Bad Breath

The light was amazing late this afternoon, perfect for capturing a portrait of the Sprouts. Only it didn't happen. They stood together, picture perfect, when the younger Sprout turned to his older sister and breathed on her. Hilarity ensued as said sister exclaimed, "Ew, gross, bad breath!" Once the Sprouts get going, especially Jo, no amount of cajoling can bring them back. Oh well, there is always tomorrow (after the brushing of teeth and a mint or two).

Overheard at Our House

During family devotions this evening an unexpected answer came from the younger Sprout after the introduction to the week's catechism question.

"What are the decrees of God?"

"Oh, oh, I know one!"

"Yes, Jo?"

"Do not text while driving."

Made Me Smile: This Isn't the Petition Response You're Looking For

The White House posted an official response to a petition requesting the U.S. government to "secure funding and resources, and begin construction on a Death Star by 2016". I, a sometimes geek, enjoyed the tongue-in-cheek response and all the Star Wars references. You can find the official response here.

Green

"Papa, I need to go pee!"

"Then go."

"I can't."

"Why not?"

"The water in the toilet is blue."

"Ohh-kaay."

Upstairs I went to find the younger Sprout doing a pee dance in the hallway. I hurried into the washroom where the water in the toilet was definitely blue. My spouse had used a blue coloured cleaner in the toilet and left it so that the cleaning agents could do their work. I found the toilet brush and quickly scrubbed the toilet.

"Don't flush the blue water!" Josiah exclaimed, still dancing.

"Why not?"

"I want to try a science experiment."

"Ohh-kaay. What experiment?"

"I want to see if it turns green."

(I'll let you figure that out on your own.)

Put In My Place

The Sprouts unpacked their school gear when they came home from Nana's house. I noticed that Fi had black paint on her fingers and commented that there must have been art club today. She nodded.

Me, knowingly: "You made windchimes today."

Fi, in wonderment: "How did you know that?"

Me, boasting: "I know everything!"

Fi, rolling her eyes and shaking her head: "No, you don't."

Made Me Smile: Kargo Kids by Westjet

Made Me Smile: Ice Creams

For Fi

The little video screen on the plane kept scrolling through a map showing where we were and the altitude at which we were flying, ads for exotic locations and, oddly enough, silly jokes. So this is for my oldest Sprout who always rolls her eyes at my bad puns and goofy jokes.

What kind of tree has fingers?

Check the comments for the answer!

Big Brother

"Congratulations!", Josiah's JK teacher greeted me warmly.  "Um, thank you?", I replied, wondering for what I was being congratulated. 

"Josiah told the class that he is going to be a big brother." 

My puzzlement slowly changed to amusement.  "Oh, really, he said that, did he?  I'm not sure how that is possible.", I replied with a grin. 

Apparently, another classmate was sharing the news that her baby sister was arriving soon.  Well, Josiah, not to be outdone, announced to the whole class that he was going to be a big brother.  We both had a chuckle at the misunderstanding and went on with our day.

And just to be very clear, no, Josiah is not going to be a big brother.

Family Quote of the Day

FK, upon seeing the large stacks of books on the dining table: "Schoolwork already?  School doesn't start for another two weeks!"

Me, with eyebrows raised: "Uh, huh..."

FK, with knowing grin: "Oh, right, you're a teacher."

Family Quote of the Day

Me: "JK, what would you like for your birthday dinner on Thursday?"
JK: "Chocolate noodles with icing."

Musical Interlude: Hornsmoke

Howdy, pardners!  Here is a humourous musical look at the wild West.

Video: Texting Mom

Just Peachy

Just How Big Was That Booger?

Towards the end of this morning's math lesson my students started whispering to each other and quietly giggling.  As the class began work on their assignment, the giggles and whispering continued, especially after my students glanced at me from time to time.  Students pretended to need help, only when I arrived at their desk, they seemed more interested in sharing a quiet laugh with fellow students.  I clued in quickly that something was amiss with my appearance.  Was it my hair?  My clothes?  My fly?  Did I have something on my back? 

When the class was a little calmer I quickly exited the classroom and went to the washroom.  Looking in the mirror, I noticed that I must have wiped some chalk dust on my face, placed just under my nose.  With a grin, I wiped it off and returned to the classroom.  All my students looked up with big smiles on their faces.  I started laughing (to do otherwise would have been foolish).  "Did you see it, Mr. K?  It looked like a giant booger on your face!  What was it?"  Still laughing, I explained that it was just chalk dust.  We all took a few moments to laugh and be a little silly, knowing it's okay to not take one's self too seriously.

Doodles and Darth Vader

By the time you read this post, you will have missed Google's latest interactive logo celebrating Jules Verne's 183rd birthday.  It's a small thing to point out, but during a week of preparation for a teaching evaluation on Friday, it makes you stop your frantic business, smile and take a moment to breathe (especially if you imagine you are in a submarine a la Jules Verne).  I was curious about the logo and googled (naturally) to discover that the specially designed logos are called doodles and that they have quite the history.  Kudos to the designers who can make millions of people smile, even if for a brief moment.

I didn't watch the Super Bowl and missed the much touted adverts, but they were up within minutes on the web.  My favourite is the Volkswagen spot with a pint sized Darth Vader.  My spouse and I both laughed (with a hint of parental tears) when we saw the ending.   

Family Quote of the Day

"No, you may not have perogies for breakfast." - Papa to JK

Teamwork

I did some searching online yesterday for videos relating to "cooperation" and "teamwork", which are themes for our School Spotlight this week.  I wanted to kick off each morning this week with a fun video before a time of discussion and journalling.  I discovered some great Sesame Street videos on cooperation, one of which was enjoyed by my class this morning (aren't grade sevens and eights surprising sometimes?).  You have to love Sesame Street - have you seen the True Mud/True Blood spoof yet ("That's not true mud...that's a potato!")? 

At this point in the post, some of you may be wondering if I have lost my sanity.  It's quite possible...

In my webiverse travels, I also came across a non-Sesame Street, yet still humourous, video on teamwork.  Can you name that tune (and bonus points for the composer)?

TV Quote

Yes, I like quotes! This one comes from a TV show The Mentalist that my spouse and I are watching on DVD (as I've mentioned before, we have no cable or satellite). This scene was a LOL moment for both of us:

Patrick: All you need is a basic understanding of the evolutionary psychology of women, rigorously and fearlessly applied. You gotta know what buttons to press.

Teresa: Like we're toasters.

Grace: Like men don't have buttons, too.

Patrick: Men are like toasters. Women... a little more like, uh, accordions. (Theresa and Grace walk away) (To Rigsby) I thought that was a compliment.

Humour

There are different types of humour. There is sophisticated and witty humour written by Stephen Leacock, Garrison Keillor and Stuart McLean (and dare I say Calvin and Hobbes?). There is quirky humour a la Monty Python. There is silly humour like puns (such as the ones I put on the top of Math reviews which make students' eyes roll: What do you get when you cross a dinosaur and a pig? Jurassic Pork!) and those knock-knock jokes we as parents hear from our six year old in the backseat on the way to town (Knock, knock. Who's there? Tank. Tank who? You're very welcome.).

There is something infectious about laughter. We laugh a lot as a family, especially when Papa gets mocked for being old:

FK: I wish I knew more history.
Mama: You know who to talk to about history? Papa. He knows a lot about history.
FK: That's because he lived way back then.
(hilarious laughter ensues)

My students like to laugh a lot, too. A lot of students were away Friday, so I took what small class I had to the computer lab to google and answer questions raised during the week during lessons and discussions. After the real work was done, I told my students to go to http://www.multiplication.com/ and play some interactive math games. Now you might think that 12-15 year olds would balk at playing these less than mature games in a Xbox, Wii and Nintendo world. No, not on Friday. They were giggling and laughing at the antics of plucky penguins and grizzly wheelchair-bound grannies all the while solving multiplication problems. Who knew?

Then there are those times you don't know whether to laugh or to be annoyed. Those of you who know us know we live an long hour's drive north of the nearest metropolis town. As I was wheezing and huffing my way up a hill this morning, all the while muttering under my breath "There are no hills in ____, there are no hills in ___", along comes a red Chevy van. The driver pulls the van up beside me, rolls down the window, and with a large grin, asks, "You runnin' all the way to town or do you wanna a ride?"

Ha-Ha.