Fairies

Posts discussing topics such as this are a little harder to write these days, given that we sometimes read through them together with the boys and thus have to be mindful of their feelings. But what imaginations these boys have! I love it.
With little encouragement from us, Brendan has developed a fascination with the tooth fairy. I'm thankful for his determination to draw me out on it because I was really being a bit boring and uninterested. Through his curious questioning we have together worked out quite a detailed idea of this fairy and her business. I don't know why she's a girl, but Brendan has run with it and actually left her a lego man under his pillow so that she'd "have a man to dance with because he is about the right size". Apparently he'll come to life when he meets her because she is magical.

When the tooth fairy came she left a note and signed her name "Stella" and generously left a $5 bill. I suppose she had absolutely no loonies or toonies (1 or 2 dollar coins for you non-Canadians) that night.

Here is his letter in reply...

DeAr, StellA,

My {drawing of a tooth} is rely, rely 

specal, aND The, DollaRs 

That, you, giv, to

, me, R, great,

for, me, Becos,

I, cAN, sAvev, it,

for, loTs, of,

iNTeResTing!!

fings,!!

{drawing of a flower}

Here's the only picture of the tooth gap so far. There is a better one on my phone but I don't know how to get photos off the phone yet. It's on the to do list.

out for a walk

Last Friday the boys went on a school trip to a nature trail not far from where we live. They had such a great time and Brendan in particular spent much of Saturday talking about it and drawing pictures, so on Sunday morning we all went off to find it.

 It's a great spot and despite having reservations about the whole idea of tame birds I loved having chickadees land on my hand. I'm sure it will become a regular walking and picnic spot. 

 Looking a little tired but we like this one.

Autumn gorgeousness

Hello world! I'm hoping to get us back in the blogging game here after a long hiatus. It wasn't planned and there has been plenty to write about but we've also had a pretty tough time recently. After losing count of the number of times we have moved in our lives, we're finding that each move is becoming harder and harder, and this last one has kind of knocked the wind out out of us. Not helped of course by the fact that we are now two months into a 10 month period where Steve is living apart from us while studying in Toronto.

But enough of that for now... let's start with something fun and happy.

Thanksgiving weekend arrived just at the right time as we were in desperate need of a longer weekend together so that we could fit in some spirit-lifting, outdoorsy goodness and take in the gorgeous autumn colours from our treasured canoe on a peaceful lake.

We stopped at a lovely spot named "rocky cliff point" by Brendan and went exploring and scrambling in the rocks. Brendan took his cup of hot pea and ham soup and silently sat by the water just staring at the lake and sipping on his soup, lost in his own thoughts. Magical. And just what we all needed.

The boys are beginning to get the hang of actually paddling in a helpful way, rather than just being splashy and annoying. Although they want to do it their own way and not necessarily the way we suggest!

 During times like this I seriously wonder why we don't so this EVERY day, or at least every weekend... this is surely what life should be ALL about.

As happens every time we go out with this canoe, without fail, we received compliments on our boat. This time I was balancing on a rock bending over the water trying to fish out a particularly beautiful autumn maple leaf when a fellow paddler silently glided right past me and loudly admired the canoe, just about sending me head first into the lake. I think I had been trying to keep thoughts of bears out of my mind as I listened to Steve in the distance calling Brendan to stay a bit closer.

The canoeing topped off a wonderful weekend which included a family Thanksgiving dinner and overnight stay in Montreal. Of course, it was a busy time and I didn't take any photos, although I think Shannon got a good one of all the boys together. Will have to get a copy.

Next time...? Hmmm. I think I'll write a couple of 'highlights posts' about Slovenia and Scotland, our trip across the Atlantic on the Queen Mary 2, our new home in Ottawa and whatever else we can think of. But really I want to get back to writing about the here and now. Brendan lost his first tooth this week amid much excitement. It has inspired him to write his first two page letter. Oh so cute. That will be next.