Crumpled Home

(during a mighty battle between Evil Dad and Good RJ)

Evil Dad: You’ll never get me. I’m going to destroy the world!

Good RJ: (putting headband on Evil Dad) The magic helmet changes you to the good side!

Good Dad: Hey. I feel like a good guy now. Let’s go destroy the bad guys!

Good RJ: Yes! But before I can trust you, you have to do something good.

Good Dad: Yes? What’s that?

Good RJ: (dramatically) You have to kill your evil mother.

Good Dad: What?! But I like her!

Good RJ: Sorry, but it’s the only way to know that you’re really good.

Good Dad: That’s terrible!

Good RJ: Okay. Maybe you can kill your evil father instead.

Good Dad: I… I still don’t want to. He taught me all my evil tricks.

Good RJ: (sighing) Okay. Maybe just one of your evil friends. How about Mr Poison Toadstool?

Good Dad: Okay… I guess.

Good RJ: You can use my super gun. It shoots saucepans that fly out and hit people, then turn into fighting robots.

Good Dad: AWESOME!

(discussing a movie over breakfast)

LR: What’s a Wampa, again?

Dad: It’s a big hairy thing, like a yeti. He was busy looking for something, and the Wampa came up behind him and…

RJ: (yelling) YETIS DO NOT HAVE FUR!

Dad: (surprised) What? Yes they do. They’re snow creatures; they need to keep warm.

LR: Yeah! Like artic foxes and polar bears!

RJ: THEY ARE NOT HAIRY! They just aren’t!

Dad: But most animals in cold climates need fur to keep warm.

RJ: Listen… When I was little, I saw a whole movie about it called “Yetis Alive“, and they don’t have fur!

Dad & LR: But…

RJ: You don’t know anything about this! They have snow berries to keep them warm!

Dad: Okay, fair enough… Yetis don’t have fur…

Dad: (turning back to LR) So, Wampas are just like Yetis… except they’re covered in fur.

This year, a relaxing sleep-in followed by a delicious breakfast in bed was not in the cards for our adventurous mother. Instead, she woke up before everyone to go and participate in the Perth Mother’s Day Classic, a run to raise money for breast cancer research. Dad and the kids got breakfast ready, decorated the house, prepared our presents and went to meet her there.

After getting back to the house, we presented mum with pancakes and some wonderful presents made by the kids (a cornucopia of hand-made fans, cards, drawings, and paper flowers).

Afterwards, in a wonderful display of independance, the kids engrossed themselves in face painting for an hour. Folowing that, in a wonderful display of support, the parents spent the next hour cleaning up face paints, washing down tables, clothes and children. All in all, a great day!

Mum's runner number and medal from competing in the Perth Mother's Day Classic.

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(A yell from the kitchen table, causing immediate alarm amongst Mum and Dad…)

RJ: Mum! Get the fork out of my life!!!

Moments earlier…

RJ: I don’t need this fork. Dad, can you get rid of this fork for me? Why do I need a fork for icecream?

LR had her second soccer match on the weekend, and they came away winners! That makes them 1-1 for the season.

More importantly, as LR said herself…

I ran the whole time! I never got to stop running!

Congrats to the team and to their coach (she hasn’t coached soccer before, but is doing an awesome job — great looking too)!

Great effort kiddo! Well done!

(We’ll try and get some pictures of the action at the next game.)

Great grandpa Maury went in for surgery on Tuesday. He’s had a second angioplasty and a surprising number of stents put in. Not bad for his first heart related problems (at 97!)

Grandpa Maury is still looking great! Grandpa Maury tells us about his surgeon during lunch, on his 97th birthday.

Everything went fine, but they are keeping him under observation to make sure there are no complications. Mum had the kids draw pictures and went to visit him yesterday. He loved them!

And of course, the pictures that they drew:

LR's drawing depicts a scene of devastation around an erupting volcano, complete with ash clouds masking the sun, portending environmental disaster... and a kraken attacked a ship.

RJ tackles a classic theme... A kraken brutally attacks a pirate ship; its quivering maw and writhing mass of tentacles preparing to unleash a storm of destruction..

(while eating breakfast)

Dad: So guys, what should we get mum for Mother’s Day?

LR: I’ve already made something for her at school!

RJ: So did I!

Dad: Great! So what about something from all of us?

RJ: We should get her a toy because grown-ups like toys.

Dad: Umm… Sure. Got anything in mind?

RJ: How about… a toy goat!

We’ve been a bit busy at home unpacking and setting up the new house, so I haven’t had time to get pictures of the new place sorted out. In the meantime, here are some things we missed back in March.

March Round-Up

LR soars through the air!

RJ made a rhinovirus this morning and took it to school for news.

His teacher met him at the door, and said “RJ! That’s lovely! Is it a sea urchin?” He said “No, it’s a rhinovirus. Those are protein spikes. They get in your nose and make you sneeze and cough. We all had them this weekend.”

It’s going to be a long 13 years of school…

RJ created his own rhinovirus, complete with protein spikes.