Merry Christmas!

Well, what a busy couple of days. The kids had an excellent Christmas.

We had lovely visits from Grandpa Doug and Grandma Jane, and Uncle Sean and Gina.

I can't think of anything original to say right now, so I'll leave it for another day.

The Calm before the Storm...

Dharma enjoying the morning sun from mommy and daddy's bedroom... followed by Maya and Dharma posing in Dharma's bedroom... followed by Ethan and Maya enjoying the winter storm that brought Ottawa 35cm of snow and an awesome-fun play day!

Happy 1st Birthday Dharma!

I think someone had a good time on his birthday. If you look close enough, I think you can even make out some happy tonsils too. ;0)

Hello from Maya, who just awoke from a nap. Mommy and Dharma are having some good chats. This photo was taken by Ethan... if you were wondering.

Uncle Sean (in uniform even) & fiance Gina cuddling up with the D man.

Papa and Dharma about to eat lunch....

And, D during his lunch... nice face!

Nana helping Dharma with his gifts.

Dharma wanting the box open. Optimus Prime to the rescue.

Happy Birthday to Dharma....

The family all together in a photo, how unusual.

Elving Around!

We had a great deal of fun and laughs putting this together.
Hope you all enjoy. Just clink on the Title: Elving Around!

PS- I will be posting some of Dharma's bday party photos soon.... promise.
Amanda

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween everyone.
We had a great time this year. Every year is great, but this year I wasn't prego. I really enjoyed myself with the kids. The weather was mild and DRY... first time in a long time.
So, if you can't already guess the costumes... Dharma is the Tiger, Maya is the Monkey, and Ethan is Mikey (TMNT).
We started our trick-or-treating in the afternoon at the local mall and we kept going until 7:30. I can't believe the kids sustained all of that ACTION and EXCITEMENT, but they did and we only had one tantrum all day... well now that I'm thinking about it more, maybe we had 2 minor breakdowns. ;)

Dharma isn't really sleeping here... he was anticipating my camera flash. Funny guy.

Maya the monkey found a horse to ride... this was during our afternoon expedition at the mall. They had a lot of fun running from store to store collecting chocolate bars. Note to self, next year avoid Mrs. Tiggy Winkles... that was where we had 1 of our tantrums. And No, they don't give out toy stuffed cats to Monkeys (no names used) on Halloween.

Scenes from: A Beautiful Fall Day

Hi Everyone,

Long time no chat. Lately, I've been busy so Amanda has been keeping you all up to date... but I've miraculously got time and energy to post...

I spent last week in Toronto. It was a little getaway for daddy. I was there, initially, for a yoga workshop... It was so much fun! Two three-hour sessions with the "teachers' teacher" and this teacher was blissfully sore and spent by the end of the week end.

I then had a work conference in T.O. on the following Thursday. That was pretty good too. I have a pretty interesting job, when it comes to stuff like this conference. We were training health researchers "how to" or the "importance of" translating their research into information that is useable to the relevent audience... that is we were trying to get it across to researchers that it was important for them to make sure that their health research findings were not left on the shelf but that they were actually used!!

Anyway, I got pretty homesick by the end of the week and really missed the crew back home... even with the full night sleeps i was having in my king size bed... so, as soon as I got home, I took the next day off and the whole fam-damily went for a hike!!

The pics below are the cutest ever!!! I can't believe that Amanda and I could have been this blessed.

I just love this one -it's perfect. It shows all of their personalities in one picture. Ethan, the big brother, looking on and enjoying the good times. Dharma being a little bit of the clown... and b-u-tiful Maya. Such a pretty smile! But all of them having a great time...

A little more formal version, couldn't resist, for you conservatives in the crowd ;-)

Then you've got daddy et les enfants sans Maman... mommy, unfortunately stayed behind the camera all day on this one...

This picture below got me, too. Seperated only by a generation... I sometimes find this kid looks a little like me.

Da Boyz!

Hee hee, our little tour guides for the afternoon... too bad this finished with, ah daddy my legs are tired... carry me, no, carry me....

Awww.... I bet in 10 years, the following pic is a head-lock... but for now it's a hug.

Peek-a-boo!! So, Dharma's really growing up!! He actually started saying EE-I-EE-I on Saturday and by Monday morning it was EE-I-EE-I- O!

The climbers... man, she can be intense :-)

Funny to see them being competitive... they were jockying all hike to see who was the leader. you should have seen Maya's face one time when i told her she was in the middle :-( yee,owch... don't know where they gets that from. ;-)

Here's a couple more for fun, before I sign off...

Ciao all... :-)

End of the Summer- Museum Tour

A little late on our post, apologies. So, September has been a quick month for us. Where did the time go? I'm coming to the end of my maternity leave, sob-sob. Actually, I'm REALLY looking forward to working outside of the house again. I'm sure all of you received my email regarding my new business launch. I'm thrilled!

OK, back to the kiddies... I'll include a brief description under the photos for all of you. :)

Maya in a Mexican car of some sort... she loved it for being her size..."so little and so cute".

Maya driving the big bus.. another Mexican theme here too, I think.

Ethan perched on a ledge taking a breath.

Maya found a camel and she took a lot of convincing to move a long... IE. "get off and let's go".

Maya found a huge motorcycle and she just jumped right on and went right to it. Where does she learn this stuff from?

Maya found a puppet show and she was all about telling us stories with each and every animal she found... say hi to turtle.... his name is LEO when he was a baby(of the TMNT variety) .

I asked her to stand against the wall because I really liked the pattern... and this is what she gave me. No clue as to what she is doing. ?

Ethan and Maya found an outdoor pond. They were loving it!

Ethan and Maya all dressed up and painting... well, pretend painting. Ethan was so not fooled.

Ethan in control of moving cargo on the cargo ship. Maya was on deck mopping. Definitely my daughter.

Ethan, Maya, Kevin & Alex on the big Motorcycle that dwarfed Maya.

Dharma was there! Oh, the forgotten child.... we love you.