BUSY, SPRING AND ICE CREAM

As you can tell by the title and the pictures it has been a busy time around here. What with Easter and the good weather on it's way(?) things at work have been very very busy. People once again are thinking of outdoor projects such as garages, decks and fences. So into our store they come. We also have a number of new staff and they are learning the ropes. In the meantime, those of us with experience are kept on our toes.

Of course, the best part of spring is the warming weather. It means no more heavy winter coats but rather lighter spring jackets. This has also freed Owen up to move more easily. He still likes to walk in the snow but would much rather play in the water and look under trees to find the pine cones that have fallen. There is not enough ice and snow on the sidewalks for him to scrape so I have been showing him how to move the water in the gutter.

We have also been making our own ice cream. Does he like ice cream?. The best way to answer that is to ask if the Pope is Catholic. Of course, he loves ice cream and knows exactly where it is kept in the freezer.

This particular day we had none. So I got the ice cream maker out and we made a batch in about forty minutes.

I always remember eating the icing off the beaters when my mom made a cake so I let Owen eat the ice cream of the paddle. It was like a duck taking to water. I think the more experiences he gets, the better.

I really believe that the more time you spend with kids when they are young , the better off they will turn out.

Holy Prostitutes

Thank goodness the Lord gave us a sense of humour so that we may laugh at ourselves- Alphonsedamoose

A man is driving down a deserted stretch of highway when he notices a sign out
of the corner of his eye.... It reads:
SISTERS OF ST. FRANCIS
HOUSE OF PROSTITUTION
10 MILES

He thinks this is a figment of his imagination and drives on without a second
thought....
Soon he sees another sign which reads:
SISTERS OF ST. FRANCIS
HOUSE OF PROSTITUTION
5 MILES

Suddenly he begins to realize that these signs are for real and drives past
a third sign saying:
SISTERS OF ST. FRANCIS
HOUSE OF PROSTITUTION

NEXT RIGHT

His curiosity gets the best of him and he pulls into the drive. On the far
side of the parking lot is a stone building with a small
Sign next to the door reading:
SISTERS OF ST. FRANCIS

He climbs the steps and rings the bell. The door is answered by a nun in a
long black habit, who asks,

'What may we do for you my son?'

He answers, 'I saw your signs along the highway and was interested in possibly
doing business...

'Very well my son. Please follow me.' He is led through many winding passages
and is soon quite disoriented. The nun stops at a closed
Door and tells the man, 'Please knock on this door.'

He does so and another nun in a long habit, holding a tin cup answers the
door... Th is nun instructs, 'Please place $100 in the cup then
go through the large wooden door at the end o f the hallway.'

He puts $100 in the cup, eagerly trots down the hall and slips through the
door pulling it shut behind him.

The door locks, and he finds himself back in the parking lot facing another
sign:

GO IN PEACE.
YOU HAVE JUST BEEN SCREWED BY THE SISTERS OF ST. FRANCIS.
SERVES YOU RIGHT, YOU SINNER

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the man song

It was good for a laugh

TEACH THEM YOUNG

Yesterday , we had Owen for about 3 1/2 hours. His big obsession right now is to go outside. As soon as he arrived, and before his mom left, he had asked for his boots and jacket. We were outside and down the street before she even got out of our house.

We drummed on the electrical boxes , made snowballs, and watched a flock of Cedar Waxwings strip a Mountain Ash of berries in about one minute. There must have been at least two hundred birds in the flock . You could actually hear the hum of their beating wings as they took off and landed.

When we got back to the house about 30 minutes later, it was time for lunch and hot chocolate. There is nothing better than hot chocolate on a winter day.

After lunch, the first thing Owen did was get his boots and come over saying"outside". He loves being outside. This is a good thing. It certainly is better than sitting in front of a television all day like some kids do.
While we were out, he saw the scraper that we use to clear the walks on icy days. He has obviously seen his parents use one, because he immediately what it was for. Mrs. Moose showed him where to scrape and away he went. We were practically peeing ourselves laughing. The thing that really surprised us was that he would pick snow up with the scraper like a shovel. He would then try to dump it onto the pile beside the walk

For such a little guy he did an excellent job. As you can see from the pictures, he was quite proud of himself. Now if we could only keep his mitts on.

I've been thinking that if we get enough snow next year, I'll teach him how to make an IGLOO. Won't that be cool !

SPRING FEVER

We had the Grand-moose , Owen, over last evening for about three hours. It is beautiful weather here right now. Spring-like temperatures and melting snow. And of course spring fever has come along with the warmth.

After supper last night , it was still nice outside so Owen and I decided to go for a walk. As you can see from the pictures he has a light spring coat on (vest underneath) . The temperature was about 10C (50F). You can also see the run-off in the gutter on the road. It was very difficult keeping him out of the water. What is it that attracts young boys to running water to get wet? He was only wearing jeans so I wanted him to stay dry.

Like all young, he was raring to go. We started at our walk and he ran as fast as he could down the sidewalk. I was amazed at how far he went before tiring. In the picture you can just see the second power pole (right side of picture). He ran all the way to that area. It is a good 200 yards from our walk. And was he tired? Nope! He ran most of the way back. He only stopped when a pine cone on the ground caught his eye. Of course, he had to pick it up and then he found another. This one also became part of his collection.

He didn't keep them for long and soon we were running back toward Mrs. Moose.That is the reason the second picture is a little blurred. He was going full steam
and I think I was holding him back. I was trying to get out of the picture.

When we arrived back at the house, he decided to climb the snowbank. Even though it is no particularly high, it is steep. And he had no mitts on. So he grabbed my hand for balance and up he went like a sheep up a mountain. And when he got to the top" TA DA!! I did it."

He would then proceed to slide down the bank onto the sidewalk, bringing lots of snow with him. Over and over again he did this. We were having a terrific time. He would try to slide down without holding my hand and the last picture shows the result. He got stuck!

If I was going to put a caption to this, it would be:" Help, Save me Grandpa"
Feel free to add your own captions. The more the merrier. Sorry there will be no prize.

Underwear cop --hilarious

HAVE A GOOD LAUGH EVERYONE

 

 

 

 

 

EXHAUSTED BY AN 18 MONTH OLD

Owen's dad is away this weekend racing in Phoenix,AZ. It has afforded Mrs. Moose and myself the opportunity to spend even more time with Owen.
Thursday night he came over to our house for about 4 hours. He gets very excited when he comes here and all the way up the walk he was yelling "Grampa !" When he gets in the house now , he immediately wants his coat and boots taken off. He then turns to his mom and says: " BYE BYE". We barely get a chance to say hello to her and he is trying to close the door. Talk about not being worried that she is leaving. We think it is terrific that he is so secure in coming here that he doesn't worry about his mom leaving. Probably because he gets so spoiled.
He has also begun to pick up more and more words that he says clearly enough to understand. He certainly can say downstairs, outside, birdies, barking, cookie, duckies, milk, more. Mark and Kristin have also been working on his manners and he has learned to say "yes, please" when you ask him if he would like a cookie or cracker or other food. You can't start teaching manners too young


Of course the whole time he is here , he is on the go. He loves to go down and see the fish and out to the garage just to look around at the tools and play with some of them. I make sure they are all unplugged before he can touch them.
He also loves to be chased and will"sneak up" on you with a little gleam in his eye that
means chase me. He then runs to the other person as fast as he can and literally climbs them like a monkey up a tree. That is another new word-monkey.

Friday night, Kristin was going out with some friends so Mrs. Moose and I went over to their house. We brought Chinese food with us and Owen just dug into all of it. There are very few foods that he doesn't like.
Later we went in the hot tub. As I was getting him ready , I had to change him into a pool diaper up in his bedroom. He wasn't sure if he as going to bed or not. As soon as he saw his bathing suit, he said "outside".
He waited in the bathroom door as I got changed and then ran to the back door. It was about -8 outside , which is a great temperature to go hot-tubbing. The water was very warm so he lowered himself in very slowly. He loves to play with the controls and make the bubbles go full force. After we had gone back inside we played for about half an hour and into bed he went. We were wiped.

Saturday morning we weren't really expecting him.Kristin arrived at the door with him on her way into town to see her sister. He apparently insisted on coming here. All the way for five miles he had been in his car seat saying, "Grampa, grampa". We love having him so he stayed with us for about five hours. We had him outside and he continued to hone his skills in snowball making and throwing. He also walked in the melt water in the gutter on the street. At one point he slipped on some ice and down he went. His jeans were soaked and dirty.
Back home to our house to get changed. Yes we keep extra clothes for him here.
Last night we were back at Kristin's to celebrate our Craig's 25Th birthday(Feb 27) and to watch the UFC Pay per View. We took pizza over for supper and as soon as he saw the boxes the words came out-"pizza please"
With the whole family there he had a terrific audience and took full advantage of it. He showed everyone how he can use a balloon as a Pilates balls and he can balance on it. We are amazed that the balloon hasn't broken. It has been blown up since November and has lost very little air.

Today is a recuperation day. I just can't keep up.