Bedtime Story

When I'm not on night shift, I try and tell a story to Ella and Mason before bed. Since there's no news this week, here's one that the kids liked:

Once upon a time, a little girl and a little boy went to the museum with their parents. They walked through the main doors and saw a big lobby with doors to other rooms. The first door they walked through was the Egypt room. It had a model of a pyramid and sand on the floors. They stopped in front of a glass case that had a real mummy inside. Spooky.
The next room was long and skinny and the walls were covered with paintings of all different colours and shapes. Some of the paintings were as small as postage stamps, while others were as big as billboards.
The next room was the dinosaur room and it was full of... bones! Some were little chicken skeletons and others were big, T-Rex skeletons. In the middle of the room was even a giant brontosaurus with a long neck that reached all the way up to the dark ceiling.
Everyone was getting tired and decided to stop and have a little picnic. They were now in a big room full of animal statues with little velvet ropes around them. The family sat down on a bench and began to eat their peanut butter and jam sandwiches. While they ate, the kids looked at a crocodile statue behind them. It had a long scaly tail. It had a rough, bumpy back. It had a long snout full of shiny white teeth. It had small black eyes. It had - wink. What? The kids looked at each other. Did they really see what they thought they saw? It looked like that statue just blinked at them. They sat very still and watched it for a long time. Just when they started to think they had imagined it - wink - it blinked again. This time they were sure they saw it.
They told their mom and dad what they saw. "That crocodile's real... it will move, just watch!"
Their dad turned around and patted them on the heads, "ya, sure is scary isn't it?"
The kids were frustrated that their parents didn't believe them. They looked back and saw that now the crocodile's mouth was curled up like it was smiling, or like it was laughing at them!
They stopped the museum curator as she walked past. The sister, who was the oldest and the bravest, said, "excuse me, but that's a real crocodile. It holds real still most of the time, but we saw it blink." The lady smiled at them, then turned to their parents and said, "boy, they sure have quite the imaginations don't they? I think that's just great." And with that, she walked away. The kids looked back at the crocodile, and this time the tip of its tongue was sticking out at them!
The brother marched up to the crocodile and stomped on its tail as hard as he could.

ROOOAAR!

The angry crocodile jumped out of the exhibit and snapped at the two kids. Everyone else in the museum started screaming and running out the front doors. Snap! The crocodile chased the boy and girl down the isle, snapping at their heels.
The crocodile knocked over skeletons as it chased them through the dinosaur room.
The crocodile's swishing tail ripped paintings in the painting room, and turned the mummy to dust in the Egypt room. Snap. Snap. The crocodile was getting closer.
The boy and girl ran back into the animal room and hid behind a zebra statue. Smash. The crocodile broke right through the statue and snapped at them again. They hid behind a giraffe. Smash. A buffalo. Smash. Just as the crocodile was about to catch them, they hid behind an elephant statue. They thought the crocodile was going to smash through and gobble them up any second.

Thunk!

They waited, their eyes shut tightly...
Nothing.
They peeked around the side of the elephant and saw the crocodile lying still on the floor. They crept a little bit closer and saw that it was actually squished flat - like a pancake. The kids looked around but there was no one else in the room.
Just then, their mom and dad ran in and scooped them up, "oh we were so worried about you." Their parents hugged and kissed them and began to carry them towards the front doors. The boy and girl were still looking around, trying to figure out what had happened to the crocodile.
They looked down at the squished crocodile. Then they looked up at the big elephant statue. They looked at its big, heavy feet, at its big grey ears, at its big brown eyes - wink. Brother and sister looked at each other in surprise. They briefly considered telling their parents what they'd seen, but in the end they just waved their thanks and headed home for a treat.

- C

Just the guys...

Today Heather and Ella went to see a play at the Story Book Theater. That left Mason and Tyson and I to man the fort. Aside from the fact that I had to change a diaper at one point, we had a lot of fun together. Even though Tyson is still a little momma's boy, he wasn't fussy for me at all. I think that my kids can sense that they have a cool dad. You know... like a sixth sense. Somehow they know it... and deep down, that's reassuring to a young child.
Seriously though, I really think that our kids are lucky to have Heather home with them all the time. I hope she never decides to go on a ride-along with me at work, because then she would see just how much harder her job is than mine.

Party at our place

Heather put on a beautiful family dinner tonight. It had been bothering me a bit how we haven't done very much with family the last few weeks and boy, did we ever make up for it. Our little house doesn't feel that small, at least it doesn't until you pack it full of uncles and aunts and little cousins! I knew it was going to be a fun evening when, first thing, Jewel walks in with a note stuck to her back that says: "KENDALL ROCKS". We really missed the Payne's, but to make up for their absence, we watched baby Chaim's video again. He is a super cute little guy, but his bum was in a lot of the pictures - not sure how he's gonna feel about that when he's older. Here is an exclusive photo of the event:

If you look closely, you can see Kendall pointing out that Jewel left their camera's memory stick at home. Don't worry KJAMB, the CHEMT blog's got it covered.

It was awesome to see the eight little cousins all playing together, and think back to the four of us at their age, living together in Claresholm. Even though that was almost a lifetime away, here we were, just as close as we were then, watching our children form memories that they will one day look back on too. It is sobering to consider how fast the time has gone by. In an effort to make the most of that time, the bros-in-law challenged each other to a game of Super Monkey Ball 2 (ya, that's really the name).



It is sad that I have to go back to work tomorrow morning. Oh well, if Ella's going to kindergarten, I should go to work - fair's fair. At least we finished off on a fun note.

Stop picking at the cake!

- C

Who's Who in the Zoo

The following is a brief introduction of each of the members of CHEMT:

Chad (Lead Vocals)

Chad is one of the original members of CHEMT and has been with the band since it was formed in August of 2000. He moonlights as a police officer but his true passions are classic Japanese motorcycles, and designing saltwater aquariums. Chad is extremely proud of what CHEMT has become in just a few short years. Along with that achievement, he cites, catching a bank robber in the act, and being nominated in an online poll for his groundbreaking work on a 2gallon nano tank.

Heather (Manager)

Also one of the band's co founders, Heather moved from the spotlight to behind the scenes early on in her career. Today she still functions as the manager, and the group would have fallen apart long ago if not for all the work she does. Heather is fiercely devoted to her family and gave up a position at a prestigious law firm in order to be there for them. She is an amazing cook and her other hobbies include shopping, and spending time with her kids.

Ella (Keyboard)

While Chad and Heather made an incredible duet act, it soon became apparent that something was missing. In April of 2001 Ella became the third member of the group. Her beautiful looks and charm rocketed the group (then known as CHE) to the top of the charts. Ella has just started school and she plans on being "a mommy, a teacher, a eye doctor, and a princess" when she grows up.

Mason (Drums)

Mason became the fourth member of the band in February of 2003. He brought an energy and intensity that the other members were not fully prepared for, making him an obvious choice for the percussion section. When Mason is not rocking out, he can be found playing Nintendo or running around in circles. Although recently diagnosed with asthma and a potentially career-limiting allergy to hazelnuts, Mason has not let anything dampen his spirits.

Tyson (Equipment Technician)

Tyson was brought on board in September of 2005 as the fifth and final member of CHEMT. Although it was initially planned that he would serve in a backup role to the other members, he quickly showed a keen interest in rearranging every last piece of band property. Tyson, is still a probationary member of the group, but he has already won the hearts of everyone he has come in contact with. Tyson has a special relationship with the band manager and, wherever she is, he'll be close by.

We would like to thank all of our fans, and we look forward to seeing what the future holds in store for CHEMT!

- C