Normal is a Relative Term

NorthernMommy and Daddy think that they are fairly normal people. They were raised right, taught about societal norms, and are generally well-behaved and sane. Just plain normal.

NorthernToddler has started to change this household's definition of 'normal'. He's done some unusual things. Actually, he's done some absolutely insane things. Seeing NorthernToddler stroll through the kitchen naked with only his slippers and a pair of pink bunny ears wouldn't faze Mommy or Daddy a bit.  

NorthernDaddy has come to expect truly odd things to happen at any time. That's the new 'normal'. Therefore, NorthernToddler's most recent role didn't even raise an eyebrow.

Ladies and Gentleman, we present the: 

Pirate Goaler!

The only thing that gives NorthernDaddy pause is the thought of being keelhauled if he scores a goal on NorthernToddler-Pirate-Goalie.

NorthernToddler Heaven

NorthernMommy and Daddy try to downplay it, but the fact is indisputable: NorthernToddler is a hockey nut. He loves the sport. There are games of kitchen hockey that last hours. He plays hockey with Tommy when they're out on the playground at preschool. He jumps around uncontrollably when he's at a "real" game and is cheering the players on. He wants to play hockey when he gets bigger. Specifically, he wants to be a 'goaler'. (That's his word for 'goalie'.) Toddler thinks that his Bruins are way better than Daddy's Capitals. (He'll learn...)

When the Northerns went downtown on Saturday to see the ice sculptures that were part of the Winter Festival, they came across a huge hockey jersey being suspended across the street. How could they pass that by? Turns out that the it was a jersey tour to raise support for the 2012 International Ice Hockey Federation Women's World Championship that will be played in Burlington in April.

 Just behind the jersey was a small rink setup for kids to play hockey on. NorthernToddler seized this opportunity! No way he wasn't going to play!

 NorthernToddler Heaven!

Toddler was very, very sad when it came time to leave. 

Fire in the Hole!

NorthernMommy had cooking duty tonight. (She puts something called Winter Pumpkin Soup on the menu - she's cooking it. NorthernDaddy doesn't do creamy/thick soups.) NorthernDaddy got to play with Toddler while Mommy crafted her soup. Suddenly, Daddy and Toddler's game of chess was interrupted. Well, not really. Yes, they were interrupted, but they weren't playing chess. It was more like a "Launch the Hot Wheels motorcycle through the loop of fire, off the ramp, and into Mommy's Valentine's Day decorations" kind of game. Anyway, they were interrupted by a horrible sound and a scream from NorthernMommy.

Of course, the boys went running to investigate, and what they found was - to put it nicely - was a disaster. Mommy had put scaldingly hot chunky soup into the blender so that she could puree it. When she pushed the button to start the blender, the top blew off and soup went everywhere.

The soup bomb just missed blowing NorthernMommy's hand off, and she wasn't burned too badly. The kitchen didn't fare so well: it looked like a herd of angry buffalo had trampled through. Or, like a Jackson Pollock painting. There was soup on the wall, up under the cabinets, in the coffee pot, on the radio, in the knife block, etc.

Soup everywhere. Go ahead and click the picture to enlarge it and get a better look.

Don't ask why we have two coffee machines. Let's just leave it at 'WE NEED A LOT OF COFFEE!'

NorthernToddler was his normal 'helpful' self as Mommy and Daddy were cleaning up the mess. As NorthernDaddy cleaned and muttered about each new place that he found soup, Toddler stood in the middle of the kitchen and ticked off a list of places that Mommy hadn't hit with soup. "Look! You didn't get the window! You didn't get the candle way over there on the table! Or the front door.."  His list of clean places was quite short.

In NorthernMommy's defense, the soup that survived was very good. It tasted almost like liquid pumpkin pie. (If one dipped a piece of NorthernDaddy's fresh home-made bread into it, it tasted exactly like pumpkin pie.)

The Northerns have also learned the secret to pureeing hot soup: start the blender dry (empty) before adding the hot soup. There will be no explosion. Good to know....