Fuji Saddness

Submitted by Jennifer


So we recently decided to cash in our airmiles and obtain a decent point-and-shoot camera with them.  Seeing as this would be our camera for trekking around and traveling etc., we opted for a shock-proof, water-proof, grubby-kid-finger-proof, throw-it-off-a-tall-building-proof kinda model.  Something we would never have to worry about keeping out of the rain, or cold, or heat or whatever the elements could send our way.

Approximately two months ago we received our handy little camera in the mail, and it was love right from the start.  The picture quality was great.  The camera was already proving to be quite resistant, just as promised....and then something happened...


About two weeks ago, Clayton and the kids went for a swim in his parents backyard pool.  Clayton decided to give the underwater features on the camera a try.  The camera advertised to be water resistant for up to something like thirty feet.  I came home from work that evening to the news that taking the camera in the pool had indeed fried the camera.  The good news was the memory card was salvaged, and even some of the underwater photos...


I had a look through them the other day, as I was preparing the photos for my previous post.


I think I figured out what did the camera in...

Busy, busy...

Submitted by Jennifer

Hey there everyone, 

I know that we have become delinquent bloggers.  The truth is that we ran out of steam a little bit, and life got really busy for a while.  Clayton has abandoned ship so from now on it is just going to be little ole me here at The Truth, but if you are willing to bear with me, I am going to try to get back to regular posting once again.  To start things off, I thought I would give you a little taste of just what it has been that has kept us too busy for the blogosphere these past few months.  

For starters, I have returned to work.  The return to work was both a dreaded and much anticipated event for me.  While I was sad to give up my life of TOTAL freedom, I was also quite eager to have a little (ahem) adult interaction in my life again.  Clayton doesn't count because he is barely an adult at the best of times.  I am happy to report that the transition has been very smooth for all parties involved and we are settling into a nice routine around here.  When I returned to work after KD was born, I always had the prospect of another mat leave somewhere on the horizon, but this time I had to come to terms with the fact that I was going back to work for. the. rest. of. my. life.  Yes, ok...moving on now.  I'm over it.
So here's what we've been up to...

KD had her first soccer season this spring, and she rocked the field like a pro....

So did Little Z, I might add...we actually had a hard time keeping him off the field!

The windup, complete with a medal, soccer bag and free meal at BP...

KD also had her dance recital, my little ballerina...oops...tap dancer, that is!

You will have to forgive the atrocious videography, I was trying not to miss a single moment, while capturing the whole thing on tape...the mad clicking you hear during the second half is me trying to hit the zoom out button and failing miserably...

Playing in the yard...

Checking out the new Children's garden at Assiniboine Park...aka Cinnamon Park

Hangin' at the Zoo...rough, I know eh?

Eating ice cream...a rather favourite pastime...

Gardening...

More playing in the yard...

For all you naysayers, he CHOOSES to wear his helmet...

...and washing the car...

So there you have it...busy, busy, busy...

Until next time...

Jen

Say What?

Submitted by Jennifer

As we were sitting down to dinner tonight KD said to me,

"We made flower pots in school today for Father's day...It's a surprise...Don't tell Daddy!"

Alright then...


Jen

Remote Control

Submitted by Jennifer

It always amazes me at how technologically savvy the younger sect can be. I guess it is because they are growing up with all this technology and they don't know any different. While I learned about the Internet in third year university struggling to wade my way through Unix HTML programming while having no real comprehension of just what exactly it was I was trying to accomplish, KD has always had the world at her fingertips, just the click of a button away.

Now this is not to say that KD has had free reign by any stretch of the imagination. Her computer experience has been limited entirely to the occasional games that Clayton outlined in his last post and a couple of hours of Dora's Crystal Kingdom on the Mac. Still, from the first time she picked up the iPad, she had no problem figuring out exactly how it worked.

The same holds true for the remote control for the television. I am not a believer in letting babies play with the remote control. I simply think that children need to learn from a very young age that some things are just off limits. KD was taught not to touch and it is only just recently that I have shown her how to change the channel on the T.V.

Now the process of teaching a toddler not to touch the remote is a grueling and arduous proposition. It involves taking it away, every five or so seconds, for about a year before any headway is made. Little Z is just starting to get the message and he now very considerately brings the remote to me each time he finds it within his reach.

KD, on the other hand, was much more slick. One time when she was not quite a year old, I was folding laundry in the living room while she was playing happily on the floor. I went off to her bedroom to put away the laundry, and was not out of the room for more than thirty seconds when I heard the very distinctive sound of the MGM theme song coming from the living room.

"What the...?!?".

I made it back to living room just in time to see the opening credits of "American Gangster" playing across the television screen. It would seem that KD had not only tracked down the remote in my absence, but she had managed to order a very inappropriate pay-per-view movie in that time!

Then we added "west side" to her baby sign flash cards...

Needless to say, we did not watch the movie...

Jen

Kndcvvfjgfhbkgjuhyvjfkadencekjj@tffcfcf@

Submitted by Clayton...

As a special treat, from time to time, Kadence is allowed to use the ipad.  She is really quite adept at navigating the little computer.  With no help at all she can...

...play Cut the Rope.  If there is ever a career where she can get paid to cut ropes she will be a very happy person.

She can fling Angry Birds into buildings.  I will do my best to dissuade her from making this into a career, but for now, what can it hurt?

She can crash a police car like nobody's business.  I guess there is a reason you don't see 4 year old police officers.

She can build goo structures.  She also has been building houses out of straw at school - as earth friendly this might be, it is not really her cup of tea as she'd rather be a Big Bad Wolf than a lazy little pig.

I'm not sure that there are many openings for princesses in this economic climate, however, it is her dream job.  Yes that is her modelling her princess clothes.

She can also try to surf the net.  I think she may need to broaden her search a bit - Kndcvvfjgfhbkgjuhyvjfkadencekjj@tffcfcf@ is a little to specific.  (I love the fact that she typed her name in the middle of it!)

So if any of you in the blogosphere has a job for a mud architect who regally cuts the ceremonial rope to unveil her work before turning around and smashing birds into her specific type of structure, let me know.  Keep in mind that she has a poor driving record...

My Dear, Head Gear

Submitted by Clayton...

In response to Jenn's last post, A Tough Nut to Crack;

Perhaps Jenn's parents never felt the need to make her wear a helmet because she was so hard-headed.

I imagine when Jenn was younger, she was one of those rebellious children who left the house for school wearing one thing, but when her parents were long out of sight, she'd reach into her knapsack and pull out her disallowed clothing - her helmet, carefully place it on her head, making sure the straps fit and that the helmet met all current Canadian safety standards by checking her Junior Consumer Reports magazine and then quietly returned to the sidewalk (you shouldn't walk on the grass) where she would walk safely to school.

You will never get her to shake her belief in helmets.  The one period of her life that she threw caution to the wind and left her helmet at home, she walked smack into a glass door at the mall.  That was all the confirmation she needed.

Does this explain her passion for famous fashion photographer Helmut Newton?  Or maybe her love of the Dark Lord of the Sith, Darth Vader?  It's all coming together now, isn't it!

The unfortunate side effect is that now KD has got to wear a helmet everywhere.  You think I'm exaggerating? I would like to submit exhibit #1 into evidence.

Now really, how dangerous can playing with Grandma really be?  This is not an aberration - I would like to submit exhibit #2 for your review.

Seriously.  A walk in the grass.  Ridiculous.  I can only imagine that Jenn was thinking if a strong wind comes along and a branch falls on KD's head or maybe if frozen poop from an airplane 35 000 feet in the air happens to come hurling through space, I really don't know...

Consider my final piece of evidence, submission #3.

Push-ups.  I rest my case.

Make that, I rest my head case.

A Tough Nut to Crack

Submitted by Jennifer

I have to admit that I'm a bit of a nut when it comes to safety. My family loves to tease me about this to no end. I am very aware of this quirk in my personality. Over the years I know that there have been more times than I can count that I have observed people doing things that I would consider foolish and have been heard to say something along the lines of,
"Now that's a head injury waiting to happen...".

I may or may not have said it so frequently that Clayton may or may not have deemed it my 'slogan'.


My parents have been right on this bandwagon of ribbing me about this particular preoccupation, showing no mercy what-so-ever. For my part, I think I have shown considerable restraint when it comes to imposing my safety hangups on my children. To date, KD has only been required to wear her helmut for biking, riding her scooter, and ice skating. Little Z has only been required to wear his helmut for riding in his stroller, wagon rides, walking and brushing his teeth...what?

 Nooooo...he doesn't even own a helmet...yet.


So you can all imagine my surprise when I recently learned that my I may just come by this particular brand of nuttiness honestly. My mother swore up and down, left, right, and center that in my day, children were never required to wear helmets for anything, much less her children! Then a couple of months ago she somewhat sheepishly sent me an email with this photo that she discovered while going through some things...

Well, look what we have here...

...that would be me...wearing the helmet!  That would be my mom, standing right behind me!  Huh...

...and if you are having any difficulty reading the caption, it says, "BTW, Dad said: just tell her she insisted!"
However, like me, my mother seemed to show some restraint as well...I am not wearing a helmet to swing or stand in a tree, activities for which I would definitely consider having my kids wear helmets...(although the tree picture is somewhat questionable, but on close inspection, I am pretty sure that is just my hair!)

Not so nutty after all...

Love,
Jen

P.S.  I have no idea who the crazy cat people in the bottom left hand corner are...pretty sure they are just some random people who bear no relation what-so-ever to my family...