12 Days of Christmas, Day 4: June 2014

Another day, another month. I'm slowly but surely clearing my way to the present. Don't worry, things will get a little more specific tomorrow when I cover the summer's trip to Newfoundland (or at least part of it).

Here are the remaining photos I have from June of the year. We start off with Lucas rocking out on the Rock Band drums. One of these days, we may give in and get him the drum kit he wants, but hopefully he'll fall in love with a less noisy musical instrument before then. I've tried to tell him that the guitarists get all the girls, but he's still a few years away from that being a compelling argument.

This next one is from a Canada Day party at the house of our friends, Brigitte and Casey. Casey has Kayden on the left, Wes has Brodie, and I've obviously got Lucas on the right (in my fantastic shirt). All 3 kids were born the same year, and although we don't have quite the tradition of taking their picture as the Christmas Eve party (with Thierry and Logan), we have taken pictures of the 3 of them whenever possible. I'll try and hunt those down for a future post.

I just realized I've already posted this next one on the "last day of school" post back in June, but since it's already uploaded, you can enjoy it again.

I wonder where Lucas gets all that goofiness from?

Oh yeah.

The last photo was taken in Kingston, a city about 2 hours from Ottawa. We were down there in late June for a rugby tournament and afterwards, we explored the downtown. It was a nice looking place and we hope to get back there sometime soon.

So like I said earlier, tomorrow (and possibly the next couple of days) will focus on our trip to Newfoundland over the summer. Also, I had a job interview at the US Embassy earlier today. I should know their decision by the end of the week, but feel free to send your good luck vibes my way between now and then.

12 Days of Christmas, Day 3: May 2014

So Lucas's team didn't win the hockey tournament. In the round robin games, they tied 2 and lost 1 so they didn't even make it to the semifinals. Although that sounds bad, I should point out that the semifinal games were at 7:30 and 8:30 in the morning today. Across town. And we were at a party last night. So I can't say we were too upset about the early exit. One other bright note is that all the games, even the loss, were close ones so that was good to see. A blowout on either side is never a fun thing.

As you can probably figure out from the post's title, today's theme is May 2014. As in, "time to post the rest of the photos I have from May before May 2015 comes around." So without any further adieu, we start with Mother's Day. I think that's one of the best smiles Lucas has had in a photo.

Not really sure what's happening here.

I haven't been in a Starbucks in years so Marilu must have taken this photo. That is one giant cookie.

The photo above was taken on the same morning as all of the following ones. I was trying to remember the story behind them, and it finally occurred to me. I had an exam for one of my accounting classes that morning so Marilu and Lucas dropped me off for that and then went to the Museum of Nature. It looks like he had a good time.

And on that cute note, see you tomorrow!

12 Days of Christmas, Day 2: Random Videos!

Time to play catch up with some older videos. How old, you ask? Well, this one's from Easter so there you go.

Next up is a video from May. Lucas and his friend Seth were playing in our front yard and decided to do a "demonstration" with Lucas's GI Joe nunchucks. We were lucky enough to have Seth record it on my phone, along with commentary.

Finally, we jump ahead a month to June. I borrowed the dance game Just Dance from the library, and Lucas had a heck of a time with it. Here he dances to the song "The Final Countdown" by Europe.

In dance-related news, Marilu signed Lucas up for a hip hop dance class in early 2015 since his good friend Zach is going to be in it as well. This should be an interesting experience.

12 Days of Christmas, Day 1: Sens vs Kings

In my homage to the iconic Christmas song, I'm going to attempt 12 posts of pictures between now and Christmas. If you do the math, you'll notice there are actually 14 days until Christmas proper. That gives me 2 days in which I can screw up and forget. Or, thinking positive, it means you'll actually get 14 days of Christmas posting goodness. We'll see how it goes.

Unlike most of the posts to come, which will be of events that are months and months old, this one includes pictures taken just last night. We surprised Lucas with an LA Kings t-shirt and tickets to the Senators vs Kings game that night (shirt and tickets were an early Christmas present thanks to Uncle Jared). I think I've mentioned it previously, but his two favorite teams are the Kings and the Chicago Blackhawks. Go figure.

We got there with plenty of time to spare and were able to take advantage of the Turnback Thursday deal of $1 hot dogs and drinks. So after scarfing down 2 hot dogs each, I had him model his new shirt, which featured his favorite player, goalie Jonathan Quick. Once again, go figure, since he doesn't play goalie. Sorry for the quality, the iPhone 4S sucks in anything other than ultra-bright conditions.

At Lucas's request, I took this picture of Quick during warmups. As you can see, we had decent seats, even though we were in the 3rd level.

During the first intermission, I bought a bacon poutine, which we shared. As I said in a related Facebook post, you can't get much more Canadian than eating poutine at a hockey game.

As luck would have it, the family of one of Lucas's hockey teammates, Matthew, had seats almost directly in front of us. Thanks to some people in that row leaving early, Lucas was able to sit with Matthew during the entire 3rd period.

It's a bit blurry, but Matthew's friend to the right was wearing an LA Kings shirt with Jonathan Quick on the back. So Lucas got along with him well.

Speaking of hockey, Lucas's team has its first tournament of the season this weekend. He's got a game tonight, two tomorrow, and then if they do well, one on Sunday. The tournament is in-town this time, but over the holidays, he's got one in Brockville, which is about an hour from here. We'll be staying over at a hotel with a bunch of other families from his team so that ought to be fun.

One last thing. You may notice Lucas's hair looks a little shorter. If so, good eye. Before the game, I brought him over for a haircut. Here are some bonus photos from the process.

See you tomorrow!

Awkward!

If you're not familiar with Elf on the Shelf...then you must not have kids or know anyone with them. Seriously though, Elf on the Shelf is a fairly recent addition to the Christmas season, started back in 2005, according to Wikipedia. It involves buying an elf doll, who one morning magically appears somewhere in the house. He stays in that location all day, and at night, when the kids are asleep, he magically returns to the North Pole to report to Santa Claus (or something like that, it's been a while since I read the accompanying book). The next morning, he reappears somewhere else in the house and the process repeats itself again and again. This starts around December 1 and lasts until December 24. Presumably, after Christmas, he heads back to the North Pole for the rest of the year, making toys in Santa's sweatshop, hooking up with elf maidens, and whatever else they do for fun in the bleak, frozen tundra.

From a parent's perspective, the Elf is fun the first few nights. It does become a bit of a chore by the end as you are trying to come up with creative hiding places. We don't go overboard with it, but a quick Google of "Elf on the Shelf" online will show you that there are many parents out there with WAY too much time on their hands.

One thing I haven't mentioned yet is the key rule surrounding Elf on the Shelf (okay, enough of typing that out each time: Lucas named his Awkward so we'll with stick with that from here on out). The one rule that must be followed, lest Awkward return to Santa with a "bad child" report, is that he cannot be touched. Lucas can look all he wants at his red and white-clad friend, but absolutely no physical interaction.

So knowing that piece of information, it's what made Awkward's location this information amusing to us while conversely being agonizing for Lucas.

Yep, Awkward is "using" Lucas's iPad. And since there's no touching, it effectively means Lucas doesn't get his iPad back until tomorrow. Brilliance!

I would like to point out that this was Marilu's idea so to all of you who see her as sweet and innocent, there's definitely a sociopath hidden under all those layers. :)

What's Playing?

For my own reference when I look back on this blog years from now, and possibly for your own interest, I'm linking videos to Lucas's two favorite songs (as of Fall 2014). The first one, "That's What You Get" by Paramore, is by far his favorite. I think he asks for me to play it at least once during every car ride, and he can sing along with 80-90% of the lyrics. He discovered it while playing Rock Band 2 on the PS3 with me.



The second song, "Lola Montez" by Volbeat, was on my own playlist, and I think he took a shine to it after hearing it enough times in the car.



Besides rock, he's recently started to develop an appreciation for country music. The only country artists I play frequently are Toby Keith and Garth Brooks so that's what he likes at the moment. We'll see where it goes from there.

Official Hockey Photos

Here are Lucas's solo and team hockey photos for the 2014-2015 season.

I missed Sunday morning's game since it was at the godawful hour of 7 AM, but I woke to Marilu yelling, "Lucas's team won 5-1, and Lucas scored his first goal!" After a pause, she clarified it was the OTHER Lucas's first goal. So that was kind of mean. Whatever the case, Lucas has been playing pretty well. He's definitely giving a lot of effort, and that's all we ask.

PD Day

Lucas's school had a PD day on Friday. I've yet to figure out the exact purpose of PD days since we didn't have them when I was growing up, but it basically means the kids stay home.

It was -8 C out so we stayed inside for the most part, other than a quick walk over to the new McDonald's for lunch. Had it been later in the winter, -8 would be nothing, but since we're just getting used to those temperatures for this year, the less I have to experience them now, the better.

Our day consisted almost entirely of video games. It may not sound like the most productive use of our time, but when I think about how much fun and laughter we shared while racing cars, shooting bad guys, and playing music in Rock Band, I'm glad we did it. You don't get that kind of bonding via chores or homework.

Speaking of the latter, we may need to work on Lucas's astronomy. While discussing the solar system with him, I asked him to name the planets. He started off well enough with Earth and Mars, but I stopped him on his third "planet," Afghanistan.

Kanata 500

I just realized I haven't posted anything in about 10 days so before I go to bed, here's a picture from May. Lucas made a chalk racetrack in the street in front of our house and was showing off his handiwork.

For what it's worth, we got our first serious snowfall yesterday so the street is not quite as sunny-looking at the moment.

Kanata Coyotes

Lucas (bottom left) (edit: or right, as the case may be) poses with his hockey team, the Kanata Coyotes. In case you're wondering what is going on, Dodge sponsors teams that sew a Dodge ad on the bottom of the back of their home jerseys. Then they require a picture for proof. If you look closely, you can see the Dodge thing on the bottom of several of the kids jerseys.

For the record, Lucas's team is currently 2-1-1. Their sole female player is also the goalie, located 2 over from Lucas, and she's been kicking butt so far. The resident sniper is Walsh (middle of the back row), who leads the team with 7 goals in 4 games.

Halloween 2014

Halloween's not quite the camera frenzy it was when Lucas was 3 or 4. This year, we only took one picture of him alongside his friend Liam, who he went with for trick or treating. Can you guess who is who?

Answer: Lucas is the zombie (or whatever it's supposed to be) on the left, and Liam is Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th. No Disney princesses here, thank you very much!

Here's a closer look at this year's pumpkin, which you can see in the background in the above picture. I did the bulk of the work, but Lucas helped out. I look forward to the day I can pass the pumpkin carving task on to him.

Sens vs Blackhawks

Tonight was a very memorable night for Lucas. He finally got to see one of his two favorite teams, the Chicago Blackhawks, live against the Senators. Marilu brought him, and based on what I saw of the score, it was an exciting game, with the Blackhawks winning in overtime in the shootout.

In case you're wondering how a kid in Ottawa becomes a fan of a city he's never been to, here's my theory. My favorite player for many, many years was Jeremy Roenick, who started out in Chicago. I must have mentioned that to Lucas at some point and he ran with it. Now he has a Blackhawks poster on his wall and names Jonathan Toews as his favorite player.

His other favorite team is the LA Kings. While Lucas really liked goalie Jonathan Quick's play in the Olympics, I'm pretty sure his fondness for the Kings is more bandwagon than anything else, given that the Kings won the Stanley Cup last year. He doesn't know it yet, but I'll be bringing him to see the Kings when they come to Ottawa later this year.

In the meantime, here's a picture of the goof celebrating in his brand new Blackhawks t-shirt that I hunted down in west Ottawa earlier today.

All I Want for Christmas Are My Two Front Teeth

...and maybe one on the bottom as well.

In my last post, I mentioned Lucas lost one of his bottom teeth last week. It was his first baby tooth to come out in several months. Apparently, that started a domino effect as one of his top front teeth came out yesterday, followed by the second one today. Here's a picture of our little hockey player/MMA fighter lookalike.

As far as I know, none of the other ones are loose, but given the fact that 3 have come out in two weeks, I wouldn't be surprised if the tooth fairy will be visiting our house again soon.

Adventures with Eggy

Earlier in the week, I posted Lucas's hockey pictures, one of them being with his classroom's mascot Eggy. Here's the rest of the photos chronicling Eggy's week in the Deal household.

Apparently, Eggy is a big music buff.

Outside the rec center where Lucas has his swim lessons.

Getting some gaming in.

Finally, at Zak's Diner, after his first hockey game.

One bit of news before I wrap this up. Lucas lost his third baby tooth while at school on Tuesday. At this rate, they should all be out by the time he is 20.

Ottawa Shooting

In case anyone is wondering, we're fine here in Ottawa. We live on the west side in the community of Kanata, which is about 25 minutes from downtown. I know Lucas's school was in a lockdown mode for a while, but that was just a precaution, and he should be home on the bus any minute now.

First Game Photos

As promised, here are some pictures from Lucas's first hockey game. We have 2 iPhones and a point-and-shoot Nikon so don't expect any masterpieces here.

This was taken before the game. I'd like to point out that Lucas doesn't regularly walk around with that stuffed thing. It's named Eggy. and it's from his 2nd grade class. Each week, one of the kids gets to bring it home and then they take pictures with it during the week and fill out a journal at the end of the week to show what kind of adventures they got up to. As it happened, Eggy got to go to Lucas's' hockey game so lucky him, I guess.

The rest of the pictures are from the game. Enjoy!

First Game for the Coyotes

As mentioned in my last post, Lucas had his first "real" hockey game this past Saturday morning. By "real," I mean that they had refs, kept score, called offsides/icing, and keep track of the results in the standings. Last year, they played games, but those were just for fun.

Despite the fact the Coyotes (Lucas's team, in case I haven't mention it before) lost 5-2, Lucas played well and had a good time. He was on the same line throughout the game, and they scored once and were scored on once. Not bad considering one of the Chinese kids on his line didn't appear to realize he was at a hockey game, as he skated around in circles and generally ignored the puck. Note that I said "one of" above. Lucas had two Chinese kids on his line, plus there is at least one other Chinese boy and an Indian girl on his team. So much for the stereotype of just white people in hockey, eh?

Lucas chose to play defense, and he did a decent job. He also had a shot on goal, which he narrowly missed. All in all, it was a fun time, and we're looking forward to seeing many more games this season. I haven't uploaded any pictures yet, but I plan to do that tomorrow and have another post up shortly afterwards.

Break the wall down

Not much new to report on since my last post on October 1. Lucas has a couple of weeks of hockey practice under his belt, and last week was his first week of winter soccer. The latter has its practices at 5 and 6 PM so you can probably guess which one I prefer going to more. Lucas's first real hockey game will be this Saturday morning so we're looking forward to that. I expect we should get a picture or two from that so maybe I'll have an update up on Sunday.

I can't think of anything else new so let's look at some random pictures from earlier in the year. Much like the last blog update was pictures primarily for my dad, these pictures are going to be for Marilu's family. Back in April, she met up with her two brothers in Toronto for a weekend. Here they are, out and about.

And here's your daily (or more like bi-weekly) dose of Lucas...in video form. Back in the spring, while repairing our basement from the toilet flood, we found a crack in our foundation, which meant we had to open up the wall. This led to what Lucas would probably rate as a top 5 moment of his life.

Hockey Finally Starts and Pictures for Dad

I'm sure you're waiting with bated breath for this information, so here it is. Lucas ended up on the Novice B-3 team. Since that's a bit unwieldy, the kids re-named their team the Coyotes (after a brief flirtation with Coyote Lightning). The first weekend's practices were at the chipper time of 7 AM on both Saturday and Sunday so that was fun. This coming weekend, they are on Friday and Saturday at 5:30 PM. Now that's what I'm talking about! The Coyotes's first game will be on October 18 so that's something to look forward to. We haven't taken any pictures yet this season, but I'm sure we'll have some soon.

Actually, I do have one hockey-related picture ready for uploading. Last year, we dumped all of Lucas's hockey equipment over the floor in the basement after each practice to let it air out (if you don't, it can really stink). This year, Marilu bought this scarecrow looking thing, which has made organizing his gear much easier. It would also be useful if Kevin McAllister is ever home alone in our house and needs to ward off would-be burglars.

These next few pictures are from my dad's visit this past Spring. This is probably the easiest way to get pictures to him since email attachments may be troublesome. Hope you like em, Dad!