THE MORLEY FAMILY CHRISTMAS POEM

THE MORLEY FAMILY CHRISTMAS POEM

‘Twas Christmas Eve at the Morley’s, and David said to me:

We are so very fortunate, then reminisced did we,

Of treasured moments and special times, that made us laugh and smile.

So gather around and let us share our year with you for a while.

Aidan’s in grade ten now and growing like a weed,

Taller than his dad and mom, he stands at 6 foot three.

When not on MSN, he watches sports and eats so much,

And still holds out a feeble hope the Leafs will win the Cup.

Aidan continues to study guitar, he performed at Cabaret.

"A Little Pop Won’t Kill You", his own song he did play.

In summer he went to Kingdom Bound and rocked the week away.

The band, Disciple, sang to him, and wished him Happy Birthday.

Owen went to "Bit by Bit" - a computer camp for fun.

Attended by pale, intellectual boys, who seldom get out in the sun.

He then went off to golf camp, with brand new clubs and balls.

And now he wants a membership to golf from spring to fall.

Owen is the king of sports trivia, just ask him what he knows.

Hockey, football, baseball, soccer - his knowledge just grows and grows.

No more piano for him, though, his drums are all the rage.

He bangs his kit all through the night, in hopes of a gig on stage.

Brennan went off to a new school, to study the many arts.

Drama and music, drawing and dance, he is learning all the parts.

He still likes doggies and snuggling, but that is not quite all

He builds and creates, plays chess and hockey, not to mention baseball.

Brennan loves to play piano, making tunes up in his head,

He even wrote a little song called "Puppies on the Bed".

He performed it at his school while the choir sang aloud,

It was a special moment that made his parents proud.

David’s been teaching twenty-two years, with retirement closer at hand.

He’s picked up his clarinet again and hopes to play in a band.

Virginia had her eyes lasered, so no more optical glass.

She started Alpine racing and tries hard not to be last.

In summer we travelled to Bancroft, having fun at a family camp.

Then off we went to Stratford, to take in Peter Pan.

Kilarney was our next trip, where Brennan caught his first bass.

Gramma saw a black bear (or a big dog?), and we hiked the Granite Ridge Pass.

Well that’s about it for the Morleys, it’s been a wonderful year.

We wish for you all of God’s blessings, and a season of good cheer.

There’s so much we have to be thankful for, so let us raise a toast:

To friends and family, to the love we share - those gifts which mean the most.

Orthodontist

In July Brennan's adult tooth next to the front Chiclets came in before the baby tooth fell out. So, we wiggled like mad to get that baby out of there. a month later Brennan asked if the adult would grow down to be in the right place. We were at church and happened to see Dr. Latham. Go ask him I said to Brennan and he did. next thing we know is Brennan has had ex rays and off we are going to see Dr Latham's replacement Dr Marcy.

On Monday David ,Brennan and I are at the office and they have taken pictures and done and examination. They would like to do molds. not today said Brennan. Try said mom. Okay said Brennan.

He manages to try the bottom mold without the goop in it. then he does the wax bite. then he starts to cry when they try the top mold without the goop. I need to go to the washroom he said. That's the last we'll see of him I think. I can hear him sobbing in the bathroom I check the door LOCKED. I convince him to let me in. He is wedged between the wall and the toilet clinging on to the plant there. When i demand he come out he squats down and hides in this spot.

We have a cuddle and he comes out to the lobby. He gets a toy for trying and we make another appointment.

Wednesday. Success. only cried with the top mold. but did not "choke" he earned 15 hockey cards that the receptionist went out and bought just for him. Fingers crossed there will be enough room for his teeth to come in, but if not he will have a positive experience with these caring people.

Joy Bible Camp

We spent a week in Bancroft
at Joy Bible Camp

Brennan comes running into our bedroom with six dollars.

-Where did you get that?
- I sold a painting.
-Which one?
- The flower.

The flower is not one of his better paintings.

- Who bought it?
- The lady in cabin C7.
- Six dollars is too much, go give back the five.

Brennan trots off and tries to give the five back. I watch and the Lady refuses to take it and shakes his hand.

We find out the whole story later from the lady.
Brennan decided that he would like to earn some money for the Tuck Shop by selling some of his paintings. He went door to door of the cabins, showing his work.

-Would you like to buy one of my paintings?

The Dragon
or

The Beer Can

Classic of Brennan to show a mythical creature and alcohol at CHURCH camp.

The lady tells him she would buy a painting of a flower if he painted one. His first commission job.
She admired his SPUNK in coming around to ask.

Puppies on the Bed

Move over "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" you've got competition.

It has been a long yet exciting day.

It has been a long yet exciting day. It is government testing week for Brennan and Owen at school. Owen had a track and field meet yesterday. He doesn't know how he did because their school dismisses earlier than the others. He had to do his triple jumps and then run to catch the school bus.

Today was Fun Fair day at the school. My friend and I put together the donations from the students to make fabulous raffle baskets. Six hours of arranging and taping and wrapping we finished the 21 baskets. Then off to piano lessons. One hour later Brennan, Owen and I are headed home to pick up Aidan and his friend so they can volunteer at the school. Back to the school.

It is great that the boys are old enough that I can hand over a twenty and they go and get their own tickets. Off they go, only to come by every so often to dump their loot and get more money.

At 7:30 we asked the VP to pick the winners of our baskets. We sold about $1000 worth of tickets. Down the line she went. Two teacher and the principal each won a basket. A grade 9 volunteer friend of ours won a basket and she only bought 4 tickets. Then Basket # 21 the VP pulled out Brennan's ticket.

Time to clean up and head home. Brennan is ecstatic with his big basket of out door toys. Aidan is tired and in want of quiet after 3 hours of the strongman game. BONG BONG BONG
Owen is depressed because "HE NEVER WINS ANYTHING

8:45 we are home, we've looked through all the goodies in the basket. Owen has come out of his funk. Bears are heading for bed. The door bell rings and it is the piano teacher. She opened a letter at dinner time and realized it was for Brennan. As soon as she was done teaching for the night she rushed right over. He had won second prize for a song he composed. It was adjudicated by Canadian composer Nancy Telfer. He scored an 88 and won a cheque for $25.

Congratulations Brennan now go to bed.

Expensive Water Bottle

This is the $440.00 water bottle that Owen received today at the orthodontist. It includes a consultation, ex rays, photos, two molds and a flashy presentation next week to convince us to spend ten times this amount to straighten Owen's bottom teeth.

Big Celebrations

Grandma turned eighty this week. She celebrated with her girlfriends and family.

Gramma and Grampa celebrated 45 years of marriage.

I was driving Aidan and his friend to a girl's house on Saturday.

They were talking about TV shows they watched as children. Or not watch as the case with Aidan: Power Rangers, Ninja Turtles, Pokemon. I was explaining that Aidan was not allowed to watch Pokemon or have the cards because he was obsessive as a child.

Three years of dinosaurs and we didn't want our conversations to be centred around a cartoon character. He then became obsessed with hockey which involved real people. I said to him in the car that he really isn't obsessive anymore except for his guitar music. He said that he did obsess over one other thing.

"GIRLS" shouts friend in the back seat.

Aidan grins from ear to ear.

Brennan 8am: Can I invite a friend over?
Brennan 9am: Can I invite a friend over?
Brennan 10am: Can I invite a friend over?
Brennan 11am: Can I invite a friend over?

Virginia: You sound like a broken record.

Brennan: What does that mean?

Sigh.

New School For Baby Bear

Baby Bear was offered admission to Lester B Pearson School for the Arts this week.

We are very excited for him. It has been a little bittersweet for a few reasons. First, his friend R-Guy didn’t make it in. We thought for sure he would, very creative little boy. Second, we hate for him to lose his French. Baby Bear seems to enjoy speaking French much more than the other bears did at his age.

It will cost $827 for him to take the school bus to his new school. Not to mention activity fee, dress pants and shoes.

I am looking forward to making costumes for their many plays. Maybe I'll get discovered.

Boucles d'Or et les Quarte Ours

Boucles d'Or et les Quarte Ours means Goldielocks and the four Bears.
There is Goldielocks and Papa Bear.
We have three boys Tall Bear, Sporty Bear and Baby Bear.
Life is an adventure living with all these bears.

Noisy and Smelly (at times).

Lots of grunting.