Winter

Not going to be lounging in these chairs for a while....

Hideaway

LittleNortherner insisted that a blanket fort be built for him. A blanket fort was indeed built for him, right after he cleaned all of his stuff out of the kitchen and living room. (Fun is a great motivator for house cleaning!) During a brief excursion, the elusive LittleNortherner is caught on film...

Welcome to Winter

Too Cute

Great Artist

Picasso. Gauguin. Matisse. Monet.

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Famous artists. Great skill. Internationally and historically acclaimed works.

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Ladies and Gentlemen, another great is added to the list of Masters: LittleNortherner!

 

Since he only knew one or two of the Christmas carols being sung at church tonight, LittleNortherner turned to his art. He produced the above work between "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" and "Frosty the Snowman". Yes, those two songs were sung by the congregation of our church. Sacrilegous? Maybe, but they helped to balance out some of the not-so-popular carols that were being suggested for singing.

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Now, if you'll excuse him, NorthernDaddy has to go frame this important, ground-breaking work of art before LittleNortherner wakes up in the morning.....

"Stuff" LittleNortherner Says

Yup - the title is a total rip-off of "Sh*t My Dad Says", but sometimes the little genius says some really off-the-wall stuff. During the first thirty minutes of a two-hour car ride, there were three statements that were so unexpected that NorthernDaddy spent the rest of the ride trying to unscramble things.

First up, breakfast was at Dunkin Donuts. Don't judge: you eat junk, too. The order was complicated enough (coffee.no cream, no sugar.) that it got messed up. The bag of donuts was found to be light one apple fritter and LittleNortherner decided that he did not like the Red Velvet donut that he had chosen, so the one (beautiful, tasty-looking, heavenly) apple fritter that should have been NorthernDaddy's was shared by LNorth and NorthernMommy while Daddy got the Red Velvet donut with a kid-sized bite mark. (Donut tasted like lighter fluid. Ate it anyway.)
After demolishing his breakfast, LittleNortherner started to refer to his pastry as an "Apple Critter". Despite numerous attempts to correct the name to "fritter", LilNorth insisted that they were called Apple Critters, which just set Daddy off on a tangent. There must really be such an animal as an Apple Critter. They live in apple orchards and eat from the trees. We don't see them because they only scurry around the orchards in the summer - they hate the cold, which is why they're all gone by the time the Northerns go apple picking in late Fall.  They're really quick, too - which is why they have to be caught by luring them into traps with donut pieces. Apple Critters love donuts, and that's why they're mainly sold at Dunkins - donut shops have lots of donuts to use as bait, so it's easier for the shopkeepers to be the ones who catch those pesky apple critters.
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It was all fun and games, until LittleNortherner decided that the family was going Apple Critter hunting at the orchard next summer. Who's laughing now, Daddy?.....

Photo from brokencookiesdontcount.com

As the LittleNorthernerAdventureMobile wound its way across the state, the Northerns saw quite a few flocks of turkeys. NorthernMommy and Daddy talked back and forth a little bit about turkeys (did y'all know that a wild turkey once tried to knock NorthernMommy off of her bicycle?), and tried to engage LittleNortherner into the conversation by having him do a quick count of how many turkeys were in that one flock. He refused, and NMommy and Daddy continued with their conversation. Several minutes later, out of the blue, comes a stern pronouncement from the backseat:

"I'll will count them after I put them in the oven."  Dude? Where did that come from? Are you going to need counseling for this turkey hatred?

Photo from wildlifelandmanagement.com

NorthernMommy gets the third totally oddball statement of the ride as the Northerns pass a perfectly normal North Country yard with a line of six or seven Wranglers and CJs out by the shed. Mommy wonders aloud, "That guy's got six different Jeeps, isn't that just too many Jeeps?"

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Too many Jeeps? NorthernDaddy doesn't understand. What does that mean?

Catching Up

There haven't been any new blog posts for a few days - it's been busy, and NorthernMommy discovered a new milestone for the blog: the 1GB limit for free photo hosting has been reached. How's that for a milestone? Not the 100th post, not a blogging award, not anything fun like that; just an invisible wall, preventing new posts. NorthernDaddy took the path of least resistance and started paying for the extra storage needed.

 

Here's just a few photos to catch y'all up:

Snowball Fight!

Driving the reindeer that are pulling his sleigh.

Hockey. Always hockey.

Hoarder

What does a photograph of empty toilet paper rolls have to do with this blog? Well, considering how life with LittleNortherner goes, that picture could go just about any direction.

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The problem for NorthernDaddy is that Lil'North won't let him throw out any empty toilet paper cores. If LittleNortherner sees a core sitting in the recycling bin, he'll screech, grab it, and run off at top speed. If LittleNortherner suspects that the roll is running low and could run out soon, he stalks whoever might be using the facilities. When the faint tearing sound indicates that the roll is empty, there is the sudden appearance of a cardboard core ninja - whoosh, and it's gone. It's gotten a little ridiculous.

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Sometimes, if one shouts a question (such as: "Why are you taking all of those things?") at the back of the disappearing blur, an answer will come floating back. "Because Mommy and I are going to make something with them!"

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Finally, after some severe interrogation, LittleNortherner explained the future project: he and Mommy are going to build a telescope. ......... Daddy's thinking that's going to be quite the telescope -  the boy has to have about a hundred of those tubes hidden away.

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That's the other problem to solve: LittleNortherner has all of these empty toilet paper rolls hidden somewhere, but NorthernDaddy hasn't found the stash spot yet. Where is he hiding those things?

 



Hockey Sweater

A boy's first hockey jersey...priceless.

You're So One-Dimensional

Cheeseball says that NorthernDaddy should really loosen up and try these groovy new glasses. He says that it'll change Daddy's perspective and stop him from being so "Yes" and "No". It'll make Daddy see the depth and meaning to all of LittleNortherner's arguments.....

Ugh

LittleNortherner says that the day after Halloween is kinda tough. He'll just take a quick nap, if you don't mind.

Everyone's Gonna Die!!!!

Horrible news! No, it's not that Hurricane Sandy is bearing down on the East Coast and heading towards the North Country. It's that the coffee machine is dead.  Three and a half measly years it lasted. Son of a .....oops! NorthernDaddy almost forgot that this is a family blog.

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Since it was such an ordeal to find the proper coffee machine the last time, this one isn't being replaced right off. The Kuerig is coming in out of the shop and being pressed into service in the house. NorthernDaddy knows - his shop won't be as luxurious without the K-Machine, but sometimes a guy's gotta make sacrifices!

 

RIP March 2009 - October 2012

Yuck!

Remember the conversations that NorthernDaddy posted about last cross-country season? The ones that had LittleNortherner asking really deep questions about what is inside candy bars or how smooshed water goes into candy? Well, luckily, the conversations on the ride home have been much more mainstream this year - mostly discussions of how the day went, how lunch was, which kid got into trouble or some thing such as that.

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Today, things were not normal.

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Half-way home, NorthernDaddy glanced back at LittleNortherner and saw a finger being pulled away from LittleNortherner's mouth and a vigorous chewing action going on. NorthernDaddy was concerned that his son might be chewing on a leaf - LittleNortherner carried a maple leaf out to the car from preschool. NorthernDaddy asked what LittleNortherner was chewing on, and got the answer, "Nothing."

 

Asks Daddy, "Do you have anything in your mouth?"

LittleNortherner, "No." (Still a good chewing motion going on...)

"What's in your mouth?"

"Nuttin."

"Dude, seriously; you've got something in your mouth. Is it part of that leaf?"

(Shakes head negative)

"If you don't answer, I will stop this car. Now, what is in your mouth?"

 

"Magic Boogers."

 

(Eeeew. NorthernDaddy wants to jab an ice pick into his ears after hearing that.)

(Where does the conversation go from here?)

(Should NorthernDaddy just drop the conversation? Should he redirect or take the opportunity to make this an instructionable moment about proper manners in public - is booger eating even covered in Miss Manners?)

(NorthernDaddy can't resist.)

 

"What are Magic Boogers?"

 

"Well, Daddy, you eat them and they turn you into a fairy, or a king, or a dragon..."

 

(That car ride never really recovered....)

 

 

He only looks innocent and cute!

FMSC

FMSC: it stands for "Feed My Starving Children".  In short, it is a charity organization that enlists the help of volunteers to pack meals that are sent to people who are desperately hungry. One woman, a Vermont resident, attended a "MobilePack" in Florida and had a vision that she needed to organize an event in Vermont. She started spreading the word, and the Northern Family signed on.
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Below is the text from an online poster that one of the team members created after hearing the story of LittleNortherner (this label is temporarily replacing NorthernToddler) drawing his family into helping this event.
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A Child Shall Lead Them....

Four year old inspired to make a difference

The Story (from his mom)

In March, our church was shown the Feed My Starving Children promotional video. My four-year-old son quickly connected with the video and made a pitch to my husband and I that we needed to feed the starving children. I went home and made a note to start saving some spare change in a jar, but during the week forgot to do so. The following week, our pastor mentioned Feed My Starving Children in his sermon, and my four year old once again told us that we needed to start a jar to feed the starving children right now and as quickly as possible.

We started the jar with some loose change and a portion of the money that he earns by doing chores. The money that he does earn is divided into three categories: save, spend, and give (church offering/charity). What once was just his chore money being divided up into a “give” envelope (that really had no meaning to him) quickly became his personal mission to do more chores in order to feed more children. He even opted to put some of his birthday money into the jar.

My husband and I quickly decided that this was something we wanted - and needed - to be a part of as a family. When I mentioned why I joined the planning team, our pastor asked me if my son would be willing to tell the church about his jar, and the next Sunday he did just that. On the way to speak to the congregation, he asked me why people did not know about the starving children and why they did not already have their own jars. My response; “because you have not told them about the starving children yet.”

Well, he stood up there in front of the church with his jar and made sure to tell the congregation about Feed My Starving Children. A few months later, he has not forgotten about the starving children and cannot wait to get a chance to help as many starving children as he can. We occasionally check the webpage that shows how much money his fundraising has collected, and from time to time he will ask to watch the video of the children that he wants to help.

As parents, it surprises us (and warms our hearts) that a four-year-old could make such a connection and have a heart for helping others.

 

Now, NorthernDaddy is just as compassionate as the next person (um...sometimes), and when he saw the video and how he could help with just a two-hour commitment to help with packing food, he was sure that the Northerns would help (heck, it's just two hours). NorthernMommy got a little more involved - she joined the planning committee. Her time commitment was substantial, with planning meetings, helping to gather together volunteers and donations, and working special fund-raising events. As a result of NorthernMommy's being on the planning team, NorthernDaddy got roped in for a little more than his "two hour" initial estimate. He ended up taking a day off from work to help set up for the event. (It was hard work, but exceptionally rewarding, and well worth it to see LittleNortherner helping others.)

Ever seen a 2,000 lb bag of rice?

NorthernDaddy and the guy on the right were struggling to haul pallet after pallet of heavy food staples...

 

Once the food containers were uncovered, hairnets became mandatory for every person in the gym. (Thanks to the FDA for making us look goofy!)

Working the 'With Love From Vermont' event was such a wonderful thing that NorthernDaddy can't begin to tell everything. The style of the event, with many dozens of people gathered around packing stations, made for a fun two hours of work. Many of the people at each station didn't know everyone else at their station, but the fast pace and shared goal (pack as many meals as possible for kids that need them) made each group form into a united team in a short amount of time. NorthernMommy and LittleNortherner moved around in the packing station, trading tasks to do several different things. NorthernDaddy stayed at his box-packing task and, in the process, got out-worked by two four-year-olds. LittleNortherner and a young lady by the name of Jada were so efficient in shuttling food packets to Daddy that he could not keep pace. (Embarrassing!)

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As previously stated, it's not possible to tell everything that the Northerns did and experienced, but the things that stand out are: Amazement. Pride. Humbleness.

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Amazement that a four-year-old could have a heart so caring, so loving, so BIG that he would insist that his family get involved in this cause. Pride in having a child that has that heart. Humbleness - that a young child has the pure heart to see a need that he identifies with and can (and must) help to fix, while fully-grown adults (NorthernDaddy being one) pass over the issue as just one more problem of the world that can't be fixed easily.

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One last word: Excitement. Excitement that this event was the first of its kind in Vermont, and that the Northerns got to work with an incredibly focused and talented team of people to help make it happen. Excitement that such a relatively easy weekend of work will make such a huge difference in childrens' lives (they say that the food packed in two days will feed 362 children for one year). Excitement that this event may occur again next year with a goal of providing meals for even more hungry children.

Catching Mice

Sorry readers, no photos on this post: read the title - that's why there will be no photos.

 

 

NorthernDaddy can't remember if the incident was shared on this blog, or if it only posted on Facebook, but a year or two ago, NorthernMommy and Daddy caught a mouse by accidentally smooshing it in the belt of the treadmill. It wasn't pretty, the mess that Daddy had to clean up was quite icky, and the treadmill hasn't ever run the same - but it makes for a funny story now!

 

The Treadmill Mousetrap comes to mind because, as the weather turns cooler, the mice are heading indoors. They are, in fact, losing their minds in their rush to find warmth and food. The most interesting one so far has been the mouse that Daddy saw running out of trunk of his car. It was early one morning when the mouse was spotted running from the trunk into the cabin of the car. Daddy had to get to work, so the mouse was not pursued. Daddy started the car, backed out of the driveway, waved to Toddler, and headed down the road. A few hundred feet later, the window started to fog up, so Daddy reached over and turned up the defroster fan. The next instant, there was a tremendous banging and thumping sound from under the dashboard. Switch the fan off. There's a scratching/scritching sound in the vent, but the windows are fogged too much to see and there's a car coming, and the fan gets flipped back to high. More car-shaking thumping - no more scratching.

 

Daddy has a real good idea that the mouse he saw two minutes earlier has just been ground into pulp inside his heater fan, but there's not much he can do about it. For three days. Only cold air will come through the vents, and the air inside the car takes on a wet dog/dead mouse/gag-me-with-a-skunk kind of odor. Every time Toddler gets into the car, he asks if he can help get the dead mouse out of the car. Finally, on the fourth day, there is time. The entire passenger side dash is dismantled, the fan is removed, and the dead, mangled body of the dead mouse is pried out of the 'squirrel cage' of the heater fan. Ick.

 

Toddler is fascinated with the dead rodent, and has made it his job to patrol the mouse traps set throughout the house and garage. If he spots a tripped trap, he happily announces "We got another one!" Yup, that's one twisted kid that the Northerns are raising!

 

(NorthernDaddy has set a trap inside his car, and has been catching an average of two mice per day for the last few days. No idea where that many mice are living in the car!)

Ear Plugs

A few days ago, NorthernToddler started wondering.

 

 

He wondered if wearing his earplugs would make it harder for him to hear his own singing.

 

 

He decided to perform a test.

 

 

Perform, he did. NorthernDaddy hears the most awful, deafness-inducing caterwauling coming from somewhere in the house. Daddy stuck his head out of the shower to see what the problem was, and after a few seconds, thought that he recognized a tune. The ear-splitting air raid siren was actually an operatic performance of The Farmer in the Dell. The performer seemed to be the pint-sized Pavarotti known as NorthernToddler.

 

"Hey! What are you doing with all that yelling?"

 

 

"WELL, DADDY, I WANTED TO KNOW IF MY EARPLUGS WOULD MAKE MY SINGING QUIETER."

 

 

"It is not quieter for the rest of the people in the house, knock it off."

 

 

"BUT IT'S WAY MORE QUIETER FOR ME! MY EARPLUGS MAKE IT SO QUIET! I CAN BARELY HEAR MY SONG!"

 

 

---Never a dull moment in the Northern house!---

 

 

 

 

 

NHL Lockout? Ain't No Lockout Here!

With the NHL players locked out, and a dim prospect for the 2012 season, the Northern household is saddened. The whole family was looking forward to their beloved Capitals beating up on the Bruins. (NorthernDaddy writes the blog: his team gets top billing.) (Today's news is that there might be a deal reached to start a full season on Nov.1. Keep tuned.)

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With only college and youth league hockey before them, Toddler and Daddy have decided to go ahead and launch Kitchen Hockey season. The 'rink' is the same as last season: the Northerns' kitchen. The 'rules' are the same: Toddler changes them whenever he sees fit. The equipment is upgraded: Toddler has his full complement of safety gear. NorthernDaddy likes the safety gear - it allows him to fire unrestrained shots on goal. NorthernToddler is fine with getting hit by a slapshot - it's the stuff in the kitchen that is going to end up getting broken!

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The season opener was a rowdy affair.  The tennis ball bounced off every wall in the rink as shots were taken and deflected. (The puck is still in Summer Detention until Daddy and Toddler talk Mommy into letting it out for play.) Just about the time that the game got interesting, NorthernMommy came home and the game had to come to an end (too much noise when the ball hit the stove - and one of the players had to cook dinner).

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Buy your Kitchen Hockey tickets early - there's no lockout here!

 

Man's Work (How to Con a Four-Year-Old Into Helping)

NorthernToddler (that doesn't look right, does it? Toddlers are ages one to three, right? Our hero is four. Need to name him something other than Toddler. "NorthernBoy" doesn't sound quite right. "NorthernNutcase" might be accurate, but could create a need for counseling later in his life. NorthernMommy and Daddy will do some brainstorming and try to come up with something. For today, he will remain 'Toddler'.)

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Start over: NorthernToddler doesn't like to do his chores. He's been pitching in the past few weeks because he's trying to earn money toward a LEGO set. (A big one - he still needs to earn $17 before Daddy matches his savings. It'll be months before he sees that new LEGO house!) Other than trying to exploit the money factor, Toddler doesn't seek out other opportunities to pull his weight at home.

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NorthernDaddy needed to do some things, and one of the tasks was to move the recliner from the house up to the office. NorthernDaddy is perfectly capable of grabbing the chair and carrying it up the stairs, but Toddler doesn't know that. In order to get Toddler to help (and to stop him from continually asking to play swords), Daddy presented Toddler with the opportunity for an adventure. There was some "Man's Work" that needed to be done. Toddler would need to grab a strap and help Daddy haul the chair base up the stairs. It would be tough work, and maybe too much for Toddler, but the 'men' would try the best that they could. Toddler fell for it - he ran and grabbed a strap.

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NorthernMommy came home from cross-country practice as the men were headed out the door. "Outta the way, Mommy! There's Man Work to be done!"

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The picture's a little fuzzy, but Toddler did indeed pull his weight on this one. Well done, NorthernToddler!

 

2012 Northeastern Street Rod Nationals

As usual, when the street rods come to town, NorthernDaddy and Toddler saddle up and roll down to the fairgrounds to investigate. They ogle the cars, chomp on french fries, and have a generally good time. Since there are so many cars on display, the approach is to focus on one theme for the day. Last year, the color of the cars was the focus. This year, NorthernToddler decided to fixate on hood ornaments. NorthernDaddy took more than 130 photos at the show, and more than 80 are of hood ornaments.

 

 Airplane - very cool.

 Sailing ship - also very cool.

 Toddler says that if Daddy wants to put this kind of ornament on his truck, he'll have to make some clothes to fit it. (Daddy doesn't think so...it looks fine to him.)

 NorthernToddler is highly distressed that he did not have this to drive around the fairgrounds.

 

Mini Cooper with a blown Hemi. Just imagine......

That is not even one-fifth of the cars on display. This event is huge!

C is for Cookie

 

Earlier this week, a care package arrived from NoVA. It contained a hockey-themed book for NorthernToddler and a bag of the much-anticipated Candy Corn Oreos. NorthernToddler insisted on two things: that the book be read immediately and that the cookies be shared with the whole family. (Does he really think that NorthernDaddy would snarf down all of the cookies and not share? Well, of course he does - he knows Daddy!)

 

NorthernToddler and NorthernDaddy are grateful for the care package. Knowing NorthernDaddy's poor record of sending thank-you notes, the boys decided to make signs and post them on this blog to show their appreciation.(NorthernMommy is grateful too; it's just that she wasn't home to make a sign....)

Is It October Yet?

NorthernMommy and Daddy don't have the heart to tell Toddler about the impending NHL lockout, especially since he just got his gear for the Beginner Hockey program that he's joining next month. NorthernToddler is stoked about his gear - he got a helmet, pads, skates and a new stick. He's had the stuff for less than five hours and has "practiced" putting on and taking off each piece of gear about a million times. (All the better for Mommy and Daddy - if he can get all his gear on by himself, that's more time for them to drink coffee and try to stay warm!)

Image above taken from cafepress.com

Argh! Pirate Goaler! (No goalie gear for Toddler yet - he's got to learn to skate and play before goalie work begins. He did try to con Mommy and Daddy into buying a set of goalie pads, but they caught on: the one leg pad was taller than Toddler. No deal, kid.)

 Fierce. Toddler is ready for the game...

Fashionisto

Distracted

NorthernDaddy has a problem. NorthernMommy might have the problem, too. (Hold on while a question is asked. Yup, she has the problem.)

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The problem is that whenever NorthernToddler is taken shopping, he has to look at everything. And touch everything. And ask questions about everything.

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It's fine that Toddler is actively engaged in his environment and learning tons of new stuff at every turn, but sometimes a person just wants to buy the items on the shopping list and move on.

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As an example, NorthernDaddy needed the tool below. He's been painting the trim on the house, and at clean-up time, he wants to properly clean the brushes to preserve their lifespans (especially because each brush costs about $16). So, a brush comb is needed.

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This item (a brush comb) was on the list of things to pick up at the home center today. There were only three items on the list: painter's tape, a brush comb, and a scraper. NorthernToddler got to looking and touching and questioning so many things that Daddy only remembered the tape and scraper. The bad part? The bad part is that the brush comb was written down on the list, and it was still forgotten.

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The really bad part? The really bad part is that a brush comb has been on the list for three days, and on each day/trip to the store, the brush comb has been forgotten.

 

Three days of Toddler-assisted screwup - NorthernDaddy is pretty annoyed. So aggravated that when it came time to clean the paintbrushes tonight, NorthernDaddy went and did something crazy. He "borrowed" Toddler's hair comb and used that to clean the paint out of the brush bristles.

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Don't tell NorthernMommy!

 

 



Windy Day

 

NorthernToddler arrived home from a bicycling adventure (he wanted to ride the bike path so he could go fast. He chose his Jeep "Trail-Rated" bicycle because 'my dirt bike is fast and can keep up with Daddy'.) to find that the strong winds had ripped up the patio tent and tossed it into the house.

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Toddler was impressed by how the wind was able to pull the screw anchors right out of the ground and flip the tent. He wasn't so cool with the twisted metal and torn fabric that doomed this tent to the landfill.

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The tent served the Northerns' well for several years, but this year was to be its last: the fabric was deteriorating from exposure, and a replacement was next to impossible to locate. At least this way, the tent went out in style (and left a memorable impression)!

 

Visual History of Snow Travel Old Snowmobiles

The Northerns got a chance to visit the Shelburne Museum to see their exhibit on the history of snowmobiles. It's a pretty good display (not as good as the motorcycle exhibit they had previously), and there were things that NorthernMommy, Daddy, Toddler and Grandparents had never seen before.

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This one is a snowmobile converted into a motorboat (to get year-round use from the snowmachine). Please excuse the blurry photos - they are the ones that were taken after NorthernDaddy got busted for using his flash. (There wasn't a sign prohibiting flash photos, Mr. MuseumSecurityDude...)

 

Just plain cool. 

What?! No suspension, no heated grips? Barbarians!

Snow-Moto? Snoped? Not real sure that this is a good idea.

High fashion accessorizing from the Seventies.

Strange-but-cool contraption.

Urgently Needed!

 

 

NorthernMommy just turned her iPad around and showed NorthernDaddy the picture below:

 

 

According to the buzz on the web, these puppies are going to hit the market on September 10. They supposedly will only be available at Target stores. The closest Target store to the Northerns is over an hour away.

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NorthernDaddy just happens to know someone who works at a Target store in the South. NorthernDaddy is willing to reimburse said person for the purchase price of said cookies when he visits in December. NorthernDaddy needs these cookies.

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How about snagging a box?