Tournament Time

Summer is on the wane, evenings are getting noticeably shorter, it's the middle of August already and that means softball season has come to an end for my grandchildren. That's too bad because the young players have just started to come together and work as a team. Another couple of weeks would have been perfect timing. They are finally thinking ahead and planning baseball strategy.... and as you know, baseball is full of strategy.

But it's not quite over. Just one last blast on the town's baseball diamonds.... the highly anticipated annual Baseball Tournament!

Our family has been ably represented since June by numbers 3 and 4 on the "5 and under' Yellow team and number 5 on the "8 and under" Red team. And now it's time to challenge for the championship!

 "5 and under" Yellows played against "5 and under" Reds at a well attended 10am game on Saturday morning. Lots of enthusiastic mums and dads, and aunts and uncles cheering them on. And at least one Nana.... me.

I have no idea if the Yellows beat the Reds or vice versa, I don't think anyone was keeping accurate score, but after the game each player got a drink, a slice of yummy pizza, and was presented with a "solid gold" trophy by the coach with a handshake and some words of praise. And you have to hand it to the coaches.... they are teaching basic baseball skills to five year old children who really don't have a clue what it's all about, and the coaches do it with kindness, loads of patience, smiles and a huge sense of fun.

"8 and under" Reds took on the Black team in an early 8:30am game, then challenged the Blues for the final at 11:15am. Skies were mostly blue with some grey clouds, so we all had fingers crossed that the rain would stay away.

It was a hard fought game. Reds led from the start with some snappy fielding and a couple of spectacular home runs, but Blues came from behind in the final innings to take the game 13-12.

 After the game, a drink, a slice of pizza and another "solid gold" trophy for each player. As the coach gave out the trophies, he gave each player an individual pep talk noting their considerable baseball achievements during the summer such as memorable home runs, double plays, spectacular base running, and how each person had improved, what they need to work on for next season, and his hopes for them in the future. Hooray for the coaches of these teams, they deserve "solid gold" medals!

 And the happy recipient of a trophy. He's going to join the rep team during the winter to hone his baseball skills ready for next season. He really really REALLY loves baseball.

Note: I was surprised to find that this is blog post number 899, just one more to go for 900! Perhaps I should have saved this comment for the next post. Thank you to all the bloggers around the world who have read my ramblings since I started this blog in November 2006 and have left me comments.... Happy Blogging to you all!

Stuff Sorted

I've been a really bad blogger recently, no excuses, I know. January and February weather does that to me. It has been a surprisingly mild winter, with not even one huge blogworthy snowstorm. And I haven't been to Florida, or Arizona, or anywhere hot to get away from Old Man Winter. But tonight the clocks "Spring Forward", the evenings will be longer and signs of Spring will start to appear. Hooray!

Stuff Sorted over the past few weeks:

1. YoungerSon, my techie genius, helped me change my internet provider to one that gives me 6 times more download room than I had before, and for a much lesser price. And he also set up getting rid of my expensive phone land line and connecting an internet phone. So far it's worked perfectly...... fingers crossed.
2. Finished making a multicolour baby/toddler quilt for a baby expected on May 1. No, not my family, but very dear friends are becoming grandparents for the first time. So exciting.
   
3. While I was in the sewing mood, I cut multicolour strips of leftover cotton quilting fabric, and started making another toddler quilt. Stay tuned for pictures.
4. Set up a weekly "Dinner Date" with the grandies who live just down the road from me. The 3 of them are always together, so they take it in turns once a week to come to Nana's house for dinner after school. It's good to have some one-on-one time with each of them, and they can't wait until it is their turn. Last week it was Isaac (6). Dinner was sausage, egg, chips (that's French Fries to the non-Brits) and Heinz baked beans (has to be the one with the green label) and ketchup.... mmmm gourmet dining.
5. Our Art Group has been asked to display paintings at the Town Offices.... there are about 30 paintings exhibited until March 31. The moo-cows are mine.
   
   
   
6. Grandie Callum celebrated being 8 years old by inviting 14 6 to 8 year olds to Laser Lounge for 2 games of laser tag. It was mayhem!  Warriors are divided into a red team and a green team, outfitted with vests with flashing lights in the appropriate colour, and given laser guns, and the battle is on! The battle ground is filled with smoke so the laser rays can be seen, and parents can watch through the window.... looked like so much fun creeping around shooting people that next time I want to play too. The kids ended up red faced and sweaty, but still had enough energy to consume 8 large pizzas and birthday cake in the shape of a Star Wars robot. 
7. Birthday parties weren't anything like that when I was 8.

White, Orange and Green

Some random observations of the past week or so.....

WHITE
First Shift is a program sponsored by Bauer (sports equipment) to encourage youngsters ages 6 to 10 into the game of ice hockey, specifically targeting families who don't have a history of playing Canada's National Game.
For a very nominal fee of  $125, Isaac got the full equipment needed for hockey including skates, stick, helmet, facemask, gloves, all the padded protective gear, and a huge sports bag almost as big as he is to put it all in. Six weeks of introductory skating skills with accredited coaches at the new ice arena, followed by weekly practices and games until March 2016. Bargain!

 One shift waits on the bench while the others play a game. Each player is on the ice for about 5 minutes, then they change over. Isaac's in the middle. His dad put a black electrical tape stripe on his helmet so we could tell which one he is..... they all look the same buried under all that equipment.

When he started the program in October, Isaac couldn't even stand on skates. He still ends up in the horizontal flat-on-his-back position quite often, but he can get back on his skates without help, and now he can skate forward pretty fast, he can stop, and he's learning to skate backwards. Terrific progress.

ORANGE

I was up early one morning last week just as the sun was coming up. Had to go out with my camera on the back deck while still wearing my jammies. Froze my toes but the view of the lovely sky made up for it.

GREEN

I really enjoy watching the British TV show Grand Designs hosted by Kevin McCloud... who by the way, seems to be so nice and is terribly handsome (IMHO) and has such an infectious smile, I'd love to invite him to tea! Anyway, tea invitations aside..... the show is all about elaborate and unusual architectural home building projects. And the opening credits end up on this landscape. I don't know where it is located but I really like it, so I took a pic of the TV screen and decided to paint it.

I love to paint but it's very hard to discipline myself to get on with it, so I have joined a local Artist Group. We gather once a week in a nearby Community Hall, and I'm finding it very inspirational to be with others who are like minded. Everyone has a different style and a different pace of working, some with watercolours, or acrylics, or pencil or pen and ink.  
Once a month we have a "Show and Tell" and critique each other's work.... I'm learning so much!
The group hosts an annual art exhibition and art sale the first weekend in May, so it remains to be seen if anyone will be interested in my work. Plenty of time to improve my technique!

Four Towheads

What's a towhead?  According to the Oxford Dictionary; a head of tow-coloured or very blond hair, or a person with such hair.

What does tow-coloured mean? Once flax, jute or hemp fibres have been retted (soaked) and prepared for spinning into textiles or ropes, the fibres are very light in colour and are known as tow. The noun “tow” used in the fiber sense came into English in the 14th century. The word may be related to the Old Norse noun tó, which meant “uncleansed wool or flax, unworked fibre of thread.” 

Any towheads in your family?

Happy Faces

We spent a sunny day on Toronto Island and YoungerSon bought an all day pass for the kids rides at Centreville. The rides have been there for years.... YoungerSon remembers some of them from when he was a tiddler. But they are updated all the time. It was a perfect day, not crowded, not hot, nobody cried (well, not much, only when they told Emma she was too little to go on the bumper cars, and that was REALLY LOUD!), everyone had a spiffing good time.

No explanation needed for these photographs, just look at the happy faces.

Somehow Emma managed to stay on the Frog Hopper for 5 rides, she smiled nicely at the operator and just refused to get off.

Bumper bulls? That's a new one. The twins were told they were too little to ride, big disappointment.

The Best Medicine

As I mentioned a couple of blog posts ago, I've had a ten day dose of the really horrid fluey cough and cold which everyone else in the neighbourhood seems to be suffering from.

But I had some very special medicine to make me feel better.

It worked!












Hilary awarded me (and Isaac) a POTW... Thanks Hilary!

Wild Kratts Live!

If there are no children between 4 and 8 in your family circle, you probably have never heard of Wild Kratts, but let me tell you, Wild Kratts is Isaac's absolutely definitely most very favourite TV show.

So when I saw that the Wild Kratts Live! show was coming to the nearby theatre, I knew we had to go. I bought the tickets last May and kept them in a safe place till last weekend.

Conservationist brothers Martin and Chris Kratt created their TV show to educate children about the world's creatures and the dangers they face, using elements of zoology, biology and ecology, and combining science education with fun and adventure. The show is introduced by the Kratts themselves, and features a specific animal and it's habitat, and then, with a mighty "What if?" they are transformed into their cartoon alter egos, and the adventure begins.

Callum (6) and Isaac (5) knew they were going to see Wild Kratts, but had no idea that Martin and Chris were actually real people and were going to appear on the stage. Callum, being a cool six-and-three-quarters year old man-about-town, took it all in his stride, but I'll never forget the look of wonder on Isaac's face when his heroes appeared. "I love these guys!" he shouted.

Martin Kratt always wears blue, and Chris wears green. "My favourite colour is blue!" shouted Isaac.

The Kratt brothers can summon up magical properties when they are wearing their special creature power vests, especially when it means saving a wild creature from hunters with evil intentions.

Some refreshment at half-time. A lot of shouting and jumping up and down can build up a thirst.

Lots of audience participation, lots of excitement. I thought they were both going to leap over the balcony railing at one point in the show.

Thanks for a good show, Martin and Chris, you made their day!

Attack of the Towheads!

A Fishy Story

We planned a Family Excursion to the new Ripley's Aquarium in downtown Toronto. I bought tickets on line a couple of weeks before we went, saving a long line up at the ticket booth, not something we wanted to experience with excited children.  It's not a very big building, but there's lots to see and do. The Canadian Waters Gallery features 17 exhibits totaling over 665,000 litres. And that's just the first gallery, there are 7 more!

A giant American lobster. Surf and Turf, anyone? He was enormous!

The Rainbow Reef featured colourful fish with imaginative names; Picasso Triggerfish, Humbug Dascyllus, Emperor Angelfish, Pajama Cardinalfish, Unicorn Surgeonfish.

Callum and Isaac tried swimming with the fish. No, not really, they crawled up a tube into the middle of the tank.

Halfway through the aquarium there's a children's play area and a snack bar. We took our lunch with us, so we ate on the benches next to the kids area, giving us all a break! The aquarium has only been open since late 2013 so it's a very popular place and quite busy. More pictures in a day or two.....

Return of the Lost Blogger!

I know, I know, it's been far too long. Did you miss me? I'm not sure why I neglected this blog for 3 months, but I'm back, and I intend to keep on blogging. It's been a brutal winter here in Southern Ontario, with ice storms destroying trees and hydro services, and bitter temperatures. In fact, so cold that it seems that I have been trapped indoors all winter, with no opportunity to get outside and enjoy the snow with my grandchildren. I'm deliriously happy to see some sunshine and feel the warmth of the sun at last.

I've been continuing with art classes, and really enjoying it. This is my latest painting. I'm not sure if it is finished or not. It's at the stage where I'm scared to do anything else to it, although Colin says there are too many hard edges. Perhaps the door needs more detail or texture. And I think it's a bit too blue......

Party at the weekend.... grandson Isaac will be five. Menu (birthday boy's choice): BIG sandwiches with pickles, cheese and mayo AND a big "chunk-er" of chocolate cake. Sounds good, right?

SuperHeroes

The sewing machine came into use at Christmas. I made all three of my grandsons Superman capes for Christmas. Black with a yellow felt Superman logo.
Callum wears his to his skating lessons.
Emma got a special cape.... red with a pink felt Princess Crown on it. Max loves dashing through the house wearing the Princess cape more than his own, so Emma has to wear the Superman.
And the capes are reversible.... red on the other side with their initial and a lightning bolt. The big boys seem to like the red side best.

SuperCallum and SuperIsaac taking a break from their exhausting SuperHero activities.

Invasion of the Gingerbread Men

First you line up an assortment of sweets and candies, then you get a bowl of the stickiest, sweetest, surgariest icing that you can find, dollop some icing on your gingerbread man, and stick the candies on. And don't forget to lick your fingers.

Max has his eagle eye on whatever's going on beside him. 

He covered his gingerbread man with red liquorice, and he doesn't even like it!

Emma was very industriously decorating her gingerbread man, but it looks like part of his head is missing already! No, no, not my head! (spoken in a gingerbread man kind of voice).

Isaac made his gingerbread man into a gingerbread robot ninja. 

(He was outraged that I called it a robot.)

But gingerbread robots ninjas don't last very long, and this one was no different. 

It got eaten soon after completion.

Hell's Angels Biker Gang

One in the front, two in the back! Speed demons tearing up the sidewalk.... so watch out!

Back Yard Barbershop

Big Boy Haircut

Little Boy Haircut

Next in line for the beauty treatment..... Tessa the Golden Doodle. Just kidding!

Four!

Isaac celebrated three fourth birthdays this year. Yes.... THREE!

The first 4th birthday was celebrated at his Montessori Pre-school classroom a week early. He was the V.I.P. for the morning and got to sit on the Birthday Chair while all the other children sat on the floor and sang to him and were allowed to ask him questions such as "What is your favourite animal?" (giraffe) "What is your favourite car?" (taxi).

And the fancy birthday cake is cardboard.... it gets recycled for every birthday!

Unfortunately the teachers lighter had run out of fuel and he had to pretend to blow the candles out. But he didn't mind!

The second 4th birthday was celebrated at the weekend with a family BBQ in the back yard. This time the cake was real, and so were the candles.

There's nothing better than a chocolate cake covered with multicoloured Smarties.

It was a nice sunny day and the paddling pool and the garden hose got a lot of use.



The third 4th birthday was on his actual birthday, when they finished up the remnants of the birthday cake and Isey and I went to watch his mummy play baseball. All excitement is over for another year. Happy Birthday Isaac.

Train Talk

Santa delivered a train table to Isaac's house for Christmas.

Callum (who loves to tell everyone what to do and how to play with toys): Don't forget when you are driving a train you have a daily duty to load and unload the train, it's your daily duty. Everyone has a daily duty!
Isaac (who doesn't want to be told what to do by his cousin): Sorry, today is my day off!