Life of Yosts: A Continuing Tale of Craziness

The Floor.....

2012-02-13T17:55:00.000-06:00

When Teresa is away at school Frances and Margaret get to hang together, which is awesome. Frances is starting to get the hang of this "big sister" thing, plus she makes belly time more palatable to Margaret, who likes to be distracted from the fact that she can now roll over. A fact which she finds most unpleasant.

Video Dump!

2012-02-11T15:19:00.002-06:00

I've been taking a few videos lately and posting them to YouTube with my phone (which is incredibly easy), yet I have not found a way to easily embed the videos on the blog on the phone, which makes this blog languish compared to the other social media I tend to use...

So today, I present to you many short clips of the girls.

Teresa being crazy

Frances' "Blue Bird" dance from ballet

Frances spinning

More of Frances at ballet. This was her first class.

Frances' Ballet Outfit

Margaret having a chat

Teresa and Frances are Crazy

Frances bowling at the church's Birthday Party for Jesus
Hmmm... That's enough for now I guess.

Pre-Swimming Shenangians

2012-02-07T18:24:00.001-06:00

Teresa is in swimming lessons at Pan Am Tuesdays and I generally get to bring her. She's doing OK, but really doesn't like a back float, nor jumping in deep water. We got here early today so we sat around and Teresa starting mugging for the camera so here the pictures are...

Update on the baby person....

2012-01-31T11:26:00.000-06:00

My poor sweet Margaret has been so neglected on this blog, but not in our day to day life at home. Our little Miss M is a very easy baby to love. She is a happy, content baby who loves nothing better then to be in the middle of the action. Margaret truly enjoys being in the middle of whatever shenanigans her sisters are up to, and Teresa and Frances can always be counted on for endless hugs, kisses, stories, songs and the occasional (frequent) Evil Knievel type tricks. But back to Margaret.

Since we have brought her home the transition from two to three has been pretty easy, well, easier than I envisioned anyway. For a while the housework and laundry suffered more than usual, but that was never high on my priority list before Margaret came along anyway. While we have had a few difficult nights, Margaret and I, for the most part she has been quite accommodating.

Margaret is now serious about rolling over, can kind of sit up by herself and likes to make her voice heard by joining in our family conversations. She is often content to chew on her fist or feet, whatever catches her fancy and loves an orange cat that makes crinkle sounds. With each of the girls I took monthly pictures to post, and this is also true for Margaret, well, except for the posting part. Here they are, Margaret, months one through four.

The Week Before Christmas...

2011-12-24T22:52:00.001-06:00

... and all through the house every creature was stirring (except Grover) as we had a ton to do...

Monday: Ken had to play a hard nose stay at home defence, while wearing the 'C', to help Team MacLeod win the Staff / Student hockey Game 7-0. Ken then went to curl. Cara knitted.

Tuesday: Off to Teresa's first Christmas concert (yes there is video of it, we bought the mediocrely filmed DVD, just wait a while). When we got home, Cara knitted.

Isn't she darling? She sang a song where she "Nibble, nibble, nibbled" her gingerbread man cookie. For the record I was appalled by the fact they called it a Christmas Concert (making me happy) then not singing about Christmas at all in the main program (but mentioning the made-up 1960s Marxist "festival" of Kwanzaa in the same breath as the 2200+ year old celebration of Hanukkah)

Wednesday: Cara went to her knitting, where she knitted. Alone... The girls and I wrapped Cara's gifts.

Please note that even if Cara looks closely, there is nothing to see here...

Thursday: Ken had some post-work libations, then returned home. Cara knitted.

Friday: The girls wrote their letters to Santa and then the family went to Polo Park to do the following:1 - Buy Ken's gift from the girls2 - See Santa. Realize there was a 2 hour wait and leave with a promise to return tomorrow. Teresa cried.

We did drop off our letter to Santa though...

When we returned home, Teresa and Frances went to go to rehearsal of the church Christmas pageant. I finished the subfloor in the basement (Yay!). Cara knitted.

Saturday: We awoke, ate and found out that Santa had emailed me, so went to see Santa early. The girls did well enough with the man in red. Frances cried after a minute of the elves trying to make Margaret look at the camera. Rookie mistake elves... While we were gone, Cara knitted.

Not bad, the glare is from the iPhone...

We returned home and I dealt with Teresa crying as I told her the rehearsal was the day before, so she thought she missed the actual pageant. I had to teach her the proper definition of the word "rehearsal". I took Rowdy out to the dog park. While I was gone, Cara did not knit. She had a house to clean and food to bake... It's been a lean year, with only one batch of Brown Sugar Shortbread the kids plower through and some Christmas nuts. Cara's been a little busy, you know with Margaret (and knitting).

Rowdy and his doppelgänger playing...

Actually, every time I go to the park there are a few Goldens out... As a note to non-Winnipegers, I think we got above zero. I forgot my mitts in the van, and didn't need them one bit...

Upon my return it was time to head off to church and the pageant. All three girls took part as Margaret was Baby Jesus and the other two girls were angels.

Pre-mass. I love Frances' smile.

That is one cute looking Baby Jesus... Now that's a Baby Jesus worth saying grace to (and thanking for my red hot smoking wife)...

The girls held their candles upright very well...

Upon our return, we had a smaller than usual feast of appetizers (this doesn't mean there weren't ample leftovers, just less) and then went on to open a few gifts. The girls got their Christmas pyjamas (where we learned that Teresa no longer likes pink [as if - ed.]), Cara, Andrea & I exchanged gifts...

Opening MAYHEM!

Frances' reaction was awesome... "PYJAMAS!!!!!!"

Opening a gift for Rowdy. Teresa said sit, so Rowdy (always the 'good' boy), did.

Trying to feed him the bone.

Eating his Christmas treat. I seem to recall a theologically sound movie "All Dogs go to Heaven", so clearly Jesus' birth is important for Man's Best Friend^TM too ;)

Frances picked out this gift for Auntie, so she could always have a game at her condo for them.

Cara opening up her new makeup bad & receiving an offer for the make-up to fill it.

The girls helping me open my iPhone case.

Lastly we got around to putting the fire out so Santa could come while watching his progress around the world on NoradSanta.org Now the children are in bed, and we wait for the magic to happen. Their joy and happiness warms we heart (except for the little pushing in bed issue, but we'll forget that now won't we...). Presently Cara snores beside me (not knitting) so I will go fill her stocking and wish you all a Very Merry Christmas!

The First Gathering...

2011-12-19T22:24:00.000-06:00

The fourth Sunday of advent is always a busy one at the House of Yost. Our parish has a "Birthday Party for Jesus" and Cara's maternal grandparents host their gathering. As always it was a big and busy affair. The girls were excited to get some gifts and I think it stoke their engines and they are asking about Christmas and how long, etc... We even got lucky and although we forgot Teddy, Teresa remembered close enough to Steinbach that a U-turn was easier than a week of tears.

Here's a few pics and video from the events (and a few other things)

Frances' Face Painting at B-Day Party for Jesus

Great grandma & grandpa with the girls.

Margaret is pretty cute... Oh, hi Cara...

Frances got this fairy costume from her ticket. She's so cute, running around saying "poof", turing me into a frog, grandma into an evil queen and Cara into a princess.

She naps on me still! The greatest thing about babies...

Opening gifts.

The three girls.

Frances "Poofing"

Frances Bowling at Bday Party

Teresa and Frances being Crazy.

Teresa's Sixth, Frances' Third & Margaret's First

2011-12-08T23:02:00.001-06:00

Well, it was Christmas tree time again, and once again we got ourselves a true Manitoban tree, a Black Spruce... Bought from the Optimists for a mere $25, this three was a steal, as it was thicker than the ones we are used to buying. Teresa and Frances helped me pick it out* on Wednesday and we decorated it today with Auntie Andrea & Grandma Friesen. The girls that can move of their own accord did their best work it terms of decorating, but seemed to prefer taking the ornaments out rather than putting them on the tree. This is what they did...

Princess Frances putting on an ornament

More ornaments...

Margaret, Auntie & Grandma

It's Cara! And she's HAPPY!!!!

This is Teresa's new version of smiling. She stood on the basket to get her ornaments higher.

That's a better smile. I think she consulted Pearl before taking this picture

Working together...

Angel time!

Proud & Crazy Princesses. We have to find the garland / tinsel that is buried in the garage along with our wreaths...

*"Help" = "Ran around like drunken & crazed monkeys and ignored the trees"

Manitoba Children's Museum

2011-11-25T17:35:00.000-06:00

One of the joys of being all smartphoned up is the joy of endlessly being inundated with information. Yes this is a curse, but it can also be a joy as Cara now sends me regular photographic evidence of her and the girls enjoying their days together. Recently they were at the newly renovated Manitoba Children's Museum and they had a hoot...

Here's what I was sent...

That is one crazy & psychedelic slide...

Margaret napped the entire time.

Playing at the water table.

Using their mess less finger painting table.

And it emails you the resulting modern art.

Apparently Margaret will wake up for trains.

My Chubby Little Cherub

2011-11-22T16:26:00.001-06:00

There's not much to say other than to enjoy the chubby cuteness.

Catching Up...

2011-11-19T14:04:00.001-06:00

Maraget is over two months now, and man is she ever getting chunky. Cara will soon be taking the two mont pictures and will be making up some sort of post I am sure.

Teresa is loving kindergarten, although we need to get her tested for her hearing and eyesight (eyes passed today). Also, we are learning about the insanity of government trying to micro-manage our lives as Teresa was not allowed to bring any Hallowe'en candy as part of a snack, and we just got in trouble for sending a fruit snack (fruit gummy things) as they aren't healthy enough. Thanks, but I'm the parent, so butt out. Lastly we have dealt with our first head lice scare and Teresa has been bringing home all sort of exciting illnesses... The girls have both had the stomach flu in the past few weeks and one other horrible sickness that required us getting up at all hours of the night. Last Sunday night at 3 am (Monday morning I guess), I got up and tried to run to get Teresa to the washroom on time and ended up kicking the bed in the darkness. I have been limping since and I am pretty sure my middle toe is broken, of course I am ot sure because I spent time in an emergency waiting room (over 3 hours) during which time not even the people brought in by ambulance on stretcher had been admitted. I gave up.

As for me, I'm still crazy busy with football, as we won the championship. When you win you have more stuff to deal with after. Losing is easier, though less fun... After we won, we went out to Thief River Falls and enjoyed their water park for Ray & Myrna's 35th anniversary. I have no pictures, as I was having too much fun getting wet with the girls. I also learned that the CBSA at Tolstoi are a little more into their job than those at Emerson, no big deal, but to make a long story short I learned that #1: Even if you have Andrea in your car, you can't use her booze limit as she is not "family" and #2: Tobacco limits are not actually duty free, you can only get tobacco as part of your limit if it has a "Canada Duty Paid" stamp on it (buying for a coworker, don't worry mom), which begs the question what the hell is the point of the tobacco exemption?

Um yeah, so here are some pictures, and some videos I have taken of the girls lately.

Teresa's Play-Doh version of Rapunzel

Frances & I watching skating.

I love it when Margaret falls asleep in my arms...

More of the same sort of cuteness. I think Cara texted this to me at work...

Pics from the family photo session

Frances looking much too old

Same thing for Teresa.

Now for some videos:

Frances running like a crazy girl at skating.

Teresa skating a month ago.

Teresa skating two weeks ago

Teresa turning around a cone.

Teresa & Frances spin dancing.

Halloween 2011

2011-11-01T15:18:00.003-05:00

Well it has come and gone. Another sugar surge through our systems. All Hallows Eve. It was a good year, with 100% more child interest (stoked by Teresa's incessant commentary on the impending awesomeness) and an all time record for time spent trick or treating.

The day began with Teresa having a school party and Frances being dropped off at Grant Park to round out my costume. The family came for lunch (and admiration of students) and then the coup de grace. The actual act of trick or treating.

For those not in Winnipeg, it was ~11C out last night, which was awesome. Teresa went out as a witch (though went to school as a princess) and Frances and I reprised Curious George and The Man in the Yellow Hat (hence why she came to GP). I was thoroughly amused when our trick or treating that someone said to their child "we saw them at Boo at the Zoo". Apparently it's a good costume that people like.

We stayed out for over an hour, and filled a shopping bag each (not as impressive as when I was a kid as we had no bulky chips to fill it up... That said Cara and are trying to figure out the best way to portion out the crazy amount of candy. Teresa got cold first and wanted to stop, which allowed me to reinforce rule #1 of trick or treating: No skipping houses, even on the way back. Rule #2 is that walking across lawns is fine, not through flower beds... I had great fun too, as watching the kids sprint up for candy and Frances grab candy from the bins, fishing for suckers and attacking for more... Good times...

The monkey & I at school.

Frances' first pumpkin... Cara carved it

The girls and their pumpkins... And yes, dad, that is Teresa's design on Frances' pumpkin.

The girls and the Jack O' Lanterns. Mine's the snowman in the bottom left.

Out and about acquiring the precious candy

The pumpkins in the darkness

The post Hallowe'en Mayhem

Margaret's First Jack O' Lantern

2011-10-29T22:48:00.000-05:00

This morning the family braved one of the scariest places on Earth - Superstore on a Saturday morning - fittingly to prepare ourselves for Halloween. I know that Frances is excited this year, as Teresa keeps telling her the joys of the candy. Their excitement is further stoked by having attended Boo at the Zoo, which although freaking Teresa out a bit, she loved the rides and in the end declared it was great.

Anyhow, back to the main story As the girls picked their pumpkins they decided that Margaret should get one too, so we got her her first Jack o' Lantern.

So Saturday morning was dedicated to emptying and carving pumpkins. Teresa drew the face (Rapunzel if IIrC) for her pumpkin and then she helped Frances. This though was a day of firsts as I finally convinced Teresa to stick her hands in the goop and pull some out. Frances of course had no such compunction and was making a mess of herself.

I asked Teresa what type of Face my pumpkin should have and she told me Larry Boy, which I had completely forgotten I had done last year. That girl has a stellar memory. I convinced her to think of something else and we settled on a snowman, so I went out and picked up another pumpkin.

So here they are, our pumpkins awaiting Monday evening, a day important enough for our curling team to forfeit and instead enjoy our families...

Teresa showing Frances how to re-cap her pumpkin.

Teresa gutting her pumpkin

Frances with her pumpkin

Both girls working hard...

To be continued...

Let's Try Something New

2011-10-21T09:58:00.002-05:00

So at long last I have found a free Blogger app so I'll test it out and see how well it works. If I have learned anything from my 6 months with an iPhone, this can only lead to more bad grammar / typos / weird auto-corrects. That said, it might just make this blog more used again as I have been keeping those off Twitter and Facebook out of the loop of cuteness. So here goes. Margaret is a month old and chunking up like crazy.

My girls :).

Grandma Yost enjoying a visit.

Our little chunker

Stories with Grandpa

More chunker...

Awake Margaret!

Margaret Suzanne Yost

2011-09-16T17:19:00.001-05:00

Margaret Suzanne Yost has finally made her way out and we are ecstatic. She was born September 16th, 2011 and was 7 pounds, 11 ounces and she is beautiful.

The name was chosen in honour of St. Margaret d'Youville, founder of the Grey Nuns and Suzanne is Cara's sister's little name.

Because our our internet situation (iPhone & tethering) pictures are hard to upload to Blogger, so some have been uploaded to Facebook. It is public, so an account should not be required. Check them out here.

Teresa is now at Kindergarten...

2011-09-09T09:00:00.000-05:00

It seems utterly impossible that Teresa has already been with us for long enough that she is going to kindergarten.

9:00 a.m. Friday, September 9^th 2011.
Every day until noon.
Until June 29^th.

She will graduate somewhere between June 24-28, 2024.

Anyhow, Cara, Teresa and Frances will be walking down the street to Robert Browning tomorrow morning where they will line up in front of the number 4 and have a picture taken as a class. We had the opportunity to meet with Mme. DeSouza her teacher on Wednesday. Sadly, I will be unable to attend as we have yet to vote on our new contract and be able the personal day we will soon receive...

I don't know how many people know me as a sentimental type, I think I tend to hide it from most, but this thought makes me sentimental tonight. With a newborn waiting to show up (late, again!), it just reminds me how we waited for Teresa in the first weeks of school five years ago and now she is going to school, seemingly a blink of an eye later.

Well, Teresa my love, I pray that you make many new friends and love learning. I hope you don't lose that love for school you have now. I want you to be come home and tell me about everything. I want you to keep the inquisitiveness you have now. I want so many things for you... I know this is a foolhardy hope that this joyful attitude towards school, learning and your parents will last forever, but I am a sentimental old fool and I will keep that hope in my heart.

Day 1.

Teresa's first experience of a classroom. Slinkys are fun after all.

Day 1 of 3 year-old pre-school. I am unsure why she was so unhappy.

Running to pre-school.

Day 1 of 4-year old pre-school.

Posing in front of her school

Leaving pre-school...

And as one last treat, a little slideshow of moments in Teresa's life to now... I tried to include as many educational moments as possible. You know reading, museums, looking at flowers, Narcisse, pulling Rowdy's fur, pre-school field trips...

Teresa's First Fish!

2011-09-03T12:29:00.000-05:00

For Jeff & Katie's wedding we needed a babysitter so we could stay past 9:00 without crazy-manic-poo-flinging-monkey-children emerging from our otherwise placid young daughters like Gremlins emerging from Mogwai*. Ray and Myrna volunteered to take them for a long weekend at the "trabin", getting them on Friday and we picked them up on the Monday.

When we arrived Monday we learned many things. I cannot pack to Myrna's satisfaction. Teresa and Frances cannot open and close screen doors quickly enough to Myrna's satisfaction. Teresa and Frances must rinse off all sand from the bodies before coming in from the lake in order to be up to Myrna's satisfaction. If you wish to use the same water glass all day, expect to have it washed three or four times even after you indicate to Myrna it is unnecessary.**

Most importantly though during their time out there Teresa caught her first fish with her flashing Disney Princess fishing rod. A little perch that ate a wormed hook from off the dock by Ray's boat. Ray said it was only a couple of feet down and he could see it testing it out the whole time. While it would have been great to try her first fish the fillets would have been tiny and such the little guy (or gal) was released.

* No, I could not type that with a straight face.
** Uh, hi Myrna... Um, this is awkward... You check the blog eh? Have you seen your cute grandkids? Exeunt

The intrepid fisherman (fisher-girl? How PC am I supposed to be now?) and her catch.

Admiring it from up close. What a cutie.

Shaving!

2011-08-27T12:36:00.000-05:00

In honour of Jeff & Katie's wedding rehearsal I shaved to look half way decent. I figure a tuxedo t-shirt adds the last bit of class. So the girls and I decided to shave together, and I took a few pictures of their cuteness.

Two Little Monkeys...

2011-08-25T12:27:00.002-05:00

Our crazy girls... Here they are doing one of their favourite things - destroying our mattress. I really don't care, as it may cost us a few dollars per time they are having fun (amortized across years, subtracting capital losses due to everyday use) and heck aren't kids supposed to have fun? We also play 'tackle' and 'pancake' on the bed (tackle I hope is self explanatory, but pancake involves them being 'flipped' while laying on the 'griddle'. I later butter them and eat them)

My phone will burst a bunch of pictures in a row, but stunningly enough isn't able to take shots at 1/1000 of a second so they are quite blurry. I think it adds to the mayhem of the situation. Thankfully the video looks better than the pictures.

Back in Winnipeg

2011-08-23T21:42:00.000-05:00

Well, we're ready for number three any day (or week) now as the baby is living life like a bat in an abandoned mine shaft (upside-down & low). Cara has been having the Braxton-Hicks contractions, and with the weather as beautiful as it is, which of course is too hot is you are 8.9 months pregnant, we want this baby out! As such, we are away from the lake, without a return date as I would rather not be racing home with a wife in labour. Wish her luck...

That said, I have a few more pictures to post from the summer.

So I took the girls for a school shopping expedition to Grand Forks. I think for them the highlights would be lunch and their slushies at Paradiso (pictured above), dinner (pictured below) and being allowed to run feral through Target. By that point the girls were full of energy and needed to burn it off. If I ever do this again a play in a park will be planned.

Hey look Sarah, Culver's! That said, presently they are eating their ketchup bowls with their spoons. The Mennonite is strong in these children...

Frances is having fun building...

Teresa built this "Sock making machine". Sadly it broke before it made me socks :-(

Frances wearing the best $10 (US) I have ever spent.

The girls playing in the front yard... Moments earlier there was an arm wrapped around each other. Sweet.

So now that we are stuck in the city, we went to the zoo. They have a butterfly garden now. Frances is trying to stare a hole through this guy's wings...

They also have a "Birds of Prey" show put on by the Raptor Conservancy of Canada (or something like that). Here is a great view on an owl.

More awesome owl action.

I believe this was the falcon.

An immature (3 year old) Bald Eagle. Apparently a week earlier a local bald eagle came to play during the show... That would have been quite neat to have seen.

That's a stinking big bird.

The zoo is in the midst of a giant renovation, including an awesome looking polar bear exhibit that will have you be able to see them swim from underneath. The newest completed exhibits are the butterflies and these guys, the Stellar's Sea Eagle. It is huge.

At the lake, getting ready to watch a sunset. I think I got this because I asked her to smile. Maybe... God I hope that she doesn't channel this into her teenage years.

Art time. A t-shirt I found at Target in Grand Forks that seemed more suited to Frances, but they only had it in Teresa's size (and it was the last of the shirts) so I got it. Teresa decided to copy the picture, which is something she has started to do. I love her portraits of Rowdy.

The artist & her art.

A much better view of her art.

And last, but not least here is Teresa and Frances showing their "I-should-be-in-bed-but-daddy-talked-mommy-into-keeping-us-up-too-late-so-we-can-see-the-sunset-ultra-manicness" There is some fine song & dance here. Teresa I think is an artistic one, and not an athletic one, although we shall see.

Playing at the Lake

2011-08-05T09:55:00.000-05:00

Cara said my last post revealed how sentimental / melancholy I was becoming with the impending arrival of that four letter word: W-O-R-K! Bleah. Nothing against work, I actually love it, it's just that I would rather be eternally playing on the sand with my kids. I hope all parents understand this sentiment (although you may wish to remove the word "sand" and replace it with your happy memory, while changing the structure of the sentence to ensure grammatical accuracy).

This year has been one of excessive water fights due to my mother's short-sighted decision to purchase spraying toys for the beach (Although in hind sight, maybe it was brilliant, as I have yet to see her be attacked without her as the aggressor... Hmmm....) All sorts of mayhem ensued this year, including Aunt Carolyn seeking sanctuary inside the display of clothes on sale then after being kicked out, using her four months old grand daughter as a human shield (which failed, these shooters are accurate :). A couple days ago, Cara attacked we and then when I brought her into the lake and threw her in she tried to use her pregnancy to get out of her comeuppance... Sad.

So here we are, and I read today's Baby Blues and think of all this, and I hope our children react with joy at adults having fun rather than this...

August Long Thoughts...

2011-08-03T22:37:00.002-05:00

That time of year has rolled around again, marking the half way point of summer, our Civic Holiday. I like the name of the holiday here in Manitoba, even if the National Post has chosen to mock us for our lack of creativity. To me it speaks of why we get the day off, the magic of the end of July and the beginning of August. I believe that you need to have lived through the excessive cold of prairie winters to truly understand the anticipation of our all too brief summers. We spend six months under a blanket of snow enduring -30C regularly with whipping winds in order to enjoy seemingly a scant few moments of sun and heat in the summer. I can only imagine the cruelty that winters brought those in sod houses, and am thankful that I do not have to endure the back breaking labour under the scorching sun that our ancestors did.

Why pretend that this day is anything other than an extra moment that we get to forget about the frostbitten insanity that we live through and sully it by naming after John Graves Simcoe or Colonel John By or some other historically important figure? We will ignore them on this day. We will celebrate the moment, carpe diem and lend nary a single thought to these figures for whom the holiday was purportedly named. I suppose the same can be said for Louis Riel Day. Why? We should recognize it for what it is, an extra moment for ourselves, hopefully breaking the monotony of endless winter days and beckoning what is to come.

I love summers, and as a teacher am glad that I get to share it with my children. I wish I could spend every day from May Long to Thanksgiving at the family cottage at Grand Beach, but I know that it is impossible so I spend every moment I can there during the summer. Grand Beach is an interesting locale because as my friend Jeff recently said (and I paraphrase) "You experience many different socio-economic strata" at Grand. In fact, people watching is a rewarding past-time at Grand Beach as you can see everything there, from the most attractive females wearing next to nothing to fat men in Speedos...

In people watching, one of my favourite things to do is to see what can be best describe as ethnic picnics. I love to see the multi-culturalism that is on display at Grand Beach as we caucasians cannot do a picnic like those we see at Grand Beach. Every long weekend there is a half dozen or more picnics with extended families numbering into the low hundreds... You will see rice cookers, slow cookers, giant metal trays filled with the most delectable goods along with tents, hammocks, canopies, etc. Every time I see one I wish I could a way to join in, as they speak to me of the noblest ideals of family. Good food and fellowship while enjoying the short time we get together.

Anyone who knows me knows that I am not one who asks for further government intervention in my life, and Grand Beach in many ways is a microcosm of our society and the incrementalism that is government intervention. Every year, the conservation officers find some new rules to bring forth and new signs to put up. One year they banned canoes from being paddled to the point to fish as they had for much longer than I have been alive. Another year they banned walking on the rocks around the point which I have done all my life. This year I have heard Beach Safety Officers telling kids not to jump from the Boardwalk to the sand, so I encourage Teresa and Frances to do so... Nevertheless I believe that the government really should be getting into the business of regulating swimwear, and I propose the Tight Swimsuit Commission (TSC - pronounced "Tsk") to do the following:
1 - Ban speedos from all men who are not doing laps in a pool.
1a - Ban these new hipster tight boxer brief swimwear
2 - Only allow females that meet a set of minimum beauty standards (including age) from wearing bikinis.
I will offer that TSC will hear appeals to point #2, and I offer my services pro bono in that regard.

As an aside, I wonder though as I look at people how much money has been spent on bad tattoos that are no more 'individual' than the individualism their owners pretend they purport. It seems to me that some people have invested more into their supposed 'individualism' than into their houses and cars... Alas. Furthermore, I note that we are an all too polite society, as Grand Beach has a number of 'squatters' who come out to the beach early, set up a dozen chairs and a host of umbrellas and then leave them there. Empty. For hours. And yet no one moves them, or takes them down... It amazes me how polite we are as a society. I suppose this can be viewed both positively and negatively.

As for pictures... Yes, we have had a great vacation and I have posted a pile of picture on Facebook. For a change I have made the album public so you can access it too. It has been a wonderful vacation (my folks, Aunt Carolyn, cousin James have been out) yet incredibly trying too (Cara has had a lung infection, is a month from having Hat-Trick, and is having hip troubles). Enjoy the last month of summer all, it is what we wait for...

Another thing I have learned this summer: When at the lake, children never show being tired nor do they ever appear hungry...

Here Frances has fallen asleep on me on the way home. I had her fall asleep on my shoulders too. She has fallen asleep on me an Mike at the beach too. Teresa and Owen never slowed down while at the beach. Naps were skipped, and they stayed at the beach incredibly late, sometimes past 7:00. This was never a problem when we were there. The sand and water is a magical combination fro children that keeps them happy and moving.

I guess it would be responsible of me to point out that we had more than one dinner that was rough due to excessive tiredness. Also, bedtimes were stressful as they were overtired. The beach though? I can't remember a melt down (although I tend not to remember anything 'bad' )

Sunday Dinners in Stonewall

2011-06-20T14:17:00.000-05:00

It has come to be a tradition in our family that most Sundays (save summers, winter vacation...) we pack the kids up and rumble down Highway 210 to Ray and Myrna's house in Stonewall for dinner. I really enjoy visiting with the in-laws as it reminds me of my grandfather coming to our house for family dinners, a treasured memory. I chose a few pictures from one of our recent dinners to share with you the girls' general insanity...

I am not sure what is happening here, although I think it may involve window licking... Myrna is the only person I know who is as concerned with finger prints as my father. I regularly tell the girls "Whatever you do, don't lick ______" and then they do it almost immediately after. I can't believe their level of disrespect for my authority ;)

Running around the back yard playing with the princess soccer ball. Teresa has enjoyed soccer (although she isn't always enamoured with the soccer part), and her last game is Tuesday.

Grandpa pulled out the croquet set.

How you know you've fallen behind on your blogging...

2011-06-15T22:39:00.000-05:00

...you post Easter pictures in June. Cut me some slack here people, it was a very lte Easter this year. The girls loved the hunt of course as it involved chocolate. All we did was hide the chocolates around the living room, and the girls searched. Of course this can't be that late as the girls still haven't consumed all their candy. This may be due to the fact that they received an inordinate amount of candy, likely their weight worth...

Easter #1 at Oma's. Here is the girls loot. I like this Easter best as I get a loot bag too.

Egg decorating at the Friesen's

Easter morning. Finding candy!

SCORE!!!

Teresa is looking for more candy...

Easter dress time...

Dog Park Woes

2011-06-12T13:00:00.000-05:00

The girls and Rowdy love going to the dog park. Both girls are very good with dogs around, although the girls are a little trepidatious when dogs are overly aggressive in their desire to say hello. Generally to make things go smoother I bring the girls in the wagon and let them play at particular locations they want to stop at, the 'hill', the tree, the other hill...

Of late though the dog park is a mucky sloppy and disgusting mess of muck, puddles, and more muck. Of course this suits our girls just fine, expect for when the inevitable fall in the puddle happens. This can happen moments into the visit (and has) or it can not happen at all (actually I am not sure if this has ever happened). Last month I had the girls playing at one tree, away from the thick muck and eventually the mud puddle beckoned. Teresa decided to go to the mud puddle first and I warned her not to get her feet stuck, as she has lost boots in the very same puddle before. Frances eventually wandered over too... I was of course taking pictures, and got the end of our visit in picture form. Of course, Teresa in her helpfulness did not want to leave.

Ah, the halcyon days before the advent of the MUCKENING!

Moments after the MUCKENING. Yes, I did take a picture before I came to the aid of Frances...

One boot down, and a heavy layer of mud of the hands.

Learning to Bike & Trike

2011-06-11T12:38:00.000-05:00

Well, Frances and Teresa are of the right ages to start to learn how to move on their own. Teresa tried her bike out last summer, and continues to have the same problems as she did then, that is to say she has trouble keeping her feet moving forward. When you have coaster brakes, any slight backwards motion is incredibly frustrating. Frances enjoys being pushed on her trike, but she has yet to really get is together and figure out how to move on her own. All we can do now is practice.

In other news, this is potty training weekend. We are batting .250 right now.

Frances has inherited Teresa's helmet and trike. Here Alisa, our neighbour who loves playing with the girls, is helping out.

Teresa doing her best to move forward. The bike is a little tippy as the training wheels are just off the ground, but I figure that will make the transition even easier to 2 wheels once she figure this out.

And now a video of Teresa moving all on her own!

Some cute pictures...

2011-05-30T22:11:00.000-05:00

Well, here is a bunch of solid pictures from the past few months... Enjoy.

Here we all are at the circus. We had a real good circus with animals (lion, elephant, monkeys, bison...) come to the MTS Centre. We didn't go to the Shrine Circus this year as it was the weekend I was in Flin Flon and honestly this one was much better.

The girls have swimming lessons every Tuesday morning at Pan Am as Cara can put Teresa in as Frances is with her. They come to school for lunch every Tuesday. Good times :)

The girls love to pretend all sorts of stuff... Here they are napping. If only it were this easy when it actually was nap time.

Teresa is playing at preschool... If you me to tell you what she is, your driver's license should be revoked.

Yup, this is an old picture. Teresa & Frances came out to see the blooming crocus plants... Note the mitts & bare feet, a classic good parenting combo.

Words cannot explain this picture. I got nothing.

Teresa has been asking for a movie party for a long time. We invited a few of her friends over, they watch VeggieTales ate popcorn and generally destroyed the house.

Hello, I am Frances Sockyhands!

Teresa enjoys coming down and checking things out. Here she wears my earmuffs. I have pretty much done nothing in a couple of weeks due to the craziness of their evening schedules. And yes, that is how Teresa smiles when asked to smile.

Out shopping for Mother's Day flowers. Frances wanted to touch everything.

I found this so ludicrous I needed to take a picture. Once again, words cannot explain the visual.

May Long - Monday

2011-05-25T19:00:00.000-05:00

I awoke to what in the Yost house is considered a glorious sight: Strong winds & large waves. Alas, without a partner to join me and the knowledge of the East Beach currents & sandbars I wasn't feeling entirely comfortable with a swim (regardless of the fact that somehow the lake water is about -20C, but somehow liquid). The temperatures had dropped off and we had to turn on the heat. This was an indoors type of day...

More of Frances 'reading'. So darned cute.

Chutes & Ladders seemed like a good way to pass the time.

Teresa cheated... I mean, she won. No, I am not a sore loser.

Next is Go Fish. Teresa is getting better at not announcing her cards to everyone, but flashes them pretty ferociously and doesn't pay attention or remember what others have asked for. Yes, I know she will get better.

During nap time, Rowdy and I finally went for a walk. The waves were much too large to let him swim in the rocks out front. Please note the devastation on the cliffs and the fallen trees. Grand Marais Blvd really got bashed by the storm. Apparently that first cottage had 80 feet of backyard not 5 years ago. They continue to build on that side of the street though...

This is over that hill, and around the corner where the dyke / road must have almost been washed away. They brought in a ton of fill to rebuild the road. Looking up from here, the cottage on water's edge has their deck dangling with caution tape all over it.

This is about where the old fisherman's shack was. There is no dirt left, save a foot wide strip. You can also see all the new fill along the road way back there... They also had to fill by the trestle. In a related note to all this devastation, the government regulates lake levels. They are at historic highs on both Winnipeg & Manitoba. This is good for Hydro... As for the lake?

This was the peninsula leading towards Pelican Island. It essentially no longer exists, although without waves it would likely be a few feet wide. People used to come here with their pets and enjoy a bit of sand and no COs... Rowdy enjoyed chasing the ball regardless.

We had seen pelicans, ducks, geese, cormorants, loons.... As I finished my walk, I had to suddenly pull out the phone to take a couple pictures of the osprey. Both were flying overhead. This is a pretty clear picture of one of them, and with the tree & sun looks particularly artistic :)

May Long - Sunday

2011-05-24T19:00:00.003-05:00

Sunday turned out to be a nice day. The girls got up around 7:00, so we had a few hours to burn before church, and then we planned to drive to East Beach, as it is the only beach open to anyone. With some spare energy to burn, the girls played on the hill which further soaked their shoes & clothes.

Frances running up and down the hill (P.S. Nice hat :)

After church we drove off to East Beach where we had an opportunity to play on sand, eat a picnic lunch, go exploring in the hills where Teresa and I found deer prints, an orange frog and bugs. I even got to take a couple dives and as Teresa and Frances both pointed out, the water was somewhat less than warm.

Lunch Time!

I love the contrast in the colours here, and the clouds. Into the water we go.

Things brightened up, and the girls dug holes, made & destroyed castles... You know, the normal stuff.

For the first time ever, I got to bury Teresa.

If Teresa gets to be buried, than Frances must be too.

Warming up the shiverer.

Frances' position reading was just too much like mine (and too cute) for me to ignore it.

Teresa wandering on the rocks, all on her own, at her own behest.

We later got to plant some tomatoes, basil and peppers in the patch, where the strawberries and oregano are already coming up gangbusters...

Mmmmm... Weiner roast!

Enjoying the view from the balcony, Teresa deemed it 'perfect'. They have played Rappunzle from it. And what a fine feat of engineering it is :)

If you want to see my mainly naked body diving into the ice cold water, and didn't see it on twitter you can go to http://yfrog.com/nf254gz For the record, Cara almost missed my dives, and missed my light amble into the water. My heel didn't need any icing later. I will not be fathering any more children for 12-24 months :)

For less repulsive videos, here you go:

Teresa climbing on the rocks all on her own. For the record in a rare moment of responsible parenting, I told Frances that she was not allowed to go on the rocks on her own.

Here the girls are rolling on the hill. Teresa has taken it on herself to train Frances in many different aspects of life, and this is one of them. It is very cute to watch them interact with each other.

May Long - Saturday

2011-05-23T22:07:00.000-05:00

Well, this was another fantastic weekend at the lake, enrapturing Cara and I with the joys of watching our kids grow and enjoy the lake. We did the normal stuff, opening the cottage, checking out what had changed (Hint: 2011 > [2010 + 2009 + ... + 1978] ), church, going for a swim, walks, staring out at the lake, hot dog roasts.

If you have been following Cara & my Twitter and Facebook feeds you may have seen some of this stuff, and heard how some things went. I am pretty confident that my father was appalled by this, yet in a corner of his heart he was happy to see some off the pictures and videos and got a chance to say hi to the girls.

I have enough stuff exported to fill a few posts, so I will go day by day.

Saturday was pretty darn bleah. Rain, drizzle, grey... Nevertheless we needed to go for a walk with the girls.

It may be raining, but it's a good time for a walk

The front beach. You aren't allowed on West Beach. Anywhere. Apparently it will be completed on time for summer otherwise the company will be fined heavily.

We played for a good long time at the park, and then stayed indoors reading books.

Now for some videos...

Teresa giving Rowdy the gears constantly for not doing exactly as she says...

Teresa & Frances scratch their backs a la Rowdy

The girls enjoy the puddles. Responsible parents would have remembered to bring their galoshes. We did not :)

Mother's Day

2011-05-20T09:50:00.024-05:00

Well with Mother's Day come and gone, I had figured that some people would be interested in what we did for Cara on her day...

In our house Cara commits herself to cooking for her mother on Sunday so she insists I take the kids off her hands on Saturday and cook her dinner. This year we did some shopping for her gift, dinner, and other stuff. The kids & I went out for lunch and then I got them down for a nap while I smoked Cara some ribs for dinner (FoodFare had baby backs for $2.99/lb, YUM!). Cara got to relax by shopping with her sister for jeans (for her sister), how this is relaxing I will never know...

Sunday began with the girls and I making Cara a card while she slept in. After that I released the hounds and the girls got to show mommy what they got her & made... Teresa decided on the wording of the card, which she wrote (after I wrote it on a piece of paper) all on her own. Cara ended up getting flowers for the garden and an immersion blender for her shakes & soups that she makes.

Out shopping and picking flowers. There would be more pictures if the girls didn't require 24/7 supervision to avoid destruction of the flowers.

Prepping to make the card. Frances really should do everything naked to save us the stained clothing...

The card is done!

Happy kids :)

The inside of the card... The family is drawn at the bottom, I have the short hair. I forget the exact wording, but the inside said something like "Hi mommy, you love us so much. Love Teresa & Frances"

The outside of the card, pretty self-explanatory.

And here is the video of the morning after...

Catch-up Time

2011-05-18T22:28:00.000-05:00

Well, over the past few months Cara and I certainly have been neglecting things over here. I think part of it is the ease in which our new phones work with Twitter and Facebook, but not blogger. Cara also has been fighting with Bill Gates to make her computer work better with blogger, and she thinks she has found a solution (stunningly, not involving a Microsoft product).

I just exported about 50 pictures and videos of random mayhem that I hope to post over the next few days to week or so...

Today though I think it is appropriate to begin with our ultrasounds. Cara has had two and during the second we got to see Hatty yawn at us. So cute. Here though are the pics of Hatty, and no we did not find out the gender.

See ya Diapers?

2011-05-16T19:32:00.000-05:00

So Frances has been asking to be potty trained lately. We went out, bought her panties, discovered those were too big so went out and bought some more. She has been sitting on the potty to "pee", flushing, and pulling up her pants. There is no question she is ready, the only problem for me is finding the time. With Teresa we needed a full week to stick around the house and just let her learn at her own pace, but now we never have an uneventful week. I guess we just have to go for and let the chips and urine fall where it may. And always carry extra clothes around with us.

Videos - Cara's Birthday & Teresa's First Dance Class.

2011-04-13T11:00:00.001-05:00

The highlight of Cara's birthday was watching the girls deliver the gifts with gusto and then see them tell Cara about that they bought... After that, feel free to watch further.

As for the ballet? It was hilarious to watch, but ended in tragedy... If you listen closely, Teresa is upset as she did not learn how to do a pirouette of a jette...

Ballet, Hat-trick's Ultrasound & Other Stuff

2011-04-11T21:50:00.002-05:00

So it has been a bit of time since we last posted but we have been much too busy using social media that is fully integrated into our so-called smart phones, but we need to post here now as today was a big day.

Today began with a trip to the Health Science Centre for Cara's ultrasound of hat-trick. The great news is that hattie was co-operative and the visit was quick. All appears well with hattie's heart and nervous system and s/he appears to be 18 weeks into the ball game. This of course was terribly depressing to me as I was hoping for a couple as Cara is showing like she's ready to pop... The tech called hattie "he" but I think that that is meaningless... Now for a couple of pics. I think s/he looks like me :)

So later in the day, Cara, Frances and I went to Teresa's first ballet class. She was super stoked for it, as she has been reading "Miss Lina's Ballerinas" much too often lately, and we upped the excitement by purchasing her a pink body suit, tights and ballet shoes. She matched that with the 'ballet' skirt auntie Jackie bought her a while back and she was ready.

Well, it was quite fun to watch and record. She ran herself to exhaustion that day and had a great bit of fun (even though she wouldn't admit it without threats - a new phase, coupled with the whiny phase it's awesome). It ended in a classic fashion that I hope to remember for years to come. Conveniently I have it on video, but it is still encoding so you'll have to wait a bit for it, and I don't want to give the ending away... In its place I have pictures for you (some of which will look familiar to those that tweet).

Pre-class Posing

More Posing

Learning First Position

Organized Mayhem

Twirling!

Spring Break

2011-03-29T19:37:00.003-05:00

Well, for all you Luddites out there, you should be happy to hear that Cara's phone is not working, as such you are getting a large dose of the pictures taken by yours truly. It is Spring Break and Ray is helping us out in the basement with wiring, and I will be doing some plumbing... Keeping busy, especially considering the girls keep wanting to help and spend time with me. There are worse problems obviously :)

So here is some of the stuff over the last few days.

Apparently Frances enjoys watching Sesame Street from the comfort of a drawer...

Cara & her new toy

Another Frances looking cute in a chair moment...

Frances loves the Coke...

She is darned cute...

Playing on the floor of Future Shop

Yes this is my BlackBerry, why do you ask?

We went shopping for a birthday gift for Cara and someone ended up tuckered out (actually both gierls fell asleep in the van on the way home.

Teresa in her hole that 'needs' help to get out of... Save me daddy!

Were you aware we had a dog? I almost forgot. Sorry Rowdy buddy :-)

I am king of the hill! Or make that PRINCESS!!!

Anna came over for brunch and Teresa 'read' the girls her baptism story,

Frances decided a nap was unnecessary, but Cara disagreed.

And here is some video... I can't get enough of Frances saying "No, Daddy" It warms the heart.

So we have a new toy

2011-03-26T10:08:00.000-05:00

Well, Cara and I have been mulling over phone options for the last little while and yesterday we finally Sid something about it. We will be dumping our landline and have both graduated to "smart" phones. Cara is the owner of a white Blackberry (with a pink cover of course) and I got an iPhone. Hopefully this makes our obsessive picture and video taking of the girls to the next level. Today I tested the iPhone's video, so here is Frances in all her glory and cuteness.

FYI her vocabulary and articulateness have increased exponentially since Christmas...

Artificial Spring

2011-03-20T15:09:00.000-05:00

Spring is coming slowly to poor old Manitoba, and it's starting to wear on the ladies in the Yost house. The girls are going crazy and driving me bananas. For two weeks straight it was too cold and windy to be outside for too long and inside is just not cutting it anymore, we needed spring and we needed it fast. Since mother nature wasn't cooperating it was off to our local conservatory. It was the best decision I had made all week. We ran, smelled actual flowers and stalked turtles. Frances saw fish and I got to see my first peony in bloom. It rejuvenated us enough that the girls stopped driving me bonkers for a full afternoon.

The conservatory has really stepped it up a notch since we last visited

I tried to get a good picture of the girls together, they sang itsy bitsy spider instead

In our house, the itsy bitsy spider is the height of hilarity

Frances loved the turtles so much she tried to climb into the pond

Can you sense their terror?

Awwww.

Our refuge from the wind and snow.

Three-Peat!!

2011-03-17T19:22:00.001-05:00

130 BPM.
Due ~ Sept 7, 2011

Cara has had a very draining, nauesous and tough first trimester. We found out we were pregnant in late December and since then the blog has been quiet for obvious reasons...

Belated Birthday

2011-03-12T20:58:00.001-06:00

On February 18th Frances turned two, and it was awesome. She celebrated with family and some friends, although we did not invite any little kids due to our lack of a basement and limited space upstairs. Frances loves Elmo, and watches him almost every day on Sesame Street, so I rented a pan and made her an edible Elmo head, every girl's dream really. One thing I did not realize was how red Elmo was, and the repercussions of the amount of red food gel I used will only be known years from now. Every one who sampled this red creation left with pink teeth. Except those (me) who were smart enough to eat his eyeball.

Frances opening gifts with Grandpa

Yay! A Sesame Street book! With Elmo! Yes, she checked.

Frances checking out the events of the day with Grandpa.

Once she figured out all those bags contained stuff for her she really got into it.

Happy Birthday Miss Frances, we love you.

More Pics…

2011-03-06T18:40:00.002-06:00

So here we are, another month and we have been slacking like crazy when it comes to posting stuff. Anyhow, here I am trying out Windows Live’s blog post maker (yes I broke down and bought a non-Mac, you can’t beat a laptop under $400 with 4GB RAM and a 640 GB HDD) Let’s see how this goes…

Finger painting! Courtesy of Auntie Sarah

de more…

Frances asked for pics with her dolly.

Cuteness.

Teresa enjoys ‘reading’ to Frances. And that is quite the outfit.

Bathtime & bubbles!

Frances’ first night in her big girl bed! The first night was decent, but her first nap with Teresa involved infinitely more play than sleep.

Costume time!

Tiggeresa

Fran-tigger

Yes, the monkey costume is meant for a 2 y/o why do you ask?

We has a fire and Teresa sat down by it in order to warm up… Of course clothes may have been beneficial too.

(EDIT: Windows Live sucks for blog posts. I hate you Bill Gates!)

So we've been slackers...

2011-02-10T21:44:00.000-06:00

I know that we have been better in the past (in fact this is likely our worst stint ever, including summers) in terms of keeping people up to date. I've been busy (somewhat) trying to keep Cara sane when I get home and then retreat to the basement when I can to get a bit of work done. Beyond that I have been dealing with my eyeballs. Instead of paying a pile of cash for new glasses and contacts I chose to pay a larger pile of cash to get my eyes zapped. Not surprisingly (they estimated a 30% chance) due to my prescription i needed a touch-up in my left eye and may need one in my right still. That said, all is now well. As for the construction, things move forward, but oh so very very slowly. Apparently I am not a professional so I have to redo things...

The girls have been great and horrors. Today was not a good day. Teresa for the first time wrote on her door with a (thankfully washable) marker. I think this is a developmental issue, as she has been pushing her limits in terms of listening to us. As the philosopher king "The Rock" once said, I think it may time "to lay the smack down on her roody-poo candy..." You get the drift. Frances keeps getting teeth. Rowdy is going grey. Anna is no longer being taken care of by Cara. Nevertheless the more things change, the more they stay the same.

Here you go. A healthy dose of insanity Yost style.

One of Frances' favorite games - Make a GIANT mess!

Princess Dresses.

Mmmmmm.... Ring Pops

Frances is so proud of putting on her own mittens. She can also do her boots and too many other things. Teresa made that necklace especially for her from her Christmas gift of beads.

That is Teresa tracing her own hand.

Frances appears not to have tonsillitis.

I just find this picture cute.

When Sarah was out we went skating at the Forks.

Teresa and her puppy at the dog park enjoying a bit of climbing.

These are just great pictures, courtesy of Cara. I think she is playing a version of peek-a-boo.

Yup. Peek-a-boo it is...

Dancing time. We dance. We twirl. We do gymnastics. We fly. We're crazy.

There's the flying...

I dunno why the spoons, but Frances' face is a wonder to behold.

That's a crown... And a training diaper, yup, a training diaper, on her head.

A la prochaine mes amis...

Happy New Year!

2011-01-04T19:13:00.000-06:00

Just for you, to start the year off right... a year of Yost! You lucky reader you.

The featured song is "Laissez Faire" from Jeremy Fisher's new album Flood.

While Jeff & Katie were visiting for dinner, we showed them the video and Teresa gave a running commentary. At their behest Ken filmed Teresa watching the video and has included this second video for your entertainment. Sadly though, Teresa's first video commentary with Jeff was slightly better...

Frances Update!

2011-01-04T17:34:00.000-06:00

In exciting news, Frances just pointed at and correctly verbalized the names of all the foods on her plate! Bananas, crackers & cheese!

In other news after being around her for so many full days, I am beginning to understand her pretty well.

Christmas Morning

2011-01-02T10:33:00.000-06:00

Christmas at the Yost house was a grand, chaotic affair. The girls got lots of great gifts from friends, family, and Santa and we had a great time with family in Stonewall and Steinbach. We even switched it up this year and skyped with the Ottawa Yosts, which was an okay replacement, but not nearly as fun as being there in person.

The girls getting ready for Christmas Eve mass.

Teresa, the shyest angel in heaven.

Christmas Eve appi party!

Teresa showing off the latest styles in Christmas pj's.

Christmas morning, and someone's excited!

Stocking time!

Finally, the long awaited Sleeping Beauty Barbie.

Santa brought Frances Olivia's family in doll form.

Ken and I took the girls out shopping this year to pick presents. Teresa thought Ken would like "lots of different types of beer". She was correct.

Ken with his new mug and his snappy shirt.

More beads then they ever though imaginable! Thanks Anna! I just really love this picture of Frances.

The Concert... Live!

2010-12-23T12:02:00.002-06:00

Or something... Enjoy!

Teresa's Christmas Concert

2010-12-22T22:49:00.002-06:00

Sadly for me there wasn't a way for me to find a way to Teresa's Christmas concert this year. Fortunately, Cara has a digital camera & video camera. The video is encoding as I type, but I will share some photos from it & our first Christmas gathering (Cara's maternal grandparents - Bill & Tina Kehler) from last Saturday. I assure you the videos are cute, but sadly, Frances has a fever Today of 102 F (Teresa had one, and missed all her preschool classes last week :-( ) I sure hope she gets well for Christmas. I am now on break, but will be working on the basement now (which I have been for the last week).

Time to sing.

Teresa in her new dress, just for the occasion.

Look who came to say hi!

Apparently she still wants a Sleeping Beauty Barbie...

Frances got to play with puzzles

More puzzle time...

While Frances may look like she knows what she is doing, Cara assures me she enjoyed taking the piece OUT of the puzzles without trying to put them back in!

Tina, Bill & Frances...

The Kehler grandkids await the gifts...

Frances, as youngest, got hers first. This year Eric (who Cara & I met in Kitchener in July) got to meet the girls. Yay!

Time for a little help from auntie...

Oh, is that a super cute princess dress? Yes? Thanks Audrey!

Hmmm... What could this be? A young man buying me gifts? Can't be that good?

Oh wait... Is this a PRINCESS TEA SET? Holy h*%k, let me take that back! This guy is awesome!

Um, wait, this has better not ACTUALLY have an Acer in it...

I brought Teresa & Frances out this year to buy a gift for Cara. Please not how awesomely she wrapped it :)

When the Cats are Away...

2010-12-15T22:09:00.002-06:00

Well OK, it's only Cara (and half the video she's there for), but I figured I would allow the world to see the mayhem that ensues when I am in placed in charge. You also get to see the new opening to the videos, as I figured Teresa's opening comment was cute...

Beyond that I want to add some information about what's been going on lately. First, we have been dealing with illness, as Teresa is hacking away as I type but she is now fever free and I think things will get better. Beyond that, advent has been a wonderful time here at Casa Yost, as Teresa looks forward to lighting the wreath, getting her nightly chocolate and reading a story every night from our Advent calendar. It is quite a nice little evening ritual we have going on now.

Also a joy to watch is how Teresa and Frances interact. Teresa will hug and kiss Frances and make sure she says good night, and Frances will go around looking for love from her sister too. This of course is nothing like the sister relationships I am used to experiencing... Frances communicates now, but I struggle to figure out what she says (Cara knows well) while Teresa can talk at a hundred miles an hour. Teresa is also an amazingly active child, and loves singing, dancing and running laps. She does a great rendition of Rudolph, which hopefully Cara will get on film from her Christmas concert.

Lastly, Teresa has finished her skating lessons and enjoyed them, but struggled a bit. Swimming though is another matter. She became a veritable fish this lesson set and dives under water and tries to swim all on her own... She makes me proud.

Without further ado, a bit of our recent lives.

Decorating Madness

2010-12-12T19:33:00.000-06:00

Now that the girls are at an age when they are getting excited for Christmas, everything is more fun. We went as a family to pick out our tree (a $25 black spruce) and the girls were very into the whole process. Having learnt my lesson from last year I put all our kid friendly ornaments in one box so the girls could pick and decorate on their own. Teresa had the quote of the night. As she picked up each ornament she would declare "This is my favourite ornament!" After fifteen of her favourite ornaments I realized that she is either not very discriminating, or she has a lot of love in her heart. So far the tree has gone unmolested, but I have been too wary of Frances to put any wrapped gifts under the tree yet, that may be a Christmas Eve event this year.

These stars were a favourite of Frances'

She also loved the apples, except she thought they were tomatoes and kept referring to them as "Bob"

Teresa got to put the angel on top of the tree this year, and although she doesn't look it, she was very excited.

Letter to Santa

2010-12-09T22:33:00.001-06:00

Last week Teresa and I sat down to write a letter to santa. I offered to write part of it for her, but she insisted on writing the whole thing herself. All she wants for Christmas is a sleeping beauty barbie, and thanks to the lovely folks at Toys R Us, santa will be able to fulfill her request. I can't wait to see her face on Christmas morning....this is going to be awesome!

Olderish Pictures From November

2010-12-05T15:30:00.000-06:00

So Cara has promised she would post about Teresa's letter to Santa (she wrote it all herself and it is awesome to behold), but in the absence of her choosing to not blog about knitting and food, I present to you: PICTURES!

She may be blurry, but man is she cute...

What is this ice for mommy?

Dog park shenanigans...

Look at the muddy paws, and the girls complete lack of fear...

Now that's some good tree climbing!

Yes, the park is now covered in snow...

'Driving'

de more

Now this is just too damn cute not to post!

The headlock of love...

More cuteness & Frances Swimming...

2010-11-18T23:04:00.000-06:00

So I spend the entire 30 minutes with Frances in the water, primarily trying to keep her from lunging to her impending doom. Last week, they busted out the life jackets and she learned the terror of being n her own in the water. This, of course, did not dissuade her from jumping off the wall nor did it keep her from leaping off the wall with a mere hope and a prayer that I will be there for her...

We have fun. We sing. We jump. We blow bubbles. Frances is better than Teresa was at her age, but she is also so terribly unpredictable... Last week, she went and tried to give Teresa a pool noodle during Teresa's lesson. We of course stopped her from jumping in the pool (by the skin of our teeth).

Here's a few pictures Cara took of our joy...

Here is Teresa with a beautiful tie.

This is the most amazing smile I have ever seen.

Frances in her normal state... Attempting to get undressed.

Dangling by her swimsuit. She loves that too.

I may look like a goober, but Frances loves playing on my shoulders.

Swimming... Frances actually holding on... The water looks cool too.

The key to letting Frances go down the slide is to release her at the steps and quickly lunge towards the slide, hoping that you get there first.

Frances after the slide. All sorts of happy...

Yup, more happy + thumb sucking.

Happy, happy, joy, joy.

Here is the one time I was home and Frances was indicating that she was trying too poop. I put her on the toilet. She liked it, but has bunged up, so alas, no success. We will probably be training her over Christmas of after Anna is gone as Cara feels too overwhelmed with her about...

More Mayhem...

2010-11-11T09:13:00.002-06:00

Old footage refound on Cara's camera...

Frances & Teresa Mayhem!

2010-11-07T21:15:00.000-06:00

This video was taken a couple of nights ago, but it is appropriate for today too, as they awoke at 6:15 and I kept them awake until 8:00 (remember this used to be 9:00, an hour past their bedtime). When the girls get tired, they get manic. Amusingly so...

Here is Teresa & Frances' nighttime dance PAR-TEH!

Swimming Lessons - Teresa

2010-11-04T22:46:00.000-05:00

Teresa is now in swimming lessons, well, has been for the last few weeks and she is doing really well. This is her second attempt at this level, and I'm glad she's taking it again. This time around she is more independent and confident in her abilities. It's so nice to see her come so far. She is now jumping in with no help from the teacher, going under without freaking out and her front floats are coming along nicely. Teresa loves swimming lessons, maybe she'll take after her mom and be a life guard one day (fingers crossed).

Class time.

Frances likes to watch her big sis while she waits.

Big jump

She's trying to swim on her own!

She looks so proud of herself.

Trick or Treat

2010-10-31T20:44:00.000-05:00

So we went out and got to about 25 houses before Teresa decided she would much rather stuff her face... Here are a few pictures.

The Bombers' next starting quarterback

The pumpkin lineup...

Pink rabbits are quite cute...

So are ballerinas...

Kris & Anika

Out & about.

Teresa sprinting ahead for candy

The wait...

and the gorge...

Carving the Pumpkins...

2010-10-31T16:25:00.000-05:00

Last night the girls & I went out to buy pumpkins. Today we carved them prior to naptime. Not much else to report save that Teresa made a pumpkin like her 'sad' pumpkin she made at pre-school, Frances 'drew' her own eyes and Cara added on a Frances-sized smile, while Cara & I went with Bob & Larry from Veggietales as our theme...

Tonight, Kris, Susan, Annika, Ray, Myrna & Andrea all descend for dinner & trick-or-treating!

All smiles before we start

Teresa called this the 'pumpkin family'

Scooping the guts out. She would not touch it with her hands.

What is this orange orb I see before me?

Ooooh.... Gooey

Drawing the face. I did the mouth, Teresa then decided to add more teeth.

All carved. Note the eyes toothpicked back in... These she called 'glasses' and did it b/c I made pupils for my jack o' lantern.

Bob the pumpkin...

Teresa's finalized pumpkin

Frances & the smiling Pumpkin... Note the teeth match hers.

Did I mention I was a Ghostbuster Friday at school?

Happy Birthday Teddy!

2010-10-28T22:28:00.000-05:00

Ever since Teresa turned four we have been celebrating various people's birthdays. She usually makes a cake out of lego, we sing and the birthday person gets to blow out the candle. Simple enough, but the other day she decided to throw a party for her teddy, and she did it up right.

Here are all Teddy's friends, waiting for the party to start

Here comes the cake!

Teddy has just blown out his candle.

Frances is eagerly awaiting her piece of cake.

Cake time, Happy Birthday Teddy.

Teresa at Four

2010-09-28T21:50:00.000-05:00

Teresa at four is a wonder to experience. She is kind, hilarious, bossy, infuriating and imaginative. Teresa at four can melt my heart one second and anger me the next. She is so special, so precious that every time I try to describe her my words are inadequate, so I will simply say this. Teresa at four is a blessing, our great joy.

Four

2010-09-27T13:00:00.001-05:00

Teresa is now four, and it boggles the mind to think she has been around for four years. It seems so much longer/shorter than that. This year Teresa requested a princess tea party, and that is what she got. I loved seeing her school friends all dressed up and running like maniacs in the park. Teresa and the girls had a good time, and so did I. Ken, well, you'll see....

Climbing in a princess dress takes a certain finesse....

Being "king" has it's privilages.

Opening presents

Frances being Frances.

Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

The Social Event of the Season...

2010-09-20T21:24:00.000-05:00

4 years (minus one week) ago, Teresa came to us and as such we have to plan her birthday. This year she asked for a Princess Tea Party, so we will be having one with some of her preschool friends (and aunties) on Saturday, then the grandparents along with other family on Monday. I thought you might be amused by her invitation.

I find it hard to believe that I have a four year old...

First of Many

2010-09-18T09:28:00.000-05:00

Wednesday was Teresa's second first day of school, the day she has been anticipating for two weeks now. She loves school, her friends, her new teacher, and I love that she's excited. I love her independence, giving me a quick kiss before heading off to do puzzles, and her excitement of seeing us when we return. School has never been a time for tears, and I hope it never is.

Addicted too Young

2010-09-09T20:14:00.001-05:00

If Frances decides to love chocolate any more, we may have to stage an intervention.

All Dogs Go to Heaven?

2010-09-01T14:19:00.000-05:00

Well, while I am well aware the I am not on solid doctrinal ground here, I am pretty sure that every day I see Rowdy I am seeing the first dog destined towards sainthood. Rowdy came to us just under 5 years ago now, where he was for a very short period in time #1 in the house, getting all of our attention... Of course we all know why he slipped down the ranks, but it is wonderful to see how well he plays with the girls, and how he just leaves when he doesn't like what is being done.

This has been a tough summer on Rowdy, as we left him for the first time in a kennel. Although he was playing with dogs constantly there, when we got back you could tell how happy he was. We then retired to one of his favorite places, Grand Beach where he got more pets than ever from my dad, but he was restricted from swimming in the lake for too long due to the algae slick. He continues to prove his mettle on a daily basis. Today I saw some things that I had to take pictures of and share. As the years have gone by we spend less time taking pictures of Rowdy, but he keeps showing up in the background. Here is our gracious dog back in the foreground.

In the background, but happy likely due to consumption of dropped food. We have to check his total food intake daily... And at least one person/thing is looking good in this picture.

Rowdy in his element. If you look closely there a bajillion dragon flies.

Princess Rowdy. Please note the fearlessness of Frances.

And let's grab the princess' tail. I am sure Rowdy is thinking here "Why don't you help me?"

Paging Dr. Dog...

I was told that these were all of Rowdy's babies. Teresa has also told us how he has babies in his tummy before, this is their first adventure outside. Rowdy initially moved away because Teresa was sticking them under his belly.

A wet dog is a happy dog.

Parenting

2010-08-30T09:20:00.000-05:00

When some of our friends have asked us about being a parent, I usually say the same thing. When you become a parent, brace yourself to see the best and the worst of yourself reflected back at you everyday. While I sometimes see the worst of me in my girls, I try my best everyday to reflect the best of me back at them.

Travel & the Girls...

2010-07-28T16:06:00.001-05:00

Well, in a nutshell Cara, the girls and I are back. We drove over 8000 km, spent nearly 100 hours together in the van, crossed the border 6 times, got harassed once, swam in all 5 Great Lakes, almost died once (not my fault - a semi jack-knifed in front of us with no shoulder & a cliff beside me). We learned many things, including the long driving days aren't bad, we just need more time between the long stretches, that and International Falls sucks.

We took over 400 pictures so eventually we will either corner you for 6 to 8 hours while we show you every nook and cranny between here and Cooperstown or we will eventually blog a few 10-15 picture segments...

So to tide you over here is a few pictures, and the sad news of Frances graduating to the 5-point harness and Teresa moving to a newly procured booster chair in the van...

Last night Kris, Susan & Anika were over and it was bedtime for the girls. I asked Teresa if she wanted to give Frances the bottle (much to Cara's initial chagrin) and both girls loved it.

That is now Teresa's smile.

Yeah, that's right. We saw it.

North Bay, on the Doorstep of Ottawa - Day Four

2010-07-06T10:12:00.001-05:00

The Yost Family is now safe and sound in Ottawa, our destination city. Our last stop on this leg of the trip was North Bay, a very nice city with a very stinky beach. After we left the hotel we went to mass, then off to a park by the beach where they had two restored carousels and the tiniest train one can ride. We hung around and the girls wore themselves out until lunch. We then packed ourselves up and headed off. I must say, it didn't feel like we drove over 2200 kilometers. This trip has been wonderful, the fact that the girls are great travelers helped a great deal. I would do this again in a heart beat. Oh, wait, we have to get home somehow....

This is the Pro-Cathedral where mass was held

On our way to the park

This carousel had lots of different animals, not just horses. Teresa picked the moose.

Just look at the cute little train!

And it came with an engineer and everything.

The girls and I on stinky beach

Grandpa has been reading to Teresa non-stop, except for bathroom, work, and bridge breaks.

Grandma got to enjoy some nice cuddle time with Frances

Random Yost mayhem.

Living History - Day Three

2010-07-03T22:24:00.001-05:00

Today took us deeper into Ontario, as we visited Lake Superior Provincial Park, Pancake Bay, drove towards Lake Huron and ended in North Bay. We stepped back in time by viewing some native pictographs and spent our lunch time picnicking and playing on the beach. Dinner was in a little town called Spanish, at a place where they serve fresh walleye from Lake Huron. I am also very excited to report that Ken thinks it will be possible for me to put my feet in all five Great Lakes! An exciting prospect indeed.

Neither Ken nor I can resist standing in front of overly large structures to get our picture taken. Here we are by the goose in Wawa.

If you were a tourist and saw this sign you would be excited right? Well....

This is what we saw. As it turns out, the magnificence of the falls depends on the hydro facility. If hydro opens the dam, the falls are spectacular. They did not feel it appropriate for me to have a good

photo-op.

We pulled into a nice area on Lake Superior called Old Woman Cove for a bit of a play.

This was on the path to the pictographs. The split in the rock used to be part of a volcano. Seriously. Nature is amazing.

This is the area of Lake Superior where the Edmund Fitzgerald went down. The winds were 50 knots and the waves 35 feet high. The fact this happened on an inland lake is remarkable to me.

These are the famous pictographs, painted by the Ojibwe.

This is the rock shelf Ken and I had to walk across to view them. As you can see we risked life and limb for a first hand look at history.

After all that work it was picnic time at Pancake Bay. The beach is really nice, and it got it's name because this is where the voyageurs would use up the rest of their flour to make pancakes, knowing Sault St. Marie was a short distance away.

Ken and Teresa ended up changing into their swimsuits and going for a dip, Frances though it would be a big time saver to swim with her clothes on.

This is the Motel we are at in North Bay. By far the most awesome yet.

Hope you Like Lakes - Day Two

2010-07-02T21:54:00.000-05:00

It's a good thing the Yost family enjoys a good lake, because, as it turns out, this country is full of them. Day two involved us traveling from Thunder Bay to Wawa with a stop to put our feet in Lake Superior in between. I will confess that the thought of putting my feet in the largest of the Great Lakes made me giddy, and it was certainly a highlight of the day for me.

Mmmmm, motel breakfast

The Terry Fox memorial on the spot he had to end his run. I got a little emotional when I saw it. They have done a beautiful job with the site.

Teresa and Frances burning some energy at the memorial before we force them back into the car.

Aguasabon River Gorge, this made Kakabeca Falls look like a ditch.

We are saving money by keeping a cooler full of breakfast and lunch stuff, and the best part of this has been picnics.

We went for a bike ride on a hiking trail (not recommended) and this was just a random view on the way. Our trip has been full of this so far, and it's boggling the mind of this prairie girl.

A Yost family foot portrait. We all got to put our feet in Lake Superior.

Ken likes to go the extra mile, so he put his whole body in.

We also stopped in White River to see the "birth place" of Winnie the Pooh. Ken insisted on purchasing a souvenir t-shirt (for Teresa) and we met a lovely family traveling from Edmonton, so the girls had some playmates for a while.

Road Warriors - Day One

2010-07-02T20:47:00.000-05:00

For those of you who were not aware, the Yost family is on the move! We are driving from Winnipeg to Ottawa and back again. Since even the cheap motels seen to have wireless internet these days you can adventure right along with us. Day one involved us leaving Kenora and driving out to Thunder Bay, here is some of the stuff we saw along the way.

This was a place called Raleigh Falls, just a simple little (downright gorgeous) picnic spot

Hence the name. I still can't believe this was just a rest area

Kakabeca Falls. This is a provincial park Ken had visited as a child with his family.

The falls are breath taking. There is a native legend that a Ojibwe chief's daughter named Green Mantle led their Sioux enemies over the falls in order to save their people from attack, and if you look closely you can see her in the mist of the falls.

This is where we bedded down for the night, the motel that time forgot.

Weekend With Mommy

2010-06-28T17:28:00.000-05:00

We are busy ripping apart our basement and packing for an epic car trip, so cute picture taking has not been a priority. Here are some pictures from my weekend without Ken.

This is at Fort Whyte. Teresa wanted to get her picture taken with the polar bear first thing. Uncle Ed must feel so proud.

The turtles were Frances' favourite part

Teresa felt very bad for the skull, at one point she was petting it and promising to find it's skin and eyeballs.

The following were all taken at the dog park. It was a brief respite of sun in a weekend full of rain. The girls (and Rowdy) went home soaking wet and happy.

Teresa takes her educating duties very seriously. Here she is teaching Frances to stomp.

If I were this cute, I would spend hours staring at my reflection too.

School's Out!

2010-06-23T08:56:00.001-05:00

In honour of Ken, and the hard work he does, and the fact that exams are now over I thought I would use Pearls Before Swine to recap his teaching year for you all.

My excuse for this mean mean post is that I have had too little sleep and WAY too much caffeine. This combo apparently makes me more sarcastic than usual..... love you sweetie:)

Happy Father's Day Ken

2010-06-20T17:19:00.000-05:00

Dear Ken,

Thank you for being such a wonderful husband and father. I know that will generate some snide comments, but the fact is you are. Your girls appreciate the fact you work so hard to keep us in the life style to which we have grown accustomed, and we love you with our whole hearts!

Ch-ch-ch-changes

2010-06-17T22:17:00.000-05:00

Things have been humming along here at casa Yost, but there have been a couple new developments. Frances, who used to hate stories and would always squirm her way out of them, has now taken a shine to the literary arts. She will request books (by carrying them to you and plunking herself on your lap....very subtle) and actually sits through the whole thing. One of the reasons for this change of heart is Teresa. Frances loves her sister and tries to copy her every movement, and this has now resulted in reading, or a reasonable facsimile thereof.

The other major development in the house has been the setting up of the bunk beds. We actually purchased bunk beds that could be separated, and Teresa has been using the top bunk. Since Frances insists on getting bigger I thought it would be a good idea to set up both and let the girls slowly get used to the new arrangement. Teresa is all over this and loves being on the top bunk. I hope she is as equally enthusiastic when fall rolls around and she has a new roommate.

Frances trying out her big girl bed

Teresa was a little nervous climbing the ladder, but after a bit of practice she's a pro.

It should relieve everyone to know Teddy also approves the new arrangement.

Those crazy girls.

2010-06-11T22:39:00.000-05:00

I realized that we haven't posted for quite a while so I decided to find a few pics to add... Is it blogger burnout? I dunno, but it is a crazy time of year so I figure we'll pick it up. It doesn't help the rest of you that we have been Skyp(e)ing with my folks so they 'see' the girls regularly. There is two and half weeks left of school before we all head off (sans Rowdy :-( ) to the Capital Region. Exams begin next Thursday for me, but I know I need to mark my face off at this point...

As for the family, the girls seem to be getting more & more interactive in ways that tug at every single one of my heart strings. They are so fantastic with each other (although last night I kicked Teresa out of the tub due to issues with her sister). Teresa asks for cuddles now and Frances begs for them, although normally from mommy.

Sadly, we haven't uploaded pics from the beach yet (even May Long weekend), so here are random older pics I am amused by.

Look at the deadly snake, isn't it cute? Apparently Frances is following Teresa's footsteps by hugging & petting the vicious wolf at Fort Whyte...

Yes, that is a Christmas tree. No, that is not recent. I am not sure if we ever posted this picture though. Teresa loved hanging ornaments. She loved hanging them only in one place though...

Playing 'bedtime' in the kitchen. Teresa loves it when anyone lays down with her. I love 'snoring' beside her and having her 'wake' me :)

de more.

Frances loves putting 'bracelets' on. She also loves eating things that shouldn't, picking up my glasses & contact cases, etc, ad nauseum. Cara figures she will kill us both with heart attacks before she is 12. There is a chance of it. Whatever, she's cute.

Two hours

2010-06-03T08:30:00.000-05:00

Teresa was up most of the night with a really bad cough, therefore I was also up most of the night rubbing her back and being all motherly and such. The consequence of only two hours' sleep is that today's Bizarro made me laugh so hard I cried.

Oh dear....it's going to be a long day.

Shrine Circus 2010

2010-05-16T23:33:00.007-05:00

If you are not one of my siblings you will likely not understand the significance of circuses, much less THE Shrine Circus... I have not been to the circus since Cara and I were dating, and while I seemed to believe it was in a bit of a slump in terms of attendance, I never was worried for what seemed to be an institution in Winnipeg... This year though was the first time the circus moved away from the MTS Centre and actually moved closer to our house at the Red River Ex Grounds by the Assiniboia Downs, with the advance tickets being sold by a local insurance company and myself only finding out about it due to to internet searching...

We went with Ray & Myrna, not knowing what to expect. It turns out that the circus was being held in a large building on the Ex Grounds, that could probably hold about 2000 - 4000 patrons if all the seats were full. We waited in line to get the rush seats and as I walked in it was apparent this was not the Shrine Circus of my childhood. The seats were portable bleachers, and the souvenirs were not like I recall having as a child. There were no programs for kids to have signed by clowns, and no Shrine specific merchandise... We got Teresa a clown head pen and I bought a raffle ticket along with the snacks we bought. I should also add that a very generous Shriner gave us some food tickets so we got a free popcorn. I am sure that Teresa did not think this a small circus, but it just felt smaller to me, without the elephants and lions of old...

Teresa's Pen

The circus itself had some major highlights with a great clown bit from a diving board and a really enjoyable balancing act... I love the circus and I know that Teresa and Frances really seemed to enjoy it...

Waiting in line on the way in...

Keeping calm by picking dandelions...

Pony rides? $8? It's the circus, so of course! (I just wish it were still elephants...)

My favorite (and least PC part) of the Shriner procession, the oriental band. Sadly they were down to 6 members.

The clowns! If I were ever to be a Shriner, this is what I would be... Of course it has nothing to do with Andrea being scared of them, just that they were awesome (ps for those wondering I did NOT see Popcorn there)

Teresa told Cara that Rowdy could do all the tricks because he was a very good dog.

Sitting on the bleachers with mommy

Grandma & Frances - the girls did well but were done after 2.5 hours, and the show went for 3. Thanks also go out to Ray & Myrna for buying the tickets,

Did I mention I love the circus? There are few times that I reminisce and think back to my childhood. The circus is one of them, and I truly cherish the memories. I miss those days where we visited the green house and then had treats and souvenirs then get autographs from the clowns...

The funny & enjoyable 'diving' act...

I thought for sure he was going to fall...

Perhaps I am getting overly sentimental and over-thinking such things but my dad tells me of the days when the Shriners parade was eons long and nowadays it was at most 100 people (my count was 65-70ish). It worries me that service organizations are slowly disappearing...

ps: Congrats go out to Warren & Lindsay along with Kris & Susan who both had beautiful baby girls over the weekend (Ingrid & Anika respectively :). Yay to friends having kids! Next up: Ryan & Lisanne in June!!

Wanted

2010-05-13T20:13:00.000-05:00

A friend or family member who is willing to teach a three year old the following skills involving make up:

Correct colour choice
Restraint
How to not look like a circus clown

I would do it, but I am too busy laughing and taking pictures, plus I know so very little when it comes to the womanly art of painting oneself.

Rainy Days

2010-05-10T16:40:00.000-05:00

Rainy weekday mornings are perfect for:

Reading

Cuddles

Cracker Making.....

.....And Consuming.

In large quantities.

Then making a mess until nap time.

There are some days when the rain can make everything perfect.

Cruelty, Thy Name is Mommy

2010-05-06T17:45:00.000-05:00

I will be the first to admit that I am amused by the predicaments my children can get themselves into. Frances is especially susceptible to this, seeing as she is a dare devil who knows no fear and all. So, when she gets herself into a jam because of this personality trait, my tendency is to first laugh, then take pictures, then rescue her. Some may be horrified by this attitude, but, no matter. I laugh more than most of them, and with Frances, laughter equals not suffering constant heart attacks. Because if you have met Frances, you will know that before her second birthday she will have fashioned herself a parachute and jumped off the roof, laughing the entire time. If I don't laugh with her, her actions will either rapidly turn my hair gray, or kill me, the jury is still out on which will come first.

Oh oh, looks like somebody tried to climb into a box that was much too tall

Yay, way to figure it out Frances!

Apparently, the sweet smell of success was not enough to make her happy

All better! All she needed was a hug from Mommy.

Teresa & Frances - 2 Clowns in the Making

2010-05-02T21:47:00.000-05:00

So, Teresa and Frances are for the majority of the time each other's best friends and at least once a day each other's worst enemies... The girls love making each laugh. Most days begin with Teresa coming to our room for a cuddle until Frances wakes up and then she sprints to the crib, climbs up it so she is above Frances and then Frances plays what I call "flopping fish". Basically, Frances stands up, then falls over and laughs, then Teresa laughs.

Next Frances stands back up. Guess what comes next?

If you guessed "Frances flops the other way and laughs, then Teresa laughs", you were correct. This game can continue ad nauseam until either Cara or I pluck Frances from her crib.

Beyond that, Teresa is constantly concerned for her sister chasing her down, dragging her around and screaming at mommy and daddy if she is at all concerned. This of course sometimes back fires, like when Teresa tries to make Frances 'safe' when she is crouched on a perch she can get down from. This normally involves putting Frances off-balance and then some tears, either from Teresa of Frances...

Beyond that, the girls play so well together. When one or the other is not around, they are sad and look for the other one... Teresa pulls Frances into her boat to play where they laugh and smile together... I could spend all day just watching them play. Of course this ignores those moments I will, like all good Yost men, eventually forget like the day I was fixing my bike and I stepped out of the garage to check on the girls, just as Teresa was giving Frances a 2-handed shove in the back to the ground...

Beyond that both girls find ways to constantly amuse us. Frances is a climber who will stop our hearts and make us laugh at her insanity. A couple of days ago I caught her trying to climb into the bathroom sink, all you can do is laugh. I guess this would be a good time to mention that she can also climb up and down stairs...

As for Teresa, here is her most recent ridiculously funny moment. I could never have thought of this with my silly [ed note: quasi-]mature mind. Teresa wears "monkey toes". Here are the pics:

Finally, a use for those silly gloves the previous owners left for us!

How To Eat Applesauce

2010-04-29T18:40:00.000-05:00

Starring: Frances Yost

Frances has started to enjoy eating on her own, with her own two hands. This frees up much of my time, and I am able to eat my lunch at the same time as the girls. But, it does have it's downfalls. For example, Frances likes to hold her spoon in one hand while scooping the applesauce into her face, sometimes her mouth, with the other. When she does use her spoon, it is usually facing the wrong way. While this technique is interesting, it is proving to be quite ineffective. For example:

Note, the spoon is being used in the correct manner. A rare event indeed.

Sigh. I had to wash that off...

Frances was done. By the end she was covered, including her hair and eyelashes.

Teresa, the innocent (and clean-ish) bystander.

My Mother Would Be Appalled

2010-04-28T17:53:00.000-05:00

What? Doesn't everyone build sandcastles in their fancy dresses?

Bedtime Blues...

2010-04-23T13:54:00.000-05:00

Cara looked at me yesterday and told me that she is concerned Teresa will not last pre-school. I chuckled, because I know she isn't serious and I know what she means. Teresa seems to have finally bought into the 'terrible twos', and we have two options either snap or laugh, and thusly we laugh.

Teresa has become newly fussy, primarily about times when Cara is gone, to which she will cry to the heavens and be inconsolable. She also doesn't exactly listen very well, and yes I know where that comes from, like last night when she sang all the way through dinner even though we asked her regularly not to. Nevertheless there are always some funny moments.

Teresa has always been a great sleeper, and she still is... when she gets there. Teresa's afternoon nap is quickly disappearing into the ether and is being replaced by quiet time in her bedroom. "Quiet time" is one of the greatest misnomers ever though. It normally begins that way, and as time passes you will hear a quiet singing voice, then it progresses to a louder singing, then she is umping on the bed and banging on Frances' wall. On weekends, I then get up from my nap-like position (this invariably occurs right as I am about to fall asleep) and quiet her done, thus hitting the reset button and beginning the process anew. When I am going out to for a bike ride, or making beer, or getting in the van, or cleaning the back yard I also see a cute little face peering through her window, as she uses her side table to stand on...

Bedtime at night is at times a similar story. Of course her lack of sleep during the day causes her to be tired and fussy for the few hours I am home on a work night, followed by the struggle of getting her to bed when she is so awake she will cry to prove her lack of needing to be in bed... Sigh. The best is that she now seems to think she is sneaky. We will put her to bed. 15 minutes later her door will open and she will 'go to the washroom'. Two nights ago she announced to Cara all surprised "Mommy, I still had pee in me!". Way to blow your cover agent! A few days back I heard her door open a second time. I peered around the corner and saw nothing. I waited a bit, heard nothing more, but decided to check in on it anyways. Suddenly I hear the "THUMP THUMP THUMP" of her always dainty feet, then "SLAM - THUMP THUMP THUMP - PLOP - CRINKLE!" with her jumping on her plastic covered mattress... I find it hilarious she thinks she is subtle.

When the weather was bad I had begun cycling in the basement in preparation for spring, normally after Teresa was put into bed. Almost every day I would find Teresa doing something involving being out of bed, including peering down the stairs. The best story though was early on I found her sitting in the La-Z-Boy 'reading' stories. You can't get mad at that so I gave her some more time, and then we went back to bed. It became so bad though that I had to leave EVERY light off upstairs.

Anyhow, I found the last couple of stories amusing so I figured they should be shared to the masses.

Up to Stuff

2010-04-20T20:53:00.000-05:00

I know you haven't heard from us lately, but we have been up to stuff. Just normal stuff, the same thing we do everyday. Frances is running and climbing and trying to imitate our actions and communicate, all while killing us slowly with all the heart attacks she seems to induce throughout the day. Teresa is either hilarious and sweet, or a crying, whiney beast who is trying to avoid bed time. Either way, the two of them seem to make doing the same thing everyday fun and interesting. So, here are a few pictures of our everyday.

Teresa loves to paint.....Frances loves to eat the paint.

Who loves Vanilla Rice Krispies? This girl right here.

Frances' new love is putting things into things.

See.

A rare shot of the Teresa in flight.

Mommy, you drive fast, so I must wear my helmet.

Easter, In Photographs

2010-04-11T15:22:00.000-05:00

This Easter was lovely, and, as always, chaotic. Although last year was technically Frances' first Easter, this was the year she followed Teresa around while T looked for her basket. Always the generous older sibling, Teresa found Frances' basket first.

Teresa and I spent Saturday afternoon dyeing and decorating eggs. This was hers.

Easter Morning, the search begins!

Even Frances is getting in on the action.

Success!

After a bit of guidance, Teresa found hers as well.

Although she liked the book, she was especially excited about the chocolate.

Ponytail time!

One little lady, and one very cute exhibitionist.

At some point in their lives they will smile and look at the camera at the same time....and I will faint.