"My friend named Gabriel..."

Ryker: Mom, Do you know that all fish bite?
Kristi: No Ryker, some fish bite but most do not.
Ryker: Gabriel says all fish bite so they do.
Ryan: Mom is right. Only a few fish bite.
Ryker: Well...Gabriel says all fish bite so they do.
Ryan: (a little fed up with the conversation) Gabriel is WRONG!
Ryker: No. You're wrong. Gabriel is RIGHT!

Later...

Kristi: Ryker! Quit eating your boogers. That's disgusting.
Ryker: Gabriel says boogers are yummy.

Later...

Gabriel: (grining mischieviously) PSSSSST, Ryker. You should throw that dinosaur over that rail.
Ryker: (immediately ready to launch the dinosaur over the rail)
Luca: Gabriel is trying to get you in trouble, Ryker.
Ryker: (contemplates for a second but appears to be leaning towards tossing the dinosaur over the rail except he catches sight of his mom out of the corner of his eye and reluctantly lowers his arm)

Fun times ahead. I hope Luca is around for a long, long time. :-) Gabriel too!!!

I'm sitting in my chair, drinking my rooibus tea, and watching the frost slowly disappear from the neighbor's rooftops. Our first frost, I think. It is beautiful and just in time to make trick-or-treating a real chill...I mean thrill. Also perfect timing for Ryan, who begins a new job tomorrow and gets to bid a sweet farewell to field work. I'm certain the weather is tipping its hat today. The fire is crackling (okay, hissing) in the living room. What a great day! My student is getting in some independent practice with her math. Yes, this is the student who recently raced in the front door to tell me that with my hair such as it was, I looked just like Lindsey Lohan. In the next breath she exclaimed, "OMG. She is SO ugly!" What do you say to that? :-)

There seems to be no shortage of smarty pants in this house. You all I know I married one. Unfortunately, I also birthed one. Just yesterday, Ryker informed me I was too fat to sit in the recliner with him. We had to read on the couch instead. Ryan is a merciless tease and Ryker occasionally gets a little sass going. "It's only funny to YOU, Dad!" Last night he was contemplating who was the strongest (Daddy of course), the richest (Ryker of course), the smelliest (Ryker again), the cutest (Emerson), the nicest (Mommy) and the funniest. "NOT Daddy!" he states emphatically.

We're working on initial letter sounds with Ryker. He always wants to know which is every one's favorite letter. His is 'C' for kick and he has to demonstrate of course. After several days of this, I decided it was time to break the bad news. "K is for kick." I inform. "C is for cow, candy and Uncle Case." He looks at me like I'm the strangest thing he's seen in his short life. "Kay...ssss." He sounds out. This is all so confusing. Call us Uncle Ks!

Well, good fall to all! Stoke the fire, break out the steamy soup recipes, brew some hot cocoa and kiss the family. The holidays are near.

Happy Birthday, Eric!

Whoa! Look at all that candle smoke! It's just a thong, guys. It doesn't require engineering. (photos by Michelle)

pretty cool, grandpa steve!

Dad has been working on this project for a while now. The grandkids seem pretty pleased with the finished project. (photos by Michelle)

time with grandpa tim...

Who's having more fun is anyone's guess!

Vancouver, B.C.

Emerson's first trip to the city, Vancouver that is. A group of us took the skytrain downtown for breakfast. Caffe Crepes...yum! Found the cutest baby clothes in the world at Zaras. Ryan called while we were in transit, not to tell us he missed us but to remind me that we're broke. Sad but true. I have the names and numbers of all my hot cousins for anyone interested (so long as I approve).

Caffe Artigiano has won international awards for their foam art. The latte looked great and tasted even better. The owner of I AM, EH hangs out most Saturday mornings at a Starbucks on Robson Street. He looked so normal. :-)

Cousin Luke...good looking, kind hearted and employed. What more could the ladies want? Even the pigeons in Canada don't respect the Americans. Yep. I was pooed on. "The good news is that it could have been worse and it probably won't happen again." says Luke. Oh my. He's funny too.




This is what happens when you go shopping with teenage girls. You spend a lot of time on the sidewalk...waiting. This half of the entourage was broke.

We had a great time with the cousins at Grandpa and Grandma Good's. Ryker thinks Grandpa's elevator is sooooo cool! He's pretty impressed with Auntie Cathy's wig as well! "It's like magic!" he says. Too bad no one wanted to hold Emers. Tee hee.