Happy Birthday Mel.

Happy Birthday to you Papa Mel, 82... that's so awesome. I know Roger has said it before, but you make our lives richer in every way. I for sure know lucky I am. The kids especially love their Papa so much. You bring them so much joy with your funny stories, playfulness and your infinite wisdom. Here's to you on your Birthday, best wishes from the bottom of our hearts.

Snow White and Obi.

I don't know how it happened, but I had to go back to the vet. It seems I've picked up some kind of skin infection. This time it's on my left, hind leg. I'm back on the anti-biotics and will be for the next week. I guess the saddest part of this whole situation is that I have to wear this silly cone again. Roger and Tracey want it clear up quickly, and hopefully not come back again. The vet isn't exactly sure why it's happening either.

The daycare wanted a new picture of Melody, so Roger set up the home studio last night to shoot a couple of pictures. One of the fringe benefits of having a photographer in the family. It's especially nice when the kids are compliant. They obviously have to be in a good mood to have their picture taken. You be the judge, was she happy?

Skating continues.

The opportunities that the kids have today are limitless. Although they don't realize it yet, they are exposed to so much more than Roger and Tracey were at the same age and even more than Roger and Tracey's parents when they were young (whoa we're going back a few generations now). Teaching children that they are lucky to have what they have is a difficult thing to do. Roger and Tracey try their very best to instil a sense of appreciation and gratitude with the kids, but I have to say that it's difficult. How do you teach a child that an activity, and outing, a toy, clothes, a meal out are treats and privileges.  These same opportunities aren't the equal for children everywhere. Recently, the skating has been met with some resistance by both Malcolm and Melody, more so Melody. You can chalk it up to being young, you can attribute it to stubbornness or immaturity, but again how do you make them realize that they should be thankful. I guess you don't realize what you have until it's gone or the other side of that is, if you've always had it, what other reality would you really know?

Recently Roger bought a photo book called, "I Was Always Beautfiul". It's a photography essay on India, mostly pictures about kids with Aids living in an orphanage. The photographer, Rocky Braat documents some pretty great images in Chennai, India. Anyway, Roger showed Malcolm one of the pictures from the book and it was of a girl playing with a old hoop she found from the dump. He explained to Malcolm that some kids in the world are too poor to buy toys and can't afford to even eat most days. I think this image did strike a chord with Malcolm. So Roger finds himself reminding Malcolm of the image when he's being especially ungrateful, it seems to work somewhat at least temporarily. As parents, Roger and Tracey will continue to encourage, promote and even push the kids into trying different things. They just hope that it gets easier as they get older. Here are some pictures from a skate Malcolm did with Uncle Albert, Jayme, Ally and Rowan last night. Just in case you're wondering Jayme and Malcolm are the same age. Maybe he's just a late bloomer.

Rainy Sunday.

Call it a weekend curse, call it bad luck, for whatever reason we're just not able to sleep in on the weekends (or really have a good nights sleep). Friday night, Melody got up a few times calling out for "Mommy" which really wrecked Tracey's sleep. I think it still may be some residual effects from the cold she's been fighting, but then again who really knows. Kids are surely unpredictable in the sleep department. Last night at around 3:30am, Malcolm woke up with a bloody nose. He has a difficult time dealing with it as he associates blood with pain, even though there's nothing really wrong. It's been some months now since he's last had one. Roger put the humidifier in his room tonight, hopefully that will help.

Today, the family took a trip downtown on the Skytrain to do some exploring. Initially they had gone down to have lunch at the food truck congregation at the Vancouver Art Gallery, but the more than wet conditions made it less than appealing. Instead they headed to Pacific Centre and had lunch there. Roger got a new pair of shoes at the Bay, 30% on sale. I guess the trip wasn't a total bust, Malcolm really loves to ride the Skytrain. Anyway, here are some pictures from their excursion.

Happy Birthday Tracey!

Here's a haiku I wrote for you:

Happy Birthday Trace
You look fabulous my dear
A girl Ben Buttons?

Tobogganing at Seymour.

Roger and Tracey said that it was a fantastic day on the hill today. As they cut through the fog, they were greeted with glorious sunshine and a temperature inversion at Seymour. Their initial thought was to have the whole family up for the ride, too bad Melody wasn't being compliant. She's certainly difficult to convince once she's made up her mind. In fact, yesterday she missed her skating lesson cause she outright fought to stay home. Roger and Tracey thought it would be okay since she has been fighting a cold, but today was really no different. Luckily, Gomo came over to watch her while Roger, Tracey and Malcolm headed up to play in the snow.

Malcolm really had a stellar weekend. His behaviour has been much better over the last several days. He even got back all of the toys that were temporarily confiscated during the holidays. Now the question is whether he can keep it up. Yesterday, despite his initial reservations about going to skating, he did very well. We know it can't be easy being the smallest and youngest kid in the class, but he really did put a great effort forward. Today, he spent over three hours tumbling, sliding and rolling around in the snow. Let's just say that he was asleep in 10 minutes and has been sawing lumber since 8:30pm. He loves playing in the snow. I think that's pretty clear in the images below:

A year in review, 2012.

I know it's a little late, but Roger wanted to add his year in review to the blog. In his words, he'd like to thank everyone for all their continued support.

Skating lesson 1

Well, Melody's first skating lesson didn't go as well as we had hoped. I guess the excitement of the lessons didn't meet her expectations. She cried a little, then was pretty defiant about not participating. As good natured as she is, when she doesn't want something it can be pretty clear. I guess feisty is the word that I would use. While all the other kids were pushing around little shopping carts, she pushed her's to the side and said: "I'm pushing NOTHING". Luckily the skating coordinator has allowed us to join the parent and tot lessons for next week. Roger is going to join her so make the transition smoother. I hope that will help.

Malcolm on the other hand did fantastic. Being the smallest and youngest in his class gave Roger and Tracey a bit of an uneasy feeling, but he managed quite well. He may not have the speed yet, but is certainly following along well. Roger and Tracey felt very proud of him. Even after a bit of a fall, he choked back the tears and soldiered on. The family is all going to go skating more to help cement what they have learned. No one said it was easy. Here are some pictures from the lesson.

Transition to daycare for Melody.

Roger and Tracey had hoped that the transition to daycare would have been more seamless, but they're yet again met with tears and cries. It was hopeful that Melody would fair better, but like her brother and perhaps many other children before her she's having a tough time adjusting. It's certainly a better situation than it was 2 and a half years ago with Malcolm, also adding the fact that Tracey and Roger have no worries about who's taking care of her makes it somewhat easier. We had all just hoped that she'd take it all in stride. It's a work in progress we all know, let's hope that things get better through the week.

Christmas 2012

Christmas is truly a magical time and for the most part Tracey and Roger try to keep the spirit alive by keeping up with traditions. I think the toughest thing that they try to deal with is to keep the kids grounded. Sure it's important to have family come together, sure it's great to exchange gifts, but crux of the situation is that they want the kids to really understand what it is to be grateful, what it means to feel fortunate and not to be greedy and entitled. We have so much to be thankful for, we have so much and the kids get spoiled by all the people around them. Perhaps these are difficult concepts to teach, maybe it's something that has to be drilled in over time. It's just their hope that by the time they are adults they'll understand more about what it means to be generous, to show humility, have compassion and as mentioned previous be thankful.


Our annual trip to see the gingerbread houses at the Hyatt Hotel and the decorated Christmas Trees at the Four Seasons.





Christmas Eve:






Christmas Day:



Whoo hoo, my Christmas present:



Double hugs from Grandma and Papa:

High 5 Uncle Glen:



We made dinner this year, I'm telling you Butterball turkey is where it's at!