All the Girls Out

To start the week, Shelly met up with a few of the girls on my side of the family for lunch.  The matriarch Donna Young, cousin Amanda and her daughter Arlen, as well as cousin Alecia too.  They had a great scoff and passed stories around about raising kids and such.  And to think there were many girls from this clan missing...  (Tiffany and her daughter, Marsha and hers, Alecia's daughter Kayla, and Tamara and her new daughter who was born a few weeks ago.  That is a lot of girls.)

Molly and her cousin Erin were on a car ride the other day to continue the girl theme.  They were both well behaved as the picture indicates.  Apparently though they fussed quite loudly for the last 20 minutes of their adventure.  Nevertheless, they are great travel companions and will see a lot of one another in the future.

The one other love of Shelly's is of course her stupid cat Mango.  I generally edit the pictures and clear them off the card and there always seems to be a few of the feline.  Mango enjoys laying in the sun at the back door, contributing not too much to the usefullness of the household.  At any rate the house would seem strange without its stinkiness and noises - the way it craps outside of the litterbox is particularily amusing.  Here is to Mango:

Another Shelley

I had to dig around my old photos to find this picture.  I few weeks ago I gave my blog address to Shelley Worsell. We worked together at Brookside for a few years.  She has since retired and is enjoying the good, leisure life that we all want for ourselves in the future.

Shelley told me she has enjoyed reading the blog and looking at the pictures = So Shelley this picture is for you.  See you around another few shifts at Brookside before the end of the year.

A Knight Out

80 extra pounds of fun - That is what I figure this homemade chain mail, armour, and helmet weighed.  I didn't bother putting on the shoulder protection....

Shelly and I, along with 8 others from Brookside, went to the first annual Medieval Dinner in Holmesville on Friday night.  It was a dinner theatre night sponsored and created by The Foundation for Education Perth Huron (http://foundationforeducation.ca/).  Costumes were optional, but not for Shelly and me!

About 5 years ago Drew Anderson made this suit of armour I am wearing.  It is incredible!  Hand linked chain mail for starters.  The torso piece must have over 10,000 links about 2 cm in diametre.  The leg pieces are divided in two; the top and bottom pieces.  Then he has gloves too that are gauntlet style naturally.  And the helmet is also hand made.  One needs to wear a toque under it because it is quite hard, and gets very heavy.  Way to go Drew!  Everyone was raving about it. 

Shelly looked equally great.  She found a bathrobe, of all things, that would easily be accessorized with a few odds and ends from the DollarRama store in town.  A crown and a few tassels easily made her look like the princess that she is.

We had a great time interacting with the principal actors, musicians, and magician of the show.  We knew most of them and they were really glad we came to support their foundation.

I recognize this fool!  Great job as a minstral Craig.

And Molly during all of this - She stayed at home with a feller who probably hasn't reared a child since the Montreal Olympics - But apparently they both did extremely well with one another. 

I Figured Something Out

We have all of these blankets at home for Molly with these pockets in one of the corners.  I never really knew what they were for...  I figured maybe it was for pocket change or an MP3 player or something.  Anyway Molly spits up as much as the next kid, and my shirt became soiled when I was burping her.  So I un-robed and grabbed a blanket so as not to be up-chucked on again.  The blanket kept on slipping off.  That is when I realized that this blanket doesn't actually have pockets, but rather it is a hoodie so it doesn't slip off my shoulder. 
Molly has been doing terrific.  She is exactly 11 pounds and 59 centimetres long.  She has been sleeping decently and is much more alert and aware of what is going on.  She will be 5 months old on April 3.  She isn't holding her head up on her own yet or sitting up without being propped with a bunch of pillows as support.  She goes to sleep around 7:30 without too much fuss, wakes up around 2:00 am, and then is up and down sporadically until 7:30.  During the day nap time begins around noon and last for about 2 and a half hours.  Another things that is new is Molly making lots of noises and sounds - for no other reason then just to hear herself I am sure.  And maybe to let us know she is around.  I still think her scar on her back looks pretty messed up.  There is also a scar under her belly button too which doesn't look bad at all.  The good news is she is kicking her legs like a donkey and has all kinds of movement and mobility. 

Diane and Rachel relieved Shelly and I last Saturday morning.  We had to pop up to the funeral home for a visitation of a neighbour's wife who died.  We were in and out and paid our respects in less then 10 minutes.  I budgeted 40 minutes or so with the able child minders...  Shelly and I scooted out to Bluewater for a relaxing, quiet breakfast for two.  We were still home within or 40 minute window!  Thanks girls.  (And thanks for bringing back the Minnie Mouse gift from Florida too.)

Not much else really is happening - The weather is getting back to seasonal norms.  I had a huge fire out at the farm this weekend and burnt a ton of garbage - Although I didn't set any tires ablaze.  I thought about it.  But didn't.  It is looking sort of okay out there.  Shelly and I had a big walk around the place today - The fields look absolutely great - Corn is going in.  But as good as the field is, the general clean up is going to be so much work still.  There is a lot to do yet.

Not a great picture of the cat - There is obviously something going on with his eyes.  But what you are supposed to notice is the collars.  Shelly made matching his and hers necklaces out of old shirts.  I wasn't going to wear one - So Mango gets it.  If you scroll back up to the picture of Rachel, you'll notice we gave her a pink one.

March Break

Great weather greeted March Break in southwestern Ontario...  Shelly is pretty happy about that.

The three of us started the week in Toronto.  We hit up the big smoke for a change of scenery and pace.  It was also a chance to visit with a different clan of folk too as our paths crossed with Kites, Coates and Erin, Emily, and that Drew Barisdale feller too.  Seeing such great people was definitely the highlight of our three days and two nights there, but we also got in the sights, had some patio time and just basically hung out.

On Wednesday and Thursday I had some help from Thuss and we threw some tires around out at the farm...  I like to think I am a good helper and can work mostly like a Japanese beaver, but Jeff Thuss definitely takes first place prize in what a good worker deals with during a shift....  We sorted and organized a few hundred tires to be crushed at another time and loaded up about 1200 pounds of scrap steel...  With the help of my dad, we added a few hundred more pounds of scrap and I brought it it to Secondary Recycling in Goderich to be taken care of - I think the fellers there have missed me and were glad to see me...  Anyhow, the farm is sort of getting cleaned up bit by small bit.

And finally, finally....  The KTM = After feeling like I've but in a few days of work and family time, I just naturally figured it was Drew and KTM time.  So I charged up the battery, flipped the ignition, and the 90 horsepower started to rumble out the two exhausts.  I just ripped around Huron County, for the most part, hitting as many of the gravel roads as possible.  I guess I put on a few hundred kilometres...  Nothing crazy.  It needs a big service to tweak it up - Another new rear tire, but man do I love this bike.

And today, a 23 degree centigrade day in March, Shelly and I hit the Maitland for a 7 mile paddle or so.  We left Molly in the capable care of Connie.  We put our scow in the water at high noon and leisurely made our way to Benmiller in a bit over 2 hours - There is enough water, but it isn't ragging.  It was an absolutely great day to be out.  We saw hundreds of ducks and geese, but no other wildlife to speak of.  Well, there were about 6 to 10 different hawks and perhaps we saw a pair of bald eagles too....  It would be nice to get a few huge down-pours of rain which would extend the canoe season in our area for a few extra weeks - hopefully to the May long weekend.  However time will tell.

Another Long-ish Hiatus

Any story or significant event has kind of slipped my mind since Valentine's - No matter.  It has basically been business as usual.  Shelly and I are figuring out the finer points of child rearing on a mostly trial and error basis.  That is not to say we haven't listened or got lots of advice from friends and books which we have used - but mostly we are just sussing things out based on feel and intuition.  Obviously it has worked okay at times, and not okay at other times....

At any rate, Shelly & Molly generally have great days filled with other moms and kids through the week.  There is no shortage of activites and groups to get oneself involved in, in our fair town.  A few of Molly's close friends even popped by for a visit the other day.  You may recognize them as Desmond and Darby.

So Molly is getting bigger and has hammered through her pre-9lb items of clothing.  Day by day she gets more alert - So much so that she makes strange with everyone, mostly, other then Shelly or me.  When she realizes that she isn't being held by either of us, which doesn't take long, she turns lobster red and wails!  It is probably just a faze.  Unsurprisingly that fine fellow Joel continues to have a magic touch and she is quite relaxed in his capable arms.  (Or else Molly just spied his long locks and thought it was me?)

And I know I would get a talking to if I didn't include this picture of my grandmother Donna, my mom Connie and myself with Molly from mid-February...

So yes, it is crazy how this journal has changed so much in so little time - I miss the motorcycle adventure(s) of Sept. 2010 and the skiing posts from Rossland last year - However I couldn't be happier, and I know there will be more accounts of things other than baby pictures and such in the future.