Monday, April 30, 2012

Long Time No Blog

Kipling Station by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on June 27th]

Yeah, so, uh... clearly, it's been a while since Daddy updated the blog. Lots of reasons and excuses, I'm sure - other writing projects, workload, whatever. Unfortunately, he didn't take many notes between now and early May, so he can't do a day-by-day account of what happened, but he can remember some of it.

HOWEVER, on the 6th of May, Daddy and I began a pretty big project... we decided to attempt to traverse the entire city, following the TTC subway routes and photographing me in front of each station. So we did! 69 Station photos ought to fill in the missing blog gaps, even if they aren't a day-by-day account of the last few months.


Sunday, April 29, 2012

Modelling Clay

Scrunchy Face by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on May 2nd]

I let my folks sleep in a little bit today, and watched a lot of videos and stuff on YouTube, especially Giver, Kristen's newest TV show. I really like it - especially the part where her name appears in the credits.

My folks took me to my piano lesson in the afternoon, and then as a nice surprise, they drove me all the way out to Markham, where I bought myself a big old batch of pastel-coloured modelling clay. We went to the bookstore afterward and then drove home.

Once we got home, we had a quiet evening... one that involved working with a whole lot of pastel-coloured modelling clay.


Saturday, April 28, 2012

Comfort Sushi

Clover & Mommy in a Gazebo 2 by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on May 2nd]

More jumping rope today! I got myself a brand new jump rope, so that made it pretty awesome. I'm determined to make a go of this jumping-up-and-down-over-a-moving-rope thing.

I was late for swimming class today, because the bus Mommy and I were gonna take went out of service . Once I was there, I didn't have much fun - I got panicked about jumping into the deep end, and suddenly I don't think I can do the things they're asking me to do. I had a mini-meltdown in the change room.

To make me feel better on the way home, Mommy let me get a smoothie and let me choose dinner. I chose sushi, which was good, until the part where the waitress spilled boiling tea all over Daddy's arm.


Friday, April 27, 2012

Sad Horsie

Sad Horsie by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on May 1st]

Today marked the second day of skipping club at school. I was so shagged out afterwards that I decided to focus on my animal project. My partner is my friend Emelia, and we're studying the white tailed deer.

Emilia sometimes gets upset because she thinks she isn't very good at drawing, which inspired me to get a book on drawing horses from the library, so that Emelia and I could learn how to draw horses.

At home, Mommy was short with me in the afternoon because I was being a little bossy so I went to my room, closed the door, and emerged a few moments later, bearing the saddest note with the best horse drawing ever for her. See above.


Thursday, April 26, 2012

Skipping Club

Monkeybars 3 by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on May 1st]

Today was the first day of skipping club. Skipping club is what happens when a bunch of kids go to school and jump rope for several minutes before class starts. It's pretty awesome. Daddy dropped me off - I think that's the first time he's ever dropped me off at school.

I was able to get up-and-down from the monkeybars after school today like an old pro, with no drama. Whatever caused me to freak out last week seems to have been flushed from my system.

We had a supply teacher in the afternoon - I like Mrs. Roy the most out of all of our supply teachers because she always does fun art stuff with us - today we made kites.


Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Open House

Evan & The Sun Pyramid by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on May 1st]

It was a long day of school today, what with us having Selwyn Singers and band practice. It took a lot out of me, but I was totally ready to go back to school after a quick snack...

...because it was our big 'open house' evening, where parents could come over and check out what we've been up to. Daddy was stuck at work late and couldn't make it, but I showed mommy my "me" book (my autobiography) and all of my poems and my rock climber and hot dog stand. Oh, AND I made her a special note welcoming her to my class.

The cool part came next, when went to the gym and an author and illustrator named Ruth Ohi was there to tell us all about drawing and writing our own books. She was a lot of fun, and then we got to draw pictures.

Pork Enchiladas for dinner. To mark the occasion, a photo of Daddy in Mexico can be seen above.


Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Smores

Toothy Smile by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on April 30th]

Since I'm already an established master of painting, drawing, and sculpting... not to mention fiction and non-fiction writing, I decided to try my hand at some poetry today. I'd say I was fairly successful. Once I have something worth publishing, I might be persuaded to share it here.

Tomorrow we have a big 'open house' at school, so I made sure to finish up my autobiography. I'm pretty proud of it.

Today at Sparks we were gonna all go outside and hang out at the garden, but the weather was absolutely terrible and wet and cold and rainy, so we all stayed inside and made smores! What a great idea. Smores are awesome.


Monday, April 23, 2012

Back to the Trans-Canada Trail

In The Distance by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on April 30th]

It's been quite a while since any of us did any real hiking, so we all decided that we'd take the brand new car out for a spin and hit the trails.

We drove Northeast for a while and picked up a patch of the Trans-Canada trail that we've explored before, but not in quite a while. At first I really enjoyed the hike and was having a lot of fun, but eventually I got kinda bored and annoyed. My tolerance for hiking and my endurance needs to be rebuilt a bit.

On the way home, we stopped by the Second Cup for some snacks. I think that was probably my favourite part of the day, to be honest.


Sunday, April 22, 2012

Daddy Manages

Monkeybars 2 by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on April 30th]

Mommy had a big, busy day at the garden, so she headed out into the cold, rainy weather all by herself. That meant it was Daddy and I all day long. I was nervous about it at first, because I wasn't sure that he knew how to make lunch. Luckily, he figured it out.

He and I watched some television and played a lot of music together and stuff. We honestly didn't do much else... just hung out. It was pretty sweet. He remembered to take me to my piano lesson, AND he remembered to pick me up once it was all done.

It was very re-assuring to discover that Daddy could function without Mommy around all the time. I mean... he helps run a creative department of 25 people at work, so he SHOULD be able to handle one six-year-old, right?


Saturday, April 21, 2012

In The Deep End

Stratford Field by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on April 30th]

After school today, Mommy and I rode the bus to swimming class with my old friend Mia who isn't at my school anymore. It was so nice to see her again!

For the first time, I did NOT enjoy my swimming lesson this week. I had to jump into the deep end and it was, like, really scary even though I've done it many many times before. Daddy picked up the new car and picked maybe it's because I'm not the biggest kid in my class anymore... who knows.

Daddy picked us up from swimming in our brand new Mazda 3, which I think is really cool!


Friday, April 20, 2012

Round 3

Set Photos 2 by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on April 29th]

Today was Thursday, so you know what that means... folk fest st school! Yay, singing and dancing. A day full of folky festy fun.

After school, I somehow managed to climb up on top of the monkey bars while everyone watched. Once I was up there, though... I had no idea how to get down! I had a massive public meltdown and just started crying and freaking out. Everyone tried to help me down, but I was too busy screaming and yelling. Mommy eventually just yanked me down. Once I was on the ground, would you believe I wanted to go back up? Goodness.

Oh, and today was Round 3 in my fight with Mommy about practicing my piano. As went the other two rounds... I lost this one, also. And had to practice.


Thursday, April 19, 2012

Round 2

Stratford Cannon 3 by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on April 29th]

Claire was over for lunch today, and I wish I could say that the two of us were really well-behaved and pleasant, but that would be untrue. We were rowdy, difficult, and very very obstinate and disobedient. As a result, Mommy got pretty upset and punished us both! Claire won't be coming back next week.

Mommy's friend Sarah, who usually does our ONFC order, is out of town this week, so the order came to our house instead. Lots of people came by to pick it all up - Jen, Audrey and her kids, Sofia... so many people! Dennis and I were excited.

It was round 2 of my fight with Mommy about piano practice, also. According to the judges, both rounds have been awarded to Mommy so far.


Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Biographical Inaccuracies

Sandbox Thoughts by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on April 29th]

I had Selwyn Singers and band practice today, which is always a hoot, if not something of a concentration marathon. My band teacher, Mr. Donaldson ("Mister Dee") broke his glasses, which was pretty hilarious.

In class, I've been working on writing a book all about myself... you know, a mini-biography. In it, I made note of the fact that my favourite food is Twinkies (which isn't really true) and that my Dad works for Dr. Scholl's. Which also isn't true. Also, we learned about probability in Math class. What was the likelihood of that happening?

When I got home, Mommy and I got into something of an argument about me practicing my piano. We knew this day was coming sooner or later.


Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Hopscotch

Telling Gareth by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on April 29th]

The weather has been really up-and-down the past few days. Take today, for example... it was pleasant and warm, but extremely windy. Probably the last vestiges of some tornadoes in the States.

At Sparks, since it was so warm outside, we all went outside to the schoolyard armed with massive hunks of sidewalk chalk. We all decided to draw hopscotch patterns... really complicated and elaborate ones, at that.

Mommy and Jen planned a few other cool activities, but all we really wanted to do was go and play at the playground. Once we had enough "learning" taken care of, they let us hit the playground!


Monday, April 16, 2012

Claire Again

In The Net 2 by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on April 29th]

My friend Claire came over pretty early this morning, and the two of us had a pretty awesome time. She brought her dolls and stuff, so the two of us played with my marbles, we drew pictures, we made a big mess in my room... you know, all the awesome stuff that two six-year-old girls do on a playdate.

Daddy went downtown after lunch and was able to sell a bunch of old CDs and DVDs he had laying around, taking up space.

By the time Daddy got home, Claire was just on her way out. By the time bedtime rolled around, I was pretty exhausted.


Sunday, April 15, 2012

Couldn't A Ford It

Clover & Mommy in a Gazebo by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on April 29th]

Mommy and Daddy and I were up and early today to head over to the local Ford dealership... time to go and make ourselves a deal for a new Ford Focus!

...or not. I was well-behaved and bored out of my brain, but we had no luck with the folks from Ford, who couldn't make us a deal that we were happy with, everything was just out of our range, and they wouldn't budge. We left there without a Ford.

I had piano in the afternoon, and then I went home to hang out with Gammy and Grandpa and my parents went out and bought a new Mazda 3 instead of a Ford.


Saturday, April 14, 2012

Ultra 4 (again)

Monkeying Across by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on April 29th]

Today was Friday the 13th. Apparently, that's a big deal or something. I don't get it.

After school, I hung out on the playground for quite a long time. Suddenly, Mommy realized that it was time for swimming lessons! Oh no! We both had to hurry to grab the bus.

Once we arrived, I was pretty happy being back into the swim of things. I'm back in Ultra-4 again, and this time there are five big kids in my class, and I've got a new instructor. But it's all good. I'm just happy to be back in the pool.

On the way home, Mommy and I stopped by Sobeys so that I could get a drinkable yogurt. Man, those things are good.


Friday, April 13, 2012

Cleaning out my Desk

In The Net by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on April 29th]

The other day, Mommy looked in my room and realized that my fancy antique desk (the one that Cool Uncle Gareth let me keep for him, which was left to him by G.G.) was overflowing and stuffed to the gills with papers and stuff. So, she had me clean it out a bit.

It took a while, but I uncovered an endless pile of drawings, sketches, poems, paintings, and doodles, not to mention pens, paintbrushes, crayons, pastels, and other things. It took quite a while, but eventually I had everything sorted.

Also, at school today we had folk fest practice. Lots of dancing and singing. I love that stuff.


Thursday, April 12, 2012

The Bad Word

Stratford Cannon 2 by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on April 16th]

So, Claire came over lunch today, and decided that she was going to teach me a bad word. You know the one I mean - the really bad one. The one that starts in "F". Anyway, she told it to me, and then she wrote it on the whiteboard wall in my bedroom.

Mommy came in and was somewhat shocked. Claire was pretty up front about it and proudly told Mommy that she knew the word... Mommy handled it quite well, actually. She explained to us that there really aren't any such things as 'bad words' but there ARE such things as impolite words, or words that can offend or hurt other people's feelings when you say them or write them on walls and stuff.

I think we both seemed to get the message. For some reason, through, my parents still think it's a bit of a funny story.


Wednesday, April 11, 2012

The Theory of Leftover Ham

Asulkan Trail 09 by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on April 16th]

It was back to school today, after a thoroughly enjoyable four-day weekend. Alas, there was no Selwyn Singers meeting, so I had to come home for lunch, where I ate some leftover Easter Dinner. Daddy has a theory that Easter ham actually improves with each day it sits in the refrigerator, wrapped in foil.

Luckily, band after school was not cancelled, so I enjoyed that a heck of a lot. I really like my band leader, Mr. D - I think he's pretty hilarious. He broke his glasses and was playing the bass (because Veronica was away) and couldn't see what he was doing, and made all kinds of mistakes! That's awesome!

For dinner, we had (you guessed it) more leftover Easter Dinner. And nobody had any complaints about that!


Tuesday, April 10, 2012

Eggs

Set Photos by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on April 16th]

Today is Easter Monday, which means no school for me! Daddy still had to go to work, unfortunately. That was okay... Mommy made sure I was occupied by continuing to throw backyard egg hunts for me. We kept using the same coloured Easter Eggs over and over and over again... eventually they started cracking. Therefore, we had deviled eggs for lunch!

In the afternoon, I watched some television, and then went back to the playground with Grandpa. My friend Claire was there, which was awesome - we hung out at the playground and had a pretty awesome time!

Once I got home, I decided to make a series of puppets based off of my favourite new television show Avatar. they're pretty good! Also, I've decided that we're all gonna go visit Kristen in New York next month. Oh, and uh... Uncle Gareth, too.


Monday, April 09, 2012

Treausre & Egg Hunts

Compass by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on April 15th]

Man oh man... I was so excited for my annual Easter treasure hunt that I got up at the crack of dawn and dragged my parents out of bed, and then I went over to my grandparents' place and dragged THEM out of bed, too.

The treasure hunt was so cool! Gammy and Daddy made a bunch of puzzles and stuff which led me from one clue to the next. I got lots of cool stuff! Loot is awesome.

Of course, in the afternoon I made sure that there were at least four different egg hunts in the back yard, all of which were a lot of fun... and a good way to keep me busy as Mommy prepared a massive Easter dinner. Grandpa even took me to the playground this afternoon, where I showed off my fancy new Easter dress.

Dinner was, of course, delicious, and as soon as we were all finished, Mommy collapsed with exhaustion. As for me - I'm looking forward to leftovers and more egg hunts tomorrow!


Sunday, April 08, 2012

Test Drives & iPhones

Cartwheel by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on April 15th]

Mommy and Daddy and I were all up pretty early this morning... we had lots to do! In fact, we crammed an entire weekend's worth of stuff into just one morning.

First, we all went to the mall, where Mommy and Daddy BOTH bought brand new iPhones. Pretty cool, huh? Did *I* get a new iPhone? Of course not. How far is that? Then, we went to the butcher, and bought lots of meat.

Later in the afternoon, we went over to the Toyota dealership and test drove a Toyota Matrix (which we liked) and a Yaris (which we didn't. We hit up the Mazda dealer next, but it was closed.

Next, we drove over to the nearby Ford dealership, and test drove a Ford Focus, which er all really loved. I have a feeling we'll be back to the Ford dealership next weekend...

During dinner, we watched The Muppets on Blu-Ray and coloured eggs before bed! Phew! What a day!


Saturday, April 07, 2012

Seaton Trail XX

Wacky Hair 2 by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on April 15th]

Today was the day everyone refers to as "Good Friday", which is a name I can't say I really understand... every Friday is "Good Friday" in my books. One way or another, Daddy had the day off of work, so we made sure to take advantage of this and have some fun.

First thing in the morning, Mommy sat very still and was very patient as I painted her nails with fancy nail polish. I did my very best not to make a mess, and decorated everything with cute polka-dots. All things considered, they look really good!

Also, we drove out for our first hike in a while... we went to the Seaton Trail and had a pretty decent march through the forest. There were lots of people out and about today... Dennis had a really hard time not running after people. He was pretty difficult for us to control today, actually. Mist be all the new springtime smells.


Friday, April 06, 2012

Scientist vs. Pizza

Mountain Shades by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on April 15th]

Today was the "Tie one on Pizza Lunch." We were sent home from school with a sheet telling us about a school lunch where we all had to make crazy ties (as inspired by our principal Mr. Frieberg, who wears crazy ties), wear them to school, and eat pizza. At the end of lunch, we left the ties in a milk crate for Mr. Frieberg.

If that wasn't enough, it was also "Scientist in the School" day. Mommy came along as an assistant - the scientist taught us all about animals. Mommy got to hold a hermit crab, while I learned about reptile scales and porcupine quills. It was very hands-on. More fun than the pizza lunch, actually.

Felicity came over after school for a play date. Mommy did our nails, and the two of us did cartwheels outside. I'm not very good at cartwheels, but I've decided I'm really gonna practice until I get awesome at it.


Thursday, April 05, 2012

April Malarkey

Hiding in the Honda by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on April 15th]

The reason Daddy went to Mexico the other week was because they needed to shoot in a location that was warm, sunny and summery - something the commercial he was filming called for. The funny thing is, while he was away, the weather here in Toronto was actually warmer than it was in Mexico City. Bizarre.

Anyway, today the weather has pretty much reverted to normal. It's cool, breezy, and pretty moist. April showers bringing May flowers, and all of that malarkey.

In the meantime, I had piano class - usually we have it on the weekend, but because of the coming Easter holiday, they rescheduled it. My instructor told Mommy that I was much better at paying attention today than I normally am.


Wednesday, April 04, 2012

The Boringness of Chicken

Monkeybars by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on April 15th]

Today I had Selwyn Singers at school, and we all know how much I enjoy singing with my friends at school. The long list of songs about Canada we're singing (in English and French!) is growing!

Also, I had band practice after school, which was pretty fun. It's not exactly challenging, given how good I think I am at the piano, but it's okay... I'll wait for my bandmates to catch up to my level of musicianship.

On the walk home from school, I asked Mommy about dinner, and she told me we were having chicken. I reminded her that we eat an awful lot of chicken, and that it gets a bit boring after a while. Mommy sarcastically admitted that it's because it's boring, and that she likes boring things. "Yes, unfortunately... that is true," I responded.


Tuesday, April 03, 2012

Queen of the Monkey Bars

School Wall by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Mommy and Daddy on April 13th]

I informed Mommy on the way to school, that she would not be picking me up today, that Uncle Gareth would. She did not agree with this arrangement. Apparently, Uncle Gareth is not on the approved list of people allowed to pick me up, and also she needed to talk to Jen at the playground about Sparks, Whatever Mom!

At school, this one kid, was not nice to me. In fact she was downright mean. She said that I thought I was "Queen of the Monkey Bars," and that I'm not even any good at them because I can't jump to the second bar (which is not true - I can), and that I'm dumb. I was annoyed, and I told her so then I found someone else to play with. Mommy is very proud of the way I handled this.

Uncle Gareth did come along with Mommy to pick me up, so I got to show him how good I am on the monkey bars now. Unfortunately, I ripped open a callus on my hand, and I needed to go home for a band-aid. Pretty soon after we got home, Uncle Gareth left to go back to Yew Nork.

In Sparks, we made jello aquariums - fun and delicious! I tried really hard to behave myself, but sometimes being bad is so fun. Tonight I kept doing whatever Mommy had asked some other kid not to do. I thought it was funny. Mommy did not. We played a quick game outside, but it was kinda cold. When we got home, Daddy was making soup, which sounded great, so Mommy fixed it up a bit and we all had some for dinner.


Monday, April 02, 2012

Daddy is a Bad Fish

Big-Head Denny by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Daddy on April 12th]

I wrote another early morning note to Uncle Gareth. When he came downstairs to see me and have coffee, we planned a April Fool's Day trick to play on Daddy involving lipstick and his morning coffee. I think he must've heard us because he didn't want any coffee this morning.

Uncle Gareth had promised to take me to the playground today which I was very excited about. I wanted to show him how good I am at the monkey bars now. Unfortunately, the rainy poopy weather had other ideas. We played some games and learned some magic tricks instead.

Then in the afternoon, I learned that taxes are the most boring thing ever. EVER! Uncle Gareth had a lot of taxes to do, way more than anybody else, which is even more boring. Alice, the taxes lady, came over to do taxes with Uncle Gareth around 3, so from 3 until dinner, I complained about boring taxes, except for when I helped Mommy put the toppings on the pizza dinner. And then I was taping silly notes to people's backs. That was funny! Daddy is a bad fish!


Sunday, April 01, 2012

The Piano Salesman

Sun-Soaked by Clover_1
[As transcribed by Mommy & Daddy on April 12th]

I started today bugging my mother about when Uncle Gareth will be up. She didn't know and frankly wasn't that interested, so I went and asked Gammy and Grandpa. They didn't know either. Mommy suggested that I write Uncle Gareth a note and slide it under his bedroom door, so when he did wake up, he would know that I waiting for him. It worked! As soon as he was up, he came and found me. And he really liked the note, too.

Mommy and I watched the first 2 episodes of the new Avatar show that's just starting. It's about the Avatar that comes after Aang, and takes place about 70 years later. Her name is Korra, and she is from the same tribe as Katara, who is a really old lady now. I liked it a lot.

I had piano class in the afternoon. It wasn't my best class. I was a bit impatient and complain-y. I kept interrupting, and I wouldn't stop talking. After class, we had a meeting with a man from the piano school. He said a lot of really nice things about me, so I liked him fine. Mommy and Daddy, however, did not. He tried to sell us a really cool piano, and that seemed to make my parents pretty angry.

After piano, we went to deliver some Girl Guide cookies to Lisa and to Richard and Lucie. I had a super quick play with Leo, and we had a little visit with Pichard and Lucie and got to see their new house. My favourite part was the bean bag, but then, that bean bag has been my favourite part of all of their houses.


I'm a happy kid living with my parents and our dog in Toronto. I'm goofy, sweet, smart, extremely chatty, and pretty much the cutest kid on the face of the Earth!