Another Oliver-ism

Oliver is the type of kid who says whatever comes to his mind... no filter..... which I like to blame Andreas for 😉 When Oliver gets a thought into his head, he gets really preoccupied with it (again, I blame Andreas 😉) and then finally blurts out whatever he was thinking about. This time, he must have heard something on the news about pepper spray because he has definitely been giving it some thought.

The other night, Andreas found Oliver with his face close to a piece of pepper that he was trying to break into two. When Andreas asked what he was doing, Oliver said that he didn't know what the big deal about pepper spray was. He has just tried it on his own face and it wasn't so bad.... just a little wet but definitely not dangerous 😉 Maybe he will move onto cucumber spray next ;)

Hope you all had a good Thursday! It is almost weekend time again! xox

Oliver with his pepper spray ;)

Mean mother.... the #2,478,392 edition

According to my kids, I am responsible for putting poison on their feet, heads, hands and backs. It is a poison so terrible that they automatically recoil in horror when I bring out the offending items. It is a poison so terrible that their friends look at them with pity. What is this poison? you may ask. Just because I love you all, I will give you the secret answer: temperature-appropriate clothing ;) That is right! I am so mean! How dare I give my children temperature-appropriate clothing to wear? ;)

Every morning, the conversation starts like this:
"Mamma, do I have to wear my jacket?"
"Yes."
"And my hat and gloves?"
"Yes."
'WWWWHHHHYYYYY DDDDDOOOOO IIIIIII HHHHHAAAAVVVVEEEE TTTTOOOOO WWWWWEEEEEAAAARRRRR TTTTTHHHHHEEEEEEMMMMM?" (Said in whiny voice).
"Because it is minus -10C outside."
"But it is so hot out....."
Seriously.... this is what they say. It is hot outside. No, boys, it is -18C with windchill. No one would ever call that hot. PLUS, I will also get you to put your snow pants in your school bag... just to rub it in ;)

It is the same fight all the time. Alexander has tried, on numerous occasions, to sneak out of the house with a hoodie... just a hoodie... when we were in the middle of a snowstorm (and we have had a few of those lately but that is another story).. and without gloves or hat... or boots. Nicklas and Oliver freak out when they see their winter jackets... and even more when they have to actually put them on. See, it is like poison. Then the game turns to "how little of my jacket do I actually have to let touch my body?", which means jacket wide open and off the shoulders. In my universe, at least the poison jacket is on (yes, I pick my battles) and the ever menacing snow pants are in their school bags, so I am satisfied.

Hats, gloves, scarves and boots.... mmmmwwwwaaaahhhhhaaaaaa.... sheer poison! ;)

Happy Friday to you all from this terrible and mean mother!
xox

See... poison... they even come with a warning label ;)

First snow

Today, we woke up to a blanket of white covering everything. My first thought was that it was actually kind of pretty... and then I remembered that it was Friday and I had to go to a conference at work. All of a sudden, the snow was a little less pleasant ;)

Hope you all had a good day! Happy weekend ahead xox

Andreas even came with me to the conference... and got to listen to me complain about the snow ;)

The view on Ste Catherine

Montreal streets

Grey skies

Winter views on the train ride home

Happy weekend xox

14!

Today, Alexander turned 14! Amazing how time flies... I still clearly remember the day he was born (impressive, considering I cannot even remember what I had for breakfast this morning).

Wishing you a very happy birthday! You are an amazing young man and we are very proud of you xox

One happy kid!

Birthday dinner for Alexander

Last night, we took Alexander out for dinner to celebrate his upcoming 14th birthday. You can absolutely see the "taste" evolution with age: he asked to go to an "all you can eat" sushi restaurant, as compared to the nacho restaurants that he used to request ;) Also, as a teenager, please note the "all you can eat"... that is an important detail ;)
For some reason, it is a bit more strange to be the mother of an almost 14 year old than it was when he first hit the teenage years. He just seems much more "man-like" this year. Maybe it was the football? Maybe the fact that he is almost a head taller than me? Maybe that he has the shadow of a moustache? Maybe that his voice is deep and foreign-sounding? Maybe that he hangs out with friends that are at least 6'3"? Maybe that he grunts more than he speaks?
Anyway, it was a good dinner (I LOVE sushi) and I was proud to be celebrating my first-born... Happy pre-birthday dinner xox

One happy boy!

On Tuesday, Nicklas finally had his cast removed! If you didn't read about it before, Nicklas broke his wrist during a football game (more info here). Honestly, it was really one of those bad luck freak accidents that you can't blame football for. Although his season is now over, he is getting geared up to play again next year already ;) He has been really looking forward to having the cast taken off so regaining his right arm again has put him in a very good mood :)

This is one happy Nicka!

Sunday

Today seems like there has been a real turnover: yesterday, both Alexander and Nicklas finished their football season.... we turned the clock back... the tree outside our house lost most of its leaves because of yesterday's windstorm and it just really felt like impending winter. All of these events were completely expected but I can still feel hibernation coming on ;) My way to deal with it was making soup and pumpkin spice bread... the cure all ;)

Hope you all had a great Sunday! Wishing you a calm week ahead xox

Happy scary skeleton

We I survived Hallowe'en! ;) At the very last minute, all the boys decided to go out to Trick or Treat. I had wanted to get a picture of the 3 of them together, in their costumes, but considering that Alexander had left before I got home... and I had to rush to meet Oliver's friend on time... and Nicklas was still figuring out his costume by the time I had to leave, it was impossible to manage a photo. Oliver (aka the scary skeleton) was very patient and let me take one of him in his costume when we got back home..... maybe he was more patient because of his candy stash ;) Needless to say, when everyone finally arrived home, it was difficult to get them into bed because, of course, they had to compare candy and ramp up the sugar buzz...

When they finally fell asleep, I was able to sneak a few Oh Henry bars and peanut M&Ms ;) I call it Mother Tax ;)

xox