Good day to go flying

Ellie still loves air planes and continually talks about flying. She is always pointing out real or imaginary planes in the sky. I carry her and she puts out her arms like wings as we race around the house and experience engine problems, resulting in a big crash on the bed. If she climbs up and stands on top of anything (a chair, rock, book..) she invariably says “I up so high like an airpaane.”


(click the images for a larger version)
This morning she got to go up in one of her beloved airplanes. Ellie and I went flying to get some aerial photos of the Word of Life campus. Debbie came along to help with Ellie, and Dennis was our pilot.


We spent about an hour flying over the campus and the city of Owen Sound. We had clear and steady skies and the sun was still low in the east.

I went flying with Dennis five years ago to do the same thing.. the campus has definitely changed in that time! New pathways, basketball court, remodeling of one of the office buildings, new beach volley-ball court, and a bunch of stuff you can’t really see in the photos.


(the campus five years ago)


Ellie seemed to really enjoy the experience of being in a small airplane. She has probably flown 8 or 10 times already in her short life, but this was the first time in a small plane.


Ellie, Troy, and Dennis

Thanks for the great flight Dennis!

Water Gun Warrior

This Water Gun Warrior is a dangerous one.

Brandishing her weapon she has no fear of being shot or who may be hit in a crossfire, and has been known to shoot indiscriminately at civilians in supposedly safe zones.. brazenly uncaring about collateral damage.

A determined adversary, she laughs at incoming fire, shooting back only if she wants to, sometimes refusing even to defend herself!

The Water Gun Warrior rarely retreats, preferring instead to stand her ground until her adversaries run out of ammunition.

She will mercilessly follow her own “wet earth” policy.. soaking anything that stands in her way.

Her unpredictability is legendary.. You must always be prepared for a sudden counter attack.

So vicious and water-thirsty is this gun totting toddler, she has even been known to turn the gun on herself.

If you see the Water Gun Warrior, consider her armed and dangerous. And get an umbrella.

Ellie at a very special park

We wanted to take Ellie to a very special park while we were back in Sackville. It is a park dedicated to a man who would have loved Ellie had they ever had a chance to meet.. Unfortunately they never did, having missed each other on this earth by about four years. Nonetheless, we took Ellie to a place named for her grandfather, the Bill Johnstone Memorial Park.

The park is a kids play area located in downtown Sackville, New Brunswick, and features many kids rides, swings, and two play sets.


The plaque reads:

The Bill Johnstone Memorial Park
Bill Johnstone
January 30, 1949 – January 14, 2001
This park is dedicated to the memory of Bill Johnstone, a life-long resident of Sackville. Bill attended school, married and raised his children here. He worked at his family grocery store and eventually took over the business from his father. Bill operated the store for twenty-six years.

Bill was known for his sense of humor, generosity, strong commitment to family, religious beliefs and his constant desire to help others. A strong supporter of Sackville’s youth, he not only contributed to many organizations and special events but often worked quietly behind the scenes.

Bill touched the lives of every resident of this area in one way or another in a positive manner, and because of him our community is a better place to live.

Thank you, Bill.

I plan to continue taking my kids there to play whenever we are in Sackville. Next year Adelaine will be old enough to get on a few of the playground sets, and someday they will be old enough to understand the significance of what this park means to me.

Stories of the Sisters


Sisters
Originally uploaded by JohnstoneKids

The door to Ellie’s room is directly across from the bathroom door. Yesterday I was was washing my hands in the washroom after changing yet another diaper when I looked and saw Ellie trying to climb up the handles of her dresser. I sternly told her not to do that or she might hurt herself. She was not in the least upset at this rebuke. Instead she cheerfully walked over to me. I thought maybe she was going to give me a hug for watching out for her best interests. Instead she said, “Close the door,” and did just that.

Now with the bathroom door closed, I waited about ten seconds before opening it to catch her trying to climb up the dresser again.

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Hold on to your ears!

Super-ah-docious – the short Ellie version of Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. The current favorite move of the week is Mary Poppins and Ellie will sometimes run around the house singing some of the songs. “Let’s Go Fly a Kite,” and “Spoonful of Sugar” are also heard around the house. Of course, the words aren’t always right..

Hold on to your ears!

The other day I came home from work and Naomi was busy preparing supper. She popped in Mary Poppins to keep Ellie out of trouble and I found Ellie holding on to Adelaine’s ears. I didn’t think the language in that movie was that bad..

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The distance between 1 and 10 keeps getting shorter. A month ago Ellie would always count “1, 2, 6, 7 …” Then she started skipping to eight (1, 2, 8, 9, 10) and has now dropped it. Now there are only the single digit numbers, 1, 2, and 9.

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An Adelaine Smile
Adelaine has taken her first steps towards her first steps. Last week Naomi laid her on the floor while visiting a friend and was surprised to discover her a minute later on her stomach! Her first time flipping over, and we didn’t even see it.

Adelaine. Rolls and all.

Adelaine is growing very fast. Average growth for her age is roughly half an ounce a day. Adelaine has been growing at twice that rate.. Look out Ellie, she will be bigger than you soon.

We suspect that Adelaine will be more social than Ellie. She behaves like that puppy in the window at the pet store.. doesn’t do much until someone walks by and then she is all coos and smiles in hopes of someone picking her up.

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Projected growth: The old saying is that you take a child’s height at two years old and double it and that is how tall they will be as an adult. Ellie was 34 inches tall, making her 5’6″! Her mom is 4’11”, me 5’9″.

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Today we moved Ellie from her crib to a mattress on the floor. She was very excited about her “big girl bed” when we brought it in the house.. she made it difficult to make the bed as she wanted to lay on it and squirm.

We were wondering if we would be able to get her to nap on it this afternoon when we noticed that the house was quiet.. I investigated to make sure there wasn’t any trouble brewing and discovered that Ellie had already drifted off to sleep on her new bed.

Awhile ago Naomi bought twin size sheets for a different purpose. When we dug them out to put on Ellie’s bed we realized that they are the exact same colour as the walls! Just so you know that it wasn’t done on purpose..


Daddy tucking her in for the first time on a real bed

Saying evening prayers