We enjoyed a sudden snowfall late Friday night, so the kids woke up to a winter wonderland this weekend. The family got together and built a snowman. There's talk of more snow on the horizon with Wednesday bringing 5-10cm. I have to say, I love the snow a lot and Malcolm is excited as ever. Melody on the other hand likes to be outside, but is not as adventurous, that will probably come in time. Here are a few pictures from the weekend. Let's hope driving conditions don't get too hairy during the week.

Happy New Year!

Welcome 2012, Roger mentioned that I'm going to be 49 this year! Whoa, I never really understood the dog years thing, but that seems too old. After all, I've got some spring in my step still. Well, I'm happy to announce that the family rung in the New Year with an outing up the mountain, a quick visit to the playground and also a celebratory brunch and dinner with the family. Here are some pictures from the past few days. Happy New Year to everyone, especially our friends, family and followers abroad. Best wishes to everyone in 2012!

The holiday season is truly and exciting time for us. There are so many things going on, it's at times overwhelming. The house is decorated early, anticipation of Santa arrival is prolonged and the general sense of good cheer is all around. It's true this time of year is all about family. Tracey and Roger try their best to instil some tradition with the kids. Tracey had lots of Christmas traditions, but Roger's experience was a bit more spotty. To his recollection, some years they had a tree and some years they did not. With Tracey's experience things were more established. Her grandpa would make a huge breakfast, their stockings would hang at the end of their beds, etc... In light of our efforts I think the kids do really enjoy all the events at home and around town. This year the family was able to go to the Stanley Park Train, see the Trinity Street light display, Gingerbread houses at the Hyatt, Christmas Tree displays at the Four Seasons, the Christmas Market, visiting with friends, and last but not least have their picture taken with Santa. Just as fast as it all went up, all the decorations (with the exception of the outside Christmas lights) are now packed away for another year. Here are some pictures from the past several days celebrating all the events leading up to Christmas including some from Christmas morning. As always, Malcolm and Melody both got up early to see if Santa had dropped off some gifts, you can see the magical wonder in their faces.

Science World and Olympic Village: Vancouver Christmas Market: Visiting with Friends: Trinity Street Light Festival: Christmas Day:

"Mommy do it".

Melody has been going through a preference phase where she wants Tracey ("Mommy") to do everything for her. It's even got to the point where she's ridiculous about even the smallest things. To give you an example, she was looking for her soother the other day and Roger had it in his hand to give to her, even though he was just inches away she exclaimed: "Mommy do it!" Hopefully this will be a short lived phase cause it's harder on everyone when she only lets one person do things for her. Melody has also been tougher to put to bed again. It may be because she's not feeling well, who knows! There was a pretty good stretch there where she was going down without much fuss.

Malcolm is now on winter break, already almost 1/2 way through the school year. He's doing very well at school. His behaviour is good, he's learning new things, and more importantly he's developing his social skills and getting along with his classmates. I think he's pretty excited to have a break though. Waking up early isn't always his preference, not to mention the mad dash to get up, get dressed, eat breakfast, brush teeth and get out the door in time. Despite the school being a block away Roger and Tracey find themselves rushing a lot of the time.

Christmas is quite an event at our house, there has been a lot of lead up to the big day. Malcolm is very excited. I'm not sure Melody really understands, but she's going along with it all in stride. She's learned new words like: Christmas Tree, Gingerbread, presents, Santa, etc... Here are some pictures from last week at the Stanley Park Christmas Train and then dinner at Lombardos.
 

Christmas traditions.

Well the family trekked downtown today to make their annual pilgrimage to see the Gingerbread Houses and decorated Christmas trees at the Hyatt and Four Seasons Hotels. This year Melody was able to walk around all by herself discovering all the interesting sites. Christmas is truly an interesting time around the house, decorations are up, the sweet aroma of baked goods fill the house (from Grandma's kitchen) and that general sense that the holiday season is upon us. The family will be heading down to the Stanley Park Christmas train again as well later in the week. I wonder what else is in store?

Happy Birthday, again?

I wonder if it was confusing for Melody that we celebrated her birthday more than once. On her real birthday we went out for her favourite meal, breakfast, only we had it for dinner. She didn't disappoint; she ate bacon, sausage, eggs, etc... and came home to blow out the candles on some Dora cupcakes for dessert. A very quaint affair if you ask me, very cozy and nice. On Sunday, we had Melody's birthday dinner with all of her favourite family members. Roger bought an Elmo cake from T&T and despite the original snafu with the colour, it actually turned out ok. Grandpa Harry even had seconds! So another round of birthdays have passed for the family most notably ones for Malcolm and Melody. We officially have a 5 year old and a 2 year old in the house now. Here are a few pictures from Melody's party on the weekend. Next up, Christmas!

Happy Birthday Melody.

Happy Birthday Melody, you're brightened our lives and continue to be the brightest beacon. Two years ago today you came into our lives and as your Mom puts it "you've made our family complete". Really, you've simply been a delight. We love you dearly and hope that the ride thus far has been fun. Please continue to do what you do, you make us laugh, your sense of humour is really killer. We're so proud to have witnessed your development and growth, it has all been so amazing to watch. Your sweet little face is enough to warm our hearts forever. We love you dearly.

Five years late...

Here's a video Roger finally got around to editing. He's been running out of space on the computer so he's been working on various projects to make some more room on the hard drive. Here's a link to the original post when Malcolm was born as well, link. Oh how he's grown, already a kindergartener.

Whew!

A good night's sleep can be so illusive when it comes to having kids, let alone sick kids. It feels like we've been dealing with sickness in the house for months on end. Good news is that it seems like everyone is on the mend and we have hopefully put it all behind us now. Malcolm's cough is finally subsiding, and Melody's viral condition has seen much improvement in the last few days. Roger was even fighting an infection for the beginning part of last week and luckily with a dose of some anti-biotics he's back to normal. 

The weather has taken a chilly turn in the past several days, but the family ventured out today to Granville Island. They enjoyed some lunch and shared an ice cream cone despite the near freezing temperatures. Everyone found out that Melody really likes mint chocolate chip ice cream. Here are some pictures:

Melody's word explosion has been fantastic to witness. The sweetest thing recently is that she calls Malcolm "오빠 / Oppa". Melody knows so many words now and is linking phrases together. She saw Malcolm climb the ladder while he was helping put up the Christmas lights and she exclaimed: "Oppa, up there!" Pretty cute stuff. 

Happy 5th Birthday Malcolm.

You've come a long way that's for sure. There have been some significant milestones recently and turning 5 years old is certainly one of them. We're all so proud how you've adjusted to school, kindergarten hasn't been much of a transition after all. Doesn't seem that long ago we were waking up through the night to feed you. Now, you've grown to become a big boy. You're strong minded, but kind when you want to be. You're talkative, but still somewhat shy. I hope that you know that you're family loves you very much and does everything within their power to give you a good life and try their best to help sculpt you into a fine human being. They try to give you every opportunity and expose you to many new adventures. You're a lucky boy, we hope that someday you'll realize it.

We're glad you had fun at your birthday parties. Bowling was a lot of fun. We left the guest list up to you and the party was actually quite cozy and quaint. We know how much you loved all your gifts. Here are some pictures your Dad took during the festivities. Near the end of the month we'll get to celebrate your sister's big day of turning two. Happy Birthday Malcolm, you're well on your way. Grandpa Harry wins the prize for biggest gift, even Malcolm fit in the box himself.