Book battles

My boys don't like to read (I am pretty sure that I have shared this bit of information with you before but here it goes again). OK.... Nicklas tolerates it but not much more than that. Oliver likes the pictures but not the reading part. Alexander is absolutely and totally not into it. Reading, for him, is somewhere in between the dentist and going shopping at Ikea. He will make up any excuse NOT to read. This disdain for reading started sometime in grade 4 and is still going strong...

I found this random picture on Facebook and I showed it to him (actually, I wanted to/am still tempted to make it into a poster to hang in his room!). I got an "Alexander eye roll" and a somewhat sympathetic look, kind of hinting that I have a bad sense of humour... and that he is still not into reading ;) I still think it is funny... and pretty accurate ;)

Happy Friday night to you all!!! Woo hoo! It is the weekend :)

Cooling down

... and, suddenly, it is Thursday ;)

The past week or so has been very warm... like summer warm... and I have been enjoying it (Andreas, not so much) ;) I was on a mission to absorb as much heat as possible because, you know, we are about 3 months away from winter (boo!). Today, the temperature dropped... from heat wave to seasonal.. I guess seasonal is still good ;) For the end of September, it is still amazingly green... I will take that!

Our family life has been pretty busy lately. We haven't even started the heavy winter activity period for the kids so we'll see how many more grey hairs I will be getting ;) I am pretty thankful that Alexander is not swimming this year.. I would be living in my car if that was the case ;)

Hope you are all doing well! I have tried repeatedly to come here and write something but, as always, something comes up (like boy homework or dinner prep) and I end up flaking out on the couch before having the chance to log on ;)

Wish you all a happy Thursday xox

Now, here are some random Montreal photos ;)

Return of summer

This will be the second week of our return to summer weather! The Montreal Marathon, scheduled for this Sunday, was cancelled... you know why? BECAUSE OF HEAT AND HUMIDITY... seriously! It will be around 29C, without humidity (ie: around 39C with)! In September! Never mind heading south... we have it here.

I am not complaining! Andreas is ;)

PS: I just want to make it clear that we are not being wimps here ;) Afterall, we live through -30C+ in the winter.... and smile (kind of). We also have this kind of weather (ie: +39C)... but in the summer... like in July.... and we don't schedule marathons then ;) But we are thinking of holding them in January ;)

Date night

Because Andreas and I simply cannot get enough soccer (wink wink), for our date night, we went to see the Montreal Impact play. We got to yell and cheer without embarrassing the boys which, frankly, was not quite as fun as when the boys get red-faced because of us ;) Part of the perks of being a parent ;) Even though our team lost, we still had a great time!

Today was even more soccer: Alexander's team made it to the Regionals.... and won the finals this morning! Seriously, what an upset... but it was sweet ;) Now I have 8 post-game boys in my basement.. making lots of noise... but happy noise ;)

Happy Sunday to you all! xox

Glimpses from a good boy day

While I was working at home today (my Friday was not as productive as I would have liked it to be), Andreas took Oliver and his friend to a local festival. With bouncy castles and beautiful weather, how could you not have a good day? ;)

Happy Saturday! Andreas and I have a date night later on...  Imagine! Kid free time ;) xox

Pictures by Andreas because I was not there ;)

Homework with my boys

Today, I will pick on Oliver because he is the one that I last did homework with.... but it is more-or-less the same with the other boys- same core issues, different years at school ;)

This is a brief summary of what it is like doing homework with Oliver:

Me: Oliver, can you please write these 5 words and practice them?

-Cue Oliver's big fit: BUT THERE IS SO MUCH TO DO, MAMMA!!!!!

Me: Oliver, it is just 5 words... and they are short ones.

Oliver: TOO MUCH!!!! Why do we have to write SO much? Mamma, do you know that a wasp bit me today? But Daniel hit him and it started to run after him... like this.... (Oliver shows me how the wasp and Daniel had a duel until death).

Me: Oliver, can you please write these 5 words?

Oliver: BUT WHY???? What does this second word mean? (It was cinq... 5 in French). Do you mean sink?

Me: No, I mean cinq. It is five in English.

Oliver: I know.

Me: Then why did you ask?

Oliver: I have to write all these words. ALL of them?

Me: Yes.

ALL THE TIME, I AM THINKING: IF YOU HAD JUST STARTED TO WRITE THEM, WE WOULD BE LONG FINISHED!!!!! And this was just for one small part of his homework!!! :P

On a funny note, Oliver re-arranged his Lego pencil sharpener over my textbook... I had to admit that it was pretty funny ;)

PS: he did eventually finish writing all 5 words... I emphasize eventually ;)


Happy evening to you all xox

Little gratitudes

A few things to be thankful for: Oliver finally losing his other front tooth- the one that made eating difficult.... managing to get to the coffee shop before the rain started to pour down.... being able to make it to work before the rain started again.... having a dry pair of shoes at work to change into.... being able to walk back to the train in sunshine..... and Andreas having a yummy dinner ready when you get home from work (crêpes stuffed with mushrooms and shrimps :)

XOX to you all... I am thankful for you too :)

Rainy day

Sometimes, I love a rainy day. It is a good excuse to stay home and enjoy doing nothing (especially when nothing has been planned!) ;) The summer has been hectic... and yesterday was another one of those busy days! Both Alexander's and Nicklas' soccer teams made it to the finals so we had back to back soccer activities/parties for most of the day. I was really happy for them...  and proud... it was a great day.... but it gets me to appreciate the sit-down-and-read-with-no-guilt today! Ahhhhhh!

Hope you are all enjoying your Sunday... rainy or not ;)

xox