The band is complete

January 29, 2010
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

Blake loves to play Rock Band with us, although we usually don't connect him to the Wii, so he can play along, but we don't have to worry about the band getting booed off the stage for missing too many notes. Literally.

Tonight we put him on the microphone so he could sing, and we hooked him into the system. He's actually not bad with repeating lyrics, so we picked out Watcha Watcha Watcha Want by the Beastie Boys. Cue the music.

Picture this 3 foot tall rocker in our basement. He was shakin' his bootie to the beat, and singing into the microphone like he was born to rock. The kid ended up with a 96%! He beat my score on the drums...by a lot.

First our basement, next a world tour.

Construction zone

January 28, 2010
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

This was actually yesterday, when Brian and his guys framed and mudded the fireplace for us. We've ordered the tiles, the marble for the hearth, and Rick finished the painting today. So, in two weeks we should have a finished fireplace! To see more pictures, just head on over to flickr.

Warm and toasty

January 26, 2010
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

Today was the big day. We finally got our new fireplace installed in the basement. They arrived this morning at 10:00, and after lots of sawing, drilling, and pounding, but absolutely no mess (yes, the basement is actually cleaner than before they got here), we officially have a gas fireplace.

The two guys who installed it were great, even when Blake came home and decided to talk their ears off. They even cleaned the glass on our other two fireplaces! They also installed what was possibly even more important...a remote control to our fireplace in the bedroom. No more arguing about who has to get out of bed to flip the switch.

I sat downstairs this evening in the dark watching the flames. We got this cool black, porcelain back to the fireplace which reflects the flames, so the effect is like watching a fire outside at night. It was very relaxing, and I was toasty warm. No slippers required. Heck, no socks required!

Next stage...framing and tiling.

An update...turned out better than I thought

Just an update on my brush with Blake's head on Friday. Despite my worst fears, and throbbing face/nose on Friday night as I was laying in bed trying to sleep, I did not turn into a raccoon overnight, or swell up like a balloon. Just sore on Saturday (the kind where you're constantly wary of anyone getting too close to your injury). By today, I can still feel it, but nothing bad at all.

Blake spent the weekend telling people I "hurt his head", and that he "went to the bathroom" (to hide). I don't think he's too traumatized though. He was trying to jump off the coffee table onto the couch yesterday afternoon. He sometimes rationalizes this behaviour by telling me "I'm not jumping mommy, I'm flying." At least he's cute when he's driving me crazy.

That hockey player look...

Blake and Faith have taken to playing in a "boat" in our living room. The boat is our two big easy chairs pushed together, with seat cushions optional. Today, Blake decided to push the chairs slightly apart, and make a bridge from one of the chairs to the other with a seat cushion. As I bent over to grab the cushion and push the chairs back together "for safety", he jumped in an attempt to cross the bridge, and propelled his hard little head into my nose.

I know that they recently released a study saying that swearing helps with pain, but when your three-year-old is standing there, dropping the f-bomb a few times just doesn't seem appropriate. Instead I sat down, quickly, and contemplated the crunching sound I'd just heard the cartilage in my nose make. Yes...it did start bleeding. And, yes, I had to sit on the couch with an ice pack for awhile. When Faith asked what was wrong, I told her that I hurt my nose. Blake piped up with, "You hurt my head mommy!" True, although your head didn't start bleeding, so I win the pain game.

Now, I have this kind of dull throb over my whole upper face, so we'll see if I look like a swollen raccoon tomorrow. Joy.

Grossest photo of the day so far

January 17, 2010
Originally uploaded by Robin's Nest3

My dad had surgery on his elbow to fix what 50 years of working on the farm will do your joints. They also did something with a nerve -- moved it from the bottom of the arm to the top -- to restore feeling to his fingers. Who knew these things were even possible?

The surgery went well, and he came up for Blake's birthday on the weekend. He showed off his "boo boo" to us. This is 10 days or so post-surgery, so it's still a bit swollen and the stitches are a bit Frankenstein-like, but definitely a very interesting picture. He had the stitches out the next day.

Sucking the fun, one rule at a time

I broke down and spent a whole $4 on a crazy carpet for Faith a couple of weeks ago. She takes it to school every day to slide on the small, but surprisingly fun, hill on the playground. She's one of many kids with crazy carpets and sled saucers flying down the hill for the two recesses they get each day.

Today, when I picked her up at school she informed me that the hill is now "closed". Why? "Because it's too icy and muddy! Adults suck the fun out of everything!"

Yes, I informed her, that's our job. To suck the fun out of every kid's life, one rule at a time.