global warming! Yay!

Problem, environmental activists?

They use it to power the machines that they use. BP could save the day by spilling some oil again.

Problem again? Well just so ya know, they are going to be here by August 14

cousins. (Oh yea)

This is Sam. Four days ago our cousins uncle and aunt came from Montreal for four days. I was very anxious to get to the airport to see my cousins uncle and aunt. They said that they would be here at 1:00 but it got postponed for something like four hours (uhg). well when we finally got to the airport I was really exited (awww I didn't break anything :p) it was a lot of fun. Well moving on I will give you a list of some of the things we did. We went to the freak lunchbox about two times we went to the discovery center once we had a sleepover with our cousins and we went to the bluenose restaurant and got... NACHOS. Well its about time I go now.

BBBYYYEE!!!!!

~Sam

Spring already?

Matt here:

Why? Why? Why?

I have a cold, a nasty one I always get them when it turns from winter to spring, I call it *sick voice* "That cold that I get when I note that I have not a cold this year".

In other news, game 5 of a local AUS (Atlantic University Sport) game With the SMU Huskies VS

STFX X-men playing each other on Tuesday at 7:00 Alantic time. Sadly it is not on a stream But if you can find a Atlantic stream of EastLink Tv Then you will see it.

Right now the temp is +9°C and the lakes are melting like a super-villain in toxic waste

Looks like the evil Winter-man was defeated by Capt. Spring.

But The captain died when cloud clout killed him

So imagine a sopping wet landscape with snow, grass, and rain

That is halifax.

Matt

One of the things I did this summer was hang around at one of our local boat clubs. I've learned to kayak in the last couple of years which has been great fun.My little brother Matt had started sailing last year and his favorite thing to do was rave about how awesome it was. In the spring I asked Mum if I could do a sailing class because I had learned everything there was to know about kayaking in the northwest arm. Mum said yes, and sighed me up for a class. Now, you have to understand when I came to the boat club to learn how to kayak, I already knew somewhat how to do it, not so with sailing. I got to the program and we had to play the name game. I HATE the name game. So of course I happen to be right in the middle where I had to say everyone's name and what they liked that started with the same letter as their name. I was also expected to come up with one of these for myself. When my turned rolled around I started by forgetting at least three the peoples names and clumsily asked them who they were again, then after that I had realized I had been so concentrated on remembering peoples names that I hadn't come up with my own so I blurted out, and I quote " I'm Sarah and I like silence" facepalm. A couple strange looks crossed faces and the game went on. After that I was taught what a tack was and with all the other kids was made to practice it on land. The sea was too rough to go out that day and so we learned some stuff inside then played for the rest of the afternoon. a class had left their boats out on the water and so we were supposed to learn how to de-rig them. That didn't go very well, I didn't make any mistakes but I didn't really help very much. That first day was pretty bad.One the second day I was in a boat called an echo with a kid I'll call him AN, he was supposed to be the captain but after continually pointing in the wrong direction the instructor suggested we switch. We did and it went fine until we nearly crashed in to a very expensive yacht. Shortly afterwards I tipped the boat and along with poor AN was enveloped in the icy waters of the Arm. It went better after that. I learned how to tack( a kind of zig-zaging maneuver you do too go towards the source of the wind) and to turn the boat into irons( facing in to the wind) so it would stop. when I docked I did a good job and despite being soaked was pretty happy. In the three days that followed I had only three foe paws

1. putting a boat on the ground of the boathouse without anything under it
2. letting go of the rudder and having my boat turn around in circles for really fast knocking me in the head with the boom( a metal pole that holds the bottom of a sail strait) until I could gather my wits and take control
3. Asking someone to hold the mast while I took the last supporting wire out, he did but when I had trouble undoing the wire. A kid asked the mast holder a question and he let go to answer it just as I undid the wire, around 35lbs of weight dropped and barely missed another kids head. I am going to do everything in my power to make sure that it never happens again.

The rest of the time was great, I learned some really awesome stuff and had a few funny experiences

-Zørxs

P.S. I'm sorry about bad spelling/punctuation I was working on this for a while and I'm too tired to do an edit.

Dan and chocolate bars

This is Sam. I don't know what to talk about so I think I'm just going to write something that happened a long time ago. OK so i'm going to talk about Dan and how he would bribe me and then say something like this "I'll give it to you when I'm sixty". This really annoyed me and I wanted to get him back. BUT... I was something like four and I was horrible at this. still today I cant think of anything to get him back. So I have decided that I'm always going to remember how many chocolate bars he owes me and when I'm sixty I'm going to get him to buy me about thirty chocolate bars (or more). :P

I think i have to go now.

BYEE!!!!!

My Mother the Saint

I have been doing an algebra textbook since September. It hardly misses anything and even include extra lessons for the " spacial" kids who need a little extra shove or should I say bulldozing for them to understand whats going on. I have been doing well so far, getting at least 90% on the tests. I do the lessons alone and if I have any questions I review them with Mum later. This system has not worked for the last chapter of the aforementioned book, it all began with something other people like to call "factoring polynomials" but what I prefer to call "splitting headache" I started the chapter learning how to factor regular numbers, which I am proud to say I (although I thought it was stupid) understood quite well, it was down hill from there. On lesson two they plunged me into a world I felt completely helpless in." I don't care if (x-9)(x+10)= X²+ 10x-9x-90, my brain would say, what is the practical use of this anyways?". So I did the lessons with Mum. I have to say, if I were homeschooling a kid like myself, I would have long since thrown up my hands and said "I give up, go ask your exponentially shrinking brain for the answer". Mum didn't do that, She was unbelievably patient and stuck with me through it all the ridicules questions I was asking ( She also answered all the questions I didn't care to ask, but needed to know the answer too).I did the first half of the test today, it went surprisingly well. The test took me a little, Okay, a lot longer then usual but that was probably because I got my braces tightened today and I had a headache until I took Ibuprofen. Anyways this is a thank you to Mum, thank you for not getting annoyed with me, I really appreciate it and I am so glad to get over this bump in math.

surviving the cold

This is Sam. Two days ago it was -25 and when I woke up I thought that we left the heat off for something like 30 days with -5 weather. I felt like I was going to die of shivering. anyway that day we went to the Junior High where Matt goes. we were taking badminton lessons (I am going to edit this later I dont have time) bye!

Survival of The...

Matt here

On Monday I Went to a winter survival course at my Junior High school.

So from the school it was a 2 hour bus ride there. 2 Hours there, 2 hours back. when we got there we had lunch I had ginger tea and pita with hummus. While we where there the teachers gave a lecture on how to survive. I learned that if you are in a plane crash you take the parachute first because it is a roof-blanket-signaler all in one. and you take no First-aid kit because... Do you even know how to use one? exactly.

Now..

A plane carrying 30 Junior high students crashes in the wilderness.

only 5 survive, those five have to build a shelter and make a fire to stay warm

The Teachers ghost tells them that you have to do the floor then the walls and the roof last.

they make the floor walls and roof

Then Matches fell from the sky and a news paper blows to them, they get sticks and light a fire. the fire is blazing when hot dogs and marshmallows fell from a overpassing Hot dog and marsh mellow plane.

We survived.

Matt

Dividing Problems

Matt here:

Hello and welcome back to this blog!
Today we are doing math, well... I am. Right now Sam is angry because he does not want to do his math. His math consists of dividing problems like 89 / 6 ( = 14 r2) . he is saying stuff like "My HEAD WILL EXPLODE!" and " I hate Math, I am allergic to it" Every day its non-stop math, Its wasting my life. I am NOT going to be an accountant"

Also

Today is Dan's birthday

He is... 17? Yes that means that 17 years ago Something came out of A, guess what? A pregnancy ward! I have to do my math.

Happy Birthday To Me!

Matt here:

5 Days ago I had my birthday. Lets start in the morning

9:38 We left for the Ardmore Tearoom, a 1950's restaurant. The people there Do NOT give you small amounts, They fill the plate with what you ordered. So Sam and I got "The Lumberjack Special " which is 2 eggs, 2 pieces of toast, 3 strips of bacon, 2 sausages, and a piece of ham. it was $8.00

10:20 We come home. I Just got check so Dad and I go to the bank to make my bank account. At the bank we had to sign the pages. And I got my bank account!

11:00 - 1:30 nothing

1:30 While i get ready for school, I find that my backpack is in the van. so Dad and I have to go and find the van (which Mom had taken). We find it and i get a drive to school.

3:05 While cleaning up in art class, a chair fell on my head causing me to chip my tooth.

3:30 I go to the Dentist, who fixes my tooth

6:30 Dinner! It consists of Curry chicken and Greek salad.

7:00 And finally the presents:

My Dads Old iPod,

A camouflage sleeping bag,

And ALL of the "Life" WWII books

And for the cake we Had pineapple-upside-down

A great birthday.

Matt`

Hamachi bar and grill

This is Sam. One night we were eating (Om nom nom) and Dad announced "we are going to do something that is going to last two hours or so on Saturday". Matt and I just could not wait and wanted to know what we were going to do. On Friday night we went to a hockey game and SMU won (YEEAAA). After that Dad got a text and he said "aw we can't go tomorrow". We asked "why" and he said "I have a hockey game tomorrow" so we didn't go. A week later we were doing nothing and dad said "kids get ready". We asked why and dad said "just do it" so we did.

Later we were driving in the van and I noticed that we were near the harbor. Eventually we stopped and I saw that we were going to Hamachi bar and grill. Basically it is a restaurant except that the chefs cook in front of you. It was the best thing I have seen all year. The chef was throwing the knives around like a busker and he did some pretty cool stuff. For instance, he made a volcano out of a chunk of onion and them made fire spurt out of it and he also poured a liquid all over the pan and said "you like fire?" and lit it on fire. It. was very very VERY cool. I have to go now.

BYYEE!!!

Sam

A True Group Of Canucks

Matt here:

Seven years ago I told myself that I would make a igloo.
Not that year. Seven years later I said the same thing, but, with a lot of help and encouragement from friends and total strangers, it finally worked it can fit easily 2 people. we have these boxes that we used for the blocks.
At Nine-o-clock on Sunday night it was two tiers up, by 10 on Monday it was 3 up, and by 7 it was done! And to finish it off we put a Canadian flag on top!

igloo and snow

This is Sam. Two days ago, as you know, it snowed. We had lots of fun and made forts and stuff when Matt said "I am going to make a igloo." I asked "how" and he said "I will make bricks with rubber made containers and place them in a circle" OK I said. Can I help (Sarah was beside me) Matt said "sure but you have to do what I say" I agreed and I guess that Sarah just wanted to help.

When we started it was pretty dark and we didn't get very much done but we got about two layers that night. The next morning I got a third layer and went inside for a while. When I came back out Sarah, Matt and Dan were working on it. So I decided I would help too. Dad thought it was going very nicely (and it was) and quite a few people said "nice job". Which was nice. We worked until about supper time. When it was done it was very warm inside but it could only fit one person comfortably. It took seven hours of work. But other then that is was very good. I have to go now.

Sam

Sam and Matt and hilarity

Matt came back from the mailbox and said, "um, Mom, one of the letters went into the mailbox rather unwillingly. So I'm not sure if it will get to its destination. I hope that is OK." Kate & I cracked up laughing. Upon further questioning we found out that the mailbox was full and Matt had shoved it in the top but it got stuck. I explained that from my days working for Canada Post (my Grandma was a postmaster), I knew that the postal workers would always check to make sure there were not any letters stuck up there.

Today Matt walked up to the local Royal Bank to trade rolled coins for bills. Now picture this - I think Matt's head would have barely reached over the top of the teller counter. The teller asked if he was a member of the bank. Matt said, "no, I'm not." She said, "then there is a $3 charge for exchanging rolled coins." Matt said, "Oh I didn't know that." Fortunately a supervisor came by, asked what the trouble was and told the teller to waive the fee. That teller is very lucky. It was only $14 in coins and if they had charged him $3 she would have gotten the full anger of a mother bear. At supper we were re-telling this story and we started imagining what the media would do with such a story - everyone loves to hate banks and their fees. That supervisor was a very wise man.

We also went skating at the Oval today. Our Mayor Peter Kelley was there and asked me if I was having a good time. I told him the truth, "this is the best thing Halifax has ever done." Matt saw him while skating by himself and said, "Hey aren't you Peter Kelley? Where's your helmet." Peter laughed. Matt said, "are you going to prorogue me for a minute?" Peter pointed at his hand and said, "this is my prorogue button."

Matt's birthday is coming up and I asked him what he wants to eat. He said, "the usual. Curried chicken, greek salad and rice. But make it brown rice this time. My teacher says white rice doesn't have any nutrients." This same teacher, bless her, is responsible for Sarah being a vegetarian - which I don't mind except that whenever I serve beans Dan goes on a hunger strike. He has come very close to claiming eating beans is a form of child abuse. A vegetarian diet without beans, lentils and split peas? Tricky, very tricky.

HivesÉ

This is Matt writing. On Christmas Eve Sam Ate a lot of shrimp. A LOT of shrimp.

On Christmas Sam came down with a huge rash. He thought it was Aids or HIV. the kids kept taunting him about it with stuff like "Sam you only have 5 days to live".

Lately we have gone skating at the Canada Games Speed Skate Oval. As you can imagine, I am not a good skater. Yesterday I woke up extremely sore everywhere. Even now I am unable to lift my legs to put a shoe on. so please don't comment and say ''shake a leg''. If you do I will kick you.

Well its that time of year when we say good bye to the current year and say hello 2011!

So without further due Good bye 2010!

Hello 2011!

H.I.V.E.S.

This is Sam. A few days ago on Christmas eve we (the family) was watching a movie called the sandlot (very good movie) and I started to itch. I noticed that there were tiny dots on my body and when the movie was done I asked them what it was. They looked at me and Mom said I'm going to call the pharmacy. By this time I got scared. later Mom gave me half of a pill What is it I asked. Mom said it would help the rash (and oh boy it did). But the next morning I was itching like crazy. my Christmas was good but I didn't have an appetite and I was itching like it was 70 degrees out and i was right beside a huge nest of bees and what not. it lasted for a few days but I am happy now. BYEEEEEE!!!!!!!!

:)

Sam's sayings

Yesterday we went to Pirate's Cove (swimming pool). A good time was had by all. But later Sam complained, "my cheeks are burning.". We asked why. He said, "the chlorine went through cracks that I had in my eyes and leaked down inside my cheeks." Man, I hate it when that happens.

I fell down our outside stairs this morning - oh how it hurt. We had some very wet snow which I had asked Matt and Sam to shovel before it froze. They did a half-baked job. I had fallen on bits of snow that were left on the stairs and then it froze. Sam kept saying, "I'm sorry Mom." He has a very sensitive heart and could almost feel my pain. I was not very gracious. I said, "boys if you had shovelled the stairs properly on that mild day I would not have fallen. Sam said, "well I am very sorry about that Mom but it wasn't really my fault. I was shovelling in my barefeet."

Today we went skating at the "Oval" - a speedskating track that is there for the Canada Games that Halifax is hosting in February. It was fun. It was cold. We saw a few of our friends AND we had a skating lesson. I feel a little embarrassed about this - but our kids have never had formal skating lessons. Since we decided early on not to do hockey and because lessons have always been at bad times for us, we never really thought about it. We skate on a lake maybe twice per winter. So the kids enjoyed their first formal lesson. Rather than stand around freezing I also took the lesson (it was a very laid back thing). The teacher was shocked at how quickly I caught on. I had to admit to her that I had years and years of formal training. I almost let it slip that my name was Dorothy Hamel but I was good - and I didn't show off my doing any triple axels either.

How do I not remember this?

Today I was sorting my email inbox, and I came across this.

To: Ron and Marsha Abarbanel

Dear Parents,

I searched long and hard, but was unable to find any study or even speculation-thing correlating moustaches and bipolar disorder. I used google, and then for good measure I searched the academic journals at the university library.

Sorry :<

Kate

I would love to remember the context of this, but nope . . . it's totally erased from my memory.

Mr. Hives

We have many names for Sam:
Migraino - because he gets migraines
Pathetico - because he can make himself look so pathetic when he doesn't get his way

Tonight while Matt, Sam and I discussed this we thought of "Dramatico" and "Intensito" - you can guess why.
But a new name emerged on Christmas Day - Sam named himself "Mr. Hives" because he got hives (maybe?) all over his body. We were busy and they didn't look that bad - and I didn't look that closely at them. Then at bedtime Sam started complaining about terrible itchiness. I looked and they were everywhere - face, neck, arms, back, tummy and legs. It was by this time 9:30. I was feeling stuck and a little desperate. Going to emergency on Christmas Day? Wait there all night to be told it was nothing? No walk in clinics were open and even our local drug store was closed. I found a 24 hour drug store and called the pharmacist. She suggested benadryl (we didn't have any) but we did have an adult antihistimine - we gave him half. I also gave him an oatmeal bath. The pharmacist said as long as he was not having trouble breathing or had a swollen tongue it would be OK. He fell asleep around midnight. This morning I called my doctors office - as he was still quite hivey. It directed me a new service - you dial 811 and a nurse will help you 24/7. I called and got a call back an hour later. Nurse Kathy was very very nice. She was one of those friendly Cape Bretoners. She asked all kinds of questions while inputting things into the computer. Was he having trouble breathing? Was his tongue swollen? When did it start? Had he eaten anything weird? (YES - shrimp and Brother's pepperoni). Was he nauseous. Could he carry on regular activities. Was he lethargic. (NO - very much not lethargic.) What did the rash look like? Was there a raised bump in the midle of the spots. Did it look like lace? And on and on. Then she said, "I would suggest you take him to the doctor in the next two to four days and if he starts having trouble breathing take him to emergency. Also get him some hydrocortisone cream at the pharmacy. She then even told me which walk in clinics were open and even their phone numbers. At the end I said, "so Kathy I assume from what you told me you are not allowed to tell me what you think it is." She said, "No. Only a doctor can do that." I tried another tactic. "So if you are saying to take him to the doctor in the next two to four days you are not thinking it is too serious?" She said, "we don't think it is serious unless he can't breathe." I asked about Benadryl and she said, "oh yes you could give him some of that." She was so very very nice. But in the end was there a point to our conversation? Later Sam was itchy again so I walked him up to Shopper's Drug Mart and asked the pharmacist about the rash. She said, "did he eat something weird?" Yes - shrimp. She took me to Benadryl and said, "this may make him drowsy." I smiled and winked at her and said, "that's OK." We shared a little conspiratorial laugh.

So now Sam is Mr. Hives.

All the way to and from Shopper's Sam tried to convince me to let him buy an online game. He said, "I'll even earn the money myself/I'm really sick and it would take my mind off it/Other kids get to buy online games, why can't we/You bought me a Nexxon card before. Why won't you buy this for me. I said that Daddy would kill me and it just wouldn't be worth it to have an online game but a dead mother. Sam said, "why would Dad have to know. You could use your credit card." I said we had the same credit card so Dad would know. Sam suggested I use PayPal instead. I don't have PayPal Sam. And on and on. He didn't wear me down.

I think now you might get why we think "Intensito" might be a good nick name.

I Hate Our Christmas Tree

Mum is allergic to trees. This means that we are not able to purchase trees and carry them into our house for the festive season. We got by with a pathetic fake Christmas tree for many many years, but that one eventually met its end. A lull began that has not yet finished. Nobody is willing to invest the time or money to walk down to Canadian Tire and buy a fake Christmas tree.

Our living room is graced with two fake fig trees all year round. When Christmas time comes around, the younger boys grab one, prop it up on a coffee table, and cover it in popcorn, lights and clay zebras. They like to finish it off by putting an empty Hannukiah in front. Some of you may be thinking, "Wow, what clever improvisation! It must look amazing!" You're wrong. It is the UGLIEST Christmas decoration in existence. If you want to see a picture of this tree, look at the blog background. You see the green thing that looks kind of like THE UGLIEST THING YOU'VE EVER SEEN? That's our Christmas tree. I'm sorry if this has made you think that our family has a depressing Christmas. It isn't true. The only depressing thing about our Christmas is the tree itself. If Santa were to visit, he'd give us five pounds of dynamite and a match with a note saying, "You should be ashamed of this. Blow it up. There's some free coal in your stocking. Merry @#$%$#$ Christmas."

<><

Dan

They Loved Lamp

A year ago, we took a family trip to New England. Some friends of ours were kind enough to let us squeeze ourselves into their tiny apartment while they were in turn off visiting relatives in Moncton.

It was a tight fit, made worse by the proliferation of bric-a-brac and furniture that they'd managed to squeeze into their flat.

The worst offenders were the lamps. Lamps decorated every room. Every side table, every bureau, even the china cabinet was graced by a lamp. There were so many, and they were so cleverly placed that it took us several days to find every single one. In the end, we counted seventeen.

Six lamps peppered the master bedroom alone. The other eleven were scattered over the dining room, the small living room, and the remaining bedroom.

During one of our lasts nights, Mom said, "Guys, what should we get as a gift for our friends for letting us stay here?"

"A lamp."

"Mom, I can't believe you're even asking us that question."

"It definitely looks like they need another lamp around here."

"They love lamp!"

Mom is notorious for not appreciating clutter, so I think she bought them some chocolate instead.

We had a really great time.

A Very Dave Christmas

Matt here:



Mom just talked me and said to me that I need to improve my blogging work, she said that I blog like a kid in grade two.


Thanks mom.


So I guess that I'll start with a game I found. This game is a very fun one.

It is called "Minecraft". It is a game about a world where everything is a block.
You can make a lot of stuff. You can add or take blocks to build a house or a rocket or anything.
At night zombies and spiders come out and try to eat you.

Christmas is upon us!

Yes! It will snow! We will get lot of presents from Santa!

Well, neither of those will be happening.
In Nova Scotia we have no snow. Right now it is raining.
I dont really get why in Ontario snow is coming down. Yet, over here a different substance is ... coming down.

I have to go now. Dad and me have to defrost the turkey with the blowdryer.

See ya!

Matt

Hockey and passports

This is Sam. A few days ago the family was eating dinner and Dad said, "let's pray for our friend Fadi about his passport." None of us knew that he needed a passport so we asked why. Dad said that Fadi had to get a passport to see his family in Jordan and if he didn't get it in one day or so he couldn't see his family. So we prayed. Nobody really had anything to pray except Mom. But I just hoped that he got his passport. One day later I asked Dad if Fadi got his passport. Dad said no but I still hoped. That night i was lying in bed with Dad when he said that Fadi got his passport. I almost whooped with joy.



Anyway before the passport we got a hockey net that was slightly smaller then the normal size. But we didn't care. We had lots of fun with it and our friend has one too so we could play one on one. There is also two goalies that can play with us so that was pretty cool. Byeee!!!

Quotes of the Day

Dan: Yeah, I know that J is always getting 100s in math, and I am always getting 99s, but I really believe I'm better than him at it. He just doesn't feel it like I do.

Dan: Guess what Kate? Jacob's Dad has the clock in his car set ahead ten minutes because he cannot be late.

Me: So? I have the clock in my bedroom set ahead four minutes for the same reason.

Dan: Really? Have you ever thought, "Hey, I'm smart. I can get to school on time?"

Dan has recently become the owner of new spandex pants, for use while running outside in the winter. I have been running in the same size 18 boys thermal track pants that I found at a thrift shop for the last four years, so I find this attention to clothes-to-sweat-in to be quite amusing.

Dan: It's easy to wake up at 6:30 in the morning, especially when you have really sexy pants that you can't wait to put on. Nobody else agrees with me - I don't know why.

Matt has been breaking up his homeschooling routine to take one course at our local Junior High school. In total, it takes two hours of time per week. Today was his last day.

Matt: Wow, it's so nice to be done. I'm so glad I don't have to deal with all that stress anymore.

My first blog.

This is Sam. I have a feeling that I'm going to fail but here I go. Three weeks ago Dad made a deal with us. If we (Me and Matt) go to bed on time for five days straight then he would take us to Dairy Queen and get us a dilly bar. Because we were always dilly dallying at bedtime. When we earned the dilly bar Dad said alright I'll get you guys it tomorrow. We went to get the dilly bar and some other stuff for installing heaters (I will tell you about them soon) When we ordered the dilly bar, me and Matt thought this is going to be the best treat ever. but when we saw the dilly bar we thought oh crud I'm going to die. the dilly bar looked like a huge lollipop except it was covered in chocolate and had vanilla ice cream in the middle. After that Me and Matt couldn't eat supper. We didn't really like it so we asked Dad if we could get a sundae instead. He said yes but you have to earn more points. I was disappointed. D:<


OK now we talk about the heaters. Today Dad is installing heaters in the basement. he has a horrible back so he asked Me if I could help. Of course I said no. Just kidding I said yes. I watched him cut a small hole in the wall and say oh no. I asked what was wrong. He said that he misplaced the heater wire - it wasn't where he put the hold in the drywall. I got bored so i went upstairs. Later he called me and said to walk to the store with Matt and get 9 volt batteries. When we came back Dad installed the new heater and said it worked.Yay.



Alright the reason I am writing this blog is because mom said that if I did I would get computer time (I will do anything to get *cough* computer time). byeeeeeee!!!!!!!

Romantic Relationships

As I have now reached the rather advanced age of 19, certain family members have started to pressure me to find a man.

Matt: Kate, how old are you now?

Me: 19

Matt: You know, you should really start dating.

Me: Thanks . . . I'll get right on that.

Why my twelve year old brother is so eager to see me off on the road of non-platonic relationships is beyond me, but later on we had another conversation about it.

Matt: Kate, I don't really want you to move out, but I wouldn't mind if you had a boyfriend.

Me: Mhmmm, yeah, you mentioned that.

Matt: He just has to conform to certain expectations. He has to be really awesome, and he has to be taller than Mom so he can look down on his mother-in-law.

Me: Not a tall order considering the fact that Mom is 5'2", but I'll be sure to keep your preferences in mind.

Matt: Thanks

After reading this post over my shoulder:

Matt: You know, I'm not trying to pressure you. I'd just like it if you'd uhhh, never mind. I mean, you're just kind of old.

Me: I see.

Talking to Americans

Last summer, we were lounging at a pool at Mont Tremblant, a ski-hill turned summer resort in the beautiful Laurentian mountain region of Quebec.

Whenever we are in parts of Quebec with a good mix of francophones and anglophones, we like to play a game that we have dubbed Ontario ou Quebec, though in reality it is more just us distinguishing francophones from anglophones, as there are plenty of Quebecois anglophones, as well as anglophones like us who are from other provinces.

The game goes like this:

Step One: Look at a group of people who are travelling towards you.

Step Two: Predict whether they are francophone or anglophone.

Step Three: Wait until you can hear what language they are speaking.

Step Four: Give yourself a pat on the back because it's a game with a pretty low failure rate.

At any rate, Sarah and I were lounging on a pair of deck chairs, not actively playing the game, when she whispered to me, "American."

I turned around to view a large blonde man, speaking rather loudly in English. Since the game is not won until the identity of the person in question is completely confirmed, we pricked our ears to hear any mention of his home.

For about two minutes we waited in vain as he continued to speak loudly in English about nothing in particular. Then, we heard this jewel:

"This is our third time at Mont Tremblant."

The way he said Mont Tremblant rhymed with Want Gem Plant.

Sarah and I high-fived.

After that, it only took him about fifteen seconds to say where in the States he was from. We stayed by the pool all afternoon, so Matt and Sam had plenty of time to talk to him and his children.

When we asked Matt what they talked about, he said, "Oh, nothing much. He was speaking really slowly to me, and then he said, 'You know, you speak really good English.'"

Matt is a monolingual anglophone, so we all thought this was pretty hilarious.

Sam and the concept of Time

Sam woke up early this morning and whispered in my ear, "they are releasing a new version of our game this morning. Can I go on the computer just for a little bit to check it out?" I said yes. A bit later he came down and asked, "what time is it in England right now. They said they were going to release the game but they haven't yet." I said, "well they are four hours ahead of us but they have been having problems there lately." Sam said, "with time?" No - I explained the problems were with snow and I thought maybe the game makers couldn't make it into their offices.

Having kids can be a lot of work but these unexpected funny moments make it all worthwhile.

Zip Line

Last night we were all sitting around the dinner table, and Mom asked us what our favourite childhood memories were. I think she was angling towards Christmas tradition memories, but the first thing that got mentioned was the zip line.

The zip line has never appeared in the blog, maybe because it occurred during the post-drought of summertime.

According to Sarah, Dan and her dreamed of the zip line four years before they were able to bring it into the world. What changed was the acquisition of a clothesline and the wheels that came with it. Suddenly new worlds were opened. If they could just pull a line of clothesline taut and hang something off the wheel, they would be zipping across the backyard in no time.

The challenge turned out to be finding things on which to affix the clothesline. The tall tree next to our deck would work well, and on the other side the baby barn door would do.

Then they had to figure out what to hang from the wheel. A rubbermaid storage container? No, too heavy. Only Sam was tiny enough for that. A bike tire they found underneath our deck would be perfect.

Finally, the zip line was complete. Dan and Sarah climbed the tree, and hooked Sarah in. Then they called everybody outside, including some visitors, to witness its maiden voyage. Dad said, "are you sure that's safe kids?" Dan said, "Oh yeah." and let go. With a splintering crack the baby barn door was wrenched off its hinges and flew across the yard. Sarah sat on the ground six feet below below the take-off point, a dumbfounded look on her face.

After that debacle, Dad still let them make another attempt at a zip line. This one was a success, even if you had to be careful not to hold onto the line lest the wheel roll over your fingers with all your weight on it, and also to bail out before you hit the spade that they'd used to connect all the pieces of clothesline, and also to stick out your legs to avoid crashing into the large rock that came next.

Matt and Sam were playing hockey in the snow. Suddenly Sam burst in the door. Dad?

yeah?

do you have a five dollar bill?

uhh no, why?

There's a homeless man going down the street collecting recyclable's and I want to give him some money.

I found five dollars in change in my purse and gave it to Sam. I watched Sam run down the street to give it to the man, I didn't see if he did but when Sam walked back up the street he was rubbing his hand as if he had the coins in it. As it turns out the man did take it and Sam said he was very happy. Sam confessed to me that he told the man that the money was from Dad and not from his account ( I can understand this, when I was a kid I tried to give a homeless man money but he wouldn't take it because I had earned it).Anyways I thought that was really sweet of Sam.

Its snowing outside right now, we have had a little snow but not enough to do anything fun with. Crossing my fingers for a white Christmas.

I made homemade pancakes and syrup for breakfast, Oh boy I love winter!

Alright I'd better get French done, I've been putting it off all day.

Sarah

Sam's writing assignment

I gave Sam the following writing topic: "And that is how my butt ended up on Mars and Uranus." This is what he wrote. (He wrote this over many days.)

One day Sam was chillin' when the phone rang. Sam picked up the phone. Hello said an intelligent-smelling man. You are the lucky man who has been chosen to go on the NASA spaceship. Oh said Sam. What time should I be there? 11 o'clock said the man. OK bye. The next day Sam went to NASA. As soon as Sam walked in he was greeted by a man. I will be your captain. Follow me he said. Sam followed him. Soon they were in a room. Welcome to the rigging room said the man. Let's get you into a space suit. Later Sam was walking down a hall to the space ship and when he reached the door a man said to go into the spaceship and take a seat. OK said Sam. Soon he was in the space ship. Are we ready to take off? Yes. 3-2-1 BLAST OFF. The spaceship blasted off going at an incredible speed. About ten minutes later they were sailing through space. Where are we going said Sam. Mars said the man. Oh said Sam. A few days later the man said 2 days until we reach Mars. Coooolll said Sam. That night Sam could hardly sleep. I"M SO EXCITED said Sam. The next day the man said one day until we reach Mars. At lunch Sam fainted of excitement. What felt like two seconds was really twenty four hours. When Sam woke up the man said we are at Mars. Wooot. Sam put on his space helmet and jumped outside. Let's go exploring said the man. Soon the man and Sam were strolling down Mars. Or should I say trolling down Mars. Anyway about thirty minutes later they were back at the spaceship and the man said we must leave now. OK said Sam. Ten minutes passed and Sam was in the spaceship in his seat ready to go home ....... Two seconds later they were sailing through space. We're off! yelled the man. WOOT said Sam. One and and half days later Sam was eating lunch when the man ran into the lunch room yelling. Sam look out the window. Sam looked out the window. There was a lot of space junk heading right for them. Ooooh crap said Sam. What are we going to do. I HAVE NO IDEA screamed the man. The space junk was very close now and the man was spastic. He was running around the lunch room screaming his head off. Can we get this spaceship out said Sam. Oh I never thought of that said the man. Then let's go said Sam. Suddenly the space junk hit and broke the engine and they were flying through space heading right for a black hole. Oh no said Sam. What are we going to do. We're going to see if we can fix the engine. Thirty seconds later they jumped out and crawled to the engine and started to fix the problem. Three minutes later it was fixed .... or they thought it was fixed. Okay let's go said Sam. They started back to the spaceship. Soon they were in the control room. All right said the man. Let's go . The man turned on the jets. But only one was working. The spaceship started to spin uncontrollably. Sam and the man got flung around the room and the black hole started to suck them in. Sam and the man got flung around the spaceship getting hurt very badly. Well this is it. Goodbye world thought Sam. Suddenly they hit the black hole and got sucked through the black hole. The pressure was unbearable. It was a miracle that they survived. They shot through the black hole and hit something. Now Sam and the man had fainted when the spaceship hit the "thing" so they did not wake up for a while. When they did wake up they noticed that they were really on Uranus. Woooow said the man. This is Uranus. HEY! said Sam, (Sam thought he said YOUR ANUS). I mean the planet said the man. Oh said Sam. They got out of the spaceship and took a walk. After the walk Sam and "the man" fixed the engine for good and ate supper. Then they went to bed and fainted because they were so exhausted. When they woke up the man said let's go home. Agreed said Sam. So they got in the space ship and blasted home. They were very lucky to crash into a closed pillow factory. After that they walked back. When they entered the NASA building everybody went wild with joy. We thought you were dead said a man. Oh really said Sam. Yes he said because I am. WHAT. Oh my. I'm kidding said Sam. Sam said to the man I never got your name. I am Justin Beiber. Sam punched Justin in the face and ran home. The next morning Sam looked at the news. Jusin Beiber arrested for starting a riot. Sam said that was the happiest day of his life. And that's how my butt ended up on Mars and Uranus

Editors note: Originally the man at the end of the story was going to be Churck Norris. But Sam couldn't resist a chance to express his disdain for Justin Beiber.

This World Is Crazy (Wikileaks)

Matt here (this blog is a few week old):

WHAT? Assange got bail??

North Korea is supplying Iran with missiles?

This world is crazy

I find it funny how these cables got out.

Lady Gaga will be the undoing of the U.S. government

But it is outrages me the most that the U.S. Gov gave easy access to Pvt. Manning.

The age of privacy has ended

Hockey Nets And Snow

This is Matt writing:

Today we got a new hockey net! We have had very bad experience with our other nets like this one

(i don't have a picture of it, But Google street view has it)

The other net we build out of wood and burlap, it was about 42" square and was on a tilt, we put rocks on it to keep it straight.

I destroyed it when I Shot a ball at the corner.

Oops

Our new one is a REAL net that is 54" inch and has a non-burlap net.

I have heard about the snow in Ontario, yet Nova Scotia has no snow anywhere.

We were at a hockey game last night with the SMU Huskies VS the Naval (No, not a belly button) team. There was no goal judge so i had to do it I got to flick the switch 11 times.

We won 11 - 1

Matt

Hockey And Christmas

Hey guys, here are some happenings around our house lately. We have discovered through trial and error that giving presents for the holidays puts way too much stress on the buyer and that we would rather do without. We have also decided that buying another fake Christmas tree (Mums allergic to the real ones) would only lead to lack of storage issues and extra sweeping (shudder) of pine bristles. So we have decorated a houseplant which we mounted on a night table because it wasn't tall enough. I have made the observation that, our fake fig tree was probably closer to what they had on the first Christmas then our Canadian winter pine trees.

I am in grade nine at the moment, trying to get ready for high school and generally being terrified of it. I also became a vegetarian in September, which mom has been a super star with. She keeps making really good meals that everyone loves (except Matt, he doesn't seem to like anything other then grilled cheese). Dan is succeeding as usual, having fun at school and doing really well. Kate is really happy her exams are over and is visiting her friend Anna in Saint johns for a few days. The boys are playing hockey in the new net Mum got them. Last night Dad took them to an exhibition hockey game. They throughly enjoyed turning the goal light on and watching our team push our goalie out of our net so the other guys could score. Needless to say we won 11-1.

-Sarah

Sam's Sayings

Sam and Matt were playing a rather heated soccer game. Sam was heading a ball and Matt wanted to get it. Instead he kicked Sam in the eye, leaving his footprint there and Sam's eye went black the next day. Sam told me, "the rec leaders got me some ice and said I could have a time out. But then I thought, "screw the pain. Matt's team might score. So I went back on the field."

Sam told me he was having an Angzichity Attack. I asked, "what does an Angzichity Attack feel like?" He said, "it is when you really really want something and it gives you a pain in your stomach." What he really really wanted was to not do school work and play computer games instead.

Matt has been doing a lot of research on how to make a Gillie Suit (the thing they use in the army to make them look like they are part of the vegetation.) He bought burlap and dyed it camouflage colours. It turned out really nicely although burlap really stinks. Then he asked Kate to teach him how to sew. She said, "you should just staple it on instead." Matt worked on the stapling for a lot of hours. At bedtime he was very very discouraged and angry because it wasn't working. I suggested that he pray about it. I prayed too. In the morning I had this idea of tying the dyed burlap to a burlap base that was like a cloak. (You only wear the gillie suit on your back as the extra layers make it cumbersome to commando crawl). I asked Matt if God had given him any ideas. He said, "yes. Fishing string. We could tie the camouflaged burlap on with fishing string. It is strong and sturdy." I said, "that's the idea that God gave me too." The Gillie suit actually looks amazing.

Tonight the hockey team that Ron is the chaplain of had an exhibition game. Matt and Sam have the habit of standing beside the goal judge during the game, and have become good friends. But tonight the goal judge wasn't there so Matt asked the referee if he could be the goal judge. The referee said, "Yes. If I point at the goal or you see a goal go in, flick on the light." Matt and Sam have also asked if they could volunteer as the zamboni driver. But so far the answer is NO.

Matt and Sam have a deal with Ron - they often dilly dally at bedtime. Ron said he would take them to Dairy Queen and buy them a Dilly bar if they could go to bed on time for 5 nights in a row. It is not looking good.

Syphilis and Bingo

There's something amazing about Bingo. It requires everything that almost all humans are born with: the ability to concentrate, the ability to see lines, and the ability to say "Bingo!" I know what you're thinking. Newborn babies know how to say "Bingo?" The answer is yes. The reason you never hear them say it is because they haven't won Bingo. There's another thing that all humans are born with: The Bingo Rule. The Bingo rule is as follows: "Don't yell Bingo unless you actually got it." It's hard-wired into our brains from the beginning, so don't worry about teaching it to your kids. They already know it.

My school had a Bingo Night two weeks ago. I walked in and smelled the perfume rich air, found my seat, and bought a few cards. I paused to look at my surroundings. There were a couple of fellow students seated with their parents and grandparents. There was one middle-aged woman who had four cards laid out before her. She had her dobber poised for the game. The look of concentration on her face scared me and interested me at the same time. I was blown away when I first watched her play. She resembled a juiced up velociraptor playing Whack-a-Groundhog.

The gym was completely full. The odds of winning Bingo are very low in a crowd like that, so I was very surprised when I won. It felt amazing to hear the word "Bingo" leave my lips. My gift basket was brought over and I marveled at some of the prizes that I received:

A copy of Eat Pray Love, by Elizabeth Gilbert

Two necklaces

Bath salts and shower gels

Moose shaped candles

A curling iron

Some MAC makeup

A blue towelette

Ladies, don't be jealous. I won $150 dollars worth of stuff that I really didn't need. It happens.

English is not a waste of my time. Calculus is not a waste of my time. Biology is not a waste of my time. However, when I receive worksheets that have no relevance to the subject being taught, I have trouble concentrating and taking it seriously. We were going over some notes on STIs (Sexually Transmitted Infections) in Biology, and the teacher decided to play a documentary about a small town in Georgia that was subject to a syphilis outbreak in the mid 90's. The teacher handed out a 23 question worksheet that we had to completed by the end of the week. The documentary was pretty nasty. It focused on the lives of the teenagers who contracted syphilis, and the long term effects that it had on them as they grew up. There wasn't a shred of information that related to biology in the documentary, but there were detailed descriptions of the violent orgies that the teens would organize and participate in. I used the time to nap in class. I began my assignment yesterday evening, and was chugging along at a nice pace. The first eight questions were good, but as I moved through the assignment, the questions stopped relating to biology completely. I could not bring myself to be serious about it, so I had some fun. Here are a couple of the questions that were asked in the BIOLOGY assignment, along with the answers that I wrote down:

How many teenagers were exposed to the disease? (this is nicely relevant to the film)

Seventeen teenagers contracted syphilis, but over two-hundred had to be treated for exposure to the disease.

Does the behaviour in the video surprise or shock you? (nicely worded)

It surprises AND shocks me!

Do you believe that all parents are the same?

I believe that all parents have some things in common. For example, they all have children. Biologically speaking, there is a male unit and a female unit. They are most likely not virgins! I'm having difficulties finding differences. Yes, all parents are the same!

In your mind, who do you blame for the outbreak of syphilis? The teens, the parents, the police, etc....

The police are definitely to blame. After all, the adults had to have syphilis first, and parents don't tend to have sex with their children. That leaves the police.

Was the actual outbreak really a good thing? Was it good that the parents, teachers, counselors etc. found out the real truth?

The outbreak was fantastic. There should be one in every city. Why stop at syphilis? AIDS ought to teach those kids a lesson. Pepper on some herpes, and teens will never go wrong again.

What are teenagers really looking for in a family structure?

From the events of the documentary, it seems like the teenagers really enjoy sex. They probably need a family structure that allows them to have as much sex as possible. All of the problems would be solved if this were the case.

What happens if the police or the parents don't supervise their children?

It obviously means that they get syphilis.

Is it important for parents, teachers etc. to talk about sex?

Nobody should talk about sex. What the kids don't know won't give them syphilis!

Please understand that I have not voiced any of my actual opinions on most of these questions. Satire is bliss.

Until next time,

Dan

Where to Begin?

It would be extremely difficult to dictate every interesting thing that has happened to me since the last time I blogged. It's not because of any reluctance of mine to write it down though. It's just that many many things have happened, and I fear that I will be up until midnight writing nonstop. I will write about recent happenings and not-so-recent happenings, and as the days go on and my memory serves, I will try to find time to fill you in.

My first day of public school was, at the time, a nightmare. I now look back and see nothing but hilarity. My home room class was Music with Ms. B. I had no trouble finding the room, because I had been there before. Ms. B spent and hour and a half explaining the standard rules of public school along with providing schedules and locker combinations. She may have mentioned that the schedule on the first day of school was messed up, but I didn't take heed. I followed my schedule into all of the wrong classes, and after walking home on (what I thought was) a lunch break and then frantically rushing back to school in confusion, I decided to go to the guidance office. I entered the room and the first words that came out of my mouth were, "I need.... guidance." I wasn't trying to be funny, but they laughed anyway. They gave me a copy of the compressed schedule and set me straight. I spent the first week of Grade 10 hoping that nobody would "frosh" me. Froshing is a form of hazing that involves shaving cream, eggs and occasionally silly string. Because only a few people actually knew that I was in Grade 10, I was in the clear. Fast forward to Grade 11. As I approached the school during the frosh week of Grade 11, I was stopped by a skinhead who asked me to prove that I was in Grade 11. The conversation went as follows:

"What grade'r you in?"
"I am in Grade 11."
"How can you prove it?"
"Ask me a question that only a person in the 11th Grade would know."
"O.K, um, what is the square root of forty-nine?"

Now, I know what you're thinking. Was he being serious? The answer is, unfortunately, yes. It was pure coincidence that this IDIOT asked me for the square root of a perfect square. I couldn't pass up this opportunity to look like a genius in front of him and all of his goons:

"That would be seven, sir."
"YOUR WORD!!!!!!!" <---- (that is Spryfield lingo for, "are you serious?")
"My word." <---- (I am serious)

They asked for student identification, which I happily provided. I still do not know who left the conversation more surprised, me or them.

I seem to remember that in one of my old blogs, I discussed my supposed resemblance to Adam Sandler. It was weird when I was picked for the lead in the school musical, The Wedding Singer, simply because Adam Sandler is the lead in the feature film with the same name. I suppose my resemblance was a factor in my ability to be the character. School musical was a whole lot of fun. I learned how to sing, dance and act in front of crowds, and am proud to say that stage fright is no longer much of an issue for me. We did three shows for a general audience, a show for the high school, and a show for all of the junior high schools in the district. The play had a fair amount of swearing (for an example of what I had to sing, refer to this song), so we were quite surprised when we found out that the junior high audience also had a couple of elementary school classes thrown in. None of the teachers involved had any idea, so the parental complaints were most likely swallowed by the administration.

For those who have not seen The Wedding Singer, The male lead and the female lead have to kiss a couple times. Myself and G, the female lead, put it off for a while. However, as the date loomed closer, practice became necessary. We probably kissed ten times, give or take, during rehearsal. We received a lot of constructive criticism (mostly from girls, interestingly enough) and had a pretty solid kiss when showtime rolled around. The general audiences did not react too badly to the many kisses we had to perform (three per play). The junior high (+ elementary) schools were much more active in the whooping and cat-calling area. Nothing really prepared us for the high school show, however. We knew that the high school audience would be the loudest, but it still came as a surprise. We managed to perform it without losing our cool, but there was mention of it for weeks afterward. People said that it looked REALLY awkward, and thus hilarious, which didn't surprise me.

I have many more stories to write, just so long as there are people reading.

Take care now,
Dan

Braces Hula Hoops and Musical

I woke up today and thought, "hey you know what I haven't done in a long time, a blog!" Well thats not exactly what happened my desire to blog really came after I had stumbled out of bed to turn the computer on and check facebook and MY favorite blogs but anyways. I have braces now, they are a extreme nuisance no nuts, no gummies, ( gummies are among the precious few candies I could eat because I'm allergic to milk now) no popcorn I have to cut up everything I eat, brush your teeth after eating anything ( this it a problem because I snack all day). The boys have taken up calling me metal face and Katelyn is still reveling in the fact the two people in the family have braces at the same time. Blaahh well at least I don't have headgear........ yet

Katelyn and I got some special hula hoops that are made out of PVC and covered in cloth. They are very heavy and easy to use the first day but the second day you get really sore because they are so heavy. Its fun doing twirls and jumping and hula-ing with two hoops. Katelyn and I both have bruises on our hips though so we'll have to work on that

Dan is the lead role in the musical at his high school. He got a sore throat a few days before it started so there was a lot of drama. We were getting him orange juice and all kinds of tea he would chug at least six cups of liquid at school he did that until someone organizing the musical told him that orange juice is acidic so it burns the throat.... ooops

Sarah

Printing

We've gotten a lot of those glowing Christmas letters where families lives are perfect.

Our life is ... well, it is just quirky.

Our older kids have gotten in to a bad habit of coming in for late night chats around 11:30 - just as we are falling asleep. This happened last night - and the teenager left around 12:30.

Then I woke up at 6 a.m. - against my will. The eczema on my hands was killing me - I must have ate something that is verbotten yesterday. I could feel my cold was now in full force and my sensitive stomach was being sensitive. (I'll let you read into that). I had to get some routine blood tests done so got up & did it. I was very fortunate not to slip on black ice. I then went to the post office & faxed something to Revenue Canada they asked for in November. I also had to courier a form to our insurance company that is due tomorrow - batting my eyelashes at the postman to RUSH it.

By 10 a.m. I was exhausted. I read the Bible to the boys & asked them to do some printing work - realizing this was necessary when Matt signed his name on his health card as Matt Adardanel. Hmm. Should I mention that he is 12 this month? I went to register them for swimming lessons which I thought started in two weeks but actually start this week. The class I wanted was full. I then went to lie in my bed when Sam called me.

He was in his bed crying, complaining that he couldn't print. He was holding up a sign that said,

"I don't deserve to live."

It was VERY neatly printed.

Lest you feel sorry for me I anticipated the full force of the cold & cooked all day yesterday. I think I can get through the next few days heating up things in the microwave.

Hurrah. Life isn't really that bad.

Two dollars

Sam has been a little obsessive about computer games lately. I've been down this road before. There was the infamous incident when I took the kids hiking and suddenly Dan (age 8) was gone. It was getting dark & I was feeling panicked, searching all over the dense forest. I walked home with the other kids, ready to call the police. I found Dan - he had walked HOME and was playing this addictive computer game.

So this morning before 7 a.m. Sam started up about the same computer game - Runescape. He desperately wanted to play it. In fact Dan had told him about the game and told him that when his character had died when he was 9, he had cried himself to sleep. OK. Back to Sam. I threw out a challenge. I explained to Sam that no matter what he wasn't going to get to use the computer for the next 5 days. But if he didn't mention the computer in any way on those days I would pay him $2 per day.

Sam: "Can I ask questions?"

Marsha: "Yes, for the next 5 minutes you can ask questions and then the challenge starts."

Sam: "Can I use the $2 to buy computer time?"

This just sent me into fits of laughter. At 7 a.m.

Sam sat around looking pathetic, crying uncontrollably and loudly - temper tantrum style - etc.

By 10 a.m. he had 3 strikes from saying things like, "I am so bored because I can't ... well you know ..."/ "Mom, it doesn't count when I talk to OTHER people about the computer, does it?" and "Since I cannot mention this, I guess I'm just not going to mention it."

It could be a very long day.

Sevta visits

Last weekend Ron's mom Noga came to visit. The kids were excited to see her & looked forward to what she always brings - kumradine. Basically apricot fruit leather - but much stickier and sweeter. It comes in a flat sheet - probably 9" X 30". They eat it for breakfast, lunch & supper.

She taught the kids to make Baklava. Kate was bit horrified by the fat content and made it a second time with much less fat but still delicious. It is very simple - phyllo pastry, walnuts, cardammon, a sugar syrup & butter.

I took her swimming - a shared passion she has with our kids. I looked over and saw her wearing a full scuba mask & snorkel. I knew about this but just wasn't emotionally prepared. Ron's sister had told me about it - and that one of her friends calls Noga "Sevterrian" (Sevta is grandma in Hebrew - the rest you can figure out.)

We went for Arabic food - falafels, hummous, foule, shwarma, etc. Absolutely delicious. Kate said afterwards she was over sushi - her new favourite food is Arabic.

We invited Holly & Cam over for dinner. The kids were very excited to have Noga tell them of life in the Kibbutz. Her (Jewish) family was deported from Iraq when she was 12 - and sent to refugee camps in Israel in 1949, a year after Israel became a nation. Noga's dad was out of the country at the time - seeking medical help because he was going blind. So Noga's mom flew in a overcrowded cargo plane with 5 kids to a refugee camp in Israel. They lived in tents. People came around asking if kids wanted to go to live in a kibbutz. Noga was too young but told us she took a hissy fit so they took her - at age 12. I'm sure it must have killed her mom to let her go. There was school in the kibbutz. Noga had an Arabic name (Nadre) - so the first order of business was to change it to a Hebrew name. A girl in her class suggested Noga - so that's what they changed it to. They also had chores - Noga mostly milked cows.

But this isn't the exciting part. They were being trained (from age 13!) for the army. They taught them how to scale down tall buildings. They learned to commando crawl. They were taught to navigate using the stars, were dropped off alone in the forest in the middle of the night & had to find their own way back to the kibbutz. The kids asked her if she learned to use semi-automatic weapons. (Our kids were joking around.) Noga doesn't get teasing. She answered seriously. "No. They taught that to the kids after I left. But they did teach us to use shotguns."

Holly & Cam sat there with their jaws on the ground. Kate & Dan sat there smugly thinking, "I am the only kid I know with a grandma who was a child soldier."

Noga's father came back after 5 years - blind. He found out that Noga was in a kibbutz & pulled her out at age 15. He was afraid a guy would try to have sex with her. We think this is funny - not the sex - but considering all her child soldier training, we feel sure she could fight off some guys advances.

Ron amused himself all weekend pretending Noga was an Israeli Massad agent. (She says she isn't but would a Massad agent tell you?). She called her cousin in Israel, spoke in Hebrew, and when she got off the phone Ron said, "where is the hit, Noga?" She looked at him blankly (as I mentioned she doesn't get joking around). She said, "I didn't call in a hit. I called my cousin to ask her what it means when people say in Arabic, "two bald me go out to plant onions together." Hmm... a likely story.

The Magical Visit

We got a call from my friend Paul from university. He lives in Conneticuit but was in Halifax on his way to a meeting. He was free for the next 30 minutes. Could we meet. YES! We haven't seen each other for about 18 years (though we've kept in touch). Ron drove over from the university. I told the kids to get in the van. They went outside and said, "mom the van isn't here". Shoot! The van was in the shop. I called a taxi. The kids climbed into the back & were thrilled - they had never been in a taxi before. Paul looks exactly the same - just a little bit of grey. It was GREAT to see him. We went for lunch at the hotel dining room. They set things up so that Paul, Ron & I were at one end & the kids were at the other. We had the most amazing waiter ever - big shout out to Jose. He treated the kids like royalty. Matt couldn't decide between a caesar salad & fish and chips. Jose said they could have both - caesar instead of fries. When he brought them their food he put an order of grilled cheese and fries on the able too (I think the kitchen made it for someone by mistake). Our kids eyes widened in delight. He asked them about drinks. They said they would like Shirley Temples. Later on he asked them if they wanted another drink, assuring me "when I make the shirley temples I used just a little bit of pop. They are very healthy."

Our visit was over too soon. But it was a beautiful day. We walked a few blocks to the bus. And we got a bendy bus home! The kids love to sit in that middle part that moves, yelling with glee every time the bus goes around the corner. This brought a few smiles from bus passengers.

So much to say

September has been full. We had our friends Jeremy (Dad) and Nikki (daughter) with us for a few days. Nikki is 25 & I've known her since she was 18 months. Jeremy & his wife Mary mentored me at university & later Ron & me when we got married. It was lovely to relate to Nikki as an adult - a great adult - who now spends her time in Ecuador working in a squatter community doing advocacy work - finding sponsors in Canada so kids can go to school, helping the poor and uneducated get the health care they need in a very corrupt health care system.

Isn't it a rich blessing when you've known someone for 23 years?

Dan started high school. He has an amazing work ethic. He is incredulous that the teacher assigns work & students don't do it! His teachers are mostly different than Kate's but he is getting along very well. Wednesdays we have a weekly Bible Study & feed the students night - he decided he couldn't go because he had too much homework! Kate was shocked!

Kate started university. She wasn't too impressed the first day. But, after 5 days of classes she likes it. She noted, "I don't think I'll be able to knit in class. You actually have to take NOTES in university. It is much better than high school." She was pleasantly surprised that in her French class she can make some of those "French" sounds - she & Ron think it is because Ron spoke to her in French a little over the years. She is starting to make friends - she especially enjoys the smaller classes/tutorials where you have the opportunity to meet people.

Sarah, Matt & Sam are into homeschooling full swing. We have a little morning routine that is working quite well. I have been reading through the Little House books and also through the Bible each day. I pointed out that the Little House books are pure as snow - but the Bible on the other hand is full of sex, swindling and seduction - and lots of mentions of penises to keep things spicey. You don't believe me? Read Genesis! Amazing how they avoid those stories in Sunday School.

We also had visitors from Manitoba - Henry & Anna are Mennonite friends originally from Paraguay. I was very nervous to cook for Anna - her daughter Susanna is my cooking mentor. But she was gracious and even complemented me on the chicken/red lentil/squash soup I made for Sunday lunch - little did she know it didn't turn out anything like what I wanted!

We have also been doing a lot of "Meet and Greet" things for new students. We did 3 BBQs in two days. Ron wreaked of BBQ. We don't care if we don't see another burger for a long time.

That's it. I'm off to Frenchies as the kids are looking for Hallowe'en costumes.

Sending love to all our faithful readers.

~Marsha

Typing

recently my mom set us up with a typing program called dance mat typing, do i like it? sort of.
its good for starting typing, i would recommend it.
you have to do stuff like "all work no play makes jack a dull boy" & learn the home row.
so, here's the link: http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/.

...umm well i have to type, so here is a story.

the story starts in a bank
people where doing there own business, suddenly, three men burst in "boy, it is cold out there" said the first one, 'you sure got that right' said the clerk, then a robber come in, "sorry were broke" said the clerk, "oh" said the robber.

after the police left, the power went off, "ZOMBIE ATTACK!" screamed someone


to be continued

Ready for Hurricane Bill

We have been to the grocery store to buy water & canned goods for Hurricane Bill. We have lawnchairs & our barbeque in our small kitchen. This morning as I was squeezed in beside the barbeque to eat breakfast I told the kids, "there is a barbeque in the kitchen ... it is the elephant in the room."

At soccer I overheard Matt telling soccer parents, "oh yeah ... we are ready for Hurricane Bill ... we have an Armageddon cupboard and it is stocked full of stuff." I pretended not to know him. The truth is that when cans and non-perishable food comes on sale I buy lots because it doesn't take long to go through food in our house. It is stored in a cupboard in the basement ... which Dan teases me by calling the "Armageddon cupboard".

But now everybody at soccer thinks I am weird. Oh well.