Malcolm's Birthday

Malcolm's birthday was a hit, on thursday the family went out to White Spot to celebrate. It was grandma, Roger, Tracey, Carol, Grandpa Harry and Annis for dinner. He got to enjoy his favourite mac and cheese. On Saturday, we had a small party with a number of his friends and classmates at the house. Tracey and Roger had put together a movie theme for his party, with four kinds of popcorn, candy and lot of kid favourites to satisfy the group. Best of all his best friend from school was able to join. Here are some pictures of Malcolm's birthday.

Stubborn as a mule? Stubborn as a 5 year old....

When Melody sets her mind to something, there's pretty much no going back. In many ways it can be positive, but from time to time, it's not fun. She's been unbelievably stubborn ever since she was 2 and a half. When she doesn't want to do something, it's woefully clear that there's no changing her mind. This time the annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch was the victim. Luckily Malcolm, Roger and Tracey enjoyed themselves. In other news, the surgery was a total success. Also, the teeth cleaning only resulted in one extraction. All in all the recovery process has been great, bouncing back quite well. As for the growth, the Vet believes it to be some sort of Melanoma. I don't think Roger and Tracey feel like it has to get tested, especially since it's now been removed. The eyelid will take about 10 days to heal, when the sutures have to be removed. Anyway, here are some recent pictures from the Pumpkin Patch: Malcolm appreciated it.

Jumping for joy.

Well, last weekend Roger and Tracey celebrated their 10th anniversary. The commemorated the event by getting away for an overnight trip to Whistler. Can you believe it's been almost 9 years since their last trip overnight anywhere without kids! Well, despite the rain, they enjoyed themselves with a dinner out and a night away from any screaming kids. Here are some pictures from the short trip. Here are the crazy kids on their honeymoon in Cuba: Here's the IG picture Roger put up: INSTAGRAM

First day of school.

Melody started grade one and Malcolm is now in grade four. It's been a long and eventful summer and Roger and Tracey are more than happy to see the kids start the school year. All in all, they've been pretty great the last two days. They even started Tae Kwon Do on Tuesday! Here are their first day of school pics. Elsa and Batman are on their way to school.

Back from Alice Lake.

The family went camping last weekend for three days. They went with the Htans and Proust families. Unfortunately, Jayden was very sick and the Hundle-Addah family couldn't attend. One of the best things about Alice Lake campground is that the roads are paved allowing the kids to ride their bikes and scooters with ease. Also, having electrical outlets is a big added plus. Roger even brought his waffle iron! It was a nice few days away, with good food, good memories and pretty good weather. Here's a quick slideshow Roger put together.

Alice Lake July 2015 from Obiwanhavanese on Vimeo.

Happy Birthday Jada.

Nothing makes you realize the passing of time than to watch children grow and develop. As much as I stay the same in look and feel, the kids are ever-changing. Little Jada is now 4 years old. She's growing up. We had the privilege of attending her birthday party a few weeks ago, but this past weekend the family attended a home bbq. Auntie Shannon even arranged for a pony! Here are some pics:

Busy, busy....

Summer is on the horizon which means the kids are going to be out of school. There is a mix of activities planned including camps, mommy days, daddy days, Carol days and grandma days. We don't really know how other parents manage to arrange full-time care for 11 weeks!

The weather in May has been absolutely fabulous, with very little precipitation and apparently a record for dry weather. In fact, Roger's old student from Korea who has been in Canada visiting has been able to take advantage of some very good weather. It's hard to believe a whole month has flown by for them, they're on their way back to Korea in a few days. Tonight Roger and Tracey were able to have them over for a bbq dinner at the house. The kids played together so well, despite a pretty significant language barrier. They told Roger that Malcolm tried to take his time in enunciating and slowing down his speech so they could understand, but Melody on the other had talked so fast that they didn't catch many of the things she said. It's fantastic to see how well the kids got along. Here are some pictures from their visit and a quick trip to the park before dinner. The number 1 thing I observed between cultures is how reserved and quiet Korean kids are, or perhaps it's an indication how loud and crazy Malcolm is.

Science World

So Roger and Tracey bucked up and finally bought into the family membership for Science World. It's been a long time coming. In the past they never thought it was worth the trouble, especially considering Melody's age. They'll have to go at least 3 times to make it worth their money. I don't think that will be a huge challenge as Malcolm and Melody are both excited to do so. Hopefully, the next feature exhibit will be of interest to both of them. The cartoon/animation exhibit that's going on now was pretty cool. Malcolm had fun making a stop motion movie and Melody enjoyed colouring and tracing some figures.

In other news, the kid's behaviour has improved slightly with the implementation of the rewards chart. They are awarded stickers for good behaviour, showing kindness and only getting up once in the night to pee (for Melody). They're about half-way to their goal already. Once they reach the end, they'll be able to pick out a treat for themselves. Fingers and paws crossed it will work. Now to deal with the other issues like homework and whining, baby steps I guess.