LAWNMOWER MAN AT WORK!

So we have a gardener. Well, sort of. A service has been hired to come once every 3 weeks to mow our lawn and tidy up the yard. Until today, the children have been quite timid around “Lawnmower Man.”. But after a rough morning with me, Wyatt must have decided he needed a friend, and at that exact moment, “Lawnmower Man” arrived.
“Hi. I am Wyatt. My mom is cleaning up our toys in the yard so you can cut the grass.”
“Hi. My name is Anthony.”


“This is my lawn mower. We have another lawn mower. This is Cooper. I have a sister Maddy. I have some more things to show you inside.” Off he went to go get his cars, balls, Diego sleeping bag, etc…And he was not prepared to stop, nor leave Anthony alone.
Anthony tried to keep working but once Wyatt had made introductions, Cooper felt like he should be helping Anthony with the yard work. So off he went, right on Anthony's heels(deep in the gardens), scooping up leaves, weeds and branches and putting them in the rubbish bin (there are red garbages here for regular organic waste pick-up). He was actually very helpful. He is a genuinely sweet and generous little guy. Wyatt helped out a bit so as not to be outdone by Cooper, but even after the novelty wore off, Cooper kept dragging branches to the bin and climbing among the weeds to help pull them out.
Time for the big mowers, so I set the kids up on the deck with their lunches and let them watch Anthony mow, use the whippersnipper, and then the leaf blower to tidy up the garden. They were enthralled. Luckily, Anthony is lovely and was kind enough to talk with them and let them help. He even showed them his truck and trailer as he was preparing to leave. After he had gone, I found Cooper and Wyatt trying to uproot a few trees. Here’s hoping that in a few years time, they will remember the joy they felt upon assisting with the yard work and also, that we won't be fined for destroying too many native Australian plants in the garden!

POTTY MOUTH PRE-SCHOOLERS

Sitting at the dining room table about a month ago, Wyatt takes a bite of lunch and then the following conversation takes place.




















“Oh F#$%.” said in a calm, unprovoked, matter-of-fact voice.

“Where did you learn that word honey?” in a very forced calm, somewhere between laughing and complete outrage.
“My dad taught me that word.”
“No Honey, your dad did not teach you that word.” (In truth, the only believable answer to this question would have been - "No mom, I heard you say it once...or twice...")
“Actually, it was one of my uncles.”
“Which uncle taught you that word?”
“Uncle Andrew.”
“I don’t think Uncle Andrew taught you that word.” (seeing as he is in Canada and you have only spoken to him a few times in the past 8 months.)
“He did.”
“Well that is a bad word and if I hear you say it again, I will have to give you a time-out.”
“Okay.”

In the car last week on the way home from the museum.
“Oh F#$%.”
“Wyatt, what did I tell you about that word?”
“That I would get a time-out if I used that word.”
“Right. Also, that if you use that word we won’t be able to go play at your friends’ houses.”
“Who do you hear using this word?”
“My dad used it once when I woke up from my nap and he just said it.”
“Well, Daddy shouldn’t use it either. If he uses that word, he can’t go to his friends' houses either.”
“And if you say it, you can’t go to Ultimate.”
“Okay, if Mommy says it, she can’t go to Ultimate.”
“And if Daddy says it, he can’t ride his bike. Catty what if you say it?”
Catty replies “I can’t use my computer if I say it.”

This morning as they watched morning cartoons.
“Oh F#$%.”
“Wyatt, 10 minute time-out.”
Then Maddy starts with “Oh F#$%. Oh F#$%. Oh F#$%.”
No idea what to do next… no idea… Do people still wash mouths out with soap???

PICTIONARY GENIUS or GRAFITI ARTIST – only time will tell!

Our budding artist/junior pictionary champ is Madeline Ruby Faulds. She wanders the halls of 15 Wilmot St., with her travel doodlepro in hand, waiting for an adult to venture her way…when she reaches out her “drawing board” and asks in her sweetest voice – “You dwaw someping for me?”. As you draw, she stares intently at the lines being formed and fills the silence with “Umm….Umm…slippers. Umm…Ummm…banana.”. Actually, that isn’t fair, she is an EXCELLENT guess and usually her first guess is correct! She is able to decode very rudimentary drawings with ease and I am constantly impressed with her vocabulary. When she isn’t inside practising her pictionary skills, she is wandering outdoors where her medium is chalk, her canvas – EVERYTHING!!!! She has successfully coloured our garage, the outdoor table and chairs, the deck, the tent, the beams holding up the deck, the trampoline, the swings, and sometimes she manages to sneak some chalk into the house to get the rest of our belongings. Luckily, her other favorite activity is cleaning things with a cloth so there isn’t much fight when I ask her to erase her artistic genius!

Check out our snowman.

I was feeling a bit guilty that our kids were missing out on some traditional Canadian activities like making snowmen. But as the saying goes, if life give your lemons make lemonade...

Hot Wheels - LIVE and in person !

So by now you are probably aware that Wyatt is obsessed with Hot Wheels. He will tell you himself. He will ask when about to meet a new friend, "Is he car obsessed ?".

I made the mistake of telling him that we would go the Hot Rod show the end of January way back in December. I've been telling him how long till the show since before Christmas. The show was on the Australia day long weekend ( Jan 23rd - 26th ). AFter a morning of swimming and lunch at the beach I decided to take him to the show on a Saturday afternoon.

The show was at the Royal Exhibition Building which is adjacent to the Melbourne Museum for those of you who have been to visit us. There were tons of cars just parked on the grounds outside the building and all the official show cars inside the building. I was figuring that his head was either going to pop off or explode when I got him there and it pretty much did.


I think the pictures will do it more justice than my words so have a look and enjoy...



It doesn't get much prouder than this...you'ld think he built it himself !



The building is massive...and it was full of cars, choppers, bikes, and people.





Purple was a popular colour, and this was the best of the purples.






this "ute" deserved some special attention for some reason. I saw the guy polishing the railing as we walked away.



There was even a bicycle section....









And this was the all out winner. Check out the plates ! And note that the guy has decorated his booth with toys...I'm not sure if this was well thought out or not. I tried to keep Wyatt out of the toys and was doing ok until some other people let thier kids in to play with them and then I gave up and let him sit and play with the cars for a little while.


Parking - $9.00
Entry fees - $10.00
Over priced hot wheels car from a booth - $3.00
Taking a Car-obsessed 3 year old boy to a hot rod show - Priceless !

Duck, duck, Goose !

On my way in to work every day I ride past a nice little pond with a flock of ducks and geese that I often see kids feeding. A few weeks ago we conveniently had a loaf of bread go bad on us and found our way over to the pond. The kids enjoyed it for the most part...Cooper loved it, Wyatt tried to kick the ducks, and Maddy found them scary.